Pros and Cons........

[OJoyfulOne]

Hi!

Interested in your input on the pros and cons of the late night seating for dinner at 8:15 p.

Did the 5:45 p dinner my first cruise and it was okay, but I'm thinking of changing the time for my next cruise.

Thanks,

Joy

 

[over50visits]

We love the first seating. The waiters are fresh, and we like relaxing in the theater on a full stomach. Also <grin> you can have a late night snack or partake of any late night buffet (we like to eat on cruises!). I know there seem to be more kids early, but I'm not sure how really true that is, and it has NEVER been a bother to us. They don't run around at all, and you won't have any seated at your table unless you have some yourself.

If you do have small children, that might make the early seating the one you want for their sake.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

We've done both. I like later seating because it seems calmer and quieter. I feel rushed trying to be ready for the first seating.

My husband likes first seating better because he feels like it opens up the rest of the evening whereas late seating seems like it is breaking the night in two.

 

[abubu919]

Hi!

Interested in your input on the pros and cons of the late night seating for dinner at 8:15 p.

Did the 5:45 p dinner my first cruise and it was okay, but I'm thinking of changing the time for my next cruise.

Thanks,

Joy

Honestly...I am not a huge fan of late seating. I just don't like eating that late. Pro of eating early is that the fact it is early. I like having a early dinner and then if I am hungry snacking later. The show is after the first seating while the show is before the second seating, which I do like that aspect of the second seating. The first seating seems to go faster as well. I remember one time we were in the late seating and it would be like 10pm when we got out sometimes later.

 

[murphyrusty]

We love the later seating. It's not nearly as rushed and the servers are more relaxed and seem to have more time to play around with us.

 

[Mickey4me!]

Our first two cruises we had late seating. I liked the fact that we didn't feel rushed to get to dinner. This past cruise we had early seating and while I did feel like we had to cut some activities short to get ready, it also seemed like the dinner moved faster which I liked. Since they had late seating after us, the staff was on a time frame to move things along. If the late seating started a little earlier then it would be my choice every time. However, since I really don't like eating at 8PM, it's going to be a tough choice next time.

 

[OJoyfulOne]

Some very good points!

Hmmmmmm..........I need to rethink whether or not to change to the later time. I do like the fact that you are not as rushed and that you would go to the show first; however.

I was also thinking that the later seating would help to digest some of the food from lunch and if I got hungry in between time, I could have a little snack.

I do remember feeling rushed to get to the first dinner seating especially the first night which I didn't care for too much.

Any other thoughts? I know we are planning to take in more of the adult activities during the evening hours on this cruise.

How does later seating affect Pirates night?

Joy

 

[luv2cruisedisney]

DW and I definately prefer the late seating. Personally one of my favorite parts of a cruise is a little siesta in the late afternoon, so after an excursion or day on shore, or onboard for that matter I feel I have planty of time to take a shower and rest a little before afull nigh tof having more fun.

We have done four cruises together and have never had a problem with getting to the deck party

 

[GrumpyBelle]

We like the early seating. We like to eat and then go to the shows. Also on the night of the Pirate Party, I liked having some time to digest dinner before I attempted the buffet.

 

[jilljill]

We like late seating, not only for not having to rush thru things to get to early seating, but for the fact we don't have to eat lunch early or worry about eating too big a lunch and not being hungry for dinner. We like to eat at Triton/Lumiere for lunch and take our time and it seems like we've just gotten done lunch had a few minutes to ourselves and then it's time to get ready for dinner.
We also like to take a break in the late afternoon some days and order a cheese platter and have a glass or 2 of wine. Not too easy to do that with early dinner.
Plus, when we are on vacation we eat dinner later than we do when we are at home.

Pirate dinner will be a bit rushed if you want to get up to deck 9 when it starts and you definately won't be hungry for the buffet they have, but that 1 night isn't enough to change our minds on having 1st seating again.

 

[clten]

We love late seating dinner. First, we don't have to rush back from excursions or activities to get ready for dinner. Some nights we go to the show then back to the cabin to get ready for dinner. Much more relaxing for us in the evening. Then through dinner, it is more laid back and have more time to enjoy tablemates and servers. This is one of the big social activities of the cruise that we really enjoy so we're happy to be able to linger over coffee and dessert with new friends. When there are cabaret shows we want to get to, we let the servers know and they do speed up service for us (DCL has helped by pushing them back a bit). They also do speed up service on Pirate Night to get you up on deck to enjoy the party. If you really are worried about missing the Pirate deck party, schedule Palo for that night.

The only downside we have to late dinner for us is that we never knew that they served a buffet for Pirate Night. and we're never hungry for the dessert buffet. But we are definately not morning people so we prefer to stay up and enjoy the late shows/activities in Rockin' Bar D then sleep in. Late dinner fits our schedule.

 

[plyeng2ff]

I like the late dining for the fact that you don't to rush back from the ports for dinner. Another thing is my wife and I like to watch the early shows and you don't miss the sunsets with the late dining.

 

[closetmickey]

We are from the west coast so late seating works perfect for us with respect to the time change. Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Vegaslover]

on our first cruise this year on DCL, we booked late and got stuck with late seating. I had a little anxiety over it. DH, always the calm one said, "it'll be okay." And he was right! We were glad we got the late seating. We would take our time getting back from excursions. We took DD(5) 4 at the time to get pizza or chicken strips, when we returned from excursions, we went to the show then she went off afterwards to the Oceaneer's club while we enjoyed dinner in the dining room. It worked out great for us. Because she was so wound up she wouldn't sit still for dinner anyway.

For pirate night, I was too full to eat the buffet on the deck, but really it was my own fault I didn't have to stuff myself like a pig at dinner. And I shouldn't have had the dessert. the late dinner did make me late for some of the festivities because I had such a good time yacking with our table mates. My DH took DD out to see the festivities and I joined them about 15 minutes later. It really did work out well.

We have the attitude like it's our vacation, no rushing, just relaxing. DD's bedtime is out the window. It's her vacation too. So we don't feel we need to dine early to get her to bed in time.

 

[LittleDisneyLovers]

I am a little confused about the Pirates night, why not just skip dinner that night and just eat the Pirates buffet!!!!!

 

[Pig Pen]

I am a little confused about the Pirates night, why not just skip dinner that night and just eat the Pirates buffet!!!!!

Ha...such an innocent! There is no way I would skip dinner for that buffet! First of all, just getting to the serving table is a challenge (it's like the running of the bulls in Spain). We finally grabbed a dessert and then couldn't find a place to sit. I wasn't really hungry anyway...and it's a good thing. I can't tell you what was on the buffet because I couldn't get close enough to see it.

Other than that fiasco, our Disney cruise was fairly calm and relaxing.

 

[Morgey24]

Ha...such an innocent! There is no way I would skip dinner for that buffet! First of all, just getting to the serving table is a challenge (it's like the running of the bulls in Spain). I can't tell you what was on the buffet because I couldn't get close enough to see it.

SO TRUE! This was completely my experience. DD wanted a "free" Turkey Leg (for which I had paid how much $$ in cruise fare?) and it was all we could do to get through the crowds who acted as if they hadn't eaten all week!!! Then when we did manage to get a turkey leg there was no place at all to sit so she had to sit on the edge of the mickey pool and try to balance that and a sprite. Madness, I tell you.

 

[Tneah]

I wouldn't skip dinner for the buffet.

 

[bbeapoz]

We have done both - we much prefer the late seating. With early seating we felt so rushed to stop our activity, shower and get to dinner on time. Then we sat with a full stomach for the shows - sometimes hard to stay awake. No indication that the shows weren't good - just full stomach = sleep.

With late seating we stopped our activites when we wanted, took our time getting ready, if we wanted to see the early show we would but since we had seen them before they weren't a priority every night. We enjoyed a more relaxed dinner and the servers were very relaxed.

Also with late seating we loved the fact that the kids clubs would come to get the little ones early and we would not have to leave dinner to take them to the clubs. Just told our server that our DD wanted to go to the club and he would be served quicker and was done and ready to go. We could then relax and enjoy our wine, conversation etc. We would definitely always request late seating in the future.

 

[marshmellow86]

The buffet is almost all desserts. I think they have turkey legs, but otherwise just SUGAR!!! I definitely go to dinner instead of the buffet.

We have done both seatings. At home we eat early. I was pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed the late dinner. We weren't hungry (goodness knows we always have plenty of food around) and we personally liked going to the shows before dinner. Some may prefer the shows after dinner, but our kids were more alert for the shows going earlier in the evening and dinner usually isn't entertaining for them, so they don't care when they eat. They did like eating faster and then going to the kids club, which is offered during the late seating as "dine and play".

Either way, you will enjoy your dinners and the activities, so either seating will be fine.

Enjoy!