Zero Enforcement of Dress Code @ Palo

[Bonnie1222]

I just got off of a wonderful three night cruise on Dream out of Fort Lauderdale and wanted to give a brief report out of what I encountered during my Palo brunch. When I was in Meridian waiting to be seated I noticed a fair amount of people waiting wearing t-shirts, shorts, and sneakers and assumed that they were waiting for a tasting seminar, however, one by one the groups were called into Palo. When it was my time to get seated, my wife and I were seated between two tables of people all wearing t-shirts. And by t-shirts I mean the kind with graphics on them that you would see people wearing in the parks. I was curious if others have noticed a complete disregard of the dress code since it has been recently relaxed to include shorts, or if this was kind of a one off thing. But for the first time ever, I felt a bit out of place wearing a jacket and a tie at Palo. I do want to conclude that the meal was absolutely fantastic and so was our server. I usually always wear a suit to Palo but I feel like next time I'm going to go a little more casual so I don't feel so out of place.

I get so annoyed when I see people not dressing appropriately. I have been sat next to people who were wearnig flip flops and obviously hadn't bathed because they had dirty feet. It is clearly stated on the website. they have updated it to say "dress shorts" now and they removed the flip flops but to me it cheapens the experience. I go for the entire "special"ty dining and feel it should be treated as such. My husband had his Merril boots approved on our first time there, because they were going to make him borrow a pair of shoes from their inventory until they realized he was a size 14 and they said they were OK because they weren't sneakers.

Maybe on a shorter cruise it is a little more casual? Me I enjoy getting dressed up and I hope it makes those who don't feel under dressed . We only do 7 day cruises and while I have seen what I described above, for the most part honestly most do come dressed appropriately, or close to it.

"Adult-exclusive restaurants aboard Disney Cruise Line ships are elegant dining experiences. Guests are requested to dress in a manner consistent with the restaurant’s atmosphere. Formal or semi-formal attire is recommended. Also permitted is dress-casual attire with a polished look, such as dress pants, jeans in good condition, collared shirts, dressy tops and lifestyle shoes. For brunch at Palo and Palo Steakhouse, dress shorts are acceptable. Clothing such as T-shirts, swimwear and sports attire are not permitted. "

 

[lowlight]

It never occurred to me that someone would be staring at my toes during dinner. I feel so violated, my toes will never feel safe naked again.

I have been sat next to people who were wearnig flip flops and obviously hadn't bathed because they had dirty feet.

 

[dez1978]

Me I enjoy getting dressed up and I hope it makes those who don't feel under dressed

I feel like this says more about you than it does those who you consider "under dressed" in 2024, I thought we were past wanting to make other people feel badly about themselves regarding their clothes or how they look.

 

[sadiecatie]

In addition to what PPs have said, they also may be in a FE group or other exchange. I've heard people say they bring one suitcase just for the gifts they're going to hand out (and then use the empty suitcase to bring home everything they received).

Case in point why I have no interest in doing a FE! (again, to each their own!)

 

[RedHead0186]

Case in point why I have no interest in doing a FE! (again, to each their own!)

Same! To each their own, that just is too much extra work (and suitcases) for me personally.

 

[bakerworld]

We've always just assumed that Remy or Palo would always be off our experience table. This past September we were at the Meridian for a drink and to enjoy the view. We noticed people waiting for dinner were in T-shirts and jeans. We didn't see any men in flips. We asked and the bartender said the clothes need to be neat and clean - no hole jeans, even ones made that way purposefully. We're two cruises away from Pearl and if DH can go with a collared shirt and closed shoes than we can enjoy the meal.

 

[Henlady]

There was only ever 1 person onboard who was dressed in a way that bothered me. A fairly large, hairy man entered the dining room one evening dressed in raggedly cut off jean shorts, a t shirt with the sleeves cut off leaving long open areas down the sides of his body and a dirty ball cap. It was not a pleasant sight. Other than that I could not tell you how anyone else, over 16 cruises, was dressed.

 

[brentm77]

We have formal wear and have taken it on cruises from time to time. But for our next cruise we will be in Italy for week before the cruise.
I have no intention of dragging formal wear through airports and around Italy and back.
The fashion police will just have to chill.

Seriously we don't need anymore pictures of ourselves dressed up. We have opportunities at home to dress formal if we want. So If its not a written dress code why should we carry extra luggage on our trip?

We did the same when cruising form Italy. It seemed like most people were much more casual for that same reason. Pro tip - go to the laundry as soon as possible on that cruise to wash your week's worth of clothes, because many people will want to do laundry earlier than other cruises and they get busy fast.

 

[brentm77]

It never occurred to me that someone would be staring at my toes during dinner. I feel so violated, my toes will never feel safe naked again.

Then you don't want to read this if you plan to be around Gen Z:

Gen Z Won't Let Anyone See Their Feet. Here's Why.​

 

[sadiecatie]

Then you don't want to read this if you plan to be around Gen Z:

Gen Z Won't Let Anyone See Their Feet. Here's Why.​

I teach Gen Z - I remember reading this when it came out, looking around my classrooms, and having my mind blown when I realized that NONE of them were wearing sandals (when it was hot out). . It is so bizarre to me.

 

[lowlight]

Then you don't want to read this if you plan to be around Gen Z:

Gen Z Won't Let Anyone See Their Feet. Here's Why.​

That’s…disturbing.

 

[brentm77]

I teach Gen Z - I remember reading this when it came out, looking around my classrooms, and having my mind blown when I realized that NONE of them were wearing sandals (when it was hot out). . It is so bizarre to me.

It's pretty funny. My kids are in that generation. While they will wear sandals (and never with socks), I have heard a lot of talk about feet and toes and how gross they are, which I don't really understand.

 

[auntlynne]

Then you don't want to read this if you plan to be around Gen Z:

Gen Z Won't Let Anyone See Their Feet. Here's Why.​

No visible toes because someone else has a foot fetish?! Women have been ogled for centuries (or longer). Is this generation ready to wear the burka to prevent anyone from seeing their bodies? Because humans don’t even need a physical manifestation to have lewd thoughts.

Maybe they need to quit taping into sites where the creeps are.

(My Millenial friend doesn’t like “toe cleavage” when it’s closed toe flats, but wears sandals a lot. )

Just…wow.

 

[Flcruising]

The thing that annoys me is that there is a dress code and I try to follow it and then they randomly don’t enforce it. It makes me feel stupid for actually following the rules. I wouldn’t mind no dress code, in Germany where I am from I never heard of dress codes for restaurants before. But if you make rules and make me pack for them, then it should be the same for everyone.

We did the same when cruising form Italy. It seemed like most people were much more casual for that same reason. Pro tip - go to the laundry as soon as possible on that cruise to wash your week's worth of clothes, because many people will want to do laundry earlier than other cruises and they get busy fast.

Thanks for the good tip. Any other ones are welcome.

 

[AquaDame]

No visible toes because someone else has a foot fetish?! Women have been ogled for centuries (or longer). Is this generation ready to wear the burka to prevent anyone from seeing their bodies? Because humans don’t even need a physical manifestation to have lewd thoughts.

Maybe they need to quit taping into sites where the creeps are.

(My Millenial friend doesn’t like “toe cleavage” when it’s closed toe flats, but wears sandals a lot. )

Just…wow.

It's not so much the thoughts (I mean it is, in a way) as it is those pics entering the online world. My friends and colleagues regularly blur their feet from beach pics and similar if they go online. Non negotiable. A little different than day to day but... I could see folk not choosing to wear sandals and wouldn't shame them either way.

Anyone who wants to wear a burka can too, as long as they aren't forced, same as some choose to show more skin than others. We all choose how much attention we're comfortable with. I made similar choices when growing up to not wear dresses or makeup to school as I got enough unwanted attention even without, and I did NOT appreciate it... others may have loved it. It's nothing new, just a different focus.

Disney always seems inconsistent when and how they enforce some of the more discretionary rules... Disneyland just had a high profile guest that should have been pulled aside as well and was not. Hopefully it made it to the comment card as I'm not sure what else could be done...

 

[auntlynne]

It's not so much the thoughts (I mean it is, in a way) as it is those pics entering the online world. My friends and colleagues regularly blur their feet from beach pics and similar if they go online. Non negotiable. A little different than day to day but... I could see folk not choosing to wear sandals and wouldn't shame them either way.

Anyone who wants to wear a burka can too, as long as they aren't forced, same as some choose to show more skin than others. We all choose how much attention we're comfortable with. I made similar choices when growing up to not wear dresses or makeup to school as I got enough unwanted attention even without, and I did NOT appreciate it... others may have loved it. It's nothing new, just a different focus.

Disney always seems inconsistent when and how they enforce some of the more discretionary rules... Disneyland just had a high profile guest that should have been pulled aside as well and was not. Hopefully it made it to the comment card as I'm not sure what else could be done...

Thank you.

 

[CarolynU]

I just got off of a wonderful three night cruise on Dream out of Fort Lauderdale and wanted to give a brief report out of what I encountered during my Palo brunch. When I was in Meridian waiting to be seated I noticed a fair amount of people waiting wearing t-shirts, shorts, and sneakers and assumed that they were waiting for a tasting seminar, however, one by one the groups were called into Palo. When it was my time to get seated, my wife and I were seated between two tables of people all wearing t-shirts. And by t-shirts I mean the kind with graphics on them that you would see people wearing in the parks. I was curious if others have noticed a complete disregard of the dress code since it has been recently relaxed to include shorts, or if this was kind of a one off thing. But for the first time ever, I felt a bit out of place wearing a jacket and a tie at Palo. I do want to conclude that the meal was absolutely fantastic and so was our server. I usually always wear a suit to Palo but I feel like next time I'm going to go a little more casual so I don't feel so out of place.

I do find this unsurprising but sad. But I’m sorry I blame the dining room manager. If the dress code applies to brunch then enforce it don’t take the easy way out and ignore it.
In my last DCL Palo in the evening there were ripped dirty jeans, t shirts sneakers, and bandanas as it was pirate night. When I spoke to the maitre d on the way out he just shrugged his shoulders and said DCL official policy had downgraded their dress code.
So I must admit being dressed appropriately made me feel out of place!

 

[drstrange]

I do find this unsurprising but sad. But I’m sorry I blame the dining room manager. If the dress code applies to brunch then enforce it don’t take the easy way out and ignore it.
In my last DCL Palo in the evening there were ripped dirty jeans, t shirts sneakers, and bandanas as it was pirate night. When I spoke to the maitre d on the way out he just shrugged his shoulders and said DCL official policy had downgraded their dress code.
So I must admit being dressed appropriately made me feel out of place!

Thank you for this response, this gets to the heart of why I made my original post. Whether or not "trendy" cities don't have dress codes, I could care a less. But if I am in a place that has a dress code, I do not want to feel out of place because others are ignoring it. I just wanted to hear from others as to whether my experience was a one off or whether it was more or less common place. Based on my experience and what others have said in this thread, I'm definitely going to be more casual for my next Palo brunch.

 

[CarolynU]

I have never understood this. What other people wear does not affect my dining experience in any way. I don't get why people care what others in the restaurant are wearing. Now I can understand being irritated about the inconsistency of the enforcement of the dress code on a personal basis. Like the PP posted about her husbands shoes, and it wasn't indicated in the policy that he'd need specific shoes. That would irritate me. But I could not care less if the people at the table next to me were wearing park clothes, or in a swim suit cover up and flip flops, or a suit and formal gown. None of that affects the quality of the meal or the experience I have, or what I wear myself.

Thank you for this response, this gets to the heart of why I made my original post. Whether or not "trendy" cities don't have dress codes, I could care a less. But if I am in a place that has a dress code, I do not want to feel out of place because others are ignoring it. I just wanted to hear from others as to whether my experience was a one off or whether it was more or less common place. Based on my experience and what others have said in this thread, I'm definitely going to be more casual for my next Palo brunch.

I’m surprised that people say that in Italy people don’t dress up to dine out because in cities like Barcelona they certainly do. I come from the uk and if we are going out to eat in the evening no one I know would go into a nice restaurant in shorts and sneakers. We all put on special clothes to go out. No one would go to a nice restaurant wearing a baseball cap. Maybe I should look for a steamship as others have suggested.
This might be the norm in bigger multi cultural cities or tourist cities but it’s not the norm where I live.
I have two young grandchildren a boy 5 and a girl just 8. They also understand that if we are dining out they put on nice smart clothes.
Consequently when we go into dine on DCL they have been complimented every night by the head servers and servers who have actually said how refreshing it is to see.
I have four flights to get to and from my DCL cruises next week but you gotta bet I’m lugging and paying for a case with nice clothes on each flight.
However as dress does matter to me I am switching to Cunard because I don’t want to feel out of place anymore. I want to feel the norm.
I fully acknowledge that times change and I’m old and old fashioned.

 

[lowlight]

I’m surprised that people say that in Italy people don’t dress up to dine out because in cities like Barcelona they certainly do. I come from the uk and if we are going out to eat in the evening no one I know would go into a nice restaurant in shorts and sneakers. We all put on special clothes to go out. No one would go to a nice restaurant wearing a baseball cap. Maybe I should look for a steamship as others have suggested.

I admit, as a Downton Abbey fan, I read parts of this in Carson’s voice. The scene when they go to the French villa.