Half Board or not with Under 3's - advice needed

Started by gige3982, May 23, 2014, 03:40:20 PM

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gige3982

Hi Guys, when we booked initially the travel agent had told us that HB was included, but rang back yesterday to say it was her mistake, and it is not.  We are travelling in December this year for 4 nights and staying in HNY.  We were there last year, and were aware that under 3's eat free, but didn't once receive anything for them for free. For example when we ate at Cafe Mickey, I asked what was available for under 3's, and was very bluntly told 'nothing'! We ended up ordering chips for them, and paying.  My question is, would there be any point in us paying for half board for myself and my husband.  My twins are not big eaters, but we could go into restaurants and end up paying in full for children's meals for them on top of what we have already paid?  Did anyone else have this issue with under 3's? Would we work out better just paying for our own meals on site as we go along?

amanda08

If you ate mainly in buffet restaurants then you would save money, because under 3's can help themselves there. Otherwise I would probably pay as I went as this is also less restrictive in where you eat.

daddyof2

My 3 year old and 1 (nearly 2) year old are both only likely to eat something like a full meal once a day. I'm pretty much planning to have a buffet meal and a counter/quick service meal each day. Whilst I'd love to do Walt's, Blue Lagoon and Silver Spur Steakhouse, they don't present good value for the little ones and my children also are not the best at waiting for food.

polar vixen

That is our main reason for eating in buffets - kids don't have to wait for food and under 3's get free helpings, mine are big eaters, and I hate having to pay 12 euros for a meal for a 2 year old, esp. since you can't always guarantee how hungry they'll be.  On to occasions I orered a meal for my little one and they'd fallen asleep my the time it arrived, so it went to waste.  Buffets or fast food are much better in this regard.

sue81

We're going in February just before my son turned 3 purely for the fact we didn't have to pay for his half board. I've been trying to decide about the value of the dining plans and finally decided the half board standard would be our best option and at least 2 of the 4 nights we are going for will be at buffets.
The other meal will be a snack type meal so we'll probably grab a counter service somewhere or something like earl of sandwich.
This way the most my son will cost us in food each day will be around 10euro I reckon which I don't mind.
With regards to whether or not you and your husband do half board all depends on where you want to eat. Have a look at menu prices, most of the set menus seem to be the same value as what you pay for the dining plan plus and doesn't seen like your saving any money.
Also have you thought about buying one child's meal and splitting it between your twins if they are not big eaters? You probably have but thought id mention it  ;D