Dinner seating times

[kinderteacher]

We will be on The Century this june 3rd. We are wondering the advantages and disadvantages of late/early seating . We can't decide which to choose and would appreciate your help and suggestions. WE enjoy the shows and were wondering the times of the shows. :)

Thank You!

[ILvBeingMom]

Hi there kinderteacher....I've have done both early and late dinner and really felt like I missed out on a lot of fun events that happened while we were at the late dinner. This is our third cruise (1st with our kids) and we are going to the early dinner. One b/c I don't want to eat at 8:00 (late dinner)....and if I eat at the early time (5:30 I believe)...and I'm hungry later I can always grab a snack, not to mention be ready for the midnight buffet!

 

Have fun!

 

Laurie

[Jarronwood]

For us, we have only cruised once and preferred the late dinner seating - our preference because we tend to like to get ready leisurely and then have a wander to the bar, for a nice gin and tonic before we go into dinner. We feel that having an early seating we would be getting ready about 4 in the afternoon (well I would anyway) and then by the time dinner is over we feel ready for bed but at 7.30 in the evening thats a no brainer.

 

Everyone will have different opinions on what is best and at the end of the day its what works for you.

[tom_uk]

I can't comment on dinner times in the Caribbean, but on Galaxy on our 'Best of the Med' cruise last June, dinners were at 6:30 and 8:45. We were on late sitting, which we enjoyed - it suits us. But there were some nights when we were still chatting with table companions at 11pm.

[DaisyGirl55]

I have done both early and late seating, but it usually depended on who I was cruising with. When I sail with my parents, or some of my friends who just like to eat early - then that is what we do. When it is just my DH and myself, we always go for the late seating. We like not having to rush back from port to get dressed in time for dinner, or if it is a lazy day at sea and I am lounging by the pool, I really don't want to get dressed so early.

 

Yes, late seating does put you done with dinner sometimes as late as 10 or 10:30. But we don't mind....we are on vacation, and we find that it is nice to take our time with dinner, and enjoy our coffee afterwards. We usually eat a light snack around 4, and this is enough to hold us until dinner.

 

I'm told that Celebrity schedules the shows for late seating before dinner. Unfortunately, if we go to the show we may have to dress a little earlier...or we may miss the show....or go to the show, and then order room service to enjoy on our balcony.

 

The great thing is that you have a choice, and as this is your vacation...it will be the right choice for you!

 

Happy sailing!

[Jarronwood]

Oh yes that could be another reason for choosing late seating. Unfortunately on our cruise a few years ago, although our table companions were nice their social intercourse skills left a lot to be desired.

At the time I didn't know we could have asked the M'D to move us since there was no real reason for doing so it was just that it was hard going trying to communicate with them. Perhaps it was because we were all British!

 

Me personally I love to talk with everyone, I find exchanging experiences part and parcel of the dinner scene and never ever tire from hearing of other people's experiences.

 

Having said that about our previous one and only cruise experience, they were all quite young. We were on a table for 10 or maybe 12, I forget now, but every night hubby and I had a bottle of wine with our dinner and the rest of our table mates just drank the water from the jug. We did on the first night offer our wine to them out of courtesy but dreading the thought that if they all partake we could end up every night buying 2-3 bottles for the table. However this was not the case and as soon as their dessert was eaten they left the table.

 

Hubby and I do like to linger after our meal with a coffee and liquor and if other tablemates do too, it makes the experience so much more enjoyable.

 

I often think back to that time wondering whether they did not like us but I think I am being paranoid (having read some other posts about table companions our table was mild) but both of us are very sociable, well, in the right place at the right time, and although I do tend to chatter on my husband is more of a listener (he has to be living with me I suppose, he can't get a word in). No seriously though I will speak to anyone but unless its a two way thing, you haven;t a hope.

 

I just hope we get a nice crowd on our future Feb PC cruise with one or two of them willing to stay at the table after eating, to talk and drink coffee and zambucca!!!!!

[michelethelibrarian]

DH and I have cruised three times together. Once we had late seating (8:45pm) and the two other times were "open seating", meaning we had dinner whenever we were hungry. There are pros and cons to everything, but we had a LOT of trouble eating a huge meal beginning at 8:45pm. At home we eat a small dinner around 6:30, so we're used to that. After eating all those courses until 10:00pm+, we were overly tired and tended to go straight to bed. This meant we didn't sleep well on full stomachs and it really affected our enjoyment the next day.

 

We have been assigned early seating (6:15pm) on our next sailing and I'm sure there will be cons to that, but I like sleeping well and having time after dinner to catch some of the musical acts and stroll on deck.

 

I would recommend choosing based on when you eat at home. Happy travels!

[Jarronwood]

Actually on this subject I was wondering how many cruisers would like to have a different set of tablemates, say every 3-4 nights, especially on those 14 night and longer cruises.

 

In a perfect world, it would be nicer to have the choice on a day to day basis which seating you would prefer to go to and say you had to inform the MD before 12 mid day of your preference so that they could cater in the dining room.

 

I know more hard work for the staff but its a thought.

[DaisyGirl55]

Me personally I love to talk with everyone, I find exchanging experiences part and parcel of the dinner scene and never ever tire from hearing of other people's experiences.

Hubby and I do like to linger after our meal with a coffee and liquor and if other tablemates do too, it makes the experience so much more enjoyable.

 

 

You guys sound just like the tablemates my DH and I always hope to get!

[DaisyGirl55]

sorry - double post!

[kruisecat]

DH and I prefer the late seating. We like to have time to take a nap :o in the afternoon and still be able to take our time getting ready. Also with the early shows they don't start generally until 7pm so it's still more time than having to be ready for dinner at 6pm.

 

All that said on our next cruise we will be traveling with 11 others and the majority ruled and wanted the early seating :( So we will miss dinner 2x due to the fact that we will still be in port and I will not rush back from an Alaskan town just for dinner!

 

I do think that you should look at when you eat normally. We eat late every night usually around 8pm so it is very comfortable for us to wait until the late seating. But if you typically eat earlier it may just be better for you to do the early seating.

 

In either event, happy cruising!

[Irishwhiskey]

Its just the way we like to vacation.Customize it the way that works for you.We eat dinner at home around 5pm.On vacation we don't worry about what time to eat.You'll need to get cleaned up before dinner which can take up to two hours.The early seating kinda cuts into our day after going on excursions or anything else that you happen to be doing.We like to hit the martini bar prior dinner.This is not something that we do at home so consider how you like to vacation and go from there.

[Lsimon]

We always choose late seating. Many days we're returning from port between 4PM and 5PM, and like to linger around the ship for a while enjoying the sail away and sunset (assuming it is spring or fall) before getting ready for dinner. We also enjoy having some time before dinner to sit in the Martini bar and enjoy a drink along with the company of some of our new and old cruise friends.

 

With early seating we'd have to get ready for dinner rather quickly and would miss much of that. We've also heard that at the early seating there is more pressure to finish dinner and leave on a timely basis so the staff can prepare for the second seating. Occasionally we'll still be talking away at 10:30 to 10:45 or so after dinner (over 2 hours) with no pressure from the staff to leave our second seating dinner.

 

The flip side is that we're sometimes too tired after dinner to enjoy some of the evening activities on board. These would probably be more leisurely if we had early seating. And we've definitely never felt like partaking of the occasional midnight buffet offered on the ship. The shows are about 50/50 as to whether the show for second seating is before dinner or after dinner. Most of the before dinner shows start at 7 or 7:15 and last a little over 1/2 hour so you can often still have 1/2 hour to socialize in the lounges before dinner even after watching a show.

 

Late night activities have also varied from cruise to cruise, even on the same ship. Sometimes there isn't much to do after 11 or 11:30PM, and sometimes the ship is hopping in several venues until 12:30 or later.

[dkjretired]

Don't know from you post if you are traveling with kids but if you are then the preferred dining would be early. Kids would not miss out on any of the childrens's activities as they would if they had late seating.

[Jarronwood]

Hi Larry

 

A man after my own heart. Shame we are not sailing together since you sound just the type of people we would get on with.l

 

A martini/cocktail prior to dinner and then to linger over coffee etc after dinner.

 

Bliss.

[Jarronwood]

You guys sound just like the tablemates my DH and I always hope to get!

 

Didn't see your post, only Larry's. Ok so what sailing are you on, maybe we can request to sit together.

 

Mind you, I would say not to leave the zambucca bottle within reach of both my husband and I - problem is with too much coffee and zambucca/brandy is that you tend not to sleep and end up climbing the walls.

 

But who cares, we will be on holiday.

[Betty4]

We regretted having early seating when we travelled with our young children. We often found ourselves hurrying through dinner - kids eat faster and LESS than we do. On vacation, I like to eat slowly and enjoy the dining experience - our kids do not! We often ended up eating alone at our table for 6 anyway, since they would be ready to eat at 5 after beaching it all day, and partook of the pizza, burgers, fries and all the other available stuff pre-dinner hour. So, for Alaska next summer, we decided to give everyone what they really want. After long excursion filled days, the kids will get to order room service and eat when they are hungry. There are plenty of options outside of the dining room. We'll have our sushi/appetizer with them, and then it is off to the kidsclub/in room babysitting for them, and a nice leisurely meal for mom and dad.

[GORDONCHICK]

We like early seating for some of the reasons others have mentioned. We normally eat aroud 6:30 at home. I hate going to bed when my stomach is full, and we have a young son. He dines with us in order to put all those table manners to use in a formal setting. I may feel differently about this dining time when we are in Alaska next September, but we have requested early seating again. If I miss dinner in the dining room, I can try room service.

[caviargal]

I personally will not book a cruise unless I can confirm late seating. We dine late at home and on vacation, we like to enjoy sunset on the balcony, and then dress leisurely for dinner with time for a martini in between.

 

We also prefer late as there are generally few, if any, children as most families find early to work better for their needs.

 

Nights onboard are dinner and dancing for us so show schedules and the like are not a consideration.

[spearmint]

We have only taken 5 cruises, and except for the second one, choose late seating. We thought that for the the early seating we seemed to be rushed, from seating, to ordering, to finishing -- compared to late seating. We also like to dance and dine at night and later is better for us. We still take in all of the shows if we want, as they are presented after dinner on formal nights and before dinner on other nights as a rule.

 

On our last trip, we were seated by a window, and a bonus of late seating was that as we left Oslo in the dark, a full moon in a clear sky rose over the city, and followed us down the fjord outside the window until the ship had to round a bend whence it moved out of sight.:)

[RLM77]

We thought that for the the early seating we seemed to be rushed, from seating, to ordering, to finishing -- compared to late seating.

 

Agree completely. We ate at the early seating on Mercury but swiched to late on Summit, despite the fact that we eat relatively early when not on vacation. Late is better. Not only less crowded, but there's also no effort to "ease" you out of the dining room as there is no hoard of hungry pax waiting to get in! Our Assistant Waiter on Summit had time to show us some magic tricks after dinner -- he really was quite good! No chance of that kind of interaction during the early seating.

 

Late seating also spreads the food out a bit better. It's hard to eat at 8:00, 12:30, and 6:00. Easier, IMO, at 8:00, 1:00 (or 1:30) and 8:30.

 

I do agree with a previous poster who said that it was harder to sleep right after such a large meal. However, we think that's a small price to pay for the more relaxed pace of the late seating.

[B-HQC]

I am on the Infinity this coming summer season. Can anyone advise if the dining times on Alaska are any different from standard?

 

I have also requested a 4 person table. Being in a RS I hope that helps my chances of getting one. What are the good 4 person tables?

[aussiedisneyfan]

Summit Alaskan times in May were still the regular times.

[Kay240]

DH and I have been on eleven cruises. We found that late dinners were better after excursions, giving us time to nap and shower before dinner. A late dinner also meant we were rarely hungry for late snacks/buffets. The negative is that we missed alot of DANCE music while we were at the late sitting; it always seemed to be scheduled better for the early diners. As we have now been to many of the Caribbean and Mexican ports, we are taking fewer excursions, so we will try an early dinner again. Without the dancing, I can't afford all those calories, so I really need to dance! :D

[Kathie44]

We always do the early seating. Reasons:

Normal time when we are at home.

We are diabetics and need to eat at regular times.

I have acid reflux and would never be able to lie down, let alone sleep, after a big meal that late.

We like having the whole evening before us, for the show and other activities.

We never feel rushed, getting ready or after we get there, even on excursion days.

 

When we booked our current cruise, we were waitlisted for main seating, but after final payment on 11/17 the receipt said--Main, so we are in. :)

 

We sometimes cruise with friends who have always eaten late at home and they do the late seating when they are not with us, but go along with the early when we are there. It just depends on what your normal habits are and your own personal preferences. You might want to try one now and the other on your next cruise. Trust me, there WILL be a next cruise! :D

 

1/02 Explorer E. Carib.

1/03 Explorer W. Carib.

8/03 Summit Alaska cruise/tour

2/04 Adventure S. Carib.

2/05 Galaxy Panama Canal

6/06 Jewel Brit. Isles/Nor. Fjords + 3 days in London

1/07 Mercury Mexican Riviera