Disney Fantasy food review

[slynch29]

I’m on the Disney Fantasy and I am shocked at the low quality of their food. Stale bread, croutons, and popcorn, Meats to tough to cut, watery soda and the list goes on.

Ate at Palo a couple of times which was better.

Won’t cruise again with them unless their food gets an overhaul.

 

[Ohmymonty]

I was on the Fantasy in April and was shocked. It was my first cruise post covid, so I'm not sure if it had been trending downhill since my last cruise on the Fantasy (2014) or what. All three main dining rooms were mediocre at best, oddly with the exception of pirate night which is usually my least favorite meal. Palo was better than the MDRs but still did not seem to hold a candle to what I remembered of Palo. Remy was the exception. It was spectacular.

The experience was such a letdown that trying to convince my boyfriend to go on another led to him advocating for skipping all MDRs and just eating the chicken fingers on deck, which was a shock to me considering what an adventurous foodie he is.

 

[goofy4prez]

My first and to date only cruise with DCL was on the Fantasy in 2019. On that cruise we did not care for the service or the food in the MDR. The service was very slow and the food was rather average. We did have a Palo dinner & brunch booked and a dinner at Remy and loved them. We ended up booking another dinner at Remy, but was not able to get another Palo. We have another cruise in December on the Dream for 5 nights. On this upcoming cruise we are staying concierge and will be using up Disney Visa rewards and booked Palo dinner twice, Palo brunch one day, and Remy dinner twice. The goal for us is to not spend a dinner in the MDR. We loved our DCL experience, just not the MDR.

 

[CamillaF]

We were just on the Wonder. Palo was AMAZING. The rest of the food was hit or miss. Some things were very good, other things passable and others not edible. Service was slow in the beginning. The food and service got better by the end of the cruise. Not sure if they got in the rhythm or if a lot of people were sick in the beginning and then were better by the end.

 

[Ohmymonty]

My first and to date only cruise with DCL was on the Fantasy in 2019. On that cruise we did not care for the service or the food in the MDR. The service was very slow and the food was rather average. We did have a Palo dinner & brunch booked and a dinner at Remy and loved them. We ended up booking another dinner at Remy, but was not able to get another Palo. We have another cruise in December on the Dream for 5 nights. On this upcoming cruise we are staying concierge and will be using up Disney Visa rewards and booked Palo dinner twice, Palo brunch one day, and Remy dinner twice. The goal for us is to not spend a dinner in the MDR. We loved our DCL experience, just not the MDR.

Do concierge guests get to book Palo/Remy more than once? Jealous haha! I have an upcoming 3 night cruise on the Wish and I had a similar thought to avoid the MDRs, though that was mainly because I have less than 0 interest in Frozen and only the very slightest interest in Marvel.

 

[goofy4prez]

Do concierge guests get to book Palo/Remy more than once? Jealous haha! I have an upcoming 3 night cruise on the Wish and I had a similar thought to avoid the MDRs, though that was mainly because I have less than 0 interest in Frozen and only the very slightest interest in Marvel.

Yes, in concierge you are able to make multiple bookings for Remy or Palo. However, anyone can book either Remy or Palo first day and be eligible for a second booking later if available. I'm really looking forward to this cruise in December on the Dream. Apart from dining we also were able to secure a cabana on Castaway Cay.

 

[CamColt]

I’m on the Disney Fantasy and I am shocked at the low quality of their food. Stale bread, croutons, and popcorn, Meats to tough to cut, watery soda and the list goes on.

Ate at Palo a couple of times which was better.

Won’t cruise again with them unless their food gets an overhaul.

I am a serious diet coke addict and that is 1 thing that never tastes right to me on the ships. Its still better than pepsi though.

 

[brentm77]

I am a serious diet coke addict and that is 1 thing that never tastes right to me on the ships. Its still better than pepsi though.

100% agree. Something if off with it. Sometimes it seems to have almost a fruity taste, but not in a good way.

 

[Snowwhyt]

I’m probably too bitter still from my dismay from my February Fantasy cruise. But I feel the Magic in May was everything wonderful I’ve always come to know for Disney Magic class.

 

[Intr3pid]

MDR food can be a hit or miss, but we usually let the servers know, and they work with the chef to get it right the next time.

Remember that MDR food is being made en masse in galleys every day. For the foodie in you, the dining experience at Palo, Remy, or any other specialty restaurant will almost always trump that in the MDRs.

The challenge all cruise lines have right now is to find skilled, experienced chefs to come work for them. The entire hospitality and travel industry has been short-staffed for a while now, and service standards aren't really what you might be accustomed to from before the pandemic.

That said, if you are traveling as a family, MDRs are a great place for everyone to come together at the end of the day. We don't usually see our teenagers much on the ship except in these dinners. That's one thing they know they'd better not miss!

 

[NoodlesMom]

The food on the Fantasy is my biggest gripe. We sailed the Fantasy and the Wonder last year and the quality of the meals on the Wonder were well above what we had on the Fantasy. I’m sailing again in three weeks and was hoping it would be better but it sounds like it hasn’t changed.

 

[SuperDry]

The challenge all cruise lines have right now is to find skilled, experienced chefs to come work for them. The entire hospitality and travel industry has been short-staffed for a while now, and service standards aren't really what you might be accustomed to from before the pandemic.

It used to be that to be hired as a cook by DCL, you had to have at least 3 years' experience on either another cruise line or in hotel banquet service. This was because the MDR kitchens are run very much like banquet service and not at all like a regular restaurant kitchen. If they're having trouble filling those positions, perhaps they've relaxed those standards, and are hiring regular line cooks.

 

[WDWAurora]

Gosh, we were on the 8/6 fantasy sailing and had basically no complaints about the food. The things I didn’t like were generally things I was trying that were a stretch to my normal food preferences OR pool deck food which was serviceable but not great. I didn’t expect it to be, though. I only ate there when I had no options due to excursion timing.

 

[Girl of the South]

Gosh, we were on the 8/6 fantasy sailing and had basically no complaints about the food. The things I didn’t like were generally things I was trying that were a stretch to my normal food preferences OR pool deck food which was serviceable but not great. I didn’t expect it to be, though. I only ate there when I had no options due to excursion timing.

That's encouraging! I don't sail on the Fantasy until December but was hoping the food would at least be edible. I don't think this is solely a cruise ship issue - have been reading about airline food, even post Covid issues, and it seems more dismal than usual, and this is from people flying business class. On my Transatlantic cruises on the Magic, I would go to Cabanas for the buffet at lunch, and grab a few things (bread & cheese) for dinner in my room. I avoided the MDR, mostly due to the time it took. HOW IS CABANAS???? Does there seem to be a decent variety? I was never impressed by the pool deck food. I hear the pizza on the Wish is decent. I might have to try room service instead, which I haven't done in a long time.

 

[WDWAurora]

That's encouraging! I don't sail on the Fantasy until December but was hoping the food would at least be edible. I don't think this is solely a cruise ship issue - have been reading about airline food, even post Covid issues, and it seems more dismal than usual, and this is from people flying business class. On my Transatlantic cruises on the Magic, I would go to Cabanas for the buffet at lunch, and grab a few things (bread & cheese) for dinner in my room. I avoided the MDR, mostly due to the time it took. HOW IS CABANAS???? Does there seem to be a decent variety? I was never impressed by the pool deck food. I hear the pizza on the Wish is decent. I might have to try room service instead, which I haven't done in a long time.

We ate several breakfasts and lunches in the MDR in addition to our dinners. Maybe we aren’t very sophisticated? Didn’t do any room service. Cabanas was fine. Normal buffet fare quality IMO.

 

[Geomom]

Food is so subjective. We were on the Fantasy in June and loved most of our MDR food... maybe it's what we ordered... The seafood DH ate was super fresh and tasty. Our steaks were perfectly cooked to order.

 

[Girl of the South]

I have eaten lunch a couple times in the MDR . . not a breakfast eater. I remember ordering a hamburger and getting ketchup in the shape of Mickey ears - the 3 circles. Are the menus posted outside? (I would like to avoid my phone for the App as much as I can).