Early Dining Question

[Dailymeel]

Hi disboard members,

How quickly does early dining fill up? We are still so torn wether to cruise in Autumn 2023 or 2024…

We will be taking young children so early dining is a must!

My husband wants to go in 2024 but I really really really want to go *now* but September 2023 would be earliest possibility for us.

My husband wants to do 2024 because our children will be 4 and almost 2year old. But honestly I don’t mind taking a 3 year old and a 9 month old.

What do you think is a better age for the kids?

Thanks for your input!

 

[Marc D]

DCL makes available only a small portion of early seating places to be booked online. That’s because some families, like yours, truly need early dining spots and offering them all up for grabs as soon as the cruise goes on sale might fill them up with guests who do not really care one way or another.

That’s why, most (or very) often, you will not be able to book early dining when you book your cruise. What you need to do is to get on the early dining waitlist. A dedicated team - not the CM’s you talk to on the phone - goes over the list once or twice before the cruise and move guests to early seating. Before the pandemic, some guests would be moved about 4-6 months before the cruise and the others a few weeks before. Now, from reports posted here, it seems they only do the moves on one occasion, a few days before the cruise. A small family with young children will almost definitely be moved to early seating if they request it. If it’s not done before the cruise, the move can still be made onboard on boarding day.

You can sail with kids at any age past 6 mo. Each age has advantages and challenges. If not potty trained, the kid cannot go in the pool, but they can use the splash pad. If a nap is still required, it gives you time to enjoy your verandah… or force a parent to stay in the room while the other does other things. Cruises with older kids also often mean you get less time for family activities because the kids prefer to be in the kids clubs. Unless cruising will be a ‘once in a lifetime’ thing, I would say to do it as soon as possible. You never know what the future holds, like a pandemic shutting down all travel for a couple of years.

 

[Dailymeel]

DCL makes available only a small portion of early seating places to be booked online. That’s because some families, like yours, truly need early dining spots and offering them all up for grabs as soon as the cruise goes on sale might fill them up with guests who do not really care one way or another.

That’s why, most (or very) often, you will not be able to book early dining when you book your cruise. What you need to do is to get on the early dining waitlist. A dedicated team - not the CM’s you talk to on the phone - goes over the list once or twice before the cruise and move guests to early seating. Before the pandemic, some guests would be moved about 4-6 months before the cruise and the others a few weeks before. Now, from reports posted here, it seems they only do the moves on one occasion, a few days before the cruise. A small family with young children will almost definitely be moved to early seating if they request it. If it’s not done before the cruise, the move can still be made onboard on boarding day.

You can sail with kids at any age past 6 mo. Each age has advantages and challenges. If not potty trained, the kid cannot go in the pool, but they can use the splash pad. If a nap is still required, it gives you time to enjoy your verandah… or force a parent to stay in the room while the other does other things. Cruises with older kids also often mean you get less time for family activities because the kids prefer to be in the kids clubs. Unless cruising will be a ‘once in a lifetime’ thing, I would say to do it as soon as possible. You never know what the future holds, like a pandemic shutting down all travel for a couple of years.

Thank you so much for such a thorough reply. It’s so reassuring to hear that they prioritise families with young children for early dining. I’m going to show your reply to my husband and convince him that we need to sail asap

 

[tvguy]

Hi disboard members,

How quickly does early dining fill up? We are still so torn wether to cruise in Autumn 2023 or 2024…

We will be taking young children so early dining is a must!

My husband wants to go in 2024 but I really really really want to go *now* but September 2023 would be earliest possibility for us.

My husband wants to do 2024 because our children will be 4 and almost 2year old. But honestly I don’t mind taking a 3 year old and a 9 month old.

What do you think is a better age for the kids?

Thanks for your input!

You might read the thread on Late Seating. Many with small children have discovered Early Seating is NOT a must.

 

[Dailymeel]

You might read the thread on Late Seating. Many with small children have discovered Early Seating is NOT a must.

Thank you!

Our family usually eats around 5:30pm for dinner and my child has bedtime at 7:30pm, so I think waiting for late dining might be hard for us. She’s a lockdown baby and haven’t been on holiday yet so I haven’t experienced what it will be like on holiday for us. I have read a few threads about late dining but mostly posted by families with older kids. was there a specific thread you were referring to? Thank you x

 

[tvguy]

Thank you!

Our family usually eats around 5:30pm for dinner and my child has bedtime at 7:30pm, so I think waiting for late dining might be hard for us. She’s a lockdown baby and haven’t been on holiday yet so I haven’t experienced what it will be like on holiday for us. I have read a few threads about late dining but mostly posted by families with older kids. was there a specific thread you were referring to? Thank you x

https://www.disboards.com/threads/anyone-with-kids-who-love-late-dining.3899641/

 

[Lillebelle]

We were *supposed* to cruise with our daughter when she was about 9 months old, but the pandemic had other plans. So, the youngest I've sailed with is about 18 months. I think DCL is really well set up for cruising with small children. They provided us a bottle warmer and a diaper genie. The nursery is really cute and the staff have been amazing, especially with my stranger danger child. One consideration -- if your kids are under 1 and 3, they could both go to the nursery together, but if your oldest is 4, they're aged out of the nursery. Just a thought.

I'm in the camp of going sooner - +1 that you never know what the future holds, so why put off a potentially awesome time longer than you have to? You're more likely to regret not going if circumstances change than you are to regret going.