Early seating or late?

[jackparts]

As far as my family goes, we asked for and rcvd the early dining last year. We booked again for Dec this year in Feb and could not get early seating. 10 months ahead and no room? That tells me how much a demand for the early seating there is. We are on a waiting list, but have almost no hope of getting the early time. That said, if you can, ask for giorgi and Slaven on the Magic. They made our trip so special for the grandkids and as a 17 + cruiser, they were the best.

[BoardwalkBabe]

We don't have kids but we prefer the late seating. It allows to take our time when coming back from excursions and have plenty of time to relax and get ready prior to dinner (we skip the shows).

[travelgyalrox]

as someone who cruised at about that age (a little older, 10) with sisters 4 and 8 I can just say I really loved the early seating because even though it was actually a little earlier than we were used to eating (6 instead of 7) we were already tired and ready to eat by 5 which was when we had to start getting ready and it was so exciting to us to dress up and go out for FANCY dinner every night. Yet we were not too tired to really enjoy it, which we would have been later. But if the adults can give you smarter ideas so it can benefit YOU then I dont know, I dont have that point of view, but thought maybe this would help :)

[bbwex]

Everyone is different, and all I can offer is our experience. We got late dining even though we booked fairly early. It could have been because our DGD was 8. I was thinking we would be better off with early dining. We did the shows before dinner, and our DGD was fine through dinner. She went to bed soon after dinner, except on the Pirates in the Caribbean party night. One evening, the other couple's daughter who sat with us stayed in the Oceaneer's Club right through dinner even at the late seating. I preferred the early seating, but the late was just fine. And another poster was right, the late seating is far less crowded.

[TinyG]

We decided to give up our early seating for late. Since our kids are older 19 and 13, by the time we go. We were also told that the servers are not as rushed to get you out.

 

We thought is could be a little more relaxing. My oldest is the biggest Disney fan, she would eat anywhere, anytime, or anyplace. She just wants to be on the boat!

[FLACRUISER99]

Late works for me but early is usually more popular.

[cruisemaur]

We must be weird. We LOVE the LATE seating. Our daughter was 8 when we sailed on the Magic. (she was 6, 7, 8 and 10 on other cruises..and always loved the late seating.) We love sightseeing, so are usually off the ship early, and gone for most of the day. We grab a snack, hit the pool and NAP a little before getting ready for show (if interested) or later dinner. My daughter didn't spend tons of time of the club...although enjoyed it. She may have rarely fallen asleep here and there at a show or dinner, but she is an agreeable type, and went with the flow. You know your children best, and should pick and choose based on what suits your family. If you have doubts, stay with the early, (apparently harder to procure), and then switch to late, while onboard.

 

Have fun!!

[mong1114]

Well we are back (sailed March 6) and I can speak from experience now!!! We kept the early seating, but I can say that we felt VERY rushed much of the time. When you go to Key West, you don't get to the port until later (12:30) I think, which gave us very little time in port. We rushed back to the ship and just cleaned up quick, no dressing up and made it to the dining room a little late (just after 6pm). Even the days when we went to Cozumel and Grand Cayman, it was a rush to get back and get everyone showered and dressed and down to dinner at 5:45!!! When we were at sea, we would have preferred another hour by the pool. Having said that, it is a tradeoff...if we had late dinner, we probably would have been rushing back to see a show anyway! I'm still not sure which would be "better" but maybe I'd try the later dinner next time. If you choose late dinner, you can always get a light snack to hold the kids over (we ordered a fruit plate or cheese & crackers and we snacked on that while getting ready and having a glass of wine). But mine are almost 6 and 9...when they were younger I definitely would have chosen early!

[Luvstocruise2]

Hi,

My family has always done early sittings. Even as a kid on ships, I was always at early sittings. For me it makes sense, My wife and I and our son like to eat around 6 PM for supper, and we are typical 7:30 AM and 12:00 Breakfast and lunch times. I expect with kids under 12, this would be more typical anyway. Besides, as other posters have said, you don't want to be too full for buffets etc at night!!!

 

I love the eating aspect of cruises.

 

Luvstocruise2

[mong1114]

Hi,

Besides, as other posters have said, you don't want to be too full for buffets etc at night!!!

 

I love the eating aspect of cruises.

 

Luvstocruise2

 

What surprised me is that they didn't really publicize the buffets. We were halfway through the cruise when we found out that there was a buffet at night...and I don't remember seeing it on the Navigator either. As a matter of fact, the only way we found out about the dessert buffet was when our waiter mentioned it in passing.

[Cheloconnell]

What time do the dessert buffets occur? I have never cruised before.

[Purpleprincess4]

Another vote for EARLY with small children! My son was so exhausted he consitently fell asleep at Early Diner and was G O N E gone for the rest of the night. Most the time he slept in the big comfy strollers that DCL offers.

[ducklite]

What surprised me is that they didn't really publicize the buffets. We were halfway through the cruise when we found out that there was a buffet at night...and I don't remember seeing it on the Navigator either. As a matter of fact, the only way we found out about the dessert buffet was when our waiter mentioned it in passing.

 

It's on the Navigator.

[sunflower girl]

We did early and I REALLLLLLY wish we had done late. The dine and play would have worked well for both of the children I was traveling with.

[sandytoes03]

Kids tire easily and would probably do better on early seating. We are all adults, but prefer early seating. We love the food, but found if we did late seating we were too full to sleep at night. Also, DCL has great little midnight snacks that we didn't get to try on our first cruise since we had late seating and were too full from dinner to try. Same thing for the Pirate buffet. Every cruise after our first, we've chosen main seating and really prefer it. We plan our excursions to be able and get back in time for dinner and it's no problem.

 

Same here. After our first cruise my DH and I always choose first seating because I just can't hold off that long to eat. :p When we eventually take the kids (maybe on Disney) I would think we'd eat early then too.

[littlej]

I'm learning a lot here. We're taking our 4-yr-old son on his first cruise in September. It's a 4-night cruise, so we're not doing much in the way of port excursions, so that's not an issue. As far as the shows, I'm planning on taking him to just one to see if he likes it. Don't know if he'll sit still for that long. We got waitlisted for the early seating, but my TA is certain that if we go and ask to change our seating as soon as we get on the ship that we will be accommodated. But after reading your posts, I'm not so sure. He's pretty laid back, but I think asking him to stay awake and happy for dinner after 8pm every night will be asking too much. Dinner all together as a family is a priority for us, but I am willing to let him do the dine and play too.

 

What are your experiences with getting your dining changed from late to early seating? We have 5 in our party.

[zeppsstteerr]

I'd have to vote for early... 8pm is just too late for dinner. I like my food to digest a bit before getting to sleep.

[hellokitty1]

Another vote for EARLY with small children! My son was so exhausted he consitently fell asleep at Early Diner and was G O N E gone for the rest of the night. Most the time he slept in the big comfy strollers that DCL offers.

 

 

Sorry to change the subject but what "big comfy strollers" are being referred to here?

[TriMomma]

I am going to go against the flow here and vote for the late seating. I have gone with small children, although on our last Disney they were pre-teen. Have had both early and late seatings.

 

I HATE rushing back from excursions to shower and get ready for dinner. I ENJOY watching the show before dinner. If the kids need a snack, you can get them one at any time.

[momofprincess]

We've had both early and late seating, and we MUCH prefer early. On our last cruise, our daughter was 8 and even though I booked over a year in advance, we were wait listed for early dinner. We decided to go with the flow. The first night, I realized it wasn't going to work for us. We weren't finished with dinner until 9:30 and then our daughter wanted to go to the Kid's Club until midnight. We're not night owls! After the first night, she had already bonded with the kids at the table, so we stuck it out for the rest of the cruise. Yes, we enjoyed the pool at 6:00 or so, and it was nice to not have to rush to dinner. But in hindsight, it's either rush for dinner or rush if you want to see the shows, so it's a wash. It did seem like a lot of the better kid activities happened during our dinner time, and her evening hours at the club were pretty late. Also, we went to bed too soon after dinner for my liking! Our servers were fantastic, and we enjoyed the other family at our table, so it turned out okay. In the future, though, if we get late seating, Ill make a beeline when we first board to change it.

[Host Mick]

If you're from the West Coast, the late seating is closer to your biological dinner time.