Are you hungry at 6pm?

[Rowan555]

I'm seeing mentions of missing out on port time - I guess it really does depend on the itinerary and your hours in port. On most of our cruises, the ship sets sail at 5 or 6 PM from each port, so we're back on board by 5 at the latest. That's always been enough time for all 4 of us to shower and get ready for dinner at 6.

[Seafor2]

I always thought ANYTIME was the PERFECT time to eat on a cruise. I think I just eat all day and into the night. lol

 

On a serious note. Our first cruise we did the late dinner and decided that was too late for us. So our next two cruises we did the early dinner and that seemed perfect. Our next cruise will be the early dinner, too. Our meal times at home vary depending on our schedule, but we try to eat early so I like the early time.

[Aplmac]

If you're doing it right you get full at the embarkation buffet

- and stay that way until the debarkation breakfast ;)

:D How do you manage to gain weight on a strict dietary regime like that? :D

 

 

 

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[a3593]

With early seating, do you feel rushed to come back from the ports, as most leave at around 5 or 6? Do you feel "cheated" out of any time?

[mnsawyer]

We always did late seating and then our last cruise, decided to do early at 6:15. We loved it and didn't feel one bit slighted on the port days. The day we were in port until 10:00 p.m., we just went to the casual dining on the Lido deck, not the dining room since our tour returned later than 6:15. It was great and would do the same again especially if in port later at night. I found I ate less as well which is a really good thing! It seemed like with the late seating that we were having another meal around 5 ish to tie us over until 8.

[dvan68]

We have always done the late seating. We will try to have breakfast in the MDR for 9 or so - then something from the deli or grill around 2 or 3. I will agree that eating so late tends to make us tired, and we ususally bail out on the after dinner activities. I am really looking forward to booking a ship with the Open Seating option! I think that will solve lots of issues!

[uppitycats]

We are very early risers, and I rarely eat breakfast, and then only a salad for lunch, so early dinner works well for us. I much prefer open seating, though, in case we do get back from something later, or just don't want to eat right away. Choice is good. :)

[DocF]

Since DW and I usually eat dinner between 6 and 6:30, it makes perfect sense for us to request early dining on the ships.

 

Now, I roll out at first light on a cruise and head for the Lido for coffee! I will feed myself some fruit and danish and see what the world has to offer. DW rises later, but she will most like not eat any breakfast. We eat lunch around noon, usually a deli sandwich or a pizza. Anyway, all this works out right for us, but for many it isn't a good call. You sound like you might be a candidate for anytime dining, although that has never appealed to me in the least.

 

Doc

[golfadj]

We like early than have the night free for shows, piano bars etc.

 

Having less time for bingo is a good thing as it is a big time ripoff with incredible low payoffs.

 

However do what the two of you like.

[jerseygirl79]

The time we had 8 PM dinner I was hungry and bored until 8, then felt we were missing out on things going on around the ship while we ate dinner.

 

Me too! That time between about 5-8 is tough. There's not really much going on that I want to do on the ship. I usually end up in my room ordering room service watching Oprah to kill time until Dinner.

[jerseygirl79]

With early seating, do you feel rushed to come back from the ports, as most leave at around 5 or 6? Do you feel "cheated" out of any time?

 

I'm always back on the ship 90 minutes to 2 hours before we sail. This won't be an issue for me. Destiny departs from GC at 4pm and Ochi at 3:30. Plenty of time to get ready for dinner.

[mdorbert]

We're always hungry at 6pm. We eat breakfast around 9:30, Lunch around 1:30. By 6pm, it's time for dinner... if I ate at the late seating, I would eat before dinner and wind up having WAY too much to eat, then gaining WAY too much... but that's just me. You have to do what you're normally comfortable with.

 

Michelle

[jerseygirl79]

We like early than have the night free for shows, piano bars etc.

 

Having less time for bingo is a good thing as it is a big time ripoff with incredible low payoffs.

 

However do what the two of you like.

 

My cousin actually won $500 last cruise.

[Kudos2Fly]

We normally eat between 6pm-6:30pm at home. So doing the early dinner is just fine for us. We did late once and did not care for it. My husband and I some times like that have a cigar at night and felt rush when we had the late setting and plus we felt like not having a small snack at night, being we weren't done with dinner tell 10pm. :eek: That's to late to eat for me...

 

I have never felt rushed getting back the ship on ports days. I always like being back on the ship a hour to half a hour before leaving anyways.

[BlueJacketsFan1]

My wife and I did the early seating on our first cruise and the late on the others and the upcoming one. We really did have a problem with the early seating, but just would rather do the later seating. We just would rather not have to be worried about having to maybe rush if we are on an island to get back on the ship and get ready for dinner. As for when we do breakfast and lunch. We normally do breakfast around 8:00 am unless it is an island day. Then if is probably around 7:00 am. As for lunch, I would say it is probably around 12:00 - 12:30 pm. Then we normally will have a snack around 4:00 pm or so, pizza, ice cream or something.

[osiebosie]

Hungry for dinner? HUNGRY for dinner? HUNGRY ON A CRUISE SHIP???

 

I didn't know there was such vocabulary as hungry in the cruise ship dictionary. We are never HUNGRY on a cruise ship!! :D:D

 

But we do eat at main seating, not late. And, yes, I can actually shovel food in my mouth at 6:00p.m. We eat b'fast around 8a.m., lunch around noon, and dinner at 6:00.

 

We just got off of Freedom and discussed at length the quality of the food on cruise ships. We are 48 (me), 52 (dh) and 62 (our couple friends). All of us had no gastro problems while on the cruise ship and I think it is due to the quality of the food they serve. It is not the plastic, fat-free, sugar-free, calorie-free, microwavable, quick, processed, frozen, etc. crap that Americans tend to eat on a regular basis. And I truly believe that if we all went back to eating real food (watch those quantities!) instead of fake food, we'd all be better off. And I do believe that our digestive systems appreciated the real food we ate over our eight-day cruise and rewarded us by healthy, well, you know, movements. So, without snacking in between, we were always able to eat another meal. And, yes, I actually got hungry ocassionally. :o

 

Shay

[Name Of The Game]

I'm always hungry and my mom doesn't eat lunch at work. We have dinner at 4:30 at home every day, so waiting til 6:00 is late for us!

[mosel]

As I wrote earlier we have booked late seating for the first time in 32 cruises for a cruise in October. After reading this thread I thought about the reasons we always chose early and we decided to call and change back to early. We are in Cozumel until 10 so we will get back off the ship after dinner. Thanks for persuading us back to early. Cindy

[chachi]

I do both seatings, depending on who I am going with. Both seatings have advantages. I am a teacher, and I usually eat as soon as I get home at about 3:30. The late seating is way too late for me. When I eat at the late time, I always have to have either a burger, or something from the buffet. I prefer the atmosphere at the late dinners though. I also like late because there is usually time for me to get a quick nap in.