Dinner at Cabanas ????

[gayles]

We are not planning to do all the Main Dining on our 5 Day Cruise in June 2017 .. Please explain how the Cabanas works for Dinner or what it's about. ? What Hours ? Any other hints are Welcome. . Traveling with 2 boys 9 & 11 years . Last year . The Maining Dinning Nice but. Tooooo Longggg . Even after we sent boys off to Kids Club .

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Hours are advertised in the navigators typically 6.30 to 8.30 pm

Normally it is a selection of items from the main menues, but on the Magic there also is a dinner buffet some nights.

 

[gomagic]

Also, it is not open for dinner the first or last night of the cruise.

 

[gayles]

Do you order . Or is it on Buffet . I will be on " The Dream" . I thank you for some Imfo already. .

 

[Dug720]

Do you order . Or is it on Buffet . I will be on " The Dream" . I thank you for some Imfo already. .

You order menu-style.

I wanted to try it one night, but I swear they went in my brain and found my least favorite things on each menu and put them all on the Cabanas menu. So I left and went to discuss changing my table with one of the MDR managers.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Do you order . Or is it on Buffet . I will be on " The Dream" . I thank you for some Imfo already. .

Dinner in Cabanas is a sit-down table service. The menu is selected items from the other menus available that night in the other dining rooms. I'm not sure whether it's still done, but in the past, there was also a carving station and salad bar. I've read that someone didn't see these options on a recent cruise, so I'm not sure whether it's still done.

As noted, Cabanas is not open for dinner the first and last nights of any given cruise. So on a 3 night cruise it's only open once for dinner.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We had a good salad bar, all nights, carving station, some nights, and on buffets ( Magic).

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Sorry just checked following on my camera roll were cove cafe same night.

 

[cdoc29]

On the Fantasy last year it was sit down table service and the menu was limited as well. I guess the only reason to eat at Cabanas is if you miss your regular meal time in the MDR. This was one of the few things that I was disappointed in with DCL compared to other cruise lines which have a pretty extensive evening buffet for a meal option. I know for the next cruise we will not be going to cabanas as it was no different than eating in the MDR.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Additional reasons:-

1/ Avoid Fornal night, dressing up.
2/ Avoid a dinner sitting, IE on Late and can't swap to Main.
3/ Speed, to eat fast, to make a movie showing.
4/ Rough seas, my cruise, rough seas out of Bergen, people didn't want to eat in the MDRs on lower decks but choose Cababas as higher and felt they could eat there.

On the Magic in Europe on longer cruises they can add an extensive Buffett, that's very good, doesn't add cruise staff but there is a food cost. Love the hard ice cream like rocky road served there.

 

[dcassetta]

Dinner in Cabanas is a sit-down table service. The menu is selected items from the other menus available that night in the other dining rooms. I'm not sure whether it's still done, but in the past, there was also a carving station and salad bar. I've read that someone didn't see these options on a recent cruise, so I'm not sure whether it's still done.

As noted, Cabanas is not open for dinner the first and last nights of any given cruise. So on a 3 night cruise it's only open once for dinner.

This is been my experience on the Dream in each of the past three years. Cabanas has been open in the evening for a sitdown dinner, and there has not been a buffet, Carving station or salad bar.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Found found Cabanas photos for dinner.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

 

[JoieNsk]

When we were on the Dream with my husband - just the two of us - we got seated with other couple in the MDR. The couple was very nice. But both me and my husband are not big on the small talk. So after first night (it was just three night cruise) we decided not to go to MDR anymore.

One evening we had Palo reservation, so that was no-brainer, we would have missed MDR anyways. The second night we were looking for the place to eat, and went to Cabanas - on the side where we were having breakfast every day. There was nobody there, and the place seemed to be closed! We were getting real desperate, especially me - as when I got to eat, I got to eat )) My husband jokes since the time we first met - that once I said I am getting hungry, he has 5 minutes to find us the place to eat )) Luckily we checked the other side of the Cabanas - the dinner was there!

There was no buffet, it was seat-up dinner. But it was SO GREAT! I don't like all that fuzz the waiters make in the MDR's. On our first cruise I really appreciated how they interacted with my teenage daughter: she is real hard to please in general as she has personality kind of like Sheldon Cooper from "Bing-Bang Theory" ))

But for myself - I always felt kind of rushed, and offered much more food than I needed. For some reason our waiter insisted I ate desert - though I kept telling him every time that I was not interested. He would still bring that desert - a lot of food wasted. Also he made a huge point about us filing the survey on how good he was. I get the survey thing - they press us in the hospital based on those surveys patients fill, so I always fill all kinds of surveys - everywhere. But he kept telling us every single night about it. It just felt weird.

I felt for them, they worked real hard. But since that first cruise I am not eager to dine in MDR really.

Dining in Cabanas was so relaxing. And the food had the same main courses from MDR, I swear. From now on Cabanas (or whatever alternative they have on other ships) - is going to be my go to place for dinner.

Also I much prefer not to dress up on the cruise, and my husband just hates dressing up. He refused to go to Remy because of their strict dress code. For us cruise is the place to completely relax and get as lazy as you possibly can )) And Cabanas dinner serves the purpose perfect. Highly recommend.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

Dinner in Cabanas is a sit-down table service. The menu is selected items from the other menus available that night in the other dining rooms. I'm not sure whether it's still done, but in the past, there was also a carving station and salad bar. I've read that someone didn't see these options on a recent cruise, so I'm not sure whether it's still done.

As noted, Cabanas is not open for dinner the first and last nights of any given cruise. So on a 3 night cruise it's only open once for dinner.

On our Feb. Dream cruise there was no salad bar or carving station when we tried Cabanas for dinner. Also, it was the worst meal we had on that cruise.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Asking this question with extreme caution (don't want to start something, tipping seems to be a sensitive topic). If you choose to skip the MDR for your entire cruise, you don't even meet your serving team, are you still required to tip at the end of the cruise?

I'm curious. I am considering this for our next cruise, just eating from the pool deck, or Cabanas. Years ago, I asked about skipping some nights and only tipping for the nights we ate in the MDR and I got torn up on the thread when I posted about it. So I now understand that even if we eat in the MDR only 2 out of 7 nights we are required to tip for the entire LOC. If I never lay eyes on my serving team.....???

 

[Dug720]

Asking this question with extreme caution (don't want to start something, tipping seems to be a sensitive topic). If you choose to skip the MDR for your entire cruise, you don't even meet your serving team, are you still required to tip at the end of the cruise?

I'm curious. I am considering this for our next cruise, just eating from the pool deck, or Cabanas. Years ago, I asked about skipping some nights and only tipping for the nights we ate in the MDR and I got torn up on the thread when I posted about it. So I now understand that even if we eat in the MDR only 2 out of 7 nights we are required to tip for the entire LOC. If I never lay eyes on my serving team.....???

Your MDR servers also work the buffets, the dining on Castaway Cay, and I believe the pool deck restaurants. So whether you know it or not, you WILL lay eyes on them and they WILL be serving you.

Leave your tips in place.

 

[RedSox68]

Your MDR servers also work the buffets, the dining on Castaway Cay, and I believe the pool deck restaurants. So whether you know it or not, you WILL lay eyes on them and they WILL be serving you.

Leave your tips in place.

Yes, we have seen our MDR servers doing breakfast, Castaway Cay and even the Pirate Buffet late at night. They work nonstop so whether you are eating at the buffet or in the MDR, the tips are a fare price for all the service you can partake of for meals.

 

[2Bnºoºt2B]

On the Fantasy last year it was sit down table service and the menu was limited as well. I guess the only reason to eat at Cabanas is if you miss your regular meal time in the MDR. This was one of the few things that I was disappointed in with DCL compared to other cruise lines which have a pretty extensive evening buffet for a meal option. I know for the next cruise we will not be going to cabanas as it was no different than eating in the MDR.

I agree ... 1st time I was disappointed with DCL ...

 

[JoieNsk]

Your MDR servers also work the buffets, the dining on Castaway Cay, and I believe the pool deck restaurants. So whether you know it or not, you WILL lay eyes on them and they WILL be serving you.

Leave your tips in place.

I had no idea that was how that worked. Never saw our waiters anywhere except for the main dining rooms.

But I just see that they work real hard. If I don't want to eat there, I feel it's my personal preference.

I even felt kind of guilty when we didn't show up for the two nights, and apologized to the waiters at the last breakfast. They were trying to do their best - both cruises. It just people are so different, hard to please everybody.

So I was leaving additional tip in the envelope anyways, and I figured that - as Disney suggests tips, they probably don't pay much to the waiters. And the amount of tip is so minuscule compared to the amount we pay for the cruise.

I just figured it was customary thing to leave tips on the cruise, so I do it - no matter what. All the stuff on the cruise was so exceptionally nice, that I felt it was just right to leave a bit of extra money for them.