Dining with an infant

[Katiebug430]

We'll be cruising next month on Carnival Glory with our baby, who will be 10 months old. DH and I have cruised twice on Carnival but this is our first family vacation. She's breastfed and we're planning to bring pouched baby food, but she's also eating a fairly wide variety of finger foods now. I'm not concerned about food options at the Lido for breakfasts and lunches, but the MDR is a little different and I need details.

 

She uses a Baby Bjorn bib at home and eats finger foods from one of those plates with a suction cup, and both items are coming on the cruise with us. She's a neat eater as long as DH or I gives her only a few pieces at a time, although in restaurants at home we usually limit finger foods to puffs/Cheerios/etc. (nothing messy). Finger foods keep her occupied so WE can eat! We will also be bringing a few quiet toys to the dining room with us.

 

~ Are the high chairs the standard restaurant style ones? She's on the small side and we usually need to tuck a folded jacket or the diaper bag behind her in those.

 

~ If there's something on the menu that she'd eat, can we order it for her? Things like the fruit cocktail, cheese plate, baked potato, etc. would be enjoyed even if she didn't finish all of it. It makes sense that we can - after all we're paying a cruise fare for her - but I don't want to be rude. :o

 

~ We're doing Your Time Dining for the flexibility in timing (if she naps late, for example) and for the fact that we would be seated by ourselves in case she's talkative ;) or needs to nurse. However I've read that at the traditional dinner seatings there's more attention from the wait staff. Should we try to switch to the early seating, or just stick with the flexible option?

[ehough]

We cruised last year on Carnival when DS was 11 months!

 

1. I couldn't remember about the high chairs so I went back and checked our pics. They're pretty standard restaurant high chairs, though not the wooden kind that I tend to think of as restaurant high chairs. This pic is from the Lido, but the chair is the same as what was in the dining room.

 

 

2. Order whatever you want! I'm sure they won't mind, the servers were thrilled to bring my kids whatever they wanted.

 

3. We did anytime dining because of the nap situation, and our server was great, very attentive to the kids. I have nothing to compare it to, but I can't complain about anytime dining. That said, we were in the Lido most nights as DS had just learned to walk and wasn't thrilled about sitting still through a dinner, and the Lido was just more relaxing for us all.

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

I sailed on Carnival as well last year (Carnival Dream) with my son who was 9 months at the time. We did early dining but I'm sure you will receive the same excellent service no matter what dining option you choose! The wait staff overall are excellent & are willing to go over and beyond, especially for families with young ones.

 

The high chairs are standard rubbermaid plastic ones. Very easy to wipe down with wipes if you choose to (they come clean of course though). It's nice having the high chair there at the table waiting for you.

 

There is a kid's menu.. Pretty standard of course. Our son was starting to eat finger type food as well then, so he enjoyed chicken tenders & fries a lot. He also got fruit cocktail, cheese, mashed potatoes, soups, and macaroni & cheese. There is a good healthy variety for young ones, she wont go hungry, that's for sure! We honestly didn't even have to use the baby food we brought on board since he was always well fed with all the options on board.

 

Hope this was helpful & hope you enjoy your first cruise as a family!! We enjoyed it so much that we are sailing with our son again next month! :)

[YOWmom]

We sailed on Glory when our youngest was about the same age, and the MDR worked out great. I would often order things for her off the adult menu (not the kids one which had a lot of junk/deep fried stuff) and it was not a problem - as you say, you are paying for them as well and the staff were always very accommodating. She loved the grilled salmon (very flaky and soft), and I'd also usually order a bowl of plain rice, and a side of steamed veggies (broccolli, carrots, etc.). We also brought jars of baby food and she would usually have a bit of both. If nothing else, the finger food helped keep her entertained...

 

But the staff were really key to the whole experience - absolutely amazing. After the first night, they'd have her rice and veggies ready right when we arrived, along with fruit and shrimp cocktail for our 6 YO. We were in the Golden dining room - our server was Made, and Daniel, the Asst. Maitre'D was always hovering around making sure we had everything we needed, even took the baby for walks around the dining room when she got fussy. We felt like we had our own personal maitre d'. Can't say enough about how wonderful they were and hope you're lucky enough to get one or both of them.

 

We've never done the flexible dining, but you could always see when you board if it's possible to get the early dining but at a smaller table just for your family. For us, the real benefit of having a set time and the same servers was that they got to know exactly what we needed and took great care of us...

 

This year, we celebrated DD's 2nd birthday on board the Disney Magic, and while that cruise was fantastic in many other ways, the dining experience didn't even come close to Glory!

[jules1121]

My DD (13 months at the time) loved to eat the fruit cocktail each night in the MDR on our last cruise. Usually we would also get her grilled chicken breast and veggie dinner that was pretty standard on the menu. About the time she would start getting antsy the waitress would put a little cup of vanilla ice cream in front of her and meals went well each night. :D

 

We just used the disposable bibs and disposable toddler utensils on the cruise.

[rin1]

We were on Glory with our 8 mo in the December and she wasn't on solids yet (although we should have started her - it would have kept her occupied). We did Anytime Dining due to the nap situation and the staff still doted on her and always offered food for her. Glory sails with a great crew. You can request the same section/waiter if they are available when you come in. I really liked it because we got to sit by the window several nights, which I love on vacation.

 

What I think I'd do next time is go off a suggestion in another thread and send your spouse ahead to order for you and your LO as soon as the kiddo wakes up (give you time to get ready/breastfeed and then your food will be ready and waiting when you get there, even without your waiter knowing what you want every night in advance as you'd have with traditional dining).

[jam82]

One advantage of having a set dining time is that the waiters can have the high chair all set up and waiting for you as opposed to having to wait for a table and then wait for the waiters to find a high chair. Another advantage, as others have said, is that if you get to know them, many times they will have the baby's food ready within moments of you being seated. Of course the disadvantage of fixed time dining is that it's a fixed time.

 

We cruised with our son for the first time when he was 11 months. We chose late fixed dining because we figured he'd sleep through our dinner every night. It worked great for us. We'd just feed him off the buffet early, let him go to sleep and then went to dinner. We think cruising is a great family vacation. Hope you like it as much as we have.

[Marksmom]

We cruised Carnival when DS was 11.5 months. As pp's have said they are the gray plastic rubbermaid highchairs in the buffets and dining rooms. In the buffet area we would ask the host for a high chair and they would go and get one and bring it to us. B/c we had early dining there was always a high chair waiting for us.

 

I ordered DS a few things from the regular adult menu and nothing from the kids menu. I would also give him a piece of bread (they always had baskets o the table) and he would happily chew on that also. They only thing that I remember getting him from the adult menu was a vegetarian pot pie made from pumpkin and sweet potato. He really liked that. Other night I would just ask for random items, mashed potatoes, rice, grilled chicken. Fruit is also available.

 

Don't hesitate to ask for something even if its not on the menu.

[mikesteg]

I wouldn't worry about attention from the waitstaff - if you're able to dine at the same time each night, you will probably wind up at the same table each night and get the same perks as the set-time dining. If you can't make it, then you have the flexibility.

 

As far as the option in the MDR, talk to your waitstaff. You can order from any menu, and they will also reduce the quantity if desired. You can also order individual sides from the entrees if desired.

 

Also, in general the staff will feed a family with small children more quicker because they understand the dynamic. Even with fixed time dining, they can serve the meal in under an hour or they can serve it over 2+ hours. If you are able to get the same table most nights, let them know if you'd like the baby to have a fruit plate (or whatever) right away every night. As mentioned, bread works well also and that comes right away most of the time.

 

Of course, the flip side is that he sooner the baby starts eating, the sooner she'll be done and get bored, so your meal will need to be fairly quick also. We never had a big problem with this (at 13MO)... but a couple of times we'd sense fussiness a'comin... so we'd leave after the entree, walk a bit, then grab desert in the buffet.