1st time cruiser

[cdnmickeylover]

First post on the boards although I've been lurking for a while.

Just booked our first cruise for October 2003, the 7 day Western one with a week long stay at CBR afterwards.

Have seen posts about the dining rotation and was wondering when you had to decide this or whether it was decided for you.

cdnmickeylover

 

[bweppner]

DCL allows dining rotation requests, but does not guarantee them. For our 4/6 Magic cruise we requested PLAPLAP through our TA and got it. Many have had success in this area as well, but again your are only allowed to "request."

Good Luck - you've got a while until your cruise so your request should be granted....

 

[Rikersmom]

You have the choice of requesting either main seating (early) or late seating for dinner. The rotation is assigned, unless there is a particular rotation that you wish to request. Some people prefer to be in a certain dining room on certain nights, such as formal or semi-formal night. Basically, the rotations try to match cruisers--families with small children, adults with no children, etc.

I don't have the particulars about the Western cruise yet--which night is formal. Since there are more ports of call, they might find that many cruisers stay on shore longer. You should get a better idea of how it's working after a few Western cruises. I'm sure our DIS-ers will keep us informed.

 

[AprilN]

I just made reservations through Costco for the 2/22/03 Western cruise on the Magic. Since it's my first cruise, I'm not sure which rotation order would be best for us, but the PLA series does seem to mesh well with the themed nights.

Anyway, my question is: how soon should I put in the request for the PLA rotation? And should I call Disney directly, or make the request through Costco? Any advice?

April

 

[MinnieCruiser]

Hi April..

You're the first one I see so far who is on the same cruise (2/22/03) as us, which by the way is the Eastern cruise (unless we're both getting on the same ship, but going in different directions LOL).

I too would like to know if I should call Disney directly to request a dining rotation (leaning towards PLA) and how soon I should do it.

I reserved main seating but after reading several other posts about main vs late seating, I'm still not decided. My view is that it's always easier to change to late and I still have over 9 mths to decide!

 

[AprilN]

MinnieCruiser ,

Oops! Of course it's the Eastern itinerary. I guess after reading all the various posts on this board, I just typed whatever was on my mind at the moment. I"m not crazy, I swear...

We're on the late seating, mainly because we don't have children and we're hoping there will be less children eating dinner at 8:30. Perhaps not, but worth a shot.

Well, hopefully someone out there has some advice for us, because I'm definitely leaning towards PLA myself, and it seems like requests are better honored sooner rather than later!

April

 

[Pugdog007]

If trying to avoid children, request late seating and LAPLAPL. This combination typically would have the least number of children.

If you don't request this... it's what you're likely to be "assigned" as DCL tries to start adults/no children in Lumiere's 1st, families with teens in Parrot Cay 1st, families with small children Animator's 1st. These are general assumptions by experienced DIS'ers and have not been confirmed (to my knowledge) by DCL.

Good luck!