Great Ship But the food????.....

[juleptrader]

So, if you hate Disney World, then maybe you haven't been to Disney World lately and that might explain your lack of experience with their food.

i think the food on my trip with DCL (and from hearsay) is considered better than most anything at Disney World.

there were buffet items that were pretty average. i admit it wasn't 3 michelin stars the whole trip.

palo's was as good as advertised. i particularly enjoyed the "BBQ" near the adults-only beach. they did a great job with steaks and shrimp/salmon kebobs.

i will say that nothing was cooked completely wrong or fouled up. the dining becomes a blur so i'm sure i didn't savor or critique every bite.

perhaps there were complaints that were addressed.

 

[MaryC1965]

Tarabra- I was on your cruise and loved the grouper in the dining room. But I was unimpressed with the grouper special in Palo.

On the waiters' recommendation I tried that shrimp & scallops on angel hair on pirate night and it was another blah meal to me. I guess because that's the kind of thing I can make it home in no time, and I make it with lots of garlic, lemon and red pepper so it's got lots of flavor.

But a lot of the food was really, really good. I liked all the meats and fish I tried at Cookies' a lot.

We had trouble finding anything decent to eat at Epcot. We were disappointed in the brats and soft pretzels in Germany and the japanese counter service place. A strawberry smoothie tasted like concentrated sugar. The rest of WDW, I think the food was not too bad, surprisingly.

 

[Tarabra]

Tarabra- I was on your cruise and loved the grouper in the dining room. But I was unimpressed with the grouper special in Palo.

On the waiters' recommendation I tried that shrimp & scallops on angel hair on pirate night and it was another blah meal to me. I guess because that's the kind of thing I can make it home in no time, and I make it with lots of garlic, lemon and red pepper so it's got lots of flavor.

But a lot of the food was really, really good. I liked all the meats and fish I tried at Cookies' a lot.

We had trouble finding anything decent to eat at Epcot. We were disappointed in the brats and soft pretzels in Germany and the japanese counter service place. A strawberry smoothie tasted like concentrated sugar. The rest of WDW, I think the food was not too bad, surprisingly.

Yea, I did load up on the salt on the angel hair pasta. THat's funny about Epcot. We ate at the German place too and the brats weren't bad, we were starving, but the pretzel was soooo rock hard. It was about 8:30, so they may have been sitting.

 

[MaryC1965]

We ate at the German place too and the brats weren't bad,

I should qualify my statement with this- DH had the brat and he has spent time in Germany and expected a good bratwurst. Stupid, I think. I used to cook Johnsonville brats at home and I think he said they weren't even that good. I think Johnsonville makes a good brat (and I prepare them well), though, so I would've expected Epcot's to be less tasty, personally.

Our pretzel was very soft, like Wonder bread. I think you did get an old one.

 

[KimberlyB]

Any one back with a better dining experience?

 

[msteddom]

I hope so! I'll be on the Wonder for the first time in three months!

Melissa

 

[mom4mad]

We, DD,DD, and me, cruised on the Wonder in September 2007 on a 4 night. My husband and I have cruised on Royal Caribbean, Holland America, and Carnival lines. We both thought the food was better on the Wonder. WE are cruising on the Magic in July.

The only food I didn't really like was the Pirate buffet. I think it was lack of variety more than anything.

Palo was excellent! I don't think you can go wrong with anything on that menu.

The pizza, burgers, etc by the pool were average, but what poolside food is REALLY good?

The dining rooms are better than average for food on land, let alone at sea. The important thing is to listen to your servers- they know what is good!

Roomservice menu is fairly limited, but on par with the food on the rest of the ship.

The drinks of the day are excellent!

If you expect five star dining like you might experience in New York, LA, or Vegas, you will be disappointed. Lets face it, this is designed to be a family experience. When is the last time any of us had exquisite food in a family restaurant?

 

[Googelibear]

i think the food on my trip with DCL (and from hearsay) is considered better than most anything at Disney World....

I don't know that that is right. Food in the parks (other than maybe at Epcot) is nothing to write home about, but some of the resorts have excellent restaurants. We usually eat at the resorts. And have had some very, very nice dining experiences. It is all in the homework

 

[DMMarla07860]

the food on my Disney Cruises, have been the best and I usually go to Disney World also and the food is the same there also, both are great, the only bad meal I ever had in Disney was after the cruise in 2006 at Planet Hollywood, the hamburger was like burnt and the only thing good was the soda.

 

[TiggerzFan]

We were on the May 25th Wonder (our 5th DCL cruise) and the food was really good - in the dining rooms and in the casual eating spots. I do admit, however, that like others, we found a couple of the desserts prettier than they tasted.

 

[RadioNate]

Any one back with a better dining experience?

I was on the May 29th Wonder and not really. Most everything I had was good but nothing was spectacular. The plain 'light fare' salmon was nearly my best entree. My filet at Palo's was excellent.

I'm shocked by the people commenting that Cookie's BBQ was good because our entire group thought it was downright awful and yes I did leave that on my comment card.

I also agree about the deserts. Disney definitely did not meet my expectations there.

That said, we did have an excellent cruise and plan on booking DCL again.

 

[Tarabra]

I was on the May 29th Wonder and not really. Most everything I had was good but nothing was spectacular. The plain 'light fare' salmon was nearly my best entree. My filet at Palo's was excellent.

I'm shocked by the people commenting that Cookie's BBQ was good because our entire group thought it was downright awful and yes I did leave that on my comment card.

I also agree about the deserts. Disney definitely did not meet my expectations there.

That said, we did have an excellent cruise and plan on booking DCL again.

I've never been crazy about Cookie's either, although the hot dog I had there this time was awesome!! The cheeseburger on our first day was just a'ight, and the Mahi Mahi from the night before was good. I never get the ribs. i must've had them the first visit or two and they didn't impress. But hey, what do you expect from food that's been transported from the ship to the serving area? Oh, and the Lay's potato chips ROCKED!!

 

[dshepherd]

We took a 4 day cruise on the Wonder in January 2008. The food was terrible and I made comments to Disney. The response is that they do not care because they have all the cruises booked. Save yourself and some money, better dining by going on Princess, Carnival etc. For the money Disney charges, you will disapointed by the food, unless you are use to McDonald's, Applebees, Denny's etc. I will never agin spend my money on a Disney Cruise.

 

[DMMarla07860]

We took a 4 day cruise on the Wonder in January 2008. The food was terrible and I made comments to Disney. The response is that they do not care because they have all the cruises booked. Save yourself and some money, better dining by going on Princess, Carnival etc. For the money Disney charges, you will disapointed by the food, unless you are use to McDonald's, Applebees, Denny's etc. I will never agin spend my money on a Disney Cruise.

I go to McDonalds, Applebees, Fridays, Chilis, and the food doesn't compare to any Disney Cruise food I've had. Now only one place I have been has better food then any cruise I have been on and that place is phillips seafood.

 

[Justthe8ofus]

well that is dissapointing to hear. I have sailed on the Magic twice and enjoyed the food. I am taking a 4 night on the wonder in Sept. Oh well it was pretty cheap I will have to wait and see.

 

[Justthe8ofus]

We took a 4 day cruise on the Wonder in January 2008. The food was terrible and I made comments to Disney. The response is that they do not care because they have all the cruises booked. Save yourself and some money, better dining by going on Princess, Carnival etc. For the money Disney charges, you will disapointed by the food, unless you are use to McDonald's, Applebees, Denny's etc. I will never agin spend my money on a Disney Cruise.

Carnival? BTDT (3xs) never again.

 

[Justthe8ofus]

excellent.

I'm shocked by the people commenting that Cookie's BBQ was good because our entire group thought it was downright awful and yes I did leave that on my comment card.

QUOTE]

My group also like the BBQ (have had it twice). I guess everyone has different tastes.

 

[zerog]

After 2 DCL cruises, I have to agree that the food is not good. On one night, the seared tuna was so chewy it was hard to swallow. Now I have never had chewy tuna. It looked good though. Some rice I ordered was downright bland. How do you mess up rice?

My DW and I eat at a lot of restaurants. Normally, we coordinate our orders so that we don't select the same meal. That way, we can try each other's dishes. On more than one occasion we swapped plates because we each liked the other's food better.

On the ship, there was no swapping and very little sharing. We actually struggled to eat what we got. The menu's described some wonderful meals and the food was presented nicely. But that's where it stopped.

We booked yet another cruise anyway. We'll deal with the food quality and enjoy the rest of the vacation.

 

[CruisinEars]

We were just on the Magic and the food was really good. I didn't have a bad meal. It was way better than Applebees and that type of restaurant that was mentioned by a pp. I found the quality of the steaks to be excellent and had a wonderful grouper dish. On the other hand, I thought Cookies was just okay.

 

[PizzieDuster]

We booked yet another cruise anyway. We'll deal with the food quality and enjoy the rest of the vacation.

Exactly zerog!

This is exactly how I got my DH (who hated DCL dining room food) on our 3rd DCL Cruise.

1. We weren't crusing for the food
2. Here's how many ports we have so DH will have that much more opportunities to eat OFF THE SHIP.
3. Add dinner at Palo
4. Add brunch at Palo
5. No more than 3 nights in the dining rooms would win him over. (First night, formal, MAYBE semi formal).

That was our only complaint.... we did not like the food in the dining rooms. However, my DH loved the bratwurst and my kids loved the chicken fingers.

Never felt "the love" for Cookies BBQ.



ETA: We cruised before the latest dry dock changes to Goofy's Gallery and more offerings in Cafe Cove. I can't wait to try a panini and order a BLT from room service!