Disney Cruise

[joyboy]

We are going on our 1st cruise this Sept. on the Disney Magic How does the food compare to the parks?

 

[Wazzo]

I hope you have fun!

My Mom and I did a Land & Sea in Feb of 2006, and we thought the dinner food on the ship was pretty good. Compared to the food in the parks, it's probably better, but it's not as good as the signature restaurants, such as Jiko or Cali Grill.

BUT, the price is right, since it's all-inclusive!!

We got room service one day and had a burger and a pizza. These were just okay. The food on Castaway Cay was also just your average BBQ food, but still good.

We did eat one night at Palo, and it was quite good.

I recommend following your server's recommendations. They usually let you know what is best that night. I didn't listen sometimes, but my Mom did, and her meal was always better.

 

[LadyZolt]

I did my first Disney Cruise in June of 2006 and we're going again in December -- I can't wait!

The food in the dining rooms was on par to most of the table seating restaurants at Disney World. The service is spectacular, too. There are also buffets -- we did the breakfast buffet the mornings we went, and there was plenty of choices and, again, the staff was fabulous. I didn't get the opportunity to dine at Palo, but everyone says that the food there is marvelous and that it's totally worth making a reservation for, so I am going to try to do Palo's in December.

For casual dining, in addition to the buffets, there is a pizza place and a hot dog/burger place near the pools as well as ice cream and fruit, and unlimited access to soda's.

You can also order room service -- most of it is no extra charge, but there are some things that they do charge you for, like if you order soda from room service, there is a charge, but if you get it on Deck 9 (I think that's the deck number), it's free.

All the food options are included in the price of the cruise, except Palo, which is an extra charge (I think it's $10 and most people also give their wait staff an additional gratuity). You can post on the Disney Cruise Line board, too, to get more information, but in my limited (one 4-day cruise) experience, the food was as good as or better than most Disney World restaurants. Hope this helps and have a MAGIC-al time!

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[Disney Planner Mama]

I would agree with Wazzo on the food. Palo is fantastic, on par with the better signature restaurants. The other thing I found that really helped is when your servers recommend dishes listen to them. The few times we didn't we were vaguely (not horribly) disappointed with the food. If we got on of the 3 or 4 dishes they recommended we were fine.

 

[joyboy]

Thanks for the info now I'm even more excited!

 

[Cyndibear]

We were just on the Magic 7 day Western cruise in April. Since the installation of the dining plan at WDW and the decline of food quality (IMO) at the parks, the food on the Magic is WONDERFUL. Much improved since our first Disney cruise in 1998.

You did not mention how long you will be on the cruise but, as other posters have suggested, listen to your server for the recommendations. Try to book Palo's. If it's a 7 nite cruise, book Palo's brunch too. We did both Palo's brunch and dinner this time. Both were wonderful. When we went to WDW after the cruise we had dinner at Victoria and Albert's Chef's table. Although wonderful, we enjoyed dinner at Palo's a little better.

We have done other non-disney cruises and this time the Magic's food won out. If your a foodie, you WILL enjoy it.

Have fun!!

Cyndi

 

[joyboy]

We are on the 7 night Western / Magic. We are celebrating our 13th anniversary and have a romance at sea package booked. This allowed me to reserve everything 105 days in advance. I went for the tea, brunch and dinner at Palo's! I am a newbie on Dis and really appreciate your help! Thanks, Joy

 

[Cyndibear]

Good for you! Hope you enjoy. We had celebrated our 10th on the cruise.


Make sure you go to the cruise board and see who is going when you are. We made such great connections on this board for our cuise and met so many wonderful people. We hooked up dining times with some of the Disers so we could sit with someone we already knew and it made us enjoy our cruise even more.

Have fun!

Cyndi

 

[flexsmom]

Hints - the chicken fingers and the burgers available pool-side are awesome, in our opinion. Agree with the previous poster - avoid the pizza, and the sushi in the buffet, too, for that matter.

Order cookies & milk before bed from room service - or Mickey Bars, which aren't on the menu, but are available!

Everything we've had at Palo was fabulous, and I concur that the brunch there is the best meal you'll have (except maybe for the dinner there!)

 

[KKB]

Poolside dining was quite yummy...

Found the dining room food to be very average...NOTHING excited me there. Our Princess dining room food was MUCH better...actually most chain restaurants food is much better (Macaroni Grill, Bennigans, Outback, etc.)

PALO was OUTSTANDING! Truly one of the best places I have eaten anywhere. Did brunch TWO days and dinner one night. (brunch & dinner on same day...I DON'T recommend this...was SOOOOO full that night). I would eat every meal possible there if we cruised DCL again (hmmmm, that wouldn't be very nice for this kids would it??!! )

Service excellent anywhere.