Excuse me, you'll need to see security. What has Mickeystoontown done? Update 3/25x2

[mickeystoontown]

Once we were seated, we could see that the table beside us would be empty, the guests that were to the left of us last night would seated in front of us and Mr. Camo Hat man and his group were seated behind us. Because our tables were not as cramped as they had been the night before and I didn’t have people sitting so closely to me, I decided to give taking pictures a try.

The napkins:

Menu (borrowed this picture because mine came out blurry):

The bread basket:

Hunter looking all snazzed up for the evening:

John and I:

Tonight we were going to be adventurous! We were going to go where no McBride had ever gone! We were going to order something way outside our comfort zone!

Hunter ordered.....are you ready for this? Hunter ordered the Escargots GratinésHerb-marinated Snails with Finely Chopped Mushrooms, topped with Garlic Butter and Breadstick . Yes, the boy was stepping waaaaay outside his food comfort zone.

I decided to order the Double Baked Spinach SouffléCoated with a Three-Cheese Cream:

and, because I hemmed and hawed a bit when ordering and I mentioned that I really loved salads, the waiter also brought out the Avocado-Citrus SaladWith Iceberg and Radicchio Leaves and an Orange Vinaigrette

John ordered the The Comtesse Du Barry's SoupRich Velvety Cauliflower Cream, topped with Salmon Caviar Croutons

and Iced Lobster and Jumbo ShrimpWhite and Green Asparagus, Micro Greens and Lemon-dill dressing with Horseradish Cream

Now, I know that ya’ll are probably thinking....how is eating lobster, cauliflower and salad stepping out of the food comfort zone? First off, we are crab and shrimp eaters, lobster doesn’t make it to our plates in Louisiana. John’s not a big cauliflower eater and if he does eat it, it’s steamed and has lots of cheese on top. Oh and the caviar that was on top of the crouton...yeah, haven’t ever tried caviar. And escargot....well, let’s not pussyfoot around it....they are snails people! I usually fling the snails off my flower pots, not cook ‘em.

Hunter mentally preparing himself for his first bite of escargot:

The fork is going in:

The verdict? “Well, it does take like a mushroom but I don’t like mushrooms. I’ll eat another one though just so I can say that I ate more than one escargot.” John and I both had two each and we agreed that they tasted like a mushroom. Would I go out of my way to order them again? Probably not but I wouldn’t snub my nose at them like I would have before trying them.

The spinach souffle was pretty good despite the fact that I can not stand spinach. The salad would have been a lot better had they taken the rind/white skin off of the oranges when they sectioned them. I am picky about that though when others might not mind the extra chewing. I tried the cauliflower soup and it was good. The caviar? Yuck! I didn’t like it one bit nor did John.

For our entrees, Hunter ordered the plain roasted chicken breast but did ask for fries as a side this time. John and I both ordered the Royal Palace Aged Angus Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Lobster Medallions. I’m looking at the menu on the Disney Cruiseline site and it has a different side than the one that we ordered. Our’s had a polenta cake on the bottom:

Our waiter commented on the fact that Hunter and I hadn’t finished our entrees and asked if we didn’t like them or wanted something else. We told him no that the food was fine, we were just full. He then asked if we wanted a dessert. Hunter said that he didn’t want anything but John and I went ahead and ordered despite the fact that we were both full.

I ordered the Sweet TemptationsA trio of Peanut Butter Mousse, Mango Cheesecake, and Tahitian Vanilla Crème Brûlée:

John couldn’t decide what he wanted so the waiter said that he’d bring out a special dessert for him. This is what came out:

The chocolate had Happy Anniversary on it. I had made a notation that we were celebrating our anniversary (even though it was a couple of months early) and, clearly, there was a notation on our dinner reservation.

The sweet temptations trio was great even though I’m not a big fan of mousse. It had just the right amount of peanut butter flavor and the cheesecake, well, it was cheesecake and I’m all over any type of cheesecake. The Tahitian creme brulee was our favorite of the three. The chocolate dessert that John had was a little too chocolatey for the two of us but it was still very good.

We definitely enjoyed our meal more than we did the meal at the Enchanted Garden. I believe it had a lot to do with the fact that we weren’t at a back table and we didn’t have the smooshed in feeling.

Tonight was pirate night and we wanted to make sure that we had time to change our clothes and find a spot on the deck so we left the dining room and made our way back to our stateroom.

**Up next: Arrrgh! Shiver Me Timbers! It’s Arrrrrkansas!

 

[natebenma]

Happy Anniversary!!! Have a fantastic trip to Hot Springs.

The only anniversary we have spent together without the kids (well, since they were born) was our 25th and that wasn't until 8 months after the actual anniversary!

Good to have you back safely on board the ship! I love all your pictures of and from the porthole. Beautiful sunsets. I'm with you, we will never cruise without a balcony or porthole.

I'm glad to hear dinner was a more enjoyable experience this time around. Good for you all for getting out of your comfort zone. Wow, Hunter. When you decide to step it up, you really step it up. Escargot ain't for the timid.

 

[KatMark]

Lisa, I'm sorry....I've missed two updates.

Okay, Nassau certainly does not look like a place I really want to visit. And the bus? Seriously?

Your meal at the Royal Palace sounds yummy (minus the snails and the caviar; I don't like mushrooms so know I won't like snails).

 

[JessietheNCCowgirl]

Thanks for the detailed updates. I've never been on a cruise, but after seeing your gorgeous sunset pictures I totally agree with your thoughts on having to book a stateroom with a large porthole/verandah!!

Way to go on venturing out on your food choices! Hunter is one brave soul trying those snails. I've never tried escargot but don't like mushrooms either so I'll just trust Hunter's opinion that they taste like mushrooms and spare myself from ever trying them!

The desserts looked yummy and it was nice of them to acknowlege your anniversary! I hope your upcoming anniversary trip is fun - it sounds like it will be. My DH and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary at WDW in Oct and bringing my DD along so we're big romantics just like you and John.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hi Lisa! Great update as always! Nassau seemed interesting to say the least! Maybe a bit better to look at from aboard the ship! Anywho! So great that you are able to sneak in another small trip before the start of school!! Should be fun! Happy (early) Anniversary!!! Hope it's a good one!!!!

If we ever go back to Nassau, we'll make sure to do an excursion that doesn't actually go into the middle of town. I'm glad that we did it though.

Thanks for the early anniversary wishes!

Happy Anniversary (a little early.)

Enjoy your trip! It's always nice to get away.

Thanks! We need a weekend away from home.

Interesting tour of Nassau, it sounds like! You don't see the pictures of all that on the Atlantis commercials, do you?

Hope you have a happy anniversary and a fun, safe trip this weekend!

No it certainly doesn't look like the Atlantis commercials. John and I both said "those folks at Atlantis have no idea what's nearby".

Thanks for the anniversary wishes!

I hope you have a very enjoyable anniversary!

Don't worry about bringing Hunter! Kadence has been along on all of our anniversary dinners and outings. We told her that when we hit 25 yrs, she has to stay home. She'll be eighteen and I think it may be time for us for once!

Once, when we were in Disney on our actual anniversary, John and I went to dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe while Lacey and Hunter went to Planet Hollywood. That was our time alone.

Thanks for the detailed updates. I've never been on a cruise, but after seeing your gorgeous sunset pictures I totally agree with your thoughts on having to book a stateroom with a large porthole/verandah!!

Way to go on venturing out on your food choices! Hunter is one brave soul trying those snails. I've never tried escargot but don't like mushrooms either so I'll just trust Hunter's opinion that they taste like mushrooms and spare myself from ever trying them!

The desserts looked yummy and it was nice of them to acknowlege your anniversary! I hope your upcoming anniversary trip is fun - it sounds like it will be. My DH and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary at WDW in Oct and bringing my DD along so we're big romantics just like you and John.

The sunset from the porthole was gorgeous! The view was fantastic!

I had never tried snails before either but I have to say that they weren't bad like I thought they would be.

We are hoping to have a bit of fun away from home this weekend!

Lisa, I'm sorry....I've missed two updates.

Okay, Nassau certainly does not look like a place I really want to visit. And the bus? Seriously?

Your meal at the Royal Palace sounds yummy (minus the snails and the caviar; I don't like mushrooms so know I won't like snails).

It's okay Kathy! I'm glad that we ventured into Nassau but we all said it was a "been there/done that" kinda place.

The meal at Royal Palace was good and the seating was much better than it was the night before.

Happy Anniversary!!! Have a fantastic trip to Hot Springs.

The only anniversary we have spent together without the kids (well, since they were born) was our 25th and that wasn't until 8 months after the actual anniversary!

Good to have you back safely on board the ship! I love all your pictures of and from the porthole. Beautiful sunsets. I'm with you, we will never cruise without a balcony or porthole.

I'm glad to hear dinner was a more enjoyable experience this time around. Good for you all for getting out of your comfort zone. Wow, Hunter. When you decide to step it up, you really step it up. Escargot ain't for the timid.

Thanks! We won't have a whole lot of time to spend in Hot Springs but the whole goal is to just get away from home.

It's good to hear that we aren't the only ones who take our kids on our anniversary celebrations.

I can't imagine what it would have been like to be stuck in a room with no view.

Hunter definitely stepped outside the comfort box didn't he?!

 

[cheekypoppins]

ooohhh more update ,goodstuff and btw I love escargot ,although it has to be done right my advice is don't ever try thr Chef de France version

 

[mickeystoontown]

I LOVE the Newsboys! I have seen them several times! Have fun on your trip! I actually got to meet the one guitar player with the curly blonde hair. He was really nice. It was before he had his solo album back when I was in College.

I like the Newsboys too! How cool that you got to meet one of the guitar players. That's neat!

I'm all caught up! It is true, cabanas is theoretically like Boma, with pods but if you ask me it's just too narrow to pull it off. I found if I avoided the hot foods and stuck to muesli with toppings or plain yogurt (which they'd get if you asked) I was pretty content. On our Nassau day I had a surprisingly decent eggs Benedict but the rest of the hot food left a bit to be desired. Loved the muesli and toppings though!

Neat excursion, I'd expected Nassau to be about how it was, couldn't convince Jeff we should just stay on the ship and sure enough, after about 2 hours they all wanted to go back. We also got dumped on, we were amazed by the lack of drainage in the streets! It looked like it was flooding. Glad you enjoyed the house tour and semi sub so much and were greeted by warm towels. Too funny on the ID!

I'm glad that you mentioned Boma. We are considering it for our May, 2013 trip.

I am glad that we went into Nassau and saw the things that we did but I wouldn't want to spend all day there. I noticed the lack of drainage as well. There were huge "lakes" everywhere and there was no way to avoid them.

I am slow too so understandable!! I like slow!

I will see what I can do this weekend on those pictures! I hope your anniversary get away is so fun and relaxing!! We took Madison and Chris to Atlanta on our anniversary...we just hate to not have them with us!

Your description of that bus made me want to take a bath!! Gross!!!! The third leg sounds very un-magical!

Mama told us to just let Hunter stay home with her and John and I go alone. I told her that I knew he was bored from being home all Summer so he was definitely coming along with us.

The plastic bus seats were not very clean and they had stuff stuck on them. I'm so glad that I brought alone the hand sanitizer.

Yay for warm towels !!! Gotta love those Disney touches !! We weren't huge fans of Nassau either.

I was loving the fact that Disney was handing out the towels. It was a shock to your skin when you walked in from the heat and rain and into the air conditioned ship.

I'm still keeping up

Good to see you're still here!

 

[mickeystoontown]

OMG!!!!! I just signed on here yesterday but I recognise you n ur family from a TR I read of you'rs on another site where "momma" was with you and you stayed at CBR then too,actually that was the reason I chose Cbr last September!!! I also see another poster here from that site in the comments,how cool I'm loving your tr keep it coming .

ooohhh more update ,goodstuff and btw I love escargot ,although it has to be done right my advice is don't ever try thr Chef de France version

I'm so happy to have you here! It's nice to "see" a familiar face!

The escargot was pretty good and I was suprised that none of us were disgusted. Note to self: Don't try escargot at Chef de France.

Such an interesting bus tour does make for some great memories, though!

How awesome that there were CMs waiting to greet you with warm towels!

Yeah, we still talk about the people yelling and shaking their fists at our tour guide.

Did ya'll make it back to the ship before it started raining?

First of all...Happy (early) Anniversary!! That's so funny you mentioned bringing Hunter along. Our anniversary is Sunday and we decided to go camping for the weekend and the boys are coming along and also my parents and brother. Definitely not romantic...oh well. Anyways, I hope you have a great time in Hot Springs.

I'm glad you were able to get a few things done before the rain started. Yuck about the seats on the bus though. That sign is definitely interesting. I remember seeing it posted before in another TR....maybe Missy's?

Yay for warm towels! What a great touch.

Thanks for the anniversary wishes! I hope that ya'll have a great time camping with the gang. I'd love for us to go camping but it's still too hot to tent camp here or in Arkansas.

I'm really glad that we had the experiences that we did in Nassau but I don't have a burning desire to go back into town again.

I do remember seeing the interesting sign in Missy's trip report.

 

[shan23877]

Love the pictures in the stateroom! You look so cute in that porthole! The lampshade really stood out too. I love that.

Yay for Hunter ordering escargot! I'm impressed! I've only had escargot twice and both times mine tasted like butter and garlic. So they weren't bad.

I've never had caviar either. I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to try it even though I'd really want to try the cauliflower soup.

I'm so glad that you guys enjoyed your meal so much more than the one before. I was worried that you guys were really unhappy on the cruise!

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[mickeystoontown]

That sign I laugh because I work with a guy that grew up on Trinidad and he says he speaks the " Da Queens English, mon." Yes he says mon......A LOT! And he actually says tings like "I was doing tings and such, mon."

The tour guide on the semi-sub tour spoke just like that! He had dreadlocks too!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! Our anniversary is friday as well!! We hit 15 years, so you got us there Glad you're going away, and taking Hunter with you, we don't do anything without Tyler. We'll probably just go to the zoo. Chris was able to take the day off, so that's a good thing. Have fun in Hot Springs!! Will be thinking about ya'll!!

Look at all my Dis friends who are having anniversaries! We are all in very good company!

Yay for Chris having the day off so you can all spend some time together. Take lots of pictures!

oh the newsboys are good.

I know! I hope we get a chance to see them.

Hmm... Interesting tour. I would have giggled like a 12-yr-old schoolboy at that sign, though.

Happy (early) anniversary!!

We did giggle like a schoolboy! I made sure that I pointed it out to Hunter. Hey, you can't start warning them too early now-a-days.

Thanks for the early anniversary wishes!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Love the pictures in the stateroom! You look so cute in that porthole! The lampshade really stood out too. I love that.

Yay for Hunter ordering escargot! I'm impressed! I've only had escargot twice and both times mine tasted like butter and garlic. So they weren't bad.

I've never had caviar either. I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to try it even though I'd really want to try the cauliflower soup.

I'm so glad that you guys enjoyed your meal so much more than the one before. I was worried that you guys were really unhappy on the cruise!

Can't wait to hear more!

I was in my ala-Vanna White mode. Not! My hair was a complete mess, all smooshed down from my hat and the rain and I was still cold thus the reason I was bundled into a ball.

The escargot wasn't as bad all we all thought it was going to be. I don't know what I thought it would taste like but not like it did.

The caviar was NASTY! It was all I could do to make myself swallow it. Yuck!

Oh wait until our last night and you'll see some really unhappy folks!

 

[TinksThree]

Loved the porthole pics! And John did very well getting the details pictures! I could not see Keith doing that unless it was being smart aleck to me!

I have had caviar and escargot once and that was on our cruise. The escargot was actually decent and I would eat again although it isn't something I would make a habit out of since it seems a bit like eating bugs. The caviar on the other hand....YUCK!!! We had that at the cocktail hour at the Captain's reception so we were all sitting around and I suddenly pulled a Tom Hanks from Big! Thankfully there were plenty of napkins to use! That is something I hope to never have pass my lips again!

The pictures are really making me consider waiting last minute for Chris and see if good military deals come out. We got a good one last night but the dates aren't working for us. 7 nights from Galveston for $75 per person per night. Sounded good to me anyhow!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Love the updates Lisa!!! Is it me or are the meal portions small?? Hmmmm.... and for Hunter to go with his meal? Snails? Really? Although I must admit that Victoria tried calamari at Cape May last year. Of course she didn't know what it was before she ate one!!!

 

[MHTeacher]

Since I've never been on a Disney cruise, I'm loving all the details and pictures you're giving me. Love the lamp in the cabin that John got a picture of!

 

[Bridora]

I also loved your porthole photo shoot pictures! Too cute! So cool that you were able to watch the sunset, too!

So proud of you for trying new foods! I don't know that we were quite that brave - in fact I know none of us ordered the escargot! That was the night we were minus the children at dinner.

Loved that the description of the iced lobster included "micro greens" would that be the tiny green specks on the right edge of the plate?

Arrrrrkansas - love it!

Happy Anniversary - Hope y'all have a great weekend!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Loved the updates, Lisa. I think it is so awesome that John is willing to help you out with your trip reports. My husband always looks at me like a goof when I say I'm taking photos to do a report. Of course, he is the Disney Downer in the family-probably why I am willing to leave him at home for my next trip.

 

[dansdad]

Great updates Lisa! Happy Anniversary! I hope you guys have a great time.

Really impressed with you guys, especially Hunter, trying foods outside your comfort zone. Now you don't have to wonder what escargot and caviar tastes like.

We have been kicking around the idea of a stay at Atlantis. Now I know not to plan much, if any, time to explore outside the resort.

I can't believe we're over a year out from our next trip "home" to CBR. But your TR is helping for sure.

 

[orangecats2]

Hi! I finally found your cruise TR! YAY!
Do you need passports to go on the cruise and go to Nassau and such?

I won't eat snails! I had a pet snail, Henry, for two years! Snails are friends, not food!

Do you have any more backsacks for sale or that you are making? I'd like to buy one for my friend for Christmas. Thanks.

 

[bouncycat]

LOVE your update!! Tyler would NEVER go out of his comfort zone and order snails...NEVER!! LOL Bravo Hunter for being brave!!! The pics of the ship are just awesome. We always saw it from the road and the CG base across the harbor and always just grand and georgous!!

 

[JanaJohn]

We were all gussied up and ready to eat our dinner so we started out the door and decided to take the stairs again since we had found that the elevators on the 8th floor took quite some time to get there. Huh? Which way was it to the Royal Palace again?

Didn't they provide you with a little map of every deck on the ship when you checked in? On a different cruise line we get a little fold-out map small enough to stick in your pocket. It shows pretty much every place you can go on the ship. Plus before I got on board I was looking at their web site that shows the deck plans including where all the cabins are located. So even before I boarded the ship I had a pretty good idea where most of the major place where. And the dining room was definitely one of the MAJOR PLACES to go!

And escargot....well, let’s not pussyfoot around it....they are snails people! I usually fling the snails off my flower pots, not cook ‘em.[/COLOR]

My thought exactly! Thanks for yet another laugh out loud moment!