CRUISE DINING HELP About This Page:

[PURPLEPRINCESS]

My husband and I are going on our first cruise this February for our anniversary. We are doing the western bound 7 night magic cruise on the 20. Our anniversary is the 22 and is a sea day. I was thinking about doing Palo for dinner this day. What will be a good dining rotation schedule so we will not miss anything in the main dining hall? I was also thinking maybe we can go to Palo early and still go to our dinner dining hall( we have the second seating) to see the show. Or in DH case he can get him something to eat if he do not like Palo food. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

Dawn

[OffKilter_Lynn]

Is there a special menu you don't want to miss? You'll dine in each restaurant more than once during the course of your rotation so it's more a matter of what theme night you'd rather not miss.

Saturday - Port Canaveral - Rotation/Casual
Sunday - Key West - Rotation/Casual
Monday - Day at Sea - Golden Mickeys/Formal
Tuesday - Grand Cayman - Rotation/Casual
Wednesday - Cozumel - Pirates in the Caribbean/Pirate or Casual
Thursday - Day at Sea - Captain's Gala/Semi-formal
Friday - Castaway Cay - 'til we meet again / Casual

My only problem with rotational dining is the rotation itself as you really won't know until you board what restaurant you'll be at each night. Wearing a long, sparkly dress to Parrot Cay isn't exactly my idea of formal dining but we still make it work!

Since Monday is your actual anniversay and it's formal night, I would take advantage of that opportunity, dress up and enjoy Palo and the Golden Mickey show and make a wonderful anniversary memory. Depending on your Palo time, you can always pop into your rotational restaurant for appetizers or dessert, too. And if your DH does not like the Palo food, I'll eat my hat!!! There isn't a place more dedicated to making you truly happy and satisfied with your meal than the folks at Palo. They have created a number of custom dishes for me over the years because of food allergies and simply my mood that night. I love their pasta carbonara but it's not always on the menu but a simple inquiry has brought it to my table more times than my waistline would like to count!

Happy anniversary and enjoy your cruise!

[MelissaL]

Congratulations on your upcoming cruise and anniversary!

I wouldn't worry about requesting a dining rotation -- from what I understand, requests are not guaranteed anyhow. On a 7-night cruise, you will visit each restaurant at least twice anyhow. The "worst case" scenario if you book Palo on the 3rd night is that you'd be scheduled for Animator's Palate, which performs the "show" only the first time you visit. However, in case that happens you certainly could schedule an early Palo dinner then plan to linger over drinks or something in AP at your scheduled dining time.

I agree that being in Palo would be a great way to celebrate your anniversary (though to me being anywhere on the ship would be great).

Happy planning,
Melissa

[Colexis Mom]

Originally Posted by MelissaL

On a 7-night cruise, you will visit each restaurant at least twice anyhow. The "worst case" scenario if you book Palo on the 3rd night is that you'd be scheduled for Animator's Palate, which performs the "show" only the first time you visit. However, in case that happens you certainly could schedule an early Palo dinner then plan to linger over drinks or something in AP at your scheduled dining time.

If you end up with your first visit to AP on Day 3, you will not have the "show". It's Formal Night, and it's the Golden Mickey's menu/show. You'll get the AP show on your next night, which should be Day 4 (we had PLAAPLA on our Western cruise in August). I had booked Palo for Day 4, assuming that if we did end up with PLAAPLA we would get to see the show on Day 3, and this was not the case. Thankfully I had booked Palo at 7:30, and we had main seating, so we still went to dinner at AP to see the show (didn't eat much) and then went to dinner at Palo.

[Moxrox]

If he doesn't like anything at Palo, he has no taste buds.

[MelissaL]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

If you end up with your first visit to AP on Day 3, you will not have the "show". It's Formal Night, and it's the Golden Mickey's menu/show. You'll get the AP show on your next night, which should be Day 4 (we had PLAAPLA on our Western cruise in August).

Thanks for correcting me! I'm sorry for the misinformation. It's been a couple of years since our Western cruise, and either the details have changed or I just misremembered.

[hollypoast]

Congrats! We are on the same cruise and I've been trying to figure out what night to do Palo too. Thanks for asking the question.
Holly

[PURPLEPRINCESS]

What are the dining rotations? Is there one rotation that is better than the rest?
Are there any late night buffets like on other ships? Sorry so many questions. It just our first time cruising


Dawn

[Dave Marx]

All the rotations are essentially equal. You take turns visiting each dining room, so everyone on the ship ends up visiting all dining rooms. Folks sometimes have preferences, such as being in the most formal dining room (Lumiere's) on Formal Night, but it really doesn't matter that much to me.

[moneyhappy]

Did you tell DCL that it was your anniversary and that you wanted to celebrate it either on the 22 or when you are a day at sea?

I did and they said they would so something special for us. I still need to book Polo. They will not do that.

[belleandmaddysmom]

Book Palo ON your anniversary. It is THE best restaurant on the ship. Don't be afraid that you are missing something somewhere else. Just enjoy the moment! You will not be disappointed. Palo was the best meal I had my entire vacation!