VWL/Eastern Fantasy Cruise/AKV CL all wrapped into a fabulous b-day trip - Complete

[Pinkocto]

Day 3 of the cruise:

Today was another day at sea and we were finally going to try Palo brunch for the first time. Our reservation was at 10:00 and we both woke up around 9:00. We had received a voicemail the night before notifying us of the dress code, dress or pantsuit for women. Well mom decided she wanted to dress down and had on a skirt and tankini. She claimed she was going to put a blouse on top but the blouse was sheer and you could totally see she was wearing a bathing suit. ‘That will not do’ I said. She fought me but eventually changed into a dress. Thank goodness.

Two decks up to Palo and we were escorted to our table by the wonderful Predrag from Serbia who ended up being our server as well. We had an absolutely perfect table right in front of the windows.



Our view



Part of the restaurant. It was very different than Palo on the Wonder.



Mom was happy she changed clothes. She admitted she would not have felt right wearing what she first put on.



Predrag gave us the tour of the buffet and explained the hot items. I managed to get pictures of every single thing but not of the main room…. I was weaving inbetween people getting food so I’m sorry some of these are crooked.



















Seafood table

 

[Pinkocto]

Sort of an antipasto table























I think these were salmon mousse







These are the items that you can order freshly made

















And finally the pizzas



The dessert table. I had to go back for pictures of the desserts because I was ready to eat!

 

[Pinkocto]

Our first plates of food



Mine



Mom’s



Mom thought this was too pretty not to take a picture



My second plate



Mom’s second plate



We got half a margarita pizza and half goat cheese/sun dried tomatoes. My goodness was this pizza amazing!



I took a break from eating to get pictures of the desserts























This decoration was pretty cool



I went and got a chocolate mousse and mom had a tiramisu



At some point Predrag had come back and asked what items we were going to order aside from the pizza. Mom said she was stuffed to the breaking point but Predrag would have none of that. He insisted she get something. She was between the vegetable pasta and the eggs Florentine and he recommended the eggs so that’s what she ordered. I ordered the smoked salmon orecchiette pasta.

My pasta



Mom’s eggs



We both thoroughly enjoyed our entrees, they were scrumptious! Mom couldn’t finish her eggs but was so glad she was able to taste them.

I went back and got a few more desserts. The one on the right was a passion fruit cheesecake which was amazing and the one in the back was a strawberry compote. Those were my favorite desserts out of the whole table. If only there had been more room to eat more items!



The manager, Juan, came around and asked how we were doing. Of course we were magnificent, how could we not be. He suggested we ask Predrag to make us up a plate of desserts to take with us but we were so full we didn’t bother. Well right before we left Juan came around with a covered plate to take with us. I could only imagine what was under the foil. We settled our bill and carefully made our way out of the restaurant. We really had the perfect table, it was right next to the buffet.

I tried to capture the beauty of the chandelier but it’s almost impossible.



When we got to the room we discovered Juan had given us a plate of chocolate covered strawberries!



We got back to the room a little after noon, so brunch took about two hours. I’m so glad I was able to get a reservation and will absolutely do brunch on all future cruises if I can.

 

[Rozzy]

Oh my gosh. I am definitely doing the brunch over the dinner on our cruise over Halloween on the Wonder. I think my husband and I will enjoy it much better as we absolutely LOVE brunch! Dinner would be wonderful too, but this way we don't have to miss dinner in the MDR with our family either! Your photos are awesome...thanks for going through so much trouble bobbing and weaving to give us all something to dream about and/or look forward to!

 

[dgbg100106]

oh WOW that brunch looked amazing... When (not if) I go on my first DCL, I will so book a brunch in Palo....

 

[rentayenta]

Yum yum yum and cute DVC pin. Great photos as usual. That pizza looks ridiculously good. Palo will be a must when DH and I cruise together.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Brunch looked absolutely delicious. I can't wait to have brunch at Palo again. We booked Brunch and dinner during both parts of our back to back cruise. Did I spot some Peanut Butter dessert there? I would be in heaven. Having said that, I will happily settle for the chocolate covered strawberries.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh my gosh. I am definitely doing the brunch over the dinner on our cruise over Halloween on the Wonder. I think my husband and I will enjoy it much better as we absolutely LOVE brunch! Dinner would be wonderful too, but this way we don't have to miss dinner in the MDR with our family either! Your photos are awesome...thanks for going through so much trouble bobbing and weaving to give us all something to dream about and/or look forward to!

As much as I loved dinner I think I prefer brunch. I loved all the choices. Since this is your first cruise with DCL, don't get discouraged if you can't get a brunch reservation online, go as soon as you can on embarkation day, they save some spots.

 

[Pinkocto]

oh WOW that brunch looked amazing... When (not if) I go on my first DCL, I will so book a brunch in Palo....

I'm glad you've decided to try DCL! Everything was delicious. What I wouldn't give to be cruising right now, work has not been pleasant.

 

[Pinkocto]

Yum yum yum and cute DVC pin. Great photos as usual. That pizza looks ridiculously good. Palo will be a must when DH and I cruise together.

Thank you I kept thinking I needed to get everything for the TR

That pizza was amazing. We both had to force ourselves to stop eating it to save some room for other delicacies.

 

[Pinkocto]

Brunch looked absolutely delicious. I can't wait to have brunch at Palo again. We booked Brunch and dinner during both parts of our back to back cruise. Did I spot some Peanut Butter dessert there? I would be in heaven. Having said that, I will happily settle for the chocolate covered strawberries.

Corinna

Now that's one big plus of doing back to back cruises! You did indeed spot a peanut butter dessert. I was looking forward to that the whole meal. Delicious but very rich.

 

[rentayenta]

Thank you I kept thinking I needed to get everything for the TR

That pizza was amazing. We both had to force ourselves to stop eating it to save some room for other delicacies.

I think that too sometimes when I take photos. Even Michael will tell the kids: smile, this is for mom's trip report.


Have there been any foods on the cruises you've been on that you absolutely didn't like?

 

[Pinkocto]

I think that too sometimes when I take photos. Even Michael will tell the kids: smile, this is for mom's trip report.

I love it!

Have there been any foods on the cruises you've been on that you absolutely didn't like?

The only thing that comes to mind is a phyllo wrapped salmon in the Animators Palate on the Wonder, it just wasn't good at all. There have been several times I like part of the dish but not the whole thing, like the accompanying sauce was not tasty, but there was something salvageable. Oh yes, there was another fish dish on the Dream that I had to send back as well. But they are always happy to bring you something else. It's practically impossible to go hungry.

 

[franandaj]

Great updates! It took me a little while to catch up, you were busy while I was gone!

I was just going over my Palo pictures too and there are slight differences between Palo Brunch on all the ships. After seeing what you guys ate, I feel like a real pig now!

Sorry the ship was so rocky and the weather was cold, it looks like a beautiful ship though, I can't wait until we finally decide to sail on the Fantasy.

 

[Pinkocto]

Great updates! It took me a little while to catch up, you were busy while I was gone!

Thank you I'm just trying to get updates done when I have a little free time, some weeks are better than others.

I was just going over my Palo pictures too and there are slight differences between Palo Brunch on all the ships. After seeing what you guys ate, I feel like a real pig now!

Oh, I can't wait to see your photos! Mom was stuffed to the gills. I was determined not to leave uncomfortable

Sorry the ship was so rocky and the weather was cold, it looks like a beautiful ship though, I can't wait until we finally decide to sail on the Fantasy.

I've decided that no amount of rocking or weather is going to make me not want to cruise, well maybe a hurricane. We had such a good time. I hope you are able to get on the Fantasy sooner rather than later, she was absolutely gorgeous!

 

[Pinkocto]

Day 3 continued:

I left off with us back in the room after our magnificent brunch. We changed into our bathing suits and headed off in search of some sun to lounge in. We had plans to see the 3:00 show of Wishes so had a few hours to relax. We started off at Satellite Falls but left because it was much too windy. We ended up down in the Quiet Cove. Mom pulled a chair into the sun and I caught up in the journal. It was still too windy for me so after I was finished writing I retreated into the Rainforest Room. Since it was a sea day the RFR was much busier than usual, but I was still able to snag a heated tile lounger. I ended up falling asleep for a while which was lovely. I woke up at 2:20 and went out to find mom. She was still in the sun where I left her and probably should have retreated into the shade long before. I managed to drag her away and we headed off to find seats.

We stopped in one of the shops on the way and plenty of beautiful jewelry caught my eye. Nothing was purchased and we headed off to the show. It was cute but a little cheesy. We might skip this show in the future but were still glad we saw it. I really liked the 3:00 option they had on some days. I had a doozy of a headache after the show so we headed back to the room. Mom went and read on the verandah and I lay down in the dark for half an hour. When I felt better I went and asked her if she’d like to watch a movie. She thought that was a great plan and we ended up watching Bedknobs and Broomsticks. After the movie we headed up to the RFR and relaxed until dinner. We had the entire place to ourselves and just relaxed on the heated tile loungers. As dinner approached we headed out.

Dinner was at Animator’s Palate that evening and it was only Mike and Kathryn joining us again. We found out the next night that Ilene and Richard were at Palo.

I thought the place settings were quite cute



Here’s our server Martin



A shot of the restaurant



Crush came to visit. He went from screen to screen chatting with people throughout dinner. When Crush wasn’t there other friends from Finding Nemo came by.



We both started with the truffle pursettes, so yummy!



Mom had the baked potato soup which I completely missed taking a picture of. She also had the Tomato confetti salad



I don’t care for onions or peppers so asked if I could have mine without them. Martin said that was fine but it would take a little longer. It didn’t, it came the same time everyone else’s salads came.



For my entrée nothing on the menu interested me so I ordered the ‘simple fare’ consisting of baked salmon, baked potato, and steamed vegetables. This was fantastic, everything was cooked perfectly.



Mom wasn’t interested in the entrees either so just got a large portion of the mushroom risotto



For dessert I got the cookie sundae which was quite delicious



And mom had a Mickey bar



She was in Heaven!



All the screens changed to ‘drawings’ at the end of the evening.



After our delicious dinner we headed straight up to the room, we had an early day ahead of us. We had to meet for our excursion at 8:00 the next morning.

We never figured out what this was supposed to be…



I caught up in the journal before going to sleep around 11:00.

 

[dolphingirl47]

They used to the matinees of the show on the classic ships, too, but I have not seen this for ages. I much prefer to see a show in the afternoon and then go for a swim or relax in the Rainforest Room during show time. Dinner looked delicious again.

Corinna

 

[dgbg100106]

it looked a nice relaxing day, sorry you had a headache. i like the idea of a mid day show also.

 

[jenseib]

We did Palo brunch on the dream and dinner on the magic. I prefer the brunch so much more. It was heavenly!
Yours looks great too.

 

[rentayenta]

Pam, I don't know if you're dressing up for pirate night on our cruise but buy costumes dot com has $10 pirate costumes.

Now back to your update.....