What time should you pick to eat dinner on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship so you don't miss out on the best things to do onboard?
One of the first decisions you'll need to make when you book a cruise is what time you want to have dinner.
If you opt for Traditional Dinner (instead of My Time Dining), there are three seating times and each has its advantages and disadvantages.
I've found there isn't a single dinner time that is universally best, as it really depends on what your priorities are during the sailing.
Here are the recommendations for which dining time to pick, depending on what you prioritize the most.
Pick early dinner if you have kids or want to eat before everything happens
From the early days of cruising, early dinner has always been popular among families with younger children.
When my kids were younger, it was always advantageous to go to early dinner so you they could eat and then be dropped off at Adventure Ocean. Kids club opens at 7pm, so having dinner before heading there was the perfect timing.
Another advantageous of early dinner is you'll finish right in time for just about everything happening later that evening.
If my dinner is at 5 or 5:30, I'm probably out of the Main Dining Room by 6:30pm or so, meaning I can see shows, bar performances, or any of the late night stuff.
The problem with early dinner is it eats into your afternoon.
If you're the type of person that wants to shower and change before dinner, this means you'll likely need to be back in your stateroom to prepare by mid afternoon or so. I found it cuts into the pool deck time or even some shore excursion plans.
Some people also complain early dinner is, well, too early.
Pick middle dinner if you want your late afternoons back
Royal Caribbean added the "goldilocks dinner" option last year as a way to give passengers more choice in when they eat.
For anyone that thought early dinner was too early and late dinner was too late, middle dinner is right inbetween.
There are two advantages to middle dinner that I can see.
First, you can enjoy more of your afternoon plans compared to early dinner, especially when you have a full day of touring in port.
When I'm on an Alaska cruise or European cruise, many days we'd get back to the ship and not have enough time to get ready for an early dinner. And of course, we'd feel famished if we waited for late dinner.
Second, middle dinner means you get the benefits of Traditional Dinner without having to go to My Time Dining.
Many cruisers would pick MTD because they wanted a middle ground of dining times. But there are some inherent benefits to Traditional Dinner. Now there's no compromise.
The problem with middle dinner is the evening shows don't usually line up for middle dinner and cause a conflict.
Royal Caribbean traditionally has scheduled its evening shows around early and late dinner times, so middle dinner means you're going to have to get creative on seeing the featured shows onboard.
It doesn't mean you can't see shows, but it might be more difficult to plan around dinner and entertainment.
Pick late dinner if you'd rather see shows and then eat
When I first started cruising, I'd always pick late dinner for two reasons: early dinner was too early and it meant we could enjoy entertainment before dinner.
Typically the evening show schedules are arranged such that there are two show times per night, with an early and late show that compliment the early and late dinner.
With late dinner, we could enjoy our afternoon and then transition into evening fun before heading to dinner. That would mean a show, dinner, and then late night fun afterwards.
There's no question late dinner is better for not compromising on your afternoon, and it works well for getting to start your night with fun things.
As I got older, I started to dislike coming out of dinner at around 10pm and feeling like all that was left was late night activities. I preferred having more of the evening in front of me to look forward to after dinner.
I always pick early dinner because it opens up my evening
From a simplicity standpoint, I pick early dinner for my cruises.
Yes, eating at 5pm isn't my personal favorite time to eat dinner, but I think the advantage of having shows fit into my schedule is worth it.
Plus, I like getting out of dinner and feeling like I have a lot of time still to enjoy what's happening around the ship.
As I mentioned, I started off doing late dinner when I was younger to avoid eating too early and getting more time in port or at the pool. But I've shied away from it because I didn't want to get out of dinner at 10pm and feel like my night was over.
