Early or late dinner with kids?

[juliekzp]

My kids are 8, 6, and 3, and we're going on our first cruise (3 nights) this February. At first I thought we definitely want the early dinner, since we tend to eat early and be in bed by 8:30 or 9. But then I discovered that the later show doesn't start until 8:30, and my girls and I LOVE shows, so I thought maybe we'd better do the earlier show and then go to dinner if not too tired or just back to the room with room service (concierge suite) if too tired.

Which do you prefer? Advice appreciated!

 

[shelleyr25]

We have always done the later dinner simply because we do not want to be rushed to get ready if we are having fun on an excursion, at the pool etc... There is plenty to eat at all times so we usually just have something light around 5pm and then dinner at 8:30. If you go to the early show just have something to eat by the pool before you get ready.

 

[cdoc29]

We did the eerily dinner last week on our cruise with an 18 month old and 4 year old. Our kids seemed to be up everyday till 11pm when at home their normal bedtime is 7:30pm. I attribute it to the overstimulation and Mom and Dad not enforcing a bedtime. Next time we will do the late dinner for two reasons.
1) Getting back on the ship or finishing activities for the day or the afternoon nap running late meant we were pushed to get to dinner on time for the first seating.
2) If you kids are over 3 and able to go to the clubs the counselors will come around during the second seating about halfway through (not the first unfortunately) and take you kids to the club. Since the kids food comes out way before the adults this would work out well and our next cruise our youngest will be over 3.

 

[TestingH2O]

Honestly, with the 3 year old, you probably have to pick one or the other. Unless you're from the west coast the you've got a great time change working in your favor.

We opted for dining rooms and skipped the shows so DD3 could be in bed by 9/9:30. For us, a well rested kid is a happy kid. I don't think you can go wrong with either choice though.

 

[astronautmom]

When my kids were 4, 6 & 8, we did early dinner. The next year when they were 5, 7, 9, we did late. The late dinner was fine, nothing tragic about it, but we preferred the early dinner time we had the previous year. My kids were all hungry by that time and then we had the show afterwards and the whole night of entertainment ahead, including late night snacks as needed. I didn't enjoy having to snack in the 5 pm hour to get us through to dinner. My kids are all early bedtimes (7-8 p.m. Central time) when we are not on a cruise, but we all stayed up until 11 p.m. every night of both cruises because there was so much to do and we were powered on excitement and adrenaline. I would not have predicted that in a million years.
If you like reading trip reports, the one in my signature compares our two cruises in general and your kids are about the same age as mine were on our first cruise. We were also on the Dream. Warning that your youngest may not be up for the shows- Villians Tonight can be really scary and there are some intense moments for younger kids in the others too. On our second cruise, my youngest went to the Oceaneer's Lab and sacked out on a bean bag in front of a movie while we watched the shows. He got a power nap in there and was ready to go to the D Lounge for family fun after we picked him up. Not a great parenting strategy for real life, but it worked on vacation.

 

[xlxo]

I discovered that the later show doesn't start until 8:30, and my girls and I LOVE shows

the late show.... is a repeat of the early show. You get to enjoy your clothes at the show without food stains.

 

[emilyann415]

Personally I would pick early. Getting my kids to sit through the shows was much easier when they were tired than getting them to sit through dinner. I can't imagine trying to sit down to a nice dinner that late with my kids....but that is just me. They would fight, get up from their chairs, the entire meal. They always seem to sit very well for the show and I can sit between them to keep them separated so it removes any issue with teasing, fighting, etc.

 

[STLEdge]

I echo the previous poster. We've done early seatings for dinner when our kids were 4 and 6, 5 and 7, and 6 and 8, and we're doing it again this month while they're 8 and 10. Each family is unique (and each child!) but we've found that it's easier to get through the shows without them worrying about being hungry - and you may find you want to bring snacks in for the show anyway; even though it's vacation, we weren't keen on letting the kids have popcorn and candy before dinner (after on the other hand ...)

And there's always a chance that your children will prefer being in the kids' clubs over going to the shows even if they love shows. Ours beg us to get them to the kids' clubs as early as possible after dinner (and to let them stay as late as possible!) - and we find having the early seating to let us to have more free time in the evenings to walk around or visit the bars. But other families, as you can see, enjoy having the freedom to have more free time in the afternoon instead of having to pack up around 5:00 to start getting ready for dinner.

Bottom line - you can't go wrong either way - it's a Disney cruise after all!