Epic - dining hours and show times

[mill4023]

I am booked with a group of 9 (ages 5 to 60).

With young kids, I thought the 9pm shows might be too late, so I reserved the 7pm time for the shows.

I just read somewhere that the main dining rooms usually open at 5:30 and I'm a little worried that we will be rushed to try to finish dinner in time to be at a 7pm show.

What do you all think?

 

If we show up right at 5:30, will we be done in time?

 

Will we have a problem being seated together at the shows if we don't get there early?

[mill4023]

I don't like the idea of being rushed for dinner, so maybe we will just plan to have a late lunch or a snack before the show and have dinner right afterwards.

[sdmike]

On our Epic cruise we had a group of 11. When we took in an early show we didn't go to the MDR before. We didn't want to be rushed. Instead we let everyone fend for themselves and then meet as a group before going over to get in line for the show. Some ate at the buffet, my boys went to the Noodle Bar, and some that had a late lunch just waited until after the show.

 

We saw BMG on the first night and the theater wasn't full. We got to the theater at 6:30 and ended up with row 1 and 2 seats right in front of the stage (poncho zone). All 11 of us sat together. I'm sure it will be different on other nights, but I suspect arriving before 6:30 will allow you to sit together without much issue (others correct me please). There really are no bad seats in the small theater.

[thedoc29ca]

This was our only issue with our first Epic cruise. As a family we loved the Epic but our kids younger the first time through and it would have been convenient to have a 5pm MDR start time to make the 7pm show without rushing dinner.

[tinalouise69]

We have the same challenge with our group of 6 sailing on the Epic. We opted to book Blue Man Group for the 10pm show on the first night. Decided we would be so 'wired' that no one will be ready to go to sleep. This also lets us enjoy a leisurely dinner. We decided for Legends we would go to the Garden Cafe first and then the show. Decided to do that on our St. Maarten day since we have a full day excursion booked & will not have to stress over a more 'formal' dinner when we are just getting back on the ship. Second City is the only one we booked at 7pm and are hoping to get through a pretty quick dinner...plan on being at restaurant right at 5:30...so hope it works out.

[cruise356]

I have book the late shows for my upcoming EPIC cruise. I am hoping to catch the late night activities in Spice H2O afterwards. Can anyone one tell me how long the shows are? I figure the Legends show is an hour long but not sure about BMG of Cirque Dreams. Thanks!

[SASA13]

The Legends show was about an hour, BMG was 1 3/4 hours, and the Cirque was about 1 1/2. That is from when we sailed last December.