Dining Time with Teens

[kathyemma]

We will be sailing on Freedom of the Seas for Thanksgiving. My dd will be 13. When she was little we did the early seating so she could hit kids club when it opened. I did not like having to leave the pool early or rush back onto ship but I did because I didn't want my dd to miss out on the start of the kids club. Now that she is older and in the teen club - when do all the kids get there? Should I still do early seating? Or do the older kids show up later for their activities? If that is the case we will do late seating. The last two times we did My Time and did not like it.

 

Thanks

 

Kathy

[Keri's Cruisin']

We will be sailing on Freedom of the Seas for Thanksgiving. My dd will be 13. When she was little we did the early seating so she could hit kids club when it opened. I did not like having to leave the pool early or rush back onto ship but I did because I didn't want my dd to miss out on the start of the kids club. Now that she is older and in the teen club - when do all the kids get there? Should I still do early seating? Or do the older kids show up later for their activities? If that is the case we will do late seating. The last two times we did My Time and did not like it.

 

Thanks

 

Kathy

Hey Kathy! Just sailed on the Majesty of the Seas with my 14 yr old son and did late dinner seating...well...he was so busy w teen activities by that time of night that he only ate dinner w us once. He ate with his friends in the windjammer when it worked for him. On past cruises I made him eat with us but this time I just couldn't pull him away from all the fun he was having. Next March will are going on the Oasis of the seas and decided to do my time dining to see if that might work better but I kind of wonder if he will be able to be "torn away" from his friends to "sit down" for dinner when there are soooo many options for dining. Dinner in the main dining room just takes too long anymore. It's at least 1 1/2 hours. If they could move you through there quicker he would be more willing to take the time to eat with us....Just my 2 cents.

[kathyemma]

I just put us on the wait list for early seating!

 

Kathy

[endymion6942]

My 14 & 18 year old sons both say early sitting.

The early sitting does not interfer with their "Teen" schedule.

[dohertm1]

My two teens actually prefer the late seating. Gives all of us more time to relax before dinner, especially when we are in a port. We all eat together, which is one of the things that makes cruising "family time" and they find plenty to do after dinner, including the shows, the Royal Promenade and the teen clubs.

 

Does anybody out there agree that eating together in the MDR is a highlight of cruising?

[funfamilyof6]

Late seating will definitely interfere with teen activities, so if you want her to dine with you, do early if possible.

[akcruz]

My two teens actually prefer the late seating. Gives all of us more time to relax before dinner, especially when we are in a port. We all eat together, which is one of the things that makes cruising "family time" and they find plenty to do after dinner, including the shows, the Royal Promenade and the teen clubs.

 

Does anybody out there agree that eating together in the MDR is a highlight of cruising?

 

I agree that part of our family crusing is to have dinner together as a family most nights. We do let our teens have dinner with their friends 1 night and DH & I have 'date night' at one of the specialty restaurants.

 

As for late or early, we have either done early or MTD as late tends to interfere with the teen activities.

[ShillyShally]

Early or MTD. We like seeing our now 16 year old occasionally on a cruise :)

 

But those were both full so we're waitlisted too for the early or MTD.

[kathyemma]

Early or MTD. We like seeing our now 16 year old occasionally on a cruise :)

 

But those were both full so we're waitlisted too for the early or MTD.

 

I have never had an issue with the wait list - hopefully won't this time either. Have you done My Time before? We did it twice, once on Royal and once on Carnival and didn't like it either time.

 

Kathy

[rncruiser]

We also do early dining because of our teen. Dinner is the only meal we require the kids to be with us for. If the teen club is having dinner in the Windjammer, she eats with us first and then goes there for dessert.

[DonnaK]

My two teens actually prefer the late seating. Gives all of us more time to relax before dinner, especially when we are in a port. We all eat together, which is one of the things that makes cruising "family time" and they find plenty to do after dinner, including the shows, the Royal Promenade and the teen clubs.

 

Does anybody out there agree that eating together in the MDR is a highlight of cruising?

 

 

Yes! I thought we were the only ones who thought that eating together in the MDR is the highlight of the cruise. Even our teens agree!

 

This is one reason we never eat in specialty restaurants, and do not plan to on Allure either. (the other reason is that I see no reason to pay additional for food, when we find nothing wrong with the "included" food and ambiance)

[wildabouttheworld]

Just back from 04-17 sailing on Freedom. I was with 2 seventeen year olds. We had early seating. Sometimes they showed and sometimes they didnt. I like to play it by ear on a cruise. I dont want them to stop what they are doing just to go shower and get dressed to get to dinner by 6. Dinner is the least of my priorites on a cruise. Having fun is most important. At the end of the day they will remember the flow rider, the pool games, the excursions, making new friends, ordering room service for free all day if they feel like it, etc. Dining with mom and dad which they do all the time can wait till we get back to the rat race of home. Just my thoughts.

[akcruz]

Just back from 04-17 sailing on Freedom. I was with 2 seventeen year olds. We had early seating. Sometimes they showed and sometimes they didnt. I like to play it by ear on a cruise. I dont want them to stop what they are doing just to go shower and get dressed to get to dinner by 6. Dinner is the least of my priorites on a cruise. Having fun is most important. At the end of the day they will remember the flow rider, the pool games, the excursions, making new friends, ordering room service for free all day if they feel like it, etc. Dining with mom and dad which they do all the time can wait till we get back to the rat race of home. Just my thoughts.

 

We see it a bit different, when on a cruise we each do our own thing onboard during the day and after dinner. Since it is a family vacation and mom and dad are footing the bill we set the rules. We have dinner together all nights but one, and always get off in ports together. This gives a pretty nice balance of having fun the way you want AND enjoying family time. Its also a great way to catch up and find out what everyone else has been doing.

 

Not that you are one of the parents that does this, but have seen many that let their kids just 'have fun' which equates to trouble for other passengers. Keeping the family aspect in the vacation helps us all stay connected and ensure we know what our kids are doing and that we are comfortable with letting them enjoy what they think is fun.

[taxgal]

My DH and I agree w/ akcruz!:D

 

This is our family vacation and the new friends are always forgotten despite swapping email/facebook w/in a week or so of cruise. We have always had late seating since our youngest was 8. Our girls love getting dressed for dinner, esp formal nights. While we may do different activities during the day, supper was/is family time. We share what we did and discuss each person's favorite part of the day. Now that our youngest is 21, teen activities/sched really is no longer an issue. . . . Maybe it will be when they start having children ;), but we'll just have to wait and see on that one!

[funfamilyof6]

We see it a bit different, when on a cruise we each do our own thing onboard during the day and after dinner. Since it is a family vacation and mom and dad are footing the bill we set the rules. We have dinner together all nights but one, and always get off in ports together. This gives a pretty nice balance of having fun the way you want AND enjoying family time. Its also a great way to catch up and find out what everyone else has been doing.

 

Not that you are one of the parents that does this, but have seen many that let their kids just 'have fun' which equates to trouble for other passengers. Keeping the family aspect in the vacation helps us all stay connectedand ensure we know what our kids are doing and that we are comfortable with letting them enjoy what they think is fun.

 

We totally agree with you and our kids actually enjoy doing this...they don't see it as a bother. :)

 

There was a lot of the bolded area happening on our last cruise.:(

[Snorkel Dawg]

Yes! I thought we were the only ones who thought that eating together in the MDR is the highlight of the cruise. Even our teens agree!

 

This is one reason we never eat in specialty restaurants, and do not plan to on Allure either. (the other reason is that I see no reason to pay additional for food, when we find nothing wrong with the "included" food and ambiance)

 

We're with you DonnaK, & after we eat together. We take the kids to join in at whatever activity is underway at the teen/kids club. Our dds have always been cool with that. And they do prefer eating with us in the MDR