Aren't there any good things about early seating?

[MelissaE1]

I've been reading the thread about early/late seating and it seems almost everyone prefers late, even with kids. My TA (who turned out to be a complete loss anyway, I switched) told me everyone with kids tries for early seating, and that's what we are confirmed with.

The last time we cruised we had no children and went for late seating because we tend to eat later anyway. It's been 10 years, so I don't remember much about how the shows went, etc. This time we are cruising with DS8 and DD4 and assumed early would be better. As a family we usually eat between 7-8 p.m. depending on what's going on.

So, are there ANY benifits to early seating, or should I try changing my dining time? What about conflicts with shows/cool stuff in the kids clubs? We are pretty casual, not too scheduled, and I am beginning to think we have the wrong set up.

 

[Pugdog007]

We always do early seating and I have no complaints as long as they don't move it any earlier than 6:00. I have a DD-14 who has a regimented meal schedule and couldn't fathom eating as late as 8:30.

To me, I like the flow of dinner/show better than show/dinner. It did seem a little early on some port days though.

 

[Michelle]

We VASTLY prefer early dining. To us dinner is not the highlight of th evening, we like to get it out of the way early and then go enjoy ourselves. Our daughter LOVES the clubs and the one time we had late dining it was WAY too late for her to eat and she would rather be playing when all the fun evening activities are going on.

Keep your early dining, there is a reason why it is the most popular for families with younger kids!

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

Last time we cruised we had late seating. My dd's club activites (the really cool ones) always started at 8:00. We would usually feed her by room service and send her to the club. We didn't like the fact that we weren't eating as a family, but at least we did it a few nights - the nights she chose not to do the activites. We did love that fact that we were not rushed to get back on the ship, get ready for dinner so early, but 8:00 is just too late for us to eat - I feel horrible going to bed on a full stomach. This time we are trying early seating just because we are going with three other families and they always get early seating. I will let you know how it comes out.

 

[prymsu]

My family has always done the early seating. The main reason is because we normally eat early in the evenings at home, and because we are usually pretty active during our trip, there would be no way my 10 year old would be able to last until late seating. We have never had problems with early seating.

For my cruise next week, I am trying the late seating, mainly because my son will not be with me on this trip.

 

[aprilgail2]

I would never choose the late seating....when we go out for a night on broadway while at home we do dinner and the show....seeingthe show first and then doing dinner just doesn't seem right LOL.. PLus I can't imagin eating all that food at 9pm, I would go to bed sick from being full at that hour!

 

[canadianmom]

When we booked our last cruise, we had no choice...only late seating was available. It was NOT for us. Our kids , 7 and 5 would fall asleep at the table, many times before dinner arrived and we'd have to wake them up to eat.
Of course they didn't.
At least my husband and I had a nice quiet dinner to ourselves.

This time, we booked far in advance and we have early seating.

 

[taswira]

Your DD4 will probably be <I>much</I> happier with main (early) seating. Although I <I>personally</I> always select late seating, I do not have any children. I have seen <I>many</I> tired and grumpy kids at late dining, and even the slightly older ones who are anxious to get out of there to go to some activity with new friends. Both seatings have their pros and cons, but with a 4 year old, do you really want to have her finishing dinner at 9:30 or sometimes closer to 10pm?

 

[bennett]

We loved early seating-we still had some time to do things before retiring for the evening. I do not like eating late-going to bed stuffed. If you ever notice on these boards-when people have selected late seating then decide to switch to early-its pretty difficult to do-usually on a wait list-its easier to switch from early to late than late to early.

 

[Johnathan's Mom]

We have been on 3 DC's. The 1st 2 we had early seating. The las one we had late seating because I had read so much about people enjoying this meal more. We have a DS 6 y/o. He slept thru 4 meal evenig meals! Even Animators Palate which he really loves!

He usually has a hard time settling dow at night to go to sleep but there is so much to do on the ship that he can barely make it thru early dinner and half of the show.

We have opted to go back to early dinner this time for this reason. We too found that some of the activities he likes best in kids club is at 8pm. This time we will have family with us that has never cruised before and I know he will be even more tired and excited than in the past if this is possible.

Good luck with your choice. I don't think there is a wrong choice. It just depends on what works for you and your family. If you make a choice that is not the best for your family that just means you will have to book again for the diffrent seating and we all know this cruising with Disney can become addicting.

 

[imgoingtodisney]

I also chose early seating to keep more in routine of when we eat at home - usually 530/6pm.
When I booked our excursions I asked specifically for the morning times because I realized it would be cutting it close to get back onboard for dinner if we had an afternoon excursion.
And DS10 is very much looking forward to some of the Oceaneer Lab nighttime activities.

 

[debbiebones]

Hi Melissa,

Like you, we've never been on a cruise with the kids either (just couples) and so we've always had the late seating.

I personally would prefer the late seating but I've been telling myself...."well, this cruise was decided upon with the kids in mind so I'm going to adapt myself to their schedules totally this week." I figured we probably won't be out "late into the night" too much on this vacation because I'm sure the kids won't be sleeping in very much.

If I eat late, stay out late, etc, I'm not going to be of much use to the kids anyway. We normally eat at about 6:00 anyway and I'm not sure how many tours we'll be doing with two toddlers so I don't think we'll be affected by that.

Another reason for us...my parents are also joining us and I know they never eat late.

I think I'd be outvoted if I ask our group which seating they'd prefer.

take care,

Deb

 

[PiperG]

Originally posted by WebmasterMichelle
Our daughter LOVES the clubs and the one time we had late dining it was WAY too late for her to eat and she would rather be playing when all the fun evening activities are going on.

We also like the early seating. On our Wonder cruise, DS (then almost 5) would finish his Mac and Cheese pretty quickly. Then, in between courses, DH or I would take him over to the club, and return to enjoy the rest of the meal with our tablemates. That allowed DS to play in the club for a good 2 or three hours, before we picked him up.

Usually, we put him to bed, but allowed him to watch Disney movies "as long as he wanted" while we enjoyed wine on the verandah. He typically fell asleep rather quickly, so it really worked out well.

 

[Melrosgirl]

I always request early seating on cruises. I dislike eating after 7 p.m.,lol.