Table for three?

[JOC]

Has anyone with a family of three been able to sit at their own table (or if you don't have a family of three, have you ever noticed a famiiy of three dining alone)? We're not anti-social but we're the type that like to eat quickly and move along!

 

[Fay Ray]

We're a family of three and were seated with a family of 5 to make an even eight. We've only cruised on Wonder once.

 

[JOC]

How was it dining with strangers, especially a family of five? We hate making "small talk" just for the sake of it, plus I've read good and bad stories on this board about tablemates. Like I said, we're not anti-social, but we do like our family moments alone.

 

[Gillian]

Our family of 3 was also put with a family of 5, parents, grandparents & child, a couple of years older than our DS. I'm not much for small talk, but it was ok. They were nice, polite, and well dressed

I'm kind of hoping that next time we can get a table for the 4 of us, but if they match us up with a family with a 3 1/2 year old, I'd be thrilled! Although I hear they don't do much in the way of matching these days.

So if anyone will be on the april 24 2004 western with a then 3.5 year old, please email me!!

 

[ZebraStripes]

Hello JOC. We are a family of 3 who has sat by ourselves. We had specifically put it in our reservation. However, once we boarded the first place we went was to the dinner change people to verify. They had us sitting at a table of 10. After some back and forth I was able to get a table for 3. After our first cruise when we sat with 3 others that were a total mismatch in personalities, my DD and DH said if I wanted to cruise again, we would sit at a table of 3. We aren't anti-social either. Just find it more relaxing to sit by ourselves.

 

[JOC]

ZebraStripes,
Wow...a table for 10?

Were the seven others from one family or several? If it was just one other family I think my family would definitely have felt out of place. We (Me, DH and DS 3.5) like to talk and joke around and do silly "family stuff" while waiting for our food (although not in a way as to draw attention to ourselves!) and we'd hate to have to act a different way because another family was around.

 

["Ginger"]

JOC we are a family of 3, never have we been seated alone. Believe me we don't change any of our family habit. DH still sits at the table yelling at my DD to eat her food and I give him the same knock it off look. I carry in my own glass of wine or drink, order way to much food cuz I like to taste everything. DH lets out a burp every now and again, saying excuse me of course.
If you do have to share a table just explain to your dinner mates that you all like to eat fast and go, I am sure they will not mind. We do like to have dinner at Palo and Topsiders and few times a week. So on the first night we explain to our tablemates not to take it personal but we like to eat all around on the ship.
If you are going on the Magic they do serve dinner at Topsiders and you can have a table to yourselves. Just remember before you leave the ship to take care of your your regular rotation servers. They have been there waiting for you every night.

Sending Pixie Dust your way in hopes that you get the table assignment you want.

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

DH lets out a burp every now and again,

"Ginger" - I guess that's better than some of the alternatives...

we're the type that like to eat quickly and move along!

JOC - I believe you will find that as far as dinner is concerned, Disney provides an experience rather than simply a meal. Our family of three (DM, DS and I) shared a table on our first cruise with a middle aged couple, a family of 3 (husband, wife and son) and a family of two (father and son). The boys were all close in age, which was nice. And of the adults, I was the only Diser and "shore excursion planner extraordinare." They liked to hear what we had planned relative to the outcome and everyone enjoyed sharing their Western Magic daily adventures. Often our dinner conversation had to pause in order for us all to take part in/appreciate the dinner's festivities. The memories remain as wonderful now as they were at origin.

Have a wonderful cruise...

 

[JOC]

Buckaroo's Dad,
I didn't mean for it to sound like we inhale our food and jet!

This will be our second Wonder cruise, but on our last one we had a table to ourselves because we had our 17 yr. old along (he won't be coming this time as he starts college this year). I guess I'll just request a table for three and see what happens!

 

[aprilgail2]

We went last May and were a family of three and had our own table. I requested it prior to the cruise and would have been a bit upset if I was put at a table with others. I have no desire to eat with other people every dinner the whole cruise. Once or twice would have been fine but I would like to relax with just the family at dinner time!

 

[Grumbo]

Interesting. I didn't realize they would/could make special dispensation for you to have your own table. We had 5 in our group and were seated with a family of 5. It was fine and we didn't mind at all but hard to have a conversation with someone at the other end of the table.
I would imagine they must try to dissuade this though or they'd end up with loads of small tables and this just couldn't work in the limited time and space each seating has.
Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[ZebraStripes]

JOC - I didn't think to ask if they were all from one family. After he told me that, he offered me a table of 8. I gave my reasons for a table of 3 and after some looking around, he did get it for us. I think they put an extra table in as we seemed to be sticking out into the aisle a little at Lumiere's. I'm glad we did it though. We look forward to this trip so much after a hectic year that it is family time for us, a time to leisurly sit and eat at the same time together.
And now that I have found my folder of info from the trip...as soon as we boarded we went to Sessions which was doing "changes in dining assignment" from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

 

[mmouse37]

We are a family of 5 and twice have been seated with a family of 3 at a table for 8. We tried to make conversation but both times the other families did want to engage in conversation at all. Kind of had a glazed look in their eyes!!!

Now we always seem to cruise with friends and family and it makes it so much easier because we always have just our group at our tables. Sometimes we need two tables near each other, but it has always worked out. Once we even had the large table in the center of the dining rooms for our group of 14. It was a bit difficult to hold a conversation with someone at the other end of the table, so each night we changed our seats a bit.

MJ

 

[jrabbit]

Try a table for 14!! Its huge!! We are a family of three and we shared the table with 4 other families - there were four families of 3 (one child each ages 9 to 14) and one 'older' couple who had been married for about 25 years. One of the families came to the first dinner and we never saw them again. The rest of us shared this huge table and we sat next to someone different each evening. We were from all over the country and enjoyed sharing what we had done during the day. It was a most enjoyable experience.

One of the really amazing things about all of this is that we are not very outgoing people - rather shy - but we really enjoyed sharing dinners and visiting with the other people. We have been on two cruises and Disney never really did match us up with other families who had a child the same age and sex as ours. This year DS will be 13 - hopefully there will be other boys his age at the table - so far there have only been younger girls matched up with us.

We requested a large table again this summer - hopefully we don't get the table for 14 - because you need a bull horn to talk to the people at the other end!

 

[Fay Ray]

Our family of 3 enjoyed sitting with the family of 5. My DS was 9 at the time and the other family was all adults about 22-55. They gave us this "oh no" look when we first sat down, but all those years nagging about manners worked, and my DS was very well behaved. By the end of the cruise the Dad of the other family and my DS were telling each other jokes. It was funny also because one of the twenty somethings went to the same very small college as I. We saw him at our reunion (my 20th, his 5th) the next month.

I would imagine your experience totally depends on who you get matched up with. It might be great, it might be awful........

 

[JOC]

Originally posted by Fay Ray

I would imagine your experience totally depends on who you get matched up with. It might be great, it might be awful........

That's what I'm afraid of...the awful part!!!