Probably a blasphemous question about Palo....

[FigmentSpark]

Can you book it in advance and then cancel on board, if you change your mind? I assume they would have a waiting list for any cancellations.

 

[Laundress]

For us it's just about feeling special. Lovely atmosphere. We prefer brunch though.

 

[lbus42]

Can you book it in advance and then cancel on board, if you change your mind? I assume they would have a waiting list for any cancellations.

Yes you can cancel on board, but you must do it before you reach the 24 hour window before your reservation. If you cancel within the 24 hour window you will still be charged.

 

[Skiton]

We think Remy is outstanding. Palo is just good. We go every time, anyway, though, because we think it's a great value. In our opinion, it's definitely superior to MDR food, and allows us to have an adults-only dinner in a nice setting, all for $30 apiece. That's $30 for a three course meal. You can't get three courses at Red Robin for much less than $30. It's a really good deal, from our perspective.

Brunch, however, is much better than dinner.

 

[Flossbolna]

That's $30 for a three course meal.

See, in my mind I have already paid for a four course meal in the dining room with my cruise fare. So, the $30 in my mind is just the upcharge over what I have already paid for dinner. So, to me the question is, is Palo $30 better than the MDR?

I can see both sides of the argument. I really enjoyed my dinners at Palo, I had no complaints about any of the food, found all of it to be delicious. We also had fantastic servers both times. However, while it was good, I am in the camp that I have a lot of restaurants around where I live that offer the same level of Italian food and that at very good prices, too. Remy on the other hand is far more unique to me. So, on the Dream and the Fantasy, Remy will always be my first choice for a special dinner. And otherwise Palo dinner might be something we are doing every three or four cruises just to change it up. I would also always have dinner at Palo on a longer cruise like a transatlantic or Panama Canal cruise just because 14 nights in the MDR starts to get boring...

 

[phinz]

One note: You had best be OK with the sound of banging overhead if you decide to go to Palo or Remy, because if the basketball deck is open there may, or there may not, be people on the sports deck playing basketball. It's less common at night, but both brunches I have attended, as well as the dessert event at Remy, have been annoyingly peppered with the sound of bouncing balls from above. I've not experienced the ball sounds when in Remy at night.

 

[RedSox68]

Brunch used to be our favorite meal there -- but we tried it on the Fantasy last time and it was so much more complicated than on the old ships! Between the "tour" and the explanations and the descriptions and the options, our heads were spinning. We've only done dinner twice -- both times for anniversaries and both times on the older ships. We liked it, but we are not hysterical about getting a reservation. We love the ambiance and the views, but we can take it or leave it. At this point, with the price of their cruises, luxuries like specialty dining may be out of our budget

 

[RedSox68]

Yes you can cancel on board, but you must do it before you reach the 24 hour window before your reservation. If you cancel within the 24 hour window you will still be charged.

We had to cancel a brunch once because one of us got sea sick and we called the morning of and they were very nice about it and didn't charge us, but that is a special circumstance.

 

[phinz]

We had to cancel a brunch once because one of us got sea sick and we called the morning of and they were very nice about it and didn't charge us, but that is a special circumstance.

My wife left our first Palo dinner just before receiving our entree because she was seasick. They not only didn't charge us anything for her (I stayed and ate by myself) but they also called us to reschedule for later in the week.

 

[belac]

Haha, we were "chastised" for not ordering the soufflé, lol, and told we wouldn't be allowed to leave the next time without it, haha. I'm not a dessert person, and just wasn't in the mood that night. Maybe next time...

I actually like the Panna Cotta better than the souffle (I loved the Zabbaglione but it wasn't on the menu ). I'm not an overly sweet dessert person either. This time on the Wonder we had Susana (from PT) and it was a bit of shock that we wanted something other than the souffle but, she brought us a souffle as well as my ordered panna cotta, to see what I liked better. I still prefer the panna cotta. DH liked the souffle, but he got something else as well.

Our server was very gracious and very knowledgeable about the food and the wine, she was super nice and completely professional. At brunch the next sea day she brought me the panna cotta without me asking. I joked with her that I was going to have the souffle. I would go back and request her again as server.

To answer the OP, it is subjective as not everyone has the same likes. For me it is the atmosphere and service. We like it for a little adult break, that we don't get very often at home. The service this time, was outstanding. The previous services were always very good, never had a complaint about Palo. We have always scheduled the brunch and dinner at Palo. We like it. I don't think we were ever there for the full 2 hours on either service.

Maybe it was the dish you choose. We had almost everything on the menu at one time or another but, I don't recall having the spicy pasta with seafood, most likely because I can get that at home. I loved the Pappardelle con Aragosta, their Scallops dish and at Brunch the Pappardelle with truffle oil, yummm! It is a step or two above MDR for food quality and service.

Can you book it in advance and then cancel on board, if you change your mind? I assume they would have a waiting list for any cancellations.

Yes you may cancel, but do it 24 or more hours before. They are usually good about getting you in at another time. I never saw brunch or dinner packed out in my experience only, but we tend to go off-season. They even have asked if we wanted another ressie for later on in the week. I once messed up the date (talk about being on vacation oops!) and went the day before, they had no issues seating us and asked if we wanted to keep our reservation for the next day.

 

[Kesohio63]

We have done both brunch (Dream in 2014) and dinner (Fantasy in February of this year), and we enjoyed both very much. Amazingly, we had the same server both times - Corrine from France, and she was excellent! It is a little pricey, but when you add up the up charge, tip, and a glass of wine each, we probably spent the same as we would for a fancy dinner in a nice restaurant at home. Brunch was a little less because we didn't get wine. The food was great both times, and dinner was very quiet and relaxing and a nice break from MDR. Our MDR server was very chatty and hyper, so while meals were fun (and we felt like we were getting a lot of personalized attention), they were in no way relaxing! We enjoyed the brunch experience more, though, so we'll probably stick to that from now on.

 

[steves100]

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?

What did you eat and when? We loved the old menu (always ordered the same thing)..... Kind of hate the new menu.

No way can brunch comapre to dinner!!!

Here is why they are GREAT:

Last trip in April (Tonka's Skipper was on that cruise) on Dream we did Palo dinner twice. 1st time wife and myself (didnt like new menu) 2nd time w 2 couples who are friends.
Assistant chef asked myself and wife how we liked the dinner. Told him it was fine and casually asked what the response to the new menu was. He said 50/50. He said I guess you dont like it. Told him honestly my favorite things were either taken off the menu or changed (Lamb).

He stopped by our table a 2nd time this time with the head chef. He said that they were going to prepare what we liked off the old menu for our 2nd reservation. In this case it was lobster ravioli and tuna carpaccio. They made WAY too much of both for our table of 6. 1 of our friends it was their 1st time at Palo, the other their 2nd. They could not believe the service and quality of the food, and these are people who eat at world class establishments.

Just giving you our perspective....

 

[The Sasquatch]

We love Polar dinners. We have gone 5 times,the decor, food and service for us was excellent.

AKK

we feel the same. I think the atmosphere is nice and the "palo" filet has always been fantastic. My wife enjoys the souflee.

 

[The Sasquatch]

Actually, now that you mention it, I do remember the bread being really good. And the aged Parmesan in the antipasto presentation was delicious!!!!

I ordered the caprese for an appetizer and was surprised there was no balsamic drizzle on it. Minor details I know.

That being said, I didn't hate it...I just could have easily spent the time with my kids in the MDR and not spent the $100 it ended up costing...

LOL, I felt the same about the Caprese. I asked and they brought out some great aged Balsamic!

 

[steves100]

LOL, I felt the same about the Caprese. I asked and they brought out some great aged Balsamic!

Think that could be a server specific issue. Im pretty sure servers of ours have asked if we would like it with the tuna sometimes and not others.....

 

[steves100]

What did you eat and when? We loved the old menu (always ordered the same thing)..... Kind of hate the new menu.

No way can brunch comapre to dinner!!!

Here is why they are GREAT:

Last trip in April (Tonka's Skipper was on that cruise) on Dream we did Palo dinner twice. 1st time wife and myself (didnt like new menu) 2nd time w 2 couples who are friends.
Assistant chef asked myself and wife how we liked the dinner. Told him it was fine and casually asked what the response to the new menu was. He said 50/50. He said I guess you dont like it. Told him honestly my favorite things were either taken off the menu or changed (Lamb).

He stopped by our table a 2nd time this time with the head chef. He said that they were going to prepare what we liked off the old menu for our 2nd reservation. In this case it was lobster ravioli and tuna carpaccio. They made WAY too much of both for our table of 6. 1 of our friends it was their 1st time at Palo, the other their 2nd. They could not believe the service and quality of the food, and these are people who eat at world class establishments.

Just giving you our perspective....

Actually it was the Fantasy....

 

[Mousemommy1]

I actually like the Panna Cotta better than the souffle (I loved the Zabbaglione but it wasn't on the menu ). I'm not an overly sweet dessert person either. This time on the Wonder we had Susana (from PT) and it was a bit of shock that we wanted something other than the souffle but, she brought us a souffle as well as my ordered panna cotta, to see what I liked better. I still prefer the panna cotta. DH liked the souffle, but he got something else as well.

Our server was very gracious and very knowledgeable about the food and the wine, she was super nice and completely professional. At brunch the next sea day she brought me the panna cotta without me asking. I joked with her that I was going to have the souffle. I would go back and request her again as server.

To answer the OP, it is subjective as not everyone has the same likes. For me it is the atmosphere and service. We like it for a little adult break, that we don't get very often at home. The service this time, was outstanding. The previous services were always very good, never had a complaint about Palo. We have always scheduled the brunch and dinner at Palo. We like it. I don't think we were ever there for the full 2 hours on either service.

Maybe it was the dish you choose. We had almost everything on the menu at one time or another but, I don't recall having the spicy pasta with seafood, most likely because I can get that at home. I loved the Pappardelle con Aragosta, their Scallops dish and at Brunch the Pappardelle with truffle oil, yummm! It is a step or two above MDR for food quality and service.


Yes you may cancel, but do it 24 or more hours before. They are usually good about getting you in at another time. I never saw brunch or dinner packed out in my experience only, but we tend to go off-season. They even have asked if we wanted another ressie for later on in the week. I once messed up the date (talk about being on vacation oops!) and went the day before, they had no issues seating us and asked if we wanted to keep our reservation for the next day.

I honestly should have known better than to order seafood, being from New England. I really never order it outside of home, but I did. Should have gotten the steak, lol

 

[Mousemommy1]

LOL, I felt the same about the Caprese. I asked and they brought out some great aged Balsamic!

Man, I wish I had asked!!!

 

[Donna M]

I've been to the dinner and brunch and much prefer the brunch. No plans to return for dinner, I agree with the op, just a nice restaurant.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I honestly should have known better than to order seafood, being from New England. I really never order it outside of home, but I did. Should have gotten the steak, lol

Seafood is always better fresh, but DCL doesn't have that option, unless Mickey wants to throw a fishing lure over the back of the ship. The best lobster we've ever had was in Bar Harbor, Maine. Palo has nice ambience, but....