Throwing the dice with dinner mates

[bobbiwoz]

Sometimes having strangers at the table makes eating feel too much like work. DH prefers to eat only with family, friends, whomever we're sailing with. That's why he so much prefers either Princess anytime dining or RCCLs version of the same.

We have had a bad experience, at a table for 10 on a RCCL European cruise. We went to alternative dining once or twice and our obnoxious tablemate saw us and asked us why we weren't at dinner. On the other hand at that table there were also a most delightful couple, so that was a plus.

We're on the EBTA, I'm part of the meet thread here, but DH still has had our TA request a table for two. I'm fine with that, too.

Bobbi

 

[ajmercedes59]

Did you request that or did DCL assign you that.

We requested it.

 

[mdurette]

I remember years ago making reservations on another cruise line. It was just DH and I. We were asked if we wanted a table for 4, 8 or 12. The agent suggested 12 because there is always someone that you will get along with. With the table for 4 - if you don't like your table mates - your stuck.

Our last DVC cruise - we were 3 and the other party was 3. Grandmother, mother and son. I wouldn't say they ruined dinner - but the mother was always dressed like a slob - complained that there was no way she was eating the food they served (too fancy) so she ordered the chicken strips off the kids meal every night. And yes, the last night they didn't show (this was before automatic tipping)

All well....you just make the best of it!

 

[Ntrain]

We just came back from our 2nd Disney cruise and for this one we requested a table by ourselves and it was granted. We are family of 3 with a special needs 4yr old. There was no info in our file.

On our first cruise we were seated with another family of 3. We got along well and half way through the cruise we discovered each other kid was special needs. None of the kids interacted with each other because of the issues they had but it worked out fine as weird as it sounds. Neither of us had info about our kids issues on our files.

For this one it was decided to request it. There are some issues with him going on right now that I know the way he acts people find him very weird. My son is 98% very polite and you would never know he had any issues. Is that other 2% that worry us. He has a speech impairment and kids and some adults have problems understanding him and he could get frustrated very easily with that. I was so glad that it was granted because this time around that 2% showed up a couple of times. Being by ourselves it was more relaxing because of this situation but missed interacting with other people. We had awesome servers that were really nice and patient with him.

We were lucky the first time with our tablemates. If you are thinking of requesting a table by yourselves don't hesitate. I requested it a week before the cruise and we got it.

 

[Lisa Anne Colling]

We have always had fantastoc luck with table mates. We have gotten along so well and had so much in common that it was scarey! I figure Disney must be all knowing like the FBI and know everything about you!~ LOL! Our first table mates I was so stressed about. We had 3 little kids 4 and under and really were not looking forward to sharing our table and conversing with anyone! AT that stage of life it is all about getting through dinner! Anyways, we sat with a family of 3 with a little girl a little older then our little girl. They became quick little buddies! The common link between us all was that our children and their daughter was adopted. How could Disney have known we would have that in common? Incredible! We did end up keeping in touch for quite a few years! On another cruise (mom & dad only cruise), again we were matched up with 2 other incredible couples, also "on leave" from the kids. We had a fantastic time with them! It is a roll of the dice like the OP said, but so far our luck has held!

 

[Allanaw]

We just took our first Cruise. We have kids age 5,6, 10 and they sat us at a table with another couple with a 1 year old. The family was great but I would have loved not to have such a young child at the table. We were out of the messy eating, utensil and food throwing, and not being able to sit still age so dinner was a bit more stressful than I would have liked.

 

[momto2girls]

Ack! I never thought about being assigned tablemates! We have taken 5 DCL cruises so far and have always had our own table (we're a party of 4). Was that just luck? We definitely want our own table. I guess I'm glad to read this thread, so that I can be sure to call them and put in a request!

 

[csidisney]

I made a request for our own table for our cruise next week. Hopefully it will be granted. Nothing against other cruisers, but this is our first cruise that we are taking with just me, DH, and our two kids. We normally cruise with other family or friends, and this time, we want to have together time with just us. Its a rarity that we hardly get in "real life" between work, school, extracurricular stuff, etc....

 

[lorimay]

Our first 2 cruises were with our neighbors so we had a table for 8 both times.
Perfect.
In 2012 we did another and our family has grown from 4 to 8 so a table of just us.

The last 2 my husband and I did, we requested a table for 2 and that works perfect for us.

We are looking at 2 cruises right now. One is a repositioning cruise and the other is Alaska. I am not sure they will be able to accommodate us with our own table.
Does anyone have experience with this?

Thanks
Lori

 

[dpswift]

We just got off the Wonder and were assigned to a table with a girl my daughters age. They came in and took one look at us and requested a private table. The next night their daughter guilt tripped them into sitting with us even though the head waiter had rearranged it so they could sit alone. It went fine but they did not come back for the rest of the cruise.

 

[jadedjojo]

Our first 2 cruises were with our neighbors so we had a table for 8 both times.
Perfect.
In 2012 we did another and our family has grown from 4 to 8 so a table of just us.

The last 2 my husband and I did, we requested a table for 2 and that works perfect for us.

We are looking at 2 cruises right now. One is a repositioning cruise and the other is Alaska. I am not sure they will be able to accommodate us with our own table.
Does anyone have experience with this?

Thanks
Lori

We requested our own table on Alaska and got it (and it was a full ship), so you should have no problems .

 

[BCV2003]

We had our own table, 2 of us at a 4 top, in October on the Dream. We specifically chose concierge so would be guaranteed our own table. We did get engaged on the first night at dinner so I was glad we had our own table. If we had tablemates, he definitely wouldn't have proposed at dinner.

We will definitely request our own table the next time we sail too.

 

[emeraldluvsbama]

How do you request your own table? We are already booked and have completed the online checkin.

 

[natmom]

We are taking our first cruise in may. I requested we be seated alone, not because I don't want to meet people, but because my daughter has celiac disease (a very severe case) and if there are others around her who are messy with their food she will feel uncomfortable. I realize the request might not be accommodated but it was worth a try. It sounds lie Disney does a good job matching people up though.

 

[MommyTo4Kids]

This makes me very nervous as my DH is extremely anti social almost to the point of being rude. I am a bit shy and reserved myself. However, I have a 15 year old, 13 yo, 6 yo and almost 2 yo who really need to make friends on the ship sooooo I won't request our own table... I almost feel nauseous thinking about having to dine and have a conversation with other people... Hopefully they will be outspoken and understanding of my DH's anti social problem.

 

[LoveDisneyx4]

On our last cruise, it was DH, DS12, and I.

We were seated with another family of 3 with a DD12 and a family of 2 with DD13.

Needless to say the preteens were quiet. My DS didn't talk to the girls, but the adults got along well.
For the person who wondered about regions - we are from Florida and the other two families were Illinois and California.

Looking forward to seeing what we get for tablemates in the 10 days until our cruise!

We're on your cruise!

We'll have 6 people in our party (we attached my in-laws reservations to ours)--but hoping that our girls behave themselves during dining, but they've been known to not be the best behaved. I'm hoping that the late dining ends up being okay as we are in Central Time Zone (so we'll gain at least an hour and I think that the time change happens while we are on board) so we'll see! We might be one of those families that you don't want to sit by...hoping to drop them off at the kid's club to avoid the issue, if we have an issue.

 

[Cisco0214]

Does anyone think that DIsney will switch to anytime or at least open seating. Open seating has become so popular on the other lines. I suppose it would be difficult with the rotation dining but I would like it.

 

[jadedjojo]

How do you request your own table? We are already booked and have completed the online checkin.

You just call the 1800 number anytime before sailing and tell them you have a request. I even request specific servers (although so far everyone ends up on vacation so I get new servers each cruise), so they are very accommodating and used to the requests!

And Mommyto4kids, since there are 6 of you they will probably give you your own table. They have 4, 6, and 8 seating tables so I would really think you'd get your own table. The kids and teens clubs are awesome for kids meeting new people (although I wouldn't know first hand. They won't let me play in there).

 

[Sinderelly]

We request a table for two but usually do not get our request. We have had problems a couple times and asked to be moved. We ended up being moved to 2nd seating because there were no available tables at first seating. On our next cruise we found out some friends of ours are going so hopefully we can link our dining with them!

 

[jadedjojo]

We request a table for two but usually do not get our request. We have had problems a couple times and asked to be moved. We ended up being moved to 2nd seating because there were no available tables at first seating. On our next cruise we found out some friends of ours are going so hopefully we can link our dining with them!

You have a good point Sinderelly! DH and I always choose late dining, so maybe that is why we are always accommodated. Not sure, but maybe those looking for a 2-seater would have a better chance at the later dining.