What do you think the ideal time for dinner is on HAL?

[cruzin4us]

I know this is very subjective and it depends on if you are in port, etc., but thought some of you may have some good suggestions for us since we are eating in the Specialty Dining venues the entire cruise.

 

We need to come up with a set time since there is no anytime dining available in these venues and I need to book the times in advance.  

 

My thoughts are this:   

1.  If we eat too early, we probably won't be too hungry if we go to tea, or have a Dive Burger for lunch.

2.  If we eat too late, we miss the shows, night life.

 

Trying to come up with a happy medium, but thought some of you may have some good ideas/thoughts?

[rucrazy]

I would shoot for 7:30pm  

[RuthC]

The late show is at 10:00 PM, so there's little fear of missing the show.

I like 7:00 PM for specialty dining, but will also go at 7:30, or 6:30 (in that order), if I really want to go that night.
7:00 PM allows time for returning to the ship, relaxing a while, shower and change, and still have time for a cocktail, before heading to the restaurant.
Yet, I am out in plenty of time to enjoy some entertainment, or perhaps shop or hit the casino, before going to the show.

[kazu]

Traditionally, we do our specialty dining at either 7 pm or 6:30 pm depending on availability and what those we may be dining with may prefer.

 

Either time works well for us.  If we are in port, then the 7 pm is usually better but otherwise, they both work well for us.

[taxmantoo]

We always do Main Seating (Fixed Late) and tend to book Specialty Dining at the same time whether that is 7:45, 8:00 or 8:15 on the particular ship we are on.  We do take our time to eat and have never missed a show we wanted to see,  If we REALLY do not want to miss the show, we simply inform our waiters when sitting down.

[CrusinAgain]

Just keep in mind the shows are at 8 and 10 pm on all the HAL ships we have been on, except the Konsingdam where the dancers were 8 and 10 pm and the guest performers such as comedians, majician, etc were at 6:30, 8, and 9:30 pm.  The 8 pm shows one needs to get there at least 30 minutes early to get a seat together in a good spot, but the late shows were not packed so we always went to late show.  The casino would be crowded as well after each show so we would go back to the cabin and go back to casino close to midnight.  We ate between 7 pm and 7:30.

[cruzin4us]

Thanks everyone for quick responses.   My gut was telling me 7:00 but then I started second guessing myself.   I hate to eat too late cuz that going to be heartburn thing makes for a miserable nights sleep.  

 

 

[portofrome]

I do for the special restaurants at 08:00/08:30 and the main restaurantat 07:30.

[cruzin4us]

15 minutes ago, taxmantoo said:

We always do Main Seating (Fixed Late) and tend to book Specialty Dining at the same time whether that is 7:45, 8:00 or 8:15 on the particular ship we are on.  We do take our time to eat and have never missed a show we wanted to see,  If we REALLY do not want to miss the show, we simply inform our waiters when sitting down.

 

We're like you, we like to take our time eating and not feel like we have to rush to get to a show.   Now that I know the 2nd show starts at 10:00, we will have plenty of time if we make our reservations for 7:00.

[Himself]

I like 5:15 PM or 5:30 PM

[ScottC4746]

2 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

I know this is very subjective and it depends on if you are in port, etc., but thought some of you may have some good suggestions for us since we are eating in the Specialty Dining venues the entire cruise.

 

We need to come up with a set time since there is no anytime dining available in these venues and I need to book the times in advance.  

 

My thoughts are this:   

1.  If we eat too early, we probably won't be too hungry if we go to tea, or have a Dive Burger for lunch.

2.  If we eat too late, we miss the shows, night life.

 

Trying to come up with a happy medium, but thought some of you may have some good ideas/thoughts?

That is our problem too.  Early seating by 9 PM we are hungry, late seating by 6:00 we are chewing on the furniture we are so hungry.  We are doing anytime dining this time for my first time to see how it works.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are early dining people and like 5:30.

 

But in your situation, I would choose 7 -- plenty of time to eat and get to the late show.  With this time slot you can take your time eating the various courses.

[VMax1700]

Just be aware that contrary to postings above, on Koningsdam shows on mainstage are 7pm and 9pm at the moment

[cruzin4us]

11 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Just be aware that contrary to postings above, on Koningsdam shows on mainstage are 7pm and 9pm at the moment

 

Interesting.....we are on NA.    Does anyone know the show schedule?

[kazu]

N Amsterdam should be the standard that people have been quoting.  8 and 10

[CrusinAgain]

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

Just be aware that contrary to postings above, on Koningsdam shows on mainstage are 7pm and 9pm at the moment

 

Really we just got off last week and they changed?

[Shebba]

We normally eat around 7pm at home, so we tend to stick close to that while on a cruise. Generally, we'll set out reservations for 7:30-8:00 as it seems a bit less hectic at that time. Good luck and bon appetit!!

Edited April 3, 2019 by Shebba

[Copper10-8]

7:30 to 8:00 PM

[TrolleyGirl]

20 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

But in your situation, I would choose 7 -- plenty of time to eat and get to the late show.  With this time slot you can take your time eating the various courses

 

Unless you like to play evening trivia.  If memory serves me correctly, trivia is at 7pm.