Palo Brunch/Dinner, what would you do

[abuck75]

1st time cruisers (2 adults/2 kids 9/5 obviously not eating in palo). 7 night Cruise.
Generally not big "Brunch/Day" eaters, don't get me wrong, a good omelet, crab legs and Pizza, and Chicken parm sound like great, but also sounds like it could ruin an afternoon (or really need a nap).

Two sea days, 2nd day and 6th day (with pirate night on the 3rd day).

Ideally, I'd like to try one brunch and 2 dinners, but the dates just seem to make it hard. We could do a late brunch the afternoon of the first day, but it feels like we'll want to have the option of easing into getting familiar with the ship and letting our kids get comfortable with the kids club. While it could work, it seems like that may be forcing the issue.

We would like to try and hit the 1st standard rotation on all (with kids likely joining for 1 night in TP, and all AP nights).

Therefore, our preliminary plans are for Palo in Pirates night (night 3) and then likely the 6th day (sea day) but either the 5th or 6th day. In that case, it seems like it would be too much food to have a Palo brunch on that 6th day. I'm leaning toward simply saving a brunch for a future trip (if one happens), but curious how others would handle this knowing we are first time cruisers.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

We did brunch (eaaaarly) and dinner (late evening) in Palo on the same day on a cruise. It was a lot of food. But we are doing it again on our upcoming 3 night.

 

[PaoDCL]

1st time cruisers (2 adults/2 kids 9/5 obviously not eating in palo). 7 night Cruise.
Generally not big "Brunch/Day" eaters, don't get me wrong, a good omelet, crab legs and Pizza, and Chicken parm sound like great, but also sounds like it could ruin an afternoon (or really need a nap).

Two sea days, 2nd day and 6th day (with pirate night on the 3rd day).

Ideally, I'd like to try one brunch and 2 dinners, but the dates just seem to make it hard. We could do a late brunch the afternoon of the first day, but it feels like we'll want to have the option of easing into getting familiar with the ship and letting our kids get comfortable with the kids club. While it could work, it seems like that may be forcing the issue.

We would like to try and hit the 1st standard rotation on all (with kids likely joining for 1 night in TP, and all AP nights).

Therefore, our preliminary plans are for Palo in Pirates night (night 3) and then likely the 6th day (sea day) but either the 5th or 6th day. In that case, it seems like it would be too much food to have a Palo brunch on that 6th day. I'm leaning toward simply saving a brunch for a future trip (if one happens), but curious how others would handle this knowing we are first time cruisers.

IMHO I would say do not miss pirate night at the MDR, they are fun, specially for your little ones

 

[Shanti]

I wouldn't do Palo twice in one day. It's just too much food, and that's also 2 meals away from the kids in one day. I liked dinner better than brunch (although I enjoyed both). The food was better. I now consider a dinner at Palo to be a virtual requirement during a Disney cruise, but I wouldn't mind skipping brunch if the timing didn't work.

 

[Dug720]

I wouldn't do Palo twice in one day. It's just too much food, and that's also 2 meals away from the kids in one day. I liked dinner better than brunch (although I enjoyed both). The food was better. I now consider a dinner at Palo to be a virtual requirement during a Disney cruise, but I wouldn't mind skipping brunch if the timing didn't work.

This. I love them both and for me both are a requirement. But if you (OP) “aren’t a big brunch person” I would not worry about not doing brunch.

 

[ludari]

I always have late seating for the MDR and therefore I have time to enjoy a nice brunch at Palos (which I my favorite). If brunch doesn't fit your schedule and not your preference then do dinner, however I've always enjoyed dining in the MDR so I try not to skip those meals unless I'm on a long cruise.

 

[olafLover]

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[abuck75]

We will be sailing concierge so I'm hoping that may help the scheduling a bit.

 

[olafLover]

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[Trera]

I wouldn't do Palo twice in one day. It's just too much food, and that's also 2 meals away from the kids in one day. I liked dinner better than brunch (although I enjoyed both). The food was better. I now consider a dinner at Palo to be a virtual requirement during a Disney cruise, but I wouldn't mind skipping brunch if the timing didn't work.

Agree. I think we had Palo dinner one evening and then had an earlier brunch the next day and that was too much food. We space them out now so we dont get so full.

 

[kiford]

We did Palo dinner on our first cruise and although we loved it and always do it on every cruise, I somewhat regret it. I think we should have experienced all of the MDRs and menus our first time out. We missed out on going to Triton's (this was on the Wonder) and we've not cruised on her since. My personal advice is to skip Palo dinner but do a brunch since you won't miss out on anything then.

When we do brunch, we usually go for 10:30-ish with no or minimal breakfast. Take our time so as to let everything settle. We have late dining but still usually only have something light. No way would I do two Palo meals in the same day. If you need a nap after Palo brunch, go down to deck 4 and snooze on the deck chairs. It's where everyone else goes to pretend to read but naps instead. Even if you don't have Palo brunch, it's a great place for a quiet afternoon catnap.

 

[AquaDame]

I agree - post Palo brunch we don't need lunch (we tend to go at 10am) and I nap in the afternoon, but heck I tend to do that if we are relaxing in the room too long anyway~! I don't feel like it ruins the day at all. No way we could do dinner and brunch the next day. Pirates night is really fun for little ones... is there a reason you need to do two dinners? Doing one would probably make the brunch easier to enjoy. I was glad we didn't try to fit a dinner in on our last cruise... like you, I wanted to make sure we hit all the standard menus which would have had us doing it on a later night, but by the end of the week we were just over having a ton of heavy food. I actually had wished we weren't doing brunch or mixology in those last couple of days. It was fun, but man I didn't need it at that point!

 

[jennifermcb]

Palo dinner is nice, but IMO, the brunch is just *fabulous*. So many cool delights and many things to please every palate.

 

[AquaDame]

Palo dinner is nice, but IMO, the brunch is just *fabulous*. So many cool delights and many things to please every palate.

Agreed... dinners in the MDRs are good too versus breakfast/lunches being nothing to write home about and the same day in and day out.... we prefer brunch even though we never do it at home.

 

[abuck75]

I guess I'm really excited to see each of the Dining rooms at least once, and I think each of the standard menu's look good. That said, I don't think the Pirates or Prince and Princess menu's look to have anything we'd like, while the Palo menu has multiple things we'd like changes things for me and gives me the desire for the dinners on a 7 night cruise. In addition, we have late dinning and I think there are a couple days I'd rather eat a touch earlier and enjoy a little time after dinner while it's not too late for the kids to join us or be in the club.

As for pirate night, my kids are both vocally against pirate stuff, although my wife and I fully plan to dress in full garb and embarrass them after dinner (I have a hook from Once upon a time costume and she'll also be in full garb), but knowing the kids vocal opposition we figured that would be a good night for a slightly earlier dinner while they went to the club.

 

[Travel60]

We've done both brunch and dinner. Both delicious but I like dinner better. As I've become a more healthy eater, I try to avoid excess carbs, sugar and cholesterol. I think that is the definition of brunch! It's just too much to pay for a couple of grilled vegys and some fruit. Dinner is easier to find healthy options.

 

[AquaDame]

We've done both brunch and dinner. Both delicious but I like dinner better. As I've become a more healthy eater, I try to avoid excess carbs, sugar and cholesterol. I think that is the definition of brunch! It's just too much to pay for a couple of grilled vegys and some fruit. Dinner is easier to find healthy options.

I go heavy on the seafood... especially the Alaskan crab legs! I also love the proscuitto, cheeses, arancini and I was able to get the gorgonzola/grape pizza on the Wonder last week.. definitely not healthy, but not a ton of carbs and sugar (pizza aside). Pastries are more a normal workday sin in my world....

 

[susanv]

What someone at our table did one night was book a later Palo dinner and then joined us for dinner anyway. They didn't eat much, but it was lovely to have them there, and then they got to check out the MDR of the night. We had early seating and they left early. Pirate night is a lot of fun for the kids. If your kids have sensory issues would suggest the noise muffling ear protectors as the party is very loud! Love the Chicken Parm for Palo Brunch!!!!!