pros and cons of early or late dining

[darjensil]

We are currently booked for late dining but I am second guessing myself thinking we should change to early dining....anyone have any opinions on pros and cons of each to help me decide.... thanks.

[Meyer2]

We are currently booked for late dining but I am second guessing myself thinking we should change to early dining....anyone have any opinions on pros and cons of each to help me decide.... thanks.

 

We choose early dining, but our main reason is because that is close to our normal diner time at home.

[DEBnGAB]

....or choose Anytime and go whenever you want.

[Lisah101]

I think it comes down to preference. I like the extra time in port and not being rushed to dinner so we always go with late dining. I also like having the same wait staff each night vs. anytime dining. There are less children at late dining and that is a plus for me as I love my children, but not so much everybody else's.

 

If you go to bed early, late dinner doesn't give your food much time to digest.

[Sauer-kraut]

Pros: You can eat a later lunch, enjoy tea time without having to cut back for dinner on the early seating. You can take a nap after coming back from port. You won't feel rushed eating as you would at the early seating because you have to leave the dining room so it can be reset for the late seating.

 

Cons: miss some of the entertainment which goes on during late seating or get standing room only because the theater is full with people who got there early. Dinner will get done after 10 pm., so unless you are a night owl it will seem like bedtime right after.

[dst]

We only do late dining - pros: Less children, you won't be rushed out of the dining room for the next seating, extra time to relax after a long day at port and did I say less children :)

[slang1272]

We usually go for late seating because there are fewer children and because it allows us to grab sushi and still be hungry for dinner. It seems sushi is available only during a couple hours right before the early seating. With late seating, we can grab a sushi snack and still enjoy dinner.

 

It's also nice to not feel rushed when returning to the ship in port.

[VickiD59]

We're a fan of the late seating even though it's way later than we'd normally eat at home; but we liked not having to rush back during a port day. We could come back to the ship and leisurely get ready for dinner. We selected late dinner again for our next cruise. Maybe if we were sailing with small children we'd chose the early time. After dinner we usually had just enough time to make it to the last show in the lounge. True we never got those plush main level seats, but we enjoyed every show from the upper deck anyway :)

[Cruiseboy06]

I usually eat between 6 to 8 at home if i didn't have a late lunch.. anyhow, we had an early dinner on my last cruise on Paradise 3 day cruise.. We missed the captain's party on elegant night because it held at 7:30 during the first seating..

NEXT time I prefer the ANYTIME dinning or late seating...

[serene56]

I tried late dining for our first cruise. It was the only time we ever did it. Dinner was at 8pm and we were getting done about 10. Walked to the show and we were sleepy. It was very hard to sleep all week with all that heavy food sitting there.

 

Going early we are done before 8;30. We walk around outside we sit for a show and I'll have time to move that food to better digestion.

 

At home we eat about 7pm

[gordon fisherman]

late dinning for us! SUN,SAND, & SEA, thats what we are there for, give us longer SUN time, your on a cruise, your not gonna starve!:eek:

[IAMACRUZAHOLIC]

I LOVE anytime dining - I can go when I want to go - when it works in with the days activities. If you are set on picking a dining time - go late! Enjoy your cruise!

[gone_cruisin]

Early Dining

 

Pros

Get to watch the shows after dinner

Had a table at the window and it was still daylight out to see the ocean

 

Cons

Always felt rushed coming back from the ports trying to get ready

More kids and elderly - always seemed like more demanding eaters during this seating

Missed out on the sushi bar hours every night

 

Late Dining

 

Pros

Never rushed after the ports - many times got a nap in

Sushi

Much younger crowd

 

 

Cons

Hated trying to see the shows before dinner. I found that many people would come back from the ports and not take showers and plop themselves down in the lounge next to me. YUCK!!! They stunk bad.

Never made it to the midnight buffet because we ate so late.

[zstell]

We prefer the early seating even though we are sometimes rushed getting ready after port days. We had late seating once and I just didn't enjoy finishing dinner at 10:00. That usually meant no other activities if we had an early excursion the next day. Finishing dinner at 8:00, going to the show and then a little time in the casino before bed seems to work for us.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

We prefer the late dining. all pros/still time to make 10pm show.

i think you are served faster at 8 too

[smc0320]

Ohhhhhhh...I'm Nervouse.........we've always done LATE seating because it is closer to the time we eat at home.....BUT.....my partner is usally ready to leave the table before dessert is servved so he can go to bed....so we chose EARKY seating on our Sept cruise so maybe he makes a show......or stays up a bit after eating......hipe it all works out......

[Lacaena]

Last cruise we did late seating. We liked it for all the reasons others have mentioned; fewer kids, more time in port or for a nap, sushi or tea with time to digest, etc. Problem was that I was falling asleep in my Warm Chocolate Melting Cake every night. We made it to one late show and never to the comedy show or the movie because with getting up so early for excursions and then spending all day in the sun I was just wiped out. This time around we are trying early seating and we'll see how it goes.

[tiggerman101]

I was an early dinner for awhile in the beginning. Then I discovered I love the late seating for all the reasons people mentioned. The best reason for me is the couple hours before dinner when half the ship is eating and most people are away from the pools, outside decks, etc. I love to grab a coffee and read out on the deck, take an evening swim or whatever. It is just a very relaxed time of day for me and honestly my favorite couple hours on a ship.

[willow0325]

Early Dining

 

Pros

Get to watch the shows after dinner

Had a table at the window and it was still daylight out to see the ocean

 

Cons

Always felt rushed coming back from the ports trying to get ready

More kids and elderly - always seemed like more demanding eaters during this seating

Missed out on the sushi bar hours every night

 

Late Dining

 

Pros

Never rushed after the ports - many times got a nap in

Sushi

Much younger crowd

 

 

Cons

Hated trying to see the shows before dinner. I found that many people would come back from the ports and not take showers and plop themselves down in the lounge next to me. YUCK!!! They stunk bad.

Never made it to the midnight buffet because we ate so late.

 

Well said!

We prefer late dining too. We want to maximize our time and enjoy every second. We're always afraid that if we do early seating, we'll be sound asleep in bed at 8:30. We'd rather eat late, catch a later show, stroll around the deck and star gaze ..... then pass out in bed! When we're on vacation we stay up til 11:00 or 12:00 which is way later than normal for us wimps!

[TheCalicoCat]

I start work at 5:00 a.m. when I am not on vacation. Sleeping in for me even on vacation is 6:30 maybe 7. As a consequence, I am generally asleep by 10 (I forced myself to stay awake for a Rated R punchliner show or 2 on my last cruise). All of that makes early dining ideal for me. (I never feel rushed.) I eat at 6:30 at home, so maintaining the schedule is appealing as well.

[crusinpsychRN]

Every time I've been to the MDR when people were seeking changes, most wanted to change from late to early. Not sure you'd get changed.

[MuffyKismet]

We abosolutly prefer the late seating! Not rushed to leave the pool or hot tubs to go get ready for dinner.....it is nice to not be rushed to get to dinner. Although if you have kids I can certainly understand the earlier seating. But if you don't have little ones then late seating is perfect, plus as others have mentioned you also are not rushed while in Port!

[rickcop44]

We only do late dining - pros: Less children, you won't be rushed out of the dining room for the next seating, extra time to relax after a long day at port and did I say less children :)

 

Let me add to dst's statement by pointing out there are also less children at the late dining time. Just kidding. We prefer late dining as we don't like being rushed out of the dining room which can happen on the early dining. Also, and this is just my opinion, it seems like the later dining crowd is a bit closer to our age group. We've never missed a show because of late dining. Afterall, you're on vacation! Stay up an extra couple of hours and enjoy the wonderful evenings.

[kroozers]

Late, late, late!! For all the reasons on the other posts. I had early seating on my first cruise and hated it. Rushing back from ports and having to leave my comfortable deck chair in the beautiful sunshine to go take a shower for dinner was painful. I want to watch the sunset each night, not try to sneak a peak out a window. There are shows accomodating late seating too - you won't miss a thing. Late, late, late!

[weregoingcruising]

Why can't you use anytime dinner on days your regular seating time needs don't fit your schedule?