kids@ dinner??

[havenotcruisedenuf]

Taking a family cruise over Christmas and have tried to read all I can on here but have not been able to find much family info. I don't recall seeing kids in the dining room on our last cruise but then I wasn't looking for any, do most kids do kid things at that time and just chose not to eat with the adults? Mine will be 11 & 13 so I don't think they will be throwing temper tandrums or embarassing my husband or myself if they go.

Any comments are welcome!

[RosieRoo]

I have been cruising with my two girls every year since they were 10 and 13 and they are now 17 and 20. We have always eaten in the dining room at a fixed seating and it has been fine. They are very accomodating to kids on all the cruise lines I have been on (RCCL, Carnival and Princess). I have found that the waitstaff always caters to them. Have no fear, there will be plenty of kids in the dining rooms both at early and late seating.

[happy cruzin]

Taking a family cruise over Christmas and have tried to read all I can on here but have not been able to find much family info. I don't recall seeing kids in the dining room on our last cruise but then I wasn't looking for any, do most kids do kid things at that time and just chose not to eat with the adults? Mine will be 11 & 13 so I don't think they will be throwing temper tandrums or embarassing my husband or myself if they go.

Any comments are welcome!

 

I have seen kids of all ages -toddler to teen - in the dining room for dinner on all of our cruises. I think many families choose the early seating - especially if they have young children - but that certainly is not absolute.

 

Although kids may opted for Camp activites on some days - dinner still seemed to be a family event for most that I have seen.

 

Because your children will have the option of ordering from the child or adult menu, 11 and 13 seems to be perfect ages to let them try some interesting and different things from the menu. Over all I think the wait staff enjoys children and works extra hard to entertain and help them enjoy dinner.

 

Several cruises ago when my nieces were 9 the waiter taught them to make mice from their dinner napkins. To this day they still are making mice - every chance they get!!

[crusinmama06]

Oh there are many of us with kids. :D

 

Come on over to the family board

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

 

Yes, my daughters are always with us at dinner, they are 2 and 7. My 2 year old will be going on her 4th cruise in August, my 7 year old her 5th. And they've never been a problem in the dining room.

[MrPete]

I've had my daughter on our cruises since she was 4. She's even been to the supper club.

 

She'll be on her 6th this year.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

When DD was old enough to go to Camp Carnival (our second cruise), they had only two nights during the cruise when eating with Camp Carnival was an option, but the last couple of cruises kids could eat with Camp Carnival every evening if they wanted to. The last time she wanted to eat with the kids every evening, there were usually about 20 kids or so at the kids' dinners when we dropped her off. We saw a lot of children in the dining room as well.

 

Your children are welcome to eat in the dining room. The wait staff has always treated DD so well! We had one waiter who got to know her quickly and would make suggestions for her meals, which made her feel so special. He even poured her ketchup for her. Her soft drinks would arrive before she even had a chance to order them. On another cruise, the wait staff was always bringing her new items to try. Of course, she loved the attention.:) They do a great job with the kids!

 

Cheers!

Jayne

[hubofhockey]

My kids can eat kid food any time. They love good food. They were 6 & 8 last year and loved the food on RCCL and always prefer lobster, shrimp, etc. to kid food. You're paying for meals, you may as well get good ones for your kids too.

[momof4boys]

Take your kids! Our table is filled with kids, laughter, and memories! :)

[kgk]

Most definately take the kids. We suggested to our kids (DD 14, DD 11, DS 7) that they could skip dinner one night (allowing DD14 to babysit at the grill on the lido -- the kids do behave!), but they flat out refused. We always enjoy having dinner together onboard. Waitstaff is wonderful, kids get whatever they want -- and sometimes try new things.

 

Waitstaff was especially attentive to the kids last Christmas. Both had younger sibblings and seemed to take a liking to all the kids. Might have made the time away from their families easier. Our kids also made cards up for both of our waitresses. They carried on like it was gold. It made our week to know our kids made others happy.

 

You'll find tons of kids in the dining room. Have fun.

[PJNJcruise5]

I agree don't be afraid to take the kids. i was worried too about how they would behave but it wasn't a problem the waiters and even the maiter'd went out of the way to make our kids feel at home. We had a 7,11 and 17 year old. Dinner was a highlight to them. Carnival had a great kids menu for the 7 year old and the 11 and 17 ordered off the regular menu.The service was quick and there was enough going on to keep the kids busy( dancing waiters, photographers,pirates and the kids menu had activities to do)Note: I think most people with children choose the early seating so you'll be more comfortable dining then rather than the late seating. :) Have a great cruise!

[Lib0007]

Several cruises ago when my nieces were 9 the waiter taught them to make mice from their dinner napkins. To this day they still are making mice - every chance they get!!

 

 

Ever since our Glory cruise one year ago, if we go into a restaurant with large cloth napkins, he will make a mouse . . . and will proceed to tell someone, usually the waiter, that he learned to do that from our waiter on a cruiseship.

[happy cruzin]

Ever since our Glory cruise one year ago, if we go into a restaurant with large cloth napkins, he will make a mouse . . . and will proceed to tell someone, usually the waiter, that he learned to do that from our waiter on a cruiseship.

 

That is too funny - because I think they learned it on the Glory too :eek: . Gotta love it - besides they are really cute ;) !!

[lakemom]

we spent last Christmas on rccl. 2 dd's 11 and the other had her 13th birthday on board. It was fun trying to burn down the dinning room. maitre'D was going nuts....I had brought my own "majic" candles to use and they used the WHOLE package! all around us got quite a kick. It was the first cruise and we had adjoing rooms so I made the kids order adult food but they really enjoyed it. One night we had the alternate restaurant dinner and let them go to Johnny Rockets by themselves. we did bring a little tree and window lights and other little christmas decorations. we wolud do it again in a heartbeat!

[Muumuu]

Grandsons love Camp Carnival but also love dinner in the dining room. We have early dinner with them and after the main course one of us delivers them to the camp and then hubby and I have dessert alone. Works out for all of us.

[GayleR]

Kids are more than welcome in the dining room, but if your kids are like mine, they prefer to eat with their new friends on the lido deck. We feel like this is their vacation, too so we only require them to eat with us on formal nights. On our first cruise, we made the mistake of choosing late seating for dinner. Our kids hated it, it seems that Camp Carnival starts their activities during that time. We always request early seating to make them happy.

[cruisinjerseygirl]

Our 6 year old came with us to the dining room everytime we went...I know that there were other parents with small ones that couldn't be bothered so they ate at the buffet most of the time but we liked the dinig room so we chose it for dinner and it was fine. We did see teens and preteens in the dining room as well. I know that the kids club also offers to take the kids to dinner every night with a seperate kids menu as well.

[truecruiser]

Taking a family cruise over Christmas and have tried to read all I can on here but have not been able to find much family info. I don't recall seeing kids in the dining room on our last cruise but then I wasn't looking for any, do most kids do kid things at that time and just chose not to eat with the adults? Mine will be 11 & 13 so I don't think they will be throwing temper tandrums or embarassing my husband or myself if they go.

Any comments are welcome!

 

i have 3 kids. one started cruising at 2 y/o, one at 1 y/o, the one at 7 mos old. all have gone to the dining room every cruise. they even have high chairs.

[we2cruze]

Our kids 5, 6, 13, 18, and 20 all love the dining room. Plus is is a great time for them to try new foods.

[cindsue]

I have a daughter and a son and they have only been on two cruises, but both times, they ate with us in the dining room. Their first cruise they were 9 and 8 years old (second cruise- 10 and 9). They thought it was great; they felt so grown up. While teenagers around us were eating chicken nuggets and french fries, ours were eating steak and lobster, escargot, tilapia, etc. We had a simply wonderful time! Happy cruising...

[conwakr]

We've cruised with our kids, the youngest since age 5. They love the dining room. They actually love putting on their coats and ties. They like most that they can have anything they want. We've often eaten in more upscale restaurants with the kids since they were little so they know how to behave - we've eaten with other families whose young children had less patience with the pace (of the food being delivered). You know your kids best. The biggest upside is that they get to experience dishes you might not let them order in a restaurant. One of my boys developed a taste for escargot, veal shanks and other food items that I might not have let him order in a restaurant. If for some reason #3, when he was young, didn't like the menu we always let them choose something off the kids menu. We've never had any kind of discrimination from the wait staff, I think sometimes they enjoy seeing all the squeaky clean, well dressed young people. Lastly, it's a wonderful opportunity to learn some social graces, like which fork goes with which food. Invaluable lessons when they enter the work force. Mine are now all teens and a young adult but their absolute favorite part of a cruise is the dining room!

[tinlizzy]

I'll chime right in....my guy has vacationed w/ me his whole life and is now 15. He attended his first prom this year and they dined at a fancy restaurant before the dance. While everyone else played it safe w/ chicken fingers he had the salmon. He will even ask waiters now what they think is good!

 

Dress them up and let them order off the "grown-ups" menu!

[CrazyCruiseGirl61]

i am a kid that has been on any carnival cruises they dont have a promblem with not letting kids in the dinning room and actualy i have sen lots of kids. the do fun stuff like play music at a certain point and if ur going on a week long like on the glory they would have all the servers and cooks come out and go crazy and ud yell and scream to earn points for you color for the deck part which is a blast by the way but yea its pretty kid friendly

[cruisin4life1993]

Im 13 and my brother is 11 and we both eat in the dining room with our parents and our 5 year old brother.:)

[cps10]

Our kids opted to dine with the camp kids. They are 13 and 6 and I think the dining room food was too "stuffy" for them. They are your chicken nuggets and pizza crowd.

[Cuizer2]

Taking a family cruise over Christmas and have tried to read all I can on here but have not been able to find much family info. I don't recall seeing kids in the dining room on our last cruise but then I wasn't looking for any, do most kids do kid things at that time and just chose not to eat with the adults? Mine will be 11 & 13 so I don't think they will be throwing temper tandrums or embarassing my husband or myself if they go.

Any comments are welcome!

 

Cruised with 4 1/2 & 6 year old on the Pride. They joined us every night except the night we ate in the David Supper Club.