10/27/14 10/27/14

Royal Palace -- Breakfast -- Disney Dream 2014

*This dining experience took place in October 2014.Royal Palace located on deck 3 of the Disney Dream is one of the ship's regular rotational dining locations. Inspired by classic Disney films like Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast, Royal Palace serves French-inspired, continental cuisine fit for a king or queen for breakfast, lunch and dinner.My mom and I stopped at Royal Palace for both breakfast and lunch on day 2 of our Disney Dream cruise. Both meals were a la carte. For breakfast, we were seated at our own table and found the restaurant to be fairly quiet. It opened at 8:00 a.m., and we arrived shortly after the opening. (Note: on day 3 of our cruise, they opened at 8:30 a.m.) This was my favorite breakfast of the trip, both for my meal and the ambiance. The breakfast menu itself was fairly lengthy with options that included, yogurt, fruit, hot cereals, cold cereals, sweets (pancakes and waffles) and savory dishes. I was told by my server and many folks prior to my cruise that the ship could make allergy pancakes and had Van's waffles on-hand. Our server took our drink orders, while we looked over the menu. I got unsweetened iced tea and apple juice. Day 2 was our Nassau, Bahamas day and with an excursion planned, I knew I wanted a hearty breakfast.Since I did not pre-order my breakfast, having dined at Remy and not my regular rotational dining the night before, I consulted with my server and the head server Robert. Pre-ordering is not required for meals, though some servers suggested it to help speed along your meal process. I never pre-ordered any meal (and I actually tried a couple of times but my servers said it was not necessary) and didn't find it to be too cumbersome or too long of a wait. I decided to order the Express breakfast entree which is basically the same as the American entree at most Disney World restaurants. It contains eggs, breakfast meat and potatoes. I also asked for a side of allergy pancakes on the side. The breakfast entree that was brought out to me was huge. And extremely generous with the breakfast meat. I was not able to get the breakfast potatoes as they were hash browns that contained gluten, so the team doubled up on other portions of my entree to make up for the potatoes. I wouldn't say this entree was anything special. The scrambled eggs were good, as was the ham. I wasn't too keen on the breakfast sausage and the bacon served is the same stringy bacon you get at Disney World quick service breakfast. It was filling though, and I definitely did not go hungry.The star of my breakfast were the gluten free dairy free pancakes. These were delicious. Whoever cooked these did a stellar job. They were crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked. I think they used Bob's Red Mill pancake mix for the base. My only complaint? The server poured the maple syrup for me, and I could have used more! This girl loves maple syrup! Out of all of the breakfasts I had on the Disney Dream, this was my favorite. I thought they cooked the allergy pancakes the best, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. We tried to go here again on day 3 but they opened later, and we had Castaway Cay to explore! I also dined here for lunch on the same day and had another good meal here, so stay tuned for that review! I never did get to eat dinner here, but I heard many guests say that this restaurant was their favorite rotational dining dinner.Have you been on the Disney Dream? Did you eat at Royal Palace?

10/26/14 10/26/14

Remy -- Dinner -- Disney Dream 2014

*This dining experience took place in October 2014.As a first time Disney Cruise Line vacationer, I knew that I wanted to take advantage of the adult dining experiences available to guests on board the ship. These include Palo (which I also dined at) and Remy. Both adults only dining experiences are available for guests to book in advance (which we did) or while on the cruise (if still available). Each restaurant comes with an "upcharge" per person -- Palo is $25 per person and Remy is an extravagant $75.Because it was my first cruise, and I'm a foodie, I knew I wanted to dine at Remy. I had read amazing reviews of Remy from my friend Sarah at Eating WDW and Dawn from Mouse Chow. I also knew that Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando had dined there and said it was one of the best meals she's ever had. Well, that sold me right there! Remy is French inspired - taking it's name from the Pixar film Ratatouille. It's fine dining at its best with luxurious courses and decadent cuisine. Essentially, this is the Disney Cruise Line's version of Victoria & Albert's. Our meal took a full 3 hours, and this review will be pretty lengthy! If you're the drinking sort, now's the time to pour yourself a glass of wine for this review read!We ended up dining at Remy on our embarkation day. With a reservation at 6 p.m., my mom and I packed our dress clothes in our carry on's just in case our luggage arrived in our stateroom late. Remy's dress code is fairly fancy (cocktail dresses and pantsuits), and in hindsight we would have been better off dining there on day two or three of our cruise so that we felt less rushed on day one.After we gussied up, we made our way to Remy, located on deck 12 (and a bit of a challenge to find the first time!). The lobby area of Remy is shared with the other adult dining, along with the Meridian Lounge. While we waited for our table, we sat in the lounge (meeting up with our friends who were dining at Palo that evening), taking in all the views and ambiance.The head server of Remy, David, came to seat us. We were both blown away by the elegant decor and refined look of the restaurant. The touches from Ratatouille were subtle and charming. We had an amazing view of the ocean from our table.The restaurant knew of my special dietary needs ahead of time and were well prepared for me, noting right away that they knew I was gluten free and dairy free and not to worry as they had lots of options available for my meal. This was one of those touches that both Remy and Palo had and that I really appreciated about the adult dining experiences.Our server Andre came to our table to prepare the cocktail "Collette" table-side. It's Remy's signature cocktail and is brought complimentary to your table as a welcome to the restaurant. Made with Taittinger Champagne and pear vodka, then garnished with fresh raspberry, dried apricot, and mint leaf, it looks and sounds sumptuous. Andre said that they would make me a safe version (interestingly, the dried apricot contains gluten). Essentially, I had champagne with a few garnishes. It was delicious!As we enjoyed our cocktail, Andre went over the menu at Remy. Remy's menu was created by Chef Arnaud Lallement, a Michelin 3-star chef whose famed restaurant is located outside of Reims, France, and Chef Scott Hunnel from award-winning Victoria & Albert's at Walt Disney World Resort. So when I say it's decadent, I'm definitely not kidding.The menu features a la carte options and two tasting menus created by both chefs - Saveur created by Chef Arnaud and Gout created by Chef Scott. You are able to mix and match, creating your own menu or choosing the prix fixe menus as is.Andre suggested that they combine both of these menus for me, with most of my options coming from Saveur with a few chosen from Gout. All of Andre's suggestions sounded great to me, except the duck. I'm not a huge duck fan, so I was skeptical. However, I told him I would give it a try, being adventurous. My mom also chose to mix and match tastings.Before our first course, we were treated to an amuse-bouche (bite-size hors d'œuvre). Remy is famous for their tomato soup cube amuse-bouche. I figured as a gluten free and dairy free diner that this one would be off-limits for me. And when our server brought out two of them to our table, I assumed this was a mistake. However, I was beyond thrilled when they told me that the restaurant had a special version for me using gluten free breadcrumbs.The server suggested we let it cool for 1-2 minutes, then place it in our mouth allowing it to melt without chewing (and FYI, don't bite down on it; you will have tomato soup explosion in your mouth - most unpleasant!).Dawn from Mouse Chow likened this to a Willy Wonka-esque experience and that is the perfect way to describe it. It literally exploded tomato soup in your mouth. Such a crazy and delicious experience. Starting the meal off with this certainly put our meal on a high note (bonus points to Remy for using gluten free breadcrumbs)Next up was our bread course. My mom enjoyed a variety of delicious breads, while I was served an Ener-G roll. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't do anything to this, except heat it up, as Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando had an amazing version of the bread when she dined there. I will give the team bonus points for providing me with non-dairy butter. Adding coarse sea salt to the non-dairy butter made the Ener-G roll more palatable.Before our traditional tasting courses began, we were also treated to Remy's version of Ratatouille. My mom's version came with olive oil gelato which looked amazing. Mine came with a cherry tomato and some additional garnishes. This dish was light and fresh and the seasonings were perfectly balanced.My first dish was the tomato tarte. At first glance, it's beautiful but doesn't look like anything particularly special; however, it's the accompaniment that really brings the dish to a magical (and another Willy Wonka-esque) experience.Served with a glass of "essence," this cold broth was the key to unlocking this dish's unique flavors. I was instructed to take a sip of this cold broth first, then take a bit of the tomato dish presented to me. Repeating these steps would create a unique tasting and bring all of the components together.Now, I have to say the broth was out of this world. The amount of rich flavor in this was beyond compare. Adding the bites of tomato and tomato puree created another dimension and a taste I couldn't quite put my finger on. Andre said most people say it reminds them of deconstructed gazpacho, and I immediately recognized that familiar taste as soon as he mentioned this. This dish and the amuse-bouche were my most memorable dishes of the meal, creativity and taste.Up next came the lobster with chermoula. My mother had this as her first course, and she raved about it, so I was glad this came as a second course for me. The lobster was light and sweet and the chermoula was spicy and robust. Combined together, it made for a really flavorful course.Both my mother and I both had black cod as our next course. My mom is not a fish eater but she likes cod, so this seemed a good fit for her. I adore all fish, so I was happy to have a very seafood heavy tasting. Served with parsnips and a clam jus (mine made dairy free), this dish was excellent. It had a lot of earthy, umami flavors to it, particularly from the clam jus. The parsnips were divine. The cod itself was like butter, falling apart very easily.Now, this is where our meal took a slight turn. My mom found something in her fish that was both unpleasant and unappetizing (not a bone). While I won't go into too many specifics (suffice it to say, it was not particularly pleasant), the restaurant did take both of our plates away, bringing us a substitute course for the cod. It's a shame because the cod was delicious, though on the upside I was given what turned out to be my favorite course of the night.My substitute course was halibut served with a pea puree and a pea sauce. The halibut itself was perfectly seasoned and cooked. The pea puree and the pea sauce were the stars of this dish filled with intense pea flavor and containing a touch of brightness from lemon juice. The radish was a nice accompaniment, but for me, this dish was all about the peas. This dish was perfection.My last meat course was the duck. Served with fennel, oranges and sweet potatoes; it was reminiscent of duck a l'Orange. I'm not a huge fennel fan, but this was very subtle. The orange sauce and orange segments were delicious and paired well with the duck. The duck itself was well cooked and didn't taste as gamey as I often find duck. The sweet potatoes were bananas good, and I wished there would have been more on my plate.While I would say this was probably my least favorite dish of the meal, it was still expertly prepared and quite delicious. I'm just not a duck person.The next course was a cheese course. Sadly, I was not able to enjoy this one. I was surprised the restaurant didn't bring me something else as a palate cleanser to enjoy while my mom ate her cheese course (which she said was amazing). It's a bit of a bummer to be served an empty plate! Not that I was hungry, but it would have been nice to see that added touch.For my dessert course, I was served a fresh fruit salad. It was beautifully garnished with edible gold leaf and flowers. However, I didn't find this to be anything spectacular. The diced fruit was dressed with a bit of juice and black pepper. It was pleasant and a nice palate cleanser but I would have loved to have been given something decadent like my mom's chocolate dessert.The next evening we dined at Palo, and they made me a spectacular dessert that wasn't as pretty as this one but blew it away with taste.Next up was a candy course. My mom was served a huge platter of chocolates and other candies. Because of not being able to have dairy, I was brought 2 homemade marshmallows and 2 homemade lollypops. I was glad to see that I had these as options, though I would have loved to have been given a few more marshmallows to make up for the fact that I couldn't eat the chocolates. The marshmallows were delicious, and I could have eaten about a dozen of them, easy.During this course, I also ordered tea. They had several loose-leaf teas to choose from including the Monkey Picked Oolong which is what I chose. It was fresh and earthy and the perfect accompaniment to the sweet marshmallows. My mom chose coffee and said it was the best coffee she had on the ship.As our 3 hour meal came to a close, we were presented with roses and a box of chocolates for my mom. This is another one of those touches that I'd love to see Remy extend to those who have special dietary needs. It would have been lovely to take a box of marshmallows back to my stateroom with me.Overall, despite one hiccup in the meal, we found Remy to be an outstanding restaurant and an amazing experience. The food was beyond compare and the service was exemplary. I was impressed by how they handled my special diets and found the meal to be a once in a lifetime experience spent with my mom. I wouldn't say that I would dine at Remy on every cruise (certainly not at $75 a person) but it's a wonderful spot for a special occasion.For adult dining at a more reasonable price, I highly recommend Palo, and will be reviewing it here on the site, as well.I'm so glad I went to Remy and look forward to going back there again. I'd love to try the brunch sometime, as I've heard it's amazing. Have you been to Remy on the Disney Dream? What did you think of your experience there?

10/26/14 10/26/14

Remy -- Dinner -- Disney Dream 2014

*This dining experience took place in October 2014.As a first time Disney Cruise Line vacationer, I knew that I wanted to take advantage of the adult dining experiences available to guests on board the ship. These include Palo (which I also dined at) and Remy. Both adults only dining experiences are available for guests to book in advance (which we did) or while on the cruise (if still available). Each restaurant comes with an "upcharge" per person -- Palo is $25 per person and Remy is an extravagant $75.Because it was my first cruise, and I'm a foodie, I knew I wanted to dine at Remy. I had read amazing reviews of Remy from my friend Sarah at Eating WDW and Dawn from Mouse Chow. I also knew that Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando had dined there and said it was one of the best meals she's ever had. Well, that sold me right there! Remy is French inspired - taking it's name from the Pixar film Ratatouille. It's fine dining at its best with luxurious courses and decadent cuisine. Essentially, this is the Disney Cruise Line's version of Victoria & Albert's. Our meal took a full 3 hours, and this review will be pretty lengthy! If you're the drinking sort, now's the time to pour yourself a glass of wine for this review read!We ended up dining at Remy on our embarkation day. With a reservation at 6 p.m., my mom and I packed our dress clothes in our carry on's just in case our luggage arrived in our stateroom late. Remy's dress code is fairly fancy (cocktail dresses and pantsuits), and in hindsight we would have been better off dining there on day two or three of our cruise so that we felt less rushed on day one.After we gussied up, we made our way to Remy, located on deck 12 (and a bit of a challenge to find the first time!). The lobby area of Remy is shared with the other adult dining, along with the Meridian Lounge. While we waited for our table, we sat in the lounge (meeting up with our friends who were dining at Palo that evening), taking in all the views and ambiance.The head server of Remy, David, came to seat us. We were both blown away by the elegant decor and refined look of the restaurant. The touches from Ratatouille were subtle and charming. We had an amazing view of the ocean from our table.The restaurant knew of my special dietary needs ahead of time and were well prepared for me, noting right away that they knew I was gluten free and dairy free and not to worry as they had lots of options available for my meal. This was one of those touches that both Remy and Palo had and that I really appreciated about the adult dining experiences.Our server Andre came to our table to prepare the cocktail "Collette" table-side. It's Remy's signature cocktail and is brought complimentary to your table as a welcome to the restaurant. Made with Taittinger Champagne and pear vodka, then garnished with fresh raspberry, dried apricot, and mint leaf, it looks and sounds sumptuous. Andre said that they would make me a safe version (interestingly, the dried apricot contains gluten). Essentially, I had champagne with a few garnishes. It was delicious!As we enjoyed our cocktail, Andre went over the menu at Remy. Remy's menu was created by Chef Arnaud Lallement, a Michelin 3-star chef whose famed restaurant is located outside of Reims, France, and Chef Scott Hunnel from award-winning Victoria & Albert's at Walt Disney World Resort. So when I say it's decadent, I'm definitely not kidding.The menu features a la carte options and two tasting menus created by both chefs - Saveur created by Chef Arnaud and Gout created by Chef Scott. You are able to mix and match, creating your own menu or choosing the prix fixe menus as is.Andre suggested that they combine both of these menus for me, with most of my options coming from Saveur with a few chosen from Gout. All of Andre's suggestions sounded great to me, except the duck. I'm not a huge duck fan, so I was skeptical. However, I told him I would give it a try, being adventurous. My mom also chose to mix and match tastings.Before our first course, we were treated to an amuse-bouche (bite-size hors d'œuvre). Remy is famous for their tomato soup cube amuse-bouche. I figured as a gluten free and dairy free diner that this one would be off-limits for me. And when our server brought out two of them to our table, I assumed this was a mistake. However, I was beyond thrilled when they told me that the restaurant had a special version for me using gluten free breadcrumbs.The server suggested we let it cool for 1-2 minutes, then place it in our mouth allowing it to melt without chewing (and FYI, don't bite down on it; you will have tomato soup explosion in your mouth - most unpleasant!).Dawn from Mouse Chow likened this to a Willy Wonka-esque experience and that is the perfect way to describe it. It literally exploded tomato soup in your mouth. Such a crazy and delicious experience. Starting the meal off with this certainly put our meal on a high note (bonus points to Remy for using gluten free breadcrumbs)Next up was our bread course. My mom enjoyed a variety of delicious breads, while I was served an Ener-G roll. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't do anything to this, except heat it up, as Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando had an amazing version of the bread when she dined there. I will give the team bonus points for providing me with non-dairy butter. Adding coarse sea salt to the non-dairy butter made the Ener-G roll more palatable.Before our traditional tasting courses began, we were also treated to Remy's version of Ratatouille. My mom's version came with olive oil gelato which looked amazing. Mine came with a cherry tomato and some additional garnishes. This dish was light and fresh and the seasonings were perfectly balanced.My first dish was the tomato tarte. At first glance, it's beautiful but doesn't look like anything particularly special; however, it's the accompaniment that really brings the dish to a magical (and another Willy Wonka-esque) experience.Served with a glass of "essence," this cold broth was the key to unlocking this dish's unique flavors. I was instructed to take a sip of this cold broth first, then take a bit of the tomato dish presented to me. Repeating these steps would create a unique tasting and bring all of the components together.Now, I have to say the broth was out of this world. The amount of rich flavor in this was beyond compare. Adding the bites of tomato and tomato puree created another dimension and a taste I couldn't quite put my finger on. Andre said most people say it reminds them of deconstructed gazpacho, and I immediately recognized that familiar taste as soon as he mentioned this. This dish and the amuse-bouche were my most memorable dishes of the meal, creativity and taste.Up next came the lobster with chermoula. My mother had this as her first course, and she raved about it, so I was glad this came as a second course for me. The lobster was light and sweet and the chermoula was spicy and robust. Combined together, it made for a really flavorful course.Both my mother and I both had black cod as our next course. My mom is not a fish eater but she likes cod, so this seemed a good fit for her. I adore all fish, so I was happy to have a very seafood heavy tasting. Served with parsnips and a clam jus (mine made dairy free), this dish was excellent. It had a lot of earthy, umami flavors to it, particularly from the clam jus. The parsnips were divine. The cod itself was like butter, falling apart very easily.Now, this is where our meal took a slight turn. My mom found something in her fish that was both unpleasant and unappetizing (not a bone). While I won't go into too many specifics (suffice it to say, it was not particularly pleasant), the restaurant did take both of our plates away, bringing us a substitute course for the cod. It's a shame because the cod was delicious, though on the upside I was given what turned out to be my favorite course of the night.My substitute course was halibut served with a pea puree and a pea sauce. The halibut itself was perfectly seasoned and cooked. The pea puree and the pea sauce were the stars of this dish filled with intense pea flavor and containing a touch of brightness from lemon juice. The radish was a nice accompaniment, but for me, this dish was all about the peas. This dish was perfection.My last meat course was the duck. Served with fennel, oranges and sweet potatoes; it was reminiscent of duck a l'Orange. I'm not a huge fennel fan, but this was very subtle. The orange sauce and orange segments were delicious and paired well with the duck. The duck itself was well cooked and didn't taste as gamey as I often find duck. The sweet potatoes were bananas good, and I wished there would have been more on my plate.While I would say this was probably my least favorite dish of the meal, it was still expertly prepared and quite delicious. I'm just not a duck person.The next course was a cheese course. Sadly, I was not able to enjoy this one. I was surprised the restaurant didn't bring me something else as a palate cleanser to enjoy while my mom ate her cheese course (which she said was amazing). It's a bit of a bummer to be served an empty plate! Not that I was hungry, but it would have been nice to see that added touch.For my dessert course, I was served a fresh fruit salad. It was beautifully garnished with edible gold leaf and flowers. However, I didn't find this to be anything spectacular. The diced fruit was dressed with a bit of juice and black pepper. It was pleasant and a nice palate cleanser but I would have loved to have been given something decadent like my mom's chocolate dessert.The next evening we dined at Palo, and they made me a spectacular dessert that wasn't as pretty as this one but blew it away with taste.Next up was a candy course. My mom was served a huge platter of chocolates and other candies. Because of not being able to have dairy, I was brought 2 homemade marshmallows and 2 homemade lollypops. I was glad to see that I had these as options, though I would have loved to have been given a few more marshmallows to make up for the fact that I couldn't eat the chocolates. The marshmallows were delicious, and I could have eaten about a dozen of them, easy.During this course, I also ordered tea. They had several loose-leaf teas to choose from including the Monkey Picked Oolong which is what I chose. It was fresh and earthy and the perfect accompaniment to the sweet marshmallows. My mom chose coffee and said it was the best coffee she had on the ship.As our 3 hour meal came to a close, we were presented with roses and a box of chocolates for my mom. This is another one of those touches that I'd love to see Remy extend to those who have special dietary needs. It would have been lovely to take a box of marshmallows back to my stateroom with me.Overall, despite one hiccup in the meal, we found Remy to be an outstanding restaurant and an amazing experience. The food was beyond compare and the service was exemplary. I was impressed by how they handled my special diets and found the meal to be a once in a lifetime experience spent with my mom. I wouldn't say that I would dine at Remy on every cruise (certainly not at $75 a person) but it's a wonderful spot for a special occasion.For adult dining at a more reasonable price, I highly recommend Palo, and will be reviewing it here on the site, as well.I'm so glad I went to Remy and look forward to going back there again. I'd love to try the brunch sometime, as I've heard it's amazing. Have you been to Remy on the Disney Dream? What did you think of your experience there?

10/25/14 10/25/14

Enchanted Garden -- Embarkation Buffet -- Disney Dream 2014

*This dining experience took place in October 2014.Day 1 of my vacation on the Disney Dream began with lunch at Cabanas. While the meal itself wasn't anything spectacular, I was able to find some options to fill me up before I began exploring the cruise ship. I also wanted to find the elusive Special Dining Session supposedly found on the ship for guests with special diets.None of the staff seemed to know where it was, so my mom and I ventured to Enchanted Garden (after exploring the ship for a while) to see if we could find it. Enchanted Garden is located on deck 2 of the ship (where our stateroom was located, so it was convenient).My friends, the Disney Hipsters, had suggested an elevenses lunch while on the cruise ship, and my mom and I thought that was a great idea!The restaurant is set to resemble the gardens of Versailles, and it's a quaint and beautifully decorated restaurant. From the charming booths to the fountain in the middle of the restaurant, there were an impressive amount of small details and touches in this restaurant.Like Cabanas, lunch on embarkation day at the Enchanted Garden was a buffet. However, at this location, you were seated and had a server who took your beverage order.Before being seated, I let Rexon, our server, know that I had special dietary needs. He said this was not a problem, and he said he would walk with me through the buffet to see what I might be interested in. He also let me know that all of the food for my meal would be brought from the back and to not take anything off the buffet to avoid cross-contamination. I really appreciated this and found my experience at the Enchanted Garden vastly different from the chaos at Cabanas (understandable, as the only restaurant open at the time).There were some items that looked interesting, including a grilled chicken with a pineapple salsa and salmon wrapped in ham that I had seen on Gluten Free in Orlando's Disney Dream review. I asked about those, and I also requested some asparagus (which I adore) and some antipasti.On my way back to the table, I did take a bit of time to take photographs and look around the restaurant. I loved this restaurant's decor and wish I had enjoyed another meal there.Once I got back to our table, the assistant server (usually in charge of beverages at your table) took my drink order. I ordered unsweetened iced tea, and as I learned, they do not use Gold Peak tea like Walt Disney World does. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I drank a lot of water on this cruise!It didn't take long at all for my food to come out. Rexon brought all of my food and included a couple of desserts for me as well.I was a bit bummed to see plain chicken and plain salmon, having asked for the versions on the buffet. As I learned throughout the cruise, being very specific in your requests is important, as the restaurants will typically serve you the plainest food possible to ensure safety (at least in my experience on this cruise).My guess is as long as the sauces were safe, they would have served me the versions on the buffet instead of making me new items, but I do truly appreciate that they wanted to make me safe options. And for those wondering, they do cook items for special diets guests in a separate area of the kitchen on separate equipment. I was very glad to hear of that!The salmon and chicken were both fine; nothing special. The asparagus was dynamite, having been sauteed in extra virgin olive oil with some garlic.The antipasti was definitely my favorite part of this meal. The prosciutto and olives were the perfect light lunch (considering I was on lunch number 2!) The beef was not my favorite cured meat, so I didn't eat much of that one.For dessert, Rexson brought me Enjoy Life Snickerdoodle cookies (love them!) and the dreaded Jell-O. I'm not a huge Jell-o fan to begin with and especially not since there was a period during my initial Crohn's diagnosis where Jell-o and liquids were the only things I could eat. Add in that it's green Jell-o (gross) with fruit in it (double-gross) and meringue. Um, no thanks. I tried one bite and promptly decided that this Jell-o was not for me.But, I really appreciated that Rexson brought me some options! And I was very glad to see Enjoy Life cookies on board the ship.Overall, I thought Enchanted Garden was a much better option as an embarkation lunch than Cabanas. It was much quieter and definitely easier to navigate. The buffet itself was almost identical to the one in Cabanas (just smaller) and the staff went above and beyond to assist me with safe options.As I later learned from my friends, the special dining session on our ship was located at the Royal Palace restaurant. I never did get a chance to go there but I'm glad to have learned where it was held. I hope that the Disney Cruise Line does a better job in the future of keeping their staff up-to-date on these and where they are located (especially, since I was encouraged to attend it).With my stomach full from lunch number 2, my mom and I settled into our stateroom on deck 2 and then went to the DVC Member Welcome Reception. We sure kept ourselves busy until dinner the first night which was at Remy, one of the adult dining locations on the shipHave you been on the Disney Dream? What did you think of the Enchanted Garden?

10/25/14 10/25/14

Enchanted Garden -- Embarkation Buffet -- Disney Dream 2014

10/24/14 10/24/14

Cabanas -- Embarkation Buffet -- Disney Dream 2014

*This dining experience took place in October 2014.Cabanas is the Disney Dream's buffet style dining option for guests looking for breakfast or lunch options. Located on Deck 11 (near the top of the ship), it has incredible outdoor seating (as I found out while enjoying breakfast outside on my Castaway Cay day) and a fun beach vibe inside.During embarkation, Cabanas was the first restaurant open for dining when we boarded the ship. I was accompanied on my cruise by my mom and was also lucky enough to have some fellow GF friends also on board the ship. Before boarding the Disney Dream, we met up with my friends and all went to Cabanas together, particularly as we had heard from the Disney Cruise Line that there was a special dining session available on the ship (more on that later).When we arrived at Cabanas, we asked a cast member for a chef or someone we could discuss special dietary needs with. We also asked about the special dining session set to take place during embarkation, but no one on staff seemed to know about it (and it wasn't in our personal navigator i.e. the cruise ship daily program).Chef Christopher came out and spoke with my friend and I briefly, stating that we would be taken care of and that Dogan, the Head Server, would assist us. This began our first experience with Disney Cruise Line special diets accommodations, which I will be honest in saying is a bit confusing compared to Disney World's standard practice of handling special diets. Essentially, here's what happened to both myself and my friends (and we didn't dine together except this one meal) throughout the trip.You, as the special diets guest, consults with what's known as a head server (or the lead server over the restaurant and/or designated tables in a restaurant). The head server asks you what kinds of food items you would like (this can be something you saw on the buffet line or on a menu or something off-menu). They then take this to the chef who then confirms if what you requested is safe, then they relay this to the head server who then tells you if what you requested is OK. It's a bit of a telephone game but worked better once I figured out this is what was happening. Day 1? not so much!After Dogan took our requests (I asked for seafood, chicken, and a starch; my friend ordered chicken and gluten free mac & cheese for her daughter and chicken for herself), we took a look at the regular buffet.To me, the buffet seemed like a terrible cross-contamination nightmare. We were one of the first groups at the restaurant but by the time we walked by the buffet it had already been ravaged. As I learned later, the smaller restaurants are definitely the way to go (more on that when I review Enchanted Garden for Embarkation Lunch Round 2!).Dogan came back with chicken and French fries for me, but I was told that I should get my seafood (mussels, crab claws, and shrimp) from the buffet. I found the station that seemed the least likely to cause cross-contamination and used a fork to grab items from the back of the seafood presentation. I did not get any sauces and opted to eat everything plain (good thing, as I saw Chef Christopher, and he told me not to consume any of them because of cross-contamination).Later at Enchanted Garden, they told me that they would get everything from the back for me, so lessons learned - go with the smaller buffet (which opens about 30 minutes after Cabanas does).I can't say that the seafood was anything exciting. The shrimp were pretty bland as were the mussels. I enjoyed the crab, but they are a lot of work to eat. It's too bad that they couldn't get any safe cocktail sauce from the back at Cabanas.The chicken had some salsa-type marinade on it. It was a little spicy, almost like fajita-type chicken. The French fries were thick cut steak fries. Not particularly my favorite, especially without a dipping sauce.My friend's daughter also got the same chicken served alongside Amy's gluten free mac & cheese. She seemed pretty excited about this, as I know she was getting hungry while we waited.Cabanas and several stations on deck 11 are the only places with self-serve drink stations. I brought along my Tervis Tumbler (shout out to my local running store Fleet Feet!) and a Disney refillable mug to keep myself stocked in beverages. It's a long ways to travel from your room to deck 11 typically, so filling up refillable glasses while at Cabanas is a very good idea.I dined at Cabanas one other time during the trip for breakfast and will be recapping that here on the site. I can't say Cabanas was my favorite restaurant by any means while on the cruise. Given the choices, I would pick any of the other smaller rotational dining locations over Cabanas. My meal options definitely improved a lot as the cruise went on!My friend Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando has also been on the Disney Dream and she shares her experiences her blog. I highly recommend checking out her site for Disney Cruise Line tips too!Stay tuned for all of my dining reviews from my Disney Cruise Line vacation. I'll also be sharing a tips and tricks post too!Have you been on the Disney Dream? What are your tips for vacationing on the Disney Cruise Line with a special diet?