It’s now Monday morning and we have just had breakfast. A toasted English muffin with grape jelly, a selection of pastries, some juice and a nice cup of tea. We docked about about an hour ago here at Nassau and watched from our balcony as we came in, turned around and docked. It seems like a nice day, although there is a chance of rain in the forecast. We plan to head off for a wander about town once I’ve updated you all on the last day or two.
So, where did I leave you? Saturday night I believe as we headed out to Kobe for dinner. We go there about 5:30 and having made a reservation online were seated within 5 minutes or so. We had two groups of 4 at our table; the first a group of middle aged women seemingly doing Disney and the second a family with parents, adult child and respective partner. We didn’t chat amongst the table to be honest so I can tell you no more about them than that. It was absolutely freezing in Kobe; the whole table ended up donning cardies and jackets. Our chef was Kenny and the food and show was as good as ever. Paul had the shrimp and I had the fillet. The beef was as tender and flavoursome as ever and given we had only had a pastry for lunch we ate a lot; even half the rice bowl! A couple of guests had teriyaki chicken which Paul wants to try next time to see how that flavour compares. We finished up by just after 6:30 and the plan was to go to the beach at the Polynesian to watch the Wishes fireworks. Since we had time to spare we took a scenic route to Disney to ‘sit our dinner down’! We had coats etc in the car as the temperature does drop at night. The car park at the Polynesian was absolutely heaving. We had no idea why but we drove around and around to look for a space. After about 10 minutes we eventually found one and parked. We never did find out why it was so busy, there was no evident signs about an event or anything, strange. There were a few people on the beach and the movie playing was “Cars”. We got a bed to sit on (dusted it down with a towel as there was sand everywhere) and perched. The music was difficult to hear from the speakers but the fireworks were good. The night was very still so the after smoke hung in the air a lot. You a could still see but it became very smoky/cloudy. We made our way home for about 8:45. We did some packing and prep for our cruise but had an early night as we were both shattered.
We were up at 8am on Sunday as we had a 10am checkout. We asked about a top floor room for our reservation later in the week but were told we’d been upgraded to a deluxe suite which is ground floor only so we opted to stay with that and check out the deluxe difference!
We had decided to go to Premium Outlets before making our way down to Port Canaveral and since we knew we had early seating on board, decided on brunch as our best option so headed straight for the food court. We had wanted Charlie’s Steakery Philly Cheese Steaks but when we got there Charlie’s had gone! The other choices weren’t great so we end up with Chinese! It was ok though and did the job.
We had 2 hours before we knew we had to leave so scooted around the shops that we liked. Paul bought a t shirt from Marc Ecko and saw some new polo shirts that he is hoping will be discounted when we are back here in May. We also bought some stuff in the Disney Character Warehouse. Paul got a cool rain pac-a-mac that was on offer, I got a Pirates t-shirt (there is a pirate night on board), we bought some magnets to decorate our stateroom door (as yet still in situ and not been thieved!) and a couple of beach towels that were buy on get one free, so at 10 bucks seemed ideal for a cruise. We reckon we got about $25 worth of savings again, we’re deffo good at this savings lark. I did search for some crop jeans but couldn’t find any at all :-(.
We left Premium at half twelve and got on the 528 to Port Canaveral. It was a gorgeous day. Cooler at 70 degrees but still nice and sunny. We saw several Disney cruise Line coaches on the road and made good time arriving at the port about 1:30. We had pre-booked a check in time of 2pm so all was good. We had considered parking at the Park and Cruise which was cheaper that the port itself but it was a long way out so we opted to pay the extra for the convenience, especially when lugging cases etc. We dropped our cases with the porter and parked in the multi story. There was a gangway into the terminal building and it was very quiet. Boarding had commenced about midday so a lot of passengers were already on board; you could even see folks in the aqueduct. Check in was quick, Paul had completed most things online so it was pretty much a case of getting our key. We were then straight on board for just after 2pm where every family or party is announced on board!
We made our way to our state room to drop off our hand luggage bags (we had packed our evening change of clothes and toiletries just in case the suitcases didn’t get to us in time). The state room is very nice with a sofa area and balcony. The bathrooms are typical cruise ship small but we do have a tub: the worlds smallest tub mind and Paul is practising contortionism as he bathes. We then went exploring the ship staring with handing in our Vinylmation and pens at guest services. After a shaky start the Italian cast member soon knew what we meant and it was absolutely no problem so we will get our signed piece back in our state room on the last day – how cool is that? We then went to Cabanas, the buffet restaurant, as we were a bit peckish and had chip butties. Afterwards we wandered out on the pool deck and into the over 18’s area to get some peace. There were a few kids that kept wandering through so if that continues I feel a complaint coming on! I had a frozen piña colada and Paul had a coke as we sat in the sun and Paul phoned home. We also took a look at the restaurants we’d be eating in. We move between 3 but our serving staff moves with us. Tonight we are at “Animator’s Palate” so we found our table number and had a look around. We are at a table for 8 so we’ll find out later who we are dining with.
The muster drill was planned for 3:45 so we left this area about then and made our way to our muster point K. There is no need to wear the life jackets but the check in and line up is the same as RC. It took about half an hour and afterwards it was the sail away party on deck. We went to take a look and saw the characters and dancers etc. we were each given streamers to wave by a crew member. There was a keen wind on deck and it was very busy so we came to or room to get ready and sail away. The ships horn as we left port is in the tune of “When You Wish Upon A Star”. The ‘bing bong’ for an announcement is the same. I like the little things like that and so far do prefer this to RC.
We got ready and then went for our dinner (our cases had arrived by the way) at 5:45. The waiting staff at “Animator’s Palate” all had shirts with character sketches all over them and the restaurant had screens all around and was decorated with artwork and figurines. As we ate the screens showed Crush (the turtle from “Finding Nemo”) talking to us and there we’re quizzes in the form of fish making shapes of characters that we had to guess. The coolest thing of all though was when Crush had a conversation directly with some diners at tables right by the screens. We tried to spot the guy or cameras but couldn’t.
Our fellow diners were all couples older than us. There were a quiet couple who were first timers like us and the others were gold members consisting of a couple from California and a couple originally from NY state who had retired to Orlando. We talked with them a lot as they were opposite us. They were retired teachers and each worked part time at Disney. He was on the gate at Epcot and we never did quite catch what she did ;-). They travelled a lot too and their retirement sounded idyllic to us. They were a really nice couple and we were envious of their lifestyle. Dinner was 4 courses. Paul started with a mushroom risotto but I skipped appetizers. We then both had the baked potato and cheese soup with bacon bits. It was really nice although each course did seem to arrive with a skin on it as though it had been sitting for a while. As we talked to the couple opposite they said that their favourite cruise line was Carnival which surprised us. We thought this was a bit if a party chavvy boat but they say the food is the best. They actually said that Disney food is the worst although the Disney entertainment on board is easily the best. For main course we chose the Angus beef, cut to order. It was very tender and tasty. I did swap out my wasabi mash for a baked potato but Paul said the wasabi mash was really nice. For desert Paul had the cookies and cream sundae and I had the chocolate brownie cheesecake. Soda is free on board so coke and sprite kept coming to wash it all down. There was some more entertainment from Crush with dancing and a turtle pledge so all in all dinner was pretty good.
We left the dining room at about 7:30 and the show was at 8:30. Doors did not open until 8 so we looked around the ship. Donald Duck was in the atrium and the photo place had a cool twist. Each guest has an allocated photo album where any shots that have been taken are put so no trawling through everyone’s pics and at least no one can man handle your pics. Mind you, it means you can’t laugh at others expense!
We got seats on the front row of the dress circle in the theatre although it was tight I space and Paul’s legs didn’t quite fit! The was some pre show fun in the shape of screens showing the audience with Disney characters super imposed sitting amongst them and also a pre show interview with kids as they came into the theatre. The show was the “Golden Mickeys” which was a tribute to great films and music with awards for friendship, love, hero’s etc. it was a mix of on screen and on stage with excerpts from The Lion King, Mulan, Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, Tarzan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame to name but a few. In true Disney style it was excellent.
After the show we made our way to the Pink bar. It is designed to look like a pink champagne glass with bubbles all around. It is adults only so again we could get some peace. We had a champagne cocktail and chat to the bar tender, a young Slovenian girl. She had plenty to say so we whiled away 40 minutes or so. We had considered going to a show called Mirror Mirror but she said it was for kids so instead we went to another adult lounge to watch Ronn Lucas, a ventriloquist. He has been on TV loads, including the UK where he appeared on “A Night At The London Paladium” in front of the queen. His show was hilarious and we sipped cocktails as we watched; Paul with a mojito and me with a chocolate martini. The show ended just before 11 and as we were tired we opted for bed. I slept really well, comfy bed and pillows but Paul said he was a bit restless. It is quite noisy though with a fair amount of banging and clattering going on.
So, we’re back to this morning and now we’re all showered and this is typed we are off to explore Nassau.
Musings from our travels