Well folks, I didn't think I'd have time to do this today but turns out...I am a master of efficiency and have finished all my work. So I'm bored. And that means that y'all get to read about the second part of the second day of our cruise!
Now where was I...
Oh yeah, Palo & Pirate Party night!
We chose Friday night as our Palo night because we were able to snag a 6:30 reservation at the restaurant. Seeing as we didn't get out of our 8:15 seating until after 10:30 on the first night, we figured 6:30 at Palo was playing it safe to not miss one moment of the Pirate Party! This did mean missing the Toy Story show, but I wasn't too upset and I know Steve didn't care one bit about the shows at all
We made it to Palo literally just in time for our reservation, but no worries--they sat us right away and we had a great view as the ship left Nassau. Of course, the fading sunlight didn't make for the best pictures at first, but what can you do?
Now, I guess I didn't pay enough attention when people said that Palo is
s l o w.
I've been to one of these far-too-many-courses meals on a cruise before, but it didn't take
half as long as Palo did. So for the first two and a half hours of the meal, we all sat back and enjoyed ourselves...but that last half hour was crucial, because it was cutting awfully close to the 9:45 start time for the Pirate Party, and I had to go get changed!
Of course, the food was amazing. I had
the tomato caprese
(different from every other caprese I've had, but I loved the Roma tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes! more flavor)
For my pasta dish I chose the lobster ravioli with mascarpone, but didn't get a picture because it kind of looked like a big white blob and the picture wouldn't have come out, anyway. At least it was delicious!
then I picked the steak and potatoes
(the potatoes were AMAZING but the asparagus was not cooked properly. sad, because I LOVE asparagus. The steak was good but I've had better, at Shula's and Jiko to be specific)
Now, it being his birthday cruise, Steve couldn't pass up the $60 bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape. I passed--I'm not big on red wine--but I'm sure he enjoyed every drop of it. For $60, anyway, I hope he did.
And finally...it was time for dessert. And I'm sure you know what I ordered...
the infamous Palo souffle!!!
Of course it was great, but again...and please don't shoot me...I've had better. The one at Shula's, but there was also another cruise at another time that had a better souffle. I'll keep my mouth shut about which cruise line it was
However, it was great that when we asked for more vanilla sauce, our waiter (whose name escapes me, but he was great) provided it without question.
When I had finished my dessert, it was 9:30 and I was a bit panicked. I wanted to change into my Pirate outfit, after all, and I didn't want to miss the fireworks! (I hadn't done enough research to know that there is a good 30 minutes of unnecessary Disney whimsy before they even think about setting off those fireworks) Steve, Jonathan, and Jen graciously allowed me to escape, but knowing what I know now, I'm sad that I left! Turns out our waiter had forgotten to bring the last drink that Jonathan had ordered, so Jonathan ended up asking about it and getting both that drink PLUS another drink (a nicer version of the brandy or whatever it was that he originally ordered)...
for free! Gotta love it when that old school Disney service crops up and surprises you now and again.
Also, because it was Steve's birthday (and also because he had ordered about $100 worth of alcohol at Palo--no, I'm not kidding, and we won't get into what he ordered) the waiter gave him a glass of one of the same liquors Jonathan got...also for free! So apparently I missed the party.
Ah well.
I returned to the room and got a quick shot of our second-night towel animal (note the sunglasses--they are the aforementioned awesome Aviators purchased in Nassau. also note my perfect use of alliteration just now, tyvm.)
...changed into my Pirate outfit and made my way up to Deck 10, mere moments after the party officially began!
Not long after I arrived, Jonathan joined me, and about ten minutes later Steve showed up. I was surprised and pleased that Steve even went a bit Pirate-y for the party. Some of you from the cruise may recognize his bandana
Okay. I have to pause for a second here and point something out. Look over my left shoulder. I know it's a bit dim, but you see it, right? The kid whose feet are about level with my chest?
Now, do you remember what deck I said we were on? If you don't, it was Deck 10.
You know, the deck that, other than a chest-high wall that surrounds it, is open to the world?
I may not be a parent, but I think I have every right to ask what in the world these people were thinking! The worst part was, I kept waiting for one of the cast members who walked by to say something, or for one of the family members to realize that maybe it wasn't safe for this kid to be standing a trash can or a towel bin or whatever that thing was. I could see the sign that said not to sit or stand on it...could they not see the sign? I thought about saying something to them, but honestly didn't want to deal with the fight that would possibly ensue when I made a snarky comment about the possibility of their kid falling overboard. Needless to say, I spent the entire party focused on everything BUT this kid, because it made me extremely nervous just to look at him.
Moving on.
Mickey's appearance was unexpected and cool.
And although the fireworks were no Fantasy in the Sky or Wishes or Illuminations, not too shabby for being out at sea and all!
Once the fireworks were over, we decided to escape the crowd. We all went back to our rooms, donned our bathing suits and made ready for some quality hot tub time. We were surprised to find numerous children in the adult area--all with their parents, listening to the singer or chilling in the hot tubs themselves. The four of us felt a bit awkward cramming into one of those little adult-only hot tubs with another woman and two young children, but thankfully it wasn't 10 minutes before a cast member showed up and shooed all of the children away.
Some time later, Steve went to mix a drink and discovered that
Pirates of the Caribbean was playing on the bigscreen outside! We all leaped out of the hot tub, dried off as best we could, wrapped ourselves in towels and found two empty deck chairs. Jonathan and Jen squeezed onto one, Steve and I squeezed onto the other, a cast member provided us with some blankets and we settled in to watch some of the movie...until we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer and headed to bed, again around midnight.
(Man, writing about these midnight bedtimes seriously makes me feel old. No offense
)
Up next: our absolute, by far, favorite day of the trip! Can you guess why?