Poll: First time cruiser, son will be 2 at time of cruising. First or Second dining? Ready?...Go!

[Sevenwords]

So as stated in the title, our family is super excited about our first DCL cruise and our son will be a little over 2 years old at the time we go. Currently we have first dining, because I figured 2nd dining was too late for him. After watching a recent DisUnplugged DCL video, I'm doubting my choice, because it sounds like 2nd dining is a little more stress free if you try to do shows,/come back from port, etc. Please let me know your experience, esp if you have kids of a like age. Thank you!

 

[CaptainJack4077913]

I agree that 2nd dining might be a little.more stress free when you're getting back on the ship, but I think first dining is better. That way he can eat dinner and maybe fall asleep at the show. Otherwise he might fall asleep during the show and then you'd have to try to wake him up for dinner. We also prefer 1st dining generally.

 

[ahain]

I suppose a lot depends on your son's normal schedule, but IMHO, late dining might be "too much" for a little who has had a very exciting day and may be tired and cranky.

 

[Geomom]

What time do you normally eat dinner at home? I would pick the dining time that most lines up with that.

BTW, I picked first dining, as I know that my family prefers eating around 6PM, and 1 of my daughters gets hangry--she's still like that at 15, lol.

 

[NAB]

2 is pretty young. Our daughter was 3 the first cruise and she fell asleep between two chairs at dinner. The servers covered her with a table cloth....lol

Only you know your child , is he a night hawk. They will bring out their dinner first but then your dinner will go longer . This will happen at either dinner. Depending on what ship your on a stroller will not fit in the dinning room for them to sleep either.

 

[Quellman]

It does not appear you need to change time zones. Speaking from experience (we have sailed with a kid at 1 year, 14 months, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years) it just depends. We did late dining for all but 1 of our trips. We prefer late dining. We would put the kid down for an extra nap (3 instead of 2) and it worked well. You could also check the kid into the nursery and you could enjoy quiet dinners all week.

We did find on our last trip that early dining just isn't for us. Too much rushing around to get ready etc on port days. We prefer the second seating. Also keep in mind if you want breakfast the last morning, then you need to be there at like 0630 for first seating. That was retched with littles.

 

[Sevenwords]

It does not appear you need to change time zones. Speaking from experience (we have sailed with a kid at 1 year, 14 months, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years) it just depends. We did late dining for all but 1 of our trips. We prefer late dining. We would put the kid down for an extra nap (3 instead of 2) and it worked well. You could also check the kid into the nursery and you could enjoy quiet dinners all week.

We did find on our last trip that early dining just isn't for us. Too much rushing around to get ready etc on port days. We prefer the second seating. Also keep in mind if you want breakfast the last morning, then you need to be there at like 0630 for first seating. That was retched with littles.

You kinda touched upon another thing we are considering. I wanted to do Palo or Remy with my wife, but...let's just say she isn't too thrilled about leaving our 2 year old with anyone....so that probably won't happen on this cruise.

 

[Quellman]

You kinda touched upon another thing we are considering. I wanted to do Palo or Remy with my wife, but...let's just say she isn't too thrilled about leaving our 2 year old with anyone....so that probably won't happen on this cruise.

Our 1st born at 14 months. the DCL nursery was his first time being cared for by non-family. We did the Nursery Open houses so the kid knew the area and the stuff there. Mom dropped him off and had a great time. In fact when we went back a second time, the kiddo went straight to the gate just begging to go in before we had finished the check in process! Mom survived as did we all and had a great time! Good luck with it. We love the nursery staff. I also think that if you do the open houses and get to know some of the crew it might put you at ease. In fact do the nursery openhouses even if you odn't plan on using them. Kids new toys and stimulation, and I don't want a suitcase of toys to take!

 

[Tulip2796]

On our 1st DCL cruise one of my kids was 2 and we did 1st dining. Even with taking his regular 2-hour naps he still wasn't able to stay up past 8ish. We did 7-night cruises at those young ages and even so, my youngest still took his regular naps and went to bed close to his regular bedtime (one parent stayed in room and other went with other child to shows, etc). Sticking to regular nap/sleep schedules was some of the best advice I got on these boards. My kids were not overtired by the end of the week and so we avoided tantrums and meltdowns and had an absolutely wonderful time!

 

[Calantha]

My 5 year old is an early bird and goes to bed early (on the cruise, he was 4.5). We were up every morning at 6 and he was in bed NLT 8 - so the early dining was perfect.

 

[lklgoodman]

It does not appear you need to change time zones. Speaking from experience (we have sailed with a kid at 1 year, 14 months, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years) it just depends. We did late dining for all but 1 of our trips. We prefer late dining. We would put the kid down for an extra nap (3 instead of 2) and it worked well. You could also check the kid into the nursery and you could enjoy quiet dinners all week.

We did find on our last trip that early dining just isn't for us. Too much rushing around to get ready etc on port days. We prefer the second seating. Also keep in mind if you want breakfast the last morning, then you need to be there at like 0630 for first seating. That was retched with littles.

You can go to Cabanas for breakfast on the last morning if you don't want to get up that early(that's what we do, less rushed that way). We have always done the first dining and haven't felt rushed getting ready for it.

 

[ghtx]

LOL the late dining is too late even for ME, let alone a 2-year-old!

 

[ScooterScott44]

Almost all of our cruises have had late dining. Our son has averaged over one cruise per year since the age of one and has done fine with late dining.

On the one cruise we did with extended family we did the early dining and it was ok but most nights included a meltdown from at least one or more of the kids. The cruise schedule really had them going along until late afternoon and they did fine. Naps either got missed or cut short to get to early dining.

Kids are remarkably resilient and will likely adjust pretty easily. (Most at least). Having the late dining really allows a nice afternoon break and nap, even beneficial for Adults. If you get hungry there are plenty of snacks around.