How often is a private table request not fulfilled?

[dwg]

We're going on our first cruise in April and will request a private table. Is there anyway to tell before our first dinner if this has been honoured or would we just find out when we get seated?

I think one factor is how many people in your party. For instance if you are 4 people than it might be more likely that you will get the private table as the smallest table top is for 4. You will not know if your request was fulfilled until you actually go to dinner the first night. Even if at the time you boarded the ship the request was fulfilled it could change as other guests request dinner time changes, especially from late to early seating once they are on board. There is a station where guests can request changes to dinner seating when on board and if you currently have a private table the Head Waiters at that station can put another couple or more with you. Even if you go to check if your request was honored on embarkment day, it could change before your dinner seating.

We are just two people. We have taken 16 cruises and we got the private table every time we requested it except for the last cruise this past September on the Wish. We got a notice through the DCL app that due to the ship being full our request could not be filled. The first night we were in Palo's so we didn't bother with the message. The next day we went to the dinning room that was open for lunch and spoke to the head waiter to ask how many people we were sitting with and it turned out to be 6. He said he would see what he could do and later that day we got a message with a new table number for a private table.

The strange thing in out case was that because it was an early September cruise there was very few children on board so most cabins were just two adults. In fact our Head Waiter mentioned that the ship was only about 65% full. I am thinking that it has something to do with the Wish design as the MDR tables seem to be closer together than on the Magic and Dream class ships.

 

[rainbowredpanda]

I hadn't heard of anyone requesting a private table and not gotten the request. We've always requested it and always gotten it. But I just watched a vlog of the Wish and the couple was sat with other couples even though they'd requested private. Was just curious if it happens more often on the wish or not necessarily.

We always request a table alone and have never been denied the request. We always do the late seating.

 

[AquaDame]

We’ve been on 13 cruises and denied twice.

Both those times were on the Fantasy, and both times we were at a four top with one other couple. If I have to sit with strangers I’d rather have a bigger crowd so I don’t have to keep up a two hour a night conversation at least…. I dread this part of cruising.

 

[AZMermaid]

I am curious how many groups on a particularly sailing are placed in private tables without making a request.

LAX

We’ve only been sat with others twice- both on adult only trips. First was 2 other lovely pairs and the second time the other couple was horrified that they would be sitting with us and demanded to be moved. It was fine but you do feel a little funny when someone shrieks to the person seating them that they will NOT sit with us. Ironically they did sit with us the last breakfast and we had loads in common.

Our other cruises with our kids it’s always been just us. Party of 6 with my in-laws, 7 with friends and just the four of us almost exactly a year ago.

We have two upcoming cruises and won’t request anything regarding grouping. We dont mind either way.

 

[1lilspark]

We didn’t get a private table 4 night wish second seating last January thankfully we lucked out with good table mates

 

[keighttf]

Our first 2 cruises we tried sitting with other people and really didn’t like it. We requested a private table for our other 12 cruises and got all but one on the wish this past July. They said it was 100% full ship. It seems to be more of an issue on the wish. It really is a negative for us, especially since there isn’t the cabanas, or similar, sit down option anymore.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I don’t mind but we had people who didn’t speak English and were very coldish I asked nicely and it worked out. We sat with others who were amazing people

 

[dwg]

Definitely seems to be a theme o the Wish not being able to accommodate private table requests. I never had a problem on the other ships getting a private table and they were usually full.

 

[dcassetta]

We're going on our first cruise in April and will request a private table. Is there anyway to tell before our first dinner if this has been honoured or would we just find out when we get seated?

You can go to the dining requests location to check. There is no way to know from just looking at the DCL app.

 

[respoc]

We were a table of 2 and had been put on a waitlist for early dining with a request of a private table. We got our early dining request but we were seated at a table for 6 with two other couples. They were lovely couples, and even though one of the couples did not speak English, we communicated through the Google Translate.

We were also on the Wish.

 

[enzy65]

Interesting about the wish, we had a private table on a sold out ship, late seating. We saw a family of 3 each night and they were always seated at a 6 top alone. So obviously there were 3 empty chairs, don’t know the exact circumstances of why.

 

[bakerworld]

Our first two cruises we shared a table. The second cruise produced a spouse in job competition with my husband. Really weird. The rest of the table must have realized it also because next two seatings we were separated by our other table mates. Our third cruise we asked, and received, a table for 2 but I noticed we were always in a corner. So the next cruise we didn't request and were seated at a 8 top with two couples who never showed and a couple of girls that seemed extremely nervous - spilt drinks, jumping up to leave without paying the beverage guy, and then not showing up. Wish was an odd with wait staff always plopping our plates over our shoulders without warning, which was startling. The last couple of cruises we were with family. We've a cruise booked for February '24. If we sail alone we gonna request a table for 2. Really, we'd just rather forgo the TS dinners. They've a lot of loud background noise and we both have trouble hearing in that situation.

 

[dvcdisney]

We just came back from our Transatlantic cruise which is our 16th DCL cruise last week. We have always requested a private table for 4 or 2 (when we travel without the kids) and we've always had a private table. The majority of those cruises have been second seating, but we've also had private tables during first seatings when we first started cruising.

On this past cruise, we saw a lot of private tables for 2 on the second seating. I agree with most, the second seating seem to afford more private tables if requested.

I would think that DCL knows how important private tables are for some since they have included this option on the navigator app....as well as request such as window tables etc.

Our server was actually able to put a couple in a private table when she realized they requested it but was put with another couple. I'm not sure how DCL decided on table mates, but they didn't have anything in common and may have been a very uncomfortable 11 nights of dinner. I also noticed a few tables who were shared where the guests didn't seem to pay attention to the others in their table as if they had 2 separate tables. One I noticed were 4 young women who looked to be about the same age. I guess DCL thought they would enjoy dining with each other. They looked very uncomfortable....at least at the Animators where they were in my direct line of sight. I didn't notice them in the other restaurants.

 

[tlovesdis]

We've been on one disney cruise on the Dream and made the request and did not get it. But it turned out to be the best thing as we are now friends with two other couples and we are all cruising again next year!

 

[Mirador]

We requested a private table for our Wish sailing and it was not granted for early seating. Our requests had been granted on our two previous cruises on the Dream. We were very disappointed but decided to make the best out of it. Still, it was not what we wanted and the poor dining experience is the main reason we will not sail on the Wish again.

 

[MomOTwins]

I think it is harder on the Wish for two reasons:
(1) more concierge guests, who are guaranteed a private table, and
(2) sells out more frequently with it being the newest ship.

 

[randumb0]

The odds are in your favor unless you're on the Wish

 

[jr6431]

I've (as part of a couple) been on three cruises, all on the Wonder, and our pre-board requests for a private table have never been honored. We always have to go to the dining requests on embarkation day and ask to be moved which is a pain to do but we have luckily been given privates tables once we do that. We are very quiet introverts so we prefer the private table.

 

[dwg]

I think it is harder on the Wish for two reasons:
(1) more concierge guests, who are guaranteed a private table, and
(2) sells out more frequently with it being the newest ship.

We have been on 2 Wish cruises. On the first one last November the MDR dining experience was so bad we were strongly considering not going to the MDR's but the other options were so limited that when we sailed this past September we ended up still going to the MDR's. The MDR tables on the Wish are set much closer together than on the Magic/Dream class ships. In talking to a head waiter on the November cruise, she said that they were complaining to DCL because they did not have room to move between tables. I think that is one reason for bakerworld's comment "wait staff always plopping our plates over our shoulders"

On the November cruise we did notice a slight improvement in the space between the tables which a head waiter said was due to some minor modifications that were made in the MDR's. This is also probably one reason why private table requests on the Wish seem to not be fulfilled as much as on the other ships.

Compared to the other ships the tables definitely felt more close together in the MDR's on the Wish, the MDR's were definitely more noisy.

As beautiful as the Wish is, it's overall design is poor and has been mentioned one numerous other threads (no need to repeat here). If I understand correctly the person who designed the Triton class ship was never on a cruise and should have been fired for some of the design flaws that have been made. I would love to know what the DCL executives think of the Triton class ship design now that it has been in operation for a while. Unless Disney delays the third Triton class ship It is probably too late to make design changes.

 

[Dug720]

If I understand correctly the person who designed the Triton class ship was never on a cruise and should have been fired for some of the design flaws that have been made. I would love to know what the DCL executives think of the Triton class ship design now that it has been in operation for a while. Unless Disney delays the third Triton class ship It is probably too late to make design changes

Correct. And I remember watching the making of the Wish video she said something like she is often asked if they are ever told no, that something won’t work and her response is “Imagineers don’t like to say no.”

But it seems like they should have with some things on Triton Class based on multiple reports.