Mandymouse's Fantastic Fantasy Cruise .. and then another one (Complete)

[mandymouse]

Just read this through in one go wow, how exciting to be on a B2B cruise, what a lovely feeling it will be on disembarkation day knowing you've got another seven days!

Glad to see you're both feeling better, I've just had my breakfast yet I've still been drooling over that Palo brunch food!

And no, I don't think you're weird for not advertising the fact that you're going away, I'm always telling my DDs not to post too much info about holidays on facebook as you never know who's reading it!

Lovely dress you had on in Palo. Glad you were better and could enjoy the meal.

So glad you were both feeling better and able to enjoy the day & Palo. That dress looks really good on you. I love that lemon & vodka drink they bring in Palo - sort of like a Grey Goose slushie but better.

Love your Palo dress Mandy. So glad you were both feeling better. Yay, Castaway Cay next - Serenity Bay

I am glad that you were feeling better. I love the dress you wore to Palo and dinner looked great.

Corinna

Ive only just found your trip report but have enjoyed reading it.

Its a shame you were both ill but sounds like you still made the most of your time so far.

Fab pictures

Another fan of your dress Mandy

What a perfect sea day you had, lots of relaxing and yummy food and drink

Looking at your pics again, how was Paul feeling? He looks like he doesn't feel great, I'm sure he was still feeling his cold. You, on the other hand, look really good!

Thanks for all your lovely comments everyone

That was my favourite dress for my holiday, it was from Coast at Debenhams, and thankfully my two days of illness meant I didn't put on too much weight that week

Jenny, Paul was still full of cold, but thankfully it didn't stop him doing anything

 

[mandymouse]

Friday 27th April

We got up around 8.30am, and we were already docked at Castaway Cay. It was another lovely sunny morning, so once showered and changed we headed up to deck 11 for Paul to get some breakfast from Cabanas, and I got my usual Latte from Billie in the Cove Cafe (along with a couple of yummy looking pastries)

While I was being served, our Cruise Director, Brent announced that we were able to disembark. We took our time and wandered up another deck or two to take some photos of the island

After a short while we disembarked and walked down towards the family beach calling in at the shops along the way

Cont'd ...

 

[mandymouse]

We then took the shuttle to Serenity Bay where we found some loungers and an umbrella and parked ourselves for the next few hours

The temperature probably got into the low 80's, but we had a lovely breeze keeping us comfortable. We ordered a Konk Kooler for me and a Bahama Mama for Paul (got to love those Konk Koolers, but I can only have one coz they always give me a brain freeze lol)

Around 1ish we headed to the Serenity Bay BBQ, where we enjoyed cheeseburgers, salads, chicken, steak etc

We then sat at the Castaway Air Bar for a Bahama Mama each. We sat out for another hour or so, and at one point there was a bit of commotion down the far end of the beach and the women were brushing their hair and preening themselves, then I saw the reason for all this ... yes Captain Jack Sparrow was walking up the beach and stopping for photo opportunities, so I put a comb through my hair and joined him (though he wasn't happy when I referred to him as Jack ... It's Captain Jack, he corrected me )

After a while we took the shuttle back to the family beaches. It was very warm over this side of the island, they didn't seem to have the breeze that we'd had, so we quickly took some photos and had one last cocktail at the Conched Out Bar

Cont'd ...

 

[mandymouse]

...

We were back onboard around 4, we had a quick shower and went down to the Atrium to see some of the characters before watching the ship leave the island. We then went back to our room to pack as we had a different room for our 2nd cruise

A little while later we went up to top deck where we watched a lovely sunset, then we returned to our room to get ready for dinner

Tonight we were back in the Enchanted Garden. All our tablemates were there and we had a nice evening talking about the cruise, future cruises and what we were all up to next. For starters I had the potato & leek soup and Paul had the trio of salmon. For our mains we both had the Beef Wellington, which was very nice, then to finish off we both had the Apple & Cranberry Crumble with Vanilla Ice-cream, it was all very good

We said goodbye to our new friends and handed our servers their tip envelopes and took a few photos

We watched the Farewell show in the Atrium and had a few photos with the characters, then went to see Alisha in La Piazza for a one last Bahama Mama from her as she was moving to the crew bar the following day. We had one final drink in The Tube, then headed to bed

Tomorrow ~ Port Canaveral & re-boarding The Disney Fantasy

 

[jjk]

what a great day, love your sunset piccies

 

[irongirlof12]

So glad that you have both got over that bout of sickness, simply not allowed on a disney cruise love your photos makes me yearn for castaway cay

 

[Cruisin]

Great report Mandy.

Wish I could snap my fingers and put myself on Castaway Cay right now.

Can't wait to hear about your second cruise.

 

[ukintheus]

What a lovely day on CC, and even better knowing that it wasn't your last day and that you get to do it all over again. Did you get in the water? We thought it was chilly, but we did get in just to say we did...we got out again pretty quick though!

 

[Chilly]

Relly great photos today, wish I was there now.

 

[Laurafoster]

Love Serenity bay, miss being able to go there

And no trip to Castaway Cay is complete with without a Konk Kooler.

 

[sandshal]

Another great day Mandy xxx

 

[HeartWDW]

Beautiful sunsets!

 

[mandymouse]

Saturday 27th April

I was awake around 6.15am, but I was a little mad at myself for not waking a little earlier as I wanted to get some laundry done while most people would've packed and the launderette would be empty. I was a bit rushed, but I put a load on, had a shower, got ready, then returned a little while later to put my washing in the drier

The procedure for us today was to :~

Have our bags packed and be ready outside our stateroom by 8am
We needed to disembark by 9.30am, go through Customs, then head straight back up the escalator into an empty Terminal
We would be checked-in, then we could sit in the Terminal till approx 10.30am, then we would be able to re-embark before most passengers arrived

We were packed and ready by 8am, then headed to see Billie in the Cove Cafe for a final chat and latte as she was moving to the Royal Court bar later that day and we probably wouldn't see much of her

We sat in the Cove Cafe for a while chatting, and I had a couple of pastries, then we killed half an hour or so on Deck 5 above the Atrium

Around 9.30am we leisurely disembarked

It was a lovely experience knowing that we wouldn't be picking up our luggage and having to leave. We joined the line for Customs, then moments later we were heading back up the escalator into a very quiet Terminal. We were checked in and given a green card to show were doing a back to back (though the green card didn't actually mention this -lol)

We took lots of photos in the Terminal (a vast difference to the madness of the week before). At first we sat in the main part of the building, then a CM said we could sit in Concierge, and at roughly 10.30am we were able to re-board (though at this time there is no embarkation photo or announcement back onboard)

We took some photos in the empty lobby then went off to find our stateroom, which this time was # 5009, another inside cabin with a virtual pothole on Deck 5, as forward as we could go. Our lovely stateroom hostess Nan had already made our room up and our luggage was waiting outside. We quickly unpacked and had everything in the exact same place as in our previous room lol, and by 11.15 we were settled into our new room

Cont'd ...

 

[mandymouse]

...

We wandered back to the Atrium, where people had already started boarding, we then headed up to the top deck for a stroll around. When we had first got off the ship it had been a lovely warm and sunny morning, but now it had clouded over and there was light rain in the air

We went down to Cabanas for some lunch, where I had a delish turkey dinner (Mmm, it was good). When we came out it was raining properly, so we sat near the Cove Bar to chill for a while

By 1 o'clock the sun had reappeared, so it was sunbathing time, we sat out for a couple of hours, then we had our first Bahama Mama of this cruise from Currents, then when we got too hot we went down to the Cove Bar for another one

At 4pm we had the Muster Drill. This time our assembly station was an Deck 4. When it was over we had a quick chat to Kerry on-line then headed up to the Sailaway Party. The party was in full swing and thankfully it was a lot warmer than last weeks. Once again we waved to everyone on shore, and Kerry messaged us to say we were on the Fishlips webcam again (lol, she must've been mortified), thanks Sue for capturing the photo again for us

We watched the pilot leave the ship in his little dingy, then we called into La Piazza to make a reservation for the Martini Tasting later in the week

We had a quick snack of wraps etc, then we returned to our room where we found another Castaway Club gift, and a letter asking us to choose between a bottle of sparkly wine (we still had the one from last week to drink), a fruit tray or some truffles. We chilled for a while before getting ready for dinner

Our dining rotation this week was Royal Court, Animator's Palette, Enchanted Garden, Royal Court, Animator's Palette, Animator's Palette and Enchanted Garden. Once again we had the late seating (8.15pm), and our Dining Team was Roberto (Head Server) and Stefan (Server) same as last week, and Karen from St. Lucia joined us as our Assistant Server

We grabbed a couple of Rum Runners (which we thought could be our drink for this week) from Bon Voyage, then we were shown to table 72 again, and already seated were a young couple from Switzerland. We had two empty seats next to us, and Stefan mentioned that we should be joined by another couple during the week

To start we both had the duck, then for mains I had chicken and Paul had the rack of lamb, we had another Rum Runner then both finished with the strawberry short cake sundae. It was all very nice, and we finished the evening with a drink at the Bon Voyage lounge before heading to bed

Tomorrow ~ Day at Sea

 

[Chilly]

I'm so jealous, I want to go on a cruise again.

 

[ukintheus]

I was so curious about how the back to back procedure would work. How wonderful...now I'm tempted to try one! Of course it doesn't take much to put me into "slide another cruise in" mode. How were the Rum Runners, I don't think I've ever had one. Shocking I know!

 

[Linda67]

Great update Mandy
I always wondered what the process was on a back to back cruise
I didn't realise that your stateroom would be ready so quickly - how cool is that!
Must be a great feeling to leave the ship knowing you are coming right back on

 

[strawberry blonde]

The photos look as if you've got the ship to yourselves. Hope your second week turned out to be better than your first.... no more sickness

 

[squitty]

Fab - you get to do it all again

 

[mandymouse]

Sunday 28th April

We slept quite well in our new room. I got up around 8.30am, showered and got ready for a few hours in the sun. Paul got up half an hour later and we headed up to Deck 13 just stopping off at the Cove Cafe for a latte for me and a croissant for Paul

We sat out for a couple of hours, where at one time we were interrupted by Mickey posing on the deck, then we returned to the room to get ready for Brunch at Palo

On the way we stopped off at the Atrium to watch Dash Dash's Diaper Dash, which consisted of several little ones crawling along on a mat to see who would reach the other end first, it was so funny to watch, I know, the little things eh?

We reached Palo and our table was ready, we were seated and Olivera served us some water and a Mimosa each. We were once again shown around the various tables of food, and then chose our plate of goodies to start with

We then chose our egg dishes, florentine for me and Julia for Paul, and Olivera once again brought out some Lasagna and this time also a mozzarella dish extra. As I was having Lasagna for my main, I let Paul have this one and I tried the mozzarella dish after my eggs, which was ok

We had another Mimosa each then we ordered our mains, Lasagna for me (which you already knew lol) and the Beef Tenderloin for Paul

We were full to the brim, but just had to have a dessert, a Panna Cotta for Paul and a couple of Tiramisu's for me

Once again we had had a wonderful Brunch, this really is worth the $20 fee per person, though this was free for us as we get a Palo meal under our Platinum membership

We went back to the room to change out of our ever tightening clothes and into something a little less restrictive, then we decided to have a walk around Deck 4. We did 3 laps around (btw, 2.5 laps = 1 mile), then thought we should be rewarded by our sudden desire for some exercise with a Rum Runner or two at the Cove Bar. This time they were frozen ones, oh yes, they were good

It was now time for a sunbathe, so we headed up to Deck 13, and as we settled onto our loungers, an announcement was made to the upper decks for the imminent arrival of some showers

Seconds after taking shelter from some spots of rain next to Satellite Falls, it absolutely hammered down. Woah! Where did that come from ? Don't be a smart Alec and say from the sky

At 6.15pm we went to our first show of our cruises, and went to see Aladdin. We hadn't seen it before and we really enjoyed it, the Genie was very funny

We went back to the room to get showered and ready for Formal Night, but we realised that we were still full from Brunch, so we decided to head to the Atrium for the free drinks at the Captain's reception (well it would've been rude not too) and skip dinner

After a couple of drinks we went up to Deck 11 to get a quick snack, then we went down to Europa (the adult area), and we decided on some proper cocktails at The Skyline Lounge. This is a really cool bar where the screens change to different cities in Europe. I had a Pomegranate Cosmopolitan and Paul had a speciality Cosmo from the menu complete with lit up ice cube (lol). We stayed here a good while and had another round

We then ventured over to O'Gills as I wanted to try their own version of Baileys (which was very similar). Here we ran into a couple of Brits who were from Newcastle but one of them originally came from the next town to us less than 10 minutes away. We had a nice chat, then we left for a final Rum Runner at Bon Voyage before heading to bed

Tomorrow ~ Grand Cayman