Dining Question - what does your little one eat from?

[acceber32]

I have a dining question for everyone! My DS will be 17 months at the time of our cruise and we intend to take him to the main dining room with us as much as possible. DS does not do real well with plates yet, he will eat off of it for a couple minutes than dump all his food on his highchair tray. It's my understanding that the highchairs provided are the same ones at restaurants that do not have a tray. So, how does everyone handle this? Do your little ones eat off of the table or a plate? Do you have any experience with any of the disposable placemats? My worry with those is that they won't stick to the table cloths in the main dining room or that if he pulls on the placemat it would pull the whole table cloth (which is another issue I'm worried about). Any advice? What was your experience? When we go out to eat we usually just clean the table down really well and let him eat off of it. Thanks!!!

[cb at sea]

Perhaps putting only a teensy bit of food in front of him might help...not so much to "dump" off the plate!

[dorito6778]

we went on RCCL with our 16 month old and the highchairs had trays. and even if they dont, then 1) there are no placemats to pull and 2) just put the food right on the tablecloth. he's a toddler...what can you do?

[BlancaNoir]

You all might be happier in the buffet. Nothing against you or your child! We went on a cruise with our 4 and 6 yr olds and took them to the MDR 5 of the7 nights. We brought entertainment for them (ipads, iPods) and had an adult per each child to entertain. We practiced restaurant skills and manners for 6 months before the cruise! They did ok. I love the MDR traditional experience. But next time I think I will take them to the buffet for dinner and then get babysitting/kids club. The MDR thing is very long for young kids. They are happier, and everyone else is happier (and messes more acceptable!) in the buffet. Then you can have a nice dinner in the MDR!

[cantw8togo]

You didn't mention which ship you are sailing on; others may know what type of highchair they have on board.

 

Do they still make plastic toddler dishes with a suction cup on the base? It only delays the inevitable dumping of the food, but at least it helps a bit. Of course this would only help if there is a tray on the highchair.

 

When we travelled when our kids were toddlers, we were seated at a table with another family with young kids and in an area with other families, so no one looked askance.

[acceber32]

Sorry, we will be on the Carnival Dream. We have a portable DVD player we are taking with us and a few other little things to entertain him during the long dinner. Or one of us will leave if necessary if he does start getting fussy. But we do plan on trying to eat in the MDR every night. It's one of our favorite things about cruising. DS usually does very well at dinner at home and out. He does get a little antsy toward the end when we eat out but once we turn the dvd player on he is good.

[sunquest76]

Something I also found on NCL was you had to be quick! The waiters seemed to think that putting a HOT plate in front of a hungry toddler was OK. We frequently had to snatch plates away before DD got to them. Maybe if you have set dining on CCL you can be sure to mention this to your wait staff the first night - hopefully they will remember. As for what she ate off, she was good with plates and forks but we often used our little plates to give her a little food at a time.

[B_Mc]

We're going to bring this type of reusable place mat:

 

And we're going to cover it with this type of disposable placemat on top of it:

 

Hopefully most mess will be tossed with the disposable and the reusable will just get a quick wipe down!

[irun5k]

You all might be happier in the buffet. Nothing against you or your child! We went on a cruise with our 4 and 6 yr olds and took them to the MDR 5 of the7 nights. We brought entertainment for them (ipads, iPods) and had an adult per each child to entertain. We practiced restaurant skills and manners for 6 months before the cruise! They did ok. I love the MDR traditional experience. But next time I think I will take them to the buffet for dinner and then get babysitting/kids club. The MDR thing is very long for young kids. They are happier, and everyone else is happier (and messes more acceptable!) in the buffet. Then you can have a nice dinner in the MDR!

 

If you're on Carnival, Camp Carnival also has a program where they will take your kids to dinner. They have a little buffet for them. We caught on to this after a couple nights.

 

Our son was 2 at the time and in general he is a fairly good restaurant eater. At home we might eat out once a month or so at a casual restaurant. Anyway, we stress out a lot about the experience of those around us (probably too much) and the experience of eating on board seemed to be different enough that it through things off a bit. I won't say he was bad by any means, but it was a lot of work. The buffet was okay for us although it took a while to eat because we had to take turns making our plates, getting beverages, etc.

 

The Camp Carnival dining program was a godsend, not just for us but for him. He was able to get an age-appropriate dining experience with kid-friendly foods and others his age. After this my wife and I ate in the MDR every night.

 

A lot depends on your family too. In our case, my wife is a stay at home mom and

I work from home so we spend a *TON* of time together throughout the year as a family. OTOH my wife and I rarely have a date night, maybe 3-4 times a year when family is in town. So it was an unexpected surprise to have a "date" in the MDR every night while our son ate with his new friends in Camp Carnival.

 

I think the moral of the story is, go in with a plan and try it out. If it doesn't work... well, the cruise doesn't last forever. You can fight it or try something different. I don't think you'll find anyone working in the MDR, buffet, or beyond that doesn't like kids, or isn't helpful. Many of the crew have kids back home and they've very understanding.

[pandabebe]

I was wondering the same thing too. DS won't have any issues eating in the main dining room as we go out to eat quite often; what I'm concerned about is not having a tray to use. Another poster mentioned that RCCL provides high chairs with trays - can anyone else confirm as that would totally make my day.

[Kerry's Girls]

I brought the disposable placemats for my girls and they worked on the tablecloths - and we also never had a problem with just putting food directly on the table cloth. I also brought our own sippy cups. I think it's a great idea to eat in the MDR - the waiter will know what your little one likes to start with, not to put any dishes, glasses, flatware in their place, to hurry the meal along, etc. - along with not having to juggle plates and get up and down as happens in the buffet.

 

Best,

Mia

[Twelvevman]

We found that some of the highchairs had trays and others did not. If there was no tray, we let our son eat off of plates or used the placemats thay had for stuff that was not messy.