Genuinely curious about wanting a private table

[cmwade77]

I see so many on here that are very concerned about getting their own table. I understand this for those with certain food allergies, but for everyone else I am curious as to why?

We honestly have found that Disney does a great job at matching people and have made some life long friends with some of our table mates. So that leaves me wondering why so many are so insistent, even at lunch and character breakfasts.

Not putting anyone down in anyway for their preference, we all have likes and dislikes, just honestly curious.

 

[Macmaro]

Work and school separate my family on a daily basis. With everything going on all the time I want nothing more than to spend all of my vacation time with them. That's the biggest reason.

Beyond that, I'm not into small talk. First cruise was just my wife and I. We were sat with two other couples. Very nice people but I dreaded going to dinner after the third night. There was nothing left to talk about and I'm not one to drone on and on about myself. The next 9 cruises we requested a table for just our party and have always been happy.

 

[wilkeliza]

It is all personal. With that said to me a part of cruising is if you have a smaller group you are going to be assigned a shared table. So we go wth jt and bave met some awesome people and well some characters over the course of 4 DCL experiences.

 

[bumbershoot]

Despite being a fairly extreme introvert, I like sharing a table. We spend a LOT of time together as a family, and it's fun to hear NEW experiences, new ideas, and deal with new personalities.

 

[aggiedog]

Like a PP, I want to spend my vacation time with my family, and as the kids get older I may not be with them all day on the ship. Meals are where we come together to rehash the day.

We generally travel with the 6 of us, plus grandparents. Half of us are serious introverts, and the two kids get pretty subdued if put at a table of strangers. Not only is it uncomfortable for them, but then I don't get to enjoy their normally bubbly personalities.

 

[quickcat]

My son is graduating high school this year. With his sports, work, and friends we rarely have time for nice dinner talks anymore. I love that part of our cruise, just our family enjoying a nice dinner together where no one has to be some where else. Something I hear so much and it really rings true- they grow up so fast! I really treasure our vacations and spending the week together.

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

I'm a school psychologist and hear about people's day/lives all day long at work. On vacation, I don't want to do that. I need a break from it. And I don't want my family to compete for my attention. My DH is an introvert, so I could imagine myself as being "spokesperson" for the family. I'm also very much a pleaser by nature, so if my dd's were acting up, I don't think I'd have a clear head on how to deal with them. I'd be way too worried about whether we are ruining someone else's meal.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I don't enjoy small talk and don't like to talk about myself at all. Also, very introverted so am not interested in spending time with people I share nothing in common with.

 

[OKW Lover]

Some interesting points of view here. I certainly understand the desire for some family time. Isn't it also a great opportunity to meet new people though? To learn about others?

 

[cmwade77]

Some interesting points of view here. I certainly understand the desire for some family time. Isn't it also a great opportunity to meet new people though? To learn about others?

That's what we found, even me who is more of an introvert enjoys having others around, which is why I was curious.

 

[cadien]

For cruising veterans, other lines make much less effort to match people, so there can be some really bad experiences in the past.

Meeting and chatting with people during the rest of the day can be easier. And then dinner is family time.

 

[bbangel]

I have been open to being seated with other people always hoping to get these great matches people have talked about. After shared tables being a total mismatch every time we've been seated with others (4 out of 6 times) I may start requesting a table of our own. The mis matches were not so bad that we requested a change but it made every dinner awkward for everyone as we tried to find something to talk about and since our eating styles were so different in one case it made for a lot of waiting we wouldn't have had to do if we were by ourselves.

 

[quickcat]

I'm a school psychologist and hear about people's day/lives all day long at work. On vacation, I don't want to do that. I need a break from it. And I don't want my family to compete for my attention. My DH is an introvert, so I could imagine myself as being "spokesperson" for the family. I'm also very much a pleaser by nature, so if my dd's were acting up, I don't think I'd have a clear head on how to deal with them. I'd be way too worried about whether we are ruining someone else's meal.

My DH is not a psychologist but he works with people every day and says the same thing- having a break from making small talk is something he looks forward to on vacation

Some interesting points of view here. I certainly understand the desire for some family time. Isn't it also a great opportunity to meet new people though? To learn about others?

For me, I find that talking to/ meeting new people is something I always do on our excursions, waiting in line for characters, etc- plenty of other opportunities. But for us, dinners just are wonderful for my family with just us

 

[CamColt]

When we cruise our DSs (20 and 17) are always off doing their thing. In general, dinners and an occasional excursion are my only requirements for them. I want to spend that time with them, not having to make small talk with strangers. That is another reason I like a table for 4. I'm very uncomfortable making small talk with strangers and I feel with others at our table would lessen my enjoyment of the meal. I may not order that extra appetizer I wanted to try in front of strangers.

With that said, usually our tables are so close to others we will often end up having some interaction with our neighbors, however it's different. At the same table you are sort of obliged to interact. Separated it can happen, but its not rude if you don't talk to them.

Some interesting points of view here. I certainly understand the desire for some family time. Isn't it also a great opportunity to meet new people though? To learn about others?

I agree it is a great opportunity to meet and learn about others, however on most cruises that's not what I'm looking to do. My exception to this would have been a cruise on the Wonder back in 2009 when we ended up at a table for 6 (or was it 8?) at Palo Brunch. I'm glad I met some people then.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

My husband is an introvert, and he's hoping we'll be at a table all ourselves. He really just doesn't enjoy engaging with strangers. I'm an extrovert and I'm hoping we'll be sitting with strangers, because my husband isn't a huge chatter and I am

I definitely love learning about other people but I also understand his feelings--vacation for him is about recharging, relaxing, and not having to talk to people all day (which he does have to do at work). I get a little stir crazy without strangers

We're not requesting anything but as a family of 5 with three kids under 5 I bet they won't inflict us on anyone.

 

[PlutoIsHerFav]

We have requested (and been granted) tables for our family only on both DCL cruises. My husband and I both work outside of the home. Our time together as a family is precious and the whole reason we splurge on this type of vacation. We've talked to the tables next to us (because while we're separated, it's not like you can't reach out and hug your neighbor without getting out of your chair) and always meet people through our FB cruise group, standing in character lines, etc. We find that we run into the same people and share small talk, etc. However, dinner is for us. This vacation is for us. Plus, we have one daughter with Celiac and cannot have cross contamination. I do not want to spend dinner watching another family pass bread and me having to make sure crumbs don't get anywhere near my daughter's plate, hands, etc. Secondly, with this last cruise, our youngest is one - she is not a delightful dinner mate at this time. I care very much about my children's' behavior in public, and I would have been (extra) stressed if she was being unpleasant (which she was at times) and worrying that I was bothering our table mates. To each their own!

 

[murmer]

We just did our first cruise and we're matched up with an awesome group of table mates! With that said when we take our kids we are requesting a private table. My daughter has autism and it really would not be fair to anyone who is sitting with us to have to deal with her issues. So there may be non allergy medicAl reasons for a private table request.

 

[Dznypal]

One 2 of the 3 DCL we've been on our table mates were great. Easy to talk to about our age. One of the cruises we had a table to ourselves and even though I'm very quite. We felt like something was missing. DH lives to talk. We were on RC to Europe and had 2 couples from England. They were very nice but very hard to get a conversation going. They found out we were from Milwaukee. So then we had the fronz and happy days to talk about. One of the guys had a lawn mower with a Briggs and Stratton motor which were at one time made in Milwaukee and both of us used to work there But you couldn't build too much on those two topics. After about 3 nights we mostly ate in windjammers.

 

[Pens Fan]

We take vacations to spend time together as a family and experience new places. If we meet people along the way, great, but it's not why we vacation. We went the shared table route on 3 out of 5 cruises, and while it was fine, at times it was awkward.

I hear people talking on here about the amazing job Disney does matching up table mates. That hasn't always been our experience. Of the three times we shared a table, only once can I say that the match made sense as far as matching kid's ages, makeup of the family, etc. Once we shared a table with a lovely family from Israel. At first we were delighted as we love learning about different cultures, but as the week went on it became increasingly awkward as only the father and one of the sons spoke English. Both of our families tried to make the connection, but by the end of the week we'd all pretty much given up and just chatted with our own families in our native languages.

After that we gave up and asked for our own table. Interestingly enough, when we've had our own table we have found the interactions with our servers to be so much better. It could be a coincidence, but it seems when it's just us we have the time to really get to know our servers as people, not just someone bending over backward to provide "excellent" service to large table of people with different needs and expectations.

 

[DCSWO]

I don't mind meeting and talking with other families but I also don't like the pressure of having to be "on" at dinner every night. If it has been a busy day off ship and I am worn out by dinner time, if it's just family, I don't have to deal with "what are we going to talk about" when I sit down. Plenty of opportunities to interact with others away from the dinner table.