Fantasy Western Caribbean April 25,2020 Nervous About Dining

[littlebigdog]

This will be the first time cruising just my husband and myself (we have always traveled with our 2 sons and had our table at dinner) and we are both introverts and nervous about dining at a table with people we don't know. Any tips to help ease our minds and make dinner relaxing and enjoyable?

 

[Marc D]

Request a private table.

 

[sethschroeder]

We got a private table when requesting it prior to the cruise. We booked like 75 days out and were first time cruisers as well.

 

[Marc D]

We easily got a private table when requesting it first thing on departure day.

I would request it before the cruise to maximize the chances of getting a 2-top. You can just call DCL right now to add the request to your file. I would then go meet the head servers on embarkation to make sure the request was fulfilled. If not, they will try to accommodate you.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This will be the first time cruising just my husband and myself (we have always traveled with our 2 sons and had our table at dinner) and we are both introverts and nervous about dining at a table with people we don't know. Any tips to help ease our minds and make dinner relaxing and enjoyable?

While requesting a table alone is certainly an option, I'd suggest you give it a try. Meeting new people on trips (not just cruises) is just another perk of traveling.

Disney seems to match up dining companions quite well. If things aren't working out, you can speak to the head server about the possibility of changing tables after a night or two.

 

[Alura21]

You can request a private table. My personal experience is your own table is fine, but it kind of fun hearing what other people did on the cruise. There's always the chance of getting bad tablemates, but you might get good ones. I've heard Disney tries to match groups of people that might be similar.

 

[Dug720]

While requesting a table alone is certainly an option, I'd suggest you give it a try. Meeting new people on trips (not just cruises) is just another perk of traveling.

Disney seems to match up dining companions quite well. If things aren't working out, you can speak to the head server about the possibility of changing tables after a night or two.

This.

I always request a private table. I’m 50/50 for getting one.

The first time I did not, I had not gone to check and discovered that it was essentially a dump of the solo cruisers - me and 2 guys. They hit it off famously and I was totally on my own. Night 2 I had Palo. Night 3 I was going to try Cabanas and if that went well go there the other nights and try to get Palo again the final night, but the menu at Cabanas seemed to be cobbled together from my least favorite items. So I went to the MDR I should be at during early seating and asked if there was a table I could be moved to. They were able to find one with different servers but the same head server and it was fine. I asked the head server to please tell my original servers it was not them and he said “Oh they know. We all saw the mess that table set up was for you. They completely understand.”

My last cruise was full and there were no available private tables. This time it worked out - there were 2 girls a few years out of college who had been friends since elementary school - one of them was a teacher (I teach special ed) - and a mother and her adult daughter on their first cruise. I was probably closest in age to the mom and the daughter was closest in age to the girls, but we all got along really well. Our main server called us her Spice Girls.

Biggest thing to remember is your table mates are only “strangers” for the first night.

So of course you can request, but just remember that it is NOT a guarantee and there may be no private tables available. (Unless you are concierge and then it seems that the default is a private table. But concierge is significantly more expensive and very limited.)

 

[Karin1984]

What you can do is to make as clear as possible what it exactly is what makes you nervous.

1. You do not know them: You will get to know them soon enough, as said, people are only strangers the first night.
2. They might not like you: That's then too bad, you can't like everyone, but always try to be pleasant and look for something you have in common.
3. You run out of things to talk about: You can think of topics on forehand. But there are always safe options like: where are you from, what do you for work/fun, the ship, the food, the entertainment, what did you do today/what will you do tomorrow, excursions or other activities you did, vacation, hobbies, your children etc. Just stay away from controversial topics like politics, religion, finances.

For everything keep in mind: dinner last 1-1,5 hour. That's 7-10,5 hours out of the whole cruise. You do not have to see them after this cruise ever again. Don't make it bigger than it is.
And lastly: It could also turn out alright, for all you know, you are about to meet your new best friends for life!

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

My Husband and I always request a private table in advance unless we are traveling with others. I can talk to a fence post and make a friend. My husband on the other hand... he doesn't do well with small talk so it makes things challenging.

Side note: It is FAR easier to get a private table during the late dining time. The issues I usually hear of are when people are trying to get a private table for 1st dining. Not sure what dining you have for your sailing but just something to keep in mind.

 

[Dug720]

My Husband and I always request a private table in advance unless we are traveling with others. I can talk to a fence post and make a friend. My husband on the other hand... he doesn't do well with small talk so it makes things challenging.

Side note: It is FAR easier to get a private table during the late dining time. The issues I usually hear of are when people are trying to get a private table for 1st dining. Not sure what dining you have for your sailing but just something to keep in mind.

Mine was second seating. If the cruise is full, which dining time makes no difference.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

Mine was second seating. If the cruise is full, which dining time makes no difference.

Not necessarily. There are usually extra tables in the Second seating and they do have more seating from my understanding than the actual ship can hold in order to allow for issues.

Because of the drive for main dining, it is always easier in the second seating. We were on the 4/13/19 sailing of the Fantasy and the ship was 100 percent full and there were still plenty of open tables in our dining rotation for second seating where as the first was completely full and they were putting people on wait lists at the dining session on embark day but advising them it was most likely unavailable and not to get their hopes up.

 

[insureman]

My wife and I when traveling without our daughters always request a private table and so far we have never had an issue getting it.

 

[pezgirlroy]

I will be on this cruise with you. As said before trying requesting. When we are on Disney we have our own table (we will be in concierge) as we are a bigger group but when my husband and I cruise by ourselves we like to sit with others but I understand.

 

[Dug720]

Not necessarily. There are usually extra tables in the Second seating and they do have more seating from my understanding than the actual ship can hold in order to allow for issues.

Because of the drive for main dining, it is always easier in the second seating. We were on the 4/13/19 sailing of the Fantasy and the ship was 100 percent full and there were still plenty of open tables in our dining rotation for second seating where as the first was completely full and they were putting people on wait lists at the dining session on embark day but advising them it was most likely unavailable and not to get their hopes up.

Just saying, in July I had late seating and there were no private tables available because the ship was full. I asked about changing rotations as an option, but there were NO private tables. So no, late seating might increase the odds, but there is NO guarantee that there will be any private tables available outside of people sailing Concierge.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

Just saying, in July I had late seating and there were no private tables available because the ship was full. I asked about changing rotations as an option, but there were NO private tables. So no, late seating might increase the odds, but there is NO guarantee that there will be any private tables available outside of people sailing Concierge.

I have never run into that situation before personally but hey, I'm not surprised it happens. I always just roll with the punches as much as possible. That April cruise was the only time I've sailed during a peak travel period. Every other time has been in the really off season.