Brunch

Is it worth the money to do the brunch. What type of food do they serve is it sit down or buffet style.

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"Worth it" is always a personal matter. There is plenty of food on the ship and you certainly won't go hungry if you skip Palo Brunch. On the other hand, it is a nice, enforced adult only oasis...it can be a lovely time with great food. The food is a HUGE assortment ranging from rolls and pastries, seafood, fruits, desserts, etc. It is a buffet, but you can also order items at the table. Here is the menu for the ordered items (as many as you want!) You do both the buffet and the served to you items.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2016/09/new-palo-brunch-printed-menu/

For us, it has always been worth it. The food has always been plentiful and delicious, but the biggest value is in combining great food with great atmosphere. For my husband and I, this is a small treat where we truly pause and celebrate the fact that after much saving and planning, we got there! Being in a light filled dining room and looking across the ocean as we catch up on one-on-one time while our kids and extended family are at the pool, kids club or buffet is priceless.

for us, it was worth it! we have 2 young boys- i'm a stay at home mom, we don't live near family that helps us with the boys.. so the enforced "adult only" meal with my husband was awesome!!! its a combo of sit down and buffet. you will pick an entree (or 2 LOL I had chicken parm. AND a fritatta....) THEN there is a buffet with all kinds of stuff, like cheeses, meats, quiches, etc AND a dessert table. it also includes an alcoholic drink, like a mimosa. :-) we did dinner and brunch at Palo in novmeber- and i think next cruise, we'll just do the brunch. just liked it a little better :-)

What day do they offer this and do you need to make a reservation

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Sea days and yes.

What day do they offer this and do you need to make a reservation

 

 

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Sea days, but days with late port arrivals are sometimes treated as "sea days," and if you are on a cruise that stops at Nassau, this is often treated as a "sea day." You absolutely need a reservation. It is best to make it on line in advance. If they are full at that time, go to "Palo Reservations" either at the restaurant or at the location listed on the Navigator as soon as possible after boarding and see what they might be able to do--a large number of reservations are held back till after embarkation.

Sea days' date=' but days with late port arrivals are sometimes treated as "sea days," and if you are on a cruise that stops at Nassau, this is often treated as a "sea day." You absolutely need a reservation. It is best to make it on line in advance. If they are full at that time, go to "Palo Reservations" either at the restaurant or at the location listed on the Navigator as soon as possible after boarding and see what they might be able to do--a large number of reservations are held back till after embarkation.[/quote']

 

The exception appears to be the Castaway double dips where the itinerary is Castaway - Nassau - Castaway and reportedly Palo brunch is only offered on the second Castaway day. (Makes me sad as I specifically chose that itinerary in 2019 because my birthday falls on the second Castaway day and I really dreamed of chilling on Serenity Bay on my birthday...but I love Palo brunch.)

So many people love the brunch. For us it’s just too much food. And a bit chaotic as most brunches are. And we prefer the dinner because it’s much more relaxing and seems much more like a date night.

So many people love the brunch. For us it’s just too much food. And a bit chaotic as most brunches are. And we prefer the dinner because it’s much more relaxing and seems much more like a date night.

You mean there is someone else out there? We much prefer Palo dinner over brunch, but any time I say or post that, I get a stream of people telling me how much better brunch is. We've done both many times, but we only do brunch now if we have friends who want it. Otherwise it is dinner for us.

Everyone has their opinion. When we booked, we preferred the menu at brunch over dinner. But again, that's us. That's the wonderful thing about life, everyone is different.

and we're in that possibly very small group of people who don't really think all that much of Palo.

Perhaps it was all the hype going in - but it's really just a restaurant - no big deal. Not particularly exceptional food.

Just any old cafe where we live has far superior food to what we experienced at palo (we gave it two tries - once on the wonder and once on the Dream).

but as they say, your mileage may vary.

You mean there is someone else out there? We much prefer Palo dinner over brunch' date=' but any time I say or post that, I get a stream of people telling me how much better brunch is. We've done both many times, but we only do brunch now if we have friends who want it. Otherwise it is dinner for us.[/quote']

 

It may be better for them, but IMHO, they are two completely different experiences. I can't say I love one over the other, which is why we generally do both. I do admit that brunch is a lot of food and I sometimes never make it to the entree. Dinner is more relaxing and is more of a true dining experience.

We're big fans of the Palo brunch. Palo dinner isn't all that exciting for us, and the food isn't that much better than the MDR. However, the brunch offerings are so good! I feel like we get our money's worth even with me as a vegetarian. The cheese and breads are super high quality, and nothing in the MDR comes close to it. The waffle with apples and calzones are surprisingly good, and our absolute favorite item is the red onion focaccia.

What are the chances for a first-time cruiser to get a Palo brunch reservation?

What are the chances for a first-time cruiser to get a Palo brunch reservation?

It may somewhat depend upon how many sea days there are for your cruise which determines how often it is offered. As others are said if it isn't available when you book they do leave some spots for on board booking. If this is the case you'll want to try to book it right away when you board.

I've done Palo brunch twice and really enjoyed it-- so much so that I'm doing it again on my upcoming Med cruise!

We're doing a four night Dream cruise next March, so only one sea day. I have heard that "sometimes" they offer it on Nassau days, but haven't really heard how that happens. My guess is that it's something they periodically do, but not very often.

We're doing a four night Dream cruise next March, so only one sea day. I have heard that "sometimes" they offer it on Nassau days, but haven't really heard how that happens. My guess is that it's something they periodically do, but not very often.

They have been offering it on Nassau days on the 3-night cruises where there is no sea day. Not on the 4-nights where there is. (Or apparently the 4-night Double Dips at Castaway with no sea days...there they are putting it on the second Castaway day which is defeating the whole point of a Double Dip.)

We've done it once but won't do it again.

For the cost, I'd rather enjoy a brunch at home where I haven't already paid for my meals.

To me, the cost has increased too much over the past few years to make it "worth it". $30 USD (around $40 CDN for me) per person - I can do a brunch just as nice for that cost. And considering that when we did the brunch we didn't eat again until dinner, I figure the cost was much higher because we had already paid the cruise fare for breakfast, lunch and a snack (so instead of the cost being $30 - I consider that it's more like $50 because we have already prepaid for $20 worth of food that we didn't eat).

It's nice but not for us.

We really enjoy Palo. Whether it be brunch or dinner, the advice I would give you is to enjoy the experience at a leisurely pace. Don't rush it. This is especially true at the brunch where you are effectively having at least two meals in one sitting.