Kids in Chop's

[cruisin4kicks]

Wife & I have been on a good amount of Royal Caribbean cruises. If Royal starts cruising again by February, we are going to doing a Harmony cruise with our daughter & her family that by the time we sail, their daughter will be 4 & their son will be 8 months old. We'll be boarding on our daughter's birthday & we want to take them to Chop's for dinner to celebrate.

 

We've cruised with our daughter & her family before but have never gone to a specialty restaurant with their daughter. A couple of questions...

• Are kids that young even allowed in the specialty restaurants for dinner? When we would have dinner in the MDR, if our granddaughter started to fuss, one of us would leave with her to keep the distraction to a minimum. Since we will now have an 8 month old grandson on this trip, we plan on doing the same thing.
• If the kids are allowed, my wife & I are planning to use both our BOGOs for the 4 adults. Does anyone know if there is any kind of kid discount or do they pay the same as an adult?

I may be making an incorrect assumption but I would assume that the 8 month old would not be charged & the 4 year old would not be charged as much as an adult. I'm hoping that someone on this board could either confirm my assumption or let me know the bitter truth that kids that age aren't even allowed there. Hoping to hear back from you with good news. Thanks.

 

Tim

 

[TheMastodon]

9 minutes ago, cruisin4kicks said:

Wife & I have been on a good amount of Royal Caribbean cruises. If Royal starts cruising again by February, we are going to doing a Harmony cruise with our daughter & her family that by the time we sail, their daughter will be 4 & their son will be 8 months old. We'll be boarding on our daughter's birthday & we want to take them to Chop's for dinner to celebrate.

 

We've cruised with our daughter & her family before but have never gone to a specialty restaurant with their daughter. A couple of questions...

• Are kids that young even allowed in the specialty restaurants for dinner? When we would have dinner in the MDR, if our granddaughter started to fuss, one of us would leave with her to keep the distraction to a minimum. Since we will now have an 8 month old grandson on this trip, we plan on doing the same thing.
• If the kids are allowed, my wife & I are planning to use both our BOGOs for the 4 adults. Does anyone know if there is any kind of kid discount or do they pay the same as an adult?

I may be making an incorrect assumption but I would assume that the 8 month old would not be charged & the 4 year old would not be charged as much as an adult. I'm hoping that someone on this board could either confirm my assumption or let me know the bitter truth that kids that age aren't even allowed there. Hoping to hear back from you with good news. Thanks.

 

Tim

 

Ive had a few babies in Chops and they were not charged.  
 

Kids are allowed in Chops - in fact we loved taking babies to Chops because we could take them for a middle of dinner stroller ride through Central Park.

 

Trust me - I’ve had kids in the Lion’s den (suite lounge) If I can take them there they can go anywhere. 
 

My rule of thumb has always been if my babies fuss - I remove them from the situation until they calm down.  Kids need to be integrated into diff situations/places/scenarios from the get go!  Take them everywhere on that ship.

 

 

 

 

[compman9]

22 minutes ago, TheMastodon said:

Ive had a few babies in Chops and they were not charged.  
 

Kids are allowed in Chops - in fact we loved taking babies to Chops because we could take them for a middle of dinner stroller ride through Central Park.

 

Trust me - I’ve had kids in the Lion’s den (suite lounge) If I can take them there they can go anywhere. 
 

My rule of thumb has always been if my babies fuss - I remove them from the situation until they calm down.  Kids need to be integrated into diff situations/places/scenarios from the get go!  Take them everywhere on that ship.

 

 

 

 

 

What does "if my babies fuss" mean?

 

Is it wriggle around and be a bit of a nuisance to you, the parents?

Or is it, scream their heads off in front of other paying customers?

 

 

 

 

[Milwaukee Eight]

Royal Caribbean is a family Orientated cruise line. They offer at times programs like Kids Sail Free. They are welcomed in just about all venues on the ship. 
 

Enjoy

 

M8

[grapau27]

18 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Royal Caribbean is a family Orientated cruise line. They offer at times programs like Kids Sail Free. They are welcomed in just about all venues on the ship. 
 

Enjoy

 

M8

Absolutely agree.

Chops is on Central Park on Harmony with indoor and outdoor seating.

Graham.

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, cruisin4kicks said:

the 4 year old would not be charged as much as an adult.

In the days of yore (maybe 5 years ago) the youngens were charged the same amount as the adults.  Thankfully they have adjusted the pricing and have brought in a children’s menu with a good selection.
 

The last I looked you can not prebook in advance on the cruise planner for children.  We always prebook for the amount of we need and are charged the adult price. On board they readjust the pricing to reflect the kids price VS the adult price. 

Edited September 13, 2020 by A&L_Ont

[cruisegirl1]

Your grandchildren will be welcome anywhere on the cruise ship, except perhaps the solarium which is adults only.  They will be welcome in Chops and any other specialty restaurant. Since you’ve been to Chops before you know that it can be a long meal

 

There is a child’s menu in all of the specialty restaurants.   I’m not sure of the starting age or if the four-year-old can simply eat for free. I’m sure that is online or others can join in. 
 

I hope the ship will sail and that you and your family can have a memorable vacation

 

m
 

 

[cruisegirl1]

37 minutes ago, compman9 said:

 

What does "if my babies fuss" mean?

 

Is it wriggle around and be a bit of a nuisance to you, the parents?

Or is it, scream their heads off in front of other paying customers?

 

 

 

 

Can be either but I suspect if the child is screaming “their heads off in front of other paying customers“ that the OP (also a paying customer ) will remove the child from the restaurant. 

m

[Mapleleafforever]

1 hour ago, TheMastodon said:

Ive had a few babies in Chops and they were not charged.  
 

Kids are allowed in Chops - in fact we loved taking babies to Chops because we could take them for a middle of dinner stroller ride through Central Park.

 

Trust me - I’ve had kids in the Lion’s den (suite lounge) If I can take them there they can go anywhere. 
 

My rule of thumb has always been if my babies fuss - I remove them from the situation until they calm down.  Kids need to be integrated into diff situations/places/scenarios from the get go!  Take them everywhere on that ship.

 

 

 

 

To the OP, this is the best and most correct answer you're going to get and I agree wholeheartedly with it. We were on Allure this past February with our then 2.5 year old and 6 month old and 2 years ago on Harmony with our then 15 month old. On Harmony we went to Jamie's multiple times because they were just so amazing with our daughter. Take them everywhere is our motto....it's the only way they'll learn how to act in public. 

[George C]

On our oasis cruise children were running all around in chops, much preferred 150cp . Children are definitely allowed everywhere.

[Milwaukee Eight]

14 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Can be either but I suspect if the child is screaming “their heads off in front of other paying customers“ that the OP (also a paying customer ) will remove the child from the restaurant. 

m

I was wondering when this would show up. Lol. Debates about kids is similar to debates about the CL. 
 

OP. Please feel free to bring the kids onboard. 
 

M8

[3monkeys4me]

5 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

To the OP, this is the best and most correct answer you're going to get and I agree wholeheartedly with it. We were on Allure this past February with our then 2.5 year old and 6 month old and 2 years ago on Harmony with our then 15 month old. On Harmony we went to Jamie's multiple times because they were just so amazing with our daughter. Take them everywhere is our motto....it's the only way they'll learn how to act in public. 

 

This was our motto when our kids were younger too. We always took them with us unless children were prohibited. 

 

Children are allowed in Chops. I am pretty sure on our last cruise we paid $10 for our daughter who ordered off the children's menu. You can't make a reservation for a child online so we just made the reservation for an adult and received a credit once on board. 

 

When our kids were in the baby/toddler/preschool stage and couldn't always sit through a long dinner we would bring a few quiet things for them to do at the table like look through a book or a couple of coloring pages. If they couldn't stay seated we took them for a walk somewhere they could run or play without bothering other people.  If they were screaming we exited as quickly as we could, thankfully that only happened once between the three of them. 

[Hogbay]

You can take children to chops , 0 to 5 are complementary and 6 to 12 are $10 from the child's menu . Kids hate chops it takes along time for the total meal , Family time dining ,they enjoy there meal within 40 minuet's then taken to there club 🙂

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/aus/en/experience/cruises-for-kids-and-teens

[George C]

6 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I was wondering when this would show up. Lol. Debates about kids is similar to debates about the CL. 
 

OP. Please feel free to bring the kids onboard. 
 

M8

Another thing on children is ships like oasis class are somewhat like a amusement park with lots of children year round , have not seen that on smaller ships since we avoid summer and times when school is out. 

[cruisegirl1]

11 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I was wondering when this would show up. Lol. Debates about kids is similar to debates about the CL. 
 

OP. Please feel free to bring the kids onboard. 
 

M8

I agree and am happy that children are welcome anywhere. I hope that my post about the fussy child was not misinterpreted. I was quoting another poster about the screaming child. 

 

m

Edited September 13, 2020 by cruisegirl1

[cruisegirl1]

18 minutes ago, George C said:

On our oasis cruise children were running all around in chops, much preferred 150cp . Children are definitely allowed everywhere.

Sorry that you had this experience. I guess I’ve been lucky as I’ve never seen children running all around and Chops on oasis or any other ship.

m

[Milwaukee Eight]

5 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

I agree and am happy that children are welcome anywhere. I hope that my post about the fussy child was not misinterpreted. I was quoting another poster about the screaming child. 

 

m

Sorry I misinterpreted. Thanks for your reply. 
 

M8

[Tapi]

We did Chop’s on our last Royal Caribbean cruise. There were 14 family members, 4 which were aged 6 to 9 years old. Not only were they allowed at Chop’s, but the staff set up a table for the 4 of them and a table for 10 for the adults and older teenagers. The kids were served quickly, and when they were finished eating, I walked them to the kids club and then returned to the restaurant to enjoy our more leisurely adult dinner with the rest of the group. It worked perfectly. 

[Tapi]

1 hour ago, compman9 said:

What does "if my babies fuss" mean?

I think every parent recognizes the signs right before all hell is about to break loose. They may be different for different people. My kids would start wriggling a bit, with a pout, and a muffled mumble that would start getting gradually louder if left unattended. To me, those signs were the definition of “if my babies fuss”.
 

Either my wife and I would grab our son (and later on our daughter when she was born) at the first sign of fussing and take them outside before anybody would be inconvenienced. Worked out well.

[cruisin4kicks]

OP here. I left for dinner & come back to all these posts. Thank you to everybody who provided answers/comments to my question. If I'm reading your posts correctly, I believe more than one of you mentioned that I can reserve Chop's on the Cruise Planner but will have to pay for 6 adults when I reserve it  but when we arrive for dinner, the total price will be adjusted due to 2 people in the party of 6 will be 4 years old or under.

 

I mentioned in my original post that my wife & I were going to use our BOGO's to drop the price in half for the adults. Do any of you know if that will be adjusted as well? In other words, after adjustments, I'm hoping the total price of the meal for 4 adults & 2 children will only be the cost for 2 adults because of the BOGOs. Again, thank you for any answers/knowledge that you are able to provide.

 

Tim

[Billy Baltic]

I’m pleasantly surprised that there hasn’t been a “keep kids out of chops” response. Maybe the last several months has made people more tolerant of others and less selfish. More likely those people just haven’t posted yet. 

[Norwich Cruiser]

We’ve had a fantastic meals with our grandchildren at Chops on Oasis class ships from memory we paid $10 per child from the children’s menu we never paid for the three year old and believe under fives we’re free.

[1025cruise]

Two years ago we ate in Chops one evening, and were seated by a wedding party that had a young girl (appeared to be daughter of the bride). Someone went to get her pizza for dinner. She was better behaved than a gentleman (if I had to guess father of the bride) who ended up storming out.

[Ashland]

I believe there used to be just an early dining time option for those with kid's...nice to see (assumed) that's changed.

[TheMastodon]

4 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

To the OP, this is the best and most correct answer you're going to get and I agree wholeheartedly with it. We were on Allure this past February with our then 2.5 year old and 6 month old and 2 years ago on Harmony with our then 15 month old. On Harmony we went to Jamie's multiple times because they were just so amazing with our daughter. Take them everywhere is our motto....it's the only way they'll learn how to act in public. 

With that being said cruising with kids is challenging, memorable, fun, and challenging.  Oasis ships is obv best choice when bringing the little ones along - adventure ocean is fantastic!  
 

I’d say the only time I feel “guilty” is driving the damn stroller around.  Takes up a lot of space on the elevator.  Hate to inconvenience the folks who use it to go up one floor.

 

Ive thought about writing a thread for parents who are considering cruising w/ 8month-3year olds.  We have done it a few times and have learned from many mistakes.