Dining on the Disney Cruise Line
By Kelly RodriguezIs it true that a cruise ship is truly a floating buffet? Well, let me tell you more about the food options on a Disney Cruise Line ship and I’ll let you decide.What are the Dining options on the cruise ship and what’s included is a frequently asked question I receive.For breakfast you have 3 wonderful options:Cabanas, which is the wonderful buffet that’s open during the day and located on the aft of the ship. They have so many amazing choices to choose from! This is my favorite way to enjoy breakfast because everyone gets what they like!
You can eat in the Main dining room, however at breakfast your table and waitstaff will not be the same as dinner.Or if you like to watch the sunrise from your balcony and want a quiet, more peaceful breakfast, you can order room service.What are my lunch options?You can enjoy a wonderful buffet from Cabanas again, room service or the wonderful food court outside of the pool areas.
Dinner is my favorite! Each ship offers two dining times: main and second seating. Main is usually in the 5:15pm to 6pm hour and second is around 8:15pm or so.If you chose not to eat in the main dining rooms you have 3 other options, Cabanas buffet, poolside at the food court area or room service. I highly recommend the dining rooms. You can also schedule an adults-only dinner at Palo or Remy on your cruise planner.You have rotational dining that will be found on your Key to the World card. You will rotate through three restaurants and be presented with a different menu each evening. You will have the privilege of having the same wait staff each night so it’s like they become part of your family by the end. You can choose to eat with just your family or another family as well depending on table size. Don’t be afraid if you don’t like something at dinner to ask for something else or if you love something to ask for seconds!
You switch with the other dining time schedule when you go to Disney’s live show. They offer a different show nightly, so if you have the main dining you will go to the show during the second dining time. Then the second dining time will come from their show while you were eating and have dinner. It is first come first serve for seating at the shows!On Pirate’s Night they have a late-night buffet after the fireworks. My dad and husband also stumbled upon some late-night snack offerings in the adults only areas.On Disney’s castaway cay they have Cookie’s BBQ 1&2 buffet style, which was simply delicious! They had burgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, corn, fresh fruit, sides, cookies and ice cream for dessert!On the Disney Dream we got to eat in Animator’s Palate, the Royal Palace and The Enchanted Garden. We got to eat at Animator’s Palate twice. During one night Crush from Finding Nemo was near us, and on the second night it was a Pirates of the Caribbean theme.
From the dinner menus down to the wait staff, food, the presentation, timing, it all truly blew me away! Everything was simply amazing! They brought the kids food first and it came so promptly. The wait staff knew each of our names the first night, which was impressive. By the end of the 4 nights they felt more like family. Also, something I learned on this cruise was if there was something you loved from another dinner that you had earlier in the week chances are they were serving it each night in that same dining room and can get it for you!*They do have drink stations on the same deck as the pools with coffee, tea, pop, and a non soda option that are complimentary! I recommend bringing your own tumbler to fill to Keep your drink cold! These are found on deck 11 on the Dream and Fantasy.