Skipping main dining

[Erica1016]

The Dream is 121.4 feet wide and the Wish is 128 feet (Wikipedia) That extra 6.6 feet is significant considering the length of the ship, making the Wish somewhat larger I believe.

When I search for Disney Dream Width, I get 138 feet …also from Wikipedia. 'll be honest, I was doing quick research and didn't particularly look at sources, but it wasn't Wikipedia. I saw several that said 138 feet, so I went with that in my post. According to Cruisemapper, it's 41 meters (135 feet). According to DisneyCruiseLineBlog, it is 39 meters (128 feet). DCLblog is one that I trust, so I'm fine with standing corrected.

Either way my point was to show that the person who said that the Wish is only marginally larger than the Dream had a solid point and that the general population that call the Wish a mega ship and say it's SOOOO much larger are mistaken.

Lastly, I can say I will continue to use this point when talking to my chemistry students about why we don't use Wikipedia as a source.

 

[Travel60]

We enjoy the MDR dining and usually have great servers. The increased "entertainment" during dinner can be LOUD causing diners to talk LOUDER and resulting in a cacophony.

We usually don't eat as much as is served and often just order an appetizer and a salad. Maybe share a dessert. Occasionally during a longer cruise, we skip a night because we are tired, full, etc. We always go by the dining room and tell our servers so they are not waiting for us. Helps them plan their work flow. And we always tip the recommended (+).

 

[Goofy1932]

What is Dine and Play and would it reduce the amount of people in the later dining if there are not as many children?

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

What is Dine and Play and would it reduce the amount of people in the later dining if there are not as many children?

Dine and Play is a service for families where children are collected at the MDR by the Kids Club staff and brought to the kids club while the adults stay in the restaurant.

I would say it would increase the number of families in the second dining time, as it means the adults can have adult time in the restaurant knowing the kids are being looked after

 

[Travel60]

Oh, I already think it's a waste of vacation dollars. If it was up to me, this wouldn't be happening! Unfortunately, at least for me, I was outnumbered this time. When I agreed was forced into this, I incorrectly assumed being Disney that there would be a lot more to do.

Thanks for the blog link. I've been meaning to look up the daily activities.

If you go in with that attitude, you will definitely not enjoy the cruise. We have sailed DVC ~15 times. First when our kids were young, then when they were young adults. Looking forward to first cruise with Grands in 2026.

BUT, in between, we have done cruises on much smaller ships - 35 cabins along the Great Barrier Reef, 60 cabins around the Galapagos, 100-125 cabins to Antarctica, Mediterranean, Greece, and of course River cruises on Danube and Rhine. We also did two weeks around Norway on Holland America's newest ship The Rotterdam.

For travel with kids, Disney is the best in my opinion. The ship and the activities are built for them. But, we adults never had trouble finding something to do - even if it's sitting on the deck reading. We don't do the drink tastings, don't hang out in the bars unless it's for trivia or a ball game, don't care about the jewelry talks. But that's not unique to DVC. We were disappointed in HA. Worst "entertainment" we've ever had. HA also has the "anytime dining" and what we learned after the first night was that many people want to eat about the same time so there was at 15+ minute wait to get into the restaurant. And the servers were indifferent - no personality. The "extra" restaurants included on our fare were so-so. We ended up mostly at the buffet.

It will be what you make it.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

If you go in with that attitude, you will definitely not enjoy the cruise. We have sailed DVC ~15 times. First when our kids were young, then when they were young adults. Looking forward to first cruise with Grands in 2026.

BUT, in between, we have done cruises on much smaller ships - 35 cabins along the Great Barrier Reef, 60 cabins around the Galapagos, 100-125 cabins to Antarctica, Mediterranean, Greece, and of course River cruises on Danube and Rhine. We also did two weeks around Norway on Holland America's newest ship The Rotterdam.

For travel with kids, Disney is the best in my opinion. The ship and the activities are built for them. But, we adults never had trouble finding something to do - even if it's sitting on the deck reading. We don't do the drink tastings, don't hang out in the bars unless it's for trivia or a ball game, don't care about the jewelry talks. But that's not unique to DVC. We were disappointed in HA. Worst "entertainment" we've ever had. HA also has the "anytime dining" and what we learned after the first night was that many people want to eat about the same time so there was at 15+ minute wait to get into the restaurant. And the servers were indifferent - no personality. The "extra" restaurants included on our fare were so-so. We ended up mostly at the buffet.

It will be what you make it.

Agree .

 

[pachy25]

I'm sure others really enjoy the sit down dinners on the cruises but I really don't like the idea, at least not every night. It seems like a big waste of time, especially on a shorter cruise.

Maybe I'm way off base (first Disney cruise coming up this year), but I don't see the appeal of this after doing freestyle dining on other cruises.

- who wants to spend an hour+ eating dinner every night on vacation? Especially when there are so many other fun things to do?
- I guess having a set time for dinner is nice so you know when it is but I'm also on vacation. I want to go with the flow and eat when I want (and when I'm hungry)
- don't know how common it is but I really don't want to be forced to eat with another family. I'm on vacation. I don't like talking to people in general. Don't ruin my meal on vacation.
- I think it's weird for the servers to follow you around each night and "get to know you".

Is there anybody out there who skips most/all of the main dinners? Would it be a mistake to only do main dining a few nights or not at all on a 5 night cruise?

Do what you want to do, no one cares.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

Only done 1 Disney cruise (2nd one is coming up soon!) and several non DCL cruises.

I personally think there are really just 3 defining traits of DCL. 1) Disney (obviously); the characters, songs, decor, kid-focused nature. 2) The elegant, classic, old time look they go for and 3) the focus on the MDR and the rotational dining concept.

I prefer the flexibility that other cruise lines offer where you can easily not eat in the MDR a single time (the big RCCL ships have like 12 restaurants) but I ended up not minding DCL as much as I thought I would. The rotational aspect adds a ton to the experience. I'm excited to try it this next time with our kids as the Disney set up is really designed for families.

Now if the issue is you don't like spending 60-90 min at dinner... then cruising just probably shouldn't be your thing. Food, particularly dinner, is fundamental to cruising, particularly as cruising has evolved where the ship is the destination (as opposed to the ports)

I have a theory that a lot of the appeal of theme parks and cruising is you have activities, dinner, your hotel room and alcohol (I know not everyone drinks, but for lots of people it's a big part) in one place without you having to ever get in a car. American vacations are almost vacations from driving as much as they are from work.

 

[RadioCarla2]

The only night I skip is Pirate Night (because I hate the menu), and that's when I do Palo. But I enjoy the other menus of the MDRs

Same. They haven’t changed the Pirate Night menu since they added it back in 2006. Enough already!

 

[RadioCarla2]

My understanding is that when Cabanas was open for dinner, it was still a sit-down meal with a menu of selections from the main dining rooms. The advantage was that dining times were not fixed, so if you wanted to arrive at, for example, 7:15, that was possible.

The trade-off of having Cabanas open is that fewer staff will be available in the main dining room. Given that on each of the 3 post-pandemic cruises I've taken, I've had an alternate server on at least one night, it seems that there is a need to allow for extra staff in case of illness.

If all-aboard time is not until 8 or later, guests can get dinner in port if they don't want to be onboard before for their scheduled dinner time.

Disney Cruise has made a choice over the past few years to add more entertainment during dinner seating and continue prioritizing the ability to have the same servers each night. Other cruise lines have made a choice to allow flexibility and multiple options for dinner. Guests can then make a choice of which style fits their preference as they choose which cruise line to sail, and choose whether enough other aspects of a Disney cruise appeal to them that they will deal with the reduced dinnertime choices.

When Cabanas was available for dinner, it was used as a training opportunity for CM wanting to move into the server role. We’ve seen something similar happen at the sit-down lunch option too.

 

[brentm77]

When Cabanas was available for dinner, it was used as a training opportunity for CM wanting to move into the server role. We’ve seen something similar happen at the sit-down lunch option too.

From recent experience, some of the staff could really use that training too. My wife just had a pretty bad experience with MDR service on the Fantasy this last week. There has been a noticeable change the past couple of years. Not every cruise, but about 50% of the time.

 

[brentm77]

.

 

[Andrew96]

The Dream is 129,690 GT and The Wish is 144,00 GT. Thus, the Wish is "larger". It is what it is, folks

 

[brentm77]

Edit: Deleted my post when I did a little research and realized GT is volume. I always assumed it was weight, and thus, the size of the ship couldn't be determined by it alone. Learned something new today.

 

[BStieers]

From recent experience, some of the staff could really use that training too. My wife just had a pretty bad experience with MDR service on the Fantasy this last week. There has been a noticeable change the past couple of years. Not every cruise, but about 50% of the time.

Oh no! We are headed out to the Fantasy at the end of the month. Hopefully we draw a different set of servers.

 

[jk8]

I'm sure others really enjoy the sit down dinners on the cruises but I really don't like the idea, at least not every night. It seems like a big waste of time, especially on a shorter cruise.

Maybe I'm way off base (first Disney cruise coming up this year), but I don't see the appeal of this after doing freestyle dining on other cruises.

- who wants to spend an hour+ eating dinner every night on vacation? Especially when there are so many other fun things to do?
- I guess having a set time for dinner is nice so you know when it is but I'm also on vacation. I want to go with the flow and eat when I want (and when I'm hungry)
- don't know how common it is but I really don't want to be forced to eat with another family. I'm on vacation. I don't like talking to people in general. Don't ruin my meal on vacation.
- I think it's weird for the servers to follow you around each night and "get to know you".

Is there anybody out there who skips most/all of the main dinners? Would it be a mistake to only do main dining a few nights or not at all on a 5 night cruise?

I think if you are averse to all the things you mentioned you will be fine skipping main dining. Interestingly you ask who wants to do those things…me. I actually love a leisurely dinner at the same time each night while getting to know strangers and our servers.

 

[PinkPixel]

The main reason I sail with Disney is I find the design (visually) really stunning. Particularly Deck 4. Feels classic, vintage. And I like “people watching”. Don’t care about the characters but fun to watch little kids be so excited.

Is this the Wish as well or the other ships?

 

[Girl of the South]

This is on the 4 Classic ships. I just watched a video about the Treasure and there is a “portion” of Deck 4 that looks like it. On the Classic ships it’s a walking track that goes all the way around the ship. On the Treasure and the Wish, you can’t. It’s got steps up and down to another Deck. I do think on a whole, the look of the Classic Four IS “classic”. Sort of old school. Like the QE2.

 

[Dug720]

If you go in with that attitude, you will definitely not enjoy the cruise. We have sailed DVC ~15 times. First when our kids were young, then when they were young adults. Looking forward to first cruise with Grands in 2026.

BUT, in between, we have done cruises on much smaller ships - 35 cabins along the Great Barrier Reef, 60 cabins around the Galapagos, 100-125 cabins to Antarctica, Mediterranean, Greece, and of course River cruises on Danube and Rhine. We also did two weeks around Norway on Holland America's newest ship The Rotterdam.

For travel with kids, Disney is the best in my opinion. The ship and the activities are built for them. But, we adults never had trouble finding something to do - even if it's sitting on the deck reading. We don't do the drink tastings, don't hang out in the bars unless it's for trivia or a ball game, don't care about the jewelry talks. But that's not unique to DVC. We were disappointed in HA. Worst "entertainment" we've ever had. HA also has the "anytime dining" and what we learned after the first night was that many people want to eat about the same time so there was at 15+ minute wait to get into the restaurant. And the servers were indifferent - no personality. The "extra" restaurants included on our fare were so-so. We ended up mostly at the buffet.

It will be what you make it.

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.

 

[SnowWhite2]

The Wish was designed by a team who had never been on a cruise. Nuff said!