why do people pay to eat at Palo

[TDC Nala]

The food is generally better, there is a better wine list, and nobody under 18 is allowed.

 

[everafter1]

We love the main dining rooms, but a palo night is also really nice, especially on longer cruises. It's so quiet at Palo and the service is great. Plus, it's usually just my husband and I that sail, and while we love getting to know our table mates, it's nice to have a night for just us. We also sail near our anniversary date, so that's part of why we do Palo also... Plus that chocolate souffle is great

 

[NoodlesMom]

We loved the food! I don't have anything bad to say about the main dinning rooms but we really enjoyed our meal at Palo. The reason we love DCL is because we all get the vacation that we want. Whether it be together every minute of the day or apart so that the kids can enjoy other kids and we can enjoy adult company.

 

[luvavacation]

For my husband and I, we like to have the brunch at Palo, but have never had the dinner.

We really enjoy our dinners with our children and our servers, and we have always loved the food in the main dining rooms! We also very rarely go out to eat, maybe two or three times a year, and to a place like Chili's. I guess since our palates are not used to fancy, expensive restaurants, the main dining rooms please us very well!

Plus I am not cooking, so that just might make the food taste even better!

I will say, though, that the Palo brunch is really fantastic, with a different variety of foods (I discovered smoked trout at brunch, and loved it!) that are actually spiced and flavored. I tend to enjoy the food at Palo Brunch more than my DH does.

The food in the main dining rooms tends to be non-spiced, I assume so it doesn't bother the palates of those (like my DH!) that are used to more bland food. I solve this by bringing a bottle of Chipotle Tabasco and hot Hungarian Paprika with me. I once had a server from Thailand that even gave me a bottle of a very spicy sauce from his home country, and that really added flavor to the main dining room food!

If you aren't sure about going to Palo for dinner, because you might enjoy your servers and the dining atmosphere too much, try Palo Brunch. I think it is a great compromise!

 

[jcarwash]

Because Palo is one of the best restaurants I've ever eaten at. It's so worth it.

And because the $20 per person is a gratuity for the server and staff that you won't be tipping at the end of your cruise. You can add on to that amount if you wish (we did) but that is what the charge really is.

As for what to do with your kids, the Oceaneer's clubs have dinner each night. Check your navigator or ask the club staff. They can spend time in the clubs (like you can get them out anyway) and have dinner there.

Another alternative is ordering room service for them.

 

[Anal Annie]

And we are in the group of folks who go on a cruise to be WITH our kids. When they were in High School we might see them for 90 minutes or so a day between school, sports, homework. Then they went away to college and we might see them for one weekend every 6 or 7 weeks. Cruises are our time to be together 24/7.

OK, well, let me expand on the no kid thing. As a family with only 1 child, while we love to be with our DS on vacation too it's ALL THE OTHER PEOPLES kids that I enjoy getting away from. Sometimes there is just a lot of commotion going on (more than what we're used to in a 1 child home). No crying babies, no "you take her this time", no tantrums, no strollers blocking the aisles, no crayons & toys & gameboys, no poopy diapers to smell, nobody correcting or fussing with their kids etc.

Also, at home, because it's ALWAYS just the 3 of us we NEVER get a "date night". We don't like to leave DS13 at home alone while we go out. Doesn't seem fair to him. Whereas on the ship he has plenty to do to keep him occupied and he's fine since he doesn't really feel alone.

 

[Cerberus9]

I really don't think it's necessary for anyone to justify why they might want to spend a few hours away from their children in order to have a nice dinner in a more "grown up" setting. Sheesh.

 

[FJS961]

No kids
Date night (ie table for TWO rather than 6 or 8)
No kids
Nicer atmosphere
No kids
Better service
No kids
Better food / different selections
No kids

EXACTLY!

 

[Husurdady]

may sound dumb just cant understand why people pay to eat at Palo when the other restaurants are free what am I missing

HEY ! Just cruise with DCL 10 times and on the 11th cruise PALO is free.

 

[DaveH]

On our fifth cruise we did a Palo dinner. It was good, but did not live up to the hype here on the DIS. It is a much different experience than the main dinning rooms. It was far less rush and even more personal service. My understanding the fees are for tips for the folks in Palo. Our next cruise is on the Dream and do not plan to do Palo. Looking at the menu for Remy's they will have to pay me to eat there. The menu is no where near my taste.

 

[BriarRosie]

The food is better, and it's nice to have an adults-only meal. Palo was better than my main dining room food on the Wonder cruise I took in December.

I did both Palo brunch and dinner, and both were wonderful.

 

[Candace]

"My mom and I ate at Palo on our recent cruise and it was wonderful. The food was much better than in the main dining rooms, it was nice to be able to have a nice slow dinner without the kids begging to leave, and overall the ambiance was just awesome. It was completely worth the extra charge."

Ditto!

 

[Aajay]

We went on a 5 day cruise last July on the Wonder and ended up eating at Palo every night plus brunch on the sea day. I put our name on the waiting list everyday and no one else wanted the spot so we took it. But my reason is i have tons of food allergies and it is way easier to get a nice meal in Palo than the regular dinning room because the chef is right there to make everything as you order it.

 

[Chaosfilms]

Our group went to a Palo dinner and brunch, It was 3 families, plus two singles and the 3 families had kids. We had a great time in the main dining rooms, but since most of us hadn't cruised we didn't want to miss out on Palo. The food is better, because it is prepared when ordered (like a fancy restaurant or an Olive Garden), not prepared in advance, like the main dining rooms. This keeps things from being over cooked, (like the lobster I had on my cruise)

My wife and I take our kids to nice restaurants, sushi bars, etc. and they behave, but sometimes it is nice to have an adult dinner, with adult conversation topics, especially our group of 9, since it's hard to coordinate our schedules.

I don't think I would need to eat at Palo dinner again, but I did enjoy the brunch and will book there on our next cruise.

Steve

 

[Belle83]

When I went on the disney magic, our family of 7 was seated with a couple on their honeymoon. They ate at Palo one night, which I'm sure was a nice way to escape eating with strangers/kids on a honeymoon

 

[Cousin Orville]

The food is better.

 

[mmmears]

On our first cruise (a 3-night) we didn't go to Palo -- had no desire to miss the main dining rooms. We didn't feel like we missed out on anything.

Now that we are going again, and for a longer cruise, we think it will be fun to try something new. So we'll pay a little extra and hope for a special experience at Palo.

But if you don't have any desire to go there, don't feel like you're missing out on something -- we had a great cruise without dining there and I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on our "regular" dinners anyway.

 

[lbgraves]

And for us, we so enjoyed the atmosphere and the food in the dining rooms, we were afraid we were going to miss something there if we went to Palo.

Back when you cruised on DCL the food was better than it is now in the main dining rooms. They started messing with / changing the menus after the 2008 EBPC repo and since then I don't like much if anything on the regular rotation menus, which was all we had on the 3 night cruise. Until our 2010 cruise I always had a difficult time narrowing down my choice to one or two entrees. Now I have a difficult time deciding the best of the worst. We didn't go to Palo until our second cruise and have gone each cruise but the last for dinner and brunch every time. We met Sasha at Palo in 2004 and also met Marco as our assistant server that week in the main dining room. Each year we have enjoyed going to Palo to see both of them usually with friends.

 

[BeckyKay]

The food at Palo is much better than the main dining halls. The service is the best on the ship. And, the prices are less than a chain (i.e. Outback). We just came back from a 7 night and enjoyed Palo so much we had dinner there twice. The menu doesn't offer me much so I ordered the same thing twice. The atmosphere is calm and I appreciate the dress code though not all followed it.

The food is not 4 star but being on a ship, you are not going to get the day's fresh catch. Well, you could, but that is an entirely different experience and not one offered by major cruiselines.

During our day to day, the DH and I have very little time together. Neither of us have the time we would like with our son. The cruise allowed us to enjoy time with our son and each other and we are very grateful

 

[FJS961]

The food at Palo is much better than the main dining halls. The service is the best on the ship.

The food is not 4 star but being on a ship, you are not going to get the day's fresh catch. Well, you could, but that is an entirely different experience and not one offered by major cruiselines.

The food IS much better at Palo than the main dining rooms - hands down. The atmosphere, service and pacing is much better too.

We have cruised the Dream and Magic within the last 2 months. I was very unimpressed with the overall food quality in the main dining rooms on the Magic but have not sampled the ones on the Dream yet (did Palo/Remy exclusively on a 3 night). The atmosphere was loud, hectic and 'cafeteria-like' in the MDRs. They did provide some nice presentation of some of the dishes but it was just 'so-so' for us. I really dislike how they will serve you pancakes/waffles, or the kids plates and then several minutes later come with the syrup / ketsup ... anyone else find this consistently annoying?? It happened everyday. The bread service was atrocious - STALE /HARD bread in main rooms BUT in Palo was FRESH (night and day difference)

I don't know how they do it, but Remy is 5 star quality - about the freshest ingredients you will find anywhere - Victoria and Alberts at sea.