Dining on Disney Cruise Line

Dining on Disney Cruise Line is amazing.  One thing I personally loved about dining on the Disney Dream was that it gave us the perfect opportunity to try something new.  For example, the likelihood of me trying escargots here at home is about zilch.   Put it in front of me on a Disney cruise ship, and I may take a bite….and kind of like it but not enough to eat the whole serving.  But, I tried it, right?  That, and many other aspects of dining on Disney Cruise Line, made our daily meals a huge highlight of our trip.  That’s why I am sharing my favorite tips for Dining on Disney Cruise Line with you today!

Tip #1:  Dining on Disney Cruise Line is rotational.  That means  you change your main dining room location every night, instead of eating in the same one night after night.  Love this!! First, it gives you a different atmosphere and theme for your dinner.  Second, the menu at each location is completely unique.  The even cooler aspect….your servers follow you from location to location. So they really get to know you and your family during your cruise.

Tip #2:  The Pirate Night menu is unique just to Pirate Night.  If you are on a 4-night sailing, and you have dinner at Enchanted Garden on Pirate Night, you will also eat there on another night to assure you get their “regular” menu.  Plus, on Pirate Night, they put up a special Pirate Buffet at Cabanas for you to enjoy during the fireworks and Pirate Deck Party.  You’ll definitely want to wear some pirate themed clothes to your Pirate Night meal.  The servers are totally into it as well, and you get special bandanas and pirate hats to wear.

Tip #3:  Disney Cruise Line has two seating times.  This isn’t really unique to DCL….all cruise lines have a main and late seating for dinner.  If you have the early seating, which is 5:45 PM for dinner, you then see the live show at 8:15 that evening.  And then vice versa if you have second seating for dinner.  If you have young children, and you have late dinner seating, don’t fret.  The children are served first, and then the counselors from the Oceaneer’s Club will come and get them so you can finish your dinner at a more relaxed pace and the kids can eat before going off to play.

Tip #4:  Room Service is available 24 hours.  The menu is slightly limited.  However, there are plenty of items on there to order for a snack, a light meal, or even Mickey Ice Cream Bars.

Tip #5:  Eat as much or as little as you like.  I was pleasantly surprised with the portions on our Disney Cruise.  I did not feel as if I was looking at a HUGE plate of food, yet the portions were sufficient.  I loved walking away from a meal feeling satisfied, but not like I was leaving a lot of food waste behind.  Plus, you can ask to try an item from the menu.   If you don’t care for it, then simply ask for something else, and it’s okay.  You can also ask the servers to package your leftovers to take back to your room for later.

Tip #6:  You can eat lunch as soon as you board the ship.  Cabanas {on the Dream, Fantasy, and Magic}  was open when we boarded.  So we got some ticket for some special events, dropped our carry ons in our room, and headed to lunch.  I LOVE that you can eat while the ship is docked, and enjoy a good meal before the Sail Away Party.

Tip #7:  One Main Dining Room is open for lunch everyday.  We opted to eat at Cabanas everyday for breakfast and lunch.  But, one of the main dining rooms is open for a limited time during lunch. They typically have a buffet in there as well. But, it is a bit quieter and they wait on you.

Tip #8:  You can view the menus before going to dinner.  This is where the Disney Cruise Line Navigator App came in handy for us!  We loved checking the menu for each evening. Also, if the kids’ menu wasn’t super exciting for our youngest, we asked right away after being seated for a cheese pizza or chicken nuggets.  They called down to Cabanas and had one sent up for her.

I absolutely loved the personalized, incredible service from Frank and Andi on our first Disney Cruise.  Even now, our kids comment every once in awhile about making a Mickey head out of ketchup for our daughter like Frank or Andi did.

The dining experiences on Disney Cruise Line are fantastic!