main dining room table assignments?

[reeltrouble11]

Is there any method to these assignments, or is it just a random drawing? We've been on 4 cruises, and never really thought about this. DW and I are late 20's (ok, so Im over 30, but she is!), and still part of the "party" group when on vacation. Does RCL try and seat according to age group, or any other criteria, or is it just random assignment? We've always enjoyed the company at our tables, and make new friends of just about anyone, but just curious!

[petel]

Is there any method to these assignments, or is it just a random drawing? We've been on 4 cruises, and never really thought about this. DW and I are late 20's (ok, so Im over 30, but she is!), and still part of the "party" group when on vacation. Does RCL try and seat according to age group, or any other criteria, or is it just random assignment? We've always enjoyed the company at our tables, and make new friends of just about anyone, but just curious!

 

Based on observation and IMHO: the only real science involved in table assignments seems to be to get the "linked" parties together and then roughly apply the requested table size. In the end it looks random but there must be some kind of starting point and order of solving the puzzle but I haven't figured it out yet. I kinda like "the mystery." ;)

[cb at sea]

We've never been seated with a family with kids, as we travel as a couple, so that may play into their decision...but I'm not sure about that!

It seems pretty random unless you are with a group that's sitting together!

[shirrley]

The first time we cruised, we were at a table for 6 and it was the first cruise for the other 2 couples as well.

The second time we cruised, we were at a table for 6 and the other 2 couples had previously cruised with RCI also.

I don't know if RCI planned it that way but I always thought it was quite a coincidence if it wasn't planned.

[ehfl]

When you board, just ask the Maitre 'd to try to seat you with whatever you are looking for...you can request with kids, with no kids, older, younger...whatever. Of course, they may not always be able to find a match, but will do what they can.

[HorrorFan]

I don't think it is completely random. On each of our cruises we were travelling with our kids. 7 and 11 the first time and 10 and 14 the second. They seated us at tables of 8 both times and with another family. The other kids on our first cruise were older teenages and on the second were slightly younger than ours but we were seated with other families none the less.

Could have been random I suppose, but I doubt it.

[DHADEN]

Believe it or not, there is a complete Department in their corporate offices in Miami that concentrates on who sits where in the Dining Room

I've seen the software program that they use, and it's pretty amazing.:cool:

 

They input ALL KINDS of data on each guest/group of guests such as:

 

Age / Range of ages

Primary Language spoken

Certain Cultures

Occupation

How many criuses

Birthdays / Anniversaries

Honeymooners (usually put with Anniversaries)

Have / Havenot children and ages

Where from - Regions of U.S.A. (usually like to spread)

ETC.

 

These are just a few. When you do the On-Board Registration, all the questions they ask are put in and then the Computer sets up like one of those "Dating Websites" matching compatabilities.

 

Of course, it is not foolproof and often there are still "mismatches". When this happens, it's time to see the Maitre D.;)

 

Hope This Helps.

[maxs mom]

It's very rarely a random situation. The maitre'd works on this seating arrangement and goes mostly by the info that you provide when completing your registration......age.....C&A status......occupation. Not always can they make perfect pairings, but in our case, they have done an excellent job for almost 23 years. There is a method in their madness. But, as I said, it sometimes does not come out even.

[DonnaK]

We've always been seated with another family of 4 who have children in the same age ranges as our children. In fact, when our daughters were much younger, this is what made dinnertime exciting for them b/c it was an opportunity for them to get together with their tablemate friends. We'd let the kids sit next to each other so they could talk or draw, and that's how they grew to love dining in the dining room. Of course now that my daughters are teenagers, they always hope that the other family has cute sons! :)

 

But to answer the OP's questions, when we sailed on AOS, we wanted to change our dining time, so we met with the maitre-d after we boarded. While we stood with him in front of his elaborate computer program, he meticulously plugged in certain demographics so that we could be seated with people we had something in common with. In fact, he had thought he'd found the perfect "match" but then he noticed that the other family only spoke French, so he said that the language barrier wouldn't do, and he tried again.

 

Also, on Mariner, we traveled with my mother, and we were seated with a mulit-generational family with children the same age as our children traveling with their parents and grandmother too. However, we requested a change of dining time, and were then seated with a newly-married senior couple and a pair of young honeymooners, all of whom also had requested table changes. At first sight, we couldn't have seemed more mismatched, but this turned out to be one of the best tables we've ever sat out. The young honeymooning lady was in the same profession as me. My mom and the senior couple became fast friends. My kids raised the bar and acted like real young ladies. Etc.

 

I really think they do work hard to put people of the same demographics together whenever possible.

[vickiw0318]

On my Radiance cruise last week, our table for six had three diamond couples who were all in D1's.

[TNT]

We have been seated with parties fairly close to our "make-up" on most cruises. Couples when my husband and I travel and families when we travel with our son. However, they did miss the mark one time. A friend of mine and I took our children and friends of theirs (children 13-16 at the time). We were seated with a couple in their 80s. They were really nice people and sailed monthly. They did complement us on how well behaved our children were and that they "appreciated that we made them dress appropriately" for dinner. It was an akward week! But, hey, we were cruising...couldn't be too bad! :D

[bullsfan]

On my Radiance cruise last week, our table for six had three diamond couples who were all in D1's.

 

This post made me giggle! On the Brilliance there were 4 couples at our table. The other 3 couples were Diamond/Diamond Plus and DH and I were the "lowly Gold" members. We were the babies of the group in the # of cruises. We joked about it through out the cruise. We were all of very close age so that was my guess as to how we got grouped since most of the other cruisers were a lot older than our table.

[iluvspb]

Our first cruise on Sovereign, we were seated at a table for 8. We were in our 40's at the time. One couple were newleyweds, another couple, he was married but the woman he was with was NOT his wife and the other couple....well he was a loudmouth who did nothing but brag about his worldly possessions and how much $ he made! Very awkward...the newleyweds and the guy who was not with his wife clearly did not want to be at a table with anyone else! Good thing is was only a short Bahamas cruise! Since then we request a table for 2.

[MakinGold]

I wondered about this on my recent cruise, not so much about the pairings, but if there's a method to where you get seated. We were a bit disappointed to be seated at a table in the Seville room, which is sort of tucked away, separate from the main dining room. Our tablemates were fine, but both parties were a little disappointed to be off in a side room, away from the beautiful main dining room. We booked over 8 months in advance, so I doubt it was all that was available at the time, and we're Platinum C&A members, but it doesn't seem that made any difference in seating priority. There were maybe 10 tables in this side room, and everyone else was in one of the three levels of the main dining room.