Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy: What is Rotational Dining?

Are you excited about your first Disney Cruise? A unique feature of Disney Cruise Line is rotational dining in the Main Dining Rooms. Most cruise ships have only one Main Dining Room, and this is where Disney breaks from the pack, because each Disney ship has three Main Dining Rooms. When you sail on Disney Cruise Line, you’ll “rotate” between these restaurants, visiting a different one each night. Here’s what to expect.

First, you don’t need to do anything to “book” rotational dining, or reserve a time for your table. On all Disney Cruise Line ships, you’ll have a set dinner time and assigned table, and you’ll automatically move between the restaurants on an assigned schedule. Early or late seating is the only choice you’ll need to make, and it applies to your entire cruise. The cost of the main dining room meal is included in your cruise fare, although some specialty drinks or cocktails are an extra charge.

Your service team will move with you each night, so you’ll have servers that get to know your tastes. Some cruisers don’t care about this; I love sitting down after a couple of nights and finding my favorite drink waiting for me. And Disney Cruise Line does very well with dietary accommodations; having the same service team every night can really help with this.

Some Disney Cruise Line dining rooms are unique to one ship; for instance, Plaza de Coco is only on the Disney Treasure. Others are on multiple ships; Animator’s Palate is found on four ships, and Worlds of Marvel is on all the Wish-class ships. Each dining room has a theme that’s carried throughout the restaurant. Everything matches, from the tableware to the decor to your service team’s uniforms.

Each restaurant’s menu aligns loosely with the theme. For instance, on the Disney Fantasy, the Royal Court dining room is inspired by the courtly castles of the Disney Princess films. The food is fancy French and American fare like soufflés, escargot, lobster, and rack of lamb with a dijon crust – food that you might be served at a fancy court dinner. Some venues have a show or entertainment during the meal; these are also matched with the theme.

On a three-night sailing, you’ll visit each dining room once. For longer sailings, you’ll continue to rotate through, eating in a different restaurant every night. But don’t worry, when you make a repeat visit to the same restaurant, the menu will be different. For venues with a show, it will also change as you eat at the same location a second or third time.

You’ll be able to see your dining rotation as soon as you get on board. Head for the DCL Navigator app, and you’ll find your dining room and table number on the Home screen. If you’d like to see your assigned dining room for each night of the sailing, you’ll find it on the More tab.

If you’ve booked adult dining, you can request a specific rotation in advance by calling Disney Cruise Line. For instance, you can ask to have a rotation that doesn’t have you in Animator’s Palate on the night you’ve booked dinner at Palo. These requests aren’t guaranteed, but if you don’t get what you want, or you didn’t make a request, you can visit the Dining Change Team on embarkation day to try to change your rotation.

If you don’t want to eat in your assigned dining room, there are a few other options for dinner. You can make reservations for the upcharge, adult-only restaurants. You can grab food from the quick service windows on the pool deck. And of course, there’s always room service, which is free on Disney Cruise Line. (You will need to tip the Cast Member who delivers it.)

Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy is for first-time Disney cruisers looking to learn about the DCL experience. Got a question about a term that’s unfamiliar to you? Suggest it in the comments below!