Did they test the new dinner times yet?

[Gillian]

I can't remember which cruises had the earlier dinner times! I was wondering how they went, and if DCL was going to change them on future cruises. 5:30 is a little early for us!

Anyone?

 

[GoodStepMom]

Gillian--We cruise 7/13 on the Magic and had late seating at 7:45--we liked that time much better than 8:30. The shows for our seating were at 6:00 which was still rushed and we missed a couple--something to look forward to next time!!

Maybe someone else can give feedback on early seating (5:30) and shows...

However, I notice your cruise is in 45 days and that will probably (help someone??) be back to the regular dining times...

Happy cruising!

 

[wovenwonder]

Currenlty it is on a 30 day trial from about the middle of July to the middle of August with no current plans announced to extend the new times beyond that.

 

[mmouse37]

I believe our sailing on 8/3/02 is the last trial sailing. I will let you know if we hear anything about keeping the new times when I go to the Q&A session with the captain. We are looking forward to eating at 7:45.

MJ

 

[Mtdewbuzz]

The new dinner times sound great if you eat at the late time (which I do ) but it does seem a bit TOO early for the early dinner time...

 

[DisneyKids]

Not a big deal but if it were my choice, I'd keep it the same. Regardless of the seating, you have to be ready for the shows (if you choose to, we do!) or dinner and thats just a bit to early for me. You're whole time thing is different (and insignificant) on the cruise with all of the activity, food, etc. I vote keep the day longer and not worry about eating too late.

It's a Disney Cruise...it's ALL fun!

 

[Gillian]

5:30 sounds so early, but I know it will probably work out fine, since we have a 2 year old. He will be excited enough to stay awake for the shows after dinner, I hope!

It's out of our hands anyway, so I won't worry. We can always eat again if we get hungry!

 

[jds]

We had the early seating on the 7/13 Eastern, and 5:30 seemed WAY too early to be eating dinner! We had to rush down from the sailaway party on Saturday afternoon to make it on time for our first dinner. Part of our group took an afternoon DCL excursion on St. Maarten and didn't get back to the ship until 5:20, which left them almost no time to put on the tropical outfits they'd just purchased. On other afternoons, it just felt like we were losing valuable "relaxing" time to get to dinner on time.

Our servers also commented that they didn't like the new dining times, since they now have 15 minutes less between seatings. I'm not sure if it was because of the new times or standard DCL procedure, but we felt rushed out of the restaurants on several occasions; on two evenings we were not even offered coffee after our meal.

All that said, we probably would have been really happy with the 7:45 seating, but were tied into the early one because we had some very young children in our group whose parents didn't want to change times.

 

[mcnuss]

Getting the balance just right seems to be so hard! 7:45 is awesome for the late seating, yet 5:30 for the early seating is definitely too early for just about everyone! I am so very glad that I do not have to make decisions that impact so many people, right down to the servers.

We have opted for late seating since DD8 is a nightowl, and I figure on a late afternoon snack for her anyway. With all the activities, it is better for her to eat less food more often to keep up her energy level.

 

[natsmom125]

We are cruising on the Wonder on 9-5..

Yesterday we received a letter from Disney stating our dinner time would be 7:45 and that the shows would be planned
accordingly.

Phyllis

 

[StaceyA]

Originally posted by Gillian
5:30 sounds so early, but I know it will probably work out fine, since we have a 2 year old. He will be excited enough to stay awake for the shows after dinner, I hope!

It's out of our hands anyway, so I won't worry. We can always eat again if we get hungry!

Gillian,
The shows for the early dinner guests are at 8:00, the late seating's show is at 6:00.
We were on the 7/13 Magic and one night we had Palo at 6:30, so we went to the 8:00 show and lots of kids were sleeping.
The shows are about an hour long so they end around 9:00.

I liked the 7:45, but wouldn't mind if they just kept it at 8:30, because the 5:30 seemed to be way to early, there is so much going on at that time. Like the previous poster said they had to run to thier dinner after the sailaway party had just begun!