Questions about dining rotation

[MelJim2]

I find the dining rotation so confusing. SO for a 7 day cruise you will rotate through 3 different dining rooms which gives you three possible rotations, correct? Does the Pirate day have it's own menu? So, then you have to take into account which night is Pirate night and you lose that menu? That is way too confusing to figure out. Plus I am assuming there will be a special menu for Star Wars Day at Sea? Maybe I'll just leave it up to luck. Do most people request a certain rotation?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Pirate night will have the same menu no matter what dining room you are in. They plan it that way, so you are not missing anything by it. On a 7 day cruise you will get each room's "rotational" menus (different menus in each room) plus, a pirate menu, Prince and Princess and Captain's Gala night, and Till We Meet Again on the last night (the last four are the same in all dining rooms). Typically Prince and Princess menu is served on formal night, Captain's Gala on semiformal.

No idea if there will be a special menu for Star Wars day.

Unless you skip a night to go to Palo/Remy or eat elsewhere (or they substitute one out for something special), you will get all 7 menus.

 

[clten]

It doesn't really matter what rotation you are on. By the end of the cruise you will have had all the same menus regardless of which restaurant you started in. You will have the rotational dining menu in each restaurant (3 nights; probably not consecutive); the Pirate Night Menu; and then special menus for the remainder of the nights (so 3 special menus on a 7 night cruise). When it is a special menu or Pirate night, each of the 3 restaurants serve the same menu. So while you may be in the same restaurant more than one night, you will never get a repeat of the menus.

 

[MelJim2]

It doesn't really matter what rotation you are on. By the end of the cruise you will have had all the same menus regardless of which restaurant you started in. You will have the rotational dining menu in each restaurant (3 nights; probably not consecutive); the Pirate Night Menu; and then special menus for the remainder of the nights (so 3 special menus on a 7 night cruise). When it is a special menu or Pirate night, each of the 3 restaurants serve the same menu. So while you may be in the same restaurant more than one night, you will never get a repeat of the menus.

Thank you, that makes so much more sense to me now.

 

[Quellman]

Thank you, that makes so much more sense to me now.

A reason many people care about rotation is planning which night to do Palo or Remy. They may not want to miss the animation show, so they request a rotation where they won't be in that restaurant the night they have alternate dining.

Another reason is people place emphasis on certain restaurants for certain nights. They may want to be in enchanted garden or king tritons on formal night and animators for Pirate night.

 

[jrabbit]

Dining rotations are not something to worry about.

on the 7+ night cruises you will have EACH "restaurants' specialty menu" once and then the common menus on the other 4 nights. With a 7 night cruise 1/3 of the guests will be scheduled in one of the restaurants 3 nights, and the other MDR's twice. Usually there you will be in a different restaurant each night. I have been on a few cruises (varying from 3 to 14 nights) and have had rotations where one MDR was scheduled two nights in a row. One cruise we were scheduled in a MDR 3 nights in a row (that might have been a 5 night cruise)

 

[disnygirl55]

Your "typical" Western Caribbean cruise, you will be assigned one of the following rotations:

RAERAAE (Royal Palace, Animator's Palette, Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace, etc.)
AERAEER
ERAERRA

As stated above, if you don't have adult dining plans, you are not going to care one way or another. You're going to get three normal rotational dinner menus customized one for each restaurant, and then four special "occasion" menus (i.e. Pirate Menu, Prince and Princess Dinner, Captain's Gala Dinner, See ya' Real Soon) that are the exact same menu no matter which dining location you're sitting in.

I say "typical" Western Caribbean, because those of us with the Star Wars cruises will have Pirate Night on the third night after Cozumel instead of the 4th night after Grand Cayman as is typical.

No one knows for sure how that's going to affect the dining rotations - but at least one person has talked to a concierge or reservations agent who has said that we will NOT be having a pirate menu or fireworks on Pirate Night. So that would mean regular dining menu that night. (You'll still be welcome to wear your pirate attire / costumes to dinner, because there is still a pirate deck party planned for that night). If that is correct, dining rotation assignments will probably still be the same as I've listed above.

Another reason that someone might ask for one rotation over another is that they like the ambiance of one restaurant over another. I myself love Enchanted Garden, but a lot of people find it's crowded and enjoy one of the other restaurants better. As you can see from the rotations on a 7-night cruise, there is one restaurant that is repeated three times, and the other two are twice.

Especially since this sounds like your first Disney cruise, I wouldn't worry about the dining rotation whatsoever. You don't even know what your "favorite" restaurant will be - and they are each beautiful and unique in their own way. If you start your cruise and decide you don't like the noise of the dining rooms, your tablemates, etc. - there are other options - quick service, buffet most nights, room service. But I think that most people enjoy their main dining experience and also getting to know their wait staff.

I hope you have the time of your life - enjoy it!

 

[tim5055]

Your "typical" Western Caribbean cruise, you will be assigned one of the following rotations:

RAERAAE (Royal Palace, Animator's Palette, Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace, etc.)
AERAEER
ERAERRA

We were on the Fantasy in early December and the rotation was AERAERA, removing the Enchanted Garden back to back

 

[2prettygirl]

I find the dining rotation so confusing. SO for a 7 day cruise you will rotate through 3 different dining rooms which gives you three possible rotations, correct? Does the Pirate day have it's own menu? So, then you have to take into account which night is Pirate night and you lose that menu? That is way too confusing to figure out. Plus I am assuming there will be a special menu for Star Wars Day at Sea? Maybe I'll just leave it up to luck. Do most people request a certain rotation?

If this is your first Disney cruise, I would not worry with the dining rotation. We completed our first Disney cruise last year and I read the boards where people would request a certain rotation and it had me thinking I should too but I decided that this cruise would be great no matter what. Once we got on board, we had the rotation of RAERAER and we loved it! We are planning our second Disney cruise now and I will just go with whatever they give us. All of the restaurants are unique in their own little way!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We were on the Fantasy in early December and the rotation was AERAERA, removing the Enchanted Garden back to back

Was that a Western (itinerary A) cruise? The Western B & C itineraries have the 1231223 rotation. All other itineraries have the 1231231 rotation.

 

[kiford]

I don't personally understand the need to pick a specific rotation. We do Palo's (and Remy's if on the right ship) one night but I pick the night that works best with my schedule not because I want to skip a particular menu or dining room or I want to pair my attire with a specific dining room (e.g., formal night in a more formal setting). Each of the dining rooms has their own charm and pros/cons so I don't really care where I'm eating on any particular day. Usually, if we click with our tablemates which we frequently do, I barely even notice the surroundings. If it turns out that there's a menu I end up with that I don't particularly like, I'll just pick out what I do like and if I'm hungry later, there's plenty of other options. So I don't worry about trying to schedule my menus.

 

[tim5055]

Was that a Western (itinerary A) cruise? The Western B & C itineraries have the 1231223 rotation. All other itineraries have the 1231231 rotation.

No, it was a 7-Night Eastern Caribbean