1st time wait-listed for first seating; how successful have you been getting it changed?

[iambrink]

I just a cruise for November and we are wait-listed for the first seating. I have never had that happen before although it can happen any time. How successful have people been getting the seating changed before the cruise? Any tips? I booked the cruise through Dreams Unlimited for the first time; will they be notified if i am moved? Just curious...certainly not a deal breaker!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I just a cruise for November and we are wait-listed for the first seating. I have never had that happen before although it can happen any time. How successful have people been getting the seating changed before the cruise? Any tips? I booked the cruise through Dreams Unlimited for the first time; will they be notified if i am moved? Just curious...certainly not a deal breaker!

We've been waitlisted 5 times on DCL. We got moved every time.

Since your cruise isn't for a number of months, I'm going to hazard a guess that you have a pretty good chance of being moved.

If the waitlist comes through, no notification is sent, you just see it on your reservation online.

 

[GPaLarry]

To follow up on PrincessShmoo, we (12 of us) were waitlisted for early seating on the Wonder for a 5-day to Mexico earlier this year. About 5 months out I called DCL to make sure we were on the wait list (did not use a TA). We were! I also checked with the chat tab on our reservation page on the internet several times, just to make sure we were in the queue. About 50 days out we got an email with our reservation repeated from earlier contacts with DCL. I wondered why we were getting another copy when, lo a behold, when I read the fine print we were listed with "Main" dining...we were in. I can't prove that my mild hounding did the trick, but it worked for us. As a last resort, if no change until you board, when you first set foot on the ship, head to the location listed on your Navigator (handed to you at check-in) and plead your case for the move. Good luck and have a Mickey Bar for me.

 

[brentm77]

Requested twice, moved twice. The first time (2013), we booked in December for a May cruise, and moved sometime around January. This last time (2019), we booked in in August for the first week of April, but didn't get moved until abou two weeks before the trip.

Some here will tell you to be the squeaky wheel to get moved. I don't think that has anything to do with it. I did periodically check to confirm I was still on the list, and one time was politely told "you are on the waitlist, just let the process work like it usually does, and ask to be moved when you board if it doesn't." My guess is there is a priority of some sort based on when you make the request, the status you have with the cruise line, the party size, etc. I am sure they just work through the list based on the order you are assigned. I also suspect they have a very limited number of main dining spots available at the time of booking, so they have flexibility for concierge and other needs. Then they slowly start filling main dining as the cruise gets closer, with final assignments about two weeks out (when we got moved last time).

 

[mareed]

Wait-listed once, wasn't moved ahead of time, and they were unable to get us moved after boarding either. They tried to fit us in main dining on a night-by-night basis (like if a group was at Palo) and would let us know each day around 4:00, but I definitely don't recommend that. After a few days of that, we just stuck with late dining for the last few nights. I seriously dislike second dining and would almost not cruise if I know I won't have main dining in the future.

 

[TracyC.]

Waitlisted 3 times. 2 of the times, received an email update about 2 weeks prior to boarding that we got changed to first seating. The 3rd time, because I booked the cruise a month out, right as we boarded I went to the station where they set up to take dining requests, and asked if we made it off the waitlist. Even at that point, the person sitting there was saying that it didn't look likely. However, around 5:30pm, we got a call from the head server saying that we got a table in his area, and to come down to the dining room, ask for him at the entrance, and he would lead us to our new table. We were already in the mindset that we would be on the second dining rotation, so that was a nice surprise!

 

[Trera]

we have gotten main every time we were wait listed.

 

[iambrink]

Thank-you for all the replies. I knew i had read about this on the boards before, but hadn't paid attention to the details. Sounds like there is hope! I am not sure there is anything i would like about late dining...believe me; I've thought about it!