Dining with a family of 5...

[emtmom]

Just wondering as a family of 5, we will be seated at our own table or will we be at a larger table? I don't really have a preference, I have always loved meeting new people at dinner, and have made some long-time friendships as a result of being seated at the same dinner table on a cruise. I am more concerned for the other people who might be put at a table with my two year old!

[firefly333]

There is no telling. Usually they seat families together, so you might be seated say at a ten top with one other family of 4 with a chair empty for instance.

[okgirl]

Just wondering as a family of 5, we will be seated at our own table or will we be at a larger table? I don't really have a preference, I have always loved meeting new people at dinner, and have made some long-time friendships as a result of being seated at the same dinner table on a cruise. I am more concerned for the other people who might be put at a table with my two year old!

 

It's kind of a coin toss. I've been seated with families of 5 at an 8 top and once a family of 5 at a 10 top when there were 4 of us. And I've seen families of 5 at a 6 top with and empty seat.

 

The waitstaff will do a lot to keep your 2yo entertained, but do ask for some bread right off and bring something to entertain the child. Dinner can take 1.5+ hours and your toddler might not hold up to that length of time, so please be prepared to have one of the parents leave the dining room with them if he/she gets fussy.

[emtmom]

Thanks! Usually we always have things to keep the kids entertained at the table when we dine out, and we usually never have a problem, but this will be our youngest's first cruise so we're a little nervous about her level of exhaustion combined with the extended dining time. Fairly certain she'll be ok so long as they keep the bread and butter coming!

[firefly333]

I got off oasis dec 3rd? and we dined with a family of 5. The 26 month old, just over 2 years, could watch ipad movies at the table. The part that drove us nuts was using the silverware as a drum nightly. Turns out he has drums at home.

 

First time I have had a 2 year old to eat with all week, but we were part of a group, so assigned a family within our group as table mates.

[jules1121]

I am not much help on the table arrangement but just piping in to say I recommend the dvd play/ipad/kindle fire or something like that to entertain a 2 yr old at the meal along with coloring book and/or maybe some little people. We cruised last year with our 2yr old (and the yr before that when she was 1yr old) and the DVD player saved our bacon! Remember that dining on a cruise is a lot longer of a time than a regular meal. Our waiter learned the first night the best solution was bring out fruit right away so DD could munch on it (since she isn't that into bread). Once she started getting wiggley we would open up the DVD player but we had a table to ourselves and it wasn't loud.

 

Most nights we did not stay till the end of the dining time (as in our waiter was kind and brought our food out quickly so we were usually done before most other diners) but we left full and happy every night. :D From there we would drop the kids off at Camp Carnival for a few hours and go check out shows and have some grown up time.

[crusinpsychRN]

When my kids were that young they made a mess in restaurants despite all our efforts. We left many a restaurant due to their behavior.

 

Hope you have better luck!