Dining times, I am.being ridiculous

[ARI421]

I am being ridiculous I know.. I am.really stressing about dining times and hope the wonderful cruise critic advice givers can help!

First time on royal Caribbean but this will be my 12th cruise. I am sailing in the graduer of the seas on Jan 14th.. I originally chose early dining but I have been stressing about it, not wanting to have to rush onto the ship to shower and get ready for dinner.. so choose late dining right? Now I am stressed it's too late and we will miss shows/entertainment.. and hubby refused my time he loves eating with the same people..

I need reassurance lol

 

Sent from my XT1585 using Forums mobile app

[Clarea]

There will be shows convenient for late dining. Give it a try, you might find you like it.

[leaveitallbehind]

Regarding the shows, they are timed around the traditional early and late dining times with an earlier show for the late seating and a later show for the early seating The times will be published in the on board Cruise Planner left in your room daily.

[msmayor]

My husband and I always choose late dining for our cruises and we've never missed a show...its great not worrying about rushing ashore after a day in port, and nice to linger over a cocktail as the sun is setting before dinner.

 

Don't fret with late dining...its great!

[Disco Duck]

AR1421....Don't stress. My husband and I pick late dinning and if we get hungry before you can always order room service and have some fruit/cheese and crackers, or whatever else you might like, brought to your room....no charge....I do give them a tip.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Edited November 15, 2016 by Disco Duck

[schlimazel_traveler]

Some people who choose traditional seating in the hope of having the same dining companions each night have been disappointed when their tablemates do not materialize. Just something to be prepared for.

[BillOh]

There will be shows convenient for late dining. Give it a try, you might find you like it.

 

i'm glad there are other hold outs to late dining. However on many ships these days the Welcome aboard show runs over into the late dining. While I don't normally like getting up and walking out on a show, even CATS ;). I will do so for this show and have had to. Other shows have been no problem. I have skipped the welcome aboard show if I have been on that ship with that CD before.

[Disco Duck]

On the other hand...if you don't like who is at the table you can be changed. I have met absolutely lovely people on the 25 cruises that we been on and only have had to be moved once.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Loveynj]

I chose early dining once on a cruise and hated it. I did always feel rushed after I came back on board the ship I didn't have any time for rest or relaxation so now I only do late

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

[cb at sea]

You will not have to "rush" to get ready for early seating...you will have ample time! As for shows, they are scheduled around the 2 traditional seating times...no need to "miss" a thing!

Late seating shows are BEFORE dinner (during the early seating time), and early seating will go to the AFTER DINNER shows (during late seating)....so in reality, even if you have late seating, you still need to "get ready" early to see the show....and there is PLENTY of time to do that!

[Havingfun2010]

I always get early dinner. When you get on the ship by 4:30 or earlier (the all aboard time) it only takes a few minutes to change clothes for dinner. I'm not one of those that take 3 showers a day unless I am truly been out sweating up a storm. Generally doesn't happen in the colder months. Plus I'm starving since I most likely did not eat lunch. Since I always like "Dinner than a show" it makes sense. I don't like sitting through a show, with my stomach growling.

 

I have never felt rushed or stressed about getting dressed for dinner!

[pinkrosesdeb]

Our experience with MTD so far has been that we are almost always at the same table with the same staff and the same people seated in the same section. We have been in the same exact AREA several times a table or two over from our original but still close to the other passengers we have met. I don't know if this is typical but we have enjoyed meeting new people every time we have done MTD. And, no one waits for us if we decide to go somewhere else one evening. Nor do we wait for our other tablemates to show up when they go somewhere else. We did traditional dining one cruise and sat at a table to 8 all by ourselves except 1 night because the others assigned to our table did alternatives. We waited 10-15 mins every night to see if they would show.

[KeywestK]

Our experience with MTD so far has been that we are almost always at the same table with the same staff and the same people seated in the same section. We have been in the same exact AREA several times a table or two over from our original but still close to the other passengers we have met. I don't know if this is typical but we have enjoyed meeting new people every time we have done MTD. And, no one waits for us if we decide to go somewhere else one evening. Nor do we wait for our other tablemates to show up when they go somewhere else. We did traditional dining one cruise and sat at a table to 8 all by ourselves except 1 night because the others assigned to our table did alternatives. We waited 10-15 mins every night to see if they would show.

We typically do MTD with the same experiences you described. I think it's the best of both worlds.

 

Sent from my SM-T713 using Forums mobile app

[pinkrosesdeb]

That's what I thought too, KeywestK, we see most of the same people every night. I was one of the hold outs who insisted I would never do MTD...Never say never! We have really enjoyed as you say the best of both worlds since we switched.

[MrsKC08]

I am being ridiculous I know.. I am.really stressing about dining times and hope the wonderful cruise critic advice givers can help!

First time on royal Caribbean but this will be my 12th cruise. I am sailing in the graduer of the seas on Jan 14th.. I originally chose early dining but I have been stressing about it, not wanting to have to rush onto the ship to shower and get ready for dinner.. so choose late dining right? Now I am stressed it's too late and we will miss shows/entertainment.. and hubby refused my time he loves eating with the same people..

I need reassurance lol

 

Sent from my XT1585 using Forums mobile app

 

Don't stress about the late dining. DH and I actually prefer the late dining. If we are in port we don't want to feel rushed to get back and showered and changed (especially formal nights), and we also prefer traditional dining over MTD. We always get a table for 2, but we like having the same wait staff all week.

As mentioned, the shows will all be scheduled around both dining times and you shouldn't have any trouble with seeing anything you want to and making dinner work. :)

[Margy23]

You will not have to "rush" to get ready for early seating...you will have ample time! As for shows, they are scheduled around the 2 traditional seating times...no need to "miss" a thing!

Late seating shows are BEFORE dinner (during the early seating time), and early seating will go to the AFTER DINNER shows (during late seating)....so in reality, even if you have late seating, you still need to "get ready" early to see the show....and there is PLENTY of time to do that!

We just did a B2B on Brilliance. On the first cruise early seating was at 5:30 (likely because there were several large groups on board); on the second cruise early seating was at 6:00, and we were late for the shows at least twice.

 

I think a lot of this could be avoided if they put a policy into place that late diners (I'm not sure what the cut-off should be) will not be seated. We saw people come in 45 minutes late and slow the process for everyone being served by their waiter. It's also hard for the waiters to know how long to wait for stragglers before taking orders. People we met on the first cruise said their waiter took their orders at 5:50 one night, and at 6 p.m. a missing couple arrived and loudly expressed their anger at the waiter for his "discourtesy" in not waiting for them.

 

This sounds like a no-brainer, but I'm sure they don't want something else they're expected to enforce (like the dress code) while keeping all the passengers happy.

 

Margy

[easyboy]

I am being ridiculous I know.. I am.really stressing about dining times and hope the wonderful cruise critic advice givers can help!

First time on royal Caribbean but this will be my 12th cruise. I am sailing in the graduer of the seas on Jan 14th.. I originally chose early dining but I have been stressing about it, not wanting to have to rush onto the ship to shower and get ready for dinner.. so choose late dining right? Now I am stressed it's too late and we will miss shows/entertainment.. and hubby refused my time he loves eating with the same people..

I need reassurance lol

No need to be stressed. Either of your choice will work out for you and your DH to see the shows.

[frisbeewife]

I think a lot of this could be avoided if they put a policy into place that late diners (I'm not sure what the cut-off should be) will not be seated. We saw people come in 45 minutes late and slow the process for everyone being served by their waiter. It's also hard for the waiters to know how long to wait for stragglers before taking orders. People we met on the first cruise said their waiter took their orders at 5:50 one night, and at 6 p.m. a missing couple arrived and loudly expressed their anger at the waiter for his "discourtesy" in not waiting for them.

 

DH and I always tell our tablemates and the waiters on the first night that if we aren't there by 5 minutes after the assigned time (usually early seating since we're not late-night people) on any future evening to just go ahead without us. We don't want anybody sitting around waiting for us.

[Margy23]

DH and I always tell our tablemates and the waiters on the first night that if we aren't there by 5 minutes after the assigned time (usually early seating since we're not late-night people) on any future evening to just go ahead without us. We don't want anybody sitting around waiting for us.

What a considerate thing to do! We plan to borrow your idea.

 

Margy

[sellwingri]

We love early dining. It gives us the rest of the evening to enjoy all the ship has to offer. With the exception of one trivia session, there's nothing really going on before dinner so we've never felt rushed.

 

We tried late seating on one of our 15 cruises but went back to early on the next one. After eating, we felt like most of the evening was gone.

 

We've never done My Time Dining and probably never will. We like to be at the same table wit the same people and servers everyone.

 

It's all a matter of choice.

[Mack704]

We love early dining. It gives us the rest of the evening to enjoy all the ship has to offer. With the exception of one trivia session, there's nothing really going on before dinner so we've never felt rushed.

 

We tried late seating on one of our 15 cruises but went back to early on the next one. After eating, we felt like most of the evening was gone.

 

We've never done My Time Dining and probably never will. We like to be at the same table wit the same people and servers everyone.

 

It's all a matter of choice.

 

But even with MTD you can book or show up at the same time, (or any time you choose), every night; request the same servers every night; and if your table mates are as enthralled with you as you are with them, you can do this as a group. It's virtually the same as traditional, but less time restrictive.

 

Harvey