Late seating and a 4-year-old (Disney Dream)

[GatorTide]

DH and I will be cruising on the Dream Sunday with our 4-year-old DD. This is our first time cruising with her. He and I have always done late seating and I requested it again for this cruise, thinking I'd just feed her dinner from one of the casual dining restaurants and then have her go to the camp during dinner. Is this how people usually do it or should I be planning to bring her to dinner with us? I will say that her regular bedtime is 8 p.m. but I know that will be out the window on this trip. If DH and I want to do anything at night, we'll have to take her to the kids camp anyway.

[Karysa]

DH and I will be cruising on the Dream Sunday with our 4-year-old DD. This is our first time cruising with her. He and I have always done late seating and I requested it again for this cruise, thinking I'd just feed her dinner from one of the casual dining restaurants and then have her go to the camp during dinner. Is this how people usually do it or should I be planning to bring her to dinner with us? I will say that her regular bedtime is 8 p.m. but I know that will be out the window on this trip. If DH and I want to do anything at night, we'll have to take her to the kids camp anyway.

 

There are many ways of handling dinner time with children. There is no right or wrong way IMO. If 8 is bedtime you may want to come back from port say at 4 and let her nap and then feed her and take her to the kids club and go and enjoy dinner with DH.

 

If she doesn't like the kids club you could give her a snack when you come back on board and have her take a nap then go out enjoy a show or some live music and then enjoy a family dinner with a rested little one.

 

Hot busy days make the chances of naps quite likely. Even for me.:D Have a fun cruise.

[crusinmama06]

You aren't going to take your daughter with you to dinner on a Disney Cruise? That's part of the whole experience. It's not Carnival Dream - its Disney Dream. They rotate the dining rooms and make it a child friendly experience.

 

My girls loved seeing everything that they did in the dining room.

 

Try to switch to main seating once onboard if possible!

[Keith1010]

The dining room will be a great experience for your child but you have options so you'll have to figure out which is best for all of you.

 

Keith

[cb at sea]

Your plan will work if you want to do 2 dinners a night...but early (main) seating would allow you to eat as a family and she'll still be able to make the evening activities. Children are quite welcome in the dining room.

[GatorTide]

Thanks for the feedback. She's not much of a napper but I would think all of the activity might wear her out. If we could get her to nap later in the afternoon she would probably be OK to go to a later dinner and then to the kids club after that. I also read that they do something where the counselors come get the kids in the dining room so the adults can finish dinner at a more leisurely pace?

[Gatrcruzer]

I think there are many different ways to do this that would work, but it depends on your child and family - all are different. What time do you normally eat dinner? If you normally eat around 6ish you might want to consider switching to early dining, but if you normally eat around 8ish then the late dining should be fine. Yes, you can have the counselors pick up your child and take her to the kids club at late dinner on Disney (but not early dinner, although one of you could always walk your child out there if the dinner is running late). I agree with crusinmama that on Disney the dining room experience is part of the fun for the kids, so if it works for your family it would be nice to dine together, rather than feeding your child separately before regular dinner.

[gerif]

I hope you have a plan B just in case your DD does not want to go to the kids club every evening. When our DGS was 6, he wanted no part of it. Didn't matter, we had early dinner as a family (and we usually hate early dinner), then went to shows as a family. Sure there were nights his parents would have preferred adult activities, but things are different once you have a child.

[tikcho]

What we usually do is get the early (main) seating and bring out son with us. We like spending the time together in a "grown-up" dining room. Then we would leave him at the club after dinner and have 2-3 hours to ourselves. However, if you want to stick to the late dining then feeding your child before that and leaving at the club would be a good option. However, keep in mind that most kids clubs close at 10 pm and most evening entertainment starts at 8 pm so if you are eating between the hours of 8 and 10 and then have to pick up your child then you will have no time for any entertainment without a kid

[Gatrcruzer]

That is a good thought, but unlike many of the other cruise lines, I think that the Disney kids clubs actually provide fee-free activity past 10pm.

[liljay6915]

I have to add that the waiters are so great with the kids at dinner (fussy, cranky, having a melt down) they really handle it all so well. One night my son was having a really bad night and fell asleep in my arms and I really could not move much. Our waiter cut all my food for me then sat down and fed me half my meal...talk about going above and beyond!