Dining Issue

[EcbLovesMickey]

So, we booked our cruise and all that was left was the second seating. Let me just say how stupid I think it is that Disney has such a late seating to begin with. With rotational dining in place they should be able to accommodate everyone at the early seating, especially since it is pretty much a given that a vast majority of the guest will be traveling with children

So, my question is, we are Wait Listed for the early seating, anyone know how likely it is we get bumped. This is really a deal breaker and we may end up switching dates if we can't get early dining. My kids go to bed at 8, even on vacation we have them in bed at a decent hour, so eating at 8 makes absolutely no sense.

 

[aanderson5]

I like the fact there is a late seating. We eat dinner at 7-7:30 at home. We would never choose early seating. It also works better for people from the west coast or those traveling without kids.

That said I have read similar threads where people have reported being able to switch ther seating quite easily once on board. And others who thought they wouldn't like the late seating that actually liked it.

 

[cmclaura]

We like the late seating and are very glad they offer a choice.

For us, eating at 5-5:30 wouldn't allow us enough time during the day to do everything we'd like to do. And we're late-to-bed types. At 8pm, the night is still young!

It's really not a given that most of the guests will be travelling with children. There are plenty who don't.

 

[keaster]

On our first cruise in Feb. 09, we were assigned second seating, asked our TA to put us on the waitlist for main...and we ended up getting it a few weeks before we left.

We were never officially notified, I just noticed it was switched on our reservation when I logged in one day to check it out.

 

[TheDisneyingNewfie]

I don't suppose the timezone shift might help you out? Don't know what timezone you're in though.

We got early seating and now I think I'm regretting it. I've seen lots of reasons to go for late seating. But, I don't have young kids anymore.

 

[smb6]

I can sympathize with your situation. My kids also go to bed by 8pm at home. I know they will stay up a little later on our trip, but not that much later. So, I could NOT do second seating. From 99% of the reports I have read about those waitlisted, it either came through before hand or they were easily switched on board. So, my guess is you will be fine..... Hope it works out.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

We used to be early seating people. Had in on the first cruise (6:00 pm) and enjoyed it. On the second cruise, we had late seating and had it moved to early once on board with no problem. However, we hated early seating on that cruise (5:30 pm) as we felt rushed to get back to the ship each day for dinner, or on sea days we had to stop early to go back to the room to get ready.

On our last two cruises, we've done late seating and will probably never go back. When at home, we eat early (6:00 pm), but on the cruise we really enjoy the late seating and I am glad they offer it. We find that late dining makes for a more relaxed cruise. I don't find it "stupid" at all. Quite the contrary, we find it quite smart that they offer it to avoid the issues of waiting for a table with "free style dining".

 

[Anjelica]

We've done both and we LOVE LOVE LOVE the late seating. That usually puts us 2-3 hours after our normal dinner time but has caused zero issues with the kids (and we have relatively "small" children - 3 and 7).

When we've done early dining we were always rushing to get dressed, pictures (if we wanted) and up to the dining room. With late dining we never felt like we had to rush or get back from an excursion extra early.

 

[SpanishForker]

So, we booked our cruise and all that was left was the second seating. Let me just say how stupid I think it is that Disney has such a late seating to begin with. With rotational dining in place they should be able to accommodate everyone at the early seating, especially since it is pretty much a given that a vast majority of the guest will be traveling with children

So, my question is, we are Wait Listed for the early seating, anyone know how likely it is we get bumped. This is really a deal breaker and we may end up switching dates if we can't get early dining. My kids go to bed at 8, even on vacation we have them in bed at a decent hour, so eating at 8 makes absolutely no sense.

We are in the Mountain time zone so late seating is actually about our normal eating time. We liked going to the show earlier and then having a break then dinner. We always got a snack of a slice of pizza or something before the show to tide us over if we were hungry.

One thing I am not sure that you are clear on is the rotational dining. Everyone rotates meaning that you have moved from Parrot Cay to Tritons, but others have now moved from AP to Parrot Cay all during the same seating time. On our cruise in Jan this year pretty much all 3 dining rooms were full at both the late and early seatings. Unless the cruise is severely underbooked no dining room is unused on any night.

 

[owensjro]

We were waitlisted once and it came through. We were not notified as a previous poster said...it just appeared one day on the reservation.

That said, we enjoy both dining rotations and switch around. We have a young daughter whose bed time is normally 8pm but since so much happens on the ship at that time she tends to stay up late. We usually get her dinner earlier then she goes and plays in the club while we eat. Or she will have dessert during the late dinner and then go play.

We're doing two 5N B2B's in two weeks and the first one we have early dining and the second we have late.

Jim

 

[NancyIL]

I had late seating for the first time in December and didn't like it at all. I wasn't cruising with kids, but I normally go to bed by 11, and late dinner ended at ~ 10. If you are used to eating a later dinner at home, that's one thing. But as far as I am concerned - your time zone at home is irrelevant. I try to adjust to whatever time zone I am in when vacationing.

 

[2BoysMom]

Have faith, my friend, have faith!

If it is really important to you, then others here have mentioned to tell your TA to have you wait-listed for it. On our last cruise, May 2009, we were booked for the late seating as well. My boys normally go to bed at 7:30 and they were just turning 5 at the time, so pretty young. When I got on board, I went to the "maitre d'" or whomever is in charge (they tell you where to go to see him) and asked if we could be put in the early seating. His pat answer was, "Well, I cannot promise but I will try...." and of course, we got the seating that we wanted on that first day. It does happen. It certainly shouldn't be a deal breaker.

I'm not worried for you. I'm confident it will work out.

 

[gonzalez8530]

Does the early seating impact excursions with respect to returning to the ship? I would fear getting from the excursion, back aboard the ship, showered and changed with only one shower being an issue.

 

[Poohbug]

We have been wait-listed twice. Did not get early seating. Late seating was not fun. Now the first thing I check is if I can get early seating. Until all the kids are older, this is a deal breaker for us.

Good luck.

 

[Silverfox97]

When my husband & I got late seating (yes, even as 2 newlyweds we didn't want to eat late), we switched once we were on board with no problems.

 

[kcashner]

There is an excellent chance that you'll be moved to "main" dining before boarding. If you check in and get your KTTW card and still have late dining, go to "dining changes" and ask there if you can be moved.

 

[miztigg]

I really dont think its stupid at all!!! Diffrent people like diffrent things I would never wanna rush back from port to get ready for dinner!!! Nor the last day of the cruise go to breakfast at 645am !! That is why disney offers diffrent dining Hopefully you can waitlist and get a earlier seating Good luck either way you will have a awesome cruise!!!!!!

 

[branv]

One thing I am not sure that you are clear on is the rotational dining. Everyone rotates meaning that you have moved from Parrot Cay to Tritons, but others have now moved from AP to Parrot Cay all during the same seating time. On our cruise in Jan this year pretty much all 3 dining rooms were full at both the late and early seatings. Unless the cruise is severely underbooked no dining room is unused on any night.

I also don't get what you mean by rotational can accomodate everyone at an earlier time. To do that they'd have to either double the number of restaurants or double the seating capacity of the ones they have. Which of course, they can't do. And lots of people sail without young children...or without any children at all.

 

[Luvstocruise]

Hi
With many other ships in the past, multiple restaurants and two sittings tries to even things out: Say Disney Magic has 2400 passengers, 3 rotational restaurants x 2 sittings: 2400/6 = 400 people per restaurant per sitting. But I think there is actually more capacity than 400 per restaurant, so your chances could still be better than 50 50. I was sweating bullets when I was booking thinking that Disney is mostly families with young kids = earlier eaters, but the answers on various threads shows that many families like late sittings for dinner, and with singles, childless couples, and older couples maybe liking late sittings, it makes sense that the OP will get lucky with an early sitting. When we booked 12 months out, even then I was worried that Early sitting would be taken, but we got Early Sitting no problem.
Luvstocruise
a.k.a. Dan

 

[threebeesatdisney]

I think our family is going to like the late seating. We have a teenager and the day doesn't start very early. We are night owls at heart. But I do have one question for everyone. If we want to have an early dinner on one night of the cruise do they accommodate you? When should we ask for this? When we get on the ship or the day of?