DCL to increase prices at Palo, Palo Steakhouse, & Enchante

[crazy4wdw]

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...ante-with-staggered-rollout-across-the-fleet/

 

[OKW Lover]

Color me not surprised.

 

[o&smom]

Oh, the good old days, when Palo was 25 bucks!

 

[tvguy]

It always seems to me that Disney is more successful with their specialty dining than other cruise lines. Our last cruise was in October 2019 on Celebrity and by the third day of a seven day cruise they were offering half off on their specialty dining. And it was a hard sell.

 

[Cfabar1]

It always seems to me that Disney is more successful with their specialty dining than other cruise lines. Our last cruise was in October 2019 on Celebrity and by the third day of a seven day cruise they were offering half off on their specialty dining. And it was a hard sell.

The business model is different. I think lines like Celebrity, as a Buick of Cruise Lines, have it particularly hard because they place their branding around the idea of the dining being enhanced as a reason to sail them and not their Chevrolet-equivalent division, RCCL. The promotional strategy also undoubtedly causes customers to not make reservations because they might be able to get it for 50% off...

Disney also makes meals a key part of the experience, but by limiting the premium dinner options to one or two venues it means they are more likely to be full or reach higher capacity.

 

[tvguy]

The business model is different. I think lines like Celebrity, as a Buick of Cruise Lines, have it particularly hard because they place their branding around the idea of the dining being enhanced as a reason to sail them and not their Chevrolet-equivalent division, RCCL. The promotional strategy also undoubtedly causes customers to not make reservations because they might be able to get it for 50% off...

Disney also makes meals a key part of the experience, but by limiting the premium dinner options to one or two venues it means they are more likely to be full or reach higher capacity.

A valid point. But cruising passengers tastes have changed too. I took my first cruise (as part of my job) 45 years ago when for most, a cruise was a once in a lifetime vacation. Everyone branded their dining as gourmet and there were no specialty dining options. Dinner was a hours long Production. Now Carnaval is experimenting with 45 MINUTE MDR options. And I see complaints here that the MDR experience is too slow at 90 minutes!!! Seems everyone now wants a Dennys experience in the MDR.

 

[lanejudy]

Oh, the good old days, when Palo was 25 bucks!

$25?! I remember it being $15!

 

[Cfabar1]

A valid point. But cruising passengers tastes have changed too. I took my first cruise (as part of my job) 45 years ago when for most, a cruise was a once in a lifetime vacation. Everyone branded their dining as gourmet and there were no specialty dining options. Dinner was a hours long Production. Now Carnaval is experimenting with 45 MINUTE MDR options. And I see complaints here that the MDR experience is too slow at 90 minutes!!! Seems everyone now wants a Dennys experience in the MDR.

I think part of the timing issue is having kids, and being on such a kid-catered cruise line.

We have very young kids. The long dining time is something we would love to enjoy on our own, and get to know the servers, build a rapport, make jokes, etc. But when you have the young kids with you, every minute matters and the meal experience is a big reason why we are not scheduled to sail on DCL this year.

 

[tvguy]

I think part of the timing issue is having kids, and being on such a kid-catered cruise line.

We have very young kids. The long dining time is something we would love to enjoy on our own, and get to know the servers, build a rapport, make jokes, etc. But when you have the young kids with you, every minute matters and the meal experience is a big reason why we are not scheduled to sail on DCL this year.

I can see that. My kids were 12 and 16 when we cruised Disney so older. It was an Eastern Caribbean cruise and as West Coasters, we never turned our body clocks around. We had late seating dinner, and lingered well after dinner was complete as my son and a number of servers took turns showing off magic tricks they knew. We had a group of servicers and other passengers around our table, often until 10:30 pm. We would wander the top deck until nearly 1 am after dinner, sleep until 9 am as all of our excursions were 11 am or later. The year before our kids went on their first cruise on HAL, and they dearly missed the Midnight buffet that HAL had and Disney does not. My son loved hitting the carving station !