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No dinner buffet on DCL?


sergel02
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This was hard to find info on but someone mentioned it to me briefly and I wanted to make sure, is there no dinner buffet on Disney Cruise?

 

If so it seems a bit disappointing. Sometimes you wanna grab something at a buffet to eat and not have to wait at a table.

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This was hard to find info on but someone mentioned it to me briefly and I wanted to make sure, is there no dinner buffet on Disney Cruise?

 

If so it seems a bit disappointing. Sometimes you wanna grab something at a buffet to eat and not have to wait at a table.

Correct, for dinner the (normally) buffet venue is a sit-down table service. There's also a carving station and salad bar. And it's not open the first and last nights of a cruise.

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Correct, for dinner the (normally) buffet venue is a sit-down table service. There's also a carving station and salad bar. And it's not open the first and last nights of a cruise.

 

What happens on the last & first night? Is the dining room the only dinner option? I've done DCL several times before, but always eat in the dining room so I never noticed this.

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What happens on the last & first night? Is the dining room the only dinner option? I've done DCL several times before, but always eat in the dining room so I never noticed this.

Well, if you don't want to eat in the dining room(s), you can order room service, or get food from one of the quick serve locations on the pool deck.

 

Adult have the option of the extra cost restaurants (Palo on all ships, and Remy on Dream & Fantasy).

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If your goal is to "not have to wait at a table," 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.

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What happens on the last & first night? Is the dining room the only dinner option? I've done DCL several times before, but always eat in the dining room so I never noticed this.

 

 

I think it's only main dining rooms, specialty and the quick service places.

 

The thing with the quick service places though is that don't they usually only serve pizza, burgers, and fries? Doesn't seem like tons of options.

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I think it's only main dining rooms, specialty and the quick service places.

 

The thing with the quick service places though is that don't they usually only serve pizza, burgers, and fries? Doesn't seem like tons of options.

There is the basic "burgers, pizza, fries" options, of course. But there are other options. Deli-style sandwiches, salads. On the Magic there's a shwarma station.

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So I'm on the cruise right now and yeah, you guys were right with no dinner buffet. I still find it pretty disappointing. We had to eat at cabanas but had to rush since we had a show at 7:30PM. Even a small buffet would have been nice. Everything else is great about the cruise, just the lack of a dinner buffet and the short hours for the lunch one.

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The quick serve outlets are more than "Pizza, Burgers, and Fries," but not a ton more. Paninis, salads, fruit, sometimes cookies, tacos, hot dogs, etc.....

 

Sorry, if you want a 5am to midnight buffet, Princess offers one. The items served change throughout the day, but it never closes. DCL does have very limited buffet hours for breakfast and lunch with a long window till any dinner service opens. They put a big focus on their dinner in the MDRs, thus little need for a dinner buffet!

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Why don't you enjoy the MDR?

I'm not OP, but I'll take on some of the reasons I might choose to eat elsewhere. It isn't that we don't like the MDRs, and we've had some great experiences over the 19 years. As we've become "adults only" on cruises, we've tended to go with a "just us" table more often. We've had amazing servers and some "not so good" servers. We've learned to request serving teams and who/how to get what we want. We've also enjoyed some great tablemates.

 

BUT, we've also had young children running around the dining room (why do parents allow them out of their seats?) presenting a hazard to the servers and coming over to plant their snotty noses or messy hands on our clothing. We've seen tweens stealing from the server's stations while their parents sat at a different table and totally ignored them. We were near a table of 10 adults at one table and their 10 or 11 kids at another--ONE set of parents watched their children; the others totally ignored them. We even had the father who did watch his kids seek us out on the pool deck and explain that his wife's parents had paid for this cruise for all their children and grands; that he was well aware of what the other kids were doing but that as he was family by marriage, he couldn't do or say anything. Points for him, but expecting a 10 year old to supervise a 3 year old nightly is just crap! We've shared a serving team with a table of 16 drunks who were intentionally abusing the server. (the head server actually realize what was happening and often brought our food) We don't like the sound level in the dining rooms--this isn't hard to fix with sound absorbing materials in the ceiling, but DCL hasn't done it. We've had cold food and some just plain "blah" food--likely a consequence of mass production (yes, it has improved greatly with a word to the head server).

 

Our first experience with dinner in Cabanas was on a Med cruise where we got back after a long day. After cleaning up, it was still an hour till dinner and we were hungry....Cabanas was our solution. The food was excellent--much better than when I'd been disappointed with the same dish in the MDR the night before. The place was quiet with only a couple of tables filled. The sunset view was lovely.

 

No, we didn't abandon the MDRs after this. But we like knowing that it is an option. It allows us to evaluate the situation on a cruise by cruise and night by night basis; if life in the MDRs is not good, we can go elsewhere. No, I don't mean leave that night, but I mean realize that this situation is not good, so the next time we are assigned to this dining room, we'll go upstairs to Cabanas. Unlike OP, I wouldn't eat there if it were a buffet; I'm not interested in buffet quality food or serving myself, and since I have a mobility impaired family member, buffets are difficult.

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The reasons moki states are some, though for us there are bigger reasons. No issues with kids running around for us but having a buffet option at night would be nice since the sit down restaraunts take a while and the food hasnt been that much better. Better for sure, but some nights you just wanna go get your food and drinks when you want them and buffets always have more options than quick service.

 

Also there is the timing. We have late dining which is fine but some nights we wanna eat early. There aren't really many options other than cabanas and quick service. And cabanas buffet for lunch has been better than their table service foods IMO.

 

Nearly every other cruise line has the option of even a small dinner buffet so Disney not having it is kind of disappointing and will probably be a factor when deciding our next cruise. Everything else has been great though except for this.

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The one thing I will add is that Disney is not like everyone else out there! Neither do they try to be! As an example, rotational dining with your wait staff, etc. Years ago we were told that Cabana's at night is a training ground for future servers and chefs for the MDR and other restaurants. We have found the service there, attention to detail, and food most often superior to the MDRs, with a great view off the back of the ship. It was also much quieter and a more relaxed atmosphere.

 

Our kids are grown and gone with the grandchildren not yet old enough for a Disney cruise. In time we'll be back in the MDRs & quick service choices; till then we tend to eat at Cabana's, Palo, and Remy. Also, there is a 'quiet' option for lunch on embarkation day, as there is always one MDR open so one doesn't have to fight the hoard at the buffet!

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The one thing I will add is that Disney is not like everyone else out there! Neither do they try to be! As an example, rotational dining with your wait staff, etc. Years ago we were told that Cabana's at night is a training ground for future servers and chefs for the MDR and other restaurants. We have found the service there, attention to detail, and food most often superior to the MDRs, with a great view off the back of the ship. It was also much quieter and a more relaxed atmosphere.

 

Our kids are grown and gone with the grandchildren not yet old enough for a Disney cruise. In time we'll be back in the MDRs & quick service choices; till then we tend to eat at Cabana's, Palo, and Remy. Also, there is a 'quiet' option for lunch on embarkation day, as there is always one MDR open so one doesn't have to fight the hoard at the buffet!

Exactly as above, with the exception of grandchildren. The quiet, the view, the great food and service, and the ability to eat dinner without craziness......that about sums it up.

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The one thing I will add is that Disney is not like everyone else out there! Neither do they try to be! As an example, rotational dining with your wait staff, etc. Years ago we were told that Cabana's at night is a training ground for future servers and chefs for the MDR and other restaurants. We have found the service there, attention to detail, and food most often superior to the MDRs, with a great view off the back of the ship. It was also much quieter and a more relaxed atmosphere.

 

Our kids are grown and gone with the grandchildren not yet old enough for a Disney cruise. In time we'll be back in the MDRs & quick service choices; till then we tend to eat at Cabana's, Palo, and Remy. Also, there is a 'quiet' option for lunch on embarkation day, as there is always one MDR open so one doesn't have to fight the hoard at the buffet!

 

Celebrity had the same dining concept even including waiters in training a couple of years before any Disneyships were launched.

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it's really odd to me that everyone talks about "craziness".

i have never experienced "craziness" in the rotational dining rooms.

Quite the opposite.

 

and there were absolutely no children "running around" during any of our dinners.

 

it seems my DCL dining experience is in an alternate universe from the rest of you...

 

.

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I didn't experience that either. But, I cruised on the Wonder while it was going out of Galveston during school, so maybe there weren't as many kids? Plus we had the late dining.

We just got off the Wonder last Sunday, had first seating for dinner and witnessed no crazyness with kids running around.

As older adults, they tend to put us on the perimeter of the dining rooms so that works well for us.

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and there were absolutely no children "running around" during any of our dinners.

 

it seems my DCL dining experience is in an alternate universe from the rest of you...

 

.

Beth, you were lucky. On the other hand, I've done 30 DCL cruises. The insanity and kids running around, totally misbehaving (I don't mean a crying meltdown...but even then one could argue that the child should be removed) happened on maybe 4 cruises. 2 were particularly bad to the point that I specifically remember the family and their little darlings.

 

Even on a "good" dining cruise, the dining rooms are crowded and noisy. The bigger ships are the worst for this.

 

There were years when I wouldn't have considered missing dinner in the MDRs. I guess I've gotten less tolerant as I've gotten older. Cabanas is a nice alternative. The servers are not over-worked, the room is not loud, etc.

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my last two DCL cruises were both on the Dream.

 

On one i had early dining, on the other i had late dining.

 

both dining times were relatively sedate - except for animators palate, which is a bit noisy from the dining room itself, not so much the people eating in it......

 

and still no children running around..

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We've only done 4 Disney cruises, but never noticed kids running around in the dining room (other than when they were supposed to for a parade or character). I think the dining rooms are overly loud as well, but they keep the kids entertained through dinner which is a trade off I am happy to make. I also miss not having an evening buffet option when on DCL.

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  • 1 month later...

We just did a 3 night on the Wonder. I really liked Cabanas too. It seemed like it had more of a variety. I liked Tiana's, but I could have done without Triton's and Animator's Palate. Seemed like it was the same food 2 days in a row. Next time we are not going to the dining room every night. It was tiring. Wish they had anytime dining.

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my last two DCL cruises were both on the Dream.

 

On one i had early dining, on the other i had late dining.

 

both dining times were relatively sedate - except for animators palate, which is a bit noisy from the dining room itself, not so much the people eating in it......

 

and still no children running around..

 

Well just because you haven’t observed it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen from time to time, so don’t discount others’ experiences dealing with it. I have been on 5 Disney cruises so far, 4 on the Dream, and I have witnessed kids racing around tables or just generally being in the way and unsupervised by their parents, causing problems for the servers.

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Wish they had anytime dining.

They have a version of anytime dining. It is in Cabanas. It is "cruise casual" and you can be seated any time during the hours it is open. They will serve a selection of items from the main menus, as well as a salad bar and a "carved item" which differs nightly. No, it is not a buffet--it is a sit down and order off the menu, but it is available at any time you choose. And the food quality is better than in the MDRs!

 

It is not available on any cruise on the first and last nights. This means that on a 2 night cruise, it is only open one night, but on a 14 night cruise, it is available 12 of the 14 nights.

 

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

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