Probably a blasphemous question about Palo....

[mmouse37]

Everyone has their own opinions and no one is right or wrong. Some will like Palo, some will not. We have many fine restaurants here in NY but I still enjoy Palo. We all are not going to agree because everyone has different tastes, expectations and cost to value. Those who enjoy Palo will keep going, those who do not may go again to try something else or not all....its all good!

MJ

 

[tinkerone]

For us, meehhhh. We went to dinner on our 2nd or 3rd cruise and didn't get the hype. It was just okay. Decided not to go back however a few cruises later, after reading how amazing brunch was, we decided to try brunch. Again, meeh. It was just okay. October of 2014 we took our adult children on the cruise and they booked Palo for us all as they thought it would be nice. Once again, I just wasn't that impressed. The waiter actually leaned into me when he gave me the bill and said 'this does not include the tip'. Lol. Thanks for the reminder. It just took away anything that remained of a decent evening.
Free or not, to each their own. My not going back leaves a spot for others so that's good right??

 

[Ofinn]

Well its a lot better than the mdr food, and the atmosphere is better. I never really expected it to be anything great compared to restaurants on land, but I think its good for cruise food.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I was a one and done, but in my case, I had my first ever experience with seasickness that day. Since I never had seasickness before, I wasn't prepared with Bonine. My husband on the other hand loved having a steak there. I think if he cruises with me in the future, he will eat there again, but I won't. I see no need to pay $30. for dinner when there is so much free food.

 

[anricat]

We weren't amazed the first time but we enjoyed our meal enough. For us we both altered our main dishes by removing components. In hindsight we were wondering if that hampered the flavors. We are going to try again on our next cruise but if we are underwhelmed again that will be our last time. The soufflé was amazing though. Almost worth the price.

 

[TestingH2O]

We've never done dinner. Brunch was a lovely treat for the view and the atmosphere. DH and I don't get many dates between a small child and busy careers. My guess is I am linking some of that novelty with the actual experience and food. I'd like to do brunch again though. We enjoy the MDR experience, so I don't have a burning desire to do dinner.

 

[bcwife76]

We loved Palo brunch on our first cruise and are definitely looking forward to it on our next 2 upcoming cruises. However, we have no interest in booking dinner.

 

[kiford]

We like Palo a lot (not as much as Remy but really they just don't compare). We like both brunch and dinner but I prefer dinner. I like the lamb (and I'm not a big fan of lamb), the gorgonzola gnocchi, the anti-pasti, the souffle and the pasta arrabiata (but without shrimp as I'm allergic to seafood). But food is totally subjective. If I was able to get my father to come with us (unlikely as there's no casino aboard) he would hate it because he doesn't like pasta or Italian food other than pizza. He might or might not like the brunch. He would also hate Remy because he prefers plain foods and isn't into gourmet foods. Still calls a salad not made with iceberg lettuce "weeds". Yes, a lot of the attraction is also adults-only but we have later dining and there aren't as many children. Really - it's a matter of personal taste. If you find it not to your liking, that's no one's business but your own.

As for whether a particular dish is considered spicy: I find the arrabiata very spicy (although I like it), but DH says it's moderately spicy to lukewarm. Depends on what your palate likes and is used to.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I think we will give brunch a try next time!!

 

[phinz]

I've been four times. Twice for dinner on our first cruise. Twice for brunch (first and third cruise). Meh. I'll not be back. I thought it was a waste of my time and money. I'd sooner go all out and get a truly unique experience at Remy.

 

[rkwier]

We also enjoy brunch over dinner at Palo. Brunch had a very nice selection. Dinner is nothing to write home about. I was disappointed in basically the lack of a dress code because this is supposed to be an upscale restaurant. People next to us were wearing shorts and flip flops.

 

[phinz]

People next to us were wearing shorts and flip flops.

Then the host and/or maitre'd were not doing their job. I've *never* seen anyone going into, coming out of or within Palo in shorts *or* flip flops or a combination of them.

 

[rkwier]

Then the host and/or maitre'd were not doing their job. I've *never* seen anyone going into, coming out of or within Palo in shorts *or* flip flops or a combination of them.

Hopefully, it was just an oversight. We were on the wbpc just after the Wonder had to be scrubbed after the noro outbreak, so crew members definitely had a lot of extra things to attend to.

 

[psac]

We've done dinner twice and brunch once. We try to book dinner on every 7-day sailing now. Is it the best meal we've ever had or anything like that? No. But it's very enjoyable, and we like the Italian food more than the pirate night menu, which is when we go. For our Alaska trip coming up, we found the menu we liked the least and we knew we would like Palo more.

When it comes to brunch, we weren't wowed like some people. We might book it on our eight night trip from NY because of the extra sea days, but otherwise we'll skip it. We liked dinner a lot more.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Do you have to book Palo before your trip or can you book it on the ship?

 

[anricat]

Do you have to book Palo before your trip or can you book it on the ship?

Both. Try to book what you want in advance, but if you don't see any time slots that excite you, they hold back some reservations for booking on board.

 

[OrcaPotter]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I really enjoyed the brunch but the dinner was no more impressive than what I get included in my fare in the MDR. I was underwhelmed, too, by the soufflé which really disappointed me after reading all the hype about it here.

It's nice because it's quiet with nice views. I can see the appeal in that.

 

[FigmentSpark]

So I assume you need to get those on board reservations pretty quickly once you board? There's no thinking about it for a day or two and then deciding?

 

[lbus42]

Does anyone else think it's overhyped? I mean, we ate there for the first time last month and DH and I are still kind of scratching our heads...it wasn't bad, but we certainly have much better restaurants local to us than Palo. We found it to be a bit pretentious given the actual food.

Maybe I ordered the wrong thing? It was a shrimp and pasta dish...that the server kept telling me was soooo spicy....but, it was not. Perhaps I should have ordered the filet? Or just gone to brunch?

I don't know, like I said, I'm still scratching my head on that one....what are we missing?

Palo like most things is subjective. You might love it or you might hate it. You might be indifferent. A person's idea of spicy is also very subjective. Once someone asked me if something was hot. I said that it was not. He was about to take a bite, then he stopped and asked me if it was not hot to ME or not hot to normal people. I thought that was pretty funny. When someone tells me that something is spicy, I usually take it to mean that it is spicy for a lot of people, but I probably will not think that it is. BTW I had that dish that you mentioned. I liked it but I did not think it was spicy either, but I still liked it. I will go back to Palo. I thought that the soufflé was worth the price alone.

 

[lbus42]

So I assume you need to get those on board reservations pretty quickly once you board? There's no thinking about it for a day or two and then deciding?

No, I tried to move my Palo reservation as soon as I could (started at 1:30pm) and was told that all of the spots were filled. Better to book what you want as soon as your reservation window opens. But I was on a SWDAS cruise and it was full. You may have better luck on a cruise that is not as crowded.