Your Time Dining - Seating Location/Time

[wendygrace]

Ds has special needs and we have requested Your Time Dining as well as a four-top. We are hoping to eat at about the same time every day to keep a schedule but need the flexibility in case he has a meltdown and needs some time to get it together.

 

We will be cruising on the Valor if that makes any difference.

 

Anyway, my question is, what time is the best time to go to the MDR for dinner to limit the noise/people/wait and where are we most likely to be seated? I see that there is an upstairs and a downstairs (I think) from the pictures. I'm hoping for a quiet secluded spot by the windows to help soothe him and would like to know the best way to get that to happen if at all possible.

 

Thanks for the help (and yes, I know we can eat at the buffet but we do try to teach him to eat at restaurants so he learns how to behave appropriately).

[firefly333]

Carnival doesnt allow you to select table size to start with..

 

so if you have anytime dining, when you walk up you just say you want to sit alone, not join other people.

 

If you like that waiter you can request him other nights at the same time.

 

Usually anytime is only upstairs on most ships.

 

If you are there late at night, or 8 pm or later, is you best chance, but until things clear out .. expecting a secuded window spot and no wait seems like you might feel frustrated.

 

Everyone wants the window and thats their first request too usually. The tables and chairs will be close together.

 

If you want quieter and secluded, maybe consider eating up at the buffet one night. I enjoyed the night i ate up there, and it had all the same food that night.

[wendygrace]

Thanks for the info. We won't be expecting it, of course, but it's always nice to shoot for what we need and deal with what we get. We prepare him for everything we can. Thankfully, he's usually well behaved and extremely social but he's easily distracted during meal times. I suspect we'll be feeding him in our room most nights before bed anyway.

 

Thanks again.

[riffatsea]

We always have Your Time Dining and find that getting there right before it starts is the best time.

IF you are there early few people will be in front of you and seating goes very quickly. You can ask for whatever area you want and pick the same table each night with the same wait staff.

The dining room doesn't fill up until later so it is quieter then too.

If your son has trouble waiting on any lines then one of the adults can wait and get the table and then you can walk in and join them.

[Crazy4Koko]

we had good luck on the Inspiration choosing to eat around 7:30...there was never much of a wait. However, your son may do better going very early, so you can be half way thru dinner before it starts to get busy?

 

 

I don't know as if you will be able to get a window seat in the center dining rooms... at least on the Inspiration and the Destiny, there are no windows. ( Inspiration I know for sure doesn't...I'm assuming based on Deck plans for the Destiny)

 

One 'issue' with ATD is the close proximity of tables..our table for two was on top of the 4 top..like my butt knocked the flowers off the table if I wasn't careful.