Palo Dinner Goes À La Carte on Disney Cruise Line: What To Know Before You Book

If you have watched my Disney ship tours on the Jackson Jetsetting YouTube channel, you know Palo is the dinner I tell nearly every client to book. The adults-only Italian restaurant has been the easiest upgrade on a Disney cruise for years: $55 per person, four courses, and a quiet dining room away from the main rotation.

That $55 prix fixe dinner is going away. Starting the week of October 22, 2026, Disney Cruise Line is pulling the fixed-price dinner menu from Palo, Palo Steakhouse, and Palo Trattoria across the entire fleet. Dinner becomes fully à la carte. Brunch keeps its $55 price, but the Castaway Club Palo credit that Pearl and Platinum members rely on will only work at dinner.

Below is everything that is changing, the date it hits each ship, and how I would plan around it. If you want help rebuilding a dining plan for an upcoming sailing, my agency can handle that at no cost to you.

Palo Prix Fixe Dinner Ends Across the Disney Cruise Line Fleet

What is changing: The four-course, $55 prix fixe dinner menu is being retired. Dinner at every Palo location becomes order-by-the-item, with the menu built from guest favorites.

Palo has always allowed à la carte ordering alongside the prix fixe option, but the fixed menu was the default and the better value for anyone ordering three or four courses. Under the new setup, every dish carries its own price, and your bill depends on how much you order.

Disney has not published the full à la carte dinner menu or item pricing yet. I will update this post with item prices once the new menus are posted on the ships. Until then, assume a starter, an entrée, and a dessert will land somewhere near the old $55 total, with lighter orders coming in below it.

Pro Tip: If you are sailing before the switch date for your ship (see the schedule below), your reservation keeps the prix fixe menu. Sailings that cross the date will see the new menu on nights after the transition.

Palo À La Carte Start Dates by Disney Ship

The change rolls out ship by ship over five days. The first night of à la carte dinner service on each ship is listed in the table below.

Ship	Palo Location	First À La Carte Dinner
Disney Wonder	Palo	October 22, 2026
Disney Fantasy	Palo	October 23, 2026
Disney Dream	Palo	October 23, 2026
Disney Wish	Palo Steakhouse	October 23, 2026
Disney Magic	Palo	October 24, 2026
Disney Treasure	Palo Steakhouse	October 24, 2026
Disney Destiny	Palo Steakhouse	October 24, 2026
Disney Adventure	Palo Trattoria	October 26, 2026

The Wish-class ships run Palo Steakhouse instead of the classic Palo, and the menu leans toward steaks and chops. I covered the restaurant in my Disney Wish review, and the classic Palo experience is in my Disney Magic review. Both posts still apply to the dining room, the service, and the view. Only the pricing model is changing.

Palo Brunch Stays Prix Fixe but Loses the Castaway Club Credit

What is changing: Brunch keeps the $55 prix fixe format, and nothing changes about the menu or the Prima Notte dinner event. What changes is who pays for brunch out of pocket. Starting with the dates above, every guest pays the $55 brunch charge, regardless of Castaway Club status.

Palo brunch has been the harder reservation to land on most sailings, in part because Pearl and Platinum members could use their Palo credit toward it. Removing the credit from brunch should loosen brunch availability and push more repeat cruisers toward dinner.

Castaway Club Palo Credit for Pearl and Platinum Members Becomes Dinner-Only

What is changing: Pearl and Platinum Castaway Club members, and guests in the same stateroom, keep a $55 Palo credit. That credit now applies only to the à la carte dinner menu. It no longer covers brunch.

For a couple who used to redeem the credit on brunch and then pay for dinner, the math flips. Use the credit at dinner, where $55 per person will cover a starter and an entrée for most guests, and decide separately whether brunch is worth $55 out of pocket. Eligible members should receive a SeaMail from Disney explaining the update.

Pro Tip: If you are Pearl or Platinum and already hold a Palo brunch reservation for a sailing after your ship's switch date, check the My Reservations section of the Disney Cruise Line website. You may want to move that reservation to dinner so the credit is not wasted.

What the Palo Changes Mean for Your Disney Cruise Budget

A few practical takeaways from how I expect this to play out with clients:

• Light eaters come out ahead. If you normally order an entrée and a dessert, à la carte will likely cost less than the old $55 prix fixe.
• Big appetites pay more. Guests who ordered all four courses, and the ones who ordered the soufflé twice, will see dinner climb past the old price.
• Pearl and Platinum members should rebook toward dinner. The credit is only useful at dinner now, and dinner will have more open slots than it used to.
• Brunch becomes a cleaner decision. It is $55, it is prix fixe, and no status changes that. Book it if the brunch spread is the draw, skip it if you were only going because the credit made it free.

Palo pricing is separate from the automatic gratuities on your stateroom account, which I break down in my Disney Cruise gratuities guide. An 18% gratuity is typically added to specialty dining charges, so factor that into the à la carte total as well.

How Jackson Jetsetting Can Help You Plan Palo and the Rest of Your Disney Cruise

Palo reservations open on a rolling schedule based on Castaway Club status and stateroom category, and the booking window is one of the easiest things to miss. When you book your Disney cruise through Jackson Jetsetting, I track your reservation window and can get Palo, Enchanté, and the Prima Notte event lined up the day they open. You pay the same fare you would pay booking direct, and the advice is included.

If you are still choosing a ship, start with my Royal Caribbean vs. Disney Cruise Line comparison and my roundup of the best cruise lines for families. Disney Cruise Line also just revealed the Disney Believe, which opens for bookings this month, and my Castaway Cay guide covers the island day that comes with most Bahamas sailings.

Five Tips I Give Every Client About Palo

• Book Palo the minute your reservation window opens. Dinner on the first and last nights goes fast.
• Ask for a window table on the starboard side for sunset on westbound sailings.
• Palo has a dress code: dress pants, collared shirts, and no shorts or flip-flops. Pack accordingly.
• Order the chocolate soufflé no matter which menu you are on. Under à la carte, order it when you sit down so the kitchen has time.
• If you are celebrating something, note it on the reservation. The team at Palo takes care of those moments better than almost any ship restaurant I have sailed.

Palo À La Carte Bottom Line

The $55 prix fixe dinner at Palo disappears fleetwide between October 22 and October 26, 2026. Dinner goes à la carte, brunch stays $55 but becomes a paid meal for everyone, and the Castaway Club credit for Pearl and Platinum members can only be used at dinner. For most guests the restaurant itself is unchanged, and for lighter eaters it may even get cheaper.

Have a Disney sailing on the calendar and want a second set of eyes on your dining reservations? Reach out to Jackson Jetsetting and I will take it from here.