terryr

My family (husband and young adult daughters) will be cruising the Celebrity Infinity in Alaska this summer. We now have to make a choice about dining time and don't know on the basis of what to make this decision.

Can you please tell me what your preference is for dining time, early (6-6:30 PM) or late (8-8:30 PM), and why? Should I base our decision on the off-shore excursions that we plan to take? Should I be concerned about food running out if we book late dining? Any feedback on this matter is most appreciated.

A second sort-of related question: our travel agent is encouraging us to consider dining at a larger table with other people not known to us. I am a bit concerned about this set-up though he keeps saying that people generally love it. I was imagining our own table of four as a way to re-group as a family at the end of the day and have family time. Your thoughts and own experiences?

terryr

Oh, in re-reading my message, my family includes my husband, our two daughters in their late teens and early 20s, and I, the family travel planner! Sorry if that was not clear.

klr6773

I've always prefered the late seating, as it gives me more time to relax & "freshen up" after a day of running around port. I sat at a large table my first cruise,but have done smaller tables (for my group only) the last 3 cruises. I didn't really enjoy trying to make conversation wa bunch of people who really didn't have much in common other than being on the ship.(talking about my particular experience) HOWEVER, I do know of many that absolutely love sitting w/ and meeting new people..and even manage to keep in touch w/ each other after the fact!
I would ask your family their opinions...

BudgetQueen

In Alaska overall late seating is superior since it allows you more time in port or viewing opportunities during evening sailing.

I have never encountered and food shortages.

Since I am a shift worker, meals are not important to me and I skip meals when needed. But if it is a priority, and you are going to be unhappy with the late dining- which can be really late due to the time change, go with what works best for you.

bobrad

We enjoy early dining because that's the time that we eat at home. Being in our 70's a day in the sun with swimming and walking takes it's toll. Not to mention the fresh sea air. So we opt to dine early. We are "people people" and find that a table of 8 is just about right. If the mix isn't good you can always change tables or maybe they will.

BeachBoi

terryr.....As far as the table size, I personally prefer a large table.Sometimes our "group", whoever is travelling together, will fill a table of 8 or 10.But go with what YOU want...If dinner with just the 4 of you is what you want, go for it.Dont let your over zealous TA intrude.

terryr

Thank you all for your replys and sharing your experiences! Since we are from the east coast, you make a good point, BudgetQueen, about the time change factor if we sign up for late dining. I didn't even think about that!

diann

My husband and I have done both on several different cruises. Both have pros and cons to them. Ultimately we like early seating. We have just felt way to "full" to late and have often felt uncomfortable. At least one can digest food easier on the early sitting. If you stay up till all hours then you might not mind. We usually have busy days and retire reasonably early. It just all depends on your likes and dislikes.

BarbK

We do the late seating and find that we really enjoy it. If you've been in port all day it will give you some time to come back on the ship, take a shower and relax for awhile before going to dinner. Also the early seating often coincides with the time you depart from port. If you choose late seating, you can be on your balcony or on deck as you sail away from the port, while the early diners are in the dining room.

We also sit with only the people we are traveling with, including a table for two if it is only the two of us. I am personally much more comfortable with this arrangement. The way I feel is that I would not go into a restaurant and sit with people I don't know, but that is just me. Some people really enjoy the large tables. Do what makes you happy.

Have fun!

sceneisle

We like the late seating, for reason already mentioned.......time to relax and have a cocktail or two, after being in port all day. We also enjoy dining at a large table; it's great meeting people and making friends from all over the world. This can (and once did for us) backfire.....getting assigned to a table with unfriendly couple(s)....."nothing ventured, nothing gained"! I think the size of the table boils down to what you want out of the dining experience.

lindam

Personally, I don't like being seated with a family. I would rather be at a large table where people don't know each other. Families can tend to converse with each other, leaving the others out. Also, I would not want to be seated with a teen and young adult for every meal!

I hate to be a spoilsport, but I think you need to think about the people who will be sitting with you.

Leona

This past summer on our HAL caribbean cruise, my husband & I were seated with (1) older couple; (1) younger couple; and a couple with a teenaged son (late seating.) It was OK, but sometimes the conversation was forced. (Would you ever really pick these people?) On the other hand, it might be a little limiting to eat alone every night.

If we were cruising with our adult daughters, I would want a table to ourselves and a late seating.

mlrplast

We haven't cruised this ship, but for what it's worth, we like the later dining because we don't have to hurry back from shore excursions, etc.

If the kids are older, they should be fine with the later dining. We also were assigned to a table with 8 other cruisers. We were a bit apprehensive, we are quiet folks - pretty small town.
But it just happened that these folks were amazingly entertaining. It was non stop hilarity (good clean fun). One guy had even been on TV in Funniest Videos as 'Chicken Man' I believe.

Anyway, they were a great group and kept us laughing all week. Now, mind you, you could get stuck with folks who have a gross sense of humor and it would not turn out as well.

If you are a talkative family and converse easily, you may find you have enough to talk about within the family group - in that case, dine alone.

But for us, there were just the two of us, and we opted for the larger table and did not regret our decision.
Actually, our tablemates were all Delta Airlines employees and when we got stuck in Atlanta on the way home due to bad weather, I called one of the fellows (he had given us his card) and he got us on the next flight home - what a perk!

You just never know. You could end up making lifelong friends.

Hope this helps

terryr

I appreciate all of your great replies. You have given us room for thought about some of these decisions that we will need to make soon. Once again, I feel more prepared, thanks to the help that I get from you Fodorites!

gail

We cruised with 2 older teenagers 2 summers ago on line that had open seating - we could eat when ever we wanted. We found ourselves eating most nights at around 7:30 or later, even though this is later than we generally eat at home.

First, if we were off ship, it gave us more time. Second, with all the food available on the ship all day, we just were not hungry earlier. We got in a routine of being out and about during the day, returning to cabin for shower, sometimes quick nap, son would hit the buffet for a pre-dinner snack, husband and I could relax over a drink - and then we had dinner.

On our ship, since it was open seating, we always ate at table of 4 with our own family. Quite honestly, we got a little tired of each other after a while and would have welcomed some infusion of conversation from strangers. On vacation "family time" can ahppen all day - and for us is always far more hours than we normally spend together at home. No that we don't love each other, but 24 hours/day together gets old fairly fast.

rucrazy

My daughter and I (she is 16) have been on 3 cruises and prefer the early dinner. If we wait until the late dinner, we are hungry or have gone to the buffet and eaten a little, which spoils our dinner. And, as others have said, going to sleep on a full stomach is not fun. We also have been placed at a large table, and it is extremely uncomfortable when your other parties do not show up. you feel mighty conspicuous sitting all alone. Would prefer a table to ourselves.

davidjac

My wife and I were once seated at a table with all Spanish speakers. It was horrible. Ebventually we were able to change but we were miserable while there.

David

LoveItaly

Hi terryr, haven't cruised in ages but when we did with our daughter (first time think she was 10) we always opted for the late dinner. First of all we always ate dinner late at home (I still do) and also for the same reason others do..gives you time to shower, relax, have a cocktail etc. instead of having to rush into the dining room.

Two cruise experiences were with other passengers at the table we were assigned to. In both cases I hated it..as did the rest of the family. Bad luck maybe. Anyway from those two experiences I would never want a table with other passengers. And I can't imagine family members getting bored with each other or running out of conversation..not in our family anyway..it is more like trying to get a word in edgewise, LOL.

Have a beautiful cruise in Alaska. Everyone I have ever known that has taken an Alaskan cruise has always enjoyed it so much.

luv2fly

2 good reasons to dine at the later seating -

1. Who wants to miss the sunsets?
2. Who wants to start getting dressed for dinner...especially on 'formal' nights at 5 pm?

NOT ME ! ! !