Cruise Dining...eating with strangers?

[nuts4mickey]

We are going on our first criuse (7-night western). My husband is worried about eating with people we don't know. We are both out-going, but what if we don't get along with our table mates? Can we change tables? How do they make seating assignments? Is it based on age, interests, dvc membership, etc?

 

[jordanyosh]

I think they try to put you with folks in the same age range. They put families with families etc. Both times we've cruised we have been with nice folks, but really not our type. No problems though, pleasant enough. If you don't like the folks, go to Palo one-night....that's what we did.

 

[tigsmom]

I've never been on a cruise, but members of my family have. They usually end up sitting with couples near their own age/hometown or when they travelled as a family, with other families that had kids the same age.


The last trip they were seated with a family that had the same last name. It is very unique so the staff thought they were related...they weren't. Each had never met anyone outside of the family with the same name so they had a lot to talk about.

 

[AriBelle23]

I think one of the most exciting things about traveling (espeically in Disney) is meeting new people and learning all about them! Even if you don't like your table mates, just think, it's only for a week and it is an expierence! Plus, i just think of it as stories to tell. But chances are you will get along just wonderfully because most of the time when people are on a cruise, they are on it to relax and have fun! I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[BRER STITCH]

Dining with strangers can be a bit uncomfortable at first, if you are not accustomed to it, but I found that after the first night, the awkwardness had passed.

After all, you only do this at dinner. Breakfast and lunch are on your own for the most part.

Quick tip: When you arrive at your table, (if it is rectangle) sit in the end seats across from each other. Then there are only people on one side of you to talk to. The other side will be open. This will help break the awkward "stuck in the middle of a crowd" feeling.

You can also avoid the situation altogether for at least one evening by dining at Palo.

One good thing you all have in common is your desire to have a great vacation. Our table mates have always been nice. Disne Cast Members are there to ensure your enjoyment. If there were a problem, I am sure they would accomodate your move to another table.

Don't sweat it.....people eat the same all over. The first time the guy next to you spills a drink in his lap, or the lady across from you drops a shrimp down her top, all your anxiety will melt away.

:lol:

 

[Redvette]

If you are like most people, you will find that your table mates will be strangers for only one day, after that they will be friends. We actually look forward to going to dinner to share stories of our daily adventures with our new friends. The only thing that would bother me would be unruly kids, and if I was seated with ill mannered kids I would probably ask to be moved. Tell Hubby not to sweat it, it almost always works out great.

 

[Coree]

I'm one of those people who finds it really difficult to strike up a conversation with a stranger so I was really apprehensive about this aspect of our cruise too. The first night was a little awkward for me, not really knowing what to say or to expect. After that first night though it was so much easier. We'd talk about what we'd all done that day and if there were things going on that evening that shouldn't be missed. We didn't really "hang out" with each other outside of dinners, but dinners were quite fun. We didn't all have too much in common with each other (other than being four married couples without kids), but the cruise and love of Disney was our common thread that gave us plenty to talk about.

 

[westie]

First cruise, tablemates. Last two, no tablemates. Not by choice however. I'm fully apprehensive and thought disney did a great job with it. I really wouldn't sweat it. You can always change. The worst was probably seeing someone eating alone. I felt so bad I almost invited them over but, then I'm the apprehensive type.:veryconfu

 

[Passport]

I am not crazy about sitting with strangers. I like to sit down, eat and then walk outside for awhile. When you eat with others, you have to wait until they show up to be served.
Whenever I cruise, I get on the boat and head for the dining room to ask to be reseated to a table of two. Almost every cruise line was very happy to do that for me. If not, there are other arrangements that can be made for dinner.
Lastly, I am there for vacation. I do not dress up or wear formals (I am not at the prom). So I know it would be better not to sit with a bunch of strangers who are all starched and glittery. I don't want to ruin their evening.

 

[Married@WDW]

I share your husband's apprehension! DH and I rarely get to travel alone (no kids, just family everywhere ya turn!) so we do the Disney cruise alone and want the cruises to be romantic -- a table for two is something we really want. Neither one of us is really outgoing with strangers and honestly, we're on the cruise to be with each other. On our first Disney Magic cruise they would not put us at a table for two even though it was our honeymoon. There were empty tables in the dining room, but we were forced to sit with an older couple who were giving lectures on the cruise -- they didn't like Disney and couldn't imagine why we'd gotten married at WDW. Luckily, we each chose a different night for Palo, so we only had to eat with them twice (4-day cruise). It was a fantastic cruise, but we didn't like our tablemates.

I talked to DCL before we made our reservations for January and they said if the cruise is not full they will happily put us at a table for two -- this is a change from their original policy. We make the change at the same time we make Palo reservations, so I'll be trying to do both. So if you really don't want to sit with others and you don't get a table for two, you can attempt to change when you get on board.

 

[Passport]

I am sensitive to womens perfume and sometimes on a cruise passengers wear enough to make the flowers cry. Tell the dining room that and they will make the change for you.

 

[celticdog]

Here is my Disney cruise dinner experience.

Our table seated 8. Four couples. Everyone at the table was in the same age range, late 20's to early 30's. Some where married, others where single. None of us had children. Two of the couples were newlyweds. Geographically, none of us came from places near each other, at least not within easy driving distances. With all of us so close in age it was extremely easy to strike up conversations. We all had a great time talking about what each other did for that day of cruising. It was amazing to find out how much one could miss. I also found that a few pre-dinner drinks will quickly loosen the tongue.

Fear not, it will be easy to eat dinner with strangers and actually it was very fun.

 

[Michael72688]

Originally posted by nuts4mickey
We are going on our first criuse (7-night western). My husband is worried about eating with people we don't know. We are both out-going, but what if we don't get along with our table mates? Can we change tables? How do they make seating assignments? Is it based on age, interests, dvc membership, etc?

It is done randomly and most of the time you get along with the people, plus it is a great way to meet new people

Have fun

 

[aim]

This sounds so kool! I wish I could go on a Disney cruise! It would be interesting to see who would be the table mates. Let us know how it goes! :wave:

 

[Jedi Osborn]

"When you eat with others, you have to wait until they show up to be served. "

For real??!
I'm totally new to the cruise idea so I don't know anything about it, heck I just learned that you had to eat with strangers. I'm a nice guy, but I value my family time, so I'd much rather spend my meal eating/talking/playing with my wife and two daughters than with strangers. And you really have to wait for the whole table?? How does that work? You're all supposed to meet at a predetermined time? That's just weird.



"Lastly, I am there for vacation. I do not dress up or wear formals (I am not at the prom). So I know it would be better not to sit with a bunch of strangers who are all starched and glittery. I don't want to ruin their evening."


I'm with you. I'm not a slob by any means, but I totally refuse to wear a tie on vacation.



This cruise idea sounded like fun in the beginning but with this odd dinner thing and the idea that you can just ship your kids off to some Disney day care is really turning me off. Are there things that the whole family can do or is it really as seperate as the travel channel made it sound?

 

[celticdog]

Originally posted by Jedi Osborn
"When you eat with others, you have to wait until they show up to be served. "

For real??!
I'm totally new to the cruise idea so I don't know anything about it, heck I just learned that you had to eat with strangers. I'm a nice guy, but I value my family time, so I'd much rather spend my meal eating/talking/playing with my wife and two daughters than with strangers. And you really have to wait for the whole table?? How does that work? You're all supposed to meet at a predetermined time? That's just weird.

"Lastly, I am there for vacation. I do not dress up or wear formals (I am not at the prom). So I know it would be better not to sit with a bunch of strangers who are all starched and glittery. I don't want to ruin their evening."

I'm with you. I'm not a slob by any means, but I totally refuse to wear a tie on vacation.

This cruise idea sounded like fun in the beginning but with this odd dinner thing and the idea that you can just ship your kids off to some Disney day care is really turning me off. Are there things that the whole family can do or is it really as seperate as the travel channel made it sound?

It really sounds like you got some negative information. Let me help clarify.

1. You can do as much or as little as you like with your kids and family. Disney gives you the option of being able to enjoy "adult" time without the worry of where your kids are.

2. You don't have to do dinners in the dining rooms. They do have a buffet on deck 9.

3. You're not required to wear a tie, however a jacket is prefered. I did not wear a tie, but i did wear a casual dinner jacket. Not all the resturants require dressy/formal attire or ties. Just Palo (adults only) and Triton's/Lemier's.

4. For the sit down dinners, there are two seating times. typically 6 and 8:30, and Yes, you need to be there at those times or you'll miss a dinner course. The buffet tends to run a long time.

The above apply to the 3 day/4 day cruise. The seven day may have legetimate formal night that requires a tux or suit.

 

[Maria]

I went on the Magic for the weekend cruise with a friend and we were seated with six other people. They were two couples who were also cast members as we were, and a father with his 16 year old daughter. We certainly weren´t in the same age range at all, but we had fun with them regardless. We were all the dessert eating type so we kept ordering all the types of desserts that were offered during dinners. It was never a "this or that?", it was always "this and that" for us! :animwink:

 

[Coree]

For the seven-night cruise there is a formal night and a semi-formal night, along with a tropical night. I don't recall whether it was required to dress up, but I don't recall anyone not dressing up at least to some extent. In any case, shorts are definitely not allowed in the dining rooms at dinner and I don't think jeans are either.

The way dinners work is that you choose which seating time you prefer and are assigned to a table in that seating time for the duration of the cruise. You sit with the same people and the same table number and rotate throughout the three main dining rooms-Lumiere's, Animator's Palette, and Parrot Cay. Which of the three restaurants you're in doesn't determine the attire. Instead, formal night is (for example) Tuesday night for everyone, regardless of which of the three restaurants you're in that night. For us, we were in Parrot Cay for formal night which was really odd because it's the least formal looking of the three.

Anyway, waiting for everyone at your table to get there really isn't a big deal because everyone gets there around the same time. And as Celticdog said you can always choose to eat at the Topsiders buffet instead. However, I'd encourage you to at least try the seating in the dining rooms for the first few nights. Each restaurant is very unique (especially the color-change show at Animator's Palette) and the food at all of them is outstanding. The food at the buffet is good, but nothing like what you experience during the regular dinners.

 

[Jedi Osborn]

I went back and re-read my post, I sounded quite negative. Sorry about that.
Thanks for all the information.

I didn't realize there was a buffet available, that would be good. I just hate the
feeling of being required to do things on my vacation. You know? When we're in WDW
we do what we want when we want and where we want. So to be required to be at
dinner at a certain time or to wear something special just got me off on the wrong
foot.
I've heard about the Animator's Palette. I'd really like to try that out, it sounds awesome. Now, if the trip we happen to go on has formal night on the night we're supposed to go there are we stuck dressing up?


"1. You can do as much or as little as you like with your kids and family. Disney
gives you the option of being able to enjoy "adult" time without the worry of
where your kids are. "


This is huge. I'm a "vaction's are for the family" kind of guy. I spend all day
at work away from my kids, so when we go on vacation, I want to spend every minute
I can with them. (I figure this'll work until they're about 13). It just seemed like everyting I've read so far about the cruise has stressed that there's a place for the kids and a place for the adults.
What kind of things are there to do as a family?

 

[Coree]

You can do pretty much anything as a family. Many of the excursions you can do at ports include the whole family with a few exceptions. There are parties on deck in the evenings that are fun for everyone. There are stage shows at night that everyone can attend and that are really entertaining for everyone. There are movies shown on board that are family oriented. Of course you can all spend plenty of time together at the pool, or playing ping pong or shuffleboard.

I think you see so much about the kids being off on their own because so many adults want to have some time to themselves. However, you really can tailor your vacation more than it seems. You can spend pretty much every moment together if that's what you want to do.

As for dinner at Animator's Palette, I'm not sure if formal attire would be required. I want to say it was always put forward as "suggested attire" for the evening and that the only requirement was no shorts or jeans but I'm not sure. If you do the seven-night cruise just make sure you go to Animator's the first night that it comes up in your rotation because that first dinner there is the only time that color change will happen. This is a tip we got from other experiences cruisers at our table when we were thinking about going to Palo's that first night thinking we could always see it the second time through the rotation.