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Early or Late Seating?


TMarie

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Hello,

 

I have been back lurking the past few days and still havent found the answer i was looking for.

 

Could someone please give me good reasoning for choosing early seating over late seating? Or visa versa? Like, show times ect?

 

On all but one cruise we always had early seating, mostly because I was traveling as a minor and did what "mom said". One the one cruise with late dining, we often ended up "snacking" at 4:30 or 5 oclock before getting ready for dinner :rolleyes:

 

On our last cruise, I chose early seating for my BF and I, but I know we often felt rushed to get back to the room and dressed for dinner.

 

So give me some things to think about. I don't want to miss anything fun because we chose the "wrong" dining time.

 

Thanks! :D

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Hello,

 

I have been back lurking the past few days and still havent found the answer i was looking for.

 

Could someone please give me good reasoning for choosing early seating over late seating? Or visa versa? Like, show times ect?

 

On all but one cruise we always had early seating, mostly because I was traveling as a minor and did what "mom said". One the one cruise with late dining, we often ended up "snacking" at 4:30 or 5 oclock before getting ready for dinner :rolleyes:

 

On our last cruise, I chose early seating for my BF and I, but I know we often felt rushed to get back to the room and dressed for dinner.

 

So give me some things to think about. I don't want to miss anything fun because we chose the "wrong" dining time.

 

Thanks! :D

we personally choose late seating for one main reason: We are in port until the last minute, so when we get back to the ship, we like to get a drink, go back to the cabin and unwind a bit. Maybe nap......we can't "sit around" as long as we would have liked, when we had early seating a couple of times, just felt too rushed. For a long time, we have late seating. Works really well for us, and our 3 teens as well. That's OUR choice, hope you can make a decision from some feedback here ;)

p.s. and IF you get a little hungry for a small snack after port, Sorrento's is the place to go!

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Don't worry about showtimes - no matter what seating you have, you will be able to see all the shows as they have seperate shows for both early and late seating. Things like the Quest, Love & Marriage Show, skating shows, etc. are done at times when people from both seatings can attend. On both our cruises we have done late seating and most of the shows have been after dinner. The only time this wasn't the case was for the ice show on the Explorer in 2005.

 

We prefer late seating because there are less children in the dining room and we don't feel rushed to get to dinner. Once we are back onboard we usually grab something to eat and then go up to the pool deck for sailaway, and we still have lots of time to get ready for dinner. The negatives are that we are eating later and it doesn't allow for a lot of time to enjoy the ship after dinner (unless you are making it a late night).

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I have done both. Both have positives and negatives.

 

I liked the late seating because it gives us more time to get ready and also since we always book a GS or above it gives us more time to enjoy the conciegre lounge. I did not like having some of the shows before dinner and eating so late. I could not enjoy the midnight buffet as much since I had eaten so late. I am also much more full going to bed and I hate that feeling.

 

I liked early seating because we eat early at home. I am an early riser and go to bed relatively early. So my body tells me I'm hungry early. I also like the shows after dinner. This seems like a more "normal" progression, dinner then a show. Earlier dinner also gives me more time to digest and enjoy late night snacks. I do not like having to rush so much to get ready for dinner on port days and not having time to enjoy the concierge lounge.

 

My 20 year old son doesn't like the early seating. He says it's for "wimps". Not sure what that means.:confused: Actually I think he feels the early dinner has most of the kids and he likes feeling more mature and sophisticated:p .

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Hello,

 

I have been back lurking the past few days and still havent found the answer i was looking for.

 

Could someone please give me good reasoning for choosing early seating over late seating? Or visa versa? Like, show times ect?

 

On all but one cruise we always had early seating, mostly because I was traveling as a minor and did what "mom said". One the one cruise with late dining, we often ended up "snacking" at 4:30 or 5 oclock before getting ready for dinner :rolleyes:

 

On our last cruise, I chose early seating for my BF and I, but I know we often felt rushed to get back to the room and dressed for dinner.

 

So give me some things to think about. I don't want to miss anything fun because we chose the "wrong" dining time.

 

Thanks! :D

Early or Late seating is purely a matter of choice.

 

On our cruise we chose the late seating because most of our island visits end between 5pm & 6pm. Last thing we want to do is rush for dinner. This is vacation so we may want to relax before we get ready for dinner. Plus my wife never gets ready in under an hour. :)

 

Also there should be less children in the dining room and after your late dinner you can catch a lounge, casino, or show. Take your time because where else do you have to be?

 

Hope our opinion helps.

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We travel with our kids (teenagers now) and always do first seating. I think it depends on if you are a night person or not. We always eat by 6:00pm at home so I can't fathom finishing dinner at 10:00 pm. WAY too close to bed time for us. We haven't ever felt rushed after a day on an island. There aren't many times when we haven't been back on the ship by 3:00pm or so anyway, so that gives plenty of time for us to unwind and get ready for dinner. Early dining gets you out of the dining room by 8:00pm at the latest and you can enjoy the ship for the (early) evening.

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here's a zingger-(i'm a diamond member) just did free style on ncl and loved it!!ate between 7:00 and 7:30 every night-not too early or late!i'm sure this will open a whole new discussion!!

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here's a zingger-(i'm a diamond member) just did free style on ncl and loved it!!ate between 7:00 and 7:30 every night-not too early or late!i'm sure this will open a whole new discussion!!

I do late sitting but when i do anytime sitting on princess i eat early

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On our last cruise, I chose early seating for my BF and I, but I know we often felt rushed to get back to the room and dressed for dinner.

/QUOTE]

 

Dahlink!

 

Book the second seating!

 

You are young and don't need to be in bed at 10PM!

 

Bon Voyage~~

 

Leslie

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When at home we usually eat at 6 or 6:30 but on a cruise we tried early and I hated it. Too early to leave the pool area on a sea day and too rushed on a port day. I love being out and about the ship at 5 when the decks empty out for the early diners. That is when the pool or hot tub area is the best. And if you are in need of a snack there are plenty of places to go for something to hold you over till late seating. It is not the healthy way to eat, but heck I'm on vacation. When we did early and slept a bit late, it felt like the 3 meals were on top of one another. If you hate the sun and like the evening activities then go early seating. If you love the day time stuff and can deal with eating later, then do the later seating. The shows are always seen either after the seating or before. Nothing much is missed. Like I said, still time to do plenty and prolong the day time .

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We always do late seating. Mainly because we don't have to rush in from the ports to make a dinning time. The offer two shows, etc. on board so you don't miss most things because of your dinning time. However, if you have small kids and they want to participate in Adventure Ocean, the earlier time works better because the main activities are usually from 7-10pm (they have late night stuff too for a fee). We did take our kids to Windjammer earlier to eat and then to AO. We (the adults) went to late seating while they did their AO activities. Just something to think about.

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There is no real benefit to either--if you plan on seeing any shows, both dinner seatings need to be ready at about the same time. It's really about what time you're used to eating! Pick the seating closest to your regular dining time. As far as the shows, Main (early) seating will go immediately after dinner. Late seating will see the show before their dinner (during Main seating!)--see how it works?

If you have kids, main seating is best. If you want to partake of any of the midnight buffet/snacks, main seating is for you! If you like to drink and party after dinner, main seating is for you!

 

If you like to drink before dinner, and plan on turning in fairly early, do late seating. If you want fewer kids at dinner, do late seating.

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There is no real benefit to either--if you plan on seeing any shows, both dinner seatings need to be ready at about the same time. It's really about what time you're used to eating! Pick the seating closest to your regular dining time. As far as the shows, Main (early) seating will go immediately after dinner. Late seating will see the show before their dinner (during Main seating!)--see how it works?

If you have kids, main seating is best. If you want to partake of any of the midnight buffet/snacks, main seating is for you! If you like to drink and party after dinner, main seating is for you!

 

If you like to drink before dinner, and plan on turning in fairly early, do late seating. If you want fewer kids at dinner, do late seating.

 

Can't agree with you on the late seating being good if you want to turn in early. On the contrary, it allows you to eat late so you aren't hungry at 2am. Both times are good. It just depends on when you like to eat for most adults.

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We do late seating for many of the other reasons stated including wanting to unwind a little when we get back from the ports. On Princess we did anytime and always ate between 7 and 7:30. 6:00 is too early for us and 8:30 is a little late but we choose it. Wish that RCI had anytime dining. One thing that I would like to add is that on winter cruises it is dark at 5:30 which could make a difference in what you choose.

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I've done both, and can't say I prefer one over the other. It just depends on who I'm on the cruise with. My husband and I had the late seating on the Empress, and since it was just the two of us, it worked out very nicely. We were in no rush during the days in port, and on the days at sea, the pool area cleaned out by 5 pm so there were plenty of chairs by the pool to relax and listen to the band.

 

On the Mariner in October, we had our three kids with us (9 - 15 at the time) and chose to eat early. It worked out well, though we did feel rushed to get back and ready for dinner. With all the food available, we probably would have done fine eating later.

 

I'm sailing on the Grandeur in Feb. with my mother and sister, and since we're all watching our girlish figures, we chose to eat early so that we won't be tempted (as much) to snack. My husband and I will be on the Freedom in May for our anniversary and will be eating late. We don't want to feel rushed for anything.

 

The bottom line is, both seatings have their advantages.

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My DH and I prefer late seating for many of the reasons mentioned above like not rushing to be ready after a port day. We live in the central time zone and eating at 6:00 p.m. feels like 5:00 p.m. which is way too early for us. Plus, I love to be out on deck for sailaway and the early seating dinner happens at the same time for some of the Caribbean ports. We also like to take in the sunset from the deck, on our balcony or the Viking Crown lounge and, depending on the time of year, sunset occurs while the early seating is in the dining room.

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we personally choose late seating for one main reason: We are in port until the last minute, so when we get back to the ship, we like to get a drink, go back to the cabin and unwind a bit. Maybe nap......we can't "sit around" as long as we would have liked, when we had early seating a couple of times, just felt too rushed. For a long time, we have late seating. Works really well for us, and our 3 teens as well. That's OUR choice, hope you can make a decision from some feedback here ;)

p.s. and IF you get a little hungry for a small snack after port, Sorrento's is the place to go!

 

We are the same, no rushing. Besides we are up late anyhow. At home due to crazy work schedules sometimes we eat late. And there is always someplace to get a predinner snack. Room service is perfect for this.

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We've tried both and prefer late seating for many of the reasons stated above, i.e. no need to rush, more time in ports if ship sails later, few if any children etc. We eat at home no later than 7 each evening so I really don't think it has anything to do with what you are used to at home. Hey, it's vacation, do it your way, experiment! We really, really enjoy the late seating for the main reason that during dinner, our waiters are very attentive, they are not trying to rush us out because the next seating is breathing down their necks to get in. We can linger over coffee if we like. And we like to make it late nights while on a cruise. We usually close down the lounges and we are past 60! The time you choose to have dinner is a personal decision, one that should enchance your experience. But whether you choose late or early, don't regret the decision once onboard, nor should you let it ruin an otherwise enjoyable vacation.

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I'll put my 2 cents in for late seating - disadvantages are 10:30 when you are done eating so it's a little late, forget the midnight buffet - who could eat anymore - by 8:30 I've already snacked on the hors deurves all over the ship and in the crown/anchor parties, etc. etc. etc.

Advantage - I get to drink my pre-dinner martinis at my leisure - THAT TRUMPS ALL

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We enjoy early seating as it is closest to the time we normally eat. After dinner we go to the show and then the casino and head to bed around midnight without feeling full. If, for any reason, we don't feel like going to the early seating we go to the Windjammer buffet and have a nice dinner there.

It really is a personal choice.

Kathy:)

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One disadvantage to the late seating is that you may be too full to enjoy the midnight buffet. Of course, you can always eat in the Windjammer that night, but as novice cruisers, my husband and I didn't know that. It didn't stop us from eating and enjoying every last bite, but we went to bed feeling very full.

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Hello,

 

I have been back lurking the past few days and still havent found the answer i was looking for.

 

Could someone please give me good reasoning for choosing early seating over late seating? Or visa versa? Like, show times ect?

 

On all but one cruise we always had early seating, mostly because I was traveling as a minor and did what "mom said". One the one cruise with late dining, we often ended up "snacking" at 4:30 or 5 oclock before getting ready for dinner :rolleyes:

 

On our last cruise, I chose early seating for my BF and I, but I know we often felt rushed to get back to the room and dressed for dinner.

 

So give me some things to think about. I don't want to miss anything fun because we chose the "wrong" dining time.

 

Thanks! :D

 

 

We like to do excursions or hit the beach and snorkel...etc, well when we head back to the ship we dont want to have to get ready for dinner right away. We would much rather sit on the balcony and watch us pull out of port and then maybe a quick cat nap to re-charge the batteries, then get ready for dinner and go to shows and such after that.

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I wanted variety so I have picked the late seating with 4 Portofino nights. It goes like this sail away 8 PM Portofino, day 2 MDR late, day 3 Portofino 6:30, day 4 MDR late, day 5 Portofino 8:30, Day 6 MDR late, Day 7 Portofino 6:30

This is my first cruise so hopefully I have chosen wisely.

 

Jim

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With kids, we do early. Without, we do late. Like others have said, the show times accomodate either. All things being equal, I prefer late seating so there can be a greater "recovery period" after lunch LOL! and possible more time in port.

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