How do they choose tablemates?

[belac]

We always had our own table except two times. One we had couple with a girl same age as DS. Worked out great and hung out with them on CC and some evenings.
On one just DH and I with 3 other couples at an 8 top. All around same age and it was OK. For whatever reason never sat again with others. Could be a dynamic as we are only 3. Last few cruises we requested to be sat along, just got used to it I guess.

 

[Sytrace]

For the most part I think they do a great job. I also think they look at kids ages first and go from there. Or first time cruisers paired with folks with many cruises under their belts.

Cruise 1: We were seated with a family of 4 who had a daughter my kids age and a young son who were platinum (had no clue what that meant at the time, but was impressed with their cruising skills) We had second seating and I like to think they moved to first seating because of the young one because we did not see them the rest of the cruise at dinner.
Cruise 2: We had second seating and asked to switch to main before we even hit the dining room, so no idea who we might have had. But we had no tablemates.
Cruise 3: Just us
Cruise 4: Just us
Cruise 5: Just us
Cruise 6: Not a good match. The kids ages matched our kids but the conversation was awkward...like no one was talking to each other and there was a lot of menu studying going on. They were also on their 6th cruise and were gold just like us..which we chatted about for 2 minutes before dead silence. We requested to be moved and were to our own table.
Cruise 7: Just us
Cruise 8: Just us
Cruise 9: WONDERFUL family from Canada on their first cruise. We still keep in touch on FB Kids were the same age range as ours and they were super sweet and friendly.
Cruise 10: Just us
Cruise 11: Just us
Cruise 12: Started off nice, one daughter same age as my daughter, and home schooled like ours and I think it was their first cruise. They were travelling with her father who was not feeling well (sea sick) and I felt so bad for him. As we were talking to each other the dining team came up to take our requests and the mom told them (and the whole table) that she was allergic to melon and that she could not be at the same table if it was being served there. Sadly, my daughter loves melon and cantelope and would sometimes have it for dessert or instead of a salad. We requested a dining change the next morning and explained why. They were nice people, but I didn't want to be responsible if my daughter ordered something that flared up this poor woman's allergies.
Cruise 13: Alone again.

The common trend I see is that they paired us with kids of a similar age, and later on put us with other cruisers who were new. And also a lot of times put us alone with our own 4 top.

 

[phinz]

"I'd like to request a non-heathen table please"

Yes sir. How many in your party? Will that be upright citizen or brimstone scented seating?

 

[phinz]

Can I request the heathen table? I want our dinner to be fun.

Any time Linda (our friend) is with us, I can pretty much guarantee there's gonna be shenanigans.

 

[ArielRae]

We're going on Disney Cruise #3 and DS has Down syndrome. In his 15 years of life some people enjoy being around him, some don't. On our first cruise we chose to sit by ourselves. Cruise #2 was with friends so we all sat together. I think for #3 we'll take our chances with random tablemates but I'm a little nervous. DW isn't so I'll just go with it!

Our DS(7) is autistic and I am thinking about asking for our own table or at least let them know DS is autistic and we welcome being seated with another family with special needs kids. Just incase another family comes in asking with similar situation as us.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

We are traveling with a party of 9, will they split us up? The thought hadn't occurred to me!

Are your reservations linked together? I travel with extended family in different cabins & we link our reservations, so we can be seated together.

 

[TrishaK]

1st cruise - Our honeymoon, and we were seated with other honeymooners. There were 8 or 10 of us total.
2nd cruise - My husband and I were seated with 2 families of 3. Each had a daughter the same age. I really have no idea why we were seated with them... it was odd. (Maybe to prepare us for our upcoming life with an only daughter!)
3rd cruise - The 3 of us were seated with a nice family of 5 from Canada. They were from Saskatchewan, and all we could think of was the movie Grown Ups where the ladies are gawking at the man from Saskatoon!
4th cruise - We were stuck with second seating, but I moved us to main seating when we got onboard. I'm not sure who we would have been seated with, but we ended up at a table by ourselves.

 

[Travel60]

When we've traveled with kids, they've done a pretty good job of matching us to other families with kids. Now that our kids are out on their own, we are just the two of us. Results have been mixed but ok. Worst was a guy who showed up to dinner every night dressed just a notch above dirty underwear. He brought a little bag of cookies or candy or something and kept sneaking bites all through dinner with a great deal of rattling of paper as it opened and closed for each sneak. We really tried to engage the entire table in conversation but he was like a big lump. Fortunately, we hit it off with another couple and just left him alone.

 

[oam]

Can I request the heathen table? I want our dinner to be fun.

Maybe DCL can make heathen dining part of the rotation.

 

[Feigned]

My first cruise, I was part of a big party (12 people total) and our reservations were linked and we were seated together. My second cruise was my mom, my friend, and me and somehow the 3 of us were seated alone at a 4 top, which was nice.

My next cruise was a 7 night Med. cruise with just my sister (we were both in our mid 20s). We requested a table alone, as my sister has celiac and wasn't so keen on the risk of sitting with random people who might not understand the seriousness of her allergy and cross-contamination. When we got on the Magic, we checked to see if our request had been met, but we were told that the 2nd seating was full and there was no tables that we could sit alone, but we were sitting with a really great group of people they thought would be good matches for us. We were seated at an 8 top with 3 couples (either recently or just married). It was super awkward to be the only sister duo in a table of couples. While they were all really nice people, I am pretty much an introvert and having to "socialize" with so many people each night was really not fun for me. The meals were all extremely long too, partly because one of the couples came to dinner at least 15-30 minutes late every night and our servers wouldn't even take our drink orders until everyone was seated. Most nights, we were in the dining room until at least 11, which was extra rough because then most mornings we were up at 5:30 so that we could eat breakfast before our excursions, all of which were pretty early. I don't know if it was just because we were kind of an odd party, being two single sisters in our 20s or what, but we didn't feel like our table mates were a good match. The only thing we really had in common was that we were all around a similar age.

Since then, we have continued to ask for a table by ourselves and luckily we have gotten it the next 3 cruises (two were just my sister and me, the third was with my parents). We will probably continue to ask for a table by ourselves, just because it makes my sister feel more comfortable with her celiac and because I prefer not to have to socialize.

 

[IrishEye]

Best story ever ! . . . . DD who was 8 at the time, and I, sat down to dinner where a single mom and her 2 girls 9 and 7 were already seated. We looked at each other and low and behold, had been dating some 12 years earlier. She had moved to the USA at that time and we never kept in touch, you can imagine how fun that was visiting, our kids hit it off and after 17 years remain long distance friends.

 

[tlprice]

As a single mother with one DD, we have been seated with other single mothers with one child about the same age as my child on both of my cruises. Our first cruise was 2 other mothers and kids, our 2nd cruise was with 3 other mothers and kids although one only showed up one night and only for a few minutes. My DD has LOVED it and became really good friends with the other kids, hanging out with them for other things on the ship. The mothers and I got along too, but I'm not too social, so we didn't do a whole lot together, but we did do a few things, especially when the kids wanted to hang out together. My DD is already looking forward to meeting new friends at dinner on our upcoming cruises. I hope the matches are as good as they've been in the past.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I had a great experience last time I don't know how Disney knew I was going into teaching 3 months prior to me doing so but they paird dh and I with a teacher and her dh and we had great conversations

 

[mich723]

My best friend and I always travel together; we are pretty much like sisters as we've been friends almost half of our lives.
For the first cruise we took, we were seated with two couples. One from Canada and one from Michigan. Both were very nice and I greatly enjoyed their company at dinner.
For the second cruise, my friend and I were again sat with two couples. Though everyone at our table were within 2 years of age of each other. Each night at dinner, we were one of the last tables to leave and by the time I returned to MCO all our table mates connected through Facebook.

So far so good! I prefer sitting with others and hope the trend continues. I enjoy conversation and will be one of the first to break the ice if no one else does.

 

[xiphoid76]

I love sitting with other couples but my husband is an introvert who would rather dine alone. Since we are lucky to have been on a couple previous Disney cruises we don't feel we need to experience the dining rooms anymore although we still like them.

Only once have we every had a table to ourselves. We were done the meals in one hour which was kind of nice. One time we had a couple that ordered every appetizer and every dessert and usually two entrees. They were awesome and actually ate most of it but the meals lasted hours and we were the last ones out of the restaurant. At second seating it was a long night.

Sometimes it is nice just to take a break as an introvert and order room service or go to Cabanas for one night to recharge.

 

[barbarossa_hoosier]

So, I have a related question: on our upcoming (April 2018) cruise, we will be a party of 6: me, my wife, 2 daughters, and my 2 parents. What are the chances that we would be seated at a table by ourselves? I would NOT like to be seated by ourselves, because I want to have the experience of meeting other people and sharing dinner together. Is that something I should ask our TA about, to ensure that we are NOT seated alone?

 

[GrammyGee]

We have had great experiences except for one time and that was a couple our age where the wife clearly loved Disney and the husband did not. On our 40th anniversary we were paired with another couple celebrating their 40th and found out we both had daughters who had worked for Disney Entertainment at WDW - lots of fun stories ! On our last cruise we booked late and had to take late seating but waitlisted early seating - we got early seating with a table of 4 couples and had the most wonderful time - great conversations ! I assume they use lots of Pixie Dust !

 

[Dug720]

So, I have a related question: on our upcoming (April 2018) cruise, we will be a party of 6: me, my wife, 2 daughters, and my 2 parents. What are the chances that we would be seated at a table by ourselves? I would NOT like to be seated by ourselves, because I want to have the experience of meeting other people and sharing dinner together. Is that something I should ask our TA about, to ensure that we are NOT seated alone?

With 6 people, it's going to be very hard for them to seat you with anyone else as generally the largest table in a section is an 8-top. I've seen them put say an 8-top and a 4-top together, but it's a very large table and very difficult for conversations to happen unless they're with the people just around you.

 

[Shaggynamos]

Question about private seating. When do you request it? Is it prior to sailing or when you get on the the ship? We sailed as a party of 7 seven last year and didn't have to worry about this issue.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Question about private seating. When do you request it? Is it prior to sailing or when you get on the the ship? We sailed as a party of 7 seven last year and didn't have to worry about this issue.

You can have the request placed on your reservation at any time. Better sooner than later. One note, if you're Concierge, the default is to seat you by yourself.