Aug 2 - Embarkation

[rae519]

Great flight in from Indy and relaxing bus ride to the Port - imagine almost NO ONE in line at the counters?! WOW! Had a fantastic "meet and greet" with my gal-pal from Mobile, Alabama - girl, you rock!!!!! Michael thanks you again for the Mickey gift!!!! That was so very sweet of you!!!!! And a wheelchair was even offered for "Cane Woman" - who was getting better as the day went on!

Okay, back home on the ship - raced (call that a quick hobble!) to our room and grabbed the Navigator....what "Dueling Pianos - Tommy and Anton"??????
Do you want to hear about SICK TO YOUR STOMACH? Our hearts just stopped dead! We couldn't believe that it wasn't going to be our beloved Fidelio!!!

Okay, raced (forget the cane - just get out of our way!) to Off Beats and the sign there said, "Fidelio and Anton"!!!! Our hearts started to beat again and now the cruise had officially had it's start. Fidelio was going to be there!
Hey, some people cruise for the food, some for the atmosphere and some for the ports of call......we cruise for FIDELIO!
ROCK ON PIANO GUY!

Okay, then while Tom heads for the Palo reservations, I hobble over to the Dining Room Changes and see my favorite Head Server - Maclean! I put in my request for his team and knew I was going to have the vacation of a lifetime!

Embarkation lunch - shrimp, shrimp, mango soup to wash them down and more shrimp......love the cocktail sauce too! I think there were other items on the buffet, but suffice it to say that there was shrimp and mango soup!

Registration at the Oceaneer's Lab for Michael - smooth and fast. Got to meet Camping Disney and her children - Loved them and very glad that her son Jordan and mine had the opportunity to e-mail each other prior to the cruise. Her other children Bethany and Loren were great kids also!!!! Shelly and Loren Sr. are definitely people fun to cruise with - if he made me laugh any harder, I'd be looking for Andy and the Depends!!!!!

Our meet and greet session at Promenade Lounge was a big success - so many faces to put to usernames/real names! Just thrilled to know that so many were able to make it there and now we have our "group"~!!~

Up to the deck for the party - I videotaped it and got the ship's horn - how wonderful to hear that again! We pulled out of port and it was just so much fun to see everyone dancing, laughing and just having a good time!

We hit the decks looking for crew members that we had met previously and were pleasantly surprised to see so many of them.
They are like family to us and we cherish each and every one of them like our own children!!!! Well, sometimes even more so!!!

Could dining mates be any more special than the Sholtis family? I think not! As Michael renamed Bob "General" and chatted with Brooke and Ruth Ann, we fast became very close and it felt like we had known them for years! You won't be surprised when you read the Debarkation Trip Report that we cried when we said goodbye - and yes, we were probably the very last people off the ship.........but you will have to wait for that report!!!

Family Dueling Piano Show - if Fidelio had any doubts about his following, I think he now knows that he has a fan club and we are not only proud but loud! Fidelio has been paired up with a young Roger Daltry look alike from Australia named Anton - and this kid is GOOD! Not only a good match for Fidelio but great on the mike and stage - Dueling Pianos has never been better!!!! These guys rock and roll the ship!! The kids had a great time but the adults - well, more about that later!!!!!!!

Our servers were the amazing magician and darling of the cruise line, Giorgio "Armani" from Brazil and server Alex from the Phillipines! How do you sum up that dining experience?!~ WOW!
What a great team and talk about getting special treatment!!!!
More about that later!!!

Back to the Adult Dueling Pianos - if Fidelio thought the Family Show was loud, well, the Fidelio Fan Club really came alive for the Adult show.....don't even ask him about the "Herbal Essence" Commerical/Harry Met Sally imitator!!!!! I am still laughing and humming the songs!!!

Sleep???? Ohhh, dear, past midnight....sleep? who wants to sleep?.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Key West and Palo brunch tomorrow with cruisers-

Rae

 

[catspjmas]

Hi Rae! You were right about Fidelio! He was really amazing on the piano. On our last night, he actually played with his feet and then pounded the last note with his butt! (very funny!) This was our 2nd cruise and on the first we enjoyed the show with Chris and Jeff. But we LOVED Fidelio and Anton! Were you there at the last show? We were sitting up front by Anton and asked him for his socks as a joke. Guess what? He GAVE them to us autographed and personally thanked and kissed us on the cheeks. Then Fidelio came over and said that he sometimes plays in a club in Chicago (where we live) and got our email to let us know when he'll be in town! What super guys! We definitely mentioned these rockin' fellows on the comment card!
P.S....glad you enjoyed your shrimp! Yum yum!

 

[catspjmas]

Another question for you since you are an experienced Disney cruiser.... We absolutely LOVED our servers on this cruise. (Deepak from India and Pieter from Belgium) If we decide to rebook on the Magic sometime, we would LOVE to request them again. How do you go about doing this? Have you had any luck in getting the same servers upon request? Feel free to write back when you have some time! Thanks!

 

[rae519]

I am glad that you enjoyed Dueling Pianos - it is truly FAMILY entertainment - considering that both my Mom (74) and my son (8) consider that show their favorite on the Magic!

I do hope that the Disney Powers will listen to us and keep Dueling Pianos - it's a great venue. I think it's poorly advertised and unless you get "word of mouth" from others who have seen the show - you really don't know what you are missing.

If anyone goes to their show and doesn't tap, hum or laugh - then they are DEAD.

Fidelio rocks!!!

Anton's socks?! WOW! Now that's going to be one memorable souvenier!!!! He was nominated as the "HOTTIE" of the Magic by several Dueling Piano audience members.........



RE: Requesting servers - easy as pie! You go to the "Dining Room Changes" at Embarkation and politely request to have a certain server and the Head Servers will do what they can do assist you. Remember this is a courtesy and they must make changes to accomodate you - so please understand if this is not possible.

Personally, it's the first thing I do on the ship! Gotta have "my adopted children" with me!!!!!

Still laughing over Fidelio playing piano with his butt......he's just so outrageously talented!!!

So, he comes up to Chicago, ehhhh - keep us posted...it would definitely be worth a trip to the Windy City to see the Piano Guy!

Rae

 

[figment52]

Originally posted by rae519


I do hope that the Disney Powers will listen to us and keep Dueling Pianos - it's a great venue. I think it's poorly advertised and unless you get "word of mouth" from others who have seen the show - you really don't know what you are missing.

If anyone goes to their show and doesn't tap, hum or laugh - then they are DEAD.

Fidelio rocks!!!
Rae

Rae - its like you read the letter I wrote to DCL last March that is almost word for word what i told them. Sooner or later they should get the message.

Only 40 days before I get to hear Fidelio again!!

FIDELIO ROCKS ( and its sounds like Anton Rolls - great combo)

 

[catspjmas]

Rae- Thanks for getting back to me about requesting server! Can't wait to cruise again and put that good advice to use!

Also...re: Dueling Pianos. Just wanted to let you know that when I read about the possibility of this wonderful venue closing down in Jan/Feb I did write a letter telling them how much we LOVE Dueling Pianos and the talented pianists/comedians/all around great guys! I received a nice letter back but Anton and Fidelio did confirm that Dueling Pianos will go. (boo-hoo!) I think they might be expanding the teen club? Anyway, Fidelio told me that Dueling Pianos will stay on the Wonder for awhile since the dry dock for that ship won't be for another year or so. I have a Wonder trip planned for next July and hope that Fidelio will be there!

 

[rae519]

Anyone who can get the opportunity to hear Fidelio - should! Even on the Wonder - sorry but I like the 7 nighters longer than the 3 and 4's!!!!

Dueling Pianos is a great show and both of them are so very talented, funny and entertaining!

Please check the battery in your camcorder before you embark - fortunately, we did and found out we needed a new one!!! Hurray for Best Buy!

Rae

 

[beaniema323]

Rae-
Glad to hear that you got to hear Fidelio. We were on the July 19 Western, and it was Tommy and Anton. I had read so much about the show on these boards that I dragged my family there for the family show. It was less than spectacular...even less than good! But we did go back for the adult show, and again we were greatly disappointed. We thought that Dueling Pianos was supposed to be where the two pianists tried to out-play one another. This was not what the shows we saw were at all. The audience would put in requests, and then they said that they didn't know that one, and went ahead and played whatever they wanted to anyway. Attendance at the shows was awful, and I understand why. I also can understand why Disney is considering getting rid of the show. There were only 8-10 people at each of the shows that we went to.

It sounds like it is much different with Fidelio. I wish we could have seen him!

 

[rae519]

I think Dueling is the wrong word for their venue - with Fidelio and Anton it's a match that's pretty darn perfect.....they do take and play requests...hey, I got Anton to do "Waltzing Matilda" for me and well, Fidelio just has so many great paradies....

I think it's poorly advertised and at a difficult time - between main and late dining is often difficult to do for some families...and if the families don't know that their kids will have the time of their lives - singing, dancing and just cutting up on stage...they won't even go....
The adult show is just that ----- nothing vulgar, just a lot of good clean fun and play on words. Hey, what do you expect from Disney?! And with the Suits around!!!!!

I think Anton is fabulous, personally - a great sense of humor, voice and stage presence coupled with great talent on the piano - he does make for the perfect partner for Fidelio who as everyone now knows is TOPS in my book as an entertainer!

Again, it is the participation of the audience that brings the fun to this venue - and if the audience is dead...well, nothing is going to help....in fact, you can't stop from singing, tapping and clapping with the great old Rock and Roll that's played.

Seriously, folks, if you want to be part of the fun - go see Fidelio and Anton....if not, go to bed and watch late night TV.

Rae

 

[hollywood320]

Was that you that night who did the herbal essence/ harry met sally imitation?
I just happened to be there that night. That was funny

 

[rae519]

I'll never tell................

Josephine