Are they flexible about dinner seating times?

[RMARZOLF72]

I was given a second seating for dinner when I made my reservation because apparently the first seating was booked. I am not happy about this because I just know that with a 10, 8 and 7 year old, the earlier dinner seating will be better for many, many reasons. Once I get on board, what are my chances of getting an earlier seating assignment and how do I go about requesting that?

 

[Takia]

I have done this a couple times, and i have found it to not be difficult. What you should do is as soon as you check in and get your kttw cards look at the navigator they give you and see where you can go for dining changes. Get there at that time. Also, if you booked through a travel agent they should be more then happy to call for you close to the time that you are leaving to try and get that changed for you. Good luck!

 

[joksten2000]

Get down to Diversions on the third deck, that's where the dining staff is for changes

 

[mommasita]

These are great suggestions. Just wanted to add: Your kids seem like great ages for late dining. That is my opinion however. We prefer it late, as we are not rushed, have time to do other things in port as well... I think you will find a lot of votes for late dining...

Just my 2 cents

 

[mom2grace]

These are great suggestions. Just wanted to add: Your kids seem like great ages for late dining. That is my opinion however. We prefer it late, as we are not rushed, have time to do other things in port as well... I think you will find a lot of votes for late dining...

Just my 2 cents

ITA! And, with 2nd, you can always feed the kids first at Topsiders or something else, and then take them to the clubs. Also, when you have 2nd dinner, you get to see the shows first, when your kids are wide awake. I think this is the biggest bonus to 2nd.

 

[4 mickey]

Yes try to change it if you want but as the others said second seating is not that bad less stress for getting ready , can always grab something to eat mid or late afternoon , you see the show first ..... and they ( severals personns ) that the servers are not quite as rushed on the second seating so in my opinion anyway it goes you're a winner

 

[famof8]

I wanted to change my dining also. When I originally booked 8 months out, only late was available. I called DCL a few times and eventually early was available. A week before the cruise some friends decided to come along and so as soon as I got on the boat, I booked it to Rockin Bar D and asked to be switched to their rotation on the late. Our kids are 4, 6, 9, 13, 15, 17 and we loved late dining. Early show is so much better for them. But, that being said, I think that if you make a beeline to the proper place and make the request, it is likely that it can be honored. Can't hurt to try!
Good luck and have a Magical time!
Joyce

 

[RMARZOLF72]

So you really think that the later seating would be a better choice? What time is the later seating? I am just afraid that my kids will be so tired they will not be able to enjoy the dinner. Although, I did notice when looking at the Navigators posted on here that there are a lot of kids activities planned at 9:30pm and 10pm at night! Wow! I was surprised. Guess we will not rest much on this vacation! I will need a vacation from my vacation! <Smile!>

Robin

 

[kcashner]

Personally, we love late seating and request it! DD is now 15, but we've done it since age 7. The only downside is that some of the best kid activities are scheduled during the late dinner. If your kids really want to do these, you can feed them on deck 9 earlier.

As to changes, call DCL (or have your TA do it if you used one) and put in a request for early. They will move you before sailing if possible. If you don't get moved, go to "Dining Changes" as soon as you board. You will talk with a head server, and they will either move you immediately or wait list you at that time. If you are again wait listed, they will call your cabin prior to the early dinner time to advise you of your time and table assignment.

 

[RMARZOLF72]

How long does dinner typically last? It is important to me that we eat together in the dining room each night. If we are all running around all day doing our own thing, I want dinner to be a family thing. I know they will want to do the late kid club activities so I need to think about this. So...the show is how long? Dinner lasts how long?

 

[kcashner]

Dinner lasts about one hour or an hour and 15 minutes....if you have late dinner, you can linger over coffee for as long as you'd like.

Basically, if you arrive on time (and have a decent server), you will have had appetizers, entrees, and desserts with time to eat them in no more than 75 minutes. Anything past that is your choice. If you want the kids to be served faster, let the server know. They will bring out the kid meals with the appetizers IF you ask for this.

 

[scrapperjill]

These are great suggestions. Just wanted to add: Your kids seem like great ages for late dining. That is my opinion however. We prefer it late, as we are not rushed, have time to do other things in port as well... I think you will find a lot of votes for late dining...

Just my 2 cents

Just wanted to say ITA We've had second seating for both of our cruises and loved them. I was worried at first about the kids (6&11 during our first cruise) not making it but it ended up working so well...we requested late seating for our second cruise. To tell you the truth....our TA worked so hard to get us first dinning for our first cruise but I made her change it to late before we left for the ship....We normally eat late (compaired to others)...and being from the West coast...eating at 8:30 EST...was really 5:30 PST...which is EARLY for us.


Another perk (IMO) to having late seating is when your at a port...you don't have to rush back early to the ship inorder to get cleaned up for dinner by 5ish...you end up having more time at the ports and end the end more relaxed when getting ready for dinner.

Anyhow...the ONLY downfall I found for the late seating was some of the kids activites that were planned to start around 9ish....(Goofys PJ party is one of them)...when there was an activity the girls wanted to attend we'd somehow make it work....by ordering them roomservice or asking our servers to please bring the kids dishes soon so they could leave early to attend an activity.

 

[jrabbit]

Dinner lasts about one hour or an hour and 15 minutes....if you have late dinner, you can linger over coffee for as long as you'd like.

Basically, if you arrive on time (and have a decent server), you will have had appetizers, entrees, and desserts with time to eat them in no more than 75 minutes. Anything past that is your choice. If you want the kids to be served faster, let the server know. They will bring out the kid meals with the appetizers IF you ask for this.

Last four cruises we've had late seating and NEVER were finished before 10:30 - and we (all the groups at our table) tried making the dinners go faster. Never had any luck. One night (pirate party) we all got up and left before dessert - that still didn't speed up the process. Even though dinners have always run long, we prefer late to early seating because of the extra time in the ports - which generally are too short anyway - the extra hour makes for a more relaxed day and evening.

 

[mattmommy]

We've always had late seating starting when ds6 was 6 months and again when he was 5. You can be the last to leave cc or any other excursion. If you have time to clean up, maybe get dressed for the show. If not, just clean up, go as you are and head back to the room between the show and dinner to get dressed. I do have to admit many of the more "fun" things happen during the later seating, but some things are done throughout the day too. DS did fall asleep towards the end of meals, but he always had something to eat around 6ish anyway. We had 8:30 seating this last cruise. We wanted to make sure we were at the Pirate Party and told our servers to get us out fast. We had a group of 14 and were finished at 9:40 and that included multiple meals and dessert. Of course it's just crowded dancing until after 10 so we could have lingered a bit more.

That being said, I'm sure you will get moved if you ask on board.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

We are late seating for our cruise next month. From looking at past navigators, I am bummed the kids will miss the Mickey Trivia game the first night. I thought maybe they could just eat at Topsiders or something, but I heard the first night dinner you don't want to miss. Otherwise late would work for us best for all the reasons listed above. Any other comments on kid activites missed, or creative solutions?

 

[haley's mom]

Wow! We are taking out first cruise in January. Just a 3-night to test it out. My dd will turn 4 during the trip. If we schedule late dinner, but she is tired, can we all eat somewhere else? What is the food like? And the main dinner, we are pickey eaters, will they accomodate?

 

[christinou]

Late seating has worked very well for us, if the kids are really tired we will feed them early, then send them to the kids club, and we can have a quiet dinner, we have also asked for their food to be served first, and then brought them to the kids club. We generally eat around 7:00 p.m. at home and later on vacation any ways.

 

[scrapperjill]

Wow! We are taking out first cruise in January. Just a 3-night to test it out. My dd will turn 4 during the trip. If we schedule late dinner, but she is tired, can we all eat somewhere else? What is the food like? And the main dinner, we are pickey eaters, will they accomodate?

YES You can all eat somewhere else....There's a wide variety of other options....From going to the buffet on 9 (I've heard they've got some nice choices in the evening) or to any of the eatery's by the pool (Goofy's gally, Pluto's or the other place there)... And don't forget roomservice .

As for accomodating for "pickey" eaters at the main dinning....I'm not sure. I'd think they'd do somethings for you....but you have to keep in mind they are cooking for hundreds of people at a time...so some things are pre-prepaired. My DH is a VERY VERY pickey eater...but seemed to do just fine in the main dinning (matter of fact we're all somewhat pickey and did just fine). I found they really had some basic foods (meaning not alot of stuff mixed together)....Just lots of flavor.

Our pickey family made the decision to branch out while on the cruise and try new things. We made sure to order something "new/diffrent" along with something we know we'd like.... We figured where else could we try unlimited items and not have to pay per dish. Most of the time we loved the new things we had.

Also wanted to say...I love the ideas of either feeding the kids early and taking them to the kids clubs AND/OR asking the servers to bring the kids meals first. Those are a couple things I'm sure I'll try on our next cruise.