Wish Dining Rooms Layout Comparison Question

[dwg]

We were on the Wish last year and did not enjoy eating in the main dining rooms with the exception of 1923 and that was only because we had our own booth. We felt that the tables were very close together to the point that the wait staff could not really navigate between the tables to serve the food, drink, etc. The rooms especially Arendelle were especially noisy to the point of difficult to have a conversation. We felt like the original 4 ships generally had more space between the tables and in the aisles.

We are sailing on the Wish again later this year only because it is the DVC member cruise otherwise we would have looked to the older ships. We will most likely avoid the dining rooms on the upcoming cruise.

My question primarily for those who have sailed on other cruise lines. Especially newer ships. In your experience how are the dining rooms (not specialty dining) set up? Is the dining room set up on the Wish the norm or is it more like the older ships? Up until now we have not tried other cruise lines but after our dining experience on the Wish it might be time.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I have sailed Wish, Dream, Wonder, and Fantasy all within the last year. For what it’s worth, I don’t think the Wish tables were that much closer together than Dream/Fantasy, possibly the Wonder was further apart? On Wish/Dream/Fantasy I felt we could reach out and grab something on the table next to us (sometimes on both sides!) with ease.

When we cruise Celebrity we almost always cruise their suite class and they have a separate dining room that is more spaced out, the last time I sailed with their standard dining room was maybe 8 years ago; I vaguely recall distance between the tables varied. Same goes for Princess, which we used to sail a few times a decade. In my memory, the 2 tops are often very close to each other or a 4 top, but the bigger tables tend to be spaced a bit further apart.

 

[soniam]

I have sailed Wish, Dream, Wonder, and Fantasy all within the last year. For what it’s worth, I don’t think the Wish tables were that much closer together than Dream/Fantasy, possibly the Wonder was further apart? On Wish/Dream/Fantasy I felt we could reach out and grab something on the table next to us (sometimes on both sides!) with ease.

When we cruise Celebrity we almost always cruise their suite class and they have a separate dining room that is more spaced out, the last time I sailed with their standard dining room was maybe 8 years ago; I vaguely recall distance between the tables varied. Same goes for Princess, which we used to sail a few times a decade. In my memory, the 2 tops are often very close to each other or a 4 top, but the bigger tables tend to be spaced a bit further apart.

When we sailed Celebrity Summit, the 2 tops in Luminae where fairly close together. It wasn't an issue. In fact, we ended up befriending several of our neighboring 2 tops at meals. I think that's fairly common for 2 tops though, because they just separate a 4 top. The others were fine.

On DCL, we have only done Fantasy. They felt pretty close sometimes, depending upon which dining room and where the table was located. Animator's Palate feels the worst to me. Actually, our last cruise, our Enchanted Garden table was so close to the table next to us, that the people kept knocking over stuff on our table when getting out on our side. We were at the end, but there wasn't room to move the table down without being in the walkway. Our table neighbors were fairly slim too. Unfortunately, they were obnoxiously loud.

 

[dwg]

Now that you mention Enchanted gardens I do remember sitting at a table that was just inches from the next table. We did feel squeezed in. Maybe as my memory fades from not being on the older ships for a couple of years the seating just seemed to be a little more open especially the aisles.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Now that you mention Enchanted gardens I do remember sitting at a table that was just inches from the next table. We did feel squeezed in. Maybe as my memory fades from not being on the older ships for a couple of years the seating just seemed to be a little more open especially the aisles.

I would say the aisles are always nicer (and maybe there are more of them on older ships?)— now that I think about it, I’m confident that Wonder had much more space than Dream/Fantasy and I really don’t think there was much delta between Dream/Fantasy and Wish.

However, as @soniam pointed out, the size of your party makes a big difference in experience anywhere— we always have tables of 4-8 at Luminae (at least our kids, sometimes parents, and au pairs) and we get these cozy/fairly private booths. Even when my husband and I went alone we were seated at 4 tops— which may have been close to the next table but don’t feel that way when only using half your table.

It also probably matters based on your frame of reference— we lived in NYC for nearly a decade and often eat in expensive cities, so being crammed close to the next table doesn’t offend me that much as long as (a) they aren’t loud/obnoxious and (b) there’s enough space to get in and out without having other people brush against my place settings.

I think the 75th percentile Disney cruiser (on our 4 cruises) is quite a bit larger than the 75th percentile Celebrity cruiser (this may not be fair to DCL because we only cruise Disney from FL and LAX and we tend to do more exotic ports with Celebrity and Princess and other lines) — but if you know you are going to have a large population of guests who are larger, you should be keeping more space between tables.