Best time for dinner seating?

[travgurl]

I have chosen the seating at 6:15 on the Carnival Glory. My family would like the later seating at 8:30. Which one is better to choose? I would like to see the shows, too. If we are at the earlier seating and one excursion gets back at a later time can we change for one evening? Do you eat the dinner meals every night in the dining room?

[Bonnie J.]

We NEVER eat at the 1st seating for dinner. It doesn't matter what time you eat at home either. Reasons: We don't have to rush to get ready for dinner when we get back on board, we can take a nap before dinner, we can watch the sunset over the water, shows are always scheduled so both dinner seatings can see them. You will be assigned to the same table every night so that is when you go to the dining room. You can't just show up later and expect to be seated. You can eat at the buffet any night or all nights at any time but we like the dining room and getting to know our tablemates.

Cruised with friends who'd been on 18 cruises and insisted on early seating so we said OK. (It was only our 2nd cruise.) Things didn't really start happening til around 10 o'clock and we hated 1st seating, leaving the dining room by 8. Then we cruised again with them and we insisted 2nd seating. They could not figure out why they liked 1st seating and always then ate 2nd seating. We've been on the Glory and make sure you go to their deli where they make sandwiches to order - my husband really likes their Reubans!

[Seago2]

Absolutely: late seating. The only way you will be happy with an early seating is if you eat in the buffet every night you are in port IMHO. When you get back to ship, sandy, sunburned, feet killing you, the last think you want to do is hurry into the shower, then get dressed up and go to the dining room. Also, every time I get back from a port call I am so starving I go to the buffet and eat- and this is at 3 or 4 or so. Who wants to eat dinner and hour or two later???

 

If you really want to see a show (something that has never happened to me :) ) and you don't feel you can stay up too late, eat in the buffet that night (early) and then go to the show.

[tonid1980]

It depends on your own personal preferences.

 

I did late seating on my first crusie and I honestly didn't like it. I ended up only going twice because of that, and I was at a different table both times.

 

I asked for earlier seating this time.. you dont have to eat there each night.. My plan is to eat in the dining room on sea nights (and maybe on the port day where we have to be back on the ship early), and eat in the buffet or one of the other choices on the nights that I dont feel like going in early....Another reason I like the early seating idea is that Id rather do the 8 pm show instead of the 10 pm show so I can chill for about an hour before hitting the bars...

 

EDIT: Also, early seating gives you a choise between the 8pm show and the 10 pm show...so say you wanna do the 8pm karaoke, you hit dinner, then go to karaoke, then go to the 10pm show...!!! if you had the late seating you would have had to skip it if you really wanted to do karaoke..

 

This is a personal thing...not everyone prefers the later seating... I didn't and Im a night person.

[MaryL31]

I have cruised twice (without my kids) and had late seating. There are advantages to both, of course. We are going to try early seating this time (I will have my kids with me....their first cruise). What I don't like about the late seating is: if I want to see the show, sometimes it's BEFORE dinner, and I would much rather relax AFTER dinner while watching the show. The other problem is that I don't like eating so late, with all that food lying on my stomach so late in the evening. I hope that we find we enjoy early seating...we only have 2 days in port (5 day cruise) this time, and if we don't manage to get to the dining room on those days, so be it. That's what the Windjammer and room service are for!

[Cotton]

Hi travgurl. Actually, you have made a request for 6:15. No specific seatings can be chosen. Your booking agent should have explained to you that all requests for dining times are just that - requests. (Only Platinum-status passengers get to choose their seating.)

 

You won't know for sure which seating you have been assigned until you receive your Sail & Sign card just prior to boarding the ship. It will be embossed on your S&S card. If it isn't what you prefer, you can see the Maitre d' and request a different seating.

 

Once you get to your cabin, there will be a copy of the "Capers", the ship's daily newsletter. In there will be an announcement as to where and when the Maitre d' will be available to take requests for changes. Go at the time specified, as the lines get long.:)

 

You might want to come over to Cruise Critic's CARNIVAL BOARD for more specific info, since you'll be on a Carnival ship.:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=215&page=1&sort=lastpost&order=&pp=25&daysprune=-1

[paul929207]

It all comes down to personal preference. My wife and I like to eat late. As mentioned above, we don't want to have to rush back from the port, shower, dress and hurry to dinner. We prefer to come back, watch the ship sail, have a drink on our balcony and then get ready.

 

On the other hand that can make for a late night when you have to get up early for a tour the next day.

 

So many choices, so little time,

 

Paul

[caa]

Another thing to consider is jet lag. We live on the west coast, so when we cruise from the east coast, we ask for late seating. Early seating feels like eating in the middle of the afternoon. Late seating basically means our internal clocks only have to adjust an hour or so instead of 3 hours.

[travel girl23]

Definitely personal preference. We were on the Glory 6 weeks ago and requested 6:15 dining but because we booked only 2 weeks before the cruise, all that was left was 8:00. We eat early at home and prefer the early seating. We were told that we would know the next day if we got changed so we had to eat late the first night. Well, we loved our waiters and table mates so much we stayed with the late dining. I will say that it is definitely not our preference and probably won't do late dining again. We were on the upper floor of the Platinum Dining Room and Rey and Gusti were our waiters. They are terrific. We had no trouble with the shows and went to the 7 pm performances. I will say that more people want the early dining than the late. There were a lot of empty tables when we dined and two of our table mates (we were at a table for 10) changed to the early dining. Have a great cruise - you will love the Glory!! TG23

[GORDONCHICK]

On this board, I find more people who like dining late, but I'm not one of them. But once you get on the ship, you will find that there may be a waiting list for earling dining (if you wanted it and that wasn't what was assigned).

 

My internal clock is set for getting up early (4:30am daily, except Saturday is my sleep in day - until 7am), and while I could change that, it makes it that much harder coming back to work (even harder for DS). I like having lots of options after dinner and plenty of time to digest!

[Jill SC]

I've found that more people prefer the early sitting for dinner, so trading from early to late won't be a problem as there is usually a waiting list for late diners to trade for early seating. My first cruise, we had early dinner because we were with a group, but on the second cruise we had late dinner and we generally prefer it. On the Grand Princess with the anytime dining, we often went to dinner after 9 pm. We don't have to rush around after returning from shore and we tend to use the sauna/hottub/pool while others are at dinner.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

You may not want to see every show during the week. I don't care for magicians, for example, but every cruise seems to have a magician or juggler or some similar act that doesn't appeal to me.

 

Most nights the shows are offered twice--one for late diners, usually the first show and one for early diners, usually the later show. This isn't always true, however, so be sure to read your daily bulletin for show times. Each show on a given night is the same.

 

You are permitted to attend either show you wish. You might prefer some nights to go to a particular show and eat in the cafeteria instead of the dining room. One thing is certain--you cannot eat in the dining room at a time or table not assigned to you unless you first clear it with the maitre d'.

 

Our experience has been that both early and late dining have advantages and disadvantages. For me, early seating is too early and late is too late. We always request early, though. There will be a lot more children in early seating if that is a factor for you.

 

Another option--Glory has a premium restaurant. You may wish to try that one night as a special treat, but make reservations as soon as you board.

 

A last piece of advice--check out the show theater early on your first day and figure out where you want to sit. That way you will avoid ending up in a spot with a less than ideal view, a seat where people walk in front of your constantly (first row in the balcony) or an uncomfortable seat.

 

Have a great cruise.

[SForman]

We always choose late seating so we don't have to rush around to get ready.

[luvabargain]

I've only been on one cruise so far and we preferred the late seating. We were with 2 other couples on that one and it worked great for all of us. We felt much more relaxed having the extra time to get ready and not feeling rushed, especially after being in port all day. I've asked for a late seating again with our upcoming cruise. We will have 2 kids with us this time, but we tend to eat late normally anyway, and would rather have the extra time without feeling so rushed. If the kids choose to eat earlier at the buffet with the Camp Carnival group, that's fine and if they want to eat later with us, that's fine too. We know there will be plenty of shows and entertainment for us to enjoy no matter which seating.