Dinner Seating w/ small children?

[Donk2001]

I am set for Western 1/17 sailing w/ a 3 & 6 year old. The kids normally eat at 6, but are flexable. Really hate the idea of having to get ready at 5 for dinner. Missing sunset and realing rushing in from ports, etc...

Has anyone had chilren this young and had the late dinner? Any problems?

Thanks

 

[Rippington'sFan]

I'll be honest with you. We had late seating(not by choice) with a 3 and 6 year old also. The 6 year old will be fine. Our 3 year old fell asleep at least 3 of the nights right at the table. Obviously we managed as you will too but we wished we had early seating. You are correct that in some ways it is nice NOT having to rush to make early seating but I guess you have to decide what is best for you. We had high hopes that all would go well with late seating but it was tough. The kids will be tired with all that goes on during the day. My advice: stick with early seating.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[bah]

we recently cruised with our 4 year old. We didn't think that early vs late seating would make a difference in our lives...BOY WAS I WRONG!

By way of explanation, let me tell you....We are usually late diners. My daughter at home is usually the last one standing when presented the opportunity to "stay up late". She doesn't often nap anymore.

During our 7 day cruise there was only one night that our daughter didn't BEG us to let her go to bed by 9:00 (that was the night she fell asleep at dinner at 6:30) Why is this relevant? Because late seating dinner was never finished until between 10:15 and 10:30. We would never have been able to have a peaceful meal with a late dinner assignment.

Only you know your kids and how well they will do. But I will tell you this. It didn't bother us to be ready for dinner by 6:00. It didn't cut into our day too much. And don't let the later dining time fool you. Unless you plan to skip the shows (which for late diners is at 6:30) you don't get a ton of extra time.

Good luck with your decision. I'm sure you'll make it work whatever happens for you.

 

[bah]

a computer glitch posted my repsonse twice...oops

 

[MNmom]

Hi Donk2001-

We are sailing with you on the 1/17!!! We have a large group from the DIS going and have a thread going that is probably back a few pages. Keep your eyes open for it as we get closer.

I have a DS3--turning 4 on the ship and a DD7 (also a dd10) We have always done the early seating with the kids because then we go to the shows after dinner--sometimes the clubs have their evening programs beginning at 8pm so the kids would skip the show and go to the clubs. Either way, the shows start at 6:30 for those eating at 8. You really don't get that much more time.

Oh yeah-- there is a group of us staying at the Radisson at the Port the night before the cruise. We are going to have a little pool party that night so we can meet each other and the kids can get to know each other too. Let us know if you are planning to come down the night before!! It is always nice to see a familiar face once you are on that huge ship!!

PS -- don't forget to add your name on the "See who is cruisin'" thread at the top of this page. It is a list of all DISers who are cruising on our cruise.

 

[DreaminDisney]

Our kids will be 7 & 4 when we cruise in May. We requested late dining for the same reasons you posted.

 

[cynditoo]

We chose the late seating with our dds 4 and 6 last year. We were never hungry at 6 or willing to leave the pool early enough to make the early seating. The girls loved the kid's club and preferred to eat there instead of the "grown up" restuarant. We ate all of our other meals together. The later dinner was a great way to spend some adult/quiet time with my husband.

 

[BAKAROMA]

Hurray!!! Another 1/17 cruiser. Our page needs a bump to the front the 1/10 cruisers and 1/24 cruisers are having way more fun than us. As far as catching that sunset, your kids don't have to eat with you. Meaning you could have late seating and send them off to the lab and they will be fed there while you enjoy the early show or a sunset. My sunset plan is to have late ressie at Palo the night we are in Key West so we can all catch the sunset there, but not have to miss a fine dining experience. Creative scheduling is half the fun. in genral our kids couldn't make it through late seating, I am not sure I could. We have a Passporter. That has been a great deal of help for us to plan accordingly. I highly reccommend the Passporter. See you 1/17!

 

[mcnuss]

We cruised last year with DD8 and I requested late seating bc we never eat before 7:00 at home. We ended up pretty unhappy with it. Much to my surprise, DD was tired and cranky and barely ate her meals, and she is a very good eater. When we cruise again, even though she'll be 10, we'll take the early seating I think.

 

[Donk2001]

What do you mean a passporter?

 

[BAKAROMA]

check out www.passporter.com they have a cruise product. it is great.