The food on the fantasy was really bland…

[MomOTwins]

The problem being - what are the "favorites"? Because I'm fairly certain that each entrée has people who like it.

Yeah, that was my thought too. If they changed the menu, people would have a flip out just like they did with the O’Hana noodle-gate last year.

Edited to add a more DCL-specific analogy… people STILL demand the grape pizza at Palo despite being off menu for years.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

The problem being - what are the "favorites"? Because I'm fairly certain that each entrée has people who like it.

Fair point. I guess I would consider the favorites to be the most commonly ordered. Maybe replace the least ordered app, soup, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert. Or just add a few items to the menus.

We tend to repeat the same cruises due to scheduling and I feel like I see the exact same menus every single time.

 

[Cheburashka]

Well I guess as a collective we have to know to just fill out the slips however now and we tip them and then some - it sucks but maybe we as the community need to do it and maybe disney will take it off their responsibilities.

No way am I throwing those hardworking servers under the bus by giving the food low ratings. Posters can argue that "nothing will change" otherwise, but the reality is that the only thing that will change if I give low marks on food is a hardworking person getting hurt.

Disney knows what it's doing. They have created a situation in which these servers feel the need to beg for excellent ratings, to protect their jobs, and by extension, their families. If a "very good" rating creates a punishment of any kind (including non-promotion), that is a system designed to create begging and pity. We didn't create this monster and neither did the servers. This is DCL's design.

As a PP indicated, this could possibly be intentional, so that DCL can have manufactured evidence that their meh MDR food is extremely pleasing to customers. Some people might not want to assist DCL with this ruse, but ask yourself, if they would create such a ruse, how motivated do you think they truly are to improve the food in response to guest feedback?

Bottom line: Ruse or not, DCL is very likely unprepared to spend the money it would take to amp up their MDR food offerings. Reflect: If they actually planned to improve food offerings in response to guest feedback, why would they blame poor food marks on the servers instead of the kitchen? The current situation indicates that they believe their food to already be within range of excellent (or excellent enough for their guests), and any guest dissatisfaction must be about service or minor details of preparation that a server can fix, not the overall slate of food offerings.

It isn't the high road to give punishing marks to servers in the name of honesty, which likely won't change the situation one bit.

Complaining to DCL directly via email and/or social media about both the rating system and lackluster food offerings is a more humane and effective method.

 

[brentm77]

Fair point. I guess I would consider the favorites to be the most commonly ordered. Maybe replace the least ordered app, soup, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert. Or just add a few items to the menus.

We tend to repeat the same cruises due to scheduling and I feel like I see the exact same menus every single time.

Something like this would be great. Every waiter seems to know a dish on most menus that most people don't like.

I personally would love to see them constantly reinventing menus, even if my favorites go. The fun of cruising is the risk-free dining, where I get to try something new, knowing I'm not "paying" for it and will have plenty of other food.

If they are scared of cutting favorites, just have one rotating special on each existing menu, that changes every few weeks, or based on local fresh ingredients, so there is always something new to try.

 

[meliscan]

I am wondering if it has something to do with cost cutting measures. My husband went on an RCL last fall and said he didn't like any of the food. It was all bland and some,to him, was inedible. We had done a RCL before and didn't find it that bad. I wondered if it was a cost cutting measure from all the lost revenue during shut down. Perhaps they are cutting corners to save money and it is affecting the taste. Just a thought.

 

[auntlynne]

I've only sailed DCL twice so far. Has anyone seen a pattern of the worst servers being more aggressive with the speech? Since I had heard about it before my first DCL cruise, I politely mentioned it early on and said I would let the server know if anything wasn't a 5 so he could fix it before I did the survey. He was grateful, never gave me the speech, and was so exceptional at his job that I never considered giving him less than a 5. The next cruise, the server mentioned it once, and I said I was aware that anything short of a 5 was considered poor by Disney and he was earning a 5 already, so he never mentioned it again. That was another case where the server would have received it regardless.

But I suspect the better servers don't need to be as aggressive. Is that true?

By the way, this isn't only a problem with DCL. Car dealerships and many call centers, like Delta, pretty much penalize anything short of perfect. I often tell the person helping me they are getting a perfect score, just to relieve the pressure (and maybe get a little extra help if I have more requests).

The servers on my September cruise were some of the best I’ve had. And no mention of the survey to me. You may be on to something…

 

[auntlynne]

How was the food on NCL? We're going on our 8th Disney cruise in 2 weeks, 4th time on the Fantasy. We have Alaska cruise booked on NCL Encore for 2023. I'm excited to try NCL and all they have to offer.

We'll be on the Encore, it doesn't have Moderna on it. My dh doesn't want to eat at the steakhouse because we have some about an hour where we live(small town). But we never go to them, so I may just book it any way and tell him the others were all full, .

I sailed AK on the Encore last September. Having something besides the routine DCL menus was really nice. (Two weeks later, I sailed the Dream and found the food better than I remembered - go figure).

On Encore, I have a very nice memory of a Hawaiian pork belly with sweet potato purée. Their scotch broth soup was one of the best soups I have had. (I agree with the idea that you can judge a chef by his soup-making skills.)

I picked a Onda and Le Bistro for my two specialty meals. I love a good filet, and considered Cagney’s, but there were so many mixed reviews. And I had filet at both the restaurants.

Onda’s filet was one of the best I have tasted in my life. (I got take-out for half, as there was so much food.). My meal was the crudo of yellowtail (a chance to try that for free; still not a fan of raw fish), Bolognese with pappardelle, filet mignon, and butterscotch bundido for dessert.

Le Bistro was okay after Onda, but not quite so good. I think it started with being seated near an exit door and a window next to the jogging track. It was such a lovely dining room. They did have some outstanding dishes, though.

I chose scallops (another give-it-a-try item), French onion soup, filet mignon, and floating island (meringue on custard - yum) and a chocolate item for dessert.

The French onion soup was the hands-down star of the show, followed by the meringue dessert. Just those two items would have been a 5-star meal.

I enjoyed dining in all three of the MDRs; the Manhattan room was beautiful at dinner. Taste and Saveur were cozy, with the space broken into smaller dining rooms; so different than the school cafeteria feeling on the Magic and Wonder.

The buffet often had green peppers cooked with other vegetables - like Brussell Sprouts. I‘m not a fan. My memory is that there was a lot of food available. (But I also sailed MSC for the first time last fall and have a hard time distinguishing which buffet food memory goes with which ship - other than the best pizza on MSC).

The buffet was nearly continuously open. If you are there between meals, watch them change the stations as people are in line. They have a team cleaning up the old food and counters, followed by stocking the next meal. It is flawless. No big gaps in service time like Cabanas.

Hope you have a great AK cruise. If going to Glacier Bay, check out the viewing on the helipad. They also bring out chowder there for the guests.

 

[Lilsia]

My daughter stopped eating off the kids menu when she was 5. She enjoys most of the fish dishes and now lamb. Her favorite, though, is the curry.
While I wouldn’t call the adult MDR food adventurous, the kids menu food is atrocious. Macaroni is gluey and bland. Fries are grainy. So icky.

I agree. That is why we love the cruise ship, because my kids could order off of the adult menu. My kids would order the prime rib, shrimp, fish, Caesar salad, lamb, etc over anything on the kid's menu. With the rare exception, kids will eat a variety of food if that is what you feed them. I think many adults just get stuck in a rut of the same stuff and are too scared to try new things. The more you try, the more you like.

 

[Lilsia]

I don't. I'm one of those who just don't like putting jalapeno peppers in every dish. Or other excessively spicy additions. You can't "just take the pepper off", as the spicy is already in the food at that point. I like basic food with minimal additional flavors.

There is spicy, as in hot, and then there are spices and herbs, as in flavor. I think most people are talking about the flavor aspect and not the spicy one. Not everyone has a cardboard bland palate. They can easily keep a couple of dishes more on the bland side and make the rest with some actual flavor. Even if you go to the poorest Countries in the world, they still add herbs and greens to their food for some flavor. I know we eat to live, but I can not eat a lot of food so the food that I do eat, I want it to actually taste good. Otherwise I would just eat a dang bowl of oatmeal and be done with it. We eat a variety of foods for the taste, not so it is all a bunch of bland stuff.

 

[Kwami]

I agree. That is why we love the cruise ship, because my kids could order off of the adult menu. My kids would order the prime rib, shrimp, fish, Caesar salad, lamb, etc over anything on the kid's menu. With the rare exception, kids will eat a variety of food if that is what you feed them. I think many adults just get stuck in a rut of the same stuff and are too scared to try new things. The more you try, the more you like.

That really depends on the kids, though. For years, my niece and nephew wouldn't eat anything but the basics. It's not that my sister and her husband didn't try. The kids just absolutely wouldn't eat anything but pizza, mac & cheese, etc. Some kids just don't want other foods.

I was kind of like that, too. I didn't start eating more interesting food until I was in college and I started traveling internationally for project work. I just didn't want to.

 

[MomOTwins]

That really depends on the kids, though. For years, my niece and nephew wouldn't eat anything but the basics. It's not that my sister and her husband didn't try. The kids just absolutely wouldn't eat anything but pizza, mac & cheese, etc. Some kids just don't want other foods.

I was kind of like that, too. I didn't start eating more interesting food until I was in college and I started traveling internationally for project work. I just didn't want to.

Yeah, there are very few parents who actively decide they only want their kids to eat a handful of things. It's not exactly convenient to make two dinners every night! I do think there is better education for parents these days about how common sensory issues are and therefore fewer parents who force their kids to eat stuff that makes them gag (or worse, I vividly remember cleaning up the projectile vomit from my kids before we met with our pediatrician about it and he explained we shouldn't force the issue as long as our kids are growing and eating vitamins). And don't tell me it is all culture and kids in other countries are just different--I grew up in a foreign country eating non-American heavily spiced food every night, but I remember many of my cousins just ate plain white rice with yoghurt or plain flatbread with cheese every single day while their parents ate our version of "regular" food (i.e., what would be considered very adventurous in the USA).

There is spicy, as in hot, and then there are spices and herbs, as in flavor. I think most people are talking about the flavor aspect and not the spicy one. Not everyone has a cardboard bland palate. They can easily keep a couple of dishes more on the bland side and make the rest with some actual flavor. Even if you go to the poorest Countries in the world, they still add herbs and greens to their food for some flavor. I know we eat to live, but I can not eat a lot of food so the food that I do eat, I want it to actually taste good. Otherwise I would just eat a dang bowl of oatmeal and be done with it. We eat a variety of foods for the taste, not so it is all a bunch of bland stuff.

PSA about the legitimacy of picky eating aside, I really just don't think that you can fairly say all of DCL's menus are just "cardboard" with no herbs and seasonings. It's true they don't change the menus often enough for frequent cruisers who like variety, and it's true that there are some menu items that overlap considerably between restaurants. But on a recent cruise, I ate garlicky escargots and horseradish salmon at Royal Palace, Tuna Tartare with wasabi sauce at Enchanted Garden (the sea bass I had there, I'll give you, was a very mild flavor), and a super flavor-packed smoked salmon tartare and sesame halloumi parcels at Animator's. Could I have instead ordered roast chicken or prime rib? Sure, but that doesn't mean the whole menu is bland stuff with no flavor.

 

[mullysisters]

I hope this is applicable to this thread. We recently had to give up salt and all high sodium foods because of a health scare. We went cold turkey. We miss salt and salty foods sometimes but we have learned to love the actual flavour of foods. All fast food and lots of restaurant dishes are loaded with salt. We previously ate many different cultural foods which we love; Indian, Thai, Mexican and other South American dishes. I'm trying to learn to cook these without pre bottled sauces(yikes-the salt) and not adding salt for "flavour".
I guess I'm trying to say that we were exposed to hyper amounts of salt in our diet until now and added more, for many people salt= flavour. Food has flavour, salt is like steroids for your taste buds. We are hoping we'll enjoy the food on the cruise and that it's not too salty.

 

[Lilsia]

I hope this is applicable to this thread. We recently had to give up salt and all high sodium foods because of a health scare. We went cold turkey. We miss salt and salty foods sometimes but we have learned to love the actual flavour of foods. All fast food and lots of restaurant dishes are loaded with salt. We previously ate many different cultural foods which we love; Indian, Thai, Mexican and other South American dishes. I'm trying to learn to cook these without pre bottled sauces(yikes-the salt) and not adding salt for "flavour".
I guess I'm trying to say that we were exposed to hyper amounts of salt in our diet until now and added more, for many people salt= flavour. Food has flavour, salt is like steroids for your taste buds. We are hoping we'll enjoy the food on the cruise and that it's not too salty.

This would be considered a food health issue and you should contact them ahead of time about your low sodium diet. They are really good with dietary restrictions and will work with you. I agree that most food has way too much salt in it.

 

[squirk]

But I suspect the better servers don't need to be as aggressive. Is that true?

By the way, this isn't only a problem with DCL. Car dealerships and many call centers, like Delta, pretty much penalize anything short of perfect. I often tell the person helping me they are getting a perfect score, just to relieve the pressure (and maybe get a little extra help if I have more requests).

Our favorite server, who we had three times, was excellent all around, but still gave the speech. After the second time, I emailed Guest Services in advance of our next cruise, requesting the server, and stating that the 5-star speech was not necessary. The third cruise, he didn't make a peep about it.

You are 100% right about it not just being Disney. I just bought a new car, and I got "the speech" from the salesperson as he handed over the keys. Just like the DCL servers, I don't know which was more irritating - the speech, or the fact that management put the employee in a position where he felt like he must give the speech.

 

[brentm77]

I really just don't think that you can fairly say all of DCL's menus are just "cardboard" with no herbs and seasonings. It's true they don't change the menus often enough for frequent cruisers who like variety, and it's true that there are some menu items that overlap considerably between restaurants. But on a recent cruise, I ate garlicky escargots and horseradish salmon at Royal Palace, Tuna Tartare with wasabi sauce at Enchanted Garden (the sea bass I had there, I'll give you, was a very mild flavor), and a super flavor-packed smoked salmon tartare and sesame halloumi parcels at Animator's. Could I have instead ordered roast chicken or prime rib? Sure, but that doesn't mean the whole menu is bland stuff with no flavor.

Interesting perspective.

I have had the escargot, and it did have a lot of garlic flavor, which was great. But (with only a sample of two DCL cruises), I still think 99% of the food was on the bland side. For example, my recollection of the wasabi sauce was that it had little "kick" like most wasabi sauce. To me, it seems like they keep things purposely low on spices and strong flavors, probably because people would rarely send food back for a lack of flavor, but those with sensitive pallets would send something back for being too strong. I also think it is based on perceptions of American's undeveloped food sensibilities, due to comments made by the servers.

Clearly, it's just a subjective opinion, so there is no right or wrong here. I cruise again in June (fingers crossed the Med cruises happen), so I will go in with an open mind and reevaluate my opinion.

 

[MsSimone]

I agree that the food on DCL gets boring fast. It's not so much that it's bad, it's just kinda heavy and same-y from night to night. I would like to see more regional cuisine and some more interesting options. Unless you pick something off the vegetarian menu, there's little difference in terms of flavors and styles from night to night. I didn't notice it as much on our first, shorter cruise. By on the 7-nighter? A week of exceptionally similar food options got very dull.

I definitely wouldn't advise DCL drop the more standard options they currently have, but it would be nice to have one more adventurous item per night.

 

[AquaDame]

It's just food y'all, which is always a subjective thing. Things were getting heated, and a few bad dishes removed (comments deleted), but we'd prefer not to roast anyone around here about our pallettes. Please be kind and not salty!

 

[brentm77]

It's just food y'all, which is always a subjective thing. Things were getting heated, and a few bad dishes removed (comments deleted), but we'd prefer not to roast anyone around here about our pallettes. Please be kind and not salty!

Love the puns!

 

[FigmentSpark]

I hope this is applicable to this thread. We recently had to give up salt and all high sodium foods because of a health scare. We went cold turkey. We miss salt and salty foods sometimes but we have learned to love the actual flavour of foods. All fast food and lots of restaurant dishes are loaded with salt. We previously ate many different cultural foods which we love; Indian, Thai, Mexican and other South American dishes. I'm trying to learn to cook these without pre bottled sauces(yikes-the salt) and not adding salt for "flavour".
I guess I'm trying to say that we were exposed to hyper amounts of salt in our diet until now and added more, for many people salt= flavour. Food has flavour, salt is like steroids for your taste buds. We are hoping we'll enjoy the food on the cruise and that it's not too salty.

Our server mentioned there was someone on his rotation a few cruises ago that had zero salt. Basically, he had them choose the menu for the following day each night to ensure they got a zero-salt dinner. I think he said they planned her lunches at an MDR, as well.

I think if you have something like that, just put it on your reservation and then mention it to your servers on the first night. It doesn't make the rest of the meals as spontaneous, but when it's your health, you do what you have to do.

 

[slynch29]

Hey everyone I’m going to do a full review when I get back! However the real thing I was sorely disappointed in was the Disney Fantasy food! We just did a back to back cruise on the Norwegian Espace and while nothing compared to disneys five star entertainment, cast and gorgeous ship decor the food was sorely lacking…

My server team was incredible so I feel if I give a negative review on the comment card I heard it effects them harshly…seriously again shocked about the quality standard between disney and Norwegian let’s hope they can step it up

I am on the Fantasy right now and the food is substandard- worse than their food courts. The service like you said is exceptional.