Early or Late Traditional Dining on Princess

[Mackenzie1]

I know choosing between early and late traditional dining is a personal choice, but does anyone have any thoughts about the advantages or disadvantages of choosing early or late traditional dining on Princess? Early dining seems so early, but late dining seems so late. Thanks.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

No one can say which is the right time for you but can only give the reasons why they prefer their own choice. Either choice will allow you to enjoy all the activities of the evening.

For us choosing dining late means having a full meal ending at 9:30 and isn't our normal thing to do. Still, the late seating seems to be popular. Eating early is our only real choice so we can digest our food while watching a show or movie. Many people choose anytime dining hoping to avoid making a decision and show up to eat at 6:30-7 PM but it only leads to having to wait for seating most times.

[GUT2407]

It is really a personal thing.

 

I actually prefer late even though at home I tend to dine earlier 6:30 is so I can fit in some more work afterwards.

 

On a cruise I like late, I find early a bit of a rush on post days. If I'm peckish before diner time, I can always grab a snack. Then a show [if anything takes my fancy] the diner, a walk with the one I love, under the moon and stars, maybe a nightcap on the balcony and then zzzzzzzzzz.

[MrsForsyth]

My husband and I prefer the early dinner seating. It does seem early, but you don't have to order right away. We go, have a drink together and a chat about the day and the menu. Then, we order and sometimes ask the waiter to hold off on the mains or a little bit. After dinner we go to one show, then have a cocktail then go to the other show or go to Crooners / wheelhouse bar then go to bed. It makes the fun of nights on the ship last longer. That's just how we see it.

 

 

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[LC1950]

Always choose late dining. In Oz on the "smaller" ships that we have here we don't have an "Anytime Dining" choice. But at home we usually eat about 7.30PM so late dining on board suits us and our daily usual eating time.

 

We do the early show in the theatre (if there is one on a particular night) while the early diners are in eating. We'll have a pre dinner drink or 2 then head into late dining at 7.45PM/8PM. Then we've got the rest of the night and early morning to enjoy after we've eaten. LOL that usually includes a couple or 4 walks around the promenade deck. Perfection IMO. I'm on a cruise so I'm not in bed much before 1AM.

[paul929207]

One consideration may be port schedule and your plans for those days. If you are in port into the evening, early dinner may be a problem

[pusywillow]

One consideration may be port schedule and your plans for those days. If you are in port into the evening, early dinner may be a problem

 

I am doing traditional dining for the first time this cruise, always done anytime in the past. If I miss my time because I'm in port late, may I go to anytime dining?

 

Sue

[rjack22]

In theory no. If you miss your traditional seating you are supposed to go to the buffet or other venue. Do people do it, yes sadly they do. This just contributes to a longer wait for those assigned to Anytime dining. To me it just doesn't seem fair for someone who is assigned to traditional to have the best of both worlds.

[lolane1]

I usually do late but it can sometimes interfere with shows, MUTS, etc. However, it is nice after a long day at port to relax, shower without a rush, perhaps grab some snacks to bring to the room as pre-dinner appetizers, and have a glass of wine on the balcony. Also, the hot tubs and spa areas are generally empty as most are getting ready for dinenr. If per chance we want to eat early dinner one or two nights, then a specialty restaurant fills the bill.

[PghCruiseGrrrl]

I prefer late dining. I have seen people who have shown up to early seating late and then been rushed out of the dining room to accommodate the late seating. If you are hungry earlier, I promise you can find something to snack on:D

[geoherb]

No one can say which is the right time for you but can only give the reasons why they prefer their own choice. Either choice will allow you to enjoy all the activities of the evening.

Actually late seating will interfere with some evening activities--the trivia and game show type events they have. But we still choose it because we like traditional dining and the early time is too early for us. Our normal time for dinner at home is between 7 and 8.

 

When we first started cruising on Princess, we'd go to afternoon tea most days to enjoy a mid-afternoon snack. After we got to Platinum, we started going to the event for Platinum/Elite/Suite passengers and having a bite there. Either way, it helps to tide us over until dinner.

[nasa1974]

Most everyone has touched on very good reasons for choosing one over the other. It really does come down to personal preference.

We choose the early dining for a few reasons. Most of the time we are leaving port around that time and we have seen our fair share of sail aways so no big deal. We like going to the early shows; MUTS, comedy, trivia, what ever.

What we will do if we are going to be in port late or there is something we really want to do that will have us miss dinner, we let the wait staff and our table mates know that we will not make dinner that night. Then we catch the buffet.

 

Marty

[azdmelani]

I know choosing between early and late traditional dining is a personal choice, but does anyone have any thoughts about the advantages or disadvantages of choosing early or late traditional dining on Princess? Early dining seems so early, but late dining seems so late. Thanks.

 

I personally like Anytime Dining. You can make your own seating reservations at a time that works best for you, with/without certain people, and are better equipped to plan around that evening's entertainment.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

If you're scheduled for early traditional dining & can't make it for some reason talk to your head waiter & ask if he can seat you at late traditional. He'll know if there are some open spaces & often they can sneak you in.

[shredie]

We always do late dinner, unless we have little kids with us. The early dinner makes more sense when the kids are along. They get to eat with us and then hurry back to the kids' club (which they absolutely love.) With no kids along, we go to the P/E/S lounge and hang out there until it closes. There's a gap between then and dinner, and we usually go back to the room to freshen up or sit on the balcony for a bit. I agree that lounge hours should be adjusted to accommodate both early and late diners.

[Dudleydog73]

I have seen people who have shown up to early seating late and then been rushed out of the dining room to accommodate the late seating. If you are hungry earlier, I promise you can find something to snack on:D

 

Sadly we found that to be true on our one and only early TD choice. We had our plates whisked out from in front of us the moment our fork took the last bit of food off them so that the next course could be plopped in front of us. It was the extreme opposite of a relaxed dining experience.

 

It really was obvious they wanted us done and out so they could reset for the late seating diners whom I am sure had a very relaxed experience.

[Mackenzie1]

Thank you, everyone for your thoughtful comments. I really appreciate it.

[OCruisers]

One consideration may be port schedule and your plans for those days. If you are in port into the evening, early dinner may be a problem

 

Glad you pointed this out, Paul! It definitely is a major factor to take into consideration.

LuLu

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

Sadly we found that to be true on our one and only early TD choice. We had our plates whisked out from in front of us the moment our fork took the last bit of food off them so that the next course could be plopped in front of us. It was the extreme opposite of a relaxed dining experience.

 

It really was obvious they wanted us done and out so they could reset for the late seating diners whom I am sure had a very relaxed experience.

 

Most people would just love to have a waiter that fast. It's usually the other way around for us. It takes the 10 minutes to clear the table and the whole meal can take 1 3/4 hours.

[eandj]

We eat dinner at home around 6:30 so we do generally go to early dining. 6:00 seating means by the time we have a pretty dinner glass of wine and discuss the menu, we don't have our appetizer till 6:30. We are never in a hurry and let our waiters know we don't mind pauses in service. If we are running late on a busy day we keep it casual and go to the buffet.

[FritzG]

We prefer early dining since it corresponds to our usual dinner hour at home.

However on the Ruby TA that ended yesterday first seating was at 5:30, which was ridiculous. For the first time in years we didn't make it to dinner several nights. There was no chance of having afternoon tea, and we had to eat lunch early. We were told it was an order from corporate, but I'd sure like to know what their reasoning was.

They still had early special dining in one of the anytime dining rooms at 5:30 as they have been doing for a couple of years.

[Thrak]

Princess offers 5:30, 6:00, or 8:15 (at least on the sample cruise I just checked). We would prefer the 6:00 seating for traditional dining. 5:30 is just a bit too early and 8:15 seems awfully late.

 

Apparently a lot of people feel the same way because the 6:00 seating is usually listed as "waitlist".

Edited September 24, 2014 by Thrak

[cdngrl]

i can't do the late dining because i go to bed early.

I'm an early riser (helpful on port days) and need time to digest before I go to bed.

I'm trying traditional (6pm) for the first time on my upcoming cruise. I'm a little hesitant and hope it works out.

[shredie]

Princess offers 5:30, 6:00, or 8:15 (at least on the sample cruise I just checked). We would prefer the 6:00 seating for traditional dining. 5:30 is just a bit too early and 8:15 seems awfully late.

 

Apparently a lot of people feel the same way because the 6:00 seating is usually listed as "waitlist".

 

We are currently #1 on the 6pm waitlist for our coastal cruise next month. We have the little boys with us this time, so late isn't an option. We did the 5:30 TD with them on the Star in July. It was held in one of the ATD dining rooms mid ship. After 7, I guess it reverted back to ATD. It was just way too early. I am told the 6 TD is held in the aft dining room. I'm hoping that's so.

[Times Prince]

Princess offers 5:30, 6:00, or 8:15 (at least on the sample cruise I just checked). We would prefer the 6:00 seating for traditional dining. 5:30 is just a bit too early and 8:15 seems awfully late.

 

Apparently a lot of people feel the same way because the 6:00 seating is usually listed as "waitlist".

We've now had two cruises of our last 3 where we signed up for 6:00PM Traditional, and were given 5:30, with the 6PM time cancelled and not available. These were repositioning cruises, and the earlier time really conflicted with excursions.

 

When we lived in Colorado (US Mountain time, GMT-7) we would choose the late seating for cruises out of FLL so our evening meal was at the time our bodies were used to. We usually grabbed a snack or salad late afternoon.

 

However we have found (now living in GMT-6 time zone) that the late seating often has us eating way too late, and getting to sleep became problematic.

 

For these reasons we often will choose Anytime dining and eat when it feels right to us, not when it is convenient for Traditional Dining. This allows us to attend early evening activities, like ballroom dancing, or shows, without needing to rush dinner or leave early.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Times Prince