Day 1 Disney Magic and not impressed

[epcotrulz]

I got the salad from the lighter option menu on Pirate night and I really enjoyed it. If you don’t like something, speak up. They want to make it right.

 

[Kariyaffa]

I get it’s Disney. Maybe people are just simply impressed because of the Disney brand.
We boarded the Magic today and I am not impressed so far with the food.

Cabanas is mediocre at best. The peel and eat shrimp were frozen. So we head outside for a slice of pizza. Calling it pizza is being generous. Is if that difficult to make a half decent pizza?

At Cabanas you have to have someone serve you a soda, but if you walk 10 feet outside you can magically serve yourself a soda.

We have Rapunzels table for dinner tonight. Then Lumiers 2 nights in a row the Animators palate 2 nights in a row. Is this normal?

Hopefully they redeem themselves at the MDR.

Sorry your expectations weren’t met so far. Please keep us posted. Hope things improve for you.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I got the salad from the lighter option menu on Pirate night and I really enjoyed it. If you don’t like something, speak up. They want to make it right.

My one year old loved the mango soup on the first night so the head waiter had them prepare him a bowl every single night of the trip.

 

[SnowWhite2]

Quick - get off before it leave the dock!

 

[mamaburrito]

Just like any buffet, Cabanas is meant to appease the masses and different type of taste buds. It’s always been meh. I’ve found the sit down restaurants and touch above Cabanas for breakfast and lunch. The food is at least made to order and hot.

 

[dwg]

I get it’s Disney. Maybe people are just simply impressed because of the Disney brand.
We boarded the Magic today and I am not impressed so far with the food.

Cabanas is mediocre at best. The peel and eat shrimp were frozen. So we head outside for a slice of pizza. Calling it pizza is being generous. Is if that difficult to make a half decent pizza?

At Cabanas you have to have someone serve you a soda, but if you walk 10 feet outside you can magically serve yourself a soda.

We have Rapunzels table for dinner tonight. Then Lumiers 2 nights in a row the Animators palate 2 nights in a row. Is this normal?

Hopefully they redeem themselves at the MDR.

When you say that you are not impressed is that just in general because you had higher expectations? You don't mention if this is your first Disney cruise or if you are comparing to other cruise lines. I have been on many Disney cruises and I would agree that cabanas or the pizza is not great and I can't yet speak for any changes that may have been put in place since covid. In my opinion the fast food is what it is and I believe is actually the same as the same food served in the parks. Other cruise lines may have some name brand restaurants that you can go too for lunch but they may be an additional charge. As others have said the MDR's have overall been very good. I especially like the rotational dining which is more about the fact that your servers follow you from dining room to dining room and get to know what you like and dislike. If you drink soda at dinner it will be ready for you without having to ask, etc. There are only three dining rooms so there will be some repetition of the dining rooms but as has been mentioned the menus will be different and if there are activities during the dinner service they will be different each night. I am sure that other cruise lines have things that they do better than Disney and Disney does some things better than the other cruise lines. I have family members that love another cruise line and would never be happy on a Disney Cruise.

 

[Cheburashka]

I get it’s Disney. Maybe people are just simply impressed because of the Disney brand.
We boarded the Magic today and I am not impressed so far with the food.

Cabanas is mediocre at best. The peel and eat shrimp were frozen. So we head outside for a slice of pizza. Calling it pizza is being generous. Is if that difficult to make a half decent pizza?

At Cabanas you have to have someone serve you a soda, but if you walk 10 feet outside you can magically serve yourself a soda.

We have Rapunzels table for dinner tonight. Then Lumiers 2 nights in a row the Animators palate 2 nights in a row. Is this normal?

Hopefully they redeem themselves at the MDR.

Have you ever sailed on a mass market cruise line before? They're not known for top notch food. Acceptable yes, amazing no, unless you're paying extra. The food at WDW table service restaurants is usually better than what you get on DCL, with the exception of Palo & Remy. Mass market ship food is about volume, not the highest quality, because it's complimentary for thousands of guests.

DCL's pool deck pizza is notoriously ordinary, and Cabanas is currently a shell of its former self due to Covid cutbacks.

Yes, MDR food is consistently better than pool deck or buffet food, and Palo is consistently better than the MDRs.

Others will disagree, but I have always had better food experiences on the Dream class ships (Dream & Fantasy), than on the Magic class (Magic & Wonder).

 

[Cheburashka]

I would call that repet


I would call that repetitive dining and not rotational.
its 1,2,2,3,3
Instead of 1,2,3,1,2
Wouldn’t that make more sense?

That's because one of those repeated nights is Pirate Night, with a different theme & menu than what that restaurant usually serves.

 

[lanejudy]

I would call that repetitive dining and not rotational.

“Rotational” dining refers to the fact that your assigned serving team moves with you to each of the MDRs. It doesn’t refer to the actual dining room each night. On anything but a 2-night cruise guests do get at least 1 night in each MDR, but based on activities there may be 2 repeats in the same MDR so you get a chance at the signature menu. I’m guessing one of your repeats is a Marvel menu and the other may be pirate menu.

 

[mjr0483]

It is our first Disney Cruise ever. We sailed Royal and get the unlimited specialty dining. So Disney has some big shoes to fill. We should have sat down at Rapunzels for lunch. We did the buffet. I was out voted. It is also Marvel cruise. So let’s see how the menus lay out. But they two nights for the duplicates seemed to be the same. Will keep updated.

 

[Kariyaffa]

they two nights for the duplicates seemed to be the same. Will keep updated.

The same menu for both nights you are in the same restaurant? I wonder if that’s an error in the app because that isn’t typical.

 

[epcotrulz]

It is our first Disney Cruise ever. We sailed Royal and get the unlimited specialty dining. So Disney has some big shoes to fill. We should have sat down at Rapunzels for lunch. We did the buffet. I was out voted. It is also Marvel cruise. So let’s see how the menus lay out. But they two nights for the duplicates seemed to be the same. Will keep updated.

I’m doing my first Royal Cruise in June and am having a hard time finding any honest reviews on unlimited specialty dining. Sounds like you enjoy it? I’ll be on Harmony of the Seas, any thoughts you can share would be appreciated!

 

[Kwami]

The same menu for both nights you are in the same restaurant? I wonder if that’s an error in the app because that isn’t typical.

It's not just atypical, it probably never happens ever.

 

[mjr0483]

I’m doing my first Royal Cruise in June and am having a hard time finding any honest reviews on unlimited specialty dining. Sounds like you enjoy it? I’ll be on Harmony of the Seas, any thoughts you can share would be appreciated!

we did it in Harm In 2019 and Symphony this July. We find the money we save over Disney pays for drink package and unlimited dining. We didn’t see the MDR ever. It was awesome and great service. Don’t have time to add more now. But it was well worth the price.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

we did it in Harm In 2019 and Symphony this July. We find the money we save over Disney pays for drink package and unlimited dining. We didn’t see the MDR ever. It was awesome and great service. Don’t have time to add more now. But it was well worth the price.

The thing I can't get over on other lines are the casinos. They degrade the entire experience to me and make the whole thing feel low-rent. I know this is more a problem with me than with those ships, but I just can't get past it.

 

[Karin1984]

While I do think people might be impressed by the Disney brand. I don't think there are a lot of people who go to Cabanas and say 'OMG, best food ever!'
Your title is a little click-baity.

So, this is not your first cruise and on your regular cruiseline you pay extra to get better(?) food. My question then would be: Why did you decide to pay extra on Royal?
And what do you think of the buffet on Royal?

 

[epcotrulz]

The thing I can't get over on other lines are the casinos. They degrade the entire experience to me and make the whole thing feel low-rent. I know this is more a problem with me than with those ships, but I just can't get past it.

Only reason I’m going on RCCL is that it’s a group of friends, so they have an opportunity to poach me from my loyalty to DCL, we shall see …

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Only reason I’m going on RCCL is that it’s a group of friends, so they have an opportunity to poach me from my loyalty to DCL, we shall see …

I think I'm going to stick with DCL until my kids are gone and then pivot to Viking Ocean Cruises with the senior citizens. I love rich old people. I hope to be one someday.

 

[mjr0483]

The thing I can't get over on other lines are the casinos. They degrade the entire experience to me and make the whole thing feel low-rent. I know this is more a problem with me than with those ships, but I just can't get past it.

We don’t go anywhere near the casino.

 

[mjr0483]

While I do think people might be impressed by the Disney brand. I don't think there are a lot of people who go to Cabanas and say 'OMG, best food ever!'
Your title is a little click-baity.

So, this is not your first cruise and on your regular cruiseline you pay extra to get better(?) food. My question then would be: Why did you decide to pay extra on Royal?
And what do you think of the buffet on Royal?

Not impressed with the buffet anywhere. Even WDW. But I hear great reviews of Cabanas. Daisies was better. And the ice cream. Well, as Roy Kent says, it’s ice cream.