DREAMS really do come true! 1/30 4-day Cruise Report with Tons of Photos! Video done!

[Timon]

Palo Part 2



















The bathroom just outside of the Palo/Meridian/Remy area...










Ok, I will have to finish this later...I have an appointment to see an acupuncturist for the first time

[Kurby]

great pictures of Palo.

Am i wrong in assuming that if you're a party of 2 you won't get a seat by the window - they all look like they are set for 4.

we loved that we were seated by the window when we ate there (on the wonder) during our first cruise. they actually had us wait (we didnt know why) until there was a table open just so we could sit by the window. it was wonderful.


also

how on earth did you get all your pictures without people (or 99% without). it's amazing just how empty the ship looks yet you were at sea and i'm sure you weren't sailing alone though imagine that lol

[Karen Mouse]

Ooooooh , love the look of the new Palo... do I choose brunch or dinner

I dont see blue cheese and grape pizza on there

Oh dear lordy I hope its still available... thats worth the $20 on its own.


By the way, jsut wanted to say for giving us such detail Cass. Must have taken up almost your whole cruise taking all these piccies, just wanted you to know we all appreciate it

[Timon]

Before I go...a few replies to posts....

Originally Posted by MomsOf2boys

I didn't know that. I thought because coffee/tea had a cost at the cafe that the desserts would as well. Good to know... not that we were starving or anything...

I had read a trip report of either the Magic or Dream and someone was talking about chicken wings... and I thought, "We never saw a chicken wing!" too funny that's all I can say.

There were chicken wings at The District every night on the Dream...and I bet the wings on the Magic were also in the adult clubs

Originally Posted by Crustysgirl

Great TR as always! I think it is amazing that you got up early every morning to take sunrise photos. The ship must have been so quiet then. What a perfect time to just stare out into the horizon and contemplate life. I admire you for that and would love to see some of those pics. You're awesome Cass!

Yup, except the last morning...I saw every sunrise! I was too tired by the last day... only got about 4-5 hours of sleep every night since I got to WDW on the 27th You feeling any better Heather?

Originally Posted by mmouse37

Ok...with Cass's permission I am posting the pics to Cabin #8504 to this thread - the larger Cat 9 corner room on Deck that we stayed on the Jan 30th cruise.

MJ

Those are fantastic MJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will post a link to them in the index when I have more time! Thanks for posting them...I also have questions for you

Originally Posted by Karen Mouse

Excellent - just what I'd hoped you'd say Thanks Cass, loving this trippie - your best one yet

Thanks Karen

Originally Posted by Jennifer48

I agree! What did they replace it with? Do they have ranch yet?!

They have the Heinz Honey Mustard which was GROSS They also had another sauce...think it also was a honey mustard or something but it tasted like relish soup!!!

Originally Posted by Kurby

great pictures of Palo.

Am i wrong in assuming that if you're a party of 2 you won't get a seat by the window - they all look like they are set for 4.

we loved that we were seated by the window when we ate there (on the wonder) during our first cruise. they actually had us wait (we didnt know why) until there was a table open just so we could sit by the window. it was wonderful.


also

how on earth did you get all your pictures without people (or 99% without). it's amazing just how empty the ship looks yet you were at sea and i'm sure you weren't sailing alone though imagine that lol

We ate at Palo and had the very last seat along the window...it was just the two of us...more on that later


I have mastered the art of quick photography....that and I try to go against the crowds

[JLDSMD]

Great pics of Palo Cass. It looks even more elegant than it did before.

Really like the large round table in the separate room. We had the rectangular one once and it was hard to talk to the people on the other end. It is much better to be at a round.

[JLDSMD]

Originally Posted by Karen Mouse

Ooooooh , love the look of the new Palo... do I choose brunch or dinner

I dont see blue cheese and grape pizza on there

Oh dear lordy I hope its still available... thats worth the $20 on its own.


By the way, jsut wanted to say for giving us such detail Cass. Must have taken up almost your whole cruise taking all these piccies, just wanted you to know we all appreciate it

You choose BOTH Karen.

You sure do love that pizza though, don't you?

[mmouse37]

Originally Posted by JLDSMD

MJ,

How close was the edge of the pull down bed from the edge of the main bed? Is there enough room that you don't feel like you'd hit your head if it were down?

Also, based on the TV location and the sofa, is it even possible to see the TV from the sofa?

Thanks for the pics.

We only saw the pull down bed down for a moment when we dropped off our carryons....the room steward was still making up the room from the previous people....it did not look like you would hit your head or anything. If you were sitting back on the couch you could not see the TV....if you sat on the edge you could see it.

I can see this cabin not working for everyone but I felt it was very cozy with an "attic" feel.....I loved all the floor....plenty of room for a pack and play if needed.

I agree with the poster that said the room could use a chair...but not under the pull down bed. There is the other space on the other side of the bed that would have room for a nice chair...like the one we had in 7132 which was a Cat 4C.

MJ

[mmouse37]

Originally Posted by Kurby

great pictures of Palo.

Am i wrong in assuming that if you're a party of 2 you won't get a seat by the window - they all look like they are set for 4.

we loved that we were seated by the window when we ate there (on the wonder) during our first cruise. they actually had us wait (we didnt know why) until there was a table open just so we could sit by the window. it was wonderful.


also

how on earth did you get all your pictures without people (or 99% without). it's amazing just how empty the ship looks yet you were at sea and i'm sure you weren't sailing alone though imagine that lol

We saw many parties of 2 at the 4 top tables by the windows when we did Palo brunch....and we did have the grape pizza...yummy!

Does anyone know if the glass chandelier in Palo is a Dale Chihuly....it sure looks like it and I fell in love with it when we went to Palo.

MJ

[mmouse37]

Originally Posted by Kurby

isn't that one of the accessible rooms? maybe they are keeping the space for a wheel chair?

8504 is NOT a handicapped accessible room. Some of the corner 9A rooms are but there are few that are not. I carefully checked the Deck Plan and asked when I booked the cabin. It is definitely a regular cabin.

MJ

[Kurby]

Originally Posted by mmouse37

We saw many parties of 2 at the 4 top tables by the windows when we did Palo brunch....and we did have the grape pizza...yummy!

Does anyone know if the glass chandelier in Palo is a Dale Chihuly....it sure looks like it and I fell in love with it when we went to Palo.

MJ

it looks like Chihuly's stuff. he has a studio in Toronto and I went to it a few years back. his stuff is very VERY distinctive.

[dizneeat]

Signing on here! We have 3 back to back cruises booked for the summer - this is just what I need to build up even more excitement!

Now going back to read!

[Timon]

Originally Posted by Karen Mouse

Ooooooh , love the look of the new Palo... do I choose brunch or dinner

I dont see blue cheese and grape pizza on there

Oh dear lordy I hope its still available... thats worth the $20 on its own.


By the way, jsut wanted to say for giving us such detail Cass. Must have taken up almost your whole cruise taking all these piccies, just wanted you to know we all appreciate it

Well, I looked at it as a working vacation...I knew I wasn't going to relax much because knowing that I will never be on the Dream again, I wanted to take as many photos as possible. So, no it wasn't as relaxing as the 7-day but I was just so darn lucky that I actually got to see her at all!

Originally Posted by JLDSMD

Great pics of Palo Cass. It looks even more elegant than it did before.

Really like the large round table in the separate room. We had the rectangular one once and it was hard to talk to the people on the other end. It is much better to be at a round.

Yes, much better version of the large table than that stuffy room on the classics!

Originally Posted by mmouse37

We saw many parties of 2 at the 4 top tables by the windows when we did Palo brunch....and we did have the grape pizza...yummy!

Does anyone know if the glass chandelier in Palo is a Dale Chihuly....it sure looks like it and I fell in love with it when we went to Palo.

MJ

Love the room pics...it looks like an awesome room! I heard people on the lower forward decks were complaining about hearing rehearsals from the WD theatre, how was the noise up on 8 for you guys??


I specifically asked the CM who did the Art of the Theme ship Tour if it was a Dale Chihuly and he said it was in his notes but he didn't bring them. He said he would call me to let me know for sure and he never called But it certainly does look like his work!

[croppincolburn]

Awesome trip report! What a beautiful ship. Thanks so much for posting all this!

[Timon]

Palo Part 3

Michelle and I went to Palo on Tuesday Night. We went to D Lounge at 1pm on Embarkation Day to make a reservation and had no problems. As we were deciding on the day, however, they said that the 6pm spot was no longer available so we took the 6:30 spot. We had decided that since we both have experienced the Pirate Dinner menu, it would be the perfect night for Palo.

When we got there though, the restaurant wasn't even half full so I am assuming that they didn't have enough staff to have a full restaurant.

I've only dined in Palo for dinner twice so I am not an experienced Palo-er but I got the distinct feeling that they were still working out some kinks.

We were seated at a round booth table (the very last one, right next to the server station), right along the window. I definitely felt out of place. I didn't like where the table was located (more on that later) and I hated the round booth. It was hard to get comfortable, especially since the table was so small!

It took awhile for our server to come over and I could tell he was new....good but very new!

He did/said a few things that just seemed odd to me....when we were ordering...instead of taking charge of things like your average Palo server does, he sort of seemed lost and confused.

For example, when Michelle and I both order pizzas as our entree, he seemed confused and told us that pizzas weren't appetizers but we didn't want any other appetizers so it was almost like we had to coax him into bringing us the pizzas. They were big, as he warned us, but we wanted to try them and we didn't appreciate being made to feel as we weren't allowed or like we were being big fat oinkers

The other thing that was weird is that we were given menus as soon as we were seated but he didn't take them away until well after ordering and we didn't have any room for them so we ended up having to put them on the booth bench.

He brought us some bread and delicious butter and then 20 minutes later he came over with the antipasto tray and we told him that we weren't adventurous eaters so don't give us too much. He came back several times asking us how it was...weird.

He was very prompt with my diet-coke refills though!!

Then came our pizzas....they were HUGE! Bigger than on the other ships but they were very good! I wish they had a half-order of these things!

Next up was some sorbet to cleanse the palate. The single blueberry in there was fabulous!!! I wanted like 30 more LOL!

Then he came by to ask us if we wanted souffles...which we did

The biggest problem we had during dinner was when he was at the server station (just around the corner from us, and in ear shot too!) and was complaining to another server about something Michelle had asked for. She had asked if they could take a dish that had appealed to her but have chicken as the meat instead of whatever the meat was that came with it. He promptly said no and almost laughed at her and then a few minutes later, he was relaying the story to his coworker, which I thought was very rude, especially since I could hear every word he said!

Next, our entrees came and the filet was very good!

Right after that, our souffles came, which came on a nice plate with the chocolate and vanilla sauce that you could pour on your own

Michelle also ordered another dessert...and she enjoyed that too!

Then came the after dinner lemoncello thing, good but I haven't drank in so long, I only took a small sip.

The price was $20 per person but because Michelle was a Platinum Cruiser, it was free for both of us so we tipped him additional $$ and rolled ourselves out of there

It was nice to experience but I think I will just stick to the regular menus in the dining room next time

Here's some pics...

























The salt LOL!












Here is one last shot....a little different but I like how it came out!



Here is one more shot of the bathroom near Palo/Remy/Meridian....it was just so elegant!

[Timon]

Meridian

Other than spending a few minutes at the start of the Ship Tour, I didn't really spend any time in here so it's hard to judge what it would be like when it's being used but it was a beautiful room and a great spot to chill away from the kiddos....and I mean away....as much as they've hidden the Teen area (the Vibe) they've hidden this area too!

Great travel theme going on here...hard to tell but on the bar, there is "Welcome" written many different languages. The booths look like suitcases and the wallpaper is made up of Passport Stamps. There are two outside patios, the one on the right is reserved for cigar smoking.

If I was a drinker, I would totally hang out here































...

Here's 3 more pics from Palo....sorry missed them before








And here's the shots from outside of Remy, which is all you will get unless you have a reservation there because they are being very strict about keeping it exclusive!!!









One of our trainers told us about his experience there and he said it was beyond amazing!! They really go out of their way to make it a special dining experience, even sending you Thank You chocolates to your room after you have dined there!!