Just Relaxin’ on the Wonder – Nowhere, Nothing, Nada. - Complete! and Final Thoughts

[franandaj]

Really? Is it a safety reason or did they do it so that they can charge you $24.99 per day to rent one?

I'm glad that Magdalene explained this one. I had no clue!

Who needs the English version? you said yourself that you know the movie inside and out. This would be a great way to learn a new language!

True! I thought of making my GPS speak in German or French and see how well I remember those from my schooling.

Cool! Got to try something new and get a quick start on your Drink of the Day. And it was free!!!!

That was the best part!

I don't blame you. Seems a little cheesy to me.

It was oozing with cheese, and not a good one.

I totally would not have guessed this about you!

I'm really outgoing online, but in person, not so much. Well, unless I know the person online. With DISmeets it's like we pick up right where we left off online.

Because... well, ice cream.

Exactly!

Cool! I wasn't sure how that worked with a back to back, but I assume this means you can just leave everything there when you return to port and have to leave and return to the ship?

As long as you have the same cabin for both cruises. Jetskigirl did a B2B, but they changed cabins from a regular one to a One Bedroom Concierge so that her two sons could join them for the two day part.

If the bad guys are going to have guns, I'm glad the good guys have bigger guns.

Without getting into a political discussion. I can agree with this.

Wow... this could be a lot of fun to deal with for the rest of the trip.

Let's just say that she learned where her limits on walking were.

Quite a haul!

She usually does!

It is a safety issue. Not the power strip in itself, but many come with surge protection. And that is the dangerous part. Something to do with the electric current on the ship not being grounded (is that the correct word? meaning that electric systems are usually connected to the ground and the ship obviously has no ground to be connected to). It seems that if there is a surge proctector installed, the electricity has nowhere to go and can then cause a brilliant electric fire in a stateroom. Does not sound like a good situation on a ship. So, it is easier to ban all power strips instead of having the ship electrician check every one that a guest wants to bring on board. You can get them for free from guest services, just a deposit is required.

Thanks for explaining this one!

I'm going to comment now before I forget anything. Firstly, thanks so much for taking time out before your trip to spend time with me.

You didn't do bad at all getting some sleep and then out of the house early.

It was great to see you! Hopefully we can get together for a little longer in Decemeber.

Ugh on the port, I am not looking forward to that next year for the PC.

No, I wouldn't think you would, but at least you have been warned. Book this night before at the Wyndam. It will make your like easier to schlep your stuff over there.

Did you like that raspberry mousse thing at lunch? I've been dreaming of that since last year on the Wonder!

Yes, it was really good and very light. A perfect dessert to not fill me up!

AWESOME room!!!!!! Did you put one of the scooters in the closet to charge or was there enough room in the actual room?

We only bring Fran's scooter on a cruise. There isn't as much walking involved as in a park.

No way for reals?! Ugh, I hate having all my electronics all over the place instead of in one designated area.

There are only two plugs anyways. They encourage you to bring the hubs for your tablets, phones and such, it makes life a lot easier.

Love this!

I figured you would being you like Jack so much.

Well at least you got a free drink out of it! Actually, you probably would have been really good at that game.

Actually I didn't get any. Some of the songs were rather obscure.

I love that feeling of unpacking and being 'home'!

Totally!

Very pretty.

The harbor itself was pretty. The port just sucked.

You look great!

Thanks!

Haha these are awesome.

We try!

That's the most sensible thing I've heard on a TR yet.

Sometimes Fran can be very sensible. Her body often doesn't allow her any choice!

Poop. I hate when you just get somewhere and there's a problem right off the bat.

Well they did solve it very quickly so that was good!

Not aware. Why not? Fire hazard?

Something to do with surge protectors and grounding. Flossbolna explained it quite well.

So.... that's the program that I would have on, then.

Among others...there are a whole series of educational programs that they have to tell you about the ins and outs of the ship.

Very good alternate!

It worked for me.

Ugh. Nope.
Definitely not for me.

Exactly!

Oddly enough. This is the one thing I know about cruising!
Another DISer explained it to me on his TR.

Well then, you didn't need to watch that program earlier either!

I knew it!!!

Well what else could you do with that room?

Why? For tax purposes?

It has something to do with an agreement with the ports for a no competition agreement. Ships can not sell any merchandise while in port. Only liquor.

[URL='http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2015/Wonder%20Cruise/IMG_7131.jpg.html']Nice costume!
[URL='http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2015/Wonder%20Cruise/IMG_7131.jpg.html'][URL='http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2015/Wonder%20Cruise/IMG_7131.jpg.html'] [/URL][/URL][/URL]

[URL='http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2015/Wonder%20Cruise/IMG_7131.jpg.html'][URL='http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2015/Wonder%20Cruise/IMG_7131.jpg.html']

Thanks!

[URL='http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2015/Wonder%20Cruise/IMG_7131.jpg.html']And a great pic!

Thanks again!

I am all caught up.

Loving the TR great information.

Your pictures are so cute and love the pirate outfits.

I'm glad you are caught up and are enjoying the information and outfits.

You both look great in your pirate outfits!

Love all the pictures around the ship and the Halloween decorations are too cute.

Those SW shirts are great with the cruise touches

Thanks! It's a fun time to be on the cruise ship!

Glad to hear that there is someone else out there who is also very particular about not food not touching on the plate

Yay! Kindred spirits!

Lovely chapter! Don't know much about cruising, but someday, maybe I'll take the plunge and enjoy all they have to offer. But I love that you're having a great time getting settled in and getting into the party mode. After getting all relaxed of course; I imagine a cruise is a lot more of that than going to the parks!

Someday you might enjoy trying it. A cruise is much more relaxed than touring the parks, but on Disney they offer the characters and other touches that make everything so much more magic than other cruise lines. It's been a while since I've been on other ships, but Disney keeps it so much fun!

That is a lot of meals you have planned!!

Technically I could have my meals all the way planned 180 days out, but I prefer to only do it about 24-30 days in advance! Except when I have Disney trips planned![/URL][/URL][/URL]

 

[franandaj]

What reservations did you make?

Well you won't find that out here! You didn't read the guidelines! Guideline #1 - This is a "cruise only", I will be covering the B2B cruises in October on the CA Coast in this report. You're always jumping the gun!

 

[pkondz]

Well they did solve it very quickly so that was good!

There is that.

Something to do with surge protectors and grounding. Flossbolna explained it quite well.

I saw that! Thanks @Flossbolna !

Well then, you didn't need to watch that program earlier either!

Hey! It's pretty much the only thing I know! I'd watch!

Well what else could you do with that room?

Bad girl time out room.

It has something to do with an agreement with the ports for a no competition agreement. Ships can not sell any merchandise while in port. Only liquor.

Ah. Thanks.

 

[franandaj]

There is that.

It's Disney, they're good like that.

Hey! It's pretty much the only thing I know! I'd watch!

There is plenty more I ended up watching. We like mindless noise droning on in the background.

Bad girl time out room.

 

[franandaj]

So we had just finished up shopping and taking photos as pirates.


Then we decided to head over to the restaurant. Animator’s Palate was our rotation for tonight and I’m not sure why there was line, but it stretched all the way through Shutters and into the second floor of the Atrium. I decided rather than to wait standing in the line, I was just going to sit down in the atrium near the future cruise desk and wait for the line to start to move.

It was about 15 minutes late when it started to move, and pretty soon we were seated at our table. I was pretty familiar with the menu.









I wanted a Martini (well Gibson actually) before dinner, but we didn’t get to one of the bars to order it, so I ordered it from the waiter. When he brought me vodka straight up 20 minutes later, I was less than thrilled. But I went with it anyways as I didn’t want to wait another 20 minutes.



Fran got the Blueberrilicious



I KNEW exactly what I would be getting here for my appetizer. The Truffle Pursettes, and before anyone goes off about funny food they’ve never heard of, all they really are is Cheese Raviolis in a fancy shape and a fancy name! But the sauce is really good and they are really tasty.



Fran got the Tomato Tart. It was really good, she gave me a bite.



For the soup, I got the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup.



While Fran had the Creamy Butternut Squash Soup.



I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted for my Entrée, but finally settled on the Herb Crusted Pork Chop. It was pretty good, but I was definitely getting full by this point.



Fran went with the Grilled Tuna steak, she must have liked it well enough, because she ordered it again later in the week.



Our waiters brought out the dessert menu, and then there was “the show”. I’ll have to give you pictures later in the week, because we had lousy seats to see anything going on the in the dining room. Because we had been seated so late and things took longer than expected, our waiters told us that if we had dessert we wouldn’t have time to see the fireworks up on deck. This turned out not to be quite true, but everyone passed on dessert and headed up to see the show. Fran and I stopped in the room to change into more comfy clothes, as the pirate dress can get might uncomfortable after a while. Our bed was made up and turned down.



I thought it was funny, the couch had been made up. Why? Who was going to sleep there? This was the only night that she did this for us.



We headed up to Deck 10 and it turned out that the fireworks didn’t start at 9:55, the Pirate Dance Party did. So we ended up standing around for about 20 minutes when we could have been eating dessert. Oh well, calories saved. Instead, I went down to the bar and got a glass of wine while we waited. A photographer came by and took our picture. We didn’t even give him our room key or anything, but somehow this picture ended up in our folder with all the other pictures we took.



I took this photo up on deck to make sure that the settings were pretty much correct for the light, and it’s kind of a nice shot of the funnel and where we were standing while waiting for the fireworks to begin.



Mickey zip lined in over the party to kick off the fireworks, and just as soon as he crossed the ship, the fireworks began behind us.



I took a lot of pictures, but most didn’t come out really well. I didn’t have a tripod, and with hand held, I just wasn’t getting really nice firework trails, so I gave up mid show and just sort of watched and enjoyed the moment.









After this, we were pretty tired, we had been up since 5:30AM, and had a pretty eventful day. I was looking forward to the ship rocking me to sleep.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Then we decided to head over to the restaurant. Animator’s Palate was our rotation for tonight and I’m not sure why there was line, but it stretched all the way through Shutters and into the second floor of the Atrium.

I will never understand this. On the first night I kind of get it as people don't know where their tables are, but every time I have eaten at Animator's Palate, it has been like this. We quite like the window seats inside Shutters to wait out the storm.

When he brought me vodka straight up 20 minutes later, I was less than thrilled. But I went with it anyways as I didn’t want to wait another 20 minutes.

That would be my worst nightmare, but then I am not to keen on vodka at the best of times.

Fran got the Blueberrilicious

That however looks delicious.

I KNEW exactly what I would be getting here for my appetizer. The Truffle Pursettes

The first thing I checked is that they are still on the menu.

I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted for my Entrée, but finally settled on the Herb Crusted Pork Chop. It was pretty good, but I was definitely getting full by this point.

I think this is new. I like the look of this.

I thought it was funny, the couch had been made up. Why? Who was going to sleep there? This was the only night that she did this for us.

Maybe she thought you had brought a house elf after all.

A photographer came by and took our picture.

That is a really nice idea to have a roaming photographer.

Corinna

 

[Steppesister]

Uhhh, ok, the couch being made up is a little weird.

And now you have me convinced that cruising is the way to go. I mean, LOOK AT THE FOOD!

 

[pkondz]

I decided rather than to wait standing in the line, I was just going to sit down in the atrium near the future cruise desk and wait for the line to start to move.

Smart.
Kinda makes me think of the adage "Work smarter, not harder"
Which I really think is management speak for "Do more with fewer people."

I was pretty familiar with the menu.

The first thing I see, I want.
blueberrilicious.

I wanted a Martini (well Gibson actually) before dinner, but we didn’t get to one of the bars to order it, so I ordered it from the waiter.

I don't care for olives either.

When he brought me vodka straight up 20 minutes later, I was less than thrilled.

Had you at least asked for a vodka Gibson instead of a gin?

But I went with it anyways as I didn’t want to wait another 20 minutes.

No kidding!

Fran got the Blueberrilicious

I like her already!

Wait. Is that an olive she's holding?
From your drink????
So they didn't get that right either?

I KNEW exactly what I would be getting here for my appetizer. The Truffle Pursettes, and before anyone goes off about funny food they’ve never heard of, all they really are is Cheese Raviolis in a fancy shape and a fancy name! But the sauce is really good and they are really tasty.

No going off here. You eat what you want to eat. I got no problem with that.

For the soup, I got the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup.

Sounds good. Was it?

Fran went with the Grilled Tuna steak, she must have liked it well enough, because she ordered it again later in the week.

Or didn't care for it, forgot that she ordered it and ordered it again.

Because we had been seated so late and things took longer than expected, our waiters told us that if we had dessert we wouldn’t have time to see the fireworks up on deck. This turned out not to be quite true, but everyone passed on dessert and headed up to see the show.

Good one.
"Okay boys (and girls) we're running late. Do whatever you have to do to get them out of here without eating any dessert. Go!"

Fran and I stopped in the room to change into more comfy clothes, as the pirate dress can get might uncomfortable after a while. Our bed was made up and turned down.

I assume the cat stuffy was brought along and the towel animal was made for you?

I thought it was funny, the couch had been made up. Why? Who was going to sleep there? This was the only night that she did this for us.

My guess is they saw two women in one room and didn't know if you guys were married, a couple, roommates, travel buds... whatever.
So make it up just in case and if it's not used, you'll know for next time.
I'm guessing that's easier than not doing it and having to go back and do it.
Or not as awkward about asking people what their relationship status is.

Oh well, calories saved.

But calories don't count on vacation!

A photographer came by and took our picture. We didn’t even give him our room key or anything, but somehow this picture ended up in our folder with all the other pictures we took.

Disney magic.

Mickey zip lined in over the party to kick off the fireworks

Cool. From where to where?

After this, we were pretty tired, we had been up since 5:30AM, and had a pretty eventful day.

Long day, indeed!

I was looking forward to the ship rocking me to sleep.

Niiiiice.

 

[franandaj]

I will never understand this. On the first night I kind of get it as people don't know where their tables are, but every time I have eaten at Animator's Palate, it has been like this. We quite like the window seats inside Shutters to wait out the storm.

By the time we got there, those were all full. I know there were a lot of new families on this cruise. My thought was that they couldn't get the first set of diners to leave in time for the second set.

That would be my worst nightmare, but then I am not to keen on vodka at the best of times.

I like Vodka, so that wasn't the problem, I just wanted a little vermouth and a cocktail onion.

That however looks delicious.

Her drink was good. She let me have a sip.

The first thing I checked is that they are still on the menu.

Yeah, I would have been very mad if they were removed.

I think this is new. I like the look of this.

I didn't remember seeing this either. They made another change which will come later, that I was really pleased with.

Maybe she thought you had brought a house elf after all.

That is a really nice idea to have a roaming photographer.

I liked it, we found one again on the next cruise too!

Uhhh, ok, the couch being made up is a little weird.

And now you have me convinced that cruising is the way to go. I mean, LOOK AT THE FOOD!

I thought so too, I mean, I think we look like a couple.

Wait until you see some of the other meals, this one is just a warm up.

Smart.
Kinda makes me think of the adage "Work smarter, not harder"
Which I really think is management speak for "Do more with fewer people."

Probably!

The first thing I see, I want.
blueberrilicious.

You were right to want that one, it was a winner!

I don't care for olives either.

You and I could eat together, no coconut, no olives...there were a few other things on your "do not eat list" that I approved of.

Had you at least asked for a vodka Gibson instead of a gin?

I did ask for Vodka instead of Gin. There is no way I could have drank Gin straight up.

No kidding!

Yeah, I couldn't believe it took that long, but perhaps that's why we were all waiting to get into the dining room.

I like her already!

Wait. Is that an olive she's holding?
From your drink????
So they didn't get that right either?

After all that they still didn't get it right.

No going off here. You eat what you want to eat. I got no problem with that.

I've been told by some people that eat funny things...

Sounds good. Was it?

Actually I was wrong about this one.

Or didn't care for it, forgot that she ordered it and ordered it again.

It turns out that she did not order it again, she got the soup I ordered, so I guess she like the Baked Potato with Bacon better.

Good one.
"Okay boys (and girls) we're running late. Do whatever you have to do to get them out of here without eating any dessert. Go!"

Pretty much, I'm sure that's what happened.

I assume the cat stuffy was brought along and the towel animal was made for you?

We always bring a cat along with us, it's either Lucifer or Marie (at least so far). We hope that the stateroom host(ess) will be playful with it. We brought Lucifer along on our first cruise in 12 years and our host, was hilarious in the poses he put the cat with the towel animals. Since then we have not had nearly as clever a host.

My guess is they saw two women in one room and didn't know if you guys were married, a couple, roommates, travel buds... whatever.
So make it up just in case and if it's not used, you'll know for next time.
I'm guessing that's easier than not doing it and having to go back and do it.
Or not as awkward about asking people what their relationship status is.

You're probably right. We do both wear wedding rings, but I can see your point. I thought though that we had moved in pretty obviously on "our own" sides of the bed. We didn't have four giant suitcases because they were empty waiting for souvenirs!

But calories don't count on vacation!

I missed that memo, or at least the 10 pounds that clung to my body after the trip did!

Disney magic.

Cool. From where to where?

He launched from the aft funnel and zipped to the forward funnel.

Long day, indeed!

It sure was!

Niiiiice.

It's a very relaxing feeling on the ship going to sleep...at least initially.

dun, dun, dun (cue foreboding music)....

 

[Steppesister]

I thought so too, I mean, I think we look like a couple.

Wait until you see some of the other meals, this one is just a warm up.

That's what I thought...?

OH boy, then I definitely need to check it out!

 

[ACDSNY]

Uh oh foreboding music, what happened???

Nice pic of both of you on Deck 10.

Half the balcony is better than no balcony. I'm going crazy waiting for my GTY room assignment for next month and I'll only have a window.

 

[Malia78]

Taking notes on the food--will be nice to see some new items on the Wonder menus when I sail in the spring.

 

[pkondz]

You and I could eat together, no coconut, no olives...there were a few other things on your "do not eat list" that I approved of.

Brussels Sprouts...
The Devil's food.

I did ask for Vodka instead of Gin. There is no way I could have drank Gin straight up.

When I was 18, I went out for dinner with my folks. I wanted to be cool and order a drink.
So I ordered the only one I knew that was cool... a dry martini.
Because James Bond drinks them.

Didn't know that a. He actually drinks Vodka martinis (I had gin) and; b. didn't know that dry meant basically gin straight up.
I choked it down.


I don't drink dry martinis anymore.

After all that they still didn't get it right.

That strikes me as funny. Maybe not so much for you at the time.

It's a very relaxing feeling on the ship going to sleep...at least initially.

dun, dun, dun (cue foreboding music)....

Uh, oh.

 

[cruisehopeful]

It's a very relaxing feeling on the ship going to sleep...at least initially.

dun, dun, dun (cue foreboding music)....

I call sleeping on the ship, "the rock a bye baby." I love sleeping on the ship, except for the little creaks and things that end up waking me up. I need to remember to leave the TV on with some white noise.

I'm so bummed to see your "dun dun dun" message. That can't be good.

 

[franandaj]

That's what I thought...?

OH boy, then I definitely need to check it out!

From what I know of you, definitely need to check it out! The cuisine is not innovative and exotic, but it sure is tasty, and there were a few new twists on the menu!

Uh oh foreboding music, what happened???

Nice pic of both of you on Deck 10.

Half the balcony is better than no balcony. I'm going crazy waiting for my GTY room assignment for next month and I'll only have a window.

I'm being a little overly dramatic! Any balcony is better than none! Hopefully you get your assignment soon, I would go crazy waiting!

Taking notes on the food--will be nice to see some new items on the Wonder menus when I sail in the spring.

There are some menu items that I would be very upset if they were to change, but there are others that I could take or leave, so change is a good thing!

Brussels Sprouts...
The Devil's food.

Oh yeah, that's the one!

When I was 18, I went out for dinner with my folks. I wanted to be cool and order a drink.
So I ordered the only one I knew that was cool... a dry martini.
Because James Bond drinks them.

Didn't know that a. He actually drinks Vodka martinis (I had gin) and; b. didn't know that dry meant basically gin straight up.
I choked it down.


I don't drink dry martinis anymore.

I think that would about kill me. I'm not a fan of gin, but in the next update, you find that I realize it's not so bad. I like my Vodka martinis somewhat dry, but not as dry as Winston Churchill.

That strikes me as funny. Maybe not so much for you at the time.

Actually it was fine. I am used to places not having cocktail onions, and most of the time they don't see a problem fowling up my drink with one of those nasty olives. I just fish it out of there quickly and hand it off to Fran. Last night they were kind enough to tell me they didn't have any onions at which point I told them a twist of lemon would be fine. No icky briny olives in there!

Uh, oh.

At this point, I have to say that I am being overly dramatic, perhaps like someone else...

I call sleeping on the ship, "the rock a bye baby." I love sleeping on the ship, except for the little creaks and things that end up waking me up. I need to remember to leave the TV on with some white noise.

I'm so bummed to see your "dun dun dun" message. That can't be good.

That's exactly what it's like. The rocking of the ship is so calming, but the creaking sometimes gets to me. I'll remove the suspense and post the next update. It's really not that bad. And being on a Disney ship with their programming, well that makes it even easier to take.

 

[franandaj]

The previous night when we returned to our stateroom, I forgot to mention that our host had also left the next day’s Navigator for us. As much as there might have been to do on this day, we didn’t have a lot of wiggle room. We had Bruch scheduled at 10:30AM and a Mixology class at 2:00PM. I suppose there was always the time between Mixology and dinner. Anyways, here it is for your perusal.

 

[franandaj]

Day 2 actually sort of begins a lot earlier than I would have liked. For some reason, we didn’t seem to sleep through the middle of the night much on this trip. Both of us seemed to wake for biobreaks in the middle of the night and often we couldn’t get back to sleep. I had at least 4-5 hours of sleep when I woke up this first night, and when going back to sleep, I flipped through the channels. I seemed to have this same problem this week at my parent’s house, perhaps it has to do with sleeping in an unfamiliar place.

I’m not sure if I mentioned previously (for those who haven’t been on a cruise) that there are channels for Disney classic animated movies, Disney recent animated movies, Disney Live action movies and Pixar also had it’s own channel. My parent’s house only has regular Cable or Direct TV channels, no special Disney Channels like the cruise ship, so I wasn’t nearly as well entertained when I was awakened in the middle of the night a couple nights ago.

Back to the cruise, while flipping around, I realized that I had just tuned in to the beginning of Tangled. Flynn Ryder had just stumbled upon Rapunzel’s tower and one of the first scenes I saw was the frying pan one, if you’re familiar with the movie. Well, I ended up staying up pretty much for the rest of the movie and watching it through. I have may have dozed off here and there, but saw it for the most part.

Then I clicked around and caught Cars (the first movie) just as Lightning was sentenced to pave the road. I did fall back asleep for a while during this movie, but I may have awakened just at the end. I did realize that there were potentially sunrise photos to be taken, but it was just too cloudy. And I think I might have got up too late.







So I waited around for our room service delivery, and let Cars 2 start on the TV. We had checked off 7:30-8:00 for the delivery and when 8:10 rolled around and our order still had not arrived, I got curious. I decided to check on the “desk” and lo and behold, remember I said that I didn’t fill out the card all the way, and took it back in? Well I never finished filling it out and forgot to put it back out again! Looks like we weren’t getting any room service today!

I decided instead to go up to the Cove Café and see about getting us something. This is where I found out about the coffee card, and got my first stamp. The Cove Café is a coffee shop where you can purchase expensive coffee like Starbuck’s or Pete’s. I got a cappuccino, which came in a regular paper cup, so no pictures. They also have complimentary pastries and I did get a croissant for Fran, a blueberry muffin for me and cinnamon rolls for each of us.



It was about 8:30 when I came back with this, and it was enough to keep us happy until our 10:30 Palo Brunch reservation. So we just sort of lounged in bed watching the end of Cars 2. I’m sure something else finally came on before we left, but I probably turned it off so that we would actually get out of bed and get dressed to go to brunch.

For those not familiar with Disney Cruising, Palo is the Adults only restaurant on the Wonder and Magic. It is located on Deck 10 in the Aft part of the ship. There is a $30 upcharge for dining there, and IMHO it is worth every penny of that. They serve dinner nightly and on Sea days, they have an incredible Brunch that is not to be missed. We usually do dinner once on each cruise and try to have Brunch on two days, usually the first and last.

We were seated at our “normal” table, and I mentioned to the host that if possible we would like our regular server, Hristo. Unfortunately he was busy with a large party in the private dining room, so instead we had Duan as our server, she was very nice and efficient and overall pleasant. We have several years of history with Hristo and he did come by to say “Hello” on this day and it was a pleasure to have him back serving us later in the week. Duan did a great job and she took a picture of us once we were seated.



And then pretty soon we went up to check out what was offered on the buffet portion. I always like to start with the seafood and antipasto here.



Right in front of those little Bloody Mary’s, there is usually a big plate of crab legs, but they were replenishing that while I was taking this picture.



Love these cured meats!



Caprese Salad!



The fruits and these little prosciutto wrapped asparagus are among my favorites!



I used to like the grilled vegetables, but now they have changed them to a roll which is covered with Eggplant and I’m allergic to it, so none for me.



They have all sorts of breads and cheeses, but I’m not big on filling up on carbs when they have so many other delectable things. I did get some cheese.







There is a whole separate section with breakfast pastries. You are going to have to forgive the variation in quality of the pictures today. My point and shoot camera died halfway through the buffet photos and I had to use my phone camera for the remainder of the meal, so bear with me. At least I had the DSLR for the rest of the day.









Then we filled our plates and headed back to the table.





Can you tell whose plate is whose?

The lovely thing about Palo Brunch is that you start off choosing from the various options available, then you can order all sorts of things to be prepared ala minute. Fran started off immediately with two strawberry soups.



Once I finished my plate, I ordered this my favorite, Chicken Parmesan. I thought of you @Captain_Oblivious as I ate this tasty morsel of crispy goodness with just a hint of delicate sauce. And remembered your bowl of red glop with a soggy chicken parm floating in it. Even if you can’t pronounce some of the stuff they serve, I’m sure you would like this one!



Palo is also known for their wood fired oven, and their signature pizzas. I had them make me a three way pizza, 1/3 each of spicy sausage, margarita, and feta with sundried tomatoes. The sausage was my favorite piece.



Fran got another strawberry soup.



And a couple more shrimp cocktails.



Then she got the Eggs Benedict.



Remember, I was trying not to stuff myself and was holding out for dessert. She had me get her some of the sticky buns.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2015/Wonder Cruise/Palo14.jpg.html

I finally went up and got some desserts for us to share. And no, I didn't get us ALL these desserts, this is just what I could choose from!

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2015/Wonder Cruise/Palo14.jpg.html

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2015/Wonder Cruise/Palo14.jpg.html


I was a little disappointed. If you see the little glasses of berries on the right, last time they were soaked in Grand Marnier. This time they had a champagne jelly, so I didn’t even bother with them.



Here’s what I chose.



Our server insisted that we try this dessert as it was her favorite. It was called a Peach Souffle. I really would not have used the word Souffle to describe it. It was OK, very different. I wasn’t sorry I tasted it, but I’m not in any rush to order it again. There are too many other delectable items I would rather try!



And with that we waddled out of Palo, but I wasn’t leaving feeling incredibly stuffed. Just satisfied and not hungry.


[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

It was around 12:30 when we left Palo. We didn’t have anything until 2PM when Mixology was taking place, so we stopped by the room, and put the P&S camera on the charger. We picked up the DSLR and restocked our candy. I forgot to mention this earlier, but I learned this one from Karin and Tom. You would be amazed at the Pixie dust you can spread when you give just small pieces of individually wrapped candies to the various CMs you encounter. They can’t bring a lot of stuff on the ship and chocolate candy is a real treat for them. Each person we gave the candy to was so appreciative and thankful, we felt really good for planting the pixie dust on them.

Also because our cabin was aft, and so was Palo, Fran opted to leave her scooter in the room and continue charging. Because our Mixology class was at the front of the ship, we also got her scooter so she could ride to the class and not have to walk so far. So we decided to head on over to Route 66 (the adult entertainment area on the ship) where our Mixology Class would be taking place in the Cadillac Lounge. This was a class organized through Facebook and our group there. It came up within the last 3-4 weeks before the cruise and I’m glad it did. We sat down to these drinks at our table.



Our instructor began by telling various facts about cocktails, and mixology. One of the first questions that he asked was “Where did the word Cocktail come from?”

Fran won the first shot of the class for knowing that it was “Interesting spirits combined by mixing with the tail of a rooster.”



I missed out on a shot for not blurting out the name of the drink, “Sex on the Beach” when he recited the ingredients. Disney calls it “Family on the Beach.” Anyways we started to drink our cocktails. The first one was a Jalapeno margarita and almost nobody in the room liked it. I tolerated it, and Fran said that “it grows on you.” Because of that all six of the people sitting around her, immediately passed her their drinks. The bartender had three people come up to make larger versions of that drink. I’m not sure they were very happy about that. It was fairly spicy.

The next drink was made with Gin and Cranberry juice (and a few other things in there). I volunteered to make this one. After an incident in my teenage years, I have never been a fan of gin, and had I known the ingredients, I might have volunteered to make another drink, but all in all, when you put enough other flavors into it, the flavor of the gin is masked and it tastes pretty good.





Our host poured me some cranberry juice after he had filled my glass with gin and some sort of mixer!



The three of us making our drinks were shake, shake, shake, shakin our booties!



After we shook up our drinks, our host poured some extra flavor into the drinks. I can’t remember what this was, but it really improved the flavor of the drink.



I was a happy camper!



He made all of our drinks into Mickey drinks and we posed for a picture.



There were two more drinks that people made, but Fran was focused on finishing her Jalapeno margaritas. She also stole my second drink since I got to make a giant sized one. In the meantime other people made drinks three and four. Plus there were people next to me who didn’t show up and we began to systematically steal their drinks. I really couldn’t tell you how many extra drinks the both of us polished off! Hic!

Then it came down to the last drink of the class. This was a drink that we were to make for ourselves. The bartender started some bottles at our end of the group. He started another set at the other end of the group, and he started one in the middle. Here we are making our drinks.









This is the finished drink. It was a layered drink with Crème de Cocoa and Amarula, then we put a tiny bit of grenadine in there to look like a jellyfish hanging down from the amarula. We didn’t make it that great, but it tasted good!

It turns out that because the bartender put out so many bottles, the bottles for this last drink on our side of the room stopped with me and Fran, and they didn’t go any farther. So we made ourselves another two or three drinks, just to perfect our technique!



Everyone from the FB group posed for a picture after the class, we were very happy!




The cost of this class was $20. I think we ended up getting quite the value for our bucks, we were pretty darned happy when we left the class!

Now you may have noticed that Tinkerbell was in our class. While we were making cocktails, the kids on the ship were trick or treating. As we came out of the bar, we found candy stations throughout the halls and may have picked up a few pieces of candy and used the scooter basket as our trick or treat bag.

We decided that now was as good a time as any to stop by the future cruise desk. We had a Fantasy cruise on the books for Feb 2017 and as some of you may know, they saved us about $400 on the cruise plus we got a $200 On board credit by rebooking on the cruise! You can only book one cruise at the discount they offer on the ship, per cruise. However, since we were sailing on a B2B, we decided to look into booking an Alaskan Cruise as well! Technically we couldn't book it until the next day, but the nice lady at the desk put a hold on our room, and said it would keep until we turned in our paperwork the next day. We gave her and her cohort lots of pieces of candy!

While Fran was waiting to talk to the future cruise desk folks, I went up to deck 9 to get a drink of the day. Because it was Halloween, the drink was Spooky Juice. It wasn’t my favorite DotD, but it was pretty OK.



Once we finished at the future cruise desk, we headed back to the room. We were pretty loaded and knew we had to sleep things off before dinner, but not before having some good food and carb upload. So we called room service and ordered a cheeseburger, some chicken wings and some mac and cheese. It took a little over half an hour to arrive.



While we waited for room service and ate our late lunch we watched The Jungle Book on the TV. Room Service totally hit the spot and around 5PM (I think) we crawled into bed and dozed off.

We set an alarm for around 7PM (since dinner was at 8:15) and we woke up with plenty of time for dinner. We were a little groggy, but alert enough for dinner and ready to go!

[Continued at a later date!]

 

[rentayenta]

OMG! I have to get to Palo! Your plates look amazing.

This could quite be my very favorite update ever!

Have you tried the steak sandwich from room service? It's devine.

Your cheeks are getting rosy!

 

[franandaj]

OMG! I have to get to Palo! Your plates look amazing.

This could quite be my very favorite update ever!

Yes you do lady! You would absolutely love it!

Have you tried the steak sandwich from room service? It's devine.

That's the very first thing I ever ordered from room service. I loved it!

Your cheeks are getting rosy!

They're always rosy! It's rosacea, I get that all the time. People tell me, "Oh you got some sun today." And I've been sitting inside on my computer the whole time. Did you see that I posted answers to your question on my other thread?