Skipping main dining

[Scalemaster34]

At times I actually found Cabanas food better... I ordered a steak once, and it was a real steak. Too often a steak on board is way too thin or seems more baked than seared.

Personally I'd like them to bring Cabanas back to take some of the load off the overcrowding in the MDR that have shows.

 

[dreamer17555]

At times I actually found Cabanas food better... I ordered a steak once, and it was a real steak. Too often a steak on board is way too thin or seems more baked than seared.

Personally I'd like them to bring Cabanas back to take some of the load off the overcrowding in the MDR that have shows.

How would that help with the crowding in MDR? The tables are already a set location and if a guest doesn't show and decides to have dinner at cabanas a server is not going to give that table number to someone else in case they are just running late. Also out of rotational dining most are not going to skip the show meals (some I know will but talking about the majority of guests). Cabanas gives options but its not going to change table locations.

 

[Kim&Chris]

I would love to see this come back.
On our Alaskan cruise, we really enjoyed the quiet Cabanas dinner after a long day of excursions.
The menu was pretty limited but it felt so much less chaotic and we were not stuck getting pizza/burgers from quick serve.

I could not agree more. I loved being able to casually go to dinner when we wanted. It was relaxed and calm.

 

[brentm77]

I could not agree more. I loved being able to casually go to dinner when we wanted. It was relaxed and calm.

That sounds really nice on DCL for the right night. On our Alaska Celebrity cruise last summer, one of my favorite nights was when we skipped the MDR, got some food from the buffet, and found a seat by the window to watch the ocean. The casual and relaxed nature of it, without having to do the whole interaction with the servers, was a nice break. The servers on DCL can be fantastic, but they can also be a bit much sometimes—where the interaction is almost too frequent and too long. The MDR's can also be chaotic and loud. I enjoy them generally, but not always seven nights in a row.

I get why the dinner buffet isn't a great option for DCL, but ordering at Cabanas seemed like a great middle ground. And please don't respond about how that would increase costs—if DCL could do it pre-pandemic on cruises that were cheaper (even after adjusting for inflation), they can do it now.

 

[meliscan]

Absolutely! This is going to be like when someone on here a few years ago went on determined to "prove" that Carnival was better and had some shots of slight rust on the Magic or Wonder that only could have been gotten by crawling around on the deck and looking under everything because they wanted so badly to prove Disney wasn't as good. (They'd been on Carnival's newest before.) When nothing was obvious - or anything obvious wasn't being worked on or fixed promptly, they clearly resorted to other ways. Oh, they denied crawling around on the deck, but how else will you see underneath benches?

If you go in with the attitude that it's going to be awful, it's going to be awful. This sounds like a family trip that the OP should sit out so the family can enjoy it.

I will say I went on a new Carnival ship when she was 9 months old and the rust on my balcony, stained carpet and curtains were surprising. I have seen a little rust on the Magic but she is 27 years old, and it was a small bit of rust. The carpets and draperies were cleaner and unstained in our room. (We also had a cake smeared fridge on the Jubilee but we know the stewards can miss things, they are so short staffed and have so many rooms to clean.)