10 Years of Marriage, 8 nights of Magic-tale of an Eastern-with Pirate photos!

[Mr. Moose51]

We are planning an Eastern trip next winter, so this is a great help. Keep up the wonderful story, you are making me wish it was this winter.

 

[Disneygrl36]

I'm here you guys......didn't know you had started a trippie.
I'll be back to read tomorrow.
Just wanted to say hi........

 

[Disneygrl36]

Wonderful!!!!!!!!!!
Great writing you guys.
It is nice to hear how others spent their time.
Bring on the pictures.

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

Soon, it was time for our 1800 reservations at Palo. Dressed for success, we were greeted warmly upon our arrival. As this dinner was part of our Romantic Escape at Sea package (REAS), Christine was presented with a single red rose by the host as we were escorted to our table. A nice table for 2, slightly to starboard off the centerline of the ship, we were one row back from the window tables. Fabio greeted us warmly, and immediately replaced the white napkins with black ones. He then proceeded to tell us about the recommended selections. We decided to each have an appetizer and 1.5 entrees. The REAS comes with a bottle of wine, up to a value of $50, so Sean looked over the wine list. We didn’t see any Rieslings, so Sean selected an Italian Chardonnay (its Palo, after all!). Both of us chose the Filet done medium-rare as one of our entrees: Christine’s was with the red wine sauce, while Sean chose the Gorgonzola sauce. Christine added a half order of pumpkin gnocchi, while Sean had a half of the lobster ravioli. For something different, Sean started with the salmon carpaccio. At least, that’s what I think it was called. Tissue-paper thin medallions of salmon, drizzled with oil, and flavored with lemon sauce that Fabio squeezed tableside. It was very good, and very light. Christine had, I believe, a salad, which she enjoyed. After some sorbet to cleanse the palate, the entrees arrived. The side of lobster ravioli had 2 nicely sized pieces. Christine’s gnocchi was well portioned, also. The filets were in the 6-8 ounce range. In the end, we both agreed that the beef was definitely on the rare side. Perhaps this should have been communicated to Fabio, but instead, we chose to just leave the rare centers and eat all the outer portions. Plus, we had dessert coming! Sean had the chocolate cake puck-shaped dessert with vanilla cream pressed into the center by Fabio. Christine had tiramisu. Prior to leaving, we asked Fabio if there were any open slots for 2 remaining. He promised to look into it, and get back to us later. Suitably stuffed, we walked around the ship for a while, and then retired for the evening. Upon returning to the room, we found that Orlando had prepared the romantic turndown service (another part of the REAS). Rose petals covered the bed. In the center, towels had been fashioned into a large heart. S and C, our initials, flanked the heart. Above the heart was the number 10, and in the heart were 2 kissing swans. We took several photos, carefully attempted to preserve the swans, cleaned off the rose petals, and promptly fell asleep. Bliss was abruptly terminated at 23:10 by the telephone ringing. Based upon our normal phone habits, I knew this couldn’t be good. How wrong I was. It was the super excited Fabio, announcing that he’d found us 2 Palo dinner options to choose from. He was so energetic; I could hear him through the earplugs I was wearing. We selected 18:30 on Halloween, wished him goodnight, and returned to our slumber.

10/30/07
Tuesday dawned with the promise of land. We awoke at 0600, and Christine ventured out to take photos of the distant land. Upon returning to the stateroom, she started to sort laundry. Learning from the DIS, we thought this would be a good time to run a load through without any laundry traffic jams. While she did that, Sean went to Goofy’s Galley, for a pre-workout snack. His request for 1 cherry lattice and a carton of milk was met with a smile. The plate he was handed contained 2 lattices, with a comment, “they’re small, you’ll enjoy them!” Upon finishing everything, I nodded my approval to the Crew Member as I headed back to the stateroom. I thought Christine would like to be together to watch the docking process, and she appreciated the surprise. We watched from our verandah for a few minutes, and then left for Topsiders. Sean chose a table outside on the starboard side, since we were backing in. This afforded us a nice view of the Sea Princess as she docked bow first on the other side of the pier from the Magic. Breakfast consisted of omelets for both, with various other sides. Christine headed back to take care of the laundry, while Sean put in 4 laps around the deck 4 jogging track.

Next up: we finally get off the ship and explore.

 

[jns]

I'm here too
great report looking forward to hearing more

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

Around 10am, we got off the ship and headed to Philipsburg. By this time, 2 more ships had docked: the massive Liberty of the Seas, and Explorer of the Seas. The line for the water taxi was very short, so we bought all day passes. We puttered over to the other dock to the tunes of Abba done ragge style. Debarking the taxi, we were greeted with almost constant requests for our attention: “Need a taxi?” “Want to go to the beach?” It didn’t let up as we headed into town: “Need some diamonds for the lady?” “How about a nice new purse?” The requests weren’t constant, but quite regular. We trekked up and down Front and Back streets, visiting several of the stores recommended by Mr. Enthusiastic. The closest we came to anything was a Tissot watch that Sean actually tried on. We bought one thing: topical antibiotic ointment. Spotting a pharmacy during our travels, we had to stop in to see how it compared to things in the states. After a few minutes of chatting with the staff, we were on our way. Some interesting things about the ointment: no NDC number, a born on date, and 3 languages on the labeling.

Upon returning to the ship, around 12:30, we headed to Lumiere’s for lunch. There were very few guests eating there, and it made for a really nice lunch. We both had the salad with caramelized walnuts. It was fabulous. Sean’s entrée was baked salmon, steamed assortment of vegetables, and French fries. Christine dined on oven-roasted chicken, steamed veggies, and a baked potato. For dessert, we both enjoyed crepes with apple filling. Surely, better than anything we thought we could find in Phillipsburg. Plus, it cost us nothing. It was a really nice lunch.

After an uneventful afternoon, we prepared for Pirate Night. After we saw Pirates of the Caribbean-At World’s End, Sean commented to Christine about a dress he saw Elizabeth wearing. This led to sketches from memory, another trip to the movie theater, and consultation with a local seamstress. After much research and work, the dress worn by Elizabeth in the final scene was created for Christine, while the Will Turner outfit from the same scene was crafted for Sean. Now properly attired, we hurried to Deck 4 forward, and had our pictures taken with Captain Jack Sparrow. Dinner was in Parrot Cay, the perfect restaurant for the night’s theme. One of the DISer’s husbands was dressed up like Jack, and was seated at the table next to us. He looked better than the DCL one we’d been with earlier in the evening. We roamed the ship after dinner, taking pictures with some of the characters. We ran into howleyfamily again, and took turns taking each other’s pictures. It was fun to keep running into DISers, especially our other Pennsylvania friends. The towel animal of the evening was a ray, with chocolate gold coins for eyes. We tried to stay up for pirate night, but ended up falling asleep right as the festivities began.

 

[Disneygrl36]

You guys have to post a picture of those costumes........they sound great. Wish we had seen you guys all decked out.

 

[Disney owl]

thanks for sharing

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

10/31/07
Wednesday dawned bright and early for the entire ship, as we were docking at St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since we had a morning excursion, we were supposed to present ourselves to Border Security in the Walt Disney Theater by 06:45. We were a little early, and ended up in the second row. Once started, the process went smoothly, and we were among the first to be processed. Officer Fitzgerald (think Barry White) even informed Sean, “you’re OK, my man,” as he cleared him. Breakfast was Parrot Cay, and then back to the stateroom to prepare for the kayak, hike, and snorkel of Cas Cay. After meeting in the Promenade Lounge, our group trekked to the bow gangway, and then to 2 waiting taxi trucks. A 20-minute ride later, and we were there. VI Ecotours provided a locked area for anything we wanted to leave behind, so we lightened our load. The kayaks were all 2 person sit on top style. First to launch, we paddled around the launch area while everybody else got going. Some of the things we noticed were: the current was stronger than the Susquehanna River we normally paddle, the boats were harder to get going than our personal ones at home, and several in the group thought that they were part of some sort of race. Content to enjoy the journey, we stayed in the middle of the pack throughout the excursion.

Our first stop was a hurricane hole, where our guide educated us about the history of the mangrove forest we were in. From there, we paddled out to Cas Cay, where we beached our boats and began the hike. After just a short distance, we were told to begin looking for hermit crabs. At first, we didn’t think there were any, but we rapidly began to spot them everywhere. Lively little critters, they didn’t like to be held. The crab would extend as far out of the shell as possible, and try to pinch you. All the crabs were grouped in the center of a circle under a canopy. Then, the race was on. We were confident in Christine’s crab, but he seemed more interested in fighting the other crabs than racing to the finish line. From here, we hiked through the forest, where we learned about the local plant life. At the end, we came upon a blowhole. The area was some sort of old lava tube, and it contained many unique rock formations. Christine got to hold a small sea urchin, and we had our pictures taken near the rocks. We hiked back to the boats, and prepared for the snorkel portion of the excursion. All were required to wear their pfd’s, so as to not dive down and disturb the bottom or fragile tree roots. Many tropical fish, and even a small shipwreck, were sighted during the half hour swim. Next, we paddled back to VI Ecotours, where we chose to purchase the photo CD of the excursion, along with the “best of” photo CD.

Upon returning to the Magic, we headed straight to Topsider’s for lunch. Then, we lounged at the Quiet Cove pool for a while. Finally, we headed up to deck 10 to get some pictures. There, we ran into Chris, Hazel, Jess, and Rosie. We talked with them a little, and continued on our lap of the ship, taking more photos as we went. Our final destination was the Rainforest Room. After about a half-hour of bliss, we returned to our stateroom to prepare for our second Palo dinner. As we got ready, the ships started leaving the Havensight terminal. We were one of 4 in that particular location that day: RCCL Explorer of the Seas and RCCL Mariner of the Seas were at the pier with us, while NCL Norwegian Dawn was moored in the harbor. Out on our Navigator’s Verandah, we observed the delicate dance of the behemoths as we took turns leaving the harbor. The harbor pilot departed the ship from a location just forward of our stateroom, providing us with several nice action photos.

Normally, each stateroom is allowed one of each type of Palo dining experience: brunch, tea, and dinner. Fabio had located an open slot for 2 people the other night; and as it was our 10th anniversary cruise, we decided to indulge. To begin, we shared the shrimp and asparagus pizza. Christine then dined on grilled eggplant, rack of lamb, penne pasta, and panna cotta. Sean began with the arugula salad with special Palo dressing, followed by a full portion of the lobster ravioli, and ending with the chocolate amaretto dessert. It was another very nice dinner. Little did we know, it would not be our last Fabio encounter of the cruise.

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

Happy Thanksgiving to all. We hope you're enjoying the report. It is still our goal to begin posting photos, hopefully this weekend.

S&C

 

[jns]

Happy Thanksgiving to all. We hope you're enjoying the report. It is still our goal to begin posting photos, hopefully this weekend.

S&C

Here I can give you a hand with some photos
we were on the kayak too , really enjoyed it

 

[Disneygrl36]

Those are awesome picture Jackie......
That excursion looks like a lot of fun!!!!!!!!
I can't wait to see the pirate costumes!!!!

 

[Babs417]

I was woundering what was the circle and shell, I forgot hermit crabss

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

Thanks to Jackie for posting the photos!

S&C

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

11/1/07
Our last day at sea dawned with very rough seas. They had grown to the 12-20 foot range. This made our morning exercising a little more challenging. Breakfast was at Topsiders, our usual plan. At 11, Donald “Ducky” Williams was scheduled to do another presentation in the Buena Vista Theater. When we showed up 15 minutes early, he was already at work. The story was pretty much the same as Monday’s talk, but there were some differences. It didn’t matter, as we enjoyed hearing it a second time. Around noon, Ducky’s microphone suddenly cut out. He asked first if he could be heard, then told the control booth that there was a problem. But the problem wasn’t him or the equipment: we heard the announcement tones. Captain Tom gave us the news: Noel hadn’t moved away as thought earlier in the week. Castaway Cay had high winds and waves, and they would jeopardize our Friday plans. He read verbatim from the Weather Service statement on the subject. As he did, a collective groan came from the audience at the presentation. Ducky stopped counting drawings and turned to a fresh page, where he quickly sketched a very sad Eeyore. All in all, he completed 22 drawings during this presentation. For fun, Sean timed him for a few. Most were completed in about 3 minutes. A movie was scheduled for 12:30, so things moved quickly at this point. About two-thirds of the way through the raffle, Pluto came up. “727”…”5”…”1”…”1”…pause…”YES! WHOO-WHO!!!” It was Christine’s ticket number. I believe that she was the most outwardly excited recipient of both sessions. Her spirits were certainly lifted from minutes before, when doubt was cast upon our Castaway Cay prospects. As the theater quickly changed over for the movie, we had our picture taken with Ducky. Christine was still beaming.

Lunch today was from Goofy’s Galley. We both had wraps. Sean’s was chicken Caesar. After some walking, we found a table inside, and out of the wind, at Topsiders. Our afternoon began with shopping (had to get a sturdy tube to carry home Pluto!) and the art auction. Some of Ducky’s art was up for bid. I believe that there were 6 of his pieces, which went for $600-$1200. Then we enjoyed Typhoon Lagoon, err, the Quiet Cove pool. One of the others in the pool commented how it was similar to swimming in a dishwasher. After this, it was time for some more Rainforest Room indulgence. Next came something Christine just HAD to do: Goofy Fitness. We got photos taken with Lilo and Stitch while waiting for Goofy. A pack of children ascended to the stage to greet the fitness-attired Goofy. After a few minutes, one child at heart joined them: Christine. Sean raced to deck 10 to get a photo, but it was all over too quickly. Fortunately, one of our DIS friends was quick on the draw, and preserved the moment. We relaxed with some of our Moon Cruise friends on deck 10 and observed an ice carving demonstration. A large block was transformed into a soaring eagle in what seemed like 10 minutes or less.

During the afternoon, we stopped by Guest Services, to inquire about something we read about in the Passporter book: The Art of the Disney Magic Self-Guided Tour Book. Unfortunately, the Guest Services staff had no idea what we were talking about. As Sean sat in a deck 3 window, we discussed our quest. Christine also mentioned that her plastic Castaway Club ID holder was ripping down the side seam. At this time, Sean spotted an officer coming by. It was Brent, the Magic’s cruise director. “Brent, could we ask you something?” “Sure!” he replied. We described the book, and he commented that he knew what we were talking about. But, alas, it hadn’t been distributed for several years. Yet, he said he knew where could find one, and took down our stateroom number.

Dinner’s theme was the Captain’s Gala. To quote Christine’s notes, it was an “awesome menu”. Sean enjoyed the shrimp appetizer, while Christine really liked the mushroom soup. The lobster tails, about 6 ounces, were very good. Jeff, our head server, came around to the lobster diners and carefully removed the meat from the shell for them. Thinking back now, my only regret is that I didn’t order 2 of them. Sometime during the late afternoon or evening, a follow-up announcement was made about Friday’s plans. Brent, the cruise director, introduced the idea of Nassau as an option. He continued to stress, as Captain Tom had, that safety was the first priority. Brent stated that he’d announce the final plan over our stateroom speakers at 0700 on Friday. Upon returning to our stateroom, we had a voicemail from Brent, stating that he hadn’t forgotten us and was still searching for the book.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Funny that you should mention that art tour.......we asked at guest services twice & they had no clue what we were talking about either.
Cool that you asked Brent about it...wonder if he found one for you. We kinda did our own tour & walked up & down stairwells & halls to look at art.

So glad you guys won a Ducky too!!!!!!!!!!

Now where are the pictures?????????

 

[ILUVEVERYTHINGDISNEY]

I love reading your report. I just started today. I miss DCL. Did you two gets sea sickness? Did you see any of it on the cruise? Can't wait to hear if you made it to CC.

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

11/2/07
Friday. The last full day. Castaway Cay day…or was it? We woke early, and checked the Report from the Bridge TV channel. Both of us noticed that there was this strange dot on the screen. It was Southwest of the line on the screen that marked our planned path, and it seemed to be headed away from the line. After watching a complete cycle of the data, we thought we knew what was going on. You see, when we went to bed the night before, the ship was at a heading of 311 degrees or so. Now, our heading was somewhere around 240 degrees (give-or-take). A quick sketch, and we theorized that Nassau would be our Friday destination. But were we right?

After the traditional cherry lattice and fresh fruit, we headed to the Fitness Center. It was still before 7am when we got on the bikes, so the announcement from Brent was still pending. Around 7, Christine left the gym to go borrow some headphones. As she headed into the hallway, she could hear Brent finishing his announcement. We had missed it. They never piped it into the Fitness Center. Chris didn’t hear enough to get a definitive answer. Just then, a ship’s officer appeared. We reported that the announcement couldn’t be heard in the Fitness Center, and she confirmed what we’d known but didn’t want to be right about: we were going to Nassau. She said the decision was made around 6am. It is our suspicion that it was made before then, because we were up at 6, and the ship was already well off the normal path to Castaway Cay.

After burning off some more calories, we returned to the stateroom. Today was our REAS Champagne Breakfast in Bed morning. The food arrived promptly at 8am. It consisted of: Mimosas, apple juice, orange juice, pancakes, an omelet, hot tea, and fresh fruit. Towards the end of the meal, an announcement was made that the Disney Wonder, our sister ship, could be seen by those looking aft. We raced to the aft stairs and up to the secret deck 7 viewing area. And there in the distance, she was. After a few minutes, we went back to our room and finished our meal. Then, we went up to deck 10, where we watched Captain Tom dock the Magic. With each passing minute, the Wonder was creeping closer…

Next, when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade...
S&C

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

After spending an hour or more watching this process, we returned to our stateroom. Upon arriving at our door, we noticed an envelope in our fish. It was from Brent! He’d located an actual copy of the book we’d asked about. Originally, we thought if he found one, we’d be getting a photocopy. But this was the actual booklet. Plus, he’d heard us discussing Christine’s tearing plastic ID holder, and placed a new one in the envelope too! Once changed, we headed off the ship. As we walked down the pier next to the Magic, Christine noticed a familiar face coming up behind us. Three crewmembers dressed in blue Topsiders uniforms were closing quickly. In the lead was Fabio, our server from Palo. We knew from our meals with him that his girlfriend had transferred to the Wonder, and he was speed walking over to see her. During the whole docking process and indeed, entire day, you could see such joy on the faces of the Crews. Several commented that it was the first time in about 6 years that the 2 ships had been in the same port of call on the same day. Fabio and his friends quickly left us in their dust, and we continued our leisurely stroll. The initial crowds had thinned, so we were able to get several shots of both ships together, and us with both ships.

Once back on the Magic (we were warned several times to remember where we’d parked, and which ship was ours!), we went to the Quiet Cove pool. Our lunches were various snacks from the eateries, including the fabled chicken fingers and fries from Pluto’s Dog House. The adult pool area was quite empty when we arrived, but the crowds grew as the day went on. Captain Tom strode up on the port side, headed towards the bridge, no doubt. A few minutes later Captain John of the Wonder, followed with his wife. It was brilliantly sunny, with temperatures in the mid to upper 80’s. Many cruisers were trying to catch up on their tanning, including us.

Up to deck 10 we went again, to get some photos and breeze. We chatted with Melanie and Eric, and then headed down the port side, which faced the Wonder. It was here that we ran into Fabio again. He was on duty now, but was bursting with happiness. Fabio posed for photos with us, then we all continued on our respective ways. Chris, Hazel, their family, and some other DIS friends had taken up their usual positions on deck 10 above the Goofy pool, so we spent some time there with them. We indulged in a buy one, get one free, drink special. Who could pass up such a thing?!!

All aboard was 3pm, and Christine wanted to get a quick shower first. Looking down on the pier below our stateroom, it was apparent that we’d be getting under way without delay. The process went so quickly Christine missed it. By the time Sean raced up to deck 10, we were halfway down the length of the Wonder. After several pictures, Sean returned to the room. A sad dinner was had that evening in Parrot Cay, where we both enjoyed the beef tenderloin entrée. Sean asked Ivan for just a shrimp cocktail appetizer, but got the regular appetizer he’d ordered with double the shrimp. To quote Christine, “it was a very good meal”.

The evening passed quickly as we finished packing. Christine purchased a Pirate Pluto stuffed animal at Mickey’s Mates. His purpose in life is to end up with a child at the Hershey Medical Center or another charitable organization. Each season, the Hershey Bears hold a teddy bear toss night at one of their hockey games. We go to 12 games a year with our ticket package, and always try to pick that as one of our games. When the Bears score their first goal of the game, all present throw their “teddy bears” out onto the ice to celebrate. The several thousand tossed critters are then quickly gathered by volunteers and taken off the ice. Pluto will be placed into a plastic bag to keep him clean, and launched on December 9th.

Christine and I spent some time on our verandah that evening, watching the lights of Freeport get closer as we sailed by. Another ship could be seen off our starboard side. It appeared to be a Carnival ship (it turned out to be the Glory). Neither of us slept well that night. It wasn’t due to the sadness that it was almost over, but rather the 12-20 foot seas. Neither of us got sick during this cruise, but the pitching and rolling got concerning at times. Borrowing a thought from a DIS friend, Christine stated that she was tempted to get out the PFD’s, just in case.

Next: 11/3. Debarkation day. It all ends.

 

[RebeccaLovesDisney]

Love reading your trip reports! Fabio was our Palo server for both brunch and dinner on our Thanksgiving cruise. He was awesome!