Should we avoid the formal dining room with a 1 year old?

[coolcats]

After visiting relatives, we're travelling back to the lower 48 from Alaska on a Celebrity cruise (Celebrity Millennium) in June. We will have two older kids (ages 10 and 8), who have gone on a cruise before.

 

We will also have a 1-year-old with us. On the first cruise, 2 years ago, the older kids were fine. But I'm concerned about how the 1-year-old will act and be received in the main dining room. He's pretty laid back, but he is still a toddler. Should we plan on just eating in less formal venues or would it be ok to bring the 1-year to the dining room. We have the anytime dining option.

[EviesCruisin]

Try it out. Our 15 month old did OK, but had trouble if the meals were 2 hours long. She wasn't terrible but got a little antsy. The servers will bring the baby little food to snack on.

 

Are they used to going out to eat (for an hour?) My daughter did OK, but most times we ended up doing the buffet because 2 hours is frankly a long dinner for all of us to sit through. (This was on HAL).

 

One night we did the specialty restaurant and brought my iPod Touch with a movie on it, she was a perfect angel. Sometimes it's worth a few small concessions like that to keep the peace :)

 

I'd just say be prepared to have someone get up and take the baby for a walk if they start acting up. We swiftly removed my little one if she got fussy... and you can usually get your dessert "to go" as well. Also avoid naptime or too close to their bedtime... OR , wait till they're asleep and wheel them down in a stroller! ;-)

[coolcats]

Thanks for the insight! He does pretty good at dinner at home and at fast food places but usually we are only at the table for 30 minutes or so.

[mikaula]

We took our granddaughter in the main dining room when she was a little over a year. All the waiters LOVED her. When she got tired of sitting we would take her out for a short walk in the foyer & she had no problems I say try it & see how they do.

[Essiesmom]

I understand that when you have fixed dining, the waiters determine the first night what your child likes,and will have finger food waiting for him, so he doesn't have to sit and fidget while you order and wait...Perhaps you can arrange to have the same table/servers each night in AnyTime...EM

[cb at sea]

Of course you shouldn't "avoid" it....the dining room staff is great with kids...and they are welcomed!

[B_Mc]

I wouldn't avoid! We've done it with a 10-month old and again when he was 22 months! The staff is great with them. We come prepared with some snacks and we take turns walking him if needed or dashing out before dessert if he's too bored.

[coolcats]

I wouldn't avoid! We've done it with a 10-month old and again when he was 22 months! The staff is great with them. We come prepared with some snacks and we take turns walking him if needed or dashing out before dessert if he's too bored.

 

Thanks everyone. My other kids loved eating in the "fancy restaurant" every night when we went on our first cruise, so they are looking forward to it on this one as well.

[CeleBrat]

Totally take your baby with to the dining room, but just be prepared to take him out if he gets restless or starts crying. Our kids have been sailing since they were infants, so have clocked plenty of time in the dining. When they were infants and one of us had to remove them from the table, our waiter would put one of those metal covers over our food and send it to the room. So nice.

 

Be sure to have lots of little things for your baby to play with as well, to keep him from getting restless.

 

Have fun, and let us know how it goes!

 

CeleBrat

[jlrn366419]

Take the little one to the dining room. Do a pre dinner 'lap' somewhere on the ship to let him or her burn off some energy before they sit down to eat if you have time.

[Marksmom]

After visiting relatives, we're travelling back to the lower 48 from Alaska on a Celebrity cruise (Celebrity Millennium) in June. We will have two older kids (ages 10 and 8), who have gone on a cruise before.

 

We will also have a 1-year-old with us. On the first cruise, 2 years ago, the older kids were fine. But I'm concerned about how the 1-year-old will act and be received in the main dining room. He's pretty laid back, but he is still a toddler. Should we plan on just eating in less formal venues or would it be ok to bring the 1-year to the dining room. We have the anytime dining option.

 

We went when DS was 11.5months. He did great. We gave him a piece of bread and he was happy chewing on that for a while. I also brought a lot of gerber snacks, puffs, lil crunches, yogurt melts and ravioli. It worked well, we kept him busy with food and he never cried or needed to be taken out of the dining room. We were on carnival and no one seemed bothered, the servers loved entertaining him.

[Julienatul]

We always ate in the formal dining room with our kids when they were infants. We brought small toys and finger foods (gerber puffs crackers) to munch on, made sure they got naps beforehand and were just prepared to take them out if they got too fussy. I would say 90% of the meals we made it just fine and only a few did we have to take turns walking baby around.

[TheCalicoCat]

Our 2 year old was fine, but there is a difference between 1 & 2. Meanwhile I am commenting because I think the set time/table location/wait staff helped a lot. Both he & they knew what to expect.

[Warm Breezes]

Depends on your child and their temperment. Your child sounds a lot like my DS. At 1 we could take him anywhere. If he got bored he fell asleep. DD was a completely different story. We tried to avoid going out to any sit down restaurants when she was 1. The child cried until she could talk and once she started talking she didn't stop. We were fine then. But 2 totally different kids that we had to treat according to their own temperments at an age when discipline was just beginning and not yet totally instilled.

[ElsieToo]

We always ate in the formal dining room with our kids when they were infants. We brought small toys and finger foods (gerber puffs crackers) to munch on, made sure they got naps beforehand and were just prepared to take them out if they got too fussy. I would say 90% of the meals we made it just fine and only a few did we have to take turns walking baby around.

 

 

I could have written this word for word (except we have just one child). ;) We had a table of 12, and the other tablemates - all seniors - loved having him around because he was so darn cute and always good for a topic of conversation. We did an 11 night cruise when DS was 9 months, and we ate in the MDR every night - and we had late seating. A number of times DS conked out in my arms, but it was so worth it. He (and we!) had a very good trip.

[JBert]

Hey All,

 

New daddy question. At what age can my DD start eating Puffs? She'll be 6 months when we cruise next month. Just want to keep her as content during dinner as possible.

 

Thanks!

[Gatrcruzer]

I would say, it depends. Plenty of people take their babies to the main dining room for dinner and it is perfectly fine, people dote on them, and they handle the experience well. However, it really depends on the situation you are in and the child, and you know your family better than anyone else. Not unusual for cruise ship dinners to run 1.5-2 hours, which could be hard for for the kids, let alone the 1 year old. If you have a lot of folks who could take turns taking the baby out if need be (i.e., friends or family traveling with you), then that would help. When my daughter was 1 we chose not to take her to the dining room - she had an early bedtime, and we didn't want the stress of dealing with problems, so for us it was more comfortable not to go to the main dining room, and we simply went to the buffet instead. However, it's nice to go to the main dining room if you can pull it off, so maybe give it a try. If it doesn't seem like a good option, you could always make a new plan. Luckily the buffet is available if needed!

[ginger123snaps]

We just cruised with 4 year old twins and a 2 year old. We went to the dining room for every meal we could. Battling Lido Deck buffet lines with even one child is difficult. If you can take a iPad/dvd player with you and ask for a somewhat isolated table you should be good to go. Good luck!

[ElsieToo]

Hey All,

 

New daddy question. At what age can my DD start eating Puffs? She'll be 6 months when we cruise next month. Just want to keep her as content during dinner as possible.

 

Thanks!

 

 

JBert, it's hard to say, because it's really an individualized thing. We started giving those type of things to DS after he'd been having cereal for a few weeks and was starting to use the "pincer grasp" (using the first finger to thumb to pick things up). IIRC, your DD should at least be sitting self-supported, too. Mind you, for us that happened sometime in his 6th month, and happened within one day, so even if DD's not sitting by the time you sail, she might be sitting by the time the cruise is over.

 

I don't think we bought something like Puffs more than a few times and then switched over to plain (not Honey Nut) Cheerios because it was SOOOOOO much less expensive and DS liked them just as well. Really, anything that will keep DD happy and calm is what you should bring. If that is Puffs, fine. If that is rice cereal, or a jar or pureed peaches, that's fine, too. As long as you're attentive and don't let her fuss and squirm a lot and disrupt everyone else around her, whatever you do will be fine. :)

[LOVINCRUIZIN]

We've always had the kids with us in MDR since infants but usually had the sitter bring them back to the room after main course. If it's too long, take dessert to go to shorten it, but I wouldn't miss the MDR and eat in a buffet. You'll make it work!!