First timer: Have a made a horrible mistake?

[Rob1872]

How old will your children be on the cruise?

They will be 11 and 9.

 

[tvguy]

They will be 11 and 9.

My kids were 11 and 15 on their first cruise and they never were in bed before 1 am est. But we are west coasters so that is 10 pm at home which was their normal school year bed time. We all slept until at least 9 am, none of our excursions were before 11 am so we pretty much stayed on our home time zone.

 

[michellekcm]

My kids were 6 and 2 on our last cruise, and at home go to bed between 7 and 7:30. On the cruise I was lucky if I could get them to bed by 10.

We do early dining because my kids go feral if they don't eat , but I wouldn't let late dining stop you cruising. And, like others have said, you're very likely to get it changed if you ask.

Enjoy!!!

 

[preciouspups]

A 9pm bedtime is going to limit you on activities. I laughed the last time I was dropping my daughter off at the club, there was an obvious first time cruise helicopter mother yelling at the entrance..."This place is open until midnight???????? Please do not tell me that there are children in here at midnight. Oh my God!"

That would be me because it would mean I would have to stay awake that late to go get my 8 year old! Momma wants to be in her jammies and enjoying the veranda at that time.

 

[GioCruise]

We have had the late dinner seating on all 5 of our cruises - so my daughter has been ages 4 to 8. She has never had an issue. If we'd had the early dinner seating, she would have, no doubt, fallen asleep during the show every night!

We are doing late seating for the first time this year looking forward to it

 

[DisneyWishes14]

They will be 11 and 9.

I wouldn't sweat it!! Request early seating and keep trying to get it. If they can't switch you, there is PLENTY of food to give them even prior to your dining time. And, as others have said, your servers can bring out the kids' food really fast PLUS you have the option of letting them check themselves into the kids' clubs if you don't want to walk them up.

We were just on the Magic this summer and my DS7 was ALWAYS in the kids club until at least 11 pm sometimes later! We don't do that at home, but we were on Disney Cruise time. It didn't hurt that the sun never seemed to set in Norway and Iceland.

 

[xlxo]

When servers see kids... they get their meals before the adults. It should not be an issue.

 

[Rob1872]

Thanks everyone! Very reassuring for a first timer. At least I know that when I walk onboard I'll think that the cabins are roomy. (I spent 8 years active duty on submarines!) Who knows; we may get hooked and end up liking it so much we end up trying a 7 day cruise next time!

 

[tnshsms]

OK, thanks for the input. I guess the key will be to try to be flexible and hope that everyone adapts to the change. (Part of it is just not knowing a lot of the specifics of what we are getting into.)

I would still try the suggestion of asking to be put on an early dining waitlist. I've heard many success' with this so I would try it for sure.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Thanks everyone! Very reassuring for a first timer. At least I know that when I walk onboard I'll think that the cabins are roomy. (I spent 8 years active duty on submarines!) Who knows; we may get hooked and end up liking it so much we end up trying a 7 day cruise next time!

Make sure to visit the onboard booking desk if you think you will want to take another DCL cruise within 24 months.