Queen Elizabeth, Norway - 1st or 2nd Sitting for Dinner

[BORDER REIVER]

We are in the advanced stages of planning a 2 week cruise on Q.E. to the Norwegian Fjords, in May / June 2013 and have been wondering about the best dinner sitting time.

We have always had first sitting so far and have sometimes missed out.

On Q.V. it was Europe in December and dark in the evenings, so there were no problems.

On P&O Aurora, we visited Greenland, Iceland and Norway and missed out on some spectacular scenery while we were having early dinner, paticularly most of the evening cruise on Geiranger fjord. We also missed one dinner because our excursion coach was late returning to the ship.

Are there any other advantages / disadvantages to certain dinner times, such as timings for entertainment or getting decent seats in the ballroom on Queen Elizabeth?

[mollymoo12]

Unless you want a particular cabin or cabin type then I would think about not booking until after the last payment date as fiords and Baltic cruises are being heavily discounted this year and may well be again next year.

 

I booked for the Baltic in February and have seen the price drop by several hundred pounds. I won't be making the same mistake again.

 

If you compare the prices in the Sunday papers with the original brochure prices, you will see what I mean.

[capnpugwash]

We are in the advanced stages of planning a 2 week cruise on Q.E. to the Norwegian Fjords, in May / June 2013 and have been wondering about the best dinner sitting time.

We have always had first sitting so far and have sometimes missed out.

On Q.V. it was Europe in December and dark in the evenings, so there were no problems.

On P&O Aurora, we visited Greenland, Iceland and Norway and missed out on some spectacular scenery while we were having early dinner, paticularly most of the evening cruise on Geiranger fjord. We also missed one dinner because our excursion coach was late returning to the ship.

Are there any other advantages / disadvantages to certain dinner times, such as timings for entertainment or getting decent seats in the ballroom on Queen Elizabeth?

 

I would always recommend that you opt for second sitting and a large table. There is a show for each sitting so you won't miss out.

[ovccruiser]

I, too, would recommend second sitting, the sail down the fjords is excellent and first sitting diners miss that.

[Classiccruiser777]

I, too, would recommend second sitting, the sail down the fjords is excellent and first sitting diners miss that.

Ditto. We have done three Norway cruises and have always requested second seating for this very reason.

 

I also get up very early for the "sail up" the fjords as the early light is beautiful.

[BORDER REIVER]

Many thanks for the replies and recommendations about booking 2nd sitting, that's what we suspected and we'll do that.

mollymoo12 - your suggestion makes sense and if there were just the two of us, that's exactly what we would do - wait until the last minute and get a real bargain. We are both retired and can afford to wait and book at the last minute. However, my wife's older sister is coming with us this time and is new to cruising, so we're trying to get adjacent staterooms so that we can be together. I think waiting on this occasion might not be fruitful. We just cannot take a chance on it.

 

Thank you all for your replies.

[Dancer Bob]

If you like dancing, you definitely want first sitting. In fact, I often use the buffet. In spite of the promises, people on second sitting usually miss out on something.

[capnpugwash]

One of the nice things about these boards is that you will get totally conflicting answers to most questions, and of course they are both correct. The hard thing is deciding for yourselves whether you want first or second sitting as they each have drawbacks and advantages.