First or second show on the Dream?

[Mickeymouseisking]

I was wondering what your experiences have been on the Dream with the shows at night in terms of number of kids in the audience. Have you found there to be more kids in one or the other? Has it affected the show?

DH and I were just on the Magic in the Med and after many deliberations chose main dining because:
1. We prefer to start the night's activities with dinner than the other way around.
2. Easier to get a table for two in the earlier seating on the Med cruises.
3. The shows are a huge part of the cruise for us and we assumed there would be fewer kids in the second show.

We really loved the main seating and second show and it turned out to be the perfect choice for us.

On Tangled night we skipped dinner in the MDR to watch the show twice, so we got to experience the first show.
It was LOUD!! Lol...during every minute of dialogue the kids in the audience made a lot of noise, so much so that it was difficult to concentrate on what was being said on stage (not complaining! they're kids! And they're having a good time ). It also affected the actors' performances (they were of course amazing, but the acting and singing were much better at the second show, where the audience was older, which made the whole experience better, in our opinions).

I was wondering if this is the way it is on all Disney cruises or was this unique to the Med cruise because of the number of non English speakers onboard?

Basically, would you recommend one show time over another for adult cruisers on the Dream?

Thanks a lot!!

 

[Flossbolna]

I have never cruised on the Dream and only every cruised with late dining. But I never had issues with the kids at the shows being too noisy on Fantasy, Wonder and Magic. I am suspecting that your experience was specific to the Med.

Looking at who headed towards the theater for the second show on my cruises, I always had the impression that there were more kids at the late show as families tend to prefer main seating and then go to the late show. I think on the Med cruise you have people from Southern Europe who traditionally eat later and therefore would prefer the late seating. Those would be the kids who might not understand English and therefore be less inclined to listen to what was being said on stage. Also, I think on the Med cruises dinner and show times are a little later than on the Bahamian and Caribbean cruises, so that might have caused fewer kids to come to the late show. Otherwise I would guess most kids would still go to the show after dinner.

Also, since you mentioned a table for two: Your chances are most likely better for that with late dinner on the Dream as main dining is far more popular on the Dream, so more space for late dinner.

 

[Mickeymouseisking]

I have never cruised on the Dream and only every cruised with late dining. But I never had issues with the kids at the shows being too noisy on Fantasy, Wonder and Magic. I am suspecting that your experience was specific to the Med.

Looking at who headed towards the theater for the second show on my cruises, I always had the impression that there were more kids at the late show as families tend to prefer main seating and then go to the late show. I think on the Med cruise you have people from Southern Europe who traditionally eat later and therefore would prefer the late seating. Those would be the kids who might not understand English and therefore be less inclined to listen to what was being said on stage. Also, I think on the Med cruises dinner and show times are a little later than on the Bahamian and Caribbean cruises, so that might have caused fewer kids to come to the late show. Otherwise I would guess most kids would still go to the show after dinner.

Also, since you mentioned a table for two: Your chances are most likely better for that with late dinner on the Dream as main dining is far more popular on the Dream, so more space for late dinner.

Thanks so much for your reply! I actually hadn't taken into consideration that since the late dinner was the popular choice that meant more families were there...silly me. I thought maybe a lot of kids go to the first show because the second one is late for them, and also that "dine and play" might be attracting a lot of families to second seating. Perhaps our whole view of the dining and shows has been skewed because the Med cruises are different from the other ones?

I'd love to hear more experienced!

BTW, on the Dream cruise we will be 4 adults. I'm assuming a table for 4 isn't hard to get in either seating...am I wrong?

 

[mmouse37]

Since your showtime is dependent on your dining time, if you have early dining there will naturally be more kids at the later show than the earlier show. More families with kids seem to want early dining which equals more kids at the later show (of course this is not quite the same on med cruises where many people like late dining due to shore excursions).

We always take late dining and go to the 6:15 show. Never had a problem with loud kids at the earlier show on any of our cruises.

We also skipped dinner in the MDR on Tangled night to see both performances....it was awesome!

MJ