Dining times

I am just curious how others think through dining times and what they take into consideration. My family prefers MTD due to not wanting to rush on port days to get ready for dinner. I, on the other hand, appreciate having a set dining time, so I (the planner) do not get asked all day/every day, “What time is dinner?” :rolleyes: I saw another thread someone asking if the first seating felt rushed, never even considered that before reading it. So why do you book/prefer the dining times you book? I am hoping for a new perspectives & possibly a better option for my group.

If the group intends to eat together each evening, and it is larger than 4, then I'd prefer fixed dining.

Why don't you use MTD but have set meal times? For example Sea days eat at 18.00; Port day eat at 19.00. This way the whole family know what time dinner is.

What we consider is what our port times are and what are general plans for tours or excursions might be.

Most times we start off with MTD making reservations after securing our in port plans. If we do find that with our reservations wind up being at or close to a set dining time for the whole cruise we will ask if we can change to that time. Show times are centered around the set dining times so having the guarantee of a no wait table with a deadline for service (the 5 courses over 90 minutes - 2 hours) puts my mind to ease on what entertainment will be available to us.

We are early eaters at home, and like to get to know our table mates. This is why we normally choose early traditional dining. However, in the Mediterranean, our planned excursions went late into the day, so we picked the later traditional dining.

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I only started cruising again recently after about 15 years and I’m just used to set times. We are also a family of 4 and have done two cruises one late and one early time. We are going to do the late time so we don’t have to rush to get to dinner. I also think if the show is before dinner we might be more likely to see it?!

Why don't you use MTD but have set meal times? For example Sea days eat at 18.00; Port day eat at 19.00. This way the whole family know what time dinner is.

This is pretty much what I have set up for our next cruise, I was just interested at how others think it through, seems like more doing the MTD than in the past.

We eat kind of early at home so we picked early seating. We like to go to bed by 10, even on vacation.

We like traditional so our waiter gets to know us and our preferences. We take late so we don't have to rush. Can come back from a port, have a cup of tea or a glass of wine, watch us sail away, relax and then get ready for the show and dinner. No need to feel rushed on vacation.