From the Sea to the World - Holiday Edition - Completed

[dolphingirl47]

Sorry to hear that a trip has to be cancelled! I think you would enjoy Vero Beach. I had read great things about the character breakfast there. And I am sure Graham would love the chance to watch nesting turtles!

Not now does not mean never. I am sure there will be an opportunity in the future for us to head to Vero Beach.

I think Graham would have a field day in this nature reserve area. Those Christmas decorations are beautiful. I love the glass turtles and fish. Dinner looked lovely and I love the Mickey butter.

Corinna

 

[englishrose47]

Wow you had a lot of updates . The Bridge at Key largo looks long ( well 7 miles) Loved all the scenery shots . Great you got the same room and the little gift!! Can't wait to see pix of your meal !!!I am hoping to b on the board more but my vision is sooo bad at night it is hard to see to type!!!

 

[disgeek009]

I did some internet sleuthing, and the pin is Rufus from Kim Possible. He's a naked mole rat. And I might add that the cartoon version is a bit cuter than the original!

 

[Flossbolna]

I was trying to figure out your hint of magical butter, but did not succeed. And I have to admit that that butter is just too cute!!!!!!!!!!

Something so simple, but still put a huge smile on my face!

Shutters looks great, but I am amazed to read that you were the last people at 9pm.

We really liked the atmosphere and the food. But it seemed that everyone ate very early there.

Oh, and I could not agree more on the Italian sausage - Tom had it on pizza at WPE and we actually picked it off.

Oh, good! Then I am not the only sausage snob out there... I rember that we had it on a pizza at Palo as well. It was marginally better there. And I have had pizza with Italian sausage here in Germany and it was far better.

I am all caught up!!Keep the Christmas pix coming Magdalene I will LOVE them!!!

Plenty more Christmas pics coming soon!

 

[Flossbolna]

Not now does not mean never. I am sure there will be an opportunity in the future for us to head to Vero Beach.

That's good!

I think Graham would have a field day in this nature reserve area.

It is not a huge area, but I think there are some more nature reserves really close by that are worthy of further exploration!

I did some internet sleuthing, and the pin is Rufus from Kim Possible. He's a naked mole rat. And I might add that the cartoon version is a bit cuter than the original!

Thanks! That's great to know!!

 

[glennbo123]

Hey, you found our fishing hole, that little lake across from the resort.

Oh, I never saw that funny restroom sign -- we never ate in Shutters.

The butter reminds me of butter we had at Coral Reef way back in the early '90's. Judy and I were visiting her sister and went to Epcot for a day-trip. We ended up eating dinner at Coral Reef and the only memory we have of that dinner, to this day, is the Mickey-shaped butter. But it was like a little 3-D statue!

 

[englishrose47]

Hey, you found our fishing hole, that little lake across from the resort.

Oh, I never saw that funny restroom sign -- we never ate in Shutters.

The butter reminds me of butter we had at Coral Reef way back in the early '90's. Judy and I were visiting her sister and went to Epcot for a day-trip. We ended up eating dinner at Coral Reef and the only memory we have of that dinner, to this day, is the Mickey-shaped butter. But it was like a little 3-D statue!

THAT BATHROOM sign should intrique Pat

 

[franandaj]

I knew that Vero Beach also had a “backcountry” part to the resort and I wanted to go and explore that. We easily found the access tunnel that goes under the main road to the other side. There we saw a little “Nature Walk” leading off into the jungle, so we ventured in there:

That trail looks wonderful and interesting. These are the kind of things that I miss being able to do. Well, I could do them, I would just have to do them by myself.

Lot’s of turtles in the decorations! Sea turtles nest along the beach here and they are kind of the official animal of the resort.

The turtle decorations are so cute!

Of course they had to have some of the Donald Duck oranges!!

It's great to see an homage to the history like that!

I was quite amazed by what I got from VB, I even got a pin (I have no clue what kind of water rat that is, but it is a Disney pin!).

I've never even seen that character before.

And once we had put in our order she came back with a bread basket – and: THE MOST MAGICAL BUTTER!!!

I remember when they served butter like that at the Coral Reef Restaurant.

I also had the wedge salad:

That is a HUGE salad!

I found out that I am not a huge fan of Italian Sausage, but the whole dish was still very delicious. I did not finish it and took the rest of it with me and had it for breakfast the next morning. No better way to start your embarkation day than with cold pizza!

Love Pizza for breakfast!

 

[franandaj]

The butter reminds me of butter we had at Coral Reef way back in the early '90's. Judy and I were visiting her sister and went to Epcot for a day-trip. We ended up eating dinner at Coral Reef and the only memory we have of that dinner, to this day, is the Mickey-shaped butter. But it was like a little 3-D statue!

Yes! I remember that from the early 90's as well. I wrote my post before I read yours!

 

[Flossbolna]

Hey, you found our fishing hole, that little lake across from the resort.

Yes, I reread your report and @eandesmom's to know about the hidden things at VB - and thanks to you I knew that I had to cross the street!

Oh, I never saw that funny restroom sign -- we never ate in Shutters.

It is in the hallway that leads to Shutters. Since you were not in the main building, there most likely was not a lot of reason to walk past it.

The butter reminds me of butter we had at Coral Reef way back in the early '90's. Judy and I were visiting her sister and went to Epcot for a day-trip. We ended up eating dinner at Coral Reef and the only memory we have of that dinner, to this day, is the Mickey-shaped butter. But it was like a little 3-D statue!

Oh, that sounds fascinating!! And you see, Mickey butter is magical because you can still remember it!!

THAT BATHROOM sign should intrique Pat

I hope she likes it!

 

[glennbo123]

Yes! I remember that from the early 90's as well. I wrote my post before I read yours!

Glad to know I'm not the only one who remembers butter from 2 decades ago Alison!

Yes, I reread your report and @eandesmom's to know about the hidden things at VB - and thanks to you I knew that I had to cross the street!

Oh, that's great to hear! It's good to know that all of the documentation is of help to somebody.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Lot’s of turtles in the decorations! Sea turtles nest along the beach here and they are kind of the official animal of the resort.

Dude! Sweeeeeet.

I asked if we needed a reservation if we wanted to eat at around 7:30pm and they ensured me that that was not necessary (nice!!).

Such a change from other Disney vacations!

I had decided that this trip was my birthday present to myself and had noted my birthday on all of our reservations.

What a nice little gift! I guess it doesn't hurt to mention the special occasions.

THE MOST MAGICAL BUTTER!!!

So did it taste any different from regular butter? Was it magical to use a knife to slice off parts of Mickey's face?

I had a very nice Samual Adams Seasonal Lager.

Sam Adams is usually a solid choice.

Serious beer drinkers here think that can equals “billige Plörre” (which means cheap nasty liquid, it’s a very colloquial term).

I can't imagine wanting to drink anything with the word "bilge" in the title!

No better way to start your embarkation day than with cold pizza!

Breakfast of champions!

 

[nodnol]

The walls in the lobby had old orange box signs:

I really like those!

And more Christmas decorations:

I like the chairs better than the turtles!

This I find really creepy!

I found out that I am not a huge fan of Italian Sausage, but the whole dish was still very delicious.

Does American Italian Sausage taste different than German Italian Sausage? Because here and in Italy I really like it. It would be handy to know, what would await me in the US..

Hey, you found our fishing hole, that little lake across from the resort.

So that's why it looked familiar!

 

[nodnol]

Did you not tell me on FRIDAY you were writing an update???

 

[Flossbolna]

Did you not tell me on FRIDAY you were writing an update???

I wrote it, but since I was told that I managed to tell the whole no picture of the ice cream story totally wrong, someone else is now reading the updates first in order to add his comments before I post them to avoid me getting it wrong again. And you know how this is if I need to submit those updates to my co-author first before I can post them.

 

[englishrose47]

I wrote it, but since I was told that I managed to tell the whole no picture of the ice cream story totally wrong, someone else is now reading the updates first in order to add his comments before I post them to avoid me getting it wrong again. And you know how this is if I need to submit those updates to my co-author first before I can post them.

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

I'm in!

 

[Flossbolna]

I promise, I will catch up on replies tomorrow. But I just received the next update back and wanted to post it! As I mentioned in one of my comments to my lovely sister (@nodnol, or Katharina as we call her), Michael has decided to start chiming in on my trip report, because he was not totally happy with what I explained about the missing sundae picture from our meal at Shutters. He claims he has an account for the DIS, but forgot what it was and has no interest in creating a new one. So, I offered him to do what Katharina and I did for our 2010 WDW trip report: I email him the updates once they are written and he sends them back with his comments added in. You will recognize my writing because it is the blue you already know. For Michael I think I will try how a dark orange works.

So, here is the first update with Michael's comments:

Embarkation Day

November 29

This was the big day!! But before we get on the boat you will have to endure some more tales…

I got up a little after 8 and knew that Michael wanted to sleep a little longer. Our goal was to leave around 10am. We like arriving at the port at around 12pm as this seems to be when the early arriving crowds already are on the ship and the terminal is less hectic. It worked well on our first cruise out of Miami. The second cruise was the Panama Canal cruise and I think boarding was delayed or so, so the terminal was full of people. But thanks to an early PAT we were able to board quickly after we arrived. Port Canaveral was new to me and Michael had not been there for a number of years either. Neither of us had any experience with the boarding process for the new ships.

Our estimate was that it would take about an hour and a half to drive to Port Canaveral and then we needed time to give back the rental etc.

Once I was up, I ventured out. To get out I had to pass through the lobby, so you get some more views of the tree:

It was a beautiful and sunny day! The first picture is looking back at the main building from the beach side:

I went for a nice long walk along the beach. It was so wonderful! I walked quite a bit, well past Vero Beach and along other beach side properties. I have to say that from the beach “mine” looked the best! But the others might be as lovely if you stayed in them…

I took a lot of pictures and as you can see, the tide was far lower this morning:

It was sunny, but not warm at all. It was very windy and I was wearing shorts, but a very thick fleece and that was just ok while walking quite briskly. I did venture out in the water and it felt even a bit warmer than the outside air temperature!

After a nice long walk, I went back to the resort and found a spot on the porch of the lobby where I could get a good wifi reception and used that to connect with family back in Germany before getting onto the ship. Katharina (my sister, also known as nodnol here on the DIS) and I had a nice chat. The rest of my family had finally gotten IPhones (and also their first “real” smart phones) a few months before my trip and it was so nice to just use facetime. I know we might have been able to get the same effect with skype, but somehow it is far more convenient this way… Anyway, I find it so amazing that technology makes things like that possible. On my first trip to the USA, I stayed with my aunt, who lives in the Bay Area, for four weeks. I know that I wrote several letters back and forth with my parents and a friend from school. Letters seemed to take about 4 days between Germany and the USA then. Talking on the phone was crazy expensive. Today I can talk for free with someone in the USA, but I had instances where letters between here and the USA took up to three weeks…

Magdalene asked if I would drop some comments in here from time to time -- I think her sister will enjoy them too! -- so I was only too willing to offer up ''the other side of the story.'' For instance, here I can firmly say that it was frigid out, in what has been one of the warmest winters on record in Florida, and only a German tourist would dare stick toes into the Atlantic at that time.

Also, wanted to clarify the Shutters 'Sundae incident' and why it was important to me. On my last few Disney cruises I have noticed the desserts to largely be uninspired to outright lousy. Unlike my Bavarian Beauty, I have cruised many times on other lines and, honestly, Disney's desserts are largely the worst at sea. I don't quite understand why as the food is often good to excellent and WDW's restaurants offer some after dinner delights that almost make the weight gain worth it!

I can only surmise that, like most other things, it all comes down to money and guests who are willing to accept less because they are cruising with Mickey and the Magic (or in Magdalene's case on the Wonder -- Cruise Director Jimmy and the Magic! Yes, I am suggesting that she might have a slight crush on the dashing CD and I am OK with that because I understand those!) ;-)

Back to said sundae, I wanted a photo because the sundae was amazing and simple and better than almost every dessert we consumed (Palo excluded) on our amazing 15-night voyage thru the Panama Canal last spring. I wanted it for comparison sake to measure all desserts by. All it consisted of was vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, nuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top (all for the low, low, low ... really by Disney standards it was ... price of $4.99).

And while desserts were better on the Fantasy, they still lack much when compared industry wide. When other lines like Celebrity can offer 8-10 flavors of ice cream, gelato and sorbet made daily on the ship, I'd suggest that Disney is simply doing what it can get away with!

OK, there you have the long-winded explanation for why I wanted a sundae picture! I hope that helped!

I guess people are starting to understand why we are getting along so well - the ability of being long-winded certainly is something that we share!

Ok, back to the trip…

Once I had spoken with Germany, I woke up Michael and we got ready and put away the few things we had used for the night. We were leaving Vero Beach at 10:10am and I was very happy with that. The drive up the coast along A1A was rather uneventful. Even though the highway hugs the coast all the way up north to Port Canaveral, you are rarely close enough to see the ocean, there are mostly houses on the ocean side of the road. We stopped along the way at an ATM to get some cash and then at the start of Port Canaveral to get gas. And then we arrived at Alamo at 11:45 to give back our car. When we arrived, there was just a shuttle loading people and a very nice lady told us that this shuttle was already full, but we would be first in line for the next shuttle. So we took our bags and stood where we thought would be the front of the line.

There is another carry on size suitcase hiding behind the two bigger ones. Yes, we were not travelling light…

We are happy that every thing went well and are waiting for the shuttle. More and more people arrive and they are not lining up behind us, but kind of mill around. I am getting a bit worried. It seems like the shuttle is taking a long time to return, I think it might have been 20 minutes or so. Then the shuttle arrives and the nice lady who told us that we would be the first on the next shuttle keeps out calling names of groups that will be on this shuttle. It is everyone who arrived after us, but not us!!! We are now really rather annoyed. So we go to speak to her and she looks at us with quite some horror and realises that she forgot to write us down on her list because she was busy loading the shuttle when we arrived. So she takes down our information then and we kind of are unhappy as it will be another 20 minutes for the shuttle to make its round. The shuttle is finally loaded and leaves and the lady comes over and apologises again and tells us that they are going to call in a few vans. It takes a little time for the van to arrive and we are the first people to be put on it. Some more groups get on. The van driver (it was a regular large taxi) is really nice and we start chatting with her about all kind of things. And then we finally arrive at the Disney terminal!!

To be fair, one of us worried way too much about ''missing the boat'' and it isn't me! We are always amongst the first 25% of guests to board it seems without any scientific proof to back that number up!

We have to wait a little for an unloading spot and then we are off, head our bags to a very nice porter and start walking to finally check in! Just as we leave the unloading station, we see the Alamo shuttle pull in! It seems that they went to a different ship first and somehow we beat them to the Fantasy!! So the little hiccup even saved us a few minutes!

I had to take another picture of the outside of the terminal building:

And then we started to get into line for the security check. Just as we walked into the building we notice a group of three men in work clothes. They have a company name on the back which ends in GmbH. This is the abbreviation for the German name for a limited liability company (LLC). So I asked them whether they were from Germany. And it turned out that they were! They were from the company who supplied the ropes for the lifeboats when the Fantasy was built in Germany and they come regularly to do maintenance onboard. They said this was their second week. I found it interesting that the outside contractors were sent through the same security line as the passengers. But it was nice chatting with them very briefly while waiting. I was looking for them during the cruise, but never saw them again. I would have loved to hear more about the building of a cruise ship!

After the security we took an elescalator up to the higher level where we were going to discover uncharted Magic (even if in this case is was going to be the Fantasy…).

The terminal building itself was not crowded at all and we got into the line for Castaway Club members. We only waited a short while and were just standing at the end where it then would turn around to switch back when a CM approached us and asked us how many were in our party. She then opened the rope and asked us to step out as she would take us over to the concierge area to check us in there.

We did not complain and she was really lovely checking us in. The concierge check in area is really nice, spacious, you are not as much on top of each other as in the normal line (especially in Miami, there it was very crowded). And then once we were done, she even took us through the concierge waiting area directly onto the walkway to the ship. Since it was open boarding by then it was more the fun of seeing an area that you normally pay for about 10 times as much as we did for the cruise. However, I did not get to step through the Mickey Head Channel – again! I have now cruised three times on DCL, but never got that experience (because this was the only cruise out of Port Canaveral). And I am going to miss it on my next cruise again as we are going to leave from Copenhagen for Norway… I guess that is a valid reason to plan another cruise that leaves from Port Canaveral!

This is actually my only experience at Port Canaveral that hasn't been sheer chaos and pandemonium. I prefer Miami!

We got onboard at around 12:45pm, so it had taken us an hour from arriving at the rental car drop off to the ship. Stepping oboard we were announced and welcomed by the CMs:

I was immediately hit by the differences to the Wonder. There the space from the ship wall to the atrium is not very wide, it is so much wider, here on the Fantasy! And then I was amused by the Christmas costumes of the CMs with their hats and scarfs! You can even see some garlands and even a gingerbread house in the distance already…

I really loved the look of the atrium and had to take my first of many pictures:

It really was lovely to see all the decorations. I had only sailed once before during the Christmas season, an NCL voyage around Hawaii on The Pride of America and I don't recall much if any holiday décor. Of course, Disney didn't seem to do much of anything for the holidays until they got an idea from their upcharge MK parties that they might be able to charge more or fill the ships better for holiday sailings if they made them seasonally inspired! I think it is a great idea!

I think the Minnie on the Fantasy is my favourite of all the atrium statues (every ship has a unique one, the Magic has Mickey, the Wonder has Ariel and the Dream has Donald).

My favourite character on the one Disney ship I've yet to sail and likely won't so long as all it does are those short hops to the Bahamas. I don't want to sound like a beloved (or not) former Alaskan governor, but I can practically see the Bahamas from my house! ;-)

Before our cruise I had a hard time to decide where I wanted to go for our embarkation lunch. Two restaurants offer a buffet for lunch, Cabanas and Enchanted Garden. I had read that Enchanted Garden had a far more limited buffet. But Enchanted Garden is one of the main dining rooms and even if you are eating there for breakfast or lunch and it is a buffet, you are still assigned a specific table and a server brings you your drink. The first two cruises on the Wonder we had gone to the Wonder’s version of Enchanted Garden (there it is a different theme and called Parrot Cay). We really liked that. But reading again and again how wonderful the selection is at Cabanas, I really felt that we would miss out if we did not go there. Michael told me that it was up to me, he did not care as long as he got his prime rib (his must do dish for embarkation lunch).

I am if nothing else, traditional and predictable! <--??? Well, maybe with regard to food...

Well, Cabanas was a zoo. And it was totally confusing in layout to me as it is more or less U-shaped. We searched hard for a table and finally found a tiny two top that was just becoming open. After having spent quite some time searching for a table, I started to head out to find some food, while leaving our luggage with Michael who started reading the Navigator.

It took me ages to look at all the offerings and then settle on what I wanted to have. There were some really delicious thing, but all in all, I was not overly impressed. I was starting to really regret my decision. However, this is my first plate:

Michael then headed out to find his beef:

And he also got a salad:

I thought that I should try to get some pictures of the buffet, but gave up after the first picture…

I also forgot to take a picture of my second plate, but managed to get one of my desserts:

The left one was some kind of cranberry cobbler that was one of the seasonal offerings they had on the cruise and the right one is a pumpkin pie, also seasonal. Both were ok, but not great…

I really did not enjoy lunch at Cabanas at all. The different stations seem like a good idea, but if you want stuff from different places, you end up walking all over the place. And the walkways are often crowded with people carrying their food and lining up for the different stations. And it was just so full of people and noisy. This was the last time I went to Cabanas for embarkation day lunch!!

I knew that Magdalene wasn't thrilled with lunch, but I didn't know to what extent before reading this. I actually thought it was the best embarkation lunch I had ever had on a DCL ship in terms of quality and variety of offerings. Disney finally figured out what the rest of the industry has been doing for years at buffets: pods that you pick and choose from, instead of waiting in a seemingly unending line simply because you want a cup of soup or a little more pasta.

Our mistake was simply not waiting another 30 minutes or so to dine. The crowds would have been much smaller and it would have felt less chaotic. To be fair, though, embarkation day lunch on any cruise line is usually like a zoo at feeding time!

At around 1:45 pm we headed to our room. We were on deck 9, nearly all the way forward. Cabanas is on deck 11 all the way aft. It seems that walking to the room we had our first encounter with the very very long hallways on the stateroom decks!!

And then we reached stateroom 9022, our home for the duration of the cruise:

And I was very amused when I saw the door. The other two cruises, I had been the lead name on the reservation. I am a DVC member. Both cruises, our stateroom was not on the list of DVC staterooms and we did not get a magnet beforehand. This time Michael was the lead name on the reservation. He is not a DVC member. And suddenly this time DVC realises that a DVC member is in the stateroom as an additional person?? How strange is that. I am really wondering what will happen with my next cruise when I am the lead name again.

I am guessing your lovely, and cooler, sister will wind up with something!!!

The stateroom was beautiful and (at that point still…) in perfect condition.

Up Next:
Rushing from Meet to Muster

 

[franandaj]

For instance, here I can firmly say that it was frigid out, in what has been one of the warmest winters on record in Florida, and only a German tourist would dare stick toes into the Atlantic at that time.

Nice to hear from you Michael! You sound just like a Southern Californian! Those of us who live in climates that never see the coldest of weather! Most of us rarely stick our toes in the Pacific in the Summer! Only the crazy surfers and little kids.

There is another carry on size suitcase hiding behind the two bigger ones. Yes, we were not travelling light…

That's "not travelling light"! I'll take a picture of our suitcases when we leave next month!

My favourite character on the one Disney ship I've yet to sail and likely won't so long as all it does are those short hops to the Bahamas. I don't want to sound like a beloved (or not) former Alaskan governor, but I can practically see the Bahamas from my house! ;-)

We're not going on the Dream to go to the Bahamas, we're going on the Dream to get away on a Disney cruise after a WDW holiday. We will most likely not even get off the boat, but this cruise on the Dream gets us to Gold! We're really looking forward to getting to Platinum, although we are wanting to branch out and try some other cruise lines as well. We really enjoyed Celebrity many years ago....

I'm sorry to hear that you, Magdalene, did not enjoy the Cabanas lunch. After reading about Karin and Tom, I had decided we were going to Enchanted Garden, it sounded so much nicer and calmer. I didn't realize that it was a limited buffet, but that's OK, it's not like I'm going to starve on a cruise ship! I did find it interesting that Michael thought Cabanas was one of the better embarkation buffets. We have always gone to Parrot Cay for embarkation lunch, and I've found plenty to eat there.

I'll have to notice about the desserts this time, we thought they were pretty good one most of our past trips, but then the only ones I would order over and over were the soufflés. That Grand Marnier Souffle is one of my favorites ever. Although there are two others in the world that I consider better, one is in Las Vegas and the other is at Disneyland. I'm looking forward to seeing what your room looks like!

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Okay. .....I guess I can't read if I don't at least join..........