Rotational Dining on a Disney Cruise

Guests departing on their first Disney Cruise want to know which restaurant to “pick” each night of their cruise.  Well, since Disney makes things as easy as possible, guests don’t have to “pick” as traveling parties are assigned to a dining room rotation for either main dinner seating or late dinner seating, and are assigned to a specific table in each dining room.

Rotational dining allows guests to rotate through each of the main dining rooms during the duration of their cruise.  The serving team assigned to your traveling party will rotate with you and will serve you in each of the three main dining rooms.  If you choose to dine in Palo or Remy, you will be served with dining teams assigned to those restaurants.  As a cruise guest, you will be informed of your dining rotation in two ways.  One is when you check in at the port and are given your Key to The World Card.  There will be a series of letters and each stands for a dining room and the letters are in the order of your dining rotation.  For example, on our most recent cruise, our letters were “ERRAE.”  This meant we were dining in Enchanted Garden the first night, Royal Palace the second and third night, Animator’s Palette the fourth night, and Enchanted Garden on the last night of our 5 night cruise.  The second way you will be informed is with the dining tickets in your stateroom—one for each person in your party with the dining rotation listed, the location of each dining room, and your table number.  It is important to take at least one of these tickets with you to your assigned dining room the first night.  No need after that to bring your ticket along as long as you can remember your table number.  If you forget, no worries; this is Disney and they will look it up for you at the dining room.

While waiting in line to get the boy’s  kid’s club bracelet at the Port Terminal before boarding the ship for our most recent cruise, there was another mother in front of me who indicated that this was their first Disney cruise (I think our shirts give it away that we have done this before) and she asked how to find out their dining rotation.  I showed her on your Key to The World Card how she could find out and told her about the dining tickets she would find in her stateroom.

The main dinner seating is at 5:45 pm and the late seating 8:15 pm.  We have always opted for the main seating.  If you wish to change your dinner seating or rotation, check with Guest Services upon boarding the ship.  They will do their best to accommodate you based on availability. 

So, the only “picking” to do is what you are going to eat when you arrive at your dining room for the evening.  Unless, that is, you have opted to dine at Palo or Remy, which charge an additional fee and require a reservation, or choose more casual dining on Deck 9 or 11 respectfully depending on your Disney ship. 

I appreciate the dining rotation system and knowing which dining room we will be dining in each night of our cruise.  I don’t have a high need to know prior to our cruise as we typically don’t make reservations for Palo or Remy—we have eaten brunch at Palo on two cruises.  Knowing that the decisions are already made is comforting to me and my family.  We stayed at an all inclusive resort in the Caribbean which required making same day reservations at one of the seven on-site restaurants and it was an inconvenience to do that each day. 

Another great thing about rotational dining on a Disney cruise is that your serving team gets to know your family, especially on longer cruises.   So, don’t be surprised if your drink preferences are already waiting for you when you arrive at your table!

Dining in the Royal Palace on the Disney Dream

Disney cruisers on board the beautiful Disney Dream are able to rotate through three main dining rooms, along with their wait staff.

Royal Palace is the dining room located on Deck 3 just off the Lobby Atrium and is the most formal of the three main dining rooms.  We had the good fortune to eat at Royal Palace twice for dinner during our 5 night cruise on the Disney Dream.

Our first time in eating at Royal Palace was on semi-formal or optional dress up night.  We experienced the Royal Palace menu featuring Continental and French cuisine.  Click here to go to the Disney Cruise Line site for the menu.

The husband enjoyed the Wild Boar Tenderloin, while I ate down the left side of the menu featuring soups, salads, and appetizers and did not order an entrée.  I did, however, order dessert!  I enjoyed the spinach soufflé, iced lobster and jumbo shrimp, both soups—cauliflower and French onion, and a green salad.  For dessert, crème brulee.  The boy ordered from the children’s menu, but sampled all of my items.

The atmosphere at Royal Palace was more reserved. . . more formal.  The seating is such that even in the large dining room, it does not seem crowded or busy.  I think that has more to do with how the tables are arranged.  The décor is fit for a princess or any member of the royal family.  Even our wait staff was dressed to serve royalty.

Our second dining experience in Royal Palace was Pirates IN the Caribbean Night and all guests enjoyed the Pirate Night menu.  Click here to read more about Pirate Night on the Disney Dream.

After stacking up the three main dining rooms, Royal Palace comes out ahead of the other two.  Enchanted Garden would be 2^nd—click here to read more, and Animator’s Palate would be last on our list—click here to read about Animator’s Palate.

In the “how close are the bathrooms” category—which is important to me—Royal Palace would be last, as the nearest restrooms are located outside the restaurant (well, that is the same for all of the restaurants) and across the Lobby Atrium and past the bar located in the Lobby.  While bathrooms are located just outside both Enchanted Garden and Animator’s Palate.

Interestingly, when I posed the question to the family about which restaurant they liked best on the Dream, none of the three main dining rooms were mentioned.  It was Cabanas, the self-serve station restaurant on Deck 11 that came out on top.  (Click here to read about dining at Cabanas.) 

What’s great about any or all of the restaurants on the Disney Dream is the service, the yummy food, and the selection.  As my dining example above demonstrates, Disney cruisers can have it their way, even if it is two entrees! (We know this, as the husband does this often!)  Bon Appetite!