We’re home from our first Disney Cruise and we’re all
still talking about it, looking through pictures, reliving favorite moments,
and dreaming about the day we’ll get to do it all over again!
Okay, I have to be honest and say that in my opinion the
food gets mixed reviews-but for the record, pretty much ANYTHING that I do not
have to cook and clean up after gets an “A” for effort in my book!
Upon receiving our “Key to the World” cards, one of the
first things I looked for was the legend for our dining rotation. “Dining
rotation?” you ask? Yes! Dining rotation! On the Dream, as well as the other
Disney ships, guests are treated to not simply one main dining area, as is
standard from my understanding of other cruise lines, but THREE-plus all the
extra food and treat spots along the way.
So, our dining assignment was Royal Palace, Animator’s
Palate, and Enchanted Garden, and the last night we were to repeat Enchanted
Garden (but since it was the last night of our trip and our 9th
anniversary was the next day, I made DH and I reservations at Palo, one of two
adult only and extra charge restaurants onboard so we did not actually repeat
Enchanted Garden).
We chose the main seat dining time of 5:45 (there is also
a late seating at 8:15, but we have early bird girls, so the earlier dining fit
our needs better).
The first night in Royal
Palace was a real treat! This restaurant is themed around the classic Disney
princess stories and really made us feel like royalty upon just walking in it!
The food served here is classified as “continental, French” cuisine and wasn’t
bad at all. But to be honest, the décor and overall feel of the atmosphere
greatly overshadowed anything I could have put in my mouth-it was more a treat
for my eyes and imagination than my tummy ;) But, for thoroughness sake, I will
share what we tried from here:
I’ll begin with the children’s menu, as I personally
found it quite impressive and not at all what I had read in so many other
reviews and blogs-which complained about the children being subjected to junk
food the entire trip, which was not the case with us, though it could have been
had we allowed it. The children are offered a 3 course meal along with the
adults, but this night, the girls forwent an appetizer in order to gawk at our
surroundings, not to mention they devoured the bread that was perfectly perched
in a Cinderella style pumpkin carriage on our table. For their main course they
both requested spaghetti and meatballs, and it came with a steamed veggie mix.
They inhaled the spaghetti in record time and I snuck their veggies which I thought
were perfectly cooked and seasoned.
I ordered the Double Baked Spinach Soufflé coated with
three cheese cream to start, and followed that with Roasted Wild Boar and
gratin potatoes. While all of this was tasty, the potatoes were by far my
favorite and were actually listed with another meal, but Charlie, our head
server, was happy to get them for me anyway.
DH began his meal with Iced Lobster and Jumbo Shrimp and
it must’ve been pretty good because it was gone quickly! For his main course he
chose the Royal Palace Aged Angus Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Lobster
Medallions with sautéed snow peas and
marquis potatoes with a cognac reduction. Again, he said he was pleased.
We were all way too full and tired to brave dessert.
Bummer :o( We could’ve requested that it be boxed and taken it back to our
room, since each is equipped with a mini fridge, but (speaking for myself
here), I knew it would be way too easy to over eat, and with all the food
offerings on the ship I didn’t want to blow all the hard work I’d been doing to
get in “Ship
Shape”.
So second day food run-down:
We began the morning with buffet style breakfast from Cabanas.
I’d have to say that I’m not typically a big breakfast eater, and for that I’m
thankful because this was my least favored meal of all during our trip. It wasn’t
bad, it just wasn’t great, and honestly, from Disney, I expected GREAT. There
was plenty to choose from and our family favorites were the Mickey waffles and
fresh fruit. (Do yourself a favor and skip the pancakes :ox)
We went out and about on the island of Nassau, so our
lunch was at the Atlantis Resort
instead of on board. (Quick tip-the excursion we chose came with complimentary
lunch, but I read that if you went off board and didn’t want to pay extra for
lunch in the port of call, you can order room service (which is free) before
you disembark and carry a lunch from the ship with you on your explorations!)
Supper the second night was the one that I had looked
most forward to, and I wasn’t disappointed (except the girls missed it because
they REFUSED to leave the kids’ club)! Animator’s
Palate was a blast and the Pacific Rim/American food was perfect! Crush was
a hoot and the interaction with us was amazing-and Charlie’s card tricks were
pretty neat too!
I have a little confession to make here……..I was so taken
in with the Crush entertainment that I can’t recall exactly what I ate here
other than I started with a soup that I LOVED and finished the meal with a
cookies and cream sundae. And it goes without saying that if don’t remember
what I ate, I have NO clue what DH tried-we were both pleased, I DO remember
that!
We actually sat close enough to the table next to us,
that we chatted with them during dinner and found them to be complete sweet
hearts! They were there with the Make-a-Wish Foundation and were just lovely
people. Between conversation with them and the interaction with Crush, food was
the last thing on my mind.
The third day’s food began the same with breakfast in
Cabanas (we could’ve went to one of the sit down restaurants, but thought for
us, quicker was better).
We enjoyed lunch on Castaway Cay at Cookie’s BBQ. Buffet
style food on a private island……..seriously, it doesn’t get any better than
that!
And then came dinner at Enchanted
Garden, with the pirate
night menu. (Of the 3 main dining choices, this night was my favorite and
it’s my understanding that the same menu is used throughout all of the
restaurants on pirate night.)
The girls’ meal began with a cream of chicken soup that
we all loved and was followed by carved sirloin with smashed potatoes. There
was nothing left on their plates :o)
My meal started with “Pirates Golden Pot-Stickers” and ended
with “The Dutchmen's Dijon-Crusted
Sirloin of Beef”. I enjoyed it all very much and couldn’t have held dessert if
I’d tried!
Our final full day on board the
ship, we stuck with Cabanas for a quick breakfast, and checked out the snack bars
for lunch. My favorites include the grilled chicken salad wrap from Fillmore’s
Favorites, the BBQ chicken pizza from Luigi’s Pizza, and of course, the
chocolate ice cream from EyeScream.
Dinner the last night was an
extra special treat, an adults-only meal at the coveted Palo.
We took the girls for a last minute fill-up at the snack stations before we
dropped them off in the Oceaneer’s Club (where they were served a real dinner I
might add) before heading to what was one of the best meals of my life!
Palo offers exquisite Northern
Italian cuisine in a delightfully elegant atmosphere.
After a quiet drink on an
outside deck we were lead to our table and the feasting quickly began. The very first things they brought to our
table were several selections of delicious breads and a sampler of several sorts
of mini appetizers, all of which we enjoyed immensely.
For our actual appetizers we
chose Sicilian
Pesto Marinated Grilled Shrimp and Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Polenta with
a roasted shallot sauce and a parmesan chip. These were delicious!
For my main course I tried the house special, beef
tenderloin “Palo” with gorgonzola sauce and I’m quite certain this will be a
regular dish on God’s heavenly table! Seriously, just wonderful! And I was way
too wrapped up in my own ware to be concerned about DH’s, but he raved about
his as well.
We just couldn’t resist dessert this night, as I had read
way too often about the fabulousness of the chocolate soufflé. We were
definitely not disappointed-this was unbelievably delicious and I probably
could’ve eaten more than one but I feared I’d be sick ;)
Our server in Palo was also kind enough to wrap up two
different desserts for us to take back to our room for the girls! The homemade
Tiramisu and Panna Cotta with Strawberry-Basil Sorbet. Manuel, an actual
Italian, knew the dishes inside and out and took very good care of us!
We only ordered room service once (though it's offered 24 hours and is complimentary) and we got Mickey bars
and Big Island cookies. Neither was anything to write home about, even though I
had read rave reviews of both. Mickey bars are simply chocolate coated ice
cream bars in the shape of a Mickey head and the cookies were standard
chocolate chip. Neither bad nor anything special.
For the amount of people served, the wide variety of
offerings, and the meticulous presentation I award the Disney Dream a solid “A”
for food! It should be known, however, that I’m no “foodie”, so you may want to
check AllEars.net
for full menus as well as unofficial “foodie” reviews and photos :o)
Then, we had our Main and Assistant servers each night
for dinner-yes, they follow you through the dining rooms for more personalized
service-Charlie and Ivonne. They were great! Ivonne was new but she tried her
best and was very friendly. Charlie was on top of his game, accommodated any
request we made, and even did a few card tricks ;)
To show our appreciation for all they did I brought along
personalized thank you cards attached to treats for the guest services team
(who are responsible for having our items personalized by the characters as
well as take care of reservations or just anything else you need), the same for
the crew of the Oceaneer’s Club and Lab, and single treats with a cash surprise
inside for everyone in between-room service and such. Everyone was grateful for
our showing of appreciation and were even more willing to do whatever they
could to make our trip everything we’d hoped it would be.
