Jamesszy94 Posted January 31 Report Posted January 31 Who has dinner at 4:45pm??!?! (This is for Ovation of the Seas) In particular the 15 night Tokyo to Vancouver cruise. RCIfan1912, Doug_Texas, WAAAYTOOO and 2 others 5 Quote
wordell1 Posted January 31 Report Posted January 31 Florida seniors that are used to getting the early bird specials! Make sure you lock up the condiments WAAAYTOOO, RCIfan1912, Southern Dan and 8 others 1 8 1 1 Quote
Reigert2008 Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 18 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said: Who has dinner at 4:45pm??!?! We always do early dining at 5:30ish, but would take a 4:45 dinner! We’re not seniors or anything but are early risers having breakfast at 7:30, and lunch at 11:30. Getting dinner at 4:45 would allow for two evening snacks! Baked Alaska, TessFromFlorida, RCIfan1912 and 1 other 3 1 Quote
Rackham Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 I'm assuming these times are thanks to how long it takes people to actually arrive at their tables versus when dinner service actually begins. RCIfan1912 1 Quote
Traveling Mike Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 I just got off a cruise and had 5:00 pm dining and loved it. The 4:45 pm is only 15 minutes earlier. I do not eat lunch so by 5:00 pm I am ready to eat and being that early I get to see the early shows and the best seats. WAYNO, Baked Alaska, RCIfan1912 and 3 others 5 1 Quote
Jamesszy94 Posted February 1 Author Report Posted February 1 I also usually have 5pm dinners. But 4:45 is basically afternoon tea for some people... WAYNO, RCIfan1912 and Ogilthorpe 2 1 Quote
WAYNO Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 We eat at home at 5PM, so a 4:45 slot works well for us. Plus, we've missed a lot of shows or other activities, as the 5:30 time slot did not allow enough time to finish dinner and make it to the show. 4:45 helps. Baked Alaska, SplashOfWater, RCIfan1912 and 4 others 6 1 Quote
Jamesszy94 Posted February 1 Author Report Posted February 1 5 hours ago, WAYNO said: We eat at home at 5PM, so a 4:45 slot works well for us. Plus, we've missed a lot of shows or other activities, as the 5:30 time slot did not allow enough time to finish dinner and make it to the show. 4:45 helps. What time do you guys have lunch?! 10:45am?? What about breakfast??? 5am??? Ogilthorpe, WAYNO, PeloAl and 2 others 2 1 2 Quote
ChessE4 Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 I reported this early dining time after our May 25 cruise to Alaska. It worked out except for our Juneau salmon bake. We alerted wait staff the night before. The other impact is that we miss Crown Lounge goodies, but that's OK given its overcrowding. When we sail out of San Juan next year, we are moving to a late seating to maximize time in port. Like others, we eat early at home. Ps. Brekkie by 7, lunch at 11. Ogilthorpe 1 Quote
WAYNO Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 3 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said: What time do you guys have lunch?! 10:45am?? What about breakfast??? 5am??? I worked a lot of years. I was out the door many years at 6AM. Lunch-ish 11AM. It is difficult to un-do a lifelong schedule. My days are still long and productive. And we don't drink tea. TessFromFlorida, Jamesszy94, Ogilthorpe and 4 others 7 Quote
teddy Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 For a number of years my work day started at 3 am so my day started at 2 am. Dinner at 430ish was normal. RCIfan1912, Baked Alaska, Ogilthorpe and 2 others 5 Quote
FJ28 Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 3 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said: What time do you guys have lunch?! 10:45am?? What about breakfast??? 5am??? Yes and yes JustinandBrooke, CruiseGus, Baked Alaska and 2 others 4 1 Quote
WannaCruise Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 OP what ship is this? We are traditional dining time fans. We typically eat 6pm at home so we used to book 5:30pm all the time. Then the 5:30pm times got moved back to 5pm. Still early and what I hate most is that it means your afternoon ends 3:45pm-4pm so that we can go back and shower. We still managed though. But 4:45pm? That's getting ridiculous. Last March on Freedom we had 5pm booked but when we got there, they assigned us 6:45pm time. This time was perfect! Not too early. Not too late. This past December on Harmony, we tried 7:30pm. We weren't sure if it would be too late, but we ended up loving it and now want to change our outstanding cruises that have early dining booked to this time. The only exception is our upcoming March cruise on Oasis. We have 5pm dinner time (it was 5:30pm when we booked the cruise). The issues it that shows came out early to reserve so we can't move our time now since shows are booked around dinner times. Hope 4:45pm isn't the new norm. Ogilthorpe 1 Quote
Southern Dan Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 Cannot wait until Royal starts rolling out the 4:15 dinner time in 2027! Ogilthorpe 1 Quote
smokeybandit Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 4:45 dinner just means the suite lounge happy hour would start at 4:15. Sign me up! Quote
Traveling Mike Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 9 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said: What about breakfast??? 5am??? On most cruises I am up at 5am and I am one of the ones standing in line when the Windjammer opens its doors Jamesszy94, CruiseGus, TJP and 3 others 4 1 1 Quote
Jamesszy94 Posted February 1 Author Report Posted February 1 I mean I am also one of those people that prefers early dinner, we usually go around 5:30pm. But... 4:45 is too early Ogilthorpe 1 Quote
RCIfan1912 Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 5 on a cruise is too early for dinner for us. Would much rather 6 but no option for 6. 4:45 would just not work for us at all. We do eat at around 5 at home though. Quote
SpeedNoodles Posted February 1 Report Posted February 1 That's basically lunch time for us. Ogilthorpe, RCIfan1912 and Jamesszy94 2 1 Quote
KLA Posted February 2 Report Posted February 2 This entire thread: teddy, asquared17, SpeedNoodles and 5 others 3 5 Quote
Mike n Ky Posted February 2 Report Posted February 2 At the moment the MDR, regardless of the time, is not high on our list for dinner. We have never had breakfast or lunch there. RCIfan1912 1 Quote
RCIfan1912 Posted February 2 Report Posted February 2 Breakfast in the MDR is actually nice but it's not open very long. It opens early but closes kinda early. Quote
Matt Posted February 2 Report Posted February 2 @Jamesszy94 Which ship is this for that you're seeing 4:45 dinner? Jamesszy94 1 Quote
teddy Posted February 2 Report Posted February 2 On 2/1/2026 at 8:42 AM, teddy said: For a number of years my work day started at 3 am so my day started at 2 am. Dinner at 430ish was normal. And now, after a few months of second shift, I’m working at 4 am all this week. I’m not even sure if I eat anymore WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote
Geezer Of The Seas Posted February 2 Report Posted February 2 On 1/31/2026 at 5:57 PM, wordell1 said: Florida seniors that are used to getting the early bird specials! Make sure you lock up the condiments I resemble that remark!!! OCSC Mike, Ogilthorpe, wordell1 and 1 other 1 3 Quote
Jamesszy94 Posted February 2 Author Report Posted February 2 5 hours ago, Matt said: @Jamesszy94 Which ship is this for that you're seeing 4:45 dinner? This was for the 15-night Tokyo to Vancouver cruise on Ovation of the Seas Quote
Doug_Texas Posted February 2 Report Posted February 2 On 2/1/2026 at 8:28 AM, WannaCruise said: OP what ship is this? We are traditional dining time fans. We typically eat 6pm at home so we used to book 5:30pm all the time. Then the 5:30pm times got moved back to 5pm. Still early and what I hate most is that it means your afternoon ends 3:45pm-4pm so that we can go back and shower. We still managed though. But 4:45pm? That's getting ridiculous. Last March on Freedom we had 5pm booked but when we got there, they assigned us 6:45pm time. This time was perfect! Not too early. Not too late. This past December on Harmony, we tried 7:30pm. We weren't sure if it would be too late, but we ended up loving it and now want to change our outstanding cruises that have early dining booked to this time. The only exception is our upcoming March cruise on Oasis. We have 5pm dinner time (it was 5:30pm when we booked the cruise). The issues it that shows came out early to reserve so we can't move our time now since shows are booked around dinner times. Hope 4:45pm isn't the new norm. We're with you 100% We also used to book 5:30. The good thing about Royal is they are communicating clearly what the times are and allow you to select. We’ve been pushed into “My Time” which works well enough but my only complaint is when you are trying to book a cruise with “My Time” and are told “My Time” is full and unavailable. WannaCruise 1 Quote
Jamesszy94 Posted February 2 Author Report Posted February 2 Seems like Royal Caribbean's dinner times are all over the place depending on the ship and where it's sailing out of. Could be based on geographic region? 7:30pm is considered "late" seating for this 3 Night cruise on Harmony sailing out of Barcelona 9:00pm is "Late" dinner on Liberty of the Seas... sailing out of England. I'm usually in bed by about 10pm after the shows finish.. who is eating dinner at 9pm Quote
Jamesszy94 Posted February 2 Author Report Posted February 2 I did a mock booking for a different Ovation sailing out of Los Angeles, and the 4:45pm dinner was gone. Did another Ovation sailing for a different cruise out of Singapore and 4:45 is back.... I tried Navigator sailing out of Singapore and looks like it is also offering 4:45pm dinner times. So far all sailings I've checked out of Asia seem like they're offering 4:45pm dinner. So it probably is just a geographical thing. RCIfan1912 1 Quote
smokeybandit Posted February 2 Report Posted February 2 Since it's a repositioning, could it be that early since the time zones are going to catch up with you anyway? Quote
Jamesszy94 Posted February 3 Author Report Posted February 3 2 hours ago, smokeybandit said: Since it's a repositioning, could it be that early since the time zones are going to catch up with you anyway? The 4 night Spectrum sailing from Hong Kong isn't a repo. Might just be an Asia thing. Quote
RCIfan1912 Posted February 3 Report Posted February 3 I wish we had the option of 6:30 but not for any of the cruises we have booked. 5 is too early, 6 would be absolutely perfect. 5 is just too early for dinner on a cruise. Quote
JasonOasis Posted February 3 Report Posted February 3 On 2/1/2026 at 5:31 AM, Jamesszy94 said: What time do you guys have lunch?! 10:45am?? What about breakfast??? 5am??? I've been in the airline industry for over 27 years now. And I have a great job now but when I first started I was working on the ramp loading bags onto aircraft and I had to be at work ready to go at 4am that meant getting up at 1:45 am - 2am. Needless to say breakfast was early and yes lunch was somewhere between 9:30-10:30am. I was in the bed by 8 pm so for me dinner had to be around between 5pm - 6:30pm just so my body could digest the food before I laid down to sleep. Back then when I was right out of high school 6 hours of sleep was more than enough. I now have "normal" work hours in a much better job within the industry but yeah for people who are earlier risers breakfast, lunch and even dinner don't happen at what most folks would consider the typical time. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote
FionaMG Posted February 3 Report Posted February 3 10 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said: Seems like Royal Caribbean's dinner times are all over the place depending on the ship and where it's sailing out of. Could be based on geographic region? 7:30pm is considered "late" seating for this 3 Night cruise on Harmony sailing out of Barcelona 9:00pm is "Late" dinner on Liberty of the Seas... sailing out of England. I'm usually in bed by about 10pm after the shows finish.. who is eating dinner at 9pm Yes, geography and demographics do play a role in timings. Spanish people generally eat late, so 9 or 9.30 pm are seatings are fairly standard on sailings out of Spain. Northern Europeans, on the other hand, often eat earlier. My last two cruises were on MSC but they provide an excellent example of this. The first was out of Hamburg to Scotland and Iceland; dinner times were 5.45 and 8.15. The second was around the Canary Isles, which are part of Spain; dinner times were 6.30 and 9. Some years ago, I sailed on Adventure OTS out of Malaga, in southern Spain. Dinner times on that one, with an overwhelmingly Spanish demographic, were 7.30 and 9.30. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote
Jolly Ogre Posted February 3 Report Posted February 3 Now I don't want to jinx myself, however I have not yet had a problem with MTD and resevering within a day or two of the booking. 7:00 pm is the time i prefer on the ships, while at home we usually eat around 7:30 pm. Up at 6:00 am and breakfast 6:30 ish and lunch at noon. Same routine on or off a cruise. Quote
BMW Hoosier Posted February 3 Report Posted February 3 When I was growing up, we had dinner at 4:30 PM nearly every night. RCIfan1912 1 Quote
Curt From Canada Posted February 4 Report Posted February 4 On 2/3/2026 at 3:20 AM, FionaMG said: Adventure OTS out of Malaga, in southern Spain. Dinner times on that one, with an overwhelmingly Spanish demographic, were 7.30 and 9.30. Dinner times based on demographic seems to be the primary driver. Currently sailings out of Cartagena, Columbia have MDR seatings of: 1st: 6:15PM Late: 7:45PM 3rd Seating: 9:15PM AND given the demographic on our cruise you almost had 1:1 personalized service at the 6:15PM Seating. Curt from Canada ChessE4 and FionaMG 2 Quote
FionaMG Posted February 4 Report Posted February 4 16 minutes ago, Jill said: I’m still on the pool deck at 4:45! And I will probably be in the gym RCIfan1912 1 Quote
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