Boardwalk to the Beach Club.. with a cruise inbetween! April 2015

[disneybarbie]

After breakfast, we still had about two hours until we were due to meet for the cruise bus – so we took a leisurely walk around the lake...


























Stopping at the Boardwalk stores for some drinks to carry onboard with us. We picked up our hand luggage from bell services, then went and sat in the rocking chairs by the pool for an hour.














I took a picture of the jogging trail sign that's near the pool, if any one wanted to see it!







At about 11.30 we made our way up to the lobby and through to the Belle Vue Lounge... it was almost time!









We checked in with the DCL cast member and sat and waited for the call, there were quite a lot of other cruise guests waiting with us.









Soon enough we were asked to form a line and were led out to the Boardwalk Conference center where two DCL buses were waiting for us!














We had to make a couple more stops at Caribbean Beach and at Pop Century – but then we were on our way to Port Canaveral!






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[Disdreamprincess]

You totally look like an Olympic athlete!
The characters costumes at Cape May Cafe are so cute

 

[Sailormoon2]

Thanks for some Cape May breakfast shots, I didn't know Minnie was one of the characters there! That is so great!

 

[cindianne320]

Yum! The Cape May Breakfast looks delicious! I must ask- what are biscuits and gravy like in the UK?

Can't wait to hear all about the Cruise!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

We're getting to my favorite part...the cruise!

 

[oceanmarina]

Yep, I agree you most definitely look like an Olympic athlete - anyone who takes a morning run in addition to all the running around you do on a WDW vacation must qualify as an Olympian in my opinion

Looking forward to the sea portion of your magical trip!

 

[disneybarbie]

You totally look like an Olympic athlete!
The characters costumes at Cape May Cafe are so cute

Hehe... thank you for the compliment! I made sure to give our server a good tip after she said something so nice to me I really liked the beach theme at Cape May Café.. definitely the right place to have breakfast before starting our cruise!

Thanks for some Cape May breakfast shots, I didn't know Minnie was one of the characters there! That is so great!

No problem! The food was really good, I think sometimes Mickey might be there too.

Yum! The Cape May Breakfast looks delicious! I must ask- what are biscuits and gravy like in the UK?

Can't wait to hear all about the Cruise!

So.. biscuits are what you would call cookies/graham crackers... and gravy is a thick meaty stock that we serve with Sunday roast dinners, or on sausage and mash!

We're getting to my favorite part...the cruise!

More updates coming!

Yep, I agree you most definitely look like an Olympic athlete - anyone who takes a morning run in addition to all the running around you do on a WDW vacation must qualify as an Olympian in my opinion

Looking forward to the sea portion of your magical trip!

Haha.. thank you! Cruise parts coming up soon


Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

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I love the atmosphere on the buses to the cruise terminal – everyone is so excited to get on the ship. I watched the onboard video pretty much the whole journey, keeping an eye on the horizon for a first glimpse of the beautiful Fantasy!




































Once we arrived at the port, a crew member boarded our bus to explain how the checking in and security procedures worked – and soon we were off the bus and making our way into the terminal. The line moved very quickly and within ten minutes we were checked in and able to board the ship!














We stopped for the pre-cruise photo (it was ok, but we didn't buy it.... I think i've read that they take this one to activate the face-recognition for all the other photos you have taken onboard)




And then it was time to walk/skip up the gang way and onto the ship! I love how they announce each party onto the boat and then the crew (and even some guests) applaud!




First we made our way to our stateroom. We had a verandah room on deck 8, we'd been on this deck for our last cruise but had been forward rather than aft (on future cruises.. we'd stick with forward as on a few occasions we were more aware of the ships engines, which are at the back of the ship too!)




First thing we noticed was a red rose and two bath robes arranged on the bed – along with a bottle of champagne and sail away chocolates (I might have phoned DCL Gifts a few weeks before we sailed!) - everything was really nicely arranged in our stateroom.














First view from the verendah.... of the Carnival cruise ship (which seemed to be on almost exactly the same itinerary as us that week!)









Our luggage hadn't arrived yet, so we left our hand luggage and went to check out the ship – get our bearings again!




Love this little detail – Donald after flying off the Aqua Duck!






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[disneybarbie]

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It was such a great feeling to be back onboard







We went to check out the gym and hand in our entries for the Sense Spa raffle









More strolling around!












Checking out the fun bars in Europa..




Sky Line







O'Gills












Atrium again!







We had some time before the muster drill, and our luggage still hadn't arrived.. so it seemed like a good time to open the bubbly and have some chocolates on our balcony



















While in the room our stateroom attendant dropped by to introduce himself – he was called Aris and was so helpful and polite throughout our cruise.




We had to meet on deck four for our muster drill – our crew member was fantastic (I want to say his name was Tony, from New Jersey) – he made the otherwise dull/scary safety drill fun and memorable. He also told us that if we saw him around the ship then we had to raise our hands and shout 'whoop whoop!' if we were having a fun & safe cruise (… have to wait and see if we did see him again!)




At this point DH and I realised that it seemed like every other guest was wearing a Red Sox hat... as it was the week of Patriots Day that week, we found out that many schools in Massachusetts have the whole week off.. so many of our cruise mates were all from the North East! This suited DH fine as he is a Red Sox fan, and we both loved Boston when we visited a couple of years ago




Very soon we were free to leave the muster point, and it was almost time for sail away! We made our way up to deck 12, the adults only area, and got a couple of 'drinks of the day' to toast the start of our cruise.

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[disneybarbie]

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Soon we were moving and on our way out of Port Canaveral..

When we'd used the emergency staircases to reach our muster point, we'd actually spotted our luggage making its way up to our stateroom (always a slight worry that our bags won't make it on the ship ) - so once the ship was moving we made our way back to our room and unpacked.




We got showered and ready for the evening, we were booked on second sitting for dinner so decided to go check out Skyline beforehand.




Love the light up menus!









The bar was very quiet (as it always tended to be before dinner), so we sat up at the bar and chatted with the bar tender, Marko.




I think DH had one of the Paris cocktails..







I had the St Pete's Sling which I remembered from our last cruise..









We bought the Skyline passport, which was about $60 and worked out cheaper than buying individual drinks.




We made our way to Royal Court for dinner, on arrival we were surprised to be led to a table for eight! (On our honeymoon we'd been seated alone, and on our last cruise we'd been sat with a young couple on their honeymoon). Soon our table mates arrived – a couple from Tampa, and a family of four from Indiana – parents with their grown-up son and his girlfriend. I'd always thought I'd find the arranged seating a little awkward on cruises, but we both agreed that it was so much fun to sit with the same group each evening – hear about what we'd all been up to during the day and learn about each other too.




Our head server was called Alberto, we saw him very often during each meal – and our table servers were Fergi and Elvin; both were so friendly. Fergi made great suggestions and even performed some magic tricks or challenged us to some trivia /puzzle after each meal!




(I didn't take any photos of dinner, first night sat with table mates and I didn't want to be 'that guy' taking food photos )




We were pretty tired after our meal, so made our way back to the stateroom.


Towel animal...









We also had an invite from DVC to attend a meet up, and also collect free gifts from the DVC booth on deck 5!









Random mirror photo of me and the towel animal!







I read through the navigator before falling asleep, we had two days at sea to look forward to.

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[oceanmarina]

What a great start to your cruise! Nothing beats a verandah - we had one on the Wonder & Dream. Love the scenery at skyline, looks amazing. Pretty dinner dress

 

[NYMama]

Are you a member of the DVC? We will also be staying on deck 8 when we cruise - I'm excited to hear more about what you thought about that location! This is great!

 

[Sailormoon2]

I love the concept of cruising, but alas I have always been put off by my severe motion sickness. Your room, and especially balcony look fabulous.

 

[disneybarbie]

What a great start to your cruise! Nothing beats a verandah - we had one on the Wonder & Dream. Love the scenery at skyline, looks amazing. Pretty dinner dress

Thanks, we've had a verandah on all three of our cruises now - originally for this cruise we had discussed getting a partial verandah or not having one at all (as we didn't seem to use it much) - but it's hard not to have one now! I did find this cruise that we did spend a lot more time out there, so it was worth paying that little bit more.

Are you a member of the DVC? We will also be staying on deck 8 when we cruise - I'm excited to hear more about what you thought about that location! This is great!

Hi! Yes we are DVC members - our travel agent had made a note of it on our reservation so DVC knew we were onboard (we also got a DVC magnet put on our stateroom door too!). Deck 8 really suits us - it's not too far from the activities on the top decks, but not too close (on the Dream we'd been on deck 10 underneath Cabanas, and were sometimes woken up in the night when the restaurant was being cleaned... chairs and tables being moved across the floor etc.!).

I love the concept of cruising, but alas I have always been put off by my severe motion sickness. Your room, and especially balcony look fabulous.

That's a shame about your motion sickness. I must say that it's very rare to feel the ship really moving, particularly if you do the shorter Bahamas cruises as the Caribbean sea is usually very calm... I have always taken motion sickness bands and medicine with us, but luckily we've both been fine on the seas. I actually find it's after the cruise, when we're back on land, that I still feel like I'm on a ship!

 

[disneybarbie]

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Sunday 19th April 2015

Day at Sea



We woke up about 8am, and used the DCL app to check through what activities we wanted to do (this app was so useful to us – we could set reminders of activities we had booked/wanted to do, check out menus for each evening and also message each other free of charge).




For breakfast we decided to try the a la carte option at Royal Court rather than Cabanas, we had a really relaxed meal (and even saw two of our table mates from the night before!). DH had a 'make your own' omelette and I had a buckwheat crepe with tofu and egg whites (starting the cruise healthily!) …. with a miniature pastry from the selection that was brought around to the table




Trying to get a photo of my favourite bread basket!







After breakfast, we went to guest services to book a few activities (mixology class that afternoon and register for the 5k race on Castaway Cay), and also popped by the DVC booth to pick up our gift.









It was a lanyard and pin, each of us were given one too!




We went back to the stateroom to change into our swimwear and pick up our sunbathing things. I also put some laundry on (our room was right opposite one of the small launderettes which was really useful).




View from our verandah..












We spent a couple of hours sunbathing and reading, then about 11am went to the gym for a little workout.




The ship was moving quite a bit so I made sure to wear the safety strap while running on the treadmill!




Best view ever from a treadmill..







After the gym, I didn't feel to great – I think it was a mix of going to the gym after breakfast (I nearly always workout first thing in the morning) and the ship's movement, which was odd as I'd never struggled with that on previous cruises. Luckily it didn't last long and I felt ok for a light lunch at Cabanas




We both stuck to salad and sushi - even though there is so much to choose from – we had a big meal coming that evening, and wanted to top up on fruit/veg as we eat so much of these at home!











We sunbathed for a bit more on deck 12 before heading to Meridian for our 3pm mixology class.









We were a little early for the class, so we sat and waited in the deck 13 bar (this is located between Remy and Palo, right at the back of the ship)














Once everyone had arrived, our bartender – Damien – introduced himself and got the group (20 of us in total) to gather around the bar.









He explained how cocktail bars are set up, how the drinks are arranged and a few of the tricks that barmen do to influence what people choose to drink (such as putting premium bottles on display, and cheaper ones away in the cupboard!)




We were invited in groups of four to come behind the bar – we were going to make five drinks in total (a bargain really for $20).




We got to make and sample a bay breeze, a mini guiness, a Damien-original layered martini (which contained limoncello and blue curacao), a pink lady champagne cocktail and a raspberry mojito.




The group we were in was really good fun, there seemed to be lots of parents/couples whose kids were happily in the kids' clubs so they could enjoy themselves too! Damien and the other crew members helping out were really laid back and didn't mind if people were being a little generous when measuring out the drinks





















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[disneybarbie]

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After our class, we wandered back to the room – DH stayed there and watched some ESPN, I went to deliver a few gifts around the ship (I had joined a closed Facebook group before the cruise and a few people had let me know their favourite British candy... so I'd brought some onboard!)




It was quite fun wandering the other decks and seeing all of the creative 'fish extenders' and stateroom door decorations




Deck 5 while on my tour..







We had had our dinner invitation put in our stateroom for this evening!









Our plan had been to get ready for dinner, and go and see tonight's show in the theatre.. Aladdin.


This is one of my favourite Disney movies (kid in the early 90's!) and I really wanted to see the show. I got ready while DH napped.. but 5 minutes before showtime.... he was still asleep! I was about to feel disappointed that we weren't going to make it in time – when I remembered, there is a camera in the theatre which is linked to a channel which you can watch in the stateroom!




So I settled down on the sofa and watched the whole show












DH woke up towards the end and realised what had happened – he started to apologise but I told him it was fine, I'd got to see the whole thing while sitting comfortably in our room, in my new DCL bath robe!




We both got ready and made our way back up to Deck 13 – we checked in for dinner and then ordered raspberry champagne cocktails from Meridian.











Despite being in Florida for a whole week beforehand, I'd still managed to get a bit too much sun this day and had fairly pink knees (which our bar server pointed out!)




After our drinks we were invited to move into Remy – we had eaten here on our previous cruise and also on the Dream in 2011.. it is hands down the best meal we've ever had, and this evening was equally as fantastic!









We were given a great table along the back wall of the restaurant, it was near the kitchen doors so we got to see how smoothly the servers and chefs work together.




There are two set menus at Remy (as well as an a la carte menu), so DH had one I had had the other – that we got to sample everything that the two chefs recommended. I let the server know that I had a nut allergy, so they made a couple of adjustments to the set menu I picked, such as as custom dessert which wasn't on the menu!




There was a tomato soup 'amuse bouche' to begin (which looks like a small potato crocket when it's served!), then a palette cleansing asparagus mousse. We were also given a champagne cocktail to start, and the somelier suggested a wine for each of us to have with our chosen menus.




Every course was perfect, tasted amazing and beautifully presented.




One of my favourites was the lobster two ways..









The dishes are small enough that we were both able to eat four savoury courses, and still have room for the best cheese plate in the world!









A server wheels a cheese board to each table and describes all of the cheeses available, and then you either pick some you'd like or they will put a whole selection on your plate (we went for the latter).




Then it was dessert time – mine was a platter of sorbet and mousse, including gold leaf...









We were in the restaurant for nearly three hours, it was so well paced and the servers take time to get to know you – our main server had lived in the UK (he was from Italy) and had actually worked at a hotel only a few miles from where we live! The Maitre-D asked us if we'd dined at Remy before, when we said that we had – he asked who our servers had been, and then he told us what they were both up to now! (One was living in the Dominican Republic and the other had left recently to have her first baby).




The meal finishes with a choice of loose leaf teas or coffee, we both had a tea (oo-long for DH and green for me), accompanied by a selection of hand made truffles, lollipops and petit fours.




All in all, a perfect meal!









Remy is about $75 per head (+ drinks and tip), but we think it's worth every penny – such a unique experience and it allows us to try foods we wouldn't normally.




Back to the room to find this evening's towel animal and navigator









Despite being so full up after Remy, we decided to put our order in for room service breakfast the next morning! There is a card you fill out in the room and then hang outside the stateroom along with a requested delivery time.




Tomorrow we had another day at sea, with very little planned except for a spa treatment in the afternoon!

 

[cindianne320]

The Fantasy is so beautiful! We did a 3-day on the Dream,but I'd like to try each ship! The mixology class looked so fun, and I'm glad you got to watch Aladdin right from your room! Remy looks amazing! We are going to try Palo on our Wonder cruise next summer.
Can't wait to hear about your relaxing day at sea!

 

[Sailormoon2]

when I remembered, there is a camera in the theatre which is linked to a channel which you can watch in the stateroom!

Absolutely genius. Well played Disney (and you for remembering!) Also every single one of your bar drinks looks and sounds delicious. If the parks have beverages like that on their menus I'm going to have a hard time coming in under budget. LOL!

 

[oceanmarina]

Nice updates! Love the picture of sunset at sea at the Meredian bar - just beautiful! Makes me want to book another cruise.

What an unforgettable meal at Remy. The food looked amazing. It must be a great community of cast members on the ship, it must have been nice to get updates on cast members from your previous voyage.

Delivering the British candy - how sweet, what a thoughtful idea!

I had to laugh about your DH falling asleep before the show, same thing happened to me years ago on the Wonder. I hate to wake anyone up from a much needed nap, so I let him snooze away

Can't wait to see your next update!

 

[elphie101]

Yay you're on the Fantasy!!! How fun.

We also had Damien as our Mixology instructor - his class is excellent! By far and away one of the best bartenders I've ever met.