*Complete* Sit back, Relax as the Dining Room presents Your Dinner Oct 30-Nov 6

[PrincessTrisha]

Okay, so I'm not so good at trip reports or pre-trip reports or keeping up a journal or any of those other "normal" things.

The one thing I am good at doing is taking food pictures. Hence, (yeah, hence) my ability to do rockin Food Reviews.

So sit back, grab a drink and vicariously enjoy some Disney Cruise Line Dining....

Cast and Crew:

Moi: Trisha - age 36. I love WDW and started taking my parents there in 2005. We took many trips when I was a kid but these were the first trips where we stayed - and ate - on property. This is my first cruise but before we'd even set sail, I'd booked a B2B cruise on the Carnival Dream for next March with my 16 year old God daughter (whom I have previously taken to WDW). When I jump into something, it's with both feet.

My Mom: Connie - age 57. She had a stroke 2 years ago and then suffered a horrible setback due to medication issues. She's progressed well but has to use a wheelchair. She's gotten very good at transferring to and from the wheelchair but it's always a consideration when we travel now. She doesn't like anything spicy (pepper is to spicy for her) and is allergic to crab, calamari and kiwi. Due to her allergies, I rarely order anything with these items in because I'm concerned about cross contamination.

My Dad: Bill - age 61. He loves food and is willing to try just about anything. He is a beef eater for sure though. Just about every night he ordered the beef dish on the menu. He ended up with a private tour of the kitchen from Matthew the head chef (he had been talking to Matthew who told him about the kitchen tour - but the chef told him the wrong time but when my Dad showed up at the time Matthew had told me, he gave him a private tour). He is the explorer of the group - he would go out and about on the ship and usually wandered back with some kind of food item.

Okay, well, that's enough of the introductions - let's get to the good stuff. (continued next post).

Table of Contents:

Parrot Cay Lunch Day 1
Sweet Surprise in the Cabin
Dinner at Parrot Cay - Day 1
Breakfast / Brunch at Lumiere's Key West Day
Room Service Lunch Key West Day
Dinner at Lumiere's Key West Day
Room Service breakfast Monday - Sea Day
A couple of drinks
Lunch by the pool
Before dinner snacks
Prince and Princess Dinner - formal night
Room Service Breakfast
Lunch at Lumiere's - Grand Cayman Day
Cove Cafe
Dinner at Animator's Palate - Grand Cayman Day
Breakfast at Lumiere's - Cozumel Day
Drinks and Lunch - Cozumel Day
Character Breakfast
Room Service Lunch - Sea day
Captain's Gala - Semi Formal night
Till We Meet Again - last night dinner

[TotallyAngelic]

oooohhh .... looking forward to this !!

[PrincessTrisha]

After a smooth embarkation, we went to Parrot Cay for our first on board meal. I chose this based on feedback from the boards. We're not really "buffet people" - I certainly prefer to sit down. The benefit to Parrot Cay is they seat you and bring you your drinks. I liked this. It also gave us our first look at our first restaurant in our Dining Rotation (it was PLAAPLA - the one I wanted cause it put us in Animators Palate for Formal Night, Lumiere's for semi formal night and Parrot Cay for Pirate night).

Anyways.............

So we were seated near the front of the restaurant. The restaurant was not very full when we were seated (I think they had already started to turn over - we were number 13 for boarding).



First I got my mom a plate. I know what she likes but it's still tough to pick out what she's going to eat but it's tough to roll her through the buffet line while trying to balance her plate so.... I do my best.

Clockwise from top right:
Macaroni and cheese, pork roast, salmon, pasta, roast potatoes:



One thing I forgot to mention (and she'll kill me for telling you all) but my mom only has one tooth on the top jaw (she fell after the stroke and broke many of her top teeth - just prior to the cruise she went to the dentist to have dentures made but they weren't ready before we left). Much of the food she'll get has to be easy to chew.

The mac n cheese was good - very creamy. My mom really liked the salmon - firm and tasty with a nice topping similar to brushetta. The pasta, roast potatoes and pork roast were good but not worth a second serving.

My Dad's plate:

clockwise from top right:
Pork roast, corn dog nuggets, mac n cheese, meatballs, roast potatoes and cooked veggies.



He had to go back and get more corn dog nuggets for my mom (I didn't see them - they were in the kids section). They were crispy and tasty.

My plate:

clockwise from top right:
ham & cheese salad, steak with fried onions, chicken, assorted cheese.



The funny thing is, I figured my Dad would have had a steak but he "didn't see the steak" apparently. I rarely get steak or any beef off of a buffet since I prefer my beef rare but I could see the pinkness of the steak in the pan so I grabbed it right up. Because I had gotten my mom's food already I had already seen all of the offerings and there wasn't a lot that appealed to me so the steak seemed like a good choice. It did have some grisle but I was able to cut it with my butter knife so it wasn't a tough steak, it has a good flavour from the onions and was juicy.

The chicken was a little dry (I expect that from a buffet) but I was able to snag a piece of white meat. The cheese and the salad were fine, typical buffet stuff.

For dessert I went up and grabbed an assorted plate of stuff for my mom and I. This is where I found the buffet kind of lacking. The desserts looked good but weren't very tasty.

Clockwise from top right:
chocolate mouse cake, chocolate brownie, whipped cream with raspberry drizzle, strawberry cheesecake, peach crumble.



The brownie was thick and rich, and the peach crumble was lovely with a touch of spice and was gooey and warm. The rest of it was....meh. We ate most of it but nothing exciting.

My Dad's dessert plate:

Clockwise from top right:
chocolate mouse cake, fruit tart, peach crumble, whipped cream with raspberry drizzle.



The fruit tart crust was hard and inedible but the custard and fruit were good. My Dad did not like the mouse cake since it was dark chocolate not milk chocolate. He loves whipped cream so he enjoyed that and the peach crumble.

Overall a good first meal especially for a buffet. Next up... a surprise treat waiting in the room.

[JKSWonder]

A dining report from our cruise! Cool!

There was a lot of stuff I would have liked to try, but didn't. I'm hoping to find out what I may have missed (or, what I should be thankful I missed).

DCL transport did not pick us up from AKL until after 12:00 and we had to stop at another WDW hotel before heading to the Port. We didn't get on board until after 2:00. Since we had the Dismeet at 3:00, we completely missed lunch.

Next cruise (Disney Fantasy, 8/25/12), I think we are going to either stay near the Port or at least arrange for our own transportation to the Port.

[PrincessTrisha]

Okay, so it wasn't a surprise for me cause I ordered it but it was a surprise for my parents.

We had a beautiful extended balcony where I figured we'd spend sailaway so I wanted something to toast with.



So I ordered a sailaway package including a bottle of sparkling wine and some petit fours.

The sparkling wine was nice - I ordered the cheapest one since it also happens to be the sweetest one (I'm not big on dry wine). And we enjoyed a couple of glasses that day and finished it off later in the week (the bottle fit in the mini fridge).

The petit fours were a nice selection with giant chocolate covered strawberries (both milk and white chocolate), some pecan bars, cheesecake bars, cookies with creamy strawberry filling and some key lime bars.



There was also a white chocolate banner with the ship on it stuck to the board. Very cute.



While we didn't NEED the extra sweets, it was very cool to have our own little dessert buffet during our private sailaway party.

Just for kicks - here are a couple of pictures of our balcony.

[PrincessTrisha]

Originally Posted by TotallyAngelic

oooohhh .... looking forward to this !!

Welcome aboard. Hope it lives up to expectations.

Originally Posted by JKSWonder

A dining report from our cruise! Cool!

There was a lot of stuff I would have liked to try, but didn't. I'm hoping to find out what I may have missed (or, what I should be thankful I missed).

DCL transport did not pick us up from AKL until after 12:00 and we had to stop at another WDW hotel before heading to the Port. We didn't get on board until after 2:00. Since we had the Dismeet at 3:00, we completely missed lunch.

Next cruise (Disney Fantasy, 8/25/12), I think we are going to either stay near the Port or at least arrange for our own transportation to the Port.

Wow, that seems late for DCL transportation to pick up (maybe it's not, it's just in my mind). There were still things that I didn't get to try that I wish I had. I was also sick on Thursday night (really sick) so I missed the lobster tail which I really wanted. Our assistant server brought one to our cabin for me but even Friday I was still quesy so I just couldn't face it.

[JKSWonder]

Originally Posted by PrincessTrisha

Wow, that seems late for DCL transportation to pick up (maybe it's not, it's just in my mind). There were still things that I didn't get to try that I wish I had. I was also sick on Thursday night (really sick) so I missed the lobster tail which I really wanted. Our assistant server brought one to our cabin for me but even Friday I was still quesy so I just couldn't face it.

I thought it was very late....had I known how late, I would have gotten there another way. Last year, we took DCL transport from the Poly and were picked up around 11:00 and were on board around 1:00 p.m.

Edited to add: That extended balcony rocks! How great that they have something like that for people who need it. Your mom looks very happy with it.

[Tinkerkell123]

Yay, food reviews!!! I am in! This should help pass the time until our cruise in January...

[Señor DonDuck]

Food reviews? I'm so in! Great start and that balcony looks wonderful.

[PrincessTrisha]

Originally Posted by Tinkerkell123

Yay, food reviews!!! I am in! This should help pass the time until our cruise in January...

Lol....it'll probably take me until then to finish. Hope it gives a bit of a preview for what you'll be enjoying.

Originally Posted by Señor DonDuck

Food reviews? I'm so in! Great start and that balcony looks wonderful.

Welcome aboard! Hope you enjoy the rest.

[PrincessTrisha]

Our first cruise dinner was in Parrot Cay. It felt a little odd going back to the same place we had lunch earlier but at least it meant we knew where we were going.

We would each order appetizers but generally shared at least a bite with each other (this is pretty standard for us).

I was a little sea sick this night so I stayed with a simple salad but my parents tried a little more:

Appetizer #1:

Jamacian Marinated Jerk Chicken Kabobs:



Appetizer #2:

St. Maarten Stack:



Appetizer #3:

Parrot Cay Salad:



Appetizer #4:

Romaine Salad:



A solid start. The chicken was tender but too spicy for my mom. The salad were okay - fresh ingredients, light on the dressing (perfect for me). The Veggie Stack was good according to my mother but truthfully, we were kind of waiting for the "real food" to come.....


Entree #1:

Mixed Grill:

Steak, lamb chop, bacon wrapped sausage, and a jumbo shrimp with mashed potatoes, asparagus and a grilled tomato



Entree #2:

Grilled rib-eye with double baked potato and corn on the cob



Entree #3:

Pan Seared Grouper with baby shrimp, basmati rice and snow peas




My mom order the mixed grill - basically because after she eliminated things she was sure she wouldn't like (words like "jerk", "spiced" and "avocado" are certain signs she won't like a dish). She liked the lamb chop, the jumbo shrimp and the steak. She gave my dad the sausage because she didn't particularly like it (had a bit of pepper or something in it). The mashed potatoes were good and the asparagus was perfect (except there wasn't enough - but that will be solved later in the week!)

My Dad order the rib-eye and ate every bite! It was cooked perfectly medium and was very tender. He loved the double baked potato but didn't eat the corn on the cob. It was a little too crunchy and darkened for his taste.

I had the grouper and it was O-M-G good. The grouper is a meaty fish and it was lightly flavoured and very tender. The sauce with it went well with the rice and the snow peas were cooked but crisp. I really enjoyed ordering fish on the ship because A) at home, I (or my dad) always manage to overcook it B) at WDW when we have the dining plan, it's never a good bargain and it tries to be overly healthy and is generally served with dull sides and no sauce C) I don't trust many restaurants to serve and cook fish properly. The ship managed to make it perfect (almost) everytime.

Dessert #1:

Lemon meringue pie



Dessert #2:

Ice cream sundae



Dessert #3:

Creme Brulee cheesecake



Dessert #4:

French Toast Banana Bread



Dessert #5:

Trio of sweet tempations:



My Dad had the sundae and the lemon meringue pie. The sundae was very good but one the pie, only the lemon part was worth eating.

I had the creme brulee cheesecake and the french toast banana bread. The cheesecake didn't taste like cheese at all; the banana bread was really good - it was served warm with coconut ice cream - it was gooey goodness.

My mom ordered the trio. This was one of the few times we ordered the trio (they offer one every night). The mini desserts just weren't that good. I recommend ordering the full size versions and just share them around the table.

Overall it was a solidly good first dinner - some okay, some great and nothing bad. Service was outstanding by Ari and Willie. We left there full and contented and looking forward to dining each evening (I'll admit, before we left we had heard that cruising food was good but "it all tastes the same", "it's all buffet quality" and "it's like being served at a wedding - rubber chicken, dry fish and beef is either over or under cooked".)

[Mindyjoy]

subbing .... I love me some food p0rn.

[PrincessTrisha]

Originally Posted by Mindyjoy

subbing .... I love me some food p0rn.

Glad to have you aboard. Next installment coming up!

[PrincessTrisha]

So on Key West day we awoke and after a bit decided to have brunch at Lumiere's.

The napkin as it is folder when you arrive:



I just thought this was so cute.

The nice things about brunch is you can have a little breakfast and a little lunch.

Appetizer #1:

Fruit plate - Mango, Papaya, Honeydew, blueberries and blackberry. The fruit was fresh and very ripe.




Appetizer #2:

Order of two pancakes. Not technically on the menu but my dad asked if instead of a big order, could he just have two pancakes and they obliged. They came out hot and fresh.



Entree #1:

Eggs Benedict made with smoked salmon and spinach. My mom ordered this and said it was fantastic. It was fresh made; the eggs were just gooey enough without runny all over the plate and the salmon and spinach were a nice variation on the norm.



Entree #2:

Prime Rib with roasted potatoes. My dad was tickled pink that they offered this at brunch. It came just as he requested it - medium well. It was very tender and my Dad cleaned his plate with the exception of the "cabbage rolls" which were literal - rolls of cabbage - and not the tender inner leaves but it was true ruffage and a little under cooked.



Entree #3:

Pan fried lemon sole. With roasted potatoes and spinach. Mmm, mmm, good. It was the second perfect fish dish in a row. It was little and tender and with the outside seared crisp. It had a few little pan fried shrimp on top as well. I'll admit they were the first things eaten. I love cooked shrimp. The spinach was also a nice touch since I'd heard that veggies were sometimes hard to come by a cruise. It was a great meal for still feeling a little sea sick.



And what would any cruise meal be without dessert?

Dessert #1:

My mom went with something simple - Berries and cream. It was good but she would have preferred if it was just berries and cream without the syrup.



My dad ordered the strawberry shortcake (which I believe was on the kids menu). He was surprised at the size since it was "normal" sized - not miniaturized like you would expect a kids dessert would be. It was fine - a little different then he's used to since it came with a sweet biscuit instead of white cake.



Dessert #3

Chocolate cream puffs. The puffs and cream were very good but the chocolate sauce was thin and not very chocolate-y. Two puffs was the perfect size.



While we were finishing up, we docked in Key West so the ship settle down. Thankfully when the ship started moving again that evening, I had gotten my "sea legs" so my nausea was finished.

[2littlegirls]

nice work, Keep it coming