First time on DCL - thoughts after the trip

[gsmith0113]

We just got back from our first DCL trip (2 adults and 3 kids). The trip, in all, was great, but there were some items that we were disappointed in:

• The food - it got better as the cruise went on, but the food was not good to start the cruise. The quality of the food was simply not there. the quick service option by the pool offered little in the way of options besides pre-made items, which would have been fine, but...
• The availability of food at the buffet - the buffet was only open certain hours during the day (until 2:15 PM), we would come back from being at the ports and only have the quick service burgers/hotdogs/chicken fingers and fries station open. On days where we were in a port, we did not get back to the boat until 2:30, so going to the buffet for a light snack prior to dinner was not an option. Burgers and hotdogs are fine once in a while, but not (what felt like) every day.
• The constant little charges - $3.50 for popcorn to go into the theater, the servers coming around with souvenir cups and showing them to the kids at the table to try to sell them to you, the drink prices on the menu at breakfast being off by $0.50 or so, etc...

We were very happy with a lot of other parts of the trip (the kids club, the cleanliness of the ship and staterooms, our server team, character interaction, etc...), so the trip was not at all negative.

As for the value of the trip, if we did not have kids, I do not think that we would go on another trip with DCL given the price premium, but with the kids we probably will.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Barbydoll8]

Food is subjective and I'm sorry you were disappointed in your options. I've always thought the quick service options were pretty fair with one side being deli and salads and the other standard burger/pizza and chicken nuggets but some people want more.
I will tell you that I believe the food and service is MUCH better on longer cruises. I've heard this from many people and from multiple lines not just DCL.

Constant little charges & upselling are on every cruise line. Almost unavoidable but if you know where they try to get you, you can easily avoid them or plan around them.
DH & I have no kids and we are getting ready to do our 6th DCL cruise this July. I will try Royal next year but a larger ship for a longer duration. I would say if you decide to cruise again, do extensive research on the ship itself. A lot can be due to the ship itself.

 

[olafLover]

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[kenthanson]

We just got home last night from our first Disney cruise and I'm split on my feelings. For the first four days my feelings were that I would not go back on a dcl again, my son wouldn't go to kids club even though he had friends from home who were on the cruise and going to kids club and the ports were meh, I understand that they got lots of hurricane damage but I wasn't impressed. But then we had Star Wars day at sea and castaway cay and I'll definitely be back for sure.

 

[Trera]

We just got home last night from our first Disney cruise and I'm split on my feelings. For the first four days my feelings were that I would not go back on a dcl again, my son wouldn't go to kids club even though he had friends from home who were on the cruise and going to kids club and the ports were meh, I understand that they got lots of hurricane damage but I wasn't impressed. But then we had Star Wars day at sea and castaway cay and I'll definitely be back for sure.

We love Castaway Cay! We love lots of other things about the cruises as well but I could lay on the beach and drink drinks all day long. We never have a bad day at Castaway Cay.

The other highlights of our trip include the Palo Brunch, adult time by Satellite Falls and watching our DD with the character/princess interactions.

 

[Sytrace]

We just got back from our first DCL trip (2 adults and 3 kids). The trip, in all, was great, but there were some items that we were disappointed in:

• The food - it got better as the cruise went on, but the food was not good to start the cruise. The quality of the food was simply not there. the quick service option by the pool offered little in the way of options besides pre-made items, which would have been fine, but...
• The availability of food at the buffet - the buffet was only open certain hours during the day (until 2:15 PM), we would come back from being at the ports and only have the quick service burgers/hotdogs/chicken fingers and fries station open. On days where we were in a port, we did not get back to the boat until 2:30, so going to the buffet for a light snack prior to dinner was not an option. Burgers and hotdogs are fine once in a while, but not (what felt like) every day.
• The constant little charges - $3.50 for popcorn to go into the theater, the servers coming around with souvenir cups and showing them to the kids at the table to try to sell them to you, the drink prices on the menu at breakfast being off by $0.50 or so, etc...

We were very happy with a lot of other parts of the trip (the kids club, the cleanliness of the ship and staterooms, our server team, character interaction, etc...), so the trip was not at all negative.

As for the value of the trip, if we did not have kids, I do not think that we would go on another trip with DCL given the price premium, but with the kids we probably will.

Just my thoughts.

What specific food items did you find to be lacking in quality?
The pizza is made fresh as they sell thru the supply...it is not pre made or frozen. The burgers and hot dogs are the exact same ones you would get at the buffet or main dining room on the kids menus as are the chicken strips. There are wraps, fresh fruit, salad bar and burger add ons as well as bagged potato chips and chocolate chip cookies available as well for a quick snack before dinner. Room service is also free (except for a dollar or two tip of course for them to bring it to you with items like mac and cheese, Uncrustables, wraps, chicken wings and many others. Only things with add on charge for RS is canned soda, bottled water, candy bars, popcorn. (Like if you bought it in the stores or outside the theater)
What drinks did you buy at breakfast? If it was a smoothie...they an additional charge of course and there is a 15% gratuity added on to those as well as to any alcoholic drinks that you would order and pay for.

Sorry your food experience was not what you had hoped for, but there are lots of options to consider if you decide to cruise again with the kids on DCL that perhaps you were not aware of.

 

[disneycruise100]

Sorry you found your food situations less than ideal... Hopefully that didn't ruin the entire cruise for you.

 

[FSU Girl]

I agree with you on the food. I didn't like anything that was offered in Cabanas and found the MDR not the best. I've never really liked cruise food, on any cruise line, which is probably a good thing for my waist. I do think Disney could step it up a bit on the food, the cruises are so expensive the food should match that.

 

[Impromark]

I'm doing my first one in the fall - looking forward to it. As a guy who travels a lot for conferences and work, I'm quite familiar with the average "hotel buffet" fare, and I'm very curious as to how DCL measures up.

Mark

 

[pezgirlroy]

I am just curious...those that have not liked the food. What have you not liked about it?

 

[kenthanson]

What specific food items did you find to be lacking in quality?
The pizza is made fresh as they sell thru the supply...it is not pre made or frozen. The burgers and hot dogs are the exact same ones you would get at the buffet or main dining room on the kids menus as are the chicken strips. There are wraps, fresh fruit, salad bar and burger add ons as well as bagged potato chips and chocolate chip cookies available as well for a quick snack before dinner. Room service is also free (except for a dollar or two tip of course for them to bring it to you with items like mac and cheese, Uncrustables, wraps, chicken wings and many others. Only things with add on charge for RS is canned soda, bottled water, candy bars, popcorn. (Like if you bought it in the stores or outside the theater)
What drinks did you buy at breakfast? If it was a smoothie...they an additional charge of course and there is a 15% gratuity added on to those as well as to any alcoholic drinks that you would order and pay for.

Sorry your food experience was not what you had hoped for, but there are lots of options to consider if you decide to cruise again with the kids on DCL that perhaps you were not aware of.

The pepperoni and plain cheese pizzas are made on a thinner crust then the other options, I'm assuming because they move more that they need them to cook faster as well as be cheaper and the thinner crust is terrible. I'm not saying all thin crust pizza is terrible, just that thin crust pizza.

 

[mevelandry]

I am just curious...those that have not liked the food. What have you not liked about it?

We felt the burgers were less good than McDonald's (Which I am not a super fan of), the pizza was bland and reminded of the frozen one I can get from the grocery store, I thought the hot dogs were not great either, the first time I ate at Animator's Palate, the beef terriyaki I had was bad quality and there was a weird aftertaste in the sauce. My husband thought his chicken was very bland. The cheese bacon potage I had tasted like KD mac'n'cheese sauce (hated it). I've had raviolis that were just so-so. The texture of the bread pudding in Tiana's place was horrible. I've had a very weird tasting filet mignon at Royal Palace and did not like their Crème Brûlée at all.

The only food I was satisfied with was the pursettes in Animator's Palate and the Chateaubriand in Triton's. Other than that, I find Palo and Remy to be much better and would chose to eat there most of the time... unfortunately they are extra on a cruise that's already expensive. :/

 

[iamporch]

We just got off the Dream this past Friday. It was our second cruise. First was on the Fantasy back in Sept when we got cut short due to hurricane so ended up being 7 nights. The quality of the food was the same for both which was fine I'm not complaining, but the variety was much better on the Fantasy. On the Fantasy they switched out the kinds of sandwiches and wraps where on the Dream they had the same every day. They also did not have the bagged chips out. They only had them in Cabanas for lunch which I was disappointing. I figured it was due to the length of the cruise but even with the 4 nights it would have been nice to see a little more variety.

 

[starvenger]

Food is subjective and I'm sorry you were disappointed in your options. I've always thought the quick service options were pretty fair with one side being deli and salads and the other standard burger/pizza and chicken nuggets but some people want more.

This is very true. Something you might hate might be something another person loves. Or the staff may just be having a bad day. Hopefully OP's experience wasn't diminished by mediocre food.

Constant little charges & upselling are on every cruise line. Almost unavoidable but if you know where they try to get you, you can easily avoid them or plan around them.

I think that avoiding the little nickel and dime things gets easier as you become more of a "veteran" cruiser. I would be curious to see how many first time cruisers get upsold versus experienced cruisers.

As for the value of the trip, if we did not have kids, I do not think that we would go on another trip with DCL given the price premium, but with the kids we probably will.

If I'm being honest, the price point is what prevents me from going back. DCL has some lovely ships, but what they offer is too similar to Royal or Princess (or Carnival? Never been) to justify the extra cost. For the cost of a DCL cruise in late August, we'll be able to go on the Allure at roughly the same time on the same itinerary, plus do a road trip to WDW/Universal with my sister-in-law and nieces earlier in the summer.

We love Castaway Cay!

Castaway Cay is pretty cool. I like it better than Royal's Labadee peninsula, not that Labadee is terrible or anything.

I didn't like anything that was offered in Cabanas and found the MDR not the best. I've never really liked cruise food, on any cruise line, which is probably a good thing for my waist.

One thing we tried to do on our last cruise was to avoid the buffet as much as possible. And granted, we were on Harmony of the Seas so there were more options available but I did find that I enjoyed myself more because we weren't getting caught in the inevitable crush of people eating breakfast or lunch there, so it was more relaxing. And it's not as if we avoided the eat-all-you-can aspect either - the MDR had a small self-serve area for those that didn't want to order from the menu and Mini-Bites also had a small hot table. But with less people around it was definitely a more relaxed experience.

I'm doing my first one in the fall - looking forward to it. As a guy who travels a lot for conferences and work, I'm quite familiar with the average "hotel buffet" fare, and I'm very curious as to how DCL measures up.

Since you're a frequent business traveler, you'll find that breakfast in Cabanas will be pretty familiar. I'll leave it to you to decide whether that's good or bad. Lunch is a bit better, more variety, but most of it is the same old, same old, with some stations changing things up daily. And this isn't just a DCL thing - Royal is about the same, with maybe a bit more South Asian/South-east Asian items if that's your thing. I would wager that other cruise lines are similar as well.

 

[RedSox68]

We just got back from our first DCL trip (2 adults and 3 kids). The trip, in all, was great, but there were some items that we were disappointed in:

• The food - it got better as the cruise went on, but the food was not good to start the cruise. The quality of the food was simply not there. the quick service option by the pool offered little in the way of options besides pre-made items, which would have been fine, but...
• The availability of food at the buffet - the buffet was only open certain hours during the day (until 2:15 PM), we would come back from being at the ports and only have the quick service burgers/hotdogs/chicken fingers and fries station open. On days where we were in a port, we did not get back to the boat until 2:30, so going to the buffet for a light snack prior to dinner was not an option. Burgers and hotdogs are fine once in a while, but not (what felt like) every day.
• The constant little charges - $3.50 for popcorn to go into the theater, the servers coming around with souvenir cups and showing them to the kids at the table to try to sell them to you, the drink prices on the menu at breakfast being off by $0.50 or so, etc...

We were very happy with a lot of other parts of the trip (the kids club, the cleanliness of the ship and staterooms, our server team, character interaction, etc...), so the trip was not at all negative.

As for the value of the trip, if we did not have kids, I do not think that we would go on another trip with DCL given the price premium, but with the kids we probably will.

Just my thoughts.

Room service is free (except for the optional tip) and open all day. When we return from ports we always get some cheese platters, fruit and sandwiches.

 

[Rabb it]

I always wish the buffet was open longer. Lunch is definitely going to be later than 2 if I'm eating dinner at 8 something

 

[Pens Fan]

Food is so subjective. We've never been overly thrilled with DCL's food, but it didn't stop us from taking 5 cruise with them. In my opinion (and it's just that), Disney does a fine job of catering to their primary audience - families with children. Our family finds the food to be on the bland side, and lacking in originality. It's pretty basic stuff (though they often try to pass it off as something special), light on the flavor.

As far as the pool deck food, pretty much the only thing we've liked were the chicken fingers, the shawarma and the fresh fruit. But then, we've made several very satisfying meals from that! As for the buffet, to me it's a typical buffet you'd see anywhere - so-so food sitting on a steam table. We aren't buffet fans (anywhere) and avoid it as much as possible except for the occasional breakfast. Though I do get the OP's point on the lack of access to it. Most cruise lines have a buffet open nearly all day long. I really don't understand why Disney doesn't. It's kind of strange, actually.

To me the MDR's are kind of hit or miss. Some things are quite good, others just ok. I can't say I've ever been "wowed" by DCL's food, but it got the job done. Probably my favorite DCL cruise, food wise, was on the Norway/Iceland trip. It's the only time we've sailed with Disney in Europe, but on this cruise they had a special regional section every night on the MDR menus offering foods from the areas we were visiting. I usually ordered from that section, and some of them were quite good. At least they were something different!

 

[mrswillson]

I couldn't agree more with your sentiments!

I've sailed Disney numerous times when I was young, however my husband and I's first cruise together was September of last year for our honeymoon, and to be honest, the negatives (and unjustifiable price considering) ruined us from sailing DCL again. The food was subpar throughout the whole cruise, I had very few options due to wheat/dairy allergies and was not accommodated as other cruisers have been (per blogs I visited beforehand to see what I would be dealing with), and the nickel and diming for basic novelties was ridiculous. What really turned me off however was the fact that our server was completely ignorant to the needs of people with allergies, and I was even served a moldy muffin at our disembarkation breakfast. (Health hazard on DCL after the price we paid? Really?)

Needless to say our next cruise will be with RCL.

 

[Lisa F]

Food is so subjective. We've never been overly thrilled with DCL's food, but it didn't stop us from taking 5 cruise with them. In my opinion (and it's just that), Disney does a fine job of catering to their primary audience - families with children. Our family finds the food to be on the bland side, and lacking in originality. It's pretty basic stuff (though they often try to pass it off as something special), light on the flavor.

As far as the pool deck food, pretty much the only thing we've liked were the chicken fingers, the shawarma and the fresh fruit. But then, we've made several very satisfying meals from that! As for the buffet, to me it's a typical buffet you'd see anywhere - so-so food sitting on a steam table. We aren't buffet fans (anywhere) and avoid it as much as possible except for the occasional breakfast. Though I do get the OP's point on the lack of access to it. Most cruise lines have a buffet open nearly all day long. I really don't understand why Disney doesn't. It's kind of strange, actually.

To me the MDR's are kind of hit or miss. Some things are quite good, others just ok. I can't say I've ever been "wowed" by DCL's food, but it got the job done. Probably my favorite DCL cruise, food wise, was on the Norway/Iceland trip. It's the only time we've sailed with Disney in Europe, but on this cruise they had a special regional section every night on the MDR menus offering foods from the areas we were visiting. I usually ordered from that section, and some of them were quite good. At least they were something different!

They have shawarma in the quick service locations?!

 

[cruiser21]

We just got back from our first DCL trip (2 adults and 3 kids). The trip, in all, was great, but there were some items that we were disappointed in:

• The food - it got better as the cruise went on, but the food was not good to start the cruise. The quality of the food was simply not there. the quick service option by the pool offered little in the way of options besides pre-made items, which would have been fine, but...
• The availability of food at the buffet - the buffet was only open certain hours during the day (until 2:15 PM), we would come back from being at the ports and only have the quick service burgers/hotdogs/chicken fingers and fries station open. On days where we were in a port, we did not get back to the boat until 2:30, so going to the buffet for a light snack prior to dinner was not an option. Burgers and hotdogs are fine once in a while, but not (what felt like) every day.
• The constant little charges - $3.50 for popcorn to go into the theater, the servers coming around with souvenir cups and showing them to the kids at the table to try to sell them to you, the drink prices on the menu at breakfast being off by $0.50 or so, etc...

We were very happy with a lot of other parts of the trip (the kids club, the cleanliness of the ship and staterooms, our server team, character interaction, etc...), so the trip was not at all negative.

As for the value of the trip, if we did not have kids, I do not think that we would go on another trip with DCL given the price premium, but with the kids we probably will.

Just my thoughts.

What ship were you on? The Magic and Wonder have more options at the pool.
The pool side food on the Dream and Fantasy is not good.
Some people say it's subjective, but if you don't like eating unhealthy hamburgers and hot dogs there's not a lot of options.