Christmas Has Come Early
- Thread starter dolphingirl47
- Start date
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
We loved Moody Gardens. There is really something for everybody there.
I am glad that we finally have made it to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. I have actually walked past the one in Long Beach. I have to say though that we probably won't return. There is a lot better food to be had elsewhere. The food was OK, but no more than that.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Day 4
That day I managed to sleep until 5:00 AM and for once being awake so early suited me down to the ground. As we were overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, I was hoping that I would see the Magic coming in. We could see some moving lights in the distance, but could not make out what they were. I checked various marine websites to see if I could figure out where he Magic is, but they were all out of date and provided contradictory information. So eventually I took to the webcams and soon the Magic showed up on one of the port webcams, which meant that she was be past us. So I told Graham that we had missed the Magic and may as well head for breakfast. As soon as Graham opened our door, he spotted some Mouse funnels that were slowly moving into view. He called out to me to get the camera. We stayed on the walkway for a while watching the Magic arrive. At some stage, there seemed to be no more movement and I checked the webcam again. The Magic was actually tied up. We had no clear idea where the port was in relation to the hotel and in my wildest dreams I had not anticipated that I actually would be able to see the Magic docked from the hotel. We stayed there for a little while longer as I was hoping that they would sound the horn, but no such luck. So I put my camera inside and we headed off to breakfast.
As planned, we had breakfast at the IHOP. We always have enjoyed our meals there, but it had been quite some time since we last had the chance. The restaurant was only about 150 yards from the hotel, but finding the entrance proved a bit of a challenge. We walked around the whole of the building before we found it. This initiative test was worth it though. We both enjoyed our breakfast. We both had Coffee and Orange Juice. Graham had a T Bone Steak with Fried Eggs and Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup. I had Mini Sirloin Steaks wrapped in Bacon, Fried Eggs, Hash Brown and Pancakes with Butter Pecan Syrup. Not only was the food delicious, but my breakfast was only $7, which was a bit of a bargain.
Once we finished our breakfast, we slowly walked back to the hotel. We rearranged our luggage a bit and packed what we had taken out. I then relaxed with my iPad and checked out what was happening online and Graham just chilled out. At about 11:00, we did one last check if we had packed everything and then headed down to the lobby. We settled down on some comfortable seats and waited until the time to get on the shuttle arrived. I got a little antsy with about 5 minutes to go to the scheduled departure time and went outside.
Not only was our booked shuttle time later than I would have wished anyway, but the shuttle was also running late. I was not too happy about this. Eventually the shuttle did turn up about 15 minutes after the scheduled time. It took a little while for everybodys luggage to go on. We got chatting to some of the people on the shuttle. We also drove through the historical district of Galveston. We had not even realized that this was there and this definitely needs to closer look at some stage. We had people or both Carnival and the Disney Magic on the shuttle. Unfortunately we dropped people at the Carnival terminal first. By the time we got to our terminal, it was 12:06 and I was starting to go crazy. There was no need for this though. When we walked into the terminal, there was no line at all for repeat cruisers so the fact that we had missed our check in time did not matter at all. Better still, they had already started open boarding. So once we completed check in, we could proceed straight on board. We had our embarkation photo taken and there was no line for this either. We were on the Magic around 12:20, which I think was the earliest time I was ever on a ship.
I have to say that in the run up to this cruise, I was in two minds about this. The Magic has always been my favourite ship and it had been over 2 years since I had last been on her so I was very excited. On the other hand, I was also a little worried. I remember only too well how utterly lost and miserable I felt at the beginning of the Panama Canal cruise as I did not know anybody on the ship. I knew that the people that we had grown close to over the course of our previous 4 cruises on the Magic had either left the company or have moved to the Dream or the Fantasy. All worries disappeared as soon as I sat foot into the atrium. I felt right at home. It took a little while for it to sink in though that we were really on the Magic. When we got on the ship, we were announced and them intercepted by another cast member, who tried to send us straight up to Topsiders. I asked if Parrot Cay was not open and she confirmed that it was. They have always tried to direct people to the buffet on deck 9, but this was a first that they did not even mention Parrot Cay.
When we got to Parrot Cay, we spotted the first familiar face. They always have a server standing outside with sanitizing wipes. That day it just happened to be Sompong, who had been our server on our last cruise on the Magic. He recognised us and said that he had wondered what had happened to us as we had not been back for so long. We told him that we had been cheating on the Magic with her slightly younger sister, but were glad to be back. We promised each other that we would catch up later and we proceeded to the podium. We were told that they were quite busy and were asked if we were willing to share a table. We had no problem whatsoever with this. We ended up sitting with a very nice extended family, most of whom were first time cruisers and and for all of them, it was their first cruise on the Magic. It turned out that one of them worked for an airline as well and another one absolutely loves Dubai so we had plenty to talk about.
Other than the great company, lunch was a bit disappointing. The selection was not as good as I am used to and the food also was not as nice. This was a sign of things to come. As soon as we were seated, we were asked what we wanted to drink. It then took a good 20 minutes for our drinks to arrive. Again, this was a sign of things to come. The biggest disappointment for me was that there was no Chilled Strawberry Soup. This is what I always look forward to most on the embarkation lunch. At least Graham got his peel and eat shrimp. He had assorted salads with this and then went back for some chicken and carved beef. I had some Pork Schnitzel, which was nice, with Mashed Potato. I also had some Macaroni Cheese and Corn Dog Nuggets from the kid's table. I also asked Graham to bring me back a slice of the beef when he went for his hot food. This was very rare, but quite tasty. I was then sent to get some dessert. I had a chocolate cake and I brought Graham back a White Chocolate and Raspberry dessert.
When we all had finish our lunch, we said goodbye to our lunch companions and all headed our separate ways. I was quite surprised that it was already 13:30 and therefore the cabins should be ready. I could not believe how long we had taken over lunch. Time definitely flies when you are having fun. We were in the perfect place as our cabin was on deck 7 aft. So we gathered our carry on together and headed for the aft lifts. This was one of the aspects of the holiday that I was really looking forward to. When I had booked this cruise, I narrowly missed a veranda cabin and therefore booked an Ocean view. As we normally cruise in inside cabins, this was already a treat. However, I really was hoping for a balcony cabin. A couple of weeks later, I spotted that the balcony cabins had opened up again. So after a bit of soul-searching, I decided to contact Disney Cruise Line to see if they are able to let me pay the difference and change the category. The difference was less than £50 total for the two of us. They were able to do this without any problems. I had not told Graham this although keeping this a secret had been killing me. I was really looking forward to see his face when he walked into the room and realised what was going on. As it was, it was a bit of an anti-climax. He walked into the room and just said This is not a porthole. He did however go and check out the balcony.
I decided to take some photos of our cabin when Graham called out to me. He had spotted some dolphins. When I stepped out on the balcony, I could not see any evidence of dolphins, but they soon came back. There were probably half a dozen dolphins playing alongside the ship. It was great to watch them. Once they got bored, I headed back inside to decorate our door. I had a nice selection of magnets and also had something new - a door spotter. Ever since we have started cruising, I have always participated in the Fish Extender gift exchange. On our Hawaii cruise, this got a bit out of hand and not only was every inch of space in the cabin taken up by gifts that I had received, but I also had to buy an extra bag and pay to check it in. So Graham asked that there would be no further Fish Extender exchanges for me. I respected that. However, I could not face the idea not to have something hanging from our fish. I then spotted that the person who had made my assorted Fish Extenders had branched out into something called door spotters. They are a panel of fabric embroidered with a character and personalised. The one that she had on Etsy had magnets on the back and where designed to attach to the door itself. However, I asked her if she could modify it so that it could be hung from the fish by the door. So I still had something nice hanging from the fish without risking that people would leave gifts.
That day I managed to sleep until 5:00 AM and for once being awake so early suited me down to the ground. As we were overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, I was hoping that I would see the Magic coming in. We could see some moving lights in the distance, but could not make out what they were. I checked various marine websites to see if I could figure out where he Magic is, but they were all out of date and provided contradictory information. So eventually I took to the webcams and soon the Magic showed up on one of the port webcams, which meant that she was be past us. So I told Graham that we had missed the Magic and may as well head for breakfast. As soon as Graham opened our door, he spotted some Mouse funnels that were slowly moving into view. He called out to me to get the camera. We stayed on the walkway for a while watching the Magic arrive. At some stage, there seemed to be no more movement and I checked the webcam again. The Magic was actually tied up. We had no clear idea where the port was in relation to the hotel and in my wildest dreams I had not anticipated that I actually would be able to see the Magic docked from the hotel. We stayed there for a little while longer as I was hoping that they would sound the horn, but no such luck. So I put my camera inside and we headed off to breakfast.
As planned, we had breakfast at the IHOP. We always have enjoyed our meals there, but it had been quite some time since we last had the chance. The restaurant was only about 150 yards from the hotel, but finding the entrance proved a bit of a challenge. We walked around the whole of the building before we found it. This initiative test was worth it though. We both enjoyed our breakfast. We both had Coffee and Orange Juice. Graham had a T Bone Steak with Fried Eggs and Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup. I had Mini Sirloin Steaks wrapped in Bacon, Fried Eggs, Hash Brown and Pancakes with Butter Pecan Syrup. Not only was the food delicious, but my breakfast was only $7, which was a bit of a bargain.
Once we finished our breakfast, we slowly walked back to the hotel. We rearranged our luggage a bit and packed what we had taken out. I then relaxed with my iPad and checked out what was happening online and Graham just chilled out. At about 11:00, we did one last check if we had packed everything and then headed down to the lobby. We settled down on some comfortable seats and waited until the time to get on the shuttle arrived. I got a little antsy with about 5 minutes to go to the scheduled departure time and went outside.
Not only was our booked shuttle time later than I would have wished anyway, but the shuttle was also running late. I was not too happy about this. Eventually the shuttle did turn up about 15 minutes after the scheduled time. It took a little while for everybodys luggage to go on. We got chatting to some of the people on the shuttle. We also drove through the historical district of Galveston. We had not even realized that this was there and this definitely needs to closer look at some stage. We had people or both Carnival and the Disney Magic on the shuttle. Unfortunately we dropped people at the Carnival terminal first. By the time we got to our terminal, it was 12:06 and I was starting to go crazy. There was no need for this though. When we walked into the terminal, there was no line at all for repeat cruisers so the fact that we had missed our check in time did not matter at all. Better still, they had already started open boarding. So once we completed check in, we could proceed straight on board. We had our embarkation photo taken and there was no line for this either. We were on the Magic around 12:20, which I think was the earliest time I was ever on a ship.
I have to say that in the run up to this cruise, I was in two minds about this. The Magic has always been my favourite ship and it had been over 2 years since I had last been on her so I was very excited. On the other hand, I was also a little worried. I remember only too well how utterly lost and miserable I felt at the beginning of the Panama Canal cruise as I did not know anybody on the ship. I knew that the people that we had grown close to over the course of our previous 4 cruises on the Magic had either left the company or have moved to the Dream or the Fantasy. All worries disappeared as soon as I sat foot into the atrium. I felt right at home. It took a little while for it to sink in though that we were really on the Magic. When we got on the ship, we were announced and them intercepted by another cast member, who tried to send us straight up to Topsiders. I asked if Parrot Cay was not open and she confirmed that it was. They have always tried to direct people to the buffet on deck 9, but this was a first that they did not even mention Parrot Cay.
When we got to Parrot Cay, we spotted the first familiar face. They always have a server standing outside with sanitizing wipes. That day it just happened to be Sompong, who had been our server on our last cruise on the Magic. He recognised us and said that he had wondered what had happened to us as we had not been back for so long. We told him that we had been cheating on the Magic with her slightly younger sister, but were glad to be back. We promised each other that we would catch up later and we proceeded to the podium. We were told that they were quite busy and were asked if we were willing to share a table. We had no problem whatsoever with this. We ended up sitting with a very nice extended family, most of whom were first time cruisers and and for all of them, it was their first cruise on the Magic. It turned out that one of them worked for an airline as well and another one absolutely loves Dubai so we had plenty to talk about.
Other than the great company, lunch was a bit disappointing. The selection was not as good as I am used to and the food also was not as nice. This was a sign of things to come. As soon as we were seated, we were asked what we wanted to drink. It then took a good 20 minutes for our drinks to arrive. Again, this was a sign of things to come. The biggest disappointment for me was that there was no Chilled Strawberry Soup. This is what I always look forward to most on the embarkation lunch. At least Graham got his peel and eat shrimp. He had assorted salads with this and then went back for some chicken and carved beef. I had some Pork Schnitzel, which was nice, with Mashed Potato. I also had some Macaroni Cheese and Corn Dog Nuggets from the kid's table. I also asked Graham to bring me back a slice of the beef when he went for his hot food. This was very rare, but quite tasty. I was then sent to get some dessert. I had a chocolate cake and I brought Graham back a White Chocolate and Raspberry dessert.
When we all had finish our lunch, we said goodbye to our lunch companions and all headed our separate ways. I was quite surprised that it was already 13:30 and therefore the cabins should be ready. I could not believe how long we had taken over lunch. Time definitely flies when you are having fun. We were in the perfect place as our cabin was on deck 7 aft. So we gathered our carry on together and headed for the aft lifts. This was one of the aspects of the holiday that I was really looking forward to. When I had booked this cruise, I narrowly missed a veranda cabin and therefore booked an Ocean view. As we normally cruise in inside cabins, this was already a treat. However, I really was hoping for a balcony cabin. A couple of weeks later, I spotted that the balcony cabins had opened up again. So after a bit of soul-searching, I decided to contact Disney Cruise Line to see if they are able to let me pay the difference and change the category. The difference was less than £50 total for the two of us. They were able to do this without any problems. I had not told Graham this although keeping this a secret had been killing me. I was really looking forward to see his face when he walked into the room and realised what was going on. As it was, it was a bit of an anti-climax. He walked into the room and just said This is not a porthole. He did however go and check out the balcony.
I decided to take some photos of our cabin when Graham called out to me. He had spotted some dolphins. When I stepped out on the balcony, I could not see any evidence of dolphins, but they soon came back. There were probably half a dozen dolphins playing alongside the ship. It was great to watch them. Once they got bored, I headed back inside to decorate our door. I had a nice selection of magnets and also had something new - a door spotter. Ever since we have started cruising, I have always participated in the Fish Extender gift exchange. On our Hawaii cruise, this got a bit out of hand and not only was every inch of space in the cabin taken up by gifts that I had received, but I also had to buy an extra bag and pay to check it in. So Graham asked that there would be no further Fish Extender exchanges for me. I respected that. However, I could not face the idea not to have something hanging from our fish. I then spotted that the person who had made my assorted Fish Extenders had branched out into something called door spotters. They are a panel of fabric embroidered with a character and personalised. The one that she had on Etsy had magnets on the back and where designed to attach to the door itself. However, I asked her if she could modify it so that it could be hung from the fish by the door. So I still had something nice hanging from the fish without risking that people would leave gifts.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Once I had finished decorating the door, we headed up to the spa. I had given Graham a "gift certificate" for a Rainforest Room pass for his birthday. So I needed to do something about this. We did the usual guided tour of the spa, which also included the Rainforest Room. Getting a pass for the Rainforest Room had suddenly become complicated. Not only do they now a variety of length available, but there are various add ons. On one of our cruises on the Wonder they offered a couple's pass that included a session in the Exotic Rhassoul. They were offering this on this cruise, too, but they also offered a different number of scrubs that could be used in the steam rooms and in the experience showers. We just went for the standard couple's length of cruise pass. I also needed to make a hair appointment. I had tried to get my hair cut before the holiday, but had run out of time. I also wanted an up do for formal night. It was suggested that I make an appointment to have my hair cut for that afternoon and then discuss the hair appointment for the next day with the stylist. I agreed to this and made an appointment for after the safety drill.
At that point, I said goodbye to Graham. I had a number of things that I wanted to take care of. My first stop was Wavebands to sort out our Palo reservation. When I first considered booking this, Disney Cruise Line had been telling people that Pirate Night is on the Wednesday. This had suited me down to the ground. We do not like Pirate Night dinner in the dining rooms and the Wednesday happened to be my birthday. So I made a dinner reservation at Palo for that night. Once people had come back from the first cruise out of Galveston, it transpired that the initial information was incorrect. Pirate Night was actually on the Tuesday night. When I became aware of this, I asked Graham what he wanted me to do. I have to say I was looking forward to my birthday dinner at Palo, but I also liked the idea of spending Pirate Night at Palo. Graham made a very wise suggestion. He said that is should leave if as it is and try for a second reservation once I get on the ship. So that is just what I set out to do. Normally there are usually long lines for Palo reservations on the first afternoon, even on the quieter sailings. This time there was no line at all. All the Palo staff present were assisting somebody when I arrived, but I was first in line. That was already encouraging. I then overheard that the restaurant manager told one couple who could not make up their mind that if they decided to go ahead to just give Palo a ring on the day and they would fit them in. That sounded even better. Sure enough, when it was my turn, I had no problem getting a reservation for Pirate Night. I was happy.
With this issue sorted out, I had a few other things that I wanted to take care of. In all my cruises, I never had a chance to have a look at the Teen Club. I had wanted to have a look for a while, but during the open house, where this would have been an option, I usually had a meet scheduled. This time round the meet was not until the following day so I made good use of this. I headed straight to the teen club for a look around and I have to say, I was impressed. Vibe on the Magic has a really cozy feel.
Once I had a good look around, I decided to check out the Tween Club, Edge. I had previously had a quick look at this during one of their Open Houses, but this was just a quick in and out. I had a closer look at Edge on the Wonder during our Panama Canal cruise. I have to say even though Edge on the Wonder was an afterthought and the conversion from the old conference rooms to Edge was pretty much done over night, I much prefer Edge on the Wonder. It just has a cozier feel to it. On the Magic, Edge has a bridge mock up and a lot of computers and for some reason; this makes it look almost sterile.
As I still had some time, I decided to take some photos in the kids clubs as well. I had been in the Oceaneers Lab during our Transatlantic cruise in 2010 as they were offering Adult Flubber there one evening. I also managed to have a look at the Oceaneers Club on the Wonder last year, but on neither occasion, I had my camera with me. So I had to put this right. The Oceaneers Lab did not do a lot for me, but I loved the theming of the Oceaneers Lab.
At that point, I said goodbye to Graham. I had a number of things that I wanted to take care of. My first stop was Wavebands to sort out our Palo reservation. When I first considered booking this, Disney Cruise Line had been telling people that Pirate Night is on the Wednesday. This had suited me down to the ground. We do not like Pirate Night dinner in the dining rooms and the Wednesday happened to be my birthday. So I made a dinner reservation at Palo for that night. Once people had come back from the first cruise out of Galveston, it transpired that the initial information was incorrect. Pirate Night was actually on the Tuesday night. When I became aware of this, I asked Graham what he wanted me to do. I have to say I was looking forward to my birthday dinner at Palo, but I also liked the idea of spending Pirate Night at Palo. Graham made a very wise suggestion. He said that is should leave if as it is and try for a second reservation once I get on the ship. So that is just what I set out to do. Normally there are usually long lines for Palo reservations on the first afternoon, even on the quieter sailings. This time there was no line at all. All the Palo staff present were assisting somebody when I arrived, but I was first in line. That was already encouraging. I then overheard that the restaurant manager told one couple who could not make up their mind that if they decided to go ahead to just give Palo a ring on the day and they would fit them in. That sounded even better. Sure enough, when it was my turn, I had no problem getting a reservation for Pirate Night. I was happy.
With this issue sorted out, I had a few other things that I wanted to take care of. In all my cruises, I never had a chance to have a look at the Teen Club. I had wanted to have a look for a while, but during the open house, where this would have been an option, I usually had a meet scheduled. This time round the meet was not until the following day so I made good use of this. I headed straight to the teen club for a look around and I have to say, I was impressed. Vibe on the Magic has a really cozy feel.
Once I had a good look around, I decided to check out the Tween Club, Edge. I had previously had a quick look at this during one of their Open Houses, but this was just a quick in and out. I had a closer look at Edge on the Wonder during our Panama Canal cruise. I have to say even though Edge on the Wonder was an afterthought and the conversion from the old conference rooms to Edge was pretty much done over night, I much prefer Edge on the Wonder. It just has a cozier feel to it. On the Magic, Edge has a bridge mock up and a lot of computers and for some reason; this makes it look almost sterile.
As I still had some time, I decided to take some photos in the kids clubs as well. I had been in the Oceaneers Lab during our Transatlantic cruise in 2010 as they were offering Adult Flubber there one evening. I also managed to have a look at the Oceaneers Club on the Wonder last year, but on neither occasion, I had my camera with me. So I had to put this right. The Oceaneers Lab did not do a lot for me, but I loved the theming of the Oceaneers Lab.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
By the time I had finished taking all the photos, it was nearly time for the safety drill. When I got back to the cabin, the first of our suitcases had already arrived. Graham arrived shortly after me. He particularly dislikes the safety drill and I have to admit that I wonder how much good this would actually do if there was an emergency, too. However, I had not seen anything yet. When we arrived at the muster station, it actually seemed very promising. They now have a card reader and scan your Key to the World card as you approach your muster station. This ensures that they know precisely who is there and they also don't miss anybody. There also seemed to be a lot less people at our muster station than had been the case on previous cruises. So I thought this should be OK. How wrong can one be? There was a family with a little boy of about 2 years. He had brought a toy car. Initially he was giving it a push so that it kept ending up in the adjacent muster station, which was already distracting. He then decided that he liked the railing in front of us better and on a few occasions the car nearly ended up in the sea. On two occasions, his parents tried to reign him in and picked him up, but he was screaming so loud that the rest of us could not hear what the assembly leader was saying. In the end they gave up. Then he thought of a new trick. There are plexiglas railings on deck 4. There is a very small gap at the bottom and there is a narrow and fairly shallow gutter so that any water can run out. Well, he somehow managed to wedge himself between the plexiglas partition and the gutter. At this stage an officer, who must have been nearby, came running. I sincerely doubt that anybody at our muster station was able to take anything that was said in. In our case, it did not really matter. We have done the safety drill so often now that I could probably do the announcements myself, but this cruise had a huge amount of first time cruisers on it. So this was downright dangerous. Maybe the solution to avoid something like this from happening is to open the Oceaneer's Club only for children that are too young to understand what the safety drill is all about. So the parents could drop off their kids straight before the safety drill and pick them up again before the sail away party.
Once the safety drill, was finally over, I went back to the cabin to pick up my swimsuit and my iPad before heading to the Rainforest Room. The safety drill was early than they had thought at the spa so I had a bit of time before my hair appointment. I chilled out on a heated tile lounger until it was time to get changed for my appointment. I left my stuff in the locker. As instructed, I discussed a hair appointment for the next day with her. We went over what I was expecting and I mentioned that I have a tiara. She told me to bring this to the appointment and we sorted out a time for this. She then cut my hair. It was a little more expensive then what I would have paid in Manchester, but I think this was the best hair cut I ever had. So it was well worth it. Once my hair was cut, I got changed into my swimsuit again and headed back to the Rainforest Room to relax some more on a heated tile lounger with a book.
I had wanted to catch some characters, so I had to get changed again and headed down to the cabin to drop off my stuff. I then went down to the atrium. They had Captain Mickey in his blue uniform out. The character I was most excited about though was Cowboy Goofy. I was a little disappointed that he was the only character wearing a special costume for the Texas sailings. I was hoping for at least Mickey and Minnie as well. Pluto also would have been cute with a bandana round his neck and I can also imagine that Stitch would look great with a cowboy hat and a bandana. Once I had my photos with the characters taken, I also had some photos done against the white backdrop.
I headed back to the cabin, where I found Graham fast asleep. I tried to wake him up as it was nearly dinner time, but that was futile. So I had a decision to make. I was also tired, but I was hungry, too. That night was the rotational dinner at Parrot Cay, which is one of my favourite menus on Disney Cruise Line. I was also concerned that after we had been allocated a table by ourselves the last two cruises and this cruise was most certainly not full, I would end up being all by myself if I went for dinner. In the end I decided that I would go to the dining room, but if we have no table mates, I would just turn around and go back to our cabin. On the way, I saw our stateroom host and handed him the laundry bag with my evening gowns that I wanted pressing and told him that we did not require turn down service that night.
I was in luck. When I got to our assigned table, there were already 4 people sitting there. So I joined them. They were good company. Three of them were cruising for the first time and one of them had done a 3 night cruise on the Dream before. This time round t had made it on my records that I am allergic to bananas. Being in Parrot Cay on the first night was probably not a good match as the bread service that night is banana bread with a banana spread. Whereas our server on the Hawaii cruise took my allergy in his stride even though he had no advance warning, our server on this cruise seemed to go into a bit of a tail spin. One of the other people on the table was allergic to beans and service that night was very slow as they were preparing our food freshly in the allergy area. I was a little bemused by this as this had never been done on any of our previous 8 cruises and the food has never done me any harm. Still, it gave us plenty of time to get to know each other. I had the Jamaican-marinated Chicken Tenderloins with a Blue Cheese Dip, West Indies Romaine Salad and the Jerk-spiced Pork Chop with Curried Peach Relish and Cornmeal Cakes. For dessert, I went with the Sweet Temptations, which consisted of Lemon Meringue Pie, Creme Brûlée Cheesecake and Chocolate and Vanilla S'Mores Cake. Dinner that night was great. Unfortunately this did not stay like this for the rest of the cruise. At one stage, our head server swooped in seagull-style, gave us the pep talk about excellent service and swooped out again. He did not even acknowledge that there were food allergies on the table even though it is really his job to manage this. I was decidedly not impressed and joked that we would probably not see him again until it was time to collect his tip envelope. At the end of the meal, our server brought the two of us with allergies the menu or the next evening and asked us to choose what we wanted so that they would have it ready for us when we came for dinner the next evening. Once this was done, I said goodbye to our table mates and headed for bed. Out of habit, I headed forward on the ship. When I got to the atrium, I saw Minnie in her nautical dress. She had one family with her, but there was no line at all. This seemed too good to be true. I checked with her escort if Minnie's line was closed and he confirmed that the line was still open. So I had some photos taken with Minnie. Once I was done, I got nearly as far as the forward elevators before I realised that I was heading in the wrong direction. I turned around and a couple of minutes later, I was back in our cabin where I quickly got ready and then fell into bed.
Once the safety drill, was finally over, I went back to the cabin to pick up my swimsuit and my iPad before heading to the Rainforest Room. The safety drill was early than they had thought at the spa so I had a bit of time before my hair appointment. I chilled out on a heated tile lounger until it was time to get changed for my appointment. I left my stuff in the locker. As instructed, I discussed a hair appointment for the next day with her. We went over what I was expecting and I mentioned that I have a tiara. She told me to bring this to the appointment and we sorted out a time for this. She then cut my hair. It was a little more expensive then what I would have paid in Manchester, but I think this was the best hair cut I ever had. So it was well worth it. Once my hair was cut, I got changed into my swimsuit again and headed back to the Rainforest Room to relax some more on a heated tile lounger with a book.
I had wanted to catch some characters, so I had to get changed again and headed down to the cabin to drop off my stuff. I then went down to the atrium. They had Captain Mickey in his blue uniform out. The character I was most excited about though was Cowboy Goofy. I was a little disappointed that he was the only character wearing a special costume for the Texas sailings. I was hoping for at least Mickey and Minnie as well. Pluto also would have been cute with a bandana round his neck and I can also imagine that Stitch would look great with a cowboy hat and a bandana. Once I had my photos with the characters taken, I also had some photos done against the white backdrop.
I headed back to the cabin, where I found Graham fast asleep. I tried to wake him up as it was nearly dinner time, but that was futile. So I had a decision to make. I was also tired, but I was hungry, too. That night was the rotational dinner at Parrot Cay, which is one of my favourite menus on Disney Cruise Line. I was also concerned that after we had been allocated a table by ourselves the last two cruises and this cruise was most certainly not full, I would end up being all by myself if I went for dinner. In the end I decided that I would go to the dining room, but if we have no table mates, I would just turn around and go back to our cabin. On the way, I saw our stateroom host and handed him the laundry bag with my evening gowns that I wanted pressing and told him that we did not require turn down service that night.
I was in luck. When I got to our assigned table, there were already 4 people sitting there. So I joined them. They were good company. Three of them were cruising for the first time and one of them had done a 3 night cruise on the Dream before. This time round t had made it on my records that I am allergic to bananas. Being in Parrot Cay on the first night was probably not a good match as the bread service that night is banana bread with a banana spread. Whereas our server on the Hawaii cruise took my allergy in his stride even though he had no advance warning, our server on this cruise seemed to go into a bit of a tail spin. One of the other people on the table was allergic to beans and service that night was very slow as they were preparing our food freshly in the allergy area. I was a little bemused by this as this had never been done on any of our previous 8 cruises and the food has never done me any harm. Still, it gave us plenty of time to get to know each other. I had the Jamaican-marinated Chicken Tenderloins with a Blue Cheese Dip, West Indies Romaine Salad and the Jerk-spiced Pork Chop with Curried Peach Relish and Cornmeal Cakes. For dessert, I went with the Sweet Temptations, which consisted of Lemon Meringue Pie, Creme Brûlée Cheesecake and Chocolate and Vanilla S'Mores Cake. Dinner that night was great. Unfortunately this did not stay like this for the rest of the cruise. At one stage, our head server swooped in seagull-style, gave us the pep talk about excellent service and swooped out again. He did not even acknowledge that there were food allergies on the table even though it is really his job to manage this. I was decidedly not impressed and joked that we would probably not see him again until it was time to collect his tip envelope. At the end of the meal, our server brought the two of us with allergies the menu or the next evening and asked us to choose what we wanted so that they would have it ready for us when we came for dinner the next evening. Once this was done, I said goodbye to our table mates and headed for bed. Out of habit, I headed forward on the ship. When I got to the atrium, I saw Minnie in her nautical dress. She had one family with her, but there was no line at all. This seemed too good to be true. I checked with her escort if Minnie's line was closed and he confirmed that the line was still open. So I had some photos taken with Minnie. Once I was done, I got nearly as far as the forward elevators before I realised that I was heading in the wrong direction. I turned around and a couple of minutes later, I was back in our cabin where I quickly got ready and then fell into bed.
jenseib
Mommy to Claire
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2006
I love the necklace! Really cute.
Love the haircut too. Glad they did such a great job.
I am loving your vibe pictures since I missed that area when I explored.
We had great servers on the Magic, but our Dream in Nov, was just iffy.We also had a good head server on the Magic too, while on the Dream both times now, we rarely ever see ours.
I love your pictures. I asked for a magic shot for my DD and nieces and they told me they no longer do them. I wonder if they were lying. LOL We came in as they were about to close, so she might've been.
Love the haircut too. Glad they did such a great job.
I am loving your vibe pictures since I missed that area when I explored.
We had great servers on the Magic, but our Dream in Nov, was just iffy.We also had a good head server on the Magic too, while on the Dream both times now, we rarely ever see ours.
I love your pictures. I asked for a magic shot for my DD and nieces and they told me they no longer do them. I wonder if they were lying. LOL We came in as they were about to close, so she might've been.
franandaj
I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
You seem to really luck out on the character photo ops. I really tried on our last trip and the lines were so long. I should have tried after dinner, but I was so tired, I'm sure I wouldn't have photographed very well anyways! 
I hope that the service improves.....it's not making me feel good about my April Cruise!
I hope that the service improves.....it's not making me feel good about my April Cruise!
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I loved Vibe and I will have to make an effort to check it out on the Wonder, too. I have heard it is quite different. This was our 9th Disney cruise and on one cruise we had a problem with the server (our first cruise on the Wonder) and on one other cruise on the Magic we also had an issue with the assistant server. Head servers have always been a bit hit and miss, but I have learned to mainly ignore them.
They most certainly still do the Magic shots. I have a few with Tinkerbell and I also have another magic shot that I will post later in the trip report.
You seem to really luck out on the character photo ops. I really tried on our last trip and the lines were so long. I should have tried after dinner, but I was so tired, I'm sure I wouldn't have photographed very well anyways!
It did and it didn't. Some of it was no longer an issue after the first night, but other things got worse. It did not stop me enjoying my cruise.
This cruise was nowhere near full so most character opportunities did not have long lines. I tend to do the characters before early dinner and/or between dinners and then we do the portraits after late dinner, which works out great.
Corinna
brookelizabeth
Jambo Wildbunch Gang
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2006
Isn't Vibe great? I explored it on my last cruise too-just because-and I wanted to stay! 
The Cast Member said it used to be the ESPN bar, so that's why it has a bit of more adult/cozy feel.
I agree with you about Edge, I thought it was kind of blah. I haven't been on the Wonder yet, so glad to hear it's better there!
Sounds like a wonderful first day. Too funny that your DH slept through dinner!!
The Cast Member said it used to be the ESPN bar, so that's why it has a bit of more adult/cozy feel.I agree with you about Edge, I thought it was kind of blah. I haven't been on the Wonder yet, so glad to hear it's better there!
Sounds like a wonderful first day. Too funny that your DH slept through dinner!!
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Isn't Vibe great? I explored it on my last cruise too-just because-and I wanted to stay!
I agree with you about Edge, I thought it was kind of blah. I haven't been on the Wonder yet, so glad to hear it's better there!
Sounds like a wonderful first day. Too funny that your DH slept through dinner!!
I really loved Vibe. I wanted to stay, too. Here are some photos from Edge on the Wonder:
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Day 5
We were awake at the crack of dawn again, which probably is not all that surprising as we both had plenty of sleep. We got up and experienced a gorgeous sunrise on our balcony. We have seen a number of beautiful sunrises and sunsets on the ships, but being able to experience it on our own balcony made it even more special. Once the sun was high in the sky, we got ready to go to the gym. They were offering a 7:00 AM stretching class. We did this every morning on our Transatlantic cruise, but they have never offered this on the Wonder. So it was nice to see that this was still offered on the Magic. The class was good fun. At the end of the class, the fitness instructor advised that they were now offering a free foot print analysis and wondered if anybody would be interested. Graham and I decided that this would be quite interesting and went for it. Unfortunately we ended up with the hard sell for some arch supports. I have to admit that they felt really comfortable, but essentially they were a thin piece of moulded plastic and they wanted about $300 for them. He told us to think it over. Needless to say neither of us set foot into the gym again that cruise.
After we escaped from the gym, we headed back to our cabin. We got changed and headed to Lumiere's for breakfast. One of Graham's favourite breakfast dishes had unfortunately disappeared from the menu. He has always loved the Maitre D' Kick Off, which was fresh fruit with plain yoghurt and Granola. Instead he tried the Strawberry Tug Boat, which was a Strawberry, Banana and Yoghurt Smoothie with Granola. He then had the Express breakfast, which consisted of Scrambled Eggs, Sausages, Bacon, Ham and Hash Brown. Unfortunately all the sweet names from the breakfast menu have gone. This used to be called Cogsworth's Express on the Magic and Scuttle on the Run on the Wonder. We had already spotted the same thing happening when we were on the Wonder for our Hawaii cruise. I had a Mango Mountain Hike, which is a Mango, Honey and Yoghurt Smoothie with Granola followed by Eggs Benedict, which are served with Sausages and Grilled Tomato on the ships. We both had coffee and Graham had some orange juice and I had apple juice.
When we had finished our breakfast, we decided to head to guest services. We had originally booked an independent excursion to the Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Gardens in Grand Cayman. However, with about two weeks to go, I got an email saying that the tour operator had informed them that the excursion would not go ahead on the day we were in Grand Cayman. So we were at a loose end. We had a look at the excursions Disney offered, but nothing really grabbed us. One excursion that we had looked into a bit deeper was called Native Cayman and the Saltwater Forest. This is what we decided to go for. We were lucky and snapped up the last two places. I had also spotted a Martini tasting for this afternoon in the Navigator and got my ticket for that. There was one last thing to take care off. As we did not have turndown service the previous night, we did not receive our Gold Castaway Club welcome letter and therefore had no idea when the reception for Gold and Platinum Castaway Club members would be. There was a chance that this would happen that day so I figured I should better ask. We were told that this had not been scheduled yet, but that we should get a letter during the course of the day.
At that point, Graham and I said goodbye to each other and went our separate ways. I still had some time until the DVC Member Celebration. So I decided to do a Fish Extender run. I was not taking part in this as far as receiving is concerned, but I had organised it and therefore had the full list of people participating. I have to admit that making the Fish Extender gifts is an integral part of the cruise preparations for me. I had decided to make a little something for everybody taking part in the Fish Extender exchange. I had decided to go with a Christmas theme this year as I was hopeful that the Christmas decorations would go up during our cruise. For the men and boys, I had made Christmas-themed key rings and for the girls and women Christmas-themed zip pulls. Doing the Fish Extender run before the meet that was scheduled to take place later that day also gave me the chance to check if everybody was in the stateroom that I expected them to be in. Well, everybody was present and accounted for and with only 14 families participating, this did not take long. When I headed back to the cabin, I found our Gold Castaway Club gift, which consisted of a leather-bound notebook, a luggage strap and a set of note cards. We also had received the welcome letter and the reception was the next day. I also spotted that the message light was blinking. The person we had spoken to earlier at Guest Services had left me a message confirming when the reception would be and advising that we would get the welcome letter during the course of the day. I was well impressed that she had followed up on this for us.
I still had a bit of time until the DVC Member Celebration, but decided to head down to deck 3 anyway. I had bought a 9 inch Create Your Own Vinylmation from Ebay that I wanted to have signed by the characters. I dropped this off at Guest Services and then headed over to Diversions. When I got to Diversions, they were still setting up and there was nobody there to sign people in. I decided to have a quick bathroom stop and when I came back, they had started to let people in. As per usual, they had no record of us. I got two baseball caps and one very nice writing portfolio. I love the new baseball caps. DVC changed their logo at some point and the new caps have the new logo. The caps are white with a blue logo and blue lettering. They had some technical difficulties so that delayed things a little. However, the Mimosas were flowing liberally so this was not a problem. We were shown a number of different video clips. In between they did a few ice-breakers and gave out a few prizes for things like having been a member for the longest time or having become a member most recently. I knew that I would not even get close with either as we were just coming up to our 5th anniversary as members. I was kind of hoping that we would get a category for the furthest away member, for which I most certainly have been in with a chance as most people in the room seemed to be fairly local to Galveston and I was the only non-US member in the room. This did not happen. They then asked for the member who had done the most cruises. I did not think I would have a chance with that as there are normally people at those events that have done 20+ cruises. She started by asking who had done 5 or more cruises and only 3 hands went up. She then asked for the number of cruises. The first couple had done 5 cruises, the second couple were on their 7th cruise and then there was me on the 9th cruise. So that particular prize was mine. I also did well with the trivia questions that they asked in between the video clips and the sales pitch. In the end I left the Member Celebration with two baseball caps, a writing portfolio, a drawstring gym/ beach bag, a reusable shopping bag, a document wallet and a set of refillable travel bottles for shampoo, etc. I felt thoroughly spoiled.
Once the DVC Member Celebration was finished, I was yet again at a loose end. I wanted to check out the Princess Gathering at 11:30 and get some phones and decided I may as well join the line for this. Even though it was only 11:10, the line was already half-way to the back entrance to Lumieres. I was not overly concerned as I have done this kind of thing before. The line normally moves very swiftly once the characters arrive. There were also some very nice people in the line and everybody was chatting with each other so waiting was no hardship. Well, this time round was the exception that proves the rule. The line hardly moved at all and at 11:50, I was still nowhere near the atrium, so I decided to give up. I am not all that keen on the Princesses anyway so this was no problem. The only reason I did get in the line in the first place was that I had heard that Aurora is part of the Princess Gathering on the Magic and I still had not managed to get a photo with her.
I had arranged to meet Graham back at the cabin at 12:00. We had never had room service on all of our cruises and as we had a balcony this time round, we decided to put this right. I had romantic ideas about having lunch on our balcony. The reality was a different one as it was a really overcast day and it was very windy. So we decided to have a picnic in the room. Graham ordered some Chicken Wings for a starter and I had a Caesar Salad. We both had the Steak Sandwich, which was served with Fries. When I rang, I was told that it would be about 30 to 45 minutes. I had heard that this is the standard estimate and that the food usually arrives quicker. I quickly went up to the drink station and got both of us some soda water. In the end, we waited an hour for our lunch, but it was well worth the wait. We both loved our food. Once I had finished eating, I left Graham to it and asked him to put the tray outside as I was running late for our meet.
This meet was something new for me. I am used to having the meet before the safety drill on the first day. I have to admit that I do prefer it that way as you get to know the people who you have chatted with online straightaway and there is also no risk with the meet clashing with anything else. The meet also normally takes place at the Promenade Lounge, but somebody in the group had managed to get us Rocking Bar D for the meet, which was great as the only people who were in there at the time was us. After our allocated hour, they had an organized activity where families could build a race car out of vegetables. Some of the families took part in this and those not involved just stayed behind and chatted. It was great to put some faces to names. Unfortunately a number of people could not make it as they had other activities planned.
Once everybody started to drift away, it was nearly time for my Martini tasting. So I headed straight over to Sessions, where the tasting would take place. A few people were already there. The funny thing is that I normally do not drink Martinis, but I love doing the Martini tastings on the cruises. They had set up for this on either tables for 2 or 4. There did not seem to be any tables that had a spare seat so I settled down on a table for 2. A lot of the people at the tasting seemed to know each other and being by myself felt a little awkward. I had never experienced this before. On previous cruises, I had always ended up joining other people and quite often ended up staying behind with them after the tasting and just chatted. The bartender also seemed to be rather full of himself. Still, the drinks were very nice. We started out with a Classic Martini and the option to turn this into a Dirty Martini. I decided to pass on this this time round. I had tried this during previous cruises, but this particular Martini was so smooth that it would have been a shame to spoil it. The other Martinis were a twist on a French Martini, which had an addition of Midori, a Guava Martini and a Chocolate Martini. At the end three people got the chance to work together to create a Martini. They came up with a creation consisting of Vanilla-flavoured Vodka, Frangelico, Raspberry Purée and an Elderflower liqueur. I so wish that we all had the opportunity to try this. It sounded absolutely delicious.
We were awake at the crack of dawn again, which probably is not all that surprising as we both had plenty of sleep. We got up and experienced a gorgeous sunrise on our balcony. We have seen a number of beautiful sunrises and sunsets on the ships, but being able to experience it on our own balcony made it even more special. Once the sun was high in the sky, we got ready to go to the gym. They were offering a 7:00 AM stretching class. We did this every morning on our Transatlantic cruise, but they have never offered this on the Wonder. So it was nice to see that this was still offered on the Magic. The class was good fun. At the end of the class, the fitness instructor advised that they were now offering a free foot print analysis and wondered if anybody would be interested. Graham and I decided that this would be quite interesting and went for it. Unfortunately we ended up with the hard sell for some arch supports. I have to admit that they felt really comfortable, but essentially they were a thin piece of moulded plastic and they wanted about $300 for them. He told us to think it over. Needless to say neither of us set foot into the gym again that cruise.
After we escaped from the gym, we headed back to our cabin. We got changed and headed to Lumiere's for breakfast. One of Graham's favourite breakfast dishes had unfortunately disappeared from the menu. He has always loved the Maitre D' Kick Off, which was fresh fruit with plain yoghurt and Granola. Instead he tried the Strawberry Tug Boat, which was a Strawberry, Banana and Yoghurt Smoothie with Granola. He then had the Express breakfast, which consisted of Scrambled Eggs, Sausages, Bacon, Ham and Hash Brown. Unfortunately all the sweet names from the breakfast menu have gone. This used to be called Cogsworth's Express on the Magic and Scuttle on the Run on the Wonder. We had already spotted the same thing happening when we were on the Wonder for our Hawaii cruise. I had a Mango Mountain Hike, which is a Mango, Honey and Yoghurt Smoothie with Granola followed by Eggs Benedict, which are served with Sausages and Grilled Tomato on the ships. We both had coffee and Graham had some orange juice and I had apple juice.
When we had finished our breakfast, we decided to head to guest services. We had originally booked an independent excursion to the Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Gardens in Grand Cayman. However, with about two weeks to go, I got an email saying that the tour operator had informed them that the excursion would not go ahead on the day we were in Grand Cayman. So we were at a loose end. We had a look at the excursions Disney offered, but nothing really grabbed us. One excursion that we had looked into a bit deeper was called Native Cayman and the Saltwater Forest. This is what we decided to go for. We were lucky and snapped up the last two places. I had also spotted a Martini tasting for this afternoon in the Navigator and got my ticket for that. There was one last thing to take care off. As we did not have turndown service the previous night, we did not receive our Gold Castaway Club welcome letter and therefore had no idea when the reception for Gold and Platinum Castaway Club members would be. There was a chance that this would happen that day so I figured I should better ask. We were told that this had not been scheduled yet, but that we should get a letter during the course of the day.
At that point, Graham and I said goodbye to each other and went our separate ways. I still had some time until the DVC Member Celebration. So I decided to do a Fish Extender run. I was not taking part in this as far as receiving is concerned, but I had organised it and therefore had the full list of people participating. I have to admit that making the Fish Extender gifts is an integral part of the cruise preparations for me. I had decided to make a little something for everybody taking part in the Fish Extender exchange. I had decided to go with a Christmas theme this year as I was hopeful that the Christmas decorations would go up during our cruise. For the men and boys, I had made Christmas-themed key rings and for the girls and women Christmas-themed zip pulls. Doing the Fish Extender run before the meet that was scheduled to take place later that day also gave me the chance to check if everybody was in the stateroom that I expected them to be in. Well, everybody was present and accounted for and with only 14 families participating, this did not take long. When I headed back to the cabin, I found our Gold Castaway Club gift, which consisted of a leather-bound notebook, a luggage strap and a set of note cards. We also had received the welcome letter and the reception was the next day. I also spotted that the message light was blinking. The person we had spoken to earlier at Guest Services had left me a message confirming when the reception would be and advising that we would get the welcome letter during the course of the day. I was well impressed that she had followed up on this for us.
I still had a bit of time until the DVC Member Celebration, but decided to head down to deck 3 anyway. I had bought a 9 inch Create Your Own Vinylmation from Ebay that I wanted to have signed by the characters. I dropped this off at Guest Services and then headed over to Diversions. When I got to Diversions, they were still setting up and there was nobody there to sign people in. I decided to have a quick bathroom stop and when I came back, they had started to let people in. As per usual, they had no record of us. I got two baseball caps and one very nice writing portfolio. I love the new baseball caps. DVC changed their logo at some point and the new caps have the new logo. The caps are white with a blue logo and blue lettering. They had some technical difficulties so that delayed things a little. However, the Mimosas were flowing liberally so this was not a problem. We were shown a number of different video clips. In between they did a few ice-breakers and gave out a few prizes for things like having been a member for the longest time or having become a member most recently. I knew that I would not even get close with either as we were just coming up to our 5th anniversary as members. I was kind of hoping that we would get a category for the furthest away member, for which I most certainly have been in with a chance as most people in the room seemed to be fairly local to Galveston and I was the only non-US member in the room. This did not happen. They then asked for the member who had done the most cruises. I did not think I would have a chance with that as there are normally people at those events that have done 20+ cruises. She started by asking who had done 5 or more cruises and only 3 hands went up. She then asked for the number of cruises. The first couple had done 5 cruises, the second couple were on their 7th cruise and then there was me on the 9th cruise. So that particular prize was mine. I also did well with the trivia questions that they asked in between the video clips and the sales pitch. In the end I left the Member Celebration with two baseball caps, a writing portfolio, a drawstring gym/ beach bag, a reusable shopping bag, a document wallet and a set of refillable travel bottles for shampoo, etc. I felt thoroughly spoiled.
Once the DVC Member Celebration was finished, I was yet again at a loose end. I wanted to check out the Princess Gathering at 11:30 and get some phones and decided I may as well join the line for this. Even though it was only 11:10, the line was already half-way to the back entrance to Lumieres. I was not overly concerned as I have done this kind of thing before. The line normally moves very swiftly once the characters arrive. There were also some very nice people in the line and everybody was chatting with each other so waiting was no hardship. Well, this time round was the exception that proves the rule. The line hardly moved at all and at 11:50, I was still nowhere near the atrium, so I decided to give up. I am not all that keen on the Princesses anyway so this was no problem. The only reason I did get in the line in the first place was that I had heard that Aurora is part of the Princess Gathering on the Magic and I still had not managed to get a photo with her.
I had arranged to meet Graham back at the cabin at 12:00. We had never had room service on all of our cruises and as we had a balcony this time round, we decided to put this right. I had romantic ideas about having lunch on our balcony. The reality was a different one as it was a really overcast day and it was very windy. So we decided to have a picnic in the room. Graham ordered some Chicken Wings for a starter and I had a Caesar Salad. We both had the Steak Sandwich, which was served with Fries. When I rang, I was told that it would be about 30 to 45 minutes. I had heard that this is the standard estimate and that the food usually arrives quicker. I quickly went up to the drink station and got both of us some soda water. In the end, we waited an hour for our lunch, but it was well worth the wait. We both loved our food. Once I had finished eating, I left Graham to it and asked him to put the tray outside as I was running late for our meet.
This meet was something new for me. I am used to having the meet before the safety drill on the first day. I have to admit that I do prefer it that way as you get to know the people who you have chatted with online straightaway and there is also no risk with the meet clashing with anything else. The meet also normally takes place at the Promenade Lounge, but somebody in the group had managed to get us Rocking Bar D for the meet, which was great as the only people who were in there at the time was us. After our allocated hour, they had an organized activity where families could build a race car out of vegetables. Some of the families took part in this and those not involved just stayed behind and chatted. It was great to put some faces to names. Unfortunately a number of people could not make it as they had other activities planned.
Once everybody started to drift away, it was nearly time for my Martini tasting. So I headed straight over to Sessions, where the tasting would take place. A few people were already there. The funny thing is that I normally do not drink Martinis, but I love doing the Martini tastings on the cruises. They had set up for this on either tables for 2 or 4. There did not seem to be any tables that had a spare seat so I settled down on a table for 2. A lot of the people at the tasting seemed to know each other and being by myself felt a little awkward. I had never experienced this before. On previous cruises, I had always ended up joining other people and quite often ended up staying behind with them after the tasting and just chatted. The bartender also seemed to be rather full of himself. Still, the drinks were very nice. We started out with a Classic Martini and the option to turn this into a Dirty Martini. I decided to pass on this this time round. I had tried this during previous cruises, but this particular Martini was so smooth that it would have been a shame to spoil it. The other Martinis were a twist on a French Martini, which had an addition of Midori, a Guava Martini and a Chocolate Martini. At the end three people got the chance to work together to create a Martini. They came up with a creation consisting of Vanilla-flavoured Vodka, Frangelico, Raspberry Purée and an Elderflower liqueur. I so wish that we all had the opportunity to try this. It sounded absolutely delicious.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
When the tasting had finished, I quickly went back to the cabin to get my swimsuit and my iPad. On the way I got turned around. I am so used to being forward that I took the forward elevator up to deck 7 and headed further forward still wondering where our cabin had gone. I did realise what I had done after a few seconds and headed in the right direction. Being aft was handy for going to dinner, but all the other places we normally frequent like the pool, the spa and Cove Cafe seemed a long way away. Still, eventually I made it to the spa and found myself a heated tile lounger and enjoyed my book. Graham joined me at some point as well.
I reminded Graham about when the Captain's Reception would be and headed off to see some characters. I had a look at the Navigator earlier in the day and was in character heaven. They had Minnie, Mickey, Chip and Dale, Daisy, Donald, Goofy and Pluto listed. This turned out to be incorrect and was actually the character line up for the next day. However, only Minnie, Mickey and Daisy were out during this session and Donald was scheduled to be out after late dinner.
I used a break in between two characters to quickly go back up to the room to get my tiara and the hair vine that I had made for our vow renewal. I cut through Shutters on my way to the cabin and got a bit of a surprise. I quickly checked out the photos that had been taken so far and suddenly heard a very excited voice behind me saying "You are on the ship." It took a few seconds for the Penny to drop and I had looked around if there was somebody else that this was aimed at. This was one of the photographers that we had become quite friendly with on our last two cruises on the Wonder. She proceeded to tell me that they had seen me on some photos and had been very excited that I was on the Magic. I had already bumped into the photography manager that used to be on the Wonder the previous day. When she spotted me, she made a point of coming over to say "hi" and seemed pleased enough to see me, but she is not the kind of person that I can imagine getting excited about a great deal. Anyway, she had seen me in person so the comment about seeing me on the photos did not make sense. This mystery would get cleared up the next day.
As I only had three characters to catch, I was finished a lot earlier than I had thought. I headed back up towards the spa. It was still too early for my hair appointment, but I figured I could always have some more Rainforest Room time. As I came up to reception, the hair stylist just walked out of the salon and was pleased to see me. She told me that she just wanted to call me to see if I wanted to come a bit earlier as she had finished ahead of schedule with her last client. So that worked out for both of us. We were happily chatting away while she worked her magic. She really transformed me into a princess. She asked me if I could come up once I had got changed to show off the finished ensemble and I promised her that I would try.
I reminded Graham about when the Captain's Reception would be and headed off to see some characters. I had a look at the Navigator earlier in the day and was in character heaven. They had Minnie, Mickey, Chip and Dale, Daisy, Donald, Goofy and Pluto listed. This turned out to be incorrect and was actually the character line up for the next day. However, only Minnie, Mickey and Daisy were out during this session and Donald was scheduled to be out after late dinner.
I used a break in between two characters to quickly go back up to the room to get my tiara and the hair vine that I had made for our vow renewal. I cut through Shutters on my way to the cabin and got a bit of a surprise. I quickly checked out the photos that had been taken so far and suddenly heard a very excited voice behind me saying "You are on the ship." It took a few seconds for the Penny to drop and I had looked around if there was somebody else that this was aimed at. This was one of the photographers that we had become quite friendly with on our last two cruises on the Wonder. She proceeded to tell me that they had seen me on some photos and had been very excited that I was on the Magic. I had already bumped into the photography manager that used to be on the Wonder the previous day. When she spotted me, she made a point of coming over to say "hi" and seemed pleased enough to see me, but she is not the kind of person that I can imagine getting excited about a great deal. Anyway, she had seen me in person so the comment about seeing me on the photos did not make sense. This mystery would get cleared up the next day.
As I only had three characters to catch, I was finished a lot earlier than I had thought. I headed back up towards the spa. It was still too early for my hair appointment, but I figured I could always have some more Rainforest Room time. As I came up to reception, the hair stylist just walked out of the salon and was pleased to see me. She told me that she just wanted to call me to see if I wanted to come a bit earlier as she had finished ahead of schedule with her last client. So that worked out for both of us. We were happily chatting away while she worked her magic. She really transformed me into a princess. She asked me if I could come up once I had got changed to show off the finished ensemble and I promised her that I would try.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I quickly popped into the Rainforest Room to check if Graham was still there, but he had left. I collected the rest of my stuff from the locker and then headed back to cabin. I was a little nervous as when I had gone to pick up my tiara earlier, the dresses that I had sent out for pressing had not been back. When I got to the room, all the dresses were fortunately there. I had laid out my jewellery and started to put on my make up when Graham came back. I asked him to tie me into my dress as both my new gowns had a corset back. This is definitely one of his hidden talents. This ended up being perfect. I finished putting on the make up and put on my jewellery and then I left him to it to get changed, too. I told him to meet me in the atrium and headed up to the spa as promised. The ladies there were impressed. I have had a number of beautiful gowns since we started cruising, but these particular ones are the most beautiful dresses I ever owned.
Soon I headed down to the atrium. As soon as I arrived, I was offered a cocktail. I had a Sour Apple Martini, which was quite strong. They kept on offering me more. I could easily had 4 or 5 drinks. I politely declined. Between the Mimosas at the DVC Member Celebration, the Martini tasting and now this, I had drunk quite enough for one day. I decided to get a head start on the line for the photo with the Captain. Those lines can get crazy and we had a Captain that we had never sailed with before, Captain John. This was the last of the Captains that have been with Disney since the beginning that we had not sailed with. So I definitely wanted a photo with him. The member of cruise staff doing crowd control was from Cornwall and we chatted while I was waiting for Graham and the Captain. At one point I was worried that the Captain would arrive before Graham did, but Graham made it ahead of the Captain. When he arrived, we were the first people to have our photo taken with him. After we had our photo, Graham got a drink and I decided to head back upstairs to get photos with Mickey and Minnie in their formal wear. The lines for those were quite short and soon I was back with Graham.
Dinner that night was Lumiere's. All of our table mates were present and accounted for and Graham got to meet our serving team. On the Magic, they still serve the Prince and Princess menu on formal night, but this has changed quite a bit since 2010. Some of my favourites on that menu have either been removed or moved to a different menu. Still, there was plenty there that I liked. Graham did his usual trick and let our server choose. I was not quite sure how she would react to this, but she took it in her stride. She did not seem to get the no Polenta rule though and Graham ended up with this quite a few times over the course of the cruise. That evening he ended up with Princess Madeleine's Salmon Royal, which consisted of marinated slices of Salmon with a Honey-Mustard Dressing, The Beast's Potato and Sausage Casserole Soup and Peppercorn Crusted New York with Sautéed Green Beans and Corn, whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes and Brandy Sauce. Our server also brought him the Rosemary- scented Medallions of Lamb with grilled Red Peppers, Yellow Squash, Zucchini and Polenta Cake with Lamb Jus. Graham preferred the Lamb so he had this with the sides from the steak. He had Cinderella's Lemon Cheesecake with dark Cherry Compote for dessert. I had Belle's Blue Cheese Polenta Cakes with Caramelized Onions and Walnuts, The Beast's Potato and Sausage Casserole Soup and Peppercorn Crusted New York with Sautéed Green Beans and Corn, whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes and Brandy Sauce. I had Aurora's Sundae for dessert, which consisted of Rocky Road Ice Cream topped with Chocolate Wafers, Chocolate Sauce and Whipped Cream. I loved my starter and the soup. Our table mates were not quite so keen on the soup. Part of the problem is that the description on the menu is seriously misleading. Rather than a Potato and Sausage Soup, this is actually a Lentil Soup. It did have some Sausage in it and I even found a cube of Potato in it, but it most certainly was not a Potato Soup. I was lucky as I knew what to expect and I love Lentils. The Steak however was nothing to write home about. It was OK, but nothing more than that.
At some point during dinner, a photographer came around. The photo actually came out pretty well. I normally love the photos that are taken during our cruises with the exception of the embarkation photo and the photos taken in the dining rooms. It was a good job that the photographer did not come a few minutes later or I would not have looked so serene. Our desserts had just been served when suddenly a bunch of servers and head servers descended on our table. I was just thinking that nobody mentioned anything that they had a celebration when I realised that they were homing in on Graham. They started singing Happy Birthday and our head server apologised that they had missed this the previous day. I know how much Graham hates it when any kind of fuss is made even on his real birthday and started to protest that it was not is birthday. I explained that it would be my birthday on this cruise, but that this would not be until Wednesday. Our head server insisted that our travel agent had put a note on our reservation that it was Graham's birthday. This puzzled me even more. Normally we have a really fantastic travel agent, but this cruise we had to book through DCL direct as we made use of a travel industry rate. Graham took it all in good humour and actually wore the birthday batch that he was given for the next 24 hours proclaiming that it was his official birthday. Our table mates had initially thought at I was behind this until they saw the expression on my face. The mystery was solved shortly afterwards. Apparently there was somebody else called Graham, who was sitting three tables over and it had been his birthday. When we saw the same delegation heading to his table looking rather sheepish we could not stop laughing. Ironically, my birthday was never even acknowledged in the dining room. After the celebration for Graham's "official birthday", our server was not seen for dust. Two of our table mates had already left. We wanted to get some photos done and the other two people that were waiting for our server with the menus for the next day wanted to catch a show. In the end, we gave up and left.
When we got to the atrium, Donald was out in his formals. I decided to join the line, which did not look very long, but did not seem to move at all. I could not tempt Graham to join me and he waited on the other side of the atrium. When I finally had my turn with Donald, Graham had disappeared. He had given up and gone back to the cabin. I quickly had my photos taken with he to backdrops and with Helmsman Mickey and then I headed back to the cabin, too. I quickly took a photo of our towel animal and got ready for bed and then we both settled down for the night.
Soon I headed down to the atrium. As soon as I arrived, I was offered a cocktail. I had a Sour Apple Martini, which was quite strong. They kept on offering me more. I could easily had 4 or 5 drinks. I politely declined. Between the Mimosas at the DVC Member Celebration, the Martini tasting and now this, I had drunk quite enough for one day. I decided to get a head start on the line for the photo with the Captain. Those lines can get crazy and we had a Captain that we had never sailed with before, Captain John. This was the last of the Captains that have been with Disney since the beginning that we had not sailed with. So I definitely wanted a photo with him. The member of cruise staff doing crowd control was from Cornwall and we chatted while I was waiting for Graham and the Captain. At one point I was worried that the Captain would arrive before Graham did, but Graham made it ahead of the Captain. When he arrived, we were the first people to have our photo taken with him. After we had our photo, Graham got a drink and I decided to head back upstairs to get photos with Mickey and Minnie in their formal wear. The lines for those were quite short and soon I was back with Graham.
Dinner that night was Lumiere's. All of our table mates were present and accounted for and Graham got to meet our serving team. On the Magic, they still serve the Prince and Princess menu on formal night, but this has changed quite a bit since 2010. Some of my favourites on that menu have either been removed or moved to a different menu. Still, there was plenty there that I liked. Graham did his usual trick and let our server choose. I was not quite sure how she would react to this, but she took it in her stride. She did not seem to get the no Polenta rule though and Graham ended up with this quite a few times over the course of the cruise. That evening he ended up with Princess Madeleine's Salmon Royal, which consisted of marinated slices of Salmon with a Honey-Mustard Dressing, The Beast's Potato and Sausage Casserole Soup and Peppercorn Crusted New York with Sautéed Green Beans and Corn, whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes and Brandy Sauce. Our server also brought him the Rosemary- scented Medallions of Lamb with grilled Red Peppers, Yellow Squash, Zucchini and Polenta Cake with Lamb Jus. Graham preferred the Lamb so he had this with the sides from the steak. He had Cinderella's Lemon Cheesecake with dark Cherry Compote for dessert. I had Belle's Blue Cheese Polenta Cakes with Caramelized Onions and Walnuts, The Beast's Potato and Sausage Casserole Soup and Peppercorn Crusted New York with Sautéed Green Beans and Corn, whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes and Brandy Sauce. I had Aurora's Sundae for dessert, which consisted of Rocky Road Ice Cream topped with Chocolate Wafers, Chocolate Sauce and Whipped Cream. I loved my starter and the soup. Our table mates were not quite so keen on the soup. Part of the problem is that the description on the menu is seriously misleading. Rather than a Potato and Sausage Soup, this is actually a Lentil Soup. It did have some Sausage in it and I even found a cube of Potato in it, but it most certainly was not a Potato Soup. I was lucky as I knew what to expect and I love Lentils. The Steak however was nothing to write home about. It was OK, but nothing more than that.
At some point during dinner, a photographer came around. The photo actually came out pretty well. I normally love the photos that are taken during our cruises with the exception of the embarkation photo and the photos taken in the dining rooms. It was a good job that the photographer did not come a few minutes later or I would not have looked so serene. Our desserts had just been served when suddenly a bunch of servers and head servers descended on our table. I was just thinking that nobody mentioned anything that they had a celebration when I realised that they were homing in on Graham. They started singing Happy Birthday and our head server apologised that they had missed this the previous day. I know how much Graham hates it when any kind of fuss is made even on his real birthday and started to protest that it was not is birthday. I explained that it would be my birthday on this cruise, but that this would not be until Wednesday. Our head server insisted that our travel agent had put a note on our reservation that it was Graham's birthday. This puzzled me even more. Normally we have a really fantastic travel agent, but this cruise we had to book through DCL direct as we made use of a travel industry rate. Graham took it all in good humour and actually wore the birthday batch that he was given for the next 24 hours proclaiming that it was his official birthday. Our table mates had initially thought at I was behind this until they saw the expression on my face. The mystery was solved shortly afterwards. Apparently there was somebody else called Graham, who was sitting three tables over and it had been his birthday. When we saw the same delegation heading to his table looking rather sheepish we could not stop laughing. Ironically, my birthday was never even acknowledged in the dining room. After the celebration for Graham's "official birthday", our server was not seen for dust. Two of our table mates had already left. We wanted to get some photos done and the other two people that were waiting for our server with the menus for the next day wanted to catch a show. In the end, we gave up and left.
When we got to the atrium, Donald was out in his formals. I decided to join the line, which did not look very long, but did not seem to move at all. I could not tempt Graham to join me and he waited on the other side of the atrium. When I finally had my turn with Donald, Graham had disappeared. He had given up and gone back to the cabin. I quickly had my photos taken with he to backdrops and with Helmsman Mickey and then I headed back to the cabin, too. I quickly took a photo of our towel animal and got ready for bed and then we both settled down for the night.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
The same ensemble is getting another outing on January 5th when we have our work New Year's Ball.
Corinna
Corinna
irongirlof12
<font color=blue><marquee>Am I the only one who lo
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2006
That shade of blue is so perfect for you. Love the photos.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I love the soup and Graham liked his well enough, too.
I love the gown. Yesterday I contacted the seller to see if he will re-list the custom option. I got an answer back straightaway that they are happy to do a custom version for me. I have ordered this gown in gold for the Golden Mickey's theme on the Wonder. I can't wait to get it.
Corinna
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