another cruise question - dining

[lil_acorn]

Thoughts on first or 2nd (later) dining option when you have kids that are 3,6,9?

They are normally asleep by 9 pm at home - not sure whether they will stick to that on vacation

[bigpassport]

We've only done one cruise with DS. He was 3.5 y.o. We had the first seating at 6 p.m. On Royal Caribbean, they have My Family Time Dining which is only for the first seating. The servers get the kids fed within 40 minutes and then the kids club staff comes to pick up the kids from the dining room so you can relax with the rest of your meal and dessert. After dinner we would go to trivia or a show without DS, then pick him up before 10 when the kids club closed. I think the late seating is a little weird because if you want to go to a show, you go to the show first then dinner. Also, an 8 p.m. seating means dinner can go until 9:30. I think that is late for kids to eat. One drawback to early dinner is if you're in port until later in the afternoon, you might feel like you have to rush to get to dinner...but in that case, you can always just go to the buffet instead. Overall, more pluses to early dinner than late I think. Sorry that was kind of rambling.

[egoldber]

On DCL, if you have first dining, you go to the late show (8:15/8:30). If you have late dining, you are scheduled for the early show (6/6:30). Sometimes there is also a matinee show, but usually only on sea days.

If you have the late seating, they have the option of the kids getting their meals early and then Kids Club personnel will come and get the kids.

We scheduled early dining because there is NO way my kids can wait that long to eat.

[army_mom]

We just got off a cruise with 4 year old DD and did 8:15 dining. DD wasn't horribly behaved but would have been better at earlier dining, which is what we will do next time. After she eats one of us can run her up to kids club if she wants. We thought we would be rushed to eat after excursions with early but I think we would have been OK.

[ZeeBaby]

We chose early seating for our kids then 2.5 and 4. It worked very well. We would eat with the kids at 6 and then I would take them up to the kids club. It was very nice not to have to stress about keeping DDs entertained for a 2 hour dinner.

[lil_acorn]

We chose early seating for our kids then 2.5 and 4. It worked very well. We would eat with the kids at 6 and then I would take them up to the kids club. It was very nice not to have to stress about keeping DDs entertained for a 2 hour dinner.

Do they feed the kids their full dinner while adults are still on their appetizers or something? How long are the kids eating dinner if the adult one is 2 hours long?

[nfowife]

We did the same as ZeeBaby. The first night we set up with the waiter at our table (you'll have the same ones every night with you) that we wanted drinks and a fruit/cheese plate waiting at the table for the kids. Then we'd order for them immediately. Usually when our appetizer arrived their entree arrived and they were ready for dessert before we got our entree. As soon as they were done eating one of us would take them up to the kids club and then we could finish our dinner at a leisurely pace. It worked out very well.

[hoodlims3]

With your age children I would do later dining. We often felt rushed in the afternoons to stop swimming, lounging, etc, so we could be back in our rooms by 4pm and shower before dinner. Afterwards we often did go to a show at night and were back in our rooms for lights out by 9. We are from the West Coast and went out of FL, so we never really shifted our schedule. Another option (other than the one mentioned above where the Kids' Club comes and takes them) is to leave them in the club where they will feed them dinner. You can do an earlier dining, not worry about having your kids there, and then pick them up when you are done.

Which boat are you going on? If you are going on the Fantasy, I would have my kids with me in the Animator's restaurant. The others they can definitely skip.

[egoldber]

We got home Saturday. :)

We had early dining, but in reality, my kids were sooooo off schedule that late dining would have been fine. We did feel a little rushed to get to dinner sometimes. My kids were up late, slept in, and had afternoon snacks by the pool, so they weren't that hungry at the early dinner time. Also, the early show is a lot less crowded than the late show.

[lil_acorn]

We got home Saturday. :)

We had early dining, but in reality, my kids were sooooo off schedule that late dining would have been fine. We did feel a little rushed to get to dinner sometimes. My kids were up late, slept in, and had afternoon snacks by the pool, so they weren't that hungry at the early dinner time. Also, the early show is a lot less crowded than the late show.

Welcome back! I'd love to hear about your trip and any must do's or tips/tricks.
I also have 3,6,9 year olds, so do you think I should still try for late dining?

[egoldber]

I think you can always switch to late dining. Early dining is what most people want.

I think your 6 and 9 year old would be fine with late dining. The 3 year old is harder. But they are excellent at bringing food for the kids really fast and then they can go to the clubs.

We did not do any excursions, but I can see that if you did you could be very rushed to get ready for dinner by 5:45. As I said, we were often by the pool in the late afternoon and I felt like we had to cut our time short there to get ready for dinner. Often older DD might have just had "lunch" at 3 or 4!