Early or Late Dinner Pros and Cons?

[DutchsMommy]

Just wondering how people have decided whether they want early or late dinner. We have picked early because of DS (3) however we eat around 7pm at home and are thinking maybe it would be better to switch to late - I'm not sure we would be hungry at 5pm. I way wondering if anyone could also confirm the start/end times for early and late dinner. Thanks very much.

 

[webray]

Keep the early..by the time everyone at your table is seated..and all orders are taking..you will be eating at your normal time.

If you opt for the late seating..you won't be eating until 9pm or later...way to late for the little one.

 

[CB4U]

We have early seating. We chose early because my husband and I would like to eat at PALO yet not leave the kids alone at dinner. We'll sit down to dinner with the kids and eat very light (maybe an appetizer or two). After dinner the kids are off doing their thing in the clubs and we can have a leisurely dinner at PALO without it being too late. Works out great for us.

 

[DreaminDisney]

We requested late even though my Kids are still small (4 & 7). We don't want to feel rushed and figure kids can snack before dinner if they're hungry. Either way (early or late) I'm sure everything will work out fine. We just prefer late...

 

[mickeyboat]

Early seating is at 6:00 and late at 8:30. (edited)

We cruised two weeks ago with DD3 and DD4 and begged for early seating (we got it at check-in, we had been wait-listed).

Even on days when the kids had taken naps, they were exhausted by 9PM, the latest we stayed out was about 10PM. Several nights when the kids did not have naps, DD3 fell asleep at dinner).

You know your child best, but for mine, late seating would have not worked. If we had been stuck with it, I am sure we could have made it work, though.

Denae

 

[Captain Jim]

On our cruise the photography company took loads of pictures for the early seating. We were the late sitting and never saw them until the final day after we called and complained several days in a row.

 

[mketting]

We had early seating. At first I thought i would have liked the late better, would have given more time to get back from excursions etc. and if you missed a show or something no big deal.
But.... I was so glad we had the early seating.

We were all hungry when we went to dinner, if we had had to wait until 8:30 to eat I'm sure we would have been snacking more at the other spots on the ship before dinner and then would not have been as hungry to enjoy the wonderful meals they had each night.

Also for my DD6 she could eat dinner with us and then when she finished I would walk her up to the Lab. She then could hang out and play while we finished dinner. After dinner we would pick her up and go to the evening show.

The shows on the ship are amazing and not to be missed. We had plenty of time after dinner to stroll a bit, pintrade etc. and then head for the show. This was a great end to the evening for my DD.

 

[bkline]

I think you could enjoy your meal more at the early seating. Unless your young child is a late-nighter, he may become cranky with the late seating. Our DS was 7 when we took our Magic cruise and we picked early so he could enjoy the club activities more and not have a full stomach so close to bed.

 

[Jillie]

We have always done the early seating and will again on our 3rd DCL cruise next year. Even though our kids are older (12 and 15) they like to have the evening to do the different things available to them. For me personally, I would hate to eat so late and then go back to my room and go to bed on a full stomach.

 

[mickeymo]

we had late seating with dd6 and ds9. The first three nights, they saw the shows and ate dinner with us. Dinner was long for them sitting through multiple courses.

After that, we fed them early, we all went to the show, they went to club/lab, and then we enjoyed a leisurely dinner. Everyone was happy!

A lot of the club activities that my dd6 wanted to do were during the 7-9 time frame. She really enjoyed the shows and would have had to choose between the club and the late show.

 

[mississaugamom]

Hi Dutchsmommy - it's always great to chat with another GTA person!

If you have early seating, keep it! We were assigned late seating when travelling with DD7 and two elderly (81) relatives. We could almost have made it work with our DD (feeding her early, etc) but there was no way the seniors could eat that late and then go to bed.

Although we were waitlisted for 4 months, it never came up for us and they weren't able to accommodate the change when we came onboard either. The first night, DD ate early and went to the club, and Auntie could only have some bread and an appetizer. The dining room manager worked some magic and got us moved the next day!

Have a great cruise! PM me if you have any other questions!

 

[kennancat]

I'd say keep early for now, just because it's probably much easier to change to the late seating once you're on board than to change it now and try to change back to early if you need to.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I'm one who usually hard-sells the late seating for shore excursion a leisurely reasons.

However, had we sailed when our DD 3, we definitely would've opted for early. She was very routine-driven. (Still is, much unlike DH and I, LOL!)

You know your child best, and I agree w/another post. By the time you're seated, orders taken, food brought to table, you're still most likely dining at your usual time.