2-seater tables at restaurants on the Disney cruise

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SpaceAce's picture
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2-seater tables at restaurants on the Disney cruise

One thing that's keeping me from booking a cruise is that I doubt I'll be able to get a private table at the restaurants. From what I can tell, you're thrown together with a bunch of other folks who become your dining companions for the week.

Anyone know if 2-seater tables are available and how to get them?

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Kristen K.'s picture
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Bumping this up ...

When I was on the Dream, my traveling companion and I were indeed put at a group table when we ate at the Enchanted Garden for dinner and Breakfast departure day at Animator's Palatte. Dinner at both Palo and Remy we had a table for two. For all of our lunches however we were sat at a table for two, and for buffet breakfasts we also sat at a table for two.

We were onboard 3 nights and had a total of 9 meals, we had to share a table at only 2 of them.

What has everyone else's experience been?

DisneyDee27's picture
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We were a group of 10 the first cruise so we had a table to ourselves. The DW and I did a b2b after my family left and we had a table to ourselves

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My experience was good. Disney tries to group like parties together. It was just my husband and I so we were grouped with two other couples without children. The first couple never showed up as they had changed their dining time, and the other couple only showed up once! The other couple was very nice, and we talked a little bit but gave each other space to have our own conversations too. I really enjoyed having the other couple as my dining partners.

So, all in, we only had 1 shared meal and otherwise ate by ourselves at a table for eight, lol. awesome

Eeyore's picture
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Thanks for reposting. I was wondering this as well! I don't mind sharing a table, but since we don't have kids....I would prefer to be at a table with couples only!

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This is something that has concerned me in just the exact opposite aspect as all you others. This will be our first Disney Cruise since back when it was the Big Red Boat back in 89. On all our other cruises except our last, we had been put at a table with 2 to 4 other couples and it was wonderful! We had all day on the boat to enjoy ourselves and loved the socialization aspect of dining with others and have made some great friends! In fact, there is one couple we sailed with numerous years ago that are still dear friends of ours and we would love to cruise with them again! Our last cruise we were stuck at a table for 3 with our son on his graduation cruise. We were very disappointed as we loved being able to interact with others during dinner. We managed to get changed and ended up with a delightful British couple and their pre teen daughter. I was shocked to learn from the staff that when they built the biggest boat ever, they took away that social aspect and made a lot more small tables to make it "more intimate". This was rather disheartening. If you really want to dine alone, put in a request when you book and as soon as you get on the boat, go to the dining room to check on your seating. If you don't like it, you can always put in a request to try to be moved, but if you're going to go formal or dress like a pirate, why sit stuffed in a corner. Pirate dining by yourself to me just sounds *awkward!* Everyone went on a cruise to have a good time so why not enjoy with them and share your fun experiences on the boat! Maybe what they share may lead you to something you want to try! Bring it!! banana

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The first night of our cruise we ate at the Enchanted Garden and we were seated with three other couples. I was feeling a little weird because at that point I was already writing and taking pictures of my food, though it wasn't yet considered a common thing. My companion and I explained to them that no one had to wait for us to start eating, that they should just dive right in when served while I styled the food and framed my shots or our plates. Well, my table LOVED it! Every single person passed me their plates, no one thought it was strange, no one took a bite until there was a picture. They all had an amazing time helping me to review the meal. It was a riot!

We didn't really see them again until our departure breakfast, and I thought that it was nice touching base with them and hearing how their cruise was. I can see the pros and cons of each seating arrangement. It's fun to meet new friends, but it's also nice to just share a meal with your partner. It's also great that Disney works to keep couples without kids together.

DisneyDee27's picture
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We had lovely table mates his past cruise. Oddly enough I miss the Zhang family. Kids and all Smile

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I realize this is an old thread, but I thought I'd add my two cents. My fear is ending up at a table for two and NOT getting to meet other people. We're taking an Alaska cruise in August, and I've made it clear to my TA that we want to be seated with another couple or two or three..... not left alone in the dining room at a table for two. When traveling alone as a couple, we don't want to be be left staring at each other in a dining room full of other lively tables. Our first Disney cruise was in November 2012. We were with family, so we all sat together. The Alaska cruise my hubby and I are on our own. We hope to be seated with some other compatible couples on the cruise so we can share experiences. Part of the fun is meeting new people, after all.

Smile
Karen

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Hi Karen and welcome to the forums Smile my friend is working on the Alaskan cruise this year, say hello to her if you see her, and English girl called Ann Marie Smile her pictures are amazing so I'm sure you will have a wonderful time Smile

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I was wondering what we'll experience as well - we are cruising without kids - just booked the Dream for 12/26/13! I wouldn't mind a table with other adults...not excited to be seated with little kids.....but then again it could be fun....

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Just throwing in my 2 cents on the dining as a couple on a Disney cruise. We just got back from a 3 night cruise on the Dream following our wedding shenanigans. We had two other couples at our table; Kim & Eric were from Celebration, FL and celebrating their one year anniversary. The other couple literally never said a word to us, despite our all introducing ourselves to them. We never even got their names. Awwwwkward! I have to hand it to Disney for doing their homework but it was almost creepy. I'm a registered nurse and my hubs is a computer engineer. Kim was a CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist) and her husband Eric was ALSO an RN but out of the clinical area, I believe in IT. Needless to say, we had plenty to chat about! It didn't really occur to me that we'd be seated at a large table with other couple or families but I enjoyed it very much. As it turned out, we didn't see our table mates after our first night since we each had Palo reservations for different nights.

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I would love to be able to sit at a larger table with other couples- in fact we did this for our first 4 cruises.
However, after my 4th cruise I developed a medical condition that makes it more difficult to eat normally. I dread being watched while I eat now... so for the last 3 cruises we've opted to eat at a table by ourselves.

That way only DH has to watch me struggle.

We do enjoy watching other tables having a fantastic time while we're at dinner- so be sure to have a great time so that I can vicariously live through you all!

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Bumping up an old thread...

For our upcoming cruise, hubby and I phoned in a request to be seated at a table for two. It's a big anniversary, number 25, so having a table for two would be more special. Also, we are both introverts, but hubby much more than I am. I like to have fun; I dance at the dance parties and sing along at the sing-alongs. Hubby does none of these things, and he was much less comfortable than I was sharing a table at Teppan Edo and the Biergarten. The private table request is not guaranteed, so if we don't get it I'll be fine and will probably have fun. Hubby, maybe not so much. I'll just have to hope that we get some interesting tablemates if we have to share.

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We met some great people on our cruises. I think Dan will be ok. He can sit at the end of the table and not get too involved and still enjoy the main dining rooms.

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We were seated at a table for two for all meals. I didn't even know they did family style seating.

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Dee, sitting him at the end of the table is a great idea. He would feel a lot more comfortable there and I won't mind sitting in the middle at all.

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crazycatperson wrote:
Dee, sitting him at the end of the table is a great idea. He would feel a lot more comfortable there and I won't mind sitting in the middle at all.

Yay! I wouldn't want either you to miss the fun in the Animator's Palate. It's my favorite restaurant on the ships i've sailed. If you get less desirable table mates you can always go to Cabanas or order room service. We've been very lucky with tablemates.

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Tori and I were sat at a table for 4 in February. We were sat with a young couple on their honeymoon. The first night was a little awkward, but as the cruise went on it became better and we were really happy to have people we saw every day around the ship that we could say hello to. By the end of the cruise we were really happy to have met them. O my previous cruise we only ate dinner at our table on one night, and I think overall that having that shared experience actually made this second cruise a little better.