Main Dining Room Seating Question

[AileenP]

My first post and thank you in advance for your help with this topic.

 

We are traveling with extended family (6 adults and 5 minor children) on the Royal Princess and was wondering if we would be able to all sit together in one table. How can I request that we are seated together before we cruise in October?

Edited September 3, 2019 by AileenP

[GeeDunk]

6 minutes ago, AileenP said:

My first post and thank you in advance for your help with this topic.

 

We are traveling with extended family (6 adults and 5 minor children) on the Royal Princess and was wondering if we would be able to all sit together in one table. How can I request that we are seated together before we cruise in October?

Yes -- There are tables for 12.

 

Have your TA "link" the reservations, so that your entire party

are together at the same table.

 

Enjoy your Cruise.

[Roatanfans]

Also if you have chosen anytime dinning you can go to the dinning room and let them know your group size and what time you would like your table for- they can reserve it for you!

 

[janina]

Just have Princess or your TA link all the reservations together so than they will put you together in Main dinning.

[AileenP]

Thanks so much for the info!

[NavyVeteran]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Make sure that Princess or your travel agent links all of your reservations.

 

Also, the maître d' is available in one of the dining rooms to handle table assignment issues (at a time and place announced in the Patter). After you board, I recommend that one person check the dining table assignments of everyone in the group and then go to the dining room to check the table locations and to resolve any issues if you are not assigned as requested. He will usually be able to fix any problems at that time.

 

Also, I would highly recommend traditional dining - not anytime - with that large a group. You would all eat at the same table at the same time with the same waiter every night. It's a lot easier than trying to coordinate eating time for that large a group. Dinner would be the one time during the day when you are all together.

 

If you are in anytime dining, I would not expect you to be all seated together. They don't have very many tables that size, and you could have a long wait if you requested one. In anytime dining, you would probably need to eat in at least two groups.

 

Even though Princess has some tables for twelve, I would not recommend one. That table is too big to carry on a conversation with the whole table. You may be better off with two tables for six (with only five at one of the tables). In that case, they would assign you two tables next to each other with the same waiter.

 

I have cruised on Princess three times with family groups:

• A group of nine on a Panama Canal cruise: We had a table for ten with one empty seat.
• A group of thirteen on an Alaska cruise: We had two tables (a table for eight and a table for six) with one empty seat. The tables were next to each other with the same waiter. We moved back and forth between the two tables each night, sitting at either table when we arrived. Since we had the same waiter at both tables, there was no problem doing this.
• A group of eight on a British Isles cruise: On that cruise, we all had Club Class dining, so it was no problem. We were the only group of eight in Club Class, so we had a dedicated table for eight waiting for us whenever we arrived.

I have always found the waiters on Princess to be really helpful with children. Many of them have children miss their children at home, and they always take very good care of the kids. The dining room on the ship is an excellent place for children to learn how to behave in a more formal environment than most of them are used to. They can order what they want (from the adult menu, from the children's menu, or from a combination of both). They can experiment - If they don't like something they ordered, they can order something else to replace it.

 

With two tables, you don't have to have the same division every night.

 

If you have two tables, I think the division depends a lot depends on the age and maturity of the children. I observed one extended family group on one cruise with the adults at one table and the children at another. The children really enjoyed the independence of being able to order what they wanted without the adults around (even though they were at the next table in case of any problems). The older children helped the younger ones. They were perfectly well-behaved the entire cruise. In fact, I think they probably behaved better than they would have eating with their parents. This gives the adults time to visit with each other and the children time to visit with their cousins.

Edited September 4, 2019 by NavyVeteran

[CRUZBUDS]

I agree -- I wouldn't try anytime.  We were a party of 8 last April on the Ruby.  We always had a pretty good wait and we could not reserve a table ahead of time.  It was our first experience with anytime.  I'm sure it would  have been better if we didn't need a table for 8, they have few of those and far fewer that will seat 12.  

 

Traditional fixed would be the way to go, in our opinion  

[Colo Cruiser]

8 hours ago, AileenP said:

My first post and thank you in advance for your help with this topic.

 

We are traveling with extended family (6 adults and 5 minor children) on the Royal Princess and was wondering if we would be able to all sit together in one table. How can I request that we are seated together before we cruise in October?

Link the bookings for sure but also go see the Maitre d on embarkation day at the time/place listed in the Princess Patter. It is usually in one of the DR's between 2p and 3:30p

He/She meets with passengers to handle requests like this.

 

[AileenP]

1 hour ago, NavyVeteran said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Make sure that Princess or your travel agent links all of your reservations.

 

Also, the maître d' is available in one of the dining rooms to handle table assignment issues (at a time and place announced in the Patter). After you board, I recommend that one person check the dining table assignments of everyone in the group and then go to the dining room to check the table locations and to resolve any issues if you are not assigned as requested. He will usually be able to fix any problems at that time.

 

Also, I would highly recommend traditional dining - not anytime - with that large a group. You would all eat at the same table at the same time with the same waiter every night. It's a lot easier than trying to coordinate eating time for that large a group. Dinner would be the one time during the day when you are all together.

 

If you are in anytime dining, I would not expect you to be all seated together. They don't have very many tables that size, and you could have a long wait if you requested one. In anytime dining, you would probably need to eat in at least two groups.

 

Even though Princess has some tables for twelve, I would not recommend one. That table is too big to carry on a conversation with the whole table. You may be better off with two tables for six (with only five at one of the tables). In that case, they would assign you two tables next to each other with the same waiter.

 

I have cruised on Princess three times with family groups:

• A group of nine on a Panama Canal cruise: We had a table for ten with one empty seat.
• A group of thirteen on an Alaska cruise: We had two tables (a table for eight and a table for six) with one empty seat. The tables were next to each other with the same waiter. We moved back and forth between the two tables each night, sitting at either table when we arrived. Since we had the same waiter at both tables, there was no problem doing this.
• A group of eight on a British Isles cruise: On that cruise, we all had Club Class dining, so it was no problem. We were the only group of eight in Club Class, so we had a dedicated table for eight waiting for us whenever we arrived.

I have always found the waiters on Princess to be really helpful with children. Many of them have children miss their children at home, and they always take very good care of the kids. The dining room on the ship is an excellent place for children to learn how to behave in a more formal environment than most of them are used to. They can order what they want (from the adult menu, from the children's menu, or from a combination of both). They can experiment - If they don't like something they ordered, they can order something else to replace it.

 

With two tables, you don't have to have the same division every night.

 

If you have two tables, I think the division depends a lot depends on the age and maturity of the children. I observed one extended family group on one cruise with the adults at one table and the children at another. The children really enjoyed the independence of being able to order what they wanted without the adults around (even though they were at the next table in case of any problems). The older children helped the younger ones. They were perfectly well-behaved the entire cruise. In fact, I think they probably behaved better than they would have eating with their parents. This gives the adults time to visit with each other and the children time to visit with their cousins.

Thanks for this input. We may consider two tables.

[NavyVeteran]

52 minutes ago, AileenP said:

Thanks for this input. We may consider two tables.

If the five kids are old enough, I think they would love their own table. You would be close enough to resolve problems if needed but far enough away to give them some independence.

[Lucky TGO]

11 hours ago, janina said:

Just have Princess or your TA link all the reservations together so than they will put you together in Main dinning.

I travel with 7 people and we do exactly as you said and never had a problem. I think you will also be OK with 12.

Tony

[caribill]

Implied in the above responses is that the linked reservations only work for traditional early or late seatings, not for anytime.

[txjim09]

12 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Make sure that Princess or your travel agent links all of your reservations.

 

Also, the maître d' is available in one of the dining rooms to handle table assignment issues (at a time and place announced in the Patter). After you board, I recommend that one person check the dining table assignments of everyone in the group and then go to the dining room to check the table locations and to resolve any issues if you are not assigned as requested. He will usually be able to fix any problems at that time.

 

Also, I would highly recommend traditional dining - not anytime - with that large a group. You would all eat at the same table at the same time with the same waiter every night. It's a lot easier than trying to coordinate eating time for that large a group. Dinner would be the one time during the day when you are all together.

 

If you are in anytime dining, I would not expect you to be all seated together. They don't have very many tables that size, and you could have a long wait if you requested one. In anytime dining, you would probably need to eat in at least two groups.

 

Even though Princess has some tables for twelve, I would not recommend one. That table is too big to carry on a conversation with the whole table. You may be better off with two tables for six (with only five at one of the tables). In that case, they would assign you two tables next to each other with the same waiter.

 

I have cruised on Princess three times with family groups:

• A group of nine on a Panama Canal cruise: We had a table for ten with one empty seat.
• A group of thirteen on an Alaska cruise: We had two tables (a table for eight and a table for six) with one empty seat. The tables were next to each other with the same waiter. We moved back and forth between the two tables each night, sitting at either table when we arrived. Since we had the same waiter at both tables, there was no problem doing this.
• A group of eight on a British Isles cruise: On that cruise, we all had Club Class dining, so it was no problem. We were the only group of eight in Club Class, so we had a dedicated table for eight waiting for us whenever we arrived.

I have always found the waiters on Princess to be really helpful with children. Many of them have children miss their children at home, and they always take very good care of the kids. The dining room on the ship is an excellent place for children to learn how to behave in a more formal environment than most of them are used to. They can order what they want (from the adult menu, from the children's menu, or from a combination of both). They can experiment - If they don't like something they ordered, they can order something else to replace it.

 

With two tables, you don't have to have the same division every night.

 

If you have two tables, I think the division depends a lot depends on the age and maturity of the children. I observed one extended family group on one cruise with the adults at one table and the children at another. The children really enjoyed the independence of being able to order what they wanted without the adults around (even though they were at the next table in case of any problems). The older children helped the younger ones. They were perfectly well-behaved the entire cruise. In fact, I think they probably behaved better than they would have eating with their parents. This gives the adults time to visit with each other and the children time to visit with their cousins.

 

 

+1 on everything you said.  Traditional dining eliminates any question on dining time and multiple tables encourage conversation.  In the two trips I've had with extended families, we rotated positions nightly.  

[NavyVeteran]

7 hours ago, caribill said:

Implied in the above responses is that the linked reservations only work for traditional early or late seatings, not for anytime.

That is correct. Linked bookings are only useful for traditional dining - not for anytime.

 

With anytime dining, you need to arrive together if you want the same table. It makes absolutely no difference whether or not your bookings are linked.

[zogrand]

We traveled with 14 last July.  We started with traditional dining and could never get us all together for the early time every night.  We ended up changing to anytime after speaking to the maitre d’.  We seldom had to wait more than a few minutes for a table.  Only once did they divide us into an adult and kids table, next to each other.  Anytime worked much better for us.