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fussy teens - what to eat at dinner


iruserwin
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Hi Folks

 

We have 3 fussy teens that will be joining us on the Dream in December. The oldest will be 16 and is autistic / asbergers (= lots and lots of research). He has found the personal navigators and asks; if i want a cheese pizza at dinner in one of the dining rooms can i get one? On Carnival that was not a problem the pizza joint was open all the time. On Dream, he notes that Luigi's pizza is closed at 6pm and not open again to 9:30pm. Is that because it is busy making pizzas for other fussy teens, or will that mean he can't get a pizza?

 

The other two fussy teens want to know if they can order from the kids menu (both will be 13 when we cruise). I don't see why they can't but told them they may need two kids dinners if they want to feel full. Can anyone confirm (or deny) that they can order from the kids menu?

 

thanks in advance!

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Hi Folks

 

We have 3 fussy teens that will be joining us on the Dream in December. The oldest will be 16 and is autistic / asbergers (= lots and lots of research). He has found the personal navigators and asks; if i want a cheese pizza at dinner in one of the dining rooms can i get one? On Carnival that was not a problem the pizza joint was open all the time. On Dream, he notes that Luigi's pizza is closed at 6pm and not open again to 9:30pm. Is that because it is busy making pizzas for other fussy teens, or will that mean he can't get a pizza?

 

The other two fussy teens want to know if they can order from the kids menu (both will be 13 when we cruise). I don't see why they can't but told them they may need two kids dinners if they want to feel full. Can anyone confirm (or deny) that they can order from the kids menu?

 

thanks in advance!

 

Speak privately with the MD, to arrange off menu dining.

They are always gracious, and never decline.

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My MIL often orders off the kid's menu - it's no problem! Kids can order off the adult menu, and adults can order off the kid's menu. You can also mix and match, or even just order a kid's dessert (it's the only way to get a mickey bar!)

 

As for cheese pizza - some menus offer it on the kid's menu, but it may not always be available. The pizza at the pizza station on deck isn't really the same as in the dining rooms, so they're not busy making pizzas for the dining rooms at that time - I believe they're probably closed during dinner because the pool deck eateries are covered by the dining staff, and they're all busy with dinner in either the dining rooms or Cabanas.

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Anyone can order from any menu at any time. A 4 year old can order from the adult menu and a 74 year old can order from the kid's menu. Your kids can order a "double portion" from the kids menu at their initial order, which means the server won't have to do as much running.

 

As to your difficult child, talk with the server and the head server on the first night. If he knows in advance that he wants a cheese pizza at dinner, they will prepare it for him each night. It is a lot easier to do it as an advance order than at the last minute. If you have main seating, dinner is at 5:45. If you let the team know that you want a cheese pizza right away (do not wait till 6), they can get it from upstairs for you. If you wait till 6, they'd have to get it from room service or make it in the galley of the restaurant you are seated in. That can be done, but again, advance notice is good. You can request a cheese pizza every night in advance and he can order something else too if he'd like.

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As an example of how flexible Disney is, at the time of our first cruise my daughter was a vegetarian. The first night she had portabella mushrooms that she loved. After that night she had it most every night and it wasn't a problem. I do agree that if you know in advance that your child wants something and ask they can have it ready right away.

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I've found that I'd they have it on the ship, they'll try their best to get it for you. We were seated next to a family who got a bowl of curry and naan bread at literally every dinner before their food came out.

 

Sent from my HTC U Ultra using Tapatalk

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  • 2 weeks later...
any pics ? cruise ship food porn

 

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Forums mobile app

 

I searched thru our thousands of pics and found one picture, but it was taken from a cell phone in the dark, so it's horrible quality. I also found a picture of the EMPTY sundae glass, but that probably wouldn't do much for you. LOL!

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We're vegetarian and my son is picky on top of that. Our servers did bring him items from the quick service locations on deck for some of the dinners. They would check in with us the night before to see if he wanted a special meal the next evening. (We didn't even think to ask for this. The servers just noticed we had trouble finding food he would eat at the embarkation lunch and were proactive about asking us what he did and did not like). I see no reason why your experience would be any different -- especially if you talk to DCL about the issue in advance.

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On the first night, we told our server that the kids liked raw vegetables, and so every night there was a plate of raw vegetables waiting for us as we arrived. My one daughter loves shrimp. The server heard that, and for the rest of the cruise there was also a plate of shrimp on the table when we arrived. We had a birthday onboard, but she didn't like cake, and asked if apple pie was an option instead. Somehow, apple pie showed up on their birthday despite us not seeing it on any menu at any location onboard. Another child at our table had a bowl of fruit loops and a plate of cheese waiting for him every night.

This is Disney; dealing with picky eaters is a big part of what they do. If there is a way for them to find a food your kids will eat, they will find it.

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On the first night, we told our server that the kids liked raw vegetables, and so every night there was a plate of raw vegetables waiting for us as we arrived. My one daughter loves shrimp. The server heard that, and for the rest of the cruise there was also a plate of shrimp on the table when we arrived. We had a birthday onboard, but she didn't like cake, and asked if apple pie was an option instead. Somehow, apple pie showed up on their birthday despite us not seeing it on any menu at any location onboard. Another child at our table had a bowl of fruit loops and a plate of cheese waiting for him every night.

This is Disney; dealing with picky eaters is a big part of what they do. If there is a way for them to find a food your kids will eat, they will find it.

This! Thru the years, my daughter went thru various favorite foods and off menu requests. We didn't even ask--daughter remarked to server that broccoli was her favorite vege, and each night there was a bowl of steamed broccoli on the table. Sometimes she did ask--could she have a hamburger when it wasn't on the menu? Done. Could she have the soup from another signature menu? Done. It DOES help if you can give them some advance notice.

 

They even did it for me--daughter told the server that I was unhappy since the maple glazed salmon had been removed from the menu. Yup, next night I had maple glazed salmon. Another time, a friend we'd met on board came to our table and asked if we liked curry. The kitchen had made a huge dish for their table of 10, and they weren't going to eat nearly all of it...would we like some? And his server brought some of it to us.

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Another bonus- they also will not make your child feel "odd" for making special requests or ordering off menu. My son has autism and ate the same food every meal in the dining room on his first cruise, even needed the waiter to decorate the plate the same way with a Mickey-shaped ketchup dollop before he could eat, and the waiters never even blinked. It was actually an amazing experience for him. By the end of the trip, he was able to do things that we'd been attempting/practicing at home with no success like order his food directly from the waiter while looking at the waiter. The servers didn't realize what a big deal it was when he started doing it midway through the trip, but were very patient regardless. From what we could tell, they are that way with all the children all the time since we had the same service our next cruise. By that time, my son trusted that his preferred food was always going to be available, so he was actually willing to try some new and non-preferred foods each meal too. Disney really does seem to try to make it as easy as possible.

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