Table-mate nightmares anyone? Obnoxious adults?

[trishy]

Ya know, I think us DIS'rs are a pretty tolerant bunch (otherwise we wouldn't have remained here so long) so I don't think the occasional upset fussy child/adult is the problem - it's the people like "dcl" above is talking about. It's the real ignorant, rude type who don't know when to stop or the tyrant child who gets his way at everyone else's expense.

I don't think a cranky child/adult after a long day snorkeling in Cozumel is going to upset *MY* dining experience. *I* wouldn't be concerned in the least.

[

 

[rae519]

I know that for us, if we've had a long, busy day, it's best to have room service rather than sit through a long meal. Too often parents forget that kids are kids and not mini adults! If they are tired, cranky, then take care of THEIR needs first - and if that's a nap or early bedtime then so be it.

(Hey, a nap does sound pretty good for us adults too, doesn't it?!)

Rae

 

[Incharge]

Rae,
You are so right. Children (especially little tikes) who have been excited and running around all day are bound to be tired by the late evening, especially if they are in the late dinner rotation. Like you said, they must either have a nap, or maybe not be able to attend the formal sit-down dinner. Some people may feel that they paid for it, so they are going.

 

[Tigfanjeff]

Originally posted by ducklite
I was concerned with stuff like elbows on the table, using his finger to scoop corn or rice onto the fork, using the wrong utensil, holding his spoon like a shovel, grabbing a roll and slathering six pats of butter on it then stuffing half into his mouth at once, things like that.

I never realized any of this was bad.

 

[Trekker]

We've only been on one cruise so far and our table mates were.... well great mates.

There was my family of 4 - 2 teens (who know how to behave - or else!) a great couple Fred and Judy and traveling companions Bobbi and Becky.

The very first night at the table we realized that we all "knew" each other by different names. Our "screen names" - LOL!

Without ant preplanning at all we ended up with 3 groups all from the DIS! Plutojudy, ZYEZYE and Trekker. We felt like we had known each other for a long, long time.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by Incharge
Rae,
You are so right. Children (especially little tikes) who have been excited and running around all day are bound to be tired by the late evening, especially if they are in the late dinner rotation. Like you said, they must either have a nap, or maybe not be able to attend the formal sit-down dinner. Some people may feel that they paid for it, so they are going.

Luckily the chairs in the dining rooms are cushy and cozy for the little ones! I've seen so many cuties snuggled up sleeping in their chairs!

 

[inkkognito]

I've seen that, too, and I've even seen the servers bring a cover to tuck them in while they doze.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by inkkognito
I've seen that, too, and I've even seen the servers bring a cover to tuck them in while they doze.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

That's so cute!

 

[lbgraves]

Originally posted by inkkognito
I've seen that, too, and I've even seen the servers bring a cover to tuck them in while they doze.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

Awwww!!! How sweet.

 

[Incharge]

Those little sweeties played themselves into oblivion They didn't care where they were. I would rather see a sleeping child than one crying the whole dinner. Have anyone ever seen a child cry through the whole meal? I would assume that the parent would take the poor thing out of the room, but you never know...

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Hi Incharge.

ever seen a child cry through the whole meal?

It's not the SEEING that disturbs me...

 

[lbgraves]

While my kids are not little angels, we do manage to go out to eat fairly often. I mystery shop so I sometimes take them with me if there is an early breakfast or lunch shop to do. There have been a few times where we have quickly gotten our food packed to finish at home so the kids and others around us wouldn't have to endure waiting for us to finish our meal. They are just kids afterall. Sometimes it is hard for me to sit still for an hour. As long as we bring something for them to do while sitting there waiting, it usually works out just fine.

 

[inkkognito]

I don't think I've ever seen a child cry through the whole meal, but on one of our seven day cruises there was a little boy at another table that we dubbed "Houdini." He was toddler age and absolutely determined to escape. Each night we would watch to see how long it would take him to manage to wiggle out of his set and head for the hills, and then how long it would be before an adult swooped in and returned him to captivity. He was a real cutie. One night he must have played especially hard because there was no escape attempt...he just drifted right off to sleep during the meal.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[platypus123]

We've never been on a disney cruise and I'm curious. How do you get assigned tablemates? Are some tables only for 4 or do they all seat more than that? How do I find out which kind of table we are seated at? Also, if you get seated at a table with people you don't like, can you change tables?

Thanks for the info

 

[trishy]

DCL tries to lump "like" people together at a table. For instance my family of 5 got lumped with a family of 3 at a table for 8 last cruise. The cruise before that our family was put with another family of 5 (we linked our ressies) at a table for 10. They try to seat families with families, singles with other singles or couples without children, etc. When you check in at the port, your KTTW card will specify a table number and a rotation. That in itself won't tell you whether you are seated with another family(s). Once you board you can go to the specified spot (noted on the Navigator - usually Sessions) to see specifics on your dining situation. If you do not like the arrangement, you can request a change then or they may tell you to wait until your dining time to see if changes could be made. For example, when we got our KTTW when we linked our ressies, we were at table 47 and our friends were at 74 - obviously a mistake. The dining manager handled it very well and called our staterooms to notify us of the correction prior to our dining time. Some tables seat 4. They really do try to accomodate everybody. If you realize there will be a problem with the people at your table, you can request a change at that time through the manager. Harder to get your request, but I've seen it happen. Definitely not anything to be worried about. DCL is packed full with children and adults who think they're still children; it's amazing the dining rooms are as enjoyable as they are.

 

[eva]

I know that everyone says that DCL tries to match table mates with similar people, but they really screwed up with our assignment last month. Early in the day we had stopped by Triton's to see what table we had assigned and were excited to see it was a table for 8. We thought that we would be seated with 3 other couples and we should surely find one couple to visit with. Instead they sat my husband and myself (celebrating our 20th anniversary) with 3 women and 3 young children. Not only were they all women with children, but they mostly spoke Spanish. And the youngest ,who was 6, was quite spoiled. She sure kept our assisant server hopping. The 3 women were trying to apease her the entire meal. At Triton's she ordered pizza and didn't like it, so she wanted bacon. The assistant server brought her a small plate with about 5 slices on it. She ate that and then demanded more, I couldn't believe the way she "asked". So the assistanat server got smart and brought out a large plate with about 20 slices of bacon. The girl didn't even touch a one. The poor women had quite a time keeping that girl in her seat. She ended up running around the table about half the meal. Guess she had to work off all that bacon. We tried to get ahold of our head waiter before we left that night to try to get a different table the next night. But he had already left before we were done with dinner. I was astonished. But I do have to admit that we were about the last to leave that night. Our table mates didn't get to dinner until 9pm and the waiter didn't come until everyone was there. Luckily our assistant server (who was fantastic) brought us drinks while we waited. We decided just to leave things as they were. It was only a 3-night cruise and we had reservations for Palo the last night. We've just learned our lesson. We will always ask for a table that will seat the exact number in our party. We are going again next May with our 2 adult daughters, my MIL and possibly my sister. There will be 5-6 of us and we definitely will be requesting a table for 6. It's too bad, I really like to meet new people. But I don't want to go through that again.

 

[taswira]

I think they screwed up even worse on my recent cruise. Out of 6 cruises with half of them solo, I <I>never</I> had a real problem until this last one. They assigned me, as a solo cruiser, to a table consisting of only ONE family that was having a family reunion sort of thing and wanted it to be "just them." What happened after that turned my dining experience into a stressful one for me. My report is on my <B><a href="http://www.magicaldisney.com">MagicalDisney.com</A></B> site under "Cruises."

DCL should NOT seat a single individual with ONE family, IMHO!

 

[999thghost]

my only encounter with a cruise was not exactly great. i guess i didnt realize that on a cruise there is no table for two.here i thought i was going on a romantic cruise with the mrs, only to find that we would be seated with another couple.not my dream situation but hey i figured i give it a shot. well first off the couple were much younger than us and i tried every conversation tactic i know.not much worked.my last resort was to buy a nice bottle of wine for the table for all to share.80$ later i find out that nobody drank at the table.not even my wife.do you think it went to waste??? nope...hiccup.....heres a hint for all cruises other than the disney type, if you dont drink, gamble or dance a cruise is not for you.

 

[rae519]

Taswira!
Welcome back to the Boards! I've missed your posts very much!
Hope all is well with you and that you continue to post!

I agree that a single should be seated with other adults and not families - with the exception of the "drunken spitters or Casanovas"!

We heard the GREAT Fidelio is back at Dueling Pianos on the Magic - just hope he is still there in 47 days when we cruise!


BD - I agree it isn't the "seeing" a crying child that is so disturbing, it's the ignorant parents who satisfy their own food lust who refuse to comfort/remove the child.
We saw a father put his child's stroller (with the 18 month old child inside) it against a wall and the child screamed and screamed. When the child stopped, he was brought back to the table.
You have no idea how irate people were about that! The serving staff was very uncomfortable about the entire situation.

Rae

 

[Talking Hands]

Geez you guys are making me nervous about dining. I'm travelling with just my husband who hates screaming kids. Has no tolerance for them. We communicate with a combination of voice and ASL. I sign, but he doesn't although he understands me most of the time. And we're stuck with early dining so I know there will be kids around. Normally we wouldn't eat until 7:30 or 8 pm at home. And I refuse to wear my hearing aids in a noisy restaurant! I hope we survive.