Dinner- Carnival Fantasy with children?

When we sail I will have a just turned 2, 3.5 and 5.5 year old. I am worried they will not behave in the MDR. I see that they can do dinner with Camp carnival, has anyone done this. Did it work out well? I am considering taking them to the lido deck myself (with dad of course) and feeding them our selves and then dropping them off at camp when we go to dinner, just so I can avoid any issues that I may have.

Also the first night I may try the MDR with the kiddos and test the water, but I am almost afraid to. We rarely eat out anymore because since we have had our 3rd its to hard to monitor their behavior since they out number us lol, and I try very hard to not let our children effect others. If we do its a buffet so that there is no wait from sit down until food arrives. That is where our issue is, keeping them entertained until the food comes up.

They are perfect any other time we are in public, I can take them all 3 to the grocery store alone without issue but when it comes to the restaurants I just know it is just not their strong suit. So any opinions on this?

The best thing is to have traditional early seating in the MDR. It might be a little rough the first night. but after that, your waiters will have drinks, snacks, munchies waiting for the kids when you arrive. Your waiters will spoil them rotten. If you opt to leave one or more with Camp carnival/Ocean, they will take them to the buffet and feed them stuff off the kids menu. If they can be separated, you might consider having one or two eat with Camp so you can concentrate on the others. divide and conquer...EM

My kids usually choose to eat with camp because they want to be with their new friends and dinner in the MDR is a little on the long side. They would get bored. They started cruising at 4 and 7. All of your children will be in the same classroom which will help. There were nights one wanted to go to camp dinner and the other didn't and we'd just eat in the Lido or have pizza with the other. Don't be afraid to utilize the camp dinner. I love getting so many date nights with hubby!! Really helps the relationship!!

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The first night there usually isn't a Camp meal. On the Inspiration the kids were 'corralled' into one area. A counselor got their food, family style. The menu is straight off the MDR kids menu.

You do have choices--

-Early sitting with your kids.

-Late seating without your kids (they can eat earlier with you or camp at the buffet)

-Anytime Dining. With or without the kids.

The staff will be great with the kids, and a "sit down" dinner is much easier on YOU than trying to deal with kids at a buffet! No worries! Bring a coloring book or something sort of quiet to keep them entertained. The staff will bring finger foods right away, if you ask...that will keep them busy!

Early seating is best for families, or Anytime Dining.....it's all gonna be fine!

My kids have done an occasional dinner with camp, but we really like to eat dinner as a family. We are more apt to let them have one or 2 camp dinners (the counselors are great as others have said) and use those kid free nights for specialty restaurants and some date time. The dining room is noisy anyway, and as long as they aren't running around the room or screaming, and can basically stay in their chair, you will be fine. What better time to practice?

Definitely do early dinner. And as another poster has said, if you tell the waiters the kids drink preference up front and ask them to please have that and a fruit plate or two when you arrive, it should hold them over. One of the things my kids have loved the most about the cruises is the wait staff; many of them have kids at home that they miss and they enjoy interacting and spoiling ours. They also make a great effort to get kid food out right away. When my kids were little, they were eating dessert when we were having our main course. They were done by 7 and one parent would then walk them to camp while the other ordered coffee and dessert, to share upon return.

There are tons of things, depending on your child that you can take - coloring books, mini cars, little dolls etc that you can take for down time.

Oh - and they love it when they perform!

It really is fun to eat on a cruise ship as a family and well worth a try. My little one was 2 on his first cruise...so I have been there. He so wanted to be grown up that he behaved great. I'm sure yours will too.

Thank you for your responses, we are doing anytime dining, early dining was open when we booked and I was just looking and appears to be closed now :( but its okay, I am sure we will figure it out. I guess we will see how they do on the first day and go from there. They are a little older now so maybe we should revisit restaurants in general and take them to a few before hand and practice.

Thank you for your responses, we are doing anytime dining, early dining was open when we booked and I was just looking and appears to be closed now :( but its okay, I am sure we will figure it out. I guess we will see how they do on the first day and go from there. They are a little older now so maybe we should revisit restaurants in general and take them to a few before hand and practice.

We've taken our granddaughter - now 4 1/2 - to relatively fancy places for most of her life, always prepared to leave suddenly if she has a meltdown. She'll be coming to the MDR with us every evening on our next cruise in a couple of days and we don't anticipate any problems.

It seems your problem is that you two are outnumbered. :) Might I suggest a hybrid solution? Each evening take one child with you to the MDR, leave the other two at Camp Carnival. That gives each child some special time and attention with mom and dad, and leaves you two as a tag-team in case your little one acts up.

And if you find they really love Camp Carnival, maybe some MDR time for just mom and dad. :)

I'm also outnumbered, but I agree with the others that the dining room is actually the easiest place to go - so much so that we eat there for breakfast too. (And lunches when it's open). If you have Anytime, make reservations for when they open or a little after. The waiters are very used to handling kids and if you ask them to bring an appetizer quickly, they will. For successful cruise dinners, I always make sure my kids are freshly napped (everyone "rests" before getting dressed for dinner) and they have some little amusement (coloring book, bendy straws, etc). The kids usually end up one course ahead of me, so they're on their ice cream while I'm finishing my entrée and I don't always end up with dessert myself, but there's always the buffet if I want something sweet later.

All the best,

Mia

Thank you for your responses, we are doing anytime dining, early dining was open when we booked and I was just looking and appears to be closed now :( but its okay, I am sure we will figure it out. I guess we will see how they do on the first day and go from there. They are a little older now so maybe we should revisit restaurants in general and take them to a few before hand and practice.

Yes! Practice, practice, practice! We took our 13 month old to dinner every night on the Pride and we spent probably 4-5 months preparing him with dinners at family friendly places, working up to fancier places. Take them out with reasonable expectations (no food on the floor, use silverware, inside voices, play quietly or talk to mom and dad) and praise every good behavior you see- "I love how you're using your fork! I'm so happy you sat and waited patiently for your meal today!"

Once they can make it through a buffet with no issues, move on to places like Denny's or Bob Evan's. Somewhere where a little mess or fuss isn't a big deal, but where they can be expected to wait a little while for food and be neater. Eventually you want to work up to Olive Garden or a mainstream steakhouse. In my experience, if they can get through a meal at Olive Garden- they'll be just fine for cruise dining.

You want them to think that getting to eat in the dining room is a huge privilege, especially your oldest, make a big deal of how "grown up" they will get to be. Then, go into it with loose expectations and send them to camp carnival if it absolutely won't work. But really, don't stress over it. The waitstaff is great with kids. Plus, we were all kids once, just enjoy your vacation with your family.