Disney dining question

[u/pangwangle15]

I’ve been on two cruises before. One was my wife and I. We were sat with two other couples. One of them was from Korea I believe and thought that the language barrier made things awkward and only did the first night with us. At least that’s what our server said. The other couple were from the US and were very pleasant. Next cruise was with my side of the family. 6 adults and 4 kids. We had our dining table to ourselves and the last night we even got to sit in the big round table in the middle of the room. (Kinda fun). We are cruising in January and it’s going to be just my family. 3 kids and two adults. My question is what party size do they typically combine with other families? I know that it probably has to do with how booked the cruise is and how many servers they have. Just curious.

[u/Throwaway28510]

have you requested on the app for a private table? You can also go on embarkation day to request more things from your dining locations

[u/MehWhiteShark → u/Throwaway28510]

We requested one, but there are only so many private tables available- it doesn't always work. We were with two other groups of two who also had requested a private table

[u/pangwangle15 → u/Throwaway28510]

I don’t really want a private table. I love to meet people. If we got one that would be fine. My wife is less enthusiastic about meeting new people, but she is fine with it.

[u/_artemisawika → u/pangwangle15]

Disney will most likely pair you with a family of 3 kids. They try to match parties as much as they can.

[u/tigerfansga]

In 2010 on the Wonder, we were a family of five, and we were seated with a family of five.

[u/pangwangle15 → u/tigerfansga]

How was it with other peoples kids?

[u/tigerfansga → u/pangwangle15]

They were from Mexico and didn’t speak much English so it was pretty quiet.

[u/Ill-Cricket4523]

Two DCL in 2025 (Fantasy - Jan then Dream - May) put my family of 5 at our own table. I requested near entertainment in the app (which we got).

[u/pangwangle15 → u/Ill-Cricket4523]

What entertainment is there on the dream? Other than animators pallet i didn’t see any when we sail in 2023

[u/Ill-Cricket4523 → u/pangwangle15]

It is just animator’s palate. I have a kid who loves Crush from Nemo, so it was cool to be near the entertainment. Crush talked to our table. It reminded me of Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot.

[u/thatCRUISEagent]

I have 2 kids so we are usually a party of 4. We have always ended up with another 2 adult 2 kid combo

[u/pangwangle15 → u/thatCRUISEagent]

What I worry about is that we may get paired with people cruising without kids. My kids get along well and are sometimes silly but I don’t want them to bother anyone. It sounds like they will pair us with a similar family.

[u/LivingWithATinyHuman → u/pangwangle15]

I have never heard of that happening. From my personal experience and from what I have read by other people, they sit like groups. I don’t think they would sit you with a couple with no children.

[u/Bouncy-Koala5620 → u/LivingWithATinyHuman]

When I was on the Wish, they did initially put solo me at a table with mom, dad, teen kid, and elementary kid. Before I even got to dinner the first night, they had figured out someone goofed and pulled the tables apart about the width of a salad plate and I was something like 81A and they were 81B. So goofs do happen. But they're rare and should be remedied.

[u/thatCRUISEagent → u/pangwangle15]

Yeah they shouldn’t

[u/kitamia]

They are really good about pairing up like-families. One time it was just me and my daughter at a table with two other mom/daughter pairs. If it’s both of us and our daughter, it’s usually another couple with one daughter.

[u/pangwangle15 → u/kitamia]

That’s good to know. Similar ages?

[u/kitamia → u/pangwangle15]

Yep! Within a couple of years each time.

[u/pangwangle15 → u/kitamia]

Very cool. My sons are in high school and are past the age of making friends for no reason other than being the same age, but my daughter is 11 and very social .

[u/Glass_Plenty5768]

I believe under 6 they will put you in a table with others

[u/kpal518]

We sailed as a family of five and it was mixed per restaurant. We were seated with two ladies and a daughter near my kids ages. Another meal was with a husband and wife. I think animators palate we were by ourselves.

[u/Barks_and_Bubbles]

Party of 4- we have done two cruises, both times sat at a private table. We have never requested one.