Ahoy Asha –
Congratulations on booking your first
Disney Cruise Line Vacation! I am pleased to assist with your question about table service meals with infants and toddlers. In my opinion, whether or not to have your toddler at the table service meal really depends on the temperament of your child and what time your dinner will be.
My pirate crew always gets the
First Dinner Seating because we tend to eat supper early and then go to bed not too long after. If you have the
Second Dinner Seating (that happens usually during bedtime for most toddlers), it may be a good idea to schedule nursery time for all of the dinners for your entire cruise. Young pirates who have the ability to sit still for at least 1- 1 ½ hours usually do very well during the table service meal.
My sea pup cannot stand to sit still for that long, and the Table Service dinners were torture for him when he was 2 years old. For him, I made arrangements with our Dining Service Team to have his meal expedited to the table or premade so that he could very quickly eat with the family. After about 15-20 minutes, I left to drop him off at the Nursery and then returned to enjoy my dinner. The Dining Service Team has also delivered his meal directly to the Nursery when he was too fussy to eat with us. Now that he is 6, we still do the same thing except now he sits for just a little longer before jetting off to the Oceaneer Club.
Since Nursery hours are limited, I recommend booking dinners early and know that you can always adjust once onboard by adding or taking hours away depending on availability. Asha, I enjoyed our visit so much and thanks for stopping in at the Disney Parks Moms Panel!
Brandy