Waitlisted for earlier dining time - alternatives?

[JeffM1]

Hi all –
We are experienced cruisers (platinum of Princess) but we are first time on Disney, four day Mexico cruise roundtrip from San Diego 11/2/23.  We are taking our adult kids and our grandkids ages 2 – 8.  We got stuck with second dinner seating and waitlisted for earlier seating.  We just don’t see some or all of the grandkids making it until 8:15PM dinner, meaning their parents could not go either.  When I checked I was told the buffet has not reopened for dinner since Covid, and most walkup food is breakfast and lunch only, so I was told there was always room service.  Do any of you know if we stand a real chance of clearing the waitlist for earlier seating and if not are there any other dining alternatives I am missing?  Thanks!!!

[Cruisin_Vol_Fan]

Yes, waitlist requests often come through. Unfortunately, it sounds like you have a large group and there are a limited number of large tables per rotation. You are also on a PST sailing and most everyone probably requested early dining! 

If your waitlist does not come through prior to sailing, go directly to dining assistance upon boarding. It's in a different location each ship, in a dining room usually, but it will NOT be handled at Guest Services that day. There is always a chance they can help you there. 

On thing to note, they can expedite food in the dining room, especially for the kids. We have had late dining on every cruise, even when they were 4 & 6 years. The servers can have the kids fed and gone in 45 minutes. Most kids are itching to get back to the Club and happy to eat quickly and run! We would then eat our meal at the normal pace. As for the little one, there were some young kids near us on our last cruise that were happily asleep in their stroller while their parents ate. Not sure how good of a sleeper the 2yo is but might be worth considering that option as a back up!

As much as I hate for you to completely miss the dining room experience (because it IS an experience on Disney and one of our favorite parts of cruising them!) there are other options. On our most recent DCL cruise, there was at least one "quick" option open near the pool open each night until around 10:00. I would not put too much stock in room service as the menu is quite limited. Another option is for the adults could do Palo one evening. Try for a 7:00ish reservation, feed the kids pool side or in the room and then send them to the Club (and make a reservation for the little ones in the nursery) while the adults enjoy an amazing meal.

 

Good luck and have a great cruise!