What's your opinion...early or late seating for dinner???

[crazycruzer68]

We have always did late and that's the plan for our next cruise, but I am thinking what are the advantages to both times? Why do you pick what time you have dinner????

[Froufie]

I always pick late seating - no rush no fuss about getting there - makes the day so much longer and lots of time to relax before dinner, grab some sushi or a drink :) and then off to get ready for dinner!

 

I hate having to rush around too much when on vacation!

[chitown cruisers]

We have always did late and that's the plan for our next cruise, but I am thinking what are the advantages to both times? Why do you pick what time you have dinner????

Traveling with kids and without, we found it better for us to have early. It's a bit more hectic to get ready after excursions but made it a MUCH more enjoyable evening to have the meal done at an earlier time.

 

Our first cruise with the kids and late seating....we didn't catch any of the nightlife after we had them settled in for the night.

[BCfan]

Early!!

 

It gives me more time to digest before I go to bed.

[syoung]

I agree. We had to rush with early seating. It seems that we just got back from an excursion and there was not time to relax & leisurely get ready for dinner. Plus we had a late lunch in Catalina (Monday - Friday Baja cruise) and we were not hungry yet. We leave soon for the 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise on the Pride and we are doing the late seating. I think we will enjoy this better.

Happy cruising!

[Ehpride]

I like late. We don't have to rush back from ports and can linger out on deck. If anybody is hungry before dinner, there's always room service for a little snack or a quick run through the buffett.

[bnsilly]

Late for us next time...

On our past cruise we had early, and it wasn't bad getting ready kind of early, but then after dinner we usually had a couple hour wait until the shows, etc got going..so then we got sleepy again waiting..

[tonit964]

We do early with kids....late without.:)

[Carnival Game]

Early!

 

I don't see it as rushing back from port since you usually have to be back on board at 4:00 anyway. I typically have dinner at 4:30 at home since I skip lunch.

[TakeMeAway1001]

We prefer early and hope we get it again this cruise :)

I have a hard time going out and having fun when I eat late, I like to eat early and then go change and head out for the evening :)

[afcj1]

Early!!

 

It gives me more time to digest before I go to bed.

 

Amen:D

[ohiochic]

We prefer early since we normally eat dinner between 5 - 5:30 at home and as was mentioned we have time for food to digest before hitting the sack. :)

[poptart]

We've done about 50/50 early and late seating on our cruises.

 

When we have early, we wish we had late. Day feels too short sometimes no time for a nap. But we seem to enjoy more of the evening activities more. Eat, change clothes and party.

 

When we have late we wish we had early. Since late sometimes interferes with some of the evening activities we want to do. Or by the time we eat we're too pooped for the evening activites. Or they have the show early for late diners and we prefer dinner and THEN the show.

 

I think I'm going to be a great fan of the new anytime dining!:D I think it will be perfect for us!!

 

And I'm sure I've been absolutely no help to you :mad: sorry!

 

[Grits53]

We prefer early dining, because our bodies prefer not to have a big meal so close to "bed time". (No, we're not party animals that stay up till the wee hours!) We also enjoy going to the shows, and we don't like going at 10:30. However, Carnival seems to be changing that, and late dining can now go to an early show before their dinner time. And some of the shows have only one show time at 10:30 anyway. :rolleyes:

 

One problem with early dining is that it can be a rush to get ready for dinner on port days. So both times have their pluses and minuses, but if your tummy doesn't like to eat a big meal late, that's your answer. It usually takes about 2 hours to complete your dinner in the dining room, so if dinner time is 8:00 PM, you finish at around 10:00 PM. Doesn't matter if you're a fast eater. You will get each course when the rest of your wait team's tables get theirs....MOST of the time. ;)

[As You Wish]

We do early with kids....late without.:)

 

Ditto here.

[WestTxCruiser]

Late for us. Especially on port days.

After dinner we go back to room, daughter jammies down then it's off to Camp Carnival and Mom and Dad get Casino and Show time.

We've had both and definetely prefer late.

[celticd1]

We have always done late seating and it works great for us.

 

And if we eat at 8:30 and don't get to bed until 1 or 2 am the food has plenty of time to digest...not to mention helping absorb all those adult beverages! :p

[daveandmisty]

We like the late seating, same reasons as given above, less rush, more time after port days.

 

Also I find there are less kids in the late seating :) on this past cruise they have a set of triplets that were alot of fun. Just not what i am looking for at a nice sit down dinner.

 

Although the triplets were very very cute.

[Janet04]

It depends, if I am traveling with my hubby and 13 year old I would eat early. If I am with my girlfriends I would eat late because I would be going to sleep alot later.

[debster11]

We have always did late and that's the plan for our next cruise, but I am thinking what are the advantages to both times? Why do you pick what time you have dinner????

 

We prefer early. I hate eating so late and having that overstuffed feeling before bed. This is just my opinion. I know alot of people prefer late because of the ports and having to rush to get ready.

[Dee777]

I like the early seating. Gives me time to enjoy my supper, go back to my room to get ready for an evening of imbibing in my favorite beverages and losing my shirt in the casino. After that, a leisurely stroll and I can tuck myself into bed to do it all over again!

[Loving My Life]

We did late on our last cruise. The pro was that we had plenty of time to get ready for dinner. The con's were 1) we ended up with too much time to kill before dinner; 2) we never finished before 9:30 and then we were too full and tired to do anything after; 3) we never made it to any show.

 

On our upcoming cruise, we decided to try early seating which is 6:15. We only have 3 ports and 1 of them is San Juan, where we will be from 5pm - midnight, so we won't be eating in the dining room that night. Hopefully we will be more awake and be able to take advantage of evening entertainment this time.

[JLvacation]

We choose depending on if we take our Children or not , early seating with kids , late seating with out kids . Early sitting is nice because it leave's us time to do things in the evening . Late seating is nice because they are not rushing to get us out . has never mattered on which cruise line . they have all been the same .

 

Have A Great Day

 

John

[elkaholic]

Early for us.....we like to have the extra time after dinner for a late night dessert and hot chocolate and not feel completely stuffed.

[TRACY&CHRISTY]

We have always done late. Not rushed coming back from ports, and time for a nap if needed. Besides being night owls...:p