PIF, excursions/dining booked, but would love any input About This Page:

[Winston]

We're now paid in full for our September 30th 4-night cruise on the Dream. Today is the 120-day mark, so I was awake in the wee hours making reservations for adult dining and shore excursions. I booked dinner at Remy, both dinner and brunch at Palo, a cabana on Serenity Bay, parasailing at CC, and the jetski adventure at CC.

I'd love to hear input from anyone on what I've arranged, particularly the shore adventures and the cabana. Have you done any of the ones I listed? If so, what did you think? Is the cabana worth the money, especially since we'll have a nice, large room on the ship to return to?

Also, we have the option of enjoying Palo's dinner cuisine in our room. With that in mind, should I forego the Palo dinner and keep just the brunch reservation?

Thanks for any advice/insight!

[toddjodybrent]

We've parasailed on Castaway Cay: Williams Family: Parasailing on Disney Cruise Line's Castaway Cay

And, have only dreamed of a cabana: Williams Family: Dreaming of a Private Cabana on Castaway Cay

Have a magical cruise!

[Winston]

Great blog, Williams family! I appreciate the link to the great info about parasailing. It's obvious that you guys loved it! I had actually already seen your blog post about the cabanas while searching the web for reviews and feedback. Thanks again!

[toddjodybrent]

You're welcome! Happy sailing!

[MBUS]

We were able to snag a cabana on the family beach last year. I wasn't sure I wanted to pay for one, but there was one left when I was booking my excursions, so I snagged it. My kids are not big beach people. They are usually done after a couple hours on Castaway Cay. We got the cabana to make a day of it. There were 6 of us, me, DH, 3 DSons, and my DMum. We loved it! They included drinks, chilled towels (which my son wanted me to make at home all summer ), suntan lotion, snacks, etc. There was a safe, so we could put cameras, iPods, video games, etc in there while we swam. I actually got all 3 boys into the water for a while. There was a hammock, we read, DH snorkled. We walked over to the restaurant and got our food, then ate in the cabana. We thoroughly enjoyed our cabana. I know it's a big splurge, but it was totally worth it for us. We felt spoiled and pampered and it's (another) great family vacation memory.

Beth

[Dave Marx]

While Palo's food will be great if you have it in-room or at the restaurant, a big part of the Palo (and Remy) experience is the service and atmosphere. I'd stick with the reservation, and if you want a second crack at the menu, maybe go with in-room then (you don't need reservations for that). Also, note that DCL is changing its policy about in-room dining for concierge guests. My understanding is only Royal Suites will have the "any menu on the ship" option. You may want to contact concierge services to confirm.

[Dave Marx]

While Palo's food will be great if you have it in-room or at the restaurant, a big part of the Palo (and Remy) experience is the service and atmosphere. I'd stick with the reservation, and if you want a second crack at the menu, maybe go with in-room then (you don't need reservations for that). Also, note that DCL is changing its policy about in-room dining for concierge guests. My understanding is only Royal Suites will have the "any menu on the ship" option. You may want to contact concierge services to confirm.

[Winston]

Originally Posted by Dave Marx

While Palo's food will be great if you have it in-room or at the restaurant, a big part of the Palo (and Remy) experience is the service and atmosphere. I'd stick with the reservation, and if you want a second crack at the menu, maybe go with in-room then (you don't need reservations for that). Also, note that DCL is changing its policy about in-room dining for concierge guests. My understanding is only Royal Suites will have the "any menu on the ship" option. You may want to contact concierge services to confirm.

Thanks for the advice, Dave. According to one of the Shoreside Concierge team member with whom I spoke today, all concierge guests can order room service from the main dining room to which they're assigned on a given evening. Ditto for category R, with the added option of ordering from Palo's menu on any night. He didn't mention any pending changes to that policy, so maybe things are still being hashed out. I thought I read at one point that only suite guests (as opposed to all concierge guests) could order from the main restaurants.

For now, I'm going to keep both Palo reservations (dinner and brunch) per your recommendation. Thanks again.

[Dave Marx]

Thanks for the report!

It sounds like the new policy is in place. It's slightly different than reports, but still makes sense - the issue is cutting back from "Any menu on the ship." In terms of guest satisfaction, it makes all the sense in the world to still offer the assigned dining room's menu as an in-room option. Otherwise, there's no distinction between concierge and non-concierge in-room dining. I can see, however, limiting the selection of menus, especially with the expansion of concierge-serviced rooms to the Cat V Deluxe Family staterooms.

You may have read the "suite guests" thing in our guidebook. It was written at a time when only suites received concierge services. "Suite" at that time was a clearer distinction than "concierge," (and sometimes even a few letters less in a word makes a difference to page layout) but that changed with the new ships.

[PixieMichele]

Never miss an opportunity to eat in Palo, especially on the Dream...it's really gorgeous! The atmosphere is wonderful there and it's so beautifully designed. It just won't be the same eating it from your stateroom-fabulous as it may be!
Brunch and dinner are entirely different so you won't be overdoing it by eating both; don't do them on the same day though or you'll explode!
Remy is another wonderful experience. We did the tasting menu, my husband got one side and I got the other. In hindsight, being the picky eater that I am, i would have benefited much more from just ordering the tenderloin-which is the only thing I ate.
My husband did the wine pairing and was overly satisfied. The wines were all delicious (of course I stole a sip!) and they were generous portions. The thing I appreciated the most about Remy was the staff. While everything there is extremely upscale the staff is among the most gracious hosts you will ever meet. They made us feel very at home and didn't pass judgement (to my face anyway!) about my picky eating and questions and were more than happy to explain each of the dishes, etc. They are Michelin trained and it shows, I would hate to do their laundry because every-time you leave the table they bring you a new napkin. All of the experiences on board are really lovely. One tip about Palo...don't just order one thing from each category. Mix it up and order a little of everything the food is fantastic. If you want mushroom risotto as a side dish for your filet, they can do that, so don't feel you have to pick and choose one or the other, mix it up and share so you can taste everything.