Early or Late Seating?

[drlum]

We will be traveling on the Magic in August on the West coast sailing. We have two kids ages 5 and 7. We could only get the late dinner seating. Do you think this will be ok or should we request and early dinner time.

 

[Laurajean1014]

We enjoyed early seating so we could see the shows later.

 

[magiroux]

It depends on your children and you know them best. If they are the type that will participate in the kid's club then they will probably not want to dine with you at all since Late Seating seems to be the time frame when lots of Organized Activities seem to be scheduled that kids don't want to miss. If your kids are not into the kid's club thing then it would depend if they can adapt to the later schedule for dinner/bedtime. Late Seating can run as late as 10-10:30pm which my child has never had a problem adapting to but I know some kids "melt down" if they are forced to stay up WAY past their normal bedtime.

Keep in mind if you do keep late seating, early morning activities/excursions should be taken into consideration.

 

[westjones]

There is plenty of food available on Deck 9. When we had late seating, the kids ate pizza or burgers around 4:00 on deck 9. Then we would go to the show together and eat at the late dining. We had late dining on 4 cruises, and we found that when we were on the Magic and wanted to do excursions, that late seating worked good. When we got back to the ship from our excursion we would order room service while the kids bathed and we got ready for the show. When we went on the Magic once with the early dining we felt VERY rushed to be back on the ship and ready for early dining.

So if we are on the Wonder, I prefer early dining, but on the Magic we like the late seating better (because we do excursions on the 7 night, but on the 3 and 4 we don't bother).

Don't worry, no one will go hungry, and the kids may enjoy the show better in the early part of the evening, and for them that is one of the highlights of the trip!

DJ

 

[Jsme]

You can go request a change to your seating when you arrive in Rock'n D Bar.

We personally like the late seating. First time of cruising my DK's were 8 and 9. A little bit older than your children. When mine get hungry were just run up and get some chicken tenders for them.