Dining options on carnival spirit

[nickykat]

I am a bit confused as to the dining on Carnival. I know there is a choice of early set at 5:30, late set at I think 7:45 or anytime dining in between these times? We will be traveling in a big group- 6 adults and 5 children. When I booked they recommended early set dining because of the size of the group, but I have opted for anytime instead. I can change it if I want to. If it was just my family early would be fine, but my parents are used to eating at 7-7:30, I'm not sure how they would go eating at 5:30.

 

If I stick with anytime, what time will we be allowed to eat? Do you need to wait until the early set are out? My plan is actually generally to have my 3 kids eat at the kids club, I find dining with them in restaurants to be really stressful at the best of times, they wriggle, don't sit still, I'm constantly telling them to not do something..... I am not sure about my brother and sil and their 2 kids (who are WAY better behaved than my own hellions and capable of sitting still at a dinner table). (I need to add at this point that 2 of my kids have Aspergers- an autism spectrum disorder- they have sensory issues and the noise, lights and large number of people can be really overwhelming for them, they're not just badly behaved for no reason!) The other is 2, with all the unpredictability of that age....

 

Sometimes though I'm sure we will want to eat together, what are our chances of getting a table for 11? Are you able to book a table in advance? If you don't eat in the main dinning room what are the options? I'm also worried about having to wait for the table, the kids are also sometimes not great with waiting, especially when hungry!

 

Also if my kids are just not able to eat in the didning room one night because they are tired or not capable of behaving well at that time, are you able to take food back to the cabin?

 

And finally (I think) what do you do about snacks? The kids are used to being able to go and grab an apple or banana or a carrot when they are hungry, I know there is 24 hour pizza and ice cream but that's not quite the same as fresh fruit! Is the buffet open between meal times and do they have fruit available or is it available anywhere else?

Edited January 26, 2015 by nickykat

[ScarletWelsh]

I am a bit confused as to the dining on Carnival. I know there is a choice of early set at 5:30, late set at I think 7:45 or anytime dining in between these times? We will be traveling in a big group- 6 adults and 5 children. When I booked they recommended early set dining because of the size of the group, but I have opted for anytime instead. I can change it if I want to. If it was just my family early would be fine, but my parents are used to eating at 7-7:30, I'm not sure how they would go eating at 5:30.

 

If I stick with anytime, what time will we be allowed to eat? Do you need to wait until the early set are out? My plan is actually generally to have my 3 kids eat at the kids club, I find dining with them in restaurants to be really stressful at the best of times, they wriggle, don't sit still, I'm constantly telling them to not do something..... I am not sure about my brother and sil and their 2 kids (who are WAY better behaved than my own hellions and capable of sitting still at a dinner table). (I need to add at this point that 2 of my kids have Aspergers- an autism spectrum disorder- they have sensory issues and the noise, lights and large number of people can be really overwhelming for them, they're not just badly behaved for no reason!) The other is 2, with all the unpredictability of that age....

 

Sometimes though I'm sure we will want to eat together, what are our chances of getting a table for 11? Are you able to book a table in advance? If you don't eat in the main dinning room what are the options? I'm also worried about having to wait for the table, the kids are also sometimes not great with waiting, especially when hungry!

 

Also if my kids are just not able to eat in the didning room one night because they are tired or not capable of behaving well at that time, are you able to take food back to the cabin?

 

And finally (I think) what do you do about snacks? The kids are used to being able to go and grab an apple or banana or a carrot when they are hungry, I know there is 24 hour pizza and ice cream but that's not quite the same as fresh fruit! Is the buffet open between meal times and do they have fruit available or is it available anywhere else?

 

The Dining Room on the Spirit has 2 floors. Downstairs has fixed dining, upstairs has any time dining. So you don't have to worry about the fixed time diners. You can and should book a table for dinner, especially since you have such a big party. Given your children's' issues, I would have a word with the Maitre D' and explain it all. I found the dining room staff to be really excellent and they will want to avoid meltdowns as much as you. I should warn you that the decor of the Dining room could be a bit overwhelming - there's LOTS going on in terms of decoration and the staff often put on a bit of a show during dinner.

 

I don't know about taking food from the Dining Room to the cabin, but the buffet will be open and you can certainly take food from there to the room. The buffet is open most of the day and has fruit and plenty of other options apart from the pizza. There's a bit of a break between the breakfast/lunch/dinner periods, so I'd maybe grab an extra piece of fruit to take away after breakie/lunch.

 

Good Luck!

[pwkmpjm]

You can't book a table for Your Time (Any Time) Dining. There are a couple of tables that could seat 11 people in the YTD section but if there were other large groups in the Dining Room before you you would either have to wait for a table to be available or have your group split up. Everyone in a group has to be ready to dine before they will allocate a table to you each night. If you chose Early or Late dining you will be allocated a table for your group at the time you chose (1730 or 1945). A problem that many groups have with YTD is everyone deciding on a time to eat each night. If you have fixed time dining you don't have that problem. If you do chose Early or Late a table will be allocated for the group & it doesn't matter if everyone turns up every night or not & the table is yours for the cruise.