Ahoy, Jennifer!
As a mom of two teenagers, I had the same concern on our last Disney Cruise. For the first time, our daughters were in the right age range to be able to visit the same Youth Club during our sailing. Both girls were excited about spending time together in
Vibe, the teen club, for ages 14-17.
With a late dinner seating, you'll head to your assigned Main Dining restaurant around 8:15pm, after the evening's featured entertainment in Walt Disney Theatre. While your kids may miss a few events at Vibe, I noticed that a lot of the activities begin after 9pm. The daily schedule in the club is full of fun activities, so they will certainly have lots of opportunities to get involved in the hours leading up to dinner, if they choose.
On a few nights during our sailing, my daughters decided to skip dessert at dinner, when there was a fun activity in Vibe they didn't want to miss. They would head to the club after eating their entrees, and would order something sweet from Room Service later, if they liked. With unlimited visits to the all-you-care-to-enjoy ice cream machine on the Pool Deck, sometimes they'd already had enough dessert throughout the day! You can also ask your server to expedite their meals, if there's an activity with an earlier start time that they'd like to participate in.
Make sure to check your Personal Navigator, a daily schedule delivered to your stateroom each day, to see all the events happening in Vibe throughout your sailing. You can also find programming information on the
Disney Cruise Line Navigator App, available for iOS and Android devices. The app also has an onboard chat feature to help you keep up with your teenagers as they explore the ship!
I hope this helps with your planning. Have a magical day! - Diane W.