Tables for two

What river cruise line and ship besides AMA have tables for two?

Avalon has at least 6 tables (2 seats) on their all suite boats, which is now most of their fleet

On our sailing there were two ladies from Spain. They didn't speak much English, and they always ate together at dinner ( I think they were mother and daughter), they came last to dinner every night and picked the table at the front of the boat...

River cruising is very communal... you pretty much can't avoid people. if this is a deal breaker you probably are in the wrong place.

jc

Viking has an area called the Aquavit Lounge with tables for 2. It's open for all meals. The dinner menu will be fixed and the same all week. I'll be doing a posting about dining and other aspects of life on board here https://christmascruiser.wordpress.com/ if you want to follow along.

My wife are just back from our 1st cruise and had a wonderful time.

Frank

What river cruise line and ship besides AMA have tables for two?

If you use the search button at the top of the page you will find at least one very L O N G thread on the subject.

No tables for two will keep us from many River cruise lines. Some of us are not interested in the what where when and why small talk of the fellow cruisers.

On our sailing there were two ladies from Spain. They didn't speak much English, and they always ate together at dinner ( I think they were mother and daughter), they came last to dinner every night and picked the table at the front of the boat...

 

River cruising is very communal... you pretty much can't avoid people. if this is a deal breaker you probably are in the wrong place.

 

jc

Not really, been on four river crises, three on AMA and always had a table for two. I don't think any where "very communal".

Not really, been on four river crises, three on AMA and always had a table for two. I don't think any where "very communal".

We also are generally able to score a table for 2 when traveling alone as a couple; and we prefer it to forced socializing.

So, it appears that AMA is the only line with tables for two.

Scenic has some tables for two.... and Uniworld did the last time we travelled with them.

Fran

Avalon has at least 6 tables (2 seats) on their all suite boats, which is now most of their fleet

So, it appears that AMA is the only line with tables for two.

It would seem many lines have tables for two .....

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Viking has an area called the Aquavit Lounge with tables for 2. It's open for all meals. The dinner menu will be fixed and the same all week. I'll be doing a posting about dining and other aspects of life on board here https://christmascruiser.wordpress.com/ if you want to follow along.

My wife are just back from our 1st cruise and had a wonderful time.

Frank

I will be interested in your opinion of the Aquavit lounge. I did not have dinner there but we noticed breakfast and lunch foods sat out for a long time and were not hot. This area was mostly unattended by staff and few people knew about it,

Viking River cruises are very communal, the smallest tables were for six or eight people. There were numerous people saving entire tables for their group, I didn't care for this. Everyone seemed to enter the dining room at the same time, everyone leaves for tours at the same time.

I enjoyed the river cruise experience but it is much different from the less regimented ocean cruises.

I will be interested in your opinion of the Aquavit lounge. I did not have dinner there but we noticed breakfast and lunch foods sat out for a long time and were not hot. This area was mostly unattended by staff and few people knew about it,

Viking River cruises are very communal, the smallest tables were for six or eight people. There were numerous people saving entire tables for their group, I didn't care for this. Everyone seemed to enter the dining room at the same time, everyone leaves for tours at the same time.

I enjoyed the river cruise experience but it is much different from the less regimented ocean cruises.

We liked the Aquavit Lounge as a change of pace for lunch and a quiet place for dinner after a tiring day.

We had dinner there twice last week. There were only a couple of other people there each time. The dinner menu is limited and does not change during the week. I had a cheeseburger/fries that was great. We also had a nice chef's salad. The other items on the menu our week were chicken caesar salad, a salmon dish and a pasta dish.

Service there is handled by the regular Aquavit staff. In our case, Zesar the bartender did an excellent job taking care of us.

Since it's located right on the bow of the ship the views are great. I think this would be an even more attractive option in the summer when the Aquavit opens up the glass panels completely on the bow.

You can see some pictures here https://christmascruiser.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/life-aboard-viking-kara/

Avalon had tables for two in a line and quite close together on our cruise. Of the 160 passengers, only 11 were American and we had the pleasure of dining with folks from several different countries so we weren't interested in tables for two and can't comment on how "private" they were (or weren't). But they WERE there.

I agree these cruises are quite communal affairs, which is our cup of tea (we eschew ALL fixed-seating cruises for that reason) but may not be everyone's.

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We liked the Aquavit Lounge as a change of pace for lunch and a quiet place for dinner after a tiring day.

We had dinner there twice last week. There were only a couple of other people there each time. The dinner menu is limited and does not change during the week. I had a cheeseburger/fries that was great. We also had a nice chef's salad. The other items on the menu our week were chicken caesar salad, a salmon dish and a pasta dish.

Service there is handled by the regular Aquavit staff. In our case, Zesar the bartender did an excellent job taking care of us.

Since it's located right on the bow of the ship the views are great. I think this would be an even more attractive option in the summer when the Aquavit opens up the glass panels completely on the bow.

You can see some pictures here https://christmascruiser.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/life-aboard-viking-kara/

Thanks for the info and pictures. I think the Aquavit lounge could be greatly improved, the food choices on board could be enhanced. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip.

I was on AMA sonata in October, they have tables for 2 but there right next to another, it might as well be a 4 top. So you are sitting next to other people. Where it's rude not to acknowledge them. We're not big on force socializing, but these people we met were very nice and enjoyable. I think when your on a higher end cruise, not mass market, you meet many others like you. There was a good age range. We found everyone we met a joy. One morning after too much wine, we asked the host could we please sit alone, we just can not socialize. He did. By the end of the trip we were asking to sitting with the people we meet along the way.

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dinners START at 7 on most ships and they usually go first. Have been available on ALL the ships I ve been on. Scenic and AMA seem to have the most.Viking the least.

This is not a dealbreaker for us,but nice to have the CHOICE.

Can always go LATER,say 7 30 and everyone already seated,can find table not filled.But ship s ALWAYS enc. you to show up ON TIME.

Little more regimentation on river rather than ocean ships due to size.Must decide if right for YOU.

PS. Scenic also offers room service,nice break ,esp.for breakfast.Where I m not as "sociable"before coffee.haha