"Double Dip Delight" 09/27/08 - Take 2 with Link to Original Thread!

[Paul2003]

What is the EXACT day/time us first time crusiers can book Palo and excursions? Also does anyone know if DCL will offer us the double dip specials on Castaway Cay to us also, so far they only have them for the Wonder Double Dip crusies

Thanks

It's 75 days before we leave for 1st time Disney cruisers which would be July 14th, and 90 days for Castaway Cay members which is June 29th.

 

[roonie75]

So do things unlock at midnight eastern time?

As a first time cruiser, I got on there at midnight (central) and was not able to book anything at Palo. Once onboard, we were so caught up in everything we never did get reservations. So my goal for cruise #2 is to definitely get to do Palo.

 

[pit303]

The first booking window is the night of June 13th (Mountain Daylight Time <-see, Kimberly, I can be taught! ) so DCL better hustle up with those excursions!!! Hard to ask DH and Mom about what they want to do when I'm empty-handed.

I'm another who would love to know when to book Palo's everything. DH and I go to Palo on semi-formal night, which is usually Thursdays. Here's hoping! It doesn't seem like any of our cruises go according to plan, so I try not to get too worked up about it.

We also do Palo on semi formal night which on our past two cruises has been Thursday night.

 

[cyndifan]

Cyndi, I think this will be correct. I posted a listing like this somewhere (probably wayback in this thread)...and Erik posted the email from his TA that corroborated this info. Our only question I think will be the first formal night and if the menus follow the Riviera schedule (which I think they will b/c the new Golden Mickey's menu corresponds with the Golden Mickey's show, which is Monday...formal....so makes sense.)

I had this horrendous dog-eared hand drawn chart/spreadsheet thing with all of the events, menus, ports, etc. for this cruise on it....post its all over it...scratched out info and doodles....it's a riot. Haven't seen it in a while, I sure hope I didn't lose it....only a few weeks til the 90day scramble when we all duke it out!!!!

Thanks for the .....uuummm....confirmation. I figured this had already been posted somewhere way back in the thread, but couldn't find it.

Your help MUCH appreciated.

 

[Buckeye Gal]

Wow! You've all been a busy bunch here tonight, and I have lots to comment on.

I just got off the Disney Cruise Line web sight and they still haven't listed the excursions for Costa Maya. Has anybody heard anything? ...Kimberly, Do you what changes are going to be made at Animator Palate?

As Erik mentioned, his TA has been a great source of info. Some time ago, I did include a link to the post Erik made "way back when" in Post #6 under the excursion section of the anticipated CM excursions his TA expects us to have available to us. Sorry, cyndifan, I don't recall capturing the dining/theme itinerary that Jen (nenner1) mentioned.

As for AP, Epperbiker, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the quote I've seen from you is "AP was state-of-the-art when the Magic set sail, and it will be again after dry-dock." So that sounds like no specific details, but the technology of whatever they do will likely be fascinating.

The first booking window is the night of June 13th (Mountain Daylight Time <-see, Kimberly, I can be taught! )

...Our cruise plans have changed minorly, our Niece *5* will no longer be coming with us...

HI STACY!!! Great to see you again! (You too, Adrienne! Adorable picture of Celeste, BTW!) Sorry Cassidy won't be with us. I appreciate the update, however.

ERIK, if they're on the lanyard list, please make note that we don't need one for Cassidy now. (Geez....that sounded way too much like a project manager giving direction! Sorry...just didn't want you to overlook the potential to gain one more lanyard.)

So do things unlock at midnight eastern time?

You are correct. All DCL times are based on ET. To remind you, just think that Port Canaveral and WDW are located in the ET zone, so they based their time on that. So this time of year, it's EDT (daylight).

Oh GREAT! Taunt me with THAT, why don't you! ....I have to remind myself that whatever we miss, Palo will be spectacular as always. Right? ....

Oh you're welcome!!

Okay...speaking of "spectacular Palo", I'm probably going to here and sound anti-Palo, but that's not really my intention.

Regarding Palo dinner....is it REALLY as big of a deal that everyone makes it out to be??? I seriously think I will be very disappointed because of all the hype that 98% of the people on the DISboards make of this experience.

Honestly, I've looked at the menu, and don't find it to be that extraordinary or of a "4 star" restaurant quality as I've read in some reviews. Of course these are words on paper, not food on my palette!! I expect the service to be of near equal quality as what I will get in the dining room, although obviously you can get more personal time with your servers. The dining room itself doesn't look like something I just can't miss either. On the surface, it seems to be similar to many restaurants I could go to in Columbus. Don't get me wrong. It's not like I go to high end restaurants often, and I'm a restaurant snob as I may be coming off to be, but on the surface, I just don't seem to understand what the big deal is. (I know, I know....don't knock it until you try it!!)

So..........is what makes Palo dinner special to you that it is for adults only and/or a romantic dinner or something else? I'm trying to understand what is the real appeal to most, because frankly, I'm not at all eager to get dinner reservations. Brunch, yes, because of the food offerings, but I'm not excited and think I'll be disappointed with dinner. On the other hand, my mom desperately wants to got to dinner there. I would love to hear your perspective. Basically, I just want to make sure I have reasonable expectations if we indeed are able to get reservations for dinner.

 

[Muushka]

Palo is terrible. Food is awful. Service is terrible. Avoid at all cost if possible!!

No, I am not someone who jumps on the 'hype' wagon. I think I was one of the first people to say the the lobster burgers were awful! But Palo really is a great restaurant. The food is great and the service is too. I have read 1 or 2 bad reviews, but many many more singing it's praises!

 

[Buckeye Gal]

Palo is terrible. Food is awful. Service is terrible. Avoid at all cost if possible!!...

Hmmmm....trying to increase your odds of getting a reservation are ya?

No seriously, thanks for your opinion!

 

[roonie75]

Ok, guys, I've tried combing through the billion posts on this thread and I give up. Is this group doing the fish extender thing? I know only vaguely of how this works. Is there a sign up and can some maybe PM me a little fish extender 101?

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

OK...for the question of the week...

DBF (and these are his exact words) - My favorite Disney memory would be being there with you for our first time together. It was very special.

Me - I have to say the same. It was so magical and wonderful being there with him - I had never been there at Christmas time and just experiencing WDW with somebody I love, it was perfect. We met on a Disney dating site and then started talking through PM on the Dis almost 2 years ago. He truly is my Disney Prince!

I have many Disney memories - the first time I attended a taping for MMC in 1992, dancing at WDW with my dance company and of course my college program. Those are some of the reasons why Disney is so important to me.


On a TOTALLY different topic, my hometown, Allentown, PA was the pick city of the day on the TODAY Show this morning! I was brushing my teeth and heard Al Roker say "Allentown, PA" and I ran into the family room to see the picture!

Have a good night everyone!

 

[Gramto3]

Ok, guys, I've tried combing through the billion posts on this thread and I give up. Is this group doing the fish extender thing? I know only vaguely of how this works. Is there a sign up and can some maybe PM me a little fish extender 101?

roonie75 ~ To be added to the fish extender list send an email with your information to anewmac@gmail.com with Fish Extenders as the subject.

You can also click on the (page 1, post #6) under Buckeye Gal's signature in her posts for more information on our groups activities.

 

[roonie75]

Thank you!!

 

[Grandma4ever]

Here is a middle of the road opinion about Palo. We didn't go on our first cruise but have had dinner on the last few. It is really nice to be in a quite place and be able to focus on the adults. I really hope to do brunch at least once this year. The service is top notch and the food is great as well. That being said I believe all the dinning rooms are great and enjoy all my meals on the ship. Breakfast are the ones I enjoy the least.

You can't please all of the people all of the time!!!!

 

[Magic3forme]

We love Palos. I enjoy the dinners more than the brunch. Last time we went we went with another couple, our waiter Tony, kept bringing us "extra dishes to try". It was so much more fun with 4 people.
We cant wait to sign up again.

 

[pit303]

We have enjoyed Palo both times we have gone. Have also done brunch and enjoyed that as well. Did tea on our first cruise with my daughter that was also good. We will try to get our ressies on semi-formal night again. Also, have always booked Palo dinners once on board have never had any luck with the pre-reservations. I was able to get brunch on line our last cruise. Also, have been waitlisted and have always gotten our reservation for the date and time requested.

Maureen

 

[Fizzgig]

Kimberly, I really think your server makes the experience. We've had meh meals at Palo, but an overall great time, thanks to our server, Cecilia. Bear in mind, DH's allergy to everything makes dining longer, and he usually gets plainer food than what is on the menu. He can't eat a LOT of what Palo has.

On the other hand, I've had a meh tea and a server I couldn't hear, and left feeling jipped. *shrug* I didn't take DH to the tea (can you imagine the look on Manly Man's face when confronted with such girly food??? ) but took a female friend with me, and we both just didn't have the wonderful time we envisioned.

If Cecilia offers suggestions for you, take them. I will be going back to Palo for the mushroom risotto, at least.

We also use Palo for our date night.

A shortish rundown of our experiences:
1st dinner: 1st night on our 4 Night Wonder cruise. Boat was turning back to port and the stabilizers were turned off due to the medical evacuation. DH bounced between the chair and the table until he got seasick and left to go lie down. We didn't catch on to the sun setting in all the windows of Palo meaning, "Hey, we're turning back to port!" Can't remember the food or the server because of the rocking of the boat and DH getting sick. He sat there with his arms crossed trying not to be sick while I ate.

2nd experience: Palo tea with a buddy. The tea itself wasn't that great (I'm a tea snob). Service was fine, except we couldn't hear her, so we kept fumbling to follow her instructions. Snack bits on a layered tray and then dessert. Our server was trying to match the ambience of Palo at Tea time by being quiet, in her defense, too. Nice lady, just couldn't hear her, so I felt awkward.

3rd: Brunch with DH, met up with DISBoard friends from previous cruise. Good time with Cecilia and the friends, and DH got fed. He says the fish was the best dish. Some food I liked, but I tried a bunch of different foods just to sample and determine what I liked. Caviar was meh. I tried to stay away from the shellfish, due to DD's allergy, which means a lot of food from the center table was off-limits.

4th: Dinner date with DH, with Cecilia serving. Good time. DH says his steak was pretty bland, though it seemed like they needed to slaughter a cow to deliver it to us; Cecilia explained that the chef cleaned a grill to make sure there was no cross contamination. DH appreciated the effort on his behalf. This is the meal I got the mushroom risotto (from Cecilia's recommendation) I will be ordering again.

====
By the way, a good amount of the pastries and deserts from brunch are available for free at Cove Cafe during the day. They look amazing, but I really can't remember the tastes. Just tidbits to try out throughout the day.

Don't expect Palo to be diet food, either. I can't think of anything I should have eaten fully, if I was truly trying to watch my nutrition. I subscribe to the, I can take a few bites but not finish it, diet.

Oh, and I agree that some times, the food in the regular rooms is more high falutin' than Palo. I tried escargo for the first time in Lumiere's, on my server Dobi's urging. I can now say I have tried it. And that I think anything drowned in that much butter and cheese tastes more like the butter and cheese than chewy snail parts.

====
Ok, that's my take. I'm not saying Palo is bad, I'm just saying that it really depends on your server and what's going on around you and with you for your interpretation of your experience. I will be taking my (non-allergic to anything) mom with me to Tea and Brunch, and I will do the dinner date with DH and adult dinner with Mom and DH, if I can. DH can take or leave Palo's, he says, and I understand his feelings; they take a while to feed him, and there isn't as much he can eat there.

Book High Tea, then Brunch, then dinner, then Flounder's, then excursions, then Spa when your window comes open.

 

[cyndifan]

Book High Tea, then Brunch, then dinner, then Flounder's, then excursions, then Spa when your window comes open.

So would it be correct to say that High Tea is pretty 'froo froo'?

 

[Fizzgig]

So would it be correct to say that High Tea is pretty 'froo froo'?

Definitely a girlie thing. Tiny food, white bread sandwiches, "Would you like milk for your tea?", that sort of experience.

 

[cyndifan]

I spoke w/a Disney reservations person this am for a few questions & wanted to pass along some info

Dining
She confirmed w/someone 'above' her that our dining dress rotation will follow the standard 7 night Western.
Casual:
nights 1, 2, 4, 7
Formal:
night 3
Semi-formal:
night 6
Pirate:
night 5

Costa Maya (CM)
Unable to confirm if we are definitely docking at CM, when decision will be made by the 'higher ups' or when excursions will be listed online. She did state that they were trying to get things settled out w/the Mexican Rivera, WB & EB cruises 1st. They would then move on to CM. She did say things are in the works for CM though. The excursion team from Disney will have to make an on-site visit to CM to determine which vendors they will be using for excursions. Once they return, all the info has to be loaded onto their DCL site & then it will 'go live'. She was unable to confirm whether that on-site visit by the excursion team has occurred yet. They hope to have everything set by the 90 day mark, but she wouldn't commit to that or use the word 'definitely'. So, its still looking good for CM, but no 'official' confirmation as of yet. Not sure how/if they will notify folks who have booked this cruise when the decision has been or when excursions are posted. My guess is that we'll just have to keep checking their website.

I really wanted to ask the reservationist if there were any openings on the excursion team. Sounds like a sweet job!!

Happy planning, everyone!

 

[cyndifan]

Definitely a girlie thing. Tiny food, white bread sandwiches, "Would you like milk for your tea?", that sort of experience.

Thanks. I think I may have to pass on that one then. Doesn't sound like my kind of thing.

 

[Fizzgig]

Thanks for the info, cyndifan!