PALO Fully Booked 90 Days in Advance!

[actuarian]

I tried to make reservations this morning for PALO for the October 27 3-day, which is in exactly 90 days. Therefore, today should be the first day of availability for Castaway Club members (except for suite guests). However, I got the message that there was no availability at any time for any party size! Has this happened to anyone else on the first day?

 

[Favorite Auntie]

Could this be a compute glitch? Is there someone you can call?? Seems odd to me.

 

[mmouse37]

Do not worry....they leave some ressies open to be booked onboard.....granted it takes away from the booking online convenience,but you will most likely still get a reservation. Or, as mentioned above, a computer glitch...the site has been having those since the new site has been up.

MJ

 

[Jsme]

I tried to make reservations this morning for PALO for the October 27 3-day, which is in exactly 90 days. Therefore, today should be the first day of availability for Castaway Club members (except for suite guests). However, I got the message that there was no availability at any time for any party size! Has this happened to anyone else on the first day?

How large is your party? This might have something to do with it. Certain size parites (large ones) have to be booked by your TA or directly thru DCL. Each couple can book their own table and then call and ask to have them linked. I would call DCL directly and aske them what is going on. I would not wait until I got to the ship. If you used a TA call them and have them handle your ressies for you.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

YIKES!
I hope you get your reservation!
I agree with the others -- try again. Perhaps it was a computer glitch. If not, try onboard.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[whetstone]

Same happened on our cruise, I went to book online and it said it was full. Yet, when we got on the ship and went to check they had plenty of openings! So many in fact, the next day they announced Palo had room if anyone wanted to sign up.

 

[actuarian]

Party size is only 2 so that is not the issue. All days, all times and all table sizes are not available. I called DCL twice but the reservationists do not seem to have any information beyond what is on the web site. Their only suggestion is to try to book on board.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

Keep going back and trying. I just did all mine on July 17th for our October sailing and had no problems.

I even think they open more times up at 75 days out for those people that have never sailed before.

Don't worry...You will get into Palo. DCL is not helpful when you call though cause it is all an on line thing???

Good luck and keep checking the system.

 

[actuarian]

I found out that there is a special HELP line for the web site (877-566-0968). The person who answered that number reproduced the results I got but she contacted a supervisor who determined that the real problem is that the program that does the PALO reservations has a bug in it. They are trying to fix the bug but, in the meantime, they have locked everybody out of PALO reservations. They do not know when they will be back up but "hope" it will be sometime today. The only advice is to keep on trying until it comes up.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

When booking your Palo reservations online, do you have to give a deposit?

For those who have concierge service, did you book your Palo reservations online or did you let concierge do it for you?

 

[mmouse37]

No deposit necessary...the just add the $10pp fee to your shipboard account after you dine (you get a slip to sign at the end with a space to add gratuity or you can leave gratuity in cash on the table (but they will still charge the $10 per person fee to your onboard account).

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Thanks MJ!

 

[JLDSMD]

I actually got my Palo reservations today for the 10/27/05 Wonder.

I didn't get them through the website, however. What I did is sent an email to DCL through the "contact us" link that they have on their website. I explained that I couldn't believe that no reservations were available when I tried at 12:01 a.m. today. I further went on to ask for a table for 2 for the date and time we wanted.

I just got back and checked my emails, and sure enough, there was one from DCL. It stated, "we're happy to confirm you Palo reservation for two on ....". I went online to check under our reservation and sure enough it was there.

You may want to give it a try if the system is still down.

 

[paulmc80]

This was the case when I tried making reservations exactly 90-days out for our upcoming cruise. I couldn't make the reservations online for almost two days. I'm sure the reservations are available yet, its just their issues with this system as stated.

Sending them e-mail also worked very well for me. They did change my reservations from 1-2 persons to 3-4 persons. Heard back from them within 24 hours. Quite fast compared to a lot of companies I have dealt with.

 

[SoVeryBlessed]

Hello everyone,

I want to preface my question by letting everyone know that I have never been on a Disney cruise before. With that being said, I'm just curious as to why Palo receives so much interest. I thought that it was a restaurant for dinner. Is it the same kind of food that is served in the other restaurants? I realize that it is adult only, but other than that, what is the difference?

Thank you !! & excuse my ignorance on Palo

 

[princesspumpkin]

Hello everyone,

I want to preface my question by letting everyone know that I have never been on a Disney cruise before. With that being said, I'm just curious as to why Palo receives so much interest. I thought that it was a restaurant for dinner. Is it the same kind of food that is served in the other restaurants? I realize that it is adult only, but other than that, what is the difference?

Thank you !! & excuse my ignorance on Palo

Palo is a more "formal" restaurant. The food is vastly different from the dining rooms. More "upscale" choices. It offers a very nice view thru floor-to-ceiling windows at the back of the ship. I've done Palo twice (for dinner and brunch). It was nice, especially if celebrating a special occasion. Fancy servers, intimate setting, etc.

 

[cruisinthecarribean]

Palo was the highlight of my time with my DH on the ship. The ship is overrun with kids (as you would expect). It was SO wonderful to have "grown up" time with him. Also, the food at Palo's is beyond compare with the regular restaurants. We went to Palo's first and then to one of the other restaurants, and refused to eat at any restaurant but Palo's for the rest of the cruise. The money is insignificant given the price of the cruise. It was especially nice because we went in July and could watch the sunset. This time will be December so I''m curious how that will affect our experience (basically no view)

 

[Eeyorefan12]

For those who have concierge service, did you book your Palo reservations online or did you let concierge do it for you?

We had a Cat 3 room on the Magic in June. I made Palo reservations online but we decided later that I may not have chosen the best day. I wanted to cancel and reschedule but I was afraid there would be nothing left if I did it online so I left it as it was. (We had never cruised nor did we know much about "concierge" level.)

When we got to the ship, we met with the concierge staff who didn't even bat an eye at our making the change. They said they'd take care of it. Guess what? Someone forgot! We showed up for our Wednesday ressie...only to find that Palo not only didn't have a record of it but DID have us as "no-shows" on the original day! Yikes! The maitre d' kind of rolled his eyes and said "Just call ME next time." He was very good-natured about it and I got the impression it had definitely happened before. Then, he had our party of four wait at the bar for about 5 minutes and they got us a lovely table for our nice leisurely meal. To their credit, I don't think that it mattered at that point that we were concierge level...they just wanted to accommodate.

CB

 

[PiperG]

I found out that there is a special HELP line for the web site (877-566-0968).

Do you think I can just call this number to get a Palo ressie? We will actually be at WDW at the 90 day mark. We plan to be paid in full by then, which should allow us to book ressies on-line. Unfortunately, we are staying at the Ft. Wilderness cabins, and I already know they don't have an internet cafe. Calling for Palo ressies as we wait for our plane back to Minneapolis would make my next Disney vacation seem really close.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[actuarian]

The second (and last) time I called this number, I asked the same question and they were very firm about telling me that Palo reservations cannot be made that way. I then told them about the previous posting on this thread indicating that someone (JLDSMD but I did not tell them that name) had gotten reservations by emailing the Help line. At this point they became rude and told me that the posting had to be false and that Palo was really fully booked. Their final comment was "Tell your little friends on the internet not to tie up this number with requests for Palo reservations". I have been to WDW at least 20 times and on DCL 5 times and had never before experienced rudeness from a CM!