advice on second seating with young ones??

[dis4me]

Ok I just checked with DU and I am still waitlisted for main seating on our Nov cruise and I am panicked.My friends however were told yesterday that they could book 1st seating if they booked yesterday. Is that common???
OK My question is I really want the kids to dine with us at night Are suggestions on how to keep my 15 month old busy since he will hae to eat before then. I would think my 7 and 8 year old could have a late snack or dinner and be able to wait until 8 but what about the baby? Any ideas on how to occupy him. I really don't think he will stay i Flounder's and I don't want to be paged all through dinner.

Any chances of getting seating changed while on the ship????I really loved first the last three times.

 

[vgaskin]

We were scheduled for late seating on our cruise in April. No luck trying before but we went to the place for dining changes when we boarded(were even late boarding) and put in for early. within an hour or so, we got a call saying we were changed to early. There was 5 of us so there is a good chance if you get on board early, you can switch.

Tiffany

 

[dis4me]

I hope we can switch also. I'd hate to give up family dining. Thanks.
Any other suggestions anyone?

 

[mom2grace]

We had late with our DD when she was 9 months old. Granted that is much younger than yours, but she was on all table foods at that point (I made that transition so we wouldn't have to cart a ton of food to the ship). There is plenty of food to grab or get through room service (I hear DD's current refrain of "chicken and fries" as I type this!), and after a day or two, she adjusted her schedule to life on the ship. She actually took a quick "extra" nap while we prepared for dinner, something she would never do in the real world! I wouldn't worry, we actually really liked late seating with her.

Plus, the servers are going to go out of their way to accommodate the kids, they do it day in and day out and have it down to a T. Some nights she did sleep in her stroller at the table.

 

[moinab]

Are you cruising Thanksgiving week? If not, I think you'll have a good chance of switching seatings on board. When you board, go to the area that is designated for dining changes and put in your request.

In any case, I would recommend you bring a stash of inexpensive entertainment, to be pulled out only during dinner. My DS loves Hot Wheels, so we always have some new ones on hand.

Also, take turns walking the baby around the dining room/out in the hall. Dinner is too long for little ones to stay seated the whole time.

If you think your DS might fall asleep, a stroller could come in handy. My DD was only 5 months when we cruised, and she slept through dinner every night in a stroller parked next to the table. We got one from Guest Services. They're free, but you have to put a $100 deposit on your shipboard account, which is removed when you return the stroller. The one we got (and others that I saw) were very grungy and full of crumbs, though. I put a baby quilt down for her to sleep on.

Keep in mind, too, that all your regular routines will be gone with the wind. We couldn't get DS to nap on board, although he naps 3 hours every afternoon at home. We forced him to have quiet time in the stateroom, snuggling with Dad, for at least an hour each afternoon, and then followed it up with a substantial room service snack.

Have a great cruise!

 

[dis4me]

Thanks We are not traveling Thanksgiving week so maybe we will gwt it.It just annoys me that our friends who just booked were given early seating however I have been booked for months and I am on the waiting list.

 

[hilltopfamily]

We were wait-listed for early dining on our recent cruise also. When we got our doc's, they still said late dining, so we resigned ourselves to that.

Well, when we got on board the ship we finally found out via our KTTW card that we did, in fact, have early seating! Good thing I found out then, as I was trying to arrange ressies, etc. at that point.

Point of story: you may yet get your early dining and just will not know for sure until you get your KTTW card in the terminal.
(BTW--I think we would have been less hurried with late dining and I think we will give it a try next time we cruise).

 

[moinab]

Just out of curiosity, how do you tell from your KTTW card what seating you have? When we got ours, we noticed they said S1-APT, so we assumed that meant seating 1. We actually wanted the second seating, so we went to change it, but were informed we did have second seating.

 

[hilltopfamily]

Originally posted by moinab
Just out of curiosity, how do you tell from your KTTW card what seating you have? When we got ours, we noticed they said S1-APT, so we assumed that meant seating 1. We actually wanted the second seating, so we went to change it, but were informed we did have second seating.

We were in line at the terminal and discussing our cards w/others. Ours said: F1 APLAPLA Table 20 Since I was expecting late seating, I asked others around us, who stated the F1 stood for first seating. Sure enough, our dining tickets that were in our room confirmed that we had first seating.

 

[moinab]

Ahhhh....

F=first, S=second

Such a complex code, no wonder I couldn't figure it out!

Thanks for clearing that up!

 

[SueEllen]

We had 2nd seating with a 13 month old. I tried to get 1st seating but it was too full--what they did was on a few nights they had a table for us at early seating with our servers, and others we had late...one or two nights I took him to Flounders DURING dinner (scheduled it that way--he had some food with us, took him to Flounders, and we enjoyed the rest of the dinner in peace! ) The servers went out of their way to have his dinner brought out right away, and our head server even came over and cut up his food for him so I could relax and enjoy. It was SO nice to be pampered a bit.

It will all work out for you one way or another.

Best of luck and enjoy your cruise.

Sue Ellen