Food Disappointment BIG Time...

[Silverfox97]

Are the sandwiches not made to order?
Did you try room service at all?

There is a made to order sandwich option in the Fantasy & people who got those had good looking sandwiches. The pizza on the Fantasy was better marginally - I got the thin crust. The room service pizza (on the Fantasy) was better than any choice of pizza on deck IMHO.

This was on the Fantasy & obviously I'm not the OP. We've always thought the pizza on the Magic & Wonder were pretty bad tho....

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[twinstars]

I would not call it "so bad," but it's cruise food. Palo and Remy notwithstanding. You can do much better there.

We tend to bring along hot sauce. DCL will not provide hot sauce (there was a question and answer session on the Hawaii cruise in which they confirmed they don't want to serve spicy food to guests). And yes, the dining room food can be bland. On the Wonder to Hawaii there actually appeared to be someone in the kitchen who could cook fish, the fish was uniformly good. Or maybe they just had better fish in the Pacific.

And Ive done nine cruises on DCL and while there were clunkers here and there I cannot say that every meal I had every time was uniformly bad.

My friend got a small bottle of tobasco each meal....

 

[Clotho]

This is exactly why adults book a vacation of any kind with Disney—for the "Disney Experience." We don't have any kids yet, but manage to get to Disney World about once a year. I understand it's not for everyone, I totally get that. And yeah, my husband and I do enjoy our non-Disney, adults-only vacations.

But in some regards, Disney is in a class of its own, and it's those qualities—the distinct level of service, uniqueness of atmosphere, and overall attention to detail—that keeps us coming back. When we start a Disney vacation, it's like stepping into a whole different world. It makes us feel like two very special, but very overgrown children.

My husband and I have cruised a few times before, but this will be our first with Disney. While I'm disappointed to hear some of the negative reviews on food and service in the MDR (another active thread), they sound about par for the course based on our previous experiences with Carnival and Holland. Our hope is that the overall experience is the magical one we have come to expect from Disney!

I just want to reassure you that everything else about our vacation was wonderful and everything we come to expect from Disney. We really WANT to go on Disney again next time, particularly to compare the other class of ship with the Wonder, but when we enjoy food so much as part of our vacations it is hard to imagine eating like that again (and we are considering a long cruise next time, with more at sea days. *shudder* to imagine eating like that for over a week)

While I hate to compare Disney to McDonalds--there are many ways in which that comparison is wildly off--here is what I tell people when they don't understand why we vacation with Disney.

Their thoughts are that it is "for kids", that it is "so fake", that you don't experience "real culture/the world", etc.

Well let me tell you, when I am in the mood for a really great burger, I will get dressed up and go to some stuffy restaurant (both things I love BTW), sit like a proper lady and order a wagyu beef burger with blue cheese and crispy smoked bacon, and I will enjoy it with a bottle of good wine. I like to be a grown-up, feeling beautiful and elegant, and I love to share it with my hubby in a quiet, cozy atmosphere.

But when I am in the mood for McDonald's, it is not because I am craving a burger. It is a craving for McDonald's!! I want a McDonald's burger and fries and big old indulgent Coke. Even though I am an adult, I want a colorful Happy Meal box with a silly toy inside because I like a little whimsy in my life, too.

When I want a vacation, I have lots of options. But when I am really craving a Disney Vacation, there is no substitute. We love being big kids for a while, and Disney knows how to make you feel incredibly special. So while my comparison with cheap fast food is NOT a fair one in many ways, I think you may get what I am driving at. LOL

Its funny how expectations work. After reading about the various pizzas here on the board I ended up being pleasantly surprised by Luigis pizza and a tad disappointed by the Blue Cheese and Grape pizza at Palo. The Blue Cheese and grape was good, don't get me wrong, but reading the rave reviews had me expecting more.

Me, too. I got it and was like...huh. I thought it was nice and all, but nothing special. And I thought it had too many grapes and not enough cheese, so the sweetness overpowered the pizza too much. Hubby and I each ate a slice and let the rest be taken away.

Shay, I totally agree with you, and we're not even fancy eaters by any standard. We're regulars at chain restaurants and I really don't have high standards. But I had the same experience on the Princess cruises we'd been on prior to Disney - the food stinks. It's all bland, bland, bland.

Thanks for the validation. In general it sounds like cruise food just sucks everywhere. How can that be??! If that is the case, then cruising REALLY isn't for us. We vacation as much for the food as anything. We barely gamble, but we go to Vegas for the shows and the amazing array of food! We don't need to eat all day every day, but having even a few excellent/memorable meals during a trip is part of the joy for us.

Again, thanks for the feedback to everyone! I hope that our next cruise, whichever line it is on, is better!

 

[MND]

Just got off the Wonder yesterday, and had a great time. Staff was amazing, the ship was gorgeous, and we are already looking forward to a future cruise. But with who...? Because we love good food and frankly, we didn't have much--hubby loved his lamb dish at Palo, and we both enjoyed brunch there, mostly eating the buffet items, but that's it.

I swear I am not as picky as this sounds, but I didn't have one single meal that I fully enjoyed on the ship. Bland, overcooked, lukewarm, over-salted, tasted like frozen food or school lunches. Even Palo overcooked my shrimp and steak (and the waiter failed to bring an entire course we had ordered, which only contributed to my disappointment).

Is this normal? What was your experience? I would love some perspective, because this is actually one of the sticking points in deciding if we want to cruise with Disney again or try another line. We love our Disney vacations for the decor, theming, and service; and we have read about people actually liking the food on Disney, so I had to wonder if somehow we got a bad kitchen experience on this cruise? Or if our idea of good food is vastly different from the reviewers we have read. For instance Red Lobster is NOT "good food" in our book, but we would eat there and find a thing or two that would satisfy. If our cruise on the Wonder were a restaurant, we would never go back.

So question for y'all who have cruised Disney before: tell me of your food experiences, good and bad. And for reference, what kinds of foods do you enjoy eating at home? For instance, if you regularly eat at McDonald's and Long John Silvers, and if you use that as a basis for comparison for "good food" then I have an idea of your personal 1-to-10 scale, know what I mean? It is not my intention to judge anyone's food choices and I hope that this thread will stay on topic without any personal barbs. I just want to gauge why I read so many good reviews of Disney food when my one experience was SO BAD--is this an isolated incident, or is it a case of taste/preference/perspective?

We cruised the Dream in April and I thought the food was great. However, I'm not a food snob, nor do I look for things to complain about, just for the sake of complaining.


Mike

 

[twinstars]

I also agree that the food is not as good as the other ships (Magic, Dream). I wonder if it has to do with where we were positioned. For example, for Pirate night, they had the shrimp/scallop seafood pasta. When we were on the Dream in March 2011, the scallops were much bigger and of a different texture. On this cruise, it was a completely different kind of scallop, smaller and more mushy.
Overall, the food didn't bother me as much as the service of the servers during lunch time dining in the dining rooms. We tried lunch at Triton twice, both times the servers were super slow and looked like they would rather have us some place else.
We then thought we would try Parrot Cay...not much better. Really slow to bring drinks.
I think expectations probably had something to do with how I feel about the experience overall.

 

[Clotho]

I think it is funny that many cruisers including the OP think the MDR is comparable to a fine dining experience. How in the world can you expect DCL to put out the quality of food with the obviously astronomical expectations that you had going into the cruise. They are mass producing four course meals for 2,000 to 4,000 guests in a very short period of time. Many of these,cruisers tend to eat more than 1 appetizer, main dish or dessert each meal. The other thing to consider is many of these guests are children that may not have the refined taste that the "foodies" have developed. DCL needs to try and satisfy the majority not the select few that have the refined tastes as I stated before.
...

As previous posters have stated, we cruise DCL for the disney experience not to have 5-star quality food. If you expect that type of food, then maybe one of the luxury lines would be a better fit.

I think perhaps you are misunderstanding what I stated. I am NOT expecting 5-star food or fine dining (though I did expect it in Palo and didn't even get it there, so there's that...). I expected at least to feel satisfied! But I picked at my meals to fill my stomach, but almost never actually enjoyed a bite. I didn't expect it to be great. Just...good. And it wasn't even that for me. I feel I went in with realistic expectations, and from the majority of responses I have gotten here and on another group I belong to, I am not alone in my assessment that the food is sub-par in many cases. Maybe not on every ship, maybe not every single dish, and maybe moreso lately with the economy as it is, but if most of the responses are in agreement, I know it is not just my "astronomical expectations"<---which I didn't have.

This is why we didn't turn in the questionnaire. Don't want to cause problems for the servers.
But honesty, we totally feel that both food and service were just average and definitely not worth an excellent rating. I am not sure if there is a better way to handle this.

Yes, we didn't turn ours in either because we heard that same thing--that the servers end up being responsible for your satisfaction with the food. I have to admit, when my plates kept being collected with very little eaten, I was surprised they didn't inquire further about my satisfaction. Most restaurants I would go to (of any number of stars) would take note in a given night, let alone night after night. But they never asked. They were great in all other respects, but that was one area I did say "Hmmmm."

 

[Clotho]

We cruised the Dream in April and I thought the food was great. However, I'm not a food snob, nor do I look for things to complain about, just for the sake of complaining.


Mike

Good then we are of the same mind! I am neither a good snob nor complaining to complain. I am asking for similar experiences so we can set our expectations for any future plans we may or may not make on DCL.

 

[Clotho]

Are the sandwiches not made to order?
Did you try room service at all?

Not on the Wonder, no.

We never did try room service, and I am bummed we didn't! We were always out and about, taking in the scenery, soaking up the sun!

 

[CarolynU]

Our food in the main dining room was tasteless and barely warm every night. In fact I sent my meal back one night because it was just too cold. We were lucky there were two openings that week for Palo, so we jumped at going an extra time, and it was worth it.
My next cruise is on The Fantasy so I'll see how that checks out.
My sister has just taken a cruise with Holland America and she said the food was amazing, so it can be done.
I honestly think that Disney need to raise their game, because the two people I travel with raved about the food only a few years back, are platinum cruisers, and never cruise with anyone but DCL and even they are now beginning to say that Disney has dropped the ball.

 

[JOANNEL]

We just got off the Dream Sunday. Every meal was delicious. We are not fancy eaters but everything we had was really good!!

 

[mmouse37]

I gotta say....food is so subjective. We have cruised DCL 27 times and maybe had one meal that was terrible. I am not a food snob nor do I eat fast food very often but I find nothing wrong with the meals on DCL.

Heck, if I am not shopping for it, prepping it, cooking it and cleaning it up I am a happy woman.

MJ

 

[TDC Nala]

My friend got a small bottle of tobasco each meal....

They woudn't even give us Tabasco. Although I don't really count Tabasco.

Goofy's on the Wonder will make the sandwiches for you. I've asked them to make them without mayonnaise. It just takes longer, so if you were looking for something quick you're out of luck.

And DCL still has the best chicken fingers. I don't touch the burgers.

As far as the OP's statements, she appears to be saying that every single meal was terrible. That hasn't been my experience, although it's still cruise food.

 

[Addicted to Dopey]

It's a little ironic. Just off the fantasy and I surprisingly enjoyed the MDR food a little better than I expected. Granted there are hits and missed I course. The presentation of most dishes is pretty nice actually. Our server made good recommendations and seemed to steer us toward the better items even gently telling us if our initial choice was 'questionable' such as too dry. He did know his food. If we did stray, he wound up bringing his recommendation as well and it was always better

My ideal DCL dining experience would be Remy / Palo exclusively which we did on our Dream 3 night getaway. That was NICE.

Who was your server if you don't mind me asking? we are going on the fantasy in a few months

 

[Clotho]

It's a little ironic. Just off the fantasy and I surprisingly enjoyed the MDR food a little better than I expected. Granted there are hits and missed I course. The presentation of most dishes is pretty nice actually. Our server made good recommendations and seemed to steer us toward the better items even gently telling us if our initial choice was 'questionable' such as too dry. He did know his food. If we did stray, he wound up bringing his recommendation as well and it was always better

My ideal DCL dining experience would be Remy / Palo exclusively which we did on our Dream 3 night getaway. That was NICE.

Our server also steered us away when we were going to order something he felt was not up to snuff. We appreciated that.

And the presentation was ALWAYS beautiful! I was really pleased to see such lovely plating. And Palo especially...the breakfast buffet...I was floored by how fresh and gorgeous everything was. The freshness particularly is why it was one of our favorite meals of the entire cruise.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

I gotta say....food is so subjective. We have cruised DCL 27 times and maybe had one meal that was terrible. I am not a food snob nor do I eat fast food very often but I find nothing wrong with the meals on DCL.

Heck, if I am not shopping for it, prepping it, cooking it and cleaning it up I am a happy woman.

MJ

My thoughts exactly!!!

 

[damiel]

Shay, I guess I didn't have the same experience as you because I gained 8 pounds!

I have cruised enough to know that I am not going to get an ElGaucho experience. I never ate anything off of Deck 10, not even an ice cream cone. (My MIL ate 8 in one day!)

I hate buffets, can't stand eating off of a tray, reminds me of my college cafeteria days. That being said if I had to eat a buffet meal it was at Parrot Cay. Lunch and breakfat at Tritons were better in my opinion.

We ordered the much raved about cheese tray from room servivce and it was served with saltine crackers - I kid you not!

We gave up on Palo a few cruises ago. I never felt like to upcharge was worth what I was getting in return.

Our server told us every night what dish to avoid and why. He was spot on every time. Eli, my 15 yo DS went against his suggestions twice and was sorry both times. BUT both times our server had a back up meal he thought Eli would enjoy waiting. The cold fruit soups tasted like flavored milk. So I guess I have learned to avoid anything not main stream because I will be disapointed.

We have cruised DCL, NCL, HA and PCL and have never felt like the food was all that great. We keep going back to DCL because there isn't another cruise line where you go away feeling like you know the staff and they know you. Honestly I don't remember being called by my name on any other cruise line. AND where else can you dress up like a pirate?

 

[FJS961]

Who was your server if you don't mind me asking? we are going on the fantasy in a few months

Our server was Ozen from Turkey. He has been with DCL many years from what he said. He was very polite and professional, always a smile. He was not the engaging type with the kids with magic tricks, puzzles or napkin hat making but he knew the food backward and forward.

I caution you that his asst server is apparently new, very clueless with a huge language barrier.

 

[arlenesp]

I'm pretty picky with Barbeque so I didn't even bother with CC Barbeque, I had a burger instead and some sort of chicken.

And it was my daughter that had the Lobster on the Captains Gala menu, there is no way I would have ordered it- I've seen too many photos to know that DCL doesn't do Lobster justice. I had some sort of chicken dish and it was my least favorite dish of the trip. I will definately skip that menu if I come across it in the future.

We were very lucky on the 2008 ebpc. Our lobsters were almost perfect. I never had a baked tail before and didn't hold any expectations. I thought the food was ok onthe Dream last Sept. Palo brunch is my fav tho

 

[Clotho]

Shay, I guess I didn't have the same experience as you because I gained 8 pounds!

LOL Hubby gained 5. I maintained. I think it was the drinking more than the eating. LOL

We ordered the much raved about cheese tray from room service and it was served with saltine crackers - I kid you not!

Yeah, I kept a close eye on that in previous discussions, since I love cheese, and just ended up avoiding it. Bummer, man! We did get an amazing cheese plate at The Empress in Victoria--5 offerings, all local cheeses along with candied walnuts, dried currants, strawberries, grapes, and an apricot compote. And it was not too large or too small portions. YUM!

We gave up on Palo a few cruises ago. I never felt like to upcharge was worth what I was getting in return.

Yes, this was our conclusion. The buffet was fantastic and worth the upcharge, but I never eat enough at a buffet to justify the cost and this was no exception. Though I did get the Dungeness crab I was craving.

Our server told us every night what dish to avoid and why. He was spot on every time. Eli, my 15 yo DS went against his suggestions twice and was sorry both times. BUT both times our server had a back up meal he thought Eli would enjoy waiting.

I will pay much closer attention next time to the recommendations. I just thought it was our server expressing his personal tastes, and it didn't occur to me it had to do with him saying "The other stuff isn't good at all, so eat this."

We have cruised DCL, NCL, HA and PCL and have never felt like the food was all that great. We keep going back to DCL because there isn't another cruise line where you go away feeling like you know the staff and they know you. Honestly I don't remember being called by my name on any other cruise line. AND where else can you dress up like a pirate?

No argument from me that the staff was stellar (and ARRRR! We loved dressing up as pirates, and seeing all the other adults and wee ones playing along!). We were really made to feel special. To be able to do that when there are hundreds of people on board, to learn your name and to endeavor to make you feel seen and heard at all times...that is where Disney excels and why we really hoped that our dining experience was a fluke and not a general practice. We really want to cruise with Disney again sometime.

 

[TnRobin]

Ladies and gentlemen

In the words of Thumper - If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all.

People are allowed to not like the same things that you like. You have no right to attack them for not having your same taste.