Palo reservations?

[wings010]

Cruising on the Dream this August and want to make reservations at Palo's a.s.a.p. but don't want to miss out on the dining room that changes as you dine with the whole family? Is there anyway to find out what restaurant I am suppose to be dining in as to choose the correct night for Palo's?

[moki'smommy]

Cruising on the Dream this August and want to make reservations at Palo's a.s.a.p. but don't want to miss out on the dining room that changes as you dine with the whole family? Is there anyway to find out what restaurant I am suppose to be dining in as to choose the correct night for Palo's?

 

Unless you are in a concierge cabin, there is no way to find out your dining rotation in advance. You can, however, make a request by calling DCL. I'm guessing that you are a first time cruiser, which means that you can make reservations 75 days before embarkation. After you make a Palo reservation, you can call DCL and request a rotation that doesn't put you in the restaurant that you are concerned about on your Palo night. The other thing you can do is to go to "dining changes" and ask them to move either your Palo or your rotation if there is a conflict--we have basically told them to move whichever was easiest for them on one occasion.

 

Some thoughts....my guess is that by "the restaurant that changes" you are referring to Animator's Palate. I believe that on the Dream, they do the Crush show, not the Animator's show. The ONLY ship doing the original color change show is the Wonder. The Fantasy and Magic each do a different "Animation Magic" show. Enchanted Garden is a restaurant that has 2 different lighting situations, one more day, one evening. Not a big deal on the Fantasy.

 

My other thought--as a first timer, why not enjoy the stuff that is included with your cruise fare? On your next cruise, you will know what you enjoyed most and what you wouldn't mind missing, and pay the upcharge then. Just a consideration.

 

And if you do decide to do Palo but can't get a reservation on the time or night that you want, no worries. About half of the reservations are never released on line--they are held until after boarding. So you'll have another chance once on board to get exactly what you want (see location for Palo reservations on the Welcome Aboard Navigator that you can get in the terminal.)

Edited May 6, 2015 by moki'smommy

[ducklite]

I disagree about missing Palo. If I recall, the last night of the cruise you repeat the third night, so book Palo for the last night. That said, at 75 days you might just need to take what you can get. IMHO the Crush show is ho-hum at best and not worth missing Palo for. If it were me I would skip both and go to Remy.

 

If you want the kids to see the Crush show, try to book Palo late if you have early dining and early if you have late dining (or really late) and take the kids to the MDR then the club or vice versa so they don't miss the show.

Edited May 6, 2015 by ducklite

[moki'smommy]

I disagree about missing Palo. If I recall, the last night of the cruise you repeat the third night, so book Palo for the last night. That said, at 75 days you might just need to take what you can get. IMHO the Crush show is ho-hum at best and not worth missing Palo for. If it were me I would skip both and go to Remy.

 

If you want the kids to see the Crush show, try to book Palo late if you have early dining and early if you have late dining (or really late) and take the kids to the MDR then the club or vice versa so they don't miss the show.

 

Hmmm....first, I don't see where OP said whether they are on a 3 or 4 night cruise. Next, we had seen cruises where it is 1-2-2-3 and 1-2-3-3, so I don't know how to tell OP which night will be a repeat if they are on a 4 night cruise. In addition, the show will only run the first time they are in that dining room. The repeat night will be the pirate menu/CMs in pirate costumes, no show.

[ducklite]

True, if it is only a three night my advice won't work. For some reason I thought they mentioned four nights, maybe in a different post?

 

That said, the Crush show just isn't such a big deal and IMHO they won't be missing much if they don't see it.

[UNDCruisers]

Did you book your cruise through Disney? The reason I ask is that I was recently a first time Disney cruiser (Fantasy 7 night), with a dinner reservation for a specific night in Palo. I just emailed my Disney reservation agent and asked if I could be put on a rotation that did not have Animator's Palate on the night we were at Palo. She emailed back within a few days with our dining rotation. Super easy!

 

Agreeing with other posts...Animator's Palate isn't THAT awesome for adults, but my kids definitely said it was their favorite dining room and wished they could eat there every night!

[slightlysilly]

I worried about the same thing when I made my Palo reservations. I will say that the Animator's Palate show on the Dream was definitely worth missing. The AP was super noisy and we were seated in the middle of the room. I could hear the turtle talking but I don't know what he was saying.

[moki'smommy]

Did you book your cruise through Disney? The reason I ask is that I was recently a first time Disney cruiser (Fantasy 7 night), with a dinner reservation for a specific night in Palo. I just emailed my Disney reservation agent and asked if I could be put on a rotation that did not have Animator's Palate on the night we were at Palo. She emailed back within a few days with our dining rotation. Super easy!

 

Agreeing with other posts...Animator's Palate isn't THAT awesome for adults, but my kids definitely said it was their favorite dining room and wished they could eat there every night!

 

You can do this whether you booked thru DCL directly or used a TA. The only difference is that if you used an agent, your agent needs to make the call.

 

If you've seen Turtle Time with Crush at EPCOT, you have a good idea of what this dinner event is. Seriously, this is one that can be missed.

[actuarian]

If this were my first Disney Cruise and it was only three nights, I would want to experience all three of the main dining rooms, and put Palo off until a future cruise. If it were four nights (or longer), I would book Palo (or Remy) on the third night, when all three restaurants have the special Pirate menu. However, four night cruises also include a sea day and Palo (and Remy) serve brunch on sea days. Personally, I think that the Palo brunch is even better than the Palo dinner and, if you book Palo brunch on a 4-night cruise instead of Palo dinner, you can experience all three main restaurants AND Pirate night.

[Emperor Norton]

Unless you are in a concierge cabin' date=' there is no way to find out your dining rotation in advance...[/quote']

 

How does one in a concierge cabin find out their rotation in advance? I've checked the Disney website and theres no mention of dining rotation, just the sign up for tours/dining/nursery options.

[ducklite]

You can request a specific rotation and I have never heard of someone not in concierge not getting this request met.

[moki'smommy]

How does one in a concierge cabin find out their rotation in advance? I've checked the Disney website and theres no mention of dining rotation, just the sign up for tours/dining/nursery options.

 

Call or e-mail shoreside concierge and let them know what you want (if you have a preference). No, it will not show up on the website. Assignments of rotations and dining tables are not made until approximately 2 weeks from embarkation, but if the shoreside concierge puts in a request for you, it will be assigned as she has requested.

 

Non-concierge, if a guest puts in a request, it is USUALLY granted.