Have you ever wanted to take a Disney Cruise?
Setting sail with Disney Cruise Line is a completely different kind of adventure than you’ll have in Disney Parks, and we recommend trying it at least once. We are currently on the Disney Magic Cruise Ship, and we got to be among the first people to see Disney’s new private destination, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. Of course, we checked ALL the food to bring you some honest reviews.
Disney designed Lookout Cay by working closely with Bahamian artists and advisors to create an authentic Bahamas island experience. The market-style dining spot here is True-True Too BBQ, a restaurant inspired by seashells with shaded seating. However, you can also dine at Serenity Bay BBQ, a very similar spot, as well as check out tons of smaller bars such as Mangroves & Go, like we did!
Atmosphere
The atmosphere surrounding these restaurants is gorgeous! Eleuthera is a stunning island — the sand is white, the water a clear turquoise blue, and we loved the rocky outcroppings that went into the ocean.
However, we noticed that seating was very hard to come by at True-True Too BBQ and Serenity Bay BBQ (two of our reporters waited 10 minutes for a table and the others shared a table with other guests). Unfortunately the island was also still working out some kinks, such as HUNDREDS of flies being around all the food.
We also miss the fact that on Castaway Cay, you have options where you’d like to eat. Here, both Serenity Bay BBQ and True-True Too BBQ have the same menu, and every single bar has the same drinks and bites to eat, so there’s no one spot that’s better than the other.
Eats
At Mangroves & Co, we grabbed three drinks, starting with the Bahama Brew. This was very smooth coffee! It doesn’t feel weighed down with sugar even though it does taste very sweet. There’s a very light bitterness and while it’s non-alcoholic, it reminds us of Bailey’s! The whipped cream also tasted nice and was a high quality.
We also tried the Eleuthera Swirl, which was very sweet! There’s a pineapple boba hiding in here, and the whole drink is on the tart side when it comes to the flavor profile, and has an equal taste of mango and pineapple.
Our last drink was the Junkanoo, which we really loved! It’s a little milky but has a really nice, light vanilla flavor. We tasted the lavender, but it’s manageable and not overpowering. This drink is silky smooth but still refreshing in the heat, and the chocolate straw is really cool! It tastes perfectly like chocolate and does make the drink a little sweeter as you sip.
Moving onto Serenity Bay BBQ and True-True Too BBQ (we’ll review them together since they had very similar menus), the food quality was good, but it wasn’t great overall. Serenity Bay BBQ had fewer options than True-True though, but we’re unsure if that will be a normal occurrence or if it was just because it was the Cast Members’ first time on the island, too.
We also noticed that some of the serving logistics were off — while most of the food was buffet style, we did notice that some of the fruit was out of reach, so that would have to be served to you.
Quality wise, the basics and meats were fine, but nothing outstanding. The chicken was moist and well-seasoned, but the mac and cheese tasted almost exactly like Stouffers to us.
However, we loved the salads, especially the Pineapple Black Bean Salad! It was sweet, delicious, and exactly what you’d want on a hot beach day. And we also want to shoutout the Potato Salad, which had a surprising amount of flavor, big chunks of tomato, and hard boiled egg pieces.
All that being said…we did like it better than the food on Castaway Cay, which is saying something!
Nosh or not…
Check out True-True Too BBQ/Serenity Bay BBQ if..
You’re looking to get the full Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point experience!
You don’t want to go all the way back to the ship for lunch
You’re not expecting fantastic food — just decent food that will fill you up for your beach day
Skip out on True-True Too BBQ and Serenity Bay BBQ if…
You’re expecting/hoping for some high quality food (we suggest heading back to the ship)
You’re not a fan of BBQ
You don’t like eating outside
Overall
Overall, we think these dining spots are solid to eat at during your beach day, but you may find the food quality to be lower than what you’d find on board, so keep that in mind! We also recommend preparing yourself to have to wait for a few minutes to find a spot to eat, or be prepared to eat with other guests to sit down faster!
Cruises headed to Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point have now begun, so rest assured we’ll be keeping you updated on any new experiences we hear of as the island prepares for more and more visitors!
Planning a cruise?
If you book your Disney Cruise to Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point with our friends at Small World Vacations, you can snag up to $100 extra onboard credit.
This is on top of the onboard credit Small World Vacations already gives our Disney Food Blog readers. Treat yourself to drinks, shore excursions, or a relaxing spa treatment. So if you’re thinking about heading to Lookout Cay, book before June 30, 2024, with Small World Vacations and get this amazing offer!
Contact Small World Vacations Today To Grab This Offer!
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Do you have a cruise booked going to Lookout Cay? What are you looking forward to seeing at this new destination? Let us know in the comments!
Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney Cruise Line to attend their media preview of Lookout Cay. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ
The post REVIEW: We Ate EVERYTHING At Disney’s NEW Cruise Destination — Lookout Cay! first appeared on the disney food blog.