a dining room question

[BambiRumsey]

I am traveling over Thanksgiving with my DH and 6 year old DD. Now, while I believe my child is well behaved, I do not wish to subject passengers who may feel otherwise to having a young child at the table.

 

We have first seating and I requested a 4-top table.

 

Here is my question, assuming we get a 4-top, will they fill that 4th spot with a single or will we have the table with just the three of us? This is her 4th cruise and she is actually well behaved at dinner so I am not worried she will offend anyone really, but from reading the boards it appears some people have a mind set about children on cruises and I want to enjoy my vacation as I am sure they want to enjoy theirs.

 

Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience where their party is one person less than the table size they requested.

[rjg41]

Unless they have a pretty full ship they will kikely leave the seat empty. If you do not get a 4 seat table don't worry about it. If the others don't like sitting with children they will move. Personally we'd love it. Grandparents usually enjoy being with other children.

[MrsPete]

While it's possible that they'll place a single with you, it's more likely that you'll have the table to yourself. So few people travel alone, and singles would likely be placed with other singles or at a large table -- not alone in a place where they'd feel like a fifth wheel.

[skiiergirl]

Previous posters have said it best....you might get a single but more than likely not. I think they are right also, your child has a right to be in the dining room and if the other people don't like the "presence" of the child they can move. As long as the child is well behaved. We have no children and do not particularly enjoy being around "misbehaving" children. But give us a well behaved child over a misbehaving "adult" any time. One of our best dining experiences ever was us at a table for 8 with a family of 5 (3 kids). I believed they ranged from 5 to 11. They were better behaved, well-mannered, had more etiquette, etc. than many of the adults we have dined with. We have also dined with a large family of 8 or 9 that were all adults except one two year old. We weren't thrilled when we saw her coming...but you know what....she turned out to be the best behaved of the whole family. We have only one time (many years ago) complained about a child in the dining room. He was about 3 and the parents just let him run trhough the dining room screaming. I am not exaggerating for the first 2 or 3 nights the child just ran wild screaming at the top of his lungs running through the waiters' legs, etc. Finally, I think everyone in the dining room had enough and the dining staff finally somehow convinced the parents that he should not be in there. Go and enjoy your cruise!

[dfgf]

Agreed - your daughter has the right to be in the dining room like everyone else. We have a 2-year-old and a newborn. We take our yearly cruise without children. If we were seated with one, I'm not sure how we would react - but, that's for us to decide. If we decided to move, we certainly wouldn't harbor any ill-will against you!

[mtchg]

.I have cousins and an Aunt that live in Arnold (I visited a couple of times in the 90's)..

 

I live in Nebraska now, but I was born in D.C....

 

And I really like Annapolis. I was visiting there one 4th of July when a fireworks display from a barge went wrong and injured one person.

 

I agree with the previous posters..don't worry about your daughter. She

has as much right to be there, and you all will have a great time.

 

MItch

[PTarbay]

I am traveling over Thanksgiving with my DH and 6 year old DD. Now, while I believe my child is well behaved, I do not wish to subject passengers who may feel otherwise to having a young child at the table.

 

We have first seating and I requested a 4-top table.

 

Here is my question, assuming we get a 4-top, will they fill that 4th spot with a single or will we have the table with just the three of us? This is her 4th cruise and she is actually well behaved at dinner so I am not worried she will offend anyone really, but from reading the boards it appears some people have a mind set about children on cruises and I want to enjoy my vacation as I am sure they want to enjoy theirs.

 

Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience where their party is one person less than the table size they requested.

When my daughter was young we always requested a large table with other families with children.We always got the request.Don't let these boards scare you.The child topic tends to bring out the extremists on both sides.Everything will be fine.

[dfgf]

That brings-up another point. If you request a large table, you'll most likely end-up at a table with another family with a child/children your daughter's age. That could make it a lot more fun for your daughter.

 

Both of our previous cruises we've requested a large table and ended-up strictly with other married couples in their mid-20's to early-30's. That can't be coincidence - I would guess that RCI has a very good automated system of matching people up.

[critterchick]

They know the ages of the passengers. We inquired about our table on Monarch, and the maitre d' said that it was people from Decks 9 & 10 (as if that were important). She said she could switch us to a table with "people in their 40s," so they seem to have given some thought to the seatings (other than the requested size), much to my surprise.

 

As for your daughter, I would think meeting some other kids at mealtime would be fun for her. Because you're an odd number, I'm guessing they'll pair you with some other family or families at a larger table, but you never know.

 

You can check out your table assignment when you board, by the way. If you are assigned a large table and don't want it, you can ask for a switch.

[BambiRumsey]

mtchg: where in Arnold? The boat show is in Annapolis this weekend, not such a great time though POURING down rain! Born in DC or surrounding area? My DH is from Alexandria, inlaws share a property line with the Mt Vernon estate.

 

Thanks for all your responses.

 

We have cruised before and been seated at larger tables with another family - what a disaster! On our Disney cruise the other family had a boy about Hannah's age and he was, shall we say, not as well behaved.

 

Honestly, if she is enjoying the children's program, 90% of the time she will choose eating with her friends in Kids Club over eating with Mommy and Daddy anyway! It just so happened on Disney that she was disappointed in their children's program so she ate with us most nights. This is out first RCI cruise. She enjoys Celebrity's kids program so I am hoping we have a good experience on this line.

 

I am happy to have first seating this time. When we have had second seating on past cruises with her, she has laid her head on the table and fallen asleep (sometimes before her food even arrives!). That may be offensive to some people but at least there is no running or screaming or throwing of food!

[Sharon1313]

and we requested a four-top. We were placed at one with no fourth person added. I also noticed that our area of the dining room seemed to be the "kid" section as nearly all the surrounding tables had children. Maybe they try to do that for everyone's sanity!

 

Apparently not that many people want first seating, so you're probably safe with your four-top.