Cannot request dining rotation anymore?

[DLgeeks]

i don't understand what the difference is. if i want a specific rotation, lets say eraerae, they say no but if i want enchanted garden 3 times they say yes. is it not really the same request? the only way you could do enchanted garden 3 times is to get eraerae. am i missing something? lol, i don't get it. seems they are making this hard for themselves.

Sometimes the rotations aren't the straightforward eraerae type repetition - I know on our Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy last March we ended up with a raerrae rotation - so although we still had the restaurants the same number of times, the night our repeat was on was different. I know with the Alaska cruises specifically that they have mixed things up from year to year, so I think they are trying to manage expectations a little better. That way they avoid a bunch of people put in requests for specific rotations that end up not existing. Some folks prefer certain places a certain number of times, and others are trying to schedule around Palo, etc.

Good Grief. That's why you should just chill and enjoy what your rotation

To a certain extent I agree, but if you are planning Palo, Remy, etc and you don't want to miss a restaurant then it helps to be able to put in the request so you can make reservations accordingly. For us we also have to take into account nursery reservations now so it all adds up to a lot more hassle if you can't plan ahead a bit. We did our first cruise (4 day Bahamas) on the Wonder back in 2000 before a lot of this info was available online and ended up in Parrot Cay three times and missing Tritons entirely because of when we had scheduled Palo.

 

[llachance]

At 13 cruises (on Disney) I have never asked for a dining rotation and as much as I have loved servers, or not requested specific servers. It takes too much planning and thinking, on my part. Only one time did I ask to change servers, once the cruise started, not because the team was bad, but we were in a location that was "painful" and are tablemates were painful as well. When traveling without kiddos I might do the upcharge restaurants but with kiddos we eat in the MDR every night and do brunch at Palo. There is no way that one can do everything that is advertised on a 3-4-5-7 day cruise. If you work with what you are given (and a lot of reservations for the upcharge restaurants are held back till people board) you will have less stress and enjoy yourself more. Relax and enjoy yourself.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Depending on the ship, we do request a specific server. We have learned, not all servers are created equal!! My review will honestly reflect their service...whether excellent or mediocre....and we have experienced both. That is why we prefer to make a request if possible.

 

[Sir William]

Which restaurant would be best for formal night on the Magic?

We like Lumiere's, mainly because we get all dressed up.

 

[MichelleVW]

Indeed, this happened to us, but prior to sailing. And our dining rotation on our 5 night is such that the middle night restaurant is only visited once. I called DCL to see if the rotations will change and they said that they aren't. So basically, every person will miss a restaurant's menu. Which is weird. So we're going to Palo on that night and there's a restaurant now that we won't even visit. I requested a specific rotation so that we're NOT missing Animators, but lots of people will completely miss that menu (which stinks because those pasta purses are awesome). I'm hoping we can get the dining rotation we asked for for that reason. We'll see.

They have three main menus for each restaurant, then pirate night menu and the other night the menu will be the same in all of the dining rooms. Only way you will miss a menu is if you are in Palo.

 

[mevelandry]

I already requested to start the rotation with Royal Palace for our upcoming cruise. I wonder what is going to happen with my request?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I already requested to start the rotation with Royal Palace for our upcoming cruise. I wonder what is going to happen with my request?

While there's really nothing that confirms that dining rotation requests are no longer being taken, other than a couple of TAs saying they couldn't do it, the one actual fact that anyone has reported is that you can still request to be in a specific dining room on a specific day. So I'd guess that your request falls under the "new guidelines".

You could call DCL to confirm your request is still in place.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

While there's really nothing that confirms that dining rotation requests are no longer being taken, other than a couple of TAs saying they couldn't do it, the one actual fact that anyone has reported is that you can still request to be in a specific dining room on a specific day. So I'd guess that your request falls under the "new guidelines".

You could call DCL to confirm your request is still in place.

I agree. But if there is a specific reason you wanted to start in Royal Palace, e.g. you'd be in Animators on Pirate Night or you dislike Enchanted Garden so you wanted that the night you have a Palo reservation, then I'd submit that specific request.

 

[kiford]

Which restaurant would be best for formal night on the Magic?

I don't personally believe that it matters if your attire "matches" your surroundings. Usually you spend more time interacting with people at your table, focusing on dinner and just enjoying yourself rather than worrying about what clothing matches the dining room. What difference does it make if you are dressed nicely for AP versus Lumiere's? You can always dress up a bit more if your formal night isn't at the more formal restaurant. I don't dress in black and white for AP.

 

[VallCopen]

I don't care about rotation, but I do care about servers. I have certain servers that know me. (i.e. my waiter on the Magic who served me for the 30 nights while on EBTA, Baltic and Norway) When I sail the Magic, I want that server. On the Fantasy, I want the server that I have come to know and my kids have come to know. When i first started sailing, I had no idea, so it wasn't a big deal. On the Wonder, there isn't a server that I have really clicked with, so no requests. I really hope they do not take away server requests.

 

[VallCopen]

We are doing the Disney Fantasy December 2016, for the first time. We have done carnival 3 times before, but never Disney and are big Disney fans and DVC owners, but found good servers and cabin Stewards made our past cruises. Any recommendations? Our kids will be 9, 9, 11. Thanks for any advice!

 

[VallCopen]

Depending on the ship, we do request a specific server. We have learned, not all servers are created equal!! My review will honestly reflect their service...whether excellent or mediocre....and we have experienced both. That is why we prefer to make a request if possible.

Any information on the Fantasy as far as servers would be greatlying appreciated?

 

[sweetlovin]

Any information on the Fantasy as far as servers would be greatlying appreciated?

I like Alvin from the Philippines, not sure who stictchlovestink would suggest, but that is who I prefer. Agreed that "not all servers are created equal!"

 

[anricat]

They have three main menus for each restaurant, then pirate night menu and the other night the menu will be the same in all of the dining rooms. Only way you will miss a menu is if you are in Palo.

The dining rotations are:
1. LACLA
2. ACLAC
3. CLACL

They were originally set when Pirate Night was night 4. They moved Pirate Night to night 3. Thus, if you have rotation number 1, you don't get the main menu of Carioca's, only the pirate menu and so forth for the other rotations. Sucks.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

The dining rotations are:
1. LACLA
2. ACLAC
3. CLACL

They were originally set when Pirate Night was night 4. They moved Pirate Night to night 3. Thus, if you have rotation number 1, you don't get the main menu of Carioca's, only the pirate menu and so forth for the other rotations. Sucks.

Unless, of course, they don't serve the Pirate menu on Pirate night. I know on 3 night cruises they don't. They serve whatever menu is supposed to be served in that MDR that night.

That would work for your 5 night cruise. Pirate night on night 3, but no pirate menu. Night 4 could be Prince & Princess or Captain's Gala. With night 5 being See You Real Soon.

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't personally believe that it matters if your attire "matches" your surroundings.

I agree with you.

I mean...I *get* wanting to be fancy in the fancier-looking dining rooms, but, what, only a third of the guests onboard will actually be in that dining room on formal night, right? So 2/3 of the guests will have the experience of being fancy (should they choose to be fancy) on the formal nights.

I haven't yet had a formal night on DCL, but we have on Royal. And on Royal you're in the same dining room every night. When it's casual, it feels casual. When it's formal night, it feels more formal! The clothes make the room.

Gosh, we saw a Homecoming couple at Red Robin the other night; by them wearing their nice clothes, it made it seem nicer for them! They didn't have to go to some french restaurant to dress up; they dressed up and made things more formal by doing so.

 

[anricat]

Unless, of course, they don't serve the Pirate menu on Pirate night. I know on 3 night cruises they don't. They serve whatever menu is supposed to be served in that MDR that night.

That would work for your 5 night cruise. Pirate night on night 3, but no pirate menu. Night 4 could be Prince & Princess or Captain's Gala. With night 5 being See You Real Soon.

That's a possibility. We'll see what happens next week. As long as I get my pasta purses from Animator's, I'll be a happy camper. If we end up being assigned to Animator's on a night that we won't have them, I'll just request them when we're in another dining room on a normal rotation night.

 

[bonnysammy]

I just called today and was able to request a specific rotation.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I just called today and was able to request a specific rotation.

Well, there you go.

 

[bonnysammy]

Well, there you go.

I wasn't going to, but my husband wanted a specific seating.