Dining, Main seating or Second Seating

[Merhlyn]

I have signed my wife and I up for the May 2014 Trans-Atlantic cruise. My question though is what is better or what due people prefer and why?
Main seating or Second seating.

Thanks
Michael

 

[su_A_ve]

No kids? Hands down second seating...

* Less crowded
* You'll attend the first show, and it will also be less crowded
* If you don't want to attend a show, you can take time to get dressed
* Less younger kids
* Young kids will be escorted away to their club/labs around 9pm
* You don't have to rush out and can enjoy a long cup of coffee and the desserts

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I have signed my wife and I up for the May 2014 Trans-Atlantic cruise. My question though is what is better or what due people prefer and why?
Main seating or Second seating.

Thanks
Michael

We prefer main seating. Eating that much just before going to bed (even if it's 2 hours later) just doesn't sit well on our tummies.

We've done late seating on 2 cruises, and I didn't really see the difference in the MDR as to numbers of kids in attendance. Personally, I think the MDRs are generally noisy to start with, adding kids (or not) doesn't seem to make a difference.

It seems to make more sense to us to eat, go to the show, and then, maybe have an after show drink (sometimes taking in the adult show in the lounge) before retiring for the day.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

No kids? Hands down second seating...

* Less crowded
* You'll attend the first show, and it will also be less crowded
* If you don't want to attend a show, you can take time to get dressed
* Less younger kids
* Young kids will be escorted away to their club/labs around 9pm
* You don't have to rush out and can enjoy a long cup of coffee and the desserts

Yup! We loved it. It will be my preference from here on out. No matter WHO I cruise with. (friends or otherwise.) If I eat and then sit at the show, I fall asleep. If I see the show, then eat, then walk around and have fun from 9:30-12:30, I am doing great!

 

[aaklang]

Without kids, I definitely preferred the second seating. With main seating, I always felt more rushed to get back in from the beach/pool to shower, clean up, rest etc before dinner. A couple of times we even had to return from the port earlier than required so that we could make it to dinner (I know, we could have eaten somewhere else, but we liked main dining room for dinner).

With the second seating, we can come back in and relax for awhile before dinner. We can take our time getting ready and even go have a drink in one of the lounges.

Now that we have kids though, it's all about main dining for me. I don't want them up that late.

Only negative for me about second seating is that I didn't go to as many of the shows, since they were all presented before dinner. The whole point was for me to take my time getting ready, so to rush out for a show would have defeated the purpose of second seating.

 

[MikeAndNick]

No kids? Hands down second seating...

* Less crowded
* You'll attend the first show, and it will also be less crowded
* If you don't want to attend a show, you can take time to get dressed
* Less younger kids
* Young kids will be escorted away to their club/labs around 9pm
* You don't have to rush out and can enjoy a long cup of coffee and the desserts

Teen age kids? Hands down main seating...

• The teens go all night and they are in a hurry to get started
• With early dinner your teen will still want to leave early
• With late dinner your teen will keep asking if they can skip dinner

Note: Even the younger kids are wanting to get to the kids area to get started playing.

 

[SnowWhite2]

I like main seating only because the entertainment slows to a crawl after 11:30 and there is nothing else to do but go to bed. If I've just finished dinner at 10 pm, I get indigestion going to bed by 11:30.

As for my teens, they hated late seating dinner as it was always during the good stuff going on in the kids clubs.

Either one works if you go with the flow. I'd never cancel a cruise over it but I wish there were more things to do after 11:30 besides hang with the 20's crowd at the Tube.

Note to self - I need to find night owls on my next cruise so we can hang out later at night and try to make our own fun....

 

[supercrossfox21]

We always take the second seating (pre kid and post). we take into account what time we usually eat at home, abt 7:30. So main seating would be like eating in the middle of the afternoon for us. Even 2nd seating is early... but being on a cruise ship there is always food so its not a huge deal. We go to bed pretty late so eating late us no a problem.

 

[Plaid Princess]

We love the second seating! The best bit, IMHO, is that there's no rush to leave the dining room! You've already seen the show, and there's no one needing your table after you! We like to linger and enjoy our food and company!

 

[KPetty725]

Yep, no kids then definitely second seating. I miss the days we could do 2nd but with a 3- and 6-year old, we'll be in main seating for a while. I hate having to leave the pool early. We always feel rushed and like there's not enough time in the afternoons because we have to get ready to eat.

 

[lady9]

We have a 12 and 17 year old and we always do 2nd seating. Neither has complained about wanting to skip dinner although they both tend to skip dessert which is fine as they are usually pleasant company, and I don't want to push it We like a later breakfast, do our activities, and order room service in mid afternoon (the BLT is soooo yummy!) Then we have plenty of time to do other things, take a nap, get ready for dinner, see the show, whatever we like. We never feel rushed which is the way we like it on vacation as we are go, go, go in our normal life.

 

[ash901]

We recently sailed on the Dream with a 5 year old and a 2 year old. We had 2nd seating, and it was perfect. No rush to get dressed for dinner and we got to linger after dinner for Dad to finish his coffee and my children to watch more magic tricks!

 

[HsvTeacher]

We have had both and prefer the second seating. We didn't have to rush around to get ready for dinner, especially on port days. It's also closer to the time we eat at home.

 

[Everlymouse]

I'm doing an Alaska cruise in August and chose main seating. It's just me and my 11 year old son -- but after reading this, second seating might be preferable. Can anyone tell me what times the seatings are? (this is our first cruise) I thought main was at 5:45? When is second?
Thank you.

 

[Dreamscome2ru]

I think it is 8:30. We prefer 2nd seating too. No rushing to get ready. I've always felt that the servers are more rushed during first seating.

 

[tajz90]

I'm doing an Alaska cruise in August and chose main seating. It's just me and my 11 year old son -- but after reading this, second seating might be preferable. Can anyone tell me what times the seatings are? (this is our first cruise) I thought main was at 5:45? When is second?
Thank you.

If you have main, I'd wait to change. There's always a waiting list for main and never for 2nd. So if you switch to 2nd and change you're mind, you may be out of luck.

 

[tajz90]

If a port is later than dining times, dinner is usually held. If its not, you're encouraged to still dine in the dining room no matter when you return from port.

 

[AnnaS]

If you have a choice for now - pick main since you can always change it to second but will have a harder time the other way around.

A few things to consider is where you are coming from and what time do you normally have dinner at home. You will see the shows either way.

We have cruised 4 times and cruising next month. We have always had and wanted main seating. We are obviously on the east coast and we have dinner 5/5:30 pm 95% of the time. This next cruise we are also again all adults and chose main seating.

We would definitely consider a late time if we are cruising with friends/family that prefer it and would also definitely and might try it for our first short (4n) cruise next year just to test it out.

 

[abitcloudy]

I booked my cruise for main dining but I do want to chage to the later dining time. When will I be able to request the change? I dont sail until 4/2014

 

[tajz90]

I booked my cruise for main dining but I do want to chage to the later dining time. When will I be able to request the change? I dont sail until 4/2014

You can change at any point, but I personally wouldn't. It's harder to get main and never an issue for late. If you give it up now, change your mind, you may have to be wait listed.