Table Sharing: Yes or No?

[cijay]

I'm read the posts here, most people seem to either hit it off tremendously or at least cordially - with the allowable number of 'bad' experiences in there for good measure. I've never cruised before, my experiences with table sharing have been at dinner theatres here. Only one experience that wasn't 'bad' but it was a lovey dovey couple who couldn't keep their hands off of each other and the smacked and sucked each others' necks and such while the show was on. Annoying but could have been so much worse.

I'm nervous because - I'm not one of the types who will jaw someone's ear off and tell them every bit of my life but I like fun, topical conversation. I don't need to make a BFF or anything but it's also awkward when it's a one-way conversation.

I hope I get good table mates.

 

[kiford]

We've had some OK or nice experiences and some great ones. On one of our B2B cruises the second leg we had apparently been scheduled to have a table to ourselves. We asked our Head Server to reassign us both because we wanted to stay with our servers from the first leg and because we like sharing our table. We got to our table on the second leg and discovered that we'd been seated with a couple we'd been seated with the previous year. We had had so much fun with them the previous cruise so we were really happy to sit with them again. The other couple at the table was also a huge amount of fun.

On our 2010 Med cruise, we were at a table for 10. We basically closed down the MDR every night - had a great time with everyone. We still correspond with one of the couples a few times a year.

In 2013 on our Med cruise we sat with two brothers and two other couples. We got along great. Closed down the MDR each night again. Last year, we arranged to cruise with one of the couples and the brothers. That couple convinced friends of theirs (who they met on a previous DCL cruise) to join us. So the eight of us shared a table and had a great time. We even arranged to go to Palo's for both brunch and dinner.

The one couple lives in Florida now and the brothers went to WDW in 2014 and had them come visit while there. We went to WDW last December and arranged to meet the couple there. We're now trying to plan for the coming December to meet them in WDW again or just go to visit them in Tampa. We also correspond with the brothers. We're hoping that we'll be able to arrange another cruise together. It was amazing to me how excited we all were to meet up again on the last cruise. We spent a lot of time together on deck and went on a lot of the same excursions together. Probably the best cruise we've been on largely because of the people we dined with.

 

[diznie]

we are 3 adults and just want to enjoy our diner. We sat at the table once with a couple with 3 kids and the kids were in charge of the parents, if you know what I mean.... .

 

[Cruise-n-2015]

Ours was tough, we are a family of 5 and sat with a family of three (Mom and kids) It was tough because although my husband had polite conversation he didn't really have a lot to discuss with the other lady so spent most of dinner chatting with our kids (which he was happy to do) and I felt torn between making sure I was engaging both the other family and mine. The kids from the other family were not interested in chatting with my kids and usually left dinner early, so mom was sitting at out table alone...
She was lovely, it just didn't really work out this time.

 

[Mousemommy1]

How many people are there per table? We are a family of five. Will they match us up with someone? Do they try to match families with families? I think it would be great for the kids to meet new kids!

 

[mevelandry]

Nope, even among a group of friends I feel uncomfortable having to chat with people I don't know... I would hate to be seated with complete strangers.

We always ask to be seated alone.

 

[SillyInventor]

Absolutely yes. We (DW and I) had a great experience on a DCL arranged 9-top table with (now) friends we still follow on Facebook and have regularly mail contact.
For our upcoming WBPC we decided to help DCL and form a dining group per seating in our Cruisegroup. This way we will end up with people who are also as enthusiastic as we are and have joined in a year of pre-fun. Also other activities are organized, so should be good.

If you are seated with others and it doesn't work out well: don't swallow it: go to the head server and explain. He will get it sorted out. A cruise is a time to enjoy and the HW is there to make your diner enjoyable.

 

[Starwind]

We always ask for our own table for medical reasons: the two of us have food allergies, me even more so, and my allergy to seafood is airborne -- so nobody sharing a table with me can have seafood (and yes, nearby tables can be problematic, sometimes... I try to sit with as much space between my seat and any other tables as possible to create a buffer; on our first two cruises our tables were often in a corner or against a wall, which created a natural barrier). We felt it would not be fair to unsuspecting others to who shared a table with us to be banned from seafood.

We have done 4 cruises on DCL now and have had our own table each time; it has worked well for us, especially when we're really tied by the time late dining comes around and sustaining a conversation just between us is hard enough

OTOH, I do feel we miss out on the opportunity to meet others and potentially become friends. We have coworkers and family who have met people this way who became lifelong friends, but it is not really an option for us :-(

SW

 

[CM Dad]

We've had some OK or nice experiences and some great ones. On one of our B2B cruises the second leg we had apparently been scheduled to have a table to ourselves. We asked our Head Server to reassign us both because we wanted to stay with our servers from the first leg and because we like sharing our table. We got to our table on the second leg and discovered that we'd been seated with a couple we'd been seated with the previous year. We had had so much fun with them the previous cruise so we were really happy to sit with them again. The other couple at the table was also a huge amount of fun.

On our 2010 Med cruise, we were at a table for 10. We basically closed down the MDR every night - had a great time with everyone. We still correspond with one of the couples a few times a year.

In 2013 on our Med cruise we sat with two brothers and two other couples. We got along great. Closed down the MDR each night again. Last year, we arranged to cruise with one of the couples and the brothers. That couple convinced friends of theirs (who they met on a previous DCL cruise) to join us. So the eight of us shared a table and had a great time. We even arranged to go to Palo's for both brunch and dinner.

The one couple lives in Florida now and the brothers went to WDW in 2014 and had them come visit while there. We went to WDW last December and arranged to meet the couple there. We're now trying to plan for the coming December to meet them in WDW again or just go to visit them in Tampa. We also correspond with the brothers. We're hoping that we'll be able to arrange another cruise together. It was amazing to me how excited we all were to meet up again on the last cruise. We spent a lot of time together on deck and went on a lot of the same excursions together. Probably the best cruise we've been on largely because of the people we dined with.

When we were finishing up the first leg of our B2B, the head server asked us if we wanted a private table for the second cruise, and whether we wanted to keep the same servers. We opted to go with a shared table and keep the same servers.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

How many people are there per table? We are a family of five. Will they match us up with someone? Do they try to match families with families? I think it would be great for the kids to meet new kids!

Each serving team serves a 4 top, a 6 top, and an 8 top. With 5 it's probably 50/50 whether you'd be seated with others. We did one cruise as a party of 5 and had our own table. We did another cruise as a party of 3 and were seated with a party of 5 at an 8 top.

DCL is pretty good about matching group dynamics when seating random groups together.