Dining with kids in MDR

[peppermintpatty]

I have only been on one cruise before (as you can see below) and I remember only seeing a couple of kids on RCCL during dinner. Now my parents, who have sailed many times on many different lines, just came home from one on Holland's Westerdam. I was talking about needing to get the kids clothes for dining in the MDR and my mom said that most of the kids just eat in the club and that they hardly ever saw any kids.

 

Hey, I am all for having my kids spend time in the camp but I really don't feel like it would be too much to have my kids eat in the MDR. They are 7 and 11 and very well behaved and as much as my 7 year bugs me with all his questions, it would feel weird to not have them eat with us.

 

Have you noticed many kids eating in the MDR? My kids love getting dressed up and eating in "fancy" restaurants.

[deffenm]

My kids are 6, 9, 11 and I plan to have them eat with us in the MDR. My kids also love to dress up and try different foods. This is a family vacation for us and I want to spend time as a family.

[mkinmidtn]

Take them to the MDR with you. They will love it and the staff will treat them great. I have only been on a few cruises but there were several kids in the MDR on them. Carnival usually does a good job of matching table mates up. Last cruise was myself, grandmother and my daughter (15 at the time) and they sat us with families with other kids her age. Have a great time!!:)

[iluvdoxies]

Yes there a quite a few for the early seating.

[Wavesprite]

Our children will eat with us in the MDR. We might let them eat in camp one or two nights....but mostly they will eat with us. Last cruise they were 3 and 6 and LOVED it. The staff treated them so well and they got to try things they probably wouldn't normally get to try.

[kaleco4]

Hi Peppermintpatty,

 

My girls (8 & 11) will be on their 5th cruise in May. They eat in the dining room most nights and love it:). My 11 yr-old is an adventurous eater and loves all the different foods she can get. My 8 yr. old has always asked for the childs menu (you can request them in the MDR). However; this year we have told her she has to eat from the "Adult" menu as she is growing up:p. We let them eat with their friends in Camp Carnival about 2 times per cruise (7 day cruise) and sometimes Meghan (oldest) will eat with us every night.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[momjen]

Hey, I am all for having my kids spend time in the camp but I really don't feel like it would be too much to have my kids eat in the MDR. They are 7 and 11 and very well behaved and as much as my 7 year bugs me with all his questions, it would feel weird to not have them eat with us.

 

 

I have a 7 year old Question Boy too! LOL!!! My kids are 9 and 7 and they will be eating with us each night. As will my friend's boys 8 and 6. I showed them some of the menus and they are ready to try new things. My DS wants to be a chef so he's all for eating in the MDR.

[MrPete]

I have only been on one cruise before (as you can see below) and I remember only seeing a couple of kids on RCCL during dinner. Now my parents, who have sailed many times on many different lines, just came home from one on Holland's Westerdam. I was talking about needing to get the kids clothes for dining in the MDR and my mom said that most of the kids just eat in the club and that they hardly ever saw any kids.

 

Hey, I am all for having my kids spend time in the camp but I really don't feel like it would be too much to have my kids eat in the MDR. They are 7 and 11 and very well behaved and as much as my 7 year bugs me with all his questions, it would feel weird to not have them eat with us.

 

Have you noticed many kids eating in the MDR? My kids love getting dressed up and eating in "fancy" restaurants.

 

Many kids.

 

My DD has been on 9 cruises, between the ages of 4 and 10, and has never even set foot in one of those jails.

[Mel1322]

We plan on having our kids eat with us every night in the MDR. Our daughter (16) will love to get dressed up. We plan on our kids going to camp, but will want to spend dinner time together.:)

[ms-getaway]

Yes! Bring your children although I would suggest the early seating. Dinner can take awhile and the late seating may have them a little tired. Enjoy your trip

[MamaParrotHead]

My kids ate with us every night. It was a nice time to catch up and review all the fun we had during the day. My kids were 6 and 10 when we sailed and were perfectly well behaved.

[bankerbabe]

We took our kids on their first cruise in 2009 and they ate every meal in the dining room with us. They were 13 and 8 at the time and they totally enjoyed it. In fact, my daughter was so happy that shrimp cocktail was on the menu every night that she had it every single night. On the last night, our fantastic waiter brought her two and she was tickled pink.

 

For me, dinner is an event. It's not just the food, but the dressing nicely (we always dress for dinner, either formal on formal nights, or sundresses for other nights), being served by friendly waiters, and chatting with our table mates. I can't imagine NOT sharing that with my kids.

 

My kids are well versed in table manners, and we have always taken them out to restaurants so they are used to behaving themselves. If your kids aren't accustomed to restaurants, it probably wouldn't hurt to either take them out or practice at home. I vote for taking them out . . . . it's always nice to skip the cooking. That kind of "research" is fun!

[Warm Breezes]

My kids have been on 6 cruises since they were 4 and 7 (now 13 and 15) and they have eaten in the MDR every cruise night with us. DD loves to dress up for cruise elegant night, DS not so much but he will put on a dress shirt and dress pants to eat with us. They both enjoy trying different food on a cruise ship (I wish I could get them to do that at home too!) Take your kids and enjoy some great family time over dinner with them.

[tamaru]

Just back from the Destiny last week with our 9-year old son, which was his first cruise. He ate in the dining room with us every single night. The staff gave him special attention and he enjoyed every minute of it. He ordered off the main menu and children's menu both. Take your kids! You will all enjoy it!

[lollylew]

This cruise will be my first time taking my son with me and I am totally planning on having him eat with me. I consider it to be "family time" and don't want him off eating at Camp Carnival. That said...on my previous cruises I have noticed children in the MDR but it didn't bother me; it would be like going to a nice restaurant at home and if some kids aren't behaving, I would hope their parents would take care of the situation. :)

[melanie1877]

My kids have been on 6 cruises since they were 4 and 7 (now 13 and 15) and they have eaten in the MDR every cruise night with us. DD loves to dress up for cruise elegant night, DS not so much but he will put on a dress shirt and dress pants to eat with us. They both enjoy trying different food on a cruise ship (I wish I could get them to do that at home too!) Take your kids and enjoy some great family time over dinner with them.

 

 

I am taking my 3yo on our first cruise this May. As long as he is behaving properly, I plan on eating in the MDR with him every night. I do have a question, though. My son has a very "grown up palette". He likes steak, grilled chicken, and (can you believe it) broccoli. So I was planning on ordering off of the regular menu for him. However, he is only 3, so there is no way he could finish a full size portion. I was wondering if I could get the waiter to bring a half size or a smaller size portion. I hate to waste food, but I don't want to cause the waiter any added grief, either. Does anyone know if this is ever done? thanks in advance:)

[SH2167]

I agree - take your kids to the MDR! We just got back from a cruise a week ago and our daughter ate with us every night. (She is nine.) There is a kids menu available, although we didn't even give her that option this time. She tried many different things - some she liked ("Mom, this is AMAZING!") and other things not so much. We actually do late seating - not as many kids as early seating I'm sure, but plenty just the same. In my mind this is all a part of the cruise experience and I'd hate to not share it with her.

[barbgazz]

I am taking my 3yo on our first cruise this May. As long as he is behaving properly, I plan on eating in the MDR with him every night. I do have a question, though. My son has a very "grown up palette". He likes steak, grilled chicken, and (can you believe it) broccoli. So I was planning on ordering off of the regular menu for him. However, he is only 3, so there is no way he could finish a full size portion. I was wondering if I could get the waiter to bring a half size or a smaller size portion. I hate to waste food, but I don't want to cause the waiter any added grief, either. Does anyone know if this is ever done? thanks in advance:)

 

It is definately more trouble to get you a small order than to just get a regular plate. You could always get a service plate and give your child part of you and your partner's dinner. Or just take the full serving and help the child eat it.

[MrPete]

I am taking my 3yo on our first cruise this May. As long as he is behaving properly, I plan on eating in the MDR with him every night. I do have a question, though. My son has a very "grown up palette". He likes steak, grilled chicken, and (can you believe it) broccoli. So I was planning on ordering off of the regular menu for him. However, he is only 3, so there is no way he could finish a full size portion. I was wondering if I could get the waiter to bring a half size or a smaller size portion. I hate to waste food, but I don't want to cause the waiter any added grief, either. Does anyone know if this is ever done? thanks in advance:)

 

I would think that the special request would be more of a hassle.

 

At 4, we ordered both a kids meal AND an adult meal for her. And the two of us picked as well.

 

I applaud you not wanting to waste, but the portions are not that large to begin with. Which is probably why I usually order 2 entrees for myself.

[cawagner]

Our son is 13 and will be eating with us every night in the MDR and we have late dining time..I am all for camp carnival and the activities but dinner time is family time. Even at home we all eat dinner at the table together, always. When our kids (23, 20, 18 and 13) have friends over the friends think its so odd that we all sit and eat dinner together, at the table or that I bother to cook LOL.

[soccerATAmom]

The dining room is great for kids. I would suggest the early seating as some really cool activities in Kids in the evenings and if they have late seating they miss the activities or dinner (the only thing they really do in camp carnival during early seating is the kids dinner and video games). My son is not an adventurous eater and would just order a burger, dog or chicked nuggets each night...but we were all together.

 

My daughter is 16 and son is 11. There were three other families at our table and all the kids were near the same age. CCL did a great job with that.

 

Also noted that dress shorts and at least short sleeved shirts were perfectly acceptable in the dinning room on cruise casual night - but mine chose to dress for dinner each night.

[peppermintpatty]

Wow! So many responses. Thanks so much guys! We are signed up for the early seating. My parents are very tolerant of kids (well my mom is anyway :) but she thought they would enjoy it more being in the camp. I know my kids will enjoy the MDR more than the camp.

 

Personally, I don't really care what other people think about me bringing my kids into the MDR. :) I know that they are well behaved and they know what I expect from them. I want them to try a lot of different foods so I think the MDR will be better for them. We do eat out quite a bit and have gone to really nice restaurants with them. They really behave themselves.

 

It is great that they may seat us near/with other families. That would be cool.

[Angeleyes1382]

Definitely they can eat in the MDR! My son absolutely loved eating in the MDR. He's 5. He ordered from the regular menu and was able to try some things he had never tried before. He never ate off the kids menu because we don't eat mac and cheese, hamburgers, and french fries every night at home and we definitely don't on vacation. He loved choosing what he wanted to eat from the menu. The wait staff was great with him, they even cut up his duck the night he had duck. He ate with us in the MDR every night except the night we were going to go to the steakhouse. We had a backpack we took with us that had some coloring books, crayons, pencils, notebooks, a calculator (he loves calculators), and a book or two. Sometimes he used them, sometimes he didn't.

[Jolimont]

Our daughter always ate with us in the MDR, well behaved, no trouble whatsoever. They usually put families with kids together so the kids can get to know one another and the parents won't be freaked out if the kid spills a drink or something. I even shared a table with two couples on different cruises who had a seriously handicapped children. Never a problem. I see lots of kids in the dining room, you'll be fine there!

[Judge Smails]

I have only been on one cruise before (as you can see below) and I remember only seeing a couple of kids on RCCL during dinner. Now my parents, who have sailed many times on many different lines, just came home from one on Holland's Westerdam. I was talking about needing to get the kids clothes for dining in the MDR and my mom said that most of the kids just eat in the club and that they hardly ever saw any kids.

 

Hey, I am all for having my kids spend time in the camp but I really don't feel like it would be too much to have my kids eat in the MDR. They are 7 and 11 and very well behaved and as much as my 7 year bugs me with all his questions, it would feel weird to not have them eat with us.

 

Have you noticed many kids eating in the MDR? My kids love getting dressed up and eating in "fancy" restaurants.

 

We just got off Destiny Sat. My kids are 4 and 6 and took every dinner w/ us in the MDR. There's plenty of time for Camp Carnival otherwise. I enjoyed us all having dinner as a family. There were many kids in the MDR -- I'm sure the fact that it was Easter week had a lot to do w/ that -- but still, you should definitely bring your kids to the MDR if you want to.