As a single mom, I took DD on our first Disney cruise when she was 5. We were thrilled when we got to the table the first night and saw we were seated with two other single parents and their 5-year old girls. Instant friends. It was brilliant.

Anonymous wrote:So again I ask what is the appeal of cruising?

I am only interested in Disney cruises specifically for the kids programming. It's relaxing having the kids entertained. I can lay on deck 4 and read a book & not worry about them drifting off on a boogie board like on a beach.

Anonymous wrote:So again I ask what is the appeal of cruising?

Tons of food for all of middle America.

This is normal unless you request your own table. We have done several Disney cruises, on the first one we were sat with a really nice family that we really connected with. So much so that we cruised with them on two on to additional trips.

Yes, it's common on cruises. If you don't want to be seated with others, just let the maitre d know as soon as you board.

So again I ask what is the appeal of cruising?

No, Disney has always had groups sit together. At least since 2010. That's when we went on our first.

This probably won't help but I cruised in concierge once on Disney and all dining requests were taken care of through them. For those of you who are worried about dining, that could be the way to go. They will see you at any table you want and whatever seating you want.

I actually think this is more common in other cruise lines. Maybe also something new Disney is trying.

I always request our own table. It's a cruise thing.

This happened to our family of 5 on a Disney cruise this spring. The other family was nice, but I felt the same way as you. I didn’t pay all that money to have to make awkward small talk with strangers. It was a huge turnoff.

How many of you are going? We were four and got our own table (okay, really close to the next one, but with separation). If you're an odd number of people, they may be more likely to combine tables so they have enough seats. There isn't enough room on a full cruise to have lots of extra empty seats at all the tables.

You can request your own table.

I would have been really unhappy about that and would have requested just my family at the table. I don't want to spend 10k to not have enjoyable meals.

We did a Disney cruise this year and mostly liked it but for dinner, we were seated each night with another family at the same table. They were nice people so it was fine but I still thought it was awkward at first and potentially uncomfortable (what if you didn't like them??). Also it's not like it was a cheap cruise. We went over Easter and it was something like a little over 7k for 4 nights to Castaway Cay. Plus we did a land sea combo with several days in the park beforehand.


Is this normal for Disney cruises? Or cruises in general? I find it weird and distasteful to be honest and it makes me reluctant to do one again.