Disney Fantasy June 22-29th 2013: Boardwalk, Boat, and Boston! 2nd Wedding Annivesary

[disneybarbie]

I love Royal Court, at least in photos it's my favorite of the MDRs! Hooray for empty bars as well!

I loved the theme at Royal Court too - all of the restaurants are so beautifully themed, even the servers costumes and all of the plates are unique to each!

Both times we visited Ooh La La we were the only people in there too. We couldn't figure it out, since its such a cute place.

Our favorite bars were a tie between Skyline and the Meridian (upstairs, by Remy and Palo). The Meridian is kind of tiny, but we loved the amazing view through the windows behind the bar.

We really liked Meridian too - beautiful location, I noticed it featured on a Cruise Critic list of top cruise line bars recently!

I am so excited to see your latest update. We are doing the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins tour so it was nice to hear your perspective. I must remember to make sure our things are ready for a quick change for dinner since we have main dining and it doesn't sound like we will have much time to get showered and dressed after our tour. Perhaps I should also warn our table mates that we might be late and not to wait on us

Hi! I'm not sure if our tour was a bit delayed leaving/returning - but I guess you might want to be prepared for a quick change with the first seating for dinner

Those pyramids are incredible! That is a lot of people on an excursion, however.
Mmm champagne cocktails!

The pyramids were amazing, so glad we did that tour!



Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

Wednesday 26th June 2013

Cozumel, Mexico


When we woke up, the ship was already approaching Cozumel.







We went up to Cabanas for breakfast and sat outside – I had a poached egg, smoked fish and grilled tomatoes.



We went back to our stateroom and packed our bag ready for the day, and then went for a walk around the ship as we had some time before our excursion meeting time.

A lot of excursions had already begun, so the ship was very empty...













Our plan had been to play mini golf, but unfortunately it was closed as the crew were loading the fireworks ready for the pirate party later!



We went to deck 5 as we'd not been there yet, I noticed that the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique had been transformed into the Pirate League.







We stopped at the Vista Cafe on Deck 4 for a latte and an oolong tea. We had visited this cafe on the Dream and really liked the location, lots of comfortable seats and a quiet location. I also now had five stamps on my speciality coffee card.. so my next one would be free!




....

 

[Dugette]

Nice pictures from around the somewhat empty ship!

Too bad the mini golf was closed...that course looks really cute!

 

[dmwang9]

Playing minigolf has been on my to do list ever since my first Disney cruise, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. One of these trips...

Thanks for another great post!

-- Dave

 

[disneybarbie]

Nice pictures from around the somewhat empty ship!

Too bad the mini golf was closed...that course looks really cute!

Playing minigolf has been on my to do list ever since my first Disney cruise, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. One of these trips...

Thanks for another great post!

-- Dave

It was a shame we didn't get to play mini golf.. luckily we had played it onboard the Dream two years ago, and it was the same course

 

[disneybarbie]

...

Soon it was time to go to the Lake Buena Vista Theatre to check in for our excursion.



The crew member that checked us in was the same girl from England who had welcomed us on to the ship on the first day! She said that there were only six people booked on our tour (I guess something called 'Tacos and Tequila' is not the most family-orientated tour on a Disney cruise!), and that we had to enjoy it for 'all of the crew who can't get off the ship today' .



We sat and waited for about ten minutes in the theatre, there were Chip and Dale cartoons playing on the screens – I hadn't watched Disney shorts for a long time and during this cruise I watched so many of them.
There were two other couples on our tour with us, we were all a similar age so it was a nice small group.

We were walked off the ship by a crew member, and introduced to our tour guide Martin on the dock.





He led us to a mini bus which drove us to the Discover Mexico park, about ten minutes away from the dock.
Similar to Jesus the day before in Costa Maya, Martin told us lots about Cozumel and Mexico throughout the tour. The day we were there, the only two ships at the port was the Fantasy and a Carnival ship – however there can be up to 12 cruise ships there at peak times!

Once we arrived at the park, Martin showed us some agave plants growing in the entrance. They take 8-10 years to grow and can weigh up to 400 lbs!



We went inside the building and sat in a theatre to watch a short video about Mexico (similar to something you might watch in Epcot's world showcase), and then Martin led us around the modern art museum, explaining how some of the pieces were made and what they represented.



He also showed us on a large illustrated map where the village of Tequila was.



Next we went outside where we were invited to have our photo taken with a donkey and/or a python (we declined the snake photo!) - these were printed out and we had the option of buying them later, we did buy ours (I think it was $10) but there wasn't a hard sell. Martin asked us something in Spanish, which I replied to (I studied Spanish until university so I'm quite happy to speak it still!) - and after that he spoke to me in Spanish rather than English! He noticed that I had a Spanish accent rather than a Mexican one.

Next we were shown around the park – they have lots of scale models of famous Mexican land marks. I had seen this listed as a separate excursion when we were planning our cruise, so I was surprised that we got to see it as part of our tacos and tequila tour too!



Martin showed DH how to take photos at certain angles, which made the buildings look like they were real size.



...

 

[disneybarbie]

...

Then it was time to try some tequila! We were led to a glass building at the front of the park, and the six of us sat up at a high table that was set with glasses of tequila, water and some food items. Our tequila expert was called Diego, he was very friendly and told us so much about tequila. I must admit, tequila isn't something that I'd choose to drink – but after this tasting I can at least now appreciate the different types.



We were encourage to sip water, nibble dry crackers and smell coffee beans between each sample to clear our palettes. There were three tequilas to try – a silver one, an anejo and a reposado.
Everything was delivered so professionally, I had imagined it would be so much more informal but ended up really enjoying the whole experience!
There were also pieces of cinnamon and lime that we could smell before sipping the tequilas, which would then change the taste of the drink.



After this, we were taken to another glass building where Diego and Martin made us traditional margeritas – these were so nice.



They asked us a few quiz questions too, based on what they'd taught us so far – I got a couple of the answers right, which meant we were given a sample of a very special aged tequila (I let DH try that!).



After all of the tequila, we were all ready for some lunch!

We were led to the buffet area, where there was freshly made tacos, pulled pork, pulled beef, nachos, empanadas, salsa and guacamole. We were also given two vouchers, one for a soda and one for a beer, DH had both but I decided to just have a Diet Coke
The food was amazing – obviously some of the best Mexican food I've ever had!



We were then given about thirty minutes to wander around the park and the gift shop.



Our group got back together and then Martin walked us to a mini bus waiting to take us back to the port.



I'd booked this tour as something a bit more fun after two cultural excursions, but it turned out to be a great mix of entertainment and education

...

 

[klacey1]

Hmm a fun and educational tequila tasting! I am not a fan of sipping tequila, but it sounds like a fun experience! And that margarita and the food look delicious!!

 

[JKSWonder]

DH and I would LOVE to do the Tacos and Tequila tour on our upcoming cruise, but we would have to ditch our kids!

We think they would object to this, so I think we are just going to go with beach excursion instead. One where they serve tacos and tequila!

 

[Leshaface]

Yay all caught up now!

My DH would absolutely love seeing those turtles! I would have passed too on the Turtle Burgers

When you were walking around Grand Cayman, was it at all like the Bahamas, how you have people bombarding you with tours, souvies, etc.? We felt like that in the Bahamas and even when we ported in Cabo San Lucas. I hate that.

The ruins look amazing! Something I would definitely choose. In fact, I would have also chosen the Tacos and Tequila tour. We wouldn't have even questioned it. I can't believe there were only 6 of you! Very intimate tour though.

You have no idea how much heck I get for being Mexican and not being able to speak it Especially DH! He looks way more Mexican than me and I know more than him That's great that you're able to speak it and understand it.

 

[disneybarbie]

Hmm a fun and educational tequila tasting! I am not a fan of sipping tequila, but it sounds like a fun experience! And that margarita and the food look delicious!!

It was a really fun excursion! I think I would appreciate a wine or rum tasting more hehe

DH and I would LOVE to do the Tacos and Tequila tour on our upcoming cruise, but we would have to ditch our kids!

We think they would object to this, so I think we are just going to go with beach excursion instead. One where they serve tacos and tequila!

Maybe you could do this excursion on a future cruise the beach tours sounded fun too.. btw hope you have a fantastic trip and wonderful cruise!

Yay all caught up now!

My DH would absolutely love seeing those turtles! I would have passed too on the Turtle Burgers

When you were walking around Grand Cayman, was it at all like the Bahamas, how you have people bombarding you with tours, souvies, etc.? We felt like that in the Bahamas and even when we ported in Cabo San Lucas. I hate that.

The ruins look amazing! Something I would definitely choose. In fact, I would have also chosen the Tacos and Tequila tour. We wouldn't have even questioned it. I can't believe there were only 6 of you! Very intimate tour though.

You have no idea how much heck I get for being Mexican and not being able to speak it Especially DH! He looks way more Mexican than me and I know more than him That's great that you're able to speak it and understand it.

Hi Lesha! When I first read 'turtle' on the menu, I didn't think it meant real turtle.. oops!

We didn't find Grand Cayman to be anywhere near as 'intense' as Nassau or other Caribbean ports - Cozumel was more like Nassau, but I think just saying 'no thank you' politely worked fine to stop them talking to us

That's cute about you guys speaking Spanish! In the UK we have to learn French, I did Spanish as an option at school but always enjoyed it more - I'm really glad to have it as a 'second' language now!


Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

....

Once we were back at the port, DH and I decided to go for a walk around the town before getting back on the ship. We did find that lots of the shop and bar owners would stand outside on the street and try to get us to come in  but a simple 'no gracias' made most of them leave us alone.
Our tour included a free cocktail at Margeritaville, so we stopped there for a little while.



We wandered back to the port, we stopped to look in the duty free shop  they had Dragonberry Bacardi for only $12 (this is used in the dragonberry colada from the Epcot Food and Wine Festival!), but I wasn't confident we could get it safely home as we still had two flights to go.





Once we were back onboard, we got changed and went up to deck 13 to sunbathe  but first we had to do one thing.. ride the Aqua Duck!

Unfortunately it broke down when we were fourth from the front  but we only waited 15 minutes in total. It's worth waiting for though, such a unique water slide.

We sunbathed for a couple of hours, and then at 5pm we got to see a premiere of Monsters University in the Walt Disney Theatre





It was so much fun to see a new Disney/Pixar movie while onboard a Disney cruise ship, surrounded by other huge Disney fans. Everyone was laughing, gasping and applauding all the way through!
We both really enjoyed the movie, a great prequel to one of my favourite Pixar movies! We also noticed that the 3D glasses were so much better than the ones we get in the cinemas at home, they were more like the ones you get to wear in Star Tours.

We got back to our room about 7pm and got ready for dinner, we started watching Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End  to get us ready for Pirates In The Caribbean night!



For our honeymoon cruise I had bought us pirate costumes to wear for Pirate night, however we felt a bit self-conscious as most adults didn't seem to dress up too much. So this time we just wore the bandanas that were left in our stateroom, and DH had a pirate-themed tshirt on.

The music playing in the corridors changed from normal Disney tunes to Pirates music... I love the scores from the movies

Dinner was at Animators Palate, I think this is the best place to have Pirate night as all of the screens are showing concept artwork for the Pirates movies, the attraction, and Peter Pan.



To eat, I had crabcake, chilled melon soup, Castaway Cay chicken with rice and beans, and then a banana and chocolate crepe.



It was another outstanding meal! This evening we definitely noticed the ship rocking during our meal  the restaurant is on deck 3 and I think the ship's movement is more pronounced the lower down you are.

We finished dinner about 10pm and made our way up to deck 13 ready to watch the fireworks show. We weren't too worried about seeing the show on deck 12 as we had seen it on the Dream.

The fireworks were beautiful  set to Pirates music, such a unique event on a Disney cruise!
While waiting for the show, we noticed a few families with children coming up to deck 13 to watch the fireworks... however the crew members up there noticed straight away and asked the guests politely to find a different area as it was for over 18s only. Some were quite angry about this, but I was glad to see the rules enforced.



Video here

We went to bed at 11pm, but the clocks were going forward over night so it was actually midnight!
The towel animal was quite amazing this evening...



The boat was moving quite a lot still, we both felt fine though and it made for a really nice night's sleep, gently rocking!

 

[klacey1]

Interesting that you feel the rocking the lower in the ship you are! I've never been on a cruise, so I had no idea. I really like the CMs kept the families off the 18+ deck-- obviously it's a Disney cruise, but you should be able to count on separate adults areas if they're advertised as such!

 

[disneybarbie]

Interesting that you feel the rocking the lower in the ship you are! I've never been on a cruise, so I had no idea. I really like the CMs kept the families off the 18+ deck-- obviously it's a Disney cruise, but you should be able to count on separate adults areas if they're advertised as such!

Hi! We definitely noticed the sea movement more on this cruise, I guess because we travelled further than our 5 night Bahamian cruise in 2011. Luckily neither of us seem to suffer from motion sickness (I had medicine and wristbands just in case though!) - one of our tablemates did suffer with it though, he took medicine and also each evening our server would bring him a glass of ginger ale at the end of each meal

I was glad to see the 'adults only' policy being enforced.. after all, the kids, tweens and teens all have their own areas on the ship that we can't go to either


Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

Thursday 27th June 2013

Day at Sea

The clocks had gone back forward this morning, so we had a nice lie in – and enjoyed seeing this beautiful view from the balcony...



Today we were trying Palo for brunch for the first time – we had eaten dinner there onboard the Dream, but I'd heard nothing but wonderful things about brunches there, so we decided to try that instead on this cruise.
I rang the restaurant about 9am, as I wanted to double check the dress code! The crew member I spoke to said it was smart casual, same as dinners in the main restaurants.

We arrived there just before our 10am reservation, and were asked to wait a few minutes in the Meridian bar.



There were some other guests waiting too, but we could only have waited about 2 minutes before we were called!
The servers were all lined up at the entrance to greet us, I always think this is a nice touch at the Disney Cruise restaurants.
Our table was a semi-circular booth, furthest from the entrance and right by the buffet area.



Our server was called Luka – he was from Sorrento, Italy. From the very start he was an outstanding server – he was professional but so engaging, he lived in London and loved English football, so he and DH had a lot to talk about throughout our meal!

We were offered a glass of mimosa to begin, as well as ice cold water and tea or coffee. Luka gave us a tour of the buffet.. I had thought until that moment that Boma, Cabanas and Enchanted Garden had the best breakfast buffets ever.. but Palo's was incredible! Luka recommended that we did NOT get any of the fruit, pastries or egg dishes, because we could have those anywhere onboard the ship (that was tough, as they all looked delicious!). Instead, he suggested we try the seafood and meat offerings, then order some of the hot dishes, and then visit the dessert table.
We did just that – for the hot dishes, we took Luka's recommendations of lasagne, steak, oysters and baked mozzarella (we were just going to get the first two, but he insisted we get four.. “you don't have to eat all of it!” he said ).

First I tried smoked salmon mousse, Parma ham and melon, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, parmesan, baked aubergine and caviar (why not?!).



Next – I tried the scallops, salmon, seared tuna, garlic brushed ciabatta and lobster salad.



Then the hot food arrived!



All four of these were amazing – I would never have ordered oysters or baked mozzarella, but I'm so glad we took our servers recommendations. The steak melted in the mouth and it was the first time I'd ever had lasagne in the morning!

We were pretty full by this point, but the desserts were too pretty to pass on...

I tried a tiramisu, passionfruit mousse cake and a caramel tartlet.



Luka couldn't believe how little we ate for dessert, but we were too full up! So he told me to get another plate of desserts, and he would wrap them in clingfilm for us so we could take it back to our room for later. I only took a few chocolate dipped strawberries, I was so surprised he had suggested it!

We had one last plate brought to our table..



So beautiful! I didn't know what to do with it – are you supposed to eat these?! I just tried a little of the rasberry coulis

Palo brunch was one of the most amazing meals we've ever had - I completely understand why reviews of it are so good! We were there for nearly two hours, everything about the experience was outstanding – and the $20 each charge was definitely worth it.

.....

 

[Princess Michelle]

.

 

[JKSWonder]

The music playing in the corridors changed from normal Disney tunes to Pirates music... I love the scores from the movies

That's my favorite part of the whole night!

 

[Leshaface]

So glad the CM's were on top of keeping kids out of the adult area

Okay, i've never even heard or seen anything about steak or lasagna! Every time I hear about Palo Brunch, I hear of the chicken parm or the pizzas or the eggs florentine. These all look so amazing! We will definitely be doing Palo Brunch again in the future

 

[klacey1]

Your brunch sounds amazing! What a great variety of foods! And how weird to cross a timezone while on the water--very odd to wake up in a different place! (Something I guess you get used to on a cruise ship!)

 

[Dugette]

Great updates! Tacos and tequilas sounds like a fun tour. Those models of things are pretty neat too.

Wow, Palo brunch is pretty unique! Might have to add that to the "someday" list! Looks yummy.