Downside/Upsideto Late seating??

[Boatingmom]

We're booked for late seating on our upcoming Regal cruise as last time we felt rushed to get ready for early seating after an excursion. We will be with two teens. That being said, will we miss anything by having late seating? MUTTS, shows, performers etc?? Do they alternate or have several shows? I know this is personal preference but we wanted to avoid anytime because we enjoy having the same waiters. If need be the kids could eat earlier in the Horizon Court if they are meeting up with others for a teen activity. Input?? Suggestions??

[pmcue]

They do an early and late show. Not sure on MUTS.

 

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[PenguinLife]

One advantage to late seating is no one is rushing you to finish eating.

[paul929207]

The shows are generally done twice a night with the start times co-ordinated with the TD times.

 

You can also consider changing to Anytime Dining.

[Cruisin' Chick]

On our last two cruises, the featured movie for the night was always shown twice, unless there was a special deck party.

[Cruise Raider]

You might benefit from Anytime Dining...you can check the schedule and go whenever you choose.

[gotta cruise again]

Yes, you might be arriving late to MUTS by dining late (BTW: we prefer late traditional) but can always skip the dining room that evening if the movie is more important to you. We enjoy MUTS but seem to never have enough blankets...even in the Caribbean! And the movies are shown again in the theatre and cabin.

 

Dining late allows you to go to the Platinum lounge (if applicable) and likely not spoil your dinner! We also like being able to get ready for dinner slowly, if we want. We rarely feel as if we have missed something due to late dining. If there is a downside to dining late, its that we feel we need to stay up later to allow for better digestion--but that then allows us to sleep late the next morning!!

[Buck Turgidson]

Many times when we got finished with our late sitting dinner, and then went to the show, it would be hard to find seats. Especially when we have a slow dinner table. Many early dinner people would be there at the late seating show.

[Pam in CA]

To me, there are only two negatives to late Traditional dining: 1. If you prefer to eat earlier, it's late. 2. The Platinum/Elite lounge is from 5-7pm, closing way too early if you want a drink before dinner. We now go to the lounge for a drink, go back to our cabins and then head for dinner.

 

The upside to late Traditional dine is: 1. Plenty of time to get back on board, relax, shower and change for dinner. 2. You know exactly what time you're eating and can plan your day accordingly. 3. No rush to get through dinner although if you want to make a show, all you have to do is tell your waitstaff.

 

Having done Anytime several times, I really prefer late Traditional. No waiting in line, no having to take a beeper and wait, no different waitstaff every night, etc. Princess does a generally lousy job of managing Anytime compared to other cruise lines. Not to mention that if you have Traditional, you can also dine in Anytime. Princess allows this which other lines don't.

[caribill]

The only thing you will miss with late traditional are some of the activities that are one time only in the evening at that time. This would include things such as trivia, Princess Pop Star, the Marriage Game, etc.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

One downside for late seating is if you enjoy getting dressed up & want to watch a MUTS movie you'll have to sit there dress up or change quickly afterwards to get ready for dinner.

[dandonna]

My wife and I love late seating and here is why!

When we are out all day on an excursion on one of the islands or simply laying around the pool on a sea day there is nothing we enjoy more than a fresh shower, some nookie, and a nap around 5pm. We sleep for say 90 minutes and at 7 pm we are up getting dressed for dinner at 8.

We feel refreshed and ready for a long night of fun! :D

[shredie]

My wife and I love late seating and here is why!

When we are out all day on an excursion on one of the islands or simply laying around the pool on a sea day there is nothing we enjoy more than a fresh shower, some nookie, and a nap around 5pm. We sleep for say 90 minutes and at 7 pm we are up getting dressed for dinner at 8.

We feel refreshed and ready for a long night of fun! :D

 

TMI? :eek: LOL. You're right that late seating is better when you've been out on an excursion all day. It's no fun to feel rushed to go eat or end up in the buffet if early seating is the option.

[Iamcruzin]

My wife and I love late seating and here is why!

 

When we are out all day on an excursion on one of the islands or simply laying around the pool on a sea day there is nothing we enjoy more than a fresh shower, some nookie, and a nap around 5pm. We sleep for say 90 minutes and at 7 pm we are up getting dressed for dinner at 8.

 

We feel refreshed and ready for a long night of fun! :D

 

And this is why we choose Anytime. Sometimes we don't get to the dining room until 9:00

 

 

 

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[Cruisin' Chick]

The way I see it is that I can do "anytime" dining here at home when we go out to a restaurant. But then, just like on the ship, if many others want to eat at the same time and get there before you, you'll have a wait.

 

I rather know when I'll be eating. On a cruise, I don't have to discuss with hubby in the morning when we want to eat and where and then either take our chances at night (and not eat when we want to) or hassle with the dine phone number (which is not my idea of relaxing). Knowing that we can just go to the MDR at 8, immediately sit at our table and be given a menu right then, is relaxing. We can go to the Horizon mid-afternoon for a small plate of food or go to the International Cafe for a snack to tide us over.

[skynight]

The upside or downside depending on what is important to you. For us it's either planning evening activities around your dinner or planning your dinner around the activities. We choose the latter, thus we choose ATD. Late traditional seating, for us, cuts right into the heart of the evening activities, as well as having us too full when finishing the meal at 10/10:30pm. I posted the below information on evening activities on a different thread. Here it is again so you can have some idea.

 

... production shows are around 35mins. Depending on the Cruise Director there may be two or three show times in the evening, in the 7, 8/8:30, & 10/10:30pm slots. The 8pm show is always the most crowded, and requires arrival around 30 mins. prior. Check the Princess Patter each day and make your plans. Some Cruise Directors, but not all, will provide you with an overview of the shows for all the days, which makes your planning a little easier.

In addition to the Production Shows there will be guest entertainers, including comics, singers, magic, other acts. These shows usually last about 45 mins. Some are in the Princess Theater and some will be in the Vista Lounge. Many nights shows will be running in both the Theater and the Vista Lounge during the same times. If you wish to see both you have to plan. Note the Vista Lounge is smaller and fills up early for entertainers known to be enjoyable.

In addition to the formal shows there will be game shows, theme nights, evening trivia shows, dance sessions, Crooner's piano entertainment, string quartets, pop bands, all going on. These are held in the Wheelhouse Bar, Princess Live, Piazza and sometimes on deck. There will also be Movies Under the Stars most evenings.

Plenty to do or not to do.

[dandonna]

....forgot to add another favorite benefit of Late Traditional Seating:

For the past 9 years or so we have yet to see or hear a crying baby or whiny toddler at the Traditional Late Seating. :eek:

I guess most young families eat early or choose anytime dining which makes sense so we get the benefit of good dinner conversation without the extra noise. Perfect!

PS- We tried Anytime Dining once and we really missed having our reserved table with a waiter we got to know and appreciate but to each his own.

Do what you think is best ad have a great cruise!

[cb at sea]

It's best to pick the dining time closest to when you usually eat...either will do just fine. If you have late seating, that means going to the shows BEFORE dinner, so in reality, everyone needs to "be ready" about the same time anyway....and you have time, even on port days!

[shredie]

We can go to the Horizon mid-afternoon for a small plate of food or go to the International Cafe for a snack to tide us over.

 

Or afternoon tea or PES lounge bites...Then there are the afternoon cookies and milk. Not going to starve on a cruise ship!

[AKman2495]

The way I see it is that I can do "anytime" dining here at home when we go out to a restaurant. But then' date=' just like on the ship, if many others want to eat at the same time and get there before you, you'll have a wait.

 

I rather know when I'll be eating. On a cruise, I don't have to discuss with hubby in the morning when we want to eat and where and then either take our chances at night (and not eat when we want to) or hassle with the dine phone number (which is not my idea of relaxing). Knowing that we can just go to the MDR at 8, immediately sit at our table and be given a menu right then, is relaxing. We can go to the Horizon mid-afternoon for a small plate of food or go to the International Cafe for a snack to tide us over.[/quote']

 

See, that's what I love about people. We are exactly the opposite. We can check the patter and see what's going one and then we can plan our anytime dining dinner accordingly.

 

Most times, we eat early and have had no problems getting a table-with one unusual exception.

 

To each his own!

[geoherb]

We like second seating traditional dining. One downside is missing out on the evening trivias and game show type events. Another is that we feel compelled to be there. We had a family at our assigned table on one cruise and they showed up only twice. It was just a 4-day cruise, but anytime dining would have been better for them. I don't think it's fair to sign up for traditional dining if you know you won't be there half the time.

 

We are taking two short cruises back to back at the end of this month. We could not get second seating on one of them. I plan for us to eat at the Crown Grill, Sabatini's, Crab Shack, and Vines--things we haven't done because we've had traditional dining.

[caribill]

It's best to pick the dining time closest to when you usually eat...either will do just fine. If you have late seating, that means going to the shows BEFORE dinner, so in reality, everyone needs to "be ready" about the same time anyway....and you have time, even on port days!

 

With late seating, we attend the shows that start after dinner, usually around 10:15.

[Boatingmom]

Thanks ll. Guess I will keep late dining and work around that. Early is waitlisted at this point and I really like having the same waiter each night. I enjoy the pool food after my excursions and that made me too full to appreciate early seating last time on Princess. I guess HC is an option if we really felt we were going to miss something.

[Hawaiidan]

Whats all this about dog shows and movie...Muts... and why do people get so hyped up over a what sounds like a dog and pony show?

[shredie]

Whats all this about dog shows and movie...Muts... and why do people get so hyped up over a what sounds like a dog and pony show?

 

Haha? I assume this is a little joke...