Eating at Cabanas on the Disney Dream

 Cabanas on the Disney Dream is located on Deck 11 and offers a quiet escape from all the activity happening just outside, amazingly.

We ate at Cabanas our first afternoon on board for lunch and then several times more for breakfast and lunch.  For those who have sailed on the Wonder or the Magic, Cabanas will remind them of Topsiders or Beach Blanket buffets that are located in a similar area on those ships.  But Cabanas is much different.

Cabanas is not a buffet.  It has stations.  This means guests can take their plate or plates and travel from location to location to make their selections.  No waiting in line specifically.  Tip:  There are plates just for the kiddies.  No need to grab silverware or napkins--cloth no less, as those are waiting for you at a table, even tables outside!  

Cabanas is big, dare I say huge.  The stations are in a “U” shape and the selections are the same or similar on both sides.  Your first decision may be about which side you would like to sit on to get the best view.

Funny story about that—we were having breakfast at Cabanas the morning we were pulling into Nassau and we were at a table on the starboard side of the ship.  The view was great—we could see Nassau.  But folks wanted to see Atlantis, which would be on the other side.  Now, the ship pulls in and then makes a 180 degree turn before completing its journey into port.  So, the people at the other table thought they saw Atlantis—it was a pink hotel—and I explained that Atlantis was on the other side, but we would be able to see it when the ship turned around.  They didn’t get it.  They got up and moved to the other side of Cabanas.  When the ship turned, we had the view of Atlantis, not them. 

Back to Cabanas.  There are great selections, including a carving station at lunch.  My suggestion would be to walk at least half of the “U”, meaning all the way to the back on one side to view all of the selections then decide what you would like.  This turned out to be the best strategy.  I learned I could make a sort of breakfast sandwich by doing this. . . English muffin from this station, sliced cheese from another station, fried egg from another station, and bacon from another station.  Voila!  Just add a side of hash browns—from yet another station.  I wouldn’t have been able to do that unless I had seen all of the stations first.

Speaking of strategy, we would find a table upon entering, put down any bags we might have, and then proceed to the stations.  Remember where your table is, as some of the sections look incredibly similar and you might end up at a different table from your belongings.  Trust me, this happened to us.

Beverages—there are beverage dispensers located near the table sections and it is serve yourself.  Juice, coffee, soft drinks, water, etc. are available at the dispensers.  But, milk is available, you just have to ask.  When you see the station that has the cold items—it is across from the hot stations, ask the cast member for milk.  They have it in cartons in a refrigerator at this station—chocolate and white.

The theme of Cabanas is just that—being on a tropical beach, with Disney touches of course.  I noticed that I didn’t take very many pictures of Cabanas, so I am borrowing a video from PassPorter.com for you.

Of course, the Williams family did take a bit of video at Cabanas with the help of a Cast Member—enjoy!

There have been concern/comments about the aft elevators emptying in the middle of Cabanas.  I did not notice this as a big issue.  The elevators seemed more like a corridor to me, and the corridor is somewhat welcome if you need a quick way to get to the other side of the restaurant.  We did use the elevators when Cabanas was not open and there were lovely signs directing guests to the pool deck, which is just a few steps away.  When we did this, we also noticed that some guests took advantage of the quietness and calmness, especially compared to the pool deck area) of the area when it was closed, to grab a table with a wee one who was in need of some quiet and maybe a snack—the snack must have come from the other food locations on deck 11—Luigi’s, etc. 

All in all, we thought Cabanas was great.  We tried Enchanted Garden for breakfast one morning and missed our ocean view.  The next morning, we were right back at Cabanas.