Am I Anti-Social? Want to Eat with Just My Family

[hubbard53]

My family socializes day after day after day. . . work, home, school, etc. On vacation we like to spend time together and don't want to be "on" each night at dinner - getting to know people, chatting about anything and everything... sigh... just too much work

 

[cquick]

Since our son is in a wheelchair, it seems like we always are at a table by ourselves, unless we are traveling with a group, and have linked our dining with another family. I actually like eating with a group, but sometimes we don't want to go to dinner, or have chosen to eat somewhere else, and that leaves our tablemates alone.

 

[Berger]

Why didn't you get along? Could you (and/or them)not coexist at dinner ? were they not friendly or were they rude, left you out of the conversation? That would not make for an enjoyable dinner. If a family was introverted , and was dinning with a family that was extroverted, why should they dine together? You asked for a change and in your mind that's ok but for a family, not so much. Yep don't be a me me me person.
Pot meet kettle.

 

[ladypiph]

Each time my family and I cruise with Disney we request our own table and so far our request has always been honored. My son is a bit rambunctious and likes to do a lot of seat hopping during dinner especially before he receives his food and after. By having our own table as well as requesting one that is "out of the way" (not middle of the dining room or near any major walkway) so we don't disturb other diners. I heard that your chances of getting your own table during the late dining is greater than during the main dining time not sure how true that is but we always dine late just to be safe. Just call Disney and place your request you know what is best for your family, and i have heard that sometimes a family of three could be seated with a family of five which i think would be a little uncomfortable for the smaller family. If all else fails have dinner at Cabanas..

 

[Crystal O_o]

I am in the boat that I prefer not to have to make small talk at dinner. I have enough to deal with since I have a 4 and 5 year old.

 

[waltdisneymom]

We would hate to be seated with others just as much as they would hate to be seated with us. Our young children do not let us relax and we would not want anyone else to have to deal with them also!!! It's not the love boat. It's DCL where generally people go to "bond" with their families, not make new friends. Don't be so worried about whether or not you're being antisocial. Who cares what people think?

 

[Jaybear]

My wife and I have Date Night every few weeks so we can just relax and catch up. Date Night would be ruined if we were seated at a table for four with a random couple.

Is wanting to eat with just your family during a seven-day cruise selfish? Heck, no.

 

[MeLaNie9]

Since our first DCL cruise we have asked to be seated alone as a family. We find that it works much better for my DS's dairy allergy. On that first cruise, it was my 2 DS and me and we were seated with a family with 2 adults (grandparents) and 3 girls, one of which was my older son's age. They did often show up late, but t seemed that they often had to wait for their food because of the waitstaff getting my son's allergy meal and wanting to serve us altogether. This was very awkward for me because they did have a very small girl who then was waiting and waiting for her food. Unfortunately, she often spent the time rubbing butter all over her hands such that I began to fear that she would touch my son's silverware or something. One night, the girl who was my older son's age absentmindedly pulled down the top of her dress so that her entire chest was showing right across the table from him - they were only 7 at the time but I promptly turned his head away until I said something and she covered up. It just became an exhausting event to eat dinner that cruise and I was already stressed at mealtime due to the food allergy and it being our first time cruising.
I also knew that there was no way my DH would want to eat with others and he came on our 2nd cruise - mostly because he IS generally anti-social! I definitely do not think there is anything wrong with such a request - we have be seated at a 4-top for all the rest of our cruises and have requested this again for our upcoming spring break cruise.

 

[littleblackegg]

We like meeting new people. Even though we are both mostly introverted, a cruise gives us an opportunity to meet people from all over the world. I think intelligent and thoughtful conversation is becoming a lost skill. We learn so much from strangers. We get to bond with each other all day, everyday in our home. We try to have at least one meaningful conversation about politics or art or literature or music or our hobbies daily. Sometimes we get too busy! Staying intellectually stimulated is the key to youth and vigor. We want to be sharp and engaged well into our old age. We have met fascinating people chatting on vacations, and I hope I do so for a long time. I invite you to be our guest!

 

[DisneyNurse19]

I have to respectfully disagree with you on this one, Jeff . We had requested the EG booth and then I read comments here and was worried that we would be knocking knees throughout dinner. Not so. In fact, I asked at the table (family of 4, 2 adults, 2 adult sized teens ) if my family felt like we didn't have enough space and everyone felt just fine. I didn't notice the table feeling tremendously smaller than the 4 top we had at the other MDRs. I found them all to be a bit tight, to be honest. I felt like I was always moving things around to make space as new dishes came.

All this to say, people's experiences with the EG booths vary, so if you think you would like it, our family would say go for it.

We have also had a booth and loved it. We never noticed that there was a lot of traffic going past.

After our first cruise a few years ago where we did share a table with 2 other families who were not the best company we now always ask for our own table and our request has always been granted.

 

[winterface]

I've never understood the whole cruise industries thing about putting you with a table of strangers. Just nothing something we'd ever be interested in. There's really nothing appealing about it to us.

We put in a request to be seated alone (just the two of us) and they said not a problem so thats awesome.

 

[MIGrandma]

Our very first cruise was the Disney Magic in 2001, celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. I had read in Disney's cruise brochure that generally at dinner families were seated with other families and couples were seated with other couples. Imagine my surprise in seeing crayons at our table that first night. DH and I were seated at a larger table with a family of 5. We would have much preferred a table for two but never knew it could even be requested, and we had no idea you could ask to be put at a different table. We are not ones for "small talk" so dinner was always exhausting. Two other cruises we were seated with another couple, so that wasn't as bad but still not all that enjoyable either. The cruises we were with family were wonderful as we had our own table so it was nice and relaxing and enjoyable. And our last few cruises we have done anytime/your time dining and love being able to go to dinner at the time we want and have a table for just the two of us.

I don't care if some extroverts think it's "anti-social" or not, but we don't enjoy having dinner with strangers. It's generally not done on a land based vacation, or in your own local restaurants. You have your own table for just your group. I don't think it should be any different on a cruise, unless you specifically WANT to sit with strangers. More power to you if that's something you enjoy, but many don't enjoy that and it isn't "wrong" to feel that way.

There was quite a heated discussion about sharing tables at the buffet when it's busy. Some feel it's a great thing to do and others don't. We don't care to share a table in that type of situation either. Now if I had a crystal ball and could know that the others joining our table would smile, say hello, and then pay attention to their own family that would be fine. But more than likely it would be people that wanted to make small talk. Where are you from? What do you do for a living? How many kids do you have? Blah. Blah. Blah. We don't care for that.

When DH and I cruise it's either with extended family and we prefer to have dinner just with them, or if it's just the two of us we prefer a table for two. We're on the cruise to enjoy each other and relax, not to socialize with strangers.

So, OP, to answer your question, no, it's not "anti-social" to just want a table for yourself and your family. There is nothing wrong with that and don't listen to anyone who tries to tell you there is.

 

[holula]

I'm super introverted but I enjoy sharing tables. We have met two really nice couples we were seated with - one we have cruised with each year since (not always on Disney) and the other we keep in touch with and see them when they come to WDW. We have been seated twice alone and it's boring for us. I spent all day with my husband, I'm happy to see other people for a few hours each night!

We did have an awkward situation where one couple only spoke Spanish but they asked to be switched to a different section after the first night because of the language barrier