When you book your Carnival cruise, you will choose your dinner time. What happens if you decide to change it before your cruise, though?
One of the best parts about a Carnival cruise is the unlimited food, from juicy burgers to fresh tacos and multi-course meals in the Main Dining Room.
Carnival Cruise Line guests can select traditional seating or Your Time Dining for their dinners in the dining room. Both have pros and cons and what works best for one travel party may not be ideal for another.
Here's a guide to help you change your Carnival dining time to ensure you have the best dinner experience possible.
Assigned Seating
Carnival's Assigned Seating is akin to the traditional cruise ship dining experience. Guests will either dine during the early or late seating and have the same table and waitstaff throughout the cruise. Because the dinner time doesn't change, you don't have to worry about reservations or lengthy waits.
The exact timing varies based on the sailing, but the early seating is usually around 5:30 to 6:00pm, while the late seating commences around 7:45 to 8:15pm. So, if you choose the later option, you likely won't finish dinner until around 9:00pm each night.
That can be late for families with younger children or cruisers looking to take advantage of the evening entertainment. If you selected the late assigned seating time and want to change it, contact your travel agent or Carnival Cruise Line at (800) 764-7419.
You don't want to wait until you are onboard, as it is harder for the crew to guarantee a change. Instead, take a few moments to reach out ahead of time to secure your preferred assigned seating.
Passengers who prefer a set dining time can't reserve Your Time open seating during the cruise. If you'd rather have a flexible dinner schedule, you will want to ensure that Your Time is your dining option for the sailing.
Read more: 11 foods you must eat on a Carnival cruise
Your Time Dining
Your Time Dining is Carnival's flexible, open seating option. Advanced reservations aren't accepted, so you must check in using Carnival's HUB App onboard when you're ready to eat. The hours are generally 5:00 to 9:00pm.
According to Carnival's website, guests are seated on a first-come, first-served basis and are usually accommodated within twenty minutes. However, wait times can vary, especially if you have a larger party. When sailing on Carnival Elation last year, I noticed that the wait time significantly increased around 6:30pm. As such, we tried to request a table no later than 6:00pm each night!
After checking in, you can grab a drink at the Alchemy Bar or finish getting ready in your cabin. There's no need to stand in line—the app will notify you once your table is ready. Once you receive the notification, promptly head to the dining room, as the table will only be held for ten minutes.
Flexible dining isn't for everyone, especially if you like to stick to a routine. However, if you do not want to plan your days around an early dinner and find that the late seating is too late, Your Time could be the perfect solution.
You can contact Carnival or your travel agent and have them swap your reservation to Your Time from Assigned Seating or vice versa. Note, however, that if you want to switch to Assigned Seating, each dining time has a maximum capacity. In general, the early seating tends to fill up first.
Read more: Guide to flexible dining vs traditional dining on a cruise ship
What about specialty dining?
Most Carnival specialty restaurants require reservations. I would be surprised if you walked up to the onboard steakhouse at 7:00pm and they had an available table!
You can make reservations before your cruise through Carnival's Cruise Manager. The Cruise Manager is also your go-to spot for shore excursions, drink packages, and other pre-cruise add-ons. If you wait until you are onboard, availability may be limited. For example, when I sailed on Carnival Celebration, I was disappointed that the teppanyaki restaurant was completely booked!
Specialty restaurants aren't required to have a great Carnival cruise, though! These restaurants aren't included in your cruise fare. However, they offer unique dining experiences that can make your time onboard even more memorable if you are willing to pay extra.
There aren't any set dining times for fast-casual restaurants
You can't make reservations for Carnival's fast-casual eateries like Guy's Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, or Big Chicken.
Instead, these quick-service spots are all about convenience. If you are craving poolside tacos on a sea day, all you have to do is walk up to the counter and join the line.
Because you can't pre-order food, don't be surprised if there's a long wait during peak meal times. Thankfully, the hardworking crew members tend to work through queues quickly.
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Growing up, she had the privilege of traveling frequently with her family and fell in love with cruising after sailing on the Oasis of the Seas her freshman year of high school. She wanted to pursue a career that highlighted her passion for travel and strengths as a writer.
