High Tea on DCL?

julie t

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 30, 1999
I read on one of the post about not being able to get ressies for the High Tea. We are going on the Magic next Spring and had no knowledge of a High Tea. Can anyone give me info regarding this.

Thanks,

Julie
 
High Tea is an adult event held at Palo on sea days from 3:30-4:30 PM.

Generally, the event acts as a conversation time and centers around various, fresh brewed teas (of course) and light, English refreshments.

Here is some history on the tradition of high tea:


The tradition of High Tea goes back many years to the late 1700's. In England at that time there were two main meals daily, Breakfast and Dinner. Dinner was served very late in the evening, so it was a very long time between meals. The Duchess of Bedford(1788-1861) complained about a "sinking feeling" in the late afternoon. Afternoon tea was her invention to keep her going until dinner. She would invite friends to join her for tea at 5p.m. Other hostesses quickly copied her idea. Food at tea included such things as thin crustless sandwiches, shrimp or fish pate, toasted breads with jams and regional pastries such as scones and crumpets. The emphasis was on presentation and conversation. Today different versions of High Tea can be found worldwide especially in commonwealth countries. Victoria, BC has numerous tea rooms which strive to keep the tradition alive.


British / English High Tea traditionally consists of:

Freshly baked scones and crumpets served with Devonshire cream and Country preserves
Afternoon tea sandwiches
Assorted pastries
Traditional English trifle
Tea (or coffee)


Cited from: http://www.victorialodging.com/hightea/

More info:

High Tea originated as a British working class tradition. "High" refered to the way it was taken, sitting atop stools in a tea shop or standing at a counter or buffet table. It was a cross between afternoon tea and supper, and for many it was the main meal of the day.

The afternoon tea idea began around the mid 1700's as a way to ward off the inevitable hunger before dinner. This tradition led John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich to make his famous innovation of putting meats or other fillings between two pieces of bread. The Tea Sandwich was born!


Cited from: http://www.epicurean.com/articles/ie4.html

You'll find traditional scones with assorted creme and jams; true English trifles; eclairs; and a variety of finger sandwiches served along with a good selection of teas. The cost is $5.00 per person.

Reservations are made at Rockin' Bar D upon boarding the ship. Although seating is limited for High Tea, as long as you board reasonably early I don't think you'll have any problem securing a reservation.
 
Wow, 3C, you've totally sold me! We usually try to go to High Tea at the GF when in WDW. How does the DCL experience compare to GF?
 
Travis and I (in the Mickey shirt, BTW ;) ) both really enjoy the experience. Like I mentioned, it's more of a conversation time and the servers really spend quite a bit of time just chatting with you.

The teas are excellent and it's a nice break to the afternoon.

In my humble opinion, High Tea on the Magic is just as good as the event at GF and it is a lot less expensive. Last time I looked, the GF event was going for almost $26 a person! :eek:
 


DH and I had ressies for Palo high tea (made them after boarding), but by the time Thursday arrived, we were so stuffed to the gills and spent the last sea day lazing around. (It was too much of an effort to even dress in casual clothes for the tea! LOL!)

I'll know next time to do high tea on the first or second sea day!
 
Thanks ThreeCircles for the great info! Sounds like something I would really enjoy.

Julie
 
OH yes, high tea on the magic is every bit as good, if not better than at the grand floridian. We love them both..different, but, both nice.
 


I haven't yet managed to get a ressie for High Tea. Do you think I need to be early on board and in the ressie queue to stand a chance or have I just been unlucky? We have always got brunch and dinner ressies no problem bu I think High Tea is harder to come by.
 
High Tea is probably a more difficult reservation to obtain because seating is much more limited for the event as compared to dinner or Champagne Brunch.

The restaurant fills only a small portion of the tables for each setting of High Tea and there is only one setting per sea day (3:30). This is very different from dinner and champagne brunch where Palo seeks to fill every table and has multiple settings during each event.

During each High Tea that I've attended I would say they use, at most 15 or so tables, if that.

So, the earlier you get in line for reservations the better luck you'll have of obtaining one. One other hint that may prove useful: Palo has individual lines for dinner and Champagne Brunch/High Tea. You may want to jump in the Champagne Brunch/High Tea line prior to the dinner reservation line.

DCL has also recently implemented a $5.00 per person cover for High Tea in order to cut down on the number of no-shows at High Tea. This may make it easier for you to get your reservations the next time around. If people know they're going to be charged $5 per person they may think twice about making a reservation that they don't intend to show up for.
 
I did High Tea twice on our last cruise. I made a ressie on the day of boarding. Then, I called Palo on the day of the second tea and asked if they had any cancellations....so got in twice. It was totally wonderful. The scones are to die for!

I had no problem with the ressie line, although tea reservations are somewhat limited. I do hope that anyone who decides not to go has the grace to call and cancel...opening it up for others! They didn't serve the trifle on either of my teas...stilll was great!
 
We always try to have High tea or Afternoon tea on our vacations and truly enjoy doing so. We have not had it on the Cruise ship, but aer hoping to this August.

My question is.... our daughter has always joined us for Tea and probably enjoys it more than I do. I know it is adults only, but she will be just weeks shy of her 18th birthday. Any chance of getting her in?

Thanks...

Todd :sunny:
 
Hey 3C,

A group of us from the 1st Repo Cruise are hoping to do High Tea together.
Any ideas for how to get the ressies to workout for us?

I didn't realize they don't use all the tables for tea.
Thanks for all the great info about the Tea.
 
Danicaw--

Not sure that I can really provide much info about a large group for High Tea. How many are you planning on?

With seven sea days that will mean more opportunity for High Tea spots. Of course, they may not offer the service on all seven days.

I guess what I would do is ask as soon as you board. They should be able to tell you upfront if it's do-able.
 
Thanks 3C.
It looks like nine or more of us.
I think we may have a better shot breaking up into smaller groups.
We will see how it goes.

Thanks for all the High Tea info. I haven't gone before so had no idea what to expect.
 
At what age can a person go to the High Tea? If it is adults only, I don't want to "dpoil" it for others but would love to share a quiet time with my 14 year old daughter- of course dragging her out of the club is another story!
 
Just went to High Tea last week. It was wonderful. We were on the Western and they offered HIgh Tea on both at sea days as well as Key West day. We did not book our time until about 7:00 on boarding day and had no problem getting reservations for the first at sea day. They were holding High Tea from 3:00 - 4 or 4:30. Our time was 3:15. It was empty! It is $5.00 per person. When you are seated there are 4 types of sandwiches on the table. They were cucumber, chicken curry, salmon, and crab or crawfish(I can't remember which because I didn't eat it). You choose a type of tea and they bring each person a small pot. They also bring english triffle, eclairs(YUM!!!), and scoones. They had apricot jam, strawberry jam(that's what the menu said but it tasted like raspberries to me), and clotted cream. It was very good and would do it again. The jams are wonderful!!! I wish that they sold them.
 
Originally posted by mickeyworld
At what age can a person go to the High Tea? If it is adults only, I don't want to "dpoil" it for others but would love to share a quiet time with my 14 year old daughter- of course dragging her out of the club is another story!

Palo (where the tea is held) is adults only. No one under 18 is allowed into any events held there so, unfortunately, you won't be able to take your 14yo.

My DD12 and I always do something together...just the two of us...on our cruise. We've gone to a movie, played shuffleboard, gotten ice cream from Scoops and then sat on Deck 9 chatting. I'm sure you'll find something fun for the two of you to do.
 

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