Cabanas for dinner?

[mathgeek]

I've cruised 8 times on DCL and have always eaten dinner in the MDR, Palo, or Remy. Am I missing anything by not at least trying Cabanas for dinner one night? Would it be a more relaxing, causal experience? Do they serve the same menu each night, or does it change to the Pirate night or whatever other non-MDR menu might be that night? I have 10 nights on the Dream coming up this summer, two 5-nights B2B and was just thinking I might try something different on one of the nights.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I've cruised 8 times on DCL and have always eaten dinner in the MDR, Palo, or Remy. Am I missing anything by not at least trying Cabanas for dinner one night? Would it be a more relaxing, causal experience? Do they serve the same menu each night, or does it change to the Pirate night or whatever other non-MDR menu might be that night? I have 10 nights on the Dream coming up this summer, two 5-nights B2B and was just thinking I might try something different on one of the nights.

Cabanas is a sit down, table service for dinner. The menu is comprised of selected items available on the menus in the other dining rooms that evening. On a night that the same menu is served in the MDR (Pirate night, for instance) the menu at Cabanas is basically the same menu.

There is also a salad bar and a carved item served in Cabanas for dinner.

 

[Bear3412]

They also use Cabanas to train new applicants. That can go either way. IYKWIM. lol.

 

[wombat_5606]

I've cruised 8 times on DCL and have always eaten dinner in the MDR, Palo, or Remy. Am I missing anything by not at least trying Cabanas for dinner one night? Would it be a more relaxing, causal experience? Do they serve the same menu each night, or does it change to the Pirate night or whatever other non-MDR menu might be that night? I have 10 nights on the Dream coming up this summer, two 5-nights B2B and was just thinking I might try something different on one of the nights.

I say at least try it.

OK, the service might not be up to MDR, but I'm not very demanding or going in with huge expectations. But, my food had been very well prepared and comes out hot (which I never get in the MDR) every time I've eaten there.

 

[Dug720]

I attempted to try it once on my last Disney cruise. It was like they took my least favorite things on each menu and combined them. That was enough for me to leave and say "No thanks!"

 

[mathgeek]

I attempted to try it once on my last Disney cruise. It was like they took my least favorite things on each menu and combined them. That was enough for me to leave and say "No thanks!"

I may at least try to check the menu one of the nights. But that's what I'm afraid of based on the menus I've seen posted online. Just thought it might be nice to try on a night that I'm not planning to go to a show.

On a night that the same menu is served in the MDR (Pirate night, for instance) the menu at Cabanas is basically the same menu. There is also a salad bar and a carved item served in Cabanas for dinner.

Thank you. This is the info I was missing. Thought I might try Cabanas instead of Palo on Pirate night (I've never done a Pirate night menu in the MDR), but if it's pretty much the same menu then I'll stick to my original plan.

 

[Dug720]

I may at least try to check the menu one of the nights. But that's what I'm afraid of based on the menus I've seen posted online. Just thought it might be nice to try on a night that I'm not planning to go to a show.

Yeah, I don't regret checking it out. I'm just glad I did it early enough that I could still make my regular seating - after talking with the manager and getting my table changed.

 

[Bear3412]

Also steaks are good there. Prepared locally.

 

[bbn1122]

We tried it back in 2010, on our 1st cruise. DH and I wanted to try everything. Kids wanted to eat casual, quick service or maybe they did room service. We had all 3 MDR covered and Palo, so one night Cabana or was it called Shiutters?

Food was good, service good, but it was someone who was training. Only thing that I remeber that was not good. There was a large party, who were just finishing up and one of the kids was having a melted down and it took about 10 minutes at least to get the child calmed down and out of there.

I would definitely try it again, the next time we are on a 7 night.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you. This is the info I was missing. Thought I might try Cabanas instead of Palo on Pirate night (I've never done a Pirate night menu in the MDR), but if it's pretty much the same menu then I'll stick to my original plan.

I'll just point out that the Pirate night menu was changed not too long ago. You might want to check out the new menu before deciding that you're not interested.

 

[mathgeek]

I'll just point out that the Pirate night menu was changed not too long ago. You might want to check out the new menu before deciding that you're not interested.

Thanks! There is actually a main course I might consider on the new Pirate menu, but in the past it hadn't been about avoiding the menu. By booking Palo on Pirate night I knew I wouldn't miss one of the MDR menus on a 4- or 5-night cruise, plus I'm not really into the Pirate theme much anyway. So at this point it's just kind of become a tradition for me. And I'm not sure I'm willing to give up a 2nd trip to Palo and the chocolate souffle to try something new, but I was curious about Cabanas since I've never tried it before.

 

[Flossbolna]

On the Magic in 2015 there was no salad bar.

I like Cabanas because of the view. If you dine when it is still light out you can get a table at the window. I often find that the dining rooms feel like a huge cave to me and I don't feel like I am on a ship at all. Cabanas gives you lots of views. We had dinner in Cabanas on the evening leaving Geiranger in Norway and we were sailing through this beautiful fjord during dinner. That was perfect!

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

The worst meal we had on the Dream was a steak dinner in Cabanas. There was no salad bar or carving station either. It was more relaxing but we won't do it again.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Do they allow you to order off menu like the MDRs do (such as an adult plate of chicken strips)?
Are you seated with other people?

I generally don't like the atmosphere in the MDRs. I've never tried Cabanas, but have avoided the MDRs on a couple of my cruises.

 

[hoffman1]

We have only tried Cabanas once for dinner and decided it was not for us.
We asked if we could have a table by the window (it was still light out when we got there) and we were told none were available. There were 3-4 tables open right in front of us by the windows the whole time we were in there. I know different servers have different tables but it was kind of off-putting to see so many empty for so long. Maybe they had their reasons for not seating there.
Service was ok. Not great. We had hoped for a quicker meal than the MDR but we were there for 2 hours.
There was no carving station or salad bar the night we dined.

 

[danajay]

We actually loved Cabanas and ate there for dinner twice on our last cruise. The ribeye was probably the best thing we ate on the whole cruise (beside Palo). We did find it more relaxing and were probably in and out in an hour (with 2 kids). With a 10 night cruise, it might be a nice change of pace....

 

[Doofenshmirtz513]

We ate at Cabanas 4 nights for dinner on our last 7-night cruise. Our first night in the MDR was so bad (serving, timing, a whole host of stuff) that we never went back. On the third night, we found Cabanas and loved it. They would hold a great table by the windows for every time we came in with the same pair of servers, who were fantastic (Maxi and Guillermo). They would get us off menu items, let us order MDR items not on the Cabanas menu, bring every server with magic tricks around to perform for our kids, send desserts back to the room if one of us had to leave with a child for some reason, the works. We were always out faster than in the MDR, which we liked, too. And we had more flexibility on when to show up for dinner if we were running a bit late.

I think if the MDR is your style, it's always the better option. If you're looking for something a little faster, a little more casual, and a little more flexible, then Cabanas is a great place to try.

 

[Mushu's Twin]

So the first time my sister and I tried Cabanas for dinner, it was just plain bad, and I love DCL's food. The service was slow and the food was cold. The only thing that were ok were mini corn dogs off the kids menu. We said we wouldn't eat there again; however, on another cruise we thought maybe it was just an off night and decided we would re-try it. The service was a little better, but the food was still not anything I'd expect from Disney. Now if we're not waiting to go to the MDR or Palos, we'll just go to Flo's to get burgers and chicken.

 

[dreadpiraterose]

We did Cabanas one night out of a weird necessity. The Oscars were airing while we were cruising, and NPH was hosting so we REALLY wanted to see it. They were doing a cool satellite broadcast in the main theater with trivia and everything. But since we had 2nd seating, we would have totally missed the opening and such. So we went to Cabanas for a super quick meal thinking it would be buffet - whoops. We didn't know it was sit down. However, when we explained our rush, they were able to get us in and out super fast and we made the opening of the Oscars. The menu wasn't anything special. It was just easy and quick.

 

[bumbershoot]

I attempted to try it once on my last Disney cruise. It was like they took my least favorite things on each menu and combined them. That was enough for me to leave and say "No thanks!"

Oh dear.