TD - Early or Late Seating Pros & Cons

[Califcat]

The only con on late seating that I can think of is you will have a 8-9 hour gap from lunch to dinner...that means an afternoon snack around 4pm...which means more calories consumed. You also probably wouldn't be as hungry by the time that wonderful full corse meal is served. But your on vaction right.......who cares if you have 4 meals a day and gain an extra few pounds.

 

I personally like the early seating....I hope everyone's opinion helps you decide. Have a great cruise!

[wrecks]

But you're on vacation right.......who cares if you have 4 meals a day and gain an extra few pounds.

 

Think of those extra pounds as souvenirs :D!

[paul929207]

Think of those extra pounds as souvenirs :D!

I like your logic.

[rdsqrl]

I like late. I'm a night owl, so never get tired and can still have late dinner and stay awake through the late show and even stay up beyond that. But mostly I like late dining because my favourite time of the day has always been that space between late afternoon and early evening. Onboard, I like to head out onto the Promenade Deck after trivia ends, just me, my book, and my extra-hot mocha, and relax, read, and watch the ocean and the sunset and see the deck lights begin to glow as darkness falls. It's usually nice and quiet out there, as lots of people are already in early dinner or getting ready for dinner. That hour and a half/two hours between 5 and 7, before I have to go in to shower and dress for dinner, is priceless! I'd miss all that if I had early seating.

And if Princess keeps pushing back late seating to well before 8, as they did on my last cruise, I'm going to be really peeved. Princess, you're On Notice!

[sarge98]

We like watching the ship[ leave port, also getting there. Our last cruise we picked early, By the time dinned was over we were at sea and it was dark outside.

[WCAB]

I prefer early dinner. It is closer to my routine at home. I have worked hard to lose weight and want some time between my dinner and going to bed to use up calories.

[dutchess43]

We sprefer late no rush, no hasse, nap, & cocktails before dinner very relaxing.

[We're The Groupnors]

We like second seating because there are less children (not that they've ever been a problem, but we like an "adult dinner"), and we can talk with our tablemates until the dining room closes. At the early seating the usher you out more quickly as they have to prepare for second seating.

[Times Prince]

The only con on late seating that I can think of is you will have a 8-9 hour gap from lunch to dinner...that means an afternoon snack around 4pm...which means more calories consumed. You also probably wouldn't be as hungry by the time that wonderful full corse meal is served. But your on vaction right.......who cares if you have 4 meals a day and gain an extra few pounds.

 

I personally like the early seating....I hope everyone's opinion helps you decide. Have a great cruise!

We did the late seating with 4 PM "snack" while on a South Beach diet and lost weight during the cruise. The trick is to have stuff like salad at 4 and avoid most of the great looking desserts (note I said "most"... it's a vacation. ;)..).

 

Back on the main theme, when we lived in the Denver area we used late seating as it kept our "body time" normal evening dining time about the same when we changed time zones going East. Only objection is when we ate, then went to a show it was really late, and many of the excursions the next day met really early... But there's always power naps in the afternoon...

 

Doing early Traditional dining, we experience the problem that we may either just be returning from an excursion and are really tired, or there is an event scheduled earlier in the evening (like ballroom dancing) which conflicts. We end up missing several meals, which is not fair to our tablemates.

 

Our compromise is Anytime dining, eating around 7-7:30, and often eating in Cafe Caribe or Horizon Court, as we don't like waiting for a table in the MDR.

[Cruis-Ann]

I always loved late seating for the reasons mentioned by many others-quiet time on ship and relaxing before dressing for dinner; however, a few years ago my stomach expressed displeasure with the late meals - not enough disgesting time before bedtime, I guess. So it's early dinner for us. I have adjusted well and really enjoy it now. I tried anytime dining but didn't like having new tablemates every night. Some people think that is great but it seemed to me that we never got beyond the "what's your name" and "Where are you from" status. With traditional dining you have time to become friends with your tablemates. Maybe we've been lucky but there are always people at our table that we really enjoy meeting and doing things with. But most important is to do just what makes you happiest!!

[User Error]

We chose early seating, so we can have dinner, relax a bit then go for a late swim later while effectively half the ship is having dinner...more chance of having the pool to ourselves.....

[BoardwalkBabe]

DH is on a regular dinner schedule here at home (early) but my work schedule changes daily so my dinner time is all over the place. We have always had late seating except for one time we lucked out and got the early seating and that's when we discovered we didn't really like it. We like to take our time coming back from excursions, etc. and have a snack later in the afternoon and then drinks before dinner so we've asked for the late seating ever since.

[fun and breezes 2]

I say.....Where do you live?

The Pacific time zone is 2 hours behind us coming from the Central time zone. Our bodies are use to being on Central time zone so as we start the cruise eating at 8PM was like 10PM to our body. That wasn't bad. As we sailed to Hawaii, the ship continued changing 3 more time zones. So when we were eating dinner at 8PM, to our body clock it was closer to 1AM in the morning. I was tired and really started feeling it about half way thru dinner. My stomach had plenty of food all day so I was never hungry, but by dinner time I was really sleepy.

 

Usually with Caribbean cruises we like late seating so we have plenty of time after leaving the ports to get ready for dinner, but when sailing to Hawaii, I would go with the early seating because of adjusting to the time zones.

[owt205]

We have always done late seating, for all of the reasons stated by those before me....AND, while my DH is prepping for dinner, I, with glass of wine ready on the balcony, quickly head to the laundry! No one is there, as most are either at dinner, or getting ready. I can put in the load (love those Purex sheets), run back and shower, drink, back to dryer, back to room to finalize my prep, then fold and off to a great meal. Worked everytime on our last 19 day cruise, port or sea days.

Oh my, the secret is out!

[kath00]

We always get late seating. We eat about 8pm at home, so that works great for us. We like having the evening to relax on our balcony, have a drink, talk, read, etc.

 

We always take late seating because we EAT ALL DAY. We are simply not hungry until late! We also like to have cocktails with friends before dinner. It's less rushed for us to have our meals after 8.

 

PS: we eat at 5:30 or 6pm when we are at home! But not on cruises thanks to all the snacks/buffets, etc...

 

Katherine