Indian food on board

[bcwife76]

Our last cruise on the Fantasy (Oct 2018) there were 9 of us in our group and our servers were amazing. One night over dinner we were talking about the foods we like to enjoy back home (including a good curry and butter chicken) and the next night they brought out two additional Indian dishes for us to try! We in no way asked for them to do this and it was a wonderful surprise!

 

[smacmillan83]

I may be wrong, but I am sure I have read somewhere on these forums that receiving Indian food during the MDR actually has a process that involves being approved by the Head Server the evening prior. It is also not the crew food which is being served to guests and there is a menu of sorts that needs to be completed.
We have been offered this (not requested) a number of times while on board and have accepted. Usually as a result of a conversation with our server about food/cuisines we enjoy.

 

[freshmanjs]

(We are a traditional Italian food family).

What does that mean? Do you only eat Italian food???

 

[Caboosey]

My travel agent recommended I do this before the trip, since she knows I'm a vegetarian. I was perfectly happy with the many options I already had and never thought to request Indian food.

 

[Bonnie1222]

@Mitura like @starvenger said generous is subjective.
On average we add $20 to each including the head server (there are 2 of us), even if we don't eat there every night.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Our head server was Engelbert from India, and our main server was Lavendra. They were both fantastic! The biryani they brought on the last night was so, so tasty!

We had Engelbert and I also received Indian food (which I didn't request). Once he found out I was vegetarian he offered, and I accepted. It was great. We thought he was a great head server. Our first time around we had one that we only saw once or twice, but Engelbert was much more engaged, wanting to make sure everyone was happy. (I would have been happy even without the special food, as I was already satisfied with the options. It was nice though).

 

[MillauFr]

My daughter is vegan and they will often bring her indian style dishes. I wonder if they come from the staff dining room?

 

[SamFaniam]

I have had Indian food on several cruises. Our server (who I have had 3 times and find to be honest and informative) stated that that they do prepare Indian cuisine each evening to meet the needs of guests and that it is not the same as the meals prepared in the crew mess. On our Magic last winter, there was a large extended family sitting at 3 tables near us who appeared to be Indian. They did not order off the menu for any dinner. Their meals were delivered family style. I do not know what they did for breakfast or lunch.

 

[lahobbs4]

We had Rajesh on the Fantasy in September and he did the same for us! We had been discussing with our tablemates how we wished the food on board had more spice and he overheard us and offered to make us something special the next night. We were treated to some amazing butter chicken and two more dishes (I can't remember what they were called). It was better than anything on any menu we had! It was so kind and genuine and it was one of those moments that would never have happened at our regular Walt Disney World vacation! I'll take that over extra Mickey bars ANY day!

 

[OKgirl]

We were also on the Fantasy in September and I asked our server, who was Indian, about any spicy offerings like Indian food anywhere on the ship. He asked if I liked Butter chicken and when I told him yes, he had some delivered to our table the next night. It was the best butter chicken I've ever had and by far the best thing I ate all week on the Fantasy. We were disappointed by the food in general but that butter chicken was so delicious I asked why it wasn't on the main menu. He laughed and said it would be the best seller every night if it was. We were actually disappointed overall on our Disney Cruise (we just prefer other cruise lines for cruises and Disney World for our Disney fix). The food was mediocre in general but I would ABSOLUTELY ASK for that butter chicken EVERY NIGHT if I thought I could have it! I would have liked to have scored the food low on the survey but our server said when we were asked about the dining, it was specifically talking about our servers only, not the food. Of course I scored it high after that because the server was amazing. We also tipped him very well for that kind offering.

 

[anricat]

...they do prepare Indian cuisine each evening to meet the needs of guests and that it is not the same as the meals prepared in the crew mess.

This is what we were told on the Magic when I was offered Indian food. I'm vegetarian and the head server noticed. He asked if I also liked Indian food (I do) and he offered to have some prepared for me the next night. It was one of the best Indian meals I've had!

On our next cruise, I asked if they still had Indian food should I have an evening when the vegetarian dish wasn't to my liking (because I knew the menus and I knew that there was a night that I did not care for the vegetarian offerings). My server said that they would be happy to bring me the Indian meal. I will likely do the same on our next cruise if there is an evening I know ahead of time that I won't be excited about the next evenings offerings. Generally it does need to be requested a night before, but it's a great option for those of us whose options can otherwise be limited on board and it's always much appreciated!