Night Owl, or Early Bird?

[mkandk]

On the ship???

I was reading about someone's dilemma with late seating, and young kids, and wondering if this will be a problem with our kids (ages 8 and 9)...

Well, when is it the most fun? Do you guys party all night and sleep in, or is it better to get up early and watch the boat dock, and get to the pools before they are crowded?

 

[dennisnlisab96]

I am having the same problem. We will on the 5/1/2004 7 night easter. My kids will be 12 ,10, 7, 5, 2, 10 mo. I am worried that if we take first seating they 3 middle ones (7,5,2) will be to tired for the shows. I also know they won't be able to hold out for dinner if we choose second seating. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LAMPSKIES]

Mkandk..........we've done both early and late, DD's are now 13 and 11. I will never book early again. The rush to dinner from excursions, showering, hair curling etc. is simply not worth it. Don't forget about the time change.

 

[Verandah Man]

Our tablemates daughter spent most dinners in the club (we had late dining), the few nights she did make it to dinner with her parents, she either fell asleep at the table or her mother took her back to the cabin and put her to bed. I believe their DD was around 9.

 

[jrabbit]

Night Owl, or Early Bird?

At Home - Neither!!
on the Magic or Wonder - Both!!

I go home very tired, very happy from being on the ship, very sad for having to leave the ship, but very tired - There's too much fun to be had to spend a lot of time sleeping!

As far as the kids go, they usually will want to be in their clubs, so they will rush through dinner so they can get back to them. Many children miss the family cabaret shows because of the clubs. Same goes for the main show in the theater. We usually "suggest" that our kids go to the "Disney" shows (Hercules, Dreams and now Golden Mickeys). They have the option with the welcome aboard and farwell variety shows along with "mousekateer".

You will find that the kids generally can stay up late while in the clubs, but with the shows or late dinner they go to sleep. (active vs passive)

 

[lamby]

We recently were on the Magic with out 8 year old twins. For us the second seating was the way to go. at around 5pm the kids grabbed a snack and then back at the room we were able to get ready with plenty of time to spare before the shows. They were alert and enjoyed the shows (each and every one) and I do believe it was because it wasn't after a big dinner which would make most people sleepy.
The kids loved having dinner with us...even if it was at a very fast pace...and they loved going to the club. They stayed at the club usually until midnight which gave my DH and I a chance to catch some adult entertainment.
Ultimately, you have to know your kids. If they usually wake up at 6am on their own...their bodyclock is vastly different than my childrens bodyclock.

 

[webray]

Friends of ours just got off the wonder, they had late seating, kids ages 7, 5 and 4....they said the late seating was way to late.

You could do late seating for the adults, join the kids for pizza or burgers at their normal dinner time and let them go back to the clubs or other activities. Eat before the early show...you could all go to the show...then drop the kids and you and hubby can go for a nice dinner without the kids.

 

[NYGiantsRule!]

My DS 10 and DS13 on our August cruise. In 2001, we had early seating, this time late. They both said never again for early seating. The shows start at 6:30, but are always over within an hour. That still leaves an hour to get ready for dinner. With early seating you have to leave the pool areas or other activities by 5PM to start getting ready for dinner at 6PM. They usually had a snack of some kind between 5PM and 6PM, either chicken fingers, burgers from Plutos or mac and cheese from room service. Also with late seating breakfast is at 8AM on the last day, instead of 6:45AM.

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Good morning mkandk.

I was reading about someone's dilemma with late seating, and young kids, and wondering if this will be a problem with our kids (ages 8 and 9)...

On both cruises we have had main dinner seating. I almost always would change into a shirt-and-tie with nice dockers for dinner and never felt rushed. Only one time did DS10 and I have to literally run in from a shore excursion. I looked like poop but fortunately my extra-strength deoderant was still working...


Hey dennisnlisab96.

We will on the 5/1/2004 7 night easter. My kids will be 12 ,10, 7, 5, 2, 10 mo.

With that large a family, DCL might be able to provide you with a private dinner hour... (but at this point you might wanna refrain from doing anything romantic)...

 

[WeRHappy]

I've been 'Wonder'ing about this same thing for quite sometime considering we will still be on California-time for our 6:00 seating, will our DS4 feel like eating??!! (his stomach will only think it's 3:00! ) but then to drag him out of bed the next morning after the late seating doesn't seem like much of a vacation for any of us
I guess we'll soon find out here in a few days!

Dennisnlisa: good lord!! 6 kids and you're still married
AND going on vacation??!! (making mental note to re-think pregnancy again ) jk Hope you have a great cruise!! I just packed 6 bags for 4 people... 2 of which are 4yrs and 1 yr! I can't even imagine packing for 6 + 2 !! Good luck!

Any suggestions re: the time dilemma would be greatly appreciated!
-C-

 

[WeRHappy]

By the way... BD... all I can say is HA!!

(just forgot to add that to my post but was thinkin the same thing!)