The Lloyd’s – Just Us Two on a Dream Cruise – January 2-6, 2013

[Dave Dizney]

Originally Posted by MichelleVW

I love the steak at Serenity Bay! That and the mango...I'm surprised there was any mango left for you because I was there about 11:30 and must have had about 4 plate fulls!! I made an ice cream cookie sundae while I was there!! Soft serve on top of that cookie was amazing!!

We were there around 11:50 - we must have just missed you! I wanted to make a sandwich out of the cookies and ice cream, but thought I'd be kicked out of the "adult" beach area.

...I did hear a conversation from the food staff about needing to go back to the ship for more mango. They were also in the process of tagging your KTTW card in the event you tried to bring any of that fruit back into the US.

[DisneyBelle99]

Enjoying your trip report. DH and I will be on our first Disney Cruise and our first DVC cruise this September. Kids grown, no grandkids yet, so it will be just us!

[RMAMom]

Originally Posted by Dave Dizney

We really liked the late seating - going first to the show and then to dinner was fun and not as hectic as the more "child-friendly" times.

That being said, my DW needs to eat ON TIME. We slowly got into the routine of eating later before the trip, and took an afternoon snack each day (that's the reason you see her eating pizza often). Having food available at all times was helpful for her making it to the later dinner time. Dinner takes a while to get through - we started at 8:15 and were usually done around 9:30-9:40. I've heard in the earlier seating they hurry you out in order to get to the later seating crowd - not the case in the later seating.

We stayed up till around midnight each night and got up by 8:00 each morning, and were fine - never sleepy!

Thank you, I think DH will nap in the afternoon and be good to go! I also think you convinced us to grab lunch at serenity bay, it looks delicious!

[Dave Dizney]

Part 11 – Day 5 - Palo Night

The first day on the ship, right after lunch we ran down to the side of the Royal Palace to make our reservation at Palo for the last night. Though they didn't have any openings online before the trip, they had an 8:00 opening when we boarded. Perfect!

We had heard both on these boards as well as on the ship how great this dinner was, and it didn’t disappoint. So after a full day at Castaway Cay, we came back to the ship and begin the sad task of packing – AND dressing up for our nice dinner.


The place is beautiful – all deep wood accents and low lighting up. The restaurant is high in the aft of the ship, so this particular evening we were able to see the lights of Freeport off in the distance through the windows.


We started with the antipasti. It’s served tableside from a showcase – I enjoyed, but my DW, with a less adventurous pallet just nibbled.


I had the fried calamari – WONDERFUL!


DW had the tomato and mozzarella cheese. Fresh and light.


Pallet cleanser! A lemon ice thing with strawberries.


DW had the penne and shrimp – a bit spicy for her taste, but the shrimp were huge (oxymoron alert)!


I had the tenderloin – BEST ENTRAY THE WHOLE WEEK!!!! Not kidding – it was flavorful and melt-in-your mouth – on top of mashed potatoes. DW lusted after mine after I gave her a bite – I had to guard it the rest of the evening.


Dessert was the chocolate soufflé – OMG, you guys! They pour a cream and chocolate sauce into the middle. The egg-looking thing is vanilla gelato. Wonderful!


Our waitress, Jamie Lee, was from Enfield, England – we had a great conversation with her about her life on the ship, her home town (which I’ve visited), and all the while she kept us updated with information on each item we were served.

(Yes, we kept the anniversary thing going all week!)

And, if that wasn’t enough – they end your meal with this cream/cheesecake thing with fruit and a sorbet.


It was a wonderful evening!


…and I must say my lady sparkled this evening, …as she has all 30 years!


Since it was the last night and we didn’t want to go to sleep and wake up with the week over, we changed into civilized clothes and ran around the ship. First, we saw the Sailing Away show – it was sad, in a happy Disney way.


We then went to Shutters and ordered the dang electronic files. Yeah, I caved.


And we ended the night taking photos around the ship and playing mid-ship detectives until after midnight. We went with our video camera to record little antidotes about what happened in different locations the last 5 days. Finally, we were worn out and needed to end our last full day!

Next is the sad-bad day as we disembark.

[declansdad]

That is a great picture of the two of you by the staircase.

[MichelleVW]

Originally Posted by Dave Dizney

We were there around 11:50 - we must have just missed you! I wanted to make a sandwich out of the cookies and ice cream, but thought I'd be kicked out of the "adult" beach area.

...I did hear a conversation from the food staff about needing to go back to the ship for more mango. They were also in the process of tagging your KTTW card in the event you tried to bring any of that fruit back into the US.

I learned the ice cream cookie trick from our first Dream cruise in 2011 and I couldn't wait until I was back on Castaway Cay to make another one!!

[Jblever]

Although you took great pictures throughout the week, the ones made by Disney are awesome. You will be glad that you bit the bullet and made the purchase.

[Dave Dizney]

Originally Posted by MichelleVW

I learned the ice cream cookie trick from our first Dream cruise in 2011 and I couldn't wait until I was back on Castaway Cay to make another one!!

...I need a list of reasons why we need to rebook. This will be added to that list!

Originally Posted by Jblever

Although you took great pictures throughout the week, the ones made by Disney are awesome. You will be glad that you bit the bullet and made the purchase.

Yeah, I guess you're right. It's kind of like when they show you photos of your kids with a paper shredder in the background. Is the cost justifiable? NO! Is the cost of NOT buying them advisable? NO!

[LuvGoldens]

Enjoyed your thorough review and pictures! We're sailing on the Dream on April 28 (4 nt Bahamas) for our first Disney cruise and are getting excited. We have no kids but are big Disney fans so I was interested to read your report as a couple also sailing without kids. thanks for sharing

[lpizzuro123]

Love the way the professional photos come out. We will be cruising in November on the Dream for our anniversary. I have a few questions about when you purchase the disk.

Am I right in thinking you only get the disk - not the actual photos. I actually love the way Disney developes the photos also. I am not sure how they would come out using their disk but getting a few actually printed. I usually use Shutterfly or go to my local CVS to print out photos. I also make a Shutterfly book from each trip so I will definately be able to add the professional pictures to the book.

Also, 8 of our friends will be coming on this cruise with us - 2 will be celebrating their birthday while on the cruise. Will we get all the pictures on the disk as long as either my DH or myself are in the pictures? Like if I do a photo of all the girls - or all the guys - those will be on the disk also - but not if there is a picture of one of the couples and we are not in the picture.

Enjoying your report - thanks for all the great tips.

Linda

[Dave Dizney]

Originally Posted by lpizzuro123

Love the way the professional photos come out. We will be cruising in November on the Dream for our anniversary. I have a few questions about when you purchase the disk.

Am I right in thinking you only get the disk - not the actual photos. I actually love the way Disney developes the photos also. I am not sure how they would come out using their disk but getting a few actually printed. I usually use Shutterfly or go to my local CVS to print out photos. I also make a Shutterfly book from each trip so I will definately be able to add the professional pictures to the book.

Also, 8 of our friends will be coming on this cruise with us - 2 will be celebrating their birthday while on the cruise. Will we get all the pictures on the disk as long as either my DH or myself are in the pictures? Like if I do a photo of all the girls - or all the guys - those will be on the disk also - but not if there is a picture of one of the couples and we are not in the picture.

Enjoying your report - thanks for all the great tips.

Linda

We got the disk of 10 photos which we thought this was best for some of the same reasons you listed (DW also does a Shutterfly book after each trip), plus we weren't sure photos would survive the packing and trip home. The photos they put in your folder are beautiful and glossy and very difficult to give up.

On the disk you get thumbnails of all your photos, and the program on the disk allows you to only access 10 full-sized photo files. Price tag = $149 for 10 photos on the disk - I believe the same price for 10 real photos. There are a number of other packages. You can buy one photo at a time, but by 5, you might as well buy the disk or prints package. Once you have the disk, we figured we could print/share as needed.

The photos taken are linked to your account one of two ways - by your KTTW card, or by facial recognition. The latter works MOST of the time (we got some in our folder of someone who looked a little like DW). I guess if you ask the photographer to link the photos to your KTTW card, you'd get them. Anyone else know more?

[lpizzuro123]

Thanks for your quick reply.

Has anyone ever printed out actual photos from the disk you get from Disney? If so, where did you get them printed? I am wondering how they come out. Love the way they come out from Disney (both WDW and DCL). I would like at least one or two actual prints to fame and hang up.

Thanks,
Linda

[Dave Dizney]

Originally Posted by lpizzuro123

Thanks for your quick reply.

Has anyone ever printed out actual photos from the disk you get from Disney? If so, where did you get them printed? I am wondering how they come out. Love the way they come out from Disney (both WDW and DCL). I would like at least one or two actual prints to fame and hang up.

Thanks,
Linda

DW a number printed at Costco. Both in 4x6 and 8x10 - some cropping needed, but they turned out wonderful.

[Nicole786]

This report is awesome! I really enjoyed your family on the Travel Channel special.

I'm going on the Dream for the first time in the fall, it was a gift to my parents for their 30th anniversary, so it's all adults going on this trip! It was great to read this and get an adult perspective especially with Palo! We were going to skip Palo since they didn't mention a beef tenderloin dish on the menu online (and the pickier eaters, don't like seafood) was this something you had to ask for or was it on the menu? Thanks!

[jedijill]

Originally Posted by Nicole786

This report is awesome! I really enjoyed your family on the Travel Channel special.

I'm going on the Dream for the first time in the fall, it was a gift to my parents for their 30th anniversary, so it's all adults going on this trip! It was great to read this and get an adult perspective especially with Palo! We were going to skip Palo since they didn't mention a beef tenderloin dish on the menu online (and the pickier eaters, don't like seafood) was this something you had to ask for or was it on the menu? Thanks!

The filet is always on their menu (at least since I've been sailing starting in 2006!) and is their signature item. There are other non-seafood items too.

Jill in CO