Traveling with Tweens

Disneybreak

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 26, 2013
Would my tween boys miss too many Edge activites if I changed our seating to late dining? We are currently registered for early seating, but I am concerned that we will resent having to change/eat while the sun is still out. I'd like to switch (besides I know there are plenty of people who really want/need early) but don't want to end up with my boys asking to skip dinner so they can attend the Edge during that time.

We are going on our first Disney 3 day cruise to Nassua and CC in April. We've cruised once before but it was free style dining.
 
Would my tween boys miss too many Edge activites if I changed our seating to late dining? We are currently registered for early seating, but I am concerned that we will resent having to change/eat while the sun is still out. I'd like to switch (besides I know there are plenty of people who really want/need early) but don't want to end up with my boys asking to skip dinner so they can attend the Edge during that time.

We are going on our first Disney 3 day cruise to Nassua and CC in April. We've cruised once before but it was free style dining.

There's enough activities going on during both dinner times that I think it will be fine. You all will probably enjoy not being rushed around having the later dinner time. Our first cruise we had no choice but to have second seating. We didn't think we were going to like it since we usually eat by 5:30. We loved it & choose it every time now.
The clubs do things later too so the boys can join in after dinner.
 
I think you should leave it. We did late dining, and my kids, both 16, did seem to miss meeting up with the kids but the biggest thing was that one of my DD wanted to work out in the spa and the only time allowed for teens (Vibe, not edge) was at 9 at night. She started skipping dinner or just coming for 30 minutes, trying not to eat too much in order to go to the gym. That child also wouldn't have cared about the shows, so if we'd had early dinner, she could have just gone right to Vibe/gym and had more time. Other than the shows, there isn't much from the 6-7 time period, so perfect for teen eating.

On our first cruise, our tablemate was a boy who was 12. He would have stayed in Edge 24/7, but his mother made him leave for dinner. Again, second seating and he just couldn't wait to be done and run back to the club.

Nancy
 
If you want second, you should switch ;) it'll give your spot to someone on the early seating wait list.

We like early. My kids probably wouldn't show up to dinner with the later seating. They are interested in the activities and clubs. In fact, the one time we were stuck with late, I had so much trouble with my teen. He would only eat one thing so he could leave ;)
 


There is always something going on somewhere all day and most of the night, so it's hard to say. Sometimes our kids would meet us at the dining room so they could finish something, most times they left without dessert so they could run off to something. They really enjoyed swiiming and Aqua Duck before dinner because of the low crowds. Then later in the night they watched movies on the less crowded deck and had a second dinner. ;) I wouldn't worry about what they would miss too much.
 
We had the second seating and my son didn't seem to miss any activities. He would rush out after dinner but was always able to eat his meal.
 
I'd look at the Navigators from the same cruise you will be on to look at the activities being offered at the various times. I'm not sure if they keep everything on the same days at the same times for each and every sailing, but if you see a pattern, then go with it.
 


We really liked the second seating. We liked not being rushed to get ready for dinner if we were on an excursion. Plus, the extra little bit of time between when we got back onboard and dinner gave us time to relax a little bit. And it gave the kids some time to spend in the clubs before dinner.
 
We did second seating when our kids were 7, 9, and 11 and plan to do it again because we liked not being rushed. You can look at the page where the Navigators are posted and see what activities are typically going on and when (although they can change), but it will give you an idea.
 
I have a 16 year old son and we have been cruising for the last 8 years. I will not book a cruise unless I can get early dining. The one time we had late dinning it was to much of a hassle him wanting to skip dinner because of activities. According to him "Everything goes on in the evening". Even with early dinner there are times he wants to skip desert to join his new friends. We cruise because it is for both of us, I am not going to have him miss his fun just for I can eat later. There is always food on the ship if I get hungry later.

Note: With a tween or teen it is not the activities that are on the Navigators, it is the friends they make. That is why they want their evenings.
 
MikeAndNick said:
I have a 16 year old son and we have been cruising for the last 8 years. I will not book a cruise unless I can get early dining. The one time we had late dinning it was to much of a hassle him wanting to skip dinner because of activities. According to him "Everything goes on in the evening". Even with early dinner there are times he wants to skip desert to join his new friends. We cruise because it is for both of us, I am not going to have him miss his fun just for I can eat later. There is always food on the ship if I get hungry later.

Note: With a tween or teen it is not the activities that are on the Navigators, it is the friends they make. That is why they want their evenings.

Yep. Even with early dinner, my kids will skip dessert to go start the evening activities.
 
We had late seating on the Wonder last week. My 11 year old only came with us the first night. If family dinner is important to you do first seating.
 
The 'big' activities on vibe/edge/club are done outside of both dinner seatings and show schedules.

For Vibe/Edge, they'll tend not to do anything big during 5:30 and 10pm. CMs will go to late seating to get the kids so they can go to Club/lab around 9:15pm or so.
 
We cruised last fall on the Fantasy with our 13yo son. We had late seating and it seemed to work well for him. We really like late seating and will continue with it for all future cruises.

There were 2 or 3 times there was an activity he really wanted to do that was right before dinner (so would probably have conflicted with early dining). On those days he checked the menu outside the restaurant during the day and told us what he wanted to order. He would meet us at the dining room and if he was a few minutes late, we could order for him so it didn't hold up the meal for anyone else.

He did skip desert a few times to get back to Edge, but since he was eating cookies & ice cream from up on the pool deck almost every time I ran into him, I don't think missing desert in the dining room was a big loss for him! (And in general, a lot of the deserts look a lot better than they taste anyway.)
 

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