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Early Dining vs. Late Dining


tidecat
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Question from a first timer - what dining time do you recommend? I will likely be cruising solo, so I want to do one of the set dining times. My concern with late dining will be possibly not being able to see any of the shows.

 

I am sailing the Sunshine on 2/19.

 

 

 

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Question from a first timer - what dining time do you recommend? I will likely be cruising solo, so I want to do one of the set dining times. My concern with late dining will be possibly not being able to see any of the shows.

 

I am sailing the Sunshine on 2/19.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

out of curiosity what does traveling solo have to do with possibly doing your time dining?

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We prefer early set dining because we'd have to snack too much to make it till the late dining time.

 

Hopefully, if you're cruising as a "solo" you will be assigned to a table of other solo cruisers.

 

The shows are usually scheduled so you can go to the shows whether early dining or late dining.

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I am still anticipating my first Carnival cruise, but I have seen on other cruise lines, that the shows are scheduled twice a night, so that early and late diners both have the opportunity to see it. Maybe experienced Carnival cruisers can chime in with their experience?

 

Other than that, I think each dining time is as good as the other. You might (or might not) get more children during early seating, and slower service at late seating due to many people dawdling more with their meals. So I would recommend you choose the time that suits your personal habit.

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You can make shows with either early or late.

 

We choose late seating for very specific reasons:

 

We like to maximize our time in ports and do not want to have to rush to make dinner.

 

We like to go enjoy a pre-dinner drink and maybe listen to some live music prior to dining.

 

Very few young children at late dining.

 

We like to linger a bit over coffee and dessert. Dinner is an important part of the day for us and not something we want rushed. Can't linger much if they have to turn over the dining room for another seating.

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You can make shows with either early or late.

 

We choose late seating for very specific reasons:

 

We like to maximize our time in ports and do not want to have to rush to make dinner.

 

We like to go enjoy a pre-dinner drink and maybe listen to some live music prior to dining.

 

Very few young children at late dining.

 

We like to linger a bit over coffee and dessert. Dinner is an important part of the day for us and not something we want rushed. Can't linger much if they have to turn over the dining room for another seating.

 

What she/he said......

Edited by hapytobehr
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Very true, Carnival does a great job in putting solo/single people together at large tables. So it's like an instant social group to attend shows and take excursions.

 

Agreed! I do think they do a great job at putting like people with like people! Even when I cruise with my husband, we are usually seated with other couples of our age.

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Question from a first timer - what dining time do you recommend? I will likely be cruising solo, so I want to do one of the set dining times. My concern with late dining will be possibly not being able to see any of the shows.

 

I am sailing the Sunshine on 2/19.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Personal experience...when I travel alone I choose early seating, its around the normal time I usually eat. After I eat I catch the shows or whatever, hit the dance clubs and generally return to my cabin at 1 or 2 am. ( there is a reason I added that last bit)

 

My last cruise traveling with friends, who wanted late seating for fear the may have to leave port early to get ready for dinner and miss some fun ( this is usually a party group). We missed all the shows and after such a heavy meal all my gang wanted to do was go to sleep, they were in bed by 11. It really put a damper on the "night life". Never Again.

 

Have fun, I am sailing on Sunshine 11/11/16 and 10/30/17.

 

* in 4 solo cruises I have never been set with a group of singles in MDR.

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You can make the shows doing early or late dining. There is usually an early show for late dining and a late one for early dining.. We do late dining and always make the late show. The reason we do late dining is not having to rush to dinner after a day in port.Returning to the ship we grab a snack at the buffett and have a drink, and just relax before getting ready for dinner. If you choose ATD you can plan dinner around cruise activities. Also with ATD you can request the same wait staff but you will sit with different people each night.

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We prefer late dining. We've done early dining a couple of times due to travelling with other people and it's just too early and too rush-rush for us.

 

On vacation, I prefer to be more relaxed, have an afternoon rest (not necessarily a nap but some relaxation), have a coffee and maybe a snack around 5:30pm and then get ready for dinner.

 

The only thing I really find that late dining doesn't work with is if you want to see all of the dive in movies. Those don't seem to be well timed to late dining (early movie doesn't end in time to make late seating and late movie there's often not seats left by the time you get out of dinner).

 

Of course, I'm a bit anti-social so if I were cruising alone, I'd do anytime dining and sit by myself. :)

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Go for the early dining for several reasons. If you do not show up, no problem as you can still eat on deck and usually the food is the same or sometimes better. And if you are still hungry, you can still go on deck and eat. I have done both, and for our cruise in December, we are doing the early dining for this particular reason.

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Hi

 

If you enjoy eating normally early go to the early sitting.

If you enjoy eating later normally, book the late sitting. If you want a snack before supper, there are plenty of options. You will be able to catch the later shows. As mentioned, there would be fewer children at the later sitting.

 

have a great cruise

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Agreed! I do think they do a great job at putting like people with like people! Even when I cruise with my husband, we are usually seated with other couples of our age.

 

 

 

I wish our experience was this way. Our first time, we were seated with a group of oriental cruisers that didn't speak English very well. Very nice people though.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Thanks everyone, it looks like I'll be doing late dining since that most closely matches when I eat at home.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I think you will enjoy it. There are also fewer kids in late dining if that matters to you. We always get late seating. We don't like to have to rush back from port to shower and change and race to dinner. We have time for leisurely showers, a nap and then a cocktail before dinner. If the show is before dinner, which I hate, then we may or may not go. If the show is after dinner we usually hit the casino for a short while and then see the show.

 

Late dining is a more leisurely affair than early dining. They are not shoving you out the door so they can reset the tables for late dining.

 

The production shows are done twice so whether you have early or late dining you won't miss the show.

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No matter which I choose I will be unhappy 50% of the time since the days always have a different flow. Sometimes it is an early breakfast with early lunch making the early seating perfect, I would be starving by the late one. Other days is a late breakfast and later lunch, late seating is perfect because I probably won't be hungry at the early one.

 

Your time dining was the best change that ever happened for us.

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