First or Second Seating?

[diligaf51]

What are the advantages and disadvantages to choosing the first seating or the second seating for dining? First time cruiser who has chosen the second seating. 6:15pm seems awful early for me. Thanks.

[MICHAEL_01]

We like the second seating too.

 

If you are in port and you return from a excursion,there is no rush to get ready for dinner.

 

And before dinner you have the time to enjoy a nice Cocktail/Martini or whatever you like.

[our turn]

We always choose late seating because we never have dinner at home before 7:00. We also never feel rushed when coming back from shore excursions. To us, it just seems more relaxed and stress-free.

[usha]

The one time we had late seating dining, it really was too late. I was just about face-down in my entree a few nights, I was more tired than hungry at that point.

We really like early seating. Gives us plenty of time later to dance cheek-to-cheek (or turn around and face each other;) ).

[claud925]

More adults and less children at late seating.

[CatServants]

Usha - cheek to cheek! :D

 

diligaf51 - The one time we had early seating was on a Disney cruise. We found that the early dining time interfered with our late afternoon and made us feel rushed. We've chosen late seating ever since.

 

I DO think that the 8:30 late seating is a little later than optimum considering how long dinner service takes. I would prefer 7:30 or even 8:00, but until I get my own yacht with crew.....;)

 

We have a Carnival PC cruise booked for MAR 09 and, in order to better accommodate my in-laws, we've chosen Main (early) seating. Dinner will be at 5:45!!! Heck, what's the point to lunch?!?:rolleyes::D

 

Happy cruising!

 

Denise

[Peteymil]

Of course it's totally personal preference, but we too like to relax before dinner, have a glass of wine, and watch the sun set from our balcony, and sometimes even sneak in a quick nap before dinner, so that we can go out after dinner and not be tired.

[Blue46]

We prefer late dinning for a couple of reasons.

First we are not rushed comming back to the ship from a shore excursion.

Second since we don't usually eat lunch until 1PM we aren't hungrey until a bit later.

Third we don't like to feel as though we are being rushed through dinner so the wait staff can set up for the next seating.:o

[chipmaster]

First sitting vs second?

 

This is driven most by your itinerary and your personal habits/preferences. Could be too early if you have plan a busy shore excurson don't get back till late. For those that snack a lot or drink alot during the afternoon they simply aren't ready for dinner before the 2nd seating.

 

If you have kids the late seating means you don't get done till very late. If you had a busy day or an early next morning this often doesn't work well at all in my experience.

 

I remember vividly we were on the late sitting on our last cruise the hordes of people waiting to get to the dining room over flowed up two floors with hungry people squeezing like sardines to try to get in faster thinking somehow the food would arrive qiucker too. That was probably the most ridiculous sight for more then half the nights on the cruise.

 

Some postives for the the early sitting: back from tours exhausted and hungry and get to eat right away vs. snack then eat? When you are done you got many more hours to still have fun. Hey and if you aren't hungry even better as you won't end up 10lbs heavier after the cruise:p

 

Means you get the early show and still have the rest of the night to drink/party and still get to bed early enough so the next day you can get up bright and early, hit the gym, have the nice sit down breakfast, and still be first off the boat :D

 

Since we eat at 6 at home, plan to rise early and enjoy a nice sit down breakfast every day prior to our excursion the "anytime" with reservations is what we are planning;)

[bubbie617]

In 30+ cruises we have always had late seatiing. On our last cruise in January 2008 we had early seating because we were traveling with friends who didn't want to eat late. It was only a 6 night cruise, so I acquiesced. My husband was not happy about it but was a good sport. For us the earlier dinner was terrible timing. We found we were constantly watching the clock. We had to have lunch early enough that we could eat dinner at 6 p.m. (which is about an hour earlier than we do at home). We had to stop what we were doing by 4:45 so I could go back to the cabin and take a shower to get ready to go to dinner. I would have much rather spent at least another hour relaxing.

 

Our brains are used to eating dinner late, so we go into auto pilot and wind down during dinner on a ship. When dinner is over by 7:45 p.m., that was not a good thing. It took the entire cruise to get used to the earlier dinner and then, blessedly, it was over. I promised my husband I would never choose Main Seating again.

 

By the way, the cruise was wonderful. The only complaint was that I had arranged for early seating - a big mistake for us.

[gracecarmo]

We like the early dinner, for some of the same reasons chipmaster has given.

 

At home, we eat at 6:30-7:00. Waiting until 8:30 to eat and finishing up at 10:00 is just not for us. We found we were just too tired to eat! We find that the early seating has us actually eating around 7:00 by the time you get your food.

 

Never have we felt rushed to get ready for the early dinner. We have learned to adjust our time....cocktails start at 5:15.

 

We like more of an evening after dinner, and we are early risers.

 

Now, we have also made it a habit to eat in the various food venues....doing only the main dining room every other night, and using the Specialty, Alternative, and Sushi/Pasta areas at whatever time we want.

 

I guess each dining time has a good and bad aspect....just try and figure out what you are comfortable with.

[Fang]

We always have late. We did have early when our kids were young.

 

Normally we have dinner at home around 7 or 7:30 PM. Late just works much better for us.

 

Because:

 

1.We are not rushed at dinner.

 

2.We are not rushed to get back on the ship and get ready for dinner.

 

3.We enjoy having a cocktail or two before dinner.

 

4.If the kids are hungry there are many places to have a snack.

 

5.When the kids eat with the group at the Fun Factory, we can have a nice unrushed dinner.

 

I know many people who feel that late is just to late for them, but once again, for my family it works very well.

[reklawr]

What are the advantages and disadvantages to choosing the first seating or the second seating for dining? First time cruiser who has chosen the second seating. 6:15pm seems awful early for me. Thanks.

 

 

We always select late seating because we are not rushed to get ready for dinner and it leaves plenty of time to stop at the Martini Bar to meet with friends for a martini or two.:D :D :D :D

[JanineM]

I personally prefer late, but DH is always famished so we select early.

 

We're up early in the morning, so we aren't exactly night owls. When we have had late seating I found that I was eating so late that I was super uncomfortable when I went to bed ... I think I ate a lot of Rolaids that trip.

 

We have our cocktails around 5 pm, then dinner at 6. The one bonus to eating earlier is eating less ... we skip the hors d'oeuvres and late afternoon snacks, which saves me enough calories to splurge on another drink or dessert.

 

It's truly a matter of personal preference!

[NJ Sue]

Thanks for posting this question and for all the replies. This issue has been on my mind--we are taking our first cruise (to Alaska) this summer and chose the late seating. We have a 14-year-old but as an only child, she is used to eating in mostly-adult environments, so I didn't think it would be a problem. At home we rarely eat before 7:30 at the earliest. I did wonder, though: what time does late seating generally finish? 10? 10:30?

[Psoque]

Let me first tell you that we always take the second seating.

 

I agree that the decision is highly personal. But I also agree with others that the early seating is a bit too early, if you want to explore the ports. However, this is highly dependent on the exact itinerary. If the ship routinely leaves the port early on your particular itinerary, 6:30 PM dinner could be OK. However, if you were out on the port until 5 PM on an afternoon excursion, getting to dinner at 6:30PM might be rushing it.

 

Also, nobody should worry about getting too hungry before 8:30 PM dinner...there's always food somewhere in the ship. However, I also agree that we are often very tired at 8:30 PM.

 

I guess, in an ideal universe, we would prefer 7 or 7:30 PM seating.

[LETS PARTY]

Late seating for sure!!!!!:D that way I can PIG OUT on suihi before dinner!!!:eek: :D :p

Rob

[CatServants]

Thanks for posting this question and for all the replies. This issue has been on my mind--we are taking our first cruise (to Alaska) this summer and chose the late seating. We have a 14-year-old but as an only child, she is used to eating in mostly-adult environments, so I didn't think it would be a problem. At home we rarely eat before 7:30 at the earliest. I did wonder, though: what time does late seating generally finish? 10? 10:30?

 

Yup. You nailed it!:)

 

Happy cruising!

 

Denise

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

We have tried both early and late sitting dining.

 

I must say we prefer late sitting. We usually eat lunch as late as possible to pace ourselves for late sitting dinner. Early sitting has a bit of a feeling of being rushed because the staff have a time schedule to adhere to so as to ensure the second sitting starts on time.

 

On late sitting some ships have the entertainment on early for that sitting which is a good idea then after dinner you can go and enjoy a night cap somewhere on the ship. Or you can watch the show and enjoy a drink at the show before dinner.

 

One dining experience we have yet to try is freestyle dining. What do you all think of that? We're unsure about it, don't really know why. Convince me why to try it.;)

 

Jillybean:)

[shabal57]

I'll add my 2 cents. I prefer late seating for dinner.

 

When my husband and I go out on a Saturday evening either alone or with friends we never make dinner reservations before 8:00 or 8:30. In my mind when I'm on vacation every day is like a Saturday.

 

I also agree with many other people that especially on a port intensive cruise, I don't want to feel like I have to rush to get to an early dinner.

 

Traveling with young children, well that's another story. Late seating is probably too late.

[Canuker]

I've just had an idea - maybe I could swing it to get on both sittings!

[Kathie44]

We always do early seating, the same as at home. We are diabetics and need to eat on a regular schedule. With late eating going on till after 10, there's no way I could sleep on a full stomach.

We usually don't do all-day excursions. The most recent cruise was the exception. It was our one and only trip to Aust/NZ so we made the most of it with 6 out of 8 all-day tours. We got back to the ship late a couple of times, but still had a while to relax before dinner.

We like the prospect of having the whole evening ahead of us.

[chasetf]

We are late diners. We enjoy being up top for the sailaway, relaxing after a long day in port, and not being rushed getting ready for dinner.

 

We also find we have more time to enjoy our after dinner coffee and still have time to get to the show.

[sfcsu]

We always take the late seating. We are often just getting back to the ship at the last moment when in port, and we hate to leave the pool before 7 PM on sea days!

 

Our most recent cruise on the Summit was wonderful. We went with four other couples and ended most days at the pool with a drink and an assortment of sushi - and ended up hurrying to get to dinner.

 

With a large group, it never took less than two hours for us to finish dinner, but we can chat over dessert and coffee for an hour. We were almost always the last table in the dining room.

 

The other advantage to the late dinner is that you avoid the totally unneccesary late night food and buffets. It cuts out some of the ridiculous over-eating that you see all around the ship.

[kennicott]

Most of the rationale for early or late seating has already been articulated here. However, it appears our primary reason for preferring second seating hasn’t been posted yet. Some of the most memorable moments of our cruise experiences have come at sail away times. Watching the local’s wave goodbye to us from the pier, ocean sunsets, casting off action, informal chat while sipping on a good red wine and sadly watching the day’s port slip off onto the horizon, etc. One time I was visiting with a couple on deck as we maneuvered out onto the sea lanes. They said that for many years they always selected early seating, and then they were forced into late for some reason, they found out what they had been missing and after that they always chose late. Coming on board after a dusty 8-9 hour shore excursion day and looking at the lines already forming for early seating is a downer for me. We like to take a shower, have a cocktail and participate in the sail away. 7:30 would be the ideal time but as another poster mentioned, you need your own yacht for that. Since we prefer the long voyages we haven’t had the opportunity for the new, open dining concepts, we would much prefer that. Unfortunately, that has its negatives as well, reading the posts of those on lines who offer this service, it is apparent that most want to “open dine” around 7 or 7:30----which in turn forces an exasperating reservation effort each day, and long chow lines sometimes, much to the consternation of senior voyagers. :mad: