tablemates or not, which do you prefer?

[taswira]

Yes, I do have. But don't worry, I think it's pretty rare. If someone really feels that bad, I think <I>most of them</I> stay in their stateroom!

 

[Viking]

I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to meet new friends. So it's a definitive YES to tablemates.
Listening in to strangers is a thing I often do when encountering American tourists in Germany. Yes this can be fun, but can also be kind of embarassing - for both sides

 

[taswira]

Originally posted by Viking
Listening in to strangers is a thing I often do when encountering American tourists in Germany. Yes this can be fun, but can also be kind of embarassing - for both sides

Yes, it can. Just means we should ALL be careful (considerate) in what we say . . . in <I>any</I> language.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I've learned something here! You get served with your tablemates? They'd better be on time, since I chose late seating with my kids! Normally we are the ones who are late but I will use this little fact to get DH there on time (yes, it's not me, it's him, honest!)
The funny thing is my kids drive me NUTS but when we eat out people tell me how cute and well mannered they are--I wonder what kind of pod people trade into their bodies for a meal out!
Robin M.

 

[Towncrier]

We've had it both ways. On our first cruise, we were seating with a couple from New York and their 15yo son. They had reservations at Palo the first night, so we didn't get to meet them until the second night. We bonded instantly and had such a great time talking with them. Their son was a hit with the teenage girls on the ship. So much so that when dessert time rolled around, so did one or two of his girlfriends. What a hoot. I guess that our tablemates liked us as well because they had ressies at Palo for another evening, and they decided to eat with us instead.

We looked forward to a similar experience when we cruised again this January. We had met another family here on the DIS boards and they put in a request to either be seated with us or near us. The problem was that we had 2nd seating and they had 1st. When we checked in at the port, the waitlist had come through and we had not only been switched to 1st seating, but our table was located right next to our new friends (jhalkias). This time, however, we were not assigned dining companions. One evening, John and his DW had ressies at Palo, so we invited their son to join us at our table for dinner.

I can understand how a couple celebrating their honeymoon or some other special occasion might not want to be paired with our crazy family from Ohio. And I think that it's great that DCL tries to accommodate those requests. But I really enjoyed the chance to meet new people and form new friendships.

 

[Chattyaholic]

but I know that won't happen on our next Disney cruise, except at Palo's (we didn't eat there last time but definitely plan to this time). I'm really not into having dinner with strangers, would really rather it be just hubby and myself...so I agree with CamColt, you'd think they could have a few tables for two mixed in with the rest of them and reserve them on a "first come first served" basis. On our first cruise we were seated with a family of five. I remember being very surprised to see a box of crayons at one of the place settings that first night. I had not expected to be seated with children, as we were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and didn't have any children with us. The family was nice enough, but we really didn't have anything in common with them and didn't exchange addresses or anything of that nature. On our next cruise I am really hoping they seat us with just adults, if they don't....I'm pretty sure we'll be asking to be changed. Actually, since the smallest tables Disney has are tables for four, that's what I'd prefer to get...and have the other couple never show up.... But at least we can have breakfast and lunch alone, and Palo's too.

 

[MickeyMagic]

On our January cruise, my DD9 and I were seated with a family of 3. I think we were all a little timid at first, especially their DD8.
After a short time making small talk, we realized we were all DIS'ers. Well, talk about an ice-breaker!

We looked forward to dinner each evening, and the girls ended up having the best time with our head waiter. Their shyness was lost somewhere around the second or third night!

I admit I was nervous going into the cruise about the dinner arrangements, but I can't imagine things working out better! Meeting SC Minnie, SC Duckman & their fun-loving daughter really added to a wonderful cruise. We had a great time!

We stayed in touch after the cruise, and as fate would have it, both our families booked the $99 cruise for the same date. So we just had to call DCL and request to be tablemates again! We are definitely looking forward to seeing our friends again.

 

[SC Minnie]

Hi MickeyMagic!

Just over 2 months to go!

We are so looking forward to seeing you and DD again. I agree that dinner was so much more pleasant with the girls getting along so well. I had thought mine would want to leave early and go to the clubs every night but she was having too much fun at dinner!!! At least this cruise they will be in the same lab age group.

 

[goin2dzny]

It's nice to hear everyone's experiences... We are a Group of 15... Three Families... Not sure how our seating arrangements will be... One Family of four tends to like some alone time
( okay... I know what you're thinking... Why on earth would they cruise with a group). I got the idea that DW wasn't real interested in dining as a group... so I don't know if they asked to sit separately.

What is the largest combined seating available???

 

[dahess]

There is 10 in my party so we get 1 huge table to ourselves Just the way we like it

 

[goin2dzny]

Is 10 the largest available group seating???

If we get tables near each other... are we able to move around... kids together... adults together???

 

[Parrotheader]

I guess my wife and I got "lucky" depending upon how you look at it. We're a young couple, both 26. So we assumed we'd be seated other young couples (probably honeymooners) on our 3-day Wonder. It would have been no big deal. I'm sure we would have liked whoever they put us with (although I did want to schedule Palo's so we could at least have one romantic dinner by ourselves.)

We arrived at dinner our first night to find a table seated for 4. We were the first couple there and the maitre 'd came up and introducted himself. He asked us when the rest of our party would be joining us as if he thought we knew them. I told them I didn't know who our tablemates were and he had a puzzled look on his face. He came back a few minutes later and they removed the other chairs from our table so we now just had a table for two! The other couple (who apparently was to be seated with us) came in about 15 minutes late and sat a few tables away. They seemed like very nice people, but looked to be well into their late 50s or early 60s. I'm sure we could have gotten along just fine, but it was nice that our maitre 'd recognized this irregularity (without our even knowing it at the time) and fixed it right there on the spot. As it was, we had a romantic table for two the whole time and actually ended up cancelling Palo's since we were enjoying our wait staff so much.

We realized later that it was probably a mix-up with last names. My last name is not too common and apparently there was another party with that name on board (as I had to verify my first name on several occassions.) They must have thought we were together.

Anyway, long story short, now that I've gone without tablemates it will be hard to go back to having to share. Yeah, yeah. I'm selfish. But it truly made for a fantastic experience being able to enjoy a nice restaurant with just my wife. Maybe next time we'll bring my brother and his wife and have our own built-in tablemates.

 

[disykat]

Although we had hoped for tablemates, our family of four was seated alone. We had a great time, but I was kind of envious of the big tables - they all looked like they were having such fun!

 

[mickeymom629]

and I think because we have four children (15, 13, 11, and 8), it will be fun for all of us to meet others (hopefully) and take our chances getting tablemates. I could see being in a dilema if it was just my DH and I; I would probably prefer to dine alone than hope that we were seated with another couple we would enjoy-- I would definitely not want to be seated with children in that case.

 

[ZebraStripes]

Here is the point of view from my DD7.

We (me, DH, DD) previously sailed on the Wonder and we were seated with another couple with a DD the same age as mine. It was a real mismatch for the adults (nice people though), but the kids seemed to do ok.

Now, we have booked a Magic cruise and have not told DD. Out of the blue last night she says she wouldn't want to do another cruise because she didn't like sitting with someone she didn't know. Hopefully her tune will change when we arrive at the ship because the chances of getting a table for 3 are probably pretty slim.