Main or Second Seating with a toddler?

[Makayna]

On our 4 night cruise in 2013 on the Dream, we're going to have a 16 month old with us. We booked this cruise before we knew we were having a baby, and then changed our reservations a bit after we found out, but still kept second seating. On our first cruise, we LOVED having second seating, but it was just the two of us. But on this cruise, I'm not sure second seating is the best option.

Pros for keeping Second Seating:

Currently, we live on the West Coast and our cruise will be leaving from Port Canaveral, so there could be a 3 hour time difference, which would make main dining feel like it's 3pm. So if that's the case, second seating might actually be preferable, even with a toddler, because it'll seem so early for us. However, it's possible that we could move to the Midwest before the cruise, thus only making it a 1 hour time difference, but if we wait until that happens, main seating will surely be gone by that time. And, there's no guarantee that we'll be in the Midwest before then.

My husband wants to make sure that our daughter gets to see the shows, so second seating would assist in that because the show is first. He's afraid that she'll fall asleep before/during the show and therefore miss the wonderful entertainment that the Disney ships have to offer.

Pros for switching to Main Dining:

My concern is that our DD will be tired/cranky by the time we get to dinner, thus possibly making dinner not a happy time for ourselves or our tablemates. Plus, she'll be too big to put in an infant car seat with us at the table, so she won't be able to simply fall asleep while we enjoy our nice, quiet dinner. I'm afraid that we'll have a fussy baby on our hands and dinner will not be enjoyable for anyone. And if that's the case, we'll be spending A LOT of time in the casual dining restaurant instead of eating in the main dining rooms because we're not going to want to disrupt our tablemates' dining experience. The Main Dining Room experience was one of my absolute favorite things about our first cruise, so to miss that every night, or even most nights, would be an absolute devastation for me! My husband prefers the food at the quick dining places (pizza, hotdogs, hamburgers, etc...) so to him, it's no big deal to just get quick service food every night. But for me, I'd be devastated! I know the casual dining restaurant does have SOME of the same things as the MDRs, but you miss the experience of the MDRs and you don't have the entire menu to choose from.

This is our first baby (and she's not even born yet), so I don't really know how valid of a concern this is, but I do know that I would HATE to have to miss dining in the MDRs because of our cranky/fussy daughter. However, my husband would also HATE for our daughter to miss the shows because she fell asleep before/during it. For those who've traveled with toddlers (2 and under), which would you say is more important?

We have absolutely no intentions of putting her in the nursery every night while we eat dinner, so please don't suggest that as an option. I am, however, looking for advice as to whether we should switch to main dining now, or just hope for the best with the second seating option.

 

[Meghatron]

DD was 21 months on our first cruise and Main Dining was definitely the way to go. The dining manager assigned us a table with another family that had a kid her age, so there was no embarrassment. The serving team was great to the kids—performed some magic tricks and made them hats out of napkins. And with a full tummy, she sat through the 45-minute show after dinner with rapt attention in one of our laps.

FWIW, there's always a matinee of the show at 2pm as well.

 

[Makayna]

FWIW, there's always a matinee of the show at 2pm as well.

There is?!?! I thought they were going to do that, but didn't. Is there ALWAYS a matinee show on the Dream?!

 

[Meghatron]

There is?!?! I thought they were going to do that, but didn't. Is there ALWAYS a matinee show on the Dream?!

The recent Navigators for the Dream aren't loading on my phone, so hopefully someone else can tell you for sure. We've sailed twice in the Wonder and will be boarding her again in two weeks, and that's been the case for her schedule each time. But with Main Dining we've never felt the need to go to the matinee.

 

[Makayna]

The recent Navigators for the Dream aren't loading on my phone, so hopefully someone else can tell you for sure. We've sailed twice in the Wonder and will be boarding her again in two weeks, and that's been the case for her schedule each time. But with Main Dining we've never felt the need to go to the matinee.

I just looked at the Navigators and I'm not finding a matinee on any of the 4 night Dream navigators. However, the one I was especially looking at was the one from this past November because I think that'd be the most relevant to our cruise, since that's the same month that we'll be cruising, but it seemed to be somewhat incomplete. However, even when looking at other 4 night Dream navigators, I didn't see a matinee on any of them either.

Can anyone verify whether or not there's a Matinee performance of the main shows each day on the Dream?!

 

[MelissaE1]

FWIW, here's what I would do. I'd switch to main seating if you can get it, and switch back when you cruise if you want to. There's never any trouble switching to late seating from early AFAIK.

The question is going to depend on your DD's personality and personal schedule, and there's really no way to know that before she's born and then some. Many (likely even most) people have toddlers that go to bed early and the early seating is a definite must. (My kids, not so much unfortunately. )

As far as the shows, they will end earlier than late dinner, so she's probably more likely to get dinner and a show if you have early seating. At 16 months, she won't be following the plot line, so if she gets a little enjoyment out of it and falls asleep it won't be a big deal.

Congrats on your upcoming arrival.

 

[deanimal]

I know that this may not answer your specific question, but let me just say that once your first child is born, everything changes completely and there is no way of knowing what will work best for you! Every baby is different, every parent is different and once she's here you just have to figure out what works for you. Some toddlers fall asleep anywhere, some get cranky if they're up a minute later than usual, some parents like to go with the flow, some like to stick to a routine, it's just too early to say. That's all just part of the fun!
For us, cruising with a twenty month old, it worked best to go to early dinner, feed him while we had our appetizers, then take him to the nursery to play for an hour while we relaxed with our main course and desert. We'd then pick him up and go to the show. but that's just what worked for us, our little guy is super active and was happier in the nursery than sitting through a slow, drawn out dinner. If he had hated the nursery or the shows, we would have just figured out another plan. That's one of the joys of cruising with Disney for families; there's always lots of options.
So I'd say don't worry about it for a while. Go with what works for you, then once the date gets closer you can reassess. And a few weeks before the cruise, your daughter's schedule could change completely and you'll have to come up with a whole new plan, anyway! It's all good, just enjoy the ride!

 

[Makayna]

FWIW, here's what I would do. I'd switch to main seating if you can get it, and switch back when you cruise if you want to. There's never any trouble switching to late seating from early AFAIK.

That's a REALLY great idea!!! I switched to main dining just to be on the safe side. DH is kind of worried that main dining will seem too early in the day, but I figure he can eat quick serve or room service to his heart's content if he gets hungry later!

Thanks again for the suggestion!

 

[Makayna]

I know that this may not answer your specific question, but let me just say that once your first child is born, everything changes completely and there is no way of knowing what will work best for you! Every baby is different, every parent is different and once she's here you just have to figure out what works for you. Some toddlers fall asleep anywhere, some get cranky if they're up a minute later than usual, some parents like to go with the flow, some like to stick to a routine, it's just too early to say. That's all just part of the fun!
For us, cruising with a twenty month old, it worked best to go to early dinner, feed him while we had our appetizers, then take him to the nursery to play for an hour while we relaxed with our main course and desert. We'd then pick him up and go to the show. but that's just what worked for us, our little guy is super active and was happier in the nursery than sitting through a slow, drawn out dinner. If he had hated the nursery or the shows, we would have just figured out another plan. That's one of the joys of cruising with Disney for families; there's always lots of options.
So I'd say don't worry about it for a while. Go with what works for you, then once the date gets closer you can reassess. And a few weeks before the cruise, your daughter's schedule could change completely and you'll have to come up with a whole new plan, anyway! It's all good, just enjoy the ride!

I like the idea of putting her in the nursery for only an hour or so while we eat our main course - especially if she gets fussy. But, I thought you had to schedule any nursery time in advanced! Can we simply bring her to the nursery and see if they have availability on an as-needed basis?

 

[jjgarv]

The first time we brought DD on a Disney cruise, we had second seating, and it worked out just fine! One of us would typically take her back to the room for a nap in the mid- to late-afternoon. While she was napping, I'd order a snack from room service and/or read and then shower up for the evening. We'd hit the first show, see some of the characters, and go to dinner. If we weren't too tired ourselves, we'd plop her in the stroller (where she would usually fall asleep) after dinner to take a walk or whatever. After a walk around deck or through the shops, we were usually ready for bed ourselves.

Bottom line: second seating worked just fine for us as long as DD got in that afternoon nap! And she never missed a show!

 

[Makayna]

The first time we brought DD on a Disney cruise, we had second seating, and it worked out just fine! One of us would typically take her back to the room for a nap in the mid- to late-afternoon. While she was napping, I'd order a snack from room service and/or read and then shower up for the evening. We'd hit the first show, see some of the characters, and go to dinner. If we weren't too tired ourselves, we'd plop her in the stroller (where she would usually fall asleep) after dinner to take a walk or whatever. After a walk around deck or through the shops, we were usually ready for bed ourselves.

Bottom line: second seating worked just fine for us as long as DD got in that afternoon nap! And she never missed a show!

How old was your DD at the time?

 

[spiiffy]

I wanted to add that many 16 mo cannot sit through the shows so don't get to dissapointed if she falls asleep or needs to be taken out early.

On our first cruise my ds was 20 mo and we would take him with us to main dinning and then one of us would drop him off at nursery while the other went to save seats at the theatre.

 

[Melissa S]

We cruised on the Dream in December and our daughter was 17 months at the time. As everyone else said there is no way of knowing how your daughter will be until she is born. Before you have your first you have all these ideas of how things will be and then your baby has different plans lol. We chose main seating which allowed us to make sure she was well fed before the show. Since we were dining with a toddler we had no choice but to have a quick moving dinner. This gave us a chance to eat and then bring her back to the room and bathe and change her into her pjs. Each night she would enjoy a little of the show and then fall asleep in our arms in the dark theatre. After the show we would just put her to bed since she was already in her pjs. Have an amazing time!

p.s. the only 3pm show we had on the 3 night was on our "sea day" which was supposed to be our CC day but we couldn't dock.

 

[Makayna]

I wanted to add that many 16 mo cannot sit through the shows so don't get to dissapointed if she falls asleep or needs to be taken out early.

Oh, if she's anything like her mom, she'll fall asleep during the show for sure! I still remember when I was about 5 years old and I woke up one morning in TEARS and starting screaming at my mom, "YOU DIDN'T TAKE ME (to the drive ins) TO SEE CINDERELLA LAST NIGHT LIKE YOU PROMISED!!!" My mother replied, "We took you... you slept."