Second seating with young kids?

[thinkoflaura]

You know your kid better than anyone, but just wanted to chime in to say we've done second seating on every cruise so far -- starting when my daughter was 6 -- and we had no issue (and we also eat around 6 at home). We'd get back from excursions, have a snack by the pool, freshen up, go see the show (or she'd go to the club) and then we'd head to dinner. What's nice is during the 2nd seating, the kids club team will come in to take any bored kids to the clubs. When she was younger (and would order off the kids menus), she'd sometimes opt to go... not so much anymore as she prefers the food from the adult menu and they don't usually rush those meals out like the kids meals.

So if you end up with the later seating, it might not be as bad as you think. Have a great time!!!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I would say keep asking late is too late for your children at that age.

The home time zone thing doesn't work at all and is a myth. Children adapt quickly to the local time zone and the sun. They will be up early, excited they will eat breakfast local ship time, eat lunch local ship time, or if off in port local island time, so it doesn't make any sense to then switch back to home time for dinner.

If ship breakfast is 7.30 to 10 am, lunch 12 noon to 2 pm, then it's a long long way to 8.15, ( going in and served food 8.30). They will hit the fast food places St 6 pm, so eat more bad food than good sit down food. Then eating at 8.30 there is far less time for all that food, with snacks and soda to go down and there is a reasonable chance of upset tummy.

I read your OP post it's clear you know you want main dinner, keep asking DCL by phone ( TA if booked by TA) and as you go on ask again if you do not have it.

I have seen too many children asleep or having meltdowns on late after an exciting day, as said home time zone is a total Myth. If your family eats at 8 pm normally well that's a different thing. We are from the UK so the home time zone advice would be breakfast at 2 am, lunch at 7 am and dinner at 1 pm.

 

[perditax]

This thread is from 2012. Not sure how it got dug up. Zombie thread!

 

[cedricandsophie]

Tried first seating once and hated it. Second seating is so much more relaxing. We have been on 17 Disney cruises. Kids started going at age 5. Second seating has never been a probkem. Just get a piece of pizza or something else in the late afternoon. From my perspective it's great. I have seen all the shows and rarely go although my husband loves them. The rest of the family gets ready to go to 630 show. I take my time, go have a drink somewhere and meet everyone after show. We either all go to the family show right before dinner or the family does their own thing and my husband and I go to piano bar. We all meet up at dinner Then the kids go to the club to hang out with friends and we go to adult bar for music or whatever.

 

[Scillycruisers]

After 3 cruises with early seating, we switched to late for the last 2 and would not switch back. DS was 6 the first time we did the late and he coped fine, we got him a snack in the afternoon to tide him over. It also meant we got to try a lot of the family things before late dinner which worked better than doing them after a big meal. Also DS could do dine and play when there was something he wanted to do on in the club.
If you still want to change, then do ask. We had actually had early seating reserved for both our last 2 cruises just in case we wanted it, then made the change a short while before the cruise so tables will be coming available as others do the same.

 

[The Sasquatch]

Early dinner always seemed too early to us. We switched to late on our last cruise, and will never go back. Late dinning allows the kids time in the pool after 5 when it's less crowded. You won't need to rush back from castaway cay to change for dinner. You can see the shows before dinner! It makes for a much more relaxing afternoon. Our 9 year old insisted on late dining next cruise.
There's always the chance of switching to early if you wait list. We were wait listed our first two cruises, and got early both times. But that's a family of three. It may not be as easy with a group of 10.
Another plus of late dining is that you can nap in the late afternoon, then grab a snack (room service, by the pool, in the lounge district) to tide the kids over. Then a show before dinner. The wait staff can feed the kids first if they wish to do play and dine. They eat with you, then the councillors from the club retrieve them at the door of the dinning room and take them up to the club. You can enjoy dinner, then pick the kids up at the club. If you can get them to leave the clubs!

You hit everything we love about late dining too. We find it far more relaxing

 

[MunFam]

You do need to let your server know, and the counselors don't come into the restaurant. You have to keep track of time and take them out. And the timing is thrown off if your kid is like mine and orders from all over the menus. Best if the kids order from the kid menu. My son doesn't.

We had a different experience. Our 5 year old did not eat a single thing off the kid menu for 15 straight days and the counselors sort of paraded through the restaurant and then parents followed them to the door of the restaurant and signed them in there...then the kids left with the counselors. Our DD always made it to the club on time. We let our dining team know she was planning to go and they would speed her meal up. She did 3-4 courses each night.

Also, we requested late dining and loved it. There was something special about how quiet the ship got when the early diners retired to their cabins to dress for dinner and we were still in the pool. Before early dinner and before 2nd dinner released, the lines for photos and characters were always shorter than after.

 

[funfam]

For my family second seating is the best by far. I think each parent needs to look at their family dynamic and see what works for them. We tend to eat late most days anyway since DH doesn't get home until after 7pm. On the ship we like to have a relaxing afternoon, we snack from grill or room service, see the show (if we haven't seen it a few times before), get some family pics and then have a leisurely dinner. Sometimes DS9 goes to the kids club at 9:15pm and sometimes he stays for the whole meal. For us, the more relaxed pace of the second seating is a better fit.

 

[zephyr'd]

I have this same concern! I think my older one could handle late seating, he will be about 3.75 when we cruise in February, and I'll happily let him go to the club so that won't be an issue. I'm more worried about my little guy, who will be 15 months and right at that age where dinner (and everything else) became a struggle with my first -- too big to be settled down with a bottle and too little to have the patience or understanding of long dinners, and not old enough for the club yet. I saw one thread where the suggestion was made to put little ones in the nursery for dinner every night but I'm not really sure how realistic that is. (?) Has anyone had a toddler at late seating without epic meltdowns?

 

[funfam]

I have this same concern! I think my older one could handle late seating, he will be about 3.75 when we cruise in February, and I'll happily let him go to the club so that won't be an issue. I'm more worried about my little guy, who will be 15 months and right at that age where dinner (and everything else) became a struggle with my first -- too big to be settled down with a bottle and too little to have the patience or understanding of long dinners, and not old enough for the club yet. I saw one thread where the suggestion was made to put little ones in the nursery for dinner every night but I'm not really sure how realistic that is. (?) Has anyone had a toddler at late seating without epic meltdowns?

If I was cruising with a 15 month old I think I would eat in Cabanas most nights. While I haven't cruised with a toddler, I have parented 3 and those days are a bit crazy. As you said, getting them to sit for a long meal can be difficult and the strict schedule that goes with dining in the MDR would have been very hard with my boys. At Cabanas, it is still a sit down meal with options from the nightly menus but you can go when you like. So, you can go when your child is in the right mood rather than trying to get your child into the right mood at a set time. YKWIM? In the end, I think this would be much less hassle for you and lead to a more peaceful dining experience for your whole family. Maybe try the MDR for Animator's since the show will help keep both kids occupied but I think Cabanas would be my go to the rest of the time. JMHO.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If I was cruising with a 15 month old I think I would eat in Cabanas most nights. While I haven't cruised with a toddler, I have parented 3 and those days are a bit crazy. As you said, getting them to sit for a long meal can be difficult and the strict schedule that goes with dining in the MDR would have been very hard with my boys. At Cabanas, it is still a sit down meal with options from the nightly menus but you can go when you like. So, you can go when your child is in the right mood rather than trying to get your child into the right mood at a set time. YKWIM? In the end, I think this would be much less hassle for you and lead to a more peaceful dining experience for your whole family. Maybe try the MDR for Animator's since the show will help keep both kids occupied but I think Cabanas would be my go to the rest of the time. JMHO.

Just a note, Cabanas is not open for dinner the first and last nights of a cruise.

 

[zephyr'd]

At Cabanas, it is still a sit down meal with options from the nightly menus but you can go when you like. So, you can go when your child is in the right mood rather than trying to get your child into the right mood at a set time. YKWIM?

Iiinteresting. We have done Carnival, Holland, and RC before, and I had been thinking about Cabanas like the buffets there -- not at all like the quality/menu available in the dining rooms. That's definitely food for thought. Thank you!

Is there a way to find out in advance which nights are at Animator's or Pirate Night? I think I have figured out that they tell you your rotation on arrival, but what about in advance for planning nursery reservations?

 

[funfam]

You can request a dining rotation but you won't know for sure until you arrive. Pirate night will be listed as a ship event under your reservation online so you can check that ahead of time.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

You can request a dining rotation but you won't know for sure until you arrive. Pirate night will be listed as a ship event under your reservation online so you can check that ahead of time.

Sometimes the online cruise events calendar is a bit off. Our upcoming cruise has us having our sail-away party on debarkation day.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Iiinteresting. We have done Carnival, Holland, and RC before, and I had been thinking about Cabanas like the buffets there -- not at all like the quality/menu available in the dining rooms. That's definitely food for thought. Thank you!

Is there a way to find out in advance which nights are at Animator's or Pirate Night? I think I have figured out that they tell you your rotation on arrival, but what about in advance for planning nursery reservations?

Good advice is to go on your cruise meets for your cruise and ask anyone in concierge to find out from shoreside concierge what the shows and MDR rotation is.

 

[lisamarie12]

Late seating worked well for us with our DD (4). She is not one to lay down mid day and take a nap (for us anyway). But there was enough going on that she needed a rest. So usually about 4-5 she finally would crash (even if we tried to lay down earlier, she would play). Early dinner just would not have worked because we would have had to wake her up. But our DD is not used to going to bed super early either. We try, but she is just more of a night owl (like her dad).

 

[anricat]

I would say keep asking late is too late for your children at that age.

The home time zone thing doesn't work at all and is a myth. Children adapt quickly to the local time zone and the sun. They will be up early, excited they will eat breakfast local ship time, eat lunch local ship time, or if off in port local island time, so it doesn't make any sense to then switch back to home time for dinner.

Perhaps your experience and your children, but not my DD. Everyone knows their children best, but my child can take quite awhile to adjust to local time. We are central time and on our last Dream cruise, my daughter did not adjust the whole time. In Florida for 5 days and she remained on central time, waking up like clockwork at her normal 7:30 AM central time wakeup.

We're in Seattle right now on vacation. Poor thing has been waking up at 5:30 AM since we got here, despite me trying to put her to bed at 8 PM local time. *sigh*

We will be going with late seating again for our Caribbean cruise in October. And even through we're moving back for Alaska next summer, we're still going to stick with late seating. There are always plenty of things to eat and we feel with the show time being slightly later than first seating, we get a little extra time.

I mean, either way, you're either watching a show or dining so you're still awake. You can sort of rush through dinner. You can't exactly get the show to move more quickly.

 

[funfam]

Good advice is to go on your cruise meets for your cruise and ask anyone in concierge to find out from shoreside concierge what the shows and MDR rotation is.

I don't see how someone else in a concierge room can tell you what night you will be in Animator's. That makes zero sense. As I said, you can call in and request a rotation but they won't guarantee it. But, they will try and you can work off of that. When you call, they will be able to tell you the various rotations available for your cruise.

Perhaps your experience and your children, but not my DD. Everyone knows their children best, but my child can take quite awhile to adjust to local time. We are central time and on our last Dream cruise, my daughter did not adjust the whole time. In Florida for 5 days and she remained on central time, waking up like clockwork at her normal 7:30 AM central time wakeup.

We're in Seattle right now on vacation. Poor thing has been waking up at 5:30 AM since we got here, despite me trying to put her to bed at 8 PM local time. *sigh*

We will be going with late seating again for our Caribbean cruise in October. And even through we're moving back for Alaska next summer, we're still going to stick with late seating. There are always plenty of things to eat and we feel with the show time being slightly later than first seating, we get a little extra time.

I mean, either way, you're either watching a show or dining so you're still awake. You can sort of rush through dinner. You can't exactly get the show to move more quickly.

Based on the comments on other threads, I don't think DF has even sailed with kids. I might be wrong, but that is the impression I get. So, he/she is making assumptions. We all know how that ends up.

 

[afyoung]

We did the second seating on our first cruise because that was what was left when we booked. For our upcoming cruise I chose second seating. Here is why it worked for our family of 4 with DD9, DS8: We don't normally "do" fancy dinners. While it is fun to get dressed up and go out, an hour in any sit down restaurant is our limit for dining out. My husband has a bad back, so sitting upright in a possibly uncomfortable chair for more than an hour is not a good thing. So we went to our MDR second seating, ordered as soon as we were able, got the kids food ordered and delived quickly and then they could go on up to the kids club (where they wanted to be anyway). Then DH and I could finish at our own pace, and one night our server had dessert for everyone sent to the room because we all were ready to go. We felt less rushed to get to our second seating dining as opposed to an early one after being out and about all day, and since I was the only one interested in seeing the shows, I just watched them in the room while we got ready for dinner, or after we were in for the night (I did go watch Villains with my DD). The quick service food places up by the pool are a great place to grab a "tide you over" snack about 4pm to keep you going until the late dinner seating. What I discovered: You are not required to eat in the MDR, there is still a dinner buffet available with a casual dress code. The kids club will feed your child dinner, but it is usually during the first seating and you have to ask for them to be fed (they also do lunch I believe). But this solves even having to take your kids to the MDR- no matter your scheduled time. For our upcoming cruise we have already decided that whatever night's we are scheduled to eat at AP- those are the nights we will eat in the MDR. The other nights we will just have room service or the buffet. I know many people want the full experience of the MDRs, and that is great. But it just isn't for our family. So we are going to do what works best for us and allows us to be in the places we want to be rather than stuck in the MDR for 2 hours. Riding the Aquaduck at night with no line while everyone else is eating or at a show....that's where we want to be.

 

[Dismama2]

We have booked 3 last minute cruises, so have been been put in second seating each time. We have been able to switch each time to early with not problem. I was told (I can't remember by whom, if it was a TA or CM) that they try really hard to accommodate families with very small children. I don't know if that is "official" but we have had young children each time.

I can see some nice benefits to later seating - but for us, we aren't there yet!