Food Quality Decline?

[luv2cruisedisney]

As others have said opinions will vary but here is mine.

We just returned from the Fantasy 1/21 sailing and in my opinion the food was better than it has been in recent years.
I, like others have felt a decline over the last several years but this most recent voyage was a pleasant surprise

I don't know if anything in particular has changed but the quality, choices and overall dining was the best it has been in quite a while.

This is true even though we had the worst servers we have ever had in 14 cruises

 

[cruiser21]

I've been on 21 cruises on different cruise lines DCL, NCL and Carnival. The food varies from cruise to cruise. I've never had outstanding food nor have I had bad food. Carnival has the best poolside food. DCL the best buffet. The main dining room is hit or miss on any cruise. If you're a real foodie and are cruising for food I would think the luxury lines would be the best bet.

 

[buzzlightyear1977]

There were wings on the room service menu our most recent Wonder cruise. As well as a fruit bowl and the all hands on deck platter. All "free".

View attachment 217054

Thank you, I was mistaken and looking at some of the menu's but see there is a revised menu and the wings and fruit/cheese are there. Thanks.
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/menus/room-service-menu/

 

[Chirple]

We have been on 10 cruises with DCL since 2005 with our most recent being on the Magic in late October 2016 (8 on the Magic, 1 on the Wonder, 1 on the Dream). My husband and I both commented how the food in the MDR was much improved from the prior years.

 

[DIS_Ag]

I think a lot of it comes down to your expectations. My wife and I would be considered foodies and food is one of the main things I consider on vacations. We've done two cruises with DCL's and have been generally happy. As others have said, you can only expect so much when 4000 are being fed. I was hoping for wedding type quality on the food, and I'd say that it was higher grade wedding food, if that makes sense. I love all the options in the MDR's. Cabanas has been hit or miss, especially for breakfast for us. Poolside has been good.

 

[dswatik2001]

Well we've been on two DCL cruises both on the Dream, the first one was the year the Dream launched and the second time was 3 years ago. Both times I was very impressed with the food. I must add though that the asparagus soup in I think Animators Palette (if my memory is serving me correctly, without looking back at the menus) was on the salty side. But still pretty good.

Both cruises we've had no fault with at all. I can't wait till our next one which is in September this year for our 20th aboard the Fantasy this time.

 

[CarolynU]

Have only cruised DCL, and I'm not a massive fan of the food in the MDR's, but that's because I cannot abide luke warm food and for me that's what I mostly get. It's too mass catering for me, but I'm not sure if that's a problem with all cruise lines trying to serve masses of people who all arrive together and food is left on hot plates until the servers are free to pick them up and then sort them all out before giving them to the diners. If my food doesn't have steam coming off it, then it's not to my taste.
So on my next cruise the WBPC I'm not even sure that I will bother too much with the MDR. I really enjoy the shows and many of the entertainers, so I might see both shows and then just grab something around the pool and I'll prob go to Palo a few times.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

If you are interested, I wasn't really planning on sailing again, however I watched the Dreams Unlimited Travel podcast on a 3 night cruise and was so excited I ended up booking two cruises with DUT with Kelsie Johnson.

The best part about food and dining on DCL is rotational dining. We did a 7 night on RCL and it was like ground hog day every night. Did not like it at all.

If the link doesn't work search You Tube for : 3-Night Disney Dream Cruise Information | 11/14/16 OMG I've watched it a few times to get myself excited.

 

[kiford]

I would be surprised if anyone could recall the food they at 14 years ago, so you wouldn't necessarily know that the quality for Disney changed or not.

I do. DH's family in Germany thinks it hilarious that we can go to some place 2 hours drive away and I'll be able to tell them what I had to eat there 15 years ago and whether or not I liked it.

Food experience is very subjective but I don't personally feel that the food has declined. There have been occasions when a meal may have been overcooked (not hard to do when you're cooking for so many people) but it's not that frequent. There may be times when I can't find something on a particular menu that I'm really interested in, but that's a personal preference issue, not the fault of the kitchens. I think that the selection is getting better. I recall DCL cruises about 10 years ago when it seemed like, other than seafood which I'm allergic to, the only options were beef. I like beef but not 7 days in a row and it didn't seem like there were many days when chicken or something else was available other than just a grilled chicken breast. Now it seems like there's always a beef, seafood, pasta and/or vegetarian option, chicken or turkey, lamb and/or some other protein on each menu.

I will say that I believe that the food at the quick service places on deck has improved over the years in terms of both quality and selection. I was a bit disappointed on our last cruise on the Fantasy to discover that they had neither tacos nor shwarma (I was annoyed on our previous cruise that there were no tacos as the station was replaced with a shwarma station so I managed to drown my annoyance by eating as many shwarmas as I could - yummy, especially all of the toppings). So I rather grumpily joined my party in getting a panini instead. It was delicious - mozzerella, basil and tomato. So I got over my grumpiness. I recall when it was just pizza, hot dogs, burgers and plain sandwiches.

 

[cruiser21]

When we were on the Wonder last month. We had many cms come by and ask about the quality of the food. I think it may be something there trying to improve on.

 

[tlynk]

I've taken 8 Disney cruises and have always enjoyed the food with the exception of 2 cruises. I liked the food, but didn't love it. The food just seemed off on some nights compared to past cruises. Hot dishes were cold or not seasoned enough, etc. It could have been what I was ordering as well?? However, on my past 2 cruises the food was outstanding in my opinion. DH and I really love the new Tiana's Place on the Wonder. The food and entertainment are excellent.

 

[Lothlórien]

I would be surprised if anyone could recall the food they at 14 years ago, so you wouldn't necessarily know that the quality for Disney changed or not.

I do and noted so in my 14 year cruise history.
I guess different memories stick out for different people.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

DH and I both thought the food on the Wonder last week was much improved over past cruises, with the exception being lunch in the MDR (during the cruise; we didn't have that option on boarding day). The evening MDRs and Cabanas for lunch were good. I even thought the desserts had improved.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I would be surprised if anyone could recall the food they at 14 years ago, so you wouldn't necessarily know that the quality for Disney changed or not.

Our first cruise was on the Magic in 2004, and the poor food quality was the only reason DH never wanted to cruise again. So we do remember. On that cruise (4 nights), we ate in each MDR once and did Palo on Pirate Night. Palo was good even way back then!