Dining with Kids

[Zaffaris]

We will be sailing Thanksgiving 2019 as a family including an11-year-old, an 8-year-old, and a 6-year-old. Does anyone have any advice on dining? Do the specialty restaurants andMDR have options for kids or do they get adult plates. Any constructive input is greatlyappreciated.

[ColinIllinois]

There is a complimentary kids menu available both in the MDR's and the specialty restaurants. There is no discount for kids in the specialty places if they order off the specialty menu.

 

 

The kids menu has the usual stuff...chicken strips, small pizzas, pasta, burgers, fries, etc.

[BirdTravels]

In specialty restaurants, it would be better to pay for an app for them or order off the complimentary kids menu (available in all restaurants).

 

Main dining room, just order off the regular menu. There are no “kids portions”. Kids just eat what they want.

 

 

 

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[FranknBeans]

Just a reminder thats kids don't like to sit for long periods of time and the speciality dining venues can take a while 9at leat 1/1/2 hours) as they are use to somewhat intimate diners.

[newmexicoNita]

We will be sailing Thanksgiving 2019 as a family including an11-year-old, an 8-year-old, and a 6-year-old. Does anyone have any advice on dining? Do the specialty restaurants andMDR have options for kids or do they get adult plates. Any constructive input is greatlyappreciated.

There are kids menus in the MDRs or they can order adult meals. it is up to you and them to decide. As for the specialty dining rooms, the will have to pay full adult prices if they want to order off the menu and there is no sharing. The good news is: they can choose to order off the kids menu there as well with no extra cost. The kids menu will be the same as the MDR kids menu..

Good reminder about the length of time it takes to eat in the specialty dining rooms. an hour and 1/2 is about min and we have seen kids have to be taken out by parents taking turns with them: we have seen kids sleeping in the specialty dining room and a few times raising cane, spoiling it for their families and the oher guests. Sometimes it is better to let the kids go to the kids camp and let mom and dad have a nice meal away from them. This is a decision everyone needs to make on their own, remembering the other guests as well. I have seen some kids very well behaved in the specialty dining rooms, but seen more that were not, at all enjoying themselves. Tappanaki's is the exception. There the kids have a blast. There are no kids menus there though.

[PammyMouse]

We've had DD on two cruises recently, at 4-1/2 and 5-1/2. She loves Teppanyaki (where we do pay for her meal there), but we've been to all the others, and ordered off the kid's menu. Exceptions were Cagney's (for their own Mac & Cheese side) and La Cucina for cheese pizza. She loves to draw so we brought paper and pens, but had an iPad as backup. Of course, we only have the one, and she dines out a lot with us in general. Bribery helps - dessert is always promised (ice cream for DD).

[FitchburgWIFamily]

My kids started sailing with me when they were 13 and 11. They liked the pageantry of the formal dining rooms: multi course meal, etc. and behaved very well. However, as we got further into the cruise, our dining sometime conflicted with their splash accademy activities. Once, we had to leave between main course and dessert to run one kid to camp. We got into the habit of taking them to the cafeteria for a early dinner before checking them into splash academy, dining at our own pace, and picking them up. Sometimes we would go to OSheeans and get a light item for them if they were still hungry that late at night.

 

Kids 13 and under can wear shorts to the MDR. My son wore dress shorts and a polo.

[DipBrat]

I don't really find the specialty restaurants take much longer than MDR though I generally go to the Asian ones rather than Cagneys etc.

It is really hard to give advice without more information about your kids. Personally I wouldn't feel the need to do anything special for my kids when 6, 8 or 11 but we eat out a lot. We never allow ipads and our kids all eat adult food from the age of two or so. (my weirdo kids wouldn't eat anything off of the kids menu other than maybe pizza). If you eat out only once a week at somewhere family friendly like the Olive Garden your kids may be bored and might not like the food (though in this case the kids menu is available).

[Maniacal Cruiser]

We will be sailing Thanksgiving 2019 as a family including an11-year-old, an 8-year-old, and a 6-year-old. Does anyone have any advice on dining? Do the specialty restaurants andMDR have options for kids or do they get adult plates. Any constructive input is greatlyappreciated.

 

 

When you get hungry, eat!

[momto2js]

Not everyone will like my answer but here it is. My kids now 12 and 9, come to dinner with us. When they are done they tell us where they are going (generally the sports area) and they go. We meet them after we are done. By the time they were 10 and 8, they were pretty reliable. Generally they left about 1/2 way through dinner so they were alone about 30 minutes. The sports deck staff usually know them by the 3rd day.

[newmexicoNita]

Not everyone will like my answer but here it is. My kids now 12 and 9, come to dinner with us. When they are done they tell us where they are going (generally the sports area) and they go. We meet them after we are done. By the time they were 10 and 8, they were pretty reliable. Generally they left about 1/2 way through dinner so they were alone about 30 minutes. The sports deck staff usually know them by the 3rd day.

If your kids are mature and well behaved I think that is an excellent idea.

[Linda the Book Lover]

My DD and I took my DG (9) on the Pride of America this year. She loved eating out with us every night. She joined us in Cagney's and La Cucina and one night in the main dining room (our choice). The other nights she was able to choose where we ate which was Cadillac Diner 3 times and again in the main dining room. Some mornings we ate in the main dining room and twice in the buffet as we needed to get going with our day. She loved getting dressed for enjoying dinner. The ability to choose worked for us and she loved being part of the planning. Our biggest surprise was two nights she asked and wanted to go to Kid's Club! We took her to check it out the first day but she was so-so about it then one-night she asked to go and we agreed on a time for pick-up. She asked to stay just a tad later the next night.

[claireruth]

My kids were 8 and 11 on our last cruise. A lot of times they'd have dinner at the buffet and then go to Splash Academy because there was an activity there they wanted to do, then my husband and I would go wherever for dinner on our own. A few times we had family dinner in the MDR. The first time my youngest ordered off the kids menu, but my older son ordered off the regular menu. Once the younger one realized he could do that, too, he never looked back at the kids menu. Since he only ate off it the one time, I don't remember what was on it, but I think it was pretty standard kid fare.