eating at random times....

So I have question, we have teens in our group, who will likely not get up early on ship days, is it ok for some in our party to head to dining room,and others to go later whenever they get up? Separate dining?

Unfortunately the breakfast hours don't suit teenagers, because there's no breakfast available for when they emerge from their pits at 3 in the afternoon ;p

The self-service buffet is open for breakfast from daft o'clock in the morning til around 11am / 11.30.

Usually the buffet is then closed for 30 to 60 minutes for clean-up & a switch from breakfast items to lunch items, though some close different parts of the buffet to provide continuous service.

Even in the main dining room there's no set time or designated table for breakfast or lunch (ditto for the evening if you've chosen / been allocated "anytime " or "mytime" or similarly-phrased arrangements rather than "fixed" / "traditional" dining).

The main dining room is "open seating" for breakfast (and lunch) - you simply roll up during the advertised hours (shorter hours than the buffet breakfast, something like 7am to 9.30), & you'll be shown to a seat. Usually a serviced breakfast, but sometimes things like cereals are self-service.

Different cruise lines different policies and timings, but that's broadly the same for most (all?) cruise lines.

So yes, no worries about them dining separately :)

JB :)

Most folks eat in the buffet (Lido) for breakfast. The hours and service are better for those who rise at random times.

Teens are usually very adaptable. If they miss food one day, they'll catch on quick that the ship has a schedule for food.

OTOH, they can have pizza 24/7 (at least on Carnival).

The DR has very set hours for breakfast and lunch. And the buffet is only open slightly longer( before and after MDR hours)

If they do not get up there n time, their options will be very limited. That being said, seating is as you arrive , usually to fill a large table

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Eating should be of no concern whatsoever. There is always food somewhere just about anytime.

As for being concerned about how others eat, well, do not even give it a thought, they will not starve.

On most ships there will be hamburgers, etc. available within a few minutes of the closing of the breakfast buffet; I doubt any teen will be at any risk (other than of limiting his/her choice).

Anyone can eat wherever they want, whenever they want...you are not bound by being in a "party" or "group"! You can go once place, your spouse can go elsewhere...it's all good!

Now, if you have "traditional" seating for dinner, all who will be dining in the dining room need to show up on time....but, if someone would rather eat elsewhere, that's fine,too! If your group has MTD, then you can go together, or not...that's entirely up to you!

There will almost always been something to eat somewhere on the ship. However breakfast foods (eggs, bacon, cereal, yogurt etc.) are only available at breakfast time. Occasionally I have been able to persuade somebody to get me a yogurt at lunch time & I was able to convince somebody to make me a grilled cheese & bacon sandwich once. They are pretty flexible. Your family won't starve.

There's also room service. The menu, hours, and/or charges vary according to the cruise line. If there are fees, they're minimal (not like the heart failure inducing prices in a hotel).

If we know what line you're sailing, we can give more specific info....

There is also room service.

The DR has very set hours for breakfast and lunch. And the buffet is only open slightly longer( before and after MDR hours)

 

If they do not get up there n time, their options will be very limited. That being said, seating is as you arrive , usually to fill a large table

 

 

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If you prefer a table for just your party at breakfast in the MDR, just ask and they will accommodate you. You may have to wait a minute or two (five minutes at most), but it is usually not a problem. Just FYI!:D

Since it appears that you are on a Holland America ship to Alaska, your best source for precise information will be the HAL board here at CC. EM

thanks for all the info..... no I'm not worried they'll starve, I guess I was just wondering about how it all operates.... If they eat nothing but cheeseburgers for a week, that's fine..... I want to hit that dining room anyway!

When we cruised with our teens we never ate together as a family, they were always off doing their thing (or sleeping, which often equated to the same thing). I don't recall any of them losing any weight:D.

Yes to the fact if it's ok to eat separately. With the exception of dinner, anyone can eat whenever and wherever they feel during the hours of operation. As others said, typically there is a main buffet plus a pool buffet and with a variety of meal and snack hours. Now, if you are set for traditional dining, you will only be able to eat in the MDR during your dining time. They will have a seat reserved for everyone in your party. It's fine if someone doesn't come, but good manners to tell someone who is going or the dining staff so no one waits for them. But they won't be able to eat at the MDR later, just the buffet or another dining venue. If you have anything dining, none of that applies. Eat when and with whom you like.

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We often travel as a large extended family and with teens/young people. My teen Grandson and his friend always had a separate cabin. I rise earlier than any of our group so I go grab something like a pastry and coffee to hold me over until some of the rest of my group gets ready to head to the buffet or MDR for breakfast. On one cruise, my Grandson and his friend slept until the buffet was closing and they couldn't get breakfast. They had to settle for a pastry and wait until lunch was set up. They made sure they had a wake up call for the remainder of the cruise. You can all eat one at a time or all together....or do like me and have breakfast twice. ;p

I have three sons who were tweens and teens on our first cruise and older teens on our last cruise. I can testify that cruise dining is ideally suited to teenage appetites and eating habits. There is ALWAYS food. In abundance. A diverse selection from healthy to not so healthy. Don't worry. Those who sleep in will quickly figure out where the food is when they're not sleeping.

if they have an international cafe they are 24/7 ,

when i think on it i can not remember eating lunch on my cruise ??

would have thought i had it but just don't remember

thanks for the tip, I'm taking my daughter 14 and my son 11...I bet they will love the food

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thanks for the tip, I'm taking my daughter 14 and my son 11...I bet they will love the food

 

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Just a warning, if your kids are anything like mine, they will find out that lobster, crab, shrimp/shrimp dijon are pretty darn good, so, when you get home then go out to dinner ....... :eek:

Just a warning, if your kids are anything like mine, they will find out that lobster, crab, shrimp/shrimp dijon are pretty darn good, so, when you get home then go out to dinner ....... :eek:

yeah! that's risky, but i guess it worths every cent 😉

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la ca gal - funny!!!

I sometimes get my "mealtimes" screwed up on a cruise because of an excursion that ends later than we thought or I just get hungry at an odd time. Love that there is always something to eat somewhere on the ship. Last summer on an excursion, we got hot, sweaty and we were late getting back to our cabin. The buffet was about to close and we were disgusting. We had two adjoining balcony cabins with the doors between them opened, so we decided to order room service and while we were waiting, we could take turns getting a quick, much needed shower. We were starving and we ordered burgers, pizza, salads, fruit and desserts. The food arrived just after the last one finished showering and dressing. It was honestly one of the BEST meals on the entire cruise...LOL. I don't know if it was because we were so hungry but we are still talking about how much we enjoyed that meal and the number of covered plates that arrived for us. That's the biggest meal we've ever ordered from room service. We were laughing and eating and wondering what to do with all those empty plates and covers.

I gather we are talking about Holland America...which actually has about the most limited meal hours of all the mass market cruise lines. You will get a daily schedule that will specify the daily meal hours for each of the dining venues. The Main Dining Room has very restricted hours for breakfast and when its over...it is over. The Lido Buffet is open longer...but I think on most HAL cruises the Lido will stop serving breakfast food by 10:30 and then open for lunch around 11:30. There is room service, but the menu is very limited and service can be slower then one might expect.

But there is a basic rule about teens on cruise ships. THEY WILL NOT STARVE! Teens are very good at finding food when they need to eat :). If your teens do not want to be with the adults for breakfast or lunch...they will do fine. At dinner, we are big believers that families should try to eat together.

Hank

We are big believers in everyone sharing dinner together too, Hank. We tried the MTD once and it was just a way for my teen nephew and my sister to be extremely making us all miss our reservation time. We choose the traditional dining time. I love hearing what everyone did during the day and for breakfast and lunch they are on their own. We've done early and late dining, depending on the itinerary. If it's a Med cruise it's port intensive and we do late dining. If it's the Caribbean, we do early dining so everyone has plenty of time to do whatever they chose to do after dinner, whether it's a show, club, casino or shopping on board.