Conflicting reviews of food on ships

[Cfabar1]

My view has always been that it is comparable to the Disney World table service restaurants, but below the signature dining options. Enchante in terms of the food was well beyond anything at a Disney signature dining at WDW though in my experience.

 

[princesscinderella]

I would also add that almost everything tastes better to me if I don't have to prepare it!

My husband lamented on Sunday since we just got off the treasure on Saturday that he was hungry and didn’t like that he couldn’t just go up to deck 11 and grab a hamburger . No cooking or cleaning for a week and limited decision making is what makes cruising my favorite vacation.

 

[princesscinderella]

My view has always been that it is comparable to the Disney World table service restaurants, but below the signature dining options. Enchante in terms of the food was well beyond anything at a Disney signature dining at WDW though in my experience.

Enchante is the equivalent of going to V&As for a 1/3 of the price.

 

[OKW Lover]

My view has always been that it is comparable to the Disney World table service restaurants, but below the signature dining options. Enchante in terms of the food was well beyond anything at a Disney signature dining at WDW though in my experience.

I'm curious if you've experienced Victoria & Alberts as well. If so, how do you think V&A ranks with Enchante?

Enchante is the equivalent of going to V&As for a 1/3 of the price.

Not sure which you think is 1/3rd the price of the other but our meal at Enchante was not at all inexpensive.

 

[GhostHost24]

I've only done one DCL, and done a couple RC, I usually go into the trip knowing the food isn't going to be the highest quality. I have no issue eating "basic" food etc. I feel like some people expect the MDR to be gourmet michelin quality food. As long as the food isn't raw and it's edible, I can usually live with it.

Having said that....that doesn't mean you have just suck it up and eat what you order, if you dont like something, tell your waiter, they'll bring you something else.

 

[bakerworld]

My problems with the MDR is not the food. Never had a problem with finding something to eat, although 3 cruises ago I had the server thinking I was a vegetarian because I kept choosing that option. I will say this last cruise I tried one of the healthy options and it was very under seasoned. I guess healthy means no salt so I won't do that again. The one big improvement that we noticed when the Wish started - coincidence?? - are the fish tender became tastier and moist.

 

[jwalk03]

Just got off the Magic yesterday and we thoroughly enjoyed the food. We ate in the MDRs every night except one Palo dinner. (Kids still ate MDR that night too)

We found the food to be very very good.

We also enjoyed breakfast and lunches. We certainly ate at every available option between the 4 of us of the course of a week.

The only thing I remember being really bad was the rice bowl from daisy’s de-lights. My daughter took one bite and tossed it and went and got something else.

I also didn’t enjoy the room service breakfast. So we only tried that once. Did Cabana’s or Lumiere’s for breakfast every other day.

 

[Henlady]

We have been on all the Disney ships over 16 cruises. Food has always been to our liking. Only once on the Magic, our hot appetizers came out cold - they replaced without question. Remember, if you don’t like something you ordered you can have it replaced for something else. No problem.

 

[Erica1016]

although 3 cruises ago I had the server thinking I was a vegetarian because I kept choosing that option.

Sometimes we think that will happen to us. I think Disney does a good job with the vegetarian options and there are some interesting dishes there. At least one of us gets one each night, but we also get some of the meat/fish dishes as well.

 

[jimmymc]

With each new generation of ship, I think Disney made an effort to improve the kitchens to allow for better quality food in the main dining rooms. The Magic and Wonder especially have gotten a lot of complaints in the past. I've seen a lot of reviews from frequent Disney cruisers that the newer ships have better food quality. Of course this is a general trend and your experience will vary, but if food is really important to you, I'd lean towards the newest ships.

 

[OKW Lover]

With each new generation of ship, I think Disney made an effort to improve the kitchens to allow for better quality food in the main dining rooms.

I think this is true of all cruise lines. The equipment/technology has changed as they learn new ways to do things on board.

 

[princesscinderella]

I'm curious if you've experienced Victoria & Alberts as well. If so, how do you think V&A ranks with Enchante?


Not sure which you think is 1/3rd the price of the other but our meal at Enchante was not at all inexpensive.

Yes we have been to V&As and the experience is very similar. The menus at Remy were actually curated with Chef Hunnell who I believe retired from his head chef at V&A position. According to the MDE app the basic Prix Fixe menu starts at $295 at V&As currently and that’s only if you eat in the main dining room, the chef’s table and Victoria room are more per person. That price does not include wine pairings either.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Enchante is the equivalent of going to V&As for a 1/3 of the price.

I would compare Enchante more to Monsieur Paul, the prix fixe degustation restaurant in Epcot (at $195 per person) than to V&A. All three provide an excellent dining experience in my view. V&A is now Michelin-starred, so a cut above the other two, with pricing reflecting that.

 

[princesscinderella]

I would compare Enchante more to Monsieur Paul, the prix fixe degustation restaurant in Epcot (at $195 per person) than to V&A. All three provide an excellent dining experience in my view. V&A is now Michelin-starred, so a cut above the other two, with pricing reflecting that.

The chef that currently curates the Enchante menu is a Michelin starred French chef, Lalaurent I believe is his last name.

 

[Sparrow'sLady]

I believe all cruise lines fall short on food these days. Over the years it has declined significantly. We took our first cruise (Disney) in 2002. Loved everything about it. Our last cruise was 2024 (Princess). We disliked pretty much everything about it. In between we have sailed Carnival, Celebrity and Royal. We have found that more expensive does not mean better food. Almost every dessert on Celebrity was gelatin-based. YUCK! All of the food on Princess was bland/unsalted/unseasoned. I got food poisoning on Royal. And, once you dine at Palo, everything else is just a disappointment.....that is, if Palo is still amazing like it was in 2002.

 

[Cfabar1]

I'm curious if you've experienced Victoria & Alberts as well. If so, how do you think V&A ranks with Enchante?


Not sure which you think is 1/3rd the price of the other but our meal at Enchante was not at all inexpensive.

We have not yet done Victoria & Alberts. Need to wait for the kids to be a little bit older or hire in-room babysitting…

 

[brentm77]

I’ve only sailed the pre-Wish ships. For many years, the food ranged from good to occasionally really good. Now, I’d say it’s mostly passable, with occasional moments of being good. It was never comparable to great dining spots on land, but it used to be something I genuinely looked forward to on each cruise. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case.

The biggest issue is inconsistency. Last year, I had a dish on the Magic that I loved, but two weeks later on the Wonder, the same dish was disappointing. A poor serving team can also mean getting cold food, which doesn’t work well for many DCL dishes. My wife recently had such a bad experience with the food on the Fantasy that she doesn’t want to sail on that ship again—which really surprised me, as we used to love the Fantasy.

The Indian food our server brought most nights on the Magic was actually really good - but that's off menu.

In my opinion, Celebrity does much better in the food department (on Edge class at least). It’s such a noticeable difference that it influenced our decision to book our next cruise with Celebrity. That said, Disney’s food is usually passable, so it won't completely keep us from sailing with them.

Ultimately, I agree with others that food is subjective. However, I think it’s unwise for anyone to go into their first cruise expecting fine dining in the MDRs.

 

[Cfabar1]

I’ve only sailed the pre-Wish ships. For many years, the food ranged from good to occasionally really good. Now, I’d say it’s mostly passable, with occasional moments of being good. It was never comparable to great dining spots on land, but it used to be something I genuinely looked forward to on each cruise. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case.

The biggest issue is inconsistency. Last year, I had a dish on the Magic that I loved, but two weeks later on the Wonder, the same dish was disappointing. A poor serving team can also mean getting cold food, which doesn’t work well for many DCL dishes. My wife recently had such a bad experience with the food on the Fantasy that she doesn’t want to sail on that ship again—which really surprised me, as we used to love the Fantasy.

The Indian food our server brought most nights on the Magic was actually really good - but that's off menu.

In my opinion, Celebrity does much better in the food department (on Edge class at least). It’s such a noticeable difference that it influenced our decision to book our next cruise with Celebrity. That said, Disney’s food is usually passable, so it won't completely keep us from sailing with them.

Ultimately, I agree with others that food is subjective. However, I think it’s unwise for anyone to go into their first cruise expecting fine dining in the MDRs.

Out of curiosity do you find that to be better on Celebrity in the complimentary MDRs or do you need to pay for premium dining to be comparable? I’ve never sailed celebrity.

 

[brentm77]

Out of curiosity do you find that to be better on Celebrity in the complimentary MDRs or do you need to pay for premium dining to be comparable? I’ve never sailed celebrity.

The complimentary MDR's. The food always tasted more like it was made to order than DCL. Dishes were prepared better and better seasoned than DCL. There was more variety too. There is something about DCL where everything starts tasting the same by the end of the cruise. I didn't notice that on Celebrity.

We only did one premium and it was actually worse than the MDR, but it was Le Petit Chef, which is more about the show. They have better premium options, but we were so satisfied with the MDR's that there wasn't any reason to pay for the upgrades. The buffet was more on par with DCL, but did seem to have more variety and to mix things up more day to day. But the Celebrity buffet desserts were terrible - they looked pretty but had no flavor at all. But the MDR desserts were excellent.

The pizza and burgers on deck were far superior to DCL too.

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[foodiddiedoo]

Enchante is the equivalent of going to V&As for a 1/3 of the price.

Is it really? My husband and I scored a lunch reservation and he’s really looking forward to it, but with most Disney food my expectations are tempered. We’ve dined at V&As 4x over the years and did the Chef Table in January, so I’m hoping it’s actually worthwhile. I was thinking of letting my friend go with my husband for the lunch on the cruise since we live near NYC and have eaten at a lot of Michelin star restaurants there and around the world, but my best friend has only ever been to Alinea with me.