choosing a time for dinner in Britannia restaurant

[Misterandrews]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum and to cruising. Make my first crossing aboard QM2 in May. I chose the late seating for dinner, then thought, but will this conflict with evening events, theater, lectures, etc? Any info much appreciated.

[AstroExeter]

There is a show specifically timed for late sitting diners and lectures are all during the day. I always have late sitting and don't miss anything. The only problem may be that you are having such a good time at dinner that you run over and miss the show. :)

[Dajo5601]

Your dining time selection is really down to personal choice. At home my wife and eat our main meal of the day circa 6.30.pm most days and so the 6.pm first sitting is perfect for us. Following dinner we have ample time to saunter along to the theatre for the show and have time to visit or view the shops on the way. After the show we have a nightcap and have a reasonable early night.

 

Also if you have invites to drinks with the crew or Captain in the Queens Room, they have two receptions, one for the early sitting and a second one for the diners at the second sitting - so you don't miss out.

 

The drawback to the early sitting can be that if you've been off the ship all day you sometimes don't have too much time to prepare for dinner and it can be a bit of a rush (panic).

 

We have friends who prefer the later sitting as they like to find a suitable watering hole and have a few pre-dinner drinks. They then go to the second performance in the theatre, but have found that sometimes they have a bit of a rush in getting from the dining room to the show.

 

As I say, each to his own, choose whatever suits and ENJOY THE CRUISE.

 

David

[MarkBearSF]

We select second seating ourselves. Another advantage is that it's less popular than early seating - so if you want a table for two, you're more likely to get one. (We've done so on each of the three crossings we've requested one).

Edited January 25, 2017 by MarkBearSF

[DreamflightPat]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum and to cruising. Make my first crossing aboard QM2 in May. I chose the late seating for dinner, then thought, but will this conflict with evening events, theater, lectures, etc? Any info much appreciated.

I always choose late sitting. I admit I eat earlier than that at home. What I like about late sitting is you have plenty of time to do things during the day and then a glass of wine whilst you leisurely get ready for dinner and then pop to one of the bars for an aperitif before dinner. I then always go to the late show. I do hope you enjoy your crossing.

 

Regards Pat

[Rotterdam]

as someone else mentioned there is enough entertainment all thru the day & evening. We always have booked late seating because we do like pre dinner cocktails & usually eat around 8-9 pm. But mainly I like the late seating because it gives us extra deck time - nothing like sitting out on deck in the fresh air at sea - I'll give up dinner for an extra hour outside...maybe with a cocktail!

[newcruise]

We also prefer late seating. Besides all the reasons thoroughly explained by others, we find that if our dining companions are not a good "match," changing tables is easier in the less crowded late seating. Yes, unfortunately, we have needed to request a different table, though only twice, and simply because we had so little in common with our dining companions. Life, and the voyage, is too short not to have a lovely conversation at dinner!

[don731]

We love the late seating. Less hurried while dining, and great times scoping out the parade of early diners passing by while enjoying cocktails!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[bchrien]

We asked our waiter during the 1/3/17 crossing which seating was more popular. Georgiana told us that the late seating was more popular, at least on that crossing.

[Bostonjetset]

We always do late seating on any ship where dining times are assigned but I find it especially critical on QM2 [and I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this yet haha] due to the non-stop food-fest that a transatlantic crossing so often becomes. If you finish afternoon tea at 4, who wants to rush to dinner at 6? Late seating gives a nice break between meals and allows for some nice socializing time in one of the lounges between 5-6 before getting dressed for the evening.

[tv24]

As Astro wrote, the Royal Theater shows are times to work with both Britannia seatings, so you won't miss a show. Also the jazz performances in the Chart Room are rather late, so a late dinner won't conflict with those. The schedule for the movies in the Planetarium will allow you to eat late and still see the movie. We always eat late and it works just fine. We don't miss a thing.

[Carnevale]

What about the balls? How are they timed? Do those at the late seating miss the 1st part of them?

[northcoastcat]

If you will be traveling from New York to Southampton, don't forget that you will lose an hour each afternoon. This really reduces the time between lunch and the early seating for dinner.