Freestyle Dining

[stevenikkij]

My family is doing a "family reunion" type cruise next July to Alaska- it will be a large group- maybe 15-20 people or more. Part of our cruise experience is to eat meals together so we can talk about our days in port and all. How does that work- we want to all sit together for those meals?Thanks for any suggestions!!!:)

[ilovesassy]

We sailed on the Pearl to Alaska in May 2009. We were a group of 10 and never had a problem sitting together in the dining rooms. The buffet may be a problem though! It is a beautiful cruise. enjoy!

[luddite]

A table for 15-20 is a royal pain for any restaurant. Two adjacent tables is a more realistic option. They'll work with you but that table for 20 is unwieldy.

[flowerchild]

When the dining room opens for lunch on embarkation day, ask to speak to the maitre d. Have him make reservations for your party for each nite you want to dine together. We make alternating reservations at each of the two main dining rooms to keep things fresh...it is difficult to seat that big of a party and making reservations will make it easier on everybody. Just make sure your entire party is on time for dinner, as the servers will not start serving until everyone is seated.

[darrengs]

I routinely saw large families of at least 20 accommodated at one table. I would definitely set it up with the maitre d' though.

[bakerintn]

I just don't get the concept of trying to put 20 people at a single table. Only 3-4 can actually carry on a conversation together in this kind of set up.

 

You will find tables for 8 to be fairly easy to get and having 3 in the same area could work well. With advance notice, they can accommodate that kind of set up.

[stevenikkij]

Well, we figured we wouldn't get a table for 20- but thought 2 tables for 10 might work- or 3 . We don't have to sit all at one table- but close would be good. Thanks for all of your help- we will talk to the maitre'd on the first day about possibly getting 2-3 tables in the same vicinity. :) We really wanted to do Norwegian- and this was our only issue.

[luddite]

You shouldn't encounter too much of a problem with getting the tables near each other. Talk with the Maitre' D' and you'll be fine.

[stevenikkij]

Thanks again all!! I will have many more questions about this cruise!! :)

[newmexicoNita]

A table for 15-20 is a royal pain for any restaurant. Two adjacent tables is a more realistic option. They'll work with you but that table for 20 is unwieldy.

 

you are right, both times we have had groups of 18 or more we have had 2 tables in the same vacinity. It has worked great. It is improtant to make the plans early in the day or the day before.

 

Nita

[garycarla]

I just don't get the concept of trying to put 20 people at a single table. Only 3-4 can actually carry on a conversation together in this kind of set up.

 

You will find tables for 8 to be fairly easy to get and having 3 in the same area could work well. With advance notice, they can accommodate that kind of set up.

 

I agree with this 100%. After many years of business meetings where people wanted some large table, and the eventual "goat rodeo", I vowed to never get into that again. When our extended family goes out, we opt for 2-3 tables. After all, you can NOT talk to someone more than a few people away anyways.

 

It is just a recipe for disaster.

[jame_g]

Before you actually try to reserve the tables or ask for them to be set up, confirm with everyone that they will actually all be dining at the same time. We have traveled a few times with smaller groups and we were only able to get everyone to eat together once during the cruise.

 

Between the various activities that people chose to do, excursions, shows, etc, and especially with small children that tended to be on their own schedules (especially with time changes), we were routinely eating at different times. Typically only half of us ended up eating together at any given time.

 

Don't just assume that because you're traveling with family that you don't see often, that everyone will want to be on a similar schedule or do the same things at the same time. We had someone that tried to do that on one of our vacations and everyone ended up miserable and sniping at each other the entire trip. It was many years after that before we traveled together again. We have a much better time now when we generally did our own things in smaller groups, attempted to eat together when we could, arranged occasional events together, and ran across each other unexpectedly.

[stevenikkij]

Before you actually try to reserve the tables or ask for them to be set up, confirm with everyone that they will actually all be dining at the same time. We have traveled a few times with smaller groups and we were only able to get everyone to eat together once during the cruise.

 

Between the various activities that people chose to do, excursions, shows, etc, and especially with small children that tended to be on their own schedules (especially with time changes), we were routinely eating at different times. Typically only half of us ended up eating together at any given time.

 

Don't just assume that because you're traveling with family that you don't see often, that everyone will want to be on a similar schedule or do the same things at the same time. We had someone that tried to do that on one of our vacations and everyone ended up miserable and sniping at each other the entire trip. It was many years after that before we traveled together again. We have a much better time now when we generally did our own things in smaller groups, attempted to eat together when we could, arranged occasional events together, and ran across each other unexpectedly.

We definitely will do this- when we have traveled on cruises in the past- we always eat together- because we had certain dining times- and we liked it. But when we have traveled to other places- we usually "wing" it more. LOL I just wanted to know if there would be a "free" dining area that we could all eat at if it works out like that. :)

[hockeygirl14]

We sailed on the Pearl to the Eastern Caribbean in March 2010. We had 18 people in our party - and they accommodated us in the Indigo dining room (smaller). We had to split it up - we had 12 people at one table, and 6 at the other but it worked out because the older kids (16-18) sat together and the adults and younger children sat together. Just talk to the staff at the podium and they'll help you out!