Food Disappointment BIG Time...

[nordkin]

Originally Posted by tortoni

I had to chuckle when I read this because it made me realize how subjective food is. We had the good fortune of sailing the Summit and the Magic this summer. Just got off the Magic today. We left the Summit feeling surprised by what we considered to be poor food quality. Just not to our liking and steak that was like rawhide. Even ordered rare, it came out well done. We kept looking at each other on the Magic this week and commenting positively on the food. Palo was fantastic and the rest was very good. Not a bad meal at all.

I don't dispute your view at all, we maybe had a bad week on the Summit or ordered the wrong food, but thankfully, we picked all the right things on the magic!

We also got off the Magic today and all three of us commented on how bad the food was. Most nights all of the vegetables were cold when served and the choices on the menus were nothing to write home about. The lobster mac and cheese was the worst mac and cheese we have ever had. Imagine melted cheese with a very small amount of lobster stirred into pasta that was not even cooked ala dente. The pasta cracked when you chewed it. Most nights we ordered the tryed and true sirloin or chicken dishes and were pleased. Even our servers were recommending these over the other options on the menu.

[Luv2Diz]

Interesting how opinions can vary so much! We were on the same cruise as the OP and we thought the food overall was good.

I am very picky about hot food being hot and cold food being cold and thought DCL did a good job with that. We also tend to like our food spicy and didn't find the DCL food to be bland.

A few items could have been better, but overall, we were pleased with the food. I had expected much worse based on comments I had read here before sailing!

[Clotho]

Originally Posted by Luv2Diz

Interesting how opinions can vary so much! We were on the same cruise as the OP and we thought the food overall was good.

I am very picky about hot food being hot and cold food being cold and thought DCL did a good job with that. We also tend to like our food spicy and didn't find the DCL food to be bland.

A few items could have been better, but overall, we were pleased with the food. I had expected much worse based on comments I had read here before sailing!

Looks like a lot of things must play into this, from what I ordered vs. what you ordered, what seating we each had, and I am guessing even how long one takes to eat will affect whether you get warmer or colder food, since so much of the food is timed to go out at the same time. We took our time, since we were chatting so much and enjoying ourselves, but we weren't the last people out of the room every night either (though sometimes we were pretty close).

I feel like this thread has given me a lot of helpful perspective on how to get the most out of my dining experience. Hubby was about ready to just book Palo every day if we had to, which I think speaks more to his eagerness to make Disney work out for a future cruise than his passion for Palo. But honestly, it is helpful to know that maybe going for the "light fare", simpler preparations might be the key to greater satisfaction. So thanks for everyone's comments and feedback and experiences!!

[poohluv2u]

Originally Posted by Luv2Diz

Interesting how opinions can vary so much! We were on the same cruise as the OP and we thought the food overall was good.

I am very picky about hot food being hot and cold food being cold and thought DCL did a good job with that. We also tend to like our food spicy and didn't find the DCL food to be bland.

A few items could have been better, but overall, we were pleased with the food. I had expected much worse based on comments I had read here before sailing!

We also were happy with the temperature of our food on the Alaska cruise, by chance did you have second seating APPTAPT?

[BMICKEY]

Originally Posted by Clotho

Just got off the Wonder yesterday, and had a great time. Staff was amazing, the ship was gorgeous, and we are already looking forward to a future cruise. But with who...? Because we love good food and frankly, we didn't have much--hubby loved his lamb dish at Palo, and we both enjoyed brunch there, mostly eating the buffet items, but that's it.

I swear I am not as picky as this sounds, but I didn't have one single meal that I fully enjoyed on the ship. Bland, overcooked, lukewarm, over-salted, tasted like frozen food or school lunches. Even Palo overcooked my shrimp and steak (and the waiter failed to bring an entire course we had ordered, which only contributed to my disappointment).

Is this normal? What was your experience? I would love some perspective, because this is actually one of the sticking points in deciding if we want to cruise with Disney again or try another line. We love our Disney vacations for the decor, theming, and service; and we have read about people actually liking the food on Disney, so I had to wonder if somehow we got a bad kitchen experience on this cruise? Or if our idea of good food is vastly different from the reviewers we have read. For instance Red Lobster is NOT "good food" in our book, but we would eat there and find a thing or two that would satisfy. If our cruise on the Wonder were a restaurant, we would never go back.

So question for y'all who have cruised Disney before: tell me of your food experiences, good and bad. And for reference, what kinds of foods do you enjoy eating at home? For instance, if you regularly eat at McDonald's and Long John Silvers, and if you use that as a basis for comparison for "good food" then I have an idea of your personal 1-to-10 scale, know what I mean? It is not my intention to judge anyone's food choices and I hope that this thread will stay on topic without any personal barbs. I just want to gauge why I read so many good reviews of Disney food when my one experience was SO BAD--is this an isolated incident, or is it a case of taste/preference/perspective?

Before we did the Wonder with our friends (who have also been on the Magic), we had been on two 7-day cruises on the Magic. We all agreed that the food and atmosphere was better on the Magic. I can't explain why other then they get to know you better on a 7 day....We go on the Fantasy in October, so I'll let you know then!

I've been on Carnival (5 times), Princess (once) and Holland America (once). Princess was the best followed by Disney. Carnival - blech....Holland American - just ok but geared towards an older pallette....I think it really depends alot on your tastes...

[Luv2Diz]

Originally Posted by poohluv2u

We also were happy with the temperature of our food on the Alaska cruise, by chance did you have second seating APPTAPT?

Yes, this was our rotation! We had early seating though.

[Clotho]

Originally Posted by BMICKEY

Before we did the Wonder with our friends (who have also been on the Magic), we had been on two 7-day cruises on the Magic. We all agreed that the food and atmosphere was better on the Magic. I can't explain why other then they get to know you better on a 7 day....We go on the Fantasy in October, so I'll let you know then!

Our cruse was a 7-day, and I have a hard time imagining cruising on a 3 or 4. It still felt too short, and I loved getting to know our awesome cruise staff and fellow cruisers. Looking forward to hearing how your Fantasy trip goes!

[mhelsley]

Me and my dh can be foodies at times but we also enjoy reg places(chili.Houston. macaroni grill and have been to Vic & Albert) We've also found mom & pop shops that we've love. I have done 7 disney(including Dream) Golden Princess.American haiwii(baaaad on all accounts went to safeway to get food for the room)2 Royal carribean(best food and a sugar free cream puff that you couldn't tell was)Holland America(also very good). Now with this said there is no one line to say yes to as each ship has different people. This does not stop me from sailing with DCL and i have 2 in the line as of now. I come from TX and we know our beef and i know cuts DCL has some of the stranges looking cuts and they don't know how to season a steak. I've found i do better with what they recomend. Get a steak at Palo. I have even had an off time there to(brunch on Dream). This is the drawback i accept to cruise Disney you can still always find something and won't go hungry. Not true with the safeway shopping trip cruise our whole table could not eat the recomended teriyaki steak/jerky and no room service or pool food to fall back on sol until breakfast. Good news this cruiseline doesn't exist any more and is the reason my dh doesn't get to pick our ships anymore. He claims he wasn't pulling a Raymond as the $$$ was to much to be doing that.They claimed he was an award winning chef in there booklet. This is how my dh got me to trade in my ship choice One last word chicken soup & a sandwich from the pool side bar at the hotel after you've left the ship should not be the best thing you've eaten all week

[Clotho]

Originally Posted by mhelsley

This is how my dh got me to trade in my ship choice One last word chicken soup & a sandwich from the pool side bar at the hotel after you've left the ship should not be the best thing you've eaten all week

BWAHAHAHAHA!

You made both me and hubby chuckle tonight! Thanks for the story! *still chuckling*

[ducky2u]

We love the food

[ducky2u]

espeially love the salads, fruits, nuts, sundaes, vegies, chicken, shrimp, appetizers, even steak.

[dclpluto]

Just got off the magic yesterday it was my 12th on dcl. The food was the worst i had on dcl. But i dont cruise for the food. I will still be coming back to dcl again and again.

[DMMarla07860]

After 17 cruises all on DCL I can say I never really had food I disliked. Not the best food a ever tasted, but I could eat it. I'm not really a picky eater so I can eat almost anything only thing I've found myself not liking is anything is mushrooms(yuck, I hate hate hate mushrooms). So as long as meal as no muchrooms or mushrooms chopped up so I don't know it's in I can eat it. I also don't cruise for the food, and after cruising so much I know the food won't be the best I've ever had. For me though it hasn't been that bad yet

[RRB]

Originally Posted by dclpluto

Just got off the magic yesterday it was my 12th on dcl. The food was the worst i had on dcl. But i dont cruise for the food. I will still be coming back to dcl again and again.

interesting. how would you rate the food on your previous 11 dcl cruises? was this cruise an anomaly?

RB

[RedxPanda]

Some of the dishes were GREAT and others were OK.

In Lumiere's DH and I both LOVED our dinners. I had the French Onion Soup and Crispy Duck entree. The duck was cooked amazingly well and was so tastey. I don't get the chance to eat duck often, so it was quite the treat.

In AP, I ordered the chicken, I think, and it was just ok. I asked them to bring DD one of the black bean cakes (she loves black beans) from the veg menu and it was AMAZING! I will be ordering those for myself next time. They warned me they would be spicy and they actually were! This shocked me because the next night when I ordered the so-called jerk pork chop, there was hardly any spice (or flavor for that matter) at all.

The salads I had every night were fine, but I felt they were lacking the complexity that I was expecting. Sometimes it was like it was just lettuce and dressing.

This was our first DCL cruise, and knowing that the menus are similar if not identical from cruise to cruise, we know now what we liked and we have many more dishes to try to find out if we like those more! It's all trial and error, and I assume the different chefs, sous chefs, etc, will change the meal quality as well. Reminds me of Hells Kitchen! Some nights it seems like no one is checking the food at the pass!