Why do you choose the dining time you do? Early or Late?

[lovevacadays]

I choose Anytime Dining and tend to go early. In my every day life I get up very early and eat breakfast and lunch early which leads me to an early dinner. I like the flexibility of early anytime dining and have never waited very long if at all. Plus, I feel it gives me a wide open evening to choose what I want to do without thinking about dining.

[bumbleklutz]

I always do anytime dining. Mainly because trying to pin my cruising partner down to a set dining time is like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. :p Nearly impossible to do.

[CraftyScribbles]

My husband and I are doing "anytime" dining for our first cruise in March. We don't want to feel confined to one time during the entire trip, and we'll snack before or after to stretch out our meals. Late dining (8:00) is too late.

[Amerryscot]

We ate in the MDR at 7pm every night.

 

We were always amongst the first to arrive, so no queues and we got the same table each time.

 

We were also finished in time to have a nice drink and then take our seats in the theatre for the first show.

[aussielozzie18]

On our first night of anytime dining, we made the mistake of not booking so due to the lengthy wait-time we ended up at the buffet. Second night of anytime, we arrived at 6pm and we found that time didnt suit as it didnt leave us enough time for show. The waiters suggested we arrive at 5.45pm on the third night. This was ideal (we like to eat early). So the waiters made a standing booking for us for the rest of the cruise for 5.45pm. We had our own table and the same fabulous waiters each time. Worked out great.

 

Atm, there is no availability for anytime for our next cruise. We are booked into 6pm set dining and waitlisted for anytime. Hoping we can revert back anytime by the time we sail.

Edited July 28, 2014 by aussielozzie18

[Seago2]

Early, early, early. Otherwise I end up getting hungry at 4pm or so and snacking rather heavily. Very heavily. Then who wants to get dressed and go to dinner at 8? I can definitely hold out til 6. I'm also one of those weirdos who gets tired from being in the sun and water all day and goes to sleep early.

 

The flip side is that you really have to rush after a long port day to get ready for dinner (only on really long port days, though).

[jammen]

We usually do early, though I think it's too early. And I think late is far, far too late.

 

Personally, I think when coming back onboard after an excursion, we're pretty hungry. There's no way I'd be able to wait until 8pm to eat dinner. Also if we snacked before dinner, then there's no way I'd be hungry enough to eat 3+ courses for dinner!

 

We tried Anytime last time on Princess and it was a disaster. Everytime there was a huge line to check in, and then there was a wait as well. Even if you wanted to share a table, there was a wait. After two nights we just ended up eating at the buffet or ordering room service.

 

So what makes you choose early or late seating and not Anytime?

 

I do anytime dinning, just let the maitre d' what time you want to eat the next day.

[Lutèce]

We prefer late dining. 5:30 pm is like dining with children and seniors.

 

I'm assuming you're referring to US children and seniors??;) I don't know of any French person, regardless of age, who would be having their evening meal in the middle of the afternoon!!!

[Amerryscot]

I'm assuming you're referring to US children and seniors??;) I don't know of any French person, regardless of age, who would be having their evening meal in the middle of the afternoon!!!

 

5.30 is afternoon tea!

[pmjnh]

We booked early seating for our upcoming cruise because we generally eat around 6PM at home. This way we can make the early shows and get to bed at a decent hour. We are not night owls! We are also traveling with another couple and thought that booking a large table might be good so thats what we did. That said, we will be on a 14 night cruise. Here's to hoping we all like each other!! ;)

 

Our last cruise was on Princess and we did Anytime Dining.We found that the lines were long but we made a reservation in the morning and pretty much walked right in past the lines. I don't think most people made a reservation. There were 6 of us and we liked our table so much that we got to be very chummy with the maitre'd and ended up having the same table with the window view each night, as well as the same waiters. The waiters liked that as well. It was great.

Edited August 2, 2014 by pmjnh

[momofmeg]

5.30 is afternoon tea!

 

early dinner seating time on HAL

[Amerryscot]

early dinner seating time on HAL

Philistines!

[momofmeg]

Philistines!

 

Lol! I haven't been on HAL in nearly 5 years and we did the anytime not traditional. However sometimes that early time is good. It depends on what you have planed for the evening. when we overnighted in Venice, we ate in the buffet at 4 pm as the dingroom did not open until 6 and we wanted to be out and about. We had pizza and ice cream(gelato) later at a cafe near the Rialto Bridge.

[momofmeg]

Lol! I haven't been on HAL in nearly 5 years and we did the anytime not traditional. However sometimes that early time is good. It depends on what you have planed for the evening. when we overnighted in Venice, we ate in the buffet at 4 pm as the dingroom did not open until 6 and we wanted to be out and about. We had pizza and ice cream(gelato) later at a cafe near the Rialto Bridge.

 

That was a Celebrity ship that took us to Venice and they did not offer tea that day. We would have done that instead if they had.

[griffy116]

In the past, we always chose early dining because it allowed everyone to do their own thing after dinner. Now, as my Grandson has grown up and has a friend going with us, we know that they will not be getting up as early as the rest of us. The only time we will be getting together is dinner so we are going with late dining. We will go have a salad or snack in the WJ if we get hungry before 8. The early dining was 5:30, which means we would be interrupting prime pool time by having to get ready around 4:30.

[bearette]

Before kids we are late but now since my kids usually eat at 6 we eat at the early. The one time we did anytime dinning on Princess we had to make reservations. then they wouldn't let us make them when we wanted around 7 so we ate at 8pm almost every day and with the same waiters, not really anytime. On NCL they only have anytime and as a large group we made reservations to avoid waits but ended up eating at the same time almost every day. (Make shift traditional). When I did it recently as a family of four on NCL I loved it. We never made a reservation and always walked right in. The only time we had a wait was right after a show and they were quick. I think NCL does it right but the others don't do anytime dining at any time without reservations.

 

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[momofmeg]

Before kids we are late but now since my kids usually eat at 6 we eat at the early. The one time we did anytime dinning on Princess we had to make reservations. then they wouldn't let us make them when we wanted around 7 so we ate at 8pm almost every day and with the same waiters, not really anytime. On NCL they only have anytime and as a large group we made reservations to avoid waits but ended up eating at the same time almost every day. (Make shift traditional). When I did it recently as a family of four on NCL I loved it. We never made a reservation and always walked right in. The only time we had a wait was right after a show and they were quick. I think NCL does it right but the others don't do anytime dining at any time without reservations.

 

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We walked right in on Celebrity and Princess both without reservations but we go at 6:30 pm. so a little before the 7 pm rush.

[dna1990]

Always choose Early or Main seating and do so first thing during your reservations. They sometimes give away free cruises and free cars during Main seating, so that is your best option.

 

 

 

Sshhh, leaves more late seating tables open for us.