Second Seating with Kids

[rtsmqa]

Has anyone had second seating with their kids on Royal Caribbean? If so, how did it go? We are going on the Voyager on the Seas and have second seating with our 10 yr old son. We've heard that 2nd seating will be at 8:00 and that main seating will be at 5:30pm (which seems awfully early for us). One problem is that he would miss most of the evening activities since the kids' club is open from 7:00 - 10:00pm. We're wondering if we should see if we can switch to the main seating. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[fllady]

Definitely try to switch to first seating. First it is so late for him to eat then and sitting for another 2 hours I think would not be fun for him.

[serene56]

I agree- (the first seating is at 5:45)

 

8pm might be late for your kids to be eating-- what time do they eat at home.

 

With activities happening around the ship between your late dining he misses out on a lot of activities. (isnt the camps closed between 5-7) which gives him a lot of down time with nothing to do.

[crusinmama06]

Yes, many of the activities for that age begin at 7pm. So he would be missing them.

 

It's kind of hard to switch to Main Seating. So do it asap if you decide to switch. Many times people are wait listed for Main.

 

If it is too early to eat for you. Then he could eat at the Windjammer at 6pm then head to the club at 7pm and you could have an adult only dinner.

 

I am not going to lie, it is ROUGH getting ready for Main Seating. We do race to get there on many nights. But my kids are way too young to do 2nd seating.

[rtsmqa]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. We are from the west coast and normally have dinner around 7pm when DH gets home. I was thinking that on some nights we'd just take him to the WJ if he wanted to do the kids activities but we'd want him with us most of the time at dinner. I'll check with the family tonight and see what everyone wants to do and see if we can still change seating if that is what we decide.

[shancan911]

We sailed Liberty of the Seas in February. Our cruise was planned with a rather large group, and second seating before we found out DS6 would be joining us. Grandma and Grandpa decided to come, too, and they were our "sitters";) We didn't even bat an eye at the dinner situation. We wanted to stay with our group, and we enjoy the "non-rush" of late seating. He ate with us in the dining room 4 nights, including one formal night. It wasn't bad at all. Made sure he had a nap in the afternoon, and plenty of stories to talk about at dinner. He was the resident photographer at dinner, too. The other nights, one Windjammer before our ressies at Chops, one Sorrento's, and the other formal night he did Johnny Rocket's with the AO. If you can't switch, you'll be able to work it out for him. Enjoy your cruise.

[MellowMel]

Our kids normally only eat with us the first night though so the late seating works great. Our kid are 7 and 4. They'll take a late nap/rest time. We get them up and either take them to the Windjammer or to get a burger/pizza or we order room service. We take them to AO at 7 p.m. when they open and we see the show, go have a drink or get ready for dinner. Just as dessert is getting ready to be ordered, DH goes to get the kids and they have ice cream with us. It works fabulously! In the past, our youngest one wanted to go to dinner with us and we'd feed him a snack like fruit and cheese tray when DD would eat dinner.

 

I'd let your 10-year-old have a piece of pizza or some other kind of late snack around 4:30/5 to hold him over for dinner if he wants to join you in the dining room.

[pmfan]

We did this once and it didn't work out for us. From then on we've only did early seating.

[Lewski709]

8pm might be late for your kids to be eating-- what time do they eat at home.

 

(isnt the camps closed between 5-7) which gives him a lot of down time with nothing to do.

 

8pm is late to eat for little kids, but I guarantee they won't be doing the same schedule on the boat as they do at home. I took the later seating. The kids can have food at anytime. It's not like they can't grab a burger or hot dog or ice cream at another station to tide them over, if necessary.

 

The camp is closed for one hour, that is true. You won't miss things by taking a later seating. Shows go all the time.

[chipmaster]

Has anyone had second seating with their kids on Royal Caribbean? If so, how did it go? We are going on the Voyager on the Seas and have second seating with our 10 yr old son. We've heard that 2nd seating will be at 8:00 and that main seating will be at 5:30pm (which seems awfully early for us). One problem is that he would miss most of the evening activities since the kids' club is open from 7:00 - 10:00pm. We're wondering if we should see if we can switch to the main seating. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

We had 2nd seating on our last cruise, not by choice. We were either lazy or stupid to change once we got on. After the cruise we felt stupid. Our kids were 5, 9 and 11 at the time and they very hungry before the first day. That was easy to fix with some snacks around 4:30, but there was no fix for them running out of gas in the middle of dinner. The other circus was the huge hordes of crowds at the door lining up sometimes 15' before dining room opening packed liked sardines all just waiting to get into the dining room. It was a sight to see on formal night all them people decked to the nines but jammed like sardines on the narrow staircases. I only wished I took a picture of that fun scene

 

I'd recommend you make every effort to try and get the early seating. On days in port you can still have a fully day and get back and eat in the buffet resturant and on formal nights you just need to get ready a few hours early.

[rtsmqa]

Wow, there sure are a lot of opinions on this one. Thanks to everyone who responded. I think we will at least try the late seating on the first night. Normally we eat at 7pm at home. I figure he'll be up late most nights so he may need a quick nap during the day sometimes. And we can get him a snack around 5pm when he decides to eat with us. Otherwise it'll be the Windjammer on nights he wants to participate with the kids club.

 

Woo hoo! We leave in two days for the Voyager of the Seas. :D

[Suzanne74]

I will jump in with another opinion. We picked early seating last year with our 5yr old and we really wished we had late seating. Here are our reasons.

 

We aren't crack-o-dawn people on vacations. We sleep until 8-9am. We would eat breakfast and then go to port or the pools. After going all day my daughter (and us too) like the late afternoon downtime, especially after port days. She would nap, I would read on the balcony and DH would be off somewhere or sleeping with dd. Having a 6pm dinnertime, especially on formal nights, made us feel very rushed and took the "whole laid back vacation" vibe away. It was a race to get all of ready for dinner. On top of that, dd being an only child HATED the dining room. We sat with a family with 2 teenagers (who also HATED the dining room :p ) and she was bored, well behaved but bored. We utilized the AO dining night both times and she loved it and didn't understand why it wasn't offered everynight. She had friends her age to play and eat with. We did let her go to the kids club early at 7pm - DH would leave and take her there. It sorta just ruined the nice dining atmoshere. Rushing in, ordering her meal ASAP and watching lots of people leaving to take their kids up to the clubs at 7pm. Plus, DH and I were always stuffed and tired after dinner and the ships seemed like a ghost town while late seating ate. We were often bored and by the time the ship heated up, I was ready for bed.

 

So, we are doing late seating our upcoming cruise. We will have all afternoon to enjoy, nap, rest get ready etc... We will take DD to the WJ or order room service the nights AO doesn't offer dinner. Then after we drop her off at AO, we will finish getting ready, go to a bar, lounge, watch the sunset at the viking lounge, see a show, walk the ship, whatever - and then calmly waltz into dinner for some good food and adult time. At least that is the plan. ;)

 

Since dd naps on vacations and sleeps in well, we always let her stay late at the kids club. She begs to stay there all the time. One time, we went back 3 times before forcing her to leave.:D There were still lots of kids in there late as well.

 

Anyway, it is just another opinion. I think you should just decide what would work better for your family. Good luck!

[Eclipsepearl]

They're already gone but we were traveling as a group and the other family insisted on late seating.

 

I had the kids eat with the club. A couple of times they did join us but Celebrity wasn't cooperative. They were sooooo slow in bringing the kids' meals. The table complained every time they made even the slightest peep and since we were speaking French, didn't know that I could understand what they were saying so I was subjected to hearing rude comments every time.

 

So I agree with the rest of you. Either late seating with the idea that the kids eat separately either on their own or with the club or early.

[Conrycol]

We just finished a cruise in February with 3 kids 9, 4, & 3. We did late seating which was 8:30 and it worked out fine. The two youngest took a little nap late afternoon and they were good to go for dinner. IMHO the early seating is just that too early, especially if you have a port intensive itinerary.

[crusn2gethr]

We have late seating and I'm a little worried about it!

 

We have two DS (12, 14) and a DD (7). Our DD loves to dress up and loves to act like a princess at the table so, I think in that way she would be fine. Our DSs I also think will be fine at dinner.

 

However, my concern is what they will be missing out on in the AO and their activities. Any one got an opinion on this age group and late dinner seating?

 

Also, will my DH and I be missing out on show times, etc?

 

Thanks in advance for any opinions!

[serene56]

We have late seating and I'm a little worried about it!

 

We have two DS (12, 14) and a DD (7). Our DD loves to dress up and loves to act like a princess at the table so, I think in that way she would be fine. Our DSs I also think will be fine at dinner.

 

However, my concern is what they will be missing out on in the AO and their activities. Any one got an opinion on this age group and late dinner seating?

 

Also, will my DH and I be missing out on show times, etc?

 

Thanks in advance for any opinions!

 

You wont be missing out on shows. You might have to go to a show before dinner. But both seatings do get to see shows.

 

When we cruise we like to dine as a family- it is the only time I see my kids on a cruise as they are busy with the programs. Taking late seating your kids will miss a great deal in the programs. Most of the camps are closed from 5-7 (7 is when the kids will be getting ready for dinner- and will be eating until at least 9:00-9:30) So you see most of the program they miss out on.

And eating at the buffet earlier for them-- they miss out on a great learning experince with dinner.

 

For us- early seating. Bored kids are terrible on a cruise ship.

What will the kids be doing from 5pm until its time for dinner?

[Suzanne74]

We have late seating and I'm a little worried about it!

 

We have two DS (12, 14) and a DD (7). Our DD loves to dress up and loves to act like a princess at the table so, I think in that way she would be fine. Our DSs I also think will be fine at dinner.

 

However, my concern is what they will be missing out on in the AO and their activities. Any one got an opinion on this age group and late dinner seating?

 

Also, will my DH and I be missing out on show times, etc?

 

Thanks in advance for any opinions!

 

To be honest, if they go to the dining room with you everynight for late seating, they will miss most of what is going on at the kids clubs. You can have them go from 7-8:30pm but pulling them out at that point would be tough if they are having fun.

You won't miss shows. There are usually 2 shows everynight. Sometimes it is before your meal around 7 and other times it is at 10:30 after your meal.

 

It really comes down to your own personal preference but these are some things that you can weight on and decide what works for you...

Early Dinner:

• You want to sit down as an entire family for dinner everynight
  
• You want the kids to spend most of the night at the kids club while still eating with you early
  
• You don't mind leaving ports/pool by 3pm and starting to get ready for dinner/night activites around 4pm
  
• You have kids that might get bored from 5-7pm without planned activites for them
  
• You tend to not see your kids unless you force them to dinner
  
• You are an early riser, early to bed family
  
• Your kids can be well behaved for a long dinner.
  
• You don't mind leaving the dining room at 7pm to take and sign the kids into Kids Club and then head back down to dinner
  
• You don't like to eat dinner late and re-energize after a full meal to enjoy the rest of the night.
  
• You are okay with having your kids at dinner everynight since there is no where else to go (unless kids club offer dinner)

Late Dinner:

• You spend most of the day time hours with your kids and are okay to have them not eat in the dining room with you everynight
  
• You prefer to relax after getting back from ports before dinner/night activites.
  
• Your kids (or you!) need or like to take naps in the afternoon
  
• You like to have family time during that 5-7pm no kids club time
  
• You tend not to be hungry at 6pm because you are used to eating later at home or it is too soon from when you eat lunch
  
• You like to drink a cocktail or two before dinner
  
• You like to sleep in and stay up a little later at night
  
• You tend to get really tired after eating a big meal so prefer to do some things (casino, lounge, shows, captain's reception) prior to eating
  
• You want the option of dining without the kids some nights or everynight

HTH :)