Some dining questions

[oskarNZ]

Firstly, a big thank you to all who contribute to this forum. I've been reading quietly in the background for years now and have finally bit the bullet and gone and booked a 7 night Eastern Caribbean Fantasy cruise for later next year. I'm practically shaking with excitement at seeing my Disney Cruise and Disney World family vacation finally start coming to life. :D

 

Anyway, I had some questions about the dining and was hoping people could help me with them.

 

Firstly, I have booked 14 months in advance in order to get the cabin and dining time (First Seating) I want. I noticed that dining times can be requested, but not guaranteed. It's fair to say, I would be pretty disappointed if I turned up to find we had been moved to the Second Seating. Has anyone ever been switched like this? Is such a change likely/possible?

 

Secondly, are there any tables in the dining rooms for 3? I haven't yet requested a specific table size, but think I would prefer to eat just as a family if that is a option.

 

Lastly, apart from sodas, could you please tell me what cold drinks are included in the cruise fare. Is safe drinking water one of them? I noticed that you need to pay for bottled water, but wondered if there are places to fill up cups with filtered water?

 

Thanks so much

[Cruise2XTC]

Having never cruised with Disney before, I can not speak for them. I can only relate our experiences with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. We have never had our dining time switched from what we requested. We always dine during the early seating.

 

We have had any where from 6 of us to as many as 18. I have seen some tables for 2, and recall seeing a table of 3 sitting at a 4 person table. You might get a similar seating arrangement or may be put with a party of 2 at a 6 person table. Either way, you will no doubt enjoy the main dining room experience. On all of our past cruises, we have really enjoyed the meals. We often have multiple entrees, additional desserts, etc. We have had caramel sauce made for us and often get desserts that are not on the menu. Don't be afraid to ask :)

 

I usually pack on a case or 2 of bottled water. We drive to the port so packing a suitcase with water is not an issue for us. Plus, it gives an extra bag to bring home the goodies you buy. One cruise we taped a luggage tag to the water and it arrived at our door that evening. You often see people bringing water on board. Celebrity used to supply pitchers of water in your room when they made it up in the morning and turned it down in the evening. Not sure if they still do this. We requested 2 pitchers at all times and it was always taken care of for us.

 

Juices, coffee, tea etc. are complementary. We purchase soda cards for my wife and kids.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise. Time will fly and it will be here before you know it. Our next cruise is a ways off too.

[Shmoo here]

Firstly, a big thank you to all who contribute to this forum. I've been reading quietly in the background for years now and have finally bit the bullet and gone and booked a 7 night Eastern Caribbean Fantasy cruise for later next year. I'm practically shaking with excitement at seeing my Disney Cruise and Disney World family vacation finally start coming to life. :D

 

Anyway, I had some questions about the dining and was hoping people could help me with them.

 

Firstly, I have booked 14 months in advance in order to get the cabin and dining time (First Seating) I want. I noticed that dining times can be requested, but not guaranteed. It's fair to say, I would be pretty disappointed if I turned up to find we had been moved to the Second Seating. Has anyone ever been switched like this? Is such a change likely/possible? If your reservation has "Main seating" on it, that's what you have. They will not move you to "late seating" unless you request it.

 

Secondly, are there any tables in the dining rooms for 3? I haven't yet requested a specific table size, but think I would prefer to eat just as a family if that is a option. Each serving team services a 4-top, 6-top, and an 8-top. You can request to be seated by yourselves, if you wish. Just call DCL. They will give you the "it's only a request - cannot be guaranteed, yada, yada, yada" Just agree and ask to have the request placed on your reservation.

 

Lastly, apart from sodas, could you please tell me what cold drinks are included in the cruise fare. Is safe drinking water one of them? I noticed that you need to pay for bottled water, but wondered if there are places to fill up cups with filtered water? The 24/7 drink station has coke products, iced tea, coffee, milk, water, fruit punch or lemondade (depends on which ship). The water onboard the ship is the same water all over the ship (the water that comes from the drink station service is the same as you get in the dining room, is the same as you get from the tap in your room, etc). The water onboard is processed the same as most bottled water (reverse osmosis, filtered), it's quite good.

 

Thanks so much

 

My responses in red.

 

:)

[GBChicinMaine]

As always, Shmoo has provided you with everything you need to know! :) She's awesome like that!

 

The only things I would add:

 

Bring your own cups to take advantage of the beverage station. The paper cups provided are small and will require extra trips. I also take a small travel size bottle that I fill with dish soap because I'm OCD like that. LOL I wash the cups out before we go to bed and they're ready to go the next morning.

 

My only complaint with the tap water available is that it's luke warm. It never really gets COLD...you know? However, if you ask your Steward for ice, they'll fill your ice bucket for you and you can add ice. I've also been known to use the water bottles we bring (or that we receive as Castaway Club members upon arrival) as pitchers. Fill them up, put them in the cooler (because it's not cold enough to be a fridge!) and it's not bad at all.

[Shmoo here]

As always, Shmoo has provided you with everything you need to know! :) She's awesome like that!

 

The only things I would add:

 

Bring your own cups to take advantage of the beverage station. The paper cups provided are small and will require extra trips. I also take a small travel size bottle that I fill with dish soap because I'm OCD like that. LOL I wash the cups out before we go to bed and they're ready to go the next morning.

 

My only complaint with the tap water available is that it's luke warm. It never really gets COLD...you know? However, if you ask your Steward for ice, they'll fill your ice bucket for you and you can add ice. I've also been known to use the water bottles we bring (or that we receive as Castaway Club members upon arrival) as pitchers. Fill them up, put them in the cooler (because it's not cold enough to be a fridge!) and it's not bad at all.

 

Thank you for the kind words.

 

I will point out that bringing your own cups is, in most cases, a good idea. On the classic ships they do request that you use the cups provided for filling your personal ones. The dispensers on the Fantasy, unlike the ones on the classic ships, are designed so that the cup doesn't actually touch the dispenser, so they don't seem to mind you using your own cup to fill at the drink station.

 

We always have the room host keep our ice bucket filled. Also, on the Fantasy they have actual refrigerators in the room (unlike the classic ships - they have "cooling boxes"), so stuff does get cold in them. BTW, the CC gift no longer has waterbottles.

 

:)

[GBChicinMaine]

Thank you for the kind words.

 

I will point out that bringing your own cups is, in most cases, a good idea. On the classic ships they do request that you use the cups provided for filling your personal ones. The dispensers on the Fantasy, unlike the ones on the classic ships, are designed so that the cup doesn't actually touch the dispenser, so they don't seem to mind you using your own cup to fill at the drink station.

 

We always have the room host keep our ice bucket filled. Also, on the Fantasy they have actual refrigerators in the room (unlike the classic ships - they have "cooling boxes"), so stuff does get cold in them. BTW, the CC gift no longer has waterbottles.

 

:)

 

Real refrigerators on the Fantasy! Finally! I love that. Thanks for the heads up on the different CC gifts. I'll be sure to bring our ones from last time! :)

[OutofTexas]

Also when we order room service, we always order a pitcher of water with ice!

[racingfandj]

When we cruised earlier this month, there were 5 of us and we were placed at a table for 8 with a single dad and his two girls. They were very friendly and we had a great week sharing stories. We're generally the kind that would prefer to keep to ourselves, but "forced socialization" as I like to call it isn't always bad.

[oskarNZ]

Wow, thank you for those very helpful answers and tips. It's especially good to hear that the tap water is safe for drinking.

 

I agree that forced socialisation isn't always bad. I've met some amazing, inspirational people in my travels. The only problem is that if your personalities do clash, you're forced to socialise with those same people for seven nights in a row. I'm not sure if I'm keen to take that risk.

[hexdragon]

Ozkar,

 

On my first Disney cruise (3 day) there were three of us and they did put us with another group of 5. Because we were all adults, so I think they put us together. If there was a child, we probably would have had a table to ourselves.

 

On the 7 day Alaska cruise, the table next to us was a 4 person table, Mom, Dad, and the two children...

[Shmoo here]

Wow, thank you for those very helpful answers and tips. It's especially good to hear that the tap water is safe for drinking.

 

I agree that forced socialisation isn't always bad. I've met some amazing, inspirational people in my travels. The only problem is that if your personalities do clash, you're forced to socialise with those same people for seven nights in a row. I'm not sure if I'm keen to take that risk.

 

Actually, not so. If, after meeting your dining companions, you feel it really isn't a great match, so much so that you start making plans to utilize the buffet/quick serve/room service options, you can go to your head waiter and ask to be moved.

 

:)

[Host Mick]

Thank you for the kind words.

 

I will point out that bringing your own cups is, in most cases, a good idea. On the classic ships they do request that you use the cups provided for filling your personal ones. The dispensers on the Fantasy, unlike the ones on the classic ships, are designed so that the cup doesn't actually touch the dispenser, so they don't seem to mind you using your own cup to fill at the drink station.

 

We always have the room host keep our ice bucket filled. Also, on the Fantasy they have actual refrigerators in the room (unlike the classic ships - they have "cooling boxes"), so stuff does get cold in them. BTW, the CC gift no longer has waterbottles.

 

:)

 

I had filled some zip top bags with ice and put them in the cooler. It helps a lot. I always travel with a bunch of zip top bags.

[oskarNZ]

Thank you everyone. Very useful!

 

Schmoo, thank you particularly for your help and all the help you give on this board. I've been browsing many of your answers and they're very useful.

It's good to know we can change tables if the match is that bad. I'm torn actually, because I read last night the Disney endeavor to match families that are similar (age, number of children etc). Has anyone found this to be the case?

It would be quite nice to be paired up with another single-child family as my son is quite shy and it might help him make a friend for the kids club. Of course this isn't guaranteed and we might not get a match anything like I'm imagining.

[racingfandj]

Thank you everyone. Very useful!

 

Schmoo, thank you particularly for your help and all the help you give on this board. I've been browsing many of your answers and they're very useful.

It's good to know we can change tables if the match is that bad. I'm torn actually, because I read last night the Disney endeavor to match families that are similar (age, number of children etc). Has anyone found this to be the case?

It would be quite nice to be paired up with another single-child family as my son is quite shy and it might help him make a friend for the kids club. Of course this isn't guaranteed and we might not get a match anything like I'm imagining.

 

For us, we had 2 girls (14 and 4) and the family with us had 2 girls (14 and 9). I've also read where they try to match up and if you weren't happy you could request a move.

 

I know how you feel on hoping the kids will make friends for the clubs. My DD was just a few weeks from being 5, but never really connected with anyone, so she wouldn't go to the club. She would want to, but after about 15-20 minutes, we would get paged that she was ready to be picked up. We are going again next summer and I'm trying to talk some friends into going so she will have someone to play with.

[guitargal168]

We are also a single child family. On both of our Disney cruises, we were matched, not only with another single child family, but their child was a girl the exact same age as our daughter! So impressed!! We have actually become very good friends with the family we sailed with on our Alaska trip last year. :D

[oskarNZ]

Guitargal and racingfandj, thank you so much for sharing your experiences. It certainly seems that Disney does an impressive job of matching families up. It's wonderful to hear that they put in this extra effort. I think we will let Disney pick our table arrangements and see what happens.

[RNGALNG]

Many many moons ago, when our daughter was little we went on a 4 night Disney cruise - The Wonder.

 

It was our first cruise. We booked really late and so got no choice for dinners. It was late dining and we were put at a table with a grandma and her granddaughter who was about the same age as our girl. There was another couple with a younger girl who were also to be at our table.

 

We took our cruise in March and the weather was horrible. We were queazy the entire trip. We were the lucky ones. There were many who were not so lucky (like the family with the younger daughter) who ended up in their rooms the full trip - being tended to by the medical staff. So we only saw them for one dinner out of four. The grandmother and her charge became good friends with us and we stayed together on port days as well.

 

Disney will make the magic happen - if it is at all in their power! They do a great job at making your trip a pleasant one.

 

We have sense sailed on other lines and really enjoy cruising! Our daughter is now 21 and still talks about the fun times she had on that trip.

 

Enjoy! Go have a ball!!!!

 

PS I bought a britta water bottle to take on board my last cruise and I will bring it along on all of my future ones. I am a water drinker and don't drink much else. It was great for side trips - didn't have to buy a bottle to take with me and as others have said, have the room steward keep more ice in your room. We have found that if you tip them a $20 at the beginning of your trip, you get much better service! My champagne bucket was filled up twice a day with ice as was the little ice bucket that is in the fridge!

 

Have fun!

[GBChicinMaine]

Thank you everyone. Very useful!

 

Schmoo, thank you particularly for your help and all the help you give on this board. I've been browsing many of your answers and they're very useful.

It's good to know we can change tables if the match is that bad. I'm torn actually, because I read last night the Disney endeavor to match families that are similar (age, number of children etc). Has anyone found this to be the case?

It would be quite nice to be paired up with another single-child family as my son is quite shy and it might help him make a friend for the kids club. Of course this isn't guaranteed and we might not get a match anything like I'm imagining.

 

I love this board for that very reason! I've learned so many tips and tricks and I'm not a new cruiser! :) Also, to add to the happy-feel good stories... The family that we were seated with on our first cruise had a daughter my stepdaughter's age. The girls got along beautifully and STILL stay in touch these many years later as young adults.

[oskarNZ]

Thanks again for sharing. Hearing these nice stories confirms that I have made the right choice by booking Disney. It's the small touches that make all the difference and pairing guests up with similar tablemates is just one such example.