Alaska - Early or Late seating?

[aSiAnRiCk]

Going to Alaska next month with Star out of Seattle and my first time on Princess. Dining time options are 5:30pm, 6pm (waitlisted) or 8:15pm. I'd like to go to all the shows at night so which seating you guys preferred when doing an Alaska cruise? I'm in my 30's if it matters.

 

Thank you!

[rdsqrl]

I always pick late traditional -- 6pm is way too early to dine, I don't care where I am! The main production shows and the movies on MUTS are generally played twice a night, to work around the early and late traditional dining schedule, so you shouldn't miss those no matter which you choose. There may be some things (game shows/trivia matches and the like) that begin at 9-ish, which can make them a tight squeeze to do with late seating. On the rare occasions that has happened on my cruises, I've simply excused myself from dinner a little early. Or I guess you could book in at one of the specialty restaurants that evening.

[lamchops]

I would choose late or anytime dining on a Alaska cruise. I hate getting back from port and rushing to dinner. If I'm peckish after the port, I'll share a pizza or have something from the cafe or buffet to tie me over.

As the other poster said, all production show are run twice.

[Avalon35]

If you are going next month, I would think your time is already assigned?

[born2cruize]

Deleted

[caribill]

Going to Alaska next month with Star out of Seattle and my first time on Princess. Dining time options are 5:30pm, 6pm (waitlisted) or 8:15pm. I'd like to go to all the shows at night so which seating you guys preferred when doing an Alaska cruise? I'm in my 30's if it matters.

 

 

Your age does not matter.

 

The shows will always be presented so that no matter which seating you are at, you will be able to attend a performance.

 

If you are in late seating, the performance might be before dinner or after, depending on other activities that evevning.

[dfields1814]

If you opt for anytime dining you won't have to worry about it. Eat when you want to. (Well maybe with a little wait during prime time.)

[satxdiver]

One thing to keep in mind is that the days are longer in AK than in FL. I am in Seattle right now and sunrise tomorrow is at 6:18 AM and sunset is at 8:13 PM. The days are longer in Juneau (5:37 AM - 8:24 PM).

[sayaguru]

We went on Diamond Princess and had anytime dining.

One night we were eating dinner and I looked at my watch and it was 9.30. BUT it was still daylight for an hour after that. That was in early May.

 

I'd go anytime or late (if you want fixed dining).

[Cruiserkenn]

Another consideration: you get to see more of the fabulous Alaska scenery with late seating. (In June, it stays light so late it doesn't matter, but in September, it starts getting dark earlier... 8-ish or so... )

 

Enjoy!

[Belle]

It's what we like. Pick your own time to eat.

 

Also last few Princess cruises they

have had three shows around....

6:30..8:15 and 9:45. Shows were about

thirty minutes long. First night only one

show 9:30.

 

Always can change and Alaska could be

different but usually the same.

[JimmyVWine]

I agree with the others who have suggested Anytime or Late, and I would give strong consideration to Anytime. We hit the ports, did activities, saw the sights, all at a leisurely pace, came back to our cabin, relaxed, got ready for dinner, and never made it to the dining room before 7:30 with Anytime (and never waited a minute for a table). I don't see how we could have enjoyed the same pace of day and done all that we did, and chopped 90 minutes to 2 hours off of that to get to dinner by 5:30-6:00. (Full disclosure...we were traveling with our teenage daughter, so hair and makeup before dinner took a bit longer than if we had been just a couple.)

 

Even with late Traditional, you will get to see the late show. But the one big consideration would be the entertainment other than the main shows. As mentioned by rdsqrl above, there are other activities and entertainment venues like game shows in Explorer's Lounge that begin around 9:00-9:15, (I assume.....I have never actually been on Star, but if it is like many other ships, that will be the case). Many nights, we prefer these activities to the stage show. Dining at 8:15 makes these activities pretty much a no-go. Even at 7:30 we found ourselves late to the game now and then. But we'd rather have a full day on land and sea and miss 10 minutes of a game show than rush our day to make it to the table by 6:00.

 

To sum up:

 

5:30-6:00 could mean rushed days in port given that many excursions in Alaska are long affairs (such as whale watching in Juneau or trips to the Yukon Territory out of Skagway).

 

8:15 will get you into the late theater show, but will ensure that you miss all of the entertainment that starts around 9:00 which can be some of the most fun stuff.

 

Anytime will allow you to dine between 7:15-7:45 which we found to be the "Goldilocks" time. Not too early. Not too late. Just right.

[aSiAnRiCk]

Thank you everyone for the replies! Yes I'm aware they have two main shows to accommodate both early and late seating but as JimmyVWine mentioned, there are other shows as well, such as Love & Marriage show, Game Trivia, etc on the other cruises.

 

I would do Anytime dining but first, we had quite a long wait last time we sailed on RCCL and second, some of our good friends right now were our tablemates in past cruises so I would prefer the traditional seating.

 

Thank you for the reminder that it stays light late in Alaska so perhaps the 6pm dining may not be a good idea either.

 

Perhaps I should look at a sample of the Princess Patter to get a feel of the day activities. Beside Princess website, can anyone suggest on where to look?

 

Again, thank you for all the replies. You guys have been so helpful.

[JimmyVWine]

I would do Anytime dining but first, we had quite a long wait last time we sailed on RCCL and second, some of our good friends right now were our tablemates in past cruises so I would prefer the traditional seating.

Not sure if this will help you, but....on Princess, you can make reservations for dinner even with Anytime dining, so waiting won't be an issue. The times vary by ship, and quite often, the "prime times" between 6:30 and 7:30 are not available, but we were able to get either a 7:45 or 7:30 time every time we called. Reservations are made "day of" beginning at 8:00 a.m. (typically...agian, I haven't been on Star, and ymmv). So if long waits are a concern, there is a work-around for that.

 

Second, as to the concern about making new friends, with Anytime dining, you have the option of requesting a table by yourself, or being seated at a group table. If you opt to sit at a group table, it is just like traditional, with the obvious exception being that you get new "friends" each night. (And if you make any fast friends early in the cruise, you can always arrange to dine together often and make your own de facto Traditional dining table in the Anytime dining rooms.) If you opt to be seated at a group table, you will almost always be seated quickly, thus eliminating the wait problem in yet another way.

[caribill]

Perhaps I should look at a sample of the Princess Patter to get a feel of the day activities. Beside Princess website, can anyone suggest on where to look?

 

 

Post #17 at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=33662312

is from a person who will e-mail you copies of patters from her Alaska trip.

[Kybabe]

Just cruised Alaska last week on the Sapphire. Definitely go with anytime and make reservations. We did the anytime and never had to wait. The ports are so interesting and the times vary so you will want to be as flexiable as possible.

[aSiAnRiCk]

Thanks again Jimmy! Will keep that in mind

[aSiAnRiCk]

Post #17 at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=33662312

is from a person who will e-mail you copies of patters from her Alaska trip.

Thank you. I sent her an email and she was able to email me copies of her Patters from 2009. It was a southbound cruise that she did but regardless, her copies will be helpful to me :cool:

 

And thank you Kybabe for the info

[san diego sue]

Sailed on the Star two weeks ago. Actually late sitting turned out to be 8:00PM.

There were two different shows each night, both repeated early and late.

IN Vista Lounge, a comedian or specialty act(the best Ventriliquist comedy one night). Then in Princess Theatre singers and dancers or another type of show.

With late dining, we saw the 7:00 pm show in Vista, then after dinner, 10:00PM in Princess Theatre. It worked out perfectly. Had we had early sitting would have seen show in Princess theatre. Not exactly sure of that time but think it was abut 8:00, then late show in /Vista. Either sitting, would not have missed the shows or scenery. Only problem with early, was being in port late and rushing back to eat. Alaska is probably the only cruise location we chose to have late sitting. Usually we do anytime and eat early.

[willie2845]

Going to Alaska next month with Star out of Seattle and my first time on Princess. Dining time options are 5:30pm, 6pm (waitlisted) or 8:15pm. I'd like to go to all the shows at night so which seating you guys preferred when doing an Alaska cruise? I'm in my 30's if it matters.

 

Thank you!

 

:D We always do the late dining. We like to be able to relax when we come back onboard after a long tour. We have done Alaska five times on three different cruise lines and have never missed the shows. :D

[BlueEyesMI]

We just took a family trip on the Golden out of Seattle. We chose early dinner since all those Alaska days started so early for us! Also, there were five of us and dinner service was a bit slow. (Leisurely, not boring - but took a while.)

 

I would say if you're an early bird, take an early seating. If you're a night owl, go with the later seating.

[bermudiana]

Going to Alaska next month with Star out of Seattle and my first time on Princess. Dining time options are 5:30pm, 6pm (waitlisted) or 8:15pm. I'd like to go to all the shows at night so which seating you guys preferred when doing an Alaska cruise? I'm in my 30's if it matters.

 

Thank you!

 

 

We usually book late traditional, however this time we are doing anytime. It's our first trip to Alaska and we just don't want to be locked in to a specific time/place. We will probably do the Crown Grill one night and may even try the buffet. BTW....we are on the same cruise :)