How Do I Request a Private Table in the MDR?

Today’s lecture will answer your questions about how to ensure you have a private table, as opposed to being seated at a larger table with strangers, in the main dining room (MDR) on your cruise. 

Background Information for New Cruisers

It’s standard practice on most cruise lines to sometimes combine smaller dining parties together at larger tables.  For some people, meeting interesting folks and making new friends over dinner is one of the things they love most about cruising – people have made lifelong cruise pals this way.  But it’s not for everyone.  And even those who enjoy it might want a night to themselves after the unfortunate experience of sharing a table with my Kindergartener (let’s face it, not everyone’s into Transformers and poop jokes) or a full grown adult with manners less refined than my Kindergartener’s (run toward the buffet if they ever try to seat you next to Prof. Cruise – she’s been known to steal desserts).

Introverts Unite: Why You Might Prefer to Dine Alone in the MDR

There are lots of valid reasons why you might not be comfortable sharing a table with strangers in the MDR.  You may have health-related matters like checking your blood sugar or giving yourself an insulin shot that you’d prefer to attend to in private.  You may have hearing difficulties that would make communicating across a large table impossible.  You might have children or a husband who would be challenging to manage at a table with people they don’t know.  You could be introverted and just prefer to dine alone.  Or maybe you forgot your deodorant like I do pretty much every time I travel.

My inaugural cruise as an adult was on my honeymoon.  The first night in the MDR we were thrilled to be seated at a lovely, romantic table in the corner next to a window where we could hold hands and sneak an occasional kiss as we gazed out at the water (we didn’t really plan on doing that – but others on their honeymoon might).  It was a four-top, but we naively thought we’d have it all to ourselves to spread out the three entrees and six desserts we each planned to order (that part’s true).  But a few minutes later another, much older, couple was seated with us.  Um, awkward!  We made the best of it – and they turned out to be lovely people – but it was sort of like having your parents along on your honeymoon.  We had no idea it was possible to request and receive a private table.  Well Prof. Cruise is here to inform you that in most cases, IT IS!    

My Experiences requesting a private table in the MDR on Carnival, Holland America, NCL, Princess, and Royal Caribbean

Since that first honeymoon cruise on Princess, I’ve requested and received a private table in the MDR for every trip across multiple lines.  Here’s how I did it on each line, followed by some general tips below.

Carnival

Two weeks prior to each trip I sent the maître d’ an e-mail request with my name, reservation number, sailing date, and a brief reason for the request.  This may not always work, but for us it’s worked 100% of the time, even if we didn’t receive a response back to our e-mail.  We also always visit the maître d’ upon embarkation to see our table assignment and confirm it’s a private table, but our request has always been granted in advance.  The e-mail address for the maître d’ of each ship is as follows:

It’s the two letter ship code then maitred@carnival.com. So, xxmaitred@carnival.com. Plug in the ship codes below for the xx:

BR Breeze

CQ Conquest

DR Dream

EC Ecstacy

EL Elation

FA Fantasy

FD Freedom

FS Fascination

GL Glory

IM Imagination

IS Inspiration

LE Legend

LI Liberty

MC Magic

MI Miracle

PA Paradise

PR Pride

SE Sensation

SL Splendor

SP Spirit

SH Sunshine

TI Triumph

VA Valor

VI Victory

VS Vista

Some people also advise sending a message to John Heald, Carnival’s brand ambassador through his Facebook page, but I can’t speak to that personally.

Holland America

We’ve always had “anytime dining” on Holland as opposed to a set early or late dining time.  When we call to make a reservation (you can reserve three nights at a time), we request a private table.  You can also just show up at the podium for anytime dining and request a private table.  Our request has always been honored and we usually end up at the same table every night after the first few nights.

If you have a set early or late dining time in the MDR, be sure to call or visit the maître d’ upon embarkation to see your seat assignment and make any adjustments. 

NCL

All dining is “anytime dining” on NCL and it’s the one cruise line I’ve sailed that does not combine parties at large tables as standard practice.  You will always be seated at a private table in the MDR on NCL (say that 3 times fast) unless you request to share, and even then they may not accommodate if no one else wants to sit with you (“it’s not you, it’s me” – try not to take it personally).  If you make a reservation in advance just give them the number of people in your party and you will be seated at a table of that size.  Or just show up with your party assembled to be seated without a reservation.  It’s very much like a land-based restaurant experience and one of the things we generally like about NCL.

Princess

After our honeymoon experience on Princess, we were eager to avoid a repeat, especially since we had our young son with us on our second sailing who is known to – despite my best efforts to raise him right and proper – answer innocent questions from kind strangers like, “what were you for Halloween?” with “a seahorse with a tail that looked like a giant penis.”  True story. 

So I stopped by the dining room serving lunch on embarkation day and was directed to a table where we could check on our assignment for traditional early dining.  Thankfully, we had already been given a private table in the corner by a window, score!, but we could have made changes at that time if needed.

Royal Caribbean

My only sailing on Royal Caribbean was as a solo cruiser and I really, really wanted to dine alone.  I’m not always so anti-social, but the whole reason for the vacation was to get some me-time away from my family and adult responsibilities (hear me, fellow moms?).  Just Prof. Cruise, a novel, and copious amounts of alcohol.  So I stopped by the dining room upon embarkation and was able to request a private table for one.  No problem.  Except that people kept staring at me with a look of sympathy to which I replied, “trust me, this is my personal vision of heaven, but if you really feel sorry for me you could always buy me another martini.”

General Tips for Securing a Private or Shared Table in the MDR

If it’s not clear where you should go to speak with the maître d’, just stop by whichever dining room is open for lunch upon embarkation and they can direct you to the appropriate person/place.  Or stop by or call guest services – they can direct you. Although they will be crowded on embarkation day, so I’d use that as a last resort.

If you prefer to dine with strangers, make sure to specify that too.  It seems to me that cruise lines are moving further and further away from the traditional dining model as millennials, who “socialize” primarily with their phones, are cruising more.  Love it or hate it, it’s the direction we’re going.

Agree?  Disagree?  Discuss in the comments for participation credit (5 points) and happy dining! Class dismissed.

Check out my other cruise food and drink related posts here. And don’t forget to subscribe to the blog to receive new Cruising 101 content direct to your e-mail (scroll up to the top right if on a computer or keep scrolling down if on a mobile device) and follow me on social media:

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