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Assigned to Late Seating Dinner... What now?


Irishbloom

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Hello - We are cruising in Sept. on RC and have been assigned the last seating for dinner. We booked in January for a Sept. cruise and were informed that the early dinner and the "any time dining" were all booked already.

If there is no opition for us but to dine late I accept that but, what about shows and entertainment? I know this sounds silly but... I'd rather eat then be entertained...not the other way around. Is there entertainment after the late seating (other than the casino)?

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Normally there are 2 shows, same show but at different times, yours will probably be before dinner (people who have early dinner will see the show at the time of your dinner). They make sure dinners and shows don't cause a conflict.

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Sometimes some of the shows during the week are post dinner even for the late seating. That being said, we actually like having the late seating as the trips we've been on have tended to leave ports during the time of early seating, and I like to be on deck and watch as the ship pulls away. (Of course this is a good argument for AD too...)

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Some nights, the show is an "adult" late night show....after both seatings. Most of the time, late dining goes to the shows before dinner.

 

I agree....check with the dining room when you board and request a change....they will do their best to make you happy.

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i love late seating in MDR. You never miss a sailway, plenty of time to get ready for dinner and a cocktail at one of bars.

Nice dinner without feeling you have to finish at a certain time. Linger over dessert and conversation. Sometimes the dinning room is almost empty by the time we leave. If we need to eat earlier for some reason we book a specialty restaurant for that night.

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I prefer the late dining. You might be surprised and like it too. On our March Mariner OTS, some of our group would go to the Windjammer for the sushi before our late dinner. Early dinner was at 5:30 (too early for me) and late dinner at 8pm. Captain's party started at 7pm. Guess which dining group missed almost half of the Captain's party? (Not ours.) Similar on our December, 2011, Mariner OTS. Captain's party started at 7:30, early dinner was at 6pm and late dinner at 8:30pm. (Mariner lowered the times by 30 minutes, I think because that was the Voyager OTS times before from Galveston and there were complaints.)

 

You might miss some trivia and smaller game shows, but you won't miss any of the big shows. Often there is only one first and one final show -- Ours was at 7:15 both times. Again, some early diners missed the start of these shows. These shows let out around 8:10, so we were about 15 minutes late for our 8pm dinner, but we were told that is OK -- up to 30 minutes late is OK with the waiters, epsecially on these "one show" days.

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I think this one depends on what you're used to. There is no way we'd survive until 8:00 or 8:30 without eating dinner, and we'd probably be half asleep by the time it was over!! It's a good thing they offer multiple options :)

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We had late seating - we were waitlisted for early seating and I tried to change to anytime but that was waitlisted too. I wouldn't normally eat dinner at 8:15pm, but the late seating ended up being okay for us. Given all the options for food throughout the day, we didn't go hungry. On Carnival, they have sushi at 5pm - a couple of pieces of sushi seemed to tide us over until dinner.

 

The only problem is that we ended up not seeing any of the shows/performances. We just weren't motivated enough to get ready for a show at 7pm (followed by dinner). Whereas if we had early seating, well, it's not like you'd go straight from dinner to sleep. We did catch the tail ends of a couple of other shows, like the trivia and stuff.

 

So I would prefer early seating (or probably anytime) just because I wouldn't be too lazy to actually go to the shows! :p

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Did you book directly through Royal Caribbean? If so, call and ask to be put on the waiting list for the seating you want. If they tell you that the waiting list is full, call back every couple of weeks or so. Eventually, it will open up and you should be able to get on it. Once on the waiting list, you'll usually clear it pretty quickly. (things usually open up around final payment date)

 

If you booked through a travel agent, the agent will have to call periodically on your behalf.

 

If this doesn't work, as soon as you get onto the ship, go to the main dining room to speak to the maitre-d and request the change. He tries to accomodate everyone.

 

On Royal Caribbean, most of the shows for the late seating are scheduled before dinner, like at 7pm.

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  • 1 month later...

We liked having late seating while in Europe. It was closer to breakfast time here at home and since breakfast is my biggest meal I was very happy with it. We usually just went to the very late shows after dinner or walked around the ship.

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My prefetence is Anytime Dining first, then Lare seating and the early is the others are booked. Just as others stated, it seems there is more of a rush to make it to early dinner between the fun by the pool or returning from an excursion, AD or Late allow time to unhrriedly ready for dinner, grab a cocktail etc.

 

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

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We chose late seating for our last cruise and LOVED it (much to my surprise, I'll admit). The pool deck clears out when all the early diners leave to get ready for dinner, so that was nice. We weren't rushed on port days to get back and get ready for an early dinner. If we were hungry and just couldn't wait till 8, we went to the buffet and grabbed a nibble. As others have said, you never miss sail-away. I just found it to be a much more relaxing experience. I have to say, though, I am not one who feels compelled to attend every single show, either, so I was not in a rush to get ready and attend the main show before my dinner. I will always choose late seating from now on!

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i love late seating in MDR. You never miss a sailway, plenty of time to get ready for dinner and a cocktail at one of bars.

Nice dinner without feeling you have to finish at a certain time. Linger over dessert and conversation. Sometimes the dinning room is almost empty by the time we leave. If we need to eat earlier for some reason we book a specialty restaurant for that night.

 

Agree!

 

When we got back from an excursion, we'd order appy's and have a cocktail, take our time getting ready for dinner, have a nice dinner and then go dancing. Repeat! :D

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the late dining was voted in on our family reunion. a few of us wanted anytime so we went too the mdr when we boarded and they had no problem letting us go when we wanted. it was not a problem for us.

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As a couple we found late sitting (on cunard) just perfect. Many of the reasons have been mentioned - not rushing/ending daytime activities to soon. In addition though, we found that children tended to be on early sitting. Having left our own children at home (not alone, obviously!!) we were more than happy to avoid kids at mealtimes. I also enjoy the 'getting ready' bit so it's more leisurely with late sitting.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

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