„Did you feel pressured to provide only EXCELLENT ratings?“

[MEK]

I know I have seen pictures of Palo brunch before, but it looks just as good with the repeat pics. In fact, its making me quite hungry and that's not good!

I love that you got a tour of the kitchen. That had to be interesting. Any kitchen that can turn out food of that quantity and quality has got to be pretty impressive!

 

[Leshaface]

Sounds like such a relaxing day at Castaway. Food, drinks, sun. Perfect!

Love Palo! And super nice that you had just what Corinne was craving right in your purse.

Dinner on Mickey?! Awesome!

I am DYING for that Palo brunch right now. That Chicken Parm and the pizza...ugh. Salivating!

So cool to see the kitchen where all the food is prepared.

 

[jenseib]

The desserts look so good too! I could go for some unlimited cruise food right about now!

 

[RGirl]

I am not sure we are there at the same time, Roni.
We will arrive on Saturday, Aug 15, then stay at WDW (Pop is booked at the moment, but that may change IF they come up with a fair AP discount). The last two days we will move to a DVC resort (not sure yet) as I want EASY access to a washer and dryer before the cruise.
We will board the Fantasy on Aug 22 and stay on until Sept 6. We will then stay for another week at OKW preferably.
What are your dates?

Boo - we are going to be at WDW the tail end of July and into August and then board the Fantasy and home from there. We will miss each other by inches this year. I am so sad that we somehow completely missed each other last year despite being on the same ship and even on the same deck! I was really hoping we would at least have a little overlap at WDW this year.

That said, great update! You are making me soooo hungry with your Palo descriptions and pictures.

Oh, wow! The galley tour - I would love to do something like this. No kids though, right? I know I will have to wait on that one because Willow will be very upset if I do that one without her - she would love to see all the goings-on in the kitchens.

 

[dizneeat]

I know I have seen pictures of Palo brunch before, but it looks just as good with the repeat pics. In fact, its making me quite hungry and that's not good!

I love that you got a tour of the kitchen. That had to be interesting. Any kitchen that can turn out food of that quantity and quality has got to be pretty impressive!

We have done several of those now and it is really interesting. Every tour is a bit different and you'll learn new things about how they prepare so many meals.
Are you going to try Palo on your upcoming cruise?

Sounds like such a relaxing day at Castaway. Food, drinks, sun. Perfect!

Love Palo! And super nice that you had just what Corinne was craving right in your purse.

Dinner on Mickey?! Awesome!

I am DYING for that Palo brunch right now. That Chicken Parm and the pizza...ugh. Salivating!

So cool to see the kitchen where all the food is prepared.

CC is always the day we really look forward to - and we are not even beach people.

Yes, dinner was on Mickey. One of the perks of being Platinum CC members.

We have toured the kitchens on the Dream and Fantasy (which are actually all the same) and on the Magic this summer. And while the tours are pretty much the same on all three ships, you always learn a few new bits and pieces.

The desserts look so good too! I could go for some unlimited cruise food right about now!

Me too!

Boo - we are going to be at WDW the tail end of July and into August and then board the Fantasy and home from there. We will miss each other by inches this year. I am so sad that we somehow completely missed each other last year despite being on the same ship and even on the same deck! I was really hoping we would at least have a little overlap at WDW this year.

Ah, that's really a shame that we are missing each other again. Even though I still cannot understand how we managed NOT to run into each other last summer.

That said, great update! You are making me soooo hungry with your Palo descriptions and pictures.

Oh, wow! The galley tour - I would love to do something like this. No kids though, right? I know I will have to wait on that one because Willow will be very upset if I do that one without her - she would love to see all the goings-on in the kitchens.

Roni, I am not sure there is a no kids policy. I was just trying to remember if we saw some on one of the tours we took and I can't think of any kids, but you should definitely ask if she is allowed. The tour is free and they even give you a freshly baked cookie at the end.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 5, February 19

Lazy day gone busy - Part 3

When we had finished up our drinks the room had filled with people for the tasting and it was time for us to leave.
We walked through the stores again and picked up a few more last minute items, then headed back to our stateroom to finish packing. We rested for a few minutes, but were out the door again soon enough.
This time we were on our way to the Castaway Club Reception,



a meet and mingle with the ship’s officers. Holly was there too and we chatted for a while, then the Captain, Christiaan the Cruise director and some other officers came by to chat for a while.





And in between visits we sipped our Champagne and nibbled our Canapes.







Captain Gus then gave a little speech



and there was the usual video of Karl Holz



before the meet was over and we were all handed a Mickey Rice Crispy Treat on our way out.
I put them into my new DCL D&B and we were heading to the DVC desk, where we had made friends with the reps. They were busy, so instead of waiting there, we walked outside onto deck 4 and wandered along.







We did not get far, the sun was setting and it just was a picture perfect sight.













So we found some loungers and watched the sun come lower and lower until we finally got up to take some photos.



When the sun was no longer visible we headed back inside and had a peek at the DVC desk. And this time they were on their own. They offered that day’s gift, which was a print we have about 6 lying around the house already, so we declined, but were handed some pins and a lei instead. We gave them some more chocolates as they had been fighting over them and while we did so, one of the two Future cruise reps came over to ask for some of their chocolate. There was a bit more left in my bag, so he got that. And after some hugs we learned that he was from England and had worked in the Swiss alps during the winter portraying the blue Milka cow. We all had a good laugh before we said our goodbyes





and Tom and I headed back to our stateroom. We had one more package to deliver. So, once we had gotten hold of our package and left the Mickey Rice Krispies in the room we headed back down to the shops again. We needed to say goodbye to Oxana. We found her and had quite a long talk about the situation that was going on in her home country, the Ukraine. She told us that even though her mother and children were not in immediate danger, she was so worried and would call them as often as she could. She was also looking forward to the end of her contract which would be in three weeks and going home to see her family. It was heartbreaking to leave her there and know how worried she must be, but once business picked up a bit and there were several people waiting at the cash register we really needed to hug goodbye and she had to go back to work. Our next stop was just across the hall. Captain Gus was signing whatever you held in front of him and we had brought some of our postcards to have signed by him. There was a HUGE family ahead of us and it was so fun to see all their excitement. When it was our turn Captain Gus asked if he hadn’t just seen us at the Castaway Club reception and signed our cards, then posed for a photo and off we went again. There was just time for a quick rest at our stateroom which we spent on our veranda before it was time for dinner. We could not believe that it soon would be time to put our suitcases outside our stateroom and that that day at sea that had been supposed to be a leisurely day was nearly over and had been pretty busy. So we changed again and headed downstairs to Animator’s Palate for dinner.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[dizneeat]

Day 5, February 19

Lazy day gone busy - Part 4

So we changed again and headed downstairs to Animator’s Palate for dinner.
This is our least favourite restaurant, due to the fact that it gets pretty noisy when Crush comes out, but we had promised Mario to have dinner with him one more time. So shortly after the door opened we arrived and were quickly seated. The assistant server filled the water glasses, then went to get our Diet Cokes and brought back a basket full of



Garlic and Herb Foccacia and the



Rosemary Virgin Olive Oil for dipping. With all the nibbling all day long we had thought about skipping a course, but the things on the menu were to yummy to not order them. So Tom ordered the



Tomato Tarte, with Glazed Goats Cheese and Radish Salad and I ordered something I can always eat, no matter how full I am, the



Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes, Pasta Purses filled with Truffle-scented Cheese and coated with a Champagne sauce. It did not take long for them to be served and both starters did not disappoint. I had been thinking about having some soup as well, so I ordered the



Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese soup, served with Bacon bits and Chives. Very yummy, but very filling. Now our main courses were coming out and we both had ordered the same thing, the





Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus beef Tenderloin, served with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes, Bok Choy and a Tamarind-Barbecue Reduction. The meat was perfectly cooked, the potatoes had an nice little kick from the wasabi and we both worked hard to more or less finish our plates. The show had not yet started, so we contemplated making an exit before it was to start and skip dessert, but just as we were about to do so the show started and Mario made sure we played along,



which we normally don’t do. So we swam with Crush and watched all the commotion in the dining room. Once the show was over Mario would not let us leave without dessert, so Tom ordered the





Cookies ‘n’ Cream Sundae, Cookies and Cream Ice-cream with Chocolate Sauce and Chocolate Chip Cookies, while I ordered the



Duo Chocolate Cake, layers of Brownie and Truffle Mousse with Caramel Sauce. And since we were such nice guests, according to Mario, he brought us a



White Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake with Whipped Cream and Raspberry Coulis as well. Now, Tom doesn’t like cheesecake at all and I am not a huge fan of it either, so we barely made a dent in it, but finished most of the desserts we had ordered. When we were done, Mario came over to remind us of the comment card and how important it was to mark everything as excellent. We promised we’d do so and we had a little chat. Somehow we told him that we had had the same server for most of our Dream Cruises, but that she had now quit her time working on a cruise ship and was back home in Croatia.
That peeked Mario’s interest, so he asked if we could remember her name and surely, yes, we could, we had gotten to know Ana really well. Now imagine our surprise, when he went on to say, “Tall skinny girl with glasses? Husband in Palo?” Yes, that was our Ana. Turned out that she had trained Mario and quite a few of the tricks he now showed to his guests he had learned from her. How awesome was that? If we could not have Ana, because she had left, we got one of her students. Score!
They were already preparing for breakfast, so we knew it was time to finally leave and we said our goodbyes and informing Mario that we would have breakfast at Cabanas the next morning as we wanted to leave a bit early. We returned to our stateroom,



finished off the drinks that were still left in the fridge and sat outside on the veranda to enjoy the night air and watch the ship heading towards Port Canaveral again. I guess we sat outside for quite a bit until it was time to go to bed.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[MEK]

What a lovely last day!

Sitting on the deck watching that spectacular sunset looks so relaxing.

Score on getting to see Captain Gus twice! I love how you know all the CM's and how neat that your server was trained by Ana!

Your last dinner looks amazing!

What a great ending to a wonderful cruise!

 

[Linda67]

Hello Karin
I had lots to catch up on!
Loved the pictures from Castaway Cay, what a wonderful day you had
Mmm, 2 yummy meals at Palo. Can't wait to get back in there!
Stunning sunset pictures as well

 

[dizneeat]

What a lovely last day!

Sitting on the deck watching that spectacular sunset looks so relaxing.

Score on getting to see Captain Gus twice! I love how you know all the CM's and how neat that your server was trained by Ana!

Your last dinner looks amazing!

What a great ending to a wonderful cruise!

It was an awesome day, even though we had to pack our bags that day - that was no fun at all.
But the sunset was fabulous - we loved sitting in those lounge chairs and watching the waves and the sun go down. So beautiful.

And we still have four more days of fun to fill until we are back to the threadmill.

Hello Karin
I had lots to catch up on!
Loved the pictures from Castaway Cay, what a wonderful day you had
Mmm, 2 yummy meals at Palo. Can't wait to get back in there!
Stunning sunset pictures as well

CC is always special to us. We really love the island. And Palo, especially if the bill is on Mickey is always such a treat.
We were lucky with the weather and being in the right place for the sunset.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 6, February 20

„We did not expect you quite that early“ - Part 1

We had already made it into Port Canaveral when we woke up. We took showers and enjoyed a little time out on the veranda









before packing up the rest of our stuff and heading to Cabanas for breakfast. We got in line, picked up the regular breakfast fare of scrambled eggs, bacon, some waffles and some strawberry compote and whipped cream and headed for a table. We found some seating along the long table running along the restaurant and enjoyed our last breakfast on board for this cruise. The Palo team was looking after Cabanas and it was neat to see some familiar faces.
Soon we were done with breakfast, headed downstairs to our room and after a stop to the restroom we checked everything once again for forgotten items, then picked up our carry ons and off we went. We had timed our exit for when the second breakfast seating was about to begin and were happy to see that there was no line at the exit at all. Tom quickly took a few exit photos







and off we went. Keys to the world card scanned we were now officially off the ship. Once in the customs hall we asked a porter to help us with our stuff, found it quickly and got in line. The line was longer, but moved fast as they had all the desk manned and people were going through constantly. Soon it was our turn and then we found ourselves waiting for the elevator to go up to the walkway to the parking structure. A minute later we were crossing that walkway and found ourselves in front of our car.
We tipped the porter, then started to fit all our stuff into the boot and the Owner’s Locker Box onto the back seat. GPS fixed in the car we were now ready to leave. All that was left to do was to pay for parking before we left the parking lot. As always we went around the terminal and the ship one more time,















but then we were on our way. Traffic was light and we made good progress



and about an hour later we drove under the Walt Disney World Arch.



It was only shortly after 9.30am when we heard the friendly “Welcome home” when we stopped at the Old Key West security checkpoint. We knew there was no way our villa would already be ready, but we wanted to leave our stuff with bell services and do a little shopping.
It was hard finding a spot to park our car, but after three rounds around the parking lot at the Hospitality House we were finally able to find one and head inside, paperwork in hand. We were greeted by a friendly cast member with a tablet in hand, who asked us if we had done online check in and then sent us inside to the front desk. There was no one in line and we could go straight up. A very nice and friendly older gentleman checked us in and then said, “We didn’t expect you quite that early, so the villa that was assigned to you is not ready yet, but let me see what I can do.”
And with that he went to work on the computer and a minute later he went to the back room to pick up our magic bands. He checked them, then handed them to us, together with a map and with a smile he said. I got you another villa on Turtle Pond Road and it’s on the top floor and it is READY! You can go and check it out right now. I guess both our jaws dropped and we thanked him a lot, then, still in awe we headed over to the shop to do some browsing before heading out to the car and driving over to Turtle Pond Road. When we arrived we picked up our carry ons and a few smaller bags and headed upstairs to our villa.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[dizneeat]

Day 6, February 20

„We did not expect you quite that early“ - Part 2

When we arrived we picked up our carry ons and a few smaller bags and headed upstairs to our villa.
It was perfect.



















It even had the bathroom with the two entrances.











So, as fast as we could we returned to our car and got the rest of our luggage. There were a few leftover drinks from the ship, which went into the fridge right away and after a restroom stop we were off to do some shopping.
First stop Walgreens for some “over the counter” meds, then a quick stop at Publix to stock up on things to take home and some sweets for my pupils. We also bought some of our regular salads and picnic supplies for a nice and easy lunch in our villa for a change. It was only noon when we were all done and on our way back to our villa.



And when we got close to Old Key West we decided that something hot would be nice for lunch. So we drove over to Port Orleans Riverside,



parked the car and headed to the Riverside Mill to pick up something. We checked the menu and while Tom got in line I picked up a piece of Carrot Cake and a Magic Cookie bar, then headed over to join Tom in line. Lunch in hand we headed to the check-out and paid for our food with a gift card before returning to our car and driving back to Old Key West. Once there we quickly took all of our purchases upstairs and started laying the table.



Lunch was really nice. We both enjoyed sharing the



Southern Fire Chicken Sandwich with French Fries and the





Barbecued Pork Sandwich with French Fries together with the salads and chips we had picked up. Once we had enjoyed our lunch Tom took a dip in the Jacuzzi, while I started rearranging our Owner’s Locker box. And around 2pm we were on our way out again, this time to experience our first Fast pass +.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[pas130]

The cruise CMs looked fun..and OF COURSE you can't pass up that sunset absolutely LOVELY

Old Key West!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I so loved our stay there last month!!! Thank you for the villa pics, since I didn't take any

Not to forget..I liked the outside ship pics as well Karin

 

[dizneeat]

The cruise CMs looked fun..and OF COURSE you can't pass up that sunset absolutely LOVELY

Old Key West!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I so loved our stay there last month!!! Thank you for the villa pics, since I didn't take any

Not to forget..I liked the outside ship pics as well Karin

That sunset was just so beautiful. The photos don't really do it justice.

OKW is our favourite resort. You cannot beat the space this villas offer and it does not feel like a hotel at all. I always feel like we are in a beautiful little village.

 

[Linda67]

How wonderful that you managed to get checked in at your villa so early in the morning
I always find it hard to relax until I've unpacked and settled in - hope we get some pixie dust after our next cruise

 

[franandaj]

Catching up! I loved the Palo updates! They are getting me so excited for my cruise coming up soon. One month from tomorrow we leave on a plane for Florida!

I love the villas ar OKW. That tub is so heavenly!

 

[dizneeat]

How wonderful that you managed to get checked in at your villa so early in the morning
I always find it hard to relax until I've unpacked and settled in - hope we get some pixie dust after our next cruise

We were so stunned and so happy that we were able to get into our room so soon. Nothing better than having your luggage where it belongs and being ready to stock the fridge when you come back from shopping.

Catching up! I loved the Palo updates! They are getting me so excited for my cruise coming up soon. One month from tomorrow we leave on a plane for Florida!

I love the villas ar OKW. That tub is so heavenly!

Just one more month? Lucky you!!!
We are exactly 6 months out from our next cruise/WDW visit.

Isn't OKW such an awesome resort? We just love it there. Already planning on returning to OKW in the summer of 2015!

 

[jedijill]

What great updates. I love Palo so much! Sad it was your last day. That CM at OKW was awesome to find you a villa that was ready!

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

What great updates. I love Palo so much! Sad it was your last day. That CM at OKW was awesome to find you a villa that was ready!

Jill in CO

Thank you, Jill!
Yes, it was sad that it was our last day, but we had two nights at OKW to look forward to.
And we could not believe how lucky we were with a villa being ready. That CM truly sprinkled us with loads of pixie dust.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 6, February 20

„We did not expect you quite that early“ - Part 3

And around 2pm we were on our way out again, this time to experience our first Fast pass +.
We got into the car and were soon on route to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, where we quickly were directed to parking in Music, row 51. It was a bit of a hike back to the tram and when we arrived, the one in the stop was just pulling out, but the other was coming right up. We thought about walking down to the gate for a second, but then decided on the tram. Well, we should have walked. It took quite some time for the tram to pull out of the stop again and when we finally arrived at the park and bag check we saw that a Friendship had arrived just ahead of us. So we got into line at the bag check and it moved pretty smoothly until a woman with a stroller joined the man in front of us. They had a gazillion bags in that stroller and would only pick one up when asked to do so, it took forever for them to get through.
But soon we were through too and headed for the entrance. We used our Magic Bands for the first time at a park entrance and it worked a charm. And off we went to our first ride of this trip, one of our all-time favourites, the Tower of Terror. We walked through the shops





and did a little browsing and soon we could see that indeed today was a busy day.







The posted stand by wait time for the Tower of Terror was 60 minutes,



so we headed over to the entrance to see if it was really that bad. And it was! They were telling people that it was at least a 60 minute wait for stand by. We put our Magic Bands against the reader and quickly saw the green light and were on our way.



The Fast pass line only started at the entrance to the building, so was very short and within a minute or two we found ourselves in one of the libraries. Pre-show over, the doors opened and we were about to head over to the boiler room. But ….. there were a lot of people right outside the sliding door and it took a while until we could all get in line and finally worked our way towards the boiler room. It took about 10 minutes until we were finally assigned a seat. And since they filled ALL the seats, we were moved right to front row when a larger group needed more seats together. A few more instructions and “on the way”.



The ride was fun as always and we just thought about getting into the standby line again, but it still was 60 minutes and we had more rides to ride that day. So we slowly strolled back towards the hat,



checking out the stores



along the way. We had another FP+ for the Indiana Jones stunt show



which we had not seen in a long time and when we arrived they had already started to let people in. We found fairly nice seats, leaned back and waited. It was fun to see how quickly the theatre filled up and soon the pre-show and selecting of “extras” was started. And even though the show is a bit dated, it was still fun to watch.





















Once Indy had saved us all we made our way to our next FP+ location, Toy Story Mania. We could not believe the standby time of 75 minutes, but once we had gotten into the FP line, we KNEW, the time posted outside was correct. The FP line moved fairly quickly





and we quickly were able to pick up our 3D glasses and once we went through the turnstiles we were stopped and sent into the completely empty line on the right. Another score on the Pixiedust.
We walked right down to where they assign you to a special row to get onto the vehicle and were seated within a minute. The ride itself was fun as always, even though my arm always hurts like hell after a ride. We were done with the rides we wanted to fit in, even with a little time to spare. So we leisurely strolled toward the hat again and when we passed Man’s Chinese Theatre, we headed inside to see how long of a line there was.

To be continued ............ ​