Palo/Remy the first night?? About This Page:

[Uncleromulus]

Read how some folks make those reservations. But if you have no idea exactly when your luggage will arrive, how can you be CERTAIN you can get dressed up in time for dinner at 6??

[Winston]

I see a few options:

1) Your stateroom would certainly be ready before 6pm, and you could carry on a garment bag with a formal set of clothes to change into prior to dinner.

2) You could also make a later reservation (e.g. 8pm) at Palo or Remy, catch the early show, and have time to head back to your room (where your luggage would surely be by then) to change clothes.

3) Are you in a Concierge stateroom? If so, you'd have the option to be among the first passengers to board the ship (and thus so would your luggage), and you get priority luggage delivery to your stateroom, so it's a very good bet that your bags would be available to you in time.

We are eating at Remy on the first night of our upcoming cruise, but our reservation isn't until 7:30pm, and we're in a Royal Suite, so I'm not worried about our having access to luggage by dinner.

Any other ideas, fellow PPers?

[toddjodybrent]

I agree with the suggestion about carrying on what you would need to wear to dinner the first night. . . just in case.
Another idea is to rent formal wear from cruiselineformalwear.com (I think that is the site) and have your dress clothes waiting for you in your stateroom. While they do rent clothing for both men and women, the last time I looked, only the men's tuxedos and suits were available for Disney ships.
Good luck!

[PixieMichele]

They are pretty expedient with the luggage but you could always put clothes in a day bag to be extra safe.
The only problem with eating at Palo/Remy the first night is you won't want to go to any of the other restaurants!

[Winston]

Originally Posted by PixieMichele

They are pretty expedient with the luggage but you could always put clothes in a day bag to be extra safe.
The only problem with eating at Palo/Remy the first night is you won't want to go to any of the other restaurants!

I agree with that sentiment! Going back to MDRs after one or both of the adult restaurants may not be easy. However, I always wind up in a "food coma" by the end of any cruise, even shorter ones, so I like the idea of having my heavier, finer meals on the front end rather than toward the end.

[Dave Marx]

Generally, luggage arrives before the safety drill. The only time I can recall my bags arriving later than that was when I'd forgotten to remove a Leatherman tool from my bag after a non-cruise journey. As a banned item (both knife and hand tool), the bag failed x-ray inspection and was sent off for hand-inspection. All the rest of our luggage showed up at a normal time, just that one bag was delayed. Moral of that story? Check the current list of banned items on the DCL web site, and if something falls into a gray area, take it in your carry-on so if you do have to surrender it, it won't delay your luggage.

Of course, there was that time when my bag went to Lisbon and we went to Barcelona. In that case, it was days before the bag finally caught up with the ship.

The best way to defend against this sort of thing isn't to avoid Remy/Palo. Stuff happens (but not very often). Divide your clothing between two bags, so that, even if your most formal items happen to be delayed, you're still likely to have something decent to wear. If your jacket doesn't make it aboard in time, Remy does have some sports jackets to loan out - just be sure you have a nice shirt and slacks in the other bag. And any decent dress would be acceptable, not just the most formal.

[Uncleromulus]

Thanks for this information and advice!!

We ARE in Concierge, so I feel better about the luggage. We'll be "carrying on" enough as it is w/o adding a jacket, dress, etc. I had planned to wear just a sportcoat and slacks--probably as formal as I'm willing to get!!!

And by 8 or so, we're usually ready for bed, so eating late really isn't an option. 6 is actually a bit late for us

So the question: Do we want to do Remy or Palo that first night??? Will have to give it some serious consideration...

And another question: If you do Remy and Palo, do you have to tell someone that you won't be eating at your assigned restaurant that night? So the servers, etc won't be expecting you???

[Dave Marx]

Some folks never consider Palo/Remy on the first night - they want to meet their regular serving team at the start of the cruise, or just want to feel settled in on the ship before doing a special meal. Practically? That can mean a first-night reservation is easier to get. If you don't get to meet your assigned dining room serving team the first night, they'll do all the introductions when you do show up.

No, you don't have to notify your regular dining room. Your seats in the regular dining room are waiting for you every night, regardless of whether you show up. If they needed to, they can easily check whether you're at Palo or Remy - everyone has your stateroom number, after all. But practically speaking? They don't sweat it. I've been on cruises where some of my table mates never came to dinner (they should give a special rate to cruisers who only eat pizza, burgers, and hot dogs ).

Sometimes the servers check the Palo/Remy reservation system just so they know to ask, "How was Remy last night?" vs. "We missed you last night, was everything OK?"

Also, note that you have the same serving team every night in the assigned dining rooms, regardless of which room it is. They will get to know you, and vice verse.

[Uncleromulus]

Dave: Thanks for the information!!
If we do Palo and remy--or rather WHEN we do--we'll make reservations as early as the Concierge business will allow. You might be right tho--maybe that first night would be better just getting in the swing of things and meeting the serving team.