Need Help: Which restaurant to skip on 3-day cruise + Palo reservation

[KermitRocks]

We are booked on the Fantasy for a 3-day cruise. (This is our first time on the Fantasy.) We have a reservation for Palo on one of the nights. Since this is such a short cruise we will not be able to experience all of the restaurants in our dining rotation. So which of the other two restaurants are MUST dos? Thank you in advance for all of your advice.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are booked on the Fantasy for a 3-day cruise. (This is our first time on the Fantasy.) We have a reservation for Palo on one of the nights. Since this is such a short cruise we will not be able to experience all of the restaurants in our dining rotation. So which of the other two restaurants are MUST dos? Thank you in advance for all of your advice.

Well, I suppose you can look at the menus being served each night (each dining room will be serving it's Signature [rotational] menu) and choose which one appeals the least to you.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/menus/

For me, personally, the first time I'm on a ship, I like to try all the dining rooms/menus and make my own decision about whether I want to skip any of them on a later cruise. Of course, that's one of the reasons I prefer Palo brunch over dinner (don't have to make a choice that way).

 

[Dug720]

Although keep in mind you will not know your dining rotation until you board. You can put in a request, but that is not guaranteed.

 

[Trera]

we requested about 10 cruises ago to have animators pallet on the last night and we have had that same rotation for every cruise since. This puts our second night (pirate night) on our Royal Palace or Tritons night and that is when we do our Palo dinner.

Good luck figuring it out.

 

[mevelandry]

If they are the same as the Dream I would put Palo at the same time as Enchanted Garden.

 

[mathgeek]

A 3-night is tough trying to dine everyplace you want to. I was glad I had experienced all of the restaurants on a previous cruise so I knew which one was my least favorite. There's a meal I really enjoy at Enchanted Garden, and I like an appetizer and dessert at AP, so I requested (and was lucky enough to end up with) a rotation that would leave me at Royal Palace on my Palo night on the Dream, which would probably have meant Royal Court on the Fantasy. But like PrincessShmoo said, you probably need to look at the menus to see which one appeals least to you.

 

[MyDisWorld]

I agree with the others, this may be tough. As stated you don't really know your dining rotation, so you don't know what restaurant you will be assigned to the day you have your Palo reservation. If you want to try and request a change, and they honor it, I have to vote for skipping Animators Palate. We enjoyed all 3 restaurants, but thought the food at Enchanted Garden and Royal Palace were best of the 3. We agree that I we had to rank them by food selection and quality, it would be 1. Royal Palace 2. Enchanted Garden 3. Animators Palate. Again, we were not disappointed with any of our meals, but if I had to skip one of them, it would be Animators.

 

[Otimon]

If you've never been on the Disney before and don't want to miss any restaurant, don't tell anyone else but here's the secret to having your cake and eating it, too, if your timing is right! If not this cruise, try this on your next one.

Whichever night you want Palo make the reservation for later in the evening, say 7:30 or 8:00. Request first seating at the
rotation restaurant then go and enjoy a drink, appetizer and salad there. Of course let your server know right away what you plan to do this one time.

Proceed to Palo at appointed time for your main course, dessert, after dinner drink, etc.

We've done this a couple of times on past cruises and it worked out very well.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

If you're definitely doing Palo I would skip AP. Not only is the fiod meh, the ambiance is bleh. Maybe request the ERA rotation, make the Palo resi for your 3rd night, and if you change your mind, you could cancel it when you embark.

 

[mandylovesdisney]

I'd say skip Animators if it were on one of the Classics but I just got off the Fantasy in Feb. and LOVED Animators! The food was ok...but the show was great. Unless they don't do that particular show on a 3 night? I don't know. My other suggestion would be to skip pirate night since (in my opinion) pirate food is blah.

 

[Dug720]

I would NOT skip Animator's on the Classics. It is magical!!

On a Classic, I'd skip Triton's or Lumiere's and on the Dream Class I'd skip Royal Court or Royal Palace because that menu is just not my thing.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'd say skip Animators if it were on one of the Classics but I just got off the Fantasy in Feb. and LOVED Animators! The food was ok...but the show was great. Unless they don't do that particular show on a 3 night? I don't know. My other suggestion would be to skip pirate night since (in my opinion) pirate food is blah.

On a 3 night cruise, they probably will only do the Crush show.

 

[mandylovesdisney]

On a 3 night cruise, they probably will only do the Crush show.

Crush was cute, but I could definitely miss it.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

we requested about 10 cruises ago to have animators pallet on the last night and we have had that same rotation for every cruise since. This puts our second night (pirate night) on our Royal Palace or Tritons night and that is when we do our Palo dinner.

Good luck figuring it out.

This is interesting, this is our exact scenario as well, even across two different ships /3 cruises. Interesting. I hope we get the same rotation on our upcoming two (B2B) bc I right now am contemplating which night to do Palo as well. My first thought was skip AP on the first leg for sure. Not a fan.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Whichever night you want Palo make the reservation for later in the evening, say 7:30 or 8:00. Request first seating at the rotation restaurant then go and enjoy a drink, appetizer and salad there. Of course let your server know right away what you plan to do this one time.

Proceed to Palo at appointed time for your main course, dessert, after dinner drink, etc.

We've done this a couple of times on past cruises and it worked out very well.

We kind of did this on our Palo night: My husband went down with our kids at our regular seating so they could eat and I could get ready for Palo. Their food is always brought quickly, so they ate, he dropped them off at the club, and we went on our merry way!

 

[KermitRocks]

Thank you very much for all of the great advice. I will definitely check out the menus and request a rotation based on my choices. But I have a couple more questions based on your responses:
1) Do they have Crush in AP on the Fantasy? From what I've read Crush is on the Dream and the animation of your drawings is on the Fantasy. Am I mistaken?
2) Seeing as this is a 3-night cruise, what menu will be served on Pirate night? Will they do the standard rotation menu or Pirate menu?

 

[Dug720]

1) Yes. Crush is on the Fantasy. And that is what you'll get on a 3-night I believe.
2) The MDRs will each have their rotational menu. No Pirate Night menu on a 3-night.

 

[KermitRocks]

1) Yes. Crush is on the Fantasy. And that is what you'll get on a 3-night I believe.
2) The MDRs will each have their rotational menu. No Pirate Night menu on a 3-night.

Thank you.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Thank you very much for all of the great advice. I will definitely check out the menus and request a rotation based on my choices. But I have a couple more questions based on your responses:
1) Do they have Crush in AP on the Fantasy? From what I've read Crush is on the Dream and the animation of your drawings is on the Fantasy. Am I mistaken?
2) Seeing as this is a 3-night cruise, what menu will be served on Pirate night? Will they do the standard rotation menu or Pirate menu?

I can answer your first question : On the Fantasy, you will get the Crush show. If you were on a longer cruise, your first night would be the Crush show and the second time you were there would be the drawing show. The menu is different for that show too. I REALLY didn't like our meal or the experience on our second AP night on the Fantasy but it could also have been bc we had issues with our assistant server.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you very much for all of the great advice. I will definitely check out the menus and request a rotation based on my choices. But I have a couple more questions based on your responses:
1) Do they have Crush in AP on the Fantasy? From what I've read Crush is on the Dream and the animation of your drawings is on the Fantasy. Am I mistaken?
2) Seeing as this is a 3-night cruise, what menu will be served on Pirate night? Will they do the standard rotation menu or Pirate menu?

1) For a longer cruise (one where you are in each dining room more than once), on the Fantasy, the first time you are in there it's the Crush show. And the second (or 3rd, if your rotation goes to AP 3 time) it's the Animation Magic show. I would think for a short Fantasy cruise (doesn't happen often) they would do like the Dream and only do the Crush show.
2) The Signature (rotational) menus will be served in each dining room every night. That is, each dining room will serve it's own Signature menu every night. On a 3 night cruise there is no Pirate menu.