oybolshoi
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2004
- Messages
- 11,879
Back once more, this time to talk about food, glorious food. Our dining rotation was Animators, Parrot, Lumiere's, which we requested specifically with the REAS package because we wanted to be in Lumiere's for formal night.
I will share what I remember about each meal - I wish I'd been able to keep a copy of each menu so that I could remember exactly what we had. We were seated with one other couple - who were from Boston and were as nice as could be.
Our servers were Tibor (Hungary) and Scott (England) - Simon (England) was our head server. We enjoyed this group tremendously - Simon got into the habit of coming over to our table with riddles each evening and we had a blast answering them correctly in no time at all. He's going to need new material next year! Tibor and Scott were very attentive and lots of fun - they did a great job.
Animator's Palate (Saturday) - I tried the butternut squash soup but didn't really like it - DH finished that along with his salad. I had the cheese cannelloni and thought it was very good -you should all understand right now that I am a very picky eater (both from necessity and from habit) so for the most part you will read that my selections are somewhat bland and boring. DH, on the other hand, will eat almost anything. He had the maple glazed salmon and loved it - he never gets much salmon at home so when we're on a trip like this he eats it whenever he can. I know I didn't have dessert this night and if DH did I have no idea what it was.
The show in this restaurant was awesome - be sure to go to your first scheduled dinner at Animators because they only run the animation show on the first three nights of the cruise. It's really cool!
Parrot Cay (Sunday) - We had our character breakfast here on Sunday morning which was loads of fun. I had fruit and croissants for breakfast - yummy! DH had the standard eggs, bacon, etc... and said it was tasty.
We were back for dinner that night and you know, I don't remember much about what I had other than the fruit salad and the creme brulee cheesecake. I think I ordered a fish special, but I really don't remember - it must be all the alcohol.
DH ordered the hot crab newburg for an appetizer - I tried it and it wasn't bad - he had the mixed grill for an entree. It looked very good and he really enjoyed it. I don't know what he had for dessert.
Lumiere's (Monday - formal night) I was a pig and had the shrimp medley and the melon as an appetizer (I can't really eat salad so I try to have fruit whenever possible, and I love shrimp!!). DH had the chilled vichyssoise soup - I took a taste and it was alright - he liked it more than I did. DH had the duck for dinner and I had the beef tenderloin. Duck was very good according to the man - I thought the tenderloin was too fatty and didn't care for the sauce as much as I thought I would (that picky factor again!). I can't remember what we had for dessert, but that may be because we had an entire bottle of Moscato with dinner (and it was a fine bottle of wine, indeed, that Scott tracked down for us because it wasn't on the menu). Loved the setting for formal night - very elegant.
Palo (Tuesday) - Dinner here was the highlight of our cruise. We had Kristoff (Belgium) as our server and he was unbelievable. We were celebrating our 5th anniversary and he made us a special decorated plate as part of our dessert (on top of everything else). They bring out prosciutto and parmesan cheese with bread and olives as antipasta - other than the olives this was great! We ordered the pizza prosciutto as our first appetizer and then I followed it with the warm shrimp and asparagus salad - both were delectable! DH had a specialty salad they were offering that night - he loved it. I ordered a pasta special (cheese and spinach and noodles - yum!) and DH ordered the filet. As much as I liked what I had for my entree I kind of wished I had ordered the filet after trying some of his - it was delicious! I almost forgot - Kristoff brought us a strawberry interlude after we finished our salads. They were good but I'm not a huge fan of strawberries, so DH polished them off. For dessert - the oft' discussed chocolate souffle. This is every bit as good as people say it is. We each had one with chocolate and vanilla sauce combined - heaven in my mouth
We washed down the meal with a lovely bottle of Perrier Jouet champagne - I also had a glass of Pouilly Fouisse (almost as good as the champagne). DH had a glass of merlot, but I don't recall which vineyard it was from. Kristoff also brought us some panne cotta to cleanse our pallets (that's what the strawberries were for earlier) - I liked the panne cotta much better. It was lovely!
We left after about a three hour dining experience - you must go here! It was so relaxed and intimate - the service was exemplary, and the food was fabulous. And all I can say is please consider how much you would pay for this type of dining experience on land when leaving a gratuity because that $20 dining fee doesn't even hit the tip of the iceberg as far as I'm concerned. The experience is easily equal to a four-star restaurant - be generous folks, these people deserve it!
We also had brunch here on Monday (had Kristoff as a server) and it was quite good. Great selections of fruit, pastry, cheese, and meats. I also had some eggs benedict - very yummy! I would do brunch again, but I don't think it eclipses dinner at all. Different strokes for different folks - I prefer the more relaxed fine dining experience over the stuff yourself 'til you pop brunch. It is lovely in Palo during the day with the spectacular views.
Tried afternoon tea because I adore doing this at the Grand Floridian. It was alright - the only Palo experience that I won't bother to repeat. It was rushed and not all that great in my opinion, but I'm biased after having had the Grand Tea at the GF the week prior! Give it a try if you haven't already, but I think you'll find that brunch and dinner are far more worthy of your time.
Parrot Cay (Wednesday - Pirate Night) - I had the pearls of the caribbean (shrimp, crab, and salmon in couscous) as an appetizer - yum!! DH had the spicy vegetable gumbo. Entree was chicken for me and pork loin for DH - both were good. We tried the Rusty Anchor drink (rum, passion fruit, and cranberry juice - quite good!) and I had banana flambe for dessert - disapponment here - no flambe at the table and the dessert itself was really not very good. I don't recall what DH had for dessert.
Lumiere's (Thursday - Captain's Gala) - Starting to feel that nasty cold and food wasn't tasting very good any more. had grilled shrimp as an appetizer and tried the chilled tomato consomme - shrimp good, consomme yuck. DH had the shrimp and tried the wild mushroom soup - happy on both counts. He had the lobster for entree and loved it. I had the chicken breast - it was pretty good. Someone found out that I had just had a birthday and our serving team serenaded me and then gave me a huge strawberry mousse birthday cake - we shared it with our table mates along with the bottle of champagne from our REAS basket. Then we ordered dessert . On Tibor's advice we all got the chocolate lava cake - he said it was as good as the souffle from Palo. And you know what? He was right - it wasn't better (I don't think that's possible!) but it was equally as good.
We came back 45 minutes later for the dessert buffet which was almost too pretty to eat. None of us ate much since we had just finished dinner, but we wanted to see it firsthand. A huge selection of desserts - definitely check it out.
Animators (Friday - Best of...) - Last night on the ship - boo hoo! I felt so icky that I would have been happy with a bowl of chicken noodle soup, but I ended up ordering the chicken tenderloins, which were good, and I also had the seafood pasta. DH had the snapper and we both had baked alaska for dessert - it was ok (I've had better). We helped our table mates drink their bottle of champagne from their REAS basket this night.
Other food options - We had breakfast at Topsiders one morning. Quick - selection is pretty much what you expect - go here if you're in a hurry or if you have kids. I thought it was a little too crowded and noisy. Lunch buffet was good the one time we made it. Pluto's Dog House was good for an afternoon snack the day we got back from our Catamaran excursion in Cozumel. We had breakfast one morning in Parrot Cay - standard buffet but much nicer and more relaxed than at Topsiders.
Room service - we ordered the All Hands on Deck platter one afternoon. Very tasty snack to hold you over until dinner, especially if you have a late seating like we did.
We never ate lunch, except for Sunday, so I don't know what the service and food were like at that time. Guess we'll have to do that next time!
Final Observations - we had a wonderful week, even after I caught a cold. The cruise was everything that we've come to expect from Disney, and more. Perhaps the best thing about it is that you have so much flexibilty - you can be as busy or as relaxed as you choose to be; you can breathe Disney for the entire week or take it in small doses; and if you don't have children there are plenty of places for you to go and plenty of activities for you to take part in that don't include the little cruisers. We really thought Disney did a great job of trying to please everyone and offer a wide range of options for all. We liked it so much that we're going to try the 7-night Eastern next October.
I hope that all of you who have yet to experience the Disney cruise line have as wonderful an experience as DH and I did - I can understand why people keep going back.
Thanks again for reading - I'll be happy to answer any questions if I missed something.
Happy cruising to you all!
Brenda
I will share what I remember about each meal - I wish I'd been able to keep a copy of each menu so that I could remember exactly what we had. We were seated with one other couple - who were from Boston and were as nice as could be.
Our servers were Tibor (Hungary) and Scott (England) - Simon (England) was our head server. We enjoyed this group tremendously - Simon got into the habit of coming over to our table with riddles each evening and we had a blast answering them correctly in no time at all. He's going to need new material next year! Tibor and Scott were very attentive and lots of fun - they did a great job.
Animator's Palate (Saturday) - I tried the butternut squash soup but didn't really like it - DH finished that along with his salad. I had the cheese cannelloni and thought it was very good -you should all understand right now that I am a very picky eater (both from necessity and from habit) so for the most part you will read that my selections are somewhat bland and boring. DH, on the other hand, will eat almost anything. He had the maple glazed salmon and loved it - he never gets much salmon at home so when we're on a trip like this he eats it whenever he can. I know I didn't have dessert this night and if DH did I have no idea what it was.
The show in this restaurant was awesome - be sure to go to your first scheduled dinner at Animators because they only run the animation show on the first three nights of the cruise. It's really cool!
Parrot Cay (Sunday) - We had our character breakfast here on Sunday morning which was loads of fun. I had fruit and croissants for breakfast - yummy! DH had the standard eggs, bacon, etc... and said it was tasty.
We were back for dinner that night and you know, I don't remember much about what I had other than the fruit salad and the creme brulee cheesecake. I think I ordered a fish special, but I really don't remember - it must be all the alcohol.
DH ordered the hot crab newburg for an appetizer - I tried it and it wasn't bad - he had the mixed grill for an entree. It looked very good and he really enjoyed it. I don't know what he had for dessert.Lumiere's (Monday - formal night) I was a pig and had the shrimp medley and the melon as an appetizer (I can't really eat salad so I try to have fruit whenever possible, and I love shrimp!!). DH had the chilled vichyssoise soup - I took a taste and it was alright - he liked it more than I did. DH had the duck for dinner and I had the beef tenderloin. Duck was very good according to the man - I thought the tenderloin was too fatty and didn't care for the sauce as much as I thought I would (that picky factor again!). I can't remember what we had for dessert, but that may be because we had an entire bottle of Moscato with dinner (and it was a fine bottle of wine, indeed, that Scott tracked down for us because it wasn't on the menu). Loved the setting for formal night - very elegant.
Palo (Tuesday) - Dinner here was the highlight of our cruise. We had Kristoff (Belgium) as our server and he was unbelievable. We were celebrating our 5th anniversary and he made us a special decorated plate as part of our dessert (on top of everything else). They bring out prosciutto and parmesan cheese with bread and olives as antipasta - other than the olives this was great! We ordered the pizza prosciutto as our first appetizer and then I followed it with the warm shrimp and asparagus salad - both were delectable! DH had a specialty salad they were offering that night - he loved it. I ordered a pasta special (cheese and spinach and noodles - yum!) and DH ordered the filet. As much as I liked what I had for my entree I kind of wished I had ordered the filet after trying some of his - it was delicious! I almost forgot - Kristoff brought us a strawberry interlude after we finished our salads. They were good but I'm not a huge fan of strawberries, so DH polished them off. For dessert - the oft' discussed chocolate souffle. This is every bit as good as people say it is. We each had one with chocolate and vanilla sauce combined - heaven in my mouth
We washed down the meal with a lovely bottle of Perrier Jouet champagne - I also had a glass of Pouilly Fouisse (almost as good as the champagne). DH had a glass of merlot, but I don't recall which vineyard it was from. Kristoff also brought us some panne cotta to cleanse our pallets (that's what the strawberries were for earlier) - I liked the panne cotta much better. It was lovely!
We left after about a three hour dining experience - you must go here! It was so relaxed and intimate - the service was exemplary, and the food was fabulous. And all I can say is please consider how much you would pay for this type of dining experience on land when leaving a gratuity because that $20 dining fee doesn't even hit the tip of the iceberg as far as I'm concerned. The experience is easily equal to a four-star restaurant - be generous folks, these people deserve it!
We also had brunch here on Monday (had Kristoff as a server) and it was quite good. Great selections of fruit, pastry, cheese, and meats. I also had some eggs benedict - very yummy! I would do brunch again, but I don't think it eclipses dinner at all. Different strokes for different folks - I prefer the more relaxed fine dining experience over the stuff yourself 'til you pop brunch. It is lovely in Palo during the day with the spectacular views.
Tried afternoon tea because I adore doing this at the Grand Floridian. It was alright - the only Palo experience that I won't bother to repeat. It was rushed and not all that great in my opinion, but I'm biased after having had the Grand Tea at the GF the week prior! Give it a try if you haven't already, but I think you'll find that brunch and dinner are far more worthy of your time.
Parrot Cay (Wednesday - Pirate Night) - I had the pearls of the caribbean (shrimp, crab, and salmon in couscous) as an appetizer - yum!! DH had the spicy vegetable gumbo. Entree was chicken for me and pork loin for DH - both were good. We tried the Rusty Anchor drink (rum, passion fruit, and cranberry juice - quite good!) and I had banana flambe for dessert - disapponment here - no flambe at the table and the dessert itself was really not very good. I don't recall what DH had for dessert.
Lumiere's (Thursday - Captain's Gala) - Starting to feel that nasty cold and food wasn't tasting very good any more. had grilled shrimp as an appetizer and tried the chilled tomato consomme - shrimp good, consomme yuck. DH had the shrimp and tried the wild mushroom soup - happy on both counts. He had the lobster for entree and loved it. I had the chicken breast - it was pretty good. Someone found out that I had just had a birthday and our serving team serenaded me and then gave me a huge strawberry mousse birthday cake - we shared it with our table mates along with the bottle of champagne from our REAS basket. Then we ordered dessert
. On Tibor's advice we all got the chocolate lava cake - he said it was as good as the souffle from Palo. And you know what? He was right - it wasn't better (I don't think that's possible!) but it was equally as good.We came back 45 minutes later for the dessert buffet which was almost too pretty to eat. None of us ate much since we had just finished dinner, but we wanted to see it firsthand. A huge selection of desserts - definitely check it out.
Animators (Friday - Best of...) - Last night on the ship - boo hoo! I felt so icky that I would have been happy with a bowl of chicken noodle soup, but I ended up ordering the chicken tenderloins, which were good, and I also had the seafood pasta. DH had the snapper and we both had baked alaska for dessert - it was ok (I've had better). We helped our table mates drink their bottle of champagne from their REAS basket this night.
Other food options - We had breakfast at Topsiders one morning. Quick - selection is pretty much what you expect - go here if you're in a hurry or if you have kids. I thought it was a little too crowded and noisy. Lunch buffet was good the one time we made it. Pluto's Dog House was good for an afternoon snack the day we got back from our Catamaran excursion in Cozumel. We had breakfast one morning in Parrot Cay - standard buffet but much nicer and more relaxed than at Topsiders.
Room service - we ordered the All Hands on Deck platter one afternoon. Very tasty snack to hold you over until dinner, especially if you have a late seating like we did.
We never ate lunch, except for Sunday, so I don't know what the service and food were like at that time. Guess we'll have to do that next time!
Final Observations - we had a wonderful week, even after I caught a cold. The cruise was everything that we've come to expect from Disney, and more. Perhaps the best thing about it is that you have so much flexibilty - you can be as busy or as relaxed as you choose to be; you can breathe Disney for the entire week or take it in small doses; and if you don't have children there are plenty of places for you to go and plenty of activities for you to take part in that don't include the little cruisers. We really thought Disney did a great job of trying to please everyone and offer a wide range of options for all. We liked it so much that we're going to try the 7-night Eastern next October.
I hope that all of you who have yet to experience the Disney cruise line have as wonderful an experience as DH and I did - I can understand why people keep going back.
Thanks again for reading - I'll be happy to answer any questions if I missed something.
Happy cruising to you all!
Brenda
