Flex Dining with Children

[lucigo]

This will be our first cruise on HAL, and I've been told there are fewer children on board. It will also be our first time with flex dining. We will be a party of 4, will we be seated with other passengers? If so, should we ask the server to ask the table if they would prefer not to have children at their table?

[Zeta3]

When we have been a group of 4 we have been seated alone or asked if we wanted to be at a big table. We have had people seated with us and others who declined because we had our daughter with us and they preferred not to dine with kids. I think it is not too much to worry about but in our experience if people don't want to dine with kids they will let the staff know.

Off topic but I noticed your avatar and wanted to say our 6 yr old DD has autism and loves cruising HAL.

[Jemima]

There are not many tables for four. I'd suggest that you make reservations each day which will avoid the possibilty of a wait for your children. Arrive on time so that you are likely to be first at the table. (There is a 15 minute window for reserved times.) That way if someone doesn't wish to sit with children, they can stop the steward before they are seated. Simply reserve a time and a preference for a 4 person table. Don't worry if your are seated with others.
An alternate would be to eat some of your dinners in the lido. This is very nice at night and offers the same food as the dining room. It has the advantage with kids that you have a bit more choice on sides and serving size. Plus everything is there at the same time with no long waits between courses.

[jtl513]

We will be a party of 4, will we be seated with other passengers?
If you want a table for 4 you can get it. If you go at peak time, you may have to wait for it, so I'd suggest you go no later than 6:15 - but the earlier the better. Or as Jemima said, make a reservation for one.

[tamsocal]

we have done fixed and as you wish dining with children. Our 1st cruise was w/ 18m old (+2 adults in traditional early dining) and we sat at a table for 10- my 1st thought was this is going to be a nightmare. I also felt like the looks I received from the others at our table when we 1st sat down were the same. The entire week was fun- we had an enjoyable dinner each night and both couples we sat with commented on their the thoughts the 1st night about not really wanting to dine w/ kids and that they thought dinner was going to not be enjoyable- but neither asked to be reassigned and at the end of the week they said our little one was adorable and well behaved and was a delight on formal night (he wore his tux too). Recently we did fixed time again at a table for 10- this time there was 5 of us though (almost 2 yr old twins) and another couple. This was our 1st cruise w/ the twins- I mentioned the 1st night to the other couple after saying hellos that we would not be offended whatsoever if they wanted to ask to be reseated or wanted us to move but they chose not to as well. We did have to take one of the twins out one evening in the middle of dinner but this was not disruptive. We do not prefer to eat at the buffets(1st time I went to get some snacks for the twins this past cruise the lady in front of licked her fingers, grabbed the serving spoon, then pushes the food off of the spoon with her finger. UGH!!)- especially w/ 3 kids- and even more so especially with no trays. I would be making numerous trips back & forth and on our last cruise DH had to leave Day 5 into the cruise due to work and eating at the buffet is not possible when the twins are in highchairs and cannot be left unattended. They did great in the main dining room but we are proactive parents w/ sticker books, crayons, limits, etc. We also have dined w/ them in the specialty restaurants as well and that went fine too.
With our younger child we did as you wish dining and that worked fine too- most of the time we sat alone- a few times others joined us. We never asked for a certain table size - we just took whatever they gave us as we did not care- the only thing that we will be requesting on our upcoming cruise is that they not seat us at a table where someone is already seated- as this is awkward if the person does not want to dine w/ kids- if we are seated 1st at least they can gracefully decline. We are going to to do as you wish dining in a few weeks-the port times vary too much to be on the fixed schedule for our personal dining choice times- hopefully it works well

[lovebug33]

Except for the chef dinner night, we were always asked if we wanted to be alone or sit with others. We always went by 6:00, but with kids, you probably want to eat early, anyway.

[Ando]

We had a table for 4 every night (for 2 adults & 6yo DD) and this was never a problem. Some nights as we left the restaurant we would book a table for the following night for around 6pm. On one of the formal nights when we wanted to dine later we had about a 15 minute wait for a table for 4. The other times when we walked in we were seated almost immediately.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I noticed that you will be on the Eurodam.

When we sailed on the Eurodam, there wasn't a Master Chef's dinner.

You can make reservations for 2 days at a time.

[kryos]

we have done fixed and as you wish dining with children. Our 1st cruise was w/ 18m old (+2 adults in traditional early dining) and we sat at a table for 10- my 1st thought was this is going to be a nightmare. I also felt like the looks I received from the others at our table when we 1st sat down were the same. The entire week was fun- we had an enjoyable dinner each night
I was gonna say something here, but I'm glad you provided the opening.

Who cares if others want to dine with children or not? Of course, I'm assuming the child is well behaved, because if she wasn't ... then it would be a different issue ... but when you go into the dining room to eat, and you are seated at a table with people who don't care to dine with kids ... well, frankly, that's their problem, not yours. If they have a preference not to dine with kids, then it is up to them to ask to be moved and not my or my family's problem. I would just smile, be polite and enjoy my dinner. Their preferences are not my problem in the slightest.

No one with HAL guarantees you won't have children at your table in the main dining room, be that fixed or flexible seating. Anyone dining there has to realize that. HAL is not an adults-only cruise line, and some people have a hard time coming to grips with that fact. But then ... that's their problem.

I would suggest asking for a table for four, but if it can't be arranged, or the wait will be too long, then take the larger table with others. If they have a problem sitting with your DD, then let them go to the matre'd and get moved. You just enjoy your dinner.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[Jacob0525]

For Lucigo, can you tell me about the autism group cruise for March of 2010? Our four year old is autistic (highly functioning). It would be great to get with other parents of autistic children. Thanks for your help and I hope you and your little one have a great time on the Eurodam. :)

[lucigo]

When we have been a group of 4 we have been seated alone or asked if we wanted to be at a big table. We have had people seated with us and others who declined because we had our daughter with us and they preferred not to dine with kids. I think it is not too much to worry about but in our experience if people don't want to dine with kids they will let the staff know.

Off topic but I noticed your avatar and wanted to say our 6 yr old DD has autism and loves cruising HAL.

Oh thank you for answering, I had asked about cruising with autism on HAL on some of the other boards but no responses. Glad to hear your daughter loves it! Our son loves Camp Carnival so hopefully HAL will be just as successful :)

[lucigo]

There are not many tables for four. I'd suggest that you make reservations each day which will avoid the possibilty of a wait for your children. Arrive on time so that you are likely to be first at the table. (There is a 15 minute window for reserved times.) That way if someone doesn't wish to sit with children, they can stop the steward before they are seated. Simply reserve a time and a preference for a 4 person table. Don't worry if your are seated with others.
An alternate would be to eat some of your dinners in the lido. This is very nice at night and offers the same food as the dining room. It has the advantage with kids that you have a bit more choice on sides and serving size. Plus everything is there at the same time with no long waits between courses.

I will be sure to make reservations each day. We are doing a seminar on board which runs over the set dining time so we had to chose flex. Thank you for the idea to be early, waiting is definitely not our son's forte, although once we are seated he does fine with the help of our bag of goodies (game boy etc).

[lucigo]

If you want a table for 4 you can get it. If you go at peak time, you may have to wait for it, so I'd suggest you go no later than 6:15 - but the earlier the better. Or as Jemima said, make a reservation for one.

Ok sounds like we will need to get a reservation or go to Lido since we will have seminars to go to, or go to the Lido if need be. Thank you!!

[lucigo]

we have done fixed and as you wish dining with children. Our 1st cruise was w/ 18m old (+2 adults in traditional early dining) and we sat at a table for 10- my 1st thought was this is going to be a nightmare. I also felt like the looks I received from the others at our table when we 1st sat down were the same. The entire week was fun- we had an enjoyable dinner each night and both couples we sat with commented on their the thoughts the 1st night about not really wanting to dine w/ kids and that they thought dinner was going to not be enjoyable- but neither asked to be reassigned and at the end of the week they said our little one was adorable and well behaved and was a delight on formal night (he wore his tux too). Recently we did fixed time again at a table for 10- this time there was 5 of us though (almost 2 yr old twins) and another couple. This was our 1st cruise w/ the twins- I mentioned the 1st night to the other couple after saying hellos that we would not be offended whatsoever if they wanted to ask to be reseated or wanted us to move but they chose not to as well. We did have to take one of the twins out one evening in the middle of dinner but this was not disruptive. We do not prefer to eat at the buffets(1st time I went to get some snacks for the twins this past cruise the lady in front of licked her fingers, grabbed the serving spoon, then pushes the food off of the spoon with her finger. UGH!!)- especially w/ 3 kids- and even more so especially with no trays. I would be making numerous trips back & forth and on our last cruise DH had to leave Day 5 into the cruise due to work and eating at the buffet is not possible when the twins are in highchairs and cannot be left unattended. They did great in the main dining room but we are proactive parents w/ sticker books, crayons, limits, etc. We also have dined w/ them in the specialty restaurants as well and that went fine too.
With our younger child we did as you wish dining and that worked fine too- most of the time we sat alone- a few times others joined us. We never asked for a certain table size - we just took whatever they gave us as we did not care- the only thing that we will be requesting on our upcoming cruise is that they not seat us at a table where someone is already seated- as this is awkward if the person does not want to dine w/ kids- if we are seated 1st at least they can gracefully decline. We are going to to do as you wish dining in a few weeks-the port times vary too much to be on the fixed schedule for our personal dining choice times- hopefully it works well

Thank you so much for your input! We will make reservations and then go early so we can be the first seated, that way someone can have the choice if they want to sit with us. I know my DH would like to be able to meet new people and talk, etc. My children are very well behaved, they are just very quiet which can sometimes be misconstrued as rude, when in reality its the autism and lack of communication skills that make it hard to have a social conversation.

I can completely relate to your comments about the lido, I have cruised alone with my son (with other families but not help from my family if that makes sense) and its HARD to juggle plates, drinks and a child you have to keep a hand on. Its much much easier to be waited on in the dining room.

[lucigo]

We had a table for 4 every night (for 2 adults & 6yo DD) and this was never a problem. Some nights as we left the restaurant we would book a table for the following night for around 6pm. On one of the formal nights when we wanted to dine later we had about a 15 minute wait for a table for 4. The other times when we walked in we were seated almost immediately.

Did you have a reservation for those nights you had to wait, or did you just walk in? We would not do well standing outside the dining room for 15 min, did they give you some kind of buzzer so you could go sit somewhere or did you just have to stand there and wait?

[lucigo]

For Lucigo, can you tell me about the autism group cruise for March of 2010? Our four year old is autistic (highly functioning). It would be great to get with other parents of autistic children. Thanks for your help and I hope you and your little one have a great time on the Eurodam. :)

We are cruising on Carnival from Jax to Nassau and Half Moon Cay. We have about 40 people signed up right now. We did a group last Feb out of New Orleans and Carnival was wonderful to us, so I have high hopes that it will all go smoothly again. Its really nice to be able to cruise with other people from our "planet" if you KWIM. If you email me at my name at AOL . com I will be glad to send you the price info.

On the last cruise we had planned little get togethers and a ship tour, but it was the little things like having other families to sit with at dinner or do excursions with that really made it great. We have another family with a 4-yo high functioning boy who is very social and would make a great friend for your son!

[bcd2010]

Who cares if others want to dine with children or not? ... that's their problem...

Actually, preferring to dine with adults is not their problem, it's their preference. I prefer a certain category of cabin, I prefer early embarkation and self-disembarkation, I prefer late dining and I prefer to dine with adults. The OP showed a welcome consideration for others' full enjoyment of their cruises.

[lucigo]

Ok sounds like we will need to get a reservation or go to Lido since we will have seminars to go to, or go to the Lido if need be. Thank you!!

Ok its early, I think I need more coffee...maybe I should go to the lido, or go to the lido LOL By the time I re-read this it was too late to edit! :rolleyes:

[Mary Ellen]

we have done fixed and as you wish dining with children.As fixed seating is one element of 'as you wish dining' this statement could be confusing to some. I imagine you have done both fixed and open seating on cruises with your children.

[Zeta3]

We actually love dinner in the Lido on HAL, it is a very different experience from Carnival. They have nearly all the same entrees as in the dining room, you can choose the sides that you prefer and it is quiet and relaxed.

[tamsocal]

As fixed seating is one element of 'as you wish dining' this statement could be confusing to some. I imagine you have done both fixed and open seating on cruises with your children.

sorry-- yes we have done both fixed and open--
I think the "open" seating was called "as you wish" or something similar on Princess a few years ago.
We tend to like fixed-- but our cruise in May left us indifferent- as we did not have the same quality of service we had been exposed to in the past. The staff, as other posts have stated, seemed to be overworked, infrequently present, but always pleasant!