Line most likely to have table for two for dinner

[Breckski]

As the title states.  

 

We've been on one river cruise (with Viking) and upon completion vowed to never take another river cruise.  Never say never!!!

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the floating hotel concept where we wake up in a new destination every day.  Such an efficient way to see Europe's smaller towns/cities.  We saved so much transportation time.  However, we completely hated the common dinners.  Eight strangers at a table.  Just not our thing.

 

So, can some of you experienced river cruisers help me out on which line would provide the most opportunity for a private dinner?  I've been doing research and it's looking like Scenic from what I can tell, but wanted to ask the folks on cc.

[hallasm]

I am somewhat in the same situation as you. The Uniworld ships I've sailed have few tables for two - but maybe that varies from ship to ship. They are popular and cannot be reserved, so you have to be first in line at dinner.

[Canal archive]

 

Sorry for the mess the end of a really good breakfast on a table for two on Scenic Gem.

 

La Moure Scenic Gem.

 

 

River cafe pretending to be an art studio for the art class.
 

There aren’t many for two tables but they are there on all Scenic vessels.

 

Edited August 11 by Canal archive

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Avalon have two long banquettes that run the length of the dining room (down the middle) with a divider screen between the banquette backs. The tables can be arranged as two tops or in larger groups depending on passenger wishes. There are also several pairs of two tops that can be arranged as 4 tops by the window walls. 
 

Here’s an example of the banquette seating from an Avalon ship

 

Edited August 11 by AtlantaCruiser72

[CDNPolar]

12 hours ago, Breckski said:

As the title states.  

 

We've been on one river cruise (with Viking) and upon completion vowed to never take another river cruise.  Never say never!!!

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the floating hotel concept where we wake up in a new destination every day.  Such an efficient way to see Europe's smaller towns/cities.  We saved so much transportation time.  However, we completely hated the common dinners.  Eight strangers at a table.  Just not our thing.

 

So, can some of you experienced river cruisers help me out on which line would provide the most opportunity for a private dinner?  I've been doing research and it's looking like Scenic from what I can tell, but wanted to ask the folks on cc.

 

Just adding a note, that even a table for 2 - as the one picture shows - is only inches from the next table and often on both sides.

 

We have had "situations" (on ocean) where we are at a table for 2 and there is a table for 2 on either side of us and sometimes those neighbours start talking to us...  

 

It is hard to have a "private" dinner on a river ship.

 

To me, and this is just opinion, this is part of river cruising.  You have to be prepared to share dining space on most lines.  Viking's Douro River had 2 or 3 tables for 2 hidden on the back wall of the dining room, but the regular Viking Longships I have never seen 2 tops except in the Aquavit Terrace.

[Spudd]

We just did an Amawaterways cruise and there were a fair number of tables for two. You had to be quick to the dining room to get one, but we managed every night. I don't think the chef's table restaurant had any - we didn't get to choose our table there, the host seated us. But that was just one night. If you take Ama, I'd highly recommend the chef's table anyway, the food was divine.

[Canal archive]

A nod and a smile is all that’s required the majority of people soon realise if you are willing to converse or not. Although through necessity the tables are close together these days I’m fairly sure most are respectful of personal space.

[Daisi]

Not only does Avalon have several tables for 2 (running along the wall on both sides of the dining room) as @AtlantaCruiser72 shows, they also do room service for all meals. Breakfast will just be a light continental type, and I haven't seen menu's for lunch or dinner, but it is an extra option.

[Roz]

For me,  dining with others and meeting new people is part of the cruising experience. I guess I'm some sort of weirdo. I  prefer a 4 or 6 top table. 

[Canal archive]

Thank goodness we’re all different imagine everyone enjoying their partners and no one else or everyone chatting with everyone else. It’s as they say horses for courses. Luckily we’re all different - Vive  La difference -.

[Canal archive]

DH just said if you’re on Scenic as you arrive in the restaurant ask the manager to find a two seater table for you. You could as well let him know that it’s your preference. 

[Breckski]

5 hours ago, Canal archive said:

A nod and a smile is all that’s required the majority of people soon realise if you are willing to converse or not. Although through necessity the tables are close together these days I’m fairly sure most are respectful of personal space.

One would think.  On a recent Viking Ocean cruise (where the two top tables are lined up very closely), we ended up getting in between a conversation with the couple to our left and the other couple to our right.  We just left the restaurant after our appetizer and ate elsewhere.  This was actually part of the reason we decided to give river cruises a try again.  Just not Viking with the single dinner serving at large table - convention center style.

 

We understand any cruise isn't like dinner at one of our local restaurants.  Just want to maximize our changes for privacy when selecting a line.  

 

Thanks to all for the info.  We'll look a bit closer at AMA and Avalon.

[Daisi]

@Breckski, with Avalon, you can do a virtual tour of the dining room to see how it is laid out. You can also tour the cabins to see how they are as well. We've found it very helpful when selecting cabins.

[cbr663]

We sailed with Avalon in June on the Vista and the dining room did have 2 tables for 2 on each side of the dining room.  We managed to get one of these most nights except for the Captain's Gala Dinner and the last night of the cruise in which we didn't dine in the dining room.

 

You will need to hustle to get one of these tables as they are taken quickly.  Our cruise was only at 75% capacity and we made sure we were one of the first to enter the dining room.  For the Captain's Gala Dinner we sat in the long banquet of tables on one side as noted above.  The tables are technically tables for 2, but are so close that they operate as tables for 4.  Luckily as the cruise unfolded less and less people were dining in the dining room and even though we sat at the banquet line there wasn't anyone in the table next to us so it was a 2 top for us that evening.

 

The virtual tours online for Avalon are nice but they aren't precise.  For the Vista, for instance, they show a tour of the Envision and the ships aren't exact.  The location of the shower stack in the cabins on the Vista is different than on the Envision.  The dining room on the Envision doesn't show the 2 tables for 2 and it shows the long banquet of tables being spaced much further apart than they are on the Vista.  So view the virtual tours with caution.

 

FYI - I did provide a review of our Avalon cruise and do not recommend Avalon due to the poor service and food that we encountered on the ship.  YMMV.

[Canal archive]

Breckski that’s just  so very very  rude what you have described shows how ignorant some people are. Wherever you are you cannot condone this. I suspect as well that if someone - heaven help us - tried to explain they wouldn’t come anywhere near to understanding. Apart from anything else having to forfeit the rest of your meal is just not on! 

[UDChE89]

Took a Uniworld cruise, Brilliant Bordeaux, last month.  Plenty of tables for 2 and they have no issue with you sitting at a table for four if there are no 2s available.  That’s what we did the first night until our group formed.

[pontac]

On 8/11/2024 at 11:45 PM, Canal archive said:

 

There aren’t many for two tables but they are there on all Scenic vessels.

 

There were no tables for two on Scenic Azure on Douro last month. 

 

Maybe seating has changed since 2018.

 

However as boat was only 75% full and some guests were dining in other places it was easy to get a table for 6 for just two. 

[CDNPolar]

One thing to note as well, is that most Longships are very similar in size and length.  Viking sails with more guests and therefore has more cabins and less common area space.  This to me is one of the predictors of whether you are going to find 2 tops or not.

[cbr663]

On 8/13/2024 at 2:40 AM, Canal archive said:

Breckski that’s just  so very very  rude what you have described shows how ignorant some people are. Wherever you are you cannot condone this. I suspect as well that if someone - heaven help us - tried to explain they wouldn’t come anywhere near to understanding. Apart from anything else having to forfeit the rest of your meal is just not on! 

 

I agree, it is very rude.  People are people and of course you can run into rude people everywhere on your journeys.  When you are on a river cruise and you run into them the challenge is the small spaces and numerous bus tours make it difficult to avoid them.  

 

On our Avalon river cruise in June we had a group travelling together with 2 men in their 60s who believed being annoying was funny and a badge of honour.  It was obvious attention seeking behaviour as even their wives would tell other cruisers if you give them attention they will not stop.  I won't go into detail of the types of behaviour only to state that if you had children behaving the way these grown men did you would correct the children immediately.  One fellow cruiser told me he learned from previous river cruises to always bring noise cancelling headphones on river cruises.  Great advice.  🙂  

[UDChE89]

One of the single women on our cruise told us that another passenger said to her that she must only be on the cruise by herself because she was looking for a husband.  It is amazing the things people will say when they don’t think there will be any repercussions.

[cbr663]

I have learned that there are 2 lessons that the universe sends to me when I am travelling:

 

1.  How to truly live in the moment and have fun.  I am always amazed at how easy it is for me to live in the moment when I am travelling versus adopting that philosophy when I am not, and

 

2.  How to be tactful and resilient with the disruptions that may be thrown in my path, whether it be from plan disruptions like delayed or cancelled flights, poor service or people just behaving badly.  

[cbr663]

I've recently viewed some video reviews of Emerald River Cruises and in the videos it appears that they have more 2 tops available than any other cruise line I have researched.  May be an option.

[TrojanGal]

We had our first river cruise with Scenic about 3 years ago. Going on the Christmas markets cruise with Scenic this December.  We never had an issue getting a table for 2. We did scurry downstairs quickly from the lounge to the dining room after the evening port talk to grab a table but one night we missed the port talk and were later than usual going into the dining room and still found a table for 2.
We even had a table of 4 all to ourselves one night but our ship had 50 less people than usual due to post Covid travel so space was not an issue. Someone else in this thread mentioned even though you may have a table for 2, the neighboring tables are quite close so you will end up talking to these neigbors anyway and you won’t have a private conversation with your travel partner. One night we were sitting next to an English couple who were so fun to talk to and I loved hearing about their travels, but then the husband asked me about my stance on American politics. Oh boy. My husband rolled his eyes and just said “here we go” and knew I would be very open.  The conversation was quite interesting but his wife was embarrassed that her husband went there with politics so they seemed shy around me the rest of the cruise.  I thought it was funny to hear the misconceptions countries have about one another though.  
 

[Host Jazzbeau]

11 minutes ago, TrojanGal said:

One night we were sitting next to an English couple who were so fun to talk to and I loved hearing about their travels, but then the husband asked me about my stance on American politics.

When I'm with Brits and the conversation tends to the political, I ask "Would you characterize yourself as a Telegraph or a Guardian reader?"  Then I know where I stand vis à vis.

[pontac]

On 8/19/2024 at 7:29 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

"Would you characterize yourself as a Telegraph or a Guardian reader?"

 

Errr - I subscribe to both. 🙂