Disney needs rethink their buffet

[brentm77]

I would even take better pool-side food as a dinner option (the Wish, excluded from what I hear). We have reached the place where we want an alternative to the MDR some nights, but the pool side food is pretty bad on most cruises. If they upgraded it to better options, with efficient service, that would be enough for us, although we would prefer a buffet like other lines. I get it though, it raises big food waste issues not knowing where people will show up for dinner.

Someone above mentioned the rotating servers. I have always liked that DCL does this, but I am curious to experience new servers each night on other lines. The rotating servers can be great if you get the right ones, but not so great if you are stuck with sub-par team for a week. It can also be a little tiring if you get super social servers, depending on whether you are in the mood for it, or if you have had a long day and just want to chat with the family and eat. The really good ones have been good at gauging the right times to be social. It such a hard job- serving, entertaining, and reading the needs of multiple groups of customers twice a night.

 

[Kwami]

They were not automatic in 2018, I dont think. Seems like that is a newer add on.

They certainly were.

 

[TRTRguy]

They were not automatic in 2018, I dont think. Seems like that is a newer add on.

I cruised first time in September 2018 and gratuities were automatic, and from what I had read had been that way for quite some years.

 

[Chirple]

Never say never. We have eaten dinner in Cabanas at least twice with a buffet. I think the last time for us was in 2018 during our Bermuda cruise.

 

[lanejudy]

They were not automatic in 2018, I dont think. Seems like that is a newer add on.

I think it was 2012 when they went auto. Wow, time flies!

 

[Karin1984]

As long as the majority of the guests doesn't speak up about wanting to have a buffet option for dinner, it won't happen. If they do not speak about flexible dining times, against rotational dining etc. Disney will keep it the way it is for sure, because then it works for the majority of their guests.

Yes, there will be people who prefer other lines over Disney because other lines have more or more flexible dining options, but probably not enough for Disney to change their ways.

I personally think they should be more flexible, because that's basically the buzz-word in every industry nowadays about what customers want.

 

[holula]

I think it was 2012 when they went auto. Wow, time flies!

They’ve definitely been auto as long as I’ve been sailing, which was May 2012.

I don’t think DCL needs a buffet for dinner most days. I think it should be an option on those long European (and Alaskan) port days when you don’t necessarily want a full sit down meal after an 8-10 hour excursion.

 

[gatorlisa]

Not sure everyone knows Cabanas is an option at that final day.

That would be us. We did not know we could go to Cabanas. We thought that we HAD to go to the main dining room. Given we had early dinner, thus the early breakfast for disembarkation day, breakfast was so early and then we had to sit around for another probably close to 2 hours before we could actually get off. But we learned while waiting that Cabanas was open for business, so now we will know for next time.

The only cruise that I have done is an Alaskan one, with another one planned for next year. We are from the southeast and are used to eating dinner early at home, so wanted the early dinner seating on board, but there were one or two nights where that was a challenge based on our port activities. One night we missed our dinner time entirely. It would have been nice to have had an option to be able to sit and order from the main dining room offerings on a less rigid schedule, so the idea of Cabanas offering this sounds nice. I'd actually prefer that over it being a buffet. We were fine making do with the pool deck food for the one night we missed though.

 

[o&smom]

As long as the majority of the guests doesn't speak up about wanting to have a buffet option for dinner, it won't happen. If they do not speak about flexible dining times, against rotational dining etc. Disney will keep it the way it is for sure, because then it works for the majority of their guests.

Yes, there will be people who prefer other lines over Disney because other lines have more or more flexible dining options, but probably not enough for Disney to change their ways.

I personally think they should be more flexible, because that's basically the buzz-word in every industry nowadays about what customers want.

We continue to write about Cabanas on our survey at the end of every cruise.

 

[Kwami]

That would be us. We did not know we could go to Cabanas. We thought that we HAD to go to the main dining room. Given we had early dinner, thus the early breakfast for disembarkation day, breakfast was so early and then we had to sit around for another probably close to 2 hours before we could actually get off. But we learned while waiting that Cabanas was open for business, so now we will know for next time.

The only cruise that I have done is an Alaskan one, with another one planned for next year. We are from the southeast and are used to eating dinner early at home, so wanted the early dinner seating on board, but there were one or two nights where that was a challenge based on our port activities. One night we missed our dinner time entirely. It would have been nice to have had an option to be able to sit and order from the main dining room offerings on a less rigid schedule, so the idea of Cabanas offering this sounds nice. I'd actually prefer that over it being a buffet. We were fine making do with the pool deck food for the one night we missed though.

Next time, contact guest services and see if they can accommodate you at the second dinner seating. Sometimes, they can.

 

[CastawayCayLover]

Well, the gratuities are automatic. Some guests add extra cash to the envelopes, but I don't think that many guests would skip the automatic gratuities if they missed the last night of dinner. More likely, the crew that would be working Cabanas had other tasks to prepare for the next cruise.

They weren’t in 2002 when I took my first cruise on DCL so people skipping out on tips was an issue then, I believe auto gratuities started around the time Dream came on line.

 

[Pens Fan]

I do remember hearing reports of DCL offering a dinner buffet on some of the European cruises with really long port days as a lot of people couldn't make it back to the ship in time for the early seating. But that was a long time ago I believe.

The inflexibility of the dining on DCL is why we took a break for awhile (last one was 2016) and started sailing on NCL which we've loved. We are giving DCL another try next year for the transatlantic and just booked the Treasure as well, so we'll see how it goes. But I am a bit concerned about 13 nights of sit down table service on the TA. That's a lot and I don't see us actually making it every night. Sometimes we just don't feel like sitting through a long drawn out dinner and having to be "on" if you know what I mean. Some nights we just want to go grab something quick off a buffet and be done with it. I realize there is room service but it's very limited - not much to choose from there and the pool deck food has never been good (except for the chicken fingers ).

 

[tidefan]

We continue to write about Cabanas on our survey at the end of every cruise.

We do too. We really miss Cabanas service at night, especially on 7 night or longer cruises.

Sometimes you just don't want to go have a 2 hour sit down dinner...

 

[o&smom]

The funny thing is we actually never did it, but planned to. We meant to try it on our last couple of cruises, but did not for various reasons. I feel the need more since we have seen this show dinners so many times, and look forward to a quieter meal sometimes.

 

[Heatherdbby]

imagine the food waste having cabanas open at night. Having people "supposed" to eat in the MDR and still maintaining a full buffet would cause so much to get tossed. Although with the issue of not enough space on first dining (i still dont get why there is so much hate on second seating lol) and a lot of people saying if they cant have first they wont eat, then yes I think having an option like cabanas open would be nice, or atleast create some variation in what the quick service can offer.

 

[o&smom]

imagine the food waste having cabanas open at night. Having people "supposed" to eat in the MDR and still maintaining a full buffet would cause so much to get tossed. Although with the issue of not enough space on first dining (i still dont get why there is so much hate on second seating lol) and a lot of people saying if they cant have first they wont eat, then yes I think having an option like cabanas open would be nice, or atleast create some variation in what the quick service can offer.

It was never a buffet. They served a limited menu from the main dining rooms.

 

[yowcruiser]

Actually it used to be open for dinner when we first started cruising but they haven't brought it back since Covid.

My post did not say they were not open for dinner... it said they never had buffet for dinner

 

[Karin1984]

imagine the food waste having cabanas open at night. Having people "supposed" to eat in the MDR and still maintaining a full buffet would cause so much to get tossed.

As most other cruiselines have buffet options for dinner, I am sure there is a calculation to make an estimated guess how many people are eating at each restaurant, and determine how much food is needed where.

And besides, how much food is wasted in the MDR because people order all the dishes to try and only eat half ;-)

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

One side of cabanas opens earlier than the other for breakfast and lunch. Makes sense that one side would also close earlier!

Except that it gets busier as the breakfast and lunch go on. That last hour is the busiest time and they are already shutting it down.

 

[kiford]

They were not automatic in 2018, I dont think. Seems like that is a newer add on.

Gratuities have been automatically applied to your account since our first cruise in 2000.