Late Dining Preference?

[vulcan500]

We booked Early Dining on our 2 previous cruises and have requested Late Dining for our trip in 6 weeks on Crown. Can anyone tell me if this is a problem with missing the evenings entertainment? I'd like to try "tea time" and don't want to be stuffed for dinner, but neither do we want to miss all there is to do at night. Do most people like the later dining time?

[Colo Cruiser]

We booked Early Dining on our 2 previous cruises and have requested Late Dining for our trip in 6 weeks on Crown. Can anyone tell me if this is a problem with missing the evenings entertainment? I'd like to try "tea time" and don't want to be stuffed for dinner, but neither do we want to miss all there is to do at night. Do most people like the later dining time?

 

We have not had a problem with catching the shows. we were out by 9:45. Shows usually at 10:30. When there was an early show at 7:00 before dinner no prob there either.

[Av8tor]

We always get traditional late dining and have only been "late" for a 2nd show once when the kitchen was a bit slow getting all the food out to the wait staff. Normally we enjoy a leisurley meal with a good bottle of wine and even better conversation with our table mates. We're often some of the last diners to leave and we still have time to stop for a cocktail on the way to the show...

[kellor]

We booked Early Dining on our 2 previous cruises and have requested Late Dining for our trip in 6 weeks on Crown. Can anyone tell me if this is a problem with missing the evenings entertainment? I'd like to try "tea time" and don't want to be stuffed for dinner, but neither do we want to miss all there is to do at night. Do most people like the later dining time?

 

This is our 4th cruise and the 1st two were late and then the 3rd was early...we are going back to the late dinner. We adore "tea time" but with the early dinner you just finish tea and then have to start dressing for dinner; stuffed. We made all the shows we wanted to see without problem. Have a great time!

[RickEk]

My only problem with late seating was that I would be quite full and ready for a nap once we were done. :p I fell asleep in at least one show... It's first seating or anytime for us!

[rcacace]

My only problem with late seating was that I would be quite full and ready for a nap once we were done. :p I fell asleep in at least one show... It's first seating or anytime for us!

 

You got that right ! After a full day of activities- beach, tours, ship exercise programs & sitting down to a late meal at 8:30 I might as well skip the show & go to sleep.

[GloriaF]

I like traditional dining, but wish they had a 7:15/7:30 PM seating. We usually end up deciding to do anytime dining so that we can sit down to eat in that 7 to 8 PM window. I do miss the tablemates and servers that you get to know during the cruise with traditional. In anytime, we never want to commit ourselves to a set time so do not make reservations and, therefore, cannot have the same server always. The plus with anytime is that we meet many different people at our table when we choose not to have a table for two.

 

Depending on the evening's entertainment, we may go to both shows - the Vista Lounge and the Princess Theatre - and to do that we must be finished eating by a little after 8 PM.

 

Just do whatever works for you :D and enjoy the cruise!

[TwinCruiserMom]

Our family loves late traditional! We usually rest for awhile after returning from port by reading or taking a little nap. Then we go to the horizon to get appetizers at 5:30 and we have plenty of time to shower and be ready for dinner at 8:15. Also, the pools onboard are so empty around 5pm because everyone is getting ready for early dinner. So, many times we go to the pool and then get our snacks on the way back to the room.

 

Sometimes there are shows that start around 7pm which you can go to and then get to late dinner on time. We did that on the last cruise and it was nice. There are always comedy shows late in the evening and if you think you are running late for a production show after dinner, you can always skip dessert and get some in the horizon after the show.

 

Early dining is always crowded in traditional. In late dining, we noticed some empty tables, which only works out to your benefit as your waiter has less tables to handle at one time.

 

We would never go back to early dining as it is just too much of a rush to get ready on time. I think you should give your late dining a try for a couple of days and if you find you really do not like it, you can always switch your choice to anytime and eat whenever you like.

 

Have a great cruise!

[Woobstr112G]

We have always enjoyed late seating traditional dining on all of our cruises. We also prefer to see our entertainment after and not before dinner. With the what seems like an industry wide trend to have the 2nd seating show before, we are no longer able to see the main entertainment. On our recently completed cruise on the Emerald Princess, we did however see some very enjoyable after dinner entertainment in the explorer's lounge.

 

Bob

 

Future: Diamond Princess Aus/Nz 01/09

Emerald Princess Med/Trans Atlantic 10/08

Celebrity Constellation British Isles/Norway 07/06

Celebrity Summit Alaska Repositioning 05/05

Celebrity Summit Panama Canal 10/02

Rhapsody Of The Seas Alaska 09/01

Spledour Of The Seas Baltic 09/99

HAL Veendam Eastern Caribbean 07/96

Carnuival Holiday Western Carribean 07/93

[Druke I]

My wife and I much prefer 1st Seating.

 

We eat early at home, and we are not night people. Were I to eat at 2nd Seating, I might fall asleep during dessert - and surely wouldn't make it through the 2nd show.