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

[annmarieda]

Hope you have had a nice birthday!!!

 

[HowieHowie]

Happy, Happy Birthday Karin!! Hope you had a wonderful day!!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Better late than never?

Hope you had a wonderful birthday weekend, Karin....and continue to celebrate all month! May is such a beautiful month...perfect for your birthday!!!

Happiest Birthday, dear friend!!

 

[dizneeat]

Great pictures of sailing away....I can't wait to see it with my own eyes, but until then, I'll continue reading and take notes!!

Sailing away is always such a great time. All the excitement of being on the ship and the trip about to start. You are going to love it!

YAY...I'm all caught up!!....Your balcony view was gorgeous, expecially the beautiful sunrise pictures. I love the one with the sun peaking through the doughnut hole.

So easy to fall behind, Elaine! But I am glad you are up to date again. Now I can start posting updates again.
The balcony at the VGF was just divine! I wish we had had more time to enjoy it there.

Of course you have to keep the tradition going and eat at WPE.

Wouldn't be the same if we did not start our cruise with a breakfast at WPE!

Seeing the ship is very exciting no matter how many times you've cruised, and once you boarded, it's nice to feel at home!!

That last "hill" you get over, when the ship comes into view for the first time is just awesome. Gives me the chills every time.
And you are right once you are on board you feel right at home!

How nice that Zan rememberd you. Very nice stateroom and great veranda. I like the bags you got.

It was impressive how he remembered us after a whole year.
The veranda was just great and even though we booked first day and could have gotten it again, we opted for 10626 on deck 10. Our favourite stateroom.

Very nice sail away pictures. How cool to be on the webcam! Tom's door decorations are great!

Tom takes great pride in making those decorations. Thanks for noticing.

Viaggio Sicuro!

I do hope you get over to Venice! It's one of my favorites cities I've ever visited.

Jill in CO

Gracie tutto!
We had a great time and we DID make it to Venice. We really enjoy it there, even though parking is a pain.

Italy! Lovely! Have fun!

We had a lot of fun. It was a really nice and relaxing trip.

 

[englishrose47]

Belated Birthday wishes Karin !!

 

[mamaboogie]

Belated birthday wishes from me also Karin!

 

[dizneeat]

Have an amazing weekend in Italy! I LOVE your plans and the food

It was such a lovely weekend, and over so quickly. But we had a lot of fun and a lot of great food.

Have a great time!!

Thank you! We did have a great weekend.

Playing catch-up as usual, Karin!

Hey, that's what I do usually!

Wow - what an amazing CM experience with Zan remembering you so well. I love it!!!

We were amazed that he remembered us - I mean, yes, some of them should be able to remember a face, but he could put a name with it - without glancing onto his computer. Pixie dusted!!!

Ooooh, I love those aft staterooms with the giant verandahs! How great that you got to live in one of them for your Dream cruise!

It was an awesome stateroom. And the veranda was a great experience. But we are going back to our favourite mid ship stateroom again next summer.

Love the DVC beach bag that you won. Very cool!!

Me too! And it holds a lot of stuff! It was amazing winning something after staying in those great accommodations.

That is so cool that so many folks saw you on the web cam sailing away!

A lot of people told us that they saw us afterwards. And the way the camera zoomed in on us there was NO doubt it was us.

Can’t wait to hear about your Italy trip!

I should be able to post a bit of our Italy trip this weekend. Things have been pretty hectic lately and my DIS time was so limited.

Have a great time.

Thank you, Kathy. We had a fantastic weekend in Italy.

 

[dizneeat]

Looks like you are gonna have an excellent weekend. Have fun!!!

Thank you! We did have a lovely weekend, even though the weather did not cooperate well.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the info. It helps a lot.

I am glad I could help. Let me know if you have any more questions!

LOL! The way you gave the chocolate.
Nicely decorated door.
Nice pics taking off there.
Great your friends saw you.
Loving the Italy pics.
Does the Disney store in Venice have merchandise that says Venice or Italy?

Yes, they do have some Venice themed things, unfortunately the T-shirts are all a bit on the small side. But they have a lovely Venice-Mickey mug!

Have a wonderful time.

Thank you, we did have a great weekend!

Hope you are having a great time!! And having beautiful weather.

Thank you! We really had a fun time, with lots of relaxation and .... food!
Unfortunately the weather did not hold out too well, but we were on vacation and it was great anyway.

How nice of you guys to send some chocolate down to the DIS'ers below you

Now, that fishing game was so much fun. The kids loved it, and we did too.

Is there anyway to access that video of you guys sailing away? Would be fun to see!

Here is the link to the webcam - http://www.portcanaveralwebcam.com/replay.php
the cruise date was Feb 16/Disney Dream. You need to move to around 6 min and he will zoom right in on us.

 

[dizneeat]

Happy Birthday Karin!

Tom...that is a great graphic.

Jill in CO

Thank you, Jill!
Tom is very creative and does a great job creating things like this. You should see what he has come up with for our summer cruise.

Hope you have had a nice birthday!!!

Thank you, Ann! We did have a lovely and relaxing weekend.

Happy, Happy Birthday Karin!! Hope you had a wonderful day!!

Thank you, Elaine!

Better late than never?

Hope you had a wonderful birthday weekend, Karin....and continue to celebrate all month! May is such a beautiful month...perfect for your birthday!!!

Happiest Birthday, dear friend!!

Thank you, Christine!
So nice to have you check in.
Yes, May is a beautiful months - especially since it leads us into summer and we are only 8 weeks away from the end of the school year.

Did I just read on another TR that you are going to WDW soon?

 

[dizneeat]

Belated Birthday wishes Karin !!

Thank you, Rosie!

Belated birthday wishes from me also Karin!

Thank you, Shari!
So nice to see you here too!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Hi Karin. I'm not sure how I missed this trip report but somehow I did. I'm going back to read now. I hope you had a wonderful trip.

 

[Leshaface]

Here is the link to the webcam - http://www.portcanaveralwebcam.com/replay.php
the cruise date was Feb 16/Disney Dream. You need to move to around 6 min and he will zoom right in on us.

SO COOL!!! He was zoomed in on you guys for a long time!

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Karin. I'm not sure how I missed this trip report but somehow I did. I'm going back to read now. I hope you had a wonderful trip.

You found it and are here now! That is all that matters.
We had a wonderful trip last February. Lots of wonderful memories were made.

SO COOL!!! He was zoomed in on you guys for a long time!

You watched it! Wasn't it neat, how long he zoomed in on us! It was great to know that many of our friends had seen us sail out.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 2, February 16

„Are you on a Disney cruise right now?“ - Part 5

It took us a about an hour to walk all over the ship and when we finally got back to our stateroom we had a quite a few gifts ourselves, which we took inside and then had a closer look at.
Our room had been prepared for the night and we had gotten a fun little seal as a towel animal.



And soon enough it was time to get changed and head downstairs for dinner. Our first dinner was at the Enchanted Garden. We walked down to the restaurant, got in line and were soon on the way to our table.
Our servers were fast to come by and welcome us. The assistant server handed us a menu and took our drinks order and very soon returned with two Diet Cokes and a basket full of



Multi-grain Loaf and Country Current Bread with



Chickpea-Garlic Purée. And while we were still studying the menu our server, Mario, paid us another visit to give his recommendations. So we ordered our dinner and nibbled on the rolls dipped into the Chickpea Puree. Mario was quick to return with our starters. Tom had ordered the



Applewood Smoked Bacon Wild Mushroom Tart with Creamy Leeks, while I had ordered an old favourite, the



North Atlantic Lobster Ravioli, with Roasted Garlic and Sweet Basil in a Tomato Broth. Both dishes were as nice as we remembered them. And as soon as we had finished, our plates were whisked away and we were served some soup. Tom had ordered the



Cream of Green Asparagus with Crabmeat and Asparagus tips. And even though the colour of the soup is not really appetizing, it tasted really good. I had chosen to try the



Heirloom Tomato Soup, with Sour Cream, Croutons and Basil. It was very good indeed.
Soup done, we were served our main courses. Tom had ordered the





Slow Roasted Prime Rib, carved and served with Thyme-Roasted Vegetables, Double Baked Potato, Natural Jus and Horseradish. It was a huge piece of meat and perfectly cooked. I tried the



Seared Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Rosti Potatoes, Collard Greens and a Morel Cognac Sour Cream Sauce. And it was as nice as it had sounded on the menu. While we were enjoying our food, Mario was entertaining the children all around our table with his magic tricks. It was great to watch him interact. Then it was time for our dessert.
Tom ordered the



Warm Sticky Date Pudding, with Butterscotch Sauce, Vanilla ice cream and Philo Crunch. I had a taste and it was really good. I had set on trying an Austrian/Hungarian dessert, the



Esterhazy Cake, Almond Meringue soaked in Maraschino Liqueur. And while it was still a nice piece of cake, it was nothing close to the real thing we have here. Once we had finished our meal, Mario came by to ask if we had enjoyed ourselves and to entertain us with one of his magic tricks as well. We then showed him and his assistant server one of our tricks – I pulled some Austrian chocolate out of my D&B wristlet. It was fun to see Mario stunned. And he seemed to be quite happy with his little treat. We said our goodbyes and headed back to our stateroom without any stops at any of the bars. The time change started to catch up with us, so once back in our stateroom we just grabbed a drink out of the fridge and sat out on the veranda, enjoying the night air before we called it a day and went to bed.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[pas130]

Lobster Ravioli and Prime rib DROOL Looks so yummy!!!! Missed you Karin Glad you had a spectacular birthday weekend!!

 

[franandaj]

That sounds like a great meal. I will be looking forward to dining at the Enchanted Garden now!

 

[dizneeat]

Lobster Ravioli and Prime rib DROOL Looks so yummy!!!! Missed you Karin Glad you had a spectacular birthday weekend!!

I really love those Lobster Ravioli. They are wonderful and Tom very much enjoyed his Prime Rib.
So sorry for being away for so long. I just had such a hard time catching up with everything that there was very little DIStime left.

That sounds like a great meal. I will be looking forward to dining at the Enchanted Garden now!

It was a very nice meal. We really enjoy the MDRs on the Disney ships. I am sure you will love dining in Enchanted Garden as well. Just watch for the flowershaped lampshades starting to get into full bloom.

 

[pas130]

I really love those Lobster Ravioli. They are wonderful and Tom very much enjoyed his Prime Rib.
So sorry for being away for so long. I just had such a hard time catching up with everything that there was very little DIStime left.

No apologies I am glad I actually haven't fallen behind I miss my days I could peruse the DIS for hours

 

[englishrose47]

Wow all the food looked good I would go with the Raviolis, the lobster /asparagus soup and the prime rib , your dessert does it for me too!!

 

[scottny]

The meal looked delicious.
I am going on your next cruise and deliver your food so I can get a treat from you. LOL.