Location to change dining room time when boarding Fantasy

[disnemimi]

We were assigned late dining and really need the early dining slot. Once we arrive onboard, where do we go to request the early dining seating? Thank you.
Disnemimi

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Flossbolna]

We were assigned late dining and really need the early dining slot. Once we arrive onboard, where do we go to request the early dining seating? Thank you.
Disnemimi

Just to make sure that you know that you can request to be out in a waitlist for early dining even before the cruise. If you haven’t done that, do this asap, it can be done in the app and on the website. You have the best chance to get early dining if you request it as early as possible!

 

[Marc D]

Just to make sure that you know that you can request to be out in a waitlist for early dining even before the cruise. If you haven’t done that, do this asap, it can be done in the app and on the website. You have the best chance to get early dining if you request it as early as possible!

I second that. Never wait to be onboard to deal with this. DCL only makes available a small portion of first dining spots available for online booking and assigns the rest based on requests. They know that most families with young kids will need it and that if they left it to chance, they might not get it.

Call DCL or request it through the app or website. They go through the waitlist once or twice before each cruise, so don’t expect the switch to be immediate and there is no point in calling multiple times. The agents aren’t able to do the switch themselves. They are done by a dedicated dining room team.

 

[n2mm]

I agree with others. I was on the waitlist as soon as I booked my cruise. I had a medical need waitlist. My plan was to go to deck two once onboard. I checked daily on the app to see if it opened and one day while checking it showed main was available so I switched it. Success. This was strange because I use a TA, but I was able to switch myself. I also questioned why it popped up if there’s a waitlist.

 

[cvjw]

Keep checking the app for early dining to open up. Sailed last week and lots of people in the FB group changed to early dining thru the app in the weeks prior to the sail date.

Onboard, dining changes are in front of enchanted garden - deck 2. Just went down there 1/28 to get a palo reservation.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

We were assigned late dining and really need the early dining slot. Once we arrive onboard, where do we go to request the early dining seating? Thank you.
Disnemimi

If I remember right, you can actually waitlist Early Dining through the App and online now and they will automatically update you if they change it.

We had friends who used that for our Nov cruise on the Wish.

 

[Marc D]

I also questioned why it popped up if there’s a waitlist.

The waitlist is manually managed by the dining room managers. It is not connected to the online reservation system. In your case, you were lucky to check at a time where someone with early dining cancelled their cruise or switched to late dining, opening one of the few slots made available online.

DCL doesn't monitor those in real time in order to prioritize those on the waitlist. They would only have to do that if all main dining slots were up for grabs online, but in the current system, they can let those manage themselves since they have most of the spots under their purview.

 

[Flossbolna]

The waitlist is manually managed by the dining room managers. It is not connected to the online reservation system. In your case, you were lucky to check at a time where someone with early dining cancelled their cruise or switched to late dining, opening one of the few slots made available online.

DCL doesn't monitor those in real time in order to prioritize those on the waitlist. They would only have to do that if all main dining slots were up for grabs online, but in the current system, they can let those manage themselves since they have most of the spots under their purview.

That’s interesting to know! I always wondered why early dining sold out so quickly for most cruises. But it makes sense if a large amount of availability is being held back!

 

[soniam]

I agree with others. I was on the waitlist as soon as I booked my cruise. I had a medical need waitlist. My plan was to go to deck two once onboard. I checked daily on the app to see if it opened and one day while checking it showed main was available so I switched it. Success. This was strange because I use a TA, but I was able to switch myself. I also questioned why it popped up if there’s a waitlist.

I think that's one of the things that you can change yourself, like dining reservations and excursions. I was able to change ours for our last cruise. I think they opened up a bunch though. It was like they had frozen it due to capacity/covid.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[WDWAurora]

I checked constantly for our two cruises (last August and November, so recent). Both were booked fairly close to time. Probably April for the 1st and less than 90 before the 2nd. The first one I stumbled upon availability in the app pretty quickly. The second one took longer, but when I spotted it, I alerted my cruise Facebook group and a ton of others were able to change. I also don’t understand why it’s available to change when there’s a waitlist, but it worked out for me both times. The second one it was probably only about 2 weeks before.

 

[kiford]

I forgot that I changed our dining time for our latest cruise - using the app! Just saw it available one day and picked it. My change moved our linked reservation, too.

Thanks, everyone!

Our friends requested early dining when they booked (31 days prior to sailing) and we booked 1.5 weeks later. About a week after we booked, we were suddenly moved to early dining (about 2 weeks prior to sailing - this was the Wish sailing Jan 30). It was a surprise to me because I didn't know they'd done that and thought for a minute that I'd made an error. Our friends weren't even aware of it because they wanted to go to get it changed when we were boarding and I mentioned that it had already happened. So definitely request it now - you never know if it will happen and you'll need to check your account because you won't be notified otherwise.

 

[MomOTwins]

I second checking the app frequently. I was able to change mine last night at 35 days pre cruise but had been checking multiple times a day and have been waitlisted since be booked the cruise in November. Several people on the cruise had their waitlist come through yesterday (though mine did not) so I wonder if they have to open up inventory for main dining in the app in order to process the waitlist (eg they way they do the waitlist release a batch of main dining spots all at once and start filling the waitlist with them, but it is technically available for anyone to switch). I wouldn’t be surprised it Disney’s tech was that unsophisticated to be honest. Anyhow was a huge relief for me as my youngest son is autistic and any change to his schedule/routine on the ship is hugely upsetting to him.

 

[disnemimi]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I didn't know I could change the dining time on the app. Can I do this myself since my travel agent booked our cruise? She did note on the booking we would like early dining. Hope I can get this all resolved before we cruise May 6th.
Disnemimi

 

[WDWAurora]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I didn't know I could change the dining time on the app. Can I do this myself since my travel agent booked our cruise? She did note on the booking we would like early dining. Hope I can get this all resolved before we cruise May 6th.
Disnemimi

Yes! We used dreams unlimited both times. They put us on the waitlist, but ultimately I made the change.

 

[n2mm]

Yes! We used dreams unlimited both times. They put us on the waitlist, but ultimately I made the change.

Me too. I use DU and was on the waitlist, but checked daily on the app and one day it was open to change and I did!