Kids and Late Dining - Freedom of the Seas

[txlsutiger]

We are about to book a cruise. My wife and I have been before and always enjoyed the late dining preference. We are taking our kids for the first time, ages 14 and 12. They will participate in some of the Kids Club activities.

 

Which seating will work better for them? As of now, late dining is the only availability and it says we would have to make a request for the earlier option.

 

Thanks all!

[willing292]

any time I see kids at late seating, they look like they're ready to fall asleep. why not try my time dining?

[DonnaK]

My kids were never so enthused with the kid's club. Whenever we "got stuck" with late dining, we'd get a snack around 6pm, then we'd go to one of the shows that was scheduled before dinner, then we'd eat. The only problem is that we hate going to bed on a full stomach.

 

I'm reluctant to use My Time Dining because I really love the traditional dining experience. On our next cruise, where early traditional is already sold out, we will visit the maitre=d as soon as we board, and try to get our late traditional option switched. Otherwise, we'll use the above strategy.

[OasisFamily2011]

We prefer the late dining also, and I think with kids that age, they'd be able to stay up just fine. They'll probably will up that late anyway even if you do switch to main seating.

[tneah]

Our kids were the same age yours and we had late dining. They do not look like they are about to fall asleep.....not at this age. Most nights we were more beat before they were.

 

When our kids really wanted to do something with the club we did allow them to skip dinner with us. We just fed them earlier at another venue.

 

Btw, we now use MTD. We don't see any difference in service from regular dining. It's gotten so popular that it's been difficult to get into now.

[Tranquil Waters]

We have always done late dining - and when our girls were teens. It really worked out well. We would eat together as a family til main course was completed. Once main course was starting to be cleared the girls were free to politely excuse themselve and join their friends. There are so many opportunities for sweets on a cruise that they really didn't care about staying for MDR dessert.

 

The servers were really funny. They didn't want DDs to "miss" dessert so they started bringing DDs a plate with a couple desserts to try when they would come to start clearing dinner plates (before they took dessert orders from the rest of the table)..... The girls would take a couple of quick bites to be polite since the servers had gone to the extra trouble for them and then be on their way.

[didicruiser]

My 2 children would eat with dh and I, then leave right after the entree if AO had something that they did not want to miss. No problem with late seating. One caveat though, on the first night, the kids should get to AO on time for the first activity. Initial friendships are formed esp for 12 and 14 yo. They had pizza earlier, sat at the dinner table and left early. JMHO

[akcruz]

I think it really depends on how much you think your kids will use AO. If they are ones that like to go a lot I would try to get early seating or do MTD. A lot of activities do take place during late seating and well into the evening. My DS is another that is chomping at the bit to get dinner over with so he can get back to his friends. It makes our night more enjoyable when we can all eat together at a bit earlier time, then kids go their way and we go ours.

[Merion_Mom]

You really should switch to main seating after you board. Just go to the Maitre D' in the dining room at 1 P.M. He will do his best to make the change for that night. Very rarely are they not able to do this. MTD would be a second choice. At that age, the kids are likely to want to eat and rush off to teen club activities. Late dining crushes that.

[gskline]

First I wanted to let you know that you will love the FOS! It's an awesome ship. We took a family vacation on it last year. A suggestion if you or the kids get hungry in between meals. Sorento's Pizza is located on deck 5 right outside the main theater. Our entire family loved the pizza there. It's free and available all evening. We had the 5:30 seating and after the evening show, we always went there to relax and fill our empty stomachs LOL.

[wg6530]

I was very pleased with how well Royal handles MTD. I think it would be perfect with kids. flexible if they want to go to with friends. Schedule dinner around activities, not the other way around.

[txlsutiger]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I believe we will give the late dining a run. I don't want to do My Time Dining as I like the traditional dining and getting to know the waiters etc... It'll be fun to see them get to know the kids.

[MAHA]

Our youngest was 12 when we started cruising as a family. Since we never ate early at home, the 6 pm dinner was way too early for our family. We have always gone with the late seating and it has worked out well. When our osn was still young enough for the teen activities, he was still able to participate after dinner. But many times, as he got older, he really didn't have much in common with the teens. He said many of them smoked and he just didn't want to be around that.

[Jimnbigd]

We are leaving this Sunday (March 27) on the Voyager OTS and have late dining. There are four children, ages 13, 12, 10, and 8. We use late dining because the children are flying in from Wyoming which is mountain time. So 8pm central time is 7pm mountain time, and they usually eat around 7pm. The kid's activities for 14 and 12 is not as well organized as for the younger kids. They will have access to the teen club(s). Bottom line: Late dining is fine. There might be some evening activity they want to attend, and then they can eat earlier in the Windjammer. I hear the Windjammer is really great at dinner, including cooked-to-order steaks and chicken.