A WDW & DCL First Trip - Food & Wine - Club Villain - MNSSHP - Sep 16

[DisDreaming4116]

Really enjoy the trip report and photos!

 

[Reflections of Earth]

Joining in! Let me start by saying that your photography is amazing!

So glad that you guys had such a good time while in Disney. I especially enjoyed your love story!

Opting for the spa seems like it was a great idea. Despite the issue with the run, I am so happy you were able to make the most of Castaway Cay. It looks absolutely beautiful!

 

[Beccybooboo]

Wow. Castaway Cay looks breathtaking.
I am very impressed with what the ship offers. Disney really has done a wonderful job with their cruiseline.
Sounds like the perfect place for a couple to unwind and relax on holiday.

Shame about your running experience but at least you got the medal
The spa looks amazing and well worth the money.

 

[Beccybooboo]

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."

LEST WE FORGET
​

So beautifully written.
I hope your day of reflection was lovely.​

 

[Sinders99]

Wow. Castaway Cay looks breathtaking.
I am very impressed with what the ship offers. Disney really has done a wonderful job with their cruiseline.
Sounds like the perfect place for a couple to unwind and relax on holiday.

If you ever get the chance to take a DCL cruise on a future trip you should definitely do it!! I don't think we fully appreciated just how beautiful the ship and Castaway Cay was until we got home. I kind of wish I'd actually taken more photos to better capture it!! Your daughter would love it too!! The kids clubs onboard are the very best in the business.

 

[Sinders99]

Joining in! Let me start by saying that your photography is amazing!

So glad that you guys had such a good time while in Disney. I especially enjoyed your love story!

Opting for the spa seems like it was a great idea. Despite the issue with the run, I am so happy you were able to make the most of Castaway Cay. It looks absolutely beautiful!

Awww thanks so much for joining in. DH & I have been very lucky in finding one another so early in life.

 

[Beccybooboo]

If you ever get the chance to take a DCL cruise on a future trip you should definitely do it!! I don't think we fully appreciated just how beautiful the ship and Castaway Cay was until we got home. I kind of wish I'd actually taken more photos to better capture it!! Your daughter would love it too!! The kids clubs onboard are the very best in the business.

It has given us something to think about although cruises were not something that interested us...it is Disney and we love Disney and they do it so well. I am sure that India would love it as you said, the kids clubs would be alot of fun for her I am sure. Thanks again for sharing

 

[Sinders99]

Day 8 Part 1: A Palo Sea Day

WOW!! It's been such a big week this week. I almost forgot where we left off.

I've had such a huge day today getting ready for my husbands big birthday bash and running my weekly long run (10km's today) for my half marathon training. It's all a bit of blur.

We're also full steam ahead in budgeting and planning our next WDW trip!! We're so excited to be coming back to the world for a Christmas 2019 trip and at this stage have settled on renting DVC points - 1 week Boardwalk Villas (studio) & 1 week Saratoga Springs (studio). It'll be our first touch of deluxe. Right now it's very early days and we're just running the numbers so we know what we need to save but it's still SUPER exciting!!

Anyway, back to this trip report

In planning our cruise activities one of the things that I kept reading over and over and over was that you had to do Palo brunch. DH & I are very much brunch people so this experience was one we absolutely didn't want to miss. I was so stressed trying to get this booking online beforehand. When our booking window open it was booked out straight away and I was devastated. I checked daily for weeks but had no luck and then one day the heavens opened and smiled on me and I was able to get a table for 2

So on the last day of our cruise - which was our sea day - we started out with a 10am brunch at Palo!!

Right away we were struck by how beautiful Palo was. In the entrance way to the restaurant is the most beautiful hand blown glass installation. It actually reminded me of the beautiful glass flowers installation inside the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

15.09.16-24 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr
15.09.16-23 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

The main dining area was stunning as well and if you were lucky (as we were) you managed to snag a super comfy booth overlooking the ocean.

15.09.16-22 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

Once we entered the dining room and before we were seated we were given a detailed tour of the brunch tables. OMG OMG OMG!! The food options and choices were absolutely amazing.

The first table had a huge assortment of breakfast antipasto items. This table as you can see had everything from pickled mediterranean vegetables to potted crab, prosciutto wrapped asparagus to cheeses and caviar (YES CAVIAR) to amazing cured meats!! This table was right up my alley!!

15.09.16-8 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

The next table was the seafood table. Now I have a confession to make, DH & I are HUGE Deadliest Catch fans and we promised ourselves that on this trip back to the US we were finally going to try the King Crab that those men work so hard to harvest. Well, thank you Palo, on this table was King Crab, Jumbo Shrimp (King Prawns in Australia), oysters, shrimp bloody mary's, smoked salmon, seared tuna - YUM YUM YUM YUM!!!

15.09.16-9 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

And on our next table we have all the yummy hot food, fresh fruit and baked goods you could ever hope for!!

15.09.16-12 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

And for the finale we have the desert table!! These pint sized little beauties were amazing!! Little miniature works of art. Lemon Meringue Pies, choc dipped strawberries, brownies, tiramisu, champaign jelly with berries, cannoli and so so much more!!!

15.09.16-3 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

And if all that wasn't enough for you you can also order off the a la carte menu which included omelettes, breakfast pizzas, pancakes YUM YUM YUM!!!

This cost us an additional $30US per person and was worth every single cent! You also receive a glass of bubbles on arrival. As I mentioned we were very lucky to be seated at a booth facing the ocean.

15.09.16-20 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

As a lovely gesture our waiter bought us a beautiful plate wishing us a Happy 10th Wedding Anniversary which was really lovely and unexpected.

15.09.16-19 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr
15.09.16-21 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

Our Palo dining experience was absolutely brilliant and I would highly highly recommend it to anyone booking a cruise with a sea day (Palo only does brunch on sea days). This brunch and Castaway Cay were the absolute highlights of our DCL experience.

15.09.16-17 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

So after we rolled ourselves out of Palo around midday we decided to have a relaxed afternoon enjoying the spa. Once we were all spa'd out we returned to our cabin for an afternoon snooze and some down time.

One of the reasons we booked an inside cabin was for the magic port hole and I managed to snap a pic of this little guy for you all

15.09.16-26 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

He just dropped in to say hi!

Unfortunately by late afternoon I have to admit to picking up some kind of cold that was doing the rounds on the ship I was coming down fast with a sore throat and the energy was being zapped from my body but I wasn't going to let it get me down. I was determined to soldier on.

I'm going to leave this update here. In Part 2 we'll look at our final night onboard and all the great festivities ​

 

[heaven2dc]

Enjoying your TR! Loved all of the great pics - you have a great photographic eye! I have a question though - what does it mean when you say frog marched? I'm just so curious as I've never heard that term before and had this visual of everyone jumping over each other like frogs lol.

P.S. Glad you are enjoying your cruise!

 

[Sinders99]

Enjoying your TR! Loved all of the great pics - you have a great photographic eye! I have a question though - what does it mean when you say frog marched? I'm just so curious as I've never heard that term before and had this visual of everyone jumping over each other like frogs lol.

P.S. Glad you are enjoying your cruise!

So glad you've joined us

Frog March = any method of making a resisting person move forward against his will

It really was a horrible experience. If we didn't move where and when the crew member wanted we got yelled and screamed at. Not the ideal way to start your cruise and like I said, not what we've ever experienced on other cruise lines.

 

[heaven2dc]

So glad you've joined us

Frog March = any method of making a resisting person move forward against his will

It really was a horrible experience. If we didn't move where and when the crew member wanted we got yelled and screamed at. Not the ideal way to start your cruise and like I said, not what we've ever experienced on other cruise lines.

I'm going to start using that term! Perfect description (unfortunately) of your muster drill

Happy Anniversary! Sorry that your started feeling sick! Every time we visit Disney World I start to feeling sick (sore scratchy throat, congested feeling) and I quickly run to the resort's store and get hydrogen peroxide to put a couple of drops in my ear for a minute or so and I magically feel better in a couple of hours.

 

[Reflections of Earth]

Oh. My. Goodness. Palo looks amazing. So glad you managed to get a table, Palo seems like it was perfect for you!

 

[em36]

I am loving this trip report! I have to comment on your Crystal Palace/ cornbread experience. There are two popular types of cornbread, sweet or savory. Entire marriages in the south have ended over cornbread preferences. I personally love the savory type, and I get a little angry when I bite into sweet cornbread. I can't wait to read more.

 

[missangelalexis]

Brunch at Palo looks fantastic!! Glad it was a good experience!

 

[auntlatoya]

Joining. You guys are having a great time. Love all the pictures. Can't wait to see how the rest of your vacation turns out.

 

[Sinders99]

Oh my goodness everyone I'm so sorry for my lack of updates. Life has been busy!!

I'm currently preparing a big birthday bash for my husband and all the last minute planning and organise has been a full time job!! He's decided on a Star Wars themed birthday bash. I hope to share a few pictures with you all after the big day

I've also been working on a rough budget for our next trip!! If all goes to plan we may be celebrating Christmas 2019 in the US and spending a couple of weeks back in our beloved world. We're also hoping to spend a week at Universal this time. We missed so much on this trip because we thought it was going to be like Universal Hollywood (which we really disliked) and so we only allowed 2 days on this trip. WAY TOO SHORT!! Finally we hope to celebrate Christmas in VEGAS BABY!!! We visited Vegas for the first time on our 2010 tour of the West Coast and haven't been back. 2 nights wasn't enough and we weren't expecting to like Vegas as much as we did. There's so much we want to go back and see!!

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten you all and hope to have another update uploaded tomorrow.

Stay awesome!!

 

[TXMNie]

Just started following along! Enjoying it so far! Great photos!

 

[Sinders99]

Day 8 Part 2: A Magical Final Night

Oh my goodness!! I'm so sorry for such a big break in between updates. It seems all my time recently has been taken up rushing around sourcing things for my hubby's 40th Star Wars party!! Today's job is making star wars Photo Booth props. Lucky I love him!! I can't wait to share some photo pics with you next week.

So back to our wonderful final night onboard!

So I mentioned that by this stage I was starting to come down with a cold. My throat was burning and my head was thumping, even after an afternoon nap but I wasn't going to let it ruin out final night onboard. My very patient DH spent his time waiting for me to wake up from my nanny nap doing this

15.09.16-27 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

Sitting on the couch playing tetris! GEEK!!! Can I just say again how surprised we were by the amount of room and the facilities in our inside cabin. Honestly, if all you can afford is an standard inside cabin like ours, don't be worried. It'll have everything you need and besides, with so much to do onboard you'll probably spend very little time in your cabin anyways!

So after my nanny nap we quickly got ready for our final night onboard. We made our way to the nightly show (sorry I can't remember the name but in true Disney fashion it was amazing - I think it was Believe?). You really can't afford to miss these shows, they truely are amazing. After we left the theatre we made our way to the main atrium to take in the party going on!

And what a party it was!!

15.09.16-29 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr
15.09.16-30 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

Now in these photos you can see the Halloween tree. Over the course of our cruise I'd taken a series of photos to show how it evolves. It was quite exciting each morning to see how the tree had changed.

Day 1 - Embarkation Day

12.09.16-14 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

Day 2 - Nassau Day

13.09.16-25 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

Day 4 - Sea Day

15.09.16-35 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

The Halloween details all over the ship were really wonderful. Coming from a culture that really doesn't celebrate Halloween it was a wonderful experience. The large portal windows were decorated with faces - as demonstrated here by DH

15.09.16-37 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

There were pumpkins around everywhere. I forgot to mention that on one afternoon (I think our Nassau day) we went to the movie theatre and bought the souvenir pop corn bucket which turned out to be a vampire Mickey!! He was a bit of a pain to get back half way around the world but he now takes pride of place in my office and we used him to collect candy at MNSSHP!!

Anyway, before dinner we found a lovely little backdrop near reception for a photo

15.09.16-33 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

AWWWWWWWWW

So where were we off to for our final dinner?? Royal Palace of course!!

15.09.16-36 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

Of all the included restaurants onboard this was by far our favourite!!

The details were so beautiful!! Can you see that super cute carriage bread basket on the table!!

15.09.16-38 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

I was so glad this turned out to be our final dining experience because it was by far the most formal of all the dining options we'd experience.

15.09.16-39 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

15.09.16-40 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

We honestly found it so hard to pick just one appetiser here so in the end we just got all of them!! But the one I was really looking forward to was the Garlic Snails!! I've had them before but DH hasn't ever had them so I was ready with the camera!!

15.09.16-41 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr
15.09.16-42 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr
15.09.16-43 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr
15.09.16-45 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

I'm not sure what theatrics were going on in that last photo but he survived!! I don't think he loved them but he ate half and soaked up the garlic butter with a bread stick and then politely pushed the remaining snails my way LOL!!!

So after a beautiful dinner and a sad farewell to our wonderful table mates we returned to our Disney bed for one final nights sleep onboard, but it seems someone beat us to bed!!

15.09.16-46 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

And can I just say how much I LOVE the red pillow they place on your bed!!! I so wanted to bring one home but unfortunately they were priced like gold in the gift show and beyond our budget. So I just had to make do with this photo.......

15.09.16-47 by Jennie Gardiner, on Flickr

And with that I'll sign off this update before I have to recount our horrible disembarkation story.

​

 

[TXMNie]

Good on your husband for trying the snails! The Halloween decorations look fun! Great update!

 

[missangelalexis]

Can't wait to hear about your husband's party! Good luck with the rest of the preparations!

Sounds like a wonderful final evening. I love that Halloween tree, so cool!