From the Sea to the World - Completed!

[lovealldisney]

Nice update! I don't know what I was thinking but the room seems larger than what I thought it would be. I like the split bathroom, shifts in my family are a very nessesary thing... Sorry about your dress, I would have been upset to. Glad the color washed out though. I would have irritated to if I had to stand in a cold wet suit and dress in the air conditioning only to hear a sale pitch..

Looking forward to the next update...

 

[nodnol]

Me too, but this reminds me, next time you are in Nuremberg we should go and eat at Chong's Diner

I think we don't have date yet for my next visit, I guess I should make it a long weekend, as we didn't manage our favourite bar the last time....

To carry your KTTW card around, just like me keys at work. I have to say that I don't want to carry a lanyard in the parks, but for the cruise it was nice as i often did not carry a bag with me. And when I had my tote bag, it was easy to find the room key in the bag.

Okay, so I already got the lanyard, now I need to book a cruise.

This is our door:

The two ship’s wheels that you can see above and below the room number are DVC magnets.

One of them is now welcoming dirty dishes to our dishwasher.

We did not have those at our door when we first got there, the picture is from a later day… I knew that DVC members (and I am a DVC member) are supposed to have a magnet on their door, so was a bit surprised. Especially since just before the cruise I had gotten an email from DCL referring to the fact that I was a DVC member and which said: “Come have fun with your fellow Disney Vacation Club® cruisers”

I hope you still had fun! But I guess you had to "fight" for those DVC perks?

You seem to have accomplished quite something already on this day - it was now afternoon?

Are there plans of the ship in the hallways or did you cary a plan, just like a city map with you on the first days?

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Already so far behind and catching up! Just seems like not much time for the DIS lately.

Arby's - some decent choices, and sometimes good for a change of the typical fast food, but IMO they are way too proud of their food and are overpriced for what you get!

Longhorn Steakhouse - I would definitely give this a .......and sweet potato with your steak

Five Guys has a good burger, but if you get the chance one day I prefer something we have around here called Cook Out. The burgers are basically the same and you also get to request from a long list of condiments to personalize your burger. The thing I like better about Cook Out is that they have many more choices (hot dogs, corn dogs, BBQ, chicken sandwiches), including for sides. Five Guys fries are very good, but at Cook Out you can also select onion rings or other sides, and you have more choices for drinks, including a choice of 20+ flavors of milkshakes and tea which you can't get at Five Guys.

Love the Disney "paper cup" replica coffee mug!

Looks like a nice day at the beach. I grew up near the beach so am not a huge fan anymore. Always seems like when you get coated down with the suntan lotion the wind picks up and you turn into human sandpaper! And there are also SOME places that sand just doesn't belong.........

I'm still waiting on my first time boarding a cruise ship! I can't wait to finally get there but it does look like there is a lot to take in when you first arrive. I'm sure it gets easier during your trip, and with each subsequent trip.

Your food choices looked really good, and you did a great job with the additions to your ice cream!!!

Your stateroom looks really comfortable, and like some others have said it appears a little larger than I would have thought. It is always good to have the split bathroom when sharing with another person.

Sorry you had the issues with standing around in the wet dress and the colors bleeding like that, but so glad you were able to take care of it when you washed it!

We did not CATCH the fish, we FED them!!!

I tend to combine those two activities, although I call it BAIT!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Nice update! I don't know what I was thinking but the room seems larger than what I thought it would be. I like the split bathroom, shifts in my family are a very nessesary thing... Sorry about your dress, I would have been upset to. Glad the color washed out though. I would have irritated to if I had to stand in a cold wet suit and dress in the air conditioning only to hear a sale pitch..

Looking forward to the next update...

It is funny that everyone thinks they expected the room to be smaller - I was surprised how small it was once inside it.

Yes, next time no spa raffle for me!!

I think we don't have date yet for my next visit, I guess I should make it a long weekend, as we didn't manage our favourite bar the last time....

Yes, long weekend is great, so we have more time to visit all the different eating and drinking establishments!

Okay, so I already got the lanyard, now I need to book a cruise.

See, that's why I gave you the lanyard!!

One of them is now welcoming dirty dishes to our dishwasher.

The other one of the DVC magnets is welcoming food into my freezer - I think mine got the nicer job there!!!

But I do love dishwashers - my new one is going to arrive tomorrow morning!!

I hope you still had fun! But I guess you had to "fight" for those DVC perks?

More about the DVC fun coming to an update soon!!

You seem to have accomplished quite something already on this day - it was now afternoon?

Yes, it was quite a full day!! And the life boat drill at the end of the last update was at 4pm. So that gives you a time frame.

Are there plans of the ship in the hallways or did you cary a plan, just like a city map with you on the first days?

I don't know whether they have ship maps (would make lovely souvenirs!), but in every elevator lobby there is a layout of the deck you are on and then in the atrium is a larger layout with all the decks. I do have a picture later on of one of the deck 2 layouts.

If you want to see the Wonder deck plan, you can find it here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-cruise-line/wonder-magic-deck-plan.htm

 

[Flossbolna]

Already so far behind and catching up! Just seems like not much time for the DIS lately.

I know how this is - I was so shocked when I realised yesterday that I had not updated for over a week!

Arby's - some decent choices, and sometimes good for a change of the typical fast food, but IMO they are way too proud of their food and are overpriced for what you get!

I had no idea that they were proud of their food... Don't think it is that great...

Longhorn Steakhouse - I would definitely give this a .......and sweet potato with your steak

happy to hear that people approve of my food choices!

Five Guys has a good burger, but if you get the chance one day I prefer something we have around here called Cook Out. The burgers are basically the same and you also get to request from a long list of condiments to personalize your burger. The thing I like better about Cook Out is that they have many more choices (hot dogs, corn dogs, BBQ, chicken sandwiches), including for sides. Five Guys fries are very good, but at Cook Out you can also select onion rings or other sides, and you have more choices for drinks, including a choice of 20+ flavors of milkshakes and tea which you can't get at Five Guys.

If I ever get to go to your area (wherever that might be?) and see a Cook Out I will certainly keep this in mind! Sounds like a great place!

Love the Disney "paper cup" replica coffee mug!

I am already using it quite regularly, even though I think it was more meant to be a collector's item since it came in a box. But I am not a collector, I like to use the stuff that I buy.

Looks like a nice day at the beach. I grew up near the beach so am not a huge fan anymore. Always seems like when you get coated down with the suntan lotion the wind picks up and you turn into human sandpaper! And there are also SOME places that sand just doesn't belong.........

I had some new German spray on sunscreen which worked great and was not at all sticky. Michael loved it so much that I left the rest of it with him (also helped me with not exceeding my luggage allowance). So at least we did not have the sand+sunscreen problem!

I'm still waiting on my first time boarding a cruise ship! I can't wait to finally get there but it does look like there is a lot to take in when you first arrive. I'm sure it gets easier during your trip, and with each subsequent trip.

Cruising is really fabulous! I can only recommend it! I would suggest to make sure that the first cruise is not too short, I thought those 5-night cruises were a great introduction, and the prices for DCL out of Miami are actually pretty good. The feeling of being a little overwhelmed did not stay long - I think if you go to WDW for the first time you will have more difficulty to feel at home.

Your food choices looked really good, and you did a great job with the additions to your ice cream!!!

Your stateroom looks really comfortable, and like some others have said it appears a little larger than I would have thought. It is always good to have the split bathroom when sharing with another person.

As I mentioned before, to me it looked small when I first entered. But in a cosy way, so I was very happy with it!

Sorry you had the issues with standing around in the wet dress and the colors bleeding like that, but so glad you were able to take care of it when you washed it!

Yes, it was not a great start, but it worked out.

I tend to combine those two activities, although I call it BAIT!!!

Ahhh! The poor fishies!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

We headed back to the cabin, hoping to find my luggage there, finally, but it wasnt. Well, I wanted to be on the top decks for the departure. So we headed up there and decided that we needed to celebrate being on the ship with a drink. We both got the drink of the day, which was fruity; it consisted of vodka, cranberry juice and grapefruit juice. We saw the bartender putting quite a bit of vodka in it and it tasted very good. I liked the combination of cranberry and grapefruit quite a lot! We sat down at a table in the adult pool area with our drinks and looked out to the water. And then I thought it would be fun to send Katharina and my parents a text message while I still had coverage, that I had arrived on the ship.

So I quickly ran down from deck 9 to deck 2 to get my cell phone out of the safe. And when I got to the cabin I nearly jumped into the air from joy! There was my suitcase!!!!

I quickly opened it, got a top and some shorts and finally got out of my wet dress. Grabbed my phone and was on my way up again. I had the idea that I could also speak to guest services about Michael not having gotten the Castaway Club lanyard. The CM there was very friendly, but did ask my stateroom number (I guess to verify that Michael was indeed a CC member) and then proceeded to hand me two lanyards with a smile. I thought that was very nice  and I did not expect it at all that I would get a lanyard, too! So I ran up all the stairs in my excitement, handed Michael his lanyard and then settled in with my drink:

Sorry, only a happy picture of me, not of the drink....

I also tried to take a panoramic view of the port of Miami (and I think downtown in the distance):

We saw that the Carnival Liberty leave port first. She was parked so that she first had to come further into port besides us and then turn behind us and then leave.

Next was the Carnival Breeze, she was floating past us and I was amazed how different it looked from our ship.

Suddenly it felt as if the ship was moving and then I saw that it was indeed moving. Se we headed up to deck 10 to have an unobstructed view of our departure from Miami.

Miami is an interesting departure port as you do have to go through quite a long channel until your out in the open sea. From the top of the ship you had quite a view of the city and the harbour:

At one point we spotted the Carnival Liberty between the houses on South Beach:

And then we were approaching the southern bit of South Beach:

I actually took a picture about every minute or so, but I am not going to post them all...

And then we were out in the open seas!

Now there was not that much more to see, so we headed back to the pool deck for some more pool time. We had decided to make the best use of the empty pool, but there was not much time as we also wanted see to the show. Since we had late seating, our dinner was not until 8:15pm. But our show time was already at 6:15pm. Tonight the show was "Let the Magic begin!" I am normally not a show person, but since this was my first cruise I did not want to miss out on anything. So we quickly got changed in the cabin and then headed to the Walt Disney theatre. We did arrive a little more than 5 minutes before show time, but had no problem at all to find two seats.

It was a cute little show and we got to see our cruise director Jimmy. He seemed so cheerful in a nice way and that really kind of set the tone for the cruise for me. By now I started to feel totally relaxed and happy! Might have had something to do with the drink, but the feeling did not leave me until we had to get off the ship, so I think it was not just the drink! Jimmy also welcomed people from all different kind of regions, like the East Coast, The West Coast etc. He then got to "the UK and the rest of Europe" which was my region to cheer for and I think I was the only person in the whole theatre!! Jimmy also told us that he loves to get high fives and that we should not be shy if we see him around the ship. For whatever reason already on that first evening whenever Jimmy came on the stage we would start to excitedly shout Jimmy!!!! which became our own private joke for every show.

After the show we could not resist to check out the shops for the first time despite them being so very crowded. We had a nice look around. It was nice to see a lot of cruise line merchandise but unfortunately a lot of it was not really my taste. I would have loved more cruise line jewelry, but there was very little.

Next I had one very important stop: talk to the DVC desk. We still had no magnet on our door! So I spoke to the very nice two guys at the desk and they checked me on their list and found me there. They gave me two magnets for the door and told me that there would be a member meeting the next day at 9:30am.

After that we headed to the stateroom to get cleaned up and to unpack. I was amazed at how much storage room there was in our stateroom. I had read comments on this and expected that there was no room. But I felt that there was more storage space than in a typical hotel room. We spread out quite a bit and would have easily been able to fit one or two additional people's luggage into the room.

Next: Dinner Under the Sea

 

[eandesmom]

We headed back to the cabin, hoping to find my luggage there, finally, but it wasn’t. Well, I wanted to be on the top decks for the departure. So we headed up there and decided that we needed to celebrate being on the ship with a drink. We both got the drink of the day, which was fruity; it consisted of vodka, cranberry juice and grapefruit juice. We saw the bartender putting quite a bit of vodka in it and it tasted very good. I liked the combination of cranberry and grapefruit quite a lot! We sat down at a table in the adult pool area with our drinks and looked out to the water. And then I thought it would be fun to send Katharina and my parents a text message while I still had coverage, that I had arrived on the ship.

So I quickly ran down from deck 9 to deck 2 to get my cell phone out of the safe. And when I got to the cabin I nearly jumped into the air from joy! There was my suitcase!!!!

That seems very odd that your luggage was delivered separately since you arrived at the port together. for getting out of wet dresses.

DOTD sounds pretty tasty! Was it a mixed (not frozen) drink? I would like that much better, ours always seemed to be offering frozen ones and I'm just not that big on frozen drinks.

I quickly opened it, got a top and some shorts and finally got out of my wet dress. Grabbed my phone and was on my way up again. I had the idea that I could also speak to guest services about Michael not having gotten the Castaway Club lanyard. The CM there was very friendly, but did ask my stateroom number (I guess to verify that Michael was indeed a CC member) and then proceeded to hand me two lanyards with a smile. I thought that was very nice – and I did not expect it at all that I would get a lanyard, too! So I ran up all the stairs in my excitement, handed Michael his lanyard and then settled in with my drink:

And then we were approaching the southern bit of South Beach:

That's a very pretty sail away, South Beach is lovely. Interesting to be sure but also quite lovely. This is the first sail away I've seen out of Miami so it's a lot of fun.

After the show we could not resist to check out the shops for the first time despite them being so very crowded. We had a nice look around. It was nice to see a lot of cruise line merchandise but unfortunately a lot of it was not really my taste. I would have loved more cruise line jewelry, but there was very little.

Next I had one very important stop: talk to the DVC desk. We still had no magnet on our door! So I spoke to the very nice two guys at the desk and they checked me on their list and found me there. They gave me two magnets for the door and told me that there would be a member meeting the next day at 9:30am.

After that we headed to the stateroom to get cleaned up and to unpack. I was amazed at how much storage room there was in our stateroom. I had read comments on this and expected that there was no room. But I felt that there was more storage space than in a typical hotel room. We spread out quite a bit and would have easily been able to fit one or two additional people's luggage into the room.

Next: Dinner Under the Sea

I love how you were on it for the lanyard and the magnets! It seems DCL is very inconsistent with the magnets, sometimes they are on doors and sometimes not. I think they gave K a silver lanyard when we checked in as she was with us but don't really remember. I had similar issues with the DCL merchandise, not a lot I wanted.

Our issue on the Wonder was less the amount of space but space to store the actual luggage. On the Dream they raised the bed which made a huge difference as everything could go under there. On the Wonder we simply had no good place to put it, plus with it being Alaska, we had more bulky items. I do think we will be fine when it's just the 2 of us on the Magic.

 

[nodnol]

Thanks for the link to the floorplans. I don't know, I always thought of the restaurant being further up, but of course, it makes sense, as Disney anyway likes to build restaurants without windows...

I like your hair short like this!!!

 

[lovealldisney]

Loved all your pictures! I wish I was on that beach right now! It looks so warm and inviting... Not like our weather here. We had some crazy thunderstorms last night.

I agree I'd rather see your happy face than your drink. And I agree with Katharina I really like your hair short. Perfect for summer.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

I know how this is - I was so shocked when I realised yesterday that I had not updated for over a week!

I always wonder about the people on the DIS who start TRs and take so long between posts, but then I guess it is easy to see how that might happen......

I had no idea that they were proud of their food... Don't think it is that great...

They have some good items, mainly because they have different offerings than many other fast food places. I say they are proud of them because their prices seem to always be higher, as if they think their food is much better than it really is.

happy to hear that people approve of my food choices!

I knew you might be worried about that............

If I ever get to go to your area (wherever that might be?) and see a Cook Out I will certainly keep this in mind! Sounds like a great place!

Cook Out started in North Carolina, and has since spread to South Carolina, Virginia and some of eastern Tennessee.

Ahhh! The poor fishies!!!

Actually, the fishies are usually quite safe if I am the one trying to catch them...........

Nice update. You got some really great pictures of departure, the skyline of Miami, and the South Beach area! So glad you finally got your luggage, the magnets and the lanyards. Sounds like you are off to a great start that lasted throughout the whole cruise!!!

 

[Poolrat]

Stupid me - I just see that you are from a state along the east Coast and think that the beach is not far. I alwas forget how large the US is...

Well I am close to the beach- compared to people in .... let's say Kansas.
I guess that's why I clarified. in fact my DD just went to the beach for the night, so it can be done just not really practical for me. Considering I was 7 miles from the coast and could ride my bike growing up, I don't consider myself close anymore.

I have to agree that not a big fan of sand everywhere.... Seems like it would always take days to get it all completely out of places it found its way into and around. I had a bag I would only use for the beach since no matter what I did the bag always had sand in it.

I always wonder about the people on the DIS who start TRs and take so long between posts, but then I guess it is easy to see how that might happen......

Yup I am one of them too!!!! Like I have said before, I sometimes have time to either catch up or post but not both. And posting for me is not hard now- just pictures but always run out of time.

I am looking forward to things easing up a bit but not sure when that will happen.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

And I had a direct elevator up to the Outlook Café! It was truly a great location in my opinion.

I'm really glad the room location turned out to be better than you expected. It's nice when you get pleasant surprises like that.

On the desk in this picture you can see some papers. There were two sheets showing that we had some onboard credit, some from our travel agent as well as 25$ from DCL.

I remember being excited to get onboard credit when we cruised...and then being disappointed in seeing exactly how far $25 went.

Next up two pictures of the split bathroom. I did not think that that would be so necessary with just two people in the stateroom, but it turned out extremely helpful. With pool and beach time you end up showering more than usual, so it was nice to be able to do shifts!

Split bathrooms are a terrific idea.

I had read so much about the classic ships being a little bit worn out  but I really never ever witnessed any of that.

I think they really take advantage of their drydock schedules to keep things refreshed.

And who would want to be poked with needles by a teenager?

The problem that I had not foreseen that now I was in a wet bathing suit. I did put my dress over it and just went inside thinking that the raffle would not take long. Big mistake!! The raffle is another sales event (yes, I was a bit naïve not to foresee that). So it did take quite some time while I was standing in the cold air conditioning in a damp dress. I was more uncomfortable than cold though& Neither Michael nor I did win anything

D'oh! Having to listen to a sales pitch is bad enough. Making you do it while cold and wet sounds like cruel and unusual punishment!

And then I thought it would be fun to send Katharina and my parents a text message while I still had coverage, that I had arrived on the ship.

What's the point of going on a trip if you can't rub it in to your family?

We saw that the Carnival Liberty leave port first. She was parked so that she first had to come further into port besides us and then turn behind us and then leave.

Next was the Carnival Breeze, she was floating past us and I was amazed how different it looked from our ship.

Did you happen to notice if either of these ships were on fire? Or if people were calling for help?

Miami is an interesting departure port as you do have to go through quite a long channel until your out in the open sea. From the top of the ship you had quite a view of the city and the harbour:

Very nice views. Looks more interesting than Port Canaveral.

He then got to "the UK and the rest of Europe" which was my region to cheer for and I think I was the only person in the whole theatre!!

Well, that just means you were probably the happiest European in the world at that moment.

 

[Flossbolna]

That seems very odd that your luggage was delivered separately since you arrived at the port together. for getting out of wet dresses.

I have no idea why that was - maybe because my suitcase was larger? I think I remember that Michael thought that it was very strange as well.

DOTD sounds pretty tasty! Was it a mixed (not frozen) drink? I would like that much better, ours always seemed to be offering frozen ones and I'm just not that big on frozen drinks.

Yes, it was a mixed drink, actually quite simple. Equal parts of cranberry juice and grapefruit juice with vodka over ice cubes. I would have loved something more elaborate, but it was tasty and the DOTD is quite a good price, too.

That's a very pretty sail away, South Beach is lovely. Interesting to be sure but also quite lovely. This is the first sail away I've seen out of Miami so it's a lot of fun.

I spent some time on South Beach when I was in Florida for the first time and thought it was a very interesting place...

I love how you were on it for the lanyard and the magnets! It seems DCL is very inconsistent with the magnets, sometimes they are on doors and sometimes not. I think they gave K a silver lanyard when we checked in as she was with us but don't really remember. I had similar issues with the DCL merchandise, not a lot I wanted.

Yes, if Disney gives away free stuff, I will make sure I get it!!

I have no idea what is up with the magnets. I thought that the email was a clear indication that they knew I am a DVC member, but than we did not get a magnet...

Our issue on the Wonder was less the amount of space but space to store the actual luggage. On the Dream they raised the bed which made a huge difference as everything could go under there. On the Wonder we simply had no good place to put it, plus with it being Alaska, we had more bulky items. I do think we will be fine when it's just the 2 of us on the Magic.

My pretty large suitcase did fit under the bed. You can lift up the bed a little and then slide it under. However, my suitcase only fitted when I unzipped it, so the two halves could get a little flatter. But my suitcase is really big!!! Ok, I just went and measured it and it is slightly under 12 inches fat. So I guess for the Wonder I would recommend to bring suit cases that are less than 12 inches. Michael's suitcase was more compact and it fit into the closet.

 

[Flossbolna]

Thanks for the link to the floorplans. I don't know, I always thought of the restaurant being further up, but of course, it makes sense, as Disney anyway likes to build restaurants without windows...

That's the nice thing about the buffet restaurant (pictures will come soon) that it has a lot of windows!

I totally forgot that you aren't a DCL specialist yet. You became so knowledgable about WDW and DLP that I really don't need to tell you all that stuff anymore - but DCL is still pretty new for you!!

I like your hair short like this!!!

Thanks! Me too. But I don't want to pay the hairdresser every month...

Loved all your pictures! I wish I was on that beach right now! It looks so warm and inviting... Not like our weather here. We had some crazy thunderstorms last night.

We have our first summer day here! It is warm and mild and just perfect!! Hopefully it stays that way. Makes the day so much better!!

I agree I'd rather see your happy face than your drink. And I agree with Katharina I really like your hair short. Perfect for summer.

Ah, thanks on both counts!!

 

[Flossbolna]

I always wonder about the people on the DIS who start TRs and take so long between posts, but then I guess it is easy to see how that might happen......

Yes, it is easy for life to take over and suddenly two weeks have passed without an update. But you should try to write your own trip report once! It is also a lot of fun to chat with the people who read your report and make new friends! I think the trip report community here on the DIS is very friendly! And I am lucky that I met quite a few of them in person even!

They have some good items, mainly because they have different offerings than many other fast food places. I say they are proud of them because their prices seem to always be higher, as if they think their food is much better than it really is.

Ok, so in that regard Disney must be extremely proud of their food!!!

I knew you might be worried about that............

not really...

Cook Out started in North Carolina, and has since spread to South Carolina, Virginia and some of eastern Tennessee.

Hmm, my sister Katharina I thinking about another trip to Kentucky which then would include also some of the southern states, she should take note of that chain!

Actually, the fishies are usually quite safe if I am the one trying to catch them...........

Good!!!

Nice update. You got some really great pictures of departure, the skyline of Miami, and the South Beach area! So glad you finally got your luggage, the magnets and the lanyards. Sounds like you are off to a great start that lasted throughout the whole cruise!!!

Yes, that was really the turning point of the cruise!

Well I am close to the beach- compared to people in .... let's say Kansas.
I guess that's why I clarified. in fact my DD just went to the beach for the night, so it can be done just not really practical for me. Considering I was 7 miles from the coast and could ride my bike growing up, I don't consider myself close anymore.

I understand that. To me Katharina is close to the beach, but she is still 2 hours away from it - as compared to the 7 hours it would take me to get to a beach (and then it would be the cold and grey Baltic See or North Sea).

I have to agree that not a big fan of sand everywhere.... Seems like it would always take days to get it all completely out of places it found its way into and around. I had a bag I would only use for the beach since no matter what I did the bag always had sand in it.

One of the huge advantages of the cruise ship: Someone else cleans all the sand away that you might bring back to your room!

Yup I am one of them too!!!! Like I have said before, I sometimes have time to either catch up or post but not both. And posting for me is not hard now- just pictures but always run out of time.

Ah, don't worry Pat, even sorting the pictures and adding a little text is work and I fully understand. I think I am at the moment just enjoying reliving the vacation so much that I keep going with the TR!

I am looking forward to things easing up a bit but not sure when that will happen.

Hope that life will be less stressful soon!

 

[Flossbolna]

I'm really glad the room location turned out to be better than you expected. It's nice when you get pleasant surprises like that.

After being a little tense at the beginning of the cruise, this was just the kind of pleasant surprise that I needed.

I remember being excited to get onboard credit when we cruised...and then being disappointed in seeing exactly how far $25 went.

Well, it would at least cover 5 drinks of the day...

Split bathrooms are a terrific idea.

I think they really take advantage of their drydock schedules to keep things refreshed.

That and the working crews they have on the ship. I was truly impressed.

D'oh! Having to listen to a sales pitch is bad enough. Making you do it while cold and wet sounds like cruel and unusual punishment!

Well, I could have left the spa and maybe missed out on my potential win of a spa credit...

What's the point of going on a trip if you can't rub it in to your family?

Exactly!!!

Did you happen to notice if either of these ships were on fire? Or if people were calling for help?

They did look fine to me!

Very nice views. Looks more interesting than Port Canaveral.

I really like the long channel that the ship goes through. Last weekend I was in Hamburg and that would be an amazing port to leave as well as it is quite a bit upriver from the Elbe estuary so you are going along the river for quite a bit.

Well, that just means you were probably the happiest European in the world at that moment.

Most of the other Europeans were most likely at sleep at that moment.

 

[Flossbolna]

Then it was time to head up a floor for the first dinner at Triton's. And it was really just up one stair and around a corner. We arrived there on the dot at 8:15pm and just saw a long, long, long line! It seemed to stretch all the way into the bar area. We saw no point in getting in this line, so I amused myself with taking a picture of the line (or more precise a part thereof) and of the Port Adventures desk.

When the end of the line finally was in the atrium, we got in and then were quickly lead to our table. We had indeed a four top for just the two of us and it turned out to be a lovely round table, which was nice as it did not feel like there were people missing. Somehow the two unoccupied chairs were quickly poached by other servers which seemed odd as you would think that every table was set up with the right number of chairs. That evening it seemed that our very charming servers were rather having a hard time to keep up and things started out slow.

We did not mind too much, we were just happy to be there, chatted along and enjoyed the surroundings. We both really liked the look and feel of Triton's with it's blue lights that gave an underwater feel. I tried to take pictures at the end of the meal, so please excuse the dirty tables.

After we had ordered our drinks, we got started on some nice bread rolls and a black olive spread. Very nice!

And then my drink appeared. I had decided to celebrate the first dinner with a cocktail, the Cosmopolitan dOrange:

I liked it, but it was not very strong. One thing I liked about the drinks on the ship was that they were generally quite affordable. They add a 18% gratuity on any drink and with that the drink of the day came out to be just under $ 5, this one was just under $ 7.

Michael and I both went all out and got all the four courses they offered.

First I had the duck:

and Michael had a tart:

I was surprised how tasty it was. I had read so many stories about how the food is not good on the ship or at least very bland and mass-produced. When my dish was served I thought it looked very sad, so grey and boring. But the meat was very flavorful and the dressing that was sprinkled around had a nice citrusy taste and went well with the duck. Michael liked his tart, too. I got to try a taste and it was nice and creamy.

Our next course was a salad, the avocado citrus salad - Michael also got the French onion soup

This was a delicious salad! Once again exceeding my expectations. The dressing was very good and a bit unusual, it was called an Orange vinaigrette and it was very fruity.

For our entree we both chose the filet.

This was the only thing where I could see that mass produced thing. I had ordered my steak medium and while it was cooked perfectly, the outside was not nicely grilled. Michael's steak was more colorful though as he ordered his well done. Still it was a good steak that we both enjoyed. And it was much better than the mass produced stuff I get on a daily basis at the work cafeteria.

I already knew which dessert I wanted before even looking at the dessert menu - because I had seen it mentioned by other DISers. However, here is a picture of the pretty dessert menu - it shows the mural that is in the back of the restaurant:

I got the Grand Marnier soufflé as I love Grand Marnier.

It was very good, already looking forward to ordering it again on my next cruise! Michael chose ice cream and he seemed very happy with his choice.

It did take quite a long time until our first course appeared, and then there was quite a gap before the entree as well. Our head server seemed to notice this and came by twice, chatting with us and if we had been bothered by the pace, this would have been the perfect opportunity to say something. I felt that this was really good service as I had the feeling that there were some outside circumstances that caused the slowness (and the other days were indeed much better) but thanks to our lovely head server Josip from Croatia we did not feel left out at all. Somehow we ended up chatting with him more than with our servers over the course of the cruise.

All in all this was a very lovely dinner.

After dinner we returned to our stateroom to find it turned down for the night, with chocolates, the Navigator for the next day and an invitation to the DVC Member Celebration, which would take place the next morning at 9:30am.

The odd thing though was that we still had not met our stateroom host. We kept looking for him or her, but werent successful in locating the host. Actually, we did not meet him until the evening on our second to last day. We really cant complain as the cabin was spotless all the time, also we ordered some ice from room service on the second day and from then on the ice bucket was always refilled. So we got good service, but it would have been nice to know who he was. I even started calling him our ghost host because he was so invisible.

We did some more exploring of the ship, walked through the bar area, called Route 66 (will have lots of pictures later on) and ended up for another dip in the pool (yes, we went a bit crazy with our pool time, but I loved it!!). And then it was back to the cabin where we watched a bit of Aladdin on the stateroom TV. There were three different channels showing animated films at all times, one was Disney classics, one was modern Disney and one was Pixar. I wish we had had more time to just hang out in the cabin and enjoy a few movies!

Next: Celebrating Membership

 

[CRdisMom]

Love seeing the room. Seemed spacious. I've never been on a cruise. When Disney forgets the free stuff for DVC they always seem to make it up to you.

Those drinks seems quite affordable compared to the ones I had recent at a club. You'd think they'd price gouge you.

Loving the updates. Need to get on our TR as well. I know E has been busy with lots if year end stuff.

 

[nodnol]

Dinner sounds and looks delicious! Was the duck cold? I#m sure it tasted good, but I still think this is a very odd kind to eat duck. well, cultural differences...

Do you have a picture, when the bedside lamp is lit? I just noticed that it's a half-globe and wondered, how it would look illuminated.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Nice update! I guess long lines are to be expected when you have seating shift times for meals, but at least it sounds like the line moved fairly quickly.

Triton's does look like it would be a good experience with the blue lighting. On the negative side, I usually don't enjoy the huge dining room experience because it seems to be so noisy it is hard to enjoy conversation with people at your table. Did you notice this to be the case?

Most of your food looks really good, but I agree your filet does look a little bland. At least it sounds like it was a good steak, so that is the important thing. The Grand Marnier soufflé does sound really good!

Funny that you had a hint of Haunted Mansion in your stateroom with your "ghost host." Glad he did a good job even if you didn't see him much.

I'm sure I would probably try and enjoy a lot of pool time on a cruise also, so I certainly understand your going a bit crazy with it.

Ok, so in that regard Disney must be extremely proud of their food!!!

Well yes, I guess you have a point, but at least at Disney you are paying for the "atmosphere" and it is usually a very nice dining experience. Arby's is just fast food, and it always seems to cost $2 or $3 more for basically the same thing.

Dinner sounds and looks delicious! Was the duck cold? I#m sure it tasted good, but I still think this is a very odd kind to eat duck. well, cultural differences...

I was thinking the same thing. This seemed to be a little odd for that appetizer/first course type item. I think of duck more as a main course instead of a pate' type item.