Disney Cruise Line boasts a unique approach to dining during your cruise vacation. The rotational dining system DCL uses allows guests to enjoy one of the three themed restaurants per night onboard each of the Disney cruise ships. One of the best parts of cruising is trying different cuisines. Don’t be afraid to try something new. If you don’t like it, your server can get you something else (or bring you more if you love it!).
Each stateroom aboard the ship is assigned a specific restaurant in which to have dinner each night to spread out all of the passengers. Your dining assignment can be found listed in the Disney Cruise Line app. This is your dining assignment for the duration of the cruise. Even on the shortest 3-night cruises, you’ll be able to enjoy dinner at each of the main dining rooms, unless you book premium dining at Palo or Remy. We’ll get to those options further down. On longer cruises, you will visit the same restaurants more than once, but the theme and menu will be different. Menus can be viewed in the Disney Cruise Line app during your cruise. Your assigned seating time, restaurant schedule, table number, and servers will follow you for the duration of your Disney cruise.
ARTICLE: Dining Options When Rotational Dining Does Not Work for You
On your first night, you will be introduced to your Server and Assistant Server (they will follow you from restaurant to restaurant each evening). You will be amazed at how attentive the wait staff can be – don’t be surprised if they learn all your names right away (and even what you prefer to drink and how you like your food prepared!).
Main seating on the Disney cruise ships is at 5:45 p.m. and the second seating is at 8:15 p.m. The evening show or entertainment will typically run twice, so you will be able to attend no matter which dining seating time you have.
Special summer sailings (including Alaskan and Mediterranean sailings) may have dinner at 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. On the 7-night Disney cruises, you’ll dine in each of the three themed restaurants at least twice. On the 3-night Disney cruise, you will have the opportunity to dine in each restaurant once, and on the 4-night Disney Cruise, you’ll repeat one restaurant – typically this happens on Pirate Night.
Adults ages 18 and over on all of the Disney cruises may make reservations for Palo or Remy, the adults-exclusive, signature dining restaurants. Keep in mind that if you make a dinner reservation at Palo or Remy while onboard a 3-night cruise, you will miss the opportunity to dine at one of the restaurants in the regular dining rotation.
Dining in restaurants aboard a Disney ship during your cruise can make for a very special experience and there are a variety of dishes on the menus available to meet the needs of everyone in your party. And don’t forget, you can always ask for more of anything.