Alaska Cruise - Early or Late Dining Room Seating?

[Buckeyefan1]

We're going on the Mercury to Alaska in July. We're scheduled right now at the late seating for dinner. On my last cruise several nights I felt rushed to get ready for dinner - wished I could have just taken a nap!

 

But, 8:30 is late to eat...In addition, my 8 year old son will be with us. I was thinking we could eat a late afternoon snack to tide us over till dinner.

 

What is your dining preference? With the shore excursions and late departures from the ports, I think the early dinner would be inconvenient.

 

Advice from experienced cruisers would be most appreciated!

[cruisePRN]

I did Alaska last year and preferred late seating for all the reasons you already listed. I didn't have an 8 year old so it may be different. Will your child be able to cope finishing dinner at 10PM? Alaska is an older crowd then the Caribbean if that makes any difference. Are you doing a land package with the cruise?

[masterbaker]

When we cruised Alaska in September (Infinity) we found that we preferred to eat in the alternative casual dining. Great views from our windowside seats and attentive service from our waiter and head waiter. The tables are set with table cloths, flowers and dishes and you order off a menu just like the dining room. Choice of fresh hot off the grill steaks and fish or chicken every night along with several other choices that were also being offered in the main dining room. Reservations are required and there was a $2 pp gratuity. We especially enjoyed the beautiful views and sunsets and being able to change our dining times to whatever we wanted each day.

[frchteaze]

You should factor in the time difference when considering early vs. late seating. If you're on the east coast eating at 6:30pm will feel like you're eating at 9:30 or 10:30 pm, depending which port you're in. You can calculate the time difference for eating at 8pm. :eek:

 

Also, Mercury only has one late port stop (where you can get off the ship). The others leave port at 3:00, which means you'll actually be back on by 2:30 more than likely. Plenty of time to make early seating.

 

I know the Mercury cruise I'm on is waitlisted for early seating, whereas usually it's the opposite.

[ChoirMom]

We utilized late seating last summer on the Summit on our Alaskan cruise and it worked out very well for us. My children were a little bit older than your's, at 10 and 13. We may also have had some longer in port stays, but we enjoyed not having to rush back to the ship to change for dinner. We found that a late afternoon snack did the trick to keeping the kids happy until dinner. Also, I think our internal clocks were affected by the long, long Alaskan summer days....

 

The only disadvantage that we experienced was that the children's program assumes that you will have the early dinner seating, and evening activities for the childrens' programs conflict with the later seating. It wasn't that much of a problem for us, because we enjoy having the children with us at dinner and we wanted them to try new things to eat. Consequently we didn't do the family feud activity or family talent show activity - but on the couple of occasions that my daughter wanted to join the evening kid's activities, we just fed her early with pasta. There are lots of choices for earlier dining, between room service, the pizza and pasta choices and of course, sushi.

 

By the way, although I had read criticisms on these boards about Celebrity's chocolate chip cookies (more European style, rather than the American mall gooey versions), my kids absolutely loved them!:) After the kids tried them on our second night out, we requested them from our cabin steward every night, together with milk, as a pre-bedtime snack for both kids.

[Happy ks]

We had the early seating on our Alaska cruise, due to some health reasons for others in our party. It was a drag to have to leave what we were enjoying so early in the day to get ready for dinner. Even when our kids were as young as 6, we still preferred the later seating.

 

8:30 is late, but you do have to remember there is daylight till almost midnight in Alaska that time of the year. You can take an afternoon nap and be refreshed for the evening. You can have your child eat earlier at the buffet and then go to the kids club. You can forego the dining room on some evenings and eat at the buffet yourself. There are plenty of alternatives.

 

I feel as if we lost a major portion of our cruise having to stop and get ready for a 6:15 dinner every night. We would be tired from all the days' activities, no rest before dinner, after dinner we were always ready to call it a night by 9 - 9:30pm.

[flashdog_1]

Another thing to consider is what time you plan to get off the ship in the mornings. If you are packing in two excursions in a day, starting off at 8 a.m., it means you have to be up and dressed and having eaten before that. With late seating you will have to go straight to bed after dinner or not get enough rest for your excursions. Of course your adrenalin will be pushing you due to the excitement of the new experiences in Alaska, but you may get worn out after a few days.

 

I found that I could get a spa appointment (in order to alleviate some of the stress) during the early seating and be ready for late seating. However, one time I had the frangipanni scalp massage and could not get it out of my hair after repeated washings, so ate in the cabin.

 

There are lots of things to consider, but whatever you decide, know you cannot possibly starve on a cruise!

[flashdog_1]

Another thing to consider is what time you plan to get off the ship in the mornings. If you are packing in two excursions in a day, starting off at 8 a.m., it means you have to be up and dressed and having eaten before that. With late seating you will have to go straight to bed after dinner or not get enough rest for your excursions. Of course your adrenalin will be pushing you due to the excitement of the new experiences in Alaska, but you may get worn out after a few days. Some afternoon excursions will not get you back to the ship in time for early seating on some cruises (but apparently not on your if the ship is leaving by 3 p.m. each day). I add this for people reading the post who may be considering Alaska on a different ship.

 

I found that I could get a spa appointment (in order to alleviate some of the stress) during the early seating and be ready for late seating. However, one time I had the frangipanni scalp massage and could not get it out of my hair after repeated washings, so ate in the cabin.

 

There are lots of things to consider, but whatever you decide, know you cannot possibly starve on a cruise!

[lcky1414]

Can you tell me if there is an alternative casual dining on the Summit, where is it located?? Also is the buffet open every night for dinner??

[Lsimon]

Can you tell me if there is an alternative casual dining on the Summit, where is it located?? Also is the buffet open every night for dinner??

 

On Summit the alternative dining is in the cafe/buffet seating area. It is table service and must be reserved ahead of time. There is a nominal $2 charge and the menu is a little more limited than the dining room, not sure if it is the same as every night or not. Other evening options include a Sushi bar, pizza (including slices and made to order small pizza's), pasta bar, and salads - all in the cafe area as well. I believe the aqua spa cafe is also open part of the evening serving some healthy cold dishes and a hot, made to order, dish as well. You can also get anything on the dinner menu delivered to your room during the hours the dining room is open. If you are in a suite your butler will serve it in courses, if you are not in a suite your steward will bring it all at once. They generally don't have a full buffet available, although these options offer quite a bit.

 

Also, generally your ass't matre'd can arrange for you to sit, temporarily, in the dining time other than your normal time, for a night if you get back from a late excursion or want to retire early for an early one the following day.