Early or Late Seating Better for Baltics? - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

jstducky · 04-24-2006, 01:31 PM

On my cruise, except for our days in St. Petersburg and our day in Berlin, the ship always leaves port before Early Seating begins...

Therefore, does it really make a difference if I chose late or early seating? Is this more a matter of personal preference? Or should I choose one over the other, why?

JodiBB · 04-24-2006, 01:37 PM

Alisa...I just answered this on gkm's thread...but I'll answer it again.

We preferred the late seating. Most ports youdon't have to be back on the ship until at least 4:00pm. Late seating gave us the opportunity to rest, relax and take a nap before the late seating. Had we taken the early seating, we would've had to get back on the ship and immediately start getting ready for dinner. We would've felt rushed...

Again, this is personal preference and yes, we stayed up later as a result, but we liked the break in our day.

jstducky · 04-24-2006, 01:39 PM

I guess that makes sense. Since there are 4 dining times on HAL, I booked the 2nd one. I'll have to think about this. I could always go back and change it..

JodiBB · 04-24-2006, 01:58 PM

You went with HAL?? I didn't even know that you made a decision!!!

You might want to look at the times you're in port and what times the dinners are and go from there....it may help you coordinate your preferences.

jstducky · 04-24-2006, 02:04 PM

I went with HAL.

Except for St. Petersburg and Berlin the ship always leaves port before early dinner seating begins.

I'll have to talk it over with the rest of my party.

joramrose · 05-13-2006, 05:33 PM

The Baltic cruise, no matter which cruise line, is very port intensive. And there is so much to see in each port -- not like an island where you just bask under the sun near the water.

I would never have had time to rest a bit, stash away my souvenir purchases and then dress for dinner (with time for a little drink beforehand) unless it was late seating.

Just my own experience.

love
joan

TerilynnS · 05-26-2006, 12:25 PM

AllieMan and I had late seating...and it was perfect. We also had a couple of ports where we departed late as well (after 9:00 pm.....so late seating was great for us.

Don't forget though...the sun stays up sooooo much later there, that you tedn to stay up late anyway. Several nights we expereicend the sun setting long after 10:00 pm, and this was a May cruise. It will be even later in June and July!

nu2sea · 05-30-2006, 03:48 PM

We were on the same Baltic cruise with Terry, and also had late seating.

The only problem we had was getting up the next morning for those early excursions. We both found it difficult falling asleep before 1:00am after finishing dinner at 10:45pm.

Actually, I would have loved a 7:30 dinner! 6:00 is too early and 8:30 is too late.

Susan

TerilynnS · 05-31-2006, 12:24 PM

7: 30 would have been great Sue....Oh well. 8:30 ended up being good for us. Allowed us the ability to snack on a little sushi before dinner! (hee hee.)

poetic license · 06-01-2006, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joramrose

The Baltic cruise, no matter which cruise line, is very port intensive. And there is so much to see in each port -- not like an island where you just bask under the sun near the water.

I would never have had time to rest a bit, stash away my souvenir purchases and then dress for dinner (with time for a little drink beforehand) unless it was late seating.

Just my own experience.

love
joan

If you hadn't said this first, Joan, I would have said the exact same thing! The European cruises are sooooo port intensive, I feel like I need a vacation from my cruise when I get home! I am just plain worn out from running most of the time.

Even if we aren't on a cruise, we have a late supper, around 7:30 or so ... gives us more time to gather as a family, for sure.
I dislike hectic meals.

Cheers!
Nicki