Tables for two and dining questions
Good evening! Looking forward to our first river cruise this summer!
Is it possible to reserve a table for two for dining in the Compass Rose restaurant? We will be celebrating a birthday one night and would prefer to not dine with a big group.
If not possible to reserve, how is the flow of guests during dinner? If we waited to eat at a late time, would we have a better chance of dining alone?
Do people rush in to get to dinner right when it starts to get their preferred tables?
Finally, would it be easier to just dine at Arthur’s if we sometimes prefer a table for 2 during the course of this long cruise?
Excited to meet and share this experience with other guests…but there are some days that I just don’t feel like being social.
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Comments
It is not normally difficult to get a table for two at either the compass rose or Arthur’s. This is not a ‘big’ ship experience. You will get anything you want.
I don’t know about the river cruises but you certainly can’t reserve a table for two on their small ship cruises. We asked about it for our anniversary once and they said no and quite frankly I was shocked and upset. Hopefully that is not the case on the river cruises as SeaLord says.
You will get to know the dining staff, the ship is small. Tell them what you need in advance and they will make sure you have it. In addition, if you let Tauck know, they will mark the occasion with a lovely cake. Make sure you do it early in the cruise. You can tell your Tour director as well. There are certainly tables for two in the dining room.
The only 2 person dining tables in the Compass Rose are a part of the long banquette seating area where you have tables/people on either side so not exactly intimate. Photo below. There are several 4 person tables so unless the cruise is fully sold out I'd think you have a good chance of reserving one. I have seen on one cruise where the Cruise Director worked with the hotel manager to provide a 2 person set up for a couple in Arthurs. They weren't the only ones in the room but did have more privacy than the main dining room. I'd recommend that as soon as you can after boarding, talk to the CD, explain the situation and see if they can make arrangements either there or in the Compass Rose. Best wishes.
I agree with Claudia, talk to the TD as soon as possible and they will make arrangements. I also think that Arthur's is a more intimate venue than the Compass dining room.
There aren’t that many tables for two, but we have never had a problem securing our preferred spot in the very front of the dining room because we arrive when It first opens. We find it quieter and more enjoyable there.
Have a wonderful journey.
This is really not that difficult. Yes, there are few tables for two, and generally speaking they don’t ‘reserve’ them. But, if you request to dine as a ‘couple’ they will seat you as a couple even if it is a table for rourl. They do not make you dine with other guests if you don’t want to dine with other guests. All that being said, we often travel as a party of six, and they normally reserve a large table for us.