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Disney Changed the Platinum & Pearl Palo Benefit. Am I the Only One Who Doesn't Care?

Disney Cruise Line made a change to the Platinum and Pearl Castaway Club Palo benefit this week and, readers, when I tell you the internet lost its collective mind...

I am not exaggerating.

People are furious. People are threatening to cancel cruises. You would think Mickey personally boarded the ship and took the soufflé off their table.

And here comes my apparently very unpopular opinion:

I could not care LESS about this change.

In fact, part of it might actually work better for the way I already eat at Palo.

So What Exactly Is Changing at Palo?

For many years, one of the published benefits of reaching Platinum Castaway Club status, and now Pearl, has been a complimentary dinner at Palo.

And yes, the important word there is dinner.

Disney's current Castaway Club information describes the benefit as one complimentary dinner experience at Palo, Palo Steakhouse or Palo Trattoria per stateroom, per sailing for eligible Platinum and Pearl members.

Over the years, though, Disney Cruise Line has allowed guests to use that benefit for Palo brunch as well. I've done it. Plenty of other Platinum and Pearl cruisers have done it. It became one of those things that, regardless of exactly how the benefit was worded, people were accustomed to being able to do.

That's the piece that is going away.

Going forward, the Castaway Club benefit will apply to dinner, not brunch.

At the same time, Palo is beginning a fleetwide transition away from its prix fixe dinner menu. The rollout is scheduled to begin October 22.

Under the existing system, Platinum and Pearl guests could use their benefit for the prix fixe menu or receive a credit equal to the prix fixe value toward à la carte selections.

With the prix fixe menu disappearing, dinner becomes à la carte and the loyalty benefit becomes a credit toward your meal.

And apparently this is where I am supposed to be outraged.

I'm not.

I've Always Preferred Palo Dinner Anyway

Between Palo brunch and Palo dinner, I'm choosing dinner.

Every. Single. Time.

I've gone to brunch plenty of times because friends I was sailing with wanted to go, and of course I'm never going to turn down eating delicious food on a Disney ship with my friends.

But if I'm picking?

Dinner.

I actually liked Palo brunch more before COVID, when the buffet was still part of the experience. That version had more appeal for me.

The current brunch?

It's good. It's perfectly lovely.

I'm just not emotionally attached to it.

And I definitely don't need to use my Castaway Club benefit for it.

Also, Dinner Means The Filet

This feels like an important point that is being completely overlooked during The Great Palo Meltdown of 2026.

Palo dinner means the filet.

And that filet is SO GOOD.

Then there is the Amaretto Soufflé.

Friends.

If you have not tried the Amaretto Soufflé yet, I don't know what you're doing with your life.

For years I adored the chocolate soufflé when that was the Palo dessert. It is still delicious.

Then I discovered the Amaretto Soufflé.

Game over.

I Didn't Love the Prix Fixe Menu Anyway

Here is where this change may actually make Palo dinner better for me.

The prix fixe menu never quite worked with what I wanted to order.

First course? Easy.

Caprese.

Second course?

Two salads.

Neither of which I particularly wanted.

My beef was on the third-course menu, so obviously we were back on track there.

Then dessert offered the chocolate soufflé instead of my beloved Amaretto Soufflé.

I would occasionally ask whether I could substitute the Amaretto and had maybe a 50/50 success rate.

Eventually we figured out the easier solution.

Order à la carte.

And we've been doing that more and more often.

À La Carte Is Actually How We Like To Eat at Palo

One of my favorite things about going à la carte is that we don't have to order four separate courses just because four courses exist.

We can order what we actually want.

Sometimes we get the antipasto.

Sometimes we don't.

Sometimes we get the Caprese.

Sometimes we try something completely different.

We can order a couple of things for the table, taste them, share them and then each get the beef we actually came to Palo for.

Because let's be serious. I'm getting the beef.

Then we'll often share dessert.

And yes, it's probably going to be the Amaretto Soufflé.

Palo can be a lot of food. Ordering this way means we get to taste several things without waddling back to the stateroom afterward wondering why we thought four full courses were a good life decision.

And the best part?

We've found that our à la carte bill is almost always right around the value of our Platinum Castaway Club credit anyway.

So for us, eliminating the prix fixe requirement changes almost nothing.

But What About Losing Brunch?

This is the part I understand people being disappointed about.

If Palo brunch is one of your favorite cruise traditions and you've been using your Platinum or Pearl benefit for it for years, I completely understand why you're unhappy that option is disappearing.

Something you were previously allowed to do with a loyalty perk will no longer be allowed.

It's fair to say, "Well, that stinks."

Where you lose me is when we get from there to:

I'M CANCELLING MY DISNEY CRUISES.

Really?

Over Palo brunch?

The published benefit has been a complimentary Palo dinner for years. In fact, when Disney introduced the Platinum Castaway Club tier back in 2009, its own Castaway Club newsletter described the perk as a complimentary dinner at Palo.

Disney allowed us more flexibility with that benefit for a long time.

Now it's enforcing the dinner part.

Would I prefer Disney continue letting people choose brunch if that's what they love? Sure.

Do I think this somehow destroys the value of being Platinum or Pearl?

Not even remotely.

My Palo Plans Aren't Changing

I'll still book Palo dinner.

I'll still order the filet.

I'll still obsess over the Amaretto Soufflé.

And if I'm sailing with friends who really want to do brunch, I'll probably still go to brunch. I'll just pay for it.

Considering what a Disney cruise costs, Palo brunch is not the thing that's going to send me over the edge.

So while parts of the Disney Cruise internet are currently gathering their pitchforks over this one...

I'll be over here making my Palo dinner reservation.

Preferably with a filet and an Amaretto Soufflé in my future.

Unpopular opinion? Maybe.

A cruise-cancelling crisis? Absolutely not.

Planning your next sailing? My Disney Cruise Line guides hub brings together my ship reviews, Concierge experiences and cruise-planning tips.

Location: Arlington, TX, USA

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