Genuinely curious about wanting a private table

[Madame]

Our first cruise we were seated with a family of 3. They tended to be late to dinner & we are on time people... We had literally nothing in common so just meh.

2nd cruise our TA requested a private table (& yes she did request it) & of course DCL has no record of it. They crammed the 5 of us - all very tall, not in any way dainty - at a table for 4 every night while our servers ignored us in favour of the loud huge table of 10 (had to have been at least 10). We skipped 4/7 meals & ate at Tow Mater's & the other fast food options on the pool deck. I had no idea Cabanas was an option.

We are on a b2b Med/Western next summer & will eat on the pool deck the first & last night & try Cabanas for the rest of the cruise. We would be very happy if DCL changed to a free style type system.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I feel I'm the exact way (although for my career I have to be an "extrovert" and constantly make "small talk" and I've learned to do it, but feel awkward nonetheless)! But I don't think you'd bore anyone--you have great conversational skills here (I know, totally different, but still)

You are very kind. Thank you.

 

[Plaid Princess]

I agree with the vast majority of these comments. It seems like the idea of group seating on cruises is kind of an antiquated thing from the days when cruising was much more about aristocratic social interactions than family time. This isn't the titanic and I'm not looking for a family of good breeding to marry my daughter into, LOL.

Thanks for giving me a laugh, this provided a great mental picture.

 

[Plaid Princess]

I've done all of the above, I've requested private tables, linked with friends for tables, and let Disney seat me wherever. They all have their selling points.

I will say, that Disney does do a very good job of matching up groups in my experience. Of the several times I've left the seating up to them, there was only ever one couple we didn't get on with. And I think that was due more to the couple having been gifted the cruise and not really enjoying it overall. They only came to 2 dinners and then we never saw them again. The rest of the people we've been seated with were lovely, one couple from our very first cruise ended up even coming to our wedding. And on our Honeymoon cruise, we were actually seated with acquaintances we didn't know were going on the same trip!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Out of 15 Disney cruises, 11 with my husband and/or family, I've only ever allowed myself to be seated at a table with strangers once. It was just my husband and me. We were seated with 2 other couples. I know many rave about how well Disney matches them with table mates. This was certainly not the case for us. The other 2 couples were considerably older than us. 1 of the couples, the Mrs was just awful. Overbearing. Negative. Always complaining or critiquing. She had some food allergy or something and was always super difficult about every little thing. The other couple was fine. The night that flaky couple ate at Palo was quite enjoyable. Just so much awkward and not terrificly fun for most of the time. Sharing tables was definitely a 1 and done experience for us. We're friendly folks but I think we'll stick to sitting on our own in the future. If we can't have a private table in the MDR we'll skip it.

 

[RedSox68]

It's not guaranteed. On all but one of my cruises, this request was granted. On our Mediterranean sailing on the Magic in 2013, we were placed at a table for 8, with 3 other parties of 2. Unfortunately, they said they had nowhere to move us to because the second seating was full.

I recommend going to whichever restaurant they are doing dining changes and requests the first day and double check that they have given you a private table. That is what we make sure to do almost immediately after boarding. If not, they should be able to help you then, depending on how full the dining time you have selected is. They would have been able to have given us a private table at the earlier seating, but we did not want to switch because several of our port adventures were getting back just around the time dinner would be starting. Good luck!

And keep in mind that a change in table assignment may also change your dining rotation.

 

[beweller6306]

I just called Disney and requested our own table for 3 on our Fantasy SWDAS sailing on 1/27/18. CS rep was amazing. He said he'd be sure our request was granted. Never knew this was this easy. Would have did it years ago.

After our last cruise and the people who shared our table drank bottles of wine each night and then bourbon after dinner with 3 little kids around, my wife and I really didn't like that to much, and certainly didn't like it around our 7 year old. Once they were tuned up they proceeded to brag about themselves. Certainly wasn't a pleasant experience.

 

[RedSox68]

I just called Disney and requested our own table for 3 on our Fantasy SWDAS sailing on 1/27/18. CS rep was amazing. He said he'd be sure our request was granted. Never knew this was this easy. Would have did it years ago.

After our last cruise and the people who shared our table drank bottles of wine each night and then bourbon after dinner with 3 little kids around, my wife and I really didn't like that to much, and certainly didn't like it around our 7 year old. Once they were tuned up they proceeded to brag about themselves. Certainly wasn't a pleasant experience.

In the "old days" it was near impossible to be granted a table for less than four, and we usually had to do it once onboard or request it the night of our first dinner. I have noticed that over the years Disney seems to have "wised up" to the number of people that don't like joint dining. I have seen more and more 2 and 4 top tables in the dining room -- maybe they are starting by separating the tables and then if they need larger seatings, putting tables together

 

[Dallas_Lady]

This thread makes me wonder how many of us would hate each other if we got stuck at a table together

 

[RedSox68]

This thread makes me wonder how many of us would hate each other if we got stuck at a table together

 

[Julylady]

We always request our own table after a few BAD experiences. The worst was with a group that on paper seemed like the perfect match for us. A Grandma, her daughter and her grandchild. But the other Grandma and daughter were not speaking to each other and conversed through the 5 year old. "Please tell your Grandmother that we are getting off in St. Thomas tomorrow." They rarely attempted to talk to us and when they did it was to put down the other one. That was the worst and we asked to change tables after the 3rd night. On other cruises with just adults we always seemed to be seated with braggarts. You know, those who have the biggest and best of everything - houses, jobs, bank accounts. I don't like to talk about myself and I get sick of hearing about how wonderful they are. On one trip we were seated at a table next to another family. We started talking to them and ended up meeting them for other events around the ship. If I could guarantee a good outcome, I might try it again. But, its much safer to just request a table for our own group.

 

[CraftyWitch]

Where do you enter your request to be seated at your own table? Online or do you call your Cruise rep? As much as I think it would be great to meet some new people, I'd love to use dinner time to connect with the kids and see what activities they have enjoyed most that day. Also my younger DS has allergies to all nuts which we'd prefer to avoid having served at our table.

 

[mkh531]

On no other vacation are you expected to dine with strangers, not sure why it should be done on a cruise. I don't generally mind meeting new people but on our cruises our family /friends group is large enough to get our own table regardless.

 

[Dug720]

I just called Disney and requested our own table for 3 on our Fantasy SWDAS sailing on 1/27/18. CS rep was amazing. He said he'd be sure our request was granted. Never knew this was this easy. Would have did it years ago.

After our last cruise and the people who shared our table drank bottles of wine each night and then bourbon after dinner with 3 little kids around, my wife and I really didn't like that to much, and certainly didn't like it around our 7 year old. Once they were tuned up they proceeded to brag about themselves. Certainly wasn't a pleasant experience.

No matter what he said, there is no way he can "be sure it is granted". All they do is put the request on the reservation. Then it is up to the assigners based on what the availability is. No request is ever guaranteed.

If you want to 100% ensure you have your own table, you need to cruise Concierge. Otherwise your own table is ONLY a request.

 

[bbel]

On no other vacation are you expected to dine with strangers, not sure why it should be done on a cruise. I don't generally mind meeting new people but on our cruises our family /friends group is large enough to get our own table regardless.

I just got back from an all inclusive resort in Italy, we were sat at big tables with 'strangers'.
It's not ideal for us, but I live in a different country to my parents so any time with them is a bonus, we sucked it up and made sure we enjoyed other times together, there's a lot of other hours in the day other than dinner for family time too!

 

[ali_in_al]

FYI - I emailed customer service recently to request our own table and received this response:

Thank you for choosing a Disney Cruise Line vacation!

I would be happy to assist you.

Although not guaranteed, I have noted the dining request on the reservation. Please be assured that our dining specialists will do their utmost to accommodate the entire family.

In addition, we are unable to provide the dining schedule as it is finalized the day of sailing. Guest’s seating time, table assignment, and rotation schedule will be printed on their Key to the World Card on embarkation day. This card will be provided to you upon check-in at the Disney Cruise Line terminal.

I hope this information has been helpful. If you require further assistance in planning your visit, please feel free to contact us.

We look forward to sailing with you and your family!

Have a Magical Day!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Where do you enter your request to be seated at your own table? Online or do you call your Cruise rep? As much as I think it would be great to meet some new people, I'd love to use dinner time to connect with the kids and see what activities they have enjoyed most that day. Also my younger DS has allergies to all nuts which we'd prefer to avoid having served at our table.

You call DCL to have the request added to your reservation. If you booked through a TA, they need to make the call.

 

[Billinaz]

No matter what he said, there is no way he can "be sure it is granted". All they do is put the request on the reservation. Then it is up to the assigners based on what the availability is. No request is ever guaranteed.

If you want to 100% ensure you have your own table, you need to cruise Concierge. Otherwise your own table is ONLY a request.

We do, and I have never been told that it was a definite thing, only that it would be requested.

 

[Dug720]

We do, and I have never been told that it was a definite thing, only that it would be requested.

Most on here report having been told that the default for Concierge is a private table.

 

[RedSox68]

We would be very happy if DCL changed to a free style type system.

I love the free style on other lines. I think unless Disney added plain dining rooms to their ships, they could never do it because of the theming and the rotation of the servers.