Question about "tablemates"

[KMCPharmD]

We are going on our second cruise ever this coming October. Last time we cruised, we were paired up with another family that had a daughter similar in age to our daughter for dinner. My daughter is an only child and these 2 girls hit it off and had a great time. Was this just a coincidence that we ended up with them, or does Disney try to match families up with similar age/gender children? I am really hoping they try to do this since it is a really nice way to get to meet other kids!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are going on our second cruise ever this coming October. Last time we cruised, we were paired up with another family that had a daughter similar in age to our daughter for dinner. My daughter is an only child and these 2 girls hit it off and had a great time. Was this just a coincidence that we ended up with them, or does Disney try to match families up with similar age/gender children? I am really hoping they try to do this since it is a really nice way to get to meet other kids!

Typically, DCL is pretty good about matching up dining companions. Sometimes (not very often) it doesn't work out well.

 

[Shanti]

We are going on our second cruise ever this coming October. Last time we cruised, we were paired up with another family that had a daughter similar in age to our daughter for dinner. My daughter is an only child and these 2 girls hit it off and had a great time. Was this just a coincidence that we ended up with them, or does Disney try to match families up with similar age/gender children? I am really hoping they try to do this since it is a really nice way to get to meet other kids!

They do try to match people well. No guarantees that it will always work out, but DCL does try.

 

[AndreAggie]

We were a family of 3 (only child, 2 parents) from Texas and we were paired with a family of 5 (3 children, 2 parents) from Canada. None of the 4 kids were the same age. Did we enjoy their company? Absolutely. Facebook friends now and we really enjoy keeping up with them.

 

[Sytrace]

We are going on our second cruise ever this coming October. Last time we cruised, we were paired up with another family that had a daughter similar in age to our daughter for dinner. My daughter is an only child and these 2 girls hit it off and had a great time. Was this just a coincidence that we ended up with them, or does Disney try to match families up with similar age/gender children? I am really hoping they try to do this since it is a really nice way to get to meet other kids!

Sometimes they get it right and it works out very well. And I do think they try to put new cruisers with experienced cruisers whenever possible.

For example, our very first cruise with Disney we had wonderful tablemates who were platinum with a daughter close to my daughters age. They were super nice and helpful but maybe we weren't because we never saw them again after the first night. To be fair, they did have a very young son and mentioned they would have preferred main dining.
Second time we got paired up, it was very awkward and though they had kids the same ages of ours and we were both gold CC level, it just did mesh well. No one was talking and we actually do prefer to sit with just our kids as a family.
Third time we got paired up with a fantastic family from Canada who we became FB friends with. Both of their kids were exact same ages as ours and it was their first Disney cruise...we had a blast.
In February, we were seated with first or second time cruisers..( I think) who had a daughter the same age as ours and all was going well...but then mention was made of an allergy to a food by a member of their party and it was a food my daughter actually would have ordered. So we figured it might be best to dine at another table so that my daughter could eat what she wanted and the other person at our table would not get sick or have an allergic reaction.

 

[GPaLarry]

Three of our eight DCL cruises were without kids\grandkids. We left it up to Disney for the dinner seating arrangement and got a table of 10 each time. People are people in a restaurant on land or at sea. We were seated with folks around our age and, overall, it worked out well. After the first night the couples who had similar interests tried to sit together to continue their relationships. On our B2B Med\WBTA we made friends with a couple from Scotland and another from New Jersey... still communicate with them. Disney will reseat you, if needed, just ask your head server. We like the pot luck approach.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Typically, DCL is pretty good about matching up dining companions.

I'm curious if anyone has any insight as to how they pair people up.

On my cruise in August (my first), for which I requested for my family to be seated alone, they paired us up. Is there are priority list? is it based on CC level, booking date, request date, room type, or something else?

It turned out that I actually knew the family they paired us with. The father and I used to work together at the same division within the same company. We have kids of similar ages and both still live and work in the Washington DC area. So the table assigner must go beyond just family composition, and include geography. I wonder if they have some sort-of social media tool as well. We weren't facebook friends before the cruise, but we were connected on Linkedin and have 50+ connections in common.

We had a good time and it made the meal pleasant to have someone else to talk to at the meal, but I still think I'd slightly prefer to be on our own.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm curious if anyone has any insight as to how they pair people up.

On my cruise in August (my first), for which I requested for my family to be seated alone, they paired us up. Is there are priority list? is it based on CC level, booking date, request date, room type, or something else?

It turned out that I actually knew the family they paired us with. The father and I used to work together at the same division within the same company. We have kids of similar ages and both still live and work in the Washington DC area. So the table assigner must go beyond just family composition, and include geography. I wonder if they have some sort-of social media tool as well. We weren't facebook friends before the cruise, but we were connected on Linkedin and have 50+ connections in common.

We had a good time and it made the meal pleasant to have someone else to talk to at the meal, but I still think I'd slightly prefer to be on our own.

Most dining requests (specific server, specific rotation, table size) are honored. Not all can be. I don't know that there's a "priority" as to who/which requests get honored first, or if it's just random luck of the draw.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Overall we have made out well. One group we are FB friends, others just passed through and we enjoyed sharing experiences, conversation while on vacation. One family was rather unfriendly, but we didn't let it spoil our good time. Pot luck approach seems to work for us too!

 

[jrabbit]

in 20 DCL cruises, the worst two times our tablemates were just ourselves! We already knew each other and hung out all day together.

We mostly enjoy meeting new people on the cruise, the folks you have dinner with become more than just strangers at a table. Usually but surprisingly not always, you have Disney in common with one another. If that doesn't work, then you might have to work a little harder at finding a connection. And it's worth it because its not just a one and done meal - it's for the whole cruise. Granted on a 3 night it very easily could be only one meal together, but on a 10 or 14 night cruise, you can get to know one another, and hear about other's experiences from the day.

 

[Trera]

We are going on our second cruise ever this coming October. Last time we cruised, we were paired up with another family that had a daughter similar in age to our daughter for dinner. My daughter is an only child and these 2 girls hit it off and had a great time. Was this just a coincidence that we ended up with them, or does Disney try to match families up with similar age/gender children? I am really hoping they try to do this since it is a really nice way to get to meet other kids!

This exact thing happened to us a few cruises back. We have been on two other cruises with them since and our DD calls the other girl her cruise friend. It makes if much easier for us to have some alone time if our DD has a friend she can play with on the beach or in the club!

 

[Mousequake]

On our first cruise, we were paired with two families who had daughters the same age as our daughter (10 years old). In theory, it was a good pairing, but these other two families were traveling together and the daughters were BFFs. My daughter felt completely excluded the whole time. Not anyone's fault; just a situation that didn't work out well.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

I'm a solo traveller (in my 30s) and get paired up with the most random people; usually it is with one or two couples/pairs which sometimes works out, sometimes not... worst two times: with a big group (I believe 8 or 9) who completely ignored me and once with a creepy older man that thought he had found a mate for his entire cruise. Both times I gave up after 2 nights and DCL reseated me.
I always request to sit solo to avoid these awkward situations... sometimes they honour it 'like last week) but if the cruise is full they just can't.

 

[Disneymadhouse]

We have had mixed experiences. On our med cruises they haven't matched us well at all. We have one DD. First time we were paired with 2 families cruising together both of which had sons younger than my DD. The next Med cruise we were paired with a family from Scotland ( we are from England) and they were nice enough people but again they had a son younger than our DD, so she didn't really have a lot in common with him. On our dream cruise Christmas 2015 we hit the jackpot! Our table mates were a family from New York with a DD similar age to our DD. The girls were best friends with a couple of hours, went to the kids club, played at the pool and on the beach at CC together. We stayed in touch over FB, and sending Christmas and birthday gifts for the children. We met up at WDW this past August, and have another cruise and WDW trip planned for Christmas 2018

Claire

 

[jmmess]

I'm curious if anyone has any insight as to how they pair people up.

On my cruise in August (my first), for which I requested for my family to be seated alone, they paired us up. Is there are priority list? is it based on CC level, booking date, request date, room type, or something else?

It turned out that I actually knew the family they paired us with. The father and I used to work together at the same division within the same company. We have kids of similar ages and both still live and work in the Washington DC area. So the table assigner must go beyond just family composition, and include geography. I wonder if they have some sort-of social media tool as well. We weren't facebook friends before the cruise, but we were connected on Linkedin and have 50+ connections in common.

We had a good time and it made the meal pleasant to have someone else to talk to at the meal, but I still think I'd slightly prefer to be on our own.

I don't think it is CC level based. Our first cruise was in August. We requested a table just for the 4 of us and got it. It was a late seating and we wanted Main dining. We called and requested the switch when we got on board (since our request before the cruise hadn't come through) and they couldn't do it for that night, but we did get it for the rest of the cruise and it was another 4 person table. We really lucked out with the second waitstaff, they were just awesome!

 

[jmmess]

This exact thing happened to us a few cruises back. We have been on two other cruises with them since and our DD calls the other girl her cruise friend. It makes if much easier for us to have some alone time if our DD has a friend she can play with on the beach or in the club!

Our friends had a similar experience as well. Two parents and only child and they were paired up with the same. The girls (6) were inseparable and would FaceTime each other when they got back to their homes. I think it's great that Disney makes an effort.

 

[emilymad]

How do couples usually make out? Are you seating with other couples or families?

We have always requested a table for 2. The request was only granted once. The other times we had to rearrange either our seating or dining rotation once on board to get the table for 2. We are headed out for a 3 night Dream cruise and decided to roll the dice and see what we get. We are eating at Palo one night so it is really only 2 nights. I am a little nervous since DH isn't much for small talk.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

In October we had a 6 top: an actual married young couple (USA), me as a solo traveller (Belgium) and 2 older best friends (Canadian ladies)

 

[JoeFromSeoul]

On our first cruise I was expecting/hoping to be paired with another family. The four of us had our own 4-top, but we were seated next to another family of four in two of the three MDRs. My children and their two daughters got along great. I was happy with the arrangement then, but I wouldn't mind being at a larger table with another family when we sail Christmas Eve...

 

[xQuizx]

We are a family of 5 with our DD 5 (almost 6), DS 3, DS 10 months. We were paired with a family of 3 who had a DD who was turning 5. My daughter and son hit it off with the other girl during dinner. We didn't spend much time outside of dinner with the other family but the girls did talk during dinner and hung out whenever they were together in the club. It was also nice for my wife and I to have adult conversations with another couple. All in all I wouldn't mind sharing a table with new folks in the future.