When taking a cruise with a family of 4, is it better to have the early dining or late dining?

Question

Also, is it better to sit at a table with just the four of us or should we sit at a larger table? The kids ages are 12 and 9. We have never cruised before and are about to take a Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas cruise this summer

Answer 1

If you have not chose an cruise line yet, i highly recommend the Norwegian Cruise lines: Free style cruising.  I just returned from one on the Majesty ship and love the atmosphere, crew, the relax feeling of  not being scheduled for eating times especially when you have children to think about, wonderful live band, kid activities, 24 hr. room service, buffets all day, chocolate bar.  I couldn't say more about our experience and you really should consider the free style b/c it has an impact on how relaxed you can be on vacation.  visit www.ncl.com

Answer 2

I've been on 3 cruises, but it was some time ago.

For the time, it depends on your family.  When do you usually eat?   Pick the one that matches that.   We usually had dinner at 6pm, so we picked the one closer to that.

As for tables, I don't think they had tables for just 4 people.  I recall that we always had 6-8 people per table.

Answer 3

early dinner at the smaller table.

get the kids to bed early so that you can have "mommie and daddy time"! and sitting at the smaller table gives you some quality family time close together

Answer 4

Yes the early is better. Don't be afraid to plan on eating in the dining room unless your kids are ridiculously picky. On ours, the food arrived quickly, and there were so many courses that it was hard to eat fast enough to keep up with the food! As for alone or with others, it depends. If you will be apart during the day doing different activites, it's nice to come together for a dinner alone. We ate at a table with others,and even though we are a little shy,  it was fun getting to know them and hear about different activities they tried that we wouldn't have thought to look into. If there's a chance you will be tired of looking at just your family the whole time, it's kind of nice to get to know others just for a break. Plus, maybe you can request to be put with another family with kids so they can have someone their own ages to talk with.  Stick with the buffet for breakfast and lunch, but don't take away the chance to expose the family to a higher caliber of food, and choices and variety that they may not otherwise learn about. On a cruise one of the great things is the chance to try new things, and if you just have them eat pizza, tacos, and hamburgers in the buffet you will be missing out on some great opportunities.

Answer 5

Definitely the EARLY dinner.  The late dinners just go too late, and going to bed on a full stomach is no fun for anyone...especially on a ship.

Answer 6

I prefer early seating.  It gives your stomach time to settle before going to bed.  Also the Royal Caribbean ships have loads of activities for children in your age group.  They probably won't be eating with you every night as they will have activities on their own.

Answer 7

The earlier dining is better. You can sit with other people so you can talk with them. If you sit with yourselves it is fine too.

Answer 8

early dinner after kids can do their thing and you can have a bit of fun with out the kids  either way your going to have a ball .

Answer 9

u should take th early dining for the late is somewhat, i would think not for kids and stick w/ a table for 4 or 5 thats good enough space

Answer 10

You would probably be best to choose the early seating for your children. I don't believe you get to choose how many people are at your table.  They will assign you to a table and its possible there will be other people sitting with you. It gives you a chance to get to know some new people, see who got ripped off on their cruise ( this happened to us,the people we sat with spent soo much less)

Happy Cruising!

Answer 11

The big question is when does your family normally eat?  If an early seating is closer to your family's normal dinner time than do that, or vice versa.  Also if your kids participate in the Adventure Ocean program (onboard kid's program) there will be at least one night (the formal nights) where they can dine with the rest of the kids in the program letting mom and dad have the formal nights to themselves as adult time.

One of the big things is that if your kids are used to eating early and you select the late seating then they're probably going to be miserable waiting until dinner unless you let them snack - which could spoil their dinner...

But remember, once you get on board if you should decide that you want to change your assigned dining time you can.  Just speak with the Matre De.  If there is availability (and there usually is) at the other seating they will accomodate your request.  The same if you don't like your tablemates etc...

I wouldn't be concerned about sitting at a large table with your children.  Sitting at a large table is part of the social experience of the cruise, odds are you'll make some new friends over dinner...

Answer 12

take early dining most kids stuff is late at night for the 9 year old and the 12 year old which is probably in teens will always like the teen club

Answer 13

late dining if you are a late sleeper early if you are a early riser.sit at a larger table if they have children also,otherwise at a table for 4 so you want upset others.

Answer 14

early dining is the best way to go.  also, another pointer, do not eat in the dining hall that is printed on your card you get when you get on the cruise.  in the dining hall, it is like a restaurant, you sit at HUGE tables and it takes FOREVER to get your food. go to the BUFFET, especially with your kids, they have ALL kinds of food and its all you can eat, great desserts too, AND  its all self serve.  we learned this the hard way.  after an extremely LONG day of flying to get aboard the cruise ship, we were starving,we didnt know any better, so we went to the dining hall stated on our cards, it took a VERY long time to get our food, even then we only had certain choices, and it was weird fancy food, and gross, which your kids wont like.  The buffet has burgers, hot dogs, chinese food, all kinds. so go to the buffet. we also sailed royal caribbean