Early or late seating with 11 and 10 year old?

[Squirtreena]

We will be on the Summit next xmas to hawaii....do i choose early or late..i usually prefer late..so i dont have to rush back from excursions....i may or may not have the children join us for dinner may send them to the club...take them to the buffet first...what does everyone else do??/ TIA

[ladypalmtree]

When we started cruising .. both of our girls now 20 and 13 were five...they both fell asleep after the soup at late seating. I know yours are older, but think about you habits at home..kids tend to be creatures of habit and are used to eating at certain times..Blood sugar gets out of wack and kids can get pretty cranky even in the teen years. Even now just traveling with the 13 year old.. We always get early seating..then we can all go off and enjoy our different interests...just my 2 cents..have fun.:D

[ladypalmtree]

p.s...we always have our girls join us for Breakfast and dinner...they can be on their own for lunch and after.. but it is a family vacation, and we have always made it a point to have the meals as family time.. and the dinner in the dining room is great..and they cater to the kids....IMHO...;)

[Wendi&Max]

I chose the late seating for my 5-year-old son and I on our cruise last month. He went to the kid's dinner with the staff one night, but ate with me in the dining room the other nights. He did fall asleep one night after his appetizer, but the other nights he made it through dinner just fine. Our late seating started at 8pm and we left the dining room right about 10pm each night. I wanted to do the early seating, but was fairly certain that my son wouldn't be able to sit through such a long meal and wanted the option of taking him to the kid's club during dinner if we needed it. Turns out we didn't need to do that, but I didn't know that ahead of time, and the kid's club doesn't open until 7pm... so if he hadn't been able to sit through dinner I wouldn't have been able to take him there during the early seating.

[crusinmama06]

We always do the early seating. But my kids will be 3 and 7 in our next cruise. They would be sleeping in their soup if I made them wait till 8pm to eat.

 

What is their normal dinner time? Would they be able to hold off being fed until after 8pm?

[Bluenose Sandy]

For Hawaii, won't you also have a couple of hours time zone difference? So your girls' stomachs will be demanding food 2 hours EARLIER... maybe a reason for going early?

[CruiseHobbit]

I have the same problem, my kids 8, 10, and 11 will be going with us on our next cruise. Sitting through a long dinner would not be what my kids would consider a "fun" time. They would rather eat pizza, hotdogs, etc, and go to camp.

We are planning feeding the kids at the buffet early, and then let them go play at camp. The adults can then have a peaceful meal at the late seating. If they really want to eat with us that still can, they will have their choice. We will probably have them join us at least one of the formal nights.

[Squirtreena]

My plan was feeding them at the buffet first then dropping them off at the kids club....has anyone out there done that....I dont think they will enjoy the dining or the food ...they prefer buffets for sure..and not so formal.

[ladypalmtree]

You know your children best..Many people choose that option and It is fine..Try to have them join you on a formal night..The pictures are nice and It is a good experience for them to see FORMAL...have a great cruise, and remember there is somthing for everbody., and it is all of your vacation:D Laurie

[dkjretired]

have buffets for dinner fleetwide on any of their ships. There are other options but they do not have a buffet.

 

You might also consider that the childrens groups are closed down during early dinner and open after it is completed so if they do late dinner they will miss quality time if they join in the group activities.

[TennisLover]

My kids are 10 and 13. We have been crusing with them since they were 7 and 10 (with my brother, whose kids are now 7 and 9). We always do the early seating. If it's too much of a rush from excursions on some days, you can try alternative dining. We prefer the dining room (with the kids) and we can usually make the seating time. Even then, they are sometimes so exhausted from the day's activities that they are very tired at dinner.

 

The other good thing abou the early seating is that the kids can then go to the early shows, if they want. My kids were more interested in that this year, being older, than they were in the past.

 

Bottom line, based on all the posts here, is what one person already said -- you know your own kids best. Better to keep them happy so you can have a great vacation.