Another 2-top question...

[PS90]

Hi

 

I was just wondering if anyone with much more wisdom and cruise experience than me can weigh-in on this question.

 

In the case of a passenger requesting a two-person table in the MDR, how does the cruise line select who gets their request, and who doesn't? Is it first-come-first-served? As in, the people who book and request a 2-top earliest are given precedence? Or, are the people with higher-level cabins given precedence? Or, is it just a random drawing? Or, does it vary from cruiseline to cuiseline?

 

I would like to have a two-person table, and would like to know what chances I have of getting one, considering that my TA basically told me "fat chance" when I requested one.

 

Thanks very much for any insight. :)

[riffatsea]

WE prefer anytime dining where you go to the MDR when you please and are seated as in a restaurant at the table size of your choice. We always get a 2 top that way.

This sort of dining is not offered by all cruise lines.

It is one of the things we enjoy on Carnival.

[sail7seas]

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[njhorseman]

It's fairly common for cruise lines to offer some type of priority dining reservations to passengers in the higher levels of their frequent cruiser program, or to passengers with high end suites. As a result I would guess passengers falling into those categories stand a better chance of getting the size table they prefer.

 

By the way, we agree with poster "riffatsea" that getting the type of table you want is one of the biggest advantages of cruising on a line with some form of open dining..."anytime", "freestyle", "my time" or whatever the particular cruise line calls it.

[travlnblueberries]

We cruised in feb with X , but were seated with 3 other people at a table.

We cruised in june with ncl and had no problems.

We cruised in oct. with carnival and had no problems.

We cruised in nov. with hal and the wait at most was 1/2 hr. - 45 mins.

 

We aren't VIP's either.

[paul929207]

The maitre 'd completes the table assignments in the week or so prior to the cruise.

[Nowisthetime1]

Your TA attitude is poor. The TA should do everything possible to request a table for 2 and see what happens.

 

If you arrive on the ship and do not have a table for 2, be one of the 1st to see the MDR and usually they can get a table for 2 for you. Alot of people like to change the table they are given and the MDR's are very good at fullfilling your request by your 2nd night. The 1st night you normally sit at the table assigned until they have a chance to make changes the next morning. You are normally given a note in your mailbox or message on phone of your new table assignment.

 

Have a wonderful cruise and tell your TA to do their best to request a table for 2. However, if yours laughed it is not likely they are going to truly do anything to help you.

 

If you don't have what you want and wish assigned seating check with MDR asap, if you have not been assigned where you wish to sit. Thanks and have fun:)

[Greghouseo]

Juat come off Advent OTS

We befriended a Head Waiter (Ashmeed Abbas)

He gave us his phone number.

We called 3/4 hour before we wanted a table and he fixed it for us every single night with the same waiter staff who were both awesome as well.

 

The perfect Head Waiter IMO.

[PrincessE]

Hi

 

I was just wondering if anyone with much more wisdom and cruise experience than me can weigh-in on this question.

 

In the case of a passenger requesting a two-person table in the MDR, how does the cruise line select who gets their request, and who doesn't? Is it first-come-first-served? As in, the people who book and request a 2-top earliest are given precedence? Or, are the people with higher-level cabins given precedence? Or, is it just a random drawing? Or, does it vary from cruiseline to cuiseline?

 

I would like to have a two-person table, and would like to know what chances I have of getting one, considering that my TA basically told me "fat chance" when I requested one.

 

Thanks very much for any insight. :)

 

Having worked for a major cruise line, the way it works (at least for the line I worked for) is the dining is assigned according to the order booked.

 

If you requested a 2 person table and it's noted in your booking, that's a good start. I would then, once boarded, go to the M'aitrade and make sure your request is noted. I don't agree with your TA that it's a "fat chance". I've had plenty of tables for two and it was all because we asked and were pleasant with the dining room staff. Good luck! :)

[PennyAgain]

Level of cabin purchased and frequent cruiser status with a cruise line do make a difference. We were told on Crystal that we had NO chance at all of getting a table for 2 as we had not cruised often enough with that company.

 

On HAL we have never gotten a 2 top but did get a 4 top with a couple who seldom showed up for dinner.

 

Your results may vary.

[YoHoPirate]

Just a quick question. Why do people want a 2 top so much? Our preference is to meet and mingle with fellow passengers, so we like sitting at the 8 or 10 tops. The only time we thought about a 2 top is our Honeymoon next year.

[paul929207]

Just a quick question. Why do people want a 2 top so much? Our preference is to meet and mingle with fellow passengers, so we like sitting at the 8 or 10 tops. The only time we thought about a 2 top is our Honeymoon next year.

Some people prefer not to have to interact with strangers.

[riffatsea]

We meet and mingle with folks during the cruise. At dinner we don't like waiting for 8-10 people to show up at the table before we can order or to wait for all these orders to be brought to the table. We prefer eating on our own OR with another couple that we may meet during the cruise activities.

I suppose we prefer being able to choose our dinner mates rather than being stuck with the luck of the draw.

[texaridian]

I'm one of those people who look forward to meeting new people at dinner. On my most recent cruise I was especially excited to see who we would be seated with. I was soooo disappointed when they seated us at a table to 2! I was traveling with a friend. If I had been in a romantic situation, maybe it would have been OK, but it made me wonder what we'd done wrong to get stuck at this table. (It was in a really, really bad location too!). My friend was firm that we did not want to stay at that table, and within 10 minutes they had moved us. We sat with a wonderful couple and seeing them at dinner every night was one of the highlights of the trip.