No more table mates on DCL

[Agent 86]

I hope the current dining arrangements continue. We've done three cruises now and have been very happy with our tablemates on each cruise.

We really enjoy hearing about what activities everyone else has been up to during the day, etc. It's also a great way to learn new tips and tricks from more experienced cruisers (e.g. getting a drink cup from the soda fountain and filling it with ice cream instead of using a cone)!

 

[mevelandry]

Do you think DCL will go to not assigning random table mates in the future?

We are booked on Holland American next year and when we booked our table they said that was going to be HAL’s new policy.

I am conflicted as we have had some great tablemates and met some awesome people, but as we get older I am getting tired of the small talk and just enjoy dinner with my family.

It is odd to randomly place people with others for dinner - I know it is a cruising tradition but this is not something that most people are accustomed to anymore and does not happen on the land at any restaurants I know of.

Many people are against random strangers at dinner and those that enjoy it will probably not miss it much or could maybe still request it if they wish. I think given that DCL will joint HAL and other cruise lines that still have a main and second seating option and not assign strangers to your table anymore in the near future.

I think there's a revolution in the cruising world now as they are getting more and more popular as family vacations. RCCL just announced they were replacing "Elegant Nights" with "Dress your best" (with emphasis put on "your way") and I am expecting other cruise lines to follow.

Having dinner with strangers seems less popular than it used to be... Can't say I would be sad to see this tradition disappear.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

I don't mind sharing a table with others like it's done at Biergarten in EPCOT, where you are not expected to have to talk with others. But on the ship I always request a 4-top for us alone. And second seating is easier to get the request honored, that's for sure.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

Put me in the camp that hopes they don't change it. Our first cruise, dinner was a highlight for us (not that we didn't enjoy any part of the cruise), because of our tablemates. We were a couple in our late 20s seated with 3 other couples in the late 20-early 30 age bracket. We all enjoyed it, and we've since met up with 2 of the 3 couples in Disney, and we still correspond through facebook.

Off topic - I read this without looking at who posted, and thought to myself "That sounds like a story a friend of mine tells." And it was. Hi there!

 

[ToyStory3]

I always feel terrible for admitting it, but I never want to be seated with others at dinner. I know that it can be great making new friends and getting to know others. But, we always request a table for 4 only and thankfully they've always granted it. We're very social and enjoy meeting others. But on vacation I don't want to have to make small talk at all of the meals, or get to know them, or be inhibited in our own family chatter. I just want it to be the 4 of us without worrying about others at meal time. Most of all I don't want to chance getting table mates that we don't enjoy.

 

[dvcdisney]

I always feel terrible for admitting it, but I never want to be seated with others at dinner. I know that it can be great making new friends and getting to know others. But, we always request a table for 4 only and thankfully they've always granted it. We're very social and enjoy meeting others. But on vacation I don't want to have to make small talk at all of the meals, or get to know them, or be inhibited in our own family chatter. I just want it to be the 4 of us without worrying about others at meal time. Most of all I don't want to chance getting table mates that we don't enjoy.

You don't need to feel terrible. You're choosing to spend precious time with just your family. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. That's exactly what we choose to do. Vacations are family time for us. Also, my children spend some time with their new friends on the ship so we don't see them as often. So dinner time is family time for us. Like others, we catch up on what we did that day and talk about our plans for tomorrow.

 

[xiphoid76]

I always feel terrible for admitting it, but I never want to be seated with others at dinner. I know that it can be great making new friends and getting to know others. But, we always request a table for 4 only and thankfully they've always granted it. We're very social and enjoy meeting others. But on vacation I don't want to have to make small talk at all of the meals, or get to know them, or be inhibited in our own family chatter. I just want it to be the 4 of us without worrying about others at meal time. Most of all I don't want to chance getting table mates that we don't enjoy.

I am with you. At this point in our lives - in our mid 40's - we just want to be with our family. I used to love meeting other people for dinner..now the thought of small-talk just makes me cringe. Plus, as a gay family - we always worry about encountering a homophobic person at the table. Just too old to put up with that any more.

We have made some great friends on cruises in the past - and Disney is really good at seating people together, but I think the time has come for this cruising tradition to end (at least for us).

 

[Impromark]

I think that's more than fair. There are plenty of reasons to not want to be forced, or to feel obligated to be social by virtue of co-location with other people, and that Disney does their best to accommodate everyone (with less than ideal results, but we can't all have everything) is certainly commendable.

On that - we'll be cruising in a group of three (DH, DW, DD8), and hope to stay in the early seating as we just moved from the later one. If we request and are granted a separate table, would it be a 4-top, or would they pop an extra seat on a 2-seater table?

Mark

 

[lklgoodman]

I think that's more than fair. There are plenty of reasons to not want to be forced, or to feel obligated to be social by virtue of co-location with other people, and that Disney does their best to accommodate everyone (with less than ideal results, but we can't all have everything) is certainly commendable.

On that - we'll be cruising in a group of three (DH, DW, DD8), and hope to stay in the early seating as we just moved from the later one. If we request and are granted a separate table, would it be a 4-top, or would they pop an extra seat on a 2-seater table?

Mark

We're a family of 3 and have always been given a 4 top. They have always left the empty chair at the table, which is nice because it gives me a place to put my purse and camera bag.

 

[southerngirl528]

We've had mostly good experiences with random tablemates. Even those that we've been not so happy with are great stories. I hope they keep it going.

Me too! I actually ask for a large table. Reason? If it is just the 2 of us and our tablemates are just ONE other couple and we did not hit it off...... well, we would be stuck unless we asked to be moved. At least with a large table it is a nice mix and speaking for myself, we have had some lovely tablemates. Of course some we liked more than others, but overall it's been very convivial.

On several cruises we have had stablemates that met on another DCL cruise and have become fast friends as a result of being tablemates and now actually cruise together! This was especially true when my DD and I did the Sept. 2015 Hawaii sailing. As 2 women, we were seated with 4 other ladies, 3 of whom had met on a DCL cruise and now enjoy both cruising the same sailing and doing some shore excursions together. I have heard some nightmare stories but they have been very much in the small minority.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

I think that's more than fair. There are plenty of reasons to not want to be forced, or to feel obligated to be social by virtue of co-location with other people, and that Disney does their best to accommodate everyone (with less than ideal results, but we can't all have everything) is certainly commendable.

On that - we'll be cruising in a group of three (DH, DW, DD8), and hope to stay in the early seating as we just moved from the later one. If we request and are granted a separate table, would it be a 4-top, or would they pop an extra seat on a 2-seater table?

Mark

I don’t remember ever seeing a 2-top table in the MDRs. We have requested and been seated as a party of two at a 4-top table on our last four cruises. On the EBTA on the Magic in May, we were seated next to another party of two at their own 4-top, and they were seated next to a party of three at a 4-top table, all three tables served by the same serving team.

 

[lorimay]

We have always had a 4 top for just the two of us.

 

[hubbard53]

We're usually with extended family but when we did go solo once we were seated with another family. They did nothing but complain about the boat, the food, the cost, etc. We ended up dining in Cabanas each night... since then we've requested and have received private tables.

As others have said - despite being social and meeting new people, I'd rather not do it over dinner while vacationing with my family - I prefer to not be "on" while trying to enjoy dinner. . . we like to meet others spontaneously at tastings, trivia, pool deck, etc.

 

[KashasMom]

Our cruises are family time. I am not up for small talk. We've had table mates on previous cruises - ranging from okay to pretty awful. I only request a private table now. That also allows us to move a little faster through dinner if we want (and most of the time we do).

 

[Madame]

We have always had pleasant tablemates, but I seriously wish DCL would stop seating families of 5 (or at least MY family of 5) with a family of 3. We have never had our request to be seated alone granted.

I’m sure that others have had different experiences, but we have little to nothing in common with a family with only 1 child (my DH doesn’t even like Disney so that’s a non-starter for conversation with him).

My kids are fairly well behaved, but they’re 3 siblings on vacation & we always feel that we can’t be our boisterous selves. I don’t want to be forced to be social. I have to do that at work.

 

[MichelleCanada]

I’m sure that others have had different experiences, but we have little to nothing in common with a family with only 1 child.

As a family with only 1 child we have many friends that have more kids than us and we have a lot in common with them. We also have things in common with our friends with out kids....

I understand wanting family time - and you have paid enough for your cruise to be able to have that. Hopefully your family gets their requests in the future.

 

[Burgundy Rose]

We're back from our first cruise. I did all the planning and purposely didn't tell my boyfriend we'd be sitting with other people at dinner or he would probably have asked me to cancel the cruise. I'll talk to anybody but he's very shy with strangers.
We're an international couple in our late twenties and they matched us up with two other young international couples in their late twenties, which is fine. However, none of them spoke much English so we barely exchanged a few words. It was a shame. The first night our table was next to two other young couples on their honeymoon and they were having a great conversation. I frankly wanted to get up and join them. You never know what you're going to get. It certainly didn't ruin our experience but it's surprising for most guests for sure. We talked a lot more to people in other rooms.

 

[Impromark]

Language is part of our family's thing too. One of us is French-Canadian, and while we're all perfectly capable of conversing in English, the prospect of making small talk for a meal every night in one's second language can be daunting.

So full disclosure, but i just made a request for a private table through the DCL website. I guess we'll only know whether or not we were successful on embarkation day? There's no field in the account record or recourse to be updated via the website, it seems.

Mark

 

[n2mm]

Wow, that's not good. Did you go to the Head Server or Guest Services and ask?
I check when we get onboard to make sure, if you do that they can probably fix it.
But they do say "It's just a request, not a guarantee".

I agree, we’ve asked for a private table on 2 cruises in a row and didn’t get our request honored. We just stopped asking now. We have been lucky and have had some great tablemates

 

[DIS_MIKE]

I had second seating on my last cruise and requested a private table, but did not get it so it really can go either way. I was fortunate to have decent table mates and the one guy was ordering double entrees so I didn’t feel embarrassed this time around to ask for more like the orphan child Oliver. My first cruise we were seated with nice people but the one had a gluten allergy and it just felt awkward eating in front of her.

I enjoy meeting new people but like others have said, you’re on vacation and you want to have a relaxing and stress-free time and not have the pressures of putting on a show or acting in a different way for dinner. I know this is not the case for everyone and I’ve been fortunate to have some nice tablemates but I would rather dine with my family and keep it about us and our day.

For my upcoming cruise, we are down for first seating with a private table request but I’m going to probably call them and ask for second seating to better our chances at getting our own table. Second seating is also nice because the Rainforest room is generally empty.