Early Dining

[Ljp2040]

Hey Carnival cruisers! I don’t eat in the formal dining often but when I do I enjoy it. We have had the Your Time Dining in the past but this time we have Early Dining. How early should I get there so I have no wait for the Early Dining?

[skrufy]

Theres no wait as soon as the doors open to the dining room everyone enters. If you want to be in the front of the line I would say at least a 1/2 hour before the doors open.

[fdwt994]

We usually wait about 5 minutes AFTER the dining time and walk right to our table with no wait.  By then, the line has cleared.  I really don't see the advantage of standing in line...for the doors to open.  Once you arrive at your table, there's usually no wait for service to begin anyway.  

[1025cruise]

You show up at the assigned time. Showing up more than 15 minutes later is considered rude.

[Essiesmom]

Your Sail & Sign card will list your dining room, time and table number.  There will be a long line outside when the doors open the first night because noone knows where their table is, and a waiter will escort you to it.  Still somewhat of a line the second night, because a lot of folks will not have made it to the MDR the first night for early seating.  After that, the line will be minimal and move fast.  EM

[DukeASUGirl]

I just show up at the assigned time or maybe 5 minutes late, and never have a wait. You really only need to stand in a line on the first night anyway, and it goes fast. After that you can just walk straight to your table.

[RWolver672]

We just got off the Horizon and had early dining.  We would show up about five minutes before 6 and the doors were already open and there were a lot of people already seated.  This is the first cruise where the doors were open that early.  

 

What we usually do is on the first day, we go to the assigned dining room and see if we can find our table.  Sometimes they already have the tables numbered.  That way, we don't have to wait for a waiter to show us where our table is when we come to dinner the first night.

[okgirl]

On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 11:34 AM, Essiesmom said:

Your Sail & Sign card will list your dining room, time and table number.  There will be a long line outside when the doors open the first night because noone knows where their table is, and a waiter will escort you to it.  Still somewhat of a line the second night, because a lot of folks will not have made it to the MDR the first night for early seating.  After that, the line will be minimal and move fast.  EM

 

I don't wait in line after the first night.  I just go directly to my table.  If others need to have the MD assist them to their table then they need to stand in line.

[jayscore]

On 3/16/2019 at 10:58 AM, 1025cruise said:

You show up at the assigned time. Showing up more than 15 minutes later is considered rude.

 I second that!

It used to be, if you showed up too late, the MDR doors would be closed.

The servers have a tough time as it is, and constantly  tardy guests mess it up for other diners in their stations.

[LPYRCRUISER]

That's the part of assigned dining I like the best!  No waiting - just walk in at 6 and your table is ready for you!  Not to hijack, but does anyone know which dining room they use for assigned seating for Magic?  I saw that there are 2 dining rooms, one mid ship and the other aft.  We much prefer the mid ship dining room.  I hope that's where our table will be.  Is that something I could email the maitre'd about?

[Kudos2Fly]

We have never had to wait longer then maybe 5-10 minutes. Normally on first night and some "formal" nights. But normally just walk right in and find your table. We do early dinning most of the time. Only have done Your own dining time and sometimes will wait then...

 

 

[SRQbeachgirl]

11 hours ago, LPYRCRUISER said:

That's the part of assigned dining I like the best!  No waiting - just walk in at 6 and your table is ready for you!  Not to hijack, but does anyone know which dining room they use for assigned seating for Magic?  I saw that there are 2 dining rooms, one mid ship and the other aft.  We much prefer the mid ship dining room.  I hope that's where our table will be.  Is that something I could email the maitre'd about?

 

We were on Magic last July and the mid-ship dining room was YTD.

[PlanoDebbie]

To avoid long lines, we go to the MDR about 2 to 5 minutes AFTER start time.  By then you just walk in.  On the first night, they will want to take you to your table so that you know where to go for the rest of your cruise.

[LPYRCRUISER]

On ‎3‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 9:54 PM, SRQbeachgirl said:

 

We were on Magic last July and the mid-ship dining room was YTD.

bump.  any recent Magic cruisers  -  Are there any assigned seating tables in the mid ship dining room?  Is that exclusively for YTD?  TIA

[dmdiver]

There is no wait once you know where your table is located.  We would get to the dining room just before 6pm.  You sit at the same table at the same time, so the table is already reserved & ready for you.