Do children dine with adults?

[Tintown]

Just wondering if the kiddies dine with the adults all or some of the time? Our 10 year old daughter will be with us and she got very excited at the thought of a "fancy" dress for the formal nights. Are the children able to dine with the adults at the formal nights?

[whale-watcher]

Yes...your children can dine with you every night, and are free to order off the regular menus.

[paul929207]

Normally, children dine with the adults they are traveling with.

[TwinCruiserMom]

Most definitely! Your daughter will love being waited on in the dining rooms. The waiters are always very good with our kids and they all enjoy trying new things.

 

Have her try ordering off the adult menu. My twins had their first cruise at 12 and they ate duck, pheasant, lobster, and all kinds of interesting foods. Formal night is also a great time to get a family picture taken as there are photographers set up all over the ship.

 

We always eat every night in the dining room and some of our best cruise memories are those wonderful dinners.

 

Have a terrific cruise!

[Pam in CA]

Are the children able to dine with the adults at the formal nights?

Of course! :) Your kid(s) eat with you at home, right? For the most part, kids love to get dressed up (particularly the little girls) and rise to a new level when they get to eat in the dining room. I've seen kids of all ages in the dining room at night, including infants, even in the late traditional seating.

[Druke I]

My fellow posters, American all, perhaps don't realize that it is still quite common for Brits and people with British heritage to have children dine separately.

 

P&O (UK) for years specified in their brochures that parents wishing to dine with their children should book 1st seating, the inference being that children were not welcome at 2nd seating.

[notentirelynormal]

Yup, my kids have never done anything but eat with us. They loved getting dressed up. My grandkids will be eating with us too. Already bought the 6 month old her dress for the formal nights and the suit for the 2 YO.

[Pam in CA]

My fellow posters, American all, perhaps don't realize that it is still quite common for Brits and people with British heritage to have children dine separately.

Michael, thanks for the clarification. Actually, on our Sea Princess cruise which was about 90% Brits, the kids ate in the dining room with their parents. Also, on some cruiselines, they also separate the kids from parents. RCI comes to mind where there were very few kids in the dining room; they went to eat with the other kids and "appeared" in the dining room, usually between the main course and dessert, to sing or do something ensemble.

[merela]

Just wondering if the kiddies dine with the adults all or some of the time? Our 10 year old daughter will be with us and she got very excited at the thought of a "fancy" dress for the formal nights. Are the children able to dine with the adults at the formal nights?

 

Children can dine in the dining room for all 3 meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Since dining room service take a long time, most kids don't have the patience to tolerate 3 formal meals a day. We would usually have our breakfasts at the Horizon Court (buffet area), we would go to lunch in the dining room maybe 2-3 times out of 7, but we will always eat dinner in the dining room with the kids.

 

We usually have 1st seating (or anytime dining but with 1st seating reservation time) because kids can't usually last until 8pm to have dinner (unless we have jet lag). My kids would eat a fast dinner then head off to the Kids' Club between 7 and 8. But for formal nights, they would usually stay the entire meal and go to the Kids Club around 8:15pm. My kids are 6 and 8 now, but they still finish their meals before the adults, so we usually bring a portable DVD player so they can watch a movie while the adults take their time finishing up their dinners. If your child is older and enjoys eating adult entrees, then you don't need to bring extra stuff to prevent your child from getting bored waiting for the adults to finish.

 

The great thing about Princess is that if your children don't see anything that they want to eat on the adult menus, they can order from the kids' menu. If they still can't find anything they would like to eat, they can special-order it. If you can describe the food, the Princess chefs can make it for your child.

 

Here is the Princess' kids menu:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=79028

 

Some ships have it printed up, some don't. But every dish on the kids menu is offered on all Princess ships.

 

My kids order desserts from the adults' dessert menu.

[Colo Cruiser]

Just wondering if the kiddies dine with the adults all or some of the time? Our 10 year old daughter will be with us and she got very excited at the thought of a "fancy" dress for the formal nights. Are the children able to dine with the adults at the formal nights?

 

Yes all of the time. :)

[cruise junky joan]

I don't recall seeing which seating you had requested. My daughter, age 7 and again at 9 was usually so tired by the end of the day she once fell asleep at the table before the meal was finished which even for the early seating could be 8 to 8:30. Her regular bedtime was always lights out by 9:00 so this was pushing it for her. I guess my point is that you may have to take this one night at a time to see if she is "up" for putting on dressy clothes and sitting in a chair for the better part of 2 hours. It won't be any fun for her or your tablemates if she is fussy and tired. We were fortunate in that I also have a son who is 3 years older than his sister. Once they were 9 and 12 I was okay with leaving them in the cabin with room service and a movie on the tv. until we got back. They were happy and so was everyone else. Good Luck

[2theship]

Now that my youngest is about to turn 18, I really miss those dinners in the dining room. The girls started cruising when they were 3 & 4 and we would always dine together, especially on formal night. I do feel a little sorry for the young men that they date, however. The girls have fairly high expectations when it comes to restaurant fare.

 

One advantage to having a girl is that it's pretty easy to find a nice dress or two for formal nights. We cruised enough that we got good at trolling the clearance racks in fancy department stores looking for something to wear on the next cruise. That's got to be easier than looking for a suit that a boy will probably outgrow by the next cruise.

[merela]

All the Holiday formal dresses are on sale at Macy's now and they are perfect for winter cruises. I'm waiting for the after-Easter sale where I can find pastel-colored formal dresses for my girl. But as they get older, it's not the dresses that will cost $$, but the accessories!

 

My DD is 8 and she wears her dresses to dinner every night on the cruise.

[Leadft]

The kids' camp/clubs are usually closed during dinner hours. So if they don't dine with you in the dining room, you will be dining with them at the buffet!

[Cruisin' Chick]

The kids' camp/clubs are usually closed during dinner hours. So if they don't dine with you in the dining room, you will be dining with them at the buffet!

 

Actually, the kids' area on Princess is closed between 5 and 7. So if you have early seating, yes, they will be with you. If you have late seating (as we have always done), your child can decide to eat earlier in the Horizon or at the grill or pizzaria (if they're on your ship) and then go to the fun zone afterward. That's basically what our girl, at age 8, did on our last cruise for most nights. Her choice. She did dress up on the formal nights, just because those were on holidays.

 

On the first night of the cruise, the fun zone is just open for registration; you can't leave your kids there.

[mjmalino]

There is also one night where the kids zone has the horizon court reserved for the kids at camp to have dinner together. The kids camp does not open early for that, but will have everyone meet at the Horizon at 7 when they open. It was this night that DH and I were especially happy to have anytime dining as we were able to go for dinner around their schedule.

[gambit57]

Yup. I've been on Princess cruises since I was about 10 (and my sister was about 5). It's because of those fun meals in my childhood that I still cruise (and still with Princess). We've got a great family photo of me in a tiny suit and my sis in a cute little dress. Your daughter is gonna love it.

[dforeigner]

My kids order desserts from the adults' dessert menu.

 

And those are some wise kids, if I may say so myself! They sure know their desserts. :D