Dinner Time...1st or 2nd seating

[j2o]

WOW!!! I have been a lucker for such a long time, and now I don't seem to remember why I've been lurking

Thank you so much to every single person who responded. You're answers were perfect! I really love this board so much and there is such good information. Folks are always so willing to give of their time to help someone they have never met and answer questions.....sorry, I'm just so overwhelmed by all the positive and many comments that we've accumulated with this thread!!!

I think we will probably stick with the early time this trip. We've got 3 port days, one of which is at a WDW day, so we won't be back for that anyhow. The other 2 days I think All Aboard time is before dinner anyhow, so we are leaning towards keeping it as is. I think we could make it work for the later one, but maybe we'll try that next time

Thank you again, and I'm all ears if anyone else has an opinion!!!

 

[Meghatron]

dinner begins at 5:15.

On which ship and what itinerary? I've never had an early dinner seating before 5:45pm. DCL's current site info says "approximately 6pm" for all four ships.

ETA: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faqs/onboard-dining/dinner-times/

 

[j2o]

We are on the Magic, May 10th out of Galveston, TX

 

[Steve Dexter]

We had early dining on the Fantasy a month ago, it wasn't terrible but we wouldn't do it again. It's just too early, we found ourselves not even hungry sometimes. On multiple previous Disney cruises we had late dining, it was just more comfortable for us. To each their own.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Yokelridesagain]

WOW!!! I have been a lucker for such a long time, and now I don't seem to remember why I've been lurking

Thank you so much to every single person who responded. You're answers were perfect! I really love this board so much and there is such good information. Folks are always so willing to give of their time to help someone they have never met and answer questions.....sorry, I'm just so overwhelmed by all the positive and many comments that we've accumulated with this thread!!!

I think we will probably stick with the early time this trip. We've got 3 port days, one of which is at a WDW day, so we won't be back for that anyhow. The other 2 days I think All Aboard time is before dinner anyhow, so we are leaning towards keeping it as is. I think we could make it work for the later one, but maybe we'll try that next time

Thank you again, and I'm all ears if anyone else has an opinion!!!

Our first cruise was a couple of years ago, when our youngest was 16 months...we got second seating in Alaska (2-3 hours later than our time)--and have stayed with second seating ever since. Why?

1) Major reason is that I would rather our kids be happy and engaged with the shows than in 'falling asleep after dinner' mode when the show is on. The main reason I'm willing to pay the Disney premium is that they like the shows/characters so much--it sure isn't because the food is great.

2) If your older kids aren't so much into the stage shows, the window between 5:30 and the later dining time is a great time to hit the pools.

3) And hey, there are a lot less screaming kids at late seating.

The one problem with late seating is that you may have a kid whose biologic urge to sleep overwhelms hunger. My kids, unfortunately, are obliged to keep somewhat inconsistent hours, and "hey kids, this week we're eating dinner at 8 at night" is something they are able to adjust to...others are different, though. This past November we went on Fantasy w/extended family and one of the cousins (almost 5) fell asleep at dinner 6 out of 7 nights.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

Oh, and forgot to say: if you did want to switch, you will have no problem. The vast majority of 'switch' requests are going the other direction.