Which Dinner Time

[DH30]

Which dinner time do you prefer and why?

[mlrm]

Any time dinning. We don't like to be tied to a schedule on vacation.

[love my grandkids]

We like early so we have the whole night to enjoy the entertainment.

[k2excursion]

Early. I like having the whole evening free to enjoy all the entertainment: go to both shows, see the family friendly comedy (I don't like the Rated R comedy), piano bar, cover bands. This can also be done with anytime dining, but on my cruises, anytime is totally slammed at 6:00, and people are having to wait awhile for a table unless they line up at 5:15 or earlier. It's not like that on every sailing, but it has been several that I've taken, so it is a gamble. I enjoy the pool & waterslides until about 5:30, then quickly get ready for dinner, and no wait for my assigned table at 6:00. I really like it that way. I don't feel tied down. If I did on a particular night, I would just eat at the buffet. But I haven't done that in awhile.

[jenne252]

We like the late assigned dining. Usually the decks empty out after sail away (assuming you are in port until 4 or 5) because the any time and early diners are getting ready for dinner and are at dinner. This gives us a couple hours after returning from Port until our "night" begins also. We also found there were few children on this schedule which is nice for a young couple like us

[bjd2]

We prefer early assigned. We have tried all of the dining options. We experienced a week of extremely long waits with ATD on the Breeze, and late dinner finishing around 10pm made us want to go to bed. Early has been a consistently great experience for us.

[CCLCruiser4321]

Your time dining eat when you want. I also like to share a table and meet different people everyday so I guess I'm one of those people. Lol

[3poundpuppies]

We just did our first Carnival cruise almost 2 weeks ago. We've previously done NCL twice. I booked last minute (within 3-weeks of sailing), and we were assigned to late dining. We DID NOT like this whole assigned dining thing at all. 8:15 was TOO LATE and then we missed most of the entertainment. We only tried this one night out of the 4 on our cruise. We also did not like getting thrown to a table with a bunch of other strangers. Can anyone tell me, if we were to book another Carnival, how do we go about getting assigned a 2-person table in the MDR? I know they exist....

[RiotAct]

we did Early on our honeymoon cruise last october... it was alright, but sometimes we were still kind of full from lunch (all that delicious fooooood) -- so if we had to choose again, we'd probably do Late.

[riffatsea]

We ONLY cruise with Any Time Dining these days!

IF you want to eat early without a wait then you go when the doors open. We prefer having a table for 2 unless we meet folks on the ship with whom we decide to share a meal. With Any Time Dining you can get a table for 2 as you would in a restaurant on land. When we find a wait staff we like we ask to be seated in their area for the rest of the cruise. That way they get to know us just as they would if we had assigned time dining. We will not cruise if this is not available!

[bar1068]

It's ATD or nothing....MDR ain't all it's hyped up to be to begin with, but we've done ATD on our last 5 cruises...ok...except for the one I was blackmailed into doing late dining...which I'll never do again....ATD has worked well for us..gives us flexibility we prefer....and so far, we've not experienced anything close to a long or excessive wait.

[mzloolue]

We used to book late.

When traveling with a large family group it gave everyone time to finish whatever they were doing and get there.

And it gives more time after a day in port.

And more time to sit outside and enjoy the sunset during the summer.

Plus, we could have a nice lunch or go to tea and not have our appetite for dinner ruined.

 

We are currently booking early dinner as it gives us a longer time after dinner for entertainments and such.

It also works well with the shorter days in the winter.

 

Any time I have done several times and do not like it at all.

Truthfully, I can't think of anything good to say about it.

It is like eating in a chain restaurant at the mall.

Blech.

Edited September 1, 2015 by mzloolue

[Vitamin_Sea]

Which dinner time do you prefer and why?

 

We do the 6pm dine. Table is always there waiting.

 

If you do anytime dine, you will have to wait or a table to be free. Especially if your a large party

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Early...pros: great for families with younger children, allows evening hours for shows. cons: rushed when getting back from port, rushed because another dining seating follows you.

 

Late....pros: no hurry after a day in port, if hungry order a bit of room service after port time, long leisurely meals with no rush. cons: may miss some entertainment.

 

Anytime...pros: eat on your schedule, eat with whomever you want. cons: wait times, no familiarity with staff (unless you are willing to wait for your favorites), more noise, more interruptions, less personal service

[Fitzget]

Any time dining for me, and preferably a table for two. I'm not on vacation to be on a schedule, and we like to eat by ourselves and enjoy each others' company.

[Vitamin_Sea]

Which dinner time do you prefer and why?

 

If you do early/late dine, you get the same waiters every night.

Its better service IMO.

we love it

[marshhawk]

We've done late, and it was too late, and we have done early, since we aren't "show" people, but were hungry again by 10, this didn't work well with us either. We don't mind sharing a table, and we eat around 7-7:30, so any time works well with us. We do enjoy tea on sea days, and if you do tea, then dinner is just an hour and a half after tea is over. But if lunch is at 12, then 8:15 is too late. So like Goldilocks and the three bears, we choose the one that is just right with us- oh, and longest wait at 7? 20 minutes. We still get the dance and show from the waiters, without the wait.:)

[WindsorFred]

Any time dining for me, and preferably a table for two. I'm not on vacation to be on a schedule, and we like to eat by ourselves and enjoy each others' company.

 

Same for us. We used to do early but since they began offering ATD we have switched. It's nice to be on your own schedule.

[SadieN]

We just did our first Carnival cruise almost 2 weeks ago. We've previously done NCL twice. I booked last minute (within 3-weeks of sailing), and we were assigned to late dining. We DID NOT like this whole assigned dining thing at all. 8:15 was TOO LATE and then we missed most of the entertainment. We only tried this one night out of the 4 on our cruise. We also did not like getting thrown to a table with a bunch of other strangers. Can anyone tell me, if we were to book another Carnival, how do we go about getting assigned a 2-person table in the MDR? I know they exist....

 

 

Need to ask the MD to see your table during their hours at embark. Request to change if need be. Last minute booking you get the dregs. Been there, done that, nature of the beast.

 

We used to like late, early with groups. Now it's ATD and early with groups.

Edited September 1, 2015 by SadieN

[Saint Greg]

Early so I don't miss evening entertainment

[llg13]

I've always done early, as in the past I've gone with my parents who like to eat early...so naturally, I went early dining on my last cruise, and ended up not going to the dining room for most of the week, as we didn't like where we were sitting, who we were sitting with, and just found it sometimes too early. I am really excited to do ATD this time around, so we don't feel pressured to be ready for dinner at a certain time too. And there is just 2 of us, so I don't forsee it being too much of a problem to get a table...

[Jenhem31]

We just did our first Carnival cruise almost 2 weeks ago. We've previously done NCL twice. I booked last minute (within 3-weeks of sailing), and we were assigned to late dining. We DID NOT like this whole assigned dining thing at all. 8:15 was TOO LATE and then we missed most of the entertainment. We only tried this one night out of the 4 on our cruise. We also did not like getting thrown to a table with a bunch of other strangers. Can anyone tell me, if we were to book another Carnival, how do we go about getting assigned a 2-person table in the MDR? I know they exist....

 

 

You can email the Maître D ahead of time or dash to the MDR as soon as you board to make that request.

[cajunfla]

We prefer early. Before retirement, my working hours were 6am--2:30pm, with mandatory lunch at 11am. So, by 5 or 6, I was hungry for supper time. We have just sort of stayed with that.

[sarmat1]

We go with early which is odd because we always eat dinner very late at home. But on the ship, it's a more natural flow for us to eat and then have the evening entertainment.

[RaiderCruiser]

We prefer anytime, table for two with the same wait staff. On our last two Carnival cruises we were able to do this every night we ate at the MDR with the longest wait being less than 5 minutes. I'm not sure what others meant by anytime being more hectic and noisy, din't find that to be the case.