Can 2 people sit at one table?

[HighCSmiley]

On our 2 previous cruises, my husband and I were with family. It was a total of 12 people in our group eating dinner together.
We are going on our first solo cruise and wondered if we will be able to sit alone, of if they sit you at a table with another couple(s) cursing solo?
Not that it would be the end of the world to meet new people on vacation, but you never know who you might get. We don't want to worry about sitting with any crazy randos that everyone in the dinning area can hear, if you know what I'm saying.

TIA

 

[Msidescooter]

You'll most likely be assigned to a table with another couple (or two). If you'd like to sit alone you'll need to ask when you first board the ship. If they can make it happen they'll assign you to your own table, but it's not always guaranteed. We've done it on two of our four cruises. It's a nice experience, but on our last cruise the servers seemed to spend more time with the larger tables and we didn't get that bound with them that we're used to.

 

[cheribelle]

Call and request to sit alone ahead of time. It’s a request, never a guarantee. Then when you board go to the restaurant listed on the navigator for dining changes and just confirm your request.
I plan on eating with just my family of 5 this time. We never get some family bonding time and this will be a good time to do it.

 

[abja09]

I would call DCL and have them add the request to dine alone to your reservation ahead of time. They cannot guarantee it but I have put in the request on 5 cruises and it has always been honored.

 

[HighCSmiley]

Thank you all!

 

[HighCSmiley]

It's a nice experience, but on our last cruise the servers seemed to spend more time with the larger tables and we didn't get that bound with them that we're used to.

That kind of stinks...the servers are kinda one of my favorite parts about the trip. We loved getting to know them. May have to rethink this....

 

[cmwade77]

You can definitely ask, as others have said it isn't guaranteed. But just some food for thought, Disney does a pretty good job as trying to match up people that would be a good fit. We have met some great friends by Disney having sat us at a table with them.

As near as I can tell, these are the criteria they usually seem to try to use:

• Same general age range
• If you are traveling without kids, they will usually try to match that up as well
• If Disney knows any of your interests they will try to factor those in as well
  • And in case you don't think Disney knows your interests, here are some ways they have:
    • Previous cruises, shore excursions and activities you have done
    • If you have been to Disney World with a Magic Band, then they know what you have done there, even if you didn't use FP+
    • If you have been to Disneyland, then they can see what you have got FPs for in the past
    • The list goes on an on and as near as we have all been able to tell Disney Cruise line seems to have access to all of this infor and more.

 

[HighCSmiley]

You can definitely ask, as others have said it isn't guaranteed. But just some food for thought, Disney does a pretty good job as trying to match up people that would be a good fit. We have met some great friends by Disney having sat us at a table with them.

As near as I can tell, these are the criteria they usually seem to try to use:

• Same general age range
• If you are traveling without kids, they will usually try to match that up as well
• If Disney knows any of your interests they will try to factor those in as well
  • And in case you don't think Disney knows your interests, here are some ways they have:
    • Previous cruises, shore excursions and activities you have done
    • If you have been to Disney World with a Magic Band, then they know what you have done there, even if you didn't use FP+
    • If you have been to Disneyland, then they can see what you have got FPs for in the past
    • The list goes on an on and as near as we have all been able to tell Disney Cruise line seems to have access to all of this infor and more.

Wow, Disney really is magical. This is all practical information they have and they always go above and beyond.

 

[olafLover]

.

 

[Dug720]

This was definitely not our experience. We had late seating and were appointed an 8-top table for just the two of us (no other people were assigned). Our servers also had a 6-top with 3 couples (whom didn't know each other). The 4-top stayed empty after the first night. So they only had those two tables. They definitely spent more time chatting with us because we spend the time chatting back and the other table got a bit awkward (the servers tried, but if you don't get a response...). So it's also what you put in yourself

Right.

And sometimes it’s not that the big tables are more entertaining but more demanding. Our last night in our Magic cruise, I got a chance to watch the big table in our section in action.

* A kid would dip one French fry in the Mickey head of ketchup and whine that it didn’t look like Mickey anymore until the assistant made another Mickey head of ketchup.

* An adult would need a refill of his/her adult beverage. Other glasses looked almost empty, so the assistant would ask if anyone else needed another. Oh no. We’re fine. Until he put the new drink down. Then ONE other person wanted a refill. Same question. Same response. And same thing as soon as that glass was set down.

* Kids demanding tricks or food cut or any number of other things RIGHT THEN even if the assistant server or server (this night a sub as our server was sick) had the food for other tables in his hands!

And it took WAY too long to get the attention of the head server - who SHOULD have nipped that in the bud early on in the cruise, let alone that night - so he was made aware that the other 2 tables in the section were not getting ANY service (forget “excellent”).

I think our regular main server had kept them somewhat in check the earlier nights, but with him out the table ran roughshod over the team. And the other tables in the section in the process.

 

[cheribelle]

You may or may not get matched up with the “right” passengers. On our first cruise, we were placed with another family with a baby (our kids were 5 and up). And they did not speak a word of English. Made it extremely awkward the entire trip.

Other cruises we dined with friends and family we sailed with. Next cruise like I said, we will request to sit alone (we are a family of 5).

 

[Pooh2]

We requested a table for two when we made our cruise reservation.

 

[Blennon]

You may or may not get matched up with the “right” passengers. On our first cruise, we were placed with another family with a baby (our kids were 5 and up). And they did not speak a word of English. Made it extremely awkward the entire trip.

Other cruises we dined with friends and family we sailed with. Next cruise like I said, we will request to sit alone (we are a family of 5).

Same type of thing happened to us - on our cruise in August we were seated with a family of 4 - a single mother traveling with 3 children under 5 - my son is 13 it just wasn't a good match for us. We ended up helping out a bit but by the end of dinner each night we were exhausted. We called Disney after our cruise and requested a private table for our next cruise in November.

 

[mevelandry]

On our two first DCL cruises, we always asked to be seated alone by calling in advance and make them add our request in our file. It was always granted.

 

[HighCSmiley]

We ended up helping out a bit but by the end of dinner each night we were exhausted.

That would be a no go for us..... lol

 

[apathetic]

For sure you will end up with other couples. We've had it happen a few times and largely positive. There is that apprehension on the first night of not knowing what you will get. I do feel like there is some forced small talk, but mostly it's positive.

On the subject of table size, it always ends up that the largest table tends to dominate the servers. It's like each person has a need that only comes up one at a time. Good servers have a way of balancing the larger tables. But I've seen some where you can see they are exhausted with 1 table completely messing up their section. This is when a good head server will step in and keep things moving. I think 1 cruise we had a table of at least 10 that just occupied the servers and we seemed to never get our food until they were leaving. I don't blame the servers, they work in a job where if they say 1 wrong thing they don't get paid by the people they spend hours trying to please.

 

[Dug720]

For sure you will end up with other couples. We've had it happen a few times and largely positive. There is that apprehension on the first night of not knowing what you will get. I do feel like there is some forced small talk, but mostly it's positive.

On the subject of table size, it always ends up that the largest table tends to dominate the servers. It's like each person has a need that only comes up one at a time. Good servers have a way of balancing the larger tables. But I've seen some where you can see they are exhausted with 1 table completely messing up their section. This is when a good head server will step in and keep things moving. I think 1 cruise we had a table of at least 10 that just occupied the servers and we seemed to never get our food until they were leaving. I don't blame the servers, they work in a job where if they say 1 wrong thing they don't get paid by the people they spend hours trying to please.

Exactly. I completely fault the head server for the experience in February. We never saw him until the second night - and I am gluten-free (and marked as such) so he should have made it a priority to visit our table the first night (theoretically the head server is who all allergy things have to get approved through). Our main server was good enough I was comfortable with him handling things.

Even after the brief hello, the only other time we saw him was the last night when he FINALLY got involved to see that we got our food (and the other table in our section that wasn’t the demanding one).

He didn’t dare to do the usual final morning hand extended thing. Thankfully - my dad probably would have said something loud. Lol.

 

[Shanti]

A kid would dip one French fry in the Mickey head of ketchup and whine that it didn’t look like Mickey anymore until the assistant made another Mickey head of ketchup.

This explains why it takes so long to get a drink refill on a Disney cruise...

 

[bwvBound]

You can definitely ask, as others have said it isn't guaranteed. But just some food for thought, Disney does a pretty good job as trying to match up people that would be a good fit. We have met some great friends by Disney having sat us at a table with them.

As near as I can tell, these are the criteria they usually seem to try to use:

• Same general age range
• If you are traveling without kids, they will usually try to match that up as well
• If Disney knows any of your interests they will try to factor those in as well
  • And in case you don't think Disney knows your interests, here are some ways they have:
    • Previous cruises, shore excursions and activities you have done
    • If you have been to Disney World with a Magic Band, then they know what you have done there, even if you didn't use FP+
    • If you have been to Disneyland, then they can see what you have got FPs for in the past
    • The list goes on an on and as near as we have all been able to tell Disney Cruise line seems to have access to all of this infor and more.

Wow, Disney really is magical. This is all practical information they have and they always go above and beyond.

Ha, ha -- yes, Disney seems to know quite a bit on each of us. We've always been pleased with our DCL table mates - but our last trip (Dream, Feb 2016) blew our minds. Our entire table, four couples, had sooooooo much in common. We were each a bit shaken with the creepy idea that Disney knew us far too well. Hmmmm ...

 

[cmwade77]

You may or may not get matched up with the “right” passengers. On our first cruise, we were placed with another family with a baby (our kids were 5 and up). And they did not speak a word of English. Made it extremely awkward the entire trip.

Other cruises we dined with friends and family we sailed with. Next cruise like I said, we will request to sit alone (we are a family of 5).

As I said, it isn't always perfect, but they do try, although at the rate things are going language won't be a barrier much longer, there are several headphones out/coming out that promise instant translation. And some of them won't require an internet connection amazingly enough.