Palo on Disney Wonder

[PamandJames]

Hi everyone,
This is our first Disney cruise and we wanted to know whats the best way to get reservations for Palo.



thanks :D

[Tinker]

As soon as you get onboard ship , go to deck 3 , wavebands , there they will be making reservations . get there ASAP , ressies get booked quickly . make sure that you do it on an evening that you don't miss animator's palate'. tickets will be in your cabin when you arrive , so you will know where you are eating each evening . :D hope this helps

[PamandJames]

thanks!!
So tickets for animators palate will be in the room? Just wondering If we should go to the room first or head straight to Wavebands.

[Slowhand]

Actually, you will know your dining plan even before you board!

When you are given your room key/charge card at check in at the terminal, you will see the letters A,P,L,A,P,L,A at the bottom [not necessarily in that order]. A = Animators Palette, P = Parrot Cay, and L = Lumieres.

Check with a CM as soon as you have boarded as to where to go to make the reservation for Palo`s as they sometimes change this. Once, we had to make our reservations at Palo`s itself, the next time, we had to go to Rockin Bar D.

As posted earlier, when making your reservation, get there early and check that your chosen night at Palo`s does not clash with the night at Artists Palette when they do the "show". You will be at this restaurant twice on a 7 day cruise, but the show takes place on only one of your nights.

[Slowhand]

Oops..just noticed that you are on the Wonder not the Magic!

Don`t go looking for Rockin Bar D...it ain`t there! :lol:

[woobie]

Do not go to your room first for 2 reasons. One, you won't be allowed - it won't be ready until later (I'm assuming you'll board ASAP in the day). If by chance you can get to your room, you might be too late for Palo signups. Not only do they book quickly, but they sometimes open the line early. As for AP tix, they're not only for AP. Your dinner "tickets" tell the head waiter which table you are assigned. As you rotate, you stay at the same table dinner number at each restaurant. If you bring the tix to dinner the first night, you're all set the rest of the nights (just remember your table #).

Woobie

[PamandJames]

wow this is so confusing.. :(

[PamandJames]

sorry but what is AP tix? we will head to the cruise in a few days and I wanted to make sure I know what to do..

[Slowhand]

I think Woobie was referring to tickets for Animators Palette.

Actually, you don`t get tickets as such, but when you get to your room, there will be one ticket there stating your dining plan for the cruise. You give this to your server at dinner on your first night.

[DisneyFreak]

The tickets that will be in your room (which should be ready by 1:30pm) will just list your dinner time (6 or 8:30) along with your restaurant rotation and table number. Also, if you have booked any excurisions in advance these tickets will also be in your room.

[VPow]

Anyone know what the dress code is for Palo. Will we be ok without a jacket for my husband?

[Slowhand]

Anyone know what the dress code is for Palo. Will we be ok without a jacket for my husband?
So long as your DH wears smart casual attire he will be ok.
When my DW and I dined there on our last cruise I would say that around 75% of the men did wear jackets though.

[DisneyFreak]

So long as your DH wears smart casual attire he will be ok.
When my DW and I dined there on our last cruise I would say that around 75% of the men did wear jackets though.

They recommend jackets but he will be fine with a nice dress shirt, which is required.

[OKWTink]

I knew I shouldn't have stumbled in to this thread. :( But I did.

So, to add to the confusion, do the dining arrangements involve sharing a table with others (read strangers)? Are there any private tables?

What is the general dress code for dinner? (One of the reasons I stick with Free Style Cruising is that I don't have to dress for dinner beyond resort (no shorts, jeans) casual, and I don't have to dine at a table with strangers).

These concerns are some that keep me off the DCL.

Also, why isn't your stateroom ready at boarding? :confused: It is on the other cruise lines I've been on.

[Slowhand]

I knew I shouldn't have stumbled in to this thread. :( But I did.

So, to add to the confusion, do the dining arrangements involve sharing a table with others (read strangers)? Are there any private tables?

What is the general dress code for dinner? (One of the reasons I stick with Free Style Cruising is that I don't have to dress for dinner beyond resort (no shorts, jeans) casual, and I don't have to dine at a table with strangers).

These concerns are some that keep me off the DCL.

Also, why isn't your stateroom ready at boarding? :confused: It is on the other cruise lines I've been on.

In a word Tink, yes, you do share a table with others. So far we have been lucky in so far as we have got along fine with our dining companions.
No doubt though that after your first dinner together, if your companions are complete morons, the chances are that you could switch your table. However then you would have to start the process over again, and maybe then be teamed up with the "family from h e l l!"

Generally speaking, smart casual attire is fine on the DCL cruise. There are a couple of formal occasions where tuxedos are worn, but even on those nights, I noticed that quite a number of my fellow cruisers did not make the effort to conform and no one batted an eyelid.

The only "posh" restaurant on the Magic is Palo`s and here you do not have to share a table with others, however you do pay a small surcharge for dining in this restaurant. I don`t think that there are any rules concerning how many evenings you could dine there if you want "to be alone" [thanks to Marlene Dietrich].

I guess that one of the reasons why your stateroom is not ready immediately after boarding is the relatively quick turn around from landing to setting sail again. There again, you may be lucky and find that your particular room is actually ready before your allocated time...ours was on our last cruise.

Please try DCL Tink, you will love it!

[BevW]

Oh OH!! I'm dining with a very lovely couple from the UOG!! :lol: And I can't wait!

[VPow]

Thank you both!

[OKWTink]

Was that Dietrich? I thought it was Garbo? :lol:

I don't know Slowhand. :worried: When I'm on vacation I am there to relax and share the time with whomever I spending the vacation time with, not make small talk with strangers over meals. The whole concept absolutely turns me off. That's what kept me from cruising for so long. The free style cruising is wonderful.

I don't do dress up. I hate it. I can't stand all that nonsense. I do business serious, resort casual and Florida rumpled. Dress up for me usually consists of ironing my shorts.

So, as much as the DCL may intrigue me (as do most things Disney) I'm not hearing anything yet that convinces me to spend that kind of money to try it.

I do know though that Palo has very reasonable "extra charges." That doesn't bother me in the least. There are some restaurants on board other ships that not only charge you a pretty good "cover" but charge you for the food you order (depending upon what you may want). So the small fee to get into Palo wouldn't bother me in the least. :D

What about breakfast and lunch? Are you eating with those same "assigned" strangers then too?

[DisneyFreak]

What about breakfast and lunch? Are you eating with those same "assigned" strangers then too?

Breakfast and lunch are usually buffet style so you don't have to share your table. Lumiere's and Triton's also does a sit down breakfast and more often than not you don't have to share a table.

Also for dinner, Topsider (the buffet) does a sit down dinner as well with out all the formality. You get your own table and it is a quiet setting most of the time. My Wife and I did this one night and we had a table for two. The only thing lacking a little here is the service for they use this setting to break in new servers for the restaurant rotations but the food is just as good.

[Slowhand]

Breakfast and lunch are usually buffet style so you don't have to share your table. Lumiere's and Triton's also does a sit down breakfast and more often than not you don't have to share a table.

To be honest, every time we dined at Lumiere`s for breakfast, although on entry we asked for a table for 2, we were ALWAYS seated with other people, or others joined us later.

I found this a bit annoying as there were loads of spare tables available.

I don`t mind a bit of small talk with relative strangers over dinner, but I am not really a "morning person" and prefer to eat breakfast alone [but with my DW of course!].

[DisneyFreak]

To be honest, every time we dined at Lumiere`s for breakfast, although on entry we asked for a table for 2, we were ALWAYS seated with other people, or others joined us later.

I found this a bit annoying as there were loads of spare tables available.

I don`t mind a bit of small talk with relative strangers over dinner, but I am not really a "morning person" and prefer to eat breakfast alone [but with my DW of course!].

Interesting....we had noticed a few tables with two people during the sit down breakfast. I wonder if there are determining factors for this?

[Slowhand]

Interesting....we had noticed a few tables with two people during the sit down breakfast. I wonder if there are determining factors for this?

The only reason I can think of is that the waiters try to reduce the number of tables they have to tidy and prepare and so they cram you all in like sardines.

This happened to several other guests we spoke to during the cruises and they also echoed my sentiments of disapproval.

[PamandJames]

Hello everyone,
We just retuned from our cruise and loved it. We were lucky enough to get Palo on Sunday night and we still able to have dinner at Triton's on Wed night.
I'll try to send a more details trip report soon.