How fast does Palo book up?

[CarolynFH]

DH and I just booked a 5-night cruise on the Magic and hope to enjoy dinner at Palo one night. We are Silver, based on our one and only previous DCL cruise, on the Magic in 1998. If we book on the earliest date possible for Silver, do we have a chance of finding a reservation? Or is it likely that the higher tiers will book them all?

 

[sadiecatie]

It seems dinner is easy to get - it’s brunch that disappears quickly. We sail to Alaska in just over a week and there are still dinner seatings available at Palo every night.

 

[CarolynFH]

Thank you - I’m happy to learn that. And I’ll have to investigate the brunch too, in case it’s still available when our window opens.

 

[sadiecatie]

Thank you - I’m happy to learn that. And I’ll have to investigate the brunch too, in case it’s still available when our window opens.

I imagine it's largely because a lot of people don't want to miss one of their dinners in the MDR (it's why we aren't looking into dinner - we also like to eat dinner as a family, and our daughter can't join us, while we could do a brunch while she's in the kids club). From all I've heard, dinner in Palo is also very good!

 

[Drfate102]

Honestly, the first night Palo Dinner is generally really easy to get. But it always depends on the itinerary and length of the cruise.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Sailing soon on The Wish. Wasn't able to get Palo Brunch but did get Palo dinner. Wasn't able to get much of anything when our booking opened. Tastings, etc...sold out. I've heard that The Wish has a high percentage of concierge so maybe not much is left? At some point DCL booking site changed. It when from not even having it as a choice to 2 Palo dinners and 1 Palo brunch you can at least try (hope that makes sense). But it always comes back as no availability. We're also Silver.

 

[RedHead0186]

Sailing soon on The Wish. Wasn't able to get Palo Brunch but did get Palo dinner. Wasn't able to get much of anything when our booking opened. Tastings, etc...sold out. I've heard that The Wish has a high percentage of concierge so maybe not much is left? At some point DCL booking site changed. It when from not even having it as a choice to 2 Palo dinners and 1 Palo brunch you can at least try (hope that makes sense). But it always comes back as no availability. We're also Silver.

Yes, the Wish has a higher number of Concierge staterooms so stuff goes faster. Plus, those are shorter itineraries so there's less 'opportunities' for Palo (typically only one or two brunch days and only three or four dinners), despite still having full ships. The issue on the website where it shows as available and then errors out is commonly believed to be an issue with table size-if you're requesting a party size that doesn't 'match' exactly an open table, it will look like the slot is open but then error when you try to book.

 

[ArtemisPhoenix]

If you go straight to wherever they’re doing bookings for Palo when you board (I can’t remember if that’s at Palo or somewhere else but you can probably ask when you check in), you can probably get a reservation even if they’re all sold out by the time your booking window opens.
Personally, I like the dinner better than the brunch, especially now that they have gotten rid of the buffet. Being able to watch the sunset from the restaurant while you eat is particularly wonderful, if you can manage it. We usually try to book it for Pirate night since we kind of hate that menu.

 

[sponica]

We usually try to book it for Pirate night since we kind of hate that menu

I did this in 2014....alas they moved pirate night due to weather and we couldn't move Palo because my husband's suit hadn't come back from the cleaners yet.

I remember being underwhelmed by the menu then....I have no expectations this time around.

 

[ArtemisPhoenix]

I did this in 2014....alas they moved pirate night due to weather and we couldn't move Palo because my husband's suit hadn't come back from the cleaners yet.

I remember being underwhelmed by the menu then....I have no expectations this time around.

Underwhelmed is a MUCH more polite way to say that.

 

[RedHead0186]

If you go straight to wherever they’re doing bookings for Palo when you board (I can’t remember if that’s at Palo or somewhere else but you can probably ask when you check in), you can probably get a reservation even if they’re all sold out by the time your booking window opens.

It's not at Palo (at least not usually). The app will tell you (when you're waiting to board you can check, it will be listed as an activity under 'Dining Changes' or something similar). It's usually Enchanted Garden for the Fantasy (and I think the Dream), and Luna for the Wish (I can't remember what it is for the Magic and Wonder, but I'm sure someone can chime in, lol).

 

[sponica]

Underwhelmed is a MUCH more polite way to say that.

Yeah....and I was ticked we missed the Royal Palace menu. We really liked the ambiance of the restaurant but had to eat terrible pirate food in it

 

[randomguymike]

On my Wish cruise next week, Night 4 Palo dinner has almost always been open at multiple time slots, while Enchante is fully booked. Brunches have never been open for Day 2 or 4 at either place.

 

[Cheburashka]

DH and I just booked a 5-night cruise on the Magic and hope to enjoy dinner at Palo one night. We are Silver, based on our one and only previous DCL cruise, on the Magic in 1998. If we book on the earliest date possible for Silver, do we have a chance of finding a reservation? Or is it likely that the higher tiers will book them all?

On non-Wish ships (can't speak for the Wish as I've never sailed her), Palo will be available for booking even onboard (they hold back slots for onboard booking). Palo brunch is what is hard to get, not dinner, because so many cruisers have kids and want to eat dinner in the MDR with them.

 

[CarolynFH]

Thank you, everyone - I'm in a positive frame of mind now!

I imagine it's largely because a lot of people don't want to miss one of their dinners in the MDR (it's why we aren't looking into dinner - we also like to eat dinner as a family, and our daughter can't join us, while we could do a brunch while she's in the kids club). From all I've heard, dinner in Palo is also very good!

Yes, we didn't consider Palo on our first voyage because it was only a 3-night cruise and we wanted to experience all three venues with our kids. As it turned out, our daughter had so much fun in the kids' club that she ate dinner there the second and third night and didn't come out until after we finished. It worked out great, though, because it meant we spent the day with our son and had dinner with him, then we dropped him off at the teen hangout and picked up our daughter to see the show!

 

[jr6431]

I'm a silver and tried to book Palo dinner right when the booking window opened and there were no reservations available for a 7 night sailing to Alaska in August. Several other silver guests said they were unsuccessful getting dinner as well. We were able to get Palo brunch though.

 

[CarolynFH]

I'm a silver and tried to book Palo dinner right when the booking window opened and there were no reservations available for a 7 night sailing to Alaska in August. Several other silver guests said they were unsuccessful getting dinner as well. We were able to get Palo brunch though.

Thanks. If we can get one or the other I’ll be happy. We just want to enjoy an adults-only meal now that our kids are grown!

 

[Missmilphie]

We had Palo dinner day 3 of our 7 night Med cruise and it was over half empty even by the time we left (we ate fairly early). It was really good.

 

[holula]

I'm a silver and tried to book Palo dinner right when the booking window opened and there were no reservations available for a 7 night sailing to Alaska in August. Several other silver guests said they were unsuccessful getting dinner as well. We were able to get Palo brunch though.

It might be worth calling DCL. On my Alaska sailing no platinums could book dinner online. Loads of brunch spots. Someone called DCL and there was plenty of dinner availability, but it was some kind of online glitch that meant it couldn’t be booked online.

 

[Drusilla99]

One thing we did when the kids were under 18 and Palo was only available at dinnertime, we'd book dinner at Palo for a later time than our MDR. Then we'd go with the kids to the MDR, have a drink, maybe share an appetizer while the kids ate. Then once dinner was over, they'd go to their club or off with their friends, and we'd go to Palo for our dinner. So, we got to spend dinner with them, see the MDR and get the Palo dinner. Just another way around it and make everyone in our group happy