I made a mistake and booked second seating. Help appreciated.

[PinClubs]

Last year in July while onboard the Magic, prior to knowing my wife was pregnant, I booked the Aug 21st 7-day Eastern with second seating.

Me being the brilliant Father (sarcasm) I now realize that I should've booked first seating since my little girl (6 mos) is not going to make it through the entire dinner (probably not anyway) nor should she be up until 10:00 PM.

I called DCL to find that the first seating is booked. I know this question has been asked before, but I don't remember the answers. Can anyone tell me if I have any options besides being placed on a "wait list"?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[NJ Cruisers]

Try to arrive at the port as early as possible. The Navigator will tell you where to go to change your seating. Go there first thing and see if they can make the change. We had no problem doing this last November, but we were among the first 50 to board. It probably gets tougher later in the day.

I've also heard that you can call Disney every so often to see if anything opened up. Can't hurt to do that too.

Good Luck,
Diane

 

[TraSee]

I agree with NJ cruisers...try to get there as early as possible and explain the situation. They have always bent over backwards to fit our needs! Good luck and congrats on the baby!

 

[RJake1]

Room service is always available, too.

 

[gottaluvdisney]

Also think about the shows onboard. If you just have a 6mos. old..do you think she will enjoy dinner or the show more??

If you eat second seating the show is before dinner
If you eat first seating the show is after dinner.

I traveled with my friend's 8mos old baby and we had second seating. Worked out great because he enjoyed the shows, not a peep from him. My friend feed him after the show and then we went to dinner and he normally fell asleep in his stroller at dinner.

 

[minniemouse1]

We have always had first seating for dinner but were assigned second seating orgionally. The first thing we did after getting our palos ressie was go and get our seating changed. We never had a problem with this.

I am definately considering changing our first seating to second on our upcoming cruise in April 2005. We will have a DD4, DD3 and 7 mos old with us. On our last 2 cruises we were always rushing to get ready for dinner and was very unenjoyable for all because we had to pull the kids out of the pool or from an activity that they were enjoying to go. With you having an infant IMO they might just fall alsleep at dinner or there is always Flounders. They have a room with just cribs. We used it twice our last cruise and my 1 1/2 yo was always sleeping soundly when I went to get her. Just another option for you.

 

[lookingforward]

I too was very dissapointed to get second seating, but now am not even going to request a change. We don't have an infant but our five year old loves to see shows, etc. I think it will be much better for her to have a short afternoon nap while we all get ready and then see the early shows. If she doesn't nap I can order room service dinner for her and then we can all see the shows together. She can then go to the kids club instead of sitting through a long dinner (which she would hate to do) Second seating will give us more time before dinner and more options for her.

 

[sap1227]

I have had second seating with a 13 month old and an 20 month old. We will have it again in Sept with a almost 3 year old and an 8 month old.
Our 2 experiences have been great and I don't think I would take first seating even if it was available. My DS loves the shows and when he was 13 months, slept during the latter half of dinner. It worked out great.

Don't worry, babies at that age can (and will) sleep almost anywhere. You will have a great time!!

 

[gshoemate]

You might find that you enjoy later seating better. I have read that with the first seating, some feel rushed. We had second seating last year with our 5 and 1 1/2 year old and it worked out great. After dinner DD went to the club and DS fell asleep in his stroller so we were able to go sit on deck and wonder around the ship.

 

[PinClubs]

Thanks for all your feedback. At first I thought I made a mistake, but I can see advantages to second seating with a little one.

Dinner is often interrupted at home when little Sarah is in need of something so eating late should work out well.

She normally gets her bedtime meal around 8 - 8:30 and then it is off to "La La Land" so we could do the same on the ship.

I thank you and Sarah thanks you.

Jeff