Monday, July 24, 2017

Disney Magic - Breakfast

We recently returned home from a 12 night British Isles cruise on the Disney Magic.  This was our eighth cruise with Disney Cruise Line and our second on the Disney Magic.  I always have my travel agent note my gluten "allergy" on our reservation so that our serving team is alerted ahead of time.  You can find all my previous Disney Cruise Line reviews on the Disney page of my blog here.


I pre-ordered all of my breakfasts with our head server Aziz the night before at dinner.  When we had shore excursions in the morning, we ate at Cabanas, and my breakfasts were delivered there at a set time, but on our three days at sea, we had more leisurely breakfasts at Animator's Palate, Carioca's, or Lumiere's.


The last time we sailed on the Disney Magic, Mickey waffles were not available, but this time around, I was able to pre-order them.  I never specified how many I wanted, so sometimes I received two, and sometimes I received four waffles.  I always ordered them with bacon and fresh fruit on the side.  Twice, I was given sausage too, but it looked very unappetizing to me, so I did not try it.  On European cruises, the products offered might be different than those on cruises that leave from the United States.


I never asked what mix they were using, but I really enjoyed both the pancakes and waffles, and they tasted like they were made with the same mix.  It was definitely not Bob's Red Mill, but could have been Namaste Waffle & Pancake Mix, which was the mix used on our cruise on the Disney Fantasy.


I thought the bacon was good, and I usually dipped it in syrup, my favorite way to eat breakfast meats.  I like to pre-order some combination of mixed berries, mango, kiwi, papaya, pineapple, and banana slices for most of my meals on the Disney Cruise Line.  I love fresh fruit, and it was great on top of my waffles and pancakes.


I don't recall being offered gluten free donuts like on past cruises, but blueberry and chocolate chip muffins were available.


Our head server gave me three packets of Schnitzer gluten free organic blueberry muffins to take back to our stateroom a couple of days into our cruise.  We did an express walk-off on debarkation day, because we had to get to Heathrow Airport quickly, so I ate one of the muffins with butter while my family ate from the buffet at Cabanas.  It was a little bit heavy, and overly sweet for my taste, but it was better than the Schar chocolate chip muffin I tried the day before, which was very dry.  Both muffins might have been better if they had been heated before serving.


Before we sailed, I booked a Disney VIP Character Breakfast for our first day at sea.  There was no charge for this breakfast, which is available on select 7-night or longer sailings.


I pre-ordered poached eggs, bacon, a toasted roll, and fruit.


On past cruises, I have frequently ordered poached eggs, but the egg yolks in Europe were bright orange, which was a bit off-putting to me, so I did not ask for them again.  The bread served on this cruise looked great, but it was dry, so I asked our servers not to bring it to the table for dinner after the first night.  At breakfast, it was not toasted well enough to enjoy with my eggs.


Our head server Aziz was concerned that I did not like my breakfast, so he brought out Chef Silvio, the executive chef on the Disney Magic, to talk to me.  Chef Silvio's daughter has celiac, so we had a great conversation about gluten free cooking, and he made me gluten free calamari and Grand Marnier souffle later in our cruise.


As we dined, we were visited by Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto.  We were told that a crew member would take photos using our phone, and that they wanted us to remain seated, but we saw that they were allowing people at other tables to stand up and take photos with the characters.  My daughters do not like character meals and having their picture taken, so staying seated worked for us.


The best breakfast I had on the Disney Magic was actually at Palo, their adult-exclusive restaurant, and it was not technically breakfast, but a brunch we had booked at 12:00.  I pre-ordered a Mickey waffle when I met with the manager of Palo on the first day of our cruise, because one of my blog readers told me they have large Mickey waffles, which are hard to come by.  I had one for the first time over Christmas Break at Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel.


My waffle was one of the best I have ever had, and I loved it with the apple cinnamon and strawberry toppings it was served with.  We tried to book a second Palo brunch while we were on the ship, but because brunch is only offered on days at sea, and demand was high, we were not able to get another reservation.

What are your favorite breakfast items on the Disney Cruise Line?

3 comments:

  1. I agree with you that they used different brands because you were in Europe. I always love the brunch gluten free pizza. We are always (even on vacay) the first ones to cabana when it opens so I get eggs and bacon there. I haven't had a reaction

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    1. Rachel - We were told on the Dream once that I could not eat the bacon off the buffet at Enchanted Garden because they degrease it on bread, so I am wary of eating off buffets. I am glad the new protocol seems to be that all food is prepped in the back for people with special diets, and they don't expect or want you to eat from the buffet in Cabanas.

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    2. Noted! Thank you!

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