Med/Greek Islands

[ddean52]

We are on brilliance med/Greek Islands tour June 14 and some of our excursions return us back to brilliance late (6pm)> We have 1st seating for dinner.....is it ok to arrive late for this seating or just not bother at all?

[Host Karen]

This brings back memories of our Med/Greek Isles cruise in June 2005. What a fabulous vacation! We often returned to the ship around 5:30 or 6 and had early seating. Because the cruise was so port intensive, the dining room staff was instructed to allow passengers to be seated up to 30 minutes late.

 

On the evenings we knew we would be rushing to get there in the 30 minute timeframe, we either made reservations at Chops for 7 or 7:30 or we ate in the Seaview Cafe. They served quite good made to order pasta, pizza and panini up there and the views were lovely. We were actually sorry we didn't eat there more often rather than hurry to get to the dining room. If I recall correctly, of the 12 nights of the cruise, we ate in the dining room five or six times.

 

Have a great cruise!

[Hlitner]

I guess this points out one of the problems of early sittings on Med cruises. You will often find that you are rushing back to the ship or hurrying to change for dinner because of long port days. You do have the buffet option or alternative restaurants (already mentioned) but you might want to simply consider requesting the later sitting.

 

Hank

[Host Karen]

That's the other choice, Hank, but I -- and others -- simply cannot sit down to eat that late and then go to bed immediately after dinner (and I'd be way too tired to stay up later than 10:00). With dinner seatings at 6:00, 6:30, 8:30 and 9:00 on our cruise, that's why the alternative restaurants worked for us. Obviously, the best option would be open seating, but neither Royal Caribbean nor Celebrity offer that.

 

Karen

[Hlitner]

I do hear you Karen. The older we get the harder it gets to stay awake during late dinners (smile).