Updated Palo Menu

[randumb0]

I'm just going to order the souffle

 

[epcotrulz]

I'm just going to order the souffle

I was thinking of doing the same thing, or maybe just go for an appetizer before dinner in the MDR. Two can play this game Disney!! LOL

 

[mcd2745]

This is an awful, shameful change by DCL. The meals my wife and I always had will now cost closer to $200.

 

[Henlady]

Multiple $200 and over meals could very well be part of the reason for this change.

 

[epcotrulz]

TBH, for my cruise in September (fingers and toes crossed), I’ll just be soooooo happy to be on board that I’ll just pay whatever and won’t care much …. that’s what they are probably banking on. ;-)

 

[katmigordon]

On a connected but separate note - does anyone know what the changes for Remy have been? I know they set up a prix fixe menu for that too.

 

[AquaDame]

Did we have a palette cleanser (sorbet) midway and a slushy limoncello at the end? (It’s been a while...)

Yes, alas..!

 

[JWG]

I didn't realize you had to get an $11k room as a platinum member I'm pulling your leg of course. I understand you feel devalued because your Palo perk is limited to $45 a person now. Did you mean to come off sounding that entitled?

I think the wink was supposed to indicate I was joking around. As my signature shows, I'm not Platinum on DCL, only Gold. And, we've never sailed concierge.
But, there's a legitimacy to this as part of Disney declining by degrees as you read about in the parks. A Platinum guest is taking a loss on a perk here potentially. If they order the same as they have historically, odds are they may eclipse that $45 and have something out of pocket. It just adds to the feeling of being nickel and dimed for an already premium priced experience.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Sconny]

I am seeing this both ways. There are so many platinum's now days that we all go to Palo (or most) for the free dinner, why not as it was free was our thought, and we enjoy it. Our 1st 8 cruises we never wanted to go to Palo as we were fine with the dinner being served. As we got closer to Platinum we said well lets go see whats its about and see if it its something we would enjoy, and we loved it.

So the $90 twords our dinner will work fine for us as we only order certain things (tried a bunch of the menu items already). I love the Calamari prawn dish, love the Souffle and the Steak, so for us we will either do pre fix or add a couple things on, either way I wont complain spending an extra $50 for that meal on our future cruises.

As for the nickel and dime thing Disney is trying I say see what works its all relative...I still could never pull the trigger on doing Concierge room at double the costs of what we pay normally. If you pay $4000 extra for the same cruise that I am on that could buy us 20 $200 meals at Palo (thats with out the $90 credit).

 

[katmigordon]

I mostly agree - we're doing concierge for 2 reasons, We want a Cabana at Serenity Bay, and we're lowly little Silvers so if we want to do anything fun we need the edge up or we wont be able to book anything by the time Platinum and Gold go.

As for the nickel and dime thing Disney is trying I say see what works its all relative...I still could never pull the trigger on doing Concierge room at double the costs of what we pay normally. If you pay $4000 extra for the same cruise that I am on that could buy us 20 $200 meals at Palo (thats with out the $90 credit).

 

[bobbiwoz]

Is the antipasti selection per person?? $22 seems outrageous. I notice some people here have said $11, but I don’t see anything saying the price is for 2.

 

[JWelch62]

Is the antipasti selection per person?? $22 seems outrageous. I notice some people here have said $11, but I don’t see anything saying the price is for 2.

My assumption is that you are ordering from the cart, and it will be served as before. I also assumed, probably wrongly, that two platinum diners could pool their $45 credit for a total of $90 towards the total bill. That may not be the case. You may only be able to apply your credit to your order.

 

[Keyser]

I see a lot of comments from platinum cruisers. I am curious how others feel

I'm at the Gold level; I've been on 5 cruises with my family (and 1 for business), and on all the family cruises, my wife and I had dinner at Palo, with it being a highlight of our cruise. I don't like the change at all. And I say this after looking at the menu and realizing that what I would order is not much more than $45 anyway. I'd rather see them remove item options or charge more, to be honest.

For us, one of the nice things about Palo was that it was more of an "experience." You pay some fee and then you get to enjoy a nice dinner. You don't worry about what individual items cost, you don't have to worry about saying you do or don't want something or calculating whether it's worth the $ to order this item or that item. We've had waiters bring us small samples of something we didn't really want to order but were curious about. I didn't like (or usually try) 90% of the antipasto cart, but it was nice to have it as an option to try. It made for a nice overall experience.

To a degree, this is part of the attraction of the main dining room as well. The food there is not nearly as good, but it's nice to just pick what sounds best and not have to do cost calculations about that choice. In that way, the main dining room may be more attractive for us than the new Palo.

Now, I'll get to do all the mental calculations about every item I order, just like I would at any other restaurant. I've already looked at the menu and thought - "maybe I don't really want that item and would rather save the $ to get something else." While we're still likely to go - assuming the "ambiance" and service stay at a high level it's worth it for the "evening out" - it loses a good deal of it's specialness; now it'll basically be like any restaurant I eat at at home. Palo will go from a unique experience that we very much look forward to, to something not much more special than when we go eat at a nicer restaurant at home. Very disappointing.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

I'm at the Gold level; I've been on 5 cruises with my family (and 1 for business), and on all the family cruises, my wife and I had dinner at Palo, with it being a highlight of our cruise. I don't like the change at all. And I say this after looking at the menu and realizing that what I would order is not much more than $45 anyway. I'd rather see them remove item options or charge more, to be honest.

For us, one of the nice things about Palo was that it was more of an "experience." You pay some fee and then you get to enjoy a nice dinner. You don't worry about what individual items cost, you don't have to worry about saying you do or don't want something or calculating whether it's worth the $ to order this item or that item. We've had waiters bring us small samples of something we didn't really want to order but were curious about. I didn't like (or usually try) 90% of the antipasto cart, but it was nice to have it as an option to try. It made for a nice overall experience.

To a degree, this is part of the attraction of the main dining room as well. The food there is not nearly as good, but it's nice to just pick what sounds best and not have to do cost calculations about that choice. In that way, the main dining room may be more attractive for us than the new Palo.

Now, I'll get to do all the mental calculations about every item I order, just like I would at any other restaurant. I've already looked at the menu and thought - "maybe I don't really want that item and would rather save the $ to get something else." While we're still likely to go - assuming the "ambiance" and service stay at a high level it's worth it for the "evening out" - it loses a good deal of it's specialness; now it'll basically be like any restaurant I eat at at home. Palo will go from a unique experience that we very much look forward to, to something not much more special than when we go eat at a nicer restaurant at home. Very disappointing.

This was my thoughts EXACTLY that I posted a while back. We are also Gold CC. It really takes away from the experience when you have to worry about the cost of things while dining.

And to the other people who posted this, I expect that the Antipasto cart will be per person because it doesn't say "shareable" or anything on that order. 22 Dollars is outrageous when I can easily put together something similar at home for far cheaper.

 

[randumb0]

I definitely understand what everyone is saying. My wife's meal would be cheaper because she is a vegetarian but mine would be a lot more expensive. I think I will only do brunch from now on instead of ordering a whole dinner. Some people may have thought I was joking about only ordering the souffle but I was being serious.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

I definitely understand what everyone is saying. My wife's meal would be cheaper because she is a vegetarian but mine would be a lot more expensive. I think I will only do brunch from now on instead of ordering a whole dinner. Some people may have thought I was joking about only ordering the souffle but I was being serious.

They're going to start getting things like that a lot. I know one of the Servers at Be our Guest in the Magic Kingdom, he used to have people come in for just desert as about half of his tables. I can be placated easily by the Grand Marnier Soufflé in the MDR's. I am allergic to cocoa so I'll never have the Palo Soufflé anyway.

 

[epcotrulz]

Has anyone seen any reports back on Palo changes on the UK sailings yet?

 

[jrapps]

Someone on the UK staycation thread just confirmed for me that the Brunch no longer had the buffet at all.

I think I want to cry.

Edit: I should add I don't know if that is a permanent change or just due to Covid, but no buffet at all, no seafood, that's a deal breaker for me.

 

[dvcdisney]

Someone on the UK staycation thread just confirmed for me that the Brunch no longer had the buffet at all.

I think I want to cry.

Perhaps it's just for UK Staycation cruises. They may change once cruising starts regularly. I think there's a lot of temporary changes going on.

I prefer the Palo dinner, but I know the Brunch is more popular because of its buffet....so I would think DCL would find a way to bring some of the concept back.