Talk to me about lunch on embarkation day

[sadiecatie]

I’m seeing multiple posts with questions about which MDRs are open for lunch on which ships, and I’m just curious - what are your opinions on the food offerings on embarkation day? Do you love Cabanas/Marcelina Market on embarkation day, or avoid it? Are the pool deck quick service options open too? What are your embarkation day dining strategies/preferences?

 

[gismo1554]

I avoid Cabanas and do the sit down lunch. The menu isn't overly exciting but the empanadas are wonderful and I feel like being waited on gives me a great start to the holiday. Cabanas always seemed manic when I ventured up there on the first few cruises and the sit down lunch just feels more "holiday" like

 

[Marc D]

Bad experiences with lines at Cabanas truly depends on when you show up. If you arrive just when open boarding as been called, you can get a long line. However, if you take a while to get there or if you are there immediately after boarding in the first few groups, you might not wait more than a few seconds to start getting food from the stations.

When not sailing Concierge, we truly prefer the buffet. We’ll get plenty of opportunities during the cruise to get waited on. There are plenty of varied options, so everyone can get the lunch they prefer - plenty of peel-of shrimps for me - without having to navigate the pool deck with food.

 

[CaptainMarvel]

Personally, I think it depends a lot on who you're cruising with. I like a lot of food options (and crowds aren't really an issue for me), so I would almost always pick Cabanas/Marceline Market or the pool desk, even if it means wading through crowds with a carryon suitcase in tow. However, I'm also currently planning a cruise with my mother (who is a VERY picky eater and a generally distractable/somewhat flighty person) and I already know that we will 100% be doing sit down lunch on embarkation day. A menu we can look at before we get on the ship (to help walk her through the options) and not needing to worry about keeping track of my luggage and her luggage while we get our food or go back for more will absolutely help make things less stressful .

 

[Budzooka]

Cabanas. Yes, it’s busy but I’ll get plenty of chances to have sit down meals and we’re starving by the time we get on the boat. Like the variety of options and we have very little carryon luggage with us. I view pool side as an afternoon snack and not a meal.

 

[Disney_David]

I only have one cruise under my belt, so take this with a grain of salt.

We did Marceline. I wanted to spend less time at lunch, more time exploring. I was very pleasantly surprised by the options and quality and we ended up taking our time. There were no/very short lines.

I’ll try the sit down lunch on the next cruise to switch it up. However, I was not impressed with the food or the speed of service at the 1923 lunch.

My strategy would be to go where I prefer the food. Twice!

 

[buzzrelly]

I love getting on the ship and going straight up to Cabanas, chaos and all. The selection is amazing (at least it has been in the past but I haven't cruised since 2019), and we generally have little trouble finding a table. However, if you have a large group, I would recommend finding your table first before going to the buffet. We learned that the hard way after walking around looking for each other with our plates of food!

 

[Calantha]

We're a go to the sit-down restaurant kind of family (whether it is just 3 of us or the extended family (12 of us)). With younger children, and the rush of the morning, I just want someone to bring me food. Plus, I really like the empanadas and they typically have a fun 'welcome aboard' drink. DS can be picky too, but he loves the adult pasta on that menu, so it means he won't be eating pizza for at least one meal!

Usually when we're finishing up, rooms are just about open, so we go down there, drop off our stuff and then do a combo of explore-unpack-visit the kid's club open house-unpack, etc.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We are Canadian and sail in February so we want the sun and fresh air! We go to Cabanas! We take our luggage to a table outside at the back of the ship then hit a line towards the back of cabanas. Generally shorter lines there.

 

[Princesca]

How do you find the menu for embarkation lunch on your cruise?

 

[OpieDoodle]

We are the type of family that tries to avoid doing what everyone else is doing. So we get on as early as possible and then first thing we go straight to cabanas for lunch. We are in there long before the crowds. Then when we are done people are starting to look for lunch and we go explore other areas and activities.

For me there is usually too much excitement to sit down for lunch. We sit down for a meal a day, the rest of the time I want to run and enjoy the ship

 

[Calantha]

How do you find the menu for embarkation lunch on your cruise?

Regular lunch: https://disneycruiselineblog.com/menus/embarkation-lunch-menu/
Concierge is mostly the same with a few extras (e.g., free drinks, lobster something).

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

We like to board late and be able to go straight to our room rather than dragging around our carry-ons. Then we order some room service and open up a couple of the beers we pre-order.

 

[kiford]

A lot of it depends on when we board the ship. If our staterooms are not ready and I'm hauling around a backpack, I'm definitely going to a sit-down restaurant. If I'm able to drop my bag in my stateroom, I might go to Cabanas/Marcelline Market. There's definitely more selection, and at that time (post 1:30-2:00), it's probably not as busy. If I'm not very hungry, I'm also more likely to go to the buffet since I can get smaller portions.

On our recent Wish cruise (Jan 30), we were staying with friends in Tampa, and we all drove there. Had to leave at 7 am so by the time we boarded just after noon, we were starving and all had our carry-ons with us. We went to Arendelle for the sit-down lunch. If I wasn't as hungry, I probably could have just ordered a couple of the appetizers/soup/salad, but we were hungry, and the sirloin was delicious. So although there are fewer options than Marcelline Market, it worked out perfectly for us. We lingered for a little while, then wandered the ship for a bit, so there wasn't too much time we needed to wait to get to our rooms afterwards.

 

[scoobysgirl]

We took the Disney bus to the ship from the Orlando airport, so they handled the luggage for us and we didn't need to worry about that...shades of Magical Express, our luggage landed safely outside our stateroom door...so nice. Anyway, our concierge lunch was at 1923 and it was a very nice way to start the cruise. We really enjoyed ourselves and our waiter was outstanding. When we go back in October definitely the sitdown lunch.

 

[Mrlogboy]

Only been on one crew so far, but what we did as we went to the sit down lunch, as did my pre-research and knew about it, and it was quite enjoyable.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

DW has to eat gluten free. On our first couple of cruises, we learned that seeking out assistance with food selection/preparation at the buffet on the first day is way too much trouble. Ever since, we’ve been sit-down, MDR lunch people. We each have our favorites, and it’s a bonus that I avoid the temptation to overindulge at my first meal onboard. Plenty of opportunities for that later in the cruise.

 

[sjuncfan]

Clearly it's personal preference! I personally like the buffet but we've travelled a couple times with friends who will only do the sit down so we've gotten into that habit. the sit down always feels a little heavy to me for lunch but I do like the lower chaos level. Our last cruise was on the Wish - I had heard great things about the pool deck options so we did that and it was great.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

DW has to eat gluten free. On our first couple of cruises, we learned that seeking out assistance with food selection/preparation at the buffet on the first day is way too much trouble. Ever since, we’ve been sit-down, MDR lunch people. We each have our favorites, and it’s a bonus that I avoid the temptation to overindulge at my first meal onboard. Plenty of opportunities for that later in the cruise.

Same here! I have to eat GF and my husband has a severe food allergy. We tried out Cabanas on our first cruise (or maybe first two?) and found that it was not a good fit for our needs. We've become committed MDR lunch people on embarkation day, and I have found myself really looking forward to that menu, actually! At this point, leek and potato soup really signals the start of a cruise for me.

We don't mind taking the time for this sit-down meal, and we typically use the time at the table to get phones on the WiFi and start going over the Navigator. It's a good time to regroup after the stress of embarkation morning, make a plan for the rest of the day, and start relaxing and enjoying our family time.

 

[o&smom]

We are definitely Cabanas people! We have eaten there for all of our cruises. 3 of us cannot go without our peel and eat shrimp and crab, and the other one is a VERY picky eater. We just did our last cruise in concierge for the first time, and we really struggled with taking advantage of the special lunch or our usual start to our cruise...Cabanas won out. It just would not have felt right to not start where we always do. No regrets!