tapreality

We want to try out as many of the specialty dining options as we can. This will be our very first cruise so I'm not sure what time to make the reservations for. For example, if we're on an excursion that returns at 5 PM should we give ourselves about an hour to get back on the ship and cleaned up before going to dinner? What if the ship is leaving the dock at 6? Should we book, say, for half an hour after leaving dock or will that be very crowded?