What in the World is Happening with Palo!?

[@dee_mcgee11]

"They're pulling a Disney World." Words I never wanted to hear come out of Pete's mouth.

[@lallytunes]

Nothing beats brutal honesty...Thank you Pete!!

[@karateday]

Disney just showed you they care less about your concerns. They are Disney, and to them, that's that! For every passenger with taste buds, they have 100 without.

[@morgansmith7763]

This is the honest, raw, transparency I need when planning a trip. I would also have to 100% agree that what draws me to cruising is the “all inclusive part of it” what a shame they’re taking that factor a way in some ways.

[@chuckoneill2023]

Came for the Pete Werner rant. Stayed for the comment section.

[@sylvain65]

Totally agree about the new Palo. We are Platinum. It’s lost some specialness

[@louiseschuster3912]

we just got off the Dream Monday and ate at Palo twice for dinner. I agree that our dinner at Palo was not worth the extra money. Not going to visit Palo again in the future,

[@ajmayowskijr]

I'm cruising the Dream next week and I'm skipping Palo for the first time in the last eight cruises. It was always a magical experience. Sad

[@katcalico9142]

Elaine’s hair looks AMAZING!!! Love it!

[@stuartm4873]

Completely agree. Palo had been my favorite restaurant of all time - land or sea. No more. We Just got off Fantasy. Rack of lamb better in main dining. Overall quality downstairs far better. Couldn’t get a Manhattan drinkable. Pricing routine ruined experience. Server apologetic the entire experience. Don’t waste your money.

[@justinfowler9404]

I got off the Magic 2 weeks ago and had a similar experience. The food was not as good in Palo as the regular rotational dining. We had previously loved Palo but will not recommend again. It is way more expensive to get what you want but the food is noticeably worse than it used to be.

[@marcostapiz3568]

This sums up what I’m seeing overall with anything Disney. I enjoyed paying a higher onetime price for a premium overall experience without nickel-and-diming. Saving my money for now, I’m losing interest in a lot of Disney vacations. 😕

[@MBD-BDBF]

Agreed. Im not really sure what they are thinking. The “disney brand” is at stake here. By brand i mean the associations of feelings thoughts and preferences one has when thinking of said brand. I.e BMW invokes quality and luxury. Apple invokes simple solution innovation and right now Disney invokes corporate greed gone horribly wrong

[@laurieo1003]

I remember when Palo was a $5 up charge. Once it started to increase in price, it just took off. My one and only concierge experience and Dream trip was the most disappointing and Palo was also a disappointment (2014). Once seated in Palo it took 35 minutes to get a server to come to the table and that was after asking another server to send over ours. It didn't get any better after that service wise but the food was still good. All of our other Palo experiences (mostly Magic/Wonder) have been fantastic. The Dream was the only Palo experience that was less than excellent. I chalked the Dream trip up to the fact that it was a shorter sailing (5 night double dip) and more people were first/only trippers.

[@tracihoward4482]

First, I am very sorry for the disappointing experience that Pete encountered. Our Palo brunch experience aboard the Disney Dream, October 29-November 1st, was vastly different from that of Pete's. Quite to the contrary, and interestingly enough, I went with the expectation that I would be disappointed but was pleasantly surprised. Our server was MORE than accomodating, and I could not have asked for more! Other than I rolled out of Palo at the end of our brunch. The Tiramisu was to DIE for, both aesthetically and gastronomically. We are booked back-to-back (thanks to "travel agent extraordinaire, Elaine Edwards") on the Wonder in January and have both Dinner and Brunch booked at Palo. I think we will cancel our dinner. As always, I appreciate the content, honesty, and integrity of the show.

[@mindyschocolate]

Same. I have the brunch scheduled because I heard rave reviews about it. As far as dinners go, I think I may stick with Remy. I much prefer French to Italian food anyway.

[@kbutcher84]

Charging more for less…They’ve been doing it at the parks for a while now. It was only a matter of time before it hit DCL too.

[@brucep8516]

I cruised the 1st week of November and 3 tables in a row complained to the Chef. The meals sucked

[@dianeleibold5468]

We had a reservation for PALO in September and as soon as I found out no buffet, I cancelled it. Will not be going there until the go back to the original dining experience. Sad, just sad.

[@jonc3903]

We eat at Palo's because it's included as a Platinum member. We used to love the brunch, we would order multiple dishes and share and taste. Loved the crab legs. Now with having to pay extra for everything, we would probable not even bother to go.

[@christinaashburn9716]

am not doing palo until buffets come back. it's not worth it, and I don't know of any other cruiseline with upcharged restaurants that charge ala carte. this is another way of chapek trying to get every dime possible. am waiting for the drink cards i

[@amandaconway1972]

We were at Palo on the Fantasy and it was a bummer the menu was limited but the service and food were great. It is a little tricky to decide if Palo is really $45 better than the main dining when the main dining room is so good.

[@Lasolimu]

I'm going on a cruise with my husband next week and I was planning to book dinner at Palo because it was so good on our first cruise back in 2019. I had it booked and everything, but then I saw the menu changed, was terrified that the experience would be totally different than what we expected from the first time, and cancelled it.

[@Spider-Manfan555]

Thanks so much

[@Kshine02]

That is very disappointing. The freedom in all dining is one of the main things I was looking forward to. I really felt like the freedom in ordering multiple meals at no cost we part of the experience. The fact that you made the choice skip your inclusive meal to pay extra for less of an experience is a shame. Im sad I didn't get to be there for the old way☹

[@nickp7186]

Cruising in January on the Dream. Palo was a highlight of our last Dream cruise. After seeing Pete’s take on social media, and then watching this, we’re skipping. We’re disappointed but we can spend our money elsewhere. We’ll sure miss our server Monica!

[@greggherdlitchka1055]

We just got off the Wonder. Had both Palo dinner and the Brunch. I really hated the A La Carte menu. My wife ordered off the A La Carte menu and it was cheaper than the set price menu. I ordered A La Carte and it was more, because nobody orders a 6 oz. steak. 😂. The food was ok, the service was the best i’ve had at Palo’s. Brunch was much better, but i still do not like the format.

[@Disneybylandandbysea]

We had brunch and dinner there in August and thought it was as good as ever. The food was prepared excellently and the service was top notch as always. BUT the new pricing at dinner is so lame and we miss the buffet portion at brunch.

[@richd6362]

Very good video. We cruised with Disney once before, but didn't eat at Palo. We're scheduled for the Fantasy in 2022 and will probably do the brunch, but it's disappointing that they did away with the buffet. I was looking forward to it.

[@housevinyl4640]

Such a helpful review, we’re on the Dream next fall (and we booked with Dreams Unlimited 😀) and I’d love to see this revisited in a few months when your team cruises again. I’m a first time cruiser and I’ve heard so many good things in years past about Palo. I hope it improves.

[@michelleroberts3395]

We have used Ally for years and she is the best.. I hope she never leaves

[@lillis887]

We are platinum on DCL and regularly go to Palo and Remy. Disappointed to hear about your Palo experience. Hopefully it has something to do with the ships running at lower capacity both staff and patrons. Just a suggestion… but for a low key casual dinner, on your schedule, minus the hustle and bustle of the main dining rooms, have you tried Cabanas? It’s usually quiet and they serve a pretty decent steak.

[@cferg9835]

Word travels fast amongst Disney fans & people will just quit going to Palo. And the new French restaurant on the Wish I heard is ridiculously expensive. You are shooting yourself in the foot Disney…

[@JimmyA78]

Had Palo dinner for the 7th time in Sept 2019 - it was horrible. It was sooooo slow. We missed Pirate night, I was furious. I’ll never pay $45 again for dinner when rotational dining is great. Btw I remember when Palo was $20pp.

[@GioandJC]

We were just on a 3 day Disney Dream Sailing and had Brunch at PALO and it was AMAZINIG! We paid the one price for our Brunch. Our food and service was exceptional. Too bad your experience was not as ours was. We posted our experience on our channel if you want to see how our experience was.

[@mindyschocolate]

Oh good. I was hoping the brunch would still be amazing. I have the brunch booked on my cruise that starts tomorrow. As far as dinner between Remy and Palo I’d go Remy every time.

[@krab1791]

I remember when Paolo was a $25 up charge. I wasnt very impressed. But we have reservations for Remy in a few weeks. We’ll see if it is worth $125/person.

[@mindyschocolate]

I had Remy last week of Feb 2020. I had the French chef’s menu (I believe one meal was by a French chef, the other American). I added the wine/caviar pairing which bumped the price up to almost $300. I have to say: no regrets. The food was absolutely delicious, the waiter was amazing, the live violinist was amazing, EVERYTHING was amazing. If the menu is still the same you should be fine. I absolutely, positively loved Remy. Pity the Magic and Wonder doesn’t have Remy on board. I’d rather Remy be the restaurant on all Disney ships.

[@danpeloquin8402]

Wow! You are taking no prisoners! You are giving a killer review and evidently spreading it around over many shows! Now, let me give a you a true review. I wanted to schedule a Disney cruise for my wife’s Birthday and our 30th Anniversary! First cruise also! We wanted true professionals handling our trip. I contacted DCL!!! I was contacted within 48 hours like advertised and asked for more info to get the free estimate. I was not contacted again! The cruise is in January so there was a time crunch. I ended having to make reservations myself! I will not try to embarrass the agent, but “Physician heal thyself”!!!

[@mtngrl88]

Sounds like Chapek not showing up to D23 because of a "meeting". You can only play that card so much before people think you're just smoking weed in the back and giggling because of all the money that's being funneled through.

[@TheRealConcertKing]

It's almost as if Bob Chapek is also the CEO of Disney Cruise Line or something...

[@mindyschocolate]

Uh oh. I have a Palo’s brunch reservation. I passed up dinner at Palo’s for Remy since that one sounded super popular, and I was not disappointed. I loved Remy. I heard the brunch was good pre-covid so I guess I’ll see for myself. At least Palo is way cheaper than Remy.

[@JimmyA78]

Remy is a colossal waste of money. Buyer beware

[@gandsmeyer2957]

I hope that enough people will speak up and stop going to Palo until they return to the prior quality and method of charging fees. if people keep spending the money, nothing will change.

[@Parkhopper1985]

Ugh, 11 of us are taking our first Disney cruise in 11 days. 4 of us are dining at Palo on the first night - we'll see what happens.

[@bodyloverz30]

So Palo will become, Royal Caribbean's brother to Chops.

[@CruisingEngineer]

I'm hoping DCL will return the great food Palo is (was) known for and the one Palo menu inclusive for the one price prior to the Dis Pod-cast cruise in May!

[@bobdistel1360]

My wife and I were on the first 7-night sailing of the Fantasy in October. We booked both the Palo brunch and dinner. We have done each of these before and really enjoyed both. Not this time. Brunch was nothing like it was before. No pre-buffet, even though our server said everything was available, we just had to ask. There is nothing like seeing and choosing. The entree menu was cut down drastically and frankly, the quality for the charge was not very good. We both left there very disappointed. We had high hopes for dinner.....nope. Again, very limited choices. I am not a seafood eater, so my choice was a 1 pasta or 1 meat dish. We looked at the ala carte menu but the prices turned us off immediately. This was the last time we will eat at Palos. If Disney decides to go the route of discount cruise lines by dumbing down their meals so entice you to upgrade, we're done with DCL as well.

[@susanstalter225]

The biggest disappointment is no more charcuterie at the table at dinner and no sticky buns and chocolate covered strawberries at brunch …need to be unlimited like main dining if charging!!! Boooo DCL!

[@richardbishop7441]

First palo experience was October 1998 when there was NO up charge. And I still remember it as the best service we ever had at palo. could they be providing a bill with a higher cost so people will leave a bigger tip, as a percentage of the cost

[@SeanFrawley]

Has the vlog attached to this gone up yet

[@adinubila]

can you do a review if Remy is still good?

[@christopherm.7310]

Wow when we sailed in 2011 we were allowed to order multiple entrees and desserts. No way I’m paying for this. This is the “new normal” and it sucks.

[@braninburdette]

It is easy when you refuse to eat at restaurants that are up charges from your cruise fare.

[@lisa4073]

We just got off the magic and same food that we could have had in the main dining room. Service was great food nope 🙅🏻 the brunch was just disappointing

[@mindyschocolate]

Damn. My cruise is tomorrow and I have a brunch reserved. I skipped the brunch last time but did Remy.

[@brucep8516]

The Fantasy was BAD as well

[@phild3689]

Went on my first cruise ever this year, on the Magic. Main dining room blew Palo away. Server was so disinterested, food bland, can't agree with this video more. I was really disappointed as all the reviews and vlogs talked glowingly. I love Italian food, do yourself a favour and save your dollars.

[@DarthDaddy-cg6ro]

Disney's charge more, give less business model has come to Disney Cruise Line.

[@gorsching]

They should have just done a prefix for the whole menu and anything else ordered was an up charge. Yea it woulda sucked but at least then you got 1 item from each category you wanted. Feel like you cut it short today. :(

[@ckidder]

I guess I'm the one in the minority...my Palo dinner on the Wonder in October 2021 was incredible...blew main dining out of the water on this cruise, service was stellar, didnt mind the a la carte menu. I'm ready to go back again!

[@patriciajackson1457]

Please clarify, if you choose the ala carte do you also get charged the $45 up charge?

[@GetNLine]

yes

[@janetrueda1780]

No it’s not an additional charge. You go in with a $45 credit.

[@susantownsend8397]

We’ve always eaten at Palo at least once, often twice on the Wonder. One couple from our clan cruised a few weeks ago and reported serious disappointment. The food was good but the service was off. The server seemed to have some problems with English so there was confusion over their order. The change from buffet to prix fixe or a la carte menu was underwhelming. They were okay with the brunch. They did tell the server we knew from previous trips that we would specifically ask for her at brunch on our next cruise (December 27.).

[@FamilyInTexas]

We were on the Wonder out of Galveston last week and had an AWFUL Palo experience. Food was fine, but I finished my entree before my husband got his entree and before they brought me my side dish. One of my husband’s dishes (a side) was incorrect. He tried to send it back, but they just kept it warm until his entree arrived, brought back the incorrect item as well as what he actually ordered, and they charged us for both items. By then we were just ready to finish and get out of there. The total bill was $165. If we didn’t have our $90 platinum credit, and if I didn’t have fear that our server’s job would be on the line, I would have been at guest services asking for a refund. Here’s the thing, if that had happened at Chili’s, I would have gotten better service than that (for the record, I only end up at Chili’s when my teenage boys want their burgers 😆).

[@JimmyA78]

Shame on you for not holding Disney to a higher standard in fear of the servers job… THIS IS WHY DISNEY DOES WHATEVER THEY WANT. No one will tell the Rat they suck…

[@brucep8516]

I agree it sucked

[@jakeg99]

Complaining about food and then eating it, is like complaining about Disney ticket prices and then buying them

[@chuckoneill2023]

The problem is, he'd already paid. He had booked it based an previous good experiences.

[@jakeg99]

@@chuckoneill2023 if he sent it back, and got something else like they offered he wouldn't have paid for it.

[@chuckoneill2023]

@@jakeg99 They should have taken it off the check. That's basic guest service. Not to mention --- whatever else he'd been brought wouldn't necessarily have been better.

[@jakeg99]

@@chuckoneill2023 he said "leave it, I'll eat it" and then he whines about it? Send it back then and get something else, it's basic common sense