I'm kind of glad I came across this post. As I assume everyone has experienced, dealers (for whatever reason) really only stock the captains in the Denali. I'm not a Denali kind of guy (currently driving a 2010 Sierra Crew with cloth bench), but I decided on a Denali because of the 6.2L, magnetic ride, electronics package and a few other things. If I had my way I'd have a 9-seater in cloth with the 6.2L and Blu-ray, but those are apparently incompatible. I settled on ordering an 8-seater Denali in the color and option configuration that best suited me, but the dealer acted like I was insane to not want the captains chairs.
I have 4 kids and the bench seat means that I can carry all the kids, plus drop the 3rd row if needed. A 9-seater would let me carry the whole family and drop the third row for cargo, or drive all my kids plus a friend for each. Also, when you drop both the back rows, there is that large gap in the front of the load floor which makes loading some cargo awkward.
I have 4 kids and the bench seat means that I can carry all the kids, plus drop the 3rd row if needed. A 9-seater would let me carry the whole family and drop the third row for cargo, or drive all my kids plus a friend for each. Also, when you drop both the back rows, there is that large gap in the front of the load floor which makes loading some cargo awkward.