Formal Dining with little ones???

[jakesmommy]

I was wondering what you did to keep your children entertained during formal dining. I know that the meals can get very long. We will have a 4 (turning 5 on the cruise) and a 1 1/2 year old with us.

[cb at sea]

The formal dinner isn't any longer than the casual dinners. The waitstaff does a great job of keeping the little ones entertained, with finger foods, etc... A small book, or coloring book/crayons can really help, too!

On some lines, they will have a kid's club dinner on formal nights, so parents won't have to worry with the little ones --of course, the baby will be too young for that...

[chipmaster]

I was wondering what you did to keep your children entertained during formal dining. I know that the meals can get very long. We will have a 4 (turning 5 on the cruise) and a 1 1/2 year old with us.

 

As the OP noted, it is true that the "formal" dinner isn't especially longer then the regular sit down, but are long... and can be anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours depending on if you do the full deal; appetizer, salad/soup, main course, desert, and on.

 

On Disney many many years ago the staff did "entertain" our kids during the 2 hour affair and very well I might note.

 

On Carnival, Princess I wouldn't say they did any entertaining but they realized you had little ones and would do as requested if you wanted their food brought out quick as the kitchen could. But when they are preparing for thousands that only helps a bit.

 

How well it goes will depend greatly on your kids disposition. My youngest loved the long sitdown even when she was 4 but my older boys couldn't sit still till they were 10 or older. I've seen people let their kids bring activity books, video players, and electronic toys pass the time.

 

Good luck

[RENMama]

My boys were 5yo and 15m on our Carnival cruise in 06. Sarge did silly things thruout the meal and enjoyed entertaining them.

Dinner service went pretty quick and there was plenty for the boys to watch and see.

[crusinmama06]

What ship? Many now have kids meals that the kids can attend (for the 5 year old, not the younger one).

 

The BEST situation is to have a table of your family only. If you are put at a group of 12 (8 of them strangers), then you are at the mercy of their timing. :(

 

With my family, we sit with just the 4 of us. As soon as the waiter comes over, I can order the kids meals, drinks and our meals in under about 30 seconds...lol. Our meals are done in one hour or less for every cruise. My kids are running off to the kids club within the hour.

 

If you tell the server to give you time to look over the menu, bring the wine list, can you recomend a good appetizer, blah blah...lol...expect to be there for 2 hours. ;)

[jakesmommy]

for all the responses, we will be on RCI Freedom of the seas Feb. 1 with my parents and also my brother and his wife which also have a 4 year old and 7 month old baby, so we will have a table by ourselves. We have all cruised before except for the two young ones, so we are familiar with the main dining dinners. Just trying to get tips to make our lives and theirs easier!

[christinalvt]

for all the responses, we will be on RCI Freedom of the seas Feb. 1 with my parents and also my brother and his wife which also have a 4 year old and 7 month old baby, so we will have a table by ourselves. We have all cruised before except for the two young ones, so we are familiar with the main dining dinners. Just trying to get tips to make our lives and theirs easier!

Hi Jakesmommy,

 

We are going on the same cruise! I have a 7-yr-old and a 2-yr old granddaughter. I read on another thread that someone suggested bringing a portable DVD player with cartoons. That might not help with your 7 month old, but I suspect it will be much the same as when you take the baby to a regular restaurant at home.

Have fun!!

 

Christina

[brenderlou]

We have a 4 1/2 yr old. She had just turned 4 last cruise and we had the late seating which worked out great for us since she was in the pool ALL day and then would take a late (4 or 5 o'clock) nap for a couple of hours.

Anyway, I bought a few surprise things for her to give to her during the cruise (new markers, coloring books, little games, etc). Nothing big but just something new which always gets her excited.

I would give them to her as she was finishing her meal but we were still eating ours and it kept her happy and occupied until the end of dinner and then some!!

The 7 month old I can't help ya with....never cruised when she was that young. You're just at the mercy of their mood and if they start getting cranky take them for a ride in their stroller I guess.....but maybe with all the people, noices and different scenery, that will be enough to keep them happy thru the meal.

[crusinmama06]

for all the responses, we will be on RCI Freedom of the seas Feb. 1 with my parents and also my brother and his wife which also have a 4 year old and 7 month old baby, so we will have a table by ourselves. We have all cruised before except for the two young ones, so we are familiar with the main dining dinners. Just trying to get tips to make our lives and theirs easier!

 

You have main seating on Freedom?

 

If the 4 year old doesn't like hanging out for dinner, sign her up for the Johnny Rocket kid dinners with Adventure Ocean.

[CanadianTwosome]

Do you take them out for dinner at home? We've always taken our daughter with us to restaurants, and while she had a naturally easy going personality to begin with, I'm sure that just doing it regularly contributed to her ability to behave as well. Depending on how formal your dinners are at home, also, it's a great opportunity to learn and practice etiquette. For some bizarre reason, I always feel a particular swell of pride when my daughter puts her napkin on her lap - even when we're at Chucky Cheese... :)

[gerif]

Do you take them out for dinner at home? We've always taken our daughter with us to restaurants, and while she had a naturally easy going personality to begin with, I'm sure that just doing it regularly contributed to her ability to behave as well. Depending on how formal your dinners are at home, also, it's a great opportunity to learn and practice etiquette. For some bizarre reason, I always feel a particular swell of pride when my daughter puts her napkin on her lap - even when we're at Chucky Cheese... :)

 

I agree - how do they behave in a relatively nice restaurant at home? Our grandchildren are older now and didn't cruise as infants/toddlers, but I can tell you now that our DGS would have been perfectly fine, but DGD no way. She was at least 4 or 5 before she could be taken anywhere other than McD's.

[Tggrtoes]

Great comments by the op. Our 15 month old eats out with us a lot, so I wasn't worried, although the cruise dinners (at least for us / Princess) were a little longer than we normally spend at a restaurant. We had a table for just our family and had the grandparents there too. I brought several small toys and did have a portable DVD player.

 

our server was great about getting DS's meal out right away with our first course if not before, and then had a big bowl of cut up strawberries in the next course or two to keep him occupied. our waiter or the assistant would frequently stop by and make faces at him or play briefly with him. They were not really entertaining him, but definitely gave him some attention that he loved.

 

Usually once or twice during the meal, DH, me, or grandpa would take him out to the lobby of the restaurant where he could run around and play with the elevator buttons (what else? lol).

 

Sounds like you'll have plenty of kids to keep each other entertained and plenty of people to take shifts with any cranky kids if necessary.

[BiCoastal]

If I'm reading the Carnival Capers correctly, couldn't one essentially feed the child during the kids dinner and then drop them off at Camp Carnival while the parents enjoy a nice dinner at either main or late seating? We have a very picky 4 year old and I'm hoping this is something I can do. Am I missing something? We currently have late seating...

 

Also, our daughter will turn 2 mid-way on the cruise. What are my chances of getting her into the Camp Carnival the 1st half of the cruise? Are they that strict to the day?

[crusinmama06]

Also, our daughter will turn 2 mid-way on the cruise. What are my chances of getting her into the Camp Carnival the 1st half of the cruise? Are they that strict to the day?

 

Call Carnival to verify. We can tell you "sure they'll take her"...and then you will get onboard and get a surprise. ;)

 

If they do take her, then yes, she can eat with the Camp at 6pm. Or you can feed her yourself at one of the other dining places onboard and drop her off at Camp at 7pm. Either way would work for someone doing late seating. :)

[NoelsCat]

On our first cruise with our son, he was newly two years old. We had our friends and their 11 month old with us. We had early seating and attended all but one dinner in the MDR. I brought small trains, coloring stuff, a very small amount of playdough and a dvd player as a last resort item. On our second cruise, my son was newly three years old and we had different friends and their three year old daughter with us. This time I chose second seating -- which worked wonderfully for us as it allowed a nap before dinner. We didn't miss a single dinner in the MDR -- and only needed to bring out the portable dvd player once. I brought color wonder markers, paper dolls, toy cars/trains and my friend brought Little Petshop and dolls. They had a wonderful time and really enjoyed trying new things and the whole dinner experience. As a matter of fact, when we were tendering back to the ship, my son exclaimed, "oh good!! It's the boat we get to eat dinner on!!" LOL.