One of the best things about going on a cruise is the food. If you’re planning a Disney Cruise, enjoy this deep dive on the restaurants on the Disney Dream. No matter what your dining style, you’ll be able to find food and dining you love.
Here’s everything you need to know about where – and what – to eat on the Disney Dream.
Disney Cruise Ship Rotational Dining
Rotational dining is unique to Disney Cruise Line. You’ll be assigned a different dining room each night of your cruise, which is included in the price of your cruise. The Disney Cruise Line Navigator App will tell you where you eat each night.
The cool thing about rotational dining is that your servers go with you. That’s right; you won’t have different serves in each dining room. Your servers will follow you from location to location, and they will make every effort to get to know you and your family throughout the cruise. The Disney Dream has three main dining rooms, Enchanted Garden (Deck 2 midship), Royal Palace (Deck 3 midship, and Animator’s Palate (Deck 3 aft.)
Each menu includes bread service. The bread comes with butter and some type of dip or sauce. You’ll also find at least one plant-based option and a “lighter notes” menu, including a salad, a plain steak, plain salmon, and a plain chicken breast. Each venue has unique desserts, a signature dessert, and a sugar-free dessert option.
Table-Service Restaurants
Enchanted Garden
The gardens at Versailles inspire the Enchanted Garden’s decor. The appetizer menu choices included a cucumber garden roll, an ahi tuna and avocado tower, an applewood smoked bacon and mushroom tart, and lobster ravioli.
The soup and salad menu included asparagus soup, tomato soup, spinach and raspberry salad, and a romaine wedge. Entrees included sea scallops, sea bass, roast chicken, seared pork medallions, and prime rib.
The dessert list included:
- A sticky date pudding.
- A chocolate torte.
- A gluten-free orange almond cake.
- A brownie sundae.
- A pecan pie tart.
The food was good and plentiful, and the atmosphere felt pretty and soothing, like eating in a…well, in an enchanted garden. That said, this was my least favorite restaurant on the Dream.
Royal Palace
The theme of the Royal Palace is Disney princesses. There is princess artwork around the dining room’s perimeter that’s fun to walk around and look at if the dining room isn’t too crowded. Appetizers include duck confit, iced lobster, jumbo shrimp, fried brie, and escargot.
Soup and salad offerings include a potato and leek soup, French onion soup, a Bosc pear salad, and a farmer’s salad with goat cheese.
The main dishes are pasta with lobster and tomato, oven-baked salmon, roasted duck, rack of lamb, and chateaubriand.
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The featured desserts are:
- A Grand Marnier souffle.
- Apple tartine.
- Strawberry shortcake sundae.
- Creme brulee.
- A chocolate sponge cake soaked in coffee syrup with chocolate ganache.
I love the princess-like setting, which is just the perfect amount of theming and not too “in your face” Disney. The menu is rich, luxurious, and perfect entry-level French cuisine that will make both more sophisticated palates and picky eaters happy.
Animator’s Palate
I’ll preface this by saying I adore Animator’s Palate, my favorite restaurant across the fleet. I’m bummed that the Disney Wish doesn’t have it. Animator’s Palate is your favorite Disney animation coming to life before your eyes. The entertainment is truly spectacular. The Dream has Undersea Magic, where you can have a real-time conversation with Crush from Finding Nemo as he swims around the dining room, popping up in various picture frames.
Magical Entertainment
Animation Magic is truly one of my favorite parts of Animator’s Palate and Disney Cruising in general. If you’re lucky enough to eat at Animator’s Palate when Animation Magic is happening, you’ll be given a placemat to draw on when you first sit down to your meal. The servers will collect your placemats, and your drawings will become a special, magical part of the entertainment.
Delicious Food
The food at Animator’s Palate is also my favorite of the three main dining rooms. Appetizers include smoked salmon tartare, sliced serrano ham, black truffle pasta, and a tomato tart. The choices for soups and salads are butternut squash soup, baked potato cheddar soup, an arugula salad, and a chicken salad.
Mains are pasta bolognese, tuna steak, thyme-seasoned chicken breast, herb-crusted pork, and ginger-dusted beef tenderloin with wasabi mashed potatoes that are a fantastic explosion of flavors – and I’m not a huge red meat eater.
Desserts at the Animator’s Palate include:
- A lemon icebox pie.
- Cookies and cream sundae.
- Crunchy walnut cake.
- Cheesecake with a layer of chocolate fudge.
Which is Better – Early or Late Dining?
Guests will choose between early or late dining when booking their Disney Dream cruise. Early seating is at 5:45 p.m., and second seating is at 8:00 p.m. This may vary by cruise, and when the Disney Dream is in European ports, the dining times may be pushed later. Once you choose, you’re locked in, and there is no flipping back and forth between early or late seatings.
I always opt for late dining and did so even when my kids were little – they’re teenagers now. I find the second dining less crowded and more relaxed. The servers have to turn the dining rooms between the first and second dining sessions so the atmosphere isn’t as inviting for guests who want to linger over their dessert. If you can handle eating a little later, I think you have a better dining experience if you choose second seating.
Other Included Dining Options on the Disney Dream
There are many other places to eat included in the cost of your cruise.
Cabanas
Cabanas is the Disney Dream’s buffet eatery. Serving a wide variety of items for both breakfast and lunch, Cabanas offers indoor and outdoor seating.
Room Service
Most room service items on the Disney Dream are included in the cost of your cruise. A variety of soups, salads, pizza, sandwiches, and desserts can be delivered to your room 24 hours a day. Really.
Certain items on the room service menu are not free, so make sure you’re paying attention when you order. Alcohol, canned soda, and snacks such as candy and popcorn aren’t included.
Flo’s Cafe
If you want to eat on the deck or grab some quick service sustenance while you’re enjoying the ocean views, this outdoor eatery is home to three food stations—Luigi’s Pizza, Tow Mater’s Grill, and Fillmore’s Favorites, all inspired by Disney· Pixar’s Cars. Chicken, pizza, salads, and sandwiches are served so everyone can find something they enjoy.
Eye Scream Treats
Unlimited soft-serve ice cream is a Disney Cruise Line favorite.
Frozone Treats
The smoothies at Frozone Treats are not included in the cost of your cruise.
Vanellope’s Sweets & Treats
Vanelleope’s Sweets and Treats serves hand-dipped gelato, a variety of sundaes, ice cream treats, candy, and other delights to tempt a sweet tooth. Not included in the cost of your cruise.
Preludes
Preludes is the concession stand near the theater that serves popcorn that you can smell a mile away, candy and other snacks, sodas, and alcohol. You can also order from a server in the theater before the show starts.
Cove Cafe
The Cove Cafe serves specialty coffee and tea, with and without alcohol. Aside from the self-service coffee machine in the Concierge Lounge, the Cove Cafe is the only place to get decent coffee on the ship, and if you like your morning java, make sure you’re budgeting for it.
While the drinks at the Cove Cafe aren’t included in the cost of your cruise, the snacks are.
There are usually a variety of pastries in a display case that are free to adult guests (the Cove Cafe is located in the adult-only area of the ship. If you visit between 5:00-7:00 p.m., you might get lucky and find antipasto.
Senses Juice Bar
This juice bar is located near the Senses Spa and Salon and serves nutritious beverages made with fresh fruits and vegetables. Not included in the cost of your cruise.
Adult-Exclusive Fine Dining on the Disney Dream
The Dream has two adult-only fine dining venues, Palo and Remy. If you’re looking for a sans kids dinner or brunch date, a coveted reservation at one of these spots is the way to go.
Palo
Palo serves dinner and brunch on sea days. Dinner is $45 per person, and brunch is $40 per person. The prices are always subject to change. I’m a big fan of Palo Brunch. Although the buffet portion of Palo Brunch is no more, the current menu is more than ample, and you’re brought an antipasto tray early on in the meal with most of the things the old buffet used to have.
The brunch menu includes tasty delights such as soups, waffles and pancakes, benedicts and omelets, and Italian-inspired dishes such as calzones, pizza, pasta, and chicken parmesan. The current dessert menu includes a light vanilla berry panna cotta, a limoncello torte, and traditional tiramisu. While I can’t find fault with any of the desserts, the brunch menu is so excellent and robust that I didn’t have much room. I didn’t think any of the desserts were worth saving room for and I recommend you go for it and sample as much of the brunch menu as you can hold.
They’ll keep bringing you food as long as you can handle it.
For dinner, Palo has an extensive selection of steaks and seafood that are a little more thoughtfully prepared than what you’ll find on the main dining room menus. If you’re a foodie or really crave a good steak or premium seafood, book your dinner at Palo. If it comes down to the choice between Palo dinner and Palo brunch on the Dream, the brunch is an easy winner.
Remy
French cuisine with Ratatouille-inspired decorative touches paired with ocean views? Can you say Ooh La La? Remy serves dinner, brunch, and a dessert-only experience. I think it’s approachable for fine dining, but it is fine dining and it may make someone new to truly upscale food experiences uneasy, although I think onboard a Disney cruise is a great way to dip your toes in and try something new.
The servers will do a great job explaining the dinner menu to you, but if you’re a picky eater or have dietary restrictions, you might find Remy less than accommodating. If you’re more of a chicken tenders person than a foie gras with cauliflower foam person, $125 per person for dinner might be something you want to rethink, but if you’re an adventurous eater, Remy is a truly delicious gastronomic journey. Allow about three hours, and plan to take a walk on deck after. You will need it!
The famous Remy cheese cart
If you love a good cheese course, Remy won’t disappoint. The cheese cart has several varieties of cheeses plus accompaniments like honeycomb and apricots. The server will expertly plate your cheese and recommend the order to enjoy them.
I love cheese, but I don’t enjoy the taste of Brie or most soft, pungent cheeses, and there wasn’t a lot on the cheese cart that I liked. I enjoyed the presentation and the opportunity to taste something new. My husband more than made up for the share of cheese I did not eat.
Remy Add On’s
If you really want to splurge, you can get the sommelier-curated wine pairings for $230 per person, which adds up to an extremely expensive dinner for two. We did it, and I thought it was worth the splurge, but it definitely pinched our pocketbooks. The wines were outstanding, and our sommelier was very thoughtful and kind, but my husband and I know a bit about wines. Someone newer to fine wine tasting might feel out of their depth.
It’s an additional $30 to add champagne pairings to brunch and $25 to pair wines with a Remy dessert experience.
Palo and Remy Dress Code
Formal or semi-formal attire is recommended. Dress casual attire with a polished look is permitted (such as dress pants, jeans in good condition, collared shirts and blouses, and lifestyle shoes). Clothing such as T-shirts, swimwear, and sports attire is not permitted.
Bars on the Disney Dream
The District
The Dream has an adults-only, late-night area – and late-night is relative on board the Disney Dream. Things shutter pretty early. The District has five bars where adults can have a drink before or after dinner or participate in adults-only games, dancing, or quiz shows.
The Skyline Bar features a digital window that displays rotating cityscapes. Pink is a bubble-themed champagne bar, although they serve other cocktails and spirits.
Evolution is a nightclub-inspired space with a dance floor and a stage – check the Navigator App to see what’s happening. If you’re looking for a cozy pub, check out 687, named for the shipyard number assigned to the Disney Dream while she was under construction.
The District Lounge is a stylish space at the The District’s entrance, where you’ll find a full bar and live piano music. The District is open to guests of all ages before 7:00 p.m.
Other On Board Bars
The sophisticated Meridian Lounge, located between Remy and Palo, offers gorgeous ocean views off the back of the ship. Palo and Remy’s dress codes may apply in this space.
The “blink and you’ll miss it” Vista Lounge on Deck is a fun, tucked-away spot to have your morning coffee or a pre-dinner cocktail.
Looking for a family-friendly place to hang out and enjoy games that everyone can play? Check out the D Lounge on Deck Four for family quiz shows, karaoke, and more.
You won’t go hungry on the Disney Dream
Whether your style is a grab-and-go burger on deck between rides on the AquaDuck water slide or multiple courses in one of the ship’s three main dining rooms, the Disney Dream has your appetite covered.
Disney Dream Ship Facts
The Disney Dream is 1,114.7 feet long and 137 feet wide. The ship has 1,250 staterooms and can accommodate a maximum of 4,000 passengers and a crew of 1,458. The ship’s atrium features Art Deco styling and a statue of Admiral Donald. All Disney ships have unique stern art, and the Disney Dream’s stern art features Sorcerer Mickey directing his magical broomsticks to finish painting the ship’s emblem.
The Dream is one of two Dream Class ships – the other is the Disney Fantasy – which are about 40 percent larger than the two classic Disney ships, the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder. I’ve been on the Disney Dream twice and love it.
