POLL: Do you prefer early or late seating? Why?

[teddie]

We can't rush back from port at 5pm then be ready for dinner by 6. It wouldn't be enjoyable. Plus no children in the dining room then either.

 

Our sentiments exactly!

 

We love having a leisurely late-afternoon rest in the cabin, or in the Solarium, with plenty of time after to shower and dress for dinner. We can handle well-behaved school-aged children, but prefer not to dine with infants or toddlers; late seating helps in that department tremendously!

[JodiBB]

We like anytime dining best of all. But when it is not an option we go with late dining. We like to get back on board the ship and sit by the pool or in hot tubs and relax before getting ready for dinner.

 

I agree with this logic. We like late seating too as sometimes we're returning to the ship at the last moment and like to enjoy and relax before getting ready for dinner. Otherwise, we'd feel rushed & it's our vacation! LOL

 

Like Mr. Chips said, it's really all about personal preference.

[vicocala]

This is the first cruise for my wife and I and we have decided to go with early.

 

First, my wife is a teacher and I usually have dinner ready when she gets home between 4-5 PM.

 

Second, my wife is an early bird and a late dinner would put her out for the night anyway, while I am a night person and want to see the shows and maybe hit the lounges. (Gonna try to keep her up, but if I can't I'm a big boy and go it alone.) ;)

 

Lastly, looking forward to late night buffet on HAL.

[Bases5]

We try for both, Havent gotten it yet but still trying.

Happy Sailing

[fanofseas]

We like early, We eat at home around 6:00. Besides if we get the munchies later there is always room service.

[madforcruising]

I always choose late seating for several reasons.

 

- 6pm is just way too early for me to have dinner

- No rush to get ready when coming back from port

- I enjoy to watch sailaway from my balcony and that would interfer with early seating almost always.

- When coming back from port I like some afternoon snack on my balcony at sailaway, I couldn´t do that with dinner at 6pm

[Jayme580]

With all this talk about not having to rush back for main seating, I just changed to second seating and asked for 2 person table. My reservation alrady shows second seating, have to wait and see about my table for 2.

[Ella2]

Well, I actually prefer lines that allow you to choose any dining time, but that's not an option with RCCL. :)

 

We prefer EARLY, by far...mainly because dinner is NOT the highlight of our evening, we like to eat and then go have some FUN! :D

 

We've never had a problem with having to rush back after an excursion to get ready...if we really thought we'd be cutting it tight one night, then we'd either get an advance reservation for a later seating at the alternative restaurant, or just go to the buffet or order room service. No biggie. It's not that often that we have a late port excursion anyway.

 

We've had late before and hated it, I just don't like to eat THAT late at night (doesn't work at all with kids) and I feel like I'm still digesting dinner at midnight. Plus we tended to eat a late afternoon snack so we wouldn't be starving by dinner...not good for the waistline. :rolleyes:

 

Anyway, as you can see, to each their own, everyone has their reasons for what they choose...and I'm sure you will figure out what works best for you too. :)

[amynkeith]

What a fun poll guys! Definitely a lot of good feedback! :)

[ronaldfelder]

actually prefer late sitting for you don't have to rush back from activities. but am taking early for next year so my daughter will eat dinner with me and still be able to attend all the kid events.

 

Ron

[ckrobyn]

We had early seating on our last cruise - thinking this would be better for our 8 year old daughter....what actually happened is that she was so exhausted from all the activities that she passed out at 5PM every night and we all missed dinner in the dining room and ended up eating in the Windjammer for most of the cruise. We will be on the AOS next January and are considering late seating...that way she can nap and still make it to dinner ;)

[groovy gran]

we prefer late as we hate getting back from port and having

to rush and get ready for dinner

we like to unwind first:D

[smeyer418]

I personally prefer freestyle. I hate buffets. I would rather eat when I want to...

[1corona4u]

As stupid as that might sound, I think that early sitting (eating at 6PM) is most people normal dinner time. I believe that this is backed up by the waiting list for early seating rather than late sitting.

 

The reason I have heard from my sister who prefer late sitting is that she doesn't want to rush back to the book from the port. Based on RCCL iternaries to the Caribbean that this doesn't usual present a problem since departure is usual prior to early seating.

 

On our last cruise, we were always the last to leave the dinning room at around 8:15, which enabled us to have a relaximg dinner and a whole night ahead of us to work off our meal,

 

I don't know. I'm on a waitlist for late seating for my cruise next year...can't believe that I am a year out, and there is no late seating.:( Obviously I prefer late.:) If it doesn't change, hopefully I can change it once onboard.

 

I can't figure out why would there be so many people a year out who asked for late seating? The cruise is not that full yet. Any Ideas?

[helenb]

We did late seating on our first cruise. What ended up happening is that we would get REALLY hungry about 6 pm, and we would snack on pizza next to the pool. Then we went to a FULL dinner at 8:30 pm. It meant that we ate 4 meals a day instead of 3 and let me tell you we REALLY packed on the pounds.

 

So now with early seating we have cut down to one dinner instead of 2. And we are never awake enough to see the midnight buffet (but who can be when you get off the ship at 8 am?).

 

As for rushing back to the ship, I only have this problem on formal night (fortunately almost all formal nights are on sea days). Most days I'm in a sundress and I just wear it to dinner. My husband is in khakis and a polo shirt and he wears that to dinner. Why do people need an hour to get ready for casual night? I must be missing something.

[1corona4u]

Why do people need an hour to get ready for casual night? I must be missing something.

 

I don't know what other people do, but if I've been up and about since like 7ish in the morning, I like to take a shower, and change clothes before I go to dinner, which takes me about an hour, sometimes more....

[natalie2727]

I like late seating because if I have a late lunch (after a late breakfast, after sleeping late!) I'm usually not hungry until later. And I do like to relax after an in-port day. On my last cruise on the Celebrity Galaxy, I sometimes did get a little hungry around 6:00, but they have a fantastic sushi bar, so I would go eat a few pieces. Not too filling, more like an hors d'oeurve. So I had plenty of room for dinner. (Although after the first few courses, I found myself slowing down!)

[ginadis2002]

We've always had late seatings and loved them! DS even loves them because we normally don't eat til 8pm or so in the evenings at home and he's a night owl.

 

This cruise, however, we're travelling with friends and they love the early seating so we're going to try it!

 

Pros that I can see include missing that late afternoon snack. We always ate at 4 ....pizza on deck on Celebrity and we were never hungry for the late dinner. Sure, we'd eat....but it was too much food.

 

We were never hungry for the late night buffet. I've never eaten at one. It would be nice to say that I have at least once in my cruise life.

 

Show - We've hardly ever watched the shows. Usually we have cocktails before dinner and wine with dinner....after dinner I'm ready to snooze. I'm an early bird who hates naps so it might be nice to actually really spend some time having a "night life" with the early seating.

 

Cons include rushing to get ready. I love to see the sunset and I figure we're going to miss it most evenings. I'm not sure if I like that.

 

I love the pool once people have headed into get dressed for the early seating. It's finally QUIET! I'll miss that.

 

Cocktails before dinner! I love having a cocktail in the bar. I guess we'll do that after dinner, though.

 

We shall see!

[bettye1]

With early seating, you're not through dining until just before 8 and you have the whole evening to enjoy. Late seating, you're not through until 10 PM. That's too late for us, and if you're tired, you sure don't want to go to bed having just eaten a big dinner. It all boils down to personal preference. We used to always do the late seating back when we had lots of cocktails before dinner.

 

We travel when school is in session. We love our grandchildren to pieces, but I don't want them bothering other people. Kids are kids the world over, but I've already raised mine. No hard feelings????

 

Bettye:)

[2forthesea]

Much prefer late seating.

 

I was told that dining room assignments are "released" much like cabins. So, they will have people wait listed for times and table sizes, and when they release more of the dining room, they rearrange everything according to the waitlist.

 

If all the people booked on a cruise ask for a table for four, then there won't be any tables for four available until the next "release". It usually irons itself out in the end.

[rubrrick]

The debate continues, but , save for one cruise in '98 with my DW's parents, we always choose late seating. We don't want to be rushed back to the ship on port days, enjoy doing a sail away cocktail with friends in our cabin (mostly larger suites) and we only take in one or two shows per trip as we enjoy relaxing and reading and listening to music or planning our next day. We also spend at least half of our evening meals at an alternative restaurant, such as the Windjammer Cafe. We find that we don't eat as much, a much healthier lifestyle!

 

Rick

[Dachshund Dad]

This may have already been mentioned, but with late seating you don't have to rush to get ready for dinner after a day in port.

Something else to consider is that some early seating posters to these boards have reported feeling rushed through their dinners, presumably in order for the wait/kitchen staff to move them through in time for the late seating arrivals.

[kingtns]

This may have already been mentioned, but with late seating you don't have to rush to get ready for dinner after a day in port.

Something else to consider is that some early seating posters to these boards have reported feeling rushed through their dinners, presumably in order for the wait/kitchen staff to move them through in time for the late seating arrivals.

 

That's a great point...we always take the late seating, our waiters spend lots of time with us (telling jokes & doing tricks for the kids) which they might not do with another dinner to follow. relax, enjoy & never feel rushed, there is no need, you won't miss a thing, except if you do everything early you might not make it up for the late night fun.

[Sheffie]

We did main seating on our first two cruises and I didn't like the fact that I was in the dining room during sail-away! I love to watch the islands drift away - it makes me feel like I am in a movie!

 

As previously mentioned, the pool area clears out and you can hang out there. No chairhogs left!

 

No need to rush back from excursions and quickly change for dinner.

 

You don't feel rushed because there is no need for the waitstaff to have things set up for the next people coming in the door in 1/2 hour. You can enjoy the company of your friends without feeling the need to leave.

 

I cannot imagine going back to main seating.

 

There are choices, which is good! Everyone can be happy!

[SoPreppyPinky]

I prefer early because, IMO, it helps the night run smoother. I prefer to have dinner done and over with by 7:30 and have the whole rest of the night to enjoy!