Cruising Disney w/Grand Kids

I posted this in a roll call for Disney Magic and didn't here a peep. So, posting again to a wider Disney audience. Questions were (1) as the OP posted directly below and (2) thoughts on cruising with grand kids sans parents.

Quote:

Originally Posted by texasrosebud

Hi Jan,

Question: We are traveling with all adults this time. We were considering going to the adult dinner restaurant (cant remember the name right now) anyway, I was wondering if we should just eat at the three different dining rooms or do the pay restaurant?? We will only have 3 evening meals because the cruise is so short?? And this is our first time on the Magic.....if so, which dining room should we skip??

Thanks so much!!

Lynette

I'm also interested in some insight on this question. We're booked on the 3 day Magic sailing 01/10 - 01/13, just the two of us both in our 60s.

Experienced cruisers (mostly Oceania and Celebrity) who have never been on Disney but the offering for FL/GA residents on this sailing was too good to pass up and, the day I made the booking it was 23 degrees outside ..... in ATLANTA!

Checking out Disney this trip in anticipation of cruising with 3 of our 7 grand kids (ages 6-8) next year - probably a 7d Caribbean itinerary. Would love to have some thoughts from folks here who have cruised with grand kids sans their parents before.

I posted this in a roll call for Disney Magic and didn't here a peep. So, posting again to a wider Disney audience. Questions were (1) as the OP posted directly below and (2) thoughts on cruising with grand kids sans parents.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by texasrosebud

Hi Jan,

 

Question: We are traveling with all adults this time. We were considering going to the adult dinner restaurant (cant remember the name right now) anyway, I was wondering if we should just eat at the three different dining rooms or do the pay restaurant?? We will only have 3 evening meals because the cruise is so short?? And this is our first time on the Magic.....if so, which dining room should we skip??

 

Thanks so much!!

 

Lynette

 

I'm also interested in some insight on this question. We're booked on the 3 day Magic sailing 01/10 - 01/13, just the two of us both in our 60s.

 

Experienced cruisers (mostly Oceania and Celebrity) who have never been on Disney but the offering for FL/GA residents on this sailing was too good to pass up and, the day I made the booking it was 23 degrees outside ..... in ATLANTA!

 

Checking out Disney this trip in anticipation of cruising with 3 of our 7 grand kids (ages 6-8) next year - probably a 7d Caribbean itinerary. Would love to have some thoughts from folks here who have cruised with grand kids sans their parents before.

As this is your first Disney cruise, I'd suggest just sticking with the Main Dining Rooms. Otherwise, how will you know whether it was a good idea to skip them or not? Once you've been on the Magic, you can decide whether to do the adult dining or not on your Fantasy cruise, since you will have more time onboard. I will point out on those cruises that have sea days, Palo and Remy offer brunch, so you can still attend your "regular" MDR, if you wish.

The MDRs on the Magic are Lumiere's, Animator's Palate, and Carioca's. On the Fantasy they are Enchanted Garden, Animator's Palate, and Royal Court.

Hi there!

I haven't cruised with my grandkids yet because they're only 4, 3 and 3 months....so without specific questions from you, I don't know if I'd have the answers, but I'd love to try to help.

To answer the dining question....the upsell adult-only restaurant is Palo.

And deciding whether or not to skip one of the main dining rooms, I guess depends a lot on what type of food, atmosphere and service you're looking for. In the main dining rooms, all of the above are wonderful....but in Palo, it's quite a bit more refined. You have to dress up a little (semi-formal) and the food offerings are more of what you'd find in a very upscale restaurant.

If I were going to skip a main dining room, I'd probably skip Lumiere's. Dinner in Parrot Cay is really fun.....I definitely would NOT skip Animator's Palate, it's quite the show during dinner, really fascinating.

Actually the dress code for Palo is much more relaxed than the aforementioned semi-formal.

From the DCL web site:

"Dress Code

At Palo, dress pants and shirt or jacket is required for men and a dress or pantsuit is required for women. Please no jeans, shorts, capri pants, flip-flops or tennis shoes."

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

I was just about to add the dress code comment.

Reality, on a 3 night cruise, I'd do the 3 main dining rooms. You can always add Palo next time!

Thanks all ...... Ann and I had already concluded that (skip Palos this time) but wanted a sanity check on that decsion.

On cruising with the grand kids. I had four kids of my own. We didn't take vacations with our kids, we took trips. They were a lot of work. Mom and Dad didn't have a lot of time to ourselves. The grand kids (3 of the 7) are now getting old enough to enjoy a cruise I would think.

My questions are ..... how difficult is it to get back into the child care mode? Sure, I understand Disney has great kid programs and there will be adult time for us grand parents when the kids are participating in them but, you still have to get them into bed and get them up in the morning. What cabin arrangements do you suggest for two old farts and three kids ranging in ages from 6 to 8?

I don't want to dump my grand kids completely on the ship's staff and go off to have a good 'ol time on our own. I expect to and want to do some of the leg work. What's a reasonable day time plan? Shore plan? Do you bring them to dinner?

I will be the first to tell you my parents brought me up to be seen and not heard and not seen much around dinner time. They were very proper. We frequently dined early and they dined separately later. Even today, I dislike seeing kids in restaurants after 8:30. I was in bed by then as a kid and so were my kids. In my case and with our own kids, we did some of that but also enjoyed many good meals with good conversations and family bonding that paid off in the long run. But that happened a lot later in the child rearing phase and in the 10-18y ranges for all 4 of them.

I know family life is a lot different now. Two working parents sometimes just one and all of that. One of my grand kids leads a very scheduled and structured life. She is a great kid, very smart, very disciplined, very well mannered. But the family eats on the run most of the time between school, dance, advanced studies and the like. Both parents are professionals. The other two are much more laid back as are their Mom and Dad and I mean this in a good way. Their family does a lot of outdoor activities together, camping, skiing, boating and so forth. Mom is a professional but she only works a few hours a week and is home with the kids a lot. They almost always eat together.

So, sorry for the long-winded description but I'm a little nervous about returning to the parenting role but really want to get closer to my grand kids through cruising that my wife and I really love.

Thanks all ...... Ann and I had already concluded that (skip Palos this time) but wanted a sanity check on that decsion.

 

On cruising with the grand kids. I had four kids of my own. We didn't take vacations with our kids, we took trips. They were a lot of work. Mom and Dad didn't have a lot of time to ourselves. The grand kids (3 of the 7) are now getting old enough to enjoy a cruise I would think.

 

My questions are ..... how difficult is it to get back into the child care mode? Sure, I understand Disney has great kid programs and there will be adult time for us grand parents when the kids are participating in them but, you still have to get them into bed and get them up in the morning. What cabin arrangements do you suggest for two old farts and three kids ranging in ages from 6 to 8?

 

I don't want to dump my grand kids completely on the ship's staff and go off to have a good 'ol time on our own. I expect to and want to do some of the leg work. What's a reasonable day time plan? Shore plan? Do you bring them to dinner?

 

I will be the first to tell you my parents brought me up to be seen and not heard and not seen much around dinner time. They were very proper. We frequently dined early and they dined separately later. Even today, I dislike seeing kids in restaurants after 8:30. I was in bed by then as a kid and so were my kids. In my case and with our own kids, we did some of that but also enjoyed many good meals with good conversations and family bonding that paid off in the long run. But that happened a lot later in the child rearing phase and in the 10-18y ranges for all 4 of them.

 

I know family life is a lot different now. Two working parents sometimes just one and all of that. One of my grand kids leads a very scheduled and structured life. She is a great kid, very smart, very disciplined, very well mannered. But the family eats on the run most of the time between school, dance, advanced studies and the like. Both parents are professionals. The other two are much more laid back as are their Mom and Dad and I mean this in a good way. Their family does a lot of outdoor activities together, camping, skiing, boating and so forth. Mom is a professional but she only works a few hours a week and is home with the kids a lot. They almost always eat together.

 

So, sorry for the long-winded description but I'm a little nervous about returning to the parenting role but really want to get closer to my grand kids through cruising that my wife and I really love.

With 5 of you, I'd suggest you look into booking 2 connecting rooms. That way you get double the bathroom space and double the TVs in the room. You will need to book one adult in each room, but you can actually sleep with the adults in one room and the kids in the other (keeping the connecting door open, if you wish).

There are lots of family activities onboard (both adult and kids together enjoying things). Look here at the Navigators for an idea of what sorts of activities may be available:

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/personal-navigators/

I took my daughter, son-in-law, and two grandkids last year. Not exactly the same thing but we booked two oceanview rooms (I felt it was safer with a 2 yr. old and 7 yr. old). Disney has many family rooms that will hold 5 but you will have sofa beds, murphy beds, and a bunk from the ceiling likely. Also with two cabins you have two bathrooms.

I would book early sitting for dinner and take the kids to dinner and show them what it is like. There will be other kids (lots of other kids) there too so you don't have to worry about them being heard.

You know you will need a notarized form giving you permission to take the grandkids on the cruise. I believe Disney has a form that everyone fills out and has notarized.

This is a deluxe family oceanview cabin on the Fantasy.

Getting back into the child care mode isn't the easiest. :) My youngest "child" is a very independant 20 year old, then I have a 23 year old, and the mom to my grandkids is 31....so I hadn't taken care of young ones for a long time.

My situation is different in that the kids are still pretty little, and my 4 year old grandson is autistic, so that makes it even harder. BUT....it doesn't take long for all those old "mom" instincts to come right back!

You definitely will take the kids with you to dinner in the main dining rooms, because on Disney, the whole meal is a great time, and fun....a show, actually. The servers are GREAT with kids.

Getting them into bed shouldn't be too bad, they'll probably be worn out from the daily activities and the shows. I know my kids were, we started cruising when the two younger ones were 8 yrs and 11 yrs.

Sometimes we had to pretty much pull them out of bed in the morning, but if we were going on an excursion....snorkeling, dolphins, aquarium, etc...once they got up, they were excited to be doing something totally new and different.

If you can afford two connecting cabins, that would be the way to go. My personal choice was to not ever let the kids be alone at night in their own cabin, so in your case, I would probably have one adult sleep in each room....but if you're comfortable (and a lot of people are, just not me) you can put the kids in one, and the two of you in another...with maybe just the youngest with you, or trade around....whatever works best for you.

You'll have a great time, and it will be something the kids will always remember!

From the Guidelines link at the top of every page:

Cruise Critic is committed to providing an online environment that is free from these types of harassing postings. Please, don't attack another poster or group of posters. Do not harass, threaten, embarrass, or do anything else to another member that is unwanted. This means: don't say bad things about them, don't keep sending them unwanted Instant Message notes, don't attack their race, heritage, or their sexual orientation, etc. If you disagree with someone, respond to the subject, not the person. Postings of this nature will be removed from the boards

My delete finger is getting tired.

I hesitate to take the grandkids on a Disney cruise because it's been a long time since I was a mom. I have taken them on trips to Disney World and LEGOLAND, and am considering the Disney cruise line in another year or two. I am concerned that on the ship they might get seasick, or just sick. I know they'd enjoy it though.