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Are children required to eat off the kid's menu in the MDR?


ReikiontheRun
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I'm taking my two boys on their first cruise. Carnival Liberty . We aren't a kid's meal family. My kids prefer to split things off a regular menu because it tastes better.

 

Sorry if this has been asked, I couldn't find a search function on my phone! Thanks so much!

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Kudos to you for not raising picky eaters, and encouraging your children to think beyond nuggets and pizza. Your children will enjoy trying new dishes.

 

Roz

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Thanks for asking! This had occurred to me, though I figured I’d just order it for me if needed. One of my twins is extremely picky (and no this is not a choice or anything related to my parenting) and the other is a bit more adventurous.

 

 

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not an issue at all. however, if they eat off the regular menu at a specialty restaurant, be prepared to pay the full adult price for them

 

FTR, adult can eat off the kids menu as well. lots here recommend the brownie sundae for dessert.

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My Grandson started cruising at 4 and decided to have a taste of the food his Dad was enjoying and LOVED it. It was escargot. He asked the waiter if he could have it. My sister and her son were with us and she was horrified at the thought of him eating it. He's an adult now and never passes up a new food. It's a wonderful part of cruising that they can try out new foods.

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I'm taking my two boys on their first cruise. Carnival Liberty . We aren't a kid's meal family. My kids prefer to split things off a regular menu because it tastes better.

 

Sorry if this has been asked, I couldn't find a search function on my phone! Thanks so much!

 

One of my favorite parts of cruising when I was a kid was ordering all this fancy food. I could just try it. As it was free (included in price of cruise), I got no pressure at all from my parents to eat all of it even if I didn't like it, nothing saying it was too expensive, etc. They were basically, like "Go for it. Knock yourself out." I don't know that it really opened up my horizons any (I'm apparently not picky at all with some cuisines, but incredibly picky with others), but I'm glad to say I tried stuff like escargot or frog legs.

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I can only echo the above, if they want to try it they certainly may. (Of course if it's a surcharge item then you'd have to pay that, but that goes without saying which is probably why no one said it:).)

Oh. That'd be a bummer if there was a charge. I'd probably pass then. We were pretty excited about them getting to try things I wouldn't normally order.

 

Pizza and nuggets...ick!

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I think that charge they're referring to is in specialty restaurants, not the main dining room.

 

Roz

 

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Carnival has surcharge items on their MDR menu (items from the steakhouse) and I believe that NCL might, also. That is what I was referring to (I'm not sure to what other cruise lines it applies).

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Oh. That'd be a bummer if there was a charge. I'd probably pass then. We were pretty excited about them getting to try things I wouldn't normally order.

 

Pizza and nuggets...ick!

 

It's very limited and easy enough to avoid:).

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Ok. I see what you meant! I can avoid those! Sooooo glad!

 

We are really pumped for them to get to try new things! Hoping to add some variety to our current menu at home! They know they aren't allowed to say "eeew" or "gross", and they are already prepped for trying escargot!

 

Thanks, you all have been so helpful! They are over the moon and so am I. Will be so fun! 13 days...but who's counting?

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They make it abundantly clear what's extra charge. For the most part, it's an actual dining room that is extra charge (Carnival's regular MDR extra charge one is quite clear as far as I can see). I don't see it as an issue.

 

There's PLENTY of included (free) food in the menus. Feel free to split away.

 

My wife and I typically order most of the menu and then split. Our plates look like buffet plates instead of the pretty, mostly empty space fancy restaurant plating that it comes in, but we like to try everything. Can do so on a cruise without feeling guilty. And while it takes a LOT longer to eat, I find the quality to be quite a bit better than at the buffet.

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We aren't a kid's meal family. My kids prefer to split things

This is one of the perks of a cruise. They can each order complete meal separately, no need to share. ONLY draw back, if they don't eat enough waiter will offer to bring something else. That night's menu usually posted outside dining room. First day do a run through how to order, they'll do fine.

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When we took grandkids on a cruise one of the highlights for them was ordering from the menu in the MDR. Five of them were very adventurous and loved trying things like escargot (and rubbing it because Grandpa wouldn't). The youngest two were much more cautious and mostly ordered from the kids's menu.

 

I think it was such a nice change from being kind of 'managed' when eating out at home--due to food being already paid for and we didn't worry about 'healthy' eating for the cruise.

 

No pressure from us either way and we were fine if they tried something and didn't like it.. And the waiters were loved bringing them extra things to try and, after the first night, had chocolate milk waiting each night.

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While I you were asking about the MDR, I want to mention the specialty restaurants... they have a surcharge for everyone and there is an adult rate and a kid rate, if you were to go to one of these, the kid rate gets them the Kid's Menu, and the Adult rate gets them the Adult menu if you choose to order them adult food.

 

Children get no discount on their cruise fare, so it makes sense that they can get the adult food that's included with cruise fare.

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Our first cruise was last year on NCL, and the first time we ate in one of the dining rooms my kids thought they had to order off the kid menus. My oldest ordered off the regular menu, my youngest decided he would always use the adult menu after that night. They tried all sorts of stuff they wouldn't have at home...who knew they'd both love octopus sushi?! They can get kid meal stuff wherever, it's fun for them to get to try new stuff on a cruise (and without me having to pay for them to try it at a regular restaurant at home, lol!).

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Thanks, guys! We leave in 5 days, and are so pumped! I am very excited about them getting to try all the new things I wouldn't necessarily spend my money on when we are out. I'm not into wasting at all, and we usually split things, but I am going to try to not feel bad and see how many new things we can try while not being wasteful! They already agreed to try cold soup and escargot! WOOHOO! I think they are most excited about getting their OWN desserts! Hahaha!

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  • 2 weeks later...
My husband was ecstatic when he found out he could order the banana split off the kids’ menu!

 

 

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Funny! Cuts both ways. :cool:

 

Roz

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