Still hopelessly confused with kids and specialty restaurants

[moesyk4]

The 3 night package on our cruise just dropped to 72 a person and I snatched it. We are planning on doing Giovannis, Chops, and 150 West on the Allure. I think the kids will join us for Giovannis as we will plan to do that on the mandatory 1st 2 nights, but will do the other two as date nights.

I am correct in assuming that our younger two who will be 5 and under will be free, but they have to order from the standard MDR menu correct? And then my 9 year old can eat from a special kids menu for what appears to be half price (the t&c mentions both 10 bucks and half price, but the consensus here seems to be half price for Allure).

Where my confusion lies is booking with them. The T&C seem to imply I am supposed to buy packages for all 3 and will get reimbursed when we dine in the form of OBC. This seems so silly as that would mean tying up 250 bucks for the next 7 months for OBC we probably won't use as we are very frugal cruisers.

I seem to remember reading on here that once on board when I check our reservations, which I will anyway to get what we want, I just switch that 1 reservation to 5 people? Anyone have experience with that? Would I then just be charged the half price charge for my oldest at the meal itself?

 

Finally, anyone have advice on sit down dinners with kids on board in general? My husband and I have opposite views on this..I think the kids would enjoy the buffet better and we will be together all day, this would be our one chance every day for adult talk and relaxing. My husband thinks the ambiance of the dining room is a big part of cruising...our oldest has cruised twice and is super easy going, but he even struggled with 90 minute dinners even when we brought toys and coloring. Our 5 year old is non stop moving and to me, that just sounds like torture trying to keep him distracted that long.

[Ourusualbeach]

Just add the 2 kids once on board. They won’t be dining all 3 nights so no need to pay for them.

 

Your oldest will be half price. The $10 is outdated for Allure. You will be charged for the kids at dinner.

[lbjen]

My kids love the MDR. They love the bread, the fun little foods the waiters bring, and we tend to eat pretty quickly so we’ve never been in there for 90 minutes.

 

Have you considered doing the specialties for lunch instead? It’s not the full menu but it’s cheaper and you would still get dinner in the MDR. I also find my kids are more interested in going to the kids club during the day than the evening.

[Miggsoo3]

When we cruised with our daughter at 18 months we had the dining package. We did as the other poster suggested once onboard when we made reservations we added her to the reservation. At dinner we would get her food from kids menu they always have options for kids. The servers were great about bringing her food out immediately to keep her entertained and tried to make our meal as quick as possible. That being said a couple of meals once she was done sitting around we would just take turns with my daughter walking outside the restaurant since we had a bigger group no one was left alone at the table. Enjoy your cruise

[Cel_cruise]

The pricing of the kids at dinner confused me too...if I buy a dining package - what do I do about my 8 year old?

 

When they say ‘half price’ - what is that half price of? The dining package for 3 nights is $76...the rate at CHops is $49..so - what is half price? Would it cost as much for her to eat there as I am paying on the plan? If that’s the case - what menu does she eat off of?

 

The wording is confusing as there is still reference of the $10 for her age...

 

 

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[moesyk4]

The pricing of the kids at dinner confused me too...if I buy a dining package - what do I do about my 8 year old?

 

When they say ‘half price’ - what is that half price of? The dining package for 3 nights is $76...the rate at CHops is $49..so - what is half price? Would it cost as much for her to eat there as I am paying on the plan? If that’s the case - what menu does she eat off of?

 

The wording is confusing as there is still reference of the $10 for her age...

 

 

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I know...the new T&C mention both the 10 dollars and the half price in different spots with no clarification as to it referring to certain ships.

It did add a part that said essentially the discount doesn't apply to kids when purchasing the dining package. My impression of their wording was it would be half of the full price and if you got them the dining package, it would be the same price as the adults. For the BOGO we were originally considering, we would've just purchased one for our oldest as it would come out cheaper I think.

[moesyk4]

My kids love the MDR. They love the bread, the fun little foods the waiters bring, and we tend to eat pretty quickly so we’ve never been in there for 90 minutes.

 

Have you considered doing the specialties for lunch instead? It’s not the full menu but it’s cheaper and you would still get dinner in the MDR. I also find my kids are more interested in going to the kids club during the day than the evening.

 

My husband had suggested we bring them each night and ask them to bring their meal with our appetizers and then take them to the kid's club after. I haven't told him yet ;), but it is probably a great solution!

[NewKansasKruiser]

We signed up for My Family Time Dining for our upcoming cruise (on Liberty of the Seas). It sounds perfect as my grandson can eat in the main dining room with us then they pick him up at the table and take him to Aquanauts! (My Family Time Dining is offered for the first seating time in our main dining room, for children ages three to 11. Kids enjoy their meal within 40 minutes of seating, before heading to the evening's

Adventure Ocean

activities. The program starts the second evening you're onboard.)

[moesyk4]

We signed up for My Family Time Dining for our upcoming cruise (on Liberty of the Seas). It sounds perfect as my grandson can eat in the main dining room with us then they pick him up at the table and take him to Aquanauts! (My Family Time Dining is offered for the first seating time in our main dining room, for children ages three to 11. Kids enjoy their meal within 40 minutes of seating, before heading to the evening's

Adventure Ocean

activities. The program starts the second evening you're onboard.)

 

I had not heard of that, what a great idea!

[ONECRUISER]

The pricing of the kids at dinner confused me too...if I buy a dining package - what do I do about my 8 year old?

 

When they say ‘half price’ - what is that half price of? The dining package for 3 nights is $76...the rate at CHops is $49..so - what is half price? Would it cost as much for her to eat there as I am paying on the plan? If that’s the case - what menu does she eat off of?

 

The wording is confusing as there is still reference of the $10 for her age...

 

 

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Yes outdated it's higher then $10 per kid now. If not getting package for kid think will be half of what a regular priced adult dinner.. Might be cheaper to do package for older kid, then get reduced half off when on board, even it kid doesn't do all meals... Hopefully someone can answer actual price and best way do it...

Remember also buying at kids price get's meal from kids menu. I had issue as 2 my kids would never ate off a kids menu any Restaurant land/sea, always ate off Adult menus by time they were 8 or 9yrs old.

Edited September 10, 2018 by ONECRUISER

[Cel_cruise]

My daughter has no problem eating off the kids menu at chops. But the kids menu is not worth $25! (Especially if I am paying less than that with BOGO or package).

 

It’s just the 2 of us on this cruise so I don’t really want to dine alone..

 

 

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[Cel_cruise]

We signed up for My Family Time Dining for our upcoming cruise (on Liberty of the Seas). It sounds perfect as my grandson can eat in the main dining room with us then they pick him up at the table and take him to Aquanauts! (My Family Time Dining is offered for the first seating time in our main dining room, for children ages three to 11. Kids enjoy their meal within 40 minutes of seating, before heading to the evening's

Adventure Ocean

activities. The program starts the second evening you're onboard.)

 

 

 

Our experience with this has been a little shady. First - on LOS, the early seating starts at 5:30 (at least it did on our previous sailing, same with NAV out of Galveston) By 6:40, everyone is almost all done with dinner and 70 minutes of occupying kids is much longer than 40. The marketing is much better than in practice!

 

What had worked better for us is to select My Time Dining with a 6pm reservation. We tell our waiter that we want our kids food expedited (I have yet to meet a waiter that knows of the 6:40 pick up at the dining room!). We have had good luck getting to the point of having kids dessert on the table by 6:30 or so and then dropping them at the entrance to the early dining floor for pick up. We then enjoy the rest of our entree (they would leave a heat cover for whomever the runner was!) - and certainly coffee/dessert alone!

 

 

 

 

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[LMaxwell]

There is a "lite" version of the specialty menu for kids, OR they can have the MDR kids menu. Under 5 is free either way. If over 5; the "lite" menu is priced for kids and the MDR kids menu is free. We did not add our kid to the dining package because I saw no sense in paying ahead and getting it refunded onboard as OBC. Was not an issue.

[NateUpNorth]

If you decide to keep the kids at the table we've had a lot of success with a coloring book or "activity" book and a few crayons. Nice and quiet, and you can interact with the kids at the same time if need be. We are not "hand them an electronic gadget" people.

[nelblu]

The 3 night package on our cruise just dropped to 72 a person and I snatched it. We are planning on doing Giovannis, Chops, and 150 West on the Allure. I think the kids will join us for Giovannis as we will plan to do that on the mandatory 1st 2 nights, but will do the other two as date nights.

I am correct in assuming that our younger two who will be 5 and under will be free, but they have to order from the standard MDR menu correct? And then my 9 year old can eat from a special kids menu for what appears to be half price (the t&c mentions both 10 bucks and half price, but the consensus here seems to be half price for Allure).

Where my confusion lies is booking with them. The T&C seem to imply I am supposed to buy packages for all 3 and will get reimbursed when we dine in the form of OBC. This seems so silly as that would mean tying up 250 bucks for the next 7 months for OBC we probably won't use as we are very frugal cruisers.

I seem to remember reading on here that once on board when I check our reservations, which I will anyway to get what we want, I just switch that 1 reservation to 5 people? Anyone have experience with that? Would I then just be charged the half price charge for my oldest at the meal itself?

 

Finally, anyone have advice on sit down dinners with kids on board in general? My husband and I have opposite views on this..I think the kids would enjoy the buffet better and we will be together all day, this would be our one chance every day for adult talk and relaxing. My husband thinks the ambiance of the dining room is a big part of cruising...our oldest has cruised twice and is super easy going, but he even struggled with 90 minute dinners even when we brought toys and coloring. Our 5 year old is non stop moving and to me, that just sounds like torture trying to keep him distracted that long.

 

There were 9 of us which included 3 children (4-10 yoa) and I had made reservation to 2 SR in my cruise planner for only the adults. When I got on board, went to the restaurants and made the reservations for a table for 9. Paid for the kids the night of the reservations. By the way, on Allure Easter cruise, the kids ordered from the regular menu and paid the $10 per for the 2 older kids. Also, had the CP balcony promo of lunch at Giovanni's and the waiter did not charge for the kids. We tipped him accordingly.

[markbach]

To further add to the confusion, I got the following in an email the other day (regarding an Allure sailing in May 2019). First I'd heard of $8, I've always heard $10.

[moesyk4]

If you decide to keep the kids at the table we've had a lot of success with a coloring book or "activity" book and a few crayons. Nice and quiet, and you can interact with the kids at the same time if need be. We are not "hand them an electronic gadget" people.

 

We are not either, and this totslky entertains my oldest, but my middle son literally cannot sit still and hates crafty things. We almost always eat out at a place that has chips and salsa or bread and try to get out in under an hour lol

[moesyk4]

To further add to the confusion, I got the following in an email the other day (regarding an Allure sailing in May 2019). First I'd heard of $8, I've always heard $10.

 

That is crazy!

[Ourusualbeach]

To further add to the confusion, I got the following in an email the other day (regarding an Allure sailing in May 2019). First I'd heard of $8, I've always heard $10.

That is actually a couple of years old. IT at their finest.

[LuCruise]

Yes outdated it's higher then $10 per kid now. If not getting package for kid think will be half of what a regular priced adult dinner.. Might be cheaper to do package for older kid, then get reduced half off when on board, even it kid doesn't do all meals... Hopefully someone can answer actual price and best way do it...

Remember also buying at kids price get's meal from kids menu. I had issue as 2 my kids would never ate off a kids menu any Restaurant land/sea, always ate off Adult menus by time they were 8 or 9yrs old.

Maybe we got lucky but we were charged $10 for our 9 year old at Chops on Mariner a couple weeks ago. We paid full price upfront...and NOTE that I had to ask about getting refund for adult price (i.e. it wasn't automatic adjustment). But they refunded us and charged $10 (plus tax or tip)

 

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[Ourusualbeach]

Maybe we got lucky but we were charged $10 for our 9 year old at Chops on Mariner a couple weeks ago. We paid full price upfront...and NOTE that I had to ask about getting refund for adult price (i.e. it wasn't automatic adjustment). But they refunded us and charged $10 (plus tax or tip)

 

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That’s correct. It’s half price on Oasis class ships.

[LuCruise]

That’s correct. It’s half price on Oasis class ships.

Ah ok. So $10 for other ships. Thanks for clarifying.

 

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