any downside to having Palo on your first night?

[Lisa F]

Adults only 5 night magic and I have Palo booked for both first night and last night.

I normally travel with my (now nearly 16 year old) kid on the spectrum so before I would never dream of disrupting the routine before it's even established by not doing the MDR thing first night, meeting the servers etc. and get established and if I did Palo at all I'd have it booked later in the cruise so that I could feel things out and see how it goes.

But we are a party of 4 (2 couples) so I have zero concern about not meeting servers until the 2nd night, and I am still struggling with when I want to do Palo dinner, right now I have both first and last night. Someone pointed out that by the end of your cruise you kind of get tired of all of the eating and I felt that so hard when they said it, lol. So I went ahead and booked the first night.

Really, besides not being in the MDR your first night and meeting your server team, is there any downside? I figure it will be quieter if the restaurant is not full, and more chilled out - a great way to kick off the cruise. I have brunch scheduled for the 2nd sea day which is the 2nd to last day of the cruise, so we still have something to look forward to.

And right now I am tempted to just keep the last night also - if we have a totally magical meal at Palo and are like "we wish we could do that again" we can. If we are really feeling the MDR vibe I will cancel it on board.

Is the reason you can get Palo on the first night really just that people want to jump right into the MDR experience? The Let the Magic Begin menu does not look like anything I'd be devastated to miss. My feelings on the MDR food is that it's tasty and plentiful and no real complaints but does not compare to made to order food.

 

[Travel60]

The only thing I can think of is.... if there is a problem - they have you seated at a table for six or eight or a horrible location, bad team - there is less time and maybe harder for DCL to fix it. But I'd go for it!

 

[OKW Lover]

About the only downside I see to your plan is the disappointment in the food/service when you do finally go to the main dining room. Go have fun!

 

[Clarkson U]

It’s your cruise experience! In that sense there is no downside unless you identify something you feel you would miss and they becomes a downside for you.

Otherwise do as you please and enjoy the multiple Palo experiences! I bet each one is unique and special in its own way.

 

[Lisa F]

About the only downside I see to your plan is the disappointment in the food/service when you do finally go to the main dining room. Go have fun!

Lol I know - this is my 7th cruise (over the last 25 years so I am not a frequent cruiser but I am also not a total newbie) and that was one of my hesitations, that it would only go downhill from there. That's why my backup is to keep the final night until we see how it is, so that we can end on a high note if need be.

I am probably the foodiest of our whole party and I find the MDR food to be tasty enough if not life changing. I don't eat a whole lot of volume to start with so I can be perfectly happy on a couple of apps and a few bites of dessert. I prefer a leisurely meal because if I take my time and pace myself I can eat a bit more and try more things. I am sure my traveling companions, all of whom eat a lot more than I do, will enjoy the experience of being able to order multiple things (even though I don't eat much I tend to also so I can try a few things and eat what I like. Yes, it's a waste but sometimes I just can't decide! apps I mean, not mains.)

I am trying to decide if I can get up the guts to ask for some of this indian food I have been reading about for years and years. I LOVE indian food but only get to have it once every few years because there isn't any where I live and whenever we go somewhere that has it, I get "the face" from my partner (who always finds it better than he thought it would be when I finally make him have some, but it will never never ever be on his top 10 list of places he'd choose to go.)

Italian family who 95% of the time ends up at italian restaurants. They should all love Palo.

 

[Lisa F]

The only thing I can think of is.... if there is a problem - they have you seated at a table for six or eight or a horrible location, bad team - there is less time and maybe harder for DCL to fix it. But I'd go for it!

Good point. I just got an earlier PAT than our traveling companions will get when their window opens up, so I can get on board earlier and try to add them to my Palo brunch. I will check in on the table situation as long as I am dealing with dining, I believe they can tell me at least if we have our table for 4.

We have late dining and are on the Magic that is sailing at the same week as the inaugural lighthouse point cruise on the fantasy (which has been fully booked for months and months) and our cruise still has quite a bit of availability 30 days out so I'm guessing with all of those factors we won't have the dregs of anything and probably no problem getting a table for 4.

 

[Lisa F]

It’s your cruise experience! In that sense there is no downside unless you identify something you feel you would miss and they becomes a downside for you.

Otherwise do as you please and enjoy the multiple Palo experiences! I bet each one is unique and special in its own way.

Thanks. It's just so infrequently booked I was wondering if there's something bad about it or it's just that people are excited to get into the swing of the MDR and maybe don't want to do the best first. Traveling companions have no idea so are leaving it totally to me!

 

[Jim Libasci]

We like 1st night Palo. We try to mark time to go to our dining room dinner to meet the team and our table mates, then leave. Be sure to let your main dinning room know if you won't be down if you can.

 

[Girl of the South]

The reason there is Indian food is because it’s from the crew mess.

 

[lklgoodman]

If you wait to cancel Palo after you're onboard, won't you still have to pay for it? I thought any cancellations had to be made 4 days before embarkation. Maybe that's just for port excursions? We have Palo brunch booked for our Magic cruise in July. We're gold and could only get it for 12:30 on the seaday. We have early dinner so I'm trying to decide if I want to keep it or not. We usually do brunch at 10, but with only 1 seaday all the earlier times were taken.

 

[Lisa F]

If you wait to cancel Palo after you're onboard, won't you still have to pay for it? I thought any cancellations had to be made 4 days before embarkation. Maybe that's just for port excursions? We have Palo brunch booked for our Magic cruise in July. We're gold and could only get it for 12:30 on the seaday. We have early dinner so I'm trying to decide if I want to keep it or not. We usually do brunch at 10, but with only 1 seaday all the earlier times were taken.

from DCL website:

Reservation Cancellation Policy: When Guests have not cancelled an adult-exclusive dining reservation at least 24 hours prior to the reservation or do not arrive at the restaurant to honor their reservation, the reservation is considered confirmed and 100% of the per-person prix-fixe cost is applied to the Guests' folio.

 

[Lisa F]

We like 1st night Palo. We try to mark time to go to our dining room dinner to meet the team and our table mates, then leave. Be sure to let your main dinning room know if you won't be down if you can.

aren't they made aware of what your dining reservations are? I feel like on my last cruises they always knew when we had Palo reserved.

 

[Lisa F]

The reason there is Indian food is because it’s from the crew mess.

I know. I've always been hesitant to ask about it but the chef always seems truly tickled when someone enjoys their native cuisine!

 

[meremac]

The only downside I can see is that 5-night dining rotations on the Magic often start and end with the same MDR. This means that you may be eating at Palo on BOTH nights that you were scheduled to be in a certain restaurant, so you'd miss that location completely.

 

[Cruzin’Sisters]

I know. I've always been hesitant to ask about it but the chef always seems truly tickled when someone enjoys their native cuisine!

You have to ask the head waiter the night before the next meal. He was excited to share it with us. He actually brought 2 servings to share with others in our group, though one to share is sufficient. I had it for 3 nights. It was different each night, some was spicier than others. Glad I tried it. Some of the items may be offered at the Cabana's for lunch. Can't hurt to ask!!

 

[auntlynne]

Downside? Your luggage is not delivered to your room before Palo and your clothes are more casual than you’d like. So you have to pack your dinner clothes in your carry on.

You eat too much at Cabanas for lunch and are not ready to eat at dinner (this often happens with our first seating dinner on boarding day).

So nothing that can’t be avoided.

 

[cwis]

Downside? Your luggage is not delivered to your room before Palo and your clothes are more casual than you’d like. So you have to pack your dinner clothes in your carry on.

I wouldn't even pack clothes in my carry-ons. Bags not delivered to stateroom before scheduled Palo restaurant? It's Disney's problem to fix.

To OP, I really enjoy starting with Palo. We travel as an adult couple with no kids, and I'm the one picky about food. I'm always relunctant to embark on a Disney cruise for this reason, and starting with an upscale restaurant triggers me into vacation mode like nothing else.

Other big pluses: the restaurant is definitely less busy on first time, which means it's more quiet, the wait staff has more time for you, you get a better chance of having a nice seat even if not showing at exactly 6pm, and you can make advanced reservations for Palo twice.

To give more contract, my wife doesn't like Palo/Remy on first night. Hers reasoning: too much thing to do on first night, it's nice to relax in a casual restaurant, depending on the dining rotation we won't miss a restaurant she likes with the menu she likes, Palo/Remy is nice later in the cruise because things keep going up until then.

 

[kiford]

To give more contract, my wife doesn't like Palo/Remy on first night. Hers reasoning: too much thing to do on first night, it's nice to relax in a casual restaurant, depending on the dining rotation we won't miss a restaurant she likes with the menu she likes, Palo/Remy is nice later in the cruise because things keep going up until then.

Well put - I'd have to say that's probably why we don't do that the first night. I'm not sure how much I'll enjoy it, given that I've probably been up early to repack and get to the port and the slight chaos that is embarkation day.

I also like to meet with my table companions (assuming we have them) and my servers that first night. I also probably wouldn't book Palo twice unless I thought there were two different meals I was interested in. At least the MDR menu changes nightly. With the new Palo menus focusing on steak and on fewer Italian dishes, I'm less interested in eating there twice.

 

[Lisa F]

I wouldn't even pack clothes in my carry-ons. Bags not delivered to stateroom before scheduled Palo restaurant? It's Disney's problem to fix.

To OP, I really enjoy starting with Palo. We travel as an adult couple with no kids, and I'm the one picky about food. I'm always relunctant to embark on a Disney cruise for this reason, and starting with an upscale restaurant triggers me into vacation mode like nothing else.

Other big pluses: the restaurant is definitely less busy on first time, which means it's more quiet, the wait staff has more time for you, you get a better chance of having a nice seat even if not showing at exactly 6pm, and you can make advanced reservations for Palo twice.

To give more contract, my wife doesn't like Palo/Remy on first night. Hers reasoning: too much thing to do on first night, it's nice to relax in a casual restaurant, depending on the dining rotation we won't miss a restaurant she likes with the menu she likes, Palo/Remy is nice later in the cruise because things keep going up until then.

Thanks for your perspective. I hadn't thought about the luggage situation honestly BUT our reservation is at 8pm anyway (we have late dining so trying to keep on a more consistent schedule) so I would hope that by then our luggage will have arrived. I did some reading on that and it seems like when it shows up "late" that generally means "during main dining without enough time to change for dinner" but that would give us enough time for late seating. I'd like to wear something nicer as I'm bringing it with me and that wasn't something I'd thought of, so I do appreciate that perspective (and also why I posted) and that will be part of the experience.

I am by far the most picky of our party of 4 adults (2 couples) as well. By picky I think I mean the same thing you do - picky about things being seasoned properly and cooked properly and I'm more of a foodie and more likely to try interesting things, whereas the rest of them are a NY italian family who prefers to go to Italian restaurants when they go out, if you know what I mean. I am not picky in the sense of having a remotely limited palate. I haven't had any complaints about the MDR food in the past and I am not remotely a volume eater - we don't eat out a whole lot at home because it is mediocre and overpriced and I invariably end up disappointed and grumpy about the money spent, and the nicer places are astronomically expensive and small portions that make my much bigger eater partner grumpy no matter how good it is. In that sense the MDR situation is pretty low stress since the big eaters can order multiples of whatever and not go away hungry and I can order a bunch of apps so I can try bites of a few different things and everyone will be pretty happy, which is I guess what they strive for in the MDR when everything works smoothly - or at least having no one be UNhappy!

The first night is the "let the magic begin", then 2nd night is Pirate night, which is when I ORIGINALLY had it booked assuming fireworks would be at 10pm and that seemed just about perfect, but now I am reading Disney is moving fireworks between dinner seatings now a lot of the time (but of course not consistently so I can't plan) and I am also holding the last night which is also the actual day of my 50th birthday. While I am not overly concerned about any kind of a relationship with the servers (in fact I wonder if it might spare us the "excellent service" spiel!) , the one thing someone pointed out is being kind of tired of eating by the end of the trip and not enjoying the meal as much as you would at the beginning and even though it's been a while, I felt this so hard when they mentioned it.

SO I'm torn between having a special meal ON my birthday vs missing a rotational dining experience - I can't honestly think of which one I'd want to miss which probably means I don't want to miss any. The let the magic begin menu doesn't look bad or anything but I wouldn't be heartbroken to miss it. I am not one who hates the pirate menu - in fact give me 3 samosas and a margarita and I'm pretty much good to go. It was more for scheduling, as I had Palo dinner night 2 at 7:30 with plenty of time to get to the deck party/fireworks at 10, and brunch day 4. I think the closest thing to my original flow would be to do first night Palo and be done with it.

So basically... after kind of being on autopilot since my gold cc window opened up, I got this new info about the fireworks (which is probably the ONE "Disney" activity that I REALLY REALLY want to do, I'm a sucker for fireworks) potentially conflicting with my palo and have been spinning like crazy ever since to figure out what to do about it. ie overthinking and overposting and probably generally making a nuisance of myself. I cruise very infrequently so I just want the flow to work, you know? UGH.

 

[Lisa F]

Well put - I'd have to say that's probably why we don't do that the first night. I'm not sure how much I'll enjoy it, given that I've probably been up early to repack and get to the port and the slight chaos that is embarkation day.

I also like to meet with my table companions (assuming we have them) and my servers that first night. I also probably wouldn't book Palo twice unless I thought there were two different meals I was interested in. At least the MDR menu changes nightly. With the new Palo menus focusing on steak and on fewer Italian dishes, I'm less interested in eating there twice.

I really thought about that too but we are flying in butt-early the day before (thanks Jet Blue for majorly rejiggering the schedule about 8 times) and hanging with some local work friends of my partner who live there so I think I will have nearly 24 hours before my PAT time to come down from the annoyance of the travel. I don't think getting to the port will be any big deal, we'll uber from an airport area hotel and I have an 11:30 pat with boarding group 7. So I should be on the ship by noon or so, I want to try to get our travelmates added to brunch and maybe I will change around dinner once I know what the actual schedule is.

We requested a private table for 4 and have late dining so I am going to assume that there won't be any tablemates, but I can confirm that when we are contending with Palo brunch I am sure.

It really feels like 1st night would be the least disruptive in the rest of the schedule for the week and with a later dinner we should have time to digest lunch, change, see tangled if it is the first night (the only show I really want to see).

I do wish they were more consistent and forthcoming with the schedule to make it easier to plan though.