Farris Family's Day Off

Being a vegetarian it can often be difficult and frustrating to find meals that fit my diet plan while traveling. I have been to countries where I have asked for a vegetarian meal and was given chicken or fish and the servers were surprised that this was not something I could eat. In 2004 I took my first Disney cruise and was pleasantly surprised with the vegetarian selection on board. Since then I have been on 10 Disney cruises and I’m happy to say that the vegetarian options aboard have expanded and improved even more over the years.

The Farris family on a Disney Fantasy cruise vacation in January 2019.

My most recent Disney cruise was a 7 night eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy in January of 2019 which included a Star Wars day at sea. I went on this cruise with my husband and 2 year old daughter who are also both vegetarians. On this cruise I dined at all three rotational dining rooms (Royal Court, Animator’s Palate and Enchanted Garden), Cabanas, Palo and Cookie’s on Castaway Cay.

Dinner at the Royal Court restaurant on the Disney Fantasy.

The best dining experience for me was the Palo brunch. I have previously enjoyed Palo at dinner on other cruises and have always found their vegetarian selection to be amazing. I have been hesitant to try brunch because many of the reviews I have read mentioned that they mostly serve seafood here but I decided to give it a try. Reservations are needed for Palo and can be made online in advance based on your Castaway Club status. Some reservations are held back for guests to book once on board as well so if you are unable to book online there is a good chance that you can book once you board. Palo brunch is for guests 18 and older and are only held on sea days. There is a charge of $35 per person plus a tip for your server except Platinum Castaway Club members get one complimentary meal at Palo per cruise. Once my husband and I arrived at Palo and checked in we were seated at a booth with a nice view of the restaurant and the ocean just outside. We let our server know that we are vegetarian and he gave us a tour of the buffet section of the brunch and pointed out all the vegetarian items and told us what to avoid. There were 4 tables set up at the buffet which included seafood, meats, pastries, fruits, cheeses, vegetable dishes and a dessert table. After we loaded up our plates at the buffet we went back to our booth and were given complimentary mimosas. I normally do not drink alcohol so I only took a sip. Our brunch also included entrees from the menu. We ordered the tomato soup, ½ margherita and ½ goat cheese and sun-dried tomato pizza, asparagus raviolis and a mickey waffle. All the food that I ate at the brunch was phenomenal and there were more then plenty of vegetarian options. I highly recommend Palo for anyone even if you have diet restrictions. They go out of their way to make sure you have enough to eat and the food is delicious.

Some of the vegetarian options from the Palo Brunch buffet.

The giant Mickey waffle from Palo brunch is the size of a large dinner plate and it is amazing!

1/2 margherita and 1/2 goat cheese and sun-dried tomato pizza was mouthwatering.

The three rotational dining rooms are included with the cost of your cruise and you can pick if you want early or late dining when you book your cruise. The dining rotation is assigned to you as you board and can be found on your key to the world card. The nice thing about the rotational dining is that you get a different dining room and experience every night but your servers stay with you the entire cruise. This way if you have special dietary needs you do not need to explain it to a new server each night. The dining rooms always had at least 2 vegetarian entrees on the menu and our server also let us know which other entrees could be made vegetarian. There was usually at least one appetizer and soup or salad that was vegetarian as well. The food at these restaurants was enjoyable but the highlight of the dining rooms was the entertainment. Animator’s Palate had a show where our drawings came to life on the screens one night and the other night Crush the sea turtle from Nemo was swimming around and talking to guests. We also had a special Star Wars dinner at Animator’s Palate. The restaurant was decorated and the menu and food options were all Star Wars themed that night. At Enchanted Garden we were seated right next to a big window where we could see the sunset during dinner. At Royal Court we enjoyed all the princess touches around the restaurant and the upscale feel. I enjoyed my meals but I do feel like most nights the main vegetarian options were some sort of grain with tofu or mushrooms so often I ended up ordering something modified off the main menu to get more of a variety. I wish they would offer even more choices such as meat alternatives and a variety of cultural foods. Our daughter mostly ate the same foods each night either mac and cheese, cheese pizza or pasta with marinara sauce and a Mickey bar for dessert. She seemed satisfied with her options and had no complaints.

Our seat at Enchanted Garden had a great view.

Glazed portobello mushrooms with brown lentil and parsley sauce and sun-dried tomato cream from the Enchanted Garden.

Padme Amidala Souffle from the Star Wars dinner menu at Animator's Palate.

The breaded and deep fried brie from Royal Court.

Chocolate cake from Animator's Palate.

A pasta dish was modified for me to be made vegetarian from the main menu at Royal Court.

Rice and curry dish at Royal Court from the vegetarian menu.

We ate most of our breakfasts and lunches at Cabanas buffet. The vegetarian items were marked with a green label so it was always easy to find them. The selection and options were always excellent here. Because our cruise included a Star Wars day at sea there was an extra late night buffet on Star Wars night at Cabanas. The highlight of the buffet was the Star Wars decor but the food was a little disappointing. There was a nacho and taco bar, a crepe station and dessert bar. I tried a little from each section but nothing was amazing and I would not go out of my way to go to it again. On 7 night or longer Disney cruises a character breakfast is also included but you do need to make a reservation for this ahead of time. The character breakfast if a sit down meal at one of the rotational dining rooms. Our character breakfast was Disney Junior themed and was in Animator's Palate. The characters we met were: Mickey, Sofia, Vamperina and Doc McStuffins. My 2 year old absolutely loved the character interactions. The food options were basic breakfast foods such as waffles, eggs, fruits, cereal and yogurt. We had plenty to eat and were satisfied with our meals but the highlight was definitely getting to meet the characters.

A typical assortment of kid friendly foods from Cabanas.

The Star Wars late night buffet dessert options.

Star Wars Day at Sea fruit display.

Vamperina at the Disney Junior character breakfast was a hit with my toddler.

We ordered food off the room service menu a few times as well which is included with the cruise fare. We found several vegetarian options here and were always happy and satisfied with the food quality that was delivered to our room. Some of my favorites were the greek salad, all hands on deck cheese and fruit tray and grilled cheese sandwich.

Having a snack in our room while the Fantasy is docked in St. Thomas.

At Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay we had lunch at Cookie’s Barbecue. I found the vegetarian selection to be wonderful here. Most of the sides were vegetarian and a veggie burger could be made by request. The veggie patty was just a basic black bean patty and what would have made it even better is if they used Impossible burger or Beyond burger patties or sausages like they use at Walt Disney World parks. There was a fresh fruit stand and a few ice cream stations as well on the island that we got snacks from. All the food at Castaway Cay is included with your cruise fare and you can eat as much as you want.

My lunch from Cookie's Barbecue on Castaway Cay.

In my opinion cruising on Disney cruise line with a special diet such as vegetarian is simple, easy and very enjoyable. It takes the worry out of where to find my next meal and cost of food while on vacation. The servers are always attentive and want to make sure everyone is satisfied and have enough to eat. I have never felt hungry or like I got a bad meal while on a Disney cruise and I am overall very satisfied with their vegetarian options. I look forward to many more magical sailing on Disney Cruise line and my hope for the future is that they continue to enhance their vegetarian, vegan and other special dietary options.