Anyone Feed kids first, eating dinner alone?

[quincytoo]

You didn't put your child to bed and then go to dinner while listening to the monitor right? I know I'm misreading it but it's just not making sense to me.

 

That is how I read it too.....I thought....NO WAY:mad:

[Lady_Jag]

You didn't put your child to bed and then go to dinner while listening to the monitor right? I know I'm misreading it but it's just not making sense to me.

 

You know, I had the same reaction when I was reading a Cruiseship guide book from the library the other day. It stated something like, "On many ships, the room steward is happy to look in on your little one [in the cabin] from time to time while you enjoy a late night show or time in the casino." :eek:

 

I had to look at the publication date (2003 or 2004) to convince myself that the book wasn't from the 1950s. LOL!

[RHIANNONAG]

You didn't put your child to bed and then go to dinner while listening to the monitor right? I know I'm misreading it but it's just not making sense to me.

 

That is what it sounds like to me too!!

[hawt1]

That is what it sounds like to me too!!

 

I think you are correct and the oldest is almost 12 so old enough to babysit and hopefully know enough not to open the door to anyone. Everyone needs to figure out when their oldest is old enough and mature enough to do this. If 12 is not the right age for you, yoru kids, be careful that you are not judging someone else - or maybe you missed the 12 year old part.

 

For us, to answer the orignal question, our kids always eat in the DR with us. On the first night we tell our waiter that unless we let them know otherwise, our kids will be going to kids club at 7 - dinner starts at 6 - so we would appreciate their meals coming out quickly. We take them up at 7 or shortly after and finish our main course and dessert as adults.

[amjebrown]

Um actually no, the poster after her says she has a 12 year old. This poster says she has a toddler. So no, I'm not judging someone leaving a 12 year old, I'm judging someone leaving a toddler.

[RHIANNONAG]

I think you are correct and the oldest is almost 12 so old enough to babysit and hopefully know enough not to open the door to anyone. Everyone needs to figure out when their oldest is old enough and mature enough to do this. If 12 is not the right age for you, yoru kids, be careful that you are not judging someone else - or maybe you missed the 12 year old part.

 

For us, to answer the orignal question, our kids always eat in the DR with us. On the first night we tell our waiter that unless we let them know otherwise, our kids will be going to kids club at 7 - dinner starts at 6 - so we would appreciate their meals coming out quickly. We take them up at 7 or shortly after and finish our main course and dessert as adults.

 

 

I don't mean to judge anyone- a few of us were not clear on a posting. I was not commenting on the posting about a 12 year old. 12 is old enough to stay in the room in my opinion. My post was about the person saying they leave their toddler in the room with a baby monitor. I was wondering if that is safe, or even permitted by the cruise lines? I would not feel safe leaving my toddler, but that is my opinion and not intended to be a judgement on another parent.

I like your idea of having the kids eat quickly in the dining room and then going to kids club, while we finish at a leisurely pace. I was thinking it would be an all or nothing and did not consider this. Thanks!

[hawt1]

Um actually no, the poster after her says she has a 12 year old. This poster says she has a toddler. So no, I'm not judging someone leaving a 12 year old, I'm judging someone leaving a toddler.

 

You are correct. I missed that post. YIKES!

 

We will stick to our method od kids eat with us each night but do so quickly and then up to kids club.

 

Has worked well on RCCL and Celebrity and on both lines we ahve gotten compliments on how well behaved the kids are.

[panama09]

On Carnival, Camp Carnival staff are in the Lido from 6pm and you drop your kids off, they eat with their friends and then they go back to kids club. We tried taking them to the dining room (we had a 6pm sitting so it worked well) but they didn't enjoy it and sometimes the service wasn't super fast. They preferred the food in Lido and we just told the carers what to serve them.

The rope an area off in Lido every night just for Camp Carnival. There was always sufficient staff.

My kids ate better with other kids than with us. HTH

[andmad]

Although we planned to have dinner with our kids most nights, it only ended up being 2 nights out of 7. The kids are 3 and 5 and althought they loved the food, they didn't like the length of dinner. We ate breakfast and lunch together. Two evenings we ate in the main dining rooms. One night was with the staff captain. We had excellent service and were finished with desert by the time we finished our appetizers. They asked to go the kids' club. I took them up and my entree was just being served when I returned.

 

My advice is to do what is best for you. You are taking your kids on a wonderful vacation. They will have a blast no matter what. Don't feel guilty for getting some time alone with your spouse. When I have some time to unwind, it makes me a much more patient parent.

 

Have a great time.

[AndyB]

My son is now 7, and over a few cruises we've arrived at the following compromise between family time and kid time. He comes to MDR dinner with us always (even when kids club has kids' dining - he'd rather be with us). But 2 hours is a long time for a kid, so we have his dinner/dessert brought out asap rather than on our dinner schedule, and when he's done (generally the same time we're done with main dish) one of us takes him to kids' club. Then we are able to enjoy dessert/coffee/drink/ conversation and then an hour or so adult time before picking him up at kids' club.

 

He gets exposed to polite company in restaurant setting, our tablemates are not subjected to bored-7-year-old behavior, and we get some quiet time together. Win-win-win.

[karenem]

On our cruise with a 3 and 5YO, the early dinner plan worked fairly well, but at least once we did get a call from the kids' club part-way through dinner to come and get them. Turned out to be just the end of a long day. They were initially enthusiastic, but then were overtired and wanted mom and dad and bed. So, my advice would be to make sure they're well-napped beforehand.