Dinner seating late or early?

[GoofyFD]

We did late with are 3 year DD. It was ok. So now with a 3 and a 6 year DD we are going to try early. We'll see what works. I would go late if we had older kid's.

 

[disneyfan551]

We had three 2yo's in our group, and really enjoyed the late seating! I just can't even imagine rushing around for the early one...

But, everyone is different! And it seems to be that alot of the good children's programming is after the early seating, so that would definitely make a difference for some families.

I just hate to hear people worried about the late seating. Due to many factors, we really loved it! (Gives you a chance to try out the room service goodies, too!! )

 

[Carasoyn]

The only child traveling with us was 10, but I still think I preferred the early seating. Primarily, I think, because there is something so festive about dressing up each night for dinner and a show. It felt like a night at the theater, every night! I liked making the show more of an event.

 

[Nysie]

Would there be a difference in the kid's club/lab activities if you have an early or late seating? Would they miss out if they had the late seating? We have booked an early with an 8 and 11yr. old also our neighbors are going to and thay chose the early as well. Thay have 1 dd who is 16. Thanks for any and all info!!

 

[Scotch]

We'll be new parents soon (April due date) and I'm planning a May 2005 4 night cruise. I have a ressie hold for early seating right now because folks seem to recommend early seating when eating with little ones. What if you have a 13 month old? We don't know much right now but the fact that we understand babies of that age sleep a lot. Does it matter which seating we take? We figure we will either try and get Flounders ressies for our dinner/show times or bring the baby into the dining room with us (and hope he will just fall asleep while we eat). Ideally we can still have our choice of seating times when we get closer to the cruise date so we can wait and see what our baby's sleeping/eating pattern is; but just in case we have to pick well in advance (and we can't change), I'd appreciate hearing from experienced parents who did bring infants that young on their cruises.

Thanks!

 

[disneyfan551]

"babies that sleep alot at 13 months of age..." LOL!! Maybe if you are lucky!! Even when we took our 7mo, she didn't even sleep but maybe her normal 1 hour or so at the park! Hopefully you will be one of the lucky ones with a 'calm' child, however, realize that that sweet little baby will also be walking during that time! They will be so excited about this new feat, that they won't want to stop at all!

Please don't let me overlook a hearty "CONGRATS!!!" to you!!! Having a child is the most wonderful thing in the world.

Regarding the dinner seating, I would just go with the flow. Quite honestly, I (my preference only!!) would try to get the 2nd seating, because I would rather my child be fully awake during the show & be able to enjoy it. Then, if they get tired during dinner, maybe you would get lucky & be able to enjoy a meal with the 2 of you, while baby naps! (You can take strollers into the dining room with you! We did!)

Once you get closer to the date, and find that you would rather have a different seating, you shouldn't have a problem changing it as soon as you board.

Good luck!!

 

[Scotch]

Originally posted by disneyfan551
"babies that sleep alot at 13 months of age..." LOL!! Maybe if you are lucky!! Even when we took our 7mo, she didn't even sleep but maybe her normal 1 hour or so at the park! . . . .

It appears that we need to start and read through our parenting books!

Please don't let me overlook a hearty "CONGRATS!!!" to you!!! Having a child is the most wonderful thing in the world.

Thanks! We are so excited, having put off parenting several years until hubby felt "ready." Boy is he ready!

Quite honestly, I (my preference only!!) would try to get the 2nd seating, because I would rather my child be fully awake during the show & be able to enjoy it.

Can babies that age sit through these shows? You know we've never paid much attention to other folks' babies before; I just remember seeing parents bringing crying babies out of auditoriums/theaters. I assumed that a 13 month old would not be able to enjoy those shows and would not be able to sleep through them as well due to the noise factor. No??

Really appreciate hearing your thoughts.

 

[brack]

We've done 3 late seatings then an early. We are going back to the late. It fits our schedule better.

 

[bostonlass]

I guess it depends on what age the kids are but I just checked out the new Navigators on the 4 day cruise and it looks like there are some very fun things scheduled around 8 or 8:30pm so I'm really really hoping that I get put in early seating. We're waitlisted so hopefully by the time we get there we'll get in.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Originally posted by Nysie
Would there be a difference in the kid's club/lab activities if you have an early or late seating? Would they miss out if they had the late seating? We have booked an early with an 8 and 11yr. old also our neighbors are going to and thay chose the early as well. Thay have 1 dd who is 16. Thanks for any and all info!!

You know I don't know because my kid was in the club & the other in the nursery while we ate dinner. So, my secret is out.... On our last cruise we pretty much spent the entire day together doing stuff like playing in the pool and doing the tours. Then, at dinner time it was like date night for us. I think, our dds joined us once or twice for dinner.

Seriously, you can check out the navigators at the http://www.castawayclub.com and see the activities they have in the evenings.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Can babies that age sit through these shows? You know we've never paid much attention to other folks' babies before; I just remember seeing parents bringing crying babies out of auditoriums/theaters. I assumed that a 13 month old would not be able to enjoy those shows and would not be able to sleep through them as well due to the noise factor. No??

Really appreciate hearing your thoughts. [/B]

Our 15 month old loved the shows. I think, it really depends on the child. She loved the music and all the colors and dancing. On our next cruise she'll be 3 years old. She loves watching movies especially Disney ones. We've been lucky so far. I think, you just have to try it out. Make sure they aren't hungry or tired or else it just won't work....

 

[jwann]

Bump
I still can't believe that so many people like the late seating - come on you early diners....

 

[Pixie Mom 3]

BUMP

 

[debm]

We like the late and we have 4 kids ages 10,8,5 and 18 months. We are late night people by nature but I like the sense of not feeling so rushed. I like to go to the shows not so dressed up and then afterwards go back to get cleaned up for dinner. If the kids don't want to sit through the entire dinner we let them eat during our appetizer and go to the playrooms. Then adults get a quiet end to dinner. Of course if any of yours are like my 5 year old ---it takes her about 1 hour to eat her Mickey ice cream. So just because you have kids doesn't mean that late seating is bad.

 

[MrsPete]

We had late seating, but next time I'd go for early.

My girls were 6 and 9, and they had no problem "waiting" for dinner (they snacked all day long), and they had no problem staying awake for dinner.

We did enjoy being able to stay out "playing" later, but the result was that we didn't make it to the shows. I think if we'd been forced to go ahead and get dressed to eat, we'd have gone straight to the shows after dinner.

 

[StormalongKay]

Hi Pixie Mom 3-

We're also sailing on the Wonder for the first time on 3/11 and when I booked I could only get the late dinner seating. We also have 3 kids - ages 7, 5 & 4 and we're going to try to take them to dinner the night we get assigned Animator's but will probably feed them earlier on the other nights elsewhere on the boat. I'm looking at it as a chance for my husband & I to have a few dinners alone since our kids are already excited about the bedtime stories with the characters in Oceaneer Club.

Have a great time & maybe we'll see you at dinner!