Dinner table mates

[TheBeans]

So our first cruise our family of four was sat at a table of 7 and the family that was pair with us each night have become wonderful friends which we went on our second cruise with. Was anyone else this lucky?

While I may not expect this to happen again, but it would be pretty great to make new friends, has anyone ever sat with your own family four and not with another family?

Don't get me wrong, we love each other but we have dinner together every night and it would be great to sit with another family for new conversations.

Has anyone every been sat with another family and it was not a good experience. Really just questions of curiosity.



___________________________________________________________________________

• First Disney Cruise May 2013 Eastern Caribbean from Galveston, TX - 8 night
• Second Disney Cruise Mary 2015 Western Caribbean from Port Canaveral, FL - 7 night
• Third Disney Cruise less than 30 days and counting....Mexican Riviera from San Diego, CA - 7 night

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So our first cruise our family of four was sat at a table of 7 and the family that was pair with us each night have become wonderful friends which we went on our second cruise with. Was anyone else this lucky?

While I may not expect this to happen again, but it would be pretty great to make new friends, has anyone ever sat with your own family four and not with another family?

Don't get me wrong, we love each other but we have dinner together every night and it would be great to sit with another family for new conversations.

Has anyone every been sat with another family and it was not a good experience. Really just questions of curiosity.



___________________________________________________________________________

• First Disney Cruise May 2013 Eastern Caribbean from Galveston, TX - 8 night
• Second Disney Cruise Mary 2015 Western Caribbean from Port Canaveral, FL - 7 night
• Third Disney Cruise less than 30 days and counting....Mexican Riviera from San Diego, CA - 7 night

We've always had great "luck" with our dining companions.

Just be aware this subject can be highly divisive. There are people who don't want to be placed in forced social positions and want only to dine with those in their party.

And others who truly love the experience of meeting new people.

Here's the most recent thread touching on this subject:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/genuinely-curious-about-wanting-a-private-table.3617566/


A few others:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/bad-tablemate-during-dinner.3559260/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/assigned-tables-for-dinner.3373505/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/main-dining-private-table.3517533/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/dining-preferences-poll.3408231/

 

[tnd]

We went on a cruise in 2009 as a family of 3 and were paired with another family of 3. They were perfectly pleasant but we had nothing in common and found zero to talk about. Dinners were not that pleasant. My husband did not enjoy the experience and I think I have finally gotten him to agree to another cruise for next year, in part because we are now a family of 5 and we are requesting our own table. We are both relatively social people but we work a ton and hope to enjoy time with just our kids on the cruise.

 

[WeLoveDisneyAlways]

We always request a private table once the 3 of us and 2nd cruise with my parents and got our request both times. We are requesting again for our upcoming cruise. Personally I do not want to have to interact with others I paid a premium to have family time. My DH works out of town and we only get 2 meals a week together I do not want to share the precious time with strangers.

 

[TheBeans]

We've always had great "luck" with our dining companions.

Just be aware this subject can be highly divisive. There are people who don't want to be placed in forced social positions and want only to dine with those in their party.

And others who truly love the experience of meeting new people.

Here's the most recent thread touching on this subject:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/genuinely-curious-about-wanting-a-private-table.3617566/


A few others:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/bad-tablemate-during-dinner.3559260/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/assigned-tables-for-dinner.3373505/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/main-dining-private-table.3517533/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/dining-preferences-poll.3408231/

Thank you PrincessShmoo!!

 

[Otimon]

While we enjoy meeting and chatting with other folks on the cruise, just do not care for having dinner with them! Prefer to enjoy our meal at our own pace.

 

[mom4fun]

We were not matched well our first 2 cruises so now we request our own table and have gotten it ever since.

 

[Sytrace]

So our first cruise our family of four was sat at a table of 7 and the family that was pair with us each night have become wonderful friends which we went on our second cruise with. Was anyone else this lucky?

While I may not expect this to happen again, but it would be pretty great to make new friends, has anyone ever sat with your own family four and not with another family?

Don't get me wrong, we love each other but we have dinner together every night and it would be great to sit with another family for new conversations.

Has anyone every been sat with another family and it was not a good experience. Really just questions of curiosity.



___________________________________________________________________________

• First Disney Cruise May 2013 Eastern Caribbean from Galveston, TX - 8 night
• Second Disney Cruise Mary 2015 Western Caribbean from Port Canaveral, FL - 7 night
• Third Disney Cruise less than 30 days and counting....Mexican Riviera from San Diego, CA - 7 night

We are a family of 4 and have had both scenarios of table mates. Most of our cruises we have been seated alone as a family of 4, which we actually prefer. DCL usually does a good job of matchmaking but there have been a couple instances of them "missing the boat" lol It was a quick trip to GS when it was not a good match though.

 

[ILoveMyKellen]

While my husband is very outgoing and can talk to anyone about anything, I am an introvert and can be awkward with people I don’t know. It takes me a while to warm up to people and I don’t want to ruin another families time. I would rather have dinner with just the family and then he can talk to whoever he wants to for the rest of the cruise.

 

[Dznypal]

while disney did a great job with our tablemates the 3 cruises with them

we were on RC a few years ago and were seated with 2 other couples both from England while they were both very nice couples there was really nothing to build a conversion on

there were 2 things though--when told them we were from Milwaukee so one of the guys said oh the Fonz so we talked about Happy Days for a bit

then he mentioned he has a lawn mower with a Briggs and Stratton which he knew was made in Milwaukee it just so happens that both my DH and myself worked for Briggs so we talked about that for just a few minutes--

it will be interesting now cause we leave on the Med cruise in 2 weeks out of BArcelona I wonder who our tablemates will be this time

 

[Pooh2]

We've have been on two cruises and requested and received a table for the two of us. We enjoy socializing around the ship but prefer dinner time for ourselves.
That being said, when we do train travel you have to sit with another party and enjoy that time. But it is usually a different party each meal which makes things interesting. As well as a train trip is usually just a day or two vs a week long cruise of eating with the same people every night.

 

[because]

Our family prefers not having to share a dining table with strangers. We find plenty of other opportunities on the ship to mingle and make friends. Dinners, for us, is for family and reconnection. We want to be able to discuss whatever we want, perhaps even current events, without having to worry about offending our tablemates. We don't enjoy small talk about weather and where we live at dinner time. That is saved for the person sitting in the lounge chair next to you on deck.

 

[gotomu212]

We've had both ends of the spectrum. Our second cruise we met an amazing family and have since taken other trips with them (both DCL and other non-Disney trips).

On our 5th cruise we were paired with a family that pretended not to speak English (not that we have any issue with non speakers but it seemed uber weird that they said no English and then we found out they were from Seattle and all spoke perfect English). We only spent one night as their table mates.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We've had both ends of the spectrum. Our second cruise we met an amazing family and have since taken other trips with them (both DCL and other non-Disney trips).

On our 5th cruise we were paired with a family that pretended not to speak English (not that we have any issue with non speakers but it seemed uber weird that they said no English and then we found out they were from Seattle and all spoke perfect English). We only spent one night as their table mates.

How odd. Maybe they wanted to be seated by themselves, and didn't realize they wouldn't be. So used that to get it.

 

[jennifermcb]

We are cruising next month with a party of 12 adults. All our reservations are linked. Will our group be seated together for dinner? or split up? We would love to all be together.!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are cruising next month with a party of 12 adults. All our reservations are linked. Will our group be seated together for dinner? or split up? We would love to all be together.!

Depends on the ship, sort of. Generally, yes, they will seat you together. They can put tables together to make larger ones.

My personal preference would be two smaller 6 person tables, however. They would most likely be next to each other (in the same service team's area).

With 12 people at one table, you're not going to be able to converse with everyone, anyway. You can switch out what table everyone is seated at each night to mix up the dining companions.

 

[jennifermcb]

Depends on the ship, sort of. Generally, yes, they will seat you together. They can put tables together to make larger ones.

My personal preference would be two smaller 6 person tables, however. They would most likely be next to each other (in the same service team's area).

With 12 people at one table, you're not going to be able to converse with everyone, anyway. You can switch out what table everyone is seated at each night to mix up the dining companions.

I appreciate the answer

 

[Dug720]

Theoretically I am not opposed to the idea.

In practice, I have found that when I cruise solo, Disney likes to dump all the solos together, and that is not really a basis for having anything in common beyond cruising Disney solo. On the Fantasy in 2015, the two solo guys had so much in common - from career to political views and literally everything...and pretty much the exact opposite of me. I might as well not have been there - and after the first night I wasn't having Palo night 2 and then requesting to have my table changed and having that successfully happen.

Other times I've either been able to dine with my sister - so the dining room manager put us at our own table so she could eat and not have to answer questions all meal since she had to wear her night whites - or have been with my parents and was able to request our own table (and was told while it was still not a guarantee, the fact that I am gluten-free bumped up the possibility of our own table).

Based on the Fantasy experience, I will now make it a point to request my own table when cruising solo - and checking on it when the dining changes location opens to avoid feeling totally isolated again.

 

[oufpat]

We are two adults, and recently completed our first cruise, Disney did an excellent job matching us up with 2 other couples. We all had our own plans for the daytime, but enjoyed getting together for dinner and even ended up going to some evening shows together.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are two adults, and recently completed our first cruise, Disney did an excellent job matching us up with 2 other couples. We all had our own plans for the daytime, but enjoyed getting together for dinner and even ended up going to some evening shows together.

Except for one time, DCL dinner companion seating has been great for us. And that time didn't really turn out all that bad, since there were 2 of us couples and the 2 (single) people they put at the table with us never showed up.