Never been on a cruise and I'm wondering...

[disneydragon]

Why are you seated with people you don't know at dinner? I don't understand this. Restaurants on land don't do this in my country, so what is going on with the cruises?

 

[westjones]

On our first DCL we were shocked by this because this doesn't happen on 'land' either.

I am assuming there is a limited number of seats and everyone has to have dinner at one of two times and the only way to get everyone into the dining room is to do this.

We were on Amtrak a few years ago and went to the dining car for breakfast and they put two other people at our booth with us. This was unexpected (we wouldn't have eaten breakfast if we had known they would do this).

So I guess it has something to do with 'transportation' type dining? Trains and Ships? At WDW they do not do this.

DJ

 

[disneysailor]

I'm not sure why they do it, but I'm hoping they do do it for our April cruise. The first time my husband and I cruised, we were traveling alone and we were seated with two couples- we had a blast. We didn't request it , but on our last Disney cruise, they sat our family of four by ourselves, and we missed not getting to meet new tablemates. Although I think you can request to sit by yourself, I guess this time we will need to make a request NOT to sit by ourselves!

 

[musicgirl]

We enjoyed having tablemates. You get to share your day with each other. The three of us are always together, so it was nice to have other people.

If you find that you don't like your tablemates, you can arrange to have it changed at guest services. My advice would be to try it and see what you think.

have fun!

 

[Hygiene99]

We found it to be alot of fun , discussing the days events with others.. We have also Met some new friend during this time who we still stay in contact with today.......

You can always request a table for just your traveling party ...

 

[CamColt]

Originally posted by Hygiene99
You can always request a table for just your traveling party ...

Unfortunately this is not always granted, especially if its a party of 2. That was my only disappointment in our last Disney cruise. DH & I strongly requested to be seated alone but since there are no tables just for 2, it didnt happen. Did it ruin our cruise? No. But our dining experiences would have been a lot more enjoyable and relaxed had we been alone. Thank God for Palo. What I dont understand is if smaller ships, such as the BRB could have tables for 2(we got one on our honeymoon), why cant Disney?

 

[wdw1972]

On cruises typically the highlight of the day was dinner, and that was shared with other passengers. It's only recently that ships started even having tables for 2 - it used to be mostly 6, 8 or 10. Cruising is a social event - meeting others at dinner, sharing your day's experiences, possibly becoming friends - that's what cruising has always been about. Of course, cruising was typically adult-only, too....which makes that sort of thing easier than putting 2 families together with 4 overtired kids at the table. Disney I think has more smaller tables than most lines, so their passengers can eat just with their own family - but I personally think they're missing out on part of the fun by doing so.

 

[mark & sandra]

On our 1st cruise this past Jan., our family of 4 was seated with another family of 4. We had a great time and spent alot of the adult time going to the different shows with them. Turns out they were another Dis family. It really is a small world!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Some people find this part of the cruising experience fun. I won't go as far as saying that I 'hate' it, but I really would prefer to be seated alone with my husband. Not realizing this for our first cruise, we are sure to always ask for future cruises to be seated alone if possible. I know that the smallest tables are for 4 people, but I am happier when it's just me and hubby. We asked this for our second cruise and our request was granted.

 

[westjones]

Is it possible to get a table just for 2?

I guess we thought that we could request a table only if we were with our kids (family of 4). DH and I have already said that 'cruising' will not be our choice of vacation once the kids are grown because we do not want to have to have dinner every night with people we don't know. We have thought that maybe a 3 day cruise and we could room service or go to Palo instead of the main dining room. But if we could get a table just for 2 I know we would LOVE to continue to go on the DCL even when the kids are grown and can't join us.

DJ

 

[inkkognito]

Personally I enjoy meeting new dinnermates on our Disney Cruises. A couple of times, hubby and I ended up at a table by ourselves, and we were miserable! We eat alone together every day, so we like meeting others on our trips.
And they do indeed seat you with others at some land-based restaurants...for example, Teppan-style Japanese restaurants. We have several near our home, but interestingly enough, even though you share a table, there is rarely any interaction between the parties.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[SeaSpray]

When we cruised for the first time last summer on a Royal Caribbean ship, our party of 6 was seated at a table for 10. The other people were a mother and teen daughter, and a middle aged couple. All of these people were very, very nice, and friendly, but honestly, some nights I just didn't want to have to make polite conversation with strangers. My DH and I don't get to spend enough time with my 2 brothers and their wives as it is (they live in another state), so call me selfish, but I wasn't crazy about the 6 of us sitting with other people. By the time we went to dinner at the late seating, I was also tired, which probably only added to me not wanting to make conversation with people I don't know. They had us a long rectangle table and this was NOT conducive to group conversation. Had we been at a round table, I think it would've been better.

On our Disney cruise this summer we'll again be a party of 6; DH, DS16, DS13, myself, and SIL & BIL who live out of state. I wonder what size table we'll be at.....

P.S. If they seat us with other DISers, I think that would probably be fun....

 

[tvguy]

There is always Palo, Topsiders, Pluto's Doghouse or Pinnochio's Pizzeria for those who want to eat alone.
So there ARE options.
We ended up with a table for just the 4 of us on Disney, first time in 6 cruises (all on other lines) we haven't had tablemates.
However, since my DS16 does magic tricks, and was doing them after dinner for Roberto our Server and Marin our Assistant Server, we always seemed to have a crowd at our table each night after dinner. Kind of neat Saturday morning at the final breakfast, one of the kids, about 10 I guess, from a family from the table next to ours, from South America, insisted my son do "one more trick" before we got off the ship.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by tvguy
There is always Palo, Topsiders, Pluto's Doghouse or Pinnochio's Pizzeria for those who want to eat alone.
So there ARE options.

I don't think I should have to miss out on the restaurants simply because I do not like to share my dinner table with strangers. I made the request when I booked to have a table for the 4 of us and I will check as soon as we board that we do have a table for just the 4 of us. I prefer a nice dinner with just my family and not having to make small talk with strangers at the dinner table and I expect Disney to give us just that. I wouldn't mind it for breakfast or lunch if we had to but dinner is our time, not time to share with others.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by aprilgail2
I don't think I should have to miss out on the restaurants simply because I do not like to share my dinner table with strangers.

I agree 100%. Me neither. It doesn't totally ruin my time or dinner or anything, but I would prefer to just converse with DH. We rarely eat meals together because of our schedules and vacations are a great chance to catch up with that. I also agree with Seaspray in that I am usually pretty tired and worn out by dinner time -- I don't want to have to make conversation with anyone. Hubby and I are great at comfortable silence and don't feel the need to talk incessently. Trust me, I AM a 'people-person' but I like my meals alone. Hubby and I do plenty of socializing in other areas onboard.

Again, I don't hate it, but if there was something I could do to guarantee a romantic dinner for two, while still enjoying all of the dining rotations, I would.

Next cruise I am requesting that we are seated alone (like I did on our last cruise). Then when we board, I'm going to dining changes on embarkation to be sure that we are seated alone. Having dined on cruises with others as well as alone with DH, I much prefer alone with DH.

 

[Princess Michelle]

3 years ago when we had booked a Disney Cruise and I found out that we would be seated with other people I just about had a heart attack! I was one shy 23 year old who was just scared to death at the thought of having to socialize with people I didn't know every single night. We ended up having to cancel that cruise but now three years later we have booked another and to be quite honest I do believe that I'll be disappointed if we are seated alone. Sharing dinner with others is now something I'm really looking forward to. I guess I can blame it on all the DIS meets I've attended in the last three years. LOL