What time do main dining rooms normally stop serving?

[oleb84]

We are debating whether the Aurora upgrade is worth it for us. We don't use spa and aren't bothered about an exclusive area but we do tend to eat late - especially with kids in tow. 

 

Are night tends to be; kids eat at 5, drop them off at kids club at 6, go back to cabin to get changed then head out for a couple of drinks, then head to the 830 show then head straight to dinner and then either a nightcap and then pick up kids or go straight to pick up kids. 

We find it's the only way we can fit everything we want to do in as service is much slower at peak times in the school holidays.

 

Booked dining is either 5:30-? Or 7:45. These won't work for us. We're happy to pay the extra but only if main dining room serves until 10pm. 

[Aeroplex]

It's definetely not worth it, if you don't use the Spa & Welness. You can friendly ask the Maitre to change your seating time to late. 

 

- The chocolate strawberry + prosecco worth 20-30 USD

- The Aurea Balcony Cabins are equivalent to those of the highest Deluxe Balcony Cabins

 

 

Edited October 30, 2022 by Aeroplex

[oleb84]

33 minutes ago, Aeroplex said:

It's definetely not worth it, if you don't use the Spa & Welness. You can friendly ask the Maitre to change your seating time to late. 

 

- The chocolate strawberry + prosecco worth 20-30 USD

- The Aurea Balcony Cabins are equivalent to those of the highest Deluxe Balcony Cabins

 

 

We'll be looking to sit down to eat at about 930/945 though, that's the concern. Eating any earlier than that and we'll miss the show as we can't go to the later one because of the kids.  🤔

[mawvkysc]

You might find this interesting. I haven’t cruised with MSC yet, but below is a screenshot of a schedule for a mid Oct. 2022 sailing on Meraviglia. I would think the times vary by occupancy numbers, sailing and ship. 

Edited October 30, 2022 by mawvkysc

[Nunagoras]

5 hours ago, oleb84 said:

We are debating whether the Aurora upgrade is worth it for us. We don't use spa and aren't bothered about an exclusive area but we do tend to eat late - especially with kids in tow. - As said above; no really added value to the usually overpriced Aurea fares.

 

Are night tends to be; kids eat at 5, drop them off at kids club at 6, go back to cabin to get changed then head out for a couple of drinks, then head to the 830 show then head straight to dinner and then either a nightcap and then pick up kids or go straight to pick up kids. 

We find it's the only way we can fit everything we want to do in as service is much slower at peak times in the school holidays. - MSC does 3 shows on the most recent ships. It's just a question to play with the show times. Shows on MSC are typically 35-45 minute ones, not full production shows, though. Take that in consideration.

 

Booked dining is either 5:30-? Or 7:45. These won't work for us. We're happy to pay the extra but only if main dining room serves until 10pm. - mawvkysc has given a quite reasonable schedule for a big MSC ship. Bear in mind that they'll allow you a 15 minute window to arrive at each turn; for example an 8:30PM time slot will allow you to come by 8:45.

And have a nice day!...

[oleb84]

9 hours ago, mawvkysc said:

You might find this interesting. I haven’t cruised with MSC yet, but below is a screenshot of a schedule for a mid Oct. 2022 sailing on Meraviglia. I would think the times vary by occupancy numbers, sailing and ship. 

 

Very helpful, thank you! Interesting that Waves restaurant has a 10pm sitting but that's not available to book online. 

 

6 hours ago, Nunagoras said:

And have a nice day!...

 

Thanks for the detailed answers to my questions. I'm still a little lost though. We would drop the kids off at 6ish and then pick them up at 10ish - they're only young so we wouldn't want to leave them later. Which doesn't leave room for seeing a show and eating dinner if service in the dining room is slow. Hence why we try to see the show first and then go to dinner. That may not be possible unless we have the anytime dining option it seems. 

[blueslily]

23 minutes ago, oleb84 said:

 

Very helpful, thank you! Interesting that Waves restaurant has a 10pm sitting but that's not available to book online. 

 

 

Thanks for the detailed answers to my questions. I'm still a little lost though. We would drop the kids off at 6ish and then pick them up at 10ish - they're only young so we wouldn't want to leave them later. Which doesn't leave room for seeing a show and eating dinner if service in the dining room is slow. Hence why we try to see the show first and then go to dinner. That may not be possible unless we have the anytime dining option it seems. 

 

I've usually been able to alert MDR staff that I have a show to attend and they speed up the service. I dont have the show times in front of me, but I'm wondering if you ask for faster service, could you indeed go to dinner first, a show, a little relaxing, and then pick up the kids. That's just my thought, but I'm not looking at show times right now. Plus, another good thin is that the shows are not as long in duration on MSC. 

[CruisingFox27]

11 hours ago, oleb84 said:

We'll be looking to sit down to eat at about 930/945 though, that's the concern. Eating any earlier than that and we'll miss the show as we can't go to the later one because of the kids.  🤔

The Aurea dining is only until 9.30pm. The MSC shows are mostly about 45 minutes, if that helps with your timings. 

[HipHipOnAShip]

Really depends on ship and sailing and passenger count.

[mawvkysc]

16 hours ago, oleb84 said:

 

Very helpful, thank you! Interesting that Waves restaurant has a 10pm sitting but that's not available to book online. 

 

I think you are just booking  Early or Late as your general preference. If your sailing has several late seatings you can hopefully talk to the maître’d on the first day and switch to your most preferred. ( Maybe the 3rd seating can be requested when booking on MSC European websites)

The shows on the sailing that I posted the schedule for were at 7:30, 9:00 and 10:30. (That was a sailing at full capacity on Meraviglia)

As an option, with the money you save by not booking Aurea  you could buy a specialty dining package. 

Edited October 31, 2022 by mawvkysc

[perakcruiser]

On 10/30/2022 at 11:04 AM, oleb84 said:

drop them off at kids club at 6

Maybe at 6 the kids club is closed. 

[oleb84]

6 hours ago, mawvkysc said:

I think you are just booking  Early or Late as your general preference. If your sailing has several late seatings you can hopefully talk to the maître’d on the first day and switch to your most preferred. ( Maybe the 3rd seating can be requested when booking on MSC European websites)

The shows on the sailing that I posted the schedule for were at 7:30, 9:00 and 10:30. (That was a sailing at full capacity on Meraviglia)

As an option, with the money you save by not booking Aurea  you could buy a specialty dining package. 

 

I like this thinking of the premium package! We may have a winning solution here, thanks!

 

5 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

Maybe at 6 the kids club is closed. 

 

True. I may have read somewhere the kids club opens at 7. I'm just going by my experience with P&O.