Dinner seatings

[MomOTwins]

If your rooms are linked you should all be on the same dining time. Have you called and pointed that out. I often booked on main, but if family joins me last minute they are given late, but have been switched to main within the first 24 hours after booking,

Yes rooms are linked and both are on my disney account. I actually was able to switch the second room a couple days ago after checking daily (phew) but it was definitely not automatic.

 

[emilymad]

I am having a similar issue so I am going to ask my question here instead of starting a new thread.

If I get a doctors note when should I present it? When I am on the ship to the dining staff at embarkation? I am waitlisted for early dining and I haven't been all that worried since we have had late dining before.

 

[lanejudy]

If I get a doctors note when should I present it?

Honestly, I don’t know if a doctor’s note does anything. I suggest contacting DCL Special Services (407) 566-3602 with your request and make sure it is noted on your reservation. Special Services can let you know if documentation is needed, but in my experience it is not. DO NOT wait until you are onboard.

 

[ihopfar]

We had requested a private table and it was our only request and it was honored.

When and how do you request a private table?

 

[Calantha]

When and how do you request a private table?

On your main reservation page at the bottom, it says "Special Requests: Add requests to be shared with our team on board. Request table locations, inform us of any dietary preferences, arrange a celebration or reserve child amenities."

Click there and explain your request.

 

[emilymad]

Just as a data point, I called the DCL Special Services line and they told me to keep my name on the waitlist for early dining and if that doesn't come through to eat room service in my stateroom every night. I will try calling again later in the week to see if I get a different response.

 

[Golf4food]

We booked in January for our cruise next week and immediately requested early dining at that time and didn't come off the wait list and get moved to early until yesterday, four days before our sailing...

 

[cinnamoroll]

Keep checking the app. I booked our Aug cruise 2 weeks ago (2 months out) and waitlisted much later than everyone else. I’ve been checking multiple times a day daily, and earlier this afternoon I saw that main had opened up. Hopped on it right away and moved myself. The system doesn’t seem to automatically move people when openings appear. Hope you’ll get lucky with constant checking too!

 

[Jsoenning]

Best of luck, hopefully they can accommodate given medical issue. Sending positive thoughts.

 

[Flip flops in winter]

We've always been moved off the wait-list but were not in May on the Fantasy. I had always wanted to try late dining, and as I posted earlier I thought my children would be fine (youngest is now 8) so I did not fight it on embarkation day, but I should have. My older two kids were fine, they're both teenagers. But my son did not make it through dinner one single night, he fell asleep at the table and even skipped dessert, he was so exhausted. I was actually so tired I didn't eat most nights and just left the table with him and went to bed. Which really sucked because one of the highlights of cruises for me is that I don't have to cook or clean. So we missed dinner together as a family, which I really look forward to. The upside? I didn't gain any weight this cruise which has never happened!!

 

[Rob1872]

I don't know why it bothers me so much to see people saying, "I have a medical reason that means I MUST have early dining."

No you don't.

You have a medical issue that impacts you if you eat too soon to going to bed. No one has a medical condition that requires them to eat at 5:30 pm shipboard time.

While there are some people who really enjoy late dining, most people prefer early dining. If early dining is a show-stopper for you, reserve your cruise when the booking window opens and early dining is wide open. If you have to wait until closer to the cruise to book for whatever reason (work schedule uncertainty, etc.) then you have to decide if the possibility of not eating in the Main Dining Room at your preferred time makes you unwilling to book the cruise. You don't have the right to bump someone who reserved their cruise 6 months before you out of their place in the waitlist to move to early dining because you don't WANT to disrupt your schedule with late dining.

If you are stuck with late dining, you can still do the MDRs and stay up 3 hours later than you would normally do, and sleep in 3 hours later than you normally would. Yes, if you want to normally go to bed at 11pm there aren't as many things to do on the ship until 2 am, but you can always have a movie night in your room and watch old Disney classics. I'm not suggesting that it is ideal or optimal; I'm just saying that it is possible.

We booked a Thanksgiving cruise 2 years ago 10 days before sailing. We knew we risked having to eat at late dinner or to shift to the pool meal places/room service if we didn't get moved to early dining. We accepted the risk based on wanting to make a spur of the moment decision to go on a cruise. You book after everyone else books, you have to take your chances and accept that you might have to alter your sleep schedule.

 

[lanejudy]

You book after everyone else books, you have to take your chances and accept that you might have to alter your sleep schedule.

I can agree with this statement.

However, the rest of your rant reeks of able-ism. What you suggest is not as easy for some people as you claim. If you haven't walked a mile in another's shoes, please don't try to pretend you "know" what they can and cannot do.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I don't know why it bothers me so much to see people saying, "I have a medical reason that means I MUST have early dining."

No you don't.

You have a medical issue that impacts you if you eat too soon to going to bed. No one has a medical condition that requires them to eat at 5:30 pm shipboard time.

While there are some people who really enjoy late dining, most people prefer early dining. If early dining is a show-stopper for you, reserve your cruise when the booking window opens and early dining is wide open. If you have to wait until closer to the cruise to book for whatever reason (work schedule uncertainty, etc.) then you have to decide if the possibility of not eating in the Main Dining Room at your preferred time makes you unwilling to book the cruise. You don't have the right to bump someone who reserved their cruise 6 months before you out of their place in the waitlist to move to early dining because you don't WANT to disrupt your schedule with late dining.

If you are stuck with late dining, you can still do the MDRs and stay up 3 hours later than you would normally do, and sleep in 3 hours later than you normally would. Yes, if you want to normally go to bed at 11pm there aren't as many things to do on the ship until 2 am, but you can always have a movie night in your room and watch old Disney classics. I'm not suggesting that it is ideal or optimal; I'm just saying that it is possible.

We booked a Thanksgiving cruise 2 years ago 10 days before sailing. We knew we risked having to eat at late dinner or to shift to the pool meal places/room service if we didn't get moved to early dining. We accepted the risk based on wanting to make a spur of the moment decision to go on a cruise. You book after everyone else books, you have to take your chances and accept that you might have to alter your sleep schedule.

I agree. Life isn’t perfect. Go with the flow. Eat what’s on your plate. Anything can be fun if you make it so. That’s how I was brought up. But I am from a very large family— no room for high maintenance children. Unfortunately, I get the impression in life that most people were catered to as children. And so now they are very demanding adults. I personally wish dcl would just have anytime dining. Because we are not rigid schedule type people. And because the dinner shows are meh and uncomfortable anyway.

 

[DisneyDad0315]

You may actually like late dining. We have always done late dining with DD10 (first time at 5 and most recent this year). We eat pretty early at home usually (like 530-6). But it’s so nice not having to rush in the afternoon to get ready for dinner, and we are usually still full from lunch and snacking that we aren’t hungry until 815 anyway. She goes to the kids club while DH and I have a pre dinner cocktail hour and then we all have dinner together Or all do show and then dinner.

Hello Mango7100
I have a 7 night cruise coming up and when we booked, only late dining was available. The cruise is on the West Coast and we are on the West Coast, so there is no time difference to deal with. What time does your food actually arrive to you if dinner is at 8:15PM? I think we will be fine since my kids like to stay up late and sleep in. Tonight, they had dinner at 8PM LOL. Thanks for your input.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Hello Mango7100
I have a 7 night cruise coming up and when we booked, only late dining was available. The cruise is on the West Coast and we are on the West Coast, so there is no time difference to deal with. What time does your food actually arrive to you if dinner is at 8:15PM? I think we will be fine since my kids like to stay up late and sleep in. Tonight, they had dinner at 8PM LOL. Thanks for your input.

I’d assume 20-30 min after sitting would the food arrive and you’d be done about 10ish with the meal.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

I wish they’d shift both dinners up an hour as “late dining” at 715 would probably be more popular than dinner at 445

Or I’d love if they’d do a “rotational dinner service” at lunch- I’d love to have my main meal at 1 then quick service or buffet for dinner…

We are the “odd family” who are naturally all awake by 5 and crashed by 830/9 so we wouldn’t attend late dinner if that was our only option.. we’ve had to adjust to having 2 breakfasts as we order room service for “breakfast” at 530 then “2nd breakfast” when Cabanas opens at 8-

 

[Mango7100]

Hello Mango7100
I have a 7 night cruise coming up and when we booked, only late dining was available. The cruise is on the West Coast and we are on the West Coast, so there is no time difference to deal with. What time does your food actually arrive to you if dinner is at 8:15PM? I think we will be fine since my kids like to stay up late and sleep in. Tonight, they had dinner at 8PM LOL. Thanks for your input.

I think our appetizers would usually arrive 20 minutes after sitting down and the whole meal would be about 1 1/2 hours. They will bring out kids meals faster, so DD would be eating her meal before we started our main entree (though she does sometimes order from the adults menu and that would take longer to serve). You can always tell your server to bring out kids meals asap instead of timing to arrive with your main entree, or you can let them know that you are in more of a rush tonight to hopefully move things along.

 

[Rob1872]

I can agree with this statement.

However, the rest of your rant reeks of able-ism. What you suggest is not as easy for some people as you claim. If you haven't walked a mile in another's shoes, please don't try to pretend you "know" what they can and cannot do.

My apologies if "able-ism" came across, and it wasn't really meant as a rant; it was meant from an honest point of view. I've got my own perspective from my youngest son being autistic and mentally being completely unable to reset to the idea of dinner being that late. For us, not getting early dining means room service or pool deck at his 'normal' time in order to keep his schedule. Is it my preferred way of cruising? Heck no. Which is why we normally book opening day to ensure that we have early dining because that is such an important criteria to us. But I wouldn't suggest that my son's autism gave me the right to jump the line on our short notice Thanksgiving cruise, and for some reason it just irritates me at the repeated posts over the years of people stating that they HAVE to get early dining instead of coming at it from the perspective of they really will be inconvenienced if they don't get early dining.

 

[MomOTwins]

My apologies if "able-ism" came across, and it wasn't really meant as a rant; it was meant from an honest point of view. I've got my own perspective from my youngest son being autistic and mentally being completely unable to reset to the idea of dinner being that late. For us, not getting early dining means room service or pool deck at his 'normal' time in order to keep his schedule. Is it my preferred way of cruising? Heck no. Which is why we normally book opening day to ensure that we have early dining because that is such an important criteria to us. But I wouldn't suggest that my son's autism gave me the right to jump the line on our short notice Thanksgiving cruise, and for some reason it just irritates me at the repeated posts over the years of people stating that they HAVE to get early dining instead of coming at it from the perspective of they really will be inconvenienced if they don't get early dining.

I thought the ableism comment was a bit harsh—you asked a question I was wondering too, which is on the medical reasons why not stay up later? I’ve worked a job where I often had to stay up until 2-4am and I don’t love that schedule but I can adjust. I do think adjusting is not as practical a solution for kids though—they don’t have the ability to drink something caffeinated to help stay up late nor the self-discipline to rest when they are excited at 6am and want something to be up and about.

I also wouldn’t say the solution is just “book opening day.” At my old job, we couldn’t even request time off until a month or two ahead and when we did it wasn’t often granted so we only booked cruises last minute. Last year our Wish cruise was cancelled due to Ian and we had to rebook on short notice. And “eat at quick service” is a pretty miserable solution too—the MDR dinners and dinner shows are a big component of the cruise fare and overall experience.

But nor do I think people should get to “jump the queue” on the waitlist for medical reasons because as mentioned above, honestly hard for me to see why it is any more essential for an adult who medically can’t eat close to bedtime and doesn’t want to stay up late to work around it is any more deserving of early dining than a family with small children who will literally fall asleep at the table before they can eat at late dining.

I really think the only solution here is for Disney to move both seatings earlier: 5pm and 7:30 would make late dining much more doable for people with small kids and medical conditions. I put this in my survey and would encourage others to do so too. The only downside to this approach that I’ve heard is that it leaves less time to get ready for dinner after excursions but really, is that worse than the status quo where a large segment of guests find late dining is completely unsuitable.

 

[Setsail71]

OP here. 5 days till cruise and no movement. As for those of you who tell me to adapt and just book earlier. Sorry, my work does not allow me to seek vacation time more than 6 months in advance, so I booked when I could. I am doing a 7 day cruise, so I need certainty of vacation time before shelling out over $15k. There were lots of rooms available so it wasn’t like the cruise was already booked. Never had a problem before with moving to first seating in prior 4 cruises. It wouldn’t be such an issue but without the cabanas available for dinner seating, there is really no flexibility on the cruise unless one wants fast food or the limited in room dining on the couch. If I had known cabanas were closed, I would not have booked. But too late. Considering the cost of the cruise, I don’t just want fast food and most of that menu is off my food list anyways. So yes, I have dietary restrictions, I have had GERD and ulcers since I was child and after 50 years of it I can get VERY sick. So, I need no less than 6 hours before bedtime after eating. Going to be some late late nights and I will just have to keep a very different schedule than my young kids with me.