Palo Is Losing Its $55 Set Dinner: Disney Cruise Line Goes À La Carte Starting October 22
/If you have a favorite date-night ritual on a Disney cruise, it probably involves Palo. The adults-only Italian restaurants — Palo on the classic ships, Palo Steakhouse on the Wish-class ships, and Palo Trattoria on the Disney Adventure — have long offered one of the simplest deals at sea: a $55 fixed-price dinner with your pick of appetizers, salads, entrées and desserts. That deal is about to disappear.
Disney Cruise Line has been emailing guests with upcoming sailings to say that, beginning this week, all three restaurant concepts will transition away from the prix-fixe dinner menu to à la carte service only, built around a selection of guest-favorite dishes. The change rolls out ship by ship over five days: the Disney Wonder goes first on Thursday, October 22, followed by the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wish on October 23, the Disney Magic, Disney Treasure and Disney Destiny on October 24, and the Disney Adventure on October 26. By next week, there will not be a set-price Palo dinner anywhere in the fleet.
What does à la carte actually change at the table? Flexibility, mostly — in both directions. Light eaters and anyone who mainly goes for one signature dish can now order exactly that and potentially spend less than $55. Guests who loved turning the fixed price into a four-course feast, on the other hand, will watch the bill depend on what they order, with drinks and gratuities still extra, just as before. Disney has not announced any change to the brunch menu or to the Prima Notte event, so the beloved Palo brunch experience itself is staying as it is.
The bigger story is what happens to the Castaway Club perk. Platinum and Pearl members have traditionally received a complimentary Palo dinner, and in practice that benefit was often applied at brunch as well. Under the new rules, eligible members — and guests staying in the same stateroom — each receive a $55-per-person credit toward à la carte dinner items instead. The member must be at the table, the credit can be used once per sailing, and anything beyond $55, plus beverages and gratuities, is on you. Unused credit is forfeited and has no cash value. And Disney is now stating plainly what the fine print always said: the benefit is for dinner only. Brunch no longer counts.
There is one welcome exception. After pushback from loyal guests, Disney is honoring the $55 credit for Platinum and Pearl members who had already booked a Palo brunch before the policy update on October 15, 2026, for sailings after the change takes effect. If that is you, keep your confirmation handy and consider bringing a printed copy of any email from the cruise line — shoreside decisions and onboard systems do not always sync up on day one, and having the paperwork smooths out the conversation at the host stand.
So what should you do if you are sailing soon? First, if you have a Palo dinner reserved on or after your ship's switch date, plan for a variable bill rather than a flat $55, and check or adjust your reservation under My Reservations on the Disney Cruise Line site — changes can be made online up to three days before sailing. Second, Platinum and Pearl members should think of the credit as dinner money: book the evening meal to use it, and treat brunch as a separate splurge. Third, if brunch is the meal you care about most, book it early — with the loyalty credit no longer applying there, demand for those limited sea-day seatings may shift in interesting ways.
Palo is still Palo: quiet, elegant, and one of the best meals on any family cruise ship. It is just no longer a fixed-price one — and now you know before you sit down.
Source: The Disney Cruise Line Blog — read the full story here.