Palo brunch or dinner?

[Cruzin’Sisters]

We were just on the Wish B2B, and we did brunch on the four night and dinner on the three night. I lean heavily to brunch, though I enjoy Palo dinner, too. While the old brunch buffet was awesome, we found that the Wish brunch menu was exceedingly more than enough food. Plus, at brunch, you can order the gorgonzola and grape pizza (off menu), which is basically my favorite food item on DCL. We went a la carte when we did dinner on the Wish, so that was definitely more expensive than going for brunch. I found the prix fixe menu pretty limited at dinner, especially given we were very familiar with the Palo dinner menu. If we had never been, we'd likely have gone that route and been perfectly happy.

If you want to do dinner, then definitely go for Pirate Night, though that's a popular plan, but it works fine if you are platinum and/or concierge.

Hi,
I am trying to book Palo dinner on the Wish. I have 7 in my party. It would only allow 6 at the table. Did it look like only 6 would fill a table? Did you see any bigger groups/tables?
I guess they could split us into 4/3.
Just wondering? Thinking that big groups are frowned upon due to wanting an intimate dining experience.
TIA

 

[dina444444]

Hi,
I am trying to book Palo dinner on the Wish. I have 7 in my party. It would only allow 6 at the table. Did it look like only 6 would fill a table? Did you see any bigger groups/tables?
I guess they could split us into 4/3.
Just wondering? Thinking that big groups are frowned upon due to wanting an intimate dining experience.
TIA

We had 7 people at a 6 top for brunch on a single reservation. For dinner we had a combined 7 person reservation (original reservations for 3 and 4) and they put us in the private room. This was recently on the wish.

 

[Karin1984]

I know people rave about the chicken parm. I found it underwhelming. It was a bit bland compared to the rich flavours of the rollatini melzane and the veal saltimbocca.
I did two brunches on my transatlantic. I had also a dinner booked, but cancelled it as I didn't like the menu.

On the first brunch, I ate so much I didn't needed food for the rest of the day. I did go to the MDR and ordered a salad. Of which I only ate half I had the late seating and my brunch was at 10 in the morning.
On the second brunch I ate a little less, but still plenty to only eat an appetizer and main at dinner.

 

[randumb0]

I prefer Brunch. There is nothing on the a la carte dinner menu that appeals to me

 

[Iris1974]

I'm a first time cruiser and I want to book Palo Brunch for 2 people on the Dream for the October Canada sailing next year in 2023. It's 4 night cruise with 2 sea days. Will I be able to get a table for one of the 2 sea days at 75 days out In your opinions. I know I can try and book it onboard so I'm packing a dress to wear just in case. Do I really have a chance at getting a reservation? Thanks in advance.

 

[NEGeekymama]

I'm a first time cruiser and I want to book Palo Brunch for 2 people on the Dream for the October Canada sailing next year in 2023. It's 4 night cruise with 2 sea days. Will I be able to get a table for one of the 2 sea days at 75 days out In your opinions. I know I can try and book it onboard so I'm packing a dress to wear just in case. Do I really have a chance at getting a reservation? Thanks in advance.

FWIW, we're Silver and at 75 days out from our 7 day on the Fantasy there's reservations available for Remy and Palo, both dinner and brunch.

 

[RedHead0186]

Brunch menu

I think this is all you care to eat. Not an either/or. Someone should let us know if I got that part incorrect.

View attachment 698845View attachment 698846

That's correct, the Palo brunch is a set fee and it's all-you-care-to-eat (we just did it in September).

 

[MomOTwins]

I'm a first time cruiser and I want to book Palo Brunch for 2 people on the Dream for the October Canada sailing next year in 2023. It's 4 night cruise with 2 sea days. Will I be able to get a table for one of the 2 sea days at 75 days out In your opinions. I know I can try and book it onboard so I'm packing a dress to wear just in case. Do I really have a chance at getting a reservation? Thanks in advance.

Tough to say. Usually brunch sells out before 75 days but I’ve heard the Canada cruises are not super popular so that improves your odds.

To OP’s question I would always choose brunch over dinner. As others have pointed out, brunch is a better value these days as it is unlimited courses for $45 while dinner is a limited prix fixe or potentially more expensive a la carte.

But the main reason I recommend brunch is that I don’t love the lunch options on DCL on sea days. One MDR is open for lunch but the food in our experience is not as good as dinner. Poolside quick service is basically fast food. The buffet is probably the best option other than Palo but also does not have the greatest food quality. In contrast Palo dinner means giving up an MDR, and we have always had really good MDR meals. Some have said they don’t like pirate night menu and do Palo then, but I love it. The samosa, jerk chicken and allllll the desserts are really good (banana nutella, rum cake, caramel macadamia cheesecake, yum!). Plus I don’t want a long Palo meal that means I may miss out on some of the pirate activities and meet and greets.

 

[MomOTwins]

I would do brunch as I find the other lunch options underwhelming but love the MDRs at dinner. While some people don’t like the MDR pirate night menu, I love it! Samosa, jerk chicken and all the desserts are really good. Plus I don’t want a long Palo meal that night to make me miss pirate activities/meet and greets.

 

[Skywatcher1206]

I prefer the brunch, OMG the risotto! My husband prefers the dinner, OMG the chocolate soufflé! I don’t think you can go wrong either way.

 

[epcotrulz]

If I had to pick just one, it would be brunch hands down.

Just did the dinner two weeks ago and I don’t feel the quality of food was that much better than the MDR for the $$$

 

[Jsoenning]

Another vote for brunch as enjoy dinner with kids. We prefer the brunch menu as well but in fairness it’s been years since we did the dinner. I also love watching the waves while eating with my best friend.

 

[holula]

YMMV but I don’t really think either is worth it at $45 for brunch and $45+ for dinner.

They also recently changed the brunch menu and took my artichoke pasta off, so for now I prefer dinner. I don’t love the chicken park like everyone else (although the lasagne is excellent.)

 

[auntlynne]

 

[tessa671]

Do you prefer Palo brunch or dinner, and which night of a 4 night would you suggest booking? Thank you!

I was always a brunch fan, it was my favorite thing to do on the cruise. But I am passing on it now. It is not worth it for just ordering from the menu. I liked the buffet. I don't see the menu as that much of an upgrade from the dining room menu, at least not for the price.

Plus, I am a vegetarian so that limits my options.

It is a huge disappointment to me that they took away the buffet.

 

[Annabell]

It is a huge disappointment to me that they took away the buffet.

Same here, we love the brunch buffet

 

[goofy4prez]

I think I agree with you on either being worth the price. If a complimentary meal wasn’t a Platinum perk, I would probably pass.

The filet has always been a nice cut and they have never missed on the ordered temp, but I don’t typically pay $45 for a restaurant meal - and don’t get dessert. And I definitely wouldn’t pay $45 for a chicken park meal.

I also don’t eat enough to warrant the price.

I recommend skipping for-fee restaurants for cruisers in their first several (or ten) cruises to try the options in the MDRs.

Happy Holidays, fellow cruisers.

I certainly enjoyed Palo much better prior to Disney once again offering less and charging more, but I still enjoy Palo. I was in concierge on the Dream last week, so I was able to book Palo and Remy as much as I wanted. In all fairness though, I was using Disney rewards from my Chase Visa card, and booked Palo twice for dinner, once for brunch, and Remy twice for dinner. I enjoyed all of them. I personally enjoy our own table, much quieter, much better service, and food that is not mass produced like the MDR's. I'll admit, the only thing I'm disappointed in with DCL is the food in the MDR. I love the theming, and I enjoy the rotational dining, but I find the food very average and the servers often overwhelmed. Sure, I've had some excellent service, and some food that I would call very good, but it's not all that often. I'm just not a fan of the MDR food.

I'm just the opposite of your opinion... But I should add, I certainly do respect your opinion and understand your opinion. But I myself always recommend someone book at least one of the adult dining experiences on a cruise 5 days or longer if they are just a couple (like my wife and I are), or can escape from the kids for a couple of hours. Is Palo or Remy worth the price? Probably not. But then again, one could make the argument is Disney Cruise Lines worth the money over other cruise lines? I say probably not. But I just freaking love Disney, and with the park experience having turned me off over the last couple of years, I get my Disney fix now on a ship instead of the parks.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Palo was the best meal I had in a long time for dinner with an amazing server. Best meal of the cruise for me. I’ll never not book it again