ladyluck27 Posted May 7, 2012 #1 Share Posted May 7, 2012 What is your preference? What do you see as the advantages/disadvantages of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susie8862 Posted May 7, 2012 #2 Share Posted May 7, 2012 What is your preference?What do you see as the advantages/disadvantages of it? This subject is much debated because it is a matter of personal preference. Mine is Late Seating, because I feel we are not rushed and there are much fewer children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenoNanaOz Posted May 7, 2012 #3 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We like late seating if it is just DH and I. We can hang out in the sun or ports longer and still have time to nap before dinner. Also leaves time for a Martini and Sushi at 5pm ;). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjd2 Posted May 7, 2012 #4 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We did late dining on our first cruise and I didn't like eating that late. I found we wanted to go to bed right after dinner as it was late and we were usually full. Our next 3 we did early. We liked this better than late but did find that sometimes in order to get ready for that dining time we had to leave other fun functions a little earlier than we may have liked. Our upcoming cruise we are going to try ATD and see how we like that. I guess everyone should try them all and figure out what works the best for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Banditswife Posted May 7, 2012 #5 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We've done all 3 seating times. We now choose to do ATD because of the flexibility. We eat when we wish, & usually have a table to ourselves. But for those who are going to eat on a schedule anyway, I think a set time seating would be best for them. There you have same tablemates ea night & same wait staff. We didn't like the late time because it was just too late for us. The early time would be our 2nd choice, but sometimes on port days it is too early. Like the other post said: it is a matter of personal preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maldenmusic Posted May 7, 2012 #6 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We just eat at the Lido buffet so we have more time for being up on deck ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChefSusan Posted May 7, 2012 #7 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We like Your Time Dining as it allows us to stay in port as long as we want, take our time getting ready for dinner, and allows to decide if we want to eat by ourselves (a table for two), or if we wish to eat with others (either people we have met on our roll call/at the pool/etc). Our ideal time to eat is anywhere from 7pm until 7:30pm, which is considered "prime time" to those who have YTD. We also like to eat in the section with the server that we have the first night, and if that means getting a pager and waiting, so be it. It's one of the drawbacks to YTD, and one that we will gladly deal with. We also love the speed of YTD, and it's up to us to let our wait staff know if we want dinner drawn out (1 1/2 to 2 hours), or if we need to be out of there quickly (45 minutes to 1 hour). The only other times we have done assigned dining (either early or late seating) is when we have travelled with a group of friends. We did early seating on Freedom in 2009, and late seating on Paradise this past February. We found that being guaranteed the same wait staff is wonderful, but found the service to be slow and drawn out, as well as found that the food came out lukewarm to cold at times. That being said, we will gladly choose YTD over Traditional anytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJinFLA00 Posted May 7, 2012 #8 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Count us as another "Late" seating fan. We don't normally eat late but on a cruise, we love it! We used to do early seating but always felt rushed. I also don't want to try any time dining as we like the set time and we like knowing where we'll be sitting every night and we'll have the same wait staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkey61 Posted May 7, 2012 #9 Share Posted May 7, 2012 we always do late dining so we dont have to rush to get ready for dinner, and we dont have to cut our visits short at the ports , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snownyet Posted May 7, 2012 #10 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We've done all 3 and also prefer anytime dining for the flexibility. For what its worth, we have always had the same waitstaff each night when choosing the ATD option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenjiRodney Posted May 7, 2012 #11 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We like early, and having the same staff each night and same routine. Dinner, then show, then adult comedy shows, late snack burger or hot dog on lido then watch movie on the big screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCruisers Posted May 7, 2012 #12 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Your Time Dining works best for us! :) Great being able to have dinner whatever time we wish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerReuv Posted May 7, 2012 #13 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We love the YTD because of the reasons stated above. We think the late dining is too late and the early is too early. The YTD is great because we can still ask for our waiter that we love even if we have to wait some. Never had to wait any longer than about 20 mintues. We also like to eat by ourselves at dinner. It is definately a personal preference. If I had small kids I would probably do early. Late is just too late to eat by the time we get done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taragl Posted May 7, 2012 #14 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We do early because we take the kids to dinner with us. YTD was okay, but I like having the same server and table each night, so we stick with early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiritfox Posted May 7, 2012 #15 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Not sure getting other opinions on this will work for most people. Totally personal preference--we like early dining so we choose early dining--simple as that. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmorg Posted May 7, 2012 #16 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We will never do anything but Your Time Dining. LOVE the flexibility, Always had excellent service, it's faster, and never had a wait (except less than 5 minutes one time). No dining schedules for us on vacation, we go dine when we are hungry, and when we are ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruzinlisa Posted May 7, 2012 #17 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We like Your Time Dining as it allows us to stay in port as long as we want, take our time getting ready for dinner, and allows to decide if we want to eat by ourselves (a table for two), or if we wish to eat with others (either people we have met on our roll call/at the pool/etc). Our ideal time to eat is anywhere from 7pm until 7:30pm, which is considered "prime time" to those who have YTD. We also like to eat in the section with the server that we have the first night, and if that means getting a pager and waiting, so be it. It's one of the drawbacks to YTD, and one that we will gladly deal with. We also love the speed of YTD, and it's up to us to let our wait staff know if we want dinner drawn out (1 1/2 to 2 hours), or if we need to be out of there quickly (45 minutes to 1 hour). The only other times we have done assigned dining (either early or late seating) is when we have travelled with a group of friends. We did early seating on Freedom in 2009, and late seating on Paradise this past February. We found that being guaranteed the same wait staff is wonderful, but found the service to be slow and drawn out, as well as found that the food came out lukewarm to cold at times. That being said, we will gladly choose YTD over Traditional anytime. We did any time dining this trip and they definitely found ways to drag it out. We went at various different times, and never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a table so it wasn't necessarily that they were crowded just slow. It typically took around 1 1/2 to 2 hours which can be torture with a little one. I wish they would have gotten us out sooner because we are not slow eaters and there were plenty of times where there were 20-30 minutes or more between courses or atleast it felt that way. This ship had an entire floor of this dining room devoted to anytime dining and we tried not to go at the time of the traditional seating but no matter when we went, they were slow. Perhaps just this ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hannahsmomtoo Posted May 7, 2012 #18 Share Posted May 7, 2012 What is your preference?What do you see as the advantages/disadvantages of it? We chose Your Time dining... for two reasons.. 1. I prefer to eat when convenient for us. 2. I did not want my daughter to miss out on any kids activities that may have conflicted with out dining as a family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzgeralyn Posted May 7, 2012 #19 Share Posted May 7, 2012 When we cruise in a few weeks, it will be our first time trying the Anytime. In the past we've done both early and late..and they both had some cons that I think the anytime dining will eliminate. Won't have to worry about rushing back from an activity...or rushing thru dinner to make a show/activity. Also, because we're traveling with 2 young adults this time (19 yrs), we won't feel as annoyed if they drag their feet getting ready for dinner, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandlockedCruiser01 Posted May 7, 2012 #20 Share Posted May 7, 2012 I did late seating, since I never went to bed before 2:00 AM during my cruise. Plus there are fewer kids there, as opposed to the early or anytime seating. Since I cruised solo, assigning dining allowed me have the same set of tablemates to "debrief" with each day and get to know them. I'm planning to do late seating on my next cruise as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaParrotHead Posted May 7, 2012 #21 Share Posted May 7, 2012 OP, we are also part of the Late MDR group, but as said it really is a matter of preference. We usually eat late most evenings anyhow so the 8:15 time is great for us. Even when our "kids" (they are now 19/22) would cruise with us, there is always something to snack on, no one goes hungry on a cruise. We really liked not having to rush for MDR dinner following the port days and liked to sit on the balcony, hot tubs, or other places as the ship sailed out each night. We also enjoy the larger assigned tables and the chance to meet others, again, just a personal preference. B&B Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcuchio24 Posted May 7, 2012 #22 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Your time dining for us. If CCL didn't have that option, we'd go back to cruising NCL full time;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTO-Girl Posted May 7, 2012 #23 Share Posted May 7, 2012 We always do "Your Time" dining and if we have a great wait staff, we just request them every night. Never had a problem with our request being honored and we can dine whenever we choose. Happy Sailing everyone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T. Advisor King Posted May 7, 2012 #24 Share Posted May 7, 2012 I've always chosen early over late, but had the chance to get YTD on our last cruise. Early over late seems like a no-brainer to me. Do people really wait until 8:00 pm to eat dinner in real life? That would leave me with two options, either starve for two hours, or get into poor eating habits, which probably also includes a lot of wasted food at dinner. I loved the YTD. When you're at one of the conventional seatings, you're stuck on their schedule, which means you're in for a 90-100 minute meal and have no way of getting out of it. Our YTD waiters were very quick. We probably got in and out closer to 45 or 50 minutes. In addition, the YTD waiters didn't seem to feel the need to go through the charade of "getting to know you". It is interesting how the service can be equally good without all the personal chit-chat that seems to be necessary when a waiter is focussed on generating extra tips. The YTD flexibility is great. You don't have to design your day or evening around your meal time. It is much closer to when you're on a regular vacation and you just go out to eat (or cook a meal) when you feel like it. But I think one of the forgotten bonuses is that if you want to, you can time your meal so that it doesn't overlap any of the song-and-dance routines! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladyluck27 Posted May 7, 2012 Author #25 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Not sure getting other opinions on this will work for most people. Totally personal preference--we like early dining so we choose early dining--simple as that. :) I don't need someone else to make my decision, but it's nice hearing others' points of view and hearing pros and cons that I may not have thought about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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