Time to allow for breakfast...getting off the ship

Sailing on the valor this November! Super excited! Never sailed CCL before nor have I ever eaten breakfast in a dining room on a ship....always opted for the buffet. However, I hear the breakfast in the dining room is much better. If I have an early morning excursion....like 8:30...how much time do I need to give myself for dining room breakfast and to get off of the ship? Are the lines ridiculous at either? Any help appreciated!

8:30 is very early for excursions. However I would say 45 min to an hour for the meal to be complete. You might be able to make it quicker if you are at a table for the exact # in your group.

It is sorta like dinner in the MDR.

Sailing on the valor this November! Super excited! Never sailed CCL before nor have I ever eaten breakfast in a dining room on a ship....always opted for the buffet. However, I hear the breakfast in the dining room is much better. If I have an early morning excursion....like 8:30...how much time do I need to give myself for dining room breakfast and to get off of the ship? Are the lines ridiculous at either? Any help appreciated!

On port days the dining room (probably the forward) will start serving breakfast at 7am. It is open seating and will probably take around an 45 minutes.

There are actually 4 buffet lines that serve breakfast on the Lido deck and it opens at 6:30.

If it's a walk off port, then debarking begins about 10 minutes after arrival at the pier. It can be busy in those 1st 30 minutes, but the line moves quickly.

I always eat breakfast in the main dining room and it typically takes about 45 min. When I dine alone it can be an even quicker turnaround (guess they Thanks to rush you out when taking a table to myself:p)

Breakfast will generally take us about 45 minutes in the DR unless we meet people that are very interesting and can take an hour.

As a result try to allow us at least an hour for breakfast as this happens quite often

I have noticed that breakfast service in the dining room is not what it once was.

DH and I got caught up with some really slow service.

Just sayin.

On a day we have an early excursion we would either eat breakfast at the buffet or order room service. I wouldn't take the time to go to the MDR on port days when I have plans to do something early in port.

On a day we have an early excursion we would either eat breakfast at the buffet or order room service. I wouldn't take the time to go to the MDR on port days when I have plans to do something early in port.

Have to agree. I'b be too anxious wondering if I'd be late and wouldn't enjoy it at all. Just go to the buffet and you make your own time.

On a day we have an early excursion we would either eat breakfast at the buffet or order room service. I wouldn't take the time to go to the MDR on port days when I have plans to do something early in port.

Number of times we have sat with folks and discussed our plans and they had better ideas.

Having been on carnival at least 5 times, my breakfast choice is the buffet, with 1 exception. They do not have 2 things at the buffet that are available in the mdr. Smoked salmon is not at the buffet, so if you want it in the buffet, just ask a matre'd to get some for and they will usually find it. Second thing from the mdr is blueberry pancakes, which my dad wanted last time around. The matre'd also made them appear for him as well. The moral of the story, is if you are in a rush, go to the buffet. There is also a larger selection of food as well. On port days, the buffet was always a better option as people were rushing to get off the ship.