Discovery Princess - Best time for dinner

[Momma Rene]

We will be sailing on the Discovery Princess.  We enjoy having dinner and then going to see a show.  I understand that there are long wait times for dinner to be served.  What is the best time to book dinner so that service is prompt?  Just trying to make the experience good for a group of six.

[sirclean]

I tend to make the reservations for 5 so that there is time to get seats for the first show.  However, if that is too early, or you are able or willing to see the second show then 630 may still get you to the (second) show in time. 

Dinner can take 2 hours.

It can be faster if you skip desert or if you have a table for 2.

If you have others with you, then the time can be longer if the table mates are later or dawdle. 

[Sail away MK]

Make sure you tell your wait staff that you want to get out with time to see the show and remember to arrive at the show around 30 minutes early

 

[billco]

2 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

We will be sailing on the Discovery Princess.  We enjoy having dinner and then going to see a show.  I understand that there are long wait times for dinner to be served.  What is the best time to book dinner so that service is prompt?  Just trying to make the experience good for a group of six.

We are a party of two who recently sailed 5 B2B cruises on the Discovery (30 days). We had a DMW reservation for a table for two on the Medallion App for 5:00 every evening. On the first night we decided we liked our servers, so asked if we could dine at the same table every night. For the rest of the cruise we could bypass the lines and go directly to our table. Thus, time to get to an event was never a factor, unless it was an early event like sailaway.

[jeromep]

2 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

We will be sailing on the Discovery Princess.  We enjoy having dinner and then going to see a show.  I understand that there are long wait times for dinner to be served.  What is the best time to book dinner so that service is prompt?  Just trying to make the experience good for a group of six.

Good question.  I think that @sirclean suggestion is very good, and if you are a small party and like your servers on the first night @billco suggestion is also excellent.

 

I'd like to add that the type of cruise you are on, and the type of cruiser you are with, has a lot of impact on dining room flow.  If the cruise is Alaska you are going to have a lot of early diners, mostly because a number of the ports are early morning stops and excursions start about as soon as the ship ties up.  So, you'll find a lot of folks that are early to bed and are doing their best to get a meal and see a show before it gets too late.

 

If your cruise is more laid back, Mexican Riviera or California Coastal, you'll have a bit less demand for the earliest dining room seating as the crowd on board is probably a bit more laid back, in more of a relaxation vacation vibe and there is probably a bit less pressure to be up early and off the ship first.  So folks will space out their dining a bit more as there may not be anything pressing to do the next morning.

 

Oh, and remember, there are 3 dining rooms on board.  Two off the Piazza and one at the aft that is only accessible from the aft stairs.  If you haven't made reservations and the dining rooms off the Piazza are busy or have lines, check the aft dining room that is below the Vista Lounge.  It might not be all that busy.

[tonit964]

1 hour ago, billco said:

We are a party of two who recently sailed 5 B2B cruises on the Discovery (30 days). We had a DMW reservation for a table for two on the Medallion App for 5:00 every evening. On the first night we decided we liked our servers, so asked if we could dine at the same table every night. For the rest of the cruise we could bypass the lines and go directly to our table. Thus, time to get to an event was never a factor, unless it was an early event like sailaway.

This was my exact experience on the Discovery in November.

So nice to just bypass the line.

[stevenr597]

We book Club Class.  This has enabled us to have a "happy hour" then go to a show, then eat dinner.   

[Thrak]

On our last two cruises (and on the 4 we currently have booked) we chose 5:40 PM dining. We have found that it's "late enough" to eat and we can still make it to the early show if we like. It has worked out well for us the last two cruises and we think it will work out on the future cruises.

[jeromep]

34 minutes ago, stevenr597 said:

We book Club Class.  This has enabled us to have a "happy hour" then go to a show, then eat dinner.   

I really like Club Class.  Makes the evening so much more enjoyable.

[trbarton]

7 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

We will be sailing on the Discovery Princess.  We enjoy having dinner and then going to see a show.  I understand that there are long wait times for dinner to be served.  What is the best time to book dinner so that service is prompt?  Just trying to make the experience good for a group of six.

I always go to the 1st seating, 5 pm. If necessary I tell the staff that I need to leave early to see the show when I give them my order. Having a table for 2 might speed things up. 
 

I like going to the 1st show so I have the rest of the evening to do whatever I want. 
 

Tom😀

[KLM3164]

7 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

What is the best time to book dinner so that service is prompt?

5:00 pm for a party of 6.

[billco]

3 hours ago, tonit964 said:

This was my exact experience on the Discovery in November.

So nice to just bypass the line.

We have a cruise coming up on the Sapphire with two other couples. Hope to apply it to a table of six.

[ColoradoMom!!]

On the very full March 18-25th Mexican Riviera, we booked table for 2 at 6pm in Skagway. We showed up at 5:50 or so and had no wait. Making the 7:30 show with ease. Wish we had gone back up to the Hostess to keep a table and by pass the line. Didn’t realize that was an option. 

Also, we booked on the App early, and there was availability every 20 minutes or so. I don’t think Discovery uses the early ( first) or late or anytime model???

Edited April 7, 2023 by ColoradoMom!!

[tonit964]

12 minutes ago, billco said:

We have a cruise coming up on the Sapphire with two other couples. Hope to apply it to a table of six.

I was on the Sapphire in September with 2 other people and it was the same experience. We liked our wait staff, spoke to them at the front desk and were all set for the remainder of our 10 day cruise, we could bypass the line and go straight to our table.

Have a great time, the Sapphire is a beautiful ship.

[Momma Rene]

15 hours ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

On the very full March 18-25th Mexican Riviera, we booked table for 2 at 6pm in Skagway. We showed up at 5:50 or so and had no wait. Making the 7:30 show with ease. Wish we had gone back up to the Hostess to keep a table and by pass the line. Didn’t realize that was an option. 

Also, we booked on the App early, and there was availability every 20 minutes or so. I don’t think Discovery uses the early ( first) or late or anytime model???

We are on the Discovery going to Alaska.  We booked the Skagway dining room for 7 pm so that we could do the 9?? pm show.  I'm thinking we should get there at 6:45 pm.  Did you notice long lines around that time?

[startedwithamouse]

13 minutes ago, Momma Rene said:

We are on the Discovery going to Alaska.  We booked the Skagway dining room for 7 pm so that we could do the 9?? pm show.  I'm thinking we should get there at 6:45 pm.  Did you notice long lines around that time?

If the ship is full, you're going to be waiting for a table, and possibly a long time for food. Can you go to the early show and have dinner after?  No wait for dinner, and your food will be out quickly.

[voljeep]

9 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

If the ship is full, you're going to be waiting for a table, and possibly a long time for food. Can you go to the early show and have dinner after?  No wait for dinner, and your food will be out quickly.

on a 100%+ capacity on CB over Thanksgiving - mdr was 2 hours, minimum on the 2 nights we ate there - at a 2 top

[startedwithamouse]

4 minutes ago, voljeep said:

on a 100%+ capacity on CB over Thanksgiving - mdr was 2 hours, minimum on the 2 nights we ate there - at a 2 top

Did you eat at 8:30pm?

[voljeep]

6 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Did you eat at 8:30pm?

5:30

[pathi]

I have always had good luck with telling the servers I need to be at a show at X time. They increase the pace of the dinner to get us out in time. Reducing the numbers of courses you order can speed things up also. Main only will get you out very quickly.

Then dessert at the IC or Buffet after show. 🙂

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, pathi said:

I have always had good luck with telling the servers I need to be at a show at X time. They increase the pace of the dinner to get us out in time. Reducing the numbers of courses you order can speed things up also. Main only will get you out very quickly.

Then dessert at the IC or Buffet after show. 🙂

 

You can always return to MDR later for dessert only if you like. A number of folks on these boards do that. There is no restriction on going to MDR more than once per evening.