3 night dining question.

[bkjewett]

We will be on the Dream 3 night. I think I read somewhere that cabanas is not open on 1st or 3rd night. Is that true? We have 3 families and on the last night the adults made a dinner reservation at Palo at 6:30. The plan was to feed them at buffet and then have them go to kids club. Will this be an option? (We have main dining but don't think we would have time to feed them there and thought buffet would be quick and easy). Can anyone advise?

[moki'smommy]

Cabanas is not open on the first or last night of any cruise. On other nights, it is NOT a buffet. It is a sit down, cruise casual restaurant.

 

Your options are to order room service to feed the kids, to get food from the fast food outlets on the pool deck, or to take them to the main dining room and get their food quickly. After each of these, you would take them to the kid programming. If they are old enough (you decide what "old enough" is) they can also go to the MRD by themselves.

 

A final option is to take them to the programming during the time that the programming serves "dinner." Be aware that the food served is really not the best and that there is no requirement that the kids eat or even sit down. Food is offered at specific times, but there is no cessation of other activities. YOU may think the child ate at the OC, but in reality the child played in the OC while food was available and will be hungry an hour later!

 

Alternatively, you could move your Palo reservations to the second night if you wanted the children to eat at Cabanas. You still don't have much time to be seated and feed them there before 6:30.

Edited April 6, 2016 by moki'smommy

[bkjewett]

Thank you for the feedback. Dumb question - what is MRD? There will be 7 kids between the ages of 7 and 11. We didn't want to do Palo the 2nd night due to Pirate night. I may need to rethink the reservation time. I just didn't want them to miss the show at 8:30 so I was thinking we could be done by then and take them to it. Appreciate your suggestions.

[moki'smommy]

MRD should have been MDR for Main Dining Room.

 

You probably won't like what I would do. I would take the approach that you can't do everything on a 3 night cruise, and I would skip Palo. That way, YOU could enjoy each of the main dining rooms with your children and you would know what was your "least favorite," which you would then know to skip for next time. A 3 night cruise is already rushed with a main stage show and the pirate night stuff on the same night! But then, we are strange and always felt that the purpose of the vacations was family time.

 

When we do Palo, it takes somewhere between 90 and 120 minutes. We don't do after dinner drinks or linger over coffee, which can easily increase the time. So, if you have 8:30 plans, you are going to need to have a 6:30 time. Actually, if you are going to see a show that starts at 8:30 and you need to collect kids from programming, take them to the bathroom, and get to the theatre in time to find seats together, you probably should move your reservation to 6:00. If you show up at the theatre at 8:30, you won't be sitting together as a large group!

 

There is no right answer in this situation. If you feed them from the fast food locations, they miss one of the restaurants (and you do too!). If you feed them at 5:30 so that you have time to drop them off and then dress for Palo, they will be hungry again about the time you leave Palo. But if you wait to get their food at 6, you'll have greasy fingerprints on your Palo clothes.

 

Bottom line--you have to choose what your priorities are and then make your decisions based on those priorities.

[bkjewett]

Thanks again for the feedback. This will be our 3rd Disney cruise so we've done all the restaurants. And I've requested Animators Palate for the 2nd night as that is the one I don't want to miss. It will be the other two families first cruise. We are also doing 5 nights at WDW prior to the cruise so the adults decided by the 8th night we will be ready for an adults only dinner. :) I think priority is for Palo. Our last cruise was 7 nights so I know I will feel bummed for the other families not getting to experience it all but we can't do it all! Thanks again for responding.

[moki'smommy]

Sorry, I don't know why I thought this was your first cruise.

 

Totally makes sense...we all have different priorities for different reasons. You might evaluate whether you think the older kids can supervise the younger ones at dinner and then take everyone to the programming. The servers will tell you to send them to the dining room, but you know your kids better than anyone else. And 7 kids could be a handful. It really depends on the kids.

 

Of course you or one of the other adults could take them when dining opens and sit with them until it is time for Palo, and then either take them to the programming or let the older kids take the younger ones there. If you ask the servers to "expedite" the kid meals, they can be finished in 45 minutes. That's actually the time they plan on at late seating for the "Dine and Play" program. And it wouldn't be the end of the world if 5 of you went up to Palo and the 6th was a few minutes late.

[bkjewett]

Well - my question did sound like a first timer. ;) But your responses definitely helped. I think I will keep our 6:30 reservation and let the kids decide if they want the "fast food" or go to dining room. I didn't realize that the kids could eat there without us and go to the kids club without us checking them in. And you're right - one of us adults can get them there or hang with them for a bit if necessary. They are responsible kids so we definitely trust them to behave. Again, thanks so much!!