Dinner Time with Kids

[2prettygirl]

What is your ideal meal time, early or late seating?

We have 2 children that will be 8 & 11 at time of cruise, thinking late dinner will be a better option for us. We have done early seating in the past and always wish we had more time after port days to get ready. Just curious how late the late seating actually goes to?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What is your ideal meal time, early or late seating?

We have 2 children that will be 8 & 11 at time of cruise, thinking late dinner will be a better option for us. We have done early seating in the past and always wish we had more time after port days to get ready. Just curious how late the late seating actually goes to?

Typically late seating is at 8:15(sometimes 8:30 or 8:45). It can be as short as an hour to as long as 2 1/2 hours for dinner service. Just let your servers know how fast you want to go.

Some people prefer late seating, and others prefer early seating. There's no right or wrong answer for everyone. There are those who vehemently feel that kids should not be on late seating (or indeed anyone else), but it's entirely up to you and your family.

It sounds like you should give it a try. That way you'll know for the next cruise which actually works best for you.

We prefer early seating. That said, we've requested late on 3 cruises when we knew the excursion in our port stops were going to be later than the early seating would allow (as indeed they did turn out to be).

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

What is your ideal meal time, early or late seating?

We have 2 children that will be 8 & 11 at time of cruise, thinking late dinner will be a better option for us. We have done early seating in the past and always wish we had more time after port days to get ready. Just curious how late the late seating actually goes to?

Late seating is 8.15, never before, and can be 8.30 or 8.45 in Europe.

For young children, pre teens, Main is best, IMHO Late is far too late.

I have seen tired and asleep children, they hit fast food outlets on the pool deck do ruin a good meal if on late. The majority of port adventures are back an hour or so before dinner and they can allow you in a little late. We once or twice on late port adventures, asked our servers, they said come in , do not worry if your late.

Starting going in at 8.15/8.30/8.45 means you sit down and be served but get food maybe 15 minutes after that.

Each sitting isn't rushed it can take up to two hours.

Main nearly always sells out, as savvy cruisers prefer it. You can often switch from main to late on the ship, but from late to main is hard or impossible. so a decision for late often is a 100% no going back! but main means you could swap.

For serious health considerations, it's always best to let food go down a few hours before bed, so meal then show/ club is logical. Not the other way around. Do consider even on late, your show us either 6.15/6.30, so unless you plan to miss the show, you still gave to leave the pool deck it be back on ship quickly to dress.

A few here recommend eating in your home time zone, that never works. If you eat at home at 8.15 pm, then fine eat at 8.15 pm on ship. But if you go by time zones, on ship you quickly adapt to the ship time eating breakfast and lunch at local time, do it doesn't make any sence converting back to home time zone for dinner after a long day.

Late is really for adults who prefer and eat at 8.15 at home, if they wish to do that it's fine, some with strong views, try to give a different impression on thier posts. But after booking a cruise the most important decision us evening meal time, - remember Main sells out, there is a good reason why they always occurs!

 

[anricat]

For us, it depends on the time zone of the cruise!

We're coming from central time zone and we take this into account when we choose seating. Some people may be able to switch time zones with ease. We are not those people. When we head west, we wake up early and eat early, as if we were still on central time. For this reason, we're going to go with Main Seating in Alaska in August.

On the other hand, going east, we tend to sleep in, eat late and go to bed late and we like having a little extra time to unwind and shower after being in sand and sun at the beach. After getting back on the ship, we like to chill out, shower/bath and have some room service and then have a late dinner.

My DD was 5 and 7 on our cruises and had no issues with late seating. She also really enjoyed dine and play and that way DH and I got to finish our meal while she was whisked away to the club. She likes a lot of the late activities like Pluto's Pajama Party.

 

[cheermom2four]

For us we do late seating because in reality, early it felt too rushed. Plus we actually kept our normal eating time to what it was back in Colorado which is two hours difference even though some here said you adjust. We will just have our dd take a nap or relax. Plus we can always get her a snack anytime we want from the fast service places by the pools. Its really up to your family dynamics.

 

[arlopop]

Our kids are 11, 9, and 7. We've done both seatings and, at least for now, early works better for us. Our youngest still fades by 8 after a full cruise day and that can make the late meal difficult for all of us. In a couple years we will probably shift to late again.

 

[Lolo1311]

We've been on 2 cruises before and have done late seating both times. We didn't have kids then though! We're going on our first cruise since having a baby next October. She'll be 3 years old. We'll also have my 8 year old nephews with us. We're going to give late dining a try and see how it goes! My daughter is pretty adaptable so I think she'll be okay. But if your kids really like schedules or don't adapt as well, it might be best to do early seating if it's closer to their regular dinner time.
I personally think it's fun to stay up late on vacation and do things out of the ordinary, but others may not agree. This will be my first big vacation with my daughter so I may be totally wrong!

 

[JEJ]

We have always done late seating on our cruises, even when our kids were years younger than yours, and even when late seating in the Med was 8:45. We eat late at home, and our kids would never be hungry for early dinner. We have never had any problems, and there are plenty of kids at late seating as well. We prefer to have time to get back from our excursions, go to the show, then to dinner. Do what you think will work best for your kids.

 

[Disneyteachers]

We are traveling to Alaska with 5 kids (2 families) ages 7, 7, 7, 11, 11 and are doing late sitting. We usually eat dinner early at home, but I'm thinking that our kids are going to be up late, sleep in, and I'm hoping it works. We really don't expect them to sit through the whole meal.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are traveling to Alaska with 5 kids (2 families) ages 7, 7, 7, 11, 11 and are doing late sitting. We usually eat dinner early at home, but I'm thinking that our kids are going to be up late, sleep in, and I'm hoping it works. We really don't expect them to sit through the whole meal.

And that's the beauty of late seating is the dine & play option. If you sign your kids up for it, the kid's club CMs will come to the dining room (about 45-60 minutes in) and pick up the kids to go to the club. Just be sure to tell your servers that you're doing it, so that they can expedite the kid's food.

 

[cmph]

And that's the beauty of late seating is the dine & play option. If you sign your kids up for it, the kid's club CMs will come to the dining room (about 45-60 minutes in) and pick up the kids to go to the club. Just be sure to tell your servers that you're doing it, so that they can expedite the kid's food.

Wait - dine and play is only for the late seating? I glossed over that! Mine will also be 8 and 11 by the time we depart (although I'm not the OP!) and our TA signed us up for main seating, but I've been re-thinking that. We're not early risers, and we usually eat around 7pm or later at home, plus are coming from the west coast. If dine and play isn't an option for main seating, then I'm definitely switching! The 8yo is not going to want to sit through a lengthy meal whether it's main or late seating, nothing to do with how tired he is, just won't want to sit still for 2 hours... I just assumed they could head out to the kids' club either seating.

 

[Keyser]

Your kids can leave early (or you can leave to check them in to a kids' club quickly) even at early seating. But, you usually have to tell your servers ahead of time (they won't expect it) to bring your kids' meals quickly and plan your own meal accordingly.

We've done late seating once and enjoyed it. It was much more relaxed - we are sometimes slower eaters. The servers did not rush us out at the end of late, whereas we've gotten the feeling at least once on every cruise in main seating that the servers overall were wanting to get the tables flipped soon - they never asked us to leave (and usually OUR servers were quite understanding), but when they are clearing tables and changing tablecloths at adjacent tables, you get the strong hint to move on. To be clear, we were not taking exceptionally long, but we are often among the last 10-15% or so to clear out. Plus, we took advantage of the dine-and-play, which was great.

That said, we actually tend to go with main seating. The big reason is that we prefer to have dinner then the show, rather than show-dinner. As someone posted above, you're not really saving that much time (maybe 30-45 minutes) by doing late seating, unless you are skipping the show, since it is going on during early seating.

 

[cmph]

Your kids can leave early (or you can leave to check them in to a kids' club quickly) even at early seating. But, you usually have to tell your servers ahead of time (they won't expect it) to bring your kids' meals quickly and plan your own meal accordingly.

We've done late seating once and enjoyed it. It was much more relaxed - we are sometimes slower eaters. The servers did not rush us out at the end of late, whereas we've gotten the feeling at least once on every cruise in main seating that the servers overall were wanting to get the tables flipped soon - they never asked us to leave (and usually OUR servers were quite understanding), but when they are clearing tables and changing tablecloths at adjacent tables, you get the strong hint to move on. To be clear, we were not taking exceptionally long, but we are often among the last 10-15% or so to clear out. Plus, we took advantage of the dine-and-play, which was great.

That said, we actually tend to go with main seating. The big reason is that we prefer to have dinner then the show, rather than show-dinner. As someone posted above, you're not really saving that much time (maybe 30-45 minutes) by doing late seating, unless you are skipping the show, since it is going on during early seating.

Thank you, I definitely misinterpreted the PP! I'm on the fence now, for sure.

 

[Aerin75]

We have always done late seating on our cruises, even when our kids were years younger than yours, and even when late seating in the Med was 8:45. We eat late at home, and our kids would never be hungry for early dinner. We have never had any problems, and there are plenty of kids at late seating as well. We prefer to have time to get back from our excursions, go to the show, then to dinner. Do what you think will work best for your kids.

Just booked the first cruise with one 11 year old. You sound like my family - we don't even get home from work until 6 or a bit after and then add cooking time in....so we have booked late seating.

 

[2prettygirl]

For us, it depends on the time zone of the cruise!

We're coming from central time zone and we take this into account when we choose seating. Some people may be able to switch time zones with ease. We are not those people. When we head west, we wake up early and eat early, as if we were still on central time. For this reason, we're going to go with Main Seating in Alaska in August.

On the other hand, going east, we tend to sleep in, eat late and go to bed late and we like having a little extra time to unwind and shower after being in sand and sun at the beach. After getting back on the ship, we like to chill out, shower/bath and have some room service and then have a late dinner.

My DD was 5 and 7 on our cruises and had no issues with late seating. She also really enjoyed dine and play and that way DH and I got to finish our meal while she was whisked away to the club. She likes a lot of the late activities like Pluto's Pajama Party.

We are CT zone too and going East Caribbean, we have always done early dining and I just remember feeling rushed after excursions and seas days. I know there are shows to watch prior to dinner if we do the late seating but I just feel like we could maybe walk in a few minutes late to the show versus a few minutes late to dinner. Our kids have always stayed up late on a cruise, never fails, there is just too much going on for them to go to bed early. I am thinking the dine and play would be a good opportunity for the kids not to have to sit through a meal too, they could go off and enjoy more fun things while we finish our meal.

 

[willijen]

I thought I read somewhere that a 10 year old could check himself in and out of the clubs, is that true? We have the early seating for our upcoming trip, and wondering if our DS10 gets done eating and wants to go to the club he can excuse himself and check himself in while we finish dinner?

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I thought I read somewhere that a 10 year old could check himself in and out of the clubs, is that true? We have the early seating for our upcoming trip, and wondering if our DS10 gets done eating and wants to go to the club he can excuse himself and check himself in while we finish dinner?

When they reach a set age then yes as a parent you can give permission for them to do that. It's not automatically given at that age.

 

[anricat]

I thought I read somewhere that a 10 year old could check himself in and out of the clubs, is that true? We have the early seating for our upcoming trip, and wondering if our DS10 gets done eating and wants to go to the club he can excuse himself and check himself in while we finish dinner?

The set age that Disney Fantasy referenced is 8 years old and you can grant that permission if you so choose.

 

[GrannyDee]

Tough question. So many variables.

We have cruised twice with our granddaughter on other lines; our first Disney cruise with both granddaughters is coming up.

In the past, we've chosen early seating (she was aged 4 and 5 for those cruises). She loved dressing up for dinner. After dinner we would take an evening swim, or just retire to our room. We only went to one show - the magician - which she loved and sat rapt through the entire performance. One of her top 10 career paths is now ... Magician.

This next cruise is different. We expect that she'll want to see all the shows and, additionally, we'll be bringing her two year-old sister along. We've chosen late seating so that we can be sure the girls will be fresh for the shows. There's also a time difference for us. 8:15 on the ship will be 6:15 for us so we're hoping that will minimize the time impact. That said, we're prepared to to juggle up the possibilities: asking for the meals for the Little Women to be brought out first, then having one adult (four adults travelling together) retire to the room with them, or dining at the buffet. Possibly the nursery for the Littlest Little and main room dining for Bigger Little. Whatever works; we'll keep things flexible. The food isn't the main draw of this cruise.

We have taken our oldest granddaughter with us on every vacation (save one, when we realized how much she adds to our enjoyment of our vacation) since she was less than a year old so I think we've learned to adjust our expectations to match her tolerance level. Every kid/family is different. Your children are older; the late seating might be perfect for them. I think you will be the best judge of that.

 

[TestingH2O]

We've cruised twice. Once when DD was 3 and once when she was 4. We had early seating both times. Here's a quick rundown of our experience.

• As a family, we try to keep her on a sleep schedule because we've found that a well-rested child is a happy child.
• We live in Central Time, so our Bahamas itinerary worked in our favor in terms of staying up a bit later.
• She is a naturally early riser. Not crazy, but by 7:00 Central.
• She enjoyed dinners on both cruises, but was more willing to sit through them at age 3 than age 4.
• While she stayed up later on the cruise, I don't think she ever made it until 10:00. This was including an afternoon nap every day.

We are currently booked in late seating on our upcoming Fantasy cruise. I find the idea of Dine and Play very appealing, and I'd love to let her check out the shows. However, I just don't know that she can make it until 10:00. We are on the wait list for Main Dining, and I do hope we get it. If we do, I think I will try to do my own Dine and Play with her most nights. I would want to keep her for AP nights regardless though.