Giving up on MDR food

[paladin732]

In concierge on the Wish, I believe there is a small menu where you can order hot foods on demand (as in, you ask and they cook it for you, not sitting out waiting to be grabbed). It's still not a full meal, but it is a bit more than the snacks and light bites in concierge on the other ships.

They do. They are also surprisingly tasty!

 

[brentm77]

We're going on the Wonder from Sydney on 24 days. My wife was diagnosed as coeliac since or last cruise so this'll be out first cruise experience with dietary needs. We've not heard good things so far about DCLs handling of special dietary requirements on the Aussie cruises. Let's hope our experience is better now that they've had a few months here in Australia.

That's highly unusual for DCL. It's usually something they do very well. I was very impressed with how they handled dietary restrictions for a family member. Hopefully it will be better when you sail.

 

[Dug720]

This is my #1 complaint about DCL. They should most definitely open Cabanas back up for dinner. We ate at the buffet on our Regal Princess British Isles cruise many nights this past Summer and it was so easy to just eat when you wanted (especially when you may be on land until late at night on a port intensive cruise). Princess even had a different theme in there every night.

Cabanas was NEVER a buffet at night. It was a seated, order from a menu (IME made up of the grossest things on the MDR menus), and be served. DCL has never (other than the Pirate Night feeding frenzy) had a dinner buffet. (And come to think of it, the chaos and waste machine that was the Pirate Night feeding frenzy - combined with the waste at breakfast and lunch - may well be why an evening buffet has never been seriously considered. Plus the crew that staffs Cabanas during the day is largely made up of MDR servers, so there wouldn't be people to staff it without taking away service from the MDR.)

 

[Dug720]

That's highly unusual for DCL. It's usually something they do very well. I was very impressed with how they handled dietary restrictions for a family member. Hopefully it will be better when you sail.

Agreed. I have to wonder if there were early provisioning issues OR if a lot more people were claiming allergies/food issues than had reported them in advance.

I've been on a cruise (not DCL, but the way provisioning works is pretty standard across lines) where about halfway through they started running out of regular gluten-free bread, buns, etc. Fortunately they were able to restock while we were in Venice as that line had some cruises leaving from Venice. My server, the night he asked if I wanted cinnamon-raisin bread with my dinner or just skip bread that night, explained that they order about 10% more than the reported gluten-free cruisers, but on this particular cruise there were well over 10% over the people who reported the need ordering gluten-free.

So if a lot of people just go in assuming that everything will be ok (especially on Disney which has such a good reputation for handling dietary allergies/needs), there is a good chance that they can run out. Better to report it and have it recorded so they have more accurate figures.

 

[tidefan]

Cabanas was NEVER a buffet at night. It was a seated, order from a menu (IME made up of the grossest things on the MDR menus), and be served. DCL has never (other than the Pirate Night feeding frenzy) had a dinner buffet. (And come to think of it, the chaos and waste machine that was the Pirate Night feeding frenzy - combined with the waste at breakfast and lunch - may well be why an evening buffet has never been seriously considered. Plus the crew that staffs Cabanas during the day is largely made up of MDR servers, so there wouldn't be people to staff it without taking away service from the MDR.)

Never said Cabanas had a buffet. I said they should open back up for Dinner. I said that Regal Princess had a great buffet.

That being said, pre-COVID, we went to Cabanas for Dinner at least once or twice a cruise. We both (DW and I) have 25+ cruises, and quite honestly, you get a bit tired of the menu (especially Pirate night). Cabanas was great because we could always get a cooked to order steak, which we appreciated. As to the staffing issues, if EVERY. SINGLE. OTHER. LINE. can manage to staff their buffet in the evening, I am not sure why DCL, who charges much more than these lines, could not do that also.

And many times it's not really because you don't like your waitstaff or something like that. For those that have done something like a British Isles cruise or a Mediterranean cruise that is port intensive (with some departure times not being until 8:00pm), it is a nice option to stay in port later and then to be able to get back onto the ship and have a different option for dinner that is not Pizza or Room Service...

 

[Dug720]

As to the staffing issues, if EVERY. SINGLE. OTHER. LINE. can manage to staff their buffet in the evening, I am not sure why DCL, who charges much more than these lines, could not do that also.

It's also about housing them. DCL has a much higher number of Activity Staff - including Nursery/Club/Lab/Edge/Vibe plus all the other entertainment - than other lines.

So their choices would be cut back on Activity Staff - which would mean reducing the activities including Club/Lab/Edge/Vibe hours like other lines have limited hours and/or require reservations.

OR increase the number of tables a MDR team has, and already there are tables that are super high maintenance that require the primary server to deal with them while the assistant serves the other tables.

With either of those there would be complaints also. Probably louder than the want to stay in port later crowd. If I wanted to stay in port later and on board wasn't until 8 or later, I'd eat in port rather than back on the ship - which is probably what they figure most people taking that option will do.

 

[tidefan]

It's also about housing them. DCL has a much higher number of Activity Staff - including Nursery/Club/Lab/Edge/Vibe plus all the other entertainment - than other lines.

So their choices would be cut back on Activity Staff - which would mean reducing the activities including Club/Lab/Edge/Vibe hours like other lines have limited hours and/or require reservations.

OR increase the number of tables a MDR team has, and already there are tables that are super high maintenance that require the primary server to deal with them while the assistant serves the other tables.

With either of those there would be complaints also. Probably louder than the want to stay in port later crowd. If I wanted to stay in port later and on board wasn't until 8 or later, I'd eat in port rather than back on the ship - which is probably what they figure most people taking that option will do.

I don't buy this at all. They could just add more staff. It's not a zero-sum game. Also, if this were the case, how in the world did they manage to do it pre-COVID?

 

[Dug720]

I don't buy this at all. They could just add more staff. It's not a zero-sum game. Also, if this were the case, how in the world did they manage to do it pre-COVID?

And where would they house them? They can't just add crew berths willy-nilly.

Before they were servers in training. Now they've gone to getting used to ship life in the buffet and other food spaces and they work their way up there to be MDR servers.

 

[DisneyBill]

Hah. We were late dining table 122 before we moved.
Interesting we had such different experiences with the same server team

Perhaps we unknowingly wore them out?

 

[greeneyedchick]

It's also about housing them. DCL has a much higher number of Activity Staff - including Nursery/Club/Lab/Edge/Vibe plus all the other entertainment - than other lines.

So their choices would be cut back on Activity Staff - which would mean reducing the activities including Club/Lab/Edge/Vibe hours like other lines have limited hours and/or require reservations.

OR increase the number of tables a MDR team has, and already there are tables that are super high maintenance that require the primary server to deal with them while the assistant serves the other tables.

With either of those there would be complaints also. Probably louder than the want to stay in port later crowd. If I wanted to stay in port later and on board wasn't until 8 or later, I'd eat in port rather than back on the ship - which is probably what they figure most people taking that option will do.

But didn't Disney have staff for dinner at Cabana's before COVID? That would imply that they did have room to house the extra staff needed for this.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

In concierge on the Wish, I believe there is a small menu where you can order hot foods on demand (as in, you ask and they cook it for you, not sitting out waiting to be grabbed). It's still not a full meal, but it is a bit more than the snacks and light bites in concierge on the other ships.

The little "hot" menu on the Wish in concierge is very good. I am not a large eater at every meal, so that offering, in the morning, with a plate of fruit was my breakfast. I am a really fussy foodie. I thought the food on the Wish was particularly good, although the dinning rooms were very noisy. The other ships-it depends on what you order. I steer clear of some of the offerings because I know I am picky. But I can always manage to find something to enjoy whether apps and a salad, lighter offerings or choosing from the menu. Keeping in mind there are thousands of people being served and prepared for, I usually enjoy my meal. Just happy not to be cooking and cleaning up for the time I am on vacation.

 

[SeattleSuz]

When we sailed the Wish, we thought the food in the MDR was decent. Not amazing, but perfectly serviceable. The service was fantastic, to make up for it, however.

On the Fantasy cruise we are on: we are finding the food in the main dining room to be terrible; combined with an absolutely terrible server. It’s not unusual for him to take 15 minutes to even come to our table once we sit down. (MDR lunch has been slow also. Today it took our server 25 minutes to greet us. The table next to us looked ready to explode they were so angry)

On the flip side, dinner at both Palo and Remy were wonderful. Absolutely top notch service and great food.

Has anyone given up on MDR food halfway through their cruise and just said “screw it” and tried to swing Palo or similar for the rest of the nights? We are wondering how crazy we would be for doing this…

On our first cruise, our servers were awful. It was frustrating as heck. I chalked it up to just a bad cruise and left it at that. I am hoping that our next cruise has better service. I do have to say that even back then, they were great about trying to at least help my husband with his gluten intolerance, so that was a huge plus. Fingers crossed that it's better in April

 

[scoobysgirl]

When we sailed the Wish, we thought the food in the MDR was decent. Not amazing, but perfectly serviceable. The service was fantastic, to make up for it, however.

On the Fantasy cruise we are on: we are finding the food in the main dining room to be terrible; combined with an absolutely terrible server. It’s not unusual for him to take 15 minutes to even come to our table once we sit down. (MDR lunch has been slow also. Today it took our server 25 minutes to greet us. The table next to us looked ready to explode they were so angry)

On the flip side, dinner at both Palo and Remy were wonderful. Absolutely top notch service and great food.

Has anyone given up on MDR food halfway through their cruise and just said “screw it” and tried to swing Palo or similar for the rest of the nights? We are wondering how crazy we would be for doing this…

 

[scoobysgirl]

We went on a B2B in November on the Wish and the food was amazing. I loved Marceline Market, 1923 was good and I surprisingly liked Marvel. Didn't care so much for Arendelle, honestly, and we were scheduled there more than once and we went elsewhere. Palo brunch and dinner was amazing...can't say enough about. Service spectacular. We're going again next year and I can't wait.

 

[scoobysgirl]

No one goes on DCL for the food...mediocre at best. And the incredibly tight restaurants on the Wish make the experience worse. Palo has the luxury of providing made to order food.

Excuse me? I would never, ever say mediocre, EVER. The Wish was amazing. I loved the food at the Marceline Market...it wasn't tight at all...always able to find seating, never waited for someone to dish up the food. Never mediocre. Don't know what planet you sailed on. The MDR's, actually, were quite good. Didn't care so much for Arendelle, but that was because it was so loud and busy that it made me a bit uncomfortable. I can't say enough good things about the Wish. The cast members all were very helpful and gracious, our servers were fantastic. We're going back next year. And, yeah, we do go partly for the food. My family are foodies and they really enjoyed everything about the food on the Wish. Just had a marvelous time.

 

[Lesverts]

My biggest complaint with cruise line food is the amount of vegetable you are served. I would like more then 2 florets of broccoli please. I was on the Wonder. I was nervous about the food, but it was almost universally good. Service was good. Didn't get the 'excellence' speech. Service was not super duper fantastic but I thought the 2 gentleman did very good considering they did between the 2 of them what I am use to 4 people doing on Celebrity (Waiter, Assistant, Sommelier and Drink Server being separate positions on Celebrity in MDR)

 

[meremac]

My biggest complaint with cruise line food is the amount of vegetable you are served.

They will bring you more on a side plate if you ask.

 

[Halfbrit]

Agreed. I have to wonder if there were early provisioning issues OR if a lot more people were claiming allergies/food issues than had reported them in advance.

I've been on a cruise (not DCL, but the way provisioning works is pretty standard across lines) where about halfway through they started running out of regular gluten-free bread, buns, etc. Fortunately they were able to restock while we were in Venice as that line had some cruises leaving from Venice. My server, the night he asked if I wanted cinnamon-raisin bread with my dinner or just skip bread that night, explained that they order about 10% more than the reported gluten-free cruisers, but on this particular cruise there were well over 10% over the people who reported the need ordering gluten-free.

So if a lot of people just go in assuming that everything will be ok (especially on Disney which has such a good reputation for handling dietary allergies/needs), there is a good chance that they can run out. Better to report it and have it recorded so they have more accurate figures.

My understanding from the thread on the Aussie cruises is that it was a provisioning issue. Apparently the food regulations in Australia are more stringent than the US and that caught DCL off guard. They should have sorted it out by now.

Interesting and risky that people with food allergies choose to sail without having informed the cruise line of the allergies first.

 

[Dug720]

Interesting and risky that people with food allergies choose to sail without having informed the cruise line of the allergies first.

I agree. I guess people figured that gluten-free is more common between celiacs, people with gluten/wheat allergies (my thing), and people who do it because they think it reduces belly fat so they shouldn't have to notify. I'd rather take the little bit of time to let them know so they can be adequately prepared!

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

We have gone on multiple cruises where we never went to the MDR at all. DH says the food is bad and usually not the right temperature and it takes so long. I really don’t care what we eat usually. So we eat at the pool deck, Palo, order room service.