children in the dining room

[busseltoncruisers]

We are cruising in January with our granddaughter 7 and grandson 4. I am a bit confused about children in the dining room. We have early sitting and it is our expectation that the kids will be dining with us. After reading copies of the Princess Pelican that have been posted on these threads I have noted that children seem to dine elsewhere. Is this optional or can they dine with us in the dining room. Also on Island Night (which we love) will the kids be able to join us on the deck for the early part of the evening as our GD would love the dancing etc. When we have cruised previously we have never noticed children either in the dining room or at Island Night festivities. I don't know if this is because we didn't have the kids with us and didn't take any particular notice. This is also the first time we are cruising in school holidays.

[crusinmama06]

Yes, kids are more than welcome to dine in the dining room. There are kid dinners on some cruiselines...but that doesn't mean that you won't see kids in the DR. It just gives parents one more option.

 

I like to have my kids dine with us as a family. :) My oldest likes the chance to go to the kid dinners at least once a cruise.

 

As far as Island Night, kids are welcome to attend all events on the ship unless marked "Adult" in the daily planner. I am assuming that Island Night is just a deck party? (I've never been on Princess) Usually the only events that are marked adult are things that have mature content, like a late night comedian.

[cb at sea]

The staff caters to kids--don't worry about bringing them into the dining room. Your early (main) seating is perfect for kids--that way, they can take advantage of any "after-dinner" activities.

Late seating has fewer kids, and they'll miss many of the activities if you have them dine at that time. (Plus, dinner doesn't end from late seating until 10-10:30 or so!)

[luvlake]

I think that all children are different.

 

My grand daughters 5 & 9 are as picky as they come when it comes to food. We knew they would not have enjoyed food in the dining room even though we thought it was exceptional. We were able to take care of this with pizza, burgers, hot dogs, and buffet before we ate in the dining room. In their case they loved the Kid's Zone and were excited to go their while we enjoyed our meal.

 

When we were on the Coral Princess to Alaska we did not even know there were children in the dining room. They must have been very well mannered.:)

[Kerry's Girls]

As previous posters have stated, they will be treated like royalty in the dining room. Princess has a full children's menu available in the dining room at lunch and dinner (with the usual burger/chicken strips/fish sticks, etc offerings), and of course they may also order all they like off the main menu.

 

There will be tons of kids at all the activities on Princess - especially Island Night.

 

It's funny what you say about not noticing children before. I never did either on my pre-child cruises. I think it shows what a great job they do keeping all kinds of people happy.

 

Have fun!

 

Best,

Mia

[chipmaster]

We are cruising in January with our granddaughter 7 and grandson 4. I am a bit confused about children in the dining room. We have early sitting and it is our expectation that the kids will be dining with us. After reading copies of the Princess Pelican that have been posted on these threads I have noted that children seem to dine elsewhere. Is this optional or can they dine with us in the dining room. Also on Island Night (which we love) will the kids be able to join us on the deck for the early part of the evening as our GD would love the dancing etc. When we have cruised previously we have never noticed children either in the dining room or at Island Night festivities. I don't know if this is because we didn't have the kids with us and didn't take any particular notice. This is also the first time we are cruising in school holidays.

 

 

As OP have noted kids are fine in the formal dining room at either sitting. We've taken our kids when they were as young as two. Only you know your kids best and decide if it will be an experience or fun. They could love the formal atmosphere and varied menu selections or they could hate it or something inbetween. My youngest really enjoyed at 7 and 5 years of age the formality, the courses. My older two struggle a bit even now with 2 and half hours way to long, they wanted to eat and be done with it in 30'.

 

If sitting thru 2 hours of slow paced dining isn't for them almost all cruise lines offer a "kids" club alternative for the kids that is of no charge on the cruises I've taken. They take them to the buffet line and its usually pizza, nugget, burgers and fries affair.

[Kerry's Girls]

 

If sitting thru 2 hours of slow paced dining isn't for them almost all cruise lines offer a "kids" club alternative for the kids that is of no charge on the cruises I've taken. They take them to the buffet line and its usually pizza, nugget, burgers and fries affair.

 

Just a note - on the 4 Princess cruises I've been on with my twins (from ages 13 months - 3 1/2 years old), they've always gotten the families at the first seating completely served in about an hour (sometimes a little over). This includes dessert. They're really spectacular about making the dining room a happy place for families (and thereby keeping the rest of the passengers happy as well - no hungry, whining children).

 

Best,

Mia

[crusinmama06]

Just a note - on the 4 Princess cruises I've been on with my twins (from ages 13 months - 3 1/2 years old)' date=' they've always gotten the families at the first seating completely served in about an hour (sometimes a little over). This includes dessert. They're really spectacular about making the dining room a happy place for families (and thereby keeping the rest of the passengers happy as well - no hungry, whining children).

 

Best,

Mia[/quote']

 

Yep I agree. I have always had that experience on every cruise as well. I think the servers follow the parent's lead. So if you are like me, you can sit down and order drinks, appetizer and meals for the entire family in less than 30 seconds...lol.

 

It's when someone looks at the menu and says "HHmmmm, give me a minute and bring me the bar menu" that you will run into a longer meal. ;)

 

Oh and groups take longer I've noticed. So I request tables for my family only. ;)

[busseltoncruisers]

Thank you to everyone who has responded to my query. I feel a lot less confused now and am really looking forward to experiencing our grandchildren's and our DD and SIL first cruise...Can't wait.

[flsunnymommy]

My son loves eating in the dinning room and I never thought he would like it. On the cruise he gets to try lots of new foods as he orders off the adult menu

[kitty9]

And don't forget, they are welcome in the dining room on formal night also. I just love seeing the little ones all dressed up in their fancy clothes. They all look so cute.

[Tggrtoes]

As everyone else has said, if your grandkids want to eat with you, they will be catered to. The staff are EXCEPTIONAL! The waiters all played with my son and were always picking up the toys he was throwing and kept up a good attitude about it. I didn't really feel that the atmosphere was too stuffy for kids at all. And our son kept getting up and running around the dining room and almost 100% of the other diners would stop and talk with him and give him attention.

 

Our son wasn't old enough for the kids dinners, so can't really comment on that, but other cruisers we met with said their kids had a good time there. I guess it just depends on where they want to be (or if you want the time alone!).