Early vs Late Dining?

[nyletak]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm going on Symphony of the Seas in May and the set dining options are 6pm or 830pm. I don't think we want to bother with my time dining. But I don't know which dining time is better. Looking for some advice from experienced cruisers. It's a Mediterranean cruise and I think 6pm may be too early as we're at some ports pretty late and I don't want to be rushing back for dinner. I'm leaning more towards the 830pm time but I've looked at some cruise compasses (from 2018 mind you) and it looks like they have fun stuff activities going on at that time such as family feud or other games. I know they schedule the actual shows around both early and late dining but I'm worried we would miss the fun games that go on around that time (it didn't look like they did those activities any earlier, usually around 8-9pm).

 

Some pros and cons I've thought of:

 

Early pros:

-get dinner out of the way and can do whatever you want for the whole night

-could go to buffet after dinner if you're still hungry

 

Early cons:

-more kids likely to be at this time

-may have to rush to make this dinner after getting back on the ship

-may miss the boat leaving the port which is fun to watch

-will be missing the last hours of sunlight on the cruise as it's in May and sun probably sets around 830

 

Late pros:

-less kids at this time

-get to watch the ship set sail 

-get more daylight on the deck of the ship

 

Late cons:

-may miss fun activities going on that night

-may be hungry and ruin dinner by going to buffet or eating snacks prior

-will have to go to late shows even if tired from the day, or miss them altogether

 

HELP ME lol I think the main issue is I'm worried we'll miss some activities going on at night if we choose the late dining option. Any experiences with this? Thank youuuuu!

Edited February 27, 2023 by nyletak

[taglovestocruise]

25 minutes ago, nyletak said:

Hi everyone,

 

I'm going on Symphony of the Seas in May and the set dining options are 6pm or 830pm. I don't think we want to bother with my time dining. But I don't know which dining time is better. Looking for some advice from experienced cruisers. It's a Mediterranean cruise and I think 6pm may be too early as we're at some ports pretty late and I don't want to be rushing back for dinner. I'm leaning more towards the 830pm time but I've looked at some cruise compasses (from 2018 mind you) and it looks like they have fun stuff activities going on at that time such as family feud or other games. I know they schedule the actual shows around both early and late dining but I'm worried we would miss the fun games that go on around that time (it didn't look like they did those activities any earlier, usually around 8-9pm).

 

Some pros and cons I've thought of:

 

Early pros:

-get dinner out of the way and can do whatever you want for the whole night

-could go to buffet after dinner if you're still hungry

 

Early cons:

-more kids likely to be at this time

-may have to rush to make this dinner after getting back on the ship

-may miss the boat leaving the port which is fun to watch

-will be missing the last hours of sunlight on the cruise as it's in May and sun probably sets around 830

 

Late pros:

-less kids at this time

-get to watch the ship set sail 

-get more daylight on the deck of the ship

 

Late cons:

-may miss fun activities going on that night

-may be hungry and ruin dinner by going to buffet or eating snacks prior

-will have to go to late shows even if tired from the day, or miss them altogether

 

HELP ME lol I think the main issue is I'm worried we'll miss some activities going on at night if we choose the late dining option. Any experiences with this? Thank youuuuu!

We have been on 5 Oasis Class sailings, Symphony is our Favorite. Always a late dinner, aways a large table, always a pre request for a table near the balcony railing. We have never missed a show.  Booking shows should be in the cruise planner 30 days before sail date and you will be able to see all show times. happy cruising. PS, I usually get appetizers in the DL around 6 or hit Sorrento's for a few slices of pizza, never ruined my dinner.  Another PS. some shows are done during the afternoon, and be sure to hit JR for a free breakfast at least once. If this is your first Oasis Class a little tip, head to Park Cafe or the Bistro for embarkation day lunch.. WJ is a zoo.

Edited February 27, 2023 by taglovestocruise

[nyletak]

5 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

We have been on 5 Oasis Class sailings, Symphony is our Favorite. Always a late dinner, aways a large table, always a pre request for a table near the balcony railing. We have never missed a show.  Booking shows should be in the cruise planner 30 days before sail date and you will be able to see all show times. happy cruising. PS, I usually get appetizers in the DL around 6 or hit Sorrento's for a few slices of pizza, never ruined my dinner. 

Thank you for this. I'm not so much concerned about missing shows as I know they plan them around the dining time, but I'm worried about missing night activities (for example family feud, some other game show or any other fun activity that's going on during dinner around 8-9pm). Did you find you missed out on those activities? Maybe you didn't care to see them anyways, but I think they sound fun!

[taglovestocruise]

16 minutes ago, nyletak said:

Thank you for this. I'm not so much concerned about missing shows as I know they plan them around the dining time, but I'm worried about missing night activities (for example family feud, some other game show or any other fun activity that's going on during dinner around 8-9pm). Did you find you missed out on those activities? Maybe you didn't care to see them anyways, but I think they sound fun!

Not sure what time it was but we did see the Love and Marriage show. Also sat in on Karaoke a few nights as well as listening to the singer in the Pub. 

[bonsai3s]

JMHO...if this is your first trip to Europe/Med, you will have fond and truly memorable memories of all your shore excursions...and the fun stuff onboard will be nothing but faint memories.

 

 

[Rubyfisch]

I'm a late traditional sort of person, and there are a handful of activities you do end up missing, but all-in-all, I think it is still the best option for me. And you can get to some or all of some of the activities, and if there is one you are dying to go to, go to Windjammer (or one of the other options) that night.

[clairebearinaus]

I couldn't decide either - early was too early, late was too late.  We chose My Time Dining and then went online to book for 7.30 every night, before we boarded.

[Cruise5life]

830 is just too late for both early and late shows.  You’re always running to get to a show or dinner.    
I always do early.   Usually shows are 730 and 930.  
so not being rushed to eat and make shows.   
 

 

[Ashland]

MTD isn't a bother at all. It's the most flexible option. We prefer to opt for this, but actually mostly if not always dine in the WJ. Why be committed to a certain time with a port intensive itinerary. Relax and take things as they come.

[gmerick]

Pick MTD -- if you like your "My Time" can be as late as the Late MDR.  I've not found a "can't miss" fun and games show on RCCL.  If I'm in need of that kind of entertainment I'll show up, take as much as I can stand, then leave.  The Early MDR has too much drama, waiters too busy.  The general type of folks in Early are the same ones that towel the Solarium at 5AM, stand in line at the departure sally, push in front at WJ, elevators, theater entrances.  Oh, and the Early seating has the kids table.  I scheduled 7:30 MTD every evening, and rescheduled frequently for late port call, tribute band at the wrong time, or Flowrider under the stars.

[AbeFroman2]

Just off Symphony. If booking my time dining just be sure to not screw it up as I did! I’m still not exactly sure what happened. I thought we had 5:30 selected. However our cruise documentation clearly shows we were on the 5:30 wait list. Not a huge deal, though. We showed up at 5ish every night besides the two we ate in WindJammer (recommend doing this at least once!) and were seated by or before 5:30 every time and out by 7 or a little after if we needed to be for a show, no problem. 

[NO_Member_Name]

We always go for the early seating. There's no particular reason. It's just our personal preference. 

[BirdTravels]

7 hours ago, nyletak said:

HELP ME lol I think the main issue is I'm worried we'll miss some activities going on at night if we choose the late dining option. Any experiences with this? Thank youuuuu!

We always book MTD on big ships because they schedule entertainment at all times. It is nice to be able to be able to go to the shows and not worry about missing dinner, or making pizza at Sorentos our evening meal. The approach of early/late dining is inconsistent with the way they run entertainment. 

[fishiecrackers]

We are also doing a Mediterranean cruise with our kids (teens) this summer, and we chose later because I don't want to rush back from the ports. Many nights we are in port until 8pm so I feel like we're just going to be absolutely eating our way through Europe and it'll take a bit to actually be hungry for dinner - haha. 

[Spurschick]

Med sailings MTD for sure. There will be days you do excursions and just want to go to windjammer. Then the waiters are not getting offended thinking they have done something wrong when they haven’t. 
 

trust me if you don’t turn up for dinner they get concerned unnecessarily. 
 

I agree early on med cruises is rushed but no harm in mtd.

[sgmn]

8 hours ago, clairebearinaus said:

I couldn't decide either - early was too early, late was too late.  We chose My Time Dining and then went online to book for 7.30 every night, before we boarded.

Probably for a May cruise all the prime slots are booked now 

[Sunshine3601]

For a port intensive med cruise I would pick late diner and enjoy the ports as long as you can.   You will most likely be tired after long port days.   

On days you may return to the ship early then grab diner at the buffet, solarium bistro, El loco or one of the other pay places such as playmakers then attend your game shows, etc.

Don't overthink it, go with the flow and enjoy a beautiful vacation.

 

[BigKFamily]

For us, we've always chosen the later dining time.  Our reasoning is, we always take advantage of going ashore, and we don't want to be rushed for dinner.  Even on sailing days, we want to shower off all the chlorine and sunscreen before dinner and don't want to be rushed.  If there's a show we want to see before dinner, we keep that in mind.

[queenfrostine22]

We always choose early. I like the idea of digesting dinner before a long night of drinking. 

We also do not like to miss the earlier activities like trivia & live music.

If we have a lull between evening activities we usually find a spot at one of the bars and just hangout, talk and wait. 

[SF Cfan]

On our Southern Carib cruise this past Dec on Vision we were late seating for dinner.  Some evenings our main show was before dinner instead of after.  Don't know if this is common across other itineraries.