A Salute to All Things Fantasy (but mostly Food)

[PrincessTrisha]

Let's toss a little alcohol into the mix here.

I don't drink much when I'm with my parents - my dad doesn't really drink (a half a shot of rum with a large glass of diet coke would be the most), my mom will try just about anything but 1 drink and she's all blushy and giggly. So I usually don't have much when I'm with them.

On this cruise I had:

Italian Beverage tasting class
3 drinks and shot when I went drinking with our table mates one night
1 Key Lime Margarita
2 martini's / 1 whiskey sour / 1 Franjelico & cranberry on the last evening just to finish up my passport in the Skyline bar (my mom drank 1 of the martini's, my dad had a sip of each drink to try them and I drank the rest).

That was all the alcohol ordered and I wished at the end that I hadn't bought the passport because I didn't particularly feel like drinking on the last night but didn't want to waste the drinks I'd already paid for (and on a side note, if I hadn't bought the passport our onboard balance would have been zero $0)

I was interested in the Italian beverage tasting because I'd not seen anyone on the DIS do it (never seen it reviewed). I enjoyed it - mainly because I found my new favourite drink.

I didn't take notes so I don't really know what all we tasted but I can tell you this:

1 was a lemoncello
2 were some form of grappa (more shot like than drink like)
1 was grappa with prosecco
1 was frangelico & cranberry
And I was very thankful to be given a glass of water





This was the prosecco and grappa one:





My favourite - Frangelico & cranberry





This tastes like peanut butter and jelly (no, really it does!). Frangelico is a hazulnut liquer but when mixed with the cranberry juice it tastes like pb&j. It's light on the alcohol and very pleasant tasting. It's a nice something to drink and not get drunk on (Frangelico has a very low alcohol content - it's only 40 proof or 20% alcohol by volume).

And here's a picture of my key lime margarita (it was good but not too different from a regular margarita)

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Dinner was in Enchanted Garden this evening. Our table was right behind the server's station tucked behind the big round booths. We didn't get much of a view but the food tonight was very good. In fact, both nights we were in EG (tonight and the last night, were the best two menus / quality / presentation in the MDR of the trip).

For starters both my mom and I ordered the lobster ravioli:



My mom's came with what looked like a heart in the middle of one. These were very good. Pasta was cooked right (not too done, not still crunchy) and the filling was light and creamy. The broth is a light tomato juice/soup.

My dad ordered the mushroom tart. It was okay but he didn't really like the crust. It was very hard and seemed like it had been baked more for style than substance.



For entrees, I ordered the pan seared sea bass with risotto:



Love this dish (this is one of the dishes I order every DCL cruise). It's just perfect and I hope they never change it.

My mom ordered the prime rib (sorry, it's already being cut up in the picture):



My dad ordered both the prime rib (same as my mothers) and a steak (off of the items available every night). He enjoyed both.



I had also ordered a second entree to try - it was new to the menu and listed under the "lighter items" It was a salad with lamb and eggplant, with couscous and a tzazkiki style dressing.



I really enjoyed this - it was fresh and different and the flavours worked very well together (but then again, I am a big fan of Greek food).

My dad ordered the banana fosters sundae for dessert:



while my mom went for the trio (actually, she ordered the sundae and Jill ordered the trio but the server mixed them up - eventually my mom and Jill both ended up with the sundae and the trio).



Nothing on the menu appealed to me so I didn't order dessert but our server brought over a mickey bar for me:



I felt bad about wasting it so I ate an ear and the rest sat melting in the dish.

We also received the plate of "candies" apricot and chocolate but I didn't try either.

 

[perdidobay]

I'm enjoying your review very much, you've shown several items I'd like to try on my next cruise. Especially the Frangelico and cranberry juice drink and the Greek style salad. I agree about the pan seared sea bass, it's always been good when I've ordered it!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Okay, I'm going to digress a little from the food right now to talk about the entertainment.

I saw 3 shows in the main theatre and enjoyed them all:

Aladdin: was a fun show, followed much of the cartoons story line but was abreviated due to time limits. I know that everyone says the Genie is the best but I found him a little too much and some of the jokes in the show a little insulting in a way that Disney normally doesn't do (like when Iago says that Aladdin was swallowed up by a face like "Honey Boo Boo Child" when talking about the cave of wonders - is it really necessary to insult a little kid?) Anyways, it was fun and one of the better shows that I've seen onboard a ship.

Wishes: I really like this one because I think it highlighted many of the musical numbers I love from Disney movies. The story line is fine (about high school seniors graduating) but it takes an appropriate backseat to the songs and characters that make Disney special. I was very glad that I went to see this show.

The Hypnotist: Sorry but I don't remember what his name was but he was good and it was a very funny show. One thing I didn't like though was towards the end he started on a hard sell for his CDs and to attend his adult only session the next day. He seemed to drag this out knowing that everyone wanted to see the end of his show.

Movie Theatre / In room movies:

I saw 2 movies in the theatre this trip - Iron Man 3 and Monsters University - both of which ended up on video shortly after the cruise was over. My Dad saw 1 additional movie in the theatre - The Lone Ranger.

I felt that the variety of movies played in the theatre was a let down. It was the same movies time and time again. And the same variety that is showing on the 4 day Dream cruises even though the Fantasy is doing 7 day cruises (in the past, the 7 day cruises offered greater variety than the shorter cruises in the movie theatre).

The variety of in room new release movies was also greatly reduced this cruise. We watched The Great Gatsby and Man of Steel. I guess because it was a halloween cruise, they substituted many "spooky" older movies instead of new releases - they offered Coraline (in English and Spanish) and the Corpse Bride (in English and Spanish) and a couple of other older "spooky" movies but it really left few new release movies that we always enjoy watching on our cruise.

Crafts & Trivia:

I'll freely admit that on DCL cruises we have rarely participated in many planned activities. Most of our time has been split between the adult pool areas, the movie theatre, the on demand movies, the dining rooms and sleeping. This time we tried to get out and "do" more and for us 2 of those activities were crafts and trivia.

Crafts were kind of hit or miss as being interesting - there were door hangers, Phineas and Ferb paper craft, paper folding, and button making that either all 3 or us or at least 2 of us went to.



I have to say that most of the crafts were of poor quality and not super interesting or fun. The button making was by far the best one but it was held in the afternoon of Castaway Cay. My parents went while I did most of the packing. There was a total of 6 people there (including the 2 of them). They were told they could make as many buttons as they liked (the entertainment CM has one of those button making machines) because so few people were expected (I guess that's what happens when you put it at 2pm on Castaway Cay day). The buttons were of nice quality and they had decent decorations to make them with. As far as I was concerned, all the other crafts were of poor quality and I think DCL could do better than construction paper, a few not-very-good-at-sticking-stickers, markers, glue and seemingly very random sequins.

Trivia was good. There was a decent variety of topics - both Disney related and non Disney related. It did become clear though that they use the same sets of questions on each cruise because there were people who were asking if it was such-and-such set the same as on "blank" cruise and the CM admitted that yes it was. Plus, some of the questions were out of date (like the one about the robot on star tours who isn't there anymore). Anyways, they were fun and you could see that some people were really into playing.

Adult night life:

Well, to be honest, most nights there wasn't much. One night I went down to the clubs with our tablemates and there was no one in the tube and maybe 4 tables total in La Piazza of people listening to music. Another night I went on my own and there was no one in the Tube, and only 1 other table of people in La Piazza, and 3 people total in the Champagne bar. On the last night we went into Skyline and there were about 10 people total in there (including us).

The only time I saw any of the adult areas busy was one of the trivia games was held in O'Gills Pub and it was full - partly because of the trivia and partly because there was a sports game on the tv.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Main dining room breakfast:

Eggs Benedict:



My mom loved this. This is one of the foods that really is "cruise food" for her because we don't make it at home. These were fresh and hot.

My Dad got 2 pancakes and the what I'll call the "basic breakfast platter"



The pancakes were very good, the bacon and sausage and hash brown was good but my dad said there was maybe 2 bites of boiled scrambled egg-mixture (not good). He's more of a breakfast meat person so he didn't care.

They went back to the MDR later in the cruise to get the same thing minus the scrambled eggs.

 

[BinkYABT]

Hello Everyone,

I understand that on the Fantasy there are fish and seahorses outside the cobin doors. Can anyone provide me with a clean picture of them. I want to include it in the fish extender gifts that I'm making.

Thanks for your help

~Teri

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Hello Everyone,

I understand that on the Fantasy there are fish and seahorses outside the cobin doors. Can anyone provide me with a clean picture of them. I want to include it in the fish extender gifts that I'm making.

Thanks for your help

~Teri

I'm sorry but this is one thing I haven't taken pictures of. You may want to post this on the main boards, you'll get a better response there.

 

[nancipants]

Great report so far. I love pictures of food. Although it makes me very hungry.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Random bits -

For the first time on any of our DCL cruises, we took items to guest services to be signed. The CMs did a fantastic job and the 2 items really turned out well.

We selected 2 of my mom's duffy bear outfits (1 disneyland shirt and 1 animal kingdom outfit) to be signed and put in a few sharpie markers (colours that would work well with the AK Safari outfit).

These are now both proudly hanging in our living room.









Halloween pumpkins:





I noticed a lot fewer decorations this cruise than I did on either my 2010 or 2011 Halloween cruises.

More pictures of La Piazza (it seemed like most of the crafts and much of the trivia took place here - it was also a nice place to just relax during the day and we used it as a meet up place quite often)



Big round booth in La Piazza - I personally didn't like these very much - you were up higher but felt a little enclosed due to the railing.



The mask behind the stage where the piano performers did their gigs and the trivia host would stand:



some of our FE booty:



This was a really great FE group. We received lots of cool and unique items. One family gave a whole bunch of rum "packets" (not little bottles but shot pouches). I was worried about packing them for the trip home so I gave them to our tablemates on Pirate night who were more than happy to indulge! This cruise we did seem to get quite a few mini alcohol bottles which I ended up bringing home. The variety is great and they'll come in handy over the holidays because it means I can make just about any drink possible!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

The AquaLab (with wheelchair accessible photos)

The AquaLab was one thing I really wanted to do with my mom. About mid morning on Castaway Cay day (my Dad had already gone snorkeling and when I asked him about the water temperature he said, "you won't like it" so I decided I'd rather use the adult pool, Satelite Falls and the AquaLab).

A couple of tips for wheelchair users:

1. Make sure when you're on Deck 12 (I think that's the deck it's on) you are on the Starboard side - that's where the ramp is (port side has stairs). We lucked out that we tried that side first.

2. Bring earplugs. Many of the spouts were at the exact right height to hit my mom straight in the side of the head.

3. Make sure your wheelchair is water safe (no electric wheelchairs or scooters - if you have one of those, borrow a "regular" wheelchair from guest services).

4. Enjoy! Once you get up the ramp, it's all accessible. Just make sure you go back down the starboard side (again, the port side has stairs).





















Oh, and if you were onboard this cruise and heard my mom hooting and hollaring - she really was having fun - we weren't torturing her .

 

[TCB in FLA]

Thanks for sharing your trip! I love that your mom was able to enjoy the water on board!

 

[podsnel]

GREAT happy pics in the AquaLab! Loved them!

 

[RGirl]

Just found your TR and am joining in! I'm really enjoying reading about your cruise - I always prefer reports in which the author is honest about the fact that some things weren't great. Nothing in life is perfect; there is nothing wrong with some things not being what you hoped or expected, and there is nothing wrong with sharing that!

Thanks for your honesty and your fun reviews. I can't wait to read more!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Thanks for sharing your trip! I love that your mom was able to enjoy the water on board!

Thanks!

GREAT happy pics in the AquaLab! Loved them!

Thanks!

Just found your TR and am joining in! I'm really enjoying reading about your cruise - I always prefer reports in which the author is honest about the fact that some things weren't great. Nothing in life is perfect; there is nothing wrong with some things not being what you hoped or expected, and there is nothing wrong with sharing that!

Thanks for your honesty and your fun reviews. I can't wait to read more!

Coming up. We were without Power & Heat for 6 days over Christmas (from Midnight on the 21st until the 27th). Finally recovering and I can finish up this report.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Dinner Night 4

We were once again back in Royal Palace and I think this was the Prince and Princess Menu. It was the one I was most looking forward to because it offered 2 of my favourite dishes in the past - Vegetable Lasagna and the Turbot with creamy mashed potatoes and a leek sauce.

While those 2 dishes were still "good", they were poor cousins to the food quality of the past - especially the Lasagna which was almost nothing like what I'd had before.

For appetizers we had:

Duck Quesidilla:



This was okay but didn't have a lot of flavour.

The polenta with blue cheese:



My mom ordered this because it had blue cheese but she wasn't a big fan. She said it was very dull.

Salad with walnuts and blue cheese:



My mom basically ate the blue cheese out of this (which she proclaimed as fantastic) but our server didn't bring any salad dressing so she didn't eat the letuce part.

My dad didn't order an appetizer - instead for his main he ordered 2 steaks (with only 1 side of potatoes) - sorry about the blurry picture:



he liked these because they were cooked to medium, served hot and were 2 large pieces of meat.

Both my mom and I ordered the Vegetable Lasagna (she ordered it because I couldn't shut up about how good it had been). This version was still "good" but not the amazing dish I'd had aboard the Magic a couple of years prior:



My mom also ordered the Lamb:



She said it was okay but it was overcooked (it was well done). The vegetables that came with it were very good though and she ate all of them.

I also ordered the turbot - the potatoes were different this time, described as "crushed" potatoes - they weren't really mashed, not quite boiled, and IMHO, not really great.



The fish and the sauce were once again stand outs but I really missed the creamy mash that they used to come with.

For dessert, both my mom and I ordered the bread pudding. It was good - not too sweet itself but the sauce was very sugary.



My dad ordered ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream tonight (sorry, no picture). And he started ordering this every night from here forward.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Lunch today was room service.

My mom once again ordered the cheese plate:



Good as always.

And she ordered the ham sandwich:



she basically ate the meat out of this and that was all. The coleslaw was again terrible and the bun was very crusty. Chips were stale like they'd been out for days.

I had the hamburger - it was good though not very warm when it arrived:



My dad had the chicken fingers:



These are something he usually gets often on the disney ship was these weren't up to their usual standards.

I think room service was having an off day today.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Pirate night dinner

Pirate night is my least favourite menu - if both of my parents hadn't decided to wear pirate costumes this cruise, I would have gladly skipped the MDR and gone to Cabanas tonight.

My Dad got the pot stickers for his appetizer:



These were good and he easily finished the whole serving.

My mom got the creamy chicken soup from the kids menu for an appetizer:



She really liked this. She usually has a tough time with the Pirate menu because she can't have crab and doesn't like spicy (so no jerk anything). She asked for a kids menu and that's where she ordered her dinner from.

For her entree, my mom ordered the corn dog and the mac n cheese off the kids menu. This was served right after the appetizers. In fact, she was finished her dinner well before our entrees made it to the table (yes, looking back, service tonight was very slow - especially since I hadn't had an appetizer so the wait for my entree proved terribly long).



She liked the corn dog but wasn't impressed with the mac n cheese (though my dad loves that stuff).

My dad ordered two entrees - the prime rib:



which he pronounced "great"

and the ribs which he also thought were "great"



I also ordered the ribs but mine weren't really "great" - they were very poor. I had 5 bones and a large ring of fat. By the time I took it apart, I had only a small bit of meat. Mine were fatty and grisly and not good - I maybe ate 3 bites and called it a night.

For dessert - my dad again had his ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream and my mom ordered the cobbler.



By this time I was very tired (we were among the last in the dining room - Marie and Jill left to catch the fireworks which were starting, Johnathan was feeling sick and Christian walked him back to their cabin, and so it was Rudy, and the 3 of us at the table for dessert). I didn't order anything for dessert and decided to just go to bed after a very unfulfilling dinner.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Palo Brunch.

I was unsure of keeping this reservation as I have difficulty paying for additonal food on a cruise. And given the quality of DCL dining so far, I was jumping for joy at paying $60 plus tip for a meal on this ship.

I'm glad that we went - the food was very good but I don't see my paying for it again (it would now be $75 plus at least $15 tip = $90)

I went up and made my mother a plate and inquired about getting her some of the seafood from the kitchen so that it wouldn't be cross contaminated by the crab that was on that table:



And the plate of scallops, shrimp and smoked salmon they brought out for my mom:



She nibbled on just about everything and enjoyed most of the selections (the eggplant not so much but everything else was very good).

For her entree, she ordered the eggs benedict with spinach:



She said this was very good (though she liked the one at Olivia's better)

My dad's plates:

appetizers:


He prefers hot food so he ordered 3 entrees from the kitchen:

The chicken parm:



Which he declared amazing

The Lasagna



which he delcared amazing

And the filet mignon



which he declared incredibly disappointing.

C'est la vie!

My plates:

appetizer plate:



Loved the scallops and the shrimp. The almond croissant was good as was the cream puff (though I only ate the top half - why fill up on bread?). The crab legs were disappointing. I don't normally get crab around my mother but with the legs sitting cracked and opened I couldn't resist. Unfortunately they were watery and without much flavour.

For entrees I had the chicken parm which I found very good (not a fantastic as my dad found it, but very good) and the grape and gorgonzola pizza. This I thought was outstanding.



The flavours were exceptional - it was unique and cooked to crispy without being burnt on the bottom. I ate as much of this as I could but the flavour became overwhelming after about half.

For desserts we went up and grabbed a couple of plates to share:







We all seemed to enjoy different desserts. I found the desserts to be good but nothing that I was rushing back for seconds for.

Overall it was a very good experience, very good service, good to very good food, a nice atomosphere, a very pleasant way to spend a morning.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Great TR! Love all the details. And the picture of your Mom in the water area is priceless.

 

[PizzieDuster]

I'm enjoying your trip report! I just love all the food pictures, well, any trip report with pictures!!!!

Your FE idea is wonderful! I would have loved to received that!!!

I have dreams of that grape pizza and I love it when people post pictures of it !!