Sold out dining options - best times to check?

[Princesca]

I'm trying to get the much-coveted Palo brunch but of course it's all sold out (we're first timers, so booked last). Generally, are there any key times to check for dropped reservations or sites where people might say they're dropping reservations? I know there is a Facebook group for our sailing, but I'm not comfortable joining it because I don't think there are security screens in place to make sure that everyone in the group is actually legit and my Facebook is under my real name. (I'm a bit paranoid.)

I did start a thread here for our sailing and posted there, but it's not had much activity.

I know there are some apps for reservations at the parks... anything for DCL?

 

[MichelleCanada]

What ship are you on?

 

[Princesca]

What ship are you on?

Fantasy - the 4/23 sailing.

 

[CapnCrunch]

Unfortunately, there's nowhere I've seen that tracks Palo Brunch availability. Your best bet is to get the earliest PAT you can and go to dining services. They do hold back Palo Brunch reservations to book on embarkation day.

 

[dcassetta]

Unfortunately, there's nowhere I've seen that tracks Palo Brunch availability. Your best bet is to get the earliest PAT you can and go to dining services. They do hold back Palo Brunch reservations to book on embarkation day.

I agree that there is no way to check, as unlike park dining you cannot check unless you are sailing on a particular cruise.

I am not sure about your final statement, and it is absolutely not the case on the Wish.

OP, the PIF date is a good time to check, but that has passed. Other than that, just check now and then and one may turn up.

 

[CapnCrunch]

I agree that there is no way to check, as unlike park dining you cannot check unless you are sailing on a particular cruise.

I am not sure about your final statement, and it is absolutely not the case on the Wish.

OP, the PIF date is a good time to check, but that has passed. Other than that, just check now and then and one may turn up.

OP asked about the Fantasy, not the Wish, which is a totally different animal with the additional Concierge guests and only sailing 3 or 4 nights ( 2 brunch offerings at most). I had no issues getting my Palo Brunch swapped on embarkation day on my recent cruise (Merrytime Dream sailing in December)

 

[anricat]

OP asked about the Fantasy, not the Wish

No, but I do think that it is good to make sure that appropriate expectations are set in case someone else is scrolling through this thread and makes the assumption it's the same fleet wide or in case the OP sails the Wish in the future.

 

[Flossbolna]

The cancellation policy is staggered. So, first if you cancel after PIF date, you just lose the deposit, at 55 days it is 50% if cruise fare. At 29 days it’s 75%. I think just before these dates might be when people possibly could still cancel. If you have something come up, but still have hope the cruise can go on, one might wait until just before the next penalty hits. No guarantees of course, just guess work.

ETA: I meant to say that those who cancel their cruise and had Palo booked would then free up space at Palo if they cancel the cruise.

 

[lanejudy]

The cancellation policy is staggered.

OP is asking about cancelled Palo brunch reservations, to my knowledge there is no cancellation fee unless maybe if you cancel within 24 hours.

OP - to my knowledge DCL holds back some adult dining reservations for booking onboard. At least they used to with the Classic and Dream Class ships; whether that holds true for the Wish is another question. Keep watching for something to open, or when you board go to the "dining changes" location to get put on a list. Palo brunch is harder to get than dinner, but still possible on a 7-night cruise. Good luck!

 

[Flossbolna]

OP is asking about cancelled Palo brunch reservations, to my knowledge there is no cancellation fee unless maybe if you cancel within 24 hours.

OP - to my knowledge DCL holds back some adult dining reservations for booking onboard. At least they used to with the Classic and Dream Class ships; whether that holds true for the Wish is another question. Keep watching for something to open, or when you board go to the "dining changes" location to get put on a list. Palo brunch is harder to get than dinner, but still possible on a 7-night cruise. Good luck!

Sorry. I meant people who booked Palo and the cancel their cruise make geht free up Palo spaces. Will adit the post to clarify.

 

[RedHead0186]

Does it actually say sold out, or do you just get an error message that says to try again later? The former means there are currently no tables available, the latter is a glitch that seems to happen with smaller party sizes. My understanding on that error is that there is a table available, but it doesn't match your party size so the system can't reconcile that (for example , I'm a party of 1 so there might be a table available but it's for 2 people).

If it's truly sold out, then keep checking back as there might be a cancellation. If it's the error, your best bet (in my experience) will be to check in as soon as you get on board, as they can 'manually' assign you to a table even it's not the exact right party size.

Good luck!

 

[dcassetta]

OP asked about the Fantasy, not the Wish, which is a totally different animal with the additional Concierge guests and only sailing 3 or 4 nights ( 2 brunch offerings at most). I had no issues getting my Palo Brunch swapped on embarkation day on my recent cruise (Merrytime Dream sailing in December)

On our last Wonder Alaska, we inquired upon boarding about changing our brunch and were told no but that there was a waitlist. We were able to change eventually, I assume because another party changed or canceled theirs.

We were first on the waitlist for our Wish cruise and never got it.

That's why I stated that I am not sure that holding back some spots is an official policy.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[CapnCrunch]

On our last Wonder Alaska, we inquired upon boarding about changing our brunch and were told no but that there was a waitlist. We were able to change eventually, I assume because another party changed or canceled theirs.

We were first on the waitlist for our Wish cruise and never got it.

That's why I stated that I am not sure that holding back some spots is an official policy.

Curious what your Castaway Club status was on that Wonder sailing? My wife and I are planning Alaska for 2024 and are planning to be gold status by then.

Unfortunately, Brunch is a limited availability affair (even more so on the Wish). At least it’s not as elusive as trying to snag a CC cabana…or maybe it is on the Wish.

Either way, best of luck to OP and hopefully they’re able to get a reservation booked one way or another.

 

[dcassetta]

Curious what your Castaway Club status was on that Wonder sailing?

We are platinum. Making the original reservation was not an issue, wanting to change our reservation once we were on board was.