Dinner seating?

[Beth06015]

We are going on our first family cruise this May! I'm trying to determine which dinner seating would be best for us....although 8 seems late, 5 seems really early. We will have a 5 and 10 year old so it would be really nice to have them eat and take off early to the kids club during meals (on our vacation this summer, it was next to torture trying to get my son to sit through dinner each night). Is that done at each seating or just the later seating? And will we miss any of the evening activities (specifically the pirate show!) by choosing the later seating? Thank you for your advice

 

[Sytrace]

If you want them to be able to get picked up from the dining room to go to kids clubs, then the 8:15 (late dinner) would be best.

You won't miss shows or activities like the pirate event like the Captain Jack and fireworks are after 10:00 PM. However, there is a pirate buffet after the fireworks show and you might not be hungry for that if you dine at 8:15. Unless you get a salad or something at dinner and save room for the buffet.

We personally love the later seating as it works better for our eating schedule at home. We had the early seatin for the first few cruises and were out of sync and not usually hungry at 5:45 for dinner.
Now with the late seating, we have a normal breakfast time, a later lunch (like 2 or so) and then dinner at 8:15.
We also like to sleep in on debarkation morning which is sort of nice with 2 teens who are grumpy in the early hours. lol

 

[Beth06015]

If you want them to be able to get picked up from the dining room to go to kids clubs, then the 8:15 (late dinner) would be best.

You won't miss shows or activities like the pirate event like the Captain Jack and fireworks are after 10:00 PM. However, there is a pirate buffet after the fireworks show and you might not be hungry for that if you dine at 8:15. Unless you get a salad or something at dinner and save room for the buffet.

We personally love the later seating as it works better for our eating schedule at home. We had the early seatin for the first few cruises and were out of sync and not usually hungry at 5:45 for dinner.
Now with the late seating, we have a normal breakfast time, a later lunch (like 2 or so) and then dinner at 8:15.
We also like to sleep in on debarkation morning which is sort of nice with 2 teens who are grumpy in the early hours. lol

Thanks! I can totally see us never ready for a 5:45 dinner, LOL. Sounds like the evenings are long so the later dinner would be a good option! My kids can't be bothered with food half the time anyway.

 

[Sytrace]

Just be sure to tell your serving team on the first night that you would like the kids to be able to go to the clubs. They will make every effort to get their meals out first and then you will have quiet adult time at the table.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

2nd seating also works better for us even though at home we eat around 6. We usually order coffee to our room between 8:30-9, it has ALWAYS arrived at or just after 8:30. That's our wake-up call on the ship. I just cover my head with the covers whole DH answers half asleep... Side note, we always tip room service well, after all they have to look at my DH in his underwear . We then have our coffee out on the verandah while DS watches cartoons and has some cereal or milk. We head up to Cabanas for an actual breakfast at 9:30.
Our lunch is later, either just before they close cabanas at 2 pm or by the pool.
We have dinner at 8:15 and it's been fine, we would not be hungry earlier.
We did not eat at the pirate night buffet though because we just finished dinner 2 hours earlier but you could plan ahead and just have an appetizer.
The kids at our table got picked up by the kids club each day around 9 pm while we stayed and enjoyed the adult company. Then after dinner we were free to head to a lounge, adult show or whatever.
We never felt rushed in ports and even when just staying by the pool we found that it was nearly empty from 4:30 on. We often rode the aqua duck with little or no wait around 5:30 pm.
Then go to the 6:15 shows which the kids were more alert for than if they saw them at 8:30.
It really depends how easy going your family is, but with a 5 and 10 yo I would do the later dinner too.

 

[Weedy]

When my kids were little they didn't like to go to dinner. We always had late dinner. So we would feed them dinner from room service (no charge) or pick up some food from the restaurants on the pool deck. They would eat and watch a little TV while we got ready for dinner. We would go to the early show then drop the kids off at the club and go to dinner.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

When my kids were little they didn't like to go to dinner. We always had late dinner. So we would feed them dinner from room service (no charge) or pick up some food from the restaurants on the pool deck. They would eat and watch a little TV while we got ready for dinner. We would go to the early show then drop the kids off at the club and go to dinner.

Also, if your kids are at the club during dinner time (hours listed in the Personal Navigator) then they will get fed dinner there.
We once went to pick up DS from the kids club and he said he just had dinner so we left him there and went to eat on our own.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

I just wanted to make note that my kids do not like the dinner the clubs feed them at all. It is very bland and trying to appeal to everyone, I guess, it is absolutely not the same as the regular dinners or room service. So we would either let them eat dinner on deck or eat room service THEN go to kids' club. Just a side note: you do not have to show up exactly at 5:45. If you are not lingerers, showing up at 6:15 would be absolutely fine. Your entire dinner time from 5:45 to 7:something (someone else may know) is reserved just for you. So we have actually taken our kids to our regular dinner time, they have eaten (not us), we would take them to the kids clubs and then go to Paolo. Just some options. We like the early dinner bc we are early risers and I myself cannot eat all that food that late at night! Have the best time!!

 

[mmouse37]

I just wanted to make note that my kids do not like the dinner the clubs feed them at all. It is very bland and trying to appeal to everyone, I guess, it is absolutely not the same as the regular dinners or room service. So we would either let them eat dinner on deck or eat room service THEN go to kids' club. Just a side note: you do not have to show up exactly at 5:45. If you are not lingerers, showing up at 6:15 would be absolutely fine. Your entire dinner time from 5:45 to 7:something (someone else may know) is reserved just for you. So we have actually taken our kids to our regular dinner time, they have eaten (not us), we would take them to the kids clubs and then go to Paolo. Just some options. We like the early dinner bc we are early risers and I myself cannot eat all that food that late at night! Have the best time!!

I want to note that it is not really OK to show up to dinner 30 minutes late if you plan on eating in the MDR. It would throw off the servers' schedule. Now if you were late once due to something unavoidable that is a different story and they will accommodate you but to show up 30 minutes late to dinner regularly is not the way to go.

MJ

 

[Beth06015]

Just be sure to tell your serving team on the first night that you would like the kids to be able to go to the clubs. They will make every effort to get their meals out first and then you will have quiet adult time at the table.

Sounds wonderful! Great tip, thank you!

2nd seating also works better for us even though at home we eat around 6. We usually order coffee to our room between 8:30-9, it has ALWAYS arrived at or just after 8:30. That's our wake-up call on the ship. I just cover my head with the covers whole DH answers half asleep... Side note, we always tip room service well, after all they have to look at my DH in his underwear . We then have our coffee out on the verandah while DS watches cartoons and has some cereal or milk. We head up to Cabanas for an actual breakfast at 9:30.
Our lunch is later, either just before they close cabanas at 2 pm or by the pool.
We have dinner at 8:15 and it's been fine, we would not be hungry earlier.
We did not eat at the pirate night buffet though because we just finished dinner 2 hours earlier but you could plan ahead and just have an appetizer.
The kids at our table got picked up by the kids club each day around 9 pm while we stayed and enjoyed the adult company. Then after dinner we were free to head to a lounge, adult show or whatever.
We never felt rushed in ports and even when just staying by the pool we found that it was nearly empty from 4:30 on. We often rode the aqua duck with little or no wait around 5:30 pm.
Then go to the 6:15 shows which the kids were more alert for than if they saw them at 8:30.
It really depends how easy going your family is, but with a 5 and 10 yo I would do the later dinner too.

I have been planning to use the room service breakfast on our verandah...sounds wonderful! We usually don't eat big breakfasts so that seems like a perfect option for us. At WDW we just took fruit and granola bars to go for the day, plus coffee! Sounds like given the availability of food 8:15 won't be too late, and I like staying up later on vacation. Good point on the waters slides being available during early dinner!

When my kids were little they didn't like to go to dinner. We always had late dinner. So we would feed them dinner from room service (no charge) or pick up some food from the restaurants on the pool deck. They would eat and watch a little TV while we got ready for dinner. We would go to the early show then drop the kids off at the club and go to dinner.

Sounds like a great option too! The restaurants sound fun to me for the kids, so maybe we'll see what they think and then consider this for a few evenings. It's nice to have so many choices! I'm telling you, keeping my 4 yo out of trouble at the seafood buffet in Myrtle Beach this summer while my husband ate all the crab legs he could manage, was torture. He had eaten a few bites of mashed potatoes and some salmon and was done. While my DH is eating the slowest food possible. LOL! My son was reasonable and only ate what he needed....haha.

Also, if your kids are at the club during dinner time (hours listed in the Personal Navigator) then they will get fed dinner there.
We once went to pick up DS from the kids club and he said he just had dinner so we left him there and went to eat on our own.

Now I remember reading that they offer pizza! Another great option!

I just wanted to make note that my kids do not like the dinner the clubs feed them at all. It is very bland and trying to appeal to everyone, I guess, it is absolutely not the same as the regular dinners or room service. So we would either let them eat dinner on deck or eat room service THEN go to kids' club. Just a side note: you do not have to show up exactly at 5:45. If you are not lingerers, showing up at 6:15 would be absolutely fine. Your entire dinner time from 5:45 to 7:something (someone else may know) is reserved just for you. So we have actually taken our kids to our regular dinner time, they have eaten (not us), we would take them to the kids clubs and then go to Paolo. Just some options. We like the early dinner bc we are early risers and I myself cannot eat all that food that late at night! Have the best time!!

Thank you! Great tips!

I want to note that it is not really OK to show up to dinner 30 minutes late if you plan on eating in the MDR. It would throw off the servers' schedule. Now if you were late once due to something unavoidable that is a different story and they will accommodate you but to show up 30 minutes late to dinner regularly is not the way to go.

MJ

Good point....traveling with young kids can be unpredictible but I'm hoping 5 is easier than 3 was! I felt like everytime we had a WDW dining reservation we were running around looking for a bathroom for my son. Another reason for us not go have the early dinner. I was just concerned we'd maybe miss some of the pirate night, but we could always, I guess, use room service that night if we want to eat earlier and then enjoy the buffet. Just depends on what we think of the MDR rotation.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

IJust a side note: you do not have to show up exactly at 5:45. If you are not lingerers, showing up at 6:15 would be absolutely fine. Your entire dinner time from 5:45 to 7:something (someone else may know) is reserved just for you.

It is not fine to show up a half hour late to your dinner seating. It will make it very difficult on your servers, not to mention the other people at your table if you are not seated by yourselves. There is a schedule the servers follow to get everything out to their tables on time and make sure the early diners are done in enough time to reset the dining room for the second seating. We always try to get to the MDR right at our dining time. Once we were 15 minutes late due to unforeseen circumstances, and even that seemed to throw everything off.

But to answer the OP, we've done both early and late seating. My DD prefers early and I prefer late, but both work out just fine for us. At either seating, DD doesn't like sitting around for the entire extended meal. We make that known to the servers on the first night and they try to hurry her meal as much as possible. It's definitely quicker when she's ordering from the kids menu versus ordering from the adult menu. She usually gets her entree about the time I'm getting my salad. She eats, excuses herself from the table and goes to the kids club.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

We are always seated by ourselves, just for clarification, and we've asked and never had an issue. We've called down to let them know, perhaps that's why. It's only happened once or twice and honestly, we were out of there before most others! Guess we're just quick!

 

[disboardlover]

Both seatings work well, depending on your day to day plans. If you are on a 7 night cruise with a lot of planned excursions, it could be difficult to get ready for dinner by 5:45pm. However, if you are planning to see all the shows in the Walt Disney theatre, you will likely be ready by 6pm anyway. In general, with very young kids, the early dinner is usually preferred by many as it gives families options on after dinner activities (show, sleep, something else). With slightly older kids, either could work, and with older families, the later dinner is usually a preference. These are not set in stone, of course so do what you think will work best.

One thing to note for those flying in from the west coast to Florida and just for the cruise, your usual dinner time might be aligned more closely to the later dinner anyway. Also, while the kids club counselors do not come to early dinner to take your kids back to the club, there is nothing to stop you from taking a 5 minute break during dinner between courses and dropping off your child since the clubs are fairly close by.

 

[willijen]

I was just going to voice the same thing, we have a DS5 and a DS10, and we're doing the early seating. When the boys are done, they will leave together and go to the kids' club. I'm going to let the DS10 check himself in and out, and a club CM has assured me that it should be no problem for my older son to bring the younger one to the club without us. DS5 will need us to in order to leave, though, thank goodness!

 

[AndreAggie]

We did early dining on our last cruise. I felt rushed getting in from port and Castaway Cay to get ready in time for dinner. And of course, we wanted to get pictures with characters too. This time around, we've opted for the late dining. Our son was 5 on our last cruise and dinner was tough because he wasn't always hungry. With the later seating, we know have options to feed him if he's hungry to hold him over until the later seating. Also, we found our schedules went out the window and bedtime was a thing of the past! Our 5 year-old stayed in the clubs until almost 11 most nights, so I think the later dinner option will be fine knowing he can go to the club around 9.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Going into our cruise, our party of 9 had the same concern as you, "5:45 is to early, and 8:30 is too late." But once we got on board, we realized that either would have worked fine. For one thing, all your other meals are out of whack too. Sometimes getting up early for excursions, sometimes sleeping late. Likewise, sometimes we ate lunch at 11:30, other times 2 PM depending on what we were doing.

Food is plentiful, quick and cheap/free. So normal concerns about getting a meal at a precise time are less important on a cruise. We often got a little room service in the morning and then ate breakfast later, or maybe just had an early lunch instead. Likewise, snacks or small meals are easy to come by before dinner or late in the evening. Even the MDR dinners themselves aren't really geared to be a huge "eat a ton" meal like at some restaurants. Sure they will bring you more if you want it, but we often found ourselves eating lite dinners because we also ate at other times.

I'd say, the real question is "when do you want to go to bed?" And what non-food activities do you want to do? How do you want your evenings to go? Some people mentioned being more awake for the early shows. Good point! For us, we liked having more time in the evening to see the main show and then maybe do something else. So early dinner made the night feel longer and more relaxed. We thought we might have trouble getting ready for early dinner, but we really never did. Besides, as a previous poster pointed out (and my sister too, when we were debating which seating to get) if you are going to the main shows, they start at 6:00 and if you want to get there a little early for good seats, then it is pretty much the same as 5:45 seating for dinner.