No dinner buffet on DCL?

 

And thanks to PP for the comment about unsupervised children in the MDRs. Yes' date=' we've seen them many times. Of course, we've also seen great, well behaved kids.[/quote']

 

You bet! And I agree with you, I have seen a lot of well behaved kids in the MDRs, the vast majority are:)

I've only cruised the Fantasy and we ate in the MDRs the whole week. I did not see any kids running around or even really out of their seats, which was impressive. We had late seating, so perhaps there were less kids, plus it was November, so likely slightly less kids anyway.

But this thread makes me want to consider dining in Cabanas for dinner on our next cruise!

In general, the later seatings will be quieter and with less kids. Many families take advantage of the kids club pickup at the earlier seating, which means you have a bunch of kids both excited and trying to rush through their meals or excited about a show. At the later seating, any kids may have already seen the show and are closer to being done for the night (caveat, this does increase the chance for a meltdown)

In general, the later seatings will be quieter and with less kids. Many families take advantage of the kids club pickup at the earlier seating, which means you have a bunch of kids both excited and trying to rush through their meals or excited about a show. At the later seating, any kids may have already seen the show and are closer to being done for the night (caveat, this does increase the chance for a meltdown)

Dine and Play is available only at the late seating. Many parents excuse themselves and take their offspring to the programming between courses during early (main) seating.

In general, there are fewer and older kids at late dining. Most parents request "main" seating for their kids. We always request late, allowing more seating for children at the earlier time.

Odd. It's been a while but they had dine and play at the early seating on our last cruise on the Dream. (I didn't notice if avail at late seating).

Dine and Play is available only at the late seating. Many parents excuse themselves and take their offspring to the programming between courses during early (main) seating.

 

In general' date=' there are fewer and older kids at late dining. Most parents request "main" seating for their kids. We always request late, allowing more seating for children at the earlier time.[/quote']

Odd. It's been a while but they had dine and play at the early seating on our last cruise on the Dream. (I didn't notice if avail at late seating).

I suppose things could have changed. I never understood why it was available at late seating only. But I haven't done main (early) seating in ages, so if it has been added there, I could easily have missed it.

That trip also had a lot of early ports so that could have been a factor. Our latest was like a 5 PM out of castaway key.

I suppose things could have changed. I never understood why it was available at late seating only. But I haven't done main (early) seating in ages' date=' so if it has been added there, I could easily have missed it.[/quote']

We have been on 20 Disney cruises for never less than 7 days And often more and always eat in the mdr late seating. I honestly can say I have never been bothered by loud unruly children. I guess everyone has different experiences. We have never considered eating in cabanas but we do love palo at least once.

First 3 DCL cruises we had no issues with kids in the dining room. Cruise #4 we struck out big time. Unfortunately this was the 14 night WBPC cruise this year. Our serving team had two tables - our table for 2 and a large table with a family group of 3 couples and 9 kids ranging in age from about 2 - 10.

Every night, as soon as they got to the table the kids would start running around the table, crawling under the table, banging silverware on their dishes, and running up and down the aisles where the servers were coming out of the kitchen with heavy trays. One night the 2 year old was up walking ON the table. The parents just sat there.

After nights of dodging these kids while carrying the heavy trays, a server from another team angrily told our server that he needed to tell the adults to keep the kids out of the way. Our server said something to one of the dads, who in turn told his wife. Her statement was “what do you want me to do about it?”

How about parenting your little darlings? Pretty much ruined the dining experience. Should we encounter this again, we will probably give Cabanas a try for dinner to get away from the chaos in the MDR.

First 3 DCL cruises we had no issues with kids in the dining room. Cruise #4 we struck out big time. Unfortunately this was the 14 night WBPC cruise this year. Our serving team had two tables - our table for 2 and a large table with a family group of 3 couples and 9 kids ranging in age from about 2 - 10.

 

Every night' date=' as soon as they got to the table the kids would start running around the table, crawling under the table, banging silverware on their dishes, and running up and down the aisles where the servers were coming out of the kitchen with heavy trays. One night the 2 year old was up walking ON the table. The parents just sat there.

 

After nights of dodging these kids while carrying the heavy trays, a server from another team angrily told our server that he needed to tell the adults to keep the kids out of the way. Our server said something to one of the dads, who in turn told his wife. Her statement was “what do you want me to do about it?”

 

How about parenting your little darlings? Pretty much ruined the dining experience. Should we encounter this again, we will probably give Cabanas a try for dinner to get away from the chaos in the MDR.[/quote']

If there's no action when the parents have been informed, I'd suggest speaking directly to your Head Server about changing tables.

I have to agree, after the first night I would have asked for a new table. I wouldn't have waited for a server to say something nights later.

 

How about parenting your little darlings? Pretty much ruined the dining experience. Should we encounter this again' date=' we will probably give Cabanas a try for dinner to get away from the chaos in the MDR.[/quote']

This describes the entire problem with a DCL cruise. While the example cited was a bit more extreme than most that I've experienced, we have seen kids running around the dining room, stealing things from serving stations, stateroom host carts, etc. The answer in the dining room is to request a new seating assignment on night one. If it is bad then, it isn't going to get any better.

 

The problem in general is parents who think that they have no responsibility for the behavior of their children while on board. While this involves a minority of parents, it only takes a few obnoxious brats to ruin the cruise for all concerned....and unfortunately, DCL gets more than a few. Yes, the answer is to parent the children!

We're quite a bit off topic from the thread title, but I'll jump in.

Behavior problems occur on all cruises. They are the outcome of being on a cruise ship with a lot of different people. This issue (poor behavior) seems to come up regularly here - lack of parenting in the MDR, how people dress in different restaurants, noise outside the staterooms, reserving deck chairs, etc. MDR problems are maybe more aggravating because tables are assigned. You cannot easily get away from the problem. Regardless, when you go on "your" cruise, it's actually the cruise of thousands of people. Behavior will vary.

Personally, my family has been on more than our fair share of Disney cruises. For the number of kids on board, I think behavior in the MDR is very good, and maybe the servers deserve a lot of credit for engaging kids well and mitigating problems. I can't speak for everyone else's experiences, but the reports of bad behavior in the MDR on this board overstate the problems that I've observed.

Agreed, this issue can happen on any cruise line. Its probably more stated on DCL due to the percentage of families versus other cruisers. Personally, I wouldn't tolerate this behavior on any cruise.

I have to agree, after the first night I would have asked for a new table. I wouldn't have waited for a server to say something nights later.

We considered that but we liked our servers and we had great table locations in all 3 dining rooms.

After nights of dodging these kids while carrying the heavy trays' date=' a server from another team angrily told our server that he needed to tell the adults to keep the kids out of the way.[/quote']

 

This is a really interesting story (sorry you had to experience it). It's kind of a window into the life of a server. If one server's guests are making guests of other servers miserable, then the first server has to take the fall and do something. You can't a bunch of guests putting in 3- or 4-star ratings just to keep one travel party happy.

We considered that but we liked our servers and we had great table locations in all 3 dining rooms.

now i understand - when i read your post i right away said to my husband that i would have asked to move, but i get why you didn't want to.

Were you in concierge? I know they have the best location in the MDR.

You really have to feel sorry for the servers when this happens to them.

They live by tips. In a situation like this, they're caught between a rock and a hard place.

Whatever they do, they're at risk of upsetting someone and thereby risking their tip - both anything additional you might add, and even your base tip which you can have reduced to zero if you want.

I don't know what i would have done in your shoes. Location and server vs the most obnoxious family on the planet (probably not - there are sadly way too many like this).

Did the head server get involved at all? I would think it's also the head servers responsibility to keep the aisles clear so to speak.

as for that family - i might have been hard pressed not to respond to that wife - "what would you have me do?"...be a parent?

i guess this family normally has a nanny to take care of the kids?

well i hope we're not that family from hell come next july...

by the way, wasn't the panama canal cruise during the school year? are these kids home schooled??????? that's a horrible thought....

.

You perfectly described the worst family we ever encountered...the one with the children running around the aisles, coming over to our table with filthy hands (I was trying to keep them from touching me or our dining table), etc. The group consisted of the mother dressed to the nines every night, lots of jewelry, etc. Father in a suit, and another woman plainly dressed who I assumed was the nanny. And nanny was obviously in the difficult situation of feeling that she shouldn't discipline the wild things when the parents were present, so the kids did exactly as they pleased.

Different cruise, same picture.

If your goal is to "not have to wait at a table' date='" as you stated, there are lots of counter service options on the pool deck a swell as munchies at the Cove Cafe and Vista Cafe. You also have room service.

 

Actually, we've found Cabanas dinner service to be very nice--not crowded, not noisy, and better food quality than in the MDR. This is probably because it is prepared when you order rather than mass food preparation. It is far better than most of what is on a buffet at other lines.[/quote']

That is a very useful comment for us. Thank you. We have been on numerous Disney cruises and always found the rotational dining food is terrible. We will try Cabanas this time.....

We've eaten at Cabanas for dinner. It was very enjoyable. However, I would prefer to have a buffet option for dinner. If I want table service, I'd go to the MDR. I really think this is another area that other lines have an advantage over Disney. They can serve you a very quick table service meal at Cabanas by the way, so if you are in a hurry, just tell them. That said, a buffet dinner is going to be faster.

The pool side food is borderline inedible most of the time.

We've found the food quality at most buffets, including Disney character buffets on land, to be significantly lower than table service meals. In fairness, I thought the buffets at WDW were fine until my family outgrew character meals and we realized how much better the table services were. The food quality at Cabanas for dinner is far better than what we had in the MDRs on the same cruise, and better than any buffet on any cruise line that we've sailed.

If you don't like the fast food outlets, room service is another option. Their quality is usually decent.

We've eaten at Cabanas for dinner. It was very enjoyable. However, I would prefer to have a buffet option for dinner. If I want table service, I'd go to the MDR. I really think this is another area that other lines have an advantage over Disney. They can serve you a very quick table service meal at Cabanas by the way, so if you are in a hurry, just tell them. That said, a buffet dinner is going to be faster.

 

The pool side food is borderline inedible most of the time.

I don't find that to be true, at least on DCL. I like the chicken tenders (that's my afternoon pick me up snack). I also like the burger, fries, pizza, and the sandwiches served there.

Now, poolside food on most of the other lines we've been on, I'll agree with that statement. Except for the burgers on Carnival, those were great.

I don't find that to be true, at least on DCL. I like the chicken tenders (that's my afternoon pick me up snack). I also like the burger, fries, pizza, and the sandwiches served there.

 

Now, poolside food on most of the other lines we've been on, I'll agree with that statement. Except for the burgers on Carnival, those were great.

It's very hard to have these discussions on food quality as tastes vary greatly. I will agree on the chicken tenders though, just skip the fries. I really can't even eat the pizza and I've tried, even this last April. It's just not good and I LOVE pizza. I remember the pizza on Royal being better, but it's not poolside. I stopped eating any burgers at any Disney site a few years back as I couldn't get a decent tasting burger. They overcook the meat to avoid any risk of foodborne illness. Just too dry. The exception is their higher end restaurants where they will cook to order.

Guy's Burgers on Carnival are amazing and the burritos at the poolside Mexican place were also very good. That's only the newer Carnival ships though.

DCL could qualify as the worst pizza on the seas. Princess recently went thru a snap where they changed their excellent pizza to something inedible, but fortunately on our last cruise it was greatly improved. Guess they listened to the comments when it got bad. DCL's pizza has always resembled cardboard. They DO make it on the ship, but it tastes like something out of a freezer.

Much of the other "fast food" options are quite good....just my opinion. Chicken tenders are great. DCL tried a similar number with changing those--we definitely let them know what we thought of the replacement and ultimately the good ones came back.

At least on DCL, when I first tried the pizza I was able to finish the slice. On HAL, I threw most of it out.