Food Question!!!

[stbmom]

Okay - we will be on Carnival in Dec with 3 littles ones (3 years old and two 15 month olds). No - I will not tell you what cruise so you can cancel:D

Don't worry - I am an attached momma and promise to keep my kids out of your hair! My questions are on getting food. I love you all too much to force the kids into the dining room for marathon dinners, but I need to feed them. So - what is the best way to get them food?

 

Would it be possible to put in our dinner orders and pick them up to go in the dining room? And YES, we will be tipping the wait staff for ALL 5 of US. And YES - we will be tipping the full amount per person including the children! I had an absolutely horrid time getting food for my oldest when we went on a RCCL cruise when he was 13 months. I need to get my kids relatively healthy meals and I would like to enjoy some yummy food.

 

If I can put in dinner orders and pick them up to go - can I do that for breakfast as well?

 

Can you order off the dinner menu for room service?

Would it be faster to go through my dining room wait staff?

On RCCL - we would put in our room service order right at the beginning of dinner time (6:00 or 6:30) and the staff would not show up with our food until 8:30 or 9:00 when my kiddo would be fast asleep with no real dinner. Multiple that by 3 and disaster would be fast ensuing.

 

So, tips and tricks for feeding the kids would be greatly appreciated.

 

And yes, we will be bringing lots of snacks (Cheerios, rasins, crackers, applesauce, toddler size juices, even shelf stable organic milk). But, for the price of a cruise we would also like to have some Carnival provided meals as well:D

[mosel]

Carnival does not have the dining menu for room service. The menu mainly consists of sandwiches and breakfast pastries. As for taking food from the dining room when my Mom asked they told her no food was allowed out of the dining room. Some people have posted here that they have been able to take food for a member of their party who was sick in the cabin but I don't think they would pack up dinner for 5 to take out.

 

The food on the kids menu can be gotten very quickly by the wait staff so the kids could eat pretty much rght away but if they got cranky during dinner you might possibly have to leave before you finished yours. There is also the buffet but I am not sure they have many kid friendly foods there but you could check it out. Good Luck! Cindy

[meatball77]

We just got back from our cruise (you probably saw my little one with the marathon dinners).

 

The meals did not last any longer than a meal at chilis. Dinner started at 5:45 and the "show" was at 7:00. We were done way to early to even wait for the show most nights and we didn't try to speed through dinner.

 

I'd suggest that you try it with them the first night. There are kid friendly apps on most of the meals that you can order (fried cheese, strawberry soup) and then you can order them a meal (chicken nuggets, pasta, pizza, grilled chicken) which they will bring out fast and get their deserts early (cookies or melting cake or ice cream). If you tell your waiter that you need everything quicker than usual I'm sure they would do that for you. Arriving 10-15 minutes late for dinner nightly would help with that also.

 

 

They have fruit that you can cut up on all the buffets. You can get cheerio boxes from room service, juice at breakfast or through room service for their sippy cups and milk (if you ask at the buffet they will get you some even if you don't see it out and you can get it for free in the dining room).

[wonderfullife]

Seriously, you are saying Carnival does not allow food out of the dining room? I think my husband brought me some once and I think we were on Carnival at the time. That seems strange. What about bringing a dessert back to the cabin for later? Do they let you do that?

 

I am POSITIVE I was able to bring entrees and desserts out of the DR on Royal Caribbean. I can't believe Carnival would not do that.

 

Does anyone else have info on the subject?

 

Aleece

 

 

Carnival does not have the dining menu for room service. The menu mainly consists of sandwiches and breakfast pastries. As for taking food from the dining room when my Mom asked they told her no food was allowed out of the dining room. Some people have posted here that they have been able to take food for a member of their party who was sick in the cabin but I don't think they would pack up dinner for 5 to take out.

 

The food on the kids menu can be gotten very quickly by the wait staff so the kids could eat pretty much rght away but if they got cranky during dinner you might possibly have to leave before you finished yours. There is also the buffet but I am not sure they have many kid friendly foods there but you could check it out. Good Luck! Cindy

[tha sista]

:D I dont understand why you don't go to the dining room. This is your vacation too. Your children will be fine for the hour or so it takes to eat in the dining room and the wait staff is usually very attentive to the little ones....

[Essiesmom]

Carnival does not allow you to take food out of the dining room. On my Celebration cruise last month two women had to leave the table the first night after ordering because one felt a bit ill. She asked if they could get their food sent to the cabin and they said no. You can't even take your leftovers. EM

[Wennfred]

Carnival does not allow you to take food out of the dining room.

 

Essiesmom, the Maitre'D would of allowed it.

 

On a few occasions when Wendy was sick in bed and when I went to the dining room alone, they the waiters insisted that I take her down a plate of whatever she would of normally ordered.

 

For the OP, just select the 6pm dinner time and bring them up and feed them. Also you can always go up Lido and get all the food you want and bring it down to your cabin. What would work even better if you had a cabin right next to Lido.

 

 

Fred

[Essiesmom]

The next night, the asst. Maitre D' came over to explain why they would not allow it...EM

[Nebr.cruiser]

You could try the dining room the first night and see how it goes. Ask the waiter to bring some finger foods right away and the kids food as quickly as possible too.

 

For our very active and restless 3-year-old grandson, the waiter (after learning his preferences) had a big plate of cut up fresh fruit--he's an enormous fruit eater--at his place as soon as he sat down, and french fries, which was another favorite at the time, soon after.

 

With your 3-year-old, you can run him up to Camp Carnival as soon as he is done. You can also ask the waiter to bring your own food sooner so you don't have a super-long meal with the twins.

 

If you don't want to brave the dining room, there is always the buffet, pizza and hamburger/fries areas. Remember, as to snacks, that small boxes of cereal are available at breakfast. We always kept a bunch on hand for the kids to snack on and always ordered cookies from room service as well. We kept the individual cartons of milk in the room fridge.You can bring fruit, or anything, down from the buffet as well; usually your steward will keep a fruit bowl filled too.

[Wennfred]

The next night, the asst. Maitre D' came over to explain why they would not allow it...EM

 

There was the problem, the Asst. Maitre'D is no one, just a glorified head waiter, believe me, next time talk to the Maitre'D.

 

They do it for me all the time.

 

 

Fred

[bobsfamily]

I had a horrid food experience - the wait staff was wonderful, it was the food itself - and after saying we were leaving my waiter tried to get me food to take to my room... he was basically begging me to wait til he could box up something for me. Maybe it was just that time... I can see why they try to not have food leave the dining room as many would order "to go".

We refused the food as I was afraid it would be as inedible as what we were served but it was nice of him.

This was on the Sensation the last night.

[meatball77]

The fruit plate in the dining room is awesome. You could order two of those and it would keep your little ones busy for a while.

 

 

 

 

You can get dinner on the lido deck if you want and you are welcome to bring that back to your room. Their food isn't as fancy but is still good.

[okgirl]

Seriously, you are saying Carnival does not allow food out of the dining room? I think my husband brought me some once and I think we were on Carnival at the time. That seems strange. What about bringing a dessert back to the cabin for later? Do they let you do that?

 

I am POSITIVE I was able to bring entrees and desserts out of the DR on Royal Caribbean. I can't believe Carnival would not do that.

 

Does anyone else have info on the subject?

 

Aleece

 

I've only seen this done on Carnival for rare circumstances where someone is sick. I can't imagine how much more difficult it would be for the DR staff to get through a seating if they were also having to make to go boxes on any kind of a regular basis.

[FamilyDoc]

We've been cruising since our 2 were little. Just ask for a table for just your family and get there right at dinner time, before the wait staff can get behind. We've never really had a problem. My son has always been very picky but there are always things he will eat.

 

Go and have fun. As long as you're at your own table, I don't know how you would disturb anyone else.

[cathyz]

Seriously, you are saying Carnival does not allow food out of the dining room? I think my husband brought me some once and I think we were on Carnival at the time. That seems strange. What about bringing a dessert back to the cabin for later? Do they let you do that?

 

I am POSITIVE I was able to bring entrees and desserts out of the DR on Royal Caribbean. I can't believe Carnival would not do that.

 

Does anyone else have info on the subject?

 

Aleece

Two cruises ago, our tablemates wanted dessert one night, but were too full to eat it, so our waiter brought them a cover and they carried their plates back to their cabin. That's the only time I've seen anyone carry anything out of the dining room.