2nd Dining concerns whats your thoughts?

[Disneyhenry]

Hello everyone, our family (DH, DS age 7 and myself) are booked on the EBPC, my sister her DH and DD (also age 7) will be joining us and their cabin is right next door to us.
We have cruised before and have always done the 1st dining, this time we booked 2nd dining because my sister wanted it and the fact that our kids can go to the club when they are done eating while we just enjoy our meal.

I have some concerns, our family are early to bed and early to rise and we also eat dinner at home at 5pm. Now my DS is not a big fan of dining out, we just don't do it very often, we eat at home, so dining on the ships has always been a bit of a challenge for us so I was thinking that the 2nd maybe the better choice. Also my DH and I pretty much insisted on having a stateroom with a veranda and my sis usually books an inside room but we wanted to be next to each other, so I gave a little too by going with the 2nd dining since she booked the type of room that we wanted.

I am also worried about being to tired to eat 8:15 it seems so late, we are usually in bed by 9:30 - 10, what are your thoughts on this? BTW my sis and her family stay up very late and sleep in, we just are on total different schedules, nothing wrong with staying up late, our family just don't.
Thanks

 

[xlxo]

I love second dining.... but sounds like your body clock needs the earlier dining to match the 5pm.

• more relaxed than the first dining
• you get an extra hour in bed or to pack on debarkation day
• the 2nd breakfast means you can be waiting comfortably in the dining room for your debarkation time
• more time in port.... you can always try a local late afternoon snack while waiting for your 2nd feeding

I think specialty dining allows you to break away from the assigned late dining.

 

[thinkoflaura]

everybody's different, but we love 2nd dining. we've done it on 3 cruises so far since my DD was age 5 and frankly we wouldn't have it any other way. we are not usually late eaters either, but cruise timing is so different, we didn't really notice the adjustment.

if we got hungry after excursions, we'd grab a light snack on deck 9 before going to the 5:30pm show... dinner at 8pm ended up being a nice time to chill out, unwind and reflect on the day. sometimes my DD would start zoning out by dessert, but then she just went to bed after the meal.

hope this helps!

have a great trip!

 

[Happy100]

We eat early at home, 5ish but we have only ever done second seating on DCL. We even were in bed by 11 on the ship. Our only issue was going to bed with a full belly-so we always try to walk some after dinner. Also we typically needed a small snack around 5 to tie us over till dinner. We absolutely loved the dine and play and so did our son.

Since you are booked with second and it sounds like due to be the one to compromise, just leave it. I guarantee you will like some aspects of it.

 

[Flossbolna]

A few thoughts, especially with regard to a longer cruise like the EBPC cruise: Eating late every evening might make you stay up longer and also sleep in a little bit more. Since you are not on your usual schedule, over two weeks you might adjust a little bit to the later hours. Also, unless you are very much in love with the shows, you will have days when you skip the shows (there is only so many variety shows one can see and it makes sense to concentrate on the highlights) and those evening hours on the ship during early dining and first show are some of the best time to hang out in the pools and such. Finally, there is always Beach Blanket for an alternative dinner when you feel like you want to change it up. We got a bit tired of the MDR experience after a while and skipped some meals for Beach Blanket, fast food on deck and Palo.

I think it is nice of you to have agreed to the compromise with your sister regarding the dining time since she ended up booking a pricier stateroom than what she wanted originally!

Have a fantastic cruise, the Panama Canal experience is fantastic!

 

[lorimay]

We are early to bed-early to rise people also, but we always choose the 2nd seating. Especially on port days. We don't feel rushed to get back on the boat with the late seating. Even when we travel with our grandkids we pick the late seating, sometimes they get sleepy at the table and then the counselors from the club/lab come around to get them and they get a second wind. It is nice to finish our meal quietly while they go back to the club for an hour or so.

 

[party-of-five]

On our first cruise, we booked late and were assigned 2nd dining. I was worried at first because we tend to be early risers too. We don't really have a set eating schedule at home - just the way it is. Some days we eat our big meal around 1, other days not til 6:30. But I agree with the PP who said that you're likely to adapt to a new schedule. I couldn't believe how well, and how long the kids slept in every morning. That meant a later breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are plenty of lighter options on the menu and you don't have to eat a ton at dinner. There are plenty of options for snacks if you're hungry early. I liked seeing the shows before dinner rather than sitting with a full stomach. We found the late dinners to be very relaxing and a nice way to end the day. We would go for a little walk after dinner, and/or sit on the verandah with a glass of wine. It worked out fine.

I too think it's great that you and your sister are willing to compromise and cruise together. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[Trvlr76]

Hello everyone, our family (DH, DS age 7 and myself) are booked on the EBPC, my sister her DH and DD (also age 7) will be joining us and their cabin is right next door to us.
We have cruised before and have always done the 1st dining, this time we booked 2nd dining because my sister wanted it and the fact that our kids can go to the club when they are done eating while we just enjoy our meal.

I have some concerns, our family are early to bed and early to rise and we also eat dinner at home at 5pm. Now my DS is not a big fan of dining out, we just don't do it very often, we eat at home, so dining on the ships has always been a bit of a challenge for us so I was thinking that the 2nd maybe the better choice. Also my DH and I pretty much insisted on having a stateroom with a veranda and my sis usually books an inside room but we wanted to be next to each other, so I gave a little too by going with the 2nd dining since she booked the type of room that we wanted.

I am also worried about being to tired to eat 8:15 it seems so late, we are usually in bed by 9:30 - 10, what are your thoughts on this? BTW my sis and her family stay up very late and sleep in, we just are on total different schedules, nothing wrong with staying up late, our family just don't.
Thanks

We are recently off our first Disney cruise. We have an 8 and 6 yr old. We normally eat at 5, and kids are in bed by 8. We are early risers. We chose second seating, because I couldn't conceive of eating at 5, and getting ready (dressed/shower) to eat at 4 or so. It seemed too stressing to have to rush. I won't lie, the first days were tough. The kids were cranky at dinner, and were exhausted. We started to take a nap midday, and that helped. I thought we'd take advantage of the kids club after they ate, but they were too tired. They never wanted to go. We usually finished our meal @10:15 (we were 6 total). Our schedules eventually adjusted, but they were always a bit tired at dinner. Hunger wasn't an issue. There's so much food, we had no trouble with the late dinner. I can't imagine being hungry for a 5:45 dinner...but I suppose you'd just adjust earlier eating times.
We're cruising again this year, and will do second seating again. All things considered, the freeness of that time just makes more sense for us.

 

[scootch]

We would not be able to do late dining, I understand your concerns. If there is no way to change, I would just suggest eating smaller portions. But who really wants to do that on a cruise!! Feel for you.

 

[Flipflopgirl27]

While my party was all adults, I had similar concerns. I eat around 5:30 at home and, when I get hungry, I get mean. Plus, I'm usually in bed around 10:30.

I absolutely loved late dining.

My schedule changed on the ship, I slept in more and stayed up later. But, in terms of food, we are a late breakfast, so we usually had lunch or a big snack between 3-4. We never had to rush back from port, which was espically luxurious on Castaway Cay because we practically had the beach to ourselves for an hour. On sea days, we sometimes missed the show to swim between 4-6. So many families went to early dining, allowing the pools (and the slide) to clear out a bit. Lastly, I definitely suggest walking a lot after dinner, it will help get the food settled before bed.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I always do second dining. At home, I'm normally in bed by 10pm. If I get hungry on the ship in the 5 - 6pm range, I get something light. At dinner, I may just have soup and salad. I've never done early seating and have no desire to.

 

[Mitura]

We always ate at the late seating. The kids appreciated the late hour because of already stated kids club, getting ready at a later time, doing things around the ship that aren't as crowded since people are at dinner like, shopping, photos and not rushing from Castaway Cay. Our kids though are older (9 & 13) so they like the later hour.

One thing to note. On the 3 cruises we have taken the later dining seems not as crowded, as we get to take our time eating, not having to worry about another set of diners coming in after us. And on the last day you get to eat in the later breakfast sitting, roughly 8 am.

Joe

 

[DnA2010]

We always ate at the late seating. The kids appreciated the late hour because of already stated kids club, getting ready at a later time, doing things around the ship that aren't as crowded since people are at dinner like, shopping, photos and not rushing from Castaway Cay. Our kids though are older (9 & 13) so they like the later hour.

One thing to note. On the 3 cruises we have taken the later dining seems not as crowded, as we get to take our time eating, not having to worry about another set of diners coming in after us. And on the last day you get to eat in the later breakfast sitting, roughly 8 am.

Joe

I was a bit worried about the late seating but we loved it- for a lot of the reasons noted above. I couldn't imagine having to start to get organized for dinner so early and DD loved heading to the clubs with tablemates after we ate- we often sat with their parents and enjoyed coffee/dessert etc

 

[AmandaRG]

We live early hours in life, but on vacation, we convert to later hours. Late dining works for us. Our girls needed a nap or rest time when they were younger. They still need an afternoon snack to tide them over until dinner, but it is manageable. Hope it works well for your family!

 

[jrabbit]

years ago we switched from late seating to early because we couldn't go to sleep on a full stomach.

That being said, it's easy to sleep on the ships. I had a hard time getting up around 9am this last cruise.

Staying up "late" is something that you have to get used to. We really enjoy the late night SHOWS in the adult night clubs (Wavebands on the Wonder). these are WAAAAY Past our bedtime ... usually lasting about 45 minutes and starting around 10:30 and going to 11:15/30. Then its off to bed. Don't worry / try to get up early - there's not much going on aboard the ship before 9am anyway.

The best way to deal with food overload on a cruise is to make sure that you have small portions for breakfast, very small portions for lunch (skip it sometimes) and eat what you want for dinner.

With late seating you can easily have a lite lunch early afternoon and a snack early evening and then be ready to eat at 8:15 (or whenever late seating is). You probably won't be interested in the "late night snacks" with late dinner, and the pirate party buffet is out of the question (never visited it in our 16 DCL cruises)

 

[Disneyhenry]

I want to thank everyone who responded, I feel comfortable now with the choice that we made with the 2nd dining. Does anyone know when breakfast is for 2nd dining? Thanks

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I want to thank everyone who responded, I feel comfortable now with the choice that we made with the 2nd dining. Does anyone know when breakfast is for 2nd dining? Thanks

I believe it's at 7:45 or 8:00. That's just on debarkation morning, not every morning.

 

[kuhltiffany]

Honestly, I'd feed your kids early (room service or quick service) and drop them off at the kids club while you eat late...

 

[thinkoflaura]

We are recently off our first Disney cruise. We have an 8 and 6 yr old. We normally eat at 5, and kids are in bed by 8. We are early risers. We chose second seating, because I couldn't conceive of eating at 5, and getting ready (dressed/shower) to eat at 4 or so.

great point -- i never really thought about that... you almost have to make sure you're back on the ship from excursions or stop whatever you're doing on board around 4:30 for a group of 4 to get ready for early dinner.


and as for breakfast, like Shmoo said, there's only a set time on debarkation day. otherwise, you're not tied to any breakfast time!!!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

you almost have to make sure you're back on the ship from excursions or stop whatever you're doing on board around 4:30 for a group of 4 to get ready for early dinner.

On the other hand, you need to get back and cleaned up (if you need to do that after your day ashore) to go to the show before dinner. The show is at the same time as the early dining. Unless you don't plan on seeing any of them.