Main or Late dining?

[ALMinVA]

Ok, looking for the good and the bad for late dining?
Dh says late dining; i am on the fence. I read a review that said night time is a great time for the Aquaduck...
So; looking to the experts - opinions?

 

[sayhello]

Late dining can last until well after 10pm. While I didn't mind starting late, finishing at 10pm was just a real problem for my digestion!

Sayhello

 

[maggie blossom]

I have done both.
First cruise we were assigned late. Second cruise we asked for main just to try it.
Having done both I will say I prefer main. It is hard to eat so much so late. Also I preferred eating first and seeing the shows after. I was concerned about having to rush to be ready for main dining but we never found it to be an issue
Good luck with your decision

 

[tweis]

Ok, looking for the good and the bad for late dining?
Dh says late dining; i am on the fence. I read a review that said night time is a great time for the Aquaduck...
So; looking to the experts - opinions?

Pretty sure we are on the same cruise next year.

Since we will have our kids with us on this cruise, we chose the early seating because that is around what time we normally eat at home. However, on our upcoming cruise with just DH and I, we have opted to have the late dining. I don't particularly like to eat late but I feel that we will still be up and enjoying ourselves for a couple hours after dinner.

Alot of people say that they prefer late dining because they find themselves rushing to get back from excursions to get ready for dinner. We didn't really find that to be a problem on our last cruise. Our kids complained about getting ready for dinner but I think they will do that whether we have the early or the late seating.

 

[Presley]

I'd suggest thinking about your normal dinner time and schedule based on that. For example, we did late dining when we did Bahamas. That worked out great because we are from the west coast and the time is 3 hours later there. We normally eat at 6 or 7 our time and late dining was the as close to normal as we could get.

When we sailed Alaska, we did late dining again. In that case, when the dinners would take up to 2 hours, it was pretty miserable at times. There were a couple nights that I wasn't even hungry because it was just too late to eat.

 

[omalley1118]

I prefer the early dining. We have two kids, one of whom has reflux. He would never be comfortable eating that late. I just prefer to eat early as well. I don't care to eat that late and then go to bed...just my opinion...

 

[darkwing818]

Having done both, we prefer late dining. Seems to less hectic & a bit more on the quiet side. Plus we can hit the pools & aqua duck as they are less crowded during the main dining seating.
Just our opinion, but clearly there a lot of folks who prefer the main dining seating.

 

[jfahome]

We have done 5 late, and 1 early. I will not do early again (if given a choice). It just feels too much like it's in the middle of the day. And I haven't been to dinner till 10pm, but I'm sure some have. Mostly done around 9:30ish. We typically still do other things after dinner…walking around and stuff so it's not a problem. Also, in regards to the Aqua Duck…the same goes for the pools being less crowded during the early dining time too. We are always way off "normal" routines when on the ship, so even though we eat dinner at a regular time at home, we do not on the ship.
Good luck

 

[FJS961]

Late dining can last until well after 10pm. While I didn't mind starting late, finishing at 10pm was just a real problem for my digestion!

Sayhello

Would you recommend late dining for ABD on the Med cruise?

 

[Luv2Diz]

We do early dining even though we are a group of adults. Normal dinner time at home is 5:30 - 6 p.m. Eating at 9:30 p.m. or so then going to bed a couple hours later is just too uncomfortable for us.

 

[amyg1]

The best time to go on the Aquaduck is during early seating. The lines are non-existent. They do open it late - I believe on Pirate night - so you can do the nighttime Aquaduck experience as well.

We did late seating because we were coming from the west coast. When we go to Alaska, we are doing early seating.

 

[Four Swampers]

For the Bahamas and Caribbean, we prefer early dining. The service is a little faster during main dining, as they have to be ready for late dining. The service is not rushed, just a little faster.

We find that the late dining stretches easily to 10 pm, sometimes 10:15, which starts to interfere with evening activities like the Pirate Party. Plus, how am I supposed to have a snack at a 10:00 Pirate Party if I just walked out of a four course dinner??

In the Mediterranean or anywhere with port adventures that last until 6:00 or 7:00, we prefer the late seating so that we don't have to rush back from the port.

 

[MikeAndNick]

I will not book a cruise if I cannot get early dinning. The one time we had late dinning I spent the entire cruise dealing with my son, 12 at the time, wanting to skip dinner because all of his friends had something going on. At dinner he just stayed impatient wanting to get out and join his friends. He is 16 now and it is no different. The kids meet in the evenings and want to go all night.

 

[rentayenta]

I will not book a cruise if I cannot get early dinning. The one time we had late dinning I spent the entire cruise dealing with my son, 12 at the time, wanting to skip dinner because all of his friends had something going on. At dinner he just stayed impatient wanting to get out and join his friends. He is 16 now and it is no different. The kids meet in the evenings and want to go all night.

This is such a good point. I wish I could know if DS will be making a lot of friends or being content with a few activities.

 

[timweston]

I've only cruised once and my family was at the early/main seating. The next time I cruise, I'm going to give the late seating a try. Early seemed to cut into the day, especially when we had excursions. Two of our Disney-organized excursions went long so we had to rush to be ready for dinner.

On other days, we would relax in the morning and have a late breakfast, so lunch would be late, too. It seems like we were just wrapping up lunch when it was time to prepare for our dinner seating.

 

[lovetotraveltx]

We are basically 4 adults, our 2 DD's are in their 20's. We have done both and all of us prefer early seating, even though at home we eat 7/7:30!

We like having the show to look forward to after dinner. We find after the late seating there is not much to do. So do you eat until 9:30 then go to bed at 10:30?? Also you are not hungry for Pirate Buffet, Mickey Bars from room service...

Just my 2 cents!

 

[thdarragh]

Ok, looking for the good and the bad for late dining?
Dh says late dining; i am on the fence. I read a review that said night time is a great time for the Aquaduck...
So; looking to the experts - opinions?

We chose late dining for some of the same reasons already mentioned. Less crowded at pools, less lines at Aquaduck etc. It does fit what we normally do at home....since kids don;t get home from swim practice or dance practice until 7 or 8pm anyway. Our kids are older...13-17...so they can eat late. We are also late nighters. We stay up till midnight or after during summer or school breaks. My kids are all girls, so we need the extra time to get ready for dinner anyway

 

[Greatfalls]

In '09, we did the Aquaduck after early dinner two out of our four nights. Aquaduck and the deck in general were not crowded, as many people are either going to second seating or the show. The only down side was changing into bathing suits on a full stomach.

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

At home we eat at 6:30 - 7.... I wish there was a 7-7:30ish dining option. Since there isn't we take late dining and even though we have a four year old, it works out fine. We are late sleepers on vacation and typically have a large late afternoon snack anyway. It isn't ideal but we just can't eat at 5:45.

 

[ALMinVA]

all such good advice; still unsure of what to do!
DH and DD are "late nighters" DS and I tend to like to go to sleep early.
We can order room service any time of the day; and we are Concierge so there are plenty of snacks, etc.
So - I'm looking for a compelling reason - for main or late and I just haven't found it yet.