Palo or Remy - is it a must?

[dclDream2018]

I am embarking on a 4 night Dream cruise later this year, and I am on the fence about going to Palo on one of those nights (currently have reservations on night 4 for DH and myself, presumably while DS goes to the club). I booked it because from what I've read, it seems like everyone does Palo or Remy.

If you've done a 4 night cruise or shorter, are these extra dining experiences really all that worthwhile, or do you think it's not regrettable to not do it?

 

[gruffudd242]

I would say that it's a matter of personal preference, I would say if you like the food at Palo, it's worth it no matter the length of cruise. For us we like booking Remy as a date night. Is it a must for us, not really, but we like the time alone together and the food. FWIW we've done that for our 4 night and 7 night cruises

 

[Keterrill]

We've done Palo and Remy, on 3 night cruises. We love Palo and wouldn't miss it. Did not love Remy........my husband and I both consider it one of the worst meals we've ever had.

 

[Jess_S]

I personally didn't book Palo on our first cruise and won't be booking Palo or Remy for our upcoming cruise. We don't cruise often enough for the MDR menus to to become stale for us (plus we find that we are food-ed out by the end of a cruise, so more food is not something I want to spend my cruise budget on). So, in short, "everyone is doing it" shouldn't really be your reason for booking. As others said, it's really a personal preference.

 

[Sytrace]

I am embarking on a 4 night Dream cruise later this year, and I am on the fence about going to Palo on one of those nights (currently have reservations on night 4 for DH and myself, presumably while DS goes to the club). I booked it because from what I've read, it seems like everyone does Palo or Remy.

If you've done a 4 night cruise or shorter, are these extra dining experiences really all that worthwhile, or do you think it's not regrettable to not do it?

Very subjective to personal preference...but definitely could live without either one.

 

[lklgoodman]

We ate dinner at Palo on our first cruise, thought it was good but not any better than restaurants where we live. We skipped it for our 2nd and 3rd and cruise, didn't feel like we missed out by skipping it. We are going to Palo for brunch on our next cruise because we will be celebrating our wedding anniversary. We'll decide afterwards whether or not to book brunch again for our next cruise. Remy doesn't interest us. All of our cruises have been 7nights, but the length of the cruise wouldn't make a difference in my booking preference. If this is your first cruise and you decide you want to try Palo, see if you can do brunch, that way you won't miss out on any of the MDR

 

[mevelandry]

I love both and I could honestly skip all the MDR meals (Which we find good but nothing out of the ordinary) and eat only at Palo and Remy for the entire cruise if I could.

 

[Anisum]

I've eaten dinner at Palo and personally I didn't feel it was so much superior to the main dining rooms that it was worth the price. It was very good, don't get me wrong and the definitely do what they can to make it feel magical, I just struggle to justify spending extra money on a dinner when I could be getting one that (in my opinion) tastes just as good as part of my cruise price. I have not tried Remy so I wouldn't know. I will say the cruise we did it was a long cruise and it was nice to have a dinner just us.

 

[NAB]

Depends if your a real foody or like to try new things. We sometimes get excited over the main menu things because we have never tried before. It doesn't cost anything extra. In Palo's they want everything perfect and we hate to disappoint...lol so we eat it anyway. My husband likes to try new things and he doesn't mind but I could do with out the whole thing. Too fancy for me. But we too did it for a date night and to see what all the fuss was about.

You should try it to see for yourselves. You may love it like a lot of others do. We loved our wait staff so missing the last night would have been hard though.

 

[ciniminis]

Try brunch first if you're unsure. You'll get a "taste" - and it's less time-consuming, less costly, and wouldn't take away one of the MDR dinners.

Plus, the space (for both Palo and Remy) is gorgeous in daylight, with huge windows looking out to the sea!

 

[wanderlust7]

Try brunch first if you're unsure - you'll get a "taste" and it's less time-consuming, less costly, and wouldn't take away one of the MDR dinners.

+1 for brunch. I don't think I would want to miss any of the MDRs on a 4 night, especially if it's a first cruise.

As for whether it's worth doing at all, I find it helpful to look at pictures to see if it appeals. I was on the fence about Remy (mainly because bringing along DH's suit and dress shoes seemed like such a pain!), but the pictures convinced me. I'm so glad we did it, but then I'm a foodie.

Here are a couple reviews:
http://www.disneytouristblog.com/palo-brunch-review/
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2013/03/remy-champagne-brunch-review/

 

[AquaDame]

I'm not sure I would on a 4 night - depending on which night you go you may miss out on one of the MDRs. Have you sailed before...? If this is your first one I personally would skip it for now for sure, and even if it isn't I don't feel like its a make it or break it thing to do.

We've done Remy once - I liked it - and have done Palo a fair number of times.

 

[hanscarlet]

I wouldn't think it's a requirement for the first cruise. I prefer the brunch over the dinner. We mainly do Palo dinner as a way of getting a date night in on the cruise.

 

[STLEdge]

I'll echo what the other commenters have said. It's definitely a matter of personal preference. We've eaten at both and I can't imagine going on a Disney cruise without at least one meal at Remy. Google around and find the menus from past Palo and Remy meals and see if that's the kind of food that interests you. We thought Palo was a small step up from the MDRs, but nothing we couldn't get at a neighborhood restaurant at home. Remy is a significant step up, but you have to be interested in longer meals with multiple courses with smaller plates - if that doesn't appeal to you, then I'd stick with the MDRs.

 

[Marc D]

7 cruises behind us, all 7 or more nights, and we’ve never eaten at Palo or Rémy. We love the MDRs and prefer being with our son.

 

[ahain]

We've taken 8 Disney cruises and have never done Palo or Remy - the MDR's are super-fine for us and we've never felt like we were missing out.

 

[MUN]

I am embarking on a 4 night Dream cruise later this year, and I am on the fence about going to Palo on one of those nights (currently have reservations on night 4 for DH and myself, presumably while DS goes to the club). I booked it because from what I've read, it seems like everyone does Palo or Remy.

If you've done a 4 night cruise or shorter, are these extra dining experiences really all that worthwhile, or do you think it's not regrettable to not do it?

No, I don't think it's regrettable not to visit Palo or Remy. We have enjoyed Palo brunch, it's very good, but I wouldn't regret if we skipped it on a future cruise.

Life is too short for regrets.

MUN

 

[dcassetta]

I love both and I could honestly skip all the MDR meals (Which we find good but nothing out of the ordinary) and eat only at Palo and Remy for the entire cruise if I could.

Did this last fall - Palo, Remy, Palo. Never even met the MDR servers (still tipped, of course!)

 

[tlprice]

I've done 4 cruises and only done Remy dessert. I like the MDRs and enjoy eating with my daughter so I have never really wanted to try them. Plus, they are very time consuming meals. I don't want to spend that much time at dinner. Sometimes the MDRs are even too long, but at least there, I can ask my server to speed things up if needed.

 

[oakleycat]

We like Palo for the atmosphere and time away from the kids as much as the foods. We do one brunch and one dinner on 7 night and just brunch on the shorter cruises. I've never been to Remy, not really our style.