Food in kids' club/lab?

[Mom 2 2 plus 3]

We're leaving in 9 days on the Fantasy, and I'm curious about the food available to the kids in the club and lab at lunch and dinner. I plan on the kids being with us most nights for dinner, but they are excited to spend as much time as possible in the clubs. My youngest (DD6) tends to be a bit picky, and would be perfectly happy with the usual "kid" food: chicken nuggets, pizza, etc. Her brother, (10), prefers what he refers to as "cultural food:" sushi, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, etc. When we eat out he usually prefers to order from the adult menu. Can anyone tell me what they offer the kids to eat in the clubs? Can they order from the MDR? Thanks in advance!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We're leaving in 9 days on the Fantasy, and I'm curious about the food available to the kids in the club and lab at lunch and dinner. I plan on the kids being with us most nights for dinner, but they are excited to spend as much time as possible in the clubs. My youngest (DD6) tends to be a bit picky, and would be perfectly happy with the usual "kid" food: chicken nuggets, pizza, etc. Her brother, (10), prefers what he refers to as "cultural food:" sushi, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, etc. When we eat out he usually prefers to order from the adult menu. Can anyone tell me what they offer the kids to eat in the clubs? Can they order from the MDR? Thanks in advance!

No, they can't order from the MDR in the club. The meals are at set times in the club, and may not actually be when your dinner seating is. Menu tends to be pretty generic, for the most part - sandwiches, fruit, sometimes stuff like spaghetti, or some other pasta.

And they will not make your child sit and eat. They only announce "the food is here". The kids who don't hear the announcement, or chose not to sit down right away, may miss the meal.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

My girls never liked the food in the clubs. . Very bland, i guess bc it has to be allergy friendly. Those nights they wanted to be in the clubs while we were in the MDRs, they would either order room service to eat while we got ready, or they would grab something from the pool side QS places.

 

[Mom 2 2 plus 3]

We have late seating in the MDR. Will the kids be able to eat with us in the MDR before the club CMs come to get them?

 

[Melissa S]

Cruising again in September and our 6 year old already informed us that she plans on spending all her time in the kids's club- except during lunch and dinner because "that food is gross" lol.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We have late seating in the MDR. Will the kids be able to eat with us in the MDR before the club CMs come to get them?

Yes, the dine n play program starts about 45 minutes into service. Just let your servers know you've signed up for it, so that they can expedite the kid's food. And keep an eye out for the CMs, they don't really come all the way into the dining rooms, just near the door to collect the kids.

 

[adamki]

We have late seating in the MDR. Will the kids be able to eat with us in the MDR before the club CMs come to get them?

Tell your waiter that your kids would like to "Dine and Play" and they will expedite their meals (not yours). A kids club cast member will come around to collect and take them to the club, however there is some waiting involved during this herding process.

I found it faster to just take my kid up to the club between courses when he was done with his meal. He usually got to the club at least 10 minutes faster that way.

My kid is also firmly in the "club food is gross" camp. As described above, the menu is very bland; cheese sandwiches (not grilled), melon, cheese sandwiches, plain pasta, did I mention cheese sandwiches?

 

[adamki]

they don't really come all the way into the dining rooms, just near the door to collect the kids.

On our last Dream cruise (October '16) the club CMs did come down all the main walkways in the dining rooms. Like I said previously, the process took too long. On the first night, we finished our meal and found our son still waiting with the group at the front of the restaurant.

 

[DLgal]

It was just cheese sandwiches and fruit on our last two cruises. Premade and probably gross.

 

[MunFam]

Yup...cheese sandwiches!!!

 

[ILoveMyKellen]

"Cheese sandwiches, french fries, turkey sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, cheese sandwiches". That is a direct quote from my five year old son when I asked him what they were serving in the kids club (Dream) on our cruise in December 2016.

 

[bumbershoot]

OK what is the problem with cheese sandwiches? That's what DS *wanted*.

And they will not make your child sit and eat. They only announce "the food is here". The kids who don't hear the announcement, or chose not to sit down right away, may miss the meal.

Alas that wasn't DS's experience. I mean, they didn't force him to eat, but they stopped, entirely, ALL other activities, so that you really had no choice. And they did in fact make all the kids go through the line to see the food.

Will the kids be able to eat with us in the MDR before the club CMs come to get them?

Of course.

Do tell the server that you want to do Dine&Play. And it's best if the kids order from the kid menu; my son always ordered from the adult menus and it slowed his service way down, so even if he had wanted to go he wasn't done by that time.

On our last Dream cruise (October '16) the club CMs did come down all the main walkways in the dining rooms.

Wow, it's all different! We have never even seen the CMs, let alone watched them come into the restaurant. Even the one time where our seat was in the very front of one of the restaurants we didn't see them.

 

[bbel]

Alas that wasn't DS's experience. I mean, they didn't force him to eat, but they stopped, entirely, ALL other activities, so that you really had no choice. And they did in fact make all the kids go through the line to see the f

From my experience, depends on ship, managers, and recent guest comments. One ship I was on made all the kids stop what they're doing and come and at least look at the food, so then no one could complain that they'd weren't offered food or didn't know that food was happening, epsecially if there were notes in the system about parents at palo or off the ship.
Another ship I was on just made an announcement and told kids what the goodness was and where to find it.

There's nothing like clearing away the food and a kid coming up to you and telling you they're hungry and their parent are at palo or off the ship for the next few hours...

 

[bbel]

I personally would call food I the club a meal....more of a snack.

Lunch is cheese sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, cheese sticks, salad, fruit salad, apple juice and water. It's definitely not the best food on the ship (but on a sea day it has to have the potential to feed a couple of hundred kids in the space of a few minutes so its not going to be amazing...) but the majority of kids that are hungry enough can usually find something.
Dinner is simple kid food: chicken tenders, pizza, fries, corn dogs, mac n cheese, lasagne, meatballs, Mickey pasta, steamed veg, fruit salad, apple juice and water only one option a day (e.g chicken tenders, fries, veg, fruit salad) but something different every day.

No kid is forced to eat. They can have as little or as much as they like. They want one cheese stick, fine. They want to finish of the tray of cheese sandwiches, fine too.

If your child has an allergy that prevents them from eating the food provided in the club, then you can order a special meal, however this has to be done through your head server, and they usually say the day before. Then when checking in, just let the CM know the name of the head server so we can chase it up if we need to.

 

[bbel]

On our last Dream cruise (October '16) the club CMs did come down all the main walkways in the dining rooms. Like I said previously, the process took too long. On the first night, we finished our meal and found our son still waiting with the group at the front of the restaurant.

The ships I worked on, one would wait near the entrance, one would do a walk round (not to collect kids, just as a visual reminder that we're there). We arrive around 15 minutes before we actually have to leave, so if you bring your kid up right away then they are gonna have to wait a little...

 

[ILoveMyKellen]

There's nothing like clearing away the food and a kid coming up to you and telling you they're hungry and their parent are at palo or off the ship for the next few hours...

I can imagine that this would put you all in an awkward situation. I knew that the kids aren't made to eat if they didn't want to and I knew my son would be preoccupied with everything going on to stop what he was doing to eat so I made him eat something before he was allowed to go back to the club.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

We learned our lesson last cruise and next time I will make sure there is something for them to eat at the end of the evening. Every night I would tell them they had to either eat with us or eat when it was offered in the kids clubs, and every night they'd show up back at the room ready to order room service. Of course it would take forever at that time of night and I was just dying to get everyone to go to sleep.

 

[bbel]

I plan on the kids being with us most nights for dinner, but they are excited to spend as much time as possible in the clubs.

Just so you know, when lunch and dinner is going on in the club/lab, its the only thing thats navigated (so officially going on), so they won't miss out on much if they go for dinner with you (assuming you have early dinner). When lunch and dinner is navigated theres usually a film on, and the rooms available like craft, computers, card/board games - but nothing that isn't always available at any other time...

 

[bbel]

I can imagine that this would put you all in an awkward situation. I knew that the kids aren't made to eat if they didn't want to and I knew my son would be preoccupied with everything going on to stop what he was doing to eat so I made him eat something before he was allowed to go back to the club.

And unfortunately, once the food is gone, theres not a lot that can be done...