When Disney Cruise Line started out over 10 years ago, they set the bar for many things in the cruise industry. And what they did with dining set the cruise world on its ear. First they introduced a special premium dining experience in addition to the standard fare in the Dining rooms. Secondly, they began a new concept call rotational dining. Lastly, what they did with their dining rooms was pure Disney.
All cruise lines offer premium dining onboard. Disney was no exception. But the imagineers realized that the adults with children as well as the adults without will want places on board that are adult oriented for a getaway. In the dining realm they came up with Palos. Palo is an adult’s only restaurant located in the stern on the topmost deck. It offers stunning views when at port and romantic moonlit seascapes at night. The Dining aboard the Disney ships is exquisite but in Palos it is French Gourmet. They offer 3 different dining experiences and every cabin is able to book one of each of these experiences. First, you’ll be allowed to book one dinner. (if you’re lucky and there’s a cancellation you may be able to score another reservation) Dinner at Palos is an added charge of $25 per person. This amount is supposed to include the tip to the server but I have found that the personalized service that I receive there is worth a much greater tip and I am usually very generous. The food is incredible and our server was very willing to let us try more than a few selections. Brunch is all you can eat and there is an incredible array of foods from Breakfast to Lunch along with amazing desserts. Like Dinner the cost is $25 per person. Your server at Brunch will take you on a tour of the foods presented and make appropriate suggestions as to what are the “can’t miss” selections. I’ve never done the High tea. It costs $5 per person and includes finger sandwiches, scones, éclairs, desserts as well as tea. The rules to making your reservations here is first-come first serve. So, you need to be on-the-ball when your time frame for reservations comes. First-time cruisers make their reservations at 75 days out. Castaway Club Members (those with previous cruises) can make their reservations at 90 days out and people Platinum Castaway Club or Concierge Cruisers can make their reservations at 105 days out. Here’s the kicker. Disney only sets aside a certain number of pre-cruise reservations and once those are gone there will be no more. When the reservation window opens you need to be right at your computer logging on. Make your Palos reservations first thing otherwise they will be gone. I’ve seen all the Palos reservations disappear at 10 minutes into the 90-day window. But don’t fret. Most of the available reservations will be opened on the sailing date. Again, first-come first-served. Once onboard the Magic you will need to hurry to the assigned area and make your reservation. Rotational Dining. Many cruise lines now offer this. Essentially, instead of one large dining room that has an early and late seating there are three dining rooms with early and late seating. You will have to rotate between the three dining rooms at least twice during your 7 night cruise with one of them being three times. The following is a run-down of the available dining rooms on The Magic. Animator Palate- This is the big dinner show on board. The theme to this room is homage to animation. The room starts out black and white and during your dining it slowly turns colorful with drawings on the walls coming to life. While you will dine here between 2 and 3 times the show only happens on the first night of dining. So don’t make your Palo reservations on this night. Parrot Cay- This room’s theme is a pure Caribbean. It is colorful with lively music. It is the most casual of the three restaurants and is the most fun to have Pirate night in. Lumiere’s- French Cuisine, sophisticated décor with Beauty and the Beast touches. For formal nights this is the best place to be. Like I said, you rotate between the three restaurants. The rotations are as follows: A=Animators Palate P=Parrot Cay L=Lumiere’s Rotation #1 APLAPLA Rotation #2 PLAPLA Rotation #3 LAPLAPL Now, picking a good rotation is key and I’ll tell you why. Usually people with young children will get the APL rotation, and people without children will be placed in the LAP rotation. (rule of thumb, it is not a strict rule however) Many people want the best experience during their cruise and will pick dining rotations that will give them that. Other’s like a particular restaurant and will pick a rotation that places them in their preferred restaurant on three nights. For the Western Itinerary the best rotation is considered to be APLAPLA. This rotation places you in Animator’s Palate on the first night. You are in Parrot Cay for Pirate night and Lumiere’s for the formal nights. You can request your rotation through your travel agent. Disney will not guarantee a certain rotation but will make every effort to grant your request. For large groups traveling together Disney will link your dinning reservations and sit you in adjoining tables. Also, your server and assistant server will travel with you through out the rotation. These servers work hard at getting to know your families likes and dislikes. They had our drink orders down after the first night and brought them to us without asking from then on out. They also spent time talking to our kids and entertaining them with jokes and tricks. Another thing you might want to remember is that children are allowed to choose from the kids menu or the adult menu in the dinning room. My son enjoyed this option very much and boldly tried new things like duck and sword fish. And if you truly don’t like something don’t be afraid to ask for something different. If you just can’t get your kids away from the kids clubs for dinner rest assured that they will be fed. Although the choices for them will be pretty limited mostly only pizza or hot dogs and maybe chicken nuggets. Other choices for dinner are also available and just because you are assigned a seating time and dinning rotation doesn’t mean you have to abide by them. You can choose casual dinning at Topsider Buffet located on deck nine or for quick service dinning located pool side there is Pinocchio's Pizza and Pluto’s Dog House. You can even order room service to be brought to your cabin. Disney recognizes that the food on board is a big part of your experience and makes sure that your options are wide open to make certain that you get the most from your dinning experiences.
So You've Booked Your Cruise Now What?
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