A little help needed from DCL vets re: tastings

[iloveeeyore]

Hi all! DH and I are embarking on our first Disney Cruise THIS SATURDAY!! We are sailing on the Fantasy 7 day Western Caribbean itinerary and could bot be more excited. We booked very late and virtually all of the activities had already been all booked up by the time we were checked in.

We were lucky enough to score some Palo and Remy dinner reservations (I guess these aren't too hard to score, since we were able to have our pick of pretty much any night for both of these) and the last available Couples' Choice experience in Senses (so excited about these). Initially, literally NOTHING else besides BBB and the photo studio (in which we have no interest) were available, but with some obsessive checking, I was able to book one character encounter (droids on SWDAS day) and 2 tastings on our sea days. The tastings I was able to get are the champagne tasting on our first sea day and the chocolate & liquor tasting on sea day 2. We have never done either of these and wonder if there is one that is preferred? Which of these two tastings would you do if you could only pick one? We don't want to over-book ourselves but wanted to give one a try. Also, we are still going to try to get Palo brunch when we board (how likely we will get it?), and both of these encounters are during brunch times, so I don't really know how the cancellation policy works once on the ship if we are switching out experiences?

Expert thoughts and advice appreciated!

Thanks! Eeyore

 

[Mouse~House]

How exciting! I have done the chocolate and liquor tasting twice and have it booked again for my next cruise in ten days! I don't drink liquor, or eat chocolate but I would not pass this one up! It actually includes wines and Parmesan cheese as well. I have also done the Couples Choice on the dream and it was amazing! It doesn't sound to me like you are overbooked for a 7 night cruise. When you board you can check with guest services to see if other tastings are available, the wine tasting is fun and they give you a pin! Have a great cruise

 

[lklgoodman]

I haven't done either of those tastings, but I have the chocolate and liquor one booked for our upcoming cruise. I have a sweet tooth, so looking forward to the chocolate part. Don't really care that much about champagne. If you cancel a booking you have to do it within 24 hrs(I think) of it or you will be charged for it. I don't think it matters even if you are switching, but not sure since we've never switched.

 

[nutshell]

Just did chocolate and liquor. Loved it!

 

[SnappySerape]

I did the chocolate and liquor and it was great! They don't give you a ton of alcohol so don't expect to get TOO tipsy and make sure you don't drink up all the alcohol in one mouthful! Sometimes there are two pairings with it: parm and chocolate! The sommelier was from Palo and very helpful with any questions about what you're tasting. I'd do it again for sure. There were four different liquors: champagne, merlot, port and a whisky. Unfortunately I haven't done the other one so I can't speak to that. Have a great cruise!!

 

[Marc D]

The usual cancellation policy is three days before the cruise sails, but for onboard activities, they usually allow you to cancel 24 hours in advance.

Following my personal preference as for types of alcohol, I would keep the chocolate tasting and aim to get Palo brunch on the day of the canceled champagne tasting. Your odds of getting Palo brunch are directly linked to your ability to be onboard and in line at 12:30 on embarkation day. They hold back a lot of tables for onboard bookings, but they go fast once they began offering bookings onboard.

 

[rosiect]

Have done chocolate and liquor twice and will now try to do it every cruise. The chocolate varieties are delicious and the pairings fun to try. All the tastings we’ve done have been excellent. (Have never done champagne as it’s not one of my preferred drinks.)

 

[clten]

We've done both and really aren't big wine drinkers (I thought the chocolate and liquor name was misleading since it is mostly wine variations with one whiskey drink). But between the two, I'd choose the chocolate and liquor tasting. There is more variety in that and we learned more in that than the champagne tasting. It was a fun tasting and we've done it more than once where champagne we don't really feel the need to do it again.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

I enjoyed both of those. My personal preference is the champagne tasting, since I enjoy the beverage and seldom have an opportunity to taste some of the higher quality stuff. As noted above, the chocolate and liquor tasting was really more wine focused when I did it. I would have preferred more “after dinner” liqueurs beyond the port that was one of the wines in the tasting I did.

 

[diznymom]

The Chocolate And Liquor is a must for us.....every cruise.

 

[skiingwife]

I'd say there is a very good chance that you will be able to book Palo brunch onboard. The Navigator will tell you what time and what location to be at to sign up for Palo. Usually it's at one of the restaurants at 1:00 but check to be sure. I would get in line about 20-30 minutes early to make sure you get it.
You can go to guest services when you board if you want to try to book other tastings. I would recommend the Mixology class. I would highly recommend that over champagne tasting.
Have fun!

 

[Aby]

We do the Chocolate & Liquor tasting on each cruise if we can. I love chocolate and although I don't drink much, I usually enjoy the choices picked out for this tasting.

Aby

 

[kiford]

We've done both (and are signed up for both on our upcoming cruise) and liked both. I love love love champagne but if I could only do one, I'd do the chocolate and liquor. You can get champagne anywhere but the opportunity to do a chocolate pairing with wine/whiskey is very different than probably any other tasting you may have done.

 

[pezgirlroy]

We have done both and will be doing both again on our upcoming cruise. We did the Champagne on Fantasy and the Chocolate on Magic. The Chocolate tasting to me was really just a lot of fun. Some different things to try. I actually loved the cheese pairing more than anything else. The Champagne tasting was fun but it was also very very informative. Duncan I believe was wonderful and very knowledgeable.

 

[GoofyNewfie]

I will tenth (or so) the chocolate one. Especially if you're not just there for the alcohol. It's the most interesting one we've done. Blew my mind the first time.

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

We did the Champagne in Nov on the Fantasy, and it was a solid bargain @ $20 pp and informative at about 50 min.
I can’t speak to the other tasting.

 

[DCLDVC1]

You can't go wrong with either but I'd do Chocolate & Liquor if I could only do one.