Table mates

[ScrappinGran]

I have heard so many heart warming stories about people making life long friendships with table mates they met on a cruise. A lot of people mention that Disney does an amazing job at finding people with like interests, from the same area, etc. How does Disney do this? Do you fill out any questionnaires, is it part of info that you do at online check in? Just curious! And please, share your happy stories of friendships you have made from people you met at dinner!

 

[love280mickey]

On our last cruise, I was actually thrilled when we go to our table.

We have one daughter who was 10 at the time. So, sometimes, it does get a little lonely for her, although she's very outgoing and friendly.

We were very happy to walk up and find another couple with one 10 year old daughter. (we've encountered groups of siblings before who only stick with their siblings and are not always open to another kid)

So, I thought erfect! one child - girl - same age ----how great is this? Well, Disney did their best in planning, but still, it didn't really work out.

The other couple ran their kid so hard all day long doing activity after activity, that by the time dinner came, she would sit down and then after maybe 10 minutes start whining to go back her room she was so tired or had an upset stomach. So one of the parents would end up going back with her, and they would get room service and stay in the room till it was time for the show. The other parent would stay and sit at our table and tell us all about their very long, busy day. They never seemed to get that would be why the girl was always so tired by 6pm.

It also kinda was a bummer having either the other mom or dad with us then, because it was just weird. Here was my daughter with 3 adults now. Honestly it would've been better just the 3 of us.

So, not Disney's fault - they tried.

Just dumb parenting IMO. Also, we would see the girl out very late at night as well. Just dinnertime was not her thing. I also didn't understand how they weren't upset that they (the adult) kept missing out on dinner.

 

[ScrappinGran]

anyone else have info on how your table mates are chosen? Or a story to tell?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I have no idea how they are chosen. All I know is that the 2 times DH & I cruised and were seated at tables for 8 (3 other couples), I couldn't have selected better tablemates if I had held interviews for the position.

 

[sssteele]

DH and I are 60ish, DVC owners and travel without children/grandchildren. We have always been seated with couples who are 60ish, DVC owners traveling without children/grandchildren.

Always worked out nicely except for one time. Two other couples seated with us and one of the couples did Palo or room service every night so we never met them, and the other couple decided they liked the buffet better. Had a table for 2 every night. OK with us. After 40+ years, DH and I still love each others company.

 

[boettmb]

I have no idea how they match people up. We sat with some wonderful people from England on our April 2012 Fantasy cruise. They had one daughter the same age as our youngest daughter. After dinner we would bring the girls up to the kids club and go have a glass of wine somewhere. We really hit it off!

They are actually joining us on our next cruise April 2013. It will be great to see them again. We have requested them for table mates again.

 

[JCfromTB]

We are a family of 4 and were sat alone on our last cruise. I would love to be sat with another family - can I call and request this?

 

[com_op_2000]

I have heard so many heart warming stories about people making life long friendships with table mates they met on a cruise. A lot of people mention that Disney does an amazing job at finding people with like interests, from the same area, etc. How does Disney do this? Do you fill out any questionnaires, is it part of info that you do at online check in? Just curious! And please, share your happy stories of friendships you have made from people you met at dinner!

How does Disney do this? Do you fill out any questionnaires
No questions, the mouse knows all.

 

[sica1799]

It is MAGIC! Our last cruise was our first cruise and it was our honeymoon cruise. We were sat with 3 other couples around our age. One was also on honeymoon (and from Hong Kong!), another was celebrating an anniversary & the last was just there having a great time. We hit it off from the start! We shared so many laughs, played games together, went to the parties & shows together. We all keep in touch (ty to fb!) This last December we all met up at Disneyland (minus the Hong Kong couple). We all hope to cruise together again one day.

 

[BeardedDragons]

It's just my son and I. On our first cruise our table mates were two other 1 adult 1 child families and the children were within a year of my son's age. On our second cruise, we were seated with a family of 4 (2 kids - girl & boy were a year either side of my son). There were 2 more that never joined us for dinner. Both years were great!

 

[Shell54]

On our last cruise this past June Disney matched the 3 of us.. DH DS and me with a great couple and their son close in age to the 3 of us and the best one LOL..our sons even had the same name. Dinners were so fun with them. Disney hit a home run on our match-up.

 

[WDW Enabler]

Disney must have some magical system that matches by ages and genders.

We have done 3 cruises...

1st: Sat with a family from the mid west with a little girl our daughters age, good conversations every night

2nd: We went with a group totaling 18, so table mates were people we met on our first cruise and their extended family which we talk to to this day

3rd: We were seated with a couple from Canada with a little girl our daughters age. It was funny that she did not want to go to the kids club unless our daughter was there, and when we made (yes made) our DD come out of the club for pictures or snacks or anything else, within 10 minutes our tablemates got the dreaded phone call to come pick up their daughter.

We are looking forward to our next cruise but scared that since their are 5 of us (including my in-laws) that we will not get anymore table mates

Mike

 

[lsutigger2]

we have also had good luck with dinner mates.

first cruise: paired with two sisters, we celebrated birthdays together. and enjoyed sharing stories of days adventures with each other

second cruise: made plans with DIS'ers to be table mates (from our trip thread) that worked out well. easy to do, just join your reservation numbers - you need to get them from the other passengers

third cruise: dinner mates were another couple about our age. We enjoyed them. We shared stories and pictures after the cruise.

it's all been good.

 

[dennisbryce]

On our first cruise in oct of 2010 we were seated with a couple older then us. We had 2 sons ages 12 & 13 and they had a daughter age 13 and a son age 8. They didn't talk at all and when we tried to strike up conversation it was one word answers. We didn't know with it being our first cruise that we could ask to me moved but we made it work with us.

On our second disney cruise in oct of 2011, we were sat by ourselves We didn't request it, it just must have been the way it worked.

On our cruise in May of this year we were sat with 2 other couples about our ages. We were traveling kid free and neither of the other couples had children. But it was awsome We went out after dinner and had many laughs. We still talk to them and hope to meet up with them on another cruise.

So we have had a few different experiences but we have loved every cruise!!! I love having the different servers and not knowing who you are going to sit with. To me it is all a part of the experience

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Disney must have some magical system that matches by ages and genders.

We have done 3 cruises...

1st: Sat with a family from the mid west with a little girl our daughters age, good conversations every night

2nd: We went with a group totaling 18, so table mates were people we met on our first cruise and their extended family which we talk to to this day

3rd: We were seated with a couple from Canada with a little girl our daughters age. It was funny that she did not want to go to the kids club unless our daughter was there, and when we made (yes made) our DD come out of the club for pictures or snacks or anything else, within 10 minutes our tablemates got the dreaded phone call to come pick up their daughter.

We are looking forward to our next cruise but scared that since their are 5 of us (including my in-laws) that we will not get anymore table mates

Mike

It's hard to say. One of our cruises we were 5 people (DH & I, DD24 & BF28, DS23), we were seated at a 6 top by ourselves.

Next cruise we were 3 people (DH & I, DS18), and were seated with a family of 5 (Mom, DD15, DS16, DD23 & her DS3).

 

[z80]

After five cruises always as a family of four we have never had table mates. I would sure love to meet new people but maybe the system doesn't work that way. Does anyone know how often parties of four get table mates?

 

[gotomu212]

We have always been really lucky, but two times were just the best:

On our 2nd cruise (15 night panama canal) we were with another awesome family who had a son our sons same age. We had such a great time that earlier this year we joined them for a non-Disney vacation.

On our third cruise we were with a family from Saudi Arabia. They also had a three year son (same age as ours at the time). When we met the first night the adults were so warm and nice but also seemed a little nervous. We found out that they had been a little afraid that they wouldn't be so well received by America s (aww- that almost broke my heart). They were SO wonderful and even though the little ones had a small language barrier they could still color, play with the camera, and drive matchbox cars together without any problems. We still have their email address and they keep saying if we ever come to that area they can't wait to host us. As cheesy as it sounds, I think making connections with people from different walks of life and different cultures is what really breaks down barriers and changes perceptions and we love how dcl gave us the oppurtunity to introduce our son to that concept. Okay that was cheesy

 

[LittleGirlGrey]

Hi! I've gone on 3 cruises with my mom and we're going on our fourth. We have had table mates on all three.

1st: I only remember the mom and son who sat with us. I was just turning 21 and there was also a single mom with her son who was probably around 14. Apparently he had a crush on me. So my mom tells me.

2nd: We were sat with couples. 2 sets to be exact. 1 couple was older, closer to my moms age and the other couple was younger, in their late 20's.

3rd: It was my mom, and two sister and one of the sisters daughter. She was about 20.

This 4th cruise I requested not to sit with anyone 10 and younger. I have anxiety issues and though I love kids, its hard for me to deal with screaming babies or kids running around.

No idea if that helps....

 

[sssteele]

After five cruises always as a family of four we have never had table mates. I would sure love to meet new people but maybe the system doesn't work that way. Does anyone know how often parties of four get table mates?

Why not call DCL or your TA and make a request to have tablemates. Disney is typically pretty accommodating when possible.

 

[bigjrfan88]

Here is something that is kind of interesting. Im not sure how Disney selects your table mates but I can say its probably not random. Heres why I think so:

It was June 2000 and we were on our honeymoon on the Wonder after spending 4 days in the parks. We had no clue about how cruises work so we werent aware that we would be sitting with complete strangers at dinner. When we arrived the first night we were sat with 4 other couples, so there was a total of 10 of us at one table. 4 couples, including ourselves, were on our honeymoon, and the 5th couple were celebrating their 1oth anniversary. Coincidence, I think not. The 10 year anniversary folks ate dinner with us everynight and gave us all nuggets of wisdom on how to have a happy marriage. We had champagne and toasted each others marriages. You could tell they were so in love, but all they could talk about were their kids. They had to lie about being on a business trip and left them at home. Who would have though that 10 years later all we would be able to talk about at dinner on our 10th anniversary cruise was our children. I wonder if all of those couples are still married. If you were on the Wonder in June of 2000 and this sounds familiar to you please let me know.