Where to go for lunch on Dream on embarkation day?

[Lesia]

This is our first disney cruise, we leave next Sunday!! Woohoo!!!!

What is a good place to go for lunch, other than the crowded place? I don't even know all the names yet.

Thanks.

 

[kcashner]

You will have 2 choices--Cabanas where people will not realize that it is a "scatter" system among the various areas and will think you are cutting the buffet "line" or the more traditional "buffet" system where your drinks will be served but you will get up to get your drinks (name escapes me at the moment).

We prefer the sit down atmosphere of Parrot Cay on the Magic and Wonder. Yes, the food is buffet, but a server will bring us our beverages...and we're in no hurry to hit the pool.

 

[goofystitchfan]

They will let you know what is opened. We went to the place having the buffet on the same deck as the pool and didn't find it crowded (sorry mind is a blank as to the name). We didn't get there til about 2-2:30 though. Have a fantastic trip!

 

[Conservative Hippie]

You will have 2 choices--Cabanas where people will not realize that it is a "scatter" system among the various areas and will think you are cutting the buffet "line" or the more traditional "buffet" system where your drinks will be served but you will get up to get your drinks (name escapes me at the moment). I know you mean get up to get your drinks, name is Enchanted Garden.

We prefer the sit down atmosphere of Parrot Cay on the Magic and Wonder. Yes, the food is buffet, but a server will bring us our beverages...and we're in no hurry to hit the pool.

We did Cabana's for lunch on embarkation day last time. kcashner is right - people will not realize there is no "line" and will give you dirty looks for "cutting" when there is not a single person at the green beans. Drinks are self-serve, although waiters will come around and collect your plates and ask if you need anything. On the plus side, it's a great view, and you can even eat outside. Enchanted Garden stops serving lunch at 2:00, so if you board the ship after that you will only have Cabana's. We thought for our second cruise we would try Enchanted Garden, we really enjoyed dinner there. But I have heard it is more crowded and you feel liked you are "herded" down there. We have an 11:00 port arrival time so I am hoping for boarding group #2 and maybe it won't be so crowded!

 

[mom2brooke76]

If you happen to have younger kids, I would either eat at Cabanas or at one of the fast food places on the pool deck. We at at Enchanted Garden, and our experience was that the buffet was not very kid friendly. It had mostly seafood items. It did have mashed potatoes, but that was about the only "kid friendly" thing if your kids like items like chicken fingers, pizza, mac & cheese, etc. There have been reports of asking servers and getting those items there, but that was not my experience after asking several servers and the manager.

 

[kcashner]

If you happen to have younger kids, I would either eat at Cabanas or at one of the fast food places on the pool deck. We at at Enchanted Garden, and our experience was that the buffet was not very kid friendly. It had mostly seafood items. It did have mashed potatoes, but that was about the only "kid friendly" thing if your kids like items like chicken fingers, pizza, mac & cheese, etc. There have been reports of asking servers and getting those items there, but that was not my experience after asking several servers and the manager.

I no longer have a little one, so didn't really look...but on the Magic and Wonder there is a separate kid-friendly buffet table. Anyone can eat from any of the tables, but there is a separate one with mac and cheese, chicken fingers, spaghetti type pasta, etc. It is to one side of the table with the breads and fresh made salad. I honestly don't know if the Dream has this table or not...but can't imagine why not.

And thanks--yes, I mean that they would serve your drinks but you get up to get food from the buffet.

 

[Jestocost]

I no longer have a little one, so didn't really look...but on the Magic and Wonder there is a separate kid-friendly buffet table. Anyone can eat from any of the tables, but there is a separate one with mac and cheese, chicken fingers, spaghetti type pasta, etc. It is to one side of the table with the breads and fresh made salad. I honestly don't know if the Dream has this table or not...but can't imagine why not.

And thanks--yes, I mean that they would serve your drinks but you get up to get food from the buffet.

IIRC, the Enchanted Garden buffet does not have a kids section. Not sure what they have at Cabanas (where they will try to send you), but the boarding buffet in the Dream's EG falls far short of the boarding buffets on the Wonder and Magic that we have experienced.

 

[izzinmac]

On the Wonder and Magic, the offerings at Parrot Cay were equal to the Topsiders/Beach Blanket offerings. So there it was a choice of whether you wanted beverage service and buffet vs cafeteria line style. We always chose PC. On my two Dream cruises we did Enchanted Garden on the first, and Cabanas on the second. Unfortunately, EG offerings were woefully short of what was available at Cabanas. So in the future, as things now stand, Cabanas is our first choice.
Regarding the line versus cutting issue, we had no problem with that on either cruise. Disney is their own worst enemy on this because the direct you forward when you enter Cabanas from the Elevators. And people coming from the pool deck come in at that end, too. So a line tends to form at the first station, which is Italian food. ( Pizza, pasta,etc). It tends to disperse as you head aft. We always went aft, and started working our way forward. The carving station was aft, and we found that going against the grain made line issues minimal. We were never rude or pushy, and had no issues. If people were glaring, I wasn't looking

 

[williamsfamily]

We were in boarding group #2 for the Dream and were on board before noon. Cabanas does not open until noon. Enchanted Garden was already open and serving.

We opted to head up to Deck 11 anyway, checked out everything, and then headed to Cabanas when it opened at noon. No lines or dirty looks--we were some of the first there!

 

[OrcaPotter]

I always seem to read mixed reviews on the best place to head to lunch on the Dream, and while I know tastes are entirely subjective, I guess I'm looking for the least hectic option.

It's just myself and my parents, so no kids. We have a noon arrival time at the port for our Jan 15th cruise. It only takes us about 50 minutes to get from our house to the port, so I expect we'll probably arrive a little early since my father is diabetic and will need to eat lunch sooner rather than later. Coincidentally, we love seafood, so would EG be a good option to avoid glares and chaos by uniformed passengers? Those without kids, which do you prefer?

 

[izzinmac]

On the Wonder and Magic, the offerings at Parrot Cay were equal to the Topsiders/Beach Blanket offerings. So there it was a choice of whether you wanted beverage service and buffet vs cafeteria line style. We always chose PC. On my two Dream cruises we did Enchanted Garden on the first, and Cabanas on the second. Unfortunately, EG offerings were woefully short of what was available at Cabanas. So in the future, as things now stand, Cabanas is our first choice.
Regarding the line versus cutting issue, we had no problem with that on either cruise. Disney is their own worst enemy on this because the direct you forward when you enter Cabanas from the Elevators. And people coming from the pool deck come in at that end, too. So a line tends to form at the first station, which is Italian food. ( Pizza, pasta,etc). It tends to disperse as you head aft. We always went aft, and started working our way forward. The carving station was aft, and we found that going against the grain made line issues minimal. We were never rude or pushy, and had no issues. If people were glaring, I wasn't looking

 

[Conservative Hippie]

From all of these reviews, I think we will stick to Cabana's. DH is not a big seafood fan, and we do have two little ones.