Are they now trending towards "single family" tables in the MDRs?

[Happy100]

If you booked through a TA, do you call them to request being seated with others or DCL directly? Is it best to request this after PIF or???

 

[Pooh2]

We just booked Alaska for next year. Our travel agent said she put in a request for our own table (party of two).

We just did a 3 night/4 day train trip where each meal is 4 to a table so we had different table mates at every meal.
While we enjoyed meeting new people at each meal, there was a couple and two singles that we were glad we were not dining EVERY meal with them. Though, we had other tablemates that we enjoyed their company so much that we hung out in the lounge car later.

We figured our request is made for our own table but if that does not happen we will go with the flow and hope for pleasant company at dinner.

 

[Mousesmom]

Just out of curiosity, for those of you who like to sit with others, would you ever consider that at a restaurant on land? I'm not judging or trying to start a fight or debate or anything. I'm just real curious.

We rarely go out for dinner at home so when we do it's just for two (or three if our adult DD comes).

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We've been on 3 cruises (family of 4) and all 3 were seated by ourselves, didn't request it ever.

Just out of curiosity, for those of you who like to sit with others, would you ever consider that at a restaurant on land? I'm not judging or trying to start a fight or debate or anything. I'm just real curious.

Most likely not.

BUT, the whole cruising aura (totally based on what I'd seen on Love Boat and movies about onboard life) shows that tables are shared at dinner. A great way to meet a variety of people and have great conversations.

At a restaurant at home, we're not locked into the same group of people to dine with every night, it's just a one shot and done meal. Onboard, space is limited. Large tables save space. You are seated with others to work with the space allowed and the numbers of people that need to be seated.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If you booked through a TA, do you call them to request being seated with others or DCL directly? Is it best to request this after PIF or???

You can make the request at any time. Technically, your TA will contact DCL and have the request placed on your reservation. But I've read reports by some that they've called DCL directly and done so.

 

[jrabbit]

We've been on 3 cruises (family of 4) and all 3 were seated by ourselves, didn't request it ever.

Just out of curiosity, for those of you who like to sit with others, would you ever consider that at a restaurant on land? I'm not judging or trying to start a fight or debate or anything. I'm just real curious.

No - because it's not "normal" or expected on land. However, traditionally on cruise ships it IS expected that you will be sharing a table with "temporary strangers".

On the other hand, we enjoy going to a German restaurant in the area where they only have long tables that seat about 20. Have had many a conversation with the people on our right and left and across from us. Never had a bad experience.

And DW and I have started sitting at the bars in restaurants because we get to visit with others sitting there, the bar tenders and that's where the action is. Dinner and a Show!!

 

[Bree]

We've been on 3 cruises (family of 4) and all 3 were seated by ourselves, didn't request it ever.

Just out of curiosity, for those of you who like to sit with others, would you ever consider that at a restaurant on land? I'm not judging or trying to start a fight or debate or anything. I'm just real curious.

At Biergarten in Epcot you are seated with others.

We had our own table last year and I think it was because there was a food allergy listed for me. I'm taking my MIL and my two kids on a cruise in November and requested our own table. My MIL almost had a nervous breakdown when she found out they seat you with others. She is such a worrier and will drive herself crazy with anxiety over having to talk to a stranger.

 

[rhinodadz]

We prefer sitting by ourselves (family of 4), particularly once our children became teenagers and we didn't see them as much throughout the day. Dinner is"family time" to share the day's experiences and plan for the next day's activities. I'm happy to socialize with and meet fellow cruisers everywhere else on board, but for us dinner is about family.

 

[Flossbolna]

I was on the same Norway cruise as the OP and I think it really was just a feature due to the low passenger count. I noticed so many tables that had just one couple sitting on their own. I have never seen so many tables for two as on this cruise. However, our serving team ended up with us two, a table of five and a table of ten - all adults, not a single kid. Still, they did an amazing job! Best serving team I ever had!

 

[jrabbit]

At Biergarten in Epcot you are seated with others.

We had our own table last year and I think it was because there was a food allergy listed for me. ....

We were at a table with 3 other couples on our panama canal cruise. there were two different food allergies in different couples at our table.

 

[ahain]

I ask for our family to be seated alone - so far, it has been accommodated every time. I just send my TA an e-mail shortly after we've made the reservation and she contacts DCL and has them add the request to our reservation.

 

[SillyInventor]

Just out of curiosity, for those of you who like to sit with others, would you ever consider that at a restaurant on land? I'm not judging or trying to start a fight or debate or anything. I'm just real curious.

No, but on land going out to diner is not a very regular event. On a cruise you will do this every night. A year ago we booked main dining, but were assigned second seating, because some person thought we would like to sit by ourselves. We fixed this on embarkation day and were seated with 7 other adults and had a blast. Half of them are still regular friends on Facebook. On our next cruise (WBPC) we would really like to have 14 nights of diner not by ourselves, but with a larger table, so we have several people to rotate conversation. It's awesome!

 

[Maddysdaddy]

Being just two of us, I would be disappointed to be seated alone. It's nice to interact with someone other than just each other for at least a couple of hours a day. While we are both introverts, we still make an effort to talk to new friends. Otherwise, the conversation would go something like "So, how was your day?" with response "You ought to know, you spent it with me".

This was my response to a similar thread about a year ago:

"My Wife, Daughter and I dined with a very nice family on our cruise back in 2011, and were looking forward to meeting a new family when we sailed the Fantasy in February. We ended up at a table by ourselves, and actually missed not having other people to talk to.

Our normal dinner conversation encompasses what happened at work/school for each of us, but on the cruise, the question "So what did you do today?" was met with the response "Pretttttty much the exact same thing you did"."

 

[akikitsune]

We had requested to sit with others if other families were interested in that sort of thing. It usually helps with the boys to have someone else to talk to as they are usually sensory over loaded by dinnertime. We were sat alone (which we didn't mind either as dad and I would prefer that. Were not very good conversationalists). We had to rearrange our activities so we could survive dinner

 

[jtba]

hmm, like you i put in a request to be seated with others, so i was disappointed to read that you ended sitting with just your family. i hope my request is granted!

We had requested to sit with others if other families were interested in that sort of thing. It usually helps with the boys to have someone else to talk to as they are usually sensory over loaded by dinnertime. We were sat alone (which we didn't mind either as dad and I would prefer that. Were not very good conversationalists). We had to rearrange our activities so we could survive dinner