Disney Parks are becoming a foodie destination. But what about their cruise lines? Is the food as good as the parks? Are the drinks worth the extra fee? Let’s explore the food and drinks aboard the Disney Wonder.
Quick Service Food and Drinks:
In comparison to other cruise ships, I have been on, I would Disney’s quick service food really outshines other ships. There are plenty of options and types of food available. Daisy’s De-Lites and Boiler Bites were by far my favorite. Daisy’s offers healthy options such as fresh fruit, wraps, and sandwiches. You can build a deliciously healthy bowl of fresh veggies, grains, greens with choice of dressings. They even have sweet treats like cookies available.
Boiler Bites has your standard fan-favorite American food. Chicken strips, burgers, hot dogs, French fries, etc. They also have a gyro station with a variety of toppings and sides. My personal favorite was their “specials of the day”. Their specials would change for the style of burger or chicken burger. They always had a vegan hot dog special, which were all delicious. These are a great option for plant-based people who don’t always want fruit and salad at Daisy’s.
Pinocchio’s Pizzeria leaves much to be desired. Their crust has gotten considerably better since my last visit aboard the Wonder, but it is still mediocre pizza. There aren’t any fully plant-based options, and the vegetarian pizza was always lack luster. Hopefully, if you are lucky, you are getting a slice right after they bake which is when it tastes best. After the pizza sits out a while and becomes lukewarm, it is simply not worth eating.
Eye Scream serves soft serve ice cream, whose flavors change daily, and it melts within a few seconds, so eat fast!
The 24-hour soda fountain was my fiancé’s favorite. There are plenty of sodas to choose from along with iced tea, and water. Adjacent to the soda station is where you can get a cup of coffee, a variety of tea bags and hot water, and a hot cocoa machine. I highly recommend packing a travel mug and travel cup with you so you can get make less trips as they only offer small drink cups at the stations.
Buffet
The Disney Wonder has one buffet open for breakfast and lunch called Cabanas. We always came here for both meals, finding that having plenty of options to choose from was better than the limited menu at any of the main dining options. For breakfast they always had waffles, hashbrowns, breakfast meats, cereals, yogurt, fresh fruit, and menu items you’d find in the main restaurants at breakfast. But we preferred it because we just wanted a little bit of everything.
At lunch, Cabanas had different specials every day, Mexican food, sushi, etc. The shining star was the day they had Indian food. Truly some of the best I’ve had. They also had their daily standards: seafood, salads, pastas, a variety of meat dishes, and plenty of deserts. Cabana’s views are stunning, being located at the rear of the ship. Outdoor tables are available for a panorama view of the ocean. It was always beautiful to be eating lunch while spotting dolphins, whales and sea turtles.
Main Dining
Animator’s Palate, Tiana’s Place and Triton’s are the three main dining rooms on the Disney Wonder. On this 2-week long cruise we had the great pleasure of getting to spend a lot of time in each location with our incredible servers who travel to each location with you.
Animator’s Palate
Animator’s Palate is our favorite, you can’t get more Disney than this restaurant. On your first night, the restaurant starts in black and white and slowly has more color added in. The venue is brought to life with a 9-minute show and visit from Sorcerer Mickey! We were also there on Pirate Night and got to watch incredible illustrations of pirate ships from various Disney productions.
On the last night aboard, we got to animate our own characters that were then edited into the show, dancing alongside Disney’s animated classics. It was always such a wonderful experience. We would stay well beyond finishing our meal to watch the entire loop of the portraits that change throughout the meal. Animator’s Palate has the most entertainment than any other dining venue which is just another reason why it is our favorite.
Tiana’s Place
Tiana’s Place has hit and miss with their decor. It feels a bit discombobulated in terms of theming, feeling as though the bottom half of the restaurant was designed by one person and the top half by another. They do get my vote for best plates (pictured on the right) and table settings. The breadbasket is a lotus flower that sits on a lily pad placemat. The Mardi Gras party is a joy and anytime the band is up and playing is a great time and seeing Louis is very exciting because he isn’t a character we get to see often. Kudos to the sound team who mixes their levels perfectly to where you can enjoy the music but also still hear the conversation at your own table.
Triton’s
Triton’s is beautiful. The mural of a scene from the Little Mermaid is handcrafted. It was created by 3 women, and it took them 6 months to complete it. If you aren’t seated near it, be sure to walk by for a closer look at the incredible detail. Triton’s is the formal dining room so you won’t have entertainment like the others but every so often, the piano player will play, and some princesses may promenade through the restaurants. But most evenings it was a quiet and lovely place to dine.
Food and Drinks
Every night they had signature cocktails available for an additional fee that would complement the menu or theme of the evening. In terms of food at the main dining, it was a standard level of cruise food. For us, the starters really shined and there wasn’t a pasta we tried that we didn’t absolutely love. Neither of us eat red meat so I can’t speak on that, but my fiancé was not a fan of any fish or scallop he tried, deeming they tasted a bit “too fishy”, but he loved the lobster tail. I had incredible veggie dishes and there was always more than one veggie option to choose from.
Be sure when you are adding in your cruise details before you go to mention any food allergies or dietary restrictions. Disney does a great job helping with anything you may need. Your servers will also ask you about your restrictions, in case you didn’t fill it out, so they can make special arrangements for you. I have always loved this about Disney cruises, they are extremely accommodating on every level.
Room Service
Room service is available 24-hours a day and it is included in the cost of your cruise. There are some items that will have an additional fee and will be stated as such. Tipping is not required but we always tip because this is a hard-working group of people who deserve it.
We enjoyed getting room service breakfast on days that we had early port adventures. We would place the room service card on our door the night before with a delivery time for the morning so we could eat while we got ready to leave. They have simple continental style breakfast options. Overall, if you have time, the buffet or main dining for breakfast is a better option.
Lunch and Dinner meals were items you can get from quick service on the top deck and some other options that you’d find at Cabanas. We mostly used room service for Mickey ice cream bars. Also, just another magical touch from Disney, at midnight on the start of my fiancé’s birthday, he called for Mickey ice cream bars, they wished him a happy birthday on the phone, and they sent up a piece of cake with a birthday card.
Specialty Dining, Bars and Café
Palo
Palo is the exclusive adults only restaurant and I can honestly say I had one of the top 5 meals of my life here. They have an ala cart menu, a prefixed tasting menu and a tasting menu with wine option. They are also open for brunch. For $45 a person, you can enjoy the standard tasting menu where you get a four-course meal that would probably cost you $100+ a person at any other elegant restaurant.
While everyone raves about the chocolate souffle and rightfully so, we found the limoncello tart to be the better option for us and wish we got two of those instead of one of each. The service here is incredible, the atmosphere is sophisticated and quiet, and it is the perfect place to celebrate an anniversary, birthday or to just have a romantic date night with your partner.
Cove Cafe
Cove Café is also exclusive to adults and offers a variety of specialty coffees and teas. You will get a stamp card and for every 5 drinks you buy, the next one will be free.
Our drinks were hit and miss here. We both hate coffee so I can’t speak on that, but I had an amazing Matcha Latte here. The following day, when I went back, I ordered a Turmeric Latte and the person who made it, I don’t know if this is standard practice, but he made me a coffee latte and put turmeric in it. I had to send it back because that is not how turmeric lattes are supposed to be, there shouldn’t be any coffee in it. Much like the matcha latte, it should just be the powder with milk and sweetener. But the gentleman seemed confused about why I was asking about coffee being in the drink, so he kindly made me a chai latte instead which was delicious but strangely, not listed on their menu. They have soy milk and almond milk as nondairy options.
Bars and Lounges
Every bar on the ship had their own style of drinks available. The outdoor bars catered to a more tiki/tropical style of beverage. Cadillac lounge had more classic cocktails. Crown and Fin Pub had special cocktails and plenty of beer to choose from while Azure and The French Quarter Lounge had their specialty cocktails.
Alcoholic beverages on Disney Cruise Line are more expensive in comparison to other cruise companies. There also aren’t drink packages. But they offer happy hour at various bars every day! So keep an eye out, those will give you 30% off of all beverages.
While we had some nice drinks, a lot of them were flavorless or tasted very watered down. But on the bright side, they will always take the drinks back and give you a refund or make you a new one. It was strange though that a lot of the bartenders just weren’t very good. It is unfortunate that you pay extra for these because they often aren’t worth it.
I also went to get an alcoholic Dole Whip and let me tell you now, DON’T GET ONE. It is not the dole whip of the parks. The man poured the barely solid pineapple mixture into a blender, with handfuls of ice and rum, blended it and gave it to me. For $10 I want more than 90% ice. It was truly terrible, and we returned it immediately.
The tastings on board are always fun, delicious and informative and are decently priced. You book them when booking port adventures and they sell out quickly. If you want to participate in a tasting, be sure to check those reservations once they open up.
Overall Experience with Disney Wonder’s Food and Drinks
As expected, Disney’s staff are wonderful. We had great experiences everywhere we went. Their food offerings are better than their drinks. In comparison to other cruise lines, nothing about their food, aside from Palo, goes above and beyond. If anything, I feel as if the entrees in the main dining room need some upgrades. The only item of food we had that we hated every single time we tried it was their cheesecake. It was unappealing because it had a mousse like texture and was always served at room temperature. No matter how tempting it sounds on the menu, choose a different dessert. Disney parks have been adding so many plant-based options, it would be nice to see the cruise implement even more into their menus.
While I feel the parks have more to offer in terms of food and drinks, and more room to play around, the cruise still has delicious options. You won’t be disappointed on board. The absolute best part of a cruise vacation is not having to cook or do dishes! Go, indulge and enjoy yourself. Happy sailing!
