Moving from 2nd Seating to 1st Seating

[MickeyB426]

I have long-standing reservations (Cat 1) for the March 29 Western trip.

Just yesterday the DW and I decided to take her sister and her three kids along as a surprise, so we booked a room for them.

Everything went smoothly, but the only bump in the road was the fact that they got placed on Second Seating and wait-listed for First Seating, which is what we have.

I've been told by DCL that there was nothing I could do over the phone to move them to our table at First Seating, that I'd have to take it up with Concierge and the Head Server once I boarded.

Is this true, or does anyone know another way?

Thanks!

 

[jlmcantwait]

Mike,
How old are the kids?
Laurie

 

[My~Rumbly~Tumbly]

I wonder if you could move your seating to the second? If you were at all willing to do that. I really wished I had done the second seating with my little ones. We would never eat dinner at home that late, but I found we were totally rushed in getting to dinner at 6:00, almost always late (which they announce via intercom the importance of being on time). Finding children a little snack or appetizer to get them through until 8:30 is not hard! I also found that we tended to eat a late breakfast and never once on our 4 night cruise did we eat LUNCH! So I feel that if we had a late seating, we would have been more likely to experience and enjoy all three meals- though it also would have likely mean't even MORE weight gain for me. My pants are a little snug, lol.

 

[jlmcantwait]

Mike,
I agree with M-R-T.......
We have taken Matthew quite a few times and I have found all bets are off when it comes to kids schedules on a vacation. A child that you think will be "boppin' and weavin'" at 8pm will surprise you and stay up till 11pm. We do the late seating and let Matt nap in the afternoon. We go to the show and he is wide awake, then ready for dinner after! We take him to the club 1/2 way thru dinner if he is bored,then he can relax in the club and we can enjoy the rest of dinner. Early seating puts a real cramp in your daytime activities, leaving to get ready for dinner.
L

 

[MickeyB426]

Thanks for the suggestions, and moving to late seating WAS kicked around, but when we did the DCL last year, we found the early seating to be much better for us. I wasn't nuts about eating at 8:30.

I have triplets, will be 9 years old (BGB - and one of the boys is also a Matthew), my sister-in-law has a 10 year old girl and twin 8 year olds.

Thanks again!

 

[Lisa F]

With a cat 1, don't you think the concierge could do something for you? Presumably you all want to sit at the same table as well. Or, you could just do room service nightly in your cat 1, hehe. Are there enough chairs around that diningroom table for all?

Lisa

 

[reveric]

I don't think the concierge can do much if the early seating is full. Our experience with Disney is that they treat all of their guests equally and don't give preferential treatment to some just because they are in a category 1 suite.

We sailed category 1 last fall and it was worth every penny to get the suite and there are many perks included with the suite. Once we left the suite though we were treated just like any other guest (which was pretty darn wonderful!)

I do hope you get the seating you want but even if you don't you'll have an incredible cruise in that suite!

 

[WebmasterAlex]

I believe you can "link" their dining with yours and that linked famililes will get moved first if there are any openings in the other seating.

 

[Jobro2]

Looks like I'm in the minority here, but for us when we cruised in 2001 (and again this June 2003), we did the early seating. My kids were 9 & 11 on our first cruise and honestly, for our family, I can't imagine the later seating. This would mean starting to eat around 9 pm...at home we usually eat around 6 pm. Yes, I agree, all "schedules" seem to be thrown out on vacation, and also I will agree that we a couple of times did feel a bit rushed for dinner. But, for us, we could not wait till so late to eat. The kids often went to their clubs after dinner for nightly events, that on occasion, they would have missed had we had had the later seating. Early seating worked for us (just another point of view!) and if we happened to get hungry later in the evening (hungry, on a Disney cruise.....not!!), but if we did, it was always nice to have room service delivery something to snack on! Either way, you will have a tremendous time!!

 

[My~Rumbly~Tumbly]

Actually, I can see where the first seating would be ideal for older children. I think the later seating would have been ideal for us because I not only had myself to get ready, but my two little ones. Things would have been a lot different if they were preparing themselves. Sometimes a bath was necessary before dinner, and then dressing and fussing with my daughters hair and then preparing myself. I just always felt very rushed to get to dinner. My children are rarely in bed before 9:00. They have always been night owls (and I'm trying to break that habit with my daughter who attends Montessori school and is NOT a morning person). Also, I'm sure things would have gone smoother and I would not have felt so pressed for time if my husband had come along.

 

[AmyM]

Keep calling!

We cruised 2 weeks ago and had the same problem. We booked very early and friends decided to go with us 6 weeks before the cruise. I called DCL on a few things now and then and always asked about friends status moving to 1st seating. They finally called themselves and asked very nonchalant what they would need to do to have the best chance to move to 1st seating? Asked if they should talk to dining room staff upon boarding. They put her on hold and came back saying that they were emailing dining staff to 'request' them to be moved to 1st seating if at all possible. She was told it was no guarantee but couldn't hurt. The next day their reservation was changed.

 

[MickeyB426]

Thanks for all your replies!

I was told by the DCL agent that the fact that I was in a Cat. 1 suite would probably get me a good amount of "pull" with concierge, that they'd probably take care of it with the dining staff.

I'm also thinking it might not be all that difficult since all I want to do is add 4 to my existing table of 5.

They also, as Alex mentioned, will "link" our rooms to make sure they know about it when we board.

I'll probably take my case to concierge when they arrive at my room, and see what they can do for me. If all else fails, we'll think about what to do after that.