2 y.o. not OK for specialty restaurants?

[bocaj]

Hi,

 

I'm a first time cruiser and would be cruising on ncl star in January with my husband and 2 y.o. I'm a stay-at-home mom, so I'm worried that he might not adjust too well in the kids club. I'm still going to try it out, but in case if he didn't go for it, I was wondering if it's OK to take him dining at some of the specialty restaurants on board (maybe one or 2). If so, which ones and would he be charged the cover charge even if he didn't order anything or if he ordered off of the children's menu? He's good in restaurants most of the time, providing that I bring lots of distractions (sticker books, crayons and paper, quite toys, etc.). We also eat dinner rather early, around 6/6:30ish.

 

Thanks for all your suggestions and insights.

[CeleBrat]

You should be fine. Just stay away from the super-fancy high-end steak restaurant. NCL doesn't charge for kids in the specialty restaurants if they only eat off of the kids menu.

 

Have fun!

 

CeleBrat

[allie's g]

We took my 2 year grand daughter to the specialties restaurant. She was well behaved and we had her dvd with us so she could watch her fav shosw. The waiter could not beieve how lady like she was, she sat through the very long meal and tried foods along the way. It was a great night and we intend on doing it again on our Ruby cruise.

[Julienatul]

We went to the specialty steak restaurant on Carnival without DD. Just in case our babysitting plans fell through we asked about taking her since she was only 2 and they said they cant refuse service to anyone regardless of age but the recommended age was 6 to dine. When we got there we realized it was very high-end/formal and not really the place for a 2 year-old. Worst case scenerio your could probably bring them but I wouldnt be surprised if you got nasty looks since it does tend to be much more elegant than the regular dining room.

[bocaj]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll make sure that if we had to bring our son that we would bring lots of things to keep him happy and well behaved and also not bring him to the steak house and other very high end restaurants. Thanks again!

[CanadianTwosome]

We always take our daughter to the specialty restaurants on NCL. She's 10, mind you, and we have to pay for her because she orders off of the 'big' menu. :)

 

Your situation is different, but I can tell you that I wouldn't have thought twice about taking her to any of the restaurants when she was two. She was one of those freaky kids that didn't fuss or misbehave in restaurants, and we took her out fairly regularly, including our local teppan grill, which is her favourite local restaurant now.

 

If your child is well behaved and relatively quiet, the only people who could possibly have any issues with him in a restaurant are people who have issues with kids in general. If you are prepared to keep him occupied and remove him from the restaurant if he's fussy, then you should feel comfortable taking him to any restaurant you want. As has been noted, they only charge kids if they eat from the specialty menu. I'm not sure about Teppanyaki, since they have limited seating, but if he's in a high chair and there is still a seat for the full number of diners, I can't see it being a problem. Watching them cook there might also keep him entertained, they have a good show. I especially liked the egg trick...

 

We loved the Star, and I'm sure you will, too. Their Kids Crew is fantastic and our daughter loved it. If you go to the NCL boards and do a search for 'menu' you should find at least one link to the new 2.0 menus, and you can get an idea of which specialities will appeal to you. We love Teppanyaki and Cagneys, and my daughter's favourite is Ginza, which is open on sea days for lunch. :)

[lolakat]

we took our dd to Cagneys as well as the tex mex and French places on our last 2 cruises when she was 6 and 7 mo old. She will be 19 mo on our next cruise and we plan to take her agian. We also eat early and keep her entertained. In general she is well behaved and if she isn't we just take her out. You may get some "dirty looks" but I find them easy to ignore. Enjoy your cruise.

[wiscwood]

I was recently on the NCL Jewel. We were having a romantic dinner in the French restaurant, and the couple at the table next to us had a small child (maybe 8 - 10 months old.) Didn't bother us one bit... Actually, I kept looking over at the adorable little baby and thought "How nice, I hope when we have a baby we'll be doing the same thing!" And I'll mention that the waitstaff really loved the baby. One waiter even took her for a little "ride" in her highchair around the restaurant. Everybody was laughing... lots of fun!

[PattyW]

On NCL, the specialty restaurants are different than on other lines. Some are pretty casual. I was on the Dawn, so I'm not 100% sure that the restaurants are the same, but I would absolutely take her to the mexican restaurant, the teppanyaki restuarant, the italian restaurant and the asian restaurant. The french restaurant and the steakhouse are around double the surcharge, so those are a bit nicer and I'd have second thoughts about bringing her there.

 

The offer the same kids menu in all the restaurants, and if your child orders off of it, there is no charge for the child.