What We Loved About Our Disney Cruise-Food!

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!

In my previous post I shared what we loved about the pools, slides, and our room, and now I’m going to share something we loved even more than those things-the food!

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 9^th 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)