Question for people who cruised with toddlers

[redneck_dan]

How did you do your dinner? Did you bring your toddler with you to the main dinning room, eat at the buffet, or have your toddler eat at Camp Carnie and you ate in the dinning room?

[halos]

Dan
I don't have little kids but I can tell you that I saw toddlers in the dining room when cruising. I guess it all depends on your child and your comfort level because everyone handles what they do with their kids differently.
I must say that when I cruised, the toddlers that were in the dining room were so quiet and seemed to really enjoy eating that if you didn't see them, you'd have never known they were in there. If anyone had a toddler that wasn't an Angel, they must have ate in the buffet with them because the kids I experienced on my cruise (the toddlers) were just adorable. The one couple had their 2 or 3 year old son in a tux on both formal nights...I could have eaten that kid right up!! Now, I have to add that I was on the Miracle, and the dining room is...well, it's decorated very LOUD...so THAT may be why the kids were good...they were totally visually stimulated while in there!! :D
So...if your kid likes to eat and sits pretty well at dinner at home, bring him/her with you...if you want a break and want just couple time, leave him/her at Camp Carnival for a dinner or two. It all depends on you and your child.
have fun!!

[WMeda]

Dan,

We ate dinner with our 3 year old every night in the dining room. He fell in love with our waitress and flirted with her every night for a week. He also love the singing and dancing as well as all the fun food off of the kids menu and the desert that showed up every night without him even asking.

For children that need a little distraction, the kids menu is part of a small booklet that has games and pictures to color and they will give you crayons also.

I'd try the dining room and see how your child reacts. If you have a problem, you can always try out the other options.

Wayne

[MrPete]

They are well prepared to serve your toddler. They have highchairs and everything. They will even entertain your child. The menu has areas to color.

You may even find you are placed with other families that have toddlers, or a booth all to yourself.

It also depends how you have raised your child and how she/he acts in this kind of environment.

If it doesn't work out, simply eat upstairs.

[Guest Time2gocruzn]

Just curious, do the high chairs have trays on them?

[MrPete]

No trays

[taszmom]

My DD has been cruising since she was 1. She has been brought up eating in restaurants so she does fine. We always (and even now at age 5) bring something to occupy her time. We also like to eat at the later seating, so we made sure she had dinner or a snack earlier so she wouldn't be hungry.

Once we sat at a table with a Mom and her 2 children, both were under the age of 5. She had not brought anything for the children to do, and as any child that age, they found things to amuse themselves. They played with the silverware, napkins, salt & pepper shakers, etc. The Mom was constantly grabbing the items from their hands, reprimanding them for touching everything and it all became a big nuisance to us. I became so annoyed at the Mom for not being more prepared and expecting such little ones to sit quiet for that long. Thank goodness she finally got annoyed herself and left with her 2 children. We didn't see her again for the remainder of the cruise.

[triplelutz]

My toddler was 20 months and we ate in the dining room every night. We had a table at the back, so she had room to sit in the little window area and look outside while in between courses. She sat in the booster seat. Our waiter was fabulous - he had a fruit cup waiting for her every night as soon as we sat down so she had something to nibble on. One night she was just in one of "those" moods, so I took her and left while everyone else finished eating. It worked out really well - she enjoyed being the center of attention and I must say, she's quite cute all dressed up in her fancy dresses! :)

[lalapet]

My hubby and I would like to have a dinner or two alone. Is that possible? Our kids are 11 , 5, 4. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but a couple dinners alone would be so nice...

[mohavemommy]

Here's the kiddie menu FYI:
[url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/71281979/119166492imVudU"]http://community.webshots.com/photo/71281979/119166492imVudU[/url]

[EricS-unet]

[quote name='lalapet']My hubby and I would like to have a dinner or two alone. Is that possible? Our kids are 11 , 5, 4. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but a couple dinners alone would be so nice...[/QUOTE]

Not a problem at all. Camp Carnival will have a couple of nights where they have dinner with the Kids. The last night was great because we dropped them off at around 5:00 and didn't get them back until 10:00. Plenty of time for a quiet dinner, packing, and other stuff.

Eric

[cruisinqt]

Even though my daughter is older now, she was only 2 when we first started cruising. A young child can eat with the parents at the dining room area. But be warned, it is a very long dinner. I am talking 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours long. You are served 5 full courses and there's plenty of waiting time in between. A young child can get bored and restless pretty quick. For our kids, we brought a few things along to keep them occupied while waiting for the next course. And on a couple of nights, we always leave them at Camp Carnival so we can have some quality time alone together. It can be done, just be prepared with something to distract them and keep them happy because there is lots of sitting and waiting between courses. And you don't want to disturb other people's meals with a child that is fussy and tired of sitting at a table for so long. But if you are prepared with a few things to occupy them while sitting at the table, there should be no problem. And if they do get a little fussy, you can go for a stroll and let them stretch their legs. It can be done, just come to the table prepared.

[shirleygr]

When we took our 4 yo dd this past April, we would have the server bring her food as soon as it was ready so she could eat first. She would be finished around 7:00 and then one of us would run her up to Camp Carnival. Our waiter would hold our next course until we were seated again. We usually had our entrees and dessert and coffee alone every night. She was in the dining room only about an hour and then off to Camp, which she LOVED. This worked really well for us because we had a chance to eat together, but my dh and I still had some quiet time every night. Hope this helps.

[lawnboy]

[color=#3300cc][font='Times New Roman']Camp Carnival is one cool way to go. We also brought our kids favorite blankly. If you do go the camp way make sure that you start it early on when you first get on the ship. [/font][/color]

[GoinCruisin]

Shirley, that is a really great idea if your family is seated alone or with other friends/familly... However, in my opinion it would not be recommended for anyone to do that when they are sitting with a table full of people they don't know.

You can gauge how your child will do the first night and make arrangements from there... if your little one does well, no problem :) If not, you can always ask if they will fix you a plate to go, and eat out on the Lido... have fuN!!!

[L2J]

[quote name='shirleygr']When we took our 4 yo dd this past April, we would have the server bring her food as soon as it was ready so she could eat first. She would be finished around 7:00 and then one of us would run her up to Camp Carnival. Our waiter would hold our next course until we were seated again. [/QUOTE]
So are you saying that you had a standing order for "her" to be served before anyone else? AND that the entire table had to wait unitl you returned from your stroll before "anyone" else was served?? I'm confused?

[Knights on the Beach]

I totally doubt that is what Shirley meant. I would think she is referring to her family only. We are a family of four, and often cruise with several other family members. BUT, when we've cruised alone, Carnival most often seats us at a booth for just the four of us (and just for the record, we have no toddlers).