First time family with kids

[travelingmamaIJ]

This is our first cruise and traveling with my kids (4&8) we Are on the vista in a family harbour room.  Have a few questions that may sound silly but not really sure where to look for the answers.  we are booked for an early dinner time for the dinning room. curious if anyone knows the dress code for kids. can they be In shorts?  For dining room meals I know some cruises allow you to order multiple main dishes  curious if carnival is the same? or do you have to pay extra? I know it may sound silly but more curious if the kids don't like something can we switch?  also any reviews on the kids program? what kind of things did your kids do and how did they enjoy it?  thank you for any tips or advise for families on the vista

[aknguyen]

My 7 year old always found something to eat in the MDR and he is super picky. As far as dress code, he wore jean shorts or khaki shorts on non-elegant night and khakis, a button down shirt, and a bow tie on elegant nights. 

 

He loved the kids program. We checked in on the first day and he got to look around. I think that helps get them mentally prepared for it. Once he was there and found out the activity schedule, he asked to go back for certain events.

[Essiesmom]

You can order as many things off the menu as you want to try.  And you can mix it up.  When it comes time for dessert, if there is nothing you want the kids to have, but they loved one of the appetizers, you can order it for dessert.  Dress code is not any different for children.  But it is very loosely enforced.  EM

[kitkat343]

I didn't sail Carnival with kids, but I sailed Cunard, which may be one of the most formal lines left (formal dress applies to most of the ship, not just the dining room).  There were women in full evening gowns in the buffett.  Everyone was fairly tolerant of my ordinary day black dress (I need to wear something that can be washed since I'll be wearing food at some point every day) and my kids black fleece pants and nice top.  

 

We found private tours for our family to be most helpful since this allowed us to stay as long as our kids needed and leave whenever they got fussy, but we took the kids exploring museums and city touring. If you are  going to the beach, you might be fine with a bigger tour.

 

On the first breakfast, go to the buffett and bring a diaper bag.  Get a bunch of cereals and yogurts and fruit so you always have a snack in the room (hungry kids get cranky).  You can bring sealed cereal boxes off the ship, not fruit so your kids will have snacks on tour.  My kids would cheer up when they got to pick a cereal box so I took a bunch of them on tour  (we usually had a private tour with transportation so it was easy to leave a bag with cereal in the car)

[Itchy&Scratchy]

8 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

On the first breakfast, go to the buffett and bring a diaper bag.  Get a bunch of cereals and yogurts and fruit so you always have a snack in the room (hungry kids get cranky).

OP's kids are 4 and 8, they may be out of diapers by now. :)

We never needed a whole diaper bag of boxes of cereal for the kiddo. A couple of boxes of fruit loops usually do the trick - and yes, that's what we bring from the ship with us. 

 

For us personally there has never been any need to bring a ton of food back to the room for snacking, because we are always out and about doing fun things on the ship, so we only sleep in the room. And food is ALWAYS available anywhere you go on the ship, pretty much 24/7. Our son has started cruising at 3 and is 8 now, and we've never needed to have snacks in the cabin, because he eats pretty well during the regular meal times and because food is always available literally 2 minutes away.

 

I made an arrangement with him whereas he eats whatever he chooses for breakfast and lunch (as long as it real food and not ice cream), but I pick something for dinner. It's usually a fruit salad and a pasta. Other kids get something from the kid's menu which usually has kid staples like mac'n'cheese, chicken fingers and fries, etc. But my kiddo never wants anything from the kid's menu. We offer a bite of our entrees/appetizers to see if he'd like something different, and he usually obliges to try, but no more than that.

 

DS always finds something good at the buffet for breakfast and lunch since there are plenty of choices even for the pickiest or allergic kids.

 

Oh, and on cruises we've been on, MDR (main dining room) is usually a bit chilly, so DS wears khaki pants with a long sleeve t-shirt, and we usually bring a sweater/sweatshirt for him. We don't like to dress up anyway. 

 

There is no fee for as many appetizers/entrees/desserts as you want in the main dining room. :)

 

P.S. Our son doesn't like kid's club, so he goes everywhere with us. It's not because it's not fun or interesting (our friends' kids LOVE kid's club and can't wait to go), it's just our kid's individual quirk.

Edited December 29, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[cb at sea]

Get ships enforce a dress code anymore.  Your kids will be fine in shorts.  You may order whatever you (or they) want from either the kid's menu or the main menu.  No worries!

[bearette]

There is usually a steak/lobster dish that is extra charge, but it will clearly marked in the MDR. Too get an idea of what a cruise is like read some of the reviews for Carnival in the message boards for Carnival (doesn't need to be your ship) and In the review section for your personal ship. Remember there will be 10 bad reviews for every good one so managing your expectations from the beginning will help you have  a great cruise.

[M2LR]

I have my boys wear long khakis and polo shirts (but they get tennis shoes). They aren't huge fans but I think it is good experience for them to learn to dress up a little and that you can't live life in gym shorts and tees, haha. Usually they order from the kids menu which is your basic hot dog, hamburger, pizza, nuggets and kid friendly dessert choices. My older son has also ordered off the adult menu too when it was something he prefers (like a good steak). I would imagine if they didn't like dinner you could ask for something else but it might just be easier to have them pick at it and hit the Lido Buffet afterwards. My only weird suggestion is to bring a couple Benadryl with you. There are a lot of new foods on a cruise and it is easy with kids to discover a food allergy. It was on a cruise we discovered DS1 has a pistachio/cashew allergy. He developed hives and throat pain but the medical center was closed due to an emergency so having a couple Benadryl in my huge mom bag of all the medicines was a really helpful in getting him better quickly (I now of course travel with an epi pen and alert our table staff).  As for the kids program my oldest had fun, my clingy youngest wasn't a huge fan and didn't want to stay longer but there were plenty of other kids there looking like they were having fun so I think it was more his temperament than Carnival. This cruise I am hoping he gets more into it going into an older age group (he'll be 6 now) and just being more mature in general. You can google online and see activity guides for the age ranges penguins, stingrays, and sharks if you want to start prepping them on the type of things they might get to enjoy.

Edited January 30, 2020 by M2LR

[Denverdonkeys]

family harbor rooms have access to the breakroom with all day snacks, so less need to stock pile from the buffet!