Dinner Table Mates

[pwade]

what are the chances of a group of 3 getting a private table? My nieces are pretty shy. TIA

pat

 

[florida-again]

Actually, I felt this was one place DCL could improve. We are a couple in our early 20s and we were sat with another couple in their 50s or 60s. Although they were very nice and we enjoyed their company, I thought disney could have made more of an effort to consider our ages.

 

[kcashner]

In our experience, when sailing with a teen daughter, we've either been seated with "just us," a family with another teen daughter, or a group of all adults. All have been fine with us.

However, if you have a request, just call DCL in advance and make your preference known. Then, after you board, go to "dining changes" and see whether they honored your request. If not, they will attempt to do it then.

Finally, if all else fails, meet your table mates. If for any reason things are not suitable you just tell the head server. You will be moved!

 

[tiggerbug]

We'll be going on our first cruise in Feb 06. Just wondering if they have any tables for 2?

 

[crisi]

We got seated by a family a lot like ours. Kids about the same ages. From the Midwest - even staying in the same category on the ship.

I think they TRY to put like parties together, but its a little like putting together five jigsaw puzzles at once, some with missing pieces. There are often a few spare parts that don't quite match.

By the way, I was concerned about my children's behavior on board. There was another DISer on ship and he had proposed sitting together, but I had turned him down because he was traveling with just his wife and I thought my kids might disturb him. We didn't hook up on the ship at all. When I posted my trip report - turns out he was at the table behind us - and had been admiring my well behaved children!

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

We'll be going on our first cruise in Feb 06. Just wondering if they have any tables for 2?

I know they do in Palo, but not sure about the dining rooms.

I know there are probably many reasons why it wouldn't be feasible for couples and/or families to sit at their own table, but I think it would be great if DCL at least gave cruisers a choice of sitting by themselves or sitting with others. We have all read the many humorous and not so humorous threads about tablemates (who can forget *the sniffer* lol) and I just think a lot of these things could be avoided if DCL could just find a way to give us a choice.

That said, in our four DCL cruises, we have had the most wonderful tablemates. None of them had children close to the same age as my daughter or grandson but it greatly enhanced our cruising experience and I look forward to dining with others.

Tink

 

[crisi]

I think they do try to meet the request, but have a few issues.

The first just logistics - that the dining room is packed. More people sitting as a family means the tables need to be spread out. And there isn't room for everyone to do that.

The second is tradition - this is the way its been on cruise ships. A lot of restaurants in Europe seat people together.

The third is some sort of strange ethical question - I think a lot of people wouldn't risk dining with strangers if they were given an option. And I'm guessing that with the horror stories, Disney gets a lot of positive feedback from people who would have never done it, and found they had a wonderful time and met new people. In some ways, Disney is dong a subtle community service by trying to make the world smaller. The stories about people meeting others at dinner and sharing stories and cultures (and sometimes becoming good friends) is heartwarming to me.

 

[Bobbybear68]

Just back from Sept 10th 7 day Western. We had early seating LAPLAPL. My DW and I were placed at a table for 14 with 6 other couples. We had a great time with our tablemates. Depending on Palo reservation and other things like eating in port, we had at least 6 people each night and many nights had 10 or 12. The first night was the only night every one was there. We were very pleased with DCL choice.

 

[aprilgail2]

I took one cruise (Carnival) where they seated me and my friend at a table of 8-10 people and we were the only ones that spoke English...we never went back to the dining room after the first night! On Disney when I found out they seated you with others I made the request all three times for a table by ourselves, twice for a party of 3 and once for a party of 4 and we had a private table all three times. The last time I did check at dining changes upon boarding and found out we were seated with other people and they changed it for me right away. Honestly if they didn't I just would have eaten at topsiders or Palo all week long...I have no desire to share a table with anyone for my meals, even at lunch and breakfast when we went in we requested a table just for ourselves. At dinner we did have a very nice family at the table next to us, and it worked well, we could talk if we wanted and not if we didn't , no pressure since they were not actually sharing a table with us.

 

[drclaws]

Just back from Sept 10th 7 day Western. We had early seating LAPLAPL. My DW and I were placed at a table for 14 with 6 other couples. We had a great time with our tablemates. Depending on Palo reservation and other things like eating in port, we had at least 6 people each night and many nights had 10 or 12. The first night was the only night every one was there. We were very pleased with DCL choice.

As were we Bob! Heck, Table 23 even reconvened, unplanned, for lunch at Serenity Bay.

(..although I think a couple of our tablemates are missing Theodor too much!)

 

[Laurabearz]

We are a family of 5 and I would love to be seated at a larger table with another family with kids our kids ages.... And I hope that their kids are slightly mis behaved, so my kids will look good! LOL

(my kids are better when there are terrors around them... strange huh?)