A Magical Trip from the Lone Star State - Oct 13 2012 Sailing

[llqool]

Hubby will be disappointed with the beer choices. On our first cruise on the Wonder, just a three day, there was Guiness on tap. On our second cruise, the Wonder to Alaska, they said that the tap that the Guiness would've been on was broken, and the only "dark" beer was Michelob Ultra Amber (I think -- I'm not a beer drinker). On our cruise on the Magic this summer, again no real dark beers, in fact I think it was all Bud/Michelob products. And he also ran into the problem that the darker beers were only served at one of the bars and it was only open later in the afternoon.

So I guess we will be toting in beer for him in addition to wine for me. He will still probably use his mug a few times, but he won't be that happy with the choices. We're flying in the night before and we'll DEFINITELY have to make a stop off to get alcohol and water!

 

[shaned]

Jenny make me wish I was back on the Magic. We seen your mom and sister I think Sunday morning early.

Mike wishes that he could have been lost at sea .
Dena

 

[ukintheus]

Looks fun!

Thanks for following along.

ooooohhh, I cant wait to read the rest!!

We are officially in a cruise countdown (where there seems to be something new to do everyday) with just about 2 weeks left. I can feel us all getting excited!!!

I think reading trip reports is even more fun when yours is just around the corner!

So excited to read your TR! Great looking family! We were on board with you, so I'll be reliving the magic through your posts... Wish I wasn't so lazy, I'd write one myself...

Hi! I don't blame you....I've lived vacations over again through others trip reports when I was too lazy!

Great start can't wait to hear more about your trip.

Thanks!

Loving the pics. I'm in for any TR on the Magic

Fun TR so far! Looking forward to reading lots more!

Thanks to both of you for joining in.

We are cruising out of Galveston in January, can't wait to read the rest of your TR!

You'll have a great time.

Hubby will be disappointed with the beer choices. On our first cruise on the Wonder, just a three day, there was Guiness on tap. On our second cruise, the Wonder to Alaska, they said that the tap that the Guiness would've been on was broken, and the only "dark" beer was Michelob Ultra Amber (I think -- I'm not a beer drinker). On our cruise on the Magic this summer, again no real dark beers, in fact I think it was all Bud/Michelob products. And he also ran into the problem that the darker beers were only served at one of the bars and it was only open later in the afternoon.

So I guess we will be toting in beer for him in addition to wine for me. He will still probably use his mug a few times, but he won't be that happy with the choices. We're flying in the night before and we'll DEFINITELY have to make a stop off to get alcohol and water!

Yes, the beer was a disappointment for him, but it didn't stop him buying them!

Jenny make me wish I was back on the Magic. We seen your mom and sister I think Sunday morning early.

Mike wishes that he could have been lost at sea .
Dena

They said they had seen you, but we couldn't remember what morning. I wish we were back there too.

 

[ukintheus]

After the muster drill we stopped by our rooms quickly to grab cameras and headed up to deck 10 for the sail away party.

We found a spot to watch the party from deck 10 and watched the kids all dancing and having a good time waiting for it to begin.

We only watched the first part of it, as we all wanted to be at the front of the ship as we pulled away.

I knew DH had wandered off at some point, and when I saw his photos I figured out where he'd gone...he was over the other side photographing us. He also got a couple of fellow Disers (spot the ears) in the pic.

I felt the vibration of the ship start to move, so we headed up to the front. We spotted this guy hanging around waiting for his moment on stage.

Dena and her DH were also at the front for the sail away....I think this was the last official sighting of them by DH & I.

 

[ukintheus]

There were lots of dolphins as we headed out and it was very windy!! My Mickey Head earrings were beating my ears to death and I had to take them out.

Mum was interested in seeing how the Pilot got on and off the ship....

After waiting a while to see if we could see anything we gave up and went back to the room.....right as I walked into the room the Pilot boat pulled away....all the action happened just down from our room and we missed it!!

The rest of our luggage had arrived so we got busy unpacking and then sat on the balcony watching the world go by. The shipping traffic and oil rigs out in the gulf were crazy! It was almost a traffic jam there were so many. So different from Port Canaveral, plus the water is a definite green/brown.

We decided to go to the All Aboard show in the Walt Disney Theatre at 6:15 to catch a glimpse of the acts coming up, plus for some reason that just makes it seem like the cruise is real for me!

I had requested PLAPLAP and we were given that rotation so our first night was Parrot Cay. Oliver and Erwin were our servers and Wira was our head server. Oliver told us that the ship had just less than 2000 passengers, but only 400 children. You could tell that the ship wasn’t at full capacity, but we never have felt that there was an overload of children even when we’ve sailed on the Dream in mid-July.

For dinner I had Baked Crab Martinique, Cold Cream of Mango & Papaya Soup, Island-Spice Grilled Rib-Eye of Beef and Lemon Meringue Pie. The rib eye wasn’t the best I'd had, I would pick something different next time. (I took pics of my food, DH took pics of his....my photos aren't great.... LOL ) We soon started calling him David Bailey...who is a famous photographer in the UK.... I'm glad for his photos though, seeing as mine aren't all that!!

Baked Crab

Cream of Mango & Papaya Soup

Rib-Eye

Lemon Meringue Pie

Scott had the Island-Spiced Grilled Ahi Tuna, Cream of Asparagus Soup, Caribbean Roasted Chicken and Crème Brulee Cheesecake.

Tuna

Asparagus Soup

Chicken

Cheesecake

I think I had two glasses of wine....and I also forgot to mention that I had a beer in the Promenade Lounge at the DISmeet. No cocktails yet though.

We headed back to our room, FE gifts were already in our FE – LOL It was a lot of fun to receive so many wonderful things and the gifts continued all week right up until the very last night, even after we’d already taken our FE down! LOL We got a TON of stuff!!!

Waiting patiently on the bed...

We watched the end of the Nascar race on TV, sat on the balcony for a short while and were in bed at 10:30 pm.

 

[mandymouse]

Loving your trip report Jenny. Your photos are great and seeing that lovely food has made me realise how much I missed Parrot Cay on the Fantasy, it's my favourite restaurant on the classic ships

I'm starting to get worried .. where's the cocktail photos ??

I look forward to your next update

 

[ukintheus]

I'm starting to get worried .. where's the cocktail photos ??

I've got some coming up...

 

[ukintheus]

We woke up early and got up at 6:30 am and ordered coffee from room service to drink on the verandah while we watched the waves. Scott decided to run and I just lazed around while he was burning calories.

We ate a light breakfast in Topsiders...and I guess I didn't take any pictures.......and sat in quiet Cove for a while reading our books.

Instead of pics of painted toenails...here's one of DH's feet...his crocks look at little drooled on...

The water was now a beautiful blue..

We had a Palo brunch ressie at 11:30 am. We had never done Palo before for brunch, and it was great.

Our server was Susana from Portugal and she was an absolute sweetheart as well as a fabulous server. We loved her, and her recommendations were great.

First off.....DRUMMMM ROLLLLLL pleeasseee......We have a cocktail photo!!

Susana gave us the "tour" of the food...YUMMY!!

Various cold selections...they had proscutto, ahi tuna (two kinds), caviar, smoked salmon, fruits and lots of cheeses with breads and crackers....and probably other stuff that I'm forgetting...

More of that same table...

These were the cold seafood selections...

Cereals and pastries...

Available hot items...

 

[ukintheus]

We had a great selection of cold pieces....again with the no camera from me...so only DH's food pics....

Some yummy bites..

Susana FORCED us into ordering a pizza with half Margherita and half the Gorgonzola and Grape, which I didn’t think I would like but ended up really enjoying. Then I had Eggs Benedict and Scott had the Veal.

Veal...

You would think at this point that we were stuffed...and we were....but there's ALWAYS room for dessert....it's the rules... Mum decided the tiramisu dessert was better than any she had ever had which is high praise indeed...

Clockwise from 12 o'clock....tiramisu...chocolate covered strawberry...fruit tart (not sure what kind)....and cheesecake (in a glass)....all EXTREMELY good...but my vote went for the Tiramisu too.

The Kir Royals were delicious, so we figured we had better try another one.

Stuffed to the gills we headed out and down to Deck 7 aft to take some photos..of course there was nobody else there....if there had been a breeze back there and we weren't all dressed up ... ...I think we would could have stayed all day....

We went back to the rooms to change in to bathing suits... here are some pics of our doors...

Ours...

Mum & Mo's...

We headed down to Quiet Cove and found 4 lounge chairs together in the shade. We read our books and napped a little. Midtown (I think that's what they are called) were playing...sometimes I just prefer peace & quiet..and this was one of those times....

Mo & I got into the pool...the ship was rolling just enough to make it really nice and the water sloshed around just perfectly.

We decided to head back to Palo to join the Art of the Theme Show ship tour at 3:30 pm. Lara from the UK was the tour guide and was funny.

The tour was a tad long for my attention span...I think it lasted over an hour...but we stuck with it, and enjoyed it all in the end...DH snapped these along the way...

Mo ordered the All Hands on Deck cheese plate late in the afternoon and the 3 girls snacked on it. The Twice Charmed show was postponed due to cast illness tonight...they said both the performer AND the understudy....... so there was no show, but they had Frankenweenie in the Walt Disney Theatre instead....we decided to pass and spent the rest of the afternoon on the balcony....Scott and I had a couple of glasses of wine....(technically not a cocktail...but a drinkie all the same... )

Next up ....Formal Night in Lumieres.

 

[Ajojo]

ohhh, I am really getting excited reading this!

Funny, I guess growing up in Texas and seeing the water in Galveston - I just kind of assumed that its a green/brown color in the gulf. Your blue water pics are beautiful!

 

[Mel2421]

More please!!!! Sailing Dec. 1st.

 

[mandymouse]

Oh my goodness .. meats, cheese, veal, tiramisu and Kir Royales, that sounds like my idea of heaven

What a great start to the day Jenny

p.s. great to see a start on the cocktail count

 

[shaned]

Jenny - couldn't agree with your more Suzanna was fabulous. We tried the Margarita pizza, it was so yummy. I had the chicken parm.
Dena

 

[patman2011]

subbing along, great trip report! We really had a great time, and enjoyed the cruise, I hope to maybe go on another cruise soon!

 

[ukintheus]

DH took a few sunset pics from the balcony while we all got ready for Formal night.

I forced the family to take these pics before we headed out.

We were in Lumieres...I had forgotten how beautiful it was...

Cocktail of the evening was the Golden Slipper...and it was very yummy!! They evaporate quickly though ....I had to order a second one!

I had the Slow Roasted Duck & Cheese Quesadilla, Coronation of Mixed Leaves salad, Rosemary Scented Medallions of Lamb and Cinderalla's Lemon Cheesecake.

Quesadilla…

Salad…

Lamb

Cheesecake…

Close up of the chocolate pieces…so cute!

Scott had Princess Madeleine Salmon Royal, Radiccio and Endive Caesar Salad, Rosemary Scented Medallions of Lamb and a brandy (in place of dessert) ....who doesn't eat dessert??

Salmon…

Caesar Salad…

Lamb…again…lol

 

[ukintheus]

After dinner DH & I decided to go to Rockin Bar D. Mum and Mo decided to call it a night. We went back to the room to change...towel animal of the night…

Off we went to Rockin Bar D to see Steve Carte who was the comedian/juggler doing the Adult Cabaret Show and then Match Your Mate. Rockin’ Bar D was packed when we arrived. Steve Carte was funny, not rip your sides laughing funny, but entertaining enough. A fellow DISer was picked for the newly wed couple….we always think Match Your Mate is funny…but would never volunteer ourselves!! LOL

We stayed and danced off some calories for a while – we were on the only ones on the dance floor, but the mojitos and the Stella Artois helped with that. I also will admit that the comedian came up to me and was talking about his act....part of it involves a dance & I told him that he needed to use a two step or polka given that most of the passengers are from the south....I then proceeded to teach him a two step ....and realized the next morning that I had in FACT taught him a POLKA. So if anyone is on the Magic and the comedian tells you he's two stepping, when he's actually doing the polka...you know who to blame! I guess my cocktail count had increased significantly by this point.

We decided that the dance floor had seen enough of the Scott & Jenny show but we were wide awake so we headed back to the room to grab Scott’s camera and we walked around Deck 10 to take photographs while the ship was almost empty.

The doors to Palo were wide open...so who wouldn't go in an nose around...right???

The guest book...I didn't even know they had one of these until the tour...

We grabbed a cup of decaf coffee from the drink station and wandered up to the front of the ship. The stars were fantastic...they seemed to stretch forever and it was definitely the best place that we found to look at them. We finally hit the bed about 2 am!!!

 

[ukintheus]

Amazingly we got up late! LOL I also don’t have very many photos from today…I apologize for that up front! LOL This post will be fairly boring and just text….so you can skip it if you only do the photos! ! I do have a review of the spa though...just to try and suck a few of you in.....

We got up just before 10 am and dashed up to Topsiders before it closed for breakfast. Mum and Mo had already been up…given that they HADN’T been dirty stop outs the night before…and they had been to Topsiders already. After breakfast we met them up at Quiet Cove for a few hours reading and watching the sea. We grabbed a quick turkey sandwich and fruit from Goofy’s around 1 pm and waited to go to the spa for our Couples Choice treatment in the spa at 2:30 pm. We walked in a little before 2:30 pm, it didn’t seem very crowded in there and we filled out the survey before they took us back to the locker rooms to change. I had a very hard time finding a locker that was both empty and had a lock that worked. There were a lot that were broken. We were taken to our treatment room…I was worried that after the Dream and Fantasy that we would be disappointed with the spa on the Magic, but we weren’t at all, in fact, we preferred the Jacuzzi tub over the ones they have on the Dream and Fantasy. We both elected to have a hot stone massage. I told them while they were discussing the treatment options that we had recently been on the Fantasy and so were not interested in any products…it seemed to work.

We were offered two different types of treatment for the water in the hot tub, which we haven’t been offered on either the Dream or the Fantasy, we elected to mix both, one was the Elemis Muscle Ease, and I forget what the other one was. They also offered us our choice of tea for after the treatment, and we could choose a different tea each. On the Dream & Fantasy we were given a tea, there wasn't a choice or individual teas available to us, so that was a nice suprise. I chose chamomile, Scott chose green tea. After the foot washing ritual we got into the hot tub, we had had enough and just got out when they knocked to say our time was coming to an end, so it was good timing. The hot stone massage was wonderful. The therapist knocked my eye cover off while she was massaging my scalp, which was a “bright light” moment but nothing that spoiled it. We finished up with relaxing on the lounger outside while drinking our tea and eating the fruit. There was a beautiful rainbow, but it was really different and was way up in the clouds…and…of course…we didn’t have our camera… but it was like a rainbow shimmer in the cloud and was beautiful….but you will have to take my word for it. We finished and got changed and headed out to get a small snack as we still had several hours before dinner.

We ran into Mum & Maureen, who had just got back from watching Brave in the Buena Vista Theatre , while we were at Goofy’s. I got a taco and Scott got a hamburger…the taco was OK..the hamburger looked good. Although I didn't write it down...I'm pretty sure I also got a a Drink of the Day.... which was a Bahama Breezer...

 

[ukintheus]

We headed back to the room to shower and we sat on the balcony and watched the sunset. It was a really beautiful sunset that night.

The Navigator had the Twice Charmed Show for tonight seeing as it had been cancelled last night. It was interesting to me because I'd always assumed the Navigators were printed ahead of time...of course with hindsight I should have realized they have the weather ...anyway - we skipped the show and elected to watch the waves instead.

Dinner was in Animator’s Palate.

I had Wild Mushroom Risotto with Porcini Twist, Baked Potato Soup, Penne Pasta and Buckled Warm Apple Crumble.

Risotto…not a great pic…

Soup…

Pasta….OK, so the pasta description on the menu is this… In Parmesan Cream, topped with Julienne of Turkey Breast and Prosciutto….let me tell you…it was not good at all…. I should have asked them for something else, but I honestly didn’t need to eat any more anyway!

Apple Crumble with the BEST vanilla bean ice cream…

Scott had Ahi Tuna Tartare, Confetti Tomato Salad, Animator’s Grilled Veal Chop and the Buckled Warm Apple Crumble.

Tuna…

No pic of the salad....epic fail on the part of DH ….but here's a pic of us and you can see the salad in it.... You can also see evidence of my cocktail which I think was Artist's Impression - Absolut Vanilla, Frangelico, Passion Fruit Purée and Orange Juice

Another Apple Crumble….

This was our first time back in the “old version” of AP having seen the new version on the Dream and the Fantasy.

I have to say that I really loved it, and I really hope they don’t change it to match what the Dream class ships have. I know I’m in the minority, but that’s just me …it reminded me of our first sailing …and I love that Sorcerer Mickey makes an appearance…although he moves FAST…you have a hard time catching a photo!

After dinner we strolled down through Shutters and over toward the Atrium…there were a ton of characters around…Belle passed us by while she was giving autographs…

Then she gathered a small group of children and sat them by the elevators to read them a story…so cute!!

Donald was down in the Atrium…

We headed to bed fairly early as the 2 am photoshoot was beginning to catch up with us.

This is an elephant…in case it isn’t showing up too well…

 

[jenseib]

Joining in and loving it. I did the maiden voyage out of Galveston, so I love comparing. There is a lot the same and a lot different.

We heard you could board with the lowest boarding number in your group too and we did. Most of us had 8' and I think 1 had a 12, but one had a 2 and we all boarded with her.
No one ever even looked at the numbers.
I heard someone else also say the security was strict. I think it might depend which line you go through because we breezed through easily.

I can't wait to read more.

 

[ukintheus]

Joining in and loving it. I did the maiden voyage out of Galveston, so I love comparing. There is a lot the same and a lot different.

We heard you could board with the lowest boarding number in your group too and we did. Most of us had 8' and I think 1 had a 12, but one had a 2 and we all boarded with her.
No one ever even looked at the numbers.
I heard someone else also say the security was strict. I think it might depend which line you go through because we breezed through easily.

I can't wait to read more.

I tried telling them that I knew that others had been allowed to do it but she wasn't having any part of it...

I'm following your trip report too You have a ton of great photos... I'm bad about forgetting to take photos of stuff....it's given me something to aim for next time.