No main dinning.. 2nd seating only.. Hubby wants to cancel!!

[JW9DVC]

Depends on the time zone changes for yourself really I would guess. The ultimate recommendation is to request early seating.

You are all on vacation. That's usually when we let the kids stay up later. Not commenting about parenting style. Just usually things aren't the same as when you are on vacation as at home.

JW

I would never cancel just because of the dinner time.

 

[firepuppy]

We have always done 2nd seating and love it. CM make sure the kids have their food early and ready to go to the clubs when they come around. Another nice thing is the CM will help with making sure the food is cut and ready for the kids. I had one tell me while I was sailing it was not my job to cut my DS food that was part of their job. It was great. Enjoy your trip.

 

[xlxo]

I'm another 2nd seating lover...

• more time in port
• catch the early show
• kids evening program start right afterwards
• I'm a nite owl... have no programs going to bed past midnight when the ship is quieter
• 2nd dinner means you also get the later 8am breakfast.... you get to sleep in. You get to wait comfortably in the dining room for your later discharge time.
• grab some later afternoon snacks or indulge some of the local port foods!
• early dining is popular in Alaska, I think someone said 2nd seating is more popular on the East Coast. I think it's because it's closer to travelers home dining time

 

[GTR]

Get on the waiting now, you will most likely get moved to the main seating. IF not, don't worry, when you board the 1st day, there's a time scheduled where you meet with the dining room, and see if they can move you. We did this and they moved us to the main dining room during the "open" dining request.

 

[bumbershoot]

Cruisers with small cjildren prefer main dining.

That's not across the board by any means. Not everyone eats early. Not all children go to bed early. Not everyone is on east coast time.

In my family DS has had a 9pm bedtime since he was around 2. When we go to the east coast that 9pm = midnight. Our 7ish dinnertime at home means he's hungry around 10pm eastern time (until we adjust which, for us, does NOT happen quickly).


I've seen just as many crying kids at main dining as I've seen at late. Kids cry, let's face it.

CM make sure the kids have their food early and ready to go to the clubs when they come around.

That's not always true either. You have to tell your servers if you're taking part in the dine and play option at late seating. And it works best if the child only orders from the kid menu. Even on our first Disney cruise DS was mixing and matching from the adult menu, which slowed down service. We didn't know how the program worked and didn't tell them what we wanted, and voila, he spent the whole meal with us. Gotta tell them, and you have to take them outside the restaurant to the counselors, for that program during late dining.

 

[phinz]

I prefer 2nd seating. Less rushed. Quieter. Plus it gives me a good lining in my stomach for the rest of the evening in Europa/The District.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

To answer a few questions..

1.We are on the Wailist.. However the CM I spoke with said we are FAR down.

2. Our cruise is next March.. 10mo. Away.. However it's peak week with spring break and easter.

3. The reason I didn't think it would be a deal breaker was b/c we eat dinner at home around 7-7:30 east coast time.
However DH makes a good point when in WDW we don't take a ressie later than 5:45, cuz by than we are starving.
But we are also up sooooo stinkin early (6am) for rope drops/ dinning

I do understand why he is upset..
Both DH and I are night owls, but our kids are VERY early birds. (This is hard on normal days)
On our last cruise (3weeks ago) DD (3) didn't sleep passed 7:30am... However at least twice I had to wake her up from her nap for dinner. also my kids still went to the kids club most night until 11pm.

- He doesn't want to hear them complain through out the lightly show (it's is fav. Thing about DCL) how hungry they are.
-He doesn't want to be rushed for pics Inbetween (I love taking pictures, and formal night I'm the worse)
-He doesn't want the kids snack before dinner and then be board during dinner.. (This happen on our last cruise) my fault.. Although a short walk to the kids club solved that! Granted my food was cold.

I will fill him in on the pros about 2nd dinning when he gets home.. Any more advance is greatly welcome!

 

[mgpan]

For the price of DCL cruises these days, i'm with your husband. If they can't give me what I want at a price that makes sense, move dates or cancel altogether. DCL is laughing all the way to the bank with some of the higher priced sailings. You might luck out, but I don't want to spend $$$$ and have to chance when I board that I can get the time I prefer. They require you to pay in full before you arrive, they should be able to tell you what's possible or not before you arrive.

 

[phinz]

I've seen people switch to first seating after the first night of second seating. That gives things time to settle out. Just a thought. Being far down on the waitlist doesn't mean that you can't circumvent the situation by just asking for first seating when checking in either. There are many stories of people not getting reservations, first seating, etc. but getting them last minute because other families punk out at the last minute.

 

[bcwife76]

Peronally I would not cancel just because of that. We are going on our first cruise at the end of September and have second seating; our girls will be 7 and 4 (nearly 5). We are going to build in some downtime mid-afternoon so they can chill, either in the cabin or on deck. We are lucky that our 4yr old can nap anywhere, so I imagine her falling asleep in a deck chair with me lol Plus the kids club comes and takes the kids back to the kids club 45 minutes into dinner (the kids are served first) so that we can dine sans kiddos. There are mats in the kids club if kids end up crashing. In the end YOU know how YOUR kids will react, so maybe a late dining isn't really for you. I know my kids and eventhough we haven't cruised yet, I know they will be fine with a late seating.
If you can't switch it you can always skip the MDR's and eat at the buffet instead.

 

[SnowWhite2]

Just to clarify, there is no dinner buffet. The lunch buffet closes by 3pm. Dinner at Cabanas is sit down from 6:30 - 8:30 pm no reservations needed, every night except the first and last nights. The menu consists of select items off of the night's dinner menus in the rotational restaurants along with a salad bar. The servers are in training so no tips required. It is very relaxed, no dress code (no swimwear at dinner).

 

[bumbershoot]

The reason I didn't think it would be a deal breaker was b/c we eat dinner at home around 7-7:30 east coast time.
However DH makes a good point when in WDW we don't take a ressie later than 5:45, cuz by than we are starving.
But we are also up sooooo stinkin early (6am) for rope drops/ dinning

WDW and cruises are different. You aren't paying extra for the food so you can give them small things as the day goes on to tide them over. It's a totally different situation.

He doesn't want the kids snack before dinner and then be board during dinner.. (This happen on our last cruise) my fault.. Although a short walk to the kids club solved that! Granted my food was cold.

Let them snack halfway between lunch and dinnertime; that won't ruin their meal. And there's no need to keep them at the table! Let them go off to the kid's club. Heck, if they don't want the MDR meal, give them pizza or something else and just send them to the kid's club even before dining seating. PLAN for it, don't let it just happen.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Just to clarify, there is no dinner buffet. The lunch buffet closes by 3pm. Dinner at Cabanas is sit down from 6:30 - 8:30 pm no reservations needed, every night except the first and last nights. The menu consists of select items off of the night's dinner menus in the rotational restaurants along with a salad bar. The servers are in training so no tips required. It is very relaxed, no dress code (no swimwear at dinner).

Yes, this is what I was trying to say in my previous post...OP can sit down and have a family dinner together every night in Cabanas if they don't get the early seating they want.

 

[wlee7]

I have to say we were also disappointed with not getting main seating but second seating worked out so much better for us! We just got off the Fantasy last week and we realized we had more time from the port to dinner. We always had to rush to get to main seating. We certainly had more time for second seating. And the best part was sleeping in on disembarkation morning. We will go with second seating from now on.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Update...

DH agree to give 2nd seating a try.
After much debating back and forth what sold was... we can always just eat at cabanas.
So If we don't get main dinning and find 2nd seating to difficult with the kids. That's our plan

Thank you everyone for all the info.. He was really intreged by the fact that the kids club consulors will come and get the kids.. This may end up being our saving grace.
We can always tell the kids " you have to wait until they come and get you"

Thanks again!

 

[Notyourtypicaldisney]

We are another family with three kids and we much prefer 2nd seating. In fact we traveled with a family that insisted on 1st seating two cruises ago. (They didn't know any better). Their reasons were the same as your husbands. Anyways they came to agree that you end up being too rushed at 4:30 and the kids weren't even hungry. 2nd seating is better as you can get a small snack at 4:30. A big plus to me is you get the deck to yourself around 6'p.m if you opt to skip a show.

 

[jenhelgren]

I also was upset about having no choice but second seating when we booked and called into DCL. They immediately switched us to main seating-I'm not sure how full our ship was at that time though. Someone also mentioned play and dine which is great. When my daughter was that young she didn't like to sit long enough for us to enjoy a meal anyways so I think someone at Disney had a fantastic idea with play and dine. The kids can eat with you as a family but then you can have some couple time to finish up your meal and have desert or a glass of wine. Its amazing how relaxing it is to finish a meal at your own pace with no "potty breaks" or incidents!! lol

 

[Sir William]

Let them snack halfway between lunch and dinnertime; that won't ruin their meal. And there's no need to keep them at the table! Let them go off to the kid's club. Heck, if they don't want the MDR meal, give them pizza or something else and just send them to the kid's club even before dining seating. PLAN for it, don't let it just happen.

Agree. We've always had late seating and I find it's a long time between lunch and dinner, so I have a light snack about 4pm. Not a huge meal, just something to tide me over a bit until dinner - perhaps ice cream, a slice of pizza, cheese and crackers from room service, or something similar.

Also, I've noticed a lot of kids at the late seating wanting to eat quickly so they can return to the clubs. They've had family time at the pool or on an excursion so are ready for some kid-time. As a result the parents get some adult time. Everyone is happy, which is what you want to have on vacation.

 

[bumbershoot]

He was really intreged by the fact that the kids club consulors will come and get the kids..

They do not come INTO the restaurant.

When you sit, tell your server that you will be participating in that. That gets the kids ordered quickly, and gets their food to them quickly. Then make sure the server helps you remember to take the kids to the front of the restaurant to meet the CMs.

Do NOT wait for them to get you. If you do that you won't be pleased.

 

[TrySomethingNew]

We cruised with a 5yo and 13yo and had 2nd seating. It was too late for us, and 5yo fell asleep all but one night before dessert. We never saw the kids club counselors come to get the kids either (Dream). We are used to eating earlier, and I don't like to go to bed feeling really full. However, this year we will go on a European DCL and have early seating, kids are a bit older, but I still don't think I would enjoy eating so late at night. I'll know if we like early seating better later this summer. Good Luck with your decision.