Mouth-Watering Waves: Eating Aboard the Disney Dream
One of my favorite parts about my trips to Disney is the food! With so many options to choose from, it is always easy to find something new to try. From signature dining to ice cream carts, I can always find something delicious to enjoy. So, when it came time to sail aboard my first Disney cruise, I was curious to see whether the food on the ship measured up to the food I have come to love in the parks and resorts.
Now I feel as though I must preface this by saying I am in no way a food critic. I simply enjoy trying new foods, and these are my opinions from my sailing aboard the Disney Dream. I had seen quite a few blogs and social media posts about the food on board before leaving, so I was very excited, and my expectations were quite high!
Let’s start with the quick service options on the ship. On the pool deck, you can find Flo’s Cafe. Here, you can find three Cars-themed quick service windows: Luigi’s Pizza, Tow Mater’s Grill, and Fillmore’s Favorites. Each window specialized in a different type of food, giving a good selection of food for guests to enjoy.
Luigi’s Pizza is pretty self-explanatory; there are different types of pizza. Classics like pepperoni and cheese can be found alongside veggies and BBQ chicken. Although simple, the pizza is pretty good for a quick slice while lounging by the pool or crossing the ship.
Tow Mater’s Grill features classic quick-service favorites like hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken fingers, and fries. One of my travel companions is a huge fan of the chicken fingers on board, so I was eager to try them. These chicken fingers did not disappoint and were definitely one of my favorite snacks from the cruise.
Fillmore’s Favorites is where you can find some lighter options. Along with sandwiches and wraps, there are paninis, fruit, and a salad bar. Definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a light snack.
One of my favorite places on the ship was Eye Scream Treats. This is an all-day self-serve soft-serve counter. The ability to acquire ice cream whenever I want was really the selling point to me here. I love ice cream, so having it in large quantities is just as good to me as a small amount of delicious ice cream.
On the ship, there is a buffet called Cabanas. The buffet is Finding Nemo themed and features a beautiful mosaic with Nemo and friends.
Cabanas is a self-serve buffet that offers breakfast and lunch throughout the cruise, dinner offerings on select nights, as well as a late-night buffet on the night of the Pirate Party. I thought the food at Cabanas was really good. A lot of classic buffet options, along with lots of seafood. There was also a delicious array of fruits and desserts.
I thought Cabanas was on par with the buffets at Walt Disney World. I think this is always a great option for families or groups traveling together because it is a quick way for everyone to eat something they enjoy.
Room service on the ship is available 24 hours a day and is included in the cost of your cruise. Continental breakfast can be delivered to your room in the morning by filling out a card and leaving it on your door. It will then be delivered to you the next morning at the time you selected. One morning, we ordered coffee, juice, fruit, and a donut. The donut was delicious, and it was great to have breakfast delivered to us as we got ready for the day, so it was one less thing we had to worry about.
If you are looking to order lunch or dinner, you simply call the room service number and order off the menu included in your stateroom. One night, we ordered chicken wings and key lime pie. The order took about 45 minutes to arrive to us, so it is something you have to think about in advance. However, the chicken wings and pie were delicious and definitely worth the wait.
Onto the table service options aboard the Disney Dream! Disney Cruise Line offers rotational dining. This means that each night, you and your party will try a different restaurant, and your dining team will follow you. This allows you to develop a relationship with your server. Although we did not have anyone with allergies in our group, I can imagine having a rapport with the same serving team eases the minds of lots of travelers with allergies.
The first night of the cruise, we dined at Enchanted Garden. This restaurant is designed after the foothills in France and will transform from day to night while you are dining. The menu is very diverse, which is great to accommodate everyone in your party.
To start off the meal, I enjoyed the Romaine Wedge salad. The parmesan dressing was so delicious, and the hint of spice in the croutons really pulled this salad together. The salad was fabulous and a wonderful way to begin.
I continued with the slow-roasted prime rib. This came with a double-baked potato and vegetables. The potato and vegetables were great, but the star of the show was really the prime rib. It was served perfectly pink, and it was so moist! Such a scrumptious meal!
To finish off the dinner, I chose to go for the Chocolate Brownie Sundae. I know, I know. So predictable, going for the ice cream option. To be fair, I had not yet discovered the self-serve ice cream, so I was excited. This sundae was great! The peanut butter brownie bites were so moist and went so well with the hot fudge.
The second night, we ate at the Royal Palace. This restaurant is themed after classic Disney Princess movies, so it feels super regal as soon as you walk in the room!
As an appetizer, I ordered the breaded and deep-fried brie. Bite-sized pieces of deep-fried brie served alongside orange and cranberry chutney. This was a great little appetizer that packed a lot of flavor in a little bite. The brie itself was good but paired with the chutney; it was fabulous! The acidity in the chutney really cut the creaminess of the cheese. This was really the adult version of mozzarella sticks, and I loved them.
For my main, I opted for the Roasted Filet Steak. I swapped the crushed potatoes it was supposed to come with for dauphinoise potatoes off another dish, and boy was I glad I did! The potatoes were amazing! They were so creamy and cheesy and really made this meal. The steak was good, tender, and pink and the beans were still nice and crunchy. This was an awesome meal.
One great thing about the dining rooms is that you can really modify anything you would like. Switching out the potatoes was not a big deal at all, and the servers are super accommodating!
For dessert, I decided to go with the crème brulée. It was good, but truthfully, not the best I have ever had.
Our final night, we ate at Animator’s Palate. This restaurant is art-themed, with the columns shaped like paintbrushes and tons of color all over. The walls transform with your favorite Finding Nemo characters throughout the meal, and Crush will even come over and have a conversation with tables along the wall.
I started with the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes. These are pasta purses filled with truffle cheese and served with a champagne sauce. I had heard a lot of really great reviews on these, and they are a favorite in our office. However, I was not a huge fan of them. They are extremely rich, so definitely worth keeping in mind when going to order these.
For my main, I kept it simple with the Sirloin Steak off the Lighter Note Menu. It came with a baked potato and some vegetables. The steak was simple and seasoned well. As this was the end of our cruise, I had enjoyed so many wonderful treats that I was looking for something simple to see how it tasted, and I was not disappointed.
While docked at Castaway Cay, we ate lunch at Cookie’s Too, one of the two lunch buffets on the island.
This is a delicious lunch buffet that offers lots of BBQ favorites. Some of the highlights were the chicken burgers, the tomato and onion salad, and the banana bread. They also served fruit, bags of chips, lots of different salad, hamburgers, and hotdogs, and delicious desserts.
Everything I have mentioned up to this point has been at no additional fees. All of the above options are included in the price of your cruise, so you don’t need to worry about paying extra for them.
The Disney Dream also offers two restaurants onboard that are at an additional fee. These are Remy and Palo. Remy offers lavish French-inspired dinner dining options and is an adults-only dining experience. Palo, another adults-only dining option, features Italian cuisine for both brunch and dinner.
On our cruise, my travel companions and I were lucky enough to enjoy Palo brunch. This was easily the best meal we ate onboard! When we arrived, the staff informed us that we would be dining in the Captain’s Table. Although the Captain would not be dining with us, it was still an exciting experience. The Captain’s Table is absolutely beautiful! The circular table is surrounded by a gorgeous mural of Venice.
Palo Brunch offers both a menu to order from as well as a buffet. The buffet featured a huge antipasto spread, seafood, fruit, pastries, and desserts. The prosciutto and parmesan off the antipasti buffet were so great, delicate, and tasty!
We also ordered a few things off the menu. I could not decide between the Spicy Italian Sausage Flatbread or the Mickey Waffle, so I ordered both!
The flatbread is cooked in their Pizza Stone Oven, so the crust was crispy on the outside but super soft on the inside. The sausage was spicy and paired so well with the sweet tomato sauce on it. It was absolutely delicious!
The Mickey Waffle came with powdered sugar and strawberry sauce. The Mickey Waffle was perfect, soft with a crisp outside. Exactly what I wanted out of my Mickey Waffle. The strawberry sauce was so sweet; it went perfectly with the waffle.
Just as we were so stuffed and ready to go, our server brought us out a special treat. He brought us out a chocolate lava cake to share. This was easily one of the best desserts I have ever eaten. It was so rich and chocolatey, a perfect way to end our meal. I can easily say this chocolate lava cake is the best thing I ate on the cruise.
Like in the parks, the Disney Dream offered so many delicious food options for guests to enjoy. I was glad that my favorite part of vacationing at Disney was not lost onboard a Disney ship. I can not wait until my next cruise to see what other delicious treats I’ll get to try!
~Alyssa
