Dining time Question

[USS Cheers]

Does anybody know about how long (approximate) a dinner session lasts in the dining room vs at Chops? We are in the main seating which I think means 5:45 PM?...anybody know for sure? I would like to select a time for Chops that will enable us to get the kids from explorer's & be on time for the show afterward. Also, what are breakfast and lunch times in the main seating?

Thank you in advance.

[cruiseguy1016]

Early seating in the main dining room is usually at 6:00. Most meals at a casual pace will last 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. I have never eaten in the specialty restaurants so I can't speak for how long that will take. I'm not sure of the breakfast hrs. in the main dining room. Lunch is only available in the main dining room on sea days,

[lady_cruiser]

On our recent cruise on the Voyager we ate at Portofino's. The earliest we could get in was 8:30 PM and it lasts anywhere from 2 hours or more. Specialty restaurants are meant to be relaxing so plan on being even more pampered than you would be if you eat in the main dining room. If you plan on eating in a specialty restaurant either take in an early show or just skip it that night. Shows on cruise ships are nice but if you don't see all of them you won't have your cruise ruined. The days of "headliners" on cruise ships are a thing of the past.

[cb at sea]

We always do late seating and don't usually get out of the dining room until after 10:15pm, or so.

Breakfast and lunch are MUCH faster!!!(And a great way to avoid the buffet, searching for a clean table, juggling plates, utensils, etc....)

The specialty restaurants can be pretty quick if you tell then you don't want to "dawdle"--but why would you pay for this and rush it???

[concour]

The specialty restaurants do take longer than the dining room. Since the show times are geared to the dining room schedule you would be hard pressed to make the show for the early diners. Our last visit to Portofinos was about 2.5 hours. This was about average for most people there.

[CLQ]

It would be worth you asking how early you can be seated at Chops. I wouldn't want to assume their schedule runs exactly with the Main DR schedule unless someone comes up with a Cruise Compass or something from your ship. That might tell you the hours. If you were able to get an earlier start, you might could have it all.

 

Now that ought to invite someone in to remind us that it's your vacation and not to over-schedule it...:cool: Ahh...adulthood. Sometimes we have to make choices. Good luck.