Disney owl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2001
Great report thanks for sharing your photos
Almost Live Land-Sea-Land 7/29 Magic
- Thread starter hojolo
- Start date
Hobbitmomma
Frodo Lives
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
Wonderful report! It's really making me excited for our trip in three weeks. I have a question for you if you don't mind. (I know you are still on your trip, so if you don't answer, I understand.) How did everyone know about your daughter's birthday? Did you tell someone at the front desk at WDW? My son will be turning 8 two weeks after our vacation. We thought that since we are not doing a party for him, (vacation is causing this birthday to be a low key one) it would be fun for him to have a little fuss made over him on vacation. Thanks and enjoy the rest of your vacation!
Day 9: Another At-Sea Day
Thursday we started early with a glimpse of the sunrise off of the verandah.
Our character breakfast was at 8:15am, so it was an early wake-up call. I really liked the early seating for dinner (we ate @ 5:45), but if I could change 1 thing it would have been to have a later character breakfast. Just when we were finally getting caught up on our rest, another early morning.
This day was full of both rest and activities as we hit the pool, took the galley tour (more on this in a later post), attended the graduation from D-Sea-U of our DDs, and took in the Disney Dreams show.
The D-Sea-U program was huge. With over 2700 guests on board, over 900 children took part.
Heres the Headmaster conferring the degrees. The Mice were leading the students in flipping their tassel on their mouse ears, and each child also received a t-shirt.
Disney Dreams was great. I really enjoyed all of the Disney shows and would highly recommend them.
Thursday we started early with a glimpse of the sunrise off of the verandah.
Our character breakfast was at 8:15am, so it was an early wake-up call. I really liked the early seating for dinner (we ate @ 5:45), but if I could change 1 thing it would have been to have a later character breakfast. Just when we were finally getting caught up on our rest, another early morning.
This day was full of both rest and activities as we hit the pool, took the galley tour (more on this in a later post), attended the graduation from D-Sea-U of our DDs, and took in the Disney Dreams show.
The D-Sea-U program was huge. With over 2700 guests on board, over 900 children took part.
Heres the Headmaster conferring the degrees. The Mice were leading the students in flipping their tassel on their mouse ears, and each child also received a t-shirt.
Disney Dreams was great. I really enjoyed all of the Disney shows and would highly recommend them.
Galley Tour
On Thursday afternoon, DW and I took the galley tour. Given our special interest in food, and the wonderful cuisine on the ship, it seemed like a no-brainer to take the tour. The tour met outside Lumieres (deck 3 midship) and was conducted by Sandip, the Head Chef of Lumieres.
He took us in the galley entrance, past banks of drink fountains. The drink station is right next to the door to the dining room so that the assistant servers can rapidly refill guest beverages. Large refrigerated racks hold appetizers and salads for quick access by the servers, while entree orders are logged into a separate dining ticket and prepared in the kitchen. As we progressed into the galley, we came upon several rows of food-serving stations, for meat, chicken, and fish. A separate line was dedicated to serving only kids meals, as Sandip described the children as DCLs most important guests.
With approximately 2700 guests and almost 1000 staff, the ship feeds a small army each day. The numbered decks (1 11) are all those above the water line. Below the water line are 3 more decks named A, B, and C. Here provisions are stored (ALL provisions for the entire trip are loaded in Port Canaveral to ensure the highest food quality and safety) and most crew facilities are located, including their bunks and separate crew galley. Given the long hours on the ship, the crew galley is the longest running galley onboard, open for 14+ hours daily. Each day, in preparation for mealtime, each chef is responsible for requisitioning and obtaining the days ingredients from the ships provisions. Excess items are carried in order to handle unforeseen delays. For example, last year during hurricane season a storm prevented a 7 day cruise from returning to dock in PC. The 7 day cruise turned into an 11 day cruise before finally disembarking in Galveston, TX. The dining staff must be prepared to handle these types on unscheduled changes.
A large are consisting of closed storage (pictured) allows utensils to be segregated based upon their use and to ensure that specialized diets, such as Kosher, can be prepared according to requirements.
We next made our way into the Pastry area, where the pastry chef was finishing 2 wedding cakes for guests to use to celebrate their vows the next day at Castaway Cay. All of us on the tour also took the opportunity to sample a fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookie. Over 3000 chocolate chip cookies are baked and eaten on the ship each day, along with countless other baked goods. A dedicated bakery below decks runs virtually 24hrs to prepare all the baked goods needed during the journey.
The large dishwasher on the right can clean over 330 plates at once, while the slightly smaller one on the left is used for glassware and certain utensils. The ability to quickly and safely clean up is clear once you recognize that from the end of the 1st dinner seating to the beginning of the 2nd seating is less than 45 minutes. Quick, efficient clean up is a must.
Also barely visible in the background of the dishwasher pic are several color-coded containers. Not only does the Magic take all of its provisions with it when it leaves, but it also sorts and recycles the trash. Each server (every staff member actually) is responsible for cleaning their own personal trash, and any trash in their assigned duty are, sorting it into the type of trash, and separating it into the proper container for proper reuse or recycling. So, every dish you leave on the table must be cleaned with food waste in one area, paper products in another, and any glass or metal in its own proper place.
As we stepped through another food serving and prep area, we ended up exiting into Parrot Cay. The main galley connects Lumieres and Parrot Cay, with Animators Palate directly above 1 deck higher. All food prep is centrally focused around this area, with all special dietary items produced in the Lumieres galley, the only real cook-to-order facility on the ship.
One final note. The food service staff are perhaps the hardest and longest working personnel on the ship. They are required to take off 6 hrs out of every 24hrs (Disney schedules them for 7hrs off to be sure) and they are limited to a maximum of 96 hrs a week. Even when in port, only some get time off, and while in Castaway Cay virtually all hands on the ship work a 2nd (or 3rd) job on the island. While a minimal salary is provided, they depend on the tips to earn a living. Many have families at home in other countries and are apart for 4-8 months at a time. They are simply doing what all of us are doing, trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. Please give them your respect, and show your appreciation, as they care for your every whim onboard.
On Thursday afternoon, DW and I took the galley tour. Given our special interest in food, and the wonderful cuisine on the ship, it seemed like a no-brainer to take the tour. The tour met outside Lumieres (deck 3 midship) and was conducted by Sandip, the Head Chef of Lumieres.
He took us in the galley entrance, past banks of drink fountains. The drink station is right next to the door to the dining room so that the assistant servers can rapidly refill guest beverages. Large refrigerated racks hold appetizers and salads for quick access by the servers, while entree orders are logged into a separate dining ticket and prepared in the kitchen. As we progressed into the galley, we came upon several rows of food-serving stations, for meat, chicken, and fish. A separate line was dedicated to serving only kids meals, as Sandip described the children as DCLs most important guests.
With approximately 2700 guests and almost 1000 staff, the ship feeds a small army each day. The numbered decks (1 11) are all those above the water line. Below the water line are 3 more decks named A, B, and C. Here provisions are stored (ALL provisions for the entire trip are loaded in Port Canaveral to ensure the highest food quality and safety) and most crew facilities are located, including their bunks and separate crew galley. Given the long hours on the ship, the crew galley is the longest running galley onboard, open for 14+ hours daily. Each day, in preparation for mealtime, each chef is responsible for requisitioning and obtaining the days ingredients from the ships provisions. Excess items are carried in order to handle unforeseen delays. For example, last year during hurricane season a storm prevented a 7 day cruise from returning to dock in PC. The 7 day cruise turned into an 11 day cruise before finally disembarking in Galveston, TX. The dining staff must be prepared to handle these types on unscheduled changes.
A large are consisting of closed storage (pictured) allows utensils to be segregated based upon their use and to ensure that specialized diets, such as Kosher, can be prepared according to requirements.
We next made our way into the Pastry area, where the pastry chef was finishing 2 wedding cakes for guests to use to celebrate their vows the next day at Castaway Cay. All of us on the tour also took the opportunity to sample a fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookie. Over 3000 chocolate chip cookies are baked and eaten on the ship each day, along with countless other baked goods. A dedicated bakery below decks runs virtually 24hrs to prepare all the baked goods needed during the journey.
The large dishwasher on the right can clean over 330 plates at once, while the slightly smaller one on the left is used for glassware and certain utensils. The ability to quickly and safely clean up is clear once you recognize that from the end of the 1st dinner seating to the beginning of the 2nd seating is less than 45 minutes. Quick, efficient clean up is a must.
Also barely visible in the background of the dishwasher pic are several color-coded containers. Not only does the Magic take all of its provisions with it when it leaves, but it also sorts and recycles the trash. Each server (every staff member actually) is responsible for cleaning their own personal trash, and any trash in their assigned duty are, sorting it into the type of trash, and separating it into the proper container for proper reuse or recycling. So, every dish you leave on the table must be cleaned with food waste in one area, paper products in another, and any glass or metal in its own proper place.
As we stepped through another food serving and prep area, we ended up exiting into Parrot Cay. The main galley connects Lumieres and Parrot Cay, with Animators Palate directly above 1 deck higher. All food prep is centrally focused around this area, with all special dietary items produced in the Lumieres galley, the only real cook-to-order facility on the ship.
One final note. The food service staff are perhaps the hardest and longest working personnel on the ship. They are required to take off 6 hrs out of every 24hrs (Disney schedules them for 7hrs off to be sure) and they are limited to a maximum of 96 hrs a week. Even when in port, only some get time off, and while in Castaway Cay virtually all hands on the ship work a 2nd (or 3rd) job on the island. While a minimal salary is provided, they depend on the tips to earn a living. Many have families at home in other countries and are apart for 4-8 months at a time. They are simply doing what all of us are doing, trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. Please give them your respect, and show your appreciation, as they care for your every whim onboard.
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