Cruisers with older kids
I feel that I can impose upon my parents no more to watch my kids for a week while we go off cruising. Next year, my kids will be (an immature) 9 and (a mature) 7. Folks who went with kids these ages, what were your experiences? I am thinking next year will be a no go, but 8 and 10 seems doable for me. Am I wrong?
I am curious about these things in particular:
1. Dining at the buffet - can younger kids go around getting their own food? (Assuming I have no problem with them eating 10 waffles for breakfast and ice cream cones the rest of the day . . . . Hey man, it's their cruise too!)
2. Dining in the Main Dining Room - I saw some kids order chicken nuggets. Were there any other options there? If you had kids that didn't care to eat chicken nuggets for 2 hours with strangers, could you leave them in the room if they were happy, or did you get a sitter?
3. My kids are not the least bit destructive or mischievous (they understand that I will gleefully take advantage of any excuse to employ duct-tape, or if they are REALLY bad, take away Minecraft privileges without even batting an eye.) When we get a babysitter at home, we use a 13 year old whose main job is to document anything entertaining that happens. Is it standard to get a sitter for the kids once they've tucked in for the night so that we can give the after-dinner events a college try?
And what things am I not thinking to ask about? Any particularly awesome or awful aspects to cruising with the kids?
Thanks!