Thanks. Mine was a table for six so DH couldn't just show up and try to squeeze in. You'd think they would have advised me to just sit with my DH at his two-top but since there are no tables for one, they must have had someone else assigned to sit with him. We ate elsewhere all ten nights.
Good luck. On our last cruise DH and I each had a connecting balcony and we were linked at booking. Upon boarding we found I was assigned a table for six in Chic dining room and DH was assigned a table for two (don't know with whom) in Grande dining room. I waited in line at the dining entrance the first day to get them corrected and was advised nothing could be done and we should do my time! 😵 No thanks.
We've been on many birthday cruises but have never seen this. DH received this invitation during our current sailing. About 100 guests showed up including family members. Door prizes and a huge cake were provided. I asked the hotel director about it and he said it is new. Rather nice.
Recently on Radiance class, where the machines are at the back of the Windjammer, at times you could serve yourself and other times a crew member was there to serve you. Haven't been able to serve yourself on any other ships we have sailed lately.