What is wrong with us?

[NancyIL]

I normally don't dine in the upcharge restaurants on other cruise lines. However, I am willing to pay $20 for Palo brunch or dinner on DCL, and I have eaten in Palo on each of my 3 Disney cruises. On the other hand, I am not interested in paying $50/$75 for Remy brunch/dinner.

On my upcoming December Fantasy cruise, I will eat at Palo for brunch and dinner! However, my idea of penny-wise and yours probably differ, because I almost always book the least expensive cabin category on the ship.

 

[TXDCLfan]

We look at the fee of dining at Palo as just another excursion fee it is someting we enjoy and are willing to pay for it

 

[clten]

Whether it is worth the upcharge is really a personal preference. We get comped Palo and we still don't go every cruise. We go to brunch more often than dinner (I do like the Chicken Parm). But I don't find the food that overwhelmingly fantastic that it is a must do -- it is better than the MDRs but they are cooking for a much smaller crowd. So we'll do Palo dinner once every 4-5 cruises and Palo brunch maybe once every 3-4 cruises. The service we have gotten (barring our one Palo on the Dream) has been fantastic. But if we have good tablemates and a good serving team, we'd much rather be in the MDR than at Palo.

And they do stick to the dress code, although they are polite about it if you show up not meeting it.

 

[FJS961]

Granted we are 'foodies' but the food in the MDR's for us is acceptable but certainly forgettable. Palo is somewhat better but Remy is head and shoulders above anything else on the ship between quality, service and attention to detail. For what we pay for these cruises, the dining should be superb

 

[chateau]

PALO IS HORRIBLE! DO NOT MAKE ANY RESERVATION(S) THERE FOR DINNER NOR BRUNCH! hehehehe more ressie times for us Palo lovers hehehehe

OH AND DON'T BOTHER BOOKING THOSE CASTAWAY CAY CABANAS NOR SPA TIMES EITHER, HORRIBLE JUST HORRIBLE.. insert another evil laugh here hehehehe

Did anyone else notice what number post this was of hers? 13,333... I'm thinking it should've been 13,666! kidding... that's cute

 

[glassslipper2004]

I've managed to sneak in a brunch or dinner at Palo on all three of my previous cruises, but have been thinking that I won't bother on the next one. When I traveled without my kids (a girls' cruise) it was lovely to have the fancy dinner and all the time to chat with my girlfriends, but when we had the kids with us we just kind of missed them. Vacations for us are definitely family time, and sitting at the table having a nice meal is one of the ways we all really like to connect. On our last cruise in particular DH and I went to Palo for brunch and our kids went to see a movie - and later I really wished I had seen the movie too, we so rarely get to do that kind of thing now that our kids are teens.

I do think the food and service at Palo is super - and if my kids were small and not getting closer every day to leaving me for college I might be heading in a different direction with my decision!

 

[Huey duck]

I feel that it is more than $20 per person technically because you have paid for mdr as part of cruise cost and if you skip there to eat at Palo you have to add in that cost as well. With that in mind we are just eating in mdr. In my opinion Palo and Remy would be best utilized by frequent cruisers (I am not) who have had their fill of all of the included in the cruise cost meals. I see no reason to do it yet. I have family members in cities like San Fransisco, live in a resort community, and travel to other large cities for work where I can eat a nice fancy meal when I want

 

[CarolAnnC]

Did anyone else notice what number post this was of hers? 13,333... I'm thinking it should've been 13,666! kidding... that's cute

What's even funnier is if you add together my 3 screen names (prior due to marriages etc) that post was actually 66,666!!


Hoping to try Remy when we cruise the Fantasy...waiting for 2014.

 

[RedxPanda]

We did brunch so we wouldn't miss dinner in the dining rooms or dinner with our DD. Plus, at 11:30am, I didn't feel like I was missing out on the 'free' lunch on the ship (hot dog, hamburger, buffet food, etc). We normally don't partake much in the $$ add ons when we cruise either, but in this case it was well worth it! So yummy!

 

[Summerl30]

We for sure aren't going. While we enjoy cruising other lines (this is our first disney cruise) dh is looking forward to the dressiest thing he has to wear are jeans. The last cruise we went on, he was so upset about packing suits and stuff, even though he thoroughly enjoys it while we are there.

That will be a pleasure we will have to forgo this time.

 

[Ajojo]

Honestly, I went to Palo for brunch on my last Disney cruise and didn't think it was that special. It was something to do once, but I'd rather spend that money on excursions. I much preferred the food in the dining rooms and even the buffet.

 

[miztressuz]

I feel that it is more than $20 per person technically because you have paid for mdr as part of cruise cost and if you skip there to eat at Palo you have to add in that cost as well. With that in mind we are just eating in mdr. In my opinion Palo and Remy would be best utilized by frequent cruisers (I am not) who have had their fill of all of the included in the cruise cost meals. I see no reason to do it yet. I have family members in cities like San Fransisco, live in a resort community, and travel to other large cities for work where I can eat a nice fancy meal when I want

I agree exactly. In my neck of the woods we can get a good champagne brunch for $25-30pp + tip. I'm sure part of my cruise fare factors $10pp for lunch anyway so I'm either coming out "even" or have paid more for the same brunch on the ship. Same with the dinner, again, fortunate to have some good Italian restaurants where you could dine for the same $25-30pp so factoring the dinner that you already paid for in the MDR same scenario. (Italian's cheap around here, woohoo

So what it really comes down to, for me, do you have access to the same quality fare for a similar price elsewhere?

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have good ethnic cuisines everywhere. We have some good Chinese restaurants so we'd never go to the Chinese restaurant in Epcot... but parts of the family live in areas that have very poor quality Chinese restaurants so they go every trip!

On vacation I want to do something that I can't do at home... so Palo dinner doesn't interest me. Might consider trying their brunch once just to compare. And Remy is just right out, I can't justify that upcharge.... which is also why we don't usually do French restaurants at home either, just not our cup of tea. I'd rather put that money towards a spa pass