We just booked a 7 day eastern Caribbean cruise on the Treasure in October. Which is better early or late dinning and why? Also since this is a Halloween cruise anything special we should consider? The last time we were on a Disney cruise was over 15 years ago, so this feels all new to us. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks.
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How old are your kids?
We had early dining which meant that they wanted us to trick or treat at 9pm if I am remembering correctly. My kids were like 3 and 6 so that was a pretty hard no. I was honestly really surprised by Disney about that. Plus Disney doesn’t have the buffet open for dinner (blows my mind) so we had to basically ask our main dining room servers to rush through regular dinner (which they definitely weren’t happy about) and then we ran to the 7pm Trick or Treating a little late.
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I was on Treasure for a Halloween cruise last year. A couple of thoughts I have:
- Character meets while Mickey and friends are in costume are super cute. Donald as a spider. Love.
- If you want to see Oogie Boogie, get there super super early. We waited 45 minutes and then had to bail because we weren’t even close to the front yet.
- In my opinion, I would prefer to watch the pirate party from the upper deck on the starboard side. That way you can see the show from above but also have an unobstructed fireworks view.
- We had a large family group and chose late dining despite the kids, but we’re all from other time zones so it wasn’t a big deal. However, the dinners were long. The entertainment helps.
- Trick or treating was just a loop around the pool deck and through the buffet area. I can’t recall the timing on it. Kids got a candy bag in the room, but adults had to ask for one if they wanted one.
- The Halloween tree story in the lobby area was really cute. Get there early for better viewing.
- Actually, get to everything early if you can.
- Haunted mansion parlor is the best part of the ship. Well worth sitting in a time or two.
- If you have magic bands, there is a cute game where you find the haunted mansion ghosts around the ship. We had a competition with my kiddo to see who could get them the fastest.
Happy to answer any questions you might have - if I can remember 
Have a great time planning!
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If you have young children, I would suggest early dining. But if your kids are older or are night owls, late dining can work and is generally in less demand.
They usually work out the schedules so that either early or late dining should be fine to participate in the major evening activities – shows, trick or treating, etc.
When we were on the Wish last year, we had early dinner and then did Trick or Treating at like 7pm, then went to the show. It was a rushed evening. (It was a 3-night cruise, so 7-night might be different.)
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Thanks for the quick responses. There is good information here.
I should have specified, there are no kids just two adults. Some may think we are still kids. 
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I would do late dining then unless you generally have a preference for eating earlier. (My dad, for example, has to stop eating like 2-3 hours before bedtime due to acid reflux.)
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I have done late dining on 9 of my 10 cruises (not all DCL). I really appreciate the extra time getting cleaned up after an excursion day. We will usually grab a snack or such around 4/5PM.
The one time I did early dining I was traveling with a friend and she couldn’t wait that long to eat. I found myself rushing after a leisurely day.
Whatever you decide - IT’S A CRUISE!
YAY YOU!
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Thanks everyone I really appreciate the help. We have decided to do the late dinning. Also, after reading aliceismad’s comments, I was informed that we will be asking for candy bags so we can trick or treat. Now I’m waiting to be told that we need to come up with costumes. I was also told this morning that there have been some additions to the trip. The day before the cruise we are going to Epic and when we get off the cruise we are going to WDW for 2 1/2 days. This is going to be incredible and I can’t wait.
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You don’t have to wear costumes unless you want to. I will say that many people did dress up in Halloween costumes. A lot of people also brought pirate gear for pirate night.
Bonus Epic and WDW time sounds amazing! We did MNSSHP before we got on the ship and it was just the best bit of extra Disney magic. I hope you have a fantastic time!
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I will never forget my son being Zurg on our cruise and going up to every Buzz Lightyear (including adults) and saying “Hi Son.” 
The Dads all thought it was hysterical.
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Well that’s adorable!
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When are you going? I booked VGT room a few weeks ago. We are going October 10-17.
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With two adults, definitely do late dining.
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We are going two weeks later, October 24th - 31st.
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We also have a VGT room. Have you picked any shore excursions? At Tortola we are debating between a tour of the Baths at Virgin Gorda or a daysail to Peter & Norman Island. In St. Thomas we are doing a private Jeep Tour. The Jeep tour has two options one provides a guide and the other is self guided. Not sure which one we will do.
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In Tortola, we did a catamaran sail with snorkeling. The water was incredible. For St Thomas we had a kayaking trip in the mangrove lagoon area. Very interesting.
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Thanks for sharing. I need to look at the kayaking trip,
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For Tortola we did the Family Beach Escape to Jost Van Dkye. It’s a catamaran ride to Jost Van Dyke and includes lunch. I REALLY want to go to Soggy Dollar and I’m hoping we can get there from where the catamaran drops us off. In St. Thomas we booked Blackbeard’s Castle, Magens Bay Beach and Historic Downtown Exploration.
DS17 didn’t want to go on this trip (says he’s tired of Disney cruises) so we are leaving him at home. He’ll be 18 the first of December. If he’s home we don’t have to find a house sitter for the dog which is nice. DD23 is starting her first year of teaching and her fall break doesn’t line up with mine so this cruise will be just me and DH.
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Soggy Dollar, I hadn’t heard of it so I just looked it up. That could be a fun time, hope it works out for you. I think we have settled on the The Baths when we are in Tortola. My only concern is the crowds. I hear the lines can get really backed up. In St. Thomas we have decided to rent a jeep an drive ourselves around. Using AI we were able to put together our own plan and it includes Blackbeard’s Castle and Magens Bay.
Both our DD and DS our married so we have been able to travel with out them. Traveling without the kids can be fun. Yet I still enjoy taking trips with them as well. In fact we just booked a trip to WDW for next May with our DD.
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