8 Night Disney Magic Mediterranean Cruise – Day 3 At Sea and a Special Palo Brunch

We woke up to some beautiful sunshine on our first day at sea! It was so easy to hop out of bed because we were excited to get to the activities for the day. The next day’s Navigator gets dropped off the night before so everyone has a chance to see what is planned and schedule their day accordingly!

Our first stop was the D Lounge for a special event called “Anyone Can Cook”! Based on the book by Chef Gusteau in Ratatouille, this activity featured a live cooking demonstration by one of the Disney chefs and most importantly…a tasting!

The recipe was sea bass with a white wine pea risotto. It was so fun to watch the chef masterfully prepare this dish and to be able to sample the dish with a white wine pairing! We were completely in heaven.

If you have the opportunity to go to this activity, I highly recommend it! It was very informative and delicious!

After the cooking class, it was time to head up to the top deck to enjoy the amazing weather! The only two fountain drink stations on the Disney Magic are located on Deck 9 Aft, so if you don’t want to be visiting this area 20 times a day on the cruise (their cups are so tiny!) I recommend bringing your own cup or tumbler aboard. I have a tumbler with my name and a picture of Rapunzel on it which was a past fish extender gift (more on that later!) which I use every day on the cruise and just make sure to wash it out thoroughly in my stateroom every night. 

See photo above for my husband’s idea of true relaxation (sleeping on a lounger at sea). We debated going in the adult pool, but instead decided to just lay in the sun for awhile because we had our Palo brunch reservation soon. We had enough time to do one round of Disney trivia on Funnel Vision (the huge screen overlooking the two kids pools on the upper deck) before heading down to our stateroom to get dressed for Palo!

Unlike other restaurants on the Disney Magic, Palo does have a mandatory dress code.

Dress Code for Palo Dinner and Brunch

“We recommend dress pants or slacks and a collared shirt for men, and a dress, skirt or pants and a blouse for women. Jeans may also be worn if in good condition (no holes). Please no tank tops, swimsuits, swimsuit cover-ups, shorts, hats, cut-offs, torn clothing, t-shirts with offensive language and/or graphics, flip-flops or tennis shoes.”

After swapping our flip flops for some dress shoes, we made our way to Deck 10 Aft for our reservation! Palo brunch is $40 per person and can be reserved online through the Disney Cruise Line website or mobile app. The dining experience includes a brunch buffet, specialty dishes that can be ordered from the brunch menu, and a mimosa or non-alcoholic beverage (additional drinks are available for an extra charge).

We had the most amazing server, Pani, for our brunch and she walked us through all the possible choices for brunch (there are a lot!). First up was the seafood buffet section. Selections here included salmon, seared tuna, crab legs, scallops, shrimp, and caviar! Everything we tried in this area was super fresh and absolutely delicious.

Next, we explored the meat and cheese buffet section. Pani told us that on this cruise there were actually special Italian items in the buffet that are only available at Palo on Mediterranean sailings. We were so excited to try everything! My advice on approaching the buffet is to first take a little bit of everything you are interested in trying, and then go back for a second round of just the items you loved! This worked pretty well for us, and we were only VERY full at the end of the meal instead of feeling like exploding!

Some of the things we tried included fresh buffalo mozzarella, honeycomb, salami, prosciutto, and many hard cheeses from different regions of Italy!

After we got our fill of the buffet, we decided to order some entrées from the brunch menu. I got the seared sea bass with saffron potatoes, and Justin got the highly recommended chicken parmesan. We also shared a calzone, which turned out to be the best calzone either of us had ever had!

To finish off our amazing meal, it was time to explore the dessert section of the brunch buffet. You definitely want to save room for dessert if you have brunch at Palo!

Our favorite desserts from the buffet were the champagne jelly and fresh berries, limoncello pastries, and everything chocolate!

Justin also ordered a chocolate lava cake for us to share and it was AMAZING. The melted chocolate was just heavenly, and the cake surrounding it was also delicious!

The desserts were a perfect finale to an outstanding dining experience. We thanked Pani for her wonderful service and got ready to head back to our stateroom. It was time for an afternoon nap!

Thanks for reading! Follow our adventure as we head off to explore Cinque Terre in Italy on Day 4 of our Mediterranean cruise!