The food is just so-so

[Pidge]

I appreciate everyone writing about their experiences on DCL, we can't wait for our trip! Lately I keep reading opinions about the food onboard being just okay (with the exception of Palo). Has it always been this way or is this new? I wonder why Disney doesn't or can't improve on the food?

 

[mmouse37]

It really amazes me when people say the food is just so-so...I have sailed 11 times on DCL and we were on the very first cruise DCL every had.... I think the food is great....come on...they are preparing thousands of meals a day.

I am not sure what everyone is eating at home that they find the food so-so....but all I know is that if I am not shopping for it, cooking it, cleaning it up.....it is fantastic!!!

But really....the food in the dining rooms and at the buffets is fine....I disagree with anyone that compares it to Rustler Steak House or Red Lobster.

MJ

 

[ldb1030]

We LOVED the food! Or maybe it was just that someone else was preparing it and serving me!!!
Have a few pounds to show for it also!! :

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

Food is such a subjective thing, it's really hard to say. I think the food is fine. It's better on other lines (and worse on others), but it's certainly not horrible. I'd rank it between good and very good (Palo being excellent).

I think people bag on the food for two reasons. Probably mostly because their expectations are so high that there's no way they can be met, and the food becomes a comparitive letdown. The second reason is that it seems to be an easy target. If you look on the CruiseCritic.com website, you'll see people complaining about the food on every line, even the high-end lines like Seaborne, Crystal, and Radisson.

I think it's worth keeping in mind that the main dining rooms serve some 2500 meals a night. It's not like it's a five-star restaurant where they might serve 200-300 (I actually have no idea how many meals these restaurants serve, but I'm confident that it is substantially less than 2500). It seems to me people get in the mindset of the fancy restaurant because of the atmosphere and decor on board, and as a result are a bit disappointed in the food. If you were served the same meal at your local TGI Fridays, you'd probably think it was outstanding.

Anyway, that's my two cents. I think if you go in with unrealistic expectations or if you go in expecting to be disappointed, it's likely that you will be.

 

[westjones]

The DH of my friend that sailed with us talks NONSTOP about the food on the cruise. He was in heaven!

We enjoyed the food very much, but DH and I are vegetarians and there are many things we can not eat (BUT DCL does a great job of providing at least 2 options at every meal for vegetarians--I have to say that Disney in general is one of the greatest in the entertainment industry for providing for people on special diets).

My friend told her husband that she was thinking of asking her sister to go with her on a cruise at Christmas break (her DH can't take off at Christmas). Her DH said, "WHAT! You get to eat all that great food while I am home with microwave dinners!!!!" I guess she isn't going to go now .

So to MANY people, the food is great! OH! And if you don't like something, ask them to bring you something else. They will do that. There are dishes we like better than others, and there are some that we simply LOVE!

DJ

 

[dharma517]

and some items to be average. Some people on this board rave over the food and so I went with very high expectations. It wasn't as good as I built it up in my mind to be overall. Too me when I experience the food it has nothing to do with how many meals they have to serve or where I am eating it...it is either excellent or not. Whether they serve 10 meals or 1000 meals..that doesn't change how it tastes to me. When someone says "you have to consider they are serving XYZ amount of meals"...that is sending me a message right there. You won't be disappointed by the meals I dont think but I don't think you are going to fall out of your chair in ectasy either. Palo dinner was my favorite meal.
Jenn

 

[sjreed]

I'm not cooking it, I'm not cleaning up the dishes after....it CAN'T get any better than that!!!!

 

[Jimbo]

Anybody want to take a stab at equating DCL food to some other restaurant? Maybe "it's as good as California Grille" or "it's as good as Flying Fish Cafe" (I hope) or "it's as good as Chef Mickey's" (oh no!).

Anyway, what other restaurants that we all know has food comparable to DCL?

 

[ma2patrick]

I could be wrong, but perhaps some of the more recent comments about the food being so-so has something to do with the hurricanes? I would imagine that without the ability to get food from their normal suppliers their food quality might not be what it normally is.

At least that's what I'm gathering from what I've read.

I would think that is not usually the case, however.

 

[cruisenewbie2004]

Originally posted by dharma517
When someone says "you have to consider they are serving XYZ amount of meals"...that is sending me a message right there. Jenn

Absolutely! When someone says "they serve 1000 meals a day," this sounds warning bells for the quality. What I hear is: it will be your typical bulk prepared, somewhat bland, standard fare, like a wedding dinner, with perhaps some nice touches.

I don't expect to gush over it. I'm expecting it to be about on par with the local big name chain restaurant (Olive Garden, TGIF, Red Lobster). Just because I don't make the food or clean it up doesn't mean I'm going to say it is fantastic. I seriously doubt it will be "fantastic." I don't think it will be terrible, though.

 

[erikthewise]

I think a lot of the people saying the food is "just so-so" are comparing it to their poshest restaurants back home.

It's been almost 3 years for me (another very soon!) but I recall meals that were considerably better than one would expect from a "prepared in bulk" description. Definitely better than national chain family restaurants. But only Palo is exceptional.

Don't forget they are not only serving a lot of people, they are serving a lot of different tastes. A significant fraction of guests are NOT looking for posh, sophisticated dining. That's why they have the "simple" entrees on the menu.

For what it's worth, cruisecritic.com gives a 3/5 dining rating to the Magic and 4/5 to the Wonder, but the description for the Magic is very complimentary and would seem to justify a 4/5 as well.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

We've cruised twice on the Disney Magic -- Spring 2002 and Spring 2004. The dinner quality improved from our first Disney cruise to our second.

I've followed this board for years. It's interesting why various people are disappointed by the food. Some folks think the dinner choices are too fancy, and are put off by the "wierd" menu items. But other people think the dinner menu lacks the originalty and distinctive tastes of great restaurants. DCL tries to keep things in the middle. Seasonings are used sparingly, and nothing that I ate was the least bit spicey -- not even supposed Mexican food. In other words, DCL tries to keep the food inoffensive.

I enjoyed our dinners. Yes, I would have enjoyed a little more daring in seasonings and taste combinations, but the food was made from good ingredients, properly cooked, nicely presented, and served hot. The dinners are much better than typical banquet food. You won't get warmed-up frozen chicken Kiev. You will get "middle ground" dinners from high volume kitchens, made from ingredients that were loaded on at the beginning of the week.

I thought the breakfasts were very ordinary. If you like eggs with McDonald's style hash browns and thin Denny's style thin bacon, you'll be happy. But if you like creative breakfast dishes, you'll be disappointed.

I had one table service lunch at Lumiere's on our first cruise. What a disappointment! The shrimp cocktail appetizer was made with little salad shrimp, like the old 50 cent shrimp cocktails in Las Vegas. The sandwich was tiny. And dessert was disappointing. I never tried another table service lunch on either cruise after that experience. I hope things have improved.

 

["Ginger"]

I honestly think it's a hit or miss thing. I remember our sailing 2 years ago it was a big miss, the food was below DCL standards. But last year it was great again. And Palo just keeps getting better.

 

[crisi]

Disney does an excellent job serving 2500 people a night in four restaurants.

I have been to a very few several hundred people events (banquet food) where the food is better. But I've been to plenty where it is far worse! And the food is certainly better (IMHO) than all the "chain" restaurants I can think of.

But there is no way they can make the food as good as the sixty seat $100 a plate restaurants we "splurge" on at home - its simply impractical.

Go with reasonable expectations. If you regularly dine in New York City or San Francisco's finest dining establishments, with the expectation that the food will be of similar quality, you will be disappointed. If you regularly dine at Olive Garden with the expectation that the food will be similar quality, you'll probably be very pleasantly surprised.

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Originally posted by Jimbo
Anybody want to take a stab at equating DCL food to some other restaurant? Maybe "it's as good as California Grille" or "it's as good as Flying Fish Cafe" (I hope) or "it's as good as Chef Mickey's" (oh no!).

Definitely not as good as California Grille. I would put most meals on par with the Crystal Palace Restaurant at MK -- we like it, we go back there, but it's not our first choice.

Some things were excellent -- their filet mignon was outstanding, for example -- and some things were typical family restauranttype of fare. I thought their salads were uninspired and most of their foods were really bland. And we have not been particularly impressed with our waiters or asst. waiters on either DCL cruise, but I know we are in the minority.

 

[cruisenewbie2004]

Originally posted by crisi
Go with reasonable expectations. If you regularly dine in New York City or San Francisco's finest dining establishments, with the expectation that the food will be of similar quality, you will be disappointed. If you regularly dine at Olive Garden with the expectation that the food will be similar quality, you'll probably be very pleasantly surprised.

Agreed. If you go expecting "Charlie Trotters" afloat, you will be disappointed. If I get the Olive Garden I'll be happy!

 

[travellady]

Between soccer practice, PTA, work schedule, etc., our weekday meals mostly consist of tacos, spaghetti, tuna sandwiches, grilled cheese and soup. You get the picture. I suspect we'll get far better fare on our Dec 15 Wonder cruise. On the Voyager of the Seas this summer, we heard a few complaints about the food but I thought it was pretty darned good. OK, not up to par with some of the 5 star restaurants we visit on special anniversaries, but very tasty and there was a wide variety of choices.

I suspect I'll pack on a few pounds and enjoy every minute of it.

 

[tecdavidt]

Cruise ship food is, well, cruise ship food. Think about the quanities they make at once and you get the picture. You will not go hungry but don't expect a gourmet restaurant quality. We do not cruise for the food, if you want gourmet food go to a gourmet restaurant close to your home. A cruise is much more than food. If you are a food snob--a cruise is not for you. We have cruised Celebrity lines which is suppose to have the most fantastic cruise food. It was cruise food. My attitude is this, if I do not have to cook it the food is good. We have been on Celebrity, Princess, DCL and Carnival. Of those lines Carnival had the best food but the overall cruise experience is not as nice as the other three lines. Hope this helps. Kathy

 

[JonJehrio]

Well, I'll throw in my 2 cents. I have worked in the food and bev industry for about 18 years. I started out cooking, and for the last 13 years have worked as a server at the Hershey Country Club. I can say that we try very hard to give our members and guests a great product. I have had people rave about something cheap, and complain about a $50.00 meal that our chef personaly worked on for hours.
Being in the industry, (my wife does the same thing at a 4 Star Historic Hotel), so you can imagine when we go out to eat, we scrutinize everything. Not in a bad way, it's just we notice everything.
We both have been on the Disney Magic 3 times and have found the food and service excellant. Disney tries very hard to give it's guests a great product. Palo's of course is one of the best places we have ever eaten, both food-wise and service-wise. The regular rotation dining we think is excellant as well. The servers are very attentive, food is great, (Prime Rib on the last night was the best I have ever had), and the atmosphere and minor details are great as well. I am sure if you spent a week on any cruise ship, anybody could find a little something to complain about. Alot is about expectation. If you want to, you will have a wonderful experience dining on your cruise. And remember, if you ever have a problem with any meal or any part of your meal, let your server know. They will take care of you.

 

[pppiglet]

My friend just got off a Celebrity cruise and she said they had enchiladas the seemed like they were filled with Cheez Whiz! We both said "yuck" , but my DS (20) said "that sounds good!".
So to each his own! We all have different tastes. As long as it's hot I will like it! Can't stand cold food.