Dining on the Disney Fantasy

We've been talking about the meals (and the potato-ey offerings) on board the Disney Fantasy ship of the Disney Cruise Line for a few weeks now. If you haven't had enough already, here's an extra special treat.

If you liked reading about the dining on the Disney Fantasy, you might also like listening to The Bride and myself talking about it. For those of you who aren't aware, we're doing a Disney-focused podcast called The Make Mine Magic Podcast, which you can hear here.

Not just about French fries, but all of the food offerings and dining options on board are up for discussion. Check out the podcast here.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #120

Another night at the Royal Court on board the Disney Fantasy, and here's another tater pic. These golden brown swirled beauties are whipped Yukon Gold potatoes. They were delicious and the best part of that night's meal. They had a heavenly texture, lightly crisp on top protecting a soft hot buttery inside of tender potatoes. They came with my almost as good peppercorn encrusted steak.

And remember, French Fry Diary is now on Facebook, come on over and join the fun and the discussion!

French Fry Diary 535: Steak Frites, Royal Court, Disney Fantasy

I was hoping to get another taste of those terrific steak fries that I had gotten at the Royal Court the other day on board the Disney Fantasy, but it didn't quite work out. The menu changed. The burger (gluten-free) was still there, but so was steak frites, so I opted for the new choice rather than the old reliable.

As always the service is incredible, and if I had any problems or concerns, I am sure they could have been remedied, but let's just suffice to say I didn't get my steak fries. They might have been out of them as I didn't see anyone else with them either. Still what I got was very good.

The steak frites was a wonderfully succulent strip of grilled steak with a garlic butter, served with natural cut French fries. Now these fries were the same I have dissed before when talking about Disney before, not bad, but not spectacular either, but soaked in the juice of the steak and the garlic butter, they were very, very good. A wonderful lunch meal, Disney scores again.

French Fry Diary 534: Enchanted Garden, Disney Fantasy

Today was a good food day on board the Disney Fantasy, between breakfast at Cabanas and lunch at the Royal Court, I wasn't sure what to expect at the Enchanted Garden for dinner. I need not have worried.

I got the steak option available every night that is for the folks not interested in that night's particular fare. With that I got a baked potato, which was one of the better such I have had in quite some time. I mashed that sucker up with a fork, smothered it in butter and went to town. And yeah, the steak was very good too.

That's three for three today, and the third day on board. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully it's something potato-ey…

French Fry Diary 533: My Gluten-Free Lunch at the Royal Court

While on the Disney Cruise, as I've mentioned before, I don't usually go ashore for excursions and the like. I really enjoy staying on the usually quiet ship to read, write, and people watch. The Disney Fantasy's stop at Grand Cayman was no exception. I was re-reading Stephen King's "The Shining" in anticipation for the release of its sequel "Doctor Sleep," as well as doing some writing of my own, so I stayed aboard.

Round about noon, I got the nibbles and decided to hit the Royal Court for lunch, partially in hopes of getting those terrific steak fries I had gotten at this main restaurant on other DCL ships. However, once seated, there was something weird afoot. I knew something was up from the get-go.

My servers brought bread and rolls to my table, then a minute later covered it up and took it away. Oookay. When the chopped Angus burger I ordered arrived, it had no bun. It did have those awesome rockin' steak fries though. I loved them, they were delicious, as was the bun-less burger. Having gotten the steak fries, and the breakfast potatoes that morning, the cruise was now aces in my book.

The server brought the dessert menu and told me there were some great non-gluten choices. That's when it hit me. I asked if I could just have a regular dessert instead, and that's when it hit him. They checked my room number, consulted notes, and asked, "Are you Charlotte?" Bingo. They thought I was my mother-in-law who's on a gluten-free diet.

I explained that I was not her, we laughed, and I had chocolate ice cream for dessert. The Bride and her mom had a good laugh when they returned from shore, we found out how diligent the Disney cooks are, and I got some terrific steak fries. It's all good.

French Fry Diary 529: Royal Court, Breakfast, Disney Fantasy

I have to say, that in all the time I have been cruising with Disney, this being my eighth, this was the first really disappointing meal I've had. There is, of course, always the option to just ask, and they would do whatever you wanted, but there's also that thing of not wanting to be a jerk. What is the old adage? Don't tick off anyone in a position to touch your food.

As a poor Christian boy married into a Jewish family, ham is something I rarely see, and grilled ham is even more rare. Unless I cook it myself, which I'm just not very good at, I'm just not getting it. In the past however, I have found the grilled ham at breakfast on the Disney Cruise very very good. And it was good this morning… the tiny piece I got. I was kinda stunned. I got three tinier bite-sized pieces from it. Perhaps, with the amount of overcooked bacon I got on my plate, perhaps they had run out of pig.

The hash browns that came with this breakfast were not the great breakfast potatoes that both Disney and their cruises are known for but one of those slabs of potato pieces, more Wawa than McDonald's. Greasy, disappointing, and unsatisfying.

Again, I suppose any of this could have been remedied by saying something to the server, but asking for more ham, medium-cooked bacon, and real breakfast potatoes. I sooo did not want to be that guy.