Adult only Dining on the Disney Wonder: Palo Dinner and Brunch Review

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We had two dining experiences at Palo on the Disney Wonder. The first experience was a dinner on Juneau day and the second experience was brunch on the second Sea day.

There are two ways to sign up for this adult only dining experience; first, you can pre-book your reservations online through the Disney Cruise Planning website or by reserving it while on board.

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I booked my reservation online because I was a first-time cruiser and wanted to make sure I got these Palo Reservations! We didn’t have trouble booking dinner, but we did have some issues booking brunch. Brunch was immediately sold out, and we eventually were able to secure two spots for brunch online. A few weeks later, we were able to book the final seat. We laughed and laughed saying that mom and I were going to have brunch together while Ally was going to sit by herself brunching.

A meal at Palo costs an extra $30 per person and is well worth the price if you are seeking an adult-only, Italian dinner.

Day 5 – Palo For Dinner – Juneau Day

We were sent invitations to our Dinner and received a phone call from the head chef inviting us to join Palo for dinner.

Even though we were not fans of dressing up for Formal Night, we did change out of our Plaid Shirts and Yoga Pants into something nice for dinner.

Our entire cruise experience had been quite pleasant so far, but we were in for a real treat for an Adult only dining experience. It took me until Palo to realize that even though we were not traveling with kids, we still needed a break from them!

The atmosphere in Palo was a white tablecloth, fine dining experience. There are fresh flowers on the table and a view that is to die for!

The best thing about Palo is that even though all the food on the Disney Wonder has been delicious, Palo uses some of the finest ingredients available to the chefs.

The meal began with a bread service with dipping sauces and an antipasti cart. At this point, we knew we needed to pace ourselves because everything tasted so rich and delicious. The appetizer consisted of prosciutto, bresaola, parmesan, olives and sundried tomatoes. This first course was full of flavor and delicious.

Wanting to try everything Palo had to offer, we all split the Tomato Mozzarella Caprese salad, the soft Potato Gnocchi, and the Fritto di Calamari e Gamberi. The Caprese salad was fresh and delicious. The Gnocchi was excellent, and the Calamari and shrimp were quite tasty. The shrimp was better than the calamari, so I wish there were more shrimp than squids.

Mom and Ally drank the Limone Basilico, a cocktail made with Absolut Citron Vodka, Limoncello and fresh Muddles Basil Leaves, while I drank the Chambord Mojito Martini, a Bacardi Limon Rum, Chambord, Fresh Muddled Lime and Mint Leaves.

We also had Iced Tea. One of our favorite things about the cruise is that Palo’s Iced Tea used tea in an ice form! We were so entertained by this, that we started creating our tea ice at home.

After the appetizers, we received a palate cleanser to prepare us for our main courses.

On an average day, I would have stopped eating at this point, but we were on vacation – in a fancy all you can eat restaurant – so the family continued to eat.

For dinner, we each ordered our entrée and sampled each other’s dishes. I ordered the Grilled Prime Beef Tenderloin with pancetta potato, sautéed spinach, and arolo chinato wine sauce. Mom ordered the Butternut Agnolotti with Sage Brown topped with amaretti and buffalo mozzarella. Ally ordered the Pennette Pasta tossed in a spiced San Marzano Basil Sauce topped with Garlic Shrimps.

My Tenderloin was cooked to perfection, and I wish I were able to eat it every single night! This steak was even better than the steak from Animator’s Palate that I ranted and raved from an earlier blog post.

After finishing up our entrees, it was finally time for dessert! We ordered a little bit of everything – two chocolate soufflés a tiramisu, and an amaretto soufflé.

The soufflés were delicious. However, I favored the classic chocolate soufflé and vanilla ice cream. The amaretto souffle was good, but the ice cream that was paired with it was not my favorite.

At the beginning of the meal, our waitress asked us what we were celebrating, and we mentioned that we booked the cruise to celebrate our three milestone birthdays. Once our dishes were cleared, our waitress brought some individual plates out for us, each with a different design, which said Happy Birthday!

Our experience at Palo was fantastic, and I wish I would have kept our second dinner reservation! We had originally booked the first night at Palo but canceled when we booked our excursion to See Endicott Arm (Tracy’ Arm).

We did have to miss our second night at Animator’s Palate, which was disappointing because we didn’t see the fun animations. If you go on a seven-night Alaskan Cruise, I would suggest going to Palo on Frozen night because that was my least favorite menu.

Day 7 – Palo For Breakfast – Sea Day

If I thought that Palo dinner was exquisite, brunch is no comparison. First, this champagne brunch has both a buffet and a menu – so make sure you come hungry! We had 1030 am seating, but I wish we would have booked it for later.

Unfortunately, this Sea Day was the only day we had rough Seas so that helped me not overeat as much as I should have (we even saw guests leave the dining area to go lie down in their rooms!).

Brunch started with some bubbly on the Mouse! Mom got the Bellini while ally and I opted for some Mimosas! We had a few of these because they were only $4 each.

First, you are given a menu to look over everything that is offered from the kitchen and before you can decide what you may or may not order – you are given a tour of the buffet!

Since Palo is a classy, Italian restaurant, of course, the buffet is classy. Mostly everything is on small plates or in small jars. These bite size bits make it easy to taste almost everything. And do not be embarrassed about going back for seconds – you paid extra for this! (Something I had to remind myself throughout Brunch).

With the ship rocking back and forth, our server helped guide us over to see all the different themed tables. There was a table for just seafood, a table for all the meats and vegetables, a table for all the bread and cheese one could want, a brunch/pastry table, and finally my favorite, a dessert table.

I’m not sure if it was because of the seasickness, or I was just ready to chow down, but I didn’t take that many photos of all the goodies I scooped up! I did, however, take a few pictures of the buffet tables.

Since this meal was going to go well into lunch for us, we ate a lot of the lunch foods instead of the breakfast foods. Each of us ordered the heirloom Tomato and Basil Soup. This soup was delicious and I highly recommend ordering it. It is an excellent compliment to cleanse your palate from all the unique flavors from the buffet.

Even though it is not listed on the menu, a fan favorite from Palo is the Grape and Gorgonzola Flatbread. I’m sure the three flatbread offerings were delicious, but we wanted to push the boundaries by ordering something off the menu.

We ordered three entrees to split amongst the three of us, the Rollatini Melanzane, the Lasagna Bolognaise, and my favorite the Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Breast. Mom and Ally loved their pasta choices, but I adored the Chicken. I am sad that I skipped the steak, but if I could go back I would eat this chicken again!

We wrapped up dinner by grabbing one of every dessert and ate each one with the teeny tiny spoon.

Palo Overall

I know there is a lot of discussion on what to or what not to tip when it comes to the $30 charge per person. Supposedly about $5 per person goes towards your server’s tip, but I feel that if your server goes above and beyond, you should tip to your discretion.

We factored in how much we would pay for a tip as if we went to a Hotel Brunch for Mother’s Day. Also, there is a service charge for all liquor purchases, and we ordered a couple, so we just tipped an extra $1 per person for the mimosas and Bellini’s.

I would go to Palo again for both Dinner and Brunch. If at all possible, I would like to go to a Palo Brunch twice (if there are enough Sea Days on the cruise) and I would go to Palo Dinner during a strange themed night.

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