Tables For Two in Traditional Dining

We have always booked Anytime Dining, but are finding it a bit more difficult to get our requested table for two, though of course we always eventually get one. On our last few cruises, we've had to take the beeper and go off to wait, and the staff manning the front desk in the MDRs always ask us if we mind sharing, despite just being asked for a "table for two please". It is particularly hard on smaller ships like the Ruby or Emerald, which have fewer tables for two than the bigger ships. We usually eat early, around 5:30 to 6PM to make the first Theater show.

If we try early TD on one of our four upcoming trips, and request a table for two in the Personalizer, will we actually have a table for two, or is this something that they only "try" to accommodate but won't gaurantee. And if we do get the table for two, would we get the same table each night? In the TD dining rooms, are the tables for two the same as in the ATD dining rooms, that is, 6" away from each other, or are they spaced better? When we first board, would we run down to the appropriate TD dining room and be able to actually select our preferred table, or are the tables assigned?

Thanks in advance...

We have requested a table for 2 for years and generally got it. Chances are better late seating which is what we have always asked for. the other thing we always book early, we go to the mdr and see the Matre'd on the first day after boarding to confirm where our table is and if it is what we want. A bit of work but worth it if you want a table for 2.

We have always booked Anytime Dining, but are finding it a bit more difficult to get our requested table for two, though of course we always eventually get one. On our last few cruises, we've had to take the beeper and go off to wait, and the staff manning the front desk in the MDRs always ask us if we mind sharing, despite just being asked for a "table for two please". It is particularly hard on smaller ships like the Ruby or Emerald, which have fewer tables for two than the bigger ships. We usually eat early, around 5:30 to 6PM to make the first Theater show.

 

 

If we try early TD on one of our four upcoming trips, and request a table for two in the Personalizer, will we actually have a table for two, or is this something that they only "try" to accommodate but won't gaurantee. And if we do get the table for two, would we get the same table each night? In the TD dining rooms, are the tables for two the same as in the ATD dining rooms, that is, 6" away from each other, or are they spaced better? When we first board, would we run down to the appropriate TD dining room and be able to actually select our preferred table, or are the tables assigned?

 

 

 

Thanks in advance...

We have always requested and received a table for two in the early seating TD. Technically, they do NOT guarantee a table for two, however, I have learned to always go meet with the Maitre d on embarkation afternoon to confirm it. Twice we were placed at a table for six, but had no issue with him to change it. He is typically available between 1-3 in the deck 5 MDR, but check the Patter to confirm that. Patters are available at pax Svc desk if you don’t have one yet in your cabin.

You may request a certain table, but very likely it has already been assigned. Yes, you get the same table and waitstaff every evening. Spacing of tables vary, it depends on their location and ship. The Royal class ships seem to have more ‘2 tops’ but they can feel crowded. However, we’re always happy to chat with our neighbors without the added ‘shared’ environment.

Finally, if you choose this dining arrangement, book it on your personalizer as soon as possible. It’s first come/first served and waitlists can start early.

Hope this helps!

We have always requested and received a table for two in the early seating TD. Technically, they do NOT guarantee a table for two, however, I have learned to always go meet with the Maitre d on embarkation afternoon to confirm it. Twice we were placed at a table for six, but had no issue with him to change it. He is typically available between 1-3 in the deck 5 MDR, but check the Patter to confirm that. Patters are available at pax Svc desk if you don’t have one yet in your cabin.

You may request a certain table, but very likely it has already been assigned. Yes, you get the same table and waitstaff every evening. Spacing of tables vary, it depends on their location and ship. The Royal class ships seem to have more ‘2 tops’ but they can feel crowded. However, we’re always happy to chat with our neighbors without the added ‘shared’ environment.

Finally, if you choose this dining arrangement, book it on your personalizer as soon as possible. It’s first come/first served and waitlists can start early.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the confirmations everyone, extremely helpful. I just checked the Personalizer for our next trip, on the Royal to the ABC Islands in November, and unfortunately early TD is waitlisted (we're only 46 days out after all) and it shows we would be "waitlist #5" if we changed to the 5:30 TD, and "wailist #123" !!! if we choose the 6PM. Fortunately, for our next trip, in April, no such problems, 5:30 TD is available.

If we were to select the TD at 5:30 and are on a waitlist and DON'T make it (though being #5, I expect our chances are good), would they simply bump us back to ATD, which is perfectly OK?

We have not had traditional dining as much recently as we love CC dining, but did early traditional dining(that means requested 6PM in the personalizer and was confirmed, but turned into 5:45 when got on ship!) in July on the Caribbean Princess.

I said I would take any table configuration on the personalizer and we ended up at a 2 table. Looking around there were MANY tables for two in our dining room. At the bigger tables (and this is my assumption), they looked like they were made up of families or groups that knew one another. What I mean is the table for 6-10 with 3 to 5 different couples looked like a thing of the past to me. I am sure they were out there, but what did interest me as I said, was the many number of tables for two in our dining room. So you should have no trouble getting one even if you have to change after the first night's dinner.

Pooh

We always request a table for two. Always got the table. Yjey one time time gave a fixed table for two in the Anytime dining Room.

Have not had any problem getting a table for two in early traditional dining.

One more question before I pull the trigger and put us on the short wait list for 5:30 TD. And apologies in advance for my ignorance of how TD works, as we've never even considered it until now. We usually only eat in MDRs about half the time on any given trip, the rest of the evenings are in Speciality restaurants. Does this disqualify us for Traditional Dining, and if not, how do we handle this? Do we simply inform the TD MDR that we won't be coming that evening?

One more question before I pull the trigger and put us on the short wait list for 5:30 TD. And apologies in advance for my ignorance of how TD works, as we've never even considered it until now. We usually only eat in MDRs about half the time on any given trip, the rest of the evenings are in Speciality restaurants. Does this disqualify us for Traditional Dining, and if not, how do we handle this? Do we simply inform the TD MDR that we won't be coming that evening?

We always have TD. It doesn’t matter the table size as out of courtesy you just tell the servers that your not coming that night & if your at a larger table just tell your table mates so nobody is waiting to make there orders.

Be aware that you may have a table for 2 but we had a situation where there was a number of tables for 2 in a row. That was great as you could still have your own conservation. We still usually conversed with the table next to us with “Hello, how was your day?”

Tom😎

They have plenty of 2 tops but they are really close together.

One more question before I pull the trigger and put us on the short wait list for 5:30 TD. And apologies in advance for my ignorance of how TD works, as we've never even considered it until now. We usually only eat in MDRs about half the time on any given trip, the rest of the evenings are in Speciality restaurants. Does this disqualify us for Traditional Dining, and if not, how do we handle this? Do we simply inform the TD MDR that we won't be coming that evening?

If you don't clear the waitlist the Maitre d will meet with passengers on embarkation day to fix these types of issues and requests.

The time/place will be listed in the embarkation day Patter. It is usually held in one of the DR's between 2:00pm and 3:30pm. He can make it happen for you.

We have always requested and received a table for 2 when doing TD. Yes, there is the usual 6-9 inches between the tables. It has always worked well for us. If you hit it off with the people at the next table, they are near enough for conversation. If you don't want to talk, you can always be private at your table.

We have always requested and received a table for 2 when doing TD. Yes' date=' there is the usual 6-9 inches between the tables. It has always worked well for us. If you hit it off with the people at the next table, they are near enough for conversation. If you don't want to talk, you can always be private at your table.[/quote']

 

Once on the Pacific Princess, which only has traditional dining, we were at a 6-top inches away from a two-top. No one was at the two-top the first evening, but a couple was there the 2nd evening. We said "hello" to them. They must have really wanted privacy as they never came back the rest of the cruise.

Thanks all. Based on your feedback, I've changed our Personalizer booking from ATD to TD 5:30 table for two. Unfortunately, while I was dithering around doing my research, we lost two places and are now #7 on the waitlist instead of #5 :( Worst case, the Personalizer confirms that we have "requested" TD, but are "confirmed" for ATD just in case. Now we'll have to see how the waitlist thing works. How would we actually get a notification if we have moved up the waitlist and get confirmed for TD? Would they inform us by, say, an Email, or do I just monitor the Personalizer for our TD booking?

And yes, we well know how ridiculously tight the table spacing can be, though we have found that the spacing tends to be better, at least in the ATD MDRs, on the bigger ships. Our next two trips are back on the Royal, and the two after that are on the Sky.

So now, our embarkation exercise will be to head straight for the dining room right after our mad dash upstairs to book the Sanctuary. Our absolute dream would be to grab a table for two by a window. ;)

We've had a mixed bag. Sometimes when I've requested a table for two we've gotten one. Sometimes not. One of the times we asked for and got a table for two was pretty much a joke. It was separated from the table for two next to it by only a few inches, and the waiter completely ran the two tables as a table for four. Everything done in complete lockstep.

Not all tables for two are the same. We always go into the dining room on embarkation day and see where they are located. We will not sit "with 24 of our unknown best friends" as my husband puts it. In other words the side-by-side tables for two with no privacy. So, we go through the empty dining room and look for the "real" tables for two. Then, we talk to the dining room manager on duty.

We are flexible, and we eat late when they are more available. Next to a railing is a good way to go: no one on one side.

We do this on all our cruises, no matter which cruise line. The only problem we had was on a 28 night HAL cruise from Sydney to Seattle. We ate in the buffet (which was wonderful) for 10 nights, before going back and chatting again. The manager was happy to accommodate us the second time around, having lost the tips to the buffet for 10 nights.

Not all tables for two are the same. We always go into the dining room on embarkation day and see where they are located. We will not sit "with 24 of our unknown best friends" as my husband puts it. In other words the side-by-side tables for two with no privacy. So, we go through the empty dining room and look for the "real" tables for two. Then, we talk to the dining room manager on duty.

 

We are flexible, and we eat late when they are more available. Next to a railing is a good way to go: no one on one side.

 

We do this on all our cruises, no matter which cruise line. The only problem we had was on a 28 night HAL cruise from Sydney to Seattle. We ate in the buffet (which was wonderful) for 10 nights, before going back and chatting again. The manager was happy to accommodate us the second time around, having lost the tips to the buffet for 10 nights.

This is exactly what we plan to do for our first ever TD experience. Get there early and choose, if at all possible. We are always very early boarders, so what would you say is a good time to get to the TD MDR for "seat selection"? Do they do a seat map like in the Sanctuary, where they assign the specific table to the specific requestor?

This is exactly what we plan to do for our first ever TD experience. Get there early and choose, if at all possible. We are always very early boarders, so what would you say is a good time to get to the TD MDR for "seat selection"? Do they do a seat map like in the Sanctuary, where they assign the specific table to the specific requestor?

Did you read post #11 :confused:

It doesn't matter how early you get on.

Yes he has a DR table diagram.

This is exactly what we plan to do for our first ever TD experience. Get there early and choose, if at all possible. We are always very early boarders, so what would you say is a good time to get to the TD MDR for "seat selection"? Do they do a seat map like in the Sanctuary, where they assign the specific table to the specific requestor?

When you get on board go to the dining room. There is usually someone there. Ask when and WHERE they are taking dining changes. Sometimes it's not in the dining room. Ask to walk around and look at the tables, and make a note of your choices. The more choices you give them, the better your chance of getting a table to your liking.

We always explain that we can be flexible if doing anytime dining: increases the availability if you can give it a half hour leeway. For traditional, they will look at what's currently available. Sometimes it takes a night or two to get things sorted out. We usually go to the buffet. Like I said, HAL was our only problem.

We go in the dining room immediately to look at the tables, then go to the spot for reservation changes about 20 minutes before they start. Yes, they have seat maps, and yes for traditional dining your cabin is associated with a specific table.

Did you read post #11 :confused:

 

It doesn't matter how early you get on.

 

Yes he has a DR table diagram.

Yes, I did read the post. Thanks anyway.

:oI

When you get on board go to the dining room. There is usually someone there. Ask when and WHERE they are taking dining changes. Sometimes it's not in the dining room. Ask to walk around and look at the tables, and make a note of your choices. The more choices you give them, the better your chance of getting a table to your liking.

 

We always explain that we can be flexible if doing anytime dining: increases the availability if you can give it a half hour leeway. For traditional, they will look at what's currently available. Sometimes it takes a night or two to get things sorted out. We usually go to the buffet. Like I said, HAL was our only problem.

 

We go in the dining room immediately to look at the tables, then go to the spot for reservation changes about 20 minutes before they start. Yes, they have seat maps, and yes for traditional dining your cabin is associated with a specific table.

How could you walk around the DR and pick a table when TD dining tables are already assigned? You can talk to the MD or whoever and ask for a table for two but I don’t believe you can just go and scout a table as they would have already been assigned and printed on someone’s card.

I surely would not be happy to go to the MDR and see somebody else in my assigned table!!!

:oI

 

How could you walk around the DR and pick a table when TD dining tables are already assigned? You can talk to the MD or whoever and ask for a table for two but I don’t believe you can just go and scout a table as they would have already been assigned and printed on someone’s card.

I surely would not be happy to go to the MDR and see somebody else in my assigned table!!!

I agree. Not sure where the idea comes from to run to the DR upon boarding and grab a table like the Sanctuary.

There is a system in place and a simple meet with the MD at the time posted usually solves the issue.

I agree. Not sure where the idea comes from to run to the DR upon boarding and grab a table like the Sanctuary.

There is a system in place and a simple meet with the MD at the time posted usually solves the issue.

Fake news

:oI

 

How could you walk around the DR and pick a table when TD dining tables are already assigned? You can talk to the MD or whoever and ask for a table for two but I don’t believe you can just go and scout a table as they would have already been assigned and printed on someone’s card.

I surely would not be happy to go to the MDR and see somebody else in my assigned table!!!

You say they are already assigned, how and when is this done? You reference a pre-printed card, this tells me the TD seats are pre-assigned with no input by the passenger, which is not a good sign...

The tables in the main dining room are already assigned. Even if you went to the assigned dining room normally the tables do not have the table numbers on them at that point so you wouldn't know what to ask for. . Meeting with the