Kids club just at dinner

Has anyone used the kids club on Royal Caribbean just for the occasional dinner alone. Our daughter will be 4 at the time and this will be her first cruise. I really can't see us wanting to use the kids club except for dinner time because she does get bored sitting at restaurants. How do we sign her up if that is even a possibility?

Early seating has a "family" dining option....they hurry the child's meal, pick her up, and leave you and spouse to have the rest of the meal/evening at your leisure! Check on the 1st night (boarding day)...they will tell you what to do!

Otherwise, you can feed her at the buffet...drop her off at AO, and then go and have your adult meal!

Yes you can use the kids club only for dinner. Sign her up on day 1 and use it as you see fit. Who knows, your daughter may love it and want to go other times.

FYI the kids eat dinner pretty early (they have to be signed in around 5:30 or 5:45 IIRC) and they eat fast (30 minutes) and they can stay in the program playing during your dinner.

The only day RCI does not allow kids to eat dinner is Day 1, which is a stupid policy IMO. This is the reason the last 5 cruises we went on we took the kids to Johnny Rockets on day1 for dinner

Are children not allowed in the main dining room? First time cruising with kids ( 3 & 1)

Are children not allowed in the main dining room? First time cruising with kids ( 3 & 1)

They are but many parents foresee problems particularly at shared tables. On a formal night for example sitting next to a guy in a white tuxedo who has a nice glass of red wine and the children are trying oxtail soup next to him. I think it's up to parents to weigh up the risks. How worried would you be?

Regards John

Oh ok, I understand! We are going with a big group for a family wedding so I was just making sure in case it would be smart to stagger dinner times!

Are children not allowed in the main dining room? First time cruising with kids ( 3 & 1)

Yes, kids are allowed in the MDR. The waiters are great with kids and will get you anything you need, even if it is not on the menu. Typically, they will have a fruit cup or something waiting at the table for you after the first night.

Since you are with a group, make sure you link your dining reservations so you can sit together in the dining room. Don't worry about "risks" in the dining room, the guy in the white tux would not be at a table of kids to begin with. He would run the other way when he saw kids at a table.

Enjoy your family time in the dining room.

Agree with the previous poster. don't worry about the guy in the white tuxedo. He'll be the first guy to be asked to be moved to a new table.

I think the cruiseline does a pretty good job of pairing tables, and you generally won't find a family with young kids paired with another family. We've always requested a table for four (us and 2 kids), and it has always been granted.

I will add though that if you are taking your kids into the MDR, they should be taught/aware of good table manners and how to behave in a restaurant. If you don't "rush" their dinner so they can be picked up and taken to the kid's club, it can be a long night for them. It is just courtesy to your fellow cruisers that your children are well behaved in the MDR.

My kids have only ever dined with us, and they are used to (and enjoy) the long dinners with many courses. We dine out a lot so dinner in the MDR is not a new or uncomfortable experience for them.

Due to RCI's policy of not opening the kids club on Day 1, we have brought our kids a few times to the MDR and the kids hated it. Way too long for kids, who usually have a short attention span. To each their own, but we have found that happy kids make for happy parents.

They are but many parents foresee problems particularly at shared tables. On a formal night for example sitting next to a guy in a white tuxedo who has a nice glass of red wine and the children are trying oxtail soup next to him. I think it's up to parents to weigh up the risks. How worried would you be?

 

Regards John

I woudn't be worried in the least. I'd be mad the cruise line ruined our family dinner by putting us with strangers.

That hasn't happened yet.

We vacation as a family, and eat dinner as a family (minus dessert. that's mine).

What works for us: dh goes to mdr while dd and I finish getting ready, he orders. we go down, and normally the app is ready, if not, her fruit/bread is waiting then we eat, dd colors, we talk, if it takes awhile dh/i take dd for a walk. come back for dinner. After dinner, dh and dd leave. I eat dessert and coffee and enjoy.

Some nights, last cruise, we let dd have ice cream. But it's better for all if we don't.

Oh ok, I understand! We are going with a big group for a family wedding so I was just making sure in case it would be smart to stagger dinner times!

Yes, you will be best at a big table from all your party. Most parents will sit the kids inboard and not put any next to any relatives who have not had children as they are less tolerant.

Regards John

Early seating has a "family" dining option....they hurry the child's meal, pick her up, and leave you and spouse to have the rest of the meal/evening at your leisure! Check on the 1st night (boarding day)...they will tell you what to do!

 

Otherwise, you can feed her at the buffet...drop her off at AO, and then go and have your adult meal!

The family dining option never worked out for us. The service was mostly not fast enough for our kids to be done eating by the time they were supposed to be there to pick up the kids, and on the 2 days (of the 9 day cruise) that they were fast enough no one showed up to pick up the children.

Add to this that we had asked for the earliest seating and were absolutely denied a seating and instead forced to have "anytime" dining (despite the fact that I called several times ahead to ensure that we had the earliest seating) and we were re forced to call to make reservations for the earliest possible time every day.

I'm honestly probably not going to sail Royal again for awhile. I won't say never, but they didn't make a very good impression.

Has anyone used the kids club on Royal Caribbean just for the occasional dinner alone. Our daughter will be 4 at the time and this will be her first cruise. I really can't see us wanting to use the kids club except for dinner time because she does get bored sitting at restaurants. How do we sign her up if that is even a possibility?

What ship will you be on? If the ship has a Johnny Rockets, they might offer the dinner with the kids' club every other night. That is a really nice option and my kids enjoyed it (it is free). You drop them off at Johnny Rockets and after they are done eating the staff takes them directly to the kids' club where you can pick them up at any point in the evening.

Dinner can get really long for the youngest ones, but we've found that the waiters do a great job of bringing their food out fast (especially if they order off the kids menu). We've never had the pick up in the dining room option work (bc we weren't sure how to arrange for them to be picked up). So what we did is either my husband or I would run them up to the kids club once they were finished eating. It only took about 5 minutes to run them up and get back, and then we'd enjoy a leisurely dessert and coffee. It was important for one of us to stay at the table so the wait staff knew were weren't finished eating yet.

Haven't been on Royal, but what we've done on Carnival and Princess: if our girl wanted to go to the kids' area as soon as it opened for evening activities (usually around 7pm), we would take her for dinner in the buffet or the pizzeria or grill, drop her off at the kids' place, go change for dinner, then go to our late traditional dinner.

I would agree with the poster who suggests the OP allow his/her child to try out the kids' program for more than just kidsitting during their dinner. Go the first day to sign her up (and she can meet her fellow 4-year-olds) and get the day-by-day schedule. She may want to do some arts and crafts or some of the other activities.

I agree with Cruisin' Chick -- As is the case with any group of kids, the kids will be happiest in the kids program if they have a "friend". Our DD is an only child and we generally travel as just the three of us -- so she did not know anyone in the kids programs (most of the kids were in a similar situation). It generally works best if you have your child attend the first, get-aquainted, session and a few times after that so that she makes some friends.

If you only have her go once after everyone else there is used to the routines, she will probably not have a good experience.

DD actually liked the MDR -- she liked the opportunity to try new foods and the attention the wait staff would shower upon her. We generally started dinner with her and then one of us would sneak off with her between courses to check her in to the program so we could linger.