Which dining time works best?

[Ali-in-Texas]

Which dining time works out best for families with kids? Our kids are 9-16 and won't be going to bed early but they do want to participate in the kids program.

 

On port days do most people make it back for dinner in the dining room?

[ruttie]

if they want to do kids stuff and try to eat with the family on some nights i would suggest early dinner you may be rushed getting back for dinner on port days but most kids activities start at 7 ish and run till late night if you have late dinner you would miss much of the kids activities. enjoy!

[ckrobyn]

We had early seating on the Radiance, and that is the ONE thing I would change on future cruises. We cruised with our 8 year old and thought that early would be best for her, but you know what? After snacking in the Windjammer late in the day, none of us were hungry at 6pm! We also would have appreciated an afternoon siesta before dinner and not feel so rushed on Port days to get back to the ship, showered and in the dining room at 6pm.

 

For future cruises we will request late seating for sure.

 

Happy Cruising! :D

[debg66]

When do you normally eat? We generally have supper around 6:00 pm, so when we went on cruise with our children ages 13 and 15, we chose early dinner. It worked fine. We didn't snack in the afternoon, just had a light lunch and all was well. Most ships depart port around 5:00 pm so you have to be back on ship anyways. Formal days are usually days at sea, so there is more time to get ready. If you really feel pressed for time one night, you can always eat at Windjammer.

[sherry7]

Early dinner is best with kids, otherwise they'll miss most of their evening activities. We have a 15 year old son, and early dinner worked out well for us during our cruise a couple of months ago. After dinner, he was able to go back to the cabin, change clothes, and go do his own thing, while my husband and I went to the shows, etc.

[zachnlucy]

I like the early dinner, even without kids. We can then enjoy the evening entertainment and order room service when we get to bed. :o

[ahoughton]

;) We always do early so you have room for midnight buffet.;)

[NancyB84]

We did early dinner and hated it. We ended up just eating in the Windjammer most nights with the kids so they could keep their shorts and t-shirts on... and then we were wishing we had late seating for some adult time. We found that when we went to the diningroom for early seating... the kids were rushing to be done and go change to get to the kids program at 7pm. If I had it to do over again, we would have late seating and the two nights that the kids ate with us... it would be later than normal for them... but the rest of the time we would have family time in the Windjammer and then adult time in the diningroom at late seating. But, that is just an opinion. It all depends on your family and what you need. Either way. Enjoy!!!!!

[setcarp]

We tried to book the late seating, but it was full. We are on NOS 4/2 and there is a time change so our 6:30 dinner is going to seem like 4:30 for us with the CST time zone and the time change.