Dining Options and Children

[Kimbersw]

We are cruising with a large group on the Crown next March. One of the cabins has children ages 6 and 4. We are all booked in the first seating as they would like to eat with the group (all family). What is the best dining choice for a family? Are there options on Princess for the children while the parents eat in traditional dining?

[Alessandrina]

The Fun Zone (children's centre) operates all day, with the exception of being closed for lunch between 12 and 2 pm and closed for dinner between 5 and 7 pm. You could take the kids with you for your traditional early sitting, order their main course first, then after they have finished, drop them off in the Fun Zone, and come back to continue on with your dinner. :)

[jlp20]

>>>One of the cabins has children ages 6 and 4......What is the best dining choice for a family? Are there options on Princess for the children while the parents eat in traditional dining?

 

If you mean "is there a place we can dump the kids while we go eat?" NO

 

There should be a children's program on your ship that offers to watch and feed during the evening hours as well as daytime activities. You should contact Princess on this since the programs vary from ship to ship.

[jff50]

We have a 5 year old, and Princess' anytime dining works great for us. Depending on how our daughter is doing, we can eat early with her if we think she is up to spending that amount of time in the dining room. If she is not up to it, we can get her room service/buffet and wait until the kid's program opens for us to eat. She has been on about 10 cruises (mostly Princess) with us--we have used anytime dining for every Princess cruise and it has worked out great.

 

You need flexibility when dealing with little kids, and anytime dining allows that.

[ssbeagle]

When we first started traveling with the grandkids we did the traditional early sitting and found that they were missing a lot of activities in the Kids' Zone. Then we used the anytime dining and got them fed and to the Kids' Zone in plenty of time for their activities. Also, the service seems to be a lot faster in anytime dining and you can go in any time you want. If you find a waiter /assistant waiter you like, you can make a reservation with the Maitre D' for that table every night at a specified time. Some nights the Kids' Zone will have a special dinner just for the kids leaving the parents free to have their own quiet dinner. There have been 9 in our party on one cruise and usually six of us on the others. The last cruise we were on we could only do traditional as that ship didn't have anytime dining and as long as we brought along the boys' gameboys, we did okay.

[dosi]

We always do early dining in the regular dining room. The waiters are very accomodating and seem to always get our sons food out quite quickly. He is usually done with his meal by around 7, DH runs him up to the Kids Program and then DH and I have our coffee and dessert.

 

 

And to JLP I think your kid dumping comment was rather harsh.

[LoveSanibel]

We were on the Sapphire in March, and had the early seating. DS 10 went with us to dinner and while we had appetizers, soup, & salad, he had his "dinner." He then went up to the kids club and we had main course and dessert/coffee on our own.

 

It really worked great because on our trip, the Fun Zone reopened at 6PM rather than 7PM. The timing was perfect.

 

Also, on the formal nights, they had a kids gathering in the Horizon Court for dinner, so those 2 nights he went and ate with the kids/Fun Zone staff.

[AliceJ]

Princess was very good with our DD (who was 5 at the time) in the dining rooms (we did any time dining, but my understanding is that the waitstaff throughout the ship are very good with children).

 

DD ate with us on a few occassions, but generally did prefer the kids' club. One of us would take her to Herizon Court for an early dinner, she'd eat, then go to the kids's club. We'd pick her up at 10:00, make a quick stop back at Horizon Court for a "late night snack" and back to the cabin.

 

Either way, your group should be just fine!

 

Enjoy!!

[whale-watcher]

We really like anytime dining with children...you can either eat in the dining room together as a family early in the evening, or feed the kids first (buffet or room service or pizza) and then enjoy a quiet and relaxed adult dinner while they play in the kid's club. Either way, you avoid the peak wait times. With the 24hour buffet on princess, you can feed the kids whenever they are ready to eat!

[jlp20]

>>>And to JLP I think your kid dumping comment was rather harsh.

 

Why so, if your taking small children on a cruise, it's your responsibility to watch them. The OP wanted info as to where they could leave their kids while they ate. They did not ask if there was anyone to watch or feed them. I DO NOT WANT TO HIJACK this post, but if you can not or unwilling to watch your own children, they have no place on a cruise ship.

[dosi]

>>>And to JLP I think your kid dumping comment was rather harsh.

 

Why so, if your taking small children on a cruise, it's your responsibility to watch them. The OP wanted info as to where they could leave their kids while they ate. They did not ask if there was anyone to watch or feed them. I DO NOT WANT TO HIJACK this post, but if you can not or unwilling to watch your own children, they have no place on a cruise ship.

 

Then why do they provide a children's program at all? If one were to follow your thinking then all parents are responsible to have their children with them 24 hours per day, 7 days a week until they reach adulthood. I believe the OP asked if there were options. Now perhaps, in your mind, options = dumping, but I really do not believe that these people were asking "where can we dump our kids, we do not want to be responsible for them". If they were not responsible parents, they would just leave the children in the cabin or somewhere on deck while they went to dinner. I believe, that their inquiry demonstrates that they are responsible. They are trying to find out all choices available to them and their children during the course of their vacation. Cruise ships are no different than any other vacation venue. It is the responsibility of each parent to make sure their children are taken care of and safely watched over during every moment of the trip. Cruise ships just make this a little easier for us by offering such fabulous children's programs for our little ones to participate in.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Then why do they provide a children's program at all? If one were to follow your thinking then all parents are responsible to have their children with them 24 hours per day, 7 days a week until they reach adulthood. I believe the OP asked if there were options. Now perhaps, in your mind, options = dumping, but I really do not believe that these people were asking "where can we dump our kids, we do not want to be responsible for them". If they were not responsible parents, they would just leave the children in the cabin or somewhere on deck while they went to dinner. I believe, that their inquiry demonstrates that they are responsible. They are trying to find out all choices available to them and their children during the course of their vacation. Cruise ships are no different than any other vacation venue. It is the responsibility of each parent to make sure their children are taken care of and safely watched over during every moment of the trip. Cruise ships just make this a little easier for us by offering such fabulous children's programs for our little ones to participate in.

 

 

Well said!!!