We had to be up at 5:15am and despite the late night and less than 8 hours I was surprisingly awake. I had ear ache though so was struggling to sleep. We got up about 5:15, got ready, packed and left. Shuttle buses were parked outside and we took the one to our terminal. The airport was very empty and quiet and we got curbside check in. It was then up an escalator into the terminal and straight through security. Our gate was the literally the other side. All such a far cry from 12 hours previously.
We got some breakfast at Burger King then waited at our gate. We boarded on time and had business seats right at the front of the plane. The flight was an hour and it seemed no sooner we were up that the belt sign was on again to land. We landed early by about 15 mins. We were off and out (domestic so no immigration or customs) and at baggage claim in minutes. Sadly our luggage wasn’t so we had to wait. As we did so we looked for our driver. We had booked a private limo to the port and had been told our driver would find us in the baggage claim. As our bags came off and we began to put the DCL tags on them I spotted a guy with a clip board saying Paul Brenan (no typo by me there I assure you). He took us to the car and loaded our luggage (which from inside the car sounded like a bit of a mission for him). At about 11:45am we were off to Galveston. I had another 40 winks on the way, the journey taking about 1 hour 15 in total.
As we arrived into Galveston it was very much an industrial port but we spotted
Magic. We were dropped off and after a bit of repacking we headed in. After the usual security there was a short line to check in, during which the lady behind us suddenly said “are you Paul?”. She wasn’t psychic but had spotted his embroidered shirt that he had been selling to a group online. After another line to board (the system was not as good as Port Canaveral) we were finally aboard the Disney Magic by about 12:30. Since cabins are not accessible until 1:30 we decided to drop our black Vinylmation with gold and silver sharpies at guest services for signing and to get some food. We went to the Quiet Cove on deck 9 and got some hot dogs and fries. We saw a couple of folks from Paul’s online group. Team t shirts made them easy to spot. Paul was finally getting to put faces to names, some online user names not even actual names.
At 1:30 we made our way to our cabin. It’s slightly different to Dream and Fantasy and even being at the back our balcony is not as big as the cabin at the back on Dream. We don’t have loungers like we did there, just chairs and a table. Within half an hour our luggage turned up so we took the opportunity to unpack fully. It’s nice to finally not be living out of a suitcase. Paul had arranged to be at his group’s meet and greet at 2:45 so armed with a suitcase full of t shirts and hoodies we wandered down. There were loads of people gathering and many introduced themselves as we handed out shirts and ticked them off the list. Too many names to remember although a mix of Brits and Americans; a really friendly bunch too. We only stayed for about an hour before heading out on deck. We looked over the dock from the promenade deck as we sat in port then at sail away time moved up to the quiet cove. I had my first piña colada as we basked in the warmth. Being on early dinner we headed back to the room about 5pm to get ready.
As we found our table in Lumieres there were already 2 couples at the table. It was a table for 8 but no others ever turned up. Lumieres is a nice restaurant, akin to Royal Palace on Dream. Our table mates consist of a couple from El Paso; American chap and his wife from Japan and a couple from Massachusetts. They were quite chatty and friendly. Dinner was a new menu to us. I had bruschetta to start with prosciutto and mozzarella and Paul had a spicy chicken wrap. Mains we both opted for the sirloin steak which was tasty although a little tough. Paul then had the creme brûlée for dessert whilst I had a coffee and pistachio mousse. We had taken our tetley tea bags with us so had a nice brew to finish. The Japanese lady was a big tea fan and had a nifty portable tea strainer device that she used to ensure she had her Fortnum and Mason earl grey leaves.
After dinner we looked around the shops. I picked up another charm from my bracelet and we got a new cruise line Vinylmation. The show was at 8:30 so we had a 20 minute or so wait until doors opened. We got seats near the back by the sound desk. The WD theatre on Magic is all one level so no balcony. We were both absolutely shattered and considered ditching the show but eventually persevered. It was a welcome aboard so nothing special but ok. We have signers at the front of the theatre so may sit there for the added entertainment.
As soon as the show was over we wanted our bed so got a drink and went back to the cabin. Paul wanted a bath but there was an issue with the plug. He called maintenance and apparently the guy came and offered another plug but I must confess I slept through all that! We both slept like babies.
Dallas Fort Worth sucks! Sorry to start with a negative statement but you’ll see why when you read on. Just to lift you up a little, we are safely on board, it’s Sunday and we’ just at our second trivia of the day. No wins yet though.
So, we flew out of Heathrow on Friday. We had separate seats on the upper deck in BA Club World but a nice chap opposite me agreed to swap with Paul so we ended up across the aisle from each other. The flight was smooth apart from a 30 min stretch with the belt sign on but even that was not really bumpy. Food wise Paul had the steak and I opted for chicken Caesar salad. We’d had cooked breakfast in the airport earlier so I wasn’t overly hungry. Talking of the airport, I didn’t mention my airport shipping did I? I looked in Tiffany’s at the charm I was due to pick up in Dallas and bought a friendship bracelet from Links of London. Paul was looking for a specific camera lens but didn’t find it.
The flight itself seemed to pass really quickly to me even though it was the full 10 hours, I read my multitude of magazines that Paul had put on my iPad and did some puzzles. I did snooze for a few hours too I must confess. Paul watched a film called Cloud Atlas and also the latest Die Hard movie. The flight for him was tough though as he had a migraine but was well attended to by the cabin crew.
We landed early, about 3:45 and then it started. Apparently this made the UK news so you may already know but essentially it took 3 and half hours to get out of the airport. As we got to the immigration hall we knew we were in for a long wait just looking at the line. Of the 40 desks there were about 6 open for us. Even the US citizens had a long line (although it did clear quicker). Lots of people had connecting flights but it mattered not! No one was prepared to help so the line became full of rather fractious folks…..
After getting through in just under 2 hours we sighed with relief thinking we could finally get the car and go shopping but oh no…the line in the baggage hall to exit customs was just as long, winding it’s way all around the baggage hall.
We finally exited just after 7 and if you think that was the end of the evenings traumas you are mistaken. It got worse. Paul had found a map that showed a walkway to another terminal where our hotel was and given we had wheely cases we figured this was a better option that the shuttle bus. We followed the map and even asked 2 airport workers but no one knew so said walkway. It was hot, humid and tense as you can well imagine! Eventually we got the bus to the terminal and followed the signs to the hotel. Straight through the car park, what could be simpler? A car park without constant stairs up then down that’s what. I swear there were half a dozen sets of stairs and we had 3 x 26 kilo cases plus Paul’s photography equipment. As we finally made it to the hotel we must have looked very dishevelled, so much so that a very nice man rushed to my aid and even gave me a bottle of water. Poor old Paul, who had done most of the hard work I must admit was dripping with sweat. The hotel was lovely and the service was very good, things will get better now right? WRONG!
We had booked a hire car for the evening as we had researched some shopping malls and an Applebee’s for dinner. I also had to collect my Tiffany’s charm. Since time was getting short we thought a taxi to Hertz might be quicker so asked the concierge. It took about 10 mins when a town car arrived and offered the trip for 30 dollars. As its only 3 miles away we laughed and asked if he thought we were stupid. In another few mins the booked taxi arrived clearly displaying his meter rates of $2.95 plus 75c per quarter mile. As we approached the driver told us it would be a flat fee of $23, it would have been $21 for one person. Paul asked about the meter, demanding the trip be metered. The driver got very tetchy and in the end drive off! So, running later and later we opted for the shuttle bus after all. By now it was well after 7:30 and the mall we want closed at 9. Paul thought he best call Tiffany’s to check and looked at me horrified as he announced they closed at 7pm. Given we were flying out the next morning at 9am I was stuffed. We were going to have to ask nicely for a refund and I was without my birthday prezzie from my mum.
We got the shuttle to the terminal, then another shuttle to Hertz where thankfully our car was waiting. We still went to the Gallaria mall, arriving just after 8. I did manage to get the things I want from Sephora (make up items) and also got a charm from pandora (guardian angel – angel wings and a pearl) and also a leather cuff that I’d seen online and wanted from Coach.
We left the mall and headed for WalMart. We needed to stock up on tablets for home and Paul got some coke to take on board. He also decided to joke distastefully at the counter that we had loads of pills and a bottle of coke to go wash them all down with. The lady at the counter seemed unimpressed but sold us over Thousand pills and the coke anyway!!
It was getting late, 9pm, and we were both tired (being Texas we were 6 hours behind). We found the Applebee’s on sat nav and off we went. Paul opted for the chicken won ton tacos and I had a fajita wrap, both with fries. It was 10pm when we got out of there and had the awful palaver of the 2 shuttles again to get back to our hotel and we worked out by the time we got to bed we’d been up for 22 and a half hours.
Well hello again, it’s been a while. We are now back on dry land (suffering with sea legs a tad) and sitting out the back of our Bahama Bay apartment. Good news is the bed is bigger in the deluxe. It is peaceful again and very sunny as I type at just after 4pm. I think I must have about 3 days to catch up on so this could take a while. You might want to put the kettle on, treat yourself to a biscuit as well and settle in…
…so, some pertinent updates for you to begin with. Firstly, the Vinylmation Mickey came back all signed and is AWESOME. They have made such a good job of it we were both in wonder. It will be displayed well away from Norah as it is (to quote a famous credit card ad) priceless! Secondly, the cruise itself was also awesome. Probably the best Cruise we have done. Definitely not too overbearing on the Disney although it was busy with 4000 passengers. The time flew and we didn’t even get to do everything we wanted but have vowed we will definitely do it again. Very probably we will book in Jan next year and try to get the same deal we did this time. Finally, before I go back to Monday afternoon, we are now members of the Disney Vacation Club. We have pondered if for some time but there was an on board offer so we took the plunge and signed up. I’ll not go into the details of how it all works and what that means in this blog.
So, where did I leave you? Monday lunchtime I believe as we were getting off the boat to take a wander around Nassau. It was a pleasant day, a little cloudy but warm enough and no sign of the forecasted rain. We looked in a few shops and in ‘Diamonds International’ I tried on a canary yellow diamond ring, which was a snip at $600,000!! I also was interested in some Amolite pieces but the prices were not even comparable to what I can buy from jewellery channels on TV, and it’s the same branded stone. We tried to barter and get a deal but the shops didn’t seem to want our business. Maybe they get enough sales from all the tourists but they seemed happy to let us walk away. I also looked at the Larimar (the stone of the Caribbean) but that too was way more then back home. So, after a couple of hours we got back on board with our dollars in our pocket. On board we went up to deck 11 to get a hot dog and fries and a drink. We sat in the quiet cove (which is mis sold as a live guitarist ruins the peace) before heading back to our room to watch the Princess and the Frog.
Dinner was at the Enchanted Garden restaurant which we were told was based on the gardens of Versailles although it was a tad tacky for our liking. The food was ok and after appetizers of soup and salad I had the roast chicken with sweet potatoes and Paul had prime rib. There was no entertainment in this restaurant and the evening was slightly marred by the entire table (10 of them) of children behind us that were very boisterous and loud. Our fellow table guests were not best pleased either.
After dinner we went to the theatre for the evening’s show that was “Villains Tonight”. It was a stage production with Hades (the ruler of the underworld from the film Hercules) trying to ensure he was still evil enough (having been defeated by Hercules) by enlisting the help of his friends such as Ursula,The Evil Queen, Maleficent, Jafar and Scar. It was not as good as the first night’s show but still good. Afterwards we went back into Pink and had a champagne cocktail then watched a family Disney quiz show before bed.
Tuesday began as all cruise days with breakfast being delivered to our room and consumed on our balcony. We were docked at Castaway Cay (pronounced ‘key’ by Disney for some reason) which is their private Island. It has clearly been well “designed” and was quite idyllic. We got off the boat about mid morning and wandered along the pathways to the beach areas taking photos. At lunchtime we stopped for the on-shore BBQ food which was really good. The weather was amazing, so amazing that I have burned arms to show for it. There were plenty of activities for families to do including lots of the usual water sports as well as bike rides and a water slide called Pelican Plunge.
There were bars and shops as well so we each bought a souvenir t-shirt and had an official photo taken as a memento. We walked all the way down to Serenity Bay, which is the adults’ only beach. We had a paddle in the turquoise blue ocean and then sat in beach chairs with our feet in the sea as the waves lapped. To be absolutely honest, the water was freezing but the scene was certainly paradise. We had decided to get back to the boat for about 2:30 for a ship tour so got the tram all the way back to the boat. We were cutting it fine time wise and then struggled to find the bar the tour start from so ended up missing it. Instead we went to a presentation on the making of the Disney Dream (our boat). I’d got myself a frozen Piña Colada with lashings of rum to sip on so was happy enough 🙂 After this we stayed in the same lounge to here the DVC presentation and as you have already read, they did a good sales job on us! We left there having made an appointment for 9:30pm and went back to our room to get ready for dinner.
Tonight’s dinner was Pirates night and we were in the Royal Palace restaurant. The restaurant was really nice with particularly cute Cinderella Coach breadbaskets. The menu was Mickey and Pirate themed with a Caribbean flavour. I had a Pineapple appetizer whilst Paul opted for the pork dumplings. I then had a jerk chicken salad before a main course of sirloin steak. Paul went for the shrimp and scallop linguini, asking Sean (our server) to de-shell his shrimp. Deserts were rum soaked sponge, yummy. In our cabin we had each been given a bandana and some families had really gone to town with the dressing up. After dinner we went to the theatre, we were late out so had no time for a pre dinner drink. The show was Ronn Lucas, the ventriloquist we had seen on the first night. His main show did not differ much sadly so we saw a lot of the same. He was funny though and is definitely very talented. After he finished we darted to our DVC meeting and were “sold to” by Rob, a very typical American salesman from NJ whose wife was called Cindy. We asked all our questions and got our info but did not want to sign there and the as we still wanted to think about it and work some numbers. He really wanted the sale but we said we may well be back. We were with him an hour which meant we had to run up to deck 11 afterwards as this was fireworks night. DCL is the only ship allowed to set off fireworks at sea from on board. They are called Buccaneer Blast:-
They were excellent, obviously smaller scale as they we set of from the ships funnels, but still excellent. Afterwards there was a show on the deck stage with Captain Jack Sparrow and various Pirate dancers. It was really mild out on deck with no wind and plenty warm enough with just a light cardie. Once the show was over we headed for bed. There was a 3D showing of the 4th Pirates movie in the cinema that we considered but tiredness over ruled.
Wednesday was our sea day so we had a little more of a lie in before breakfast was delivered at about 9:30. Having looked at our planner (called the Personal Navigator as opposed to RC’s Cruise Compass) there was a lot we wanted to do including the ship tour we had missed the day before and various quizzes. Before all of this however, and having done some sums, we called up Rob and made an 11:15 appointment to give him the good news. We couldn’t sign up there and then as paperwork needed t be drawn up but we paid or closing costs and agreed to come back and sign at 2:30pm. We left with a few freebies such as baseball caps, a bag and a really nice wooden box. We grabbed some lunch before we met for the ship tour at 1pm. It was hosted by Lauren; a Brit from Basingstoke. She was new to it (this only being her second tour) but was very good. Her grammar was a little lacking in places (lots of ‘them features’ and ‘them characters’ with seemingly no knowledge the word ‘those’ even existed) but she was enthusiastic and friendly. We learned all sorts of facts from this and the previous days presentation including:
(OK, I’ll be honest, I had to stop here and go for dinner and being really tired after an early start I couldn’t do anymore before bed. So, it’s now Friday morning but I have made a commitment to finish this!)
The ships colour scheme of black, yellow, white and red are the colours of Mickey Mouse
Painting the hull of the ship pure black was a little too imposing so Disney wanted a very dark navy blue. After searching unsuccessfully a meeting was called with several top Disney bigwigs and one of them was a lady in navy trousers; the exact colour they wanted, so they took her trousers and had paint made the same colour. They then named it Monica blue in her honour!
Disney had to get special permission from the Coast Guard to have yellow lifeboats instead of fluorescent orange as was the law. They had to prove their colour was just as noticeable but eventually were granted permission.
Magic and Wonder hold 2000 passengers, the Dream and Fantasy hold 4000
The Magic and Wonder only have “When You Wish Upon A Star” as their horn sound but the Dream has several. On You Tube you can find a video of the ‘battle of the horns’ when The Magic and Dream met each other at Castaway Cay. We’ve watched it and it is so cool.
The tour took us into Remy, one of the restaurants you can pay to eat in. It is $75 a head and French themed. It is based on the film Ratatouille and has a glass model of Remy worth over $45,000 as well as a private dining room that looks exactly like the one in the film. It also has little stools at each table for a lady to put her handbag on so it never has to touch the floor. We also looked at the Bar areas. We had already seen Pink, the champagne bar, but there are about 3 or 4 other bars one of which is called the Skyline. The views from this bar are all LCD screens showing an evening view of a major city. The view looks lifelike with moving cars, flashing lights and waves on the water. Every 15 minutes pixie dust covers the screens and they change to another city. There are about 4 in all so guests can drink for an hour or so and get to see all revolutions. I told you earlier this cruise was neat and way more than just Mickey and his friends. Some if the features and technology are really clever and that’s the Disney we love.
The tour took about an hour and finished in the grand atrium where there is a bronze statue of Admiral Donald. Each ship has a statue: the Magic has Captain Mickey, the Wonder has Ariel and the new Fantasy will have Mademoiselle Minnie. Apparently she has been in over 75 cartoons with Mickey but has never starred in her own feature so the fact she now has her own ship that is bigger than Mickey’s is well deserved according to all the crew.
After the tour concluded we were just in time to see the Princess parade in the Atrium. Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Tiana and Belle all floated down the grand staircase and then pranced around signing autographs for the kids. We got a few pics, especially of “Cinders” with “Cinders”. It was now time to go and sign our DVC deeds so we made our way to the office. The whole process took about 20 minutes or so but by 3pm on Wednesday 1st Feb 2012 we were members of the family. Now wherever we go in DVC areas we are greeted with “Welcome Home”. Since the membership gets us some discounts on property (including Raglan Road the Irish Pub at Pleasure Island) we were told we could pick up our membership cards at Saratoga Springs when we disembarked so we could start enjoying our membership immediately.
We had missed one of the trivia quizzes but headed up to another one in the 687 lounge; so named as that was the hull number of our ship as she was built (it is bad luck to refer to a ship by name before it is completed). The quiz was about the Fantasy and as we had learned a lot on our tour and presentation we got quite a lot correct. We were late starting though so couldn’t win as we hadn’t answered all questions.
After a quick look at our Castaway Cay photos in Shutters we got a place on the atrium balcony to see the “See Ya Real soon” show. It turned out not to be a show, just Mickey and friends signing autographs. Since we still had about an hour before dinner we decided to complete the ‘Midship Detective Agency’ assignment. This is another really cool Disney feature. Each ‘detective’ (young or old and trust me there were several adults having more fun with this than the kids) has a key card that is registered to a screen with your detective number. You then need to seek out the enchanted artworks and solve clues. Enchanted artwork are interactive pictures (LCD screens in reality) but again really cleverly done as framed art. You hold your key card to the screen and your clue could be found in some way such as popping the on screen balloons by pointing your card at them, removing metal objects as your card became a magnet and brushing dust away to reveal stuff. All this was done by merely holding a piece of card about 18 inches from the screen – really neat! We solved our crime, that of the missing artwork and it turned out to be Ymza from the Emperor’s New Groove. The other really cool thing is that if you take another assignment you’ll get different clues for a different crime and criminal. We saw our tablemates on their 3rd assignment.
This took us nicely up to getting ready for dinner and we both felt that for a sea day it had absolutely flown by. Not only this but we could have done more and were both a little disappointed that we didn’t ride the Aquaduck but we’ve decided that it’s a reason that we have to come back.
Dinner was in the Royal Palace again and the menu was easily the best all cruise. Paul had 2 steaming bowls of Belle’s French Onion soup whilst I had some sliced duck and then the garlic escargot which were fab. Main course for me was the lamb and Paul had the Beef with Lobster although he didn’t realize it was a lobster medallion and so left it, much to the disgust of fellow diners and serving staff! Desert was an amazing Grand Marnier Soufflé with Crème Anglaise and Paul also had tasters of the others including a peanut butter chocolate mousse that was really nice. Like I said this was definitely the best meal. We gave our tips to our staff (not paying the prepaid full amount) and made our way to the theatre for the final show. The show was called Believe and was the story of a man who didn’t believe in magic but his daughter wanted him to. After finding the Genie he went on a journey with various characters to make him believe. There were plenty of Disney classics like Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Lion King, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast along the way so we sang and clapped to our faves. This was the best show of the cruise and we both loved it.
After the show we needed to get some packing done so went back to our room and stuffed it all in our cases, remembering to keep out the next day’s clothes and filling in our comment form. We did take a stroll up to the Outlook bar, the highest point on the ship, but it was closed so we headed down to deck. Paul grabbed a coke and I had a hot chocolate and we went back to bed.
Thursday was an early start; up at 7 for disembarkation. Paul went for breakfast in the dining room but I skipped that. We were all ready to get off by 8am and the atmosphere was very different to RC. There was no push to get out of the stateroom, no sitting around in lounges and no time to disembark. We headed up to mid ship and merely wandered off. No line, no fuss, just shook the Captain’s hand and got off. We have no idea why RC make such a meal of disembarkation and seemingly cause more trouble as a ‘free for all’ by Disney worked way better. We found our cases, had a short wait in line for customs and were in our car and on the road by 8:30am which was amazing (and unheard of with RC).
I’m gonna stop now and get this posted for ya (you’ve probably drowned in tea and put on half a stone from all the biscuits). I’ll complete the ‘back on land’ stuff in the next post.
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.
