Disney Cruises offer a unique dining experience. They offer something called Rotational Dining. At the beginning of the cruise you'll find your dining rotation on your Key to the World Card AKA, room key. What happens is, you rotate through the three main dining rooms throughout your cruise but your wait staff rotates with you. So they still get to know your preferences, names, and build a relationship. We were on a five-day cruise we we ate in two of the dining rooms twice. Our rotation was ACCLA, or Animator's Palate, Carioca's, Carioca's, Lumiere's, and then Animator's Palate one final time. At first glance the order of the rotation looks odd, but it's done so to ensure nothing is missed. Night two was the optional "dress-up" night and night three was Pirate Night. I purposely left out Palo because we did not dine there on this trip. I briefly mentioned it in my Adults Only post from the other day if you're interested in more information.
Cabana's
The top-deck buffet is located on level nine. I have always been impressed with Disney's buffet when comparing it to other cruise lines. They always have items that other cruise lines don't, like crab legs, prosciutto, and many more! There are even self-serve soda fountains located throughout the buffet. PS: Disney doesn't charge for soda/pop. The decor is light and beachy. There are windows everywhere with nice views, well... if you have nice weather. We didn't!
Poolside- Daisy's De Lites, Pete'sBoiler Bites, and Pinocchio's Pizza
Out on the pool deck there are all-day options available. Daisy' De Lite includes lighter fare such as fruit, salads, and fresh made paninis. Pinocchio's Pizza serves up 5-6 different type of pizza or a custom pizza based on the ingredients in the display case. Pete's Boiler Bites always offered burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, fish etc in one window. The other window had Lamb & Chicken Schwarma. I had a tasty Gyro Pita one day while we used the Aqua Lab.
Animator's Palate
This is my favorite dining room on all ships. The show is different on Magic/Wonder than it is on Dream/Fantasy, which is nice! I've experienced both shows and enjoyed each for their own unique attributes. I don't want to give away too much here because it's just an all around fun experience! The menu is Pan-Pacific with some standard options as well. Click on the first photo on the left and it will enlarge the image, you can use the right and left arrows to view the others after.
Carioca's
This dining room was added/converted back in October's dry dock. The space used to be the Parrot Cay dining room. personally, I think I preferred the style of Parrot Cay over Carioca's. Parrot Cay was vibrant and full of tropical color. Carioca's is quite plain with a few splashes of color around. The new decor just screams that it's missing something! Carioca's is nice for lunch though. We ate here on embarkation day. They have a buffet set up at the front of the room and it's MUCH less crowded than the Cabana's Buffet upstairs.
We ate dinner in here on "dress up" night and Pirate Night. The first night was the traditional Carioca's menu which is South American inspired. Our waiters Franklin and Francesca were amazing. They made us napkin hats (Minnie and Peter Pan) and Franklin did a magic trick for our son!
On Pirate Night every dining room gets the same themed menu and same choices. The children's menus turn in to pirate hats and the wait staff runs a parade and game of limbo down the main aisle.
Lumiere's
Lumiere's hosts a la carte/ sit down breakfast each morning for anyone who wishes to skip the buffet. This was the dining room in which we only ate once. The dinner menu is French inspired and the room's theme is Beauty and the Beast. At first glance it looks fairly plain, but there are are lot of Beauty and the Beast details hidden about. At one point during dinner they have people from the "village" come through searching for the anyone who has seen the Beast!
Cookies, Cookies Too, and Serenity Bay BBQ
| These three establishments exist on Castaway Cay. Both of the Cookies are open to everyone, but Serenity Bay BBQ is located in the adults only section of the island. Every Disney cruise in the Caribbean/ Bahamas stops here, so I will include it for convenience! They have a wide variety of items for lunch. Side items include chips, potato salad, couscous, salad, and more. Both times I have been to Castaway Cay I have never had an issue finding seating on either trip. |  |
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