Would we be crazy to skip dinner in the main dining rooms?

[KSandbergFL]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to sound mean, I know not everyone is as talkative and outgoing as me and my partner are, but it can get akward if one group likes to talk and the other group seems to prefer to sit in silence . . .

With the dining rooms, your odds of being seated at a table with people you "click" with are probably 50/50 at best. We have only cruised 4 times, on 3-nt Wonder cruises (still "rookies" compared to some of you!), but we are 1-for-4 (25%) having tablemates that genuinely seemed to enjoy talking with us and sharing fun family stories. On one cruise, we were matched up with a family who tried their best to pretend we weren't there -- it was very uncomfortable and awkward.

We dutifully attended all the dining rooms, until our 3rd cruise. We got a "pixie dust" upgrade from a Cat 9 to a Cat 6 balcony room - our first balcony! We loved that balcony so much, we felt "obligated" to enjoy it as much as possible.... so one evening we ordered some room service and ate in our room. WOW! It was sooooo nice... to eat at our own pace... to not have to make polite conversation with people who don't really care who you are.... best of all, you can enjoy the endless sky over the beautiful ocean, and the cool ocean breezes, while you eat. You can even eat in your underwear (or naked!), if you want

On our 4th cruise, we ate all our meals in the room, except for Triton's night (which happened to be the first night). Our table mates were "nice enough", but not so compelling to make us prefer to share our dinner time with them. It is just so much more convenient to walk up to Deck 9 and get some sandwiches or pizza, sodas, and chips, and eat when you feel like it. Plus, in my opinion the grilled salmon panini at Goofy's Galley is one of the tastiest items on the ship! My favorite memory from our last cruise (Sept 2009) is eating dinner with my sexy wife, alone out on our private (Cat 5) balcony, watching the sunset. Life just doesn't get any better than that!

 

[nashville_minnie]

My boyfriend and I are going on a short three day cruise in May. We were wondering if it would be ridiculous to skip dinner in the main dining rooms, except for one night at Palo, and just do room service and maybe eat at the buffet? We really aren't too fond of sitting with strangers and would prefer to spend time alone together. I'm assuming we can still tip the servers even if we don't go correct?

Thanks!

Nope, not crazy at all. We skipped the dining room four out of seven nights this past trip - spent two wonderful evenings at Palo, tried out Topsiders to see what it was like, and then had room service one night (we were in a cat 9, so no balcony to enjoy )

We are not the type of people who enjoy sitting for 2 hrs each evening in the main dining rooms - it just takes too much of a chunk of time out of the day. We don't drink wine & we don't really care to linger over so-so food. Our tablemates were nice enough people (we were at an 8 top with 3 other adult couples), but they did drink wine & the servers spent a great deal of time catering to that while we just sat there waiting to order. Also, I have noticed that if you do not have children at your table, the servers kind of prioritze you after those that do. We saw tables within our section finishing their dessert while we still had entrees on our table. It drove me bonkers.

The night we had room service, we ate BLTs in about 20 mins & then went to enjoy the pool & hot tub and had it all to ourselves - very relaxing. We just grabbed some pizza when we got hungry again. It was really one of the nicest parts of the trip.

It's great that DCL has so many options for those that don't really enjoy the dining room experience.

 

[Beezymouse]

I've been reading the responses to this post with interest.

I too don't like the idea of being seated with strangers at dining. When I'm not with people I know I get very shy and easily embarrassed incase I look stupid or silly or don't undertand what people are talking about. (yeah ok so I'm a paranoid android) I'm not antisocial or against meeting new people I'm just comfortable when I'm with people I know.

It sounds childish, but I have a tendancy to "speak" through my husband when I'm with unfamiliar people and he just makes me laugh by speaking in his strongest Aberdonain accent that even I struggle to understand and I go into fits of giggles. I know I'm gonna get stressed out about having to make small talk with people I don't know. But at least I've got plenty time to work on it.

I do like the idea of sitting on a balcony with DH, just me and him and the waves enjoying a night to us - even if it is just only pizza and chips! lol

Now that the OP has put this idea out thereI will certainy consider it. I think I may also put in a seating request with DCL and see if I get it.

 

[scootch]

We just did a three day(myself and my two daughters, 7 and 10). The first day when you board we had a delicious buffet for lunch. We did not want to waste 2 hours at dinner and really did not need much food..... so we just got some wraps from plutos and pizza which was fine with the girls. Next day we spent at Atlantis.. got back to the ship, tired and just did room service(which was fine but did take over 30 min so be sure to call ahead). That night is pirate party so there is buffett of desserts at 9pm. Then the last night we requested our last night to be Animators Pallete so we could see the cool color changes and that was the only night we had the sit down meal(and it does last a good hour to hour and a half). In my opinion, it worked out absolutely fine for us. We had enough good food, but also had extra time to enjoy other things on the ship as the three day cruise just goes so quickly!!!!

 

[epcotrulz]

i need to check out this salmon panini this summer -- and since we'll be on the ship for 12 nights, do a dinner on our balcony!!

 

[MissMet]

I have been on three dcl cruises as a party of 3. I called & requested having a private table & they said the didn't guarantee it. After getting on board I went to check if my request was met & all three cruises we were seated at our own table. While they don't guarantee it, if you're at the 2nd seating, I think you can be pretty much be guaranteed to get a private table.

Call & make the request. When you get on board check the navigator for where & when they are making dining adjustments/palo reservations & ask if you got your request. If you didn't than go to the buffet, pluto's or room service, but if you did get your request, which I'm pretty sure you will, then enjoy your dinner- it's really a good part of the dcl experience, but not worth it if you feel uncomfortable sitting with strangers.

 

[anna08]

So glad to hear that we are not alone in our opinion of dining in the restaurants! On the Wonder we did not at all enjoy the process of dinner - waiting for late dining with little ones, then having it take two hours to complete the deal. Anyone who has a two year old knows that a two hour restaurant dinner is TORTURE. The kicker was that we felt the food was like wedding reception food and truly not worth the wait. We felt obligated to eat at the restaurants, but we have learned our lesson. Interestingly, the best-looking meals were one that a large group from India near us had - they spoke with the head server who I assume had the kitchen make some authentic Indian dishes. We will definitely experiment with the other options on our next cruise.

 

[scrapbookingpro]

We are thinking of skipping the dining rooms this trip also. We have been before and we just don't want to put out 2 year old through the two hour dinners.
Does anyone know (specifically) what the food is like at the dinner buffet? Do they have a lot of options? Do they have good desserts, like in the restaurants?

 

[NancyIL]

My feeling is that one distinctive of a Disney cruise is the rotational dining, so I would encourage you to try the restaurants the first time you cruise. If it's because you don't want to sit with strangers, then request a table for 2. If you cruise again on DCL and choose not to eat in the dining rooms, so be it. If you just want to spend time alone together, you could do that on any cruise ship - and probably at a lower price!

 

[dunbarfamily]

I missed Triton's because I was seasick that night, but I wasn't that impressed with the other restaurants. The food was just okay and the dining rooms are crowded and noisy. Contrary to what everyone else reports, our service was not good. I don't know what was going on, but our servers weren't attentive and seemed rushed. I enjoyed the company of our table mates, but I was traveling alone with a child, so it was nice to other adults to talk to. In your situation, I wouldn't hesitate to skip the main dining room.

Not everyone else...we had poor service on our first cruise too. And I'm not demanding or anything, we just had poor service.

 

[flash828]

Think our next cruise we'll be skipping a few main dinners too (we have done 3). With the 4 of us it seems to take so long, we rather enjoy more of the boat than sit at a meal. One time we were a party of 13, it was almost bed time by the time we were finished.

 

[Morty Fieldmouse]

My wife and I are not big on talking to strangers either, but we enjoyed the dining rooms on our honemoon cruise. We were grouped with three other "couples." One couple had been married about 10 years, one couple was not married, and the last pair were just friends (1 guy, 1 girl, 1 stateroom); they explained it to the table, but didn't correct servers or other people who assumed they were a "couple." We had a good balance of conversations with the other couples and conversations between just the two of us. I loved the food and the service was great; we had second dining, which I imagine is less hectic which may lead to better service.

We took a 4-night cruise, so we got to experience all three dining rooms + Palo. Even though I've already seen it, I will not miss Animator's Palate whenever it comes time for cruise #2.

The best dinner conversation of the cruise was when the couple from Boston explained ice scrapers to the friends from Los Angeles... "You have to do that *every* morning?" "Usually. And again when you leave work."

 

[smoof]

No, you aren't crazy. We have talked about doing it ourselves to control the amount of food we eat. I know that will sound crazy to some people, but not sitting in the dining room and seeing everyone's dessert comming out, etc... will help us control our portions.

 

[scrapbookworm]

We haven't sailed DCL yet, but we have sailed RCCL twice. The first one, 09/2001, DH and I were seated at a 4 top with another couple. We really enjoyed getting to know them. I remember their first names were Linda and Jeff. The 2nd cruise, 09/2003, DH, DD (age 3), and I were seated at a larger table with 2 other parties. One party consisted of half-drunk young adults. The other party was an older woman and maybe her 2 grandchildren. They only came to dinner once. So we just ignored the other people- clearly we had nothing in common with them. I'm not a people person either, so I'm curious to see what types of people we will be seated with on the Wonder in May.

 

[jedijill]

I always sail solo. That is always an awkward experience being the "lone" person. What I've done is join my cruise meet thread and have always found a group of folks that I've "clicked" with. I've linked my reservation with theirs and am seated at that table. It's great because I already "know" these folks from chatting online and then I'm not stuck with strangers. I've made some very good friends this way.

Jill in CO

 

[brewcrew]

I say if you're paying for it, you choose whatever makes you happy. We love the dinner at the restaraunts and have always requested a private table for our family of 6 and been granted that wish. They have such an abundance of food on that ship, you won't be lacking! Have fun!

 

[has]

For us the dinning experience was one of the highlights of our cruise. We were the only ones at our table. The best part was the view of the waves and sunsets. Our table was next to the window at Lumiere's and Parrot Cay. Beautiful, relaxing, quiet evenings. The food was excellent. The buffet is great for breakfast, but I would not want to eat there for dinner every night. I'm on a cruise and want to be pampered. I can go to a buffet at home and listen to the racket from the kitchen and the families with a 6 kids running from station to station. No Thanks!

Which ever you decide, you will have a great time on your cruise. Dining is just one of the many magical things to do on a Disney Cruise.

Happy Sailing
Heidi

 

[Tarabra]

I enjoy the restaurants and I enjoy the process of "going to dinner" I also like having tablemates. On our last cruise we didn't have any and it was sort of boring. We've met some great people and even got together with some after the cruise. One couple was from Vegas and we met up w/ them when we were out there. They showed us some local things that we wouldn't have known about. Another couple was just married, he was from Belguim and she from Mexico City. Wow! What interesting people. We rented a car w/ them and spent the day at St. Maarten. Others were crew members at WDW, another man worked at NASA., another guy at the corporate office of Harley Davidson. One single mom w/ her daughter sent me a baby gift when my daughter was born. I was pregnant at the time. I keep in touch w/ some via email and facebook. The first night is a little awkward, but by the end of the cruise, it's like you've known each other forever. I like hearing what they did at the ports or if they are repeat cruisers, they may have suggestions for things they have done before that we could try at the next port. I DO find it awkward sitting w/ another family at the tables in Parrot Cay for lunch, but it's not like that for an hour and a half long dinner. I love it and wouldn't miss dinner in the dining rooms.

 

[croppincolburn]

Room service sounds wonderfully decadent. Something we never do when it cost more than a tip. If the dining rooms aren't tempting to you I say skip them. Vacations should be relaxing and energizing. What ever you pick I hope you enjoy it lots and lots!

 

[jilljill]

We are thinking of skipping the dining rooms this trip also. We have been before and we just don't want to put out 2 year old through the two hour dinners.
Does anyone know (specifically) what the food is like at the dinner buffet? Do they have a lot of options? Do they have good desserts, like in the restaurants?

There is not a buffet set up dinner. They have a salad bar and dessert bar, but the main course is ordered off a menu which is similiar to the dining room menus. Also, Topsiders/Beach Blanket Buffet is not open the first and last night of the cruise.