Anytime

When we cruise, we typically sign up for the late seating in the dining room. We always found 6:30 to be just a bit too early. In truth we found 8:30 to be a bit too late but we dealt with it by having a late afternoon snack. The other problem with the late seating was that many of the people who signed up for it also found it was too late and either switched to the earlier seating or just opted out and went to a buffet leaving you with a sparsely populated table. This time, the late seating was completely reserved and we were assigned to "anytime dining". We thought this might be a good option, figuring that eating around 7:00 or 7:30 would be perfect.

And it was. We also had pleasant and interesting dinner companions each evening. Never the same ones twice, although we encountered many of them in other venues around the ship and stopped for a brief chat. We met people from California, New Jersey, Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Louisiana, North Carolina and of course, other parts of Texas. 

It's always interesting to hear about what other people did on their shore excursions and whether they thought they were worthwhile. And when you're through with that, you talk about where you live, the weather, your grandchildren (or lack thereof), and what you do (or did). You hear about other cruise lines - what people liked and disliked about them. You hear about what people liked and disliked about different cities and countries they've traveled to.

All in all it makes for an interesting time. I think we'll stay with the anytime dining.