Disney Cruise Tip: Choose Second Seating

If you have never been on a cruise before, or at least a Disney Cruise, there are two dinner times. The first seating, or Main Seating, is between 5:30pm – 6pm while the Second Seating is between 7:30-8pm. Your initial gut feeling may be to go with the first seating, especially with children since that is probably closer to your normal dining time at home.  One thing to think about is what time you will need to start preparing for dinner. If you have dinner at 5:30, and you and the kids all need to get showers from a long day on deck or on the islands, how long do you need?  Do you need an hour? If so, you need to be ending your day in the sun, or your time out on the island by 4:30.  If you can manage, try and do the Second Seating, this will give you extra time in your day to soak in the sun, and not feel pressured to return to the ship for dinner. If you are worried about your little ones getting hungry, that is something you can always solve aboard a Disney Cruise ship.  We often take our kids to grab some fruit, chicken nuggets, pizza, or hot dog around 6, to help them make the main dinner.  So think about your options before you automatically select the Main Seating.  Here is a list of Main Dining restaurants about the Disney Cruise Line ships.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask us, we love helping others learn more about Disney!