Will we have table mates?

[JW9DVC]

Speaking of surprise. On one of our cruises there were 5 of us, my dw, dd and her husband and my 25 year old single son. We showed up for dinner to a table of 8. We sat down not knowing if anyone was joining us. About 10 min later walk in 3 single first med school students- all female! My son loved disney that week!!!!

Did he ever do anything with it? Should be married by now!!

 

[jack87891]

Ha!! Too short of cruise! His sister commented it was like there were 2 tables instead of 1. One for the 3 med students and him and one for the rest of us

 

[bakerworld]

We've only cruised 3 times and the last we requested a table for 2. My husband said it wasn't relaxing to sit at a table with other couples - it felt like a business function or one of those 'work party events'.

 

[Dug720]

You can always request to be seated by yourself, but they will not guarantee it. I believe concierge is the only exception to that - they have to request to be seated with others. If you are not seated alone, you can request it again on board, but they may not be able to accommodate you even with changing your servers/rotation/etc.

Do keep in mind, however, that especially on the Dream Class ships, many of the tables are thisclose to each other and might as well not even be separated.

 

[cruisnfamily]

To piggy back on this question, I have another regarding seating. If 2 couples request to link their reservations for dinner, are they likely to get a table for 4 or are they likely to have others join them to make a larger table.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

To piggy back on this question, I have another regarding seating. If 2 couples request to link their reservations for dinner, are they likely to get a table for 4 or are they likely to have others join them to make a larger table.

Either way. You can, of course, request to be seating with only your group. Again, it's just a request.

 

[tutumomickey]

We were clueless about dining and everything else on our first cruise. I am extremely shy and introverted. I was panicked when I discovered I would be sharing a meal with six strangers for a week. Dinner ended up being the highlight of each day.We made wonderful friends, learned a lot from experienced cruisers and shared stories about shore excursions, movies, tastings and our families.Every cruise now , we are the last table to leave.Yes, it is always a little unsettling on the first night to see who you are paired with but, worth the risk. Last EBPC they gave us a table for two. Our waiter(who was terrific) thought it was so romantic. I felt guilty for asking to be reseated but he cheerfully did it and we had 4 wonderful mates for the rest of the cruise. We are sailing the WBPC next week with our daughter and son-in0law and had our TA request a table of 6 or 8. I encoursge everyone to put yourself out there, keep an open mind and let Disney work their magic. Your cruise could become more memorable and enjoyable.

 

[LullabeeDisney]

To piggy back off this... do they set families with kids around the same age or is it just "you both have kids, sit together!" Kind of thing?

I have a SN son who'll be 5 on our cruise, and while he's usually good, he has his moments. I'd hate to be sat with a couple who have 8+ year old kids who wouldn't connect etc. (on the other hand, I'm fine sitting with babies ‍) I just don't want to sit alone - I'd love to be able to meet new people - but I also don't want to ruin people's dinners, ya know?

ETA: if he becomes an issue, we remove him from the situation, but I know that upset children can annoy some people so...

 

[tutumomickey]

We are always late seating with very few children so I am not sure but, I can say they do a very good job of pairing adults. We have always been with other married couples almost exactly the same age as us .My daughter was seated with other newlyweds on her honeymoon cruise.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

To piggy back off this... do they set families with kids around the same age or is it just "you both have kids, sit together!" Kind of thing?

I have a SN son who'll be 5 on our cruise, and while he's usually good, he has his moments. I'd hate to be sat with a couple who have 8+ year old kids who wouldn't connect etc. (on the other hand, I'm fine sitting with babies ‍) I just don't want to sit alone - I'd love to be able to meet new people - but I also don't want to ruin people's dinners, ya know?

ETA: if he becomes an issue, we remove him from the situation, but I know that upset children can annoy some people so...

Typically, they seem to match ages of children when making assignments.

At least as close as they can. We had one dinner, with our then 18 year old son, and the other family had a 16 year old son.

Sometimes it's not quite as good a match as others.

I doubt that a family with kids 8+ wouldn't understand a 5 year melt down.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Either way. You can, of course, request to be seating with only your group. Again, it's just a request.

No, I was hoping for the reverse! I love tablemates and would hope we had MORE but thought the odds were slim.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

No, I was hoping for the reverse! I love tablemates and would hope we had MORE but thought the odds were slim.

You can always request to be seated with others. That's what we did on one cruise we did with another couple. We linked our reservations and asked for a 6 top table.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Was super glad to read this--I was thinking our party of 5 wouldn't have any chance of tablemates! I am sure my husband would appreciate it being just us (and our 3 children under 5) but I looooove strangers so I think I won't do anything and we'll just go with the luck of the draw. We've had great luck meeting up with families of three before with one kid--the one kid gets an instant clan and my kids are so happy to have someone else to play with other than their siblings So I'll be hoping for a shared table and DH will be hoping for solo. No requests will be made and we'll be surprised.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Was super glad to read this--I was thinking our party of 5 wouldn't have any chance of tablemates! I am sure my husband would appreciate it being just us (and our 3 children under 5) but I looooove strangers so I think I won't do anything and we'll just go with the luck of the draw. We've had great luck meeting up with families of three before with one kid--the one kid gets an instant clan and my kids are so happy to have someone else to play with other than their siblings So I'll be hoping for a shared table and DH will be hoping for solo. No requests will be made and we'll be surprised.

Great attitude. I think this is the best course of action.

 

[Alicatt]

Can you just call the main number to request a table alone? My husband is shy and I don't want him to be uncomfortable. Would love table mates but Im sure that I will find plenty of people to chat with anyway .

 

[EvilDrPorkchop21]

We requested our own table (party of 2) through dreams and it went through fine. Thank god too because I got really motion sickness and was barely keeping it together in the restaurants with my fiance. If we were sat with anyone it would have been so awkward as I lost pretty much any ability to socialize .

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Can you just call the main number to request a table alone? My husband is shy and I don't want him to be uncomfortable. Would love table mates but Im sure that I will find plenty of people to chat with anyway .

Yes, just call DCL to have the request added to your reservation. UNLESS you used a TA to book your cruise. Then the TA will need to call and have the request placed on the reservation.

 

[JenPinks]

I am sure there are tons of nice people you will meet at dinner, but personally we don't want to sit with strangers for our meals and what if the off chance you don't click, I don't want to dread going to dinner for 7 nights.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I am sure there are tons of nice people you will meet at dinner, but personally we don't want to sit with strangers for our meals and what if the off chance you don't click, I don't want to dread going to dinner for 7 nights.

On the off chance that you don't "click", you can talk to your head server about changing tables. It's been done.

 

[Dug720]

On the off chance that you don't "click", you can talk to your head server about changing tables. It's been done.

This. Even to your own table if available - though you might have to change rotations and/or servers.

The good news is they are only strangers for the first part of night 1 on DCL. On the fathom Adonia last week where it was open seating it was new people every night - and you got the stink-eye from the dining room manager if you didn't agree to "Happy to dine with others?" query.