Traditional early dining vs my time dining carnival pride - help me decide

[pearle1]

Hello all - looking for opinions/help regarding dining. What do you experienced cruisers prefer??

It is just my 13 year old daughter and I on a cruise in July - should I pick traditional early dining at a table with others - or do the my time dining by ourselves ?? Any thoughts/opinions on this would be appreciated!

Thanks

[champagne123]

If you do the anytime dining....you are NOT locked into a certain time. What if there is a great show or activity you and your daughter want to see at 6pm? OR ....what if you are not hungry at 6Pm.....OR.....what if you just got back on the ship....covered in sand....still have to shower and dress for 6pm? :D Just a couple of thoughts.

[JLee1973]

Friends on what you ate wanting. Do you two want to meet new people. If so traditional would be best. If you are looking for some bonding time I would say ATD.

 

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[wantocruisemore]

Agree with above. Also since more people seem to want ATD, you could try it first night and if you just really didn't like it, then talk to the maître d about switching to traditional.

[Warm Breezes]

Hello all - looking for opinions/help regarding dining. What do you experienced cruisers prefer??

It is just my 13 year old daughter and I on a cruise in July - should I pick traditional early dining at a table with others - or do the my time dining by ourselves ?? Any thoughts/opinions on this would be appreciated!

Thanks

 

Do you like meeting and talking to others? Then do Traditional. Do you like being the flexibility of when and with whom you dine? Then choose Anytime. We do not care to spend our vacation conversing with strangers over dinner and prefer to dine when we are ready with just our group. We choose anytime. Others like to socialize and choose traditional. This is really a personal choice based on your likes.

[mousey]

I agree with the previous poster...it depends on if you want to socialize with other people, which is a fun and unique experience or if you want to spend some special alone time with the DD. Either way it will be fun. You also need to take into account how your daughter feels. At her age, some kids are socially awkward and might not feel comfortable making conversation with strangers. My best advice would be to discuss it with your daughter and listen to how she feels about the matter.

 

We have always, except when we cruised on NCL and didn't have a choice in the MDR except for ATD, opted for dining with others because that way the DS was able to meet other kids his age as we were usually paired up with other couples that also had kids close to his age. Our DS has always been a very sociable kid and never had any trouble or discomfort at all sharing meals with new people he didn't know. I think it was a good lesson in broadening his social life and taught him how to communicate with new and different people from different places and walks of life. But again, it depends on your daughter and how she might feel about the matter. She may want to just spend some alone time with you. I would go with however she feels about the matter.

[fourkittys]

If you request tradional dining you can choose to sit alone or with others and it will be the same all week. If you chose MTD you can request to do either way each night as you enter the dining room. They will accomodate you if they can. We like MTD for the flexability.

[bunchesofun]

You can eat with others on ATD if you want. Just request to be seated at a table with others. We did this sometimes, and sometimes on our own. We prefer not having a specific time as our schedule is different from day to day.

[092306]

I would choose anytime for the flexibility. Tables for 2 are so close together you will probably meet people anyway or can choose to sit with others.

[Silverspringcruiser]

Do ATD and say you'll take the first available table. You can eat when you want, you won't have to wait as long for a table of 2 to open up, and you'll meet different people every night.

[Kimberlyr22]

We went with the anytime dining to allow our 13 year old more flexibility if there are activities he wants to do that overlap early or late dining times. Also, I expect we won't eat in the MDR every night and I don't want to have to worry about letting someone know so that they don't hold up service for others at our table waiting for us.

 

 

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[Velvetwater]

ATD is awesome...so flexible!

 

Along with what has already been said you can also ask for the same waiters on ATD. In may be a wait but you can.

 

 

Also ATD lets you sit in different parts of the dining room if you prefer for different(ish) views each dinner time.

[pearle1]

Thanks everyone! I think I have decided to go with the my time dining after all these helpful responses. I talked with my daughter also, and she said some nights she wouldn't mind meeting others for dinner, and some nights just the two if us, so I think this will work out great. thanks again - very helpful:):

Edited April 21, 2014 by pearle1

[knmcashman]

I also have a 13 yr. old and the last couple of cruises we had the assigned dining. First cruise, the family didn't speak english (that was a little awkward ). The second cruise the people we sat with were horrible, came to dinner already drunk and a lot of swearing. Ate at the Lido deck the rest of the cruise because they couldn't switch our table and my son was kinda scared to go back. Really looking forward to anytime dining on our July cruise so I can eat with JUST my family.

 

 

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