Reasons you like second dining

[kiford]

More consistent with our dining time at home (~7:30 pm).

I like to have more time to get ready for dinner especially if it's a port day and we've been off the ship.

Fewer young children.

More leisurely dining - no one is dining after you so there's no need to turn over the tables as quickly.

I prefer to do early show.

Pools are quieter during early dining, especially in adults-only area.

 

[DahliaRW]

We did the main seating for our first two cruises and late seating for our most recent. I was really surprised that I Iike late seating better. Part of the reason was because I could eat more! We like eating at the sit down restaurants on sea days. With early seating if you ate breakfast and lunch, we weren't hungry for dinner at 5:15. So I'd end up just eating soup and salad for lunch. When it port, we like to experience local food, so again, a big lunch. Of course, this meant I was often running intervals on deck 4 to burn off those calories, but totally worth it! I also agree that the late seating felt less rushed. We liked having a bit of time on the ship before dinner on port days. And because on our last cruise they repeated shows, we had several nights where we could swim or try other ship activities during that time.

 

[ScooterScott44]

I would read this thread, it brought up a lot of discussion about what there is to like about late dining and how to enjoy it (even when you prefer main dining)
https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...the-main-late-dining-debacle-already.3755823/

Thanks for sharing the link. To the OP that thread is not very good. There are many valid points but mostly negative with people trying to push their point as “right”. It has even descended into name calling recently and personally I would love for the mods to shut that thread down since it keeps showing up.

 

[suedon70]

Thanks for sharing the link. To the OP that thread is not very good. There are many valid points but mostly negative with people trying to push their point as “right”. It has even descended into name calling recently and personally I would love for the mods to shut that thread down since it keeps showing up.

Couldn't agree more and I'm really surprised that the mods haven't shut it down because it has devolved into name-calling and ridiculous arguments. And honestly at this point it's an exercise in futility because DCL will more than likely not change their MDR policies and times for the foreseeable future.

 

[Karin1984]

Thanks for sharing the link. To the OP that thread is not very good. There are many valid points but mostly negative with people trying to push their point as “right”. It has even descended into name calling recently and personally I would love for the mods to shut that thread down since it keeps showing up.

I was hesitating, but as between the arguments and the discussions there were also some good posts explaining what the advantages are of late dining. I agree, the last few posts things are getting out of hand.

 

[ScooterScott44]

Agree there is some good info there but the topic has also been explored many times on the forum. That thread really went negative with people viewing themselves as right and others as wrong. This thread has been mainly positive as to the benefits of on or the other.

Thanks and kudos to everyone on this one for not really pushing your agenda. It has really been sharing information for the most part.

 

[billyinlasvegas]

My wife and I wanted to have a private table and the only way to do that was second seating.

 

[AuntieKels]

Thanks for sharing the link. To the OP that thread is not very good. There are many valid points but mostly negative with people trying to push their point as “right”. It has even descended into name calling recently and personally I would love for the mods to shut that thread down since it keeps showing up.

Yeah, I briefly looked at that thread but it was no longer discussing the topic and I didn't feel like going through all the arguing to find the nuggets of helpfulness.

 

[AuntieKels]

One pro I have is that the kids can eat and leave the dining room with Club Castmembers much quicker than when they have to wait for the adults to finish their 4 course meal.

One con is that I worry the kids wont get the dinner show if they're rushed out of the meal.

Does anyone have reference for Animators or Tiana's show and when they kids get picked up?

 

[Dug720]

One pro I have is that the kids can eat and leave the dining room with Club Castmembers much quicker than when they have to wait for the adults to finish their 4 course meal.

One con is that I worry the kids wont get the dinner show if they're rushed out of the meal.

Does anyone have reference for Animators or Tiana's show and when they kids get picked up?

Plenty of kids stayed for that on the Wonder in February. Just because they have pick-up doesn’t mean the kids have to leave. They have a choice.

 

[sunmoon620]

If we are on a 7 day cruise and choose to miss the Variety act showing in the theater, it gives us much more time at the pool and to watch the ship sail away before we have to be ready for supper. We also enjoy the 45 minutes or so between the early show and late dining to hang out in the atrium etc. I also find that late dining is not as rushed. There is no one coming in after us so the servers are not as pressured to get you out of there so they can set up for the next seating. Not that I have ever felt really pressured. We love to soak up every bit of sunshine out on deck, and watch the ship sail away if possible. Sometimes with early seating at certain ports you find yourself having to cut your day out at port short to be ready for supper (depending upon the all aboard time). We love Late Dining and won't be taking an early seat from anyone who wants it. If I'm hungry I simply grab a small bite or some fruit out on the deck late afternoon.

 

[JaimeInParker]

We've only been on one cruise and had early dining. We have little kids and will be coming from the Pacific Time Zone. We felt the early dining was a little too early last time. On the other hand the later dining seems sooo late to me. We've been waffling back and fourth for weeks now.

Thoughts?

we prefer LATE seating as it leaves us plenty of time to return from port excursions

 

[Dug720]

If we are on a 7 day cruise and choose to miss the Variety act showing in the theater, it gives us much more time at the pool and to watch the ship sail away before we have to be ready for supper. We also enjoy the 45 minutes or so between the early show and late dining to hang out in the atrium etc. I also find that late dining is not as rushed. There is no one coming in after us so the servers are not as pressured to get you out of there so they can set up for the next seating. Not that I have ever felt really pressured. We love to soak up every bit of sunshine out on deck, and watch the ship sail away if possible. Sometimes with early seating at certain ports you find yourself having to cut your day out at port short to be ready for supper (depending upon the all aboard time). We love Late Dining and won't be taking an early seat from anyone who wants it. If I'm hungry I simply grab a small bite or some fruit out on the deck late afternoon.

Definitely agree with gaining extra time by skipping the variety acts! And going to a lot of Broadway shows, I know that the best seats are really NOT right up front, so I am not in a rush to get to the theatre - as long as I am there about 5 minutes early for the shows I want to see. (Being solo helps a lot with this, I will admit.)

And it is fun to watch the activity in the atrium and/or chat with officers hanging out.

 

[JARNJ3]

I intensely dislike eating dinner at 530 - not enough time for any snacking after coming back from the port excursion.

The 830 time for the recent Med cruise we were on was perfect. And sometimes they had to give us a "hint" to leave at the end of the dinner.

I would be really disappointed if I got stuck with an early time -- but that's just me

Everyone's reasons are valid. What is sad is when you can't get what you really want (really really want - get it? lol)

 

[ktate82]

We have always had late dining (and have always requested it). We like that we have that extra time when coming back from port to get ready for dinner, the pools are less crowded, the dining rooms are less crowded (we have sailed when Main Dining was full and late was half full). I know a lot of people like Main due to having small children, so I'm glad our kids are older so that is not a concern for us.

 

[Minnie368]

We prefer late seating for the same reason so many others do. We love coming back from excursions, ordering light room service, and just unwinding or even taking a short nap. We only go to a couple shows so that gives us a nice bit of time before dinner. Our kids are older teens now but even when they were young our vacation schedule was similar- although they were more WDW vacations where we would hit the parks at rope drop, head back to resort for an afternoon break, and then back to the parks till close. It kind of makes the days feel longer and that we’re getting more out of our time there.

 

[Spiffy MacSpiff]

Team Late Dining here. We've seen the shows -- other than the variety show -- many times, so late dining is quieter, more relaxed, and the pool deck / Funnelvision / Aquaduck traffic afterward is very low. The Young Spiffs love their clubs, so they horf their food and vamoose, and we're left to enjoy most of our dinner in peace.

 

[xlxo]

When I was younger, I loved late dining.

• clothes are cleaner for the show that you go to before dinner
• great for a night owl who sleeps late to avoid the early evening traffic outside the room.... especially if you have a room outside the elevator lobby
• better service... less busy and staff are more attentive

Now older, I seek out main dining.

• I need a few hours to digest before sleeping. Especially after fully loading the buffet.
• need to get up early for breakfast, early morning excursions, last minute morning packing before debarkation

 

[Claireywalsh]

Love late dining:-
It’s closer to the time we eat at home
It gives you more time to enjoy the day
Food is plentiful so you never go hungry
The kids club guys come and collect are daughter to go play in the clubs
It gives us plenty of time to get ready and have a drink before dinner on the verandah/bar
When Maddison when smaller it even gave us time for her to nap without missing dinner.
We would always request late Dining - it suits us the best

 

[Lilbunnyk]

We come from the pacific coast as well and always do late dining. We tried main dining once to see what all the hype was about and we ended up hating the early dining time. It was definitely too early for all of us and we had a 2 year old at the time. None of us were every hungry that early so we barley ate. We also did not like the order of going to dinner first then the show. Late dining is much more relaxed and we like doing all our activities like the show before dinner. Our 2 year old never had problems staying up late either but she is trained to do Disney from rope drop till closing!