Dining. First seating or Second? Why?

I'm really debating. At home we have dinner around 7pm. 6 seems too early, 8 too late. I don't like "Anytime Dining", because you don't develop a relationship with anyone on the ship.

We are sailing in the Eastern Mediterranean, most of the port calls end between 5-7pm. I'm currently signed up for late seating, so we can clean up, have a drink and relax after a day out.

What is your favorite and why?

We always take the second seating. After a busy day we like to relax and not feel rushed to get to dinner . Maybe enjoy a glass of wine on the balcony or at one of the quiet bars. And you are correct we are not fans of anytime dining for the reason you stated

We prefer the later dining, it's vacation so I like to sleep a little later, which means eating breakfast later , and having a light lunch around 3 or 4 in the afternoon so the later dinner works well into our style of vacationing.

If you're an early riser you might prefer the earlier dining.

We also prefer the late seating. The early seating is just too early for us when we try to maximize a port day. It's also the seating where all the families with kids are....nothing against kids; I have two of my own that aren't joining us....but we'd be at the early seating if they were.

we prefer early dining- don't like to eat such huge meals that late- makes sleeping difficult. plus by 6 we are usually starving anyway.

We are booked on the Costa Luminosa Sept 10. We have opted out for the early seating at 7:00 for some reason; it appears that the Europeans prefer later evening meals. The late seating is closer to 9. That is too late for us. We just plan our days accordingly

I'm really debating. At home we have dinner around 7pm. 6 seems too early, 8 too late. I don't like "Anytime Dining", because you don't develop a relationship with anyone on the ship.

 

We are sailing in the Eastern Mediterranean, most of the port calls end between 5-7pm. I'm currently signed up for late seating, so we can clean up, have a drink and relax after a day out.

 

What is your favorite and why?

Used to go to early. My TA liked late. So I gave it a try. Now I go late unless I'm with some kids, then it is early.

Early seating works for us. It allows time for the show after dinner, perhaps a bit of time in the casino and or dancing, before packing it in at a reasonable hour. We like to be up and around on the early side.

Whatever your "normal" dinner hour is really not relevant. It is virtually certain that you will be in adifferent time zone, so your belly will have to adjust in any event.

I prefer late seating. I usually eat around 7:15pm at home. On a cruise I've already eaten more for breakfast and lunch than usual, so I'm not hungry until later. Also, on our last two Voyager of the Seas cruises, my wife's son and family has joined us. They are in the Mountain time zone, and the Voyager OTS is on Central time -- 8pm ship time is 7pm their time. So, another reason to do early vs. late seating is because of time zone changes between your home town and the departure port.

Late seating. Early is too early (especially on port days) and forget about anytime, flex, freestyle or whatever a particular line may call it. We love having the same dinner companions and wait staff every night.

We always take the second seating. After a busy day we like to relax and not feel rushed to get to dinner . Maybe enjoy a glass of wine on the balcony or at one of the quiet bars. And you are correct we are not fans of anytime dining for the reason you stated

Kinda sums up my attitude too, Bill.

But I've seen comments that on some ships the timing of shows doesn't always suit one sitting or the other - though I don't entirely understand why

John Bull

I'd rather eat later than earlier, and we eat fairly late at home...we do late seating, because we prefer to do our drinking BEFORE dinner.

If you choose main seating, you really don't have to cut short your port days (as some seem to think!)...

It's really an individual choice!

We prefer late seating, although it is a bit late for us. Early seating makes us feel like we're in such a rush. Many times we're so tired after dinner anyway, even with early seating we are in bed within an hour or so after dinner is over.

That kind of makes the cruise a whole lot shorter for us.

My BIL insists on early seating and when we cruise with them we usually get stuck with early seating. A drag for everyone but him.

We attempted MTD, but our group was 7 ppl on a holiday week. We had a choice of 6:15 or 8:30 reservations. Didn't care for it at all, they put us at a too small table the first night, so we didn't reserve it the rest of the week. Ended up being shifted to different tables every single night, which in itself wasn't a big deal, but we all agreed that since we were stuck eating so early, traditional dining would have worked better.

We prefer late seating except in the Med. I don't like finishing dinner at 11pm.

We always pick late seating (although we hit up the buffet at leat half the time). After a long sweaty day at the beach, I like to take my time getting back and getting ready for dinner. It takes me forever to fix my hair too so that's another biggie for late -night seating. Besides, I think early seating is just a bunch of blue-hairs:D <----just kidding. Please don't flame me old-timers;)

I prefer late traditional dining. I generally eat dinner around 8 at home so this is my normal schedule.

We opt for Early seating (or Anytime Dining if Early is unavailable) -- we are VERY early risers at home and at sea and consequently fold fairly early.

What I find interesting about this poll is that the First seating is almost always waitlisted quickly while the Late seating stays available (at least on the cruises we have been on) But the response on this thread indicates that the opposite should be true. Maybe it's just my perspective -- do you folks that like to eat later feel that your choice gets filled quickly, too? Perhaps early diners don't respond to polls??? No big deal -- it just makes me wonder...

If I'm in the Med, I'm eating in port and not worrying about dinner on board the ship!!!! If I need something later, the buffet, room service, or any variation of flexible dining would be preferable. I'm going to spend my energy in port, and while I would refresh on the ship, I'd much rather relax and reflect on the experiences of the day rather than rushing to get ready for a specific time in a MDR>

What I find interesting about this poll is that the First seating is almost always waitlisted quickly while the Late seating stays available (at least on the cruises we have been on) But the response on this thread indicates that the opposite should be true. Maybe it's just my perspective -- do you folks that like to eat later feel that your choice gets filled quickly, too? Perhaps early diners don't respond to polls??? No big deal -- it just makes me wonder...

We used to be early diners, but if the option of flexible seating is available I will jump at that, especially on port-intensive itineraries. We have a 9yo and he always eats all meals with us so we're going to be on the early side even on flexible dining, but I love not having to be there at a specific moment.

Late seating for Caribbean cruises and early for med cruises. I am going on a med cruise this October and the late seating is at 9:30 :eek::eek:

I don't want to finish at midnight!! And then go straight to the midnight buffet!! I would have to try out for the Biggest Loser after that cruise :D

I hope that all Med cruises don't start late dining at 9:30pm! What ship is that on?? There's no way we could wait that late! On our last cruise we had anytime dining and it was nice to go when we were hungry, but we ended up in the buffet line more times than not. :(

Where can you find this info?

I prefer second seating. At home, I usually eat dinner sometime after 8:00 P. M., so it is more natural for me. When I am on a ship, eating at the first seating would make me feel too rushed in order to get to the dining room on time. This is particularly true if a shore excursion was late on returning to the ship. Also, I enjoy being on deck and watching our departure from a port. First seating could interfere with that. In addition, I enjoy Happy Hour and I don't want that to have to begin too early.

On one cruise, my traveling companion and I were "forced" into first seating by the Maitre d' due to the very large numbers of a nationality who normally eat late. There were several nights when my Happy Hour venue turned out to be the bathroom of my cabin while I dressed for dinner. Didn't really like that.

We prefer the later dining, it's vacation so I like to sleep a little later, which means eating breakfast later , and having a light lunch around 3 or 4 in the afternoon so the later dinner works well into our style of vacationing.

If you're an early riser you might prefer the earlier dining.

Same with us. If the cruise offer anytime dining, we choose that option as we prefer to eat around 7:00-7:30 and linger over coffee and desert. With anytime dining you can make reservations and ask for a specific table so you always have the same waiter. Many groups do that and it ends up being similar to traditional dining.

I hope that all Med cruises don't start late dining at 9:30pm! What ship is that on?? There's no way we could wait that late! On our last cruise we had anytime dining and it was nice to go when we were hungry, but we ended up in the buffet line more times than not. :(

 

Where can you find this info?

I just found it on my cruise personalizer. My dining time is 8:15.... it sounded late until someone said it could be 9:30, now it sounds just right! :p

I seem to be the only one who's ticked food's not important to me....since OH was diagnosed with diabetes 2, we eat simply and sparingly, with nothing sweet, so we normally just graze in the buffet. Then we'll have one mad dinner a week at a speciality restaurant, including a chocolate pudding! This June, it was in the Marco Pierre White's restaurant, on Ventura, and the great chef himself was in and out of the kitchen.

Back to porridge and sweetener in the morning! :rolleyes:

Jo.