So Confused, 4 night dining rotation and Piate Night and Palo oh my

[explorer1977]

ok so here goes. This is what i've come up with so far. We are booked on a 4 night (land and sea) Wonder cruise that sails Sept 11, 2005 and we have the REAS package (since its our honeymoon) and made all of our reservation last Sunday online (great and easy).

From what I got, on the 4 night cruise the pirate night is on the 3rd day and if you have AP that night the show will be on the 4th night since the 3 and 4 location will be the same. I called DCL to see about the dinig rotation and to request it and got no where, as they said it was not possible and we would have to wait till we checked in. We are booked for Palo's on night 3, pirates night, but if we have to miss it its not the end of the world. We have it booked for 8:30 so we should still be able to make the deck party I think. We want to experience all of the reaturants and do not want to miss the show at AP. The only location we would miss would be PC and then we could change our reservation to the 4th night. Is there anyway since we got the REAS to reserve a certian rotation, or should we just stick to the current reservation so that we gurantee that we will see the AP show.

Thank you in advance for all your wisdom and knowledge, it is so appreciated

Michael

 

[mom_rules]

Not that I'm aware of. We ran into the same problem in March-booked REAS and thought the rotation would be the same for first and last nights so booked Palo for the first night. We found out when checking in that the 3rd and 4th nights were the same and pirates night was CC night. We actually missed Triton's-I was really disappointed. My advise-book Palo for the last night and take your chances-eventhough you wouldn't get to see the "show" if you happen to draw AP at least you got to all the restaurants. (IMHO-I thought they made a lot of fuss for what they call "the show" in AP-don't flame me-just my opinion).

 

[Fred20]

Now I am confused !!

This is the advice I got from my TA when I asked the same question

"As for the rotation for your restaurant, they are currently repeating the restaurant on the 2nd night, so you would eat at the same restaurant the first and 2nd nights. Therefore the 2nd night of your cruise should be the night you want to do Palo (but I believe that is pirate night)"

I was quite prepared to miss the Pirates night foodwise and then join in with the celebrations later

Does anyone have a definitive answer ?

 

[profdsny]

Certainly can see the confusion. What is AP?

 

[mom_rules]

Animators Palate?

Unless things have changed recently on the 4 night, pirate's night was CC night which is the third day. Originally I was told Nassau night (2nd night) was pirates night and the first and last night were the same, so I booked Palo for the first night as well but when we got on the cruise it was the third night and my last two dinners were in PC and so was my breakfast on debarkation morning.

 

[AspiringCindy]

Just to clarify for everyone...Pirate night at first was Nassau night(2nd night), but then switched about 2 months ago to CC day(3rd night) due to fireworks problems etc. So...in turn, they had to change the repeat restaurant to nights 3 and 4! It IS possible that alot of TAs don't know about it! After all, the DIS is usually the first to get info, and it is usually first hand from travelors!
Michael, I would keep Palos booked for 3rd night! That way, you won't miss a thing!

 

[HIHO...HIHO]

Don't fret about the pirate night! The deck show is late (after 9:30 i I think it is actually at 9:45) so If you have late seating for dinner, and went right up to the deck...you should not miss anything. They don't really do much on pirate night during dinner except hand out bandanas to wear and then the waiters parade around to some carribean music. The real show is on the deck. I am sure if you asked your waiters how to get the bandanas if you choose to skip the dinner and eat at palos...you would be able to get ahold of some. They aim to please! Also, if you missed some of the show if you are having late ressies at palos...the first part is dancing and singing and the Capt. Hook and other characters are later on...like after 10:15 or so. Either way...have a great time and whatever happens...happens! There is no way to see and do everything in 4 days, and what you do see - will be great!
Have fun!

 

[explorer1977]

Thanks everyone, I think we will keep it as is for now. We did not want to do a Palo dinner and brunch the same day and this seems to be the best route to go. Again the online booking was so easy and will make the start of our cruise even more relaxing

 

[Jiffymom]

The pirate night is CC day, we just got back. The deck party doesn't start till 9:30 and goes for a long time so don't worry hyou will have plenty of time to party and have dinner too.

 

[SueEllen]

I know that not too long ago they changed the rotation so you repeated your restaurant the 2nd night---so it would be something like this

TTAP (Tritons, Tritons, Animators, Parrot Cay)

It used to be repeated the last 2 nights
TAPP

So, have they again changed this in the last month or so back to the TAPP from the TTAP? (just using these restaurants as an example)

Sue Ellen

 

[kath1210]

Yes, when we went (May 1-5) our last 2 nights were in the same restaurant. The CC day was also Pirate Night. We also had REAS, and the person we spoke to for our Palo reservations (Debbie?) set up our dining rotation when I made our Palo reservations. We got APTT, and ate in Palo's on the last night at 6:30 p.m. I don't know why they could not set this up for you.

 

[TammiMcMan]

Yes, when we went (May 1-5) our last 2 nights were in the same restaurant. The CC day was also Pirate Night. We also had REAS, and the person we spoke to for our Palo reservations (Debbie?) set up our dining rotation when I made our Palo reservations. We got APTT, and ate in Palo's on the last night at 6:30 p.m. I don't know why they could not set this up for you.

Since the bookings went on-line, my guess is that the dining department has been flooded with requests for advance dining rotation knowledge. It's a wonder that nobody in corporate thought about this potential "fly in the ointment" when they made this upgrade. I hope that many guests are e-mailing DCL with requests to make their dining rotations known in advance also. Otherwise, there are going to be just as many people in the Palo's reservation line making changes at check-in as there was before the on line system. Granted, this new system is a huge improvement, just not thought all the way through.

Tammi

 

[explorer1977]

Tammi, I have to agree with you. The system is amazing just they should have thougt about the advanced rotation selection. If they were to add this it sure would be nice and a little less confusing. Thanks everyone again

Michael

 

[Admiral Boom]

So then the possible 4 night rotations are:

TAPP
APTT
PTAA

Correct?

So, if we did have the ability to choose a dining rotation, the first might be the best for a few reasons: a) we would get to see all the restaurants, b) we would be in Parrot Cay for pirate night, c) We wouldnt miss the animators palate show, and d) we could book Palo on our last night.

As I just posted in another thread - I guess it is just luck of the draw. Book Palo for the rotation you hope that you get and go from there.

Dining rotations CAN be changed after you board, can they not? How do you do this?

 

[mom_rules]

They can-after you board go to guest services and request to have them changed.

 

[ImMarcik]

I am going to be on the thanksgiving 4 day cruise. It's a little different, we embark on Wed, Thurs is Nassau, Fri is at sea day and Sat is CC. I wonder when the pirate night will be. If they stick with night 3 it will be on sea day. If they stick with CC it will be night 4. Anyone have an idea? My DH says he doesnt want to do Palo on Thanksgiving because we should be eating as a family. So other then Thurs I am trying to figure out what night to do Palo. Our anniversary is on the sea day but we will be doing brunch. I am thinking of just making it for night 4.

 

[AspiringCindy]

Just to let you know, that the 4 night that was cruising during fourth of July, had 2nd/3rd night repeated. APPT, TAAP, PTTA...but Pirate night was still the 3rd night! I don't know if this change was strictly for 4th of July or if there is yet another change. We'll have to wait and see from the cruisers that are on the July 10th sailing! They'll be back tomorrow!

 

[logan1_2000]

We did Pirate night dinner on the Magic in April after having experienced the second-ever Pirate night on the Wonder in January. Looks like the July 4th cruise poster has yet another update to the news of the rotations--which have been changed since we went (we had Pirate night in Nassau).

Okay, not a flame to the poster who didn't think AP was all that great. Just a respectful agree to disagree.

When we did Palo, the bandanas were available at the host station when you enter, so that you would not miss out. I think we did 7:30 so that we could be leisurely but still make the deck party. 8:30 might make you have to move a bit quicker to get all of the deck party, and this is a restaurant in which to linger and savor, so my 2 cents worth is to try for a bit earlier. We chose the Pirate Night for Palo on the basis of the that being the one menu we personally found least pleasing, so that was the menu to skip.

 

[Vanvmom]

I agree. Palo is at least a 2 hour experience. Pirate deck party was 9:30 or 10pm. Parrot's Cay and AP were our favorites in the regular dining rotation (where a meal last about 90 minutes). You can always change your Palo reservation onboard. I don't believe you would be out the money as long as you are not flat out cancelling the experience, and just rescheduling it for another time.