Kids eating without adults

[sophia0121]

We have 3 kids ages 11-14, and we were wondering if kids could eat at the main dining alone while the parents are at Palo?
Thanks!

 

[disney1990]

We had no problem with our granddaughters eating in the dining room while we were at Palos. Our Servers took great care of them.

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

We have 3 kids ages 11-14, and we were wondering if kids could eat at the main dining alone while the parents are at Palo?
Thanks!

Yep they can!

But if your kid's have any dietary needs or any food's/drinks you wouldn't wish your kids to eat you should tell your head server, your server and assistant server.

They will take extra special care of your kid's when your away at Palo, and they will have great service with extra attention with Mom and Dad away!

They understand that your not there and many of them have kid's back in their country so they look after them so much more!

They will be fine as long as they are comfortable with any dining mate's you have.

Ex Techie

 

[sophia0121]

Thank you!

 

[kjd469]

On the other side of the coin....our family of five was seated with a family of 3 - a set of parents and a very odd 12 year old boy. On one of the nights, they showed up for dinner and said, "Johnny" will be eating alone tonight as we're going to Palo - we'll find you sometime after dinner if he could stick around with you. -And before we even had time to react, they left.

We didn't appreciate being stuck with "Johnny" who was not a very independent (or likeable) child and needed help ordering his dinner. We ended up having to take "Johnny" to the show after dinner where his parents finally found him later on.

I'm not saying that your kids will be like this - but people need to be realistic about what their children are capable of, and whether the other table-mates will feel responsible for the well-being of your children.

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

On the other side of the coin....our family of five was seated with a family of 3 - a set of parents and a very odd 12 year old boy. On one of the nights, they showed up for dinner and said, "Johnny" will be eating alone tonight as we're going to Palo - we'll find you sometime after dinner if he could stick around with you. -And before we even had time to react, they left.

We didn't appreciate being stuck with "Johnny" who was not a very independent (or likeable) child and needed help ordering his dinner. We ended up having to take "Johnny" to the show after dinner where his parents finally found him later on.

I'm not saying that your kids will be like this - but people need to be realistic about what their children are capable of, and whether the other table-mates will feel responsible for the well-being of your children.

That is just neglect.
I feel sorry for you and your family, but more so for "Johnny" as I can only wonder what his home life must be like.
Having parent's like that isn't going to help raising a balanced and responsible child, but at least you were a forgiving family and accepted him rather than turning him over to the servers/other people who by the sounds of it he probably has had for the rest of his life.

I bet he had a great time (in a really long time) with you guy's and I'm sorry he has parent's who think they can dump him off onto someone else when they want.

Some people have no manors and some people shouldn't be able to have kids.

I reckon that show you took him to with YOUR family is still a great memory for him!

Ex Techie

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Are you kidding me? How rude is that, and poor Johnny, no wonder he has issues with parents like that. Imagine how he must have felt knowing he was being dumped with people - I'm sure he could sense you weren't happy. I mean, I would feel weird enough leaving him to eat by himself with others, but then to expect you to babysit him?

On the other side of the coin....our family of five was seated with a family of 3 - a set of parents and a very odd 12 year old boy. On one of the nights, they showed up for dinner and said, "Johnny" will be eating alone tonight as we're going to Palo - we'll find you sometime after dinner if he could stick around with you. -And before we even had time to react, they left.

We didn't appreciate being stuck with "Johnny" who was not a very independent (or likeable) child and needed help ordering his dinner. We ended up having to take "Johnny" to the show after dinner where his parents finally found him later on.

I'm not saying that your kids will be like this - but people need to be realistic about what their children are capable of, and whether the other table-mates will feel responsible for the well-being of your children.

 

[rescuetink]

On the other side of the coin....our family of five was seated with a family of 3 - a set of parents and a very odd 12 year old boy. On one of the nights, they showed up for dinner and said, "Johnny" will be eating alone tonight as we're going to Palo - we'll find you sometime after dinner if he could stick around with you. -And before we even had time to react, they left.

We didn't appreciate being stuck with "Johnny" who was not a very independent (or likeable) child and needed help ordering his dinner. We ended up having to take "Johnny" to the show after dinner where his parents finally found him later on.

I'm not saying that your kids will be like this - but people need to be realistic about what their children are capable of, and whether the other table-mates will feel responsible for the well-being of your children.

WOW!!!

That is just neglect.
I feel sorry for you and your family, but more so for "Johnny" as I can only wonder what his home life must be like.
Having parent's like that isn't going to help raising a balanced and responsible child, but at least you were a forgiving family and accepted him rather than turning him over to the servers/other people who by the sounds of it he probably has had for the rest of his life.

I bet he had a great time (in a really long time) with you guy's and I'm sorry he has parent's who think they can dump him off onto someone else when they want.

Some people have no manors and some people shouldn't be able to have kids.

I reckon that show you took him to with YOUR family is still a great memory for him!

Ex Techie

I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!!!

God Bless You!!!

I would have followed them and spoken to them away from their son and told them I didn't feel comfortable being left responsible for their son. They may have walked back over and told Johnny that "these people don't want to eat with you" and sent him to the room, or elsewhere to eat, but that's just rude and unacceptable!! Had they actually approached me ahead of time and asked me if I would mind watching Johnny while they went to Palo, I would probably have said yes, and had a game plan in line to return him to them!!

When we were on our last cruise there was a family seated at a table next to ours with two kids our kids ages. We spoke each night at dinner, and on one night they arrived without the father. We asked about him and discovered that he was extremely ill, and had been taken to see the doctor onboard and was resting in the room. We could tell that his wife was extremely worried and uncomfortable being at dinner without him, but she didn't want her kids to miss dinner or the show!! We offered to have the kids eat with us and take them to the show, and she graciously accepted. The kids all had a great time and got along so well!! When we met her later she was so relieved that she was able to be with her husband, and that her kids didn't have to miss dinner or the show that night!! (We still keep in touch occasionally!!)

Soooooooo, my point is that every situation is different, I don't ever mind helping someone out!! But I don't handle rude people well!!

 

[bbn1122]

On a positve note.....

We were on the Magic last Easter w/ DS's 16, 12 and 10. On the night we went to Palo it was semi-formal/Capt Night w/ steak and lobster on the menu.
We gave our sons the option of what they wanted to do, they opted to getting dressed up and going to the dining room and having dinner by themselves without Mom and Dad. By this time in the cruise they came to know their dining room staff very well and felt completely comfortable with them. Thanks....Brendan and Eziekal. They had a blast and felt very grown up. My younger son loves steak and not lobster so they brought him turf and turf which he loved.

I think it depends on the situation and children. We also had a table to ourselves, but I think they would have went anyway. Like I said, it was about 5 nights into the cruise, so they would have been comfortable with their tablemates, plus they had each other.

 

[insureman]

We have let our girls (now 15 and 14) dine alone on DCL at least one night for the last 3 cruises. Sometimes I think they prefer it that way.

 

[disney1990]

I wouldn't be sending a "single" child to dinner without their parents or grandparents. Our granddaughters, even though only 10 and 12, were very independent and had no problem eating without us being there.

 

[MDTerp]

On our first DCL cruise (Magic W.Carribean 2007) we had reservations to go to Palo. Our plan was to have our DD (10 at the time) go to Ocean Lab/Quest (they had it on the Magic then) while we had dinner. Our table mates graciously offered to watch after her during dinner (her and their DS were getting along very well). We made it back to the dining room in time for dessert (not that we could eat another morsel). We were much appreciative of their offer and our DD enjoyed still being part of the DCL dining experience.

 

[mattmommy]

We had a group of 14 with two of the kids being teenagers. When the adults went to Palo, the girl decided to go to the club and the 14 yo boy wanted to eat at the table alone. We had two great servers who said they would take care of him. This was the shyest kid imaginable, but he made friends in the club and ate by himself voluntarily. So brave.

 

[ladyleslie]

On the other side of the coin....our family of five was seated with a family of 3 - a set of parents and a very odd 12 year old boy. On one of the nights, they showed up for dinner and said, "Johnny" will be eating alone tonight as we're going to Palo - we'll find you sometime after dinner if he could stick around with you. -And before we even had time to react, they left.

You see - now I am one of those pain in the a** kind of people and I would of raced after them, right into palo if I had to and would of been like this your vacation just like it is mine - and you need to make arrangements for your child which don't include me and mine.

And I had something similar happen to me..... we were at the pool and this little girl didnt want to come out of the pool and go to the kids club so the mom could go to her spa appointment. And she was like "you dont mind watching her do you?" and turn right around left. I ran after that mom caught her at the spa desk, (grammy-my mother, who was also at the pool and watched both my daughter and this little daughter while I ran after the mother) and I told her - I'm going to bingo in a few mins with my daughter and mom and you need to figure out what your gonna do with your own kid..... can you believe she was upset with me??? like what the hell!!!!!!

Your were so awesome to look after someone elses kid without being forwarned or hell - even asked!! You are such a nicer person than me!!!!!

 

[La2kw]

On the other side of the coin....our family of five was seated with a family of 3 - a set of parents and a very odd 12 year old boy. On one of the nights, they showed up for dinner and said, "Johnny" will be eating alone tonight as we're going to Palo - we'll find you sometime after dinner if he could stick around with you. -And before we even had time to react, they left.

We didn't appreciate being stuck with "Johnny" who was not a very independent (or likeable) child and needed help ordering his dinner. We ended up having to take "Johnny" to the show after dinner where his parents finally found him later on.

I'm not saying that your kids will be like this - but people need to be realistic about what their children are capable of, and whether the other table-mates will feel responsible for the well-being of your children.

That's crazy, I would not have let them leave the dining room without him. If they did, then I would have taken him to guest services and explained to them what his parents did, left him there, and then headed back to the restaurant to enjoy my dinner with my family. Under no circumstances would I accept responsibility of someone else's child.

 

[skoi]

We'll be trying this out on our upcoming cruise. Going to Remy at 6, have late dining, so oldest dd 17 will be in charge of the 3 littler ones (13, 7,7,). We're hoping to be seated with our usual head-server. Hope it all works out. After 7 cruises, this will be the first time we're doing this. As a party of 6, we usually don't have table mates.

 

[NHdisneylover]

My kids love the maion dining room and never miss a meal simply because their parents are going to Palo--they go anyway we always check with the waitstaff first and it has never been a problem (on DCL we seem to always end up with tablemates we know--or our own table, so there is no issue there). The last 3 or so cruises the kids have checked with our waitstaff first, and then (with the waitstaff's okay) invited other tween/teen friends to dine with them that night in our places. That has worked out very well--they go to dinner and the show with their friends and have a really nice night (and at least one the tables were turned a couple of nights later and the kids dined at the friend's table while those parent went to Palos).

 

[Magic3forme]

our server last year said it was fine if the kids wanted to come to dinner while we were at Palo. (the girls were 10 & 12) at the time. (our son was 7, and he wanted to go to the kids club..and I wouldnt have sent him regardless.) The girls opted for room service. (and long walks around the track to spy on us.

 

[kmitchel]

Our tablemates went to Palo's one night and their daughter came and ate dinner with us alone. She was a teenager at the time and very independent and a pleasure to have at our table.

I can't imagine dropping my child off at dinner for someone else to watch when there are two kids clubs on the ship that happily feed them dinner under proper supervision!

 

[Makayna]

On the other side of the coin....our family of five was seated with a family of 3 - a set of parents and a very odd 12 year old boy. On one of the nights, they showed up for dinner and said, "Johnny" will be eating alone tonight as we're going to Palo - we'll find you sometime after dinner if he could stick around with you. -And before we even had time to react, they left.

We didn't appreciate being stuck with "Johnny" who was not a very independent (or likeable) child and needed help ordering his dinner. We ended up having to take "Johnny" to the show after dinner where his parents finally found him later on.

I'm not saying that your kids will be like this - but people need to be realistic about what their children are capable of, and whether the other table-mates will feel responsible for the well-being of your children.

Perhaps those parents thought that their child was more independent than he really was?! But still, they should know the limitations of their child and if he's not independent enough to order food by himself, then they shouldn't just dump him on some poor, unsuspecting tablemates!

I guess, the solution is to just know your children. If you think there's a chance that a food fight might break out at the table if you're not there, then don't risk it. If you think they might "forget" their manners while at dinner alone, then don't risk it. If you think your child(ren) might be a burden/nuisance to others at the table, or might cause the CMs more work, or might be a bother to other tables around your table, then don't risk it. Err on the side of caution.

But if your child has superb table manners, and can order by him/herself and will not cause problems for other people, then I don't see why you shouldn't go and have a good time at Palo/Remy without them. But you really have to be impartial and unbiased when you're considering this. If there's a chance that your kid's not going to behave well with you not there, then drop him/her/them off at the kids clubs and have a good time.