early vs late dining

[ineedadisplayname1Vbbjhju]

I am debating on which time to choose , and no I don't wanna do YTD. If we choose late8:15 dining will we miss all the good shows? Its on celebration and I keep reading how we def need to get early for seats in certain shows, the circus show, the comedian shows for decent seats. I just feel 6pm is so early, cause then you gotta get ready early , as a woman, then eat. We are not early birds either , we leave cabin in morning 9-10 am so 6 is so early. I just don't want to miss the good shows

[MisterOJ2]

Most (if not all) of the shows have an early and a late performance.  That way people with late dining can go to the early show, and vice versa. 

[nancy1031]

was on celebration oct 23, i chose late seating (7:45pm) as i wanted to sit at the same table each night- worked well for me as i was traveling solo and my fellow table mates were also traveling solo-i was assigned the Festival dining room which was great as my very 1st cruise was on the Festival-also the food was very good that sailing....hope this helps.

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

We try to get early. We don't care for anytime dining either. Reasons for early is so we can catch the shows and comedy show. Also since late dining follow early dining, we feel that things often move faster since they have to reset the diinng room for the next seating.

[nancy1031]

i noticed that certain sections of the dining room were set aside for early seating, late seating and anytime dining- i was always able to make it to the shows with time to spare....

[Pyxie]

I can't speak to the shows, but if I wasn't going to do YTD on this ship, I would do late. Main reason being that if I wanted to eat in one of the other included restaurants, I wouldn't have to wait until way after my normal dining time to do it. Seated dining cannot request these restaurants until after the late seating starts. YTD can request them anytime.

[ineedadisplayname1Vbbjhju]

so there are 2 shows for the early and late dining times? 

[bigdog1958]

25 minutes ago, ineedadisplayname1Vbbjhju said:

so there are 2 shows for the early and late dining times? 

yes

[ishap]

I have always done the early dining option, but on my last cruise I decided to do the late dining option as I figured it would be better because of sleeping late, having breakfast, having lunch, etc.  Well, I didn't like it. I felt like I was having dinner so late.  I always like to be a bit dressy for dinner even when it's not elegant night (khakis, polo/dress shirt) because I like the experience of dining that way.  But being late dining, it just was so late when I wanted to enjoy the night life, see a show, go to bed a little earlier, go to the piano bar, etc.  Eating at 8:15, well, I just felt like I was missing a lot.

[ChuckF]

Not sure about the show times on the Excel class ships, but most others have a 7:30 show.  The shows are generally over at or before 8:15. We always get seats in the balcony where we can head out, generally on Deck 4, and head straight to the MDR. By the time we get there, most of the line has dissipated and we walk right in generally right on time.  We also think that early dining cuts into the afternoon activities a little too much, and we're generally not hungry by 6:15. 

[#Bluesea]

We were on the Celebration a couple weeks ago and had early dinning. We were surprised the first night that our wait staff told us that dinner would start at 530 and on elegant nights 5. We had no issues with that but that info might help you decide. I did notice the table next to ours still came at 6. That didn't seem to bother the staff at all. The staff was excellent! We have always enjoyed early for many of the posted reasons. We have 2 more cruises booked on the Celebration and staying with early dinning. Not sure if the 530 dinner time is always or if they were trialing it. 

[mz-s]

5 minutes ago, #Bluesea said:

Not sure if the 530 dinner time is always or if they were trialing it. 

 

That's how they do it on all the Excel class ships, not sure why.

[ineedadisplayname1Vbbjhju]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

 

That's how they do it on all the Excel class ships, not sure why.

I already paid fro cruise and options are 6 or 8:15 pm- its in December 1-8

[Joebucks]

On 2/5/2024 at 3:15 PM, ineedadisplayname1Vbbjhju said:

so there are 2 shows for the early and late dining times? 

 

This is a stretch of a claim. You might find that for some. However, as a rule, every "show" doesn't have an early and late showing for diners.

[Knights on the Beach]

15 minutes ago, ineedadisplayname1Vbbjhju said:

I already paid fro cruise and options are 6 or 8:15 pm- its in December 1-8

 

That may be what you're seeing now, but once you're actually on the ship you may see different times. Below is from the Celebration in December for the first elegant night.

 

 

[mz-s]

4 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

This is a stretch of a claim. You might find that for some. However, as a rule, every "show" doesn't have an early and late showing for diners.

 

It really seems to only be the shows in the main theater that have two show times, in general. Comedy, musicians, center stage, etc., don't work on the same schedule. Perhaps its time for all this to change actually.

[CheckersMidwest]

We always choose early dining since that's about the time we eat dinner at home. I wouldn't eat late, especially when the kids were little & in bed by 8:30. We made it to all the shows on the Celebration (and all the other ships) without any trouble after eating.

[Colorado Beach Bum]

48 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

It really seems to only be the shows in the main theater that have two show times, in general. Comedy, musicians, center stage, etc., don't work on the same schedule. Perhaps its time for all this to change actually.

Agree on comedy and musicians in the bars/lounges but Center Stage seems to have two shows every night just like main showroom.  

[Knights on the Beach]

1 hour ago, ineedadisplayname1Vbbjhju said:

I already paid fro cruise and options are 6 or 8:15 pm- its in December 1-8

 

Also - courtesy of @Saint Greg's door slamming neighbors - here are tonight's dinner times on Jubilee (not elegant night).

 

Edited February 7 by Knights on the Beach