How much time dinner at the Main Dining Room

[FamilyWithKids2]

A question of 1st time cruiser :-)

 

If we have a show starting at 8:00 PM, when should we start dinner in the Main Dining Room? How long does it take for 2 adults + 2 kids to have dinner in the MDR?

[andrew2346]

I would plan on 2 hours. If you are seated with just your family it could be quicker and you can always mention to your servers that you prefer a shorter dinner.

[FamilyWithKids2]

If the show start at 8:00 PM, we should book dinner for 5:45 PM?

Isn't it too early for dinner?

 

It's just the 4 of us. Usually the kids are not patient enough to sit 2 hours straigh for dinner. They will become impatient after 1 - 1.5 hours.

 

(Kids are 8 and 13).

 

Does it take 2 hours due to a long wait for dishes serving?

[ewenix]

If the show start at 8:00 PM, we should book dinner for 5:45 PM?

Isn't it too early for dinner?

 

It's just the 4 of us. Usually the kids are not patient enough to sit 2 hours straigh for dinner. They will become impatient after 1 - 1.5 hours.

 

(Kids are 8 and 13).

 

Does it take 2 hours due to a long wait for dishes serving?

 

There are several factors that go into how long it takes.

 

- If your family is seated at a table for 6 or 8, then dinner will take longer.

- The speed of the waiter in taking your orders, serving you, removing dishes and moving on to the next course.

- The pace of other tables with the same wait staff.

- If someone in your family orders more than one entree or appetizer.

- Dessert, IMHO is a big factor. That tends to be when the waiter has more free time to chat with you and other tables.

- If there is a wait staff 'show' that night it will definitely slow down anything after entrees are served.\

 

Even if dinner takes 2 hours and you start at 6pm, you will make it to the show.

You may not get the first few rows in the center section, but you'll be able find a seat and watch the show.

(Keep in mind that a lot of people will be in the same situation for an 8pm show and early MDR seating.)

Edited February 1, 2017 by ewenix

[Kamloops50]

If only your family you could be out in as little as one hour. Myself and DW can out in less than hour because we usually skip desert and coffee. We like to get tea from the IC for the evening instead of coffee in the MDR.

[COMBOY]

The general rule of cruise thumb is if the show starts at 8PM then you should start dinner at 6PM "if" you want the full dinner service of appetizer, soup, salad, entree and dessert and coffee in a relaxed pace. However, if you prefer you can speed up the process and just do an entree and dessert. You can usually see the evening's menu outside the dinning room and make your decisions ahead of time. So if you are type of family than just want to eat and leave then discuss your needs with your waiter on the first night. They are more then happy to accommodate any reasonable request. The other option is just go eat in the Windjammer buffet for dinner and then head to the show. You can do that in around an hour.

[spookwife]

A question of 1st time cruiser :-)

 

 

 

If we have a show starting at 8:00 PM, when should we start dinner in the Main Dining Room? How long does it take for 2 adults + 2 kids to have dinner in the MDR?

 

 

If you do standard dining, your eat early and attend the late shows or attend the early show before late dining.

 

If you have MTD, the most popular times( 6-8) can be hard to get a table without a wait, even with making reservations.

 

Dinner can be under an hour to over 2, you just have to maybe skip a course or tell the wait staff to pace quicker if you want to get out f there sooner

 

 

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[reallyitsmema]

If you do standard dining, your eat early and attend the late shows or attend the early show before late dining.

If you have MTD, the most popular times( 6-8) can be hard to get a table without a wait, even with making reservations.

 

Dinner can be under an hour to over 2, you just have to maybe skip a course or tell the wait staff to pace quicker if you want to get out f there sooner

 

 

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That is not how the shows work on Oasis class ships. The OP is sailing on Harmony.

[johnritt]

You could always grab a snack earlier (say 5:30 at the windjammer or anytime for a sandwich or pizza) and eat after the show. MTD stops seating at 9:30.

 

We usually ate at 8:30 or 9:00 and were always out in an hour and never felt rushed either. Service was consistently great.

Edited February 2, 2017 by johnritt

[FamilyWithKids2]

Thank you for the answers!

[vacationlover_mn]

I would book dinner for 5:30, especially if it's the first night. And, make sure to tell your waiter that you have a show at 8...

 

 

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[Havingfun2010]

Dinner on cruise ships, are social events, not the usual eat and run we seem to embrace these days. Time to talk, enjoy, relax, unwind. A show after dinner, is part of the relax evening that started when you sat down for dinner. Dinner will last anywhere from 1.5 - 2 hours. If you have time between dinner an show, than a stop in the bar nearest the show to continue with relaxing until time to move into the show.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

It seems from the OP's question that they have MTD. We had that on our Harmony TA in October. We had a table for 2.

 

We found we always were finished in 1.5 hours. We sometimes had a soup and a salad for appetizers. We scheduled our shows for 2 hrs after dinner because you have to arrive 15 minutes early to claim the reservation at the show or they will release it to the standby line. Also, the MDR is on the other end of the ship. It will take a few minutes to get to the venues.

 

The waiters know that children have a short attention span. If you have a set reservation [i.e. each night at 6] they will get to know your family's habits. :)

 

One night the only reservation we could get was 1.5 hrs after beginning dinner. We mentioned this to the waiter and we were finished in an hour. This would not have been the way we usually schedule it--but, it was the ONLY reservation we could get for the particular show.

 

PS--if it does not all seem to work out before you sail. You can change show and dinner times on the ship. We did this several times. Very easy!

Edited February 2, 2017 by DragonOfTheSeas

[Desert Cruizers]

We have sat at tables of 6 to 10 with a 6 PM dinner and made the 8 PM shows in plenty of time. You can let your wait staff know that you wish to make the 8 PM show, majority are very accommodating if you let them know your situation.

[Little Buddy's Mom]

Always plan to get to the shows 30 minutes early. On the big ships, the lines can be long and very crowded. It's a mad house when they open the doors. My idea would be to skip the dessert course and after the show, have your dessert on the promenade.

Edited February 2, 2017 by Little Buddy's Mom