early vs late dining

[MissMarmalade]

what are the pros and cons of early vs late dining? we always picked late dining so we could spend more time at the pools or beaches

[kbh2]

We always prefer the late dining for a couple of reasons. We do not have to rush getting ready for dinner and there are way less children in the dining room for late seating.

[riffatsea]

I don't think it is a matter of pros and cons. It is just whichever one fits your style best.

We are used to eating early so we eat early on the ship too although we NEVER do st time dining. We prefer Your Time Dining so we can sit at a table for 2 and pick our dinner companions as we meet interesting people on the ship.

[GradUT]

We always prefer the late dining for a couple of reasons. We do not have to rush getting ready for dinner and there are way less children in the dining room for late seating.

 

Same here--we like not having to rush back to the ship and we like that there are fewer children in the dining room.

[Bases5]

I agree it's what ever fit your style better We like early as late is way to late for us to eat.

[A&Jfamily]

It really is about lifestyle. Those of us that travel with kids often chose early so the kids aren't missing their activities. Also, we eat at about 6 pm at home, so we are naturally hungry then. We are usually back from ports by 4-5 so there is plenty of time to get ready. We can enjoy the early shows and get some rest; we sleep with curtains open and love to rise and watch the sun come up.

[GalCruzer]

We're doing late dining, this time after doing a couple of early dining cruises. We simply got tired of when we came back from excursions then had to rush for dinner.

[Jerseygirl1416]

We feel like early dining is too early and late dining is too late so we always opt for your/my time dining and eat when we want.

[Micahs Grandad]

We prefer early so we have the whole night for entertainment.

 

With late you will probably miss at least some comedy shows

[coevan]

We love YTD, don't know if we would cruise without it. We are late eaters, 8:30-9 and never waited a minute to be seated. On day 3 of a 14 day B2B we found an awesome waiter and ate with him the rest of the trip.

[simplelife]

We like early dining. We usually eat early at home so it's what our bodies are used to. Also, early dining gives us the opportunity to choose between a wide range of evening activities and, if we so choose, still turn in early (with late dining, an early night means little entertainment).

 

 

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[riclop]

what are the pros and cons of early vs late dining? we always picked late dining so we could spend more time at the pools or beaches

All that matters is what you like.

[easyboy]

We prefer late dining that has lesser crowd.

[Jamericannn]

We usually eat late at home but on the ship its early dining for us. This way we can see shows from 8pm and then clubbing or casino after.

[originalgeek]

We prefer early so we have the whole night for entertainment.

 

With late you will probably miss at least some comedy shows

 

 

 

that's us too. I feel like we have more entertainment options if we eat at 6.

 

 

the funny thing is at home we normally eat between 8 and 9 because I work late and don't get home until 7~730. But on the cruise we have found we just like being able to go eat at 6, have great service from our waitstaff, and then we are free for the night.

 

 

Sometimes the entertainment we opt for is going back to the cabin and crashing lol. (Especially if it was a long excursion day of hiking or whatnot)

 

 

We did feel rushed to get ready a couple times but we were only late once and that was on a formal night (edit~ "cruise elegant" night) with more to do to get ready. We got there exactly 5 minutes late and we were still there before our table-mates.

 

 

So far we've enjoyed being seated with other people. Maybe some day we'll just want to be by ourselves and we can adjust to YTD at that time.

[crusinpsychRN]

More kids at early seating.

[laurien]

We usually do late dining - on out last carnival Conquest FEB 4 . We saw a real change in cruisers preferences - hardly anyone in late dining . Real advantage - excellent service and food was received rapidly just finished one course next course was there .

 

 

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[krehberg]

We prefer early so we have the whole night for entertainment.

 

With late you will probably miss at least some comedy shows

 

 

You won't miss the Adult comedy shows but can miss the PG family shows. I avoid those anyway cause there are too many kids in those...so I prefer late dining for less kids and less rushing to get ready after a day in port. I've also done YTD as well but have found I generally have a more enjoyable time having one server team for the cruise..something you can't guarantee with YTD.

[auscgguysgirl]

We've tried both and prefer early dining.

As a few have stated above ... we usually eat early at home - about 6:00/6:30 ... so this is what we are used to. Never really noticed more kids at early dining than late - maybe we've just been lucky.

 

We did however, find (as stated above) that late dining does interfere w/ a lot of the shows ... 9:00 movie, comedy shows, etc. Even if you skip desert, you will likely have sucky seating in a venue to see a show after.

 

The last reason also is that if we eat that late ... as the food is so rich in the MDR ... that we usually get tired faster and just want to go to bed.

[cb at sea]

We eat late at home, so we do on vacation, too! It's what your tummy is used to!

[Jamericannn]

The only problem I have with early dining is that sometimes you have to rush. Now that carnival started the 30 minute rule (I believe only on Glory for now) this will even be harder to dine early. Some people will have to cut their land time early to get back on the ship to make sure they are in the restaurants no more than 30 minutes after their assigned dining or else it will have to be the buffet for them.

 

I do like the 30 minute rule but the rush for early diners is the biggest downfall I see.

[IPlayWithString]

what are the pros and cons of early vs late dining? we always picked late dining so we could spend more time at the pools or beaches

 

 

We've always chosen early dining because that's what's closest to our dinner time (which is around 5-5:30) at home. My son is autistic so keeping things as close to his normal schedule as possible is a big priority for us, no matter where we are on vacation whether that's aboard ship or elsewhere.

[beerman2]

Agree with posters who say they book dining time to what they are accustomed to at home. It just makes sense and it is what your body is used to.

 

Early for us!

[Smithkids5521]

what are the pros and cons of early vs late dining? we always picked late dining so we could spend more time at the pools or beaches

 

 

It really is a personal preference. For my family- we prefer Your time dining so we are not stuck to a set meal schedule (and the fact that my kids move slower than a sloth stuck in honey and if we had early or late dining and our table had to wait for us to arrive before they could eat, they would probably starve. ;))

[Herfnerd]

The only real pro/con is that early seating tends to have more children attending. We always choose late seating so that we are not rushed coming back from port, from the pool, etc.......