Dinner without children on carnival

[JenniX]

Ive read that carnival offers to take the children from 6 until 6:45 for dinner in the lido, but the kids program doesnt open until 7. If we chose to let our children have dinner at lido instead of the long stuffy dinning room, will we have to pick them up for the 15 minutes? Ive also read dinner in the dinning room takes at least 2 hours, my children wouldnt ever sit that long.

Has anyone ever opted to let their children have dinner with the youth staff, and can enlighten me on how exactly this works?

[nybumpkin]

It's been some time since we had kids in the program, but when they were in camp we could take them to dinner at 6 and after dinner the counselors would take them directly to camp - no need for us to come back.

[riffatsea]

Dinner does not have to take 2 hrs.

You can opt to have a table just for your family(especially if you pick Your Time Dining) and the wait staff will be happy to bring your children's meals and accommodate you . It is hard to picture your children eating with camp every night instead of having some family meals. The dining room is not really stuffy. It is like eating in a nice restaurant which is something that would be nice for your family to try a few times.

[cb at sea]

I agree...the dining room is NOT "stuffy"..and if you're at a table alone, then dinner takes much less than 2 hours!!! You can pretty much set your own pace.

[JenniX]

Okay, great, thank you! I haven't been on a cruise for 10 years, so i feel like I'm a newbie all over again.

[lennythenose]

Our son ate a few times with the kids. They take them from dinner to the club. I think they have the timing listed that way so they can get from dinner to the camp before parents bring their kids who didn’t eat to drop them off.

[bnorris10]

We always let our daughter choose if she wanted to eat dinner with the club when she was in there most of the time she did not but if they were doing alot of fun activities she wanted to

[Badfinger]

Ive read that carnival offers to take the children from 6 until 6:45 for dinner in the lido, but the kids program doesnt open until 7. If we chose to let our children have dinner at lido instead of the long stuffy dinning room, will we have to pick them up for the 15 minutes? Ive also read dinner in the dinning room takes at least 2 hours, my children wouldnt ever sit that long.

Has anyone ever opted to let their children have dinner with the youth staff, and can enlighten me on how exactly this works?

 

Dinner does not take 2 hours. On our last cruise, we were usually done in less than 70 minutes. One night, 55 minutes. On elegant night (or whatever it is called), it was a bit longer, maybe 80 minutes. I know this as I never failed to make the 7:30 comedy show after going to my room to change after our 6:00 dining time. IMO kids would love the formal dining room...feeling all grow up ordering whatever they want off the menu...even adult food! Key is to make up your mind and be direct (not disrespectful) with the servers. Know you can view the menu on their App during the day so you don't waste any time reading the menu once you are seated. As soon as the waiter comes, you can order your appetizers and you already 15 minutes ahead of the game.

[JenniX]

Thank you so much!

[caryatid]

I think being able to drop the kids off and letting the adults have a nice quiet dinner is a big perk of cruising carnival! When we went on our cruise in April, I would drop the kids off at kids dinner while my husband went and sat at our table. Once I got the kids checked in, I would join my husband at dinner and the kids would eat with their friends and counselors. Once kids dinner was over the counselors would walk the kids back to the kids club and my children would enjoy the evening programming until we picked them up between 8 and 9.

 

My kids loved eating with the other kids and they loved their evenings at Camp Ocean. My children really hate eating at sit down restaurants and would have been miserable eating in the dining room. Kids dinner is perfect because they are separated from other adults, so typical kid squirming and loud talking won't disturb other adults, the meals are all kid friendly, and they are relatively quick.

[JenniX]

Hubs rarley likes going out to eat because, not that oir kids are really misbehaved, but they get antsy, and are ready to go as soon as they are done. I like to have all my bases covered, and know what i should expect ahead of time.

[kite5280]

I agree with others, dinner doesn't normally take 2 hours. We always cruise with our 3 kids (youngest was 9 months) and mostly they eat dinner with us as a family. We have had cruises where we were seated in an area that was all families with kids which was nice. We usually bring a small toy for he kids to play with but the servers get to know you and ours always would bring a fruit cup or plate of fries or something immediately as we sat to get kids started with some food. The waiters have been so great with our kids, walking around with them, or bringing them special food or dessert. We've had great experiences eating in MDR as family!

There has been sometimes our kids wanted to eat with camp and we would drop and they walk back to camp with the staff from lido.

[farler05]

It's been a few years since we cruised, our 8 year old was 2. But the servers were amazing with him. They truly doted on him. After the first night, his milk was waiting along with a bowl of fruit. If I remember correctly, his food always came out first, it didn't wait for our courses. And we dined relatively quickly compared to our previous no kids cruises. We're cruising again in 2020 with 3 kids, they'll be 10, 7 & 7. We'll give them the choice of dining with us or with the kid's club. We'll also bring their Kindles & headphones. We go out to eat with them at least once a week now. Once they finish their dinner, they're allowed to use their kindle. It'll be the same on the ship. Anyone who judges, can wallow in their own sanctimonious judgement, because I don't care. We'll have a lovely dinner, they'll be happy, winner.

[riffatsea]

I don't think anyone would mind children using devices with headsets in the dining room to help them sit quietly . I do think it would be best for you to have your own table. If you have set time dining I think you can ask for your own table of 4 but if you have Your Time Dining and ask for the same wait staff each night you can for sure get that.

BTW children won't know how to behave in a nice restaurant if they never have that experience at home. Going out to eat once in a while before the cruise might also be a great idea.

[farler05]

I don't think anyone would mind children using devices with headsets in the dining room to help them sit quietly . I do think it would be best for you to have your own table. If you have set time dining I think you can ask for your own table of 4 but if you have Your Time Dining and ask for the same wait staff each night you can for sure get that.

BTW children won't know how to behave in a nice restaurant if they never have that experience at home. Going out to eat once in a while before the cruise might also be a great idea.

 

You wouldn't think anyone would mind kids being quiet. But I've seen some judgement on here about how kids should just be able to behave & not need electronics. The horror! Pretty sure those people raised perfect children. ;p;p;p

[cruisinqt]

Dinner in the MDR can take 2 hours but it’s not often. It’s usually around 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. That’s still a long time for a little kid. When our girls were young sometimes they ate with the youth staff and kids their age which they enjoyed. And sometimes they ate with us. It just depended on their mood. We always brought along coloring book and crayons, paper and pen so we could play tic tac toe, and other items to keep them entertained. But now with the new Carnival Hub app (free), there’s so much more to entertain a child with at your fingertips. With this app you can see what’s going to be on the menu, what restaurants are open, what shows you might want to see with the kids and you can go through all of the pictures you’ve taken together and even purchase them. And for $4 a day (precruise price for Social plan) you can have access to social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, snapchat, and Pinterest. That’s far more entertainment than I had acces to when my kids were little. Coloring books and crayons can only go so far. You’ll be okay whatever you decide. I would suggest a little of both the MDR with you and dinner with the youth staff and kids.

[SadieN]

The camp meal is one off the kids menu. The ones I’ve seen have been chicken nuggets and sides. Haven’t seen vegetables for a while, they seemed to be always left over. (We like to eat dinner in the buffet.)

 

 

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[ballarinamom]

We always had early dining when DD was younger and before ATD. The waiter always had a cheese player waiting for her. We would order her entree and dessert and she would be finished by 7:00 for the kids program. While the hubs ordered our desserts and after dinner drinks, I signed her in. It was nice to have a family meal and then dessert and drinks together before going to the shows

[riclop]

Ive read that carnival offers to take the children from 6 until 6:45 for dinner in the lido, but the kids program doesnt open until 7. If we chose to let our children have dinner at lido instead of the long stuffy dinning room, will we have to pick them up for the 15 minutes? Ive also read dinner in the dinning room takes at least 2 hours, my children wouldnt ever sit that long.

Has anyone ever opted to let their children have dinner with the youth staff, and can enlighten me on how exactly this works?

Leave them with grandma.