cabanas for dinner

[dream2011]

Have any of you recent cruisers skipped a rotational dining night and had dinner at Cabana's instead? We were planning to skip a dinner night and have a quick sit down dinner at cabana's instead.
thanks, Cathy

 

[heidibilotti]

We just did and we found it to be more quiet than the dinning rooms and a little less stressful and more laid back. The selection of food was from several of the dinning rooms downstairs and the food just as wonderful. Have a blast.

 

[dizney-cruiser]

We did this one night on our last cruise. You don't need to pre-book anything so if there is a night your just want a more relaxed atmosphere or want to eat at a different time you can just go up there and check out what they are serving.

 

[226ra]

Have any of you recent cruisers skipped a rotational dining night and had dinner at Cabana's instead? We were planning to skip a dinner night and have a quick sit down dinner at cabana's instead.
thanks, Cathy

One note on Dinner service here (Fantasy, Apr. 14 cruise): it seemed to be staffed by either "B" team servers or those in training for the main dining room. Most did not speak english very well and as a result we had trouble ordering (and receiving the items we wanted). Also, they tended to interact with the table WAY more than the main dining room staff. We just wanted to eat and they just wanted to chat (in broken english with canned questions about our day such as "Did you have a special experience today that you'd like to share with me?"). Very strange experience and one that I'm glad we only had to go through once.

 

[bbn1122]

We did not do Cabanas on our 3 night Dream, since it was only 3 nights. But, we did do Topsiders on our 7 night Magic and really liked it.
It was relaxing and a nice option on longer cruises. And like the previous poster said it is a training ground. We did not experience any language barriers just newbies....

Oh, only problem was a young couple had a screaming kid and it took them a little too long to figure out it was time to go. After they left, no offense, it was a very nice experience.....

 

[outahere]

We didn't have dinner at Cabanas on our Dream cruise, but have had dinner at Topsiders on the Magic a few times. It is where the new servers train and that can be a good thing. They have fewer tables than the servers in the main dining rooms and seem to provide better service. We've never encountered servers with poor English, but they have always had the time to talk with us more.

We may do one night at Cabanas on our upcoming cruise in August. We'll have to wait and see if it is still "mass confusion" in the dining rooms, like what we experienced on our first Dream cruise.

 

[swandiverpatt]

We tried Cabanas on our 4-day cruise last November to avoid Pirate Night. Guess what they serve at Cabanas? Yep, Pirate menu.

 

[Cavepaint]

Have any of you recent cruisers skipped a rotational dining night and had dinner at Cabana's instead? We were planning to skip a dinner night and have a quick sit down dinner at cabana's instead.
thanks, Cathy

We did this once on our cruise on the Fantasy last week. They had two seatings 6:30 and 8:30 but no reservation is required. Same menu that's in the main dining and is staffed as others have said by the "B" team, newbies. I kinda like that though. Fun to see the next batch of servers learn the trade.

 

[MisterOJ]

We did this once on our cruise on the Fantasy last week. They had two seatings 6:30 and 8:30 but no reservation is required. Same menu that's in the main dining and is staffed as others have said by the "B" team, newbies. I kinda like that though. Fun to see the next batch of servers learn the trade.

Wait... so they have seatings for the Cabanas dinners? I thought it was basically just show up whenever from like 6:30-8:30 or whatever.

 

[adamr]

We just got off the May 5 Fantasy cruise. There are no set seating times for dinner at Cabana's (Formal night was the night after Remy for us and we didn't feel like dressing up again). The menu is a mix from the rotational dining rooms.

It was very quiet and laid back for the most part, but I think parents with especially poorly behaved kids also used it to avoid embarrassment in the main dining rooms. Several couples (including ourselves) were there long after they closed and let us keep ordering drinks.

 

[DVCNuts]

We ate at Beach Blanket Buffet for dinner a couple of times on the Wonder, mainly because we had the "B" team in the main dining room. They had some curry chicken that was really good and different. I got teased by one of the servers who said "if you like that, you can come eat in the Crew Mess!" I guess that's a popular dinner item below decks.

 

[mdinowitz]

From the sound of most of the posts, dinner in Cabanas is not a buffet, is this correct?

 

[Bear3412]

From the sound of most of the posts, dinner in Cabanas is not a buffet, is this correct?

Correct, to the disappointment of many.

 

[kcashner]

We did not experience any "seatings" or times other than the time range when the facility was open. You were free to enter at any time during the open hours.

No, it is not a buffet--it is a sit down service that works more quickly than the MDRs. There was a salad bar when we did it on the Magic. Your server may have only your table or possibly one more (at least in our experience). It is not crowded. The menu was not identical to the MDR, but they selected several items from what was being served in the MDR that night, and in addition had a "carved" item and the salad bar. It is casual, and the view is great. We were very pleased with the atmosphere and the service.

 

[MK4ever]

What is the dress code? Is the dress code different from MDR?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What is the dress code? Is the dress code different from MDR?

In theory, the dress code for dinner is the dress code for dinner (regardless of where you eat). In practice, the buffet is a bit less dressy.

 

[MK4ever]

Ok thanks. We r 1st cruisers so I just want to make sure I will be packing enough of the correct dining attire.

 

[dream2011]

Thanks for all your replies. My husband will be glad to know we can do dinner at Cabanas one night.
Thanks again happy cruising to all of u
Cathy

 

[rosermama]

Thanks for all the info I am definetly sold on doing this one night on the Fantasy since we have been to all the MDR's on the Dream so we want to try different things then the MDRs. Plus how cool would it be to sit at the back of the boat espically at sunsetish time.