MSC Main Dining Room Seashore/Seaview

[MacMarauder]

I booked on MSC Seashore Western Caribbean for August '22, two connecting Fantastica balcony cabins on deck 14. Normally I plan a cruise obsessively and then book but the price was right so I jumped on it. I'm doing some research now and there is one thing that I'm kind of worried about. I picked early dining, hoping to get in at 5:30. I have two kids who will be 4 and 7 when we sail. I'm reading that the main dining room takes a long time, how true is this? Like many kids mine get impatient when waiting for food. I'm not above giving them their tablets while we wait but if it's going to be a long time we will probably only go to the MDR once or twice on the cruise. I've also heard that Seaview improved on this after the initial sailing so I'm not sure what the truth is. 

 

Also, what is the best place to eat lunch on Seaview class ships? Compared to Royal's Oasis class there doesn't seem to be as many lunch options (like Park Cafe) so I'm curious what the best strategy is for lunch. Just like dinner we will be looking for lunch as early as possible.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 hours ago, MacMarauder said:

Like many kids mine get impatient when waiting for food

mine doesn't because we give him a tablet with cartoons on it. He's been cruising since he was 3,  about twice a year, and we haven't heard a peep out of him for the duration of MDR meal even once. 🙂

He has headphones. 

Now that he is older (10) and can actually hold a conversation for a while, we may talk for a bit and when the main course comes out, so does the tablet. But when he was younger - boom, here is your tablet as soon as we sit down, so we can have a peaceful dinner. He can watch toons for hours.

 

Since you don't mind tablets, I would definitely enjoy an MDR meal every night.

I don't know about MSC (this will be our first time with them), but other lines offer to keep your kids in the kid's club during MDR dinners. Now, our kid doesn't do kid's club, so a tablet at dinner has been a lifesaver.

 

We used to cruise with our friends whose kid has ADHD (also starting when he was 3 yo). They didn't bring a tablet for him for the first couple of cruises, nor did they realize they could drop him off at the kid's club during dinner time. The poor kid was running and jumping all over the chairs and under the table. Well, he wasn't the only one, really, there were lots of kids who either ran around MDR or passed out sleeping.

Edited October 4, 2021 by Itchy&Scratchy