Not so great table mates

[everafter1]

Out of 4 cruises (3 DCL), I've only had one bad table mates experience. I was sailing with a friend of mine and she and I were placed at a table with a family of 5- Mom, son, step-dad and grandparents. They argued all the time and really didn't talk to us much, so it was a little akward. The son was special needs and no one paid attention to him, so my friend and I would make conversation and ask about his day. They showed up to dinner in jeans and hoodies every night and I'm not the dressy type but it was the same jeans and hoodies every night. They were also not very nice to our servers... Thank goodness we ordered the wine package and still had fun anyway

On cruises 5 and 6, my parents and sister came, so we were a party of 5 and just requested our own table... we didn't want to be "those" table mates for anyone else! We've been pretty fortunate to have just the one weird experience.

 

[cats mom]

Is it possible to request a table for 2?

How do you go about requesting a table for 4? This is our first cruise and DH would prefer to dine as a family - I think he is just worried about making conversation with strangers, as he is pretty shy.

Just call DCL, or your TA if you used one, and have them make a note on your reservation that you prefer to sit at a table with just your group. But do realize that it's a request, not a guarantee. As others have stated, you can also ask for adjustments to be made once onboard.

I had terrible table mates on my cruise.

Unfortunately they were my wife and two children.

I would have loved to switch tables when the petite little 10 yr old girl at our table reached over and pushed her pesky teenage brother's chair over... with him in it of course. Unfortunately we were at a table top for 4, and I don't think DCL would have moved just DH and I.
I promise that was an aberration, they're usually reasonably polite, well behaved kids, at least in public.

 

[OurOhana]

When we went on Holland America cruise a few years ago, my husband and I paid for some romance package that included a dinner at our own table. It was our honeymoon and we didn't want to risk a bad experience. It was a smart move I think. The second HAL cruise was with family, so we had a blast.

When we tried Disney last year, we didn't think we could be seated at a table just for three of us, so I don't even think I asked. I was so worried the first night when we met another couple with a daughter the same age as our little girl. The first night was a bit awkward on the 7-night cruise, but the second night we talked much more. Turns out we had a lot in common, including that our daughters were both adopted. We had a great time, so much so that we ended up meeting again later in the year for a second cruise together. We still stay in touch. I never thought we'd have such a great experience, so but it was great. For the second part of our back-to-back cruise (which they weren't on) we asked for a table by ourselves just we could spend time as a family.

For our next cruise, I think I'd again try being matched with another family. But I'll take the advise of other disers and ask for a switch if things aren't working out well.

 

[heatherwillmom]

We prefer to sit alone as well. We are a family of 5. What would be our chances of just the 5 of us getting a table? DH hates going to our local Japanese resturant because we are seated with others. It seems like we always get seated with the people who have spent a long time in the bar before they come to dinner. We have only been on 1 cruise & it was before children. We asked for & got a table for 2.

 

[everafter1]

We prefer to sit alone as well. We are a family of 5. What would be our chances of just the 5 of us getting a table? DH hates going to our local Japanese resturant because we are seated with others. It seems like we always get seated with the people who have spent a long time in the bar before they come to dinner. We have only been on 1 cruise & it was before children. We asked for & got a table for 2.

My last 2 cruises we have been a party of 5. The first time we were automatically seated with just our party and we enjoyed it, so on the second cruise, I called and requested to be seated with just the 5 of us. They said they would do their best and it worked out.

 

[kcashner]

If you have any sort of a dining request--to be seated as "just your family" or to be seated with others, call DCL or your TA. They will always give you the "just a request, cannot be guaranteed" speech. Then after you board, go to "Dining Changes" and ask if you got what you requested. If not, ask again--there's a good chance they can move you at that point. DCL laughed at me when I requested that my gang of teens be seated "just us" on the graduation cruise--I told them that NO ONE else would want to be seated with my group. That group sounds really tame compared to the stories here!

We've had good luck most of the time....when DD was young we were seated with a family who had a daughter about the same age. Another time we were seated with 3 other "couples" who were like us (we were mother and daughter, they were mother/daughter or grandmother/granddaughter pairs) again probably as close in age as DCL could work out. Our most fun seating ever was 3 women on a "girls only" cruise. We've never laughed so much! Several times, we stayed in touch with our dinner mates after the cruise.

 

[kelly_green_eyes_23]

We cruised May 23-27. On Sunday night, our table mates didn't show up. We decided to switch to second seating for the remainder of the cruise (b/c the 1st seating was just too early for us- we had to stop the fun and start getting ready to eat so early), and had a table by ourselves. We aren't terribly sociable, and my DH was sick (kidney stone), so a table alone suited us.

That's good to know that you can switch if need be... I'm assuming this is based upon availability of course. I am trying the early seating, because the last time I had the late seating and it was just too late for me to eat, as I'm used to having dinner done w/ by 6-7pm. But I fear that having to be eating at 5:45, which cuts into your day of doing stuff, might put a damper on things. We'll have to see....

 

[Beezymouse]

this is one of my biggest apprehensions about my upcoming cruise. I'm quite shy with people I don't know and sitting down with strangers and eating a meal is scaring me big time. I'm a thousand times worse if people are really loud and in your face the whole time. I just don't bode well in that kind of situation.

Hopefully it'll be ok.

 

[Jusacuz]

My first cruise was w/my then 13 yo DD and my mother. The first night we had the ship's doctor and his parents seated with us. It was a nice evening, but not really fun. I had a migraine from travel and heat. The second night, we were the only ones. Then the third night happened. We had the "we paid to be waited on and have our every whim catered to" family. It was an older couple, their daughter & son in law and their young child. The older man was mad because the right wine wasn't brought out and was very condescending when the head waiter was trying to fix the issue.

It was the daughter's birthday and they had hyped up that the dining room would have a party for her and give her cake so much to the little boy that he was absolutely hysterical when the servers couldn't find any note about the birthday. It wasn't his birthday. It was his 40 something year old mother's! They were so mad. The boy was crying and whining the rest of the evening.

The next two cruises we had nice tablemates. Actually one was so much fun, I really looked forward to dinner every night. This past one, my daughter & I asked to be moved because the other 4 people were just boring and killed every attempt of ours to open up conversation. One girl went on and on about how she didn't like to try new foods. I think we did them a favor by moving, though, because in all honestly DD & I can be a bit goofy (annoying?) to other people probably. We had tons of fun at our own table and with the servers.

I'm very nervous about my next cruise because I'm going solo. It will be very strange for me to not have my partner in crime DD with me to be silly with at dinner. I'm hoping for nice table mates.

 

[kcashner]

Was this on DCL where you had different table mates 3 nights in a row? I've seen some changes made, but normally a change means that you get a table to yourself.

There are also occasions where a family notifies the server that they won't be in the dining room on a given night so their table is given to a family who has been waitlisted for early dining.

As to sailing solo, I did it on the EBTA. They seated 3 solo cruisers together; Eric showed up 2 of the 13 nights I was there--guess I ran him off. We saw him sitting all over the dining room; I guess he was with people he'd met on the cruise. The other woman and I had a pleasant time. We also conversed with the family at the next table. It was nothing special, but quite pleasant.

 

[stampingoddess]

On our past Disney cruises we always seemed to be seated by ourselves which, since we've never had a super bad experience on other cruiselines I found disappointing. Last May we took a RC Mediterrian cruise and were seated at a table with a young couple with 2 small children and 2 gay couples. The young couple with the small children were very interesting and fun to chat with (wife was from Canada, husband from Spain, they were just moving from England to Abu Dabi, so they were VERY interesting to chat with). The other two couples seemed to keep to themselves and it was like pulling teeth to try and carryone a polite conversation.

For this summer's Disney cruise I am really hoping to get put with tablemates and have my fingers crossed that they will be a fun group.

 

[daisy37]

Been on 3 Disney cruises with just DD. Two had great table mates, the other was ok. The son didn't like my DD, she was too young so he and his mother didn't always come to dinner. However on the first cruise, DD was 4. At the next table were 2 older couples-no kids. My daughter would get bored waiting for food, she wasn't misbehaving, but she wasn't sitting still. One of the couples kept glaring at us-everynight. I couldn't figure out why they would take a Disney cruise if they didn't like kids. On the last night after dining, the man came up to me and told me how much they enjoyed watching my DD. My mouth dropped open. Always wondered how they act if they disapprove of somebody!

 

[GoHerd1028]

WE have cruised 3 times and the first time my wife and I were seated with a wonderful family that we still remain in contact with today. The similarities were weird with us all. The second cruise we were seated with a nice family..but..they were not very talkative and I kept thinking that that Dad looked different during the course of the meal...then...I saw it...he would take out his teeth just before the food would arrive and put themin a napkin It took me a few days to actaully see what was going on because he was trying to be discrete about it.

This last cruise..we had the kids with us and had a table by ourselves and I think until they are older that is how we will continue to do it. It was nice to be able to relax and not worry that you were not keeping up conversation while taking care of the kids at the same time.

 

[Meum]

Wow! What a variety of opinions My husband & I took our first Disney cruise (7 day) with a friend and her 2 year old so we sat at a table for 4. Dinners were a long time for a 2 year old to sit still and we have no children so it was quite an experience which wasn't always a good one. Our second Disney cruise we traveled with my mother and sat at a table for 12. Two sisters with their husbands, an older couple with their adult daughter, the 3 of us and a single guy traveling alone. We had the greatest meals and conversations and we still keep in touch. Our last Disney cruise it was the 3 of us again and somehow our dinner request for the early sitting at a table for 12 was changed to the late sitting at a table for 12. We ate at the late sitting once and then asked if we could move to the earlier sitting. The second day we were notified that out sitting had been changed but now we were at a table for 4. It just wasn't as much fun Since we don't have children we appreciate when they aren't running wild around all the tables but understand that dinners can be an awfully long experience for them. The most fun we had was when we watched a larger group split between two tables put the children at one and the adults at the other. The children all acted just like small adults, ordering their meals and drinks and talking, right up until the food arrived and the waiters cut up the meat for the kids It was so cute and then to top it off one of the little kids went to wipe their mouth with the napkin that was in their lap but instead got the table cloth I don't know if that kid ever did realize what happened. So just because we don't have children doesn't mean we don't enjoy watching someone elses. This cruise we will be traveling as a group of 3 and sitting at a large table with others that we have met on these boards. We are so looking forward to meeting new friends

Marianne

 

[Sinderelly]

I had our TA make a note on our reservation requesting a table for two. I also understand it is only a request.

 

[Jusacuz]

Was this on DCL where you had different table mates 3 nights in a row? I've seen some changes made, but normally a change means that you get a table to yourself.

There are also occasions where a family notifies the server that they won't be in the dining room on a given night so their table is given to a family who has been waitlisted for early dining.

As to sailing solo, I did it on the EBTA. They seated 3 solo cruisers together; Eric showed up 2 of the 13 nights I was there--guess I ran him off. We saw him sitting all over the dining room; I guess he was with people he'd met on the cruise. The other woman and I had a pleasant time. We also conversed with the family at the next table. It was nothing special, but quite pleasant.

Yes, it was on DCL. We joked that we got the table they just put the extra people at. It was an 8 top table, I think and there were 3 of us. I'm not sure why we kept getting different people.

 

[ImagineerM]

Am I the only person who carefully read each post to make sure noone described yourself as a bad tablemates???? Haha. I'm on the quiet and boring side, so I was nervous.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[JessicasMom]

For the EBTA, we requested via e-mail (and received) a 4-top for DH and myself. I enjoy meeting new people but worried that 14 days with the same table-mates might be too long, especially if they were as "interesting" as so many mentioned here. We loved our servers and had a wonderful time chatting and joking around with them every night. Their other two tables (8 and 12 tops, each only half-full) were families who looked bored most of the time and barely interacted with the servers; definitely not the kind of people we wanted to be seated with.

We met many great people on-board, at the shows, out on deck, or in the restaurants for breakfast/lunch. Dinner was our time to be alone and relax with no pressure. But it's everyone's choice how to enjoy their own vacation, so don't be afraid to make a request....they will certainly try to meet your needs.

 

[Bareacuda]

We have never had a bad situation at our table.
Only 1 cruise we had a table next to ours that we worried about. 4 famlies and children were sitting very close to us, the adults at a big table and children at the other. Many nights I walked away with food in my hair from food fights. We did talk to all the parents, but I knew the out come before hand..."they are children you know."
And it was worse for the staff Every night one or 2 of the boys would chew up half their food and spit it in one of the girls drink. And the list continues... sad part is... they were Dis'ers
On the maiden of the Magic, we had a table for 8. A wife swapping couple, a very religious couple, a gay couple, and us... somewhere we fit in? Conversation was so funny every night.
All in all... we have met many great people and continue to chat with them often. Would we sit with strangers... heck yeah! And can't wait for our WBTA!!!

Ann

 

[poohluv2u]

On our Wonder 3 night cruise we were a group of 6 and we were on a 12 top with a family of 4 and a couple. All were nice enough to chat to but not firm friends for life if you know what I mean. On our cruise last summer we requested a table for 4 so just us and our two daughters. Maybe when they are older we will go back to table sharing but although they are good kids they were only 4 and 19 months and we didn't want the stress of feeling like others were watching our children and our parenting if they weren't able to maintain suitable dinner time behaviour throughout the long meals! We have requested a table of 4 again for this summer, it was just so much less stressful than worrying about whether the kids would get tired and cranky and spoil dinner for our table mates!

Mel
x

We have requested a table for 12, could you tell me in the restaurants where the table was located? thanks