General Dining Questions. Early vs Late

[mousefan73]

I have some dining questions. Specifically we are sailing on the 4 nite Bahamas cruise next year. It's also the Halloween sailing.

Originally we were down for late dining. I was able to switch to early after some thought. But now not sure. Originally I read advice that best Pro for late is that you are not rushed getting ready for dinner ( port times, pool etc. ). BUT then I realized the shows start early anyways for the late seaters. So that arguement is mute as we plan on the shows too.

Ideally I prefer late. Kids are teens. Only issue is my mom who may have issues eating late. I find 5:45 insanely early. Seeing how we will be eating lunch between noon and 1 anyways. So here are my questions:

1. how does seating time affect pirate/ halloween parties/activities. Is one better than the other?
2. if 1st seating is 5:45. what time do you usually get food? Order drinks etc. food earliest set at 6:00ish? At what time do they start hinting to leave ??
3. late dining. Can it be your entree doesn't come until 9ish then??
4 if we keep early and decide for later. I assume switching in this direction is no issue as most want early???

5. if we eat late what time are most done?? Are most activities for tweens over at 10pm then?

Am I over analyzing this ??

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I have some dining questions. Specifically we are sailing on the 4 nite Bahamas cruise next year. It's also the Halloween sailing.

Originally we were down for late dining. I was able to switch to early after some thought. But now not sure. Originally I read advice that best Pro for late is that you are not rushed getting ready for dinner ( port times, pool etc. ). BUT then I realized the shows start early anyways for the late seaters. So that arguement is mute as we plan on the shows too.

Ideally I prefer late. Kids are teens. Only issue is my mom who may have issues eating late. I find 5:45 insanely early. Seeing how we will be eating lunch between noon and 1 anyways. So here are my questions:

1. how does seating time affect pirate/ halloween parties/activities. Is one better than the other?
2. if 1st seating is 5:45. what time do you usually get food? Order drinks etc. food earliest set at 6:00ish? At what time do they start hinting to leave ??
3. late dining. Can it be your entree doesn't come until 9ish then??
4 if we keep early and decide for later. I assume switching in this direction is no issue as most want early???

5. if we eat late what time are most done?? Are most activities for tweens over at 10pm then?

Am I over analyzing this ??

1. Pirate activities on the Dream (that's your ship, right?) are the family friendly show between the two dinner seatings, and the pirate party/fireworks after the second seating. You can do either dinner seating and still attend both activities.
2. 5:45 is when the door opens to be seated. The actual time from then to when you get your first course (allowing for drink orders, perusing the menu, ordering food and time to pick up and deliver said food) could be as short as 20 minutes or as long as 45 minutes. Depends on how you approach the servers with what you want. To be kind to your servers, it's a good idea to vacate your table by 8:00 as they need to reset the table for late seating.
3. As with early seating, it can take a short time or long time, you can discuss this with your server.
4. Generally, yes, no problem switching onboard from early to late. But, if the ship is full, it could be.
5. Again, how quickly you finish and leave is up to you. Edge is open until like midnight every day. There's stuff "going on" most of the time.

 

[gotomu212]

I have some dining questions. Specifically we are sailing on the 4 nite Bahamas cruise next year. It's also the Halloween sailing.

Originally we were down for late dining. I was able to switch to early after some thought. But now not sure. Originally I read advice that best Pro for late is that you are not rushed getting ready for dinner ( port times, pool etc. ). BUT then I realized the shows start early anyways for the late seaters. So that arguement is mute as we plan on the shows too.

EXCEPT we didn’t get “dressed”for the shows. We’d go from activities to the shows and then take our showers and dress for dinner between show and dining time. When we had early we wrapped up activities at 4:30 to get everyone showered and dressed for dinner.

Ideally I prefer late. Kids are teens. Only issue is my mom who may have issues eating late. I find 5:45 insanely early. Seeing how we will be eating lunch between noon and 1 anyways. So here are my questions:

1. how does seating time affect pirate/ halloween parties/activities. Is one better than the other?
It’s a personal thing but we like late dining because the fireworks happen soon after dinner as opposed to us killing time like we did on early seating.

2. if 1st seating is 5:45. what time do you usually get food? Order drinks etc. food earliest set at 6:00ish? At what time do they start hinting to leave ??
Depends but if you are on time and prompt food can easily start coming out by 6. I felt like they were starting to push towards vacation at 7:30.

3. late dining. Can it be your entree doesn't come until 9ish then??
We’ve never experienced it that late.

4 if we keep early and decide for later. I assume switching in this direction is no issue as most want early???
Yes

5. if we eat late what time are most done?? Are most activities for tweens over at 10pm then?
Our experience is that the clubs started hopping after late dinner. The family shows are over so the kids head straight to the clubs until midnight.

Am I over analyzing this ??

Answered in the quote.

 

[ForMyBoys]

Hi! I over analyzed just like you before our first cruise. If you think your mom won’t be able to eat that late I would just keep early dining. You honestly won’t know which you prefer until you do them both. We thought we’d prefer late but in the end figured out we prefer early.

 

[SteveMP]

When my kids were younger the big con was they were beat by the time dinner was over around 9 - 9:10. So we usually ended up skipping our usual dessert and coffee after dinner. We would just eat later lunch and snacks bu the pool, like 3 pm. But we did like the less crowded show, the kids liked sitting up fromt and it was eSier getting fromt row.


As teens either will work since they stay up later anyways.

 

[GPaLarry]

Being a creature of habit, wife and I have always (after 8 DCL cruises) booked main dining. We go to the show after and then hit the sack. Many of our excursions start early (7-8 am), so not much nightlife for us. Our grandkids have been with us for 5 cruises and they eat around 5:30, so 6ish is a bit late for them. You have four nights of meals on the Dream. One of those nights will probably be Pirate Night, one of my favorites. They will probably have a buffet at around 10 pm. Be prepared to eat two big meals within an hour of each other...or, as we do, just take your camera and shoot the decorations, they are cool.

 

[JimGA]

We did early on our first cruise and always felt rushed to dinner. Second cruise we picked late and loved it. Very relaxing.

On vacation, everything for us is pushed back, sleep a little later, hence breakfast later, lunch later and dinner later, everything pushes back which is why second seating worked for us.

No logistics problems with your other concerns

 

[Sytrace]

I have some dining questions. Specifically we are sailing on the 4 nite Bahamas cruise next year. It's also the Halloween sailing.

Originally we were down for late dining. I was able to switch to early after some thought. But now not sure. Originally I read advice that best Pro for late is that you are not rushed getting ready for dinner ( port times, pool etc. ). BUT then I realized the shows start early anyways for the late seaters. So that arguement is mute as we plan on the shows too.

Ideally I prefer late. Kids are teens. Only issue is my mom who may have issues eating late. I find 5:45 insanely early. Seeing how we will be eating lunch between noon and 1 anyways. So here are my questions:

1. how does seating time affect pirate/ halloween parties/activities. Is one better than the other?
2. if 1st seating is 5:45. what time do you usually get food? Order drinks etc. food earliest set at 6:00ish? At what time do they start hinting to leave ??
3. late dining. Can it be your entree doesn't come until 9ish then??
4 if we keep early and decide for later. I assume switching in this direction is no issue as most want early???

5. if we eat late what time are most done?? Are most activities for tweens over at 10pm then?

Am I over analyzing this ??

We love late dining...we also have teens and it just works better for us as we like to sleep in "later" on debarkation morning.
I am sure your Mom will be fine for a few nights of eating later than normal but if it truly messes with her digestive system, perhaps have her order soup and a salad to eat less of the rich foods in the MDRs. Or get an appetizer and a salad so that she is eating with you but not feeling overly full.
1. We never have a problem getting to the fireworks on time on pirate night as they start at 10:30 PM. The Pirate buffet is another matter as we are too full from dinner to enjoy eating that and it happens immediately after the fireworks (Think crazy amounts of people rushing to eat again like they have not eaten in a year and that is the Pirate Buffet)
2. We used to have main dining and I recall the food arriving by 6:15 to 6:30. Dessert was typically completed quickly and we were out of there by 7:15 at the latest. We were always there on time and seated alone (except for a few times over 15 cruises)
3. Late dinner, you can expect your food by 9:00 and out of there by 9:30 at the latest especially on Pirate night.
4. Yes, easier to switch from early to late.
5. The activities in the clubs repeat during the cruise, so chances are good that the kids will be able to do the activities they want. For example, my daughter liked a certain activity in Vibe but one night it was happening at 9 PM and there was no way she would be able to do that as we had late dining. So looking at the Navigator, she saw that it was offered another evening at a time that did not conflict with dinner and went then.
Activities run in most of the clubs until midnight or even later...sometimes the kids are closing down the ship and the parents are tucked in bed. (Not ours however as I am the night owl and stay up later than anyone in the cabin. This is when verandas are important.

 

[JWG]

What you're hearing is... it's a very personal choice and decision based on your individual preferences. We've done both and have enjoyed both for different reasons. Though, for whatever reason, we've been LESS likely to hit the shows with early dinging. Don't know why.

 

[Hillbeans]

In theory, we liked the idea of late dining much better, but execution was horrible. We would be snacking by the pool and then we were too full or tired to head to dinner at 8:15. My son even got sick one night because he ate before dinner and then overate at dinner. Early dinner for us.

 

[abuck75]

Originally we were down for late dining. I was able to switch to early after some thought. But now not sure. Originally I read advice that best Pro for late is that you are not rushed getting ready for dinner ( port times, pool etc. ). BUT then I realized the shows start early anyways for the late seaters. So that arguement is mute as we plan on the shows too.

The show does start 1/2 hour later and it's likely there will be some shows skipped and possibly offered as matinee.