10 Dining MISTAKES Disney Cruise Newbies Make!

today on Disney's we have 10 dining mistakes newbies make from understanding how to select your dining time to how they deal with dietary needs and some of the best dishes on board so here's the thing we all know that dining is a big part of any vacation and especially on a cruise but as you may know Disney loves to be different and the dining on their cruise ships is no exception well actually it is see Disney Cruise Line really likes to put on a show everything from a royal invitation to Arendelle the Frozen dining Adventure on the newest ship the Disney wish to Mardi Gras at Tiana's Place restaurant on the Disney Wonder and even to their very first ship to Magic where they now have Rapunzel's Royal table you can expect theme dining with a loud and boisterous show right along with your dinner one of the biggest mistakes newbies make is not understanding their dining times and making a request for early or late dining as we said Disney Cruise Line does like to be different so of course this comes into play with their main dining as well they like to use what is called rotational dining Disney Cruise Line has three main dining restaurants all individual visually themed all the food in these restaurants is included in the cost of your cruise and you will get assigned your dining rotation when you get to the ship that should be on your key to the world card included with rotational dining there will also be three servers for each table a head server a main server and an assistant server this team of three will rotate with you every evening through the restaurants for dining times they typically have early dining at 5 45 with late dining at 8 15. in general those with the younger humans like to get the earlier dining time just kind of fits into their schedule a little bit better and of course early bedtimes that being said though you will still experience a lot of family noise at the late dining time as well absolutely nothing wrong with that just something to be aware of if you request early or late dining and unable to get it assigned prior to getting on the ship once you get on the ship go straight to the dining team at Guest Services and see if they might be able to help you out typically it is that early dining time that sells out so to speak but I do often see people getting that assigned before they get on the ship just because people change their plans another thing to note with rotational dining is that you will have other families seated at your table unless you request your own table we have requested our own table before and been able to get it every time we have made the request they do not guarantee it but it's certainly worth asking so how do you know if you want early or late dining here are the points you want to consider one of course your young one's bedtimes dinner is typically about 90 minutes and in some of these restaurants dinner is themed with the show in the restaurant so it does take that long to get through the meal and the show they don't all have a show but there is at least one on every ship if you have late dining and you know that your youth would like to get back to the youth club you can request that their dinner be brought out first and sometimes they even have a program where the youth leaders will come and gather them from the restaurant and take them back to the youth club while you finish your dinner another thing you want to consider is your Port excursions if you're going to be out all day and get back on the ship at four o'clock you might not want early dining at 5 45 because of showers Etc or you might want to go straight to dinner because you're starving so these are the types of things you want to consider with your dinner time selection and during each dinner time they will have those stage shows going on in the main theater the theory there is that you have dinner in a show or show and a dinner essentially occupying your time from about 5 till 9 30. obviously not every minute but if you do dinner and the show it will take the majority of the time you do want to be there a little bit early for your seating at the show because they get really busy another dining mistake often made is not to reserve specialty dining every ship does have at least one specialty dining restaurant for the magic and the Wonder the first two ships they will have Paulo Paulo is their upscale Northern Italian cuisine and they will have brunch or dinner selections for Paulo the dream in fantasy will have Paulo as well as Remy Remy as fine French dining they have dinner brunch and a dessert experience as well as a small tasting with wine comparison on the very first night of the cruise on the Disney wish they have Paulo's Steakhouse and Ashan Ashante is very similar to Remy and one of the biggest considerations with the specialty dining is that you need to make your reservations ahead of time and when I say ahead of time I mean as soon as reservations open because people will be online at exactly 1201 Eastern Standard Time to make those reservation selections after you're done with this go check out everything you need to know for 2023 there's a lot more detail in there and we've got deep Dives on practically everything and while you're at it go ahead and subscribe for the specialty dining you want to make sure and make those reservations they are limited to one each one type so for Paulo you can get one brunch one dinner gratuities are not included in the cost of these meals and you should definitely tip accordingly one of the mistakes people often make with these specialty dining restaurants is not double checking the dress code they do have a dress code for Paulo it's more Cruise casual but absolutely no swims shorts or anything like that in Polo Ashante and Remy also have dress codes where the expectation is a suit coat for men men and perhaps a dress or nice suit for women one of our big suggestions here with specialty dining is absolutely try it out actually we've got a pro tip for you too if you want to get two Polo dinner reservations you can book one reservation when you do your online activity selections for the second Paulo dinner you can have Paulo the first night of the cruise if they have availability which I think they usually do and that would count as a second Paulo dinner reservation so you can eat there twice if you really want to the big thing to note with specialty dining is if you can do not book it at the end of your cruise by the time you get to the end of your cruise you have had so much food you might not appreciate those meals quite as much one other suggestion I have is to not book them back to back meaning dinner and brunch they are really heavy meals and I would definitely put some time in between the two of them if you can and I'm going to tell you an unpopular opinion here actually everybody loves the chocolate souffle at Paulo it is very impressive to look at for me it's just a little bit one note though I don't know how that happens but if you've had it let us know your opinion in the comment below this third mistake I made many times and that's not asking for your server's suggestions they will always give you their suggestions but the first time I heard them I just didn't think I would like what they were offering however on our last cruise I have tried everything that I really wanted to try on prior trips so we asked their suggestion every evening and I have to tell you there was not one miss on the list the two that surprised us the most were actually from animators palette a few of their recommendations at animators palette were the Great Reef this cocktail was really good it comes with rum elderflower St Germain liqueur watermelon puree and fresh lime juice they also suggested this lemon thyme marinated all natural chicken breasts this comes with sour cream mashed potatoes roasted root vegetables and grain mustard Jew this was by far the best chicken I have ever had I'm not a huge chicken fan unless it's really flavorful this was just very simple and very delicious now on their dessert menu with items like chocolate fudge cheesecake it's kind of hard to go with a warm sticky date pudding but that's exactly what they suggested the warm sticky date pudding is served with butterscotch sauce vanilla ice cream and phyllo crunch it was so good I can't even really explain that one to you but you definitely should try it and of course the great thing is in Maine dining you can get three desserts two desserts however many you want it's all included with the cost of your cruise of course you don't want to be wasteful but you can try different things and they take all of that food at the end of the night and they make it into Chum for the fish so it is being used for the environment a few of the popular favorites at main dining are the pasta Pursuits at animators palette an Amaretto souffle and the sea bass everybody loves the sea bass I also am a big fan of their soups in particular they're leaking potato soup it is so good french onion soup is really good as well another mistake we often notice on the cruise ships is people not being prepared for a little bit of rockiness during the dinner most of the ships do have our main dining restaurant on Deck 3 craft in the evening when you go to dinner that ship is gonna start moving and we typically have late dining so maybe it moves a little more during late dining I do not know what I do know is make sure you take your Bonine b-o-n-i-n-e that's for anti-nausea medication you actually want to take that beginning a day before you get on the ship take it every evening and it will really help as an anti-nausea medication if it are really a rough Seas I'll take an extra boning during the day the biggest tip for us at dinner though has been the sea bands these are acupressure bands that go on your wrists just have those with you when you go to dinner it makes a huge difference I did not think these would work the first time we got them but they absolutely do and one other tip don't watch the chandeliers while you're at dinner I did not realize this but they will move and if you're having some issues with nausea or movement best to not look at those and it's nothing drastic it just can be a little bit of a mental adjustment the fifth mistake I see fairly often is people not ordering from room service with Disney Cruise Line room service is included with the cost of your Cruise they have a small section on the menu where they have things like bagged popcorn cans of soda those are an additional charge and they are stated on the menu but everything else on that menu is included with the cost of the cruise we absolutely recommend tips or gratuities of a dollar or two per item for the room service attendee some of the very favorites with room service are warm cookies and milk at bedtime a Mickey bar which is not on the menu but they do have them take that Mickey bar put it between two cookies and you've got yourself an ice cream sandwich a couple more favorites are the BLT there really is a lot of bacon on this sandwich the all hands on deck cheese plate really nice in the room if you're gonna have some wine before dinner and pro tip you can carry on two bottles of wine or six bottles or cans of beer per Port per person over 21. so if you did that and you have some wine in your room that goes really well with the all hands on deck cheese plate we really love their Mediterranean salad and their Caesar salad I don't know why one cruise I actually got Caesar salad delivered every night at about 11 pm a little bit of that and some Disney plus and I was off to sleep and our very favorite thing with room service is to make a continental selection the night before for the next morning we'll get some fruit juice coffee have it delivered at 9am that's basically our wake-up call and then we take it out on The Veranda really great way to wake up in the morning and it is 24 hour room service so you can get something at any time of night or day number six is not planning clothing for special occasions they do have formal night on seven night or longer cruises they actually will have a semi-formal and a formal night these nights are not enforced you do not have to have Formal Wear to go to main dining on formal night it is optional some people have to dress up all the time during their regular life they do not want to get dressed up on a cruise other people are gonna be in full tux and ball gown and then even others will have on their Mickey ears it is absolutely a variance do what is comfortable for you you do need to have at least Cruise casual in the dining room no flip-flops or swimsuits a couple of other things you'll want to consider for your cruise clothing is of course if you have a specialty reservation I've actually heard that they have a jacket you can rent on the ship if you need other reasons for specialty clothing would be princess dresses for your young ones if they're going to the princess Gathering or just want to wear their princess dresses and then of course pirate night some people don't dress up at all and some people are full-on costume for the entire family it is absolutely how you want to do it that's the great thing about a Disney cruise is it really does leave leeway to just have fun and some people really like to dress up in 1920s attire for 1923 on the Disney wish and I'm pretty sure we're gonna do that soon as well number seven mistake you want to make sure and let them know of your dietary needs ahead of time Disney Cruise and Disney in general are fabulous with dietary needs of course you need to let them know ahead of time so they know what to watch for straight from their website they State Disney Cruise Line offers gluten-free vegetarian no sugar added dairy free and lighter note offerings on our table service restaurant menus dietary special requests are available with no additional charge through the special requests application under my reservation you may submit these requests up to three days prior to embarkation so make sure you do it ahead of time that way they are aware before you even get there and if you require either kosher or Halal meals they ask that your request be submitted at least five weeks prior to your sale date it is important to note that your dietary requests will not be automatically applied at their Quick Service meal locations or through room service in-room dining they will have these noted at the main dining restaurants but I absolutely would make sure you have the discussion with your waiters when you get on the ship they direct once on board the ship please be sure to visit the onboard dining session offered on embarkation day notify the dining team while ordering at any of the dining venues even if you previously indicated it during the reservation process it is best just to tell everybody you come in contact with that is going to serve your food what your dietary restrictions are so they can make sure and address that for you this is where rotational dining is really wonderful because they know and they plan ahead of time and depending on how restrictive the dietary requirements are they may have you order your dinner the night before they've got some more detail in there so if you do have dietary restrictions make sure you go to their website and look into that number eight a common mistake I see is people missing breakfast or lunch they do have rather short hours for their breakfast and lunch times main dining will have about an hour to an hour and a half available for breakfast every morning and there will also be one main dining restaurant with about an hour and to an hour and a half available for lunch every afternoon in addition to that they will have the Quick Service venues and room service so there is always food available and the buffet has fairly Limited hours as well they are open longer than main dining for breakfast or lunch but they definitely close throughout the day for hours at a time which I was kind of surprised about so make sure you look into breakfast and lunch timing quick service is always going to be available the in-room room service is always going to be available but if you really want to go and have a nice sit-down experience for breakfast or lunch make sure you verify those times and I hate to say set an alarm on a cruise vacation but I've done it so that I can have breakfast I prefer eggs benedict and main dining it's really good I definitely suggest that some of the favorite dishes we've had for lunch were these Thai fish cakes these were really really good and the fried calamari was surprisingly good as well their Curry dish was also really good anytime you see Curry on their menu I highly suggest it number nine don't miss out on those treats in Cove Cafe now this is not applicable on the newest ship the Disney wish and I'm guessing it will not be applicable on the other new ships by the way did you see the update Disney Cruise Line has bought a new ship it is partially renovated that's going to have capacity of 6 000 people which is really exciting I'm excited to see how this is gonna play out the Disney Wonder and Magic hold approximately 2 000 guests dream fantasy and wish approximately 4 000 guests so this new ship that holds approximately 6 000 guests should be pretty interesting my guess is they're gonna take it over to Asia but time will tell so back to Cove Cafe in the Cove Cafe on the first four ships magic Wonder dream and fantasy they have a snack case the snack case will have pastries in the mornings and things like cheese and Olive in the afternoon we did not realize that this was there the first couple of cruises we went on and on the last cruise I got some good footage of it and then when I was watching the footage I realized they had all of these Honeys in the back that would go really well with debris so definitely check that out and of course if you're going to be there for a themed cruise for holiday or Halloween on the high seas they'll have some fun little names and treats to go along with that theme as well the drinks in Cove Cafe are not in included with the cost of your cruise these are typically alcohol and coffee drinks and they are an additional charge they do have a coffee punch card I believe it's after you buy five you get one free so make sure you ask about that the mocha experience is one of my favorites in Cove Cafe is an iced alcohol coffee drink that is really good number 10 mistake is make sure you have tips and gratuities for your servers in specialty restaurants room service when you order a cocktail on deck that will have an automatic 18 gratuity added and then your main dining team will be billed automatically at the end of the cruise if you do not prepay your gratuities we've got a whole video about tips and gratuities it's a little clunky for Disney Cruise Line there's a lot of differences so make sure you go check that out as soon as you're done with this video and number 11 is all those drinks that are included with the cost of the cruise a lot of people do not realize this there is a soda fountain as well as juice milk coffee Etc both in the buffet restaurant Cabanas on the first four ships and there is another drink station outside on the pool deck this is all included in the cost of the cruise and is available 24 hours a day they will have little cups there that you can use to get soda a lot of people like to bring their own cups so they can just use a little cup and then pour it into their big one because those are definitely small cups that they provide in addition to those drink stations soda regular coffee and tea are included in main dining there are a few places where they will charge you for a soda though and that is if it's in a can or a bottle on the room service menu at the movie theater snack location and sometimes at the bars they will charge you if those drinks come in a can or bottle so just go to the stations get whatever you want it's included in the cost of your cruise I am really looking forward to seeing what type of dining options they're going to have on the new ship the Disney treasure the dining on the Disney wish is by far the best on the fleet from what I've heard with the very best being at 1923. there are two really popular appetizers there one being the Alameda porcini spiced ahi tuna this has pickled Lotus root oyster mushrooms black sesame brittle Wasabi and Yuzu mayonnaise the other one that is really popular is the Hyperion four cheese tri-color tortelloni Meyer lemon artichoke sun-dried tomato and baby spinach both of those sound so good to me and actually this burrata mozzarella is really popular as well people have also mentioned the 1923 peppered filet mignon and of course for desserts you can't go wrong with Churros especially if they've got a dolce de leche sauce right next to them although for me it's going to be the flourless orange almond cake yum there is a ton of good food on Disney Cruise Line it's absolutely gonna be a huge part of your cruise hopefully this helps you out a little bit if it does please share it with somebody you know if you haven't seen it yet go check out everything you need to know for 2023 and I do mean everything it's 48 minute video and it's got it all thanks for joining us for some more Disney fun hit that subscribe button and you can ring that little bell it'll let you know when we have any new videos and we'll see you real soon with some more Disney's

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Id: 1v8jU5UzmCc

Length: 19min 6sec (1146 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 19 2022