Keep Palo res or cancel?

[Makayna]

FH and I have Palo reserved for brunch on the first sea day and dinner the next night (second sea day). This is our first cruise, and it's also our honeymoon cruise. The night we have Palo reserved is Semi-Formal night (5 night Wonder cruise). We were looking at the menu that we will *probably* be offered that night (we looked at several recent Wonder menus, and we're assuming that it'll be the Golden Mickey's menu for Semi-Formal night, right?) and also looking at the Palo dinner menu and we both decided that we liked the menu that we'd have in the main dining rooms more than we did the Palo menu.

But, there's no guarantee that that menu will be the menu we get, especially since this particular cruise hasn't ever been done before (Vancouver to LA repo) and I couldn't find menus from the LA to Vancouver repo (if anyone wants to share, I'd be most appreciative! ).

Since it's our first cruise, should we skip Palo dinner and JUST do Palo brunch and plan to eat in the MDRs every night? I should also mention that Palo is COMPLETELY full and we were VERY lucky to get a reservation on a sea day at a time that we liked and if we cancel, there's pretty much no going back (yes, I know that we can try to get reservations on-board the ship, but that's a hassle and there's no guarantee that we'll get reservations, and even less of a chance that we'll get the time/day we want, which is what we have right now).

We definitely didn't want to miss any of the regular MDR menus, and I wanted to try the Pirate Night menu, so that's why we went with the Semi-Formal night. But after looking at the probable menu, we're kind of considering canceling.

On our next cruise (our 1 year anniversary cruise in 2012), we'll be on the Dream (4 night), so it'll be all new restaurants and it'll be new menus we'll want to try, so "just do MDRs this cruise and do Palo dinner on your next cruise" really won't work - especially since we're DEFINITELY doing Remy on our anniversary night on that cruise.

So, this is basically our only opportunity to do Palo dinner. But, it'd be cheaper to just do the main dining rooms, but since it's our honeymoon, we'd also really like for this trip to be special and we're thinking that we'll probably want to have ONE dinner alone by ourselves.

What would you folks do? Keep the Palo reservation, have some alone time and enjoy our honeymoon without people around for one night? Or cancel it and just do MDRs since this is our first cruise?


p.s. And "cancel your reservation, but let me know when you do it because I'm on your cruise and I REALLY want to do Palo dinner" is NOT an acceptable response!!!!!

 

[Disney Dreams]

Well, I think the question is do you want to eat dinner in Palo for the food or the ambiance/experience?

To me... there would be no question about what I would do, but we are not you.

Also, I think it's worth pointing out (what to me) is the most key point in yor post: You don't really know what the menu will be.

So, if you choose to cancel your Palo dinner, you are canceling for an unknown. Is that a decision with which you are comfortable? I think that is the part of your scenario that stands out to me the most.

Hope this helps you figure out what's best for you,
Dreams

 

[Calfan]

I absolutely love DCL and am counting down the days to our next cruise on the Wonder to Alaska in 2012, but the reality is that the food in the main dining rooms is just so so. Even if you think the menu looks better in the MDR on the night of your Palo reservation, it is almost a certainty that the quality of the food in Palo will far surpass that in the MDR and make up for your preference for the MDR menu items (plus, as you say, there is no guarantee the menu will be the same in the MDR for the repo cruise). Thus my vote for keep your Palo reservation. I would eat as many meals at Palo as possible. We did brunch, high tea and dinner on our recent Med cruise.

 

[skibum]

No choice at all!
Palo is a special treat - great food and service.
Although, we are not going to do Palo on our next cruise, only because it will be our first time on the Dream, and we want to experience the dining rooms.
Have fun!

 

[RevFrHeinz]

We have never been disappointed in the regular dining rooms, each has been a treat.

But Palo's is amazing! Our first cruise was a 3 night on the Wonder. We had dinner and it was definitely 5-star!!!

We were disappointed on our 4-night that Palo's was booked for dinner, but we got in for brunch. Brunch far surpassed our expectations!

You can't go wrong with any of them, but Palo is wonderful!!!

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

Another vote for keeping the Palo reservation!

 

[Makayna]

Thank you everybody!

It sounds like everyone agrees (well, at least so far ) that we should keep Palo. I think we'll probably do that then. Another concern of FH's is that he can pronounce the menu in the MDR better than he can the one at Palo!!! We might have to work on our Italian before we go. Personally, I think the best way to practice would be to GO to Italy between now and our honeymoon next month. :

 

[Makayna]

I notice that 2 people (so far) have voted "go to main dining rooms." I'd love to hear your reasoning for that. Still weighing all of our options.

 

[tanyaewa]

Do Palo! When you and FH have kiddos your Palo days will be limited and a honeymoon is a once in a lifetime!

And BTW - I am on your cruise and if you decide to cancel - I'll take it!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Honestly, we didn't even try Palo until our 3rd cruise on the Magic. We love the MDRs but then again we were with our kids and my parents, friends, her mom, her aunt, etc. We felt like we 'needed' a night alone. We just sailed on the Dream (just the 2 of us & no kids) and didn't do Palo.

Then again, it's your honeymooon. The MDRs are full of kids which we are used to but it's nice to sit in a quiet dining room too.

I'd keep the 1st 3 nts free to see the full rotation, see each MDR, and visit Palo on 4th or 5th night. There's plenty of time to see the Golden Mickey menu another time. GM is playing on the Dream so you'll catch in again. and again. and again....

 

[peachygreen]

I am one of the go to the main dining room votes.

My thoughts are you have brunch at Palo already. Its your first cruise - enjoy brunch and then have fun at the Main Dining room.

But with that said you can always wait and cancel on board and make your decision then. This way you can see how you click with your serving team, what the menu would be and if you want to do it.

I know it is sacriledge on this board, but I wasn't really impressed with Palo and preferred the main dining room.

 

[JanDave]

Adding my 2 cents here. I'm a "Palo" afficiendo. Keep your Palo dinner reservation. This will sound corny - but here goes. We usually schedule Palo brunch before our scheduled dinner on a cruise. As I am leaving Palo after a wonderful brunch and admiring the ocean view, I have an overwhelming good feeling knowing we're coming back for dinner later in our cruise. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy our MDR dinners, but Palo is special.

Don't worry about not being able to pronouce menu items, your server will guide you through your dinner choices. Also, you can tweak menu items to suit your preferences. The Palo servers are very experienced and knowledgeable. They want to make sure you have a "magical" experience at Palo!

Jan

 

[justmestace]

Brunch is awesome....but dinner isn't any better at Palo than what you'd get at any fine restaurant.
The ideal thing would have been to book Palo on your fourth night, so that you didn't miss the special shows in the main dining rooms...and then not miss the final night in the main dining rooms.

 

[woody73]

FH and I have Palo reserved . . .

A little help please -- FH?

Woody

 

[Magic3forme]

I say stay at Palo. we prefer the dinner over the brunch. the pizza is amazing!! and I am not one for the chocolate souffle, but dh loves it!! the food at Palo in my opinion is 10x better than the dining rooms. (and my kids are not there)

Palo is our date night. We love the calm, quiet of the restaurant!

 

[aan1701]

I voted to skip it. First off let me say I am not a fan at all of dinner there, but love the brunch and the tea. That being said, I just did not think that the food for dinner was that much better than the dinning room. Again this is my opinion and I know it is a minority opinion on here like I don't see the big deal with the walls changing colors at Animators. You will only hav e5 nights to be with your service team who will be like family. Also you will most likely rebook when on board so you can save it for later. That is my take. Like I said I am in the minority, but that is just my opinion.

 

[Robin"D"]

BRUNCH ROCKS!!!

Do not miss Brunch.....

dinner, not a big fan of....

Robin & Angel "D"

 

[csidisney]

I actually think the dinner is better than the brunch...I personally would go to Palo's. We have been on two cruises and done Palo both times and have not missed the dining rooms at all.

What time is your ressie? If you have main dining and a 8:30pm Palo spot, why don't you do both? Have a little taste at the MDR and then hit Palo too

 

[Makayna]

Brunch is awesome....but dinner isn't any better at Palo than what you'd get at any fine restaurant.
The ideal thing would have been to book Palo on your fourth night, so that you didn't miss the special shows in the main dining rooms...and then not miss the final night in the main dining rooms.

This is EXACTLY what we have - Palo dinner on the 4th night (second sea day, but forth night).

A little help please -- FH?

Woody

Future Husband.

I actually think the dinner is better than the brunch...I personally would go to Palo's. We have been on two cruises and done Palo both times and have not missed the dining rooms at all.

What time is your ressie? If you have main dining and a 8:30pm Palo spot, why don't you do both? Have a little taste at the MDR and then hit Palo too

Our Palo reservation is at 8:30 and we have late dining, so that wouldn't work (I'd thought about that for an option, but it's just not possible). We didn't want to miss the show, so we didn't want it early because we might not get done in time for the show. We actually wanted 8pm, but that wasn't available, so we took 8:30 so we can see the early show and then go to Palo.

 

[clten]

Let me start by saying that I am not a die-hard Palo fan like many on these boards are. But even I would vote for Palo. Not because the food will be so much better than in the MDR but for the atmosphere. One of the reasons we love the MDR over Palo is the fun atmosphere there and we usually have great servers and tablemates that we hate to miss dinner. But since it is your honeymoon, that is the exact reason I think you'll enjoy having a quiet romantic dinner on your cruise. It really is a very nice restaurant and the atmosphere at dinner is different than brunch and the service is great. The food will be good (don't worry about the pronunciation -- use the point to order method) so I don't think you'll miss the menu for the MDR. (But if there is something specific on that menu that you don't want to miss, talk to your dining room head server and see if they can make a special order and have it for you the next night.)