No more specialty cakes?

[Kadie]

My daughter is celebrating her 6th birthday in three weeks on our cruise and we will have a group of 10 with us. I called DCL to inquire about a specialty cakes (you used to be able to order a custom sheet cake) and unfortunately they are no longer offering that. Now it's only the Mickey Head cakes and the Celebration cakes, both made in advance and frozen (vice the specialty cakes that were fresh). I'm very bummed that DCL took away this offering.

 

[MomOTwins]

You might try checking at the cake shop on the ship. It may be that only the frozen cakes are available for pre-order but they will make you one on the ship if you go in person.

 

[lorimay]

I can tell you the cake we got on the Fantasy was a special order cake for a birthday celebration.
The cake was put onboard Saturday and frozen until Thursday and it was yuck!
I would never spend money on a special cake again, it was such a disappointment.
They have no choice but to freeze them, they don't make them onboard.

 

[Kadie]

I went ahead and bit the bullet and ordered the Mickey Head cake. Even if it tastes terrible it will make her feel special. I just wish they still offered the "specialty" cakes. They were sheet cakes (or half sheet cakes) you could customize flavor and icing and they tasted so much better than the other cakes so I'm pretty sure they were freshly made onboard.

 

[Trera]

We were on the Disney Dream a few months back for a birthday and we ended up buying a bunch of cupcakes and they arranged them on a platter to look like a cake. It worked nicely for us.

 

[NOLA_Tink]

If you're on the Dream, you can also pre-order one of the special sundaes from Vanellope's Sweets & Treats and have it delivered to the table for her.

 

[lorimay]

If you're on the Dream, you can also pre-order one of the special sundaes from Vanellope's Sweets & Treats and have it delivered to the table for her.

YUM!

 

[TortoiseTaughtUs]

If you're on the Dream, you can also pre-order one of the special sundaes from Vanellope's Sweets & Treats and have it delivered to the table for her.

Sweet On You on the Fantasy also does this.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

I agree that you should get her something special from the sweet shop. They can deliver it at dinner and it will actually taste good.

 

[Lilsia]

You always take a chance when ordering a cake. You don't know what the quality and taste is like, or how long ago it was frozen. Just being frozen does not make the cake bad, unless it has been in the freezer for months. All cakes get frozen. No one ices a cake that has been baked that day. Almost all bakeries put their cakes in the freezer and you never know it. It is more likely that the standard cakes that they get are poor quality and are made too far ahead. We have celebrated birthdays on the ship before and just had them bring out their little cupcake or dessert that they give and save the birthday cake/celebration for either before or after the cruise. It is not worth taking a chance and being disappointed or angry if you get a bad cake.

 

[Lilsia]

They have no choice but to freeze them, they don't make them onboard.

As I just posted as an FYI, it is not the freezing of the cake that is the issue, it is the quality and age of it that makes the difference. Almost all of your cakes that you buy at a local store/bakery have been frozen. No on decorates a fresh cake, it would fall apart. I even bake my own a few days ahead of time and pop it in the freezer until I can decorate it.

 

[KantLose]

I agree about checking out Vanellope's (Dream) or Sweet on You (Fantasy) for a special treat - they had gorgeous cupcakes and amazingly over the top sundaes. With how many free desserts were available on board we never found the time to taste any on our last cruise, but I think they would be perfect for a birthday celebration! Your group could even plan a time during the day to all go together as mini birthday party for your daughter.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

As I just posted as an FYI, it is not the freezing of the cake that is the issue, it is the quality and age of it that makes the difference. Almost all of your cakes that you buy at a local store/bakery have been frozen. No on decorates a fresh cake, it would fall apart. I even bake my own a few days ahead of time and pop it in the freezer until I can decorate it.

I've decorated fresh cakes before. You have to wait until they're completely cooled, but you don't have to freeze them. I'm sure freezing is more convenient for many bakeries than waiting until they've completely cooled to room temperature, but it isn't a necessity. Never-frozen cakes do taste better.

 

[Lilsia]

Never-frozen cakes do taste better.

We are going to have to disagree on that. I have frozen many cakes and you can not tell the difference. Most bakeries that still make their own cakes would not even try to ice one that was baked that day, even if it never went into the freezer.

 

[anricat]

We are going to have to disagree on that. I have frozen many cakes and you can not tell the difference. Most bakeries that still make their own cakes would not even try to ice one that was baked that day, even if it never went into the freezer.

Not to get too far off track here, but I'm going to have to go with Lilsia on this one. I always freeze my cakes right out of the oven and then assemble them frozen and they still come out incredibly yummy! I freeze them insanely hot (I use a restaurant quality plastic wrap and it looks in the moisture) and it always works out very well. So I'm not convinced that it's the freezing of the cakes that is the issue here.

 

[MomOTwins]

I also kind of suspect that the custom cake OP used to order was frozen as well—there is a reason they make you do custom orders a minimum of several days before the cruise.

 

[monkeydawn]

I've been a cake decorator before and the majority of cakes were frozen before decorating. There were the odd instances of having to ice a cooled but not frozen cake. It *is* possible but less practical on a mass scale.

I'd also agree that apples to apples never frozen cakes taste better to me. But, its rare for cake batches not to have at least a little variety and it certainly isnt really possible to compare two different lines of cakes to one another and say that never frozen will always be better. If I had to guess Id say that twice freezing the Disney cakes (once to decorate and then once to preserve on ship) could likely be the issue. Unless Im misunderstanding how the cakes are when they are brought onto the ship.