We found out very early that we prefer the late seating. I’ll list a few reasons why we prefer it but that list would really not be comprehensive as to all of the reasons. I’ll also include a few reasons why we don’t like early.
- There are so many food options you really can’t get hungry on a cruise (see the next couple points below) so spreading out the main meal times helps
- free ice cream, quick service counters, snacks in the Cove Cafe, “free” room service
- at breakfast and lunch there are way more options to choose from than at home and that leads to having a bigger meal than normal at those times
- late seating always seems less rushed
- if cruise is more port intensive, early dining can cut into your port time and cause you to have to rush back to the ship
- also some ports have cuisine or snacks that are very interesting so that means you may not be up for eating right after returning to the ship
- Afternoon Naps!
- OK, I’ll clarify that one more - our son did well with late dining even when young, since late dining makes an afternoon nap possible, the adults also occasionally partake of the afternoon nap while cruising, especially on sea days (hey, we are on vacation, right)
- in that spirit, we are on vacation so we get out of our regular schedule and do things a little different, including having a late dinner.
- if we do the shows we prefer to go before dinner
- if we don’t go to the shows, the aqua duck/dunk lines tend to be shorter during the early seating/early show time
- we don’t stay up too long but there are usually some thing to do after late seating, even a walk on the decks helps digestion, typically at minimum we will also spend a little time before bed reviewing the navigator and planning the next day