NEwbie to cruising. Have questions

we are booked on the triumph in May 2019. We will have a 21year old and 14old both sons

Do we want early late or your own time dining ? Thinking your own time but wasn’t sure

What were your favorite excursions in Freeport and Nassau

I would go with late or your own time. The early time usually has a lot of families with young kids. Not that I dislike kids but it is noisier.

Depends...when do you usually eat at home? The 14 year old may want to do evening activities in the clubs..and early seating is what will facilitate that. Of course, the buffet is always there, if someone prefers not to use the dining room. I sort of like KNOWING in advance what time dinner will be...

Read up on the Bahamas...you may not need an excursion at all to do what interests you! Most ports are pretty easy to DIY....cheaper, too!

My time dining ....... Why would there be any other choice?

Personally, I prefer late dining. I'll grab a snack to eat while I get ready for dinner and that tides me over until dinner. I like having a set time because the waiters get to know your preferences. You also have the same table mates, which I think is fun.

If the kids aren't going to be with you during the day, a set dining time may make it easier to meet up for dinner without having to decide when you want to go. Early dining may facilitate teen activities better.

However, my time dining provides flexibility with dinner time due to ports, activities, hunger level, etc. You can request the same waiters, but you may have a wait if you go at a popular time.

we are booked on the triumph in May 2019. We will have a 21year old and 14old both sons

 

Do we want early late or your own time dining ? Thinking your own time but wasn’t sure

 

What were your favorite excursions in Freeport and Nassau

What time do you want to eat? Why do you care when we want to eat? Some people eat at 5:30, some at 8:30, some in between. To answer; what we like is YTD, we can eat whenever we are hungry.

We prefer early dining at 6pm. That way we can just concentrate on shows, comedy and whatever other night activities on board.

we are booked on the triumph in May 2019. We will have a 21year old and 14old both sons

 

Do we want early late or your own time dining ? Thinking your own time but wasn’t sure

 

What were your favorite excursions in Freeport and Nassau

We have a Bahamas cruise next month and are doing your time dining, mainly for the flexibility of scheduling.

We have planned the Snuba excursion through Carnival for Nassau, then explore a little within walking distance before going back to the ship. There is also a lot to do on your own and several good threads on the Bahamas board.

Carnival also has a Kayak excursion listed for Freeport that has great reviews. It doesn't sound like there is much to do in Freeport in walking distance, but I have seen good posts about snorkeling.

We like YTD because things can change from day to day in terms of what we are doing. Generally we eat early, but sometimes there is something going on and we eat later. It's just more flexible.

We were in Freeport and Nassau in September. We didn't book excursions for either place, we just got off the ship and shopped at the places closest to the port. Freeport has 1-2 dozen shops right where we dock and hubby & I were able to get our souvenir shopping done there, for the most part (presents for the family AKA dog sitters!)

In Nassau we did the same thing, wandered around and checked out the sites, the straw market, etc. although pretty much all of downtown Nassau, which is right near the port, is made for shopping.

We're not beach or amusement park people but if we were I think we would have looked into spending some time at Atlantis in Nassau. You can do an excursion or just take a cab or water taxi there. I'm not sure if the admission tickets are cheaper if you purchase them in advance- the Bahamas Port board would probably tell you.

My husband and I prefer late fixed seating. We never have to hurry after excursions and it's very rare that sail-away interferes since it's normally at 8 or 8:15 pm. If we get hungry earlier we grab a snack at the lido or thru room service to tide us over. We see dinner in the Main Dining Room as part of our evening activities not as a hindrance to them.:)

That being said ... if I were traveling with your 2 boys I think I'd opt for Your Time Dining. If either they or you and husband want to do some other activities you're free to eat whenever you want.:D

I personally recommend my time dining. Generally it gives you the option to go early or late based on your desired evening activities and arrival back on ship from ports. I like the flexibility.

we are booked on the triumph in May 2019. We will have a 21year old and 14old both sons

 

Do we want early late or your own time dining ? Thinking your own time but wasn’t sure

 

What were your favorite excursions in Freeport and Nassau

i would do my time dining that way you can go whenever you want. you can always request the same waiter too if you like them a lot

I have come to love Your Time Dining over early seating. Late seating is just right out for me as it seems to interfere with everything I want to do in the evening and is just later than I like to eat at around 8:15pm. We had YTD on our last cruise and saw no downside to that choice. On our Cozumel port day we would have had to eat in the Buffet as we returned too late for early seating, but since we had YTD, we could show up whenever. Ironically on this day, late seating would have been fine, but with YTD, it does not matter. We did not have to wait to be seated even once during our cruise.

The only excursion we have loved in Nassau and Freeport has been snorkeling.