Dining Times on Navigator of the seas

[aussiecruiser]

travelling on the 9th Sept. Is there any dissadvantage to dining at 8.30pm. Will you miss any of the live shows.

[Sandy]

Both main and second seatings have advantages and disadvantages. You won't miss any of the main shows, although your main show may be before dinner on some nights. Eating at 8:30 means you won't get out of the dining room until 10pm or later.

Sandy

[aussiecruiser]

Thanks Sandy, which seating time do you prefer and why, thanks

Sandy[/quote]

[Snorkel Mich]

On all but our first cruise we have chosen the late sitting. That way we can watch the ship pull out of port and not have to rush to dinner. We also like to try to catch the sunset but cloudy days hamper that. If you choose late dining and you get the muchies you can always swing into the Cafe Promenade for a quick bite or swing through the Windjammer or even get room service. Yes its true we get out after 10 but the night is just begginning

[aussiecruiser]

I didnt mention that we will have 2 x 13 year old children with us, does that make any difference

[Snorkel Mich]

It depends. Your kids may like to eat early so they can hang out with the other kids.

I have noticed that at the late seating there are not many kids. A few but not alot.

It really depends on what you normally do.

We eat early and late at home. So its based on what is best

[Sandy]

Aussie, we used to eat in second seating all the time, but now we do a combination of early seating, plus eating at the buffet on several evenings. We tend to eat dinner around 6 or 7 when we're home, so early seating fits our lifestyle better. On the occasions that we're just not hungry at 6pm or don't feel like leaving our comfortable chairs in the Solarium, we skip the dining room and eat in the Windjammer whenever we feel like it.

As Snorkel Mich mentioned, early seating may be better since you're traveling with kids. Of course, when my kids were teens, we'd eat at early seating and then they'd eat *again* later on at the buffet!

Sandy

[Luv2Cruise2007]

We had the late seating on the navigator in Oct. of last year. That is my preference. When you are at port you don't feel like you have to rush back on the ship to eat. You will not miss anything, they have shows for early and late seating so you will be fine. I think the biggest advantage is that the crew does not feel rushed. If you eat early, everyone has to be out of the restaurant on time for them to clean and get ready for the second seating. The second seating is more relaxed and our waiters actully spent a lot of time with us after dinner just talking and showing my kids how to make things out of the napkins. Awesome staff!!