How would you rate the food on DCL?

[stinkerbelle1]

I've been reading in so many threads lately that the food on DCL was bad, and that other lines have much better food than DCL. Well, my family has pretty simple tastes, but we are looking forward to some tasty chow on board....now I'm a little worried

So on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the food, and why?

 

[Pluto 2]

if you dont like the food, you can always count on pluto. pluto dog house that is. a couple of my meals right after i ate i went to plutos dog house to get filled up. dcl was my only cruise so i cant compare. one thing they always have great desserts at supper and at the buffet lunch. there were two times at lunch i went to the buffet and didnt like anything so i went to plutos than went back to the buffet just for dessert. they have excellent breakfast. i didnt starve i gained 10 pounds on a 7 night cruise

scale of 1-10 i will rate a 7

 

[DVCconvert]

I've been reading in so many threads lately that the food on DCL was bad, and that other lines have much better food than DCL. Well, my family has pretty simple tastes

If you have "simple tastes" you'll be fine. More specifically ( sadly ) I'd have to answer a "5" on a 1 -10 scale.

 

[mommasita]

I know it has been 2 yrs, but we always were more than satisfied, in the dining rooms, as well as buffets, and such..

We are not gourmet diners by any means, but we do love to eat ..I guess it is just different strokes for different folks. But that is our story...

 

[travlnman1]

Wow..I'm surprised by the previous posters.
I thought the food was very good! I have been on several different cruise lines and I thought Disney had the best food out of all of them. I'm not a dessert eater so I didn't have any, but I was impressed with the quality of food.

 

[CaptainJack]

I also think that the food on DCL is very good. At least an 8 on your 1-10 scale.

 

[sdaniel105]

Better that CCL and RCCL that we have been on and Grand Princess according to my parents.

Sean

 

[allears]

Cruised on the 9/2 voyage of the Magic, our 6th. We've always found the food to be excellent, however on this latest trip there were a few changes and additions to the menus that we would rate as incredible. For all meals, even quick service, we'd give them a 9 and often 10.

 

[kplatt]

I would give them a 7 out of 10, but then raise it to 8 because I don't have to plan it, cook it, or clean up after it!!!

 

[pppiglet]

I thought it was great! I'd give it an 8. Our Carnival Pride was a 9 though! My DH didn't think DCL was all that great. I think it had to do with the fact that he always ordered beef which might have been tough or dry. I usually order chicken or seafood or pasta.

But if you have real simple tastes like my sister (only likes cheeseburger, tacos, plain food), then you might not like the dining room food.

 

[icartjetta]

Please no FLames here.
I rate it a 5.
Palo a 8.

 

[PizzieDuster]

Our First DCL Cruise 8
Our Second DCL Cruise 6
Our Third DCL Cruise 3 - blah, blah, same ol blah.

But that's not why we cruise DCL...thank goodness.

Our First Royal Carribean Cruise 9+ Huge improvement!
Our Second Royal Carribean Cruise on the Freedom of the Seas, 4/8/07 ...will let ya know My husband and I are looking forward to the food... I could never get him excited about the DCL food, I only got him on that Mexican Rivera cruise by explaining he would only eat on the ship 2 nights and one would Palos - AND A HUGE PLUS - he didn't have to pay for airfare

Edited to add: I have not experienced the changes made to the Deck 9 eateries, i.e. Goofy's, Plutos. I hear there are wonderful improvements!

 

[TerryCRZ]

The scrambeled eggs were horrible but the bacon was good. The hashbrowns were the frozen kind. I would rate the breakfast a 4.

We usually ate lunch on the ship on the decks by the pools. Id give the burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, chicken fingers and side items. A good 8

Dinner was a bit elaborate but bland tasting at times. They need to perfect their dishes. The appetizers were too fancy. Whatever happened to chicken wings, potato skins and cheese sticks? They should have had these on the menu EVERY day. For picky eaters like my DH but the sirloin and baked chicken everyday got boring. The dishes could not be customized because they are premade. I'd give dinner a 7.

All and all my final rating is a 6. Not the best but it will do.

IMO, they should keep the elaborate dishes in the more elegant restaurants and cater to the simple folk in the other two like Animators and Parrot Cay.

 

[crisi]

I think it depends on your expectations.....

The buffets were buffet like - buffet scrambled eggs and waffles, etc. Buffet entrees. I'm not a huge fan of buffets and find the food at minimum sub-par. But it was way better than Old Country Buffet - it was just still "made en masse at served from a warmer."

Sit down meals were better, but once again, it was expectations. I think it was as good as it gets for feeding a few hundred people in a dining room at once - it wasn't up to "small upscale cafe where the chef's name is on the menu and the menu changes daily depending on what was freshest at the market." - The problem here is that some of their dishes have ambitions toward small batch high end restaurant - and don't quite make it.

If you want to go on a gourmet vacation, go restauranting in NYC or San Francisco or something. But this is good - someone feeds you, cooks for you, cleans up after you, lets you try different things on the menu.

 

[njmom23grls]

I agree with many of the comments here. I thought the food was ok. I thought breakfast was the worst - but then I'm not a huge fan of buffets - which in my mind ='s heat lamp warmed waffles that were cooked hours ago, greasy bacon on top of toast, and runny scrambled eggs. That said, there were always lots of "uncooked" choices such as cereal, fruit, yogurt and pastries etc - that its not like I was hungry

I thought dinner was better for the most part but most of the time the sauce on the meat was the same - regardless of the descritpion. I completely agree with the poster who said that the ambitions of some dishes tended towards a small cafe audience but were served en masse to several hundred people all at the same time. But again, its not like I was ever hungry

I can only compare DCL food with HAL and Celebrity. DCL was better than HAL, but IMHO not quite as good in some areas as Celebrity - but they were similar. I also know going into it that ANY restaurant - cruise ship or otherwise that has to feed 2,500 people plus a large staff (1000 +??) in a 2-3 hour window isn't going to be an awesome food experience. (Think wedding banquet, speaker luncheon, etc.)

 

[Honu]

I'd give it a 5 and Palo a 7. After cruising RCCL though, I swore I'd never complain about Disney food again.

 

[disneygatorfan]

I rate DCL a 9... definitely better then my RCCL and Carnival experiences..

Palo is excellent. Brunch and Dinner can't be beat.

Have always enjoyed my meals very much. Also, rate DCL food higher because I think their buffet selection is better, and the counter service food is better.. especially on the Magic with the addition of the panini station.

I like DCL because its a wide selection, you have your basic good steak/fish/chicken dish, for those who don't have a gourmet pallet, and then there is some more gourmet choices.. depending on the night, and restaurant. I like how the restaurant menu's vary so much, and are themed. Changes it up.

 

[DVC Mary]

Palo is a 10, except that if you have the option to go more than once, most of the menu is the same.

Dining Room 2004 was ranged from a 8-9

Dining Room 2006 ranged from 2-6 b/c of really poor service, often lukewarm food, & seafood was often very blah.


I really suspect that the server often controls this & what time you show up for dinner.

I hope it gets better.

 

[airforcemomof2]

My family and I just got off the 11 night cruse and I would give the food a 9-really. We aren't simple eaters either. The choices for the kids was great-always the same ol hotdog, mac and cheese and pizza, but then there was 3 different dinners to choose from for the kids at dinner. Spaghetti, steak, meatloaf, shrimp, ect... Our servers were the best too-THE BEST!! It was the most WONDERful vacation ever!!

 

[sopandbass]

I think the food on DCL is fine. My expectations may have fallen a bit since we don't go out to finer restaurants as much as we used to before DD6 but we've enjoyed the meals on our cruises. I'd give an overall mark of 7.

We enjoy our breakfasts in the dining room - it takes a little longer than the buffet but I like sitting down and being served Eggs Benedict while I'm on vacation if we have the time.

I remember the food on our Princess Alaska cruise was not as good as I had hoped it would be - and not as good as DCL. We've cruised RCCL a few times, but that was before DD also, and we thought the food was very good.

I agree with a previous post about the food being best on our first DCL cruise. But trust me, will be sailing on our fourth Disney cruise in January and I plan on eating.