Early or Late seating?

[n1232]

Justy want to know what is everyone's opinion on which seating to get. I know late is good b/c you don't have to rush baxck from excursions, but if then woudl you miss the shows on the ship? So wouldn't it be better to go to the early seating so you can catch the shows? I am going on the Celebrity Century on 6/5...thanks!

[jean-lynd]

You will not miss the shows. There are usually 2 shows every night - one for early and one for late. Sometimes, you have to go to the show before dinner though. We like early because that is when we are used to having dinner. The one time we had late I found that I was hungry when we came back to the ship so I would snack and then I wasn't hungry for dinner. We have never felt like we had to rush back from an excursion for dinner. I hope this helps!

 

Century 11/1997

Explorer of the Seas 8/24/02

Majesty of the Seas 2/17/03

Voyager of the Seas 2/22/04

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[n1232]

Thanks that helps a lot....I was leaning more towards the early seating, but read on another post that a lot of people choose the late

[nyer]

DH and I prefer late seating. We never missed any shows. We did early seating once because my son and his wife prefer that, but DH and I did not like it. We felt too rushed and didn't feel hungry enough so early.

[serene56]

It really depends on what you like. We did late on our first cruise and dont see us doing that again. By the time we got done eating it was close to 10:30. (too full for the midnight buffet- which was a good thing) but trying to sleep that week when we were so full of rich delicious food. Was hard.

Also- if you have teens -- most of the teens stuff is going on while you are dining and the kids missed out a lot. The activities are closed some time during the early seating so they dont miss out on much.

 

to do early seating though--when the port is over at 5pm you have to get on the ship and get ready for dinner. there is no rest time unless you get back on the ship earlier. We have no problem with doing this as would much rather rest AFTER dinner anyways,

Going NOWHERE

 

 

Miracle, February 13, 2005

Legend, October 22,2004

Voyager August 31,2003

Victory September 22,2002

Regal Empress,June 2001

Sensation,August 2000

[orgirl]

My best friend and I went on a cruise last fall and chose the late seating. AM I GLAD WE DID!!

 

Our formal night was on the first full day at sea. We didn't get out of bed until 11 (we closed the disco), ate a very late lunch (3 pm) and spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. Then, by the time we felt like cleaning up for dinner, it was already 7. Took us two hours to do ourselves up right and make dinner at 9.

 

We only went to the passenger talent show, none of the others. I guess your seating time depends on what you want to do on your cruise. We didn't want the restrictions of early seating for things like pool time, show times, or shore excursions, and we really didn't get our game on until at least 8 pm every night.

 

~Steph~

 

Celebration 9/13/03--NBA Bachelorette Cruise--AWESOME!!

 

Next cruise? NOT SOON ENOUGH!!

[mlk]

On out first cruise we decided that the late dinner was for us. Well, after the first night, and almost falling asleep at the table, we moved to the early seating.

 

We did so much during the day that we just weren't up for the late seating, late show etc.

 

It is another one of those pesky "personal preferences" question. If you usually like the nightlife, then the late may be for you. If you plan on doing a lot in the daytime, then you may want to choose the early seating. I do have to say that neither time is great. 7 pm would work wonders for me!

 

The only problem is that if you choose the wrong seating, you may not be able to change it.

[Andee]

Think about when you like to eat at home. We never eat before 7, and 8 isn't uncommon, so the late seating is more comfortable for us.

 

After a day in port, we like to lie down for a while, get ready in a lesiurely fashion, stroll the ship and have a drink before dinner. We would definitely have to rush to make the early seating.

 

The show schedule accommodates both dinner seatings, but we don't much like the shows, so it doesn't matter to us.

 

Actually, our preference is the personal choice dining on Princess so we can eat anytime we want.

[CaptData]

Another thing to consider is medication sedules. If you must take meds with food etc, you may have to go early. I'm diabetic so I eat with my scedule. I like early but there is a lot of kids/seniors then as well. If you have kids you may want to eat at the buffet then put them in kids club while you eat late.

 

Hopfully a Hawiian Cruise

 

 Until we sail away on the ocean blue

 

 

 

Navigator of the Seas Western Crib 08/03

Dawn Princess - Eastern Carb 01/03

Dawn Princess Panamal Canal 11/02

 

[luvinlife]

We always take the early seating as we are not night owls. We are usually through with our excursions in time to change for dinner and see the shows and still in bed by a decent hour. And ready to go again in the morning.

[bibb]

We prefer the early dinner. We are never rushed to get back to the ship; it's going to leave at a given time regardless of which seating you are on so we all have to be back on the ship by sailing time. Even on formal evenings, we do not feel rushed. We get to bed between 1:30 & 3:00 AM and try to see the show nightly and do some dancing. I feel that we would not be able to do all that we do if we ate the late dinner. we are up and at breakfast usually around 8:30.

 

So, as several said above, it is really a personal choice and no one should try to push one as better than the other. It may be for them but not for everyone else. We don't require rest before or after the meals as some do. I can shower and be dressed in 30 minutes while others take 2 hours. Try both and you will know for sure which is better for you.

 

Either way, don't let anything short of the ship sinking spoil your good time. And, if you are really having fun, leave your mark by showing everyone else how happy you are.

 

Bibb

 

From the North banks of the Piscataqua.

 

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[obnurse]

We had late seating for our first cruise and expected it to be too late for us, but we loved it! We don't usually eat at 8:30 in the evening, but then again we don't usually stay out til 2 in the morning, either! We never went to bed feeling stuffed or uncomfortable, yet our dinner kept us going til the wee hours! After we got ready for dinner in the evening we would browse around the ship, listening to music with a drink until dinner time. It was wonderful. Whichever you choose, it'll be GREAT!

 

kc

[AZPam]

Make it simple and cruise with Princess! Then you can do Personal Choice Dining and eat whenever you want. Much simplier that way.

[JanetMarie]

For us, we eat around 6ish at home. So we prefer to have early sitting. Also, we are able to see the shows and have time to go to the casino and the disco and not feel so rushed.

 

OUR NEXT ONWARD JOURNEY!

 

[Liz54]

I was on Princess 3 years ago - chose personal choice dining but when we got on board, the PC dining room was very full, and they would not allow reservations except for 6 PM or 9 PM. Some Choice. I was traveling with my brother who is very disabled and could not manage the wait for a table so we were stuck. In fact after some very heavy negotiations and a look at my poor brother's condition, they jumped us up in the line-up most nights, other times we ate at 6. I thought the whole thing was chaos and no choice!