How would you rate the food on DCL?

[Kim&Chris]

I'd give the food a 6.

All meals were pretty good, just not great. We didn't mind though, because it prevented us from ordering 'seconds' and therefore, not too much weight gain!!

 

[EWL]

I've been reading in so many threads lately that the food on DCL was bad, and that other lines have much better food than DCL. Well, my family has pretty simple tastes, but we are looking forward to some tasty chow on board....now I'm a little worried

So on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the food, and why?

I definitely would not call the food "bad", so worry not! You'll have a great time and you will most certainly not go hungry!

I would give Palo a "9". It's fabulous and well worth a visit.

Otherwise, I'd have to say a "6/7" in general, with a "4" for desserts, my own pet complaint. Pluto's does a great job with burgers, chicken, and the like, and Pinocchio's is also pretty decent pizza. The food in the dining rooms is generally very good-- there was nothing that we didn't like-- but it's not outstanding. We felt the food on our Princess Alaskan cruise was better. And for desserts, a big disappointment in my opinion. Nothing "bad", just nothing all that noteworthy; a lot of cakes, most of which taste sort of the same to me, and nothing too inventive. A number of times the description on the menu sounded great, but the real thing didn't stack up. This was the case on our 2005 cruise too, so once I remembered that and lowered my expectations a bit on our latest cruise, it was fine.

Everyone's tastes are different, though, and it's a big job to feed this many folks! You will surely find things you like and have a great time.

 

[Colorado Mom]

We thought the food was ok, prob about a 7 over all.
Breakfast buffet was ok, typical buffet but lots of choices if the eggs or whatever looked a little dry. The kids loves the chicken strips and burgers. Suppers were good, variety of choices and no one left hungry.

 

[erikthewise]

I think Crisi nailed it. If you dine in gourmet restaurants and pay $50+ a head on a regular basis, then (of course!) the rotation restaurants will not meet that standard, though I don't think you'll be disappointed in Palo.

But if your idea of dining out is a typical chain family restaurant, then I think you'll be very pleased with DCL dining, and Palo will be heaven on earth.

In particular I don't think the rotation restaurants are up to the standard of the "signature" restaurants at WDW. But they do try! It's unusual to have a bad experience, and if you let your server or head server know about it, they fall all over themselves trying to make up for it.

 

[TiggerStac]

We were actually dissatisfied by our recent DCL vacation. When we went in 2/05, we would rate 8 or 9 out of 10. This time...a 5 is pushing it. I went to one lunch and my pasta was so so. We went to dinner every night, except when in Palo's. The first night the lobster tail was good, but the pasta was like it had been sitting out for a while. This seemed to theme for the entire cruise...not too impressed w/the food.

DS was upset because when he went for lunch w/the kids club, the mac and cheese was mickey mac and cheese, but when he went to dinner w/us...it was regular mac and cheese, not mickey. No idea why it was that way, but of course, he noticed.

 

[Lew]

We've been on four DCL cruises and I'd have to say that the quality of the food, especially at dinner, has gotten progressively worse. The service and presentation in the dining rooms has always been very good, but the food lately (twice this year) just isn't that good.

One thing that really bothers me is the instructions we receive from dining room personnel on how to complete our passenger surveys. We have never experienced this on other cruise lines. Perhaps if cruisers spoke thier minds on the surveys rather than vote as per instructed, DCL food would be better.

By way of comparison, I would have to say that the food is much better on Princess Cruise Lines. We have been on two Princess cruises this year, Star and Crown, and the restaurant and buffet food were consistantly better than DCL.

 

[TiggerStac]

One thing that really bothers me is the instructions we receive from dining room personnel on how to complete our passenger surveys. We have never experienced this on other cruise lines. Perhaps if cruisers spoke thier minds on the surveys rather than vote as per instructed, DCL food would be better.

QUOTE]

I spoke my mind on the survey!! They did their normal speech the last night, but I commented appropriately.

 

[Dizzyworld]

I agree with Lew. This summer was our 4 DCL cruise. I too thought the food wasn't as good. I miss the old menus. (Please keep in mind that I am alergic to seafood so there goes a good part of my menu.) There were some nights that it was hard for me to find something that interested me.

As for the service, they have all been nice, but they also seemed so frantic. We hardly ever get a chance to talk to them because they are flying around. They weren't talking to other tables either this time. Sometimes the servers seem to focus on the larger tables of 8 or more. This time I couldn't even tell you there names. We just didn't see them.


Brunch at Palo was terrific. The presentation was attractive and the food was very good.

 

[Disney Lover Linda]

We have been on 2 Disney cruises. The food on average is OK about 6-7. Sometimes it varies just by what item you order that given evening. There were 6 of us on our cruise and if you looked around our table 1 item was great, 1 was average and another bad. Palo was wonderful, a 10. It is fancier food but that's what makes it special. If you have ever been to Citracos in the Grand Flordian, Palo's is very much like it style and taste. What others have said about Pluto's is right - they changed it last year and have great fresh fruit, pannani sandwiches, salads, fresh and good all. You'll find what you like and don't. Just go and have a wonderful time, we did!

 

[disneyfanatic3166]

Wow, the results are so mixed! I would rate the food on DCL 9 out of 10! I've never had anything I didn't like except for some lobster bisque, but I don't like lobster bisque in general, so not their fault!

 

[SplashMountainManiac]

I don't see how anyone could not like the cruise food. I give it a definite 10. Some people must just be really picky. I was dissapointed that I couldn't eat more than I did. Everything looked good.

 

[tvguy]

One thing that really bothers me is the instructions we receive from dining room personnel on how to complete our passenger surveys. We have never experienced this on other cruise lines. .

Been on 7 cruises since 1980 on 5 different lines, always got the speech the first night. Except one night on Disney when our Assistant Server was dealing with a personal problem (he said he had 2 weeks left on his contract, and was going home to Romania to get married, or kill himself!!!) never had bad service on any cruise, or bad food. And the few times I ordered something I didn't like, satisfaction was minutes away when I ordered a second entree in it's place.

 

[cruisecastle]

I've been reading in so many threads lately that the food on DCL was bad, and that other lines have much better food than DCL. Well, my family has pretty simple tastes, but we are looking forward to some tasty chow on board....now I'm a little worried

So on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the food, and why?

This post is the truth. You can ignore all other responses. A few years ago the food on DCL was not that good. Today it awesome and among the best at sea. Of course when speaking of "food" you should only be speaking of the dining rooms at dinner and Palo. The food for breakfast and the buffets are nothing special on any cruise ship and are really there just to get you through to dinner. Id give the food an 8.5 in the dining rooms and a 9.5 in Palo. Remember this is real information that you can take to the bank having just come off two cruises on the Magic in July and August. Ignore the rants and the pretenders

 

[DVCconvert]

cruisecastle:

This post is the truth. You can ignore all other responses.

Don't worry -- that didn't sound arrogant in the slightest.

 

[Colorado Mom]

thinking about this I need to add another thought. One of the reasons we like a cruise vacation is the food. It is available all at all hours, or at least as many as we were awake, choices to eatin in the dining room, new menu each night, and the best part for is is no arguments over where to eat at.
other vacations it's a toss up, do you eat at the fancy place, the trendy place, fast food or try to figure out a good local spot. Just extra stress.

 

[cruisecastle]

cruisecastle:


Don't worry -- that didn't sound arrogant in the slightest.

Actually when it's the truth it's not arrogancem just the truth

 

[erikthewise]

Actually when it's the truth it's not arrogancem just the truth

"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who actually do."

 

[Lindy Loo]

Our friends came off the Magic in August,and said the food was OK, but nothing to get excited about. They were glad ( from a food point only) to get off the boat after 7 nights. They do eat in top end resturants in the UK and Europe, quite alot more than we would ( We have a DD!, - they dont!)

Im going with an open mind. I know I wont starve, and I will have great table mates ( all disers!)

We leave in 16 days, so I will have my own thoughts on this after that!

 

[tvguy]

Our friends came off the Magic in August,and said the food was OK, but nothing to get excited about. They were glad ( from a food point only) to get off the boat after 7 nights. They do eat in top end resturants in the UK and Europe, quite alot more than we would ( We have a DD!, - they dont!)

Im going with an open mind. I know I wont starve, and I will have great table mates ( all disers!)

We leave in 16 days, so I will have my own thoughts on this after that!

EVERYONE is going to have a different opinion on food, it's all personal opinion. So remember that when reading these posts and balance it.
Frankly, I tend to discredit opinions from people who eat in "top end" restaurants, because when I go to a "top end" restaurant that they recommend, I always end up VERY disappointed. BTW, I was never disappointed in the food quality on Disney. Only thing I was disappointed in was the lack of a nightly midnight buffet.

 

[crisi]

EVERYONE is going to have a different opinion on food, it's all personal opinion. So remember that when reading these posts and balance it.
Frankly, I tend to discredit opinions from people who eat in "top end" restaurants, because when I go to a "top end" restaurant that they recommend, I always end up VERY disappointed. BTW, I was never disappointed in the food quality on Disney. Only thing I was disappointed in was the lack of a nightly midnight buffet.

It is really important to sort of know the tastes of the other posters who are criticizing or raving about food - on the cruise or WDW. I know that there are a few posters with similar tastes to mine over on the restaurant board, so I'll weight their reviews higher. When they cruise and say food is good or bad, I weight them higher over here as well. However, anytime anyone posts that DCL food is great, or that the B&C burger is wonderful, or their favorite onsite restaurant is Boma, I know that persons tastes isn't similar to mine, and tend to discount their other reviews. I've had DCL food, the B&C burger and Boma - and while all the food was O.K. none of it was - according to my own tastes - worth raving about.