From the Sea to the World - Completed!

[lovealldisney]

Nice update Magdalene. Your iced coffee's looked yummy. Wish I had one now... Hmmm maybe I'll stop for a treat after work today.

Somehow four hours had passed and the only true activity that we had accomplished was having lunch.

Now that is my type of relaxing vacation.. But I don't think DH would be able to relax THAT much....

 

[Flossbolna]

Funny how that happens. Hopefully I will have more time soon. Work is stabilizing a bit. Not really slowing down but stabilizing.

Happy to hear that things are improving work wise! Perhaps once it has stabilised, it might also slow down!!

Oh yes that is too small. Mental note to bring big mug......

That is one of the most common tips you can pick up on the cruise boards.

Another mental note. Nice to encourage but really if I want 1 to share bring me that, if I want more I will order more. Don't think you are in any danger of going hungry on a cruise.

I think there is this thing about service on the cruise that they really try to pamper you. They want you to indulge. That's part of the life style on the cruise. And yes, you are right, there is no shortage of food!!! And if you were hungry, you can always order room service which is serving 24 hours and it does not cost anything extra...

Isn't that nice when you can relax and just get lost in time? I think I would like at sea days too. Nothing to do BUT relax.

It was perfect!! I think the fantastic thing about those days at sea is that you are in this bubble that is separate from the rest of the world, like being on a remote island, but your island is floating around and comes with a lot of great infrastructure.

Oh, that sounds nice! I somehow expected it to be much hotter, like here in the last days....

No! Not at all like that!! Cozumel day was pretty hot, but we did activities that where great for hot weather. We did not sit in a stuffy office. On the ship's upper deck you can always have a breeze (in varying degrees, depending on where you are), I could imagine that it is very easy to get sunburned there because you don't feel the sun as much. Thinking back I can only remember one instance when I felt too hot while on the ship and that was one time when I was in the hot tub for a bit too long...

I see... that would be only a sip for you!

Yes, especially if you also put ice cubes into the cup before you add the soda. The good thing about the free paper cups was however, that if you did not have your mug with you, you could still get a drink.

interesting looking salad…

Go back, I changed out the picture!!

Not really a classic German ice coffee…

But getting quite close. I am sure if you told them what you wanted they would make you just that, too! As I told Pat above, everyone really tries their best to please you!

Nice update Magdalene. Your iced coffee's looked yummy. Wish I had one now... Hmmm maybe I'll stop for a treat after work today.

Hope you enjoyed your treat!!

Now that is my type of relaxing vacation.. But I don't think DH would be able to relax THAT much....

The great thing about the ship is that there also is a lot to do, if you want to be more active. They show Disney films in the cinema, there are cooking classes, exercise classes, tasting seminar for various alcoholic drinks etc.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Nice updates! Love your early morning adventure through the ship! Maybe it is just the pictures, but it looks like the only reason for the pools is to designate a place for a lot of deck chairs for people to relax. There is no way that many people could fit in any of those pools if all those chairs are filled.

Nice that they give you so many gifts at the DVC presentations!

How relaxing it must be to relax and just look out at nothing but ocean!

for relaxing days! Love to try one of Michael's iced cappuccino's!!!

 

[englishrose47]

Great Updates !!! You can imagine what it was like figuring out the luggage with 10 of us !! Of course some had NO idea what their's looked like and then matching luggage to each of the 5 cabinsI brought a wated that clipped to my purse on the cruise . It worked great!! The food has all looked great!! Cabanas on the Dream had a wonderful buffet the day we boarded . The asparagus was devine!!! I think next year the Family cruise is gonna be on Carnival , this will be the girls Graduation gift, instead of a party!!!!

 

[eandesmom]

They do ask if you bring your own cup that you use a fresh paper cup every time to avoid the spreading of germs. Which made me think if that is a concern on a cruise ship  wont the same apply to the refillable mug stations at WDW??? Anyway, with drinks for Michael and me (always know your cabin companions favourite soft drink!) I headed back to the stateroom where Michael was just getting up.

Very good point! Although it just seemed like a terrible waste of cups to me but maybe it really does help?

Somehow four hours had passed and the only true activity that we had accomplished was having lunch. It was just wonderful! And relaxing. And when I was sitting in the Outlook Café I am sure I told Michael at least three or four times how fantastic cruising is, how much I love this ship and how happy I was. And I had figured out by now that five nights really is far too short and also that I adore sea days

What a beautiful summary of it. It is so incredibly relaxing and to be able to actually take advantage of it, and just "be" and soak up your surroundings, well it sounds just perfect to me.

Lunch looked lovely!

 

[tinawv]

I am so enjoying your trip report and can't wait to read more. After reading about your cruise, I want to take one more than ever.

 

[Flossbolna]

Nice updates! Love your early morning adventure through the ship! Maybe it is just the pictures, but it looks like the only reason for the pools is to designate a place for a lot of deck chairs for people to relax. There is no way that many people could fit in any of those pools if all those chairs are filled.

It is not just the pictures, the pools are tiny compared to the size of the ship. But I guess it is a question of space really. From everything I have heard about the Dream and the Fantasy, it seems that their adult pool is even smaller.

We ended up being in the pools at the not so usual times - just before dinner, in the evening etc.

Nice that they give you so many gifts at the DVC presentations!

Yes, that was a nice perk!!

How relaxing it must be to relax and just look out at nothing but ocean!

for relaxing days! Love to try one of Michael's iced cappuccino's!!!

When I posted that picture I was thinking to myself that I ought to have gotten one of those as well as it looked so delicious!

Great Updates !!! You can imagine what it was like figuring out the luggage with 10 of us !! Of course some had NO idea what their's looked like and then matching luggage to each of the 5 cabins

Did they not have the correct luggage tags?

I brought a wated that clipped to my purse on the cruise . It worked great!!

I think you mentioned the watch as a present from your granddaughters? I really want a water resistant one though to take it into the pool with me. I saw that a shop here that comes out with a new set of merchandise every week will have a watch week next week and I am planning on getting a cheap water resistant watch there!

The food has all looked great!! Cabanas on the Dream had a wonderful buffet the day we boarded . The asparagus was devine!!!

I have hear that people truly love Cabanas - it is supposed to be much better than Beach Blanket Buffet, but then we really did not eat there a lot anyway.

I think next year the Family cruise is gonna be on Carnival , this will be the girls Graduation gift, instead of a party!!!!

Sounds like a fantastic graduation gift!!! I was thinking that the Carnival ships' pool and water slides area looked pretty cool when we passed those ships!

 

[Flossbolna]

Very good point! Although it just seemed like a terrible waste of cups to me but maybe it really does help?

I felt bad about the waste of the cups, too. But I actually could fit nearly two cups into my mug, so I thought that I was still saving cups over all. Also, I did not need a lid or a straw. And sometimes I would still get a cup if I did not have my mug with me. Overall I did not nearly drink as much soda as I thought I would. I did drink quite a bit of ice water with the ice we had in the room and the tap water from the bathroom and was fine with that.

What a beautiful summary of it. It is so incredibly relaxing and to be able to actually take advantage of it, and just "be" and soak up your surroundings, well it sounds just perfect to me.

Lunch looked lovely!

Yes, it was rather perfect! That's why writing this is so much fun because it brings back so many wonderful memories!

I am so enjoying your trip report and can't wait to read more. After reading about your cruise, I want to take one more than ever.

Glad toe hear that you are enjoying it!!! And I know the feeling about wanting to go on a cruise from reading other's trip reports. That's how I ended up on that ship.

 

[Flossbolna]

The Navigator listed the following under Adult Activity Highlights:

Art of the Theme Show Tour
Palo, Deck 10, Aft  3:00pm
Join us on a guided ship tour and discover the key ingredients that make the Disney Wonder.

On the times guide it had a little bar from 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm, so we thought that would be a fun diversion before we would change into swim suits to head to the pool before the show and dinner.

We headed up to Palo and arrived a few minutes early, it seemed like nobody was there yet. I was surprised that Palo was open so we wandered in there for a bit and I took some pictures. First the menu (that was of great interest to us as we would have dinner there later that evening):

This is the entrance walk way:

There is a wine display case to the right:

And on closer inspection you could see that there were some bottles that did not go so well with the Italian theme of the restaurant:

My suspicion was that these were added last year when the Wonder did some cruises along the California Coast that had a Pixar theme  as these bottles are from John Lasseters vineyard.

There are also some Venetian masks along the wall:

A little further in there is a view of the currently empty dining room:

In style it does remind me a bit of the California Grill at the Contemporary at WDW, but more subdued. I thought it was a lovely space, not large at all, so it is understandably why reservations might be difficult to get sometimes.

I also stopped by the bathrooms there before our tour would start, they are very very nice as well!!

The tour was all about the design of the ship, why certain things were done the way they are etc. It was all very interesting and I really dont want to go into any details as I think it is an enjoyable tour to take if you are on a cruise and dont want to spoil it for anyone. A few of the trivia I already new, but many things were new to me.

So I will just go ahead and post some of the pictures I took while we were touring.

There was a story about carpets, so that explains this one. Its the carpet in the hallway outside the Buena Vista Theatre which is the cinema on board.

Here you can see the entrance and in the next picture the hallway:

You dont enter through the maroon leather doors (at least I think that this looks like doors), there are two entrances to the side of this.

Next the hallway leading from the Walt Disney Theatre to the area with the shops.

A view through the doors leading out to deck 4:

The chandelier in the atrium:

It is designed by an artist called Chihuly. And he always reminds me of a wonderful vacation that I had in Canada in 2003. I visited friends in Vancouver whom I had met at university in London were we all were in the same masters program. I stayed with them for a bit and also did a tour of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the National Parks there. And my friend and I went for a short excursion down to Tacoma, Washington to see the Museum of Glass because she wanted to visit the museum, but nobody in her family could be convinced to go (or was not deemed old enough as a three year old and a museum filled with glass dont go together very well). At the museum is a Bridge of Glass that exhibits artwork designed by Chihuly. I had never heard of this artist before, but I think his work is very distinctive. So whenever I see something of his, I am reminded of my wonderful vacation in Canada  which definitely ranks among the top 5 vacations in my life. And now it also reminds me of the fantastic cruise I had on the Disney Wonder  which has a spot in the top 5 as well. I guess I need to seek out places with Chihuly artwork in the future. This seems to be a good sign for my vacations!!

Back to the Wonder  we are now in Animators Palette:

By now it was 4pm and it seemed that the tour still had not come to an end& We had thought that the tour would only be 30 minutes from looking at the Navigator. At first I did not mind it going on, but after an hour we felt that there were other things to do  especially finally getting into some water!!!!!

So we escaped& Just slowly walked away and left the rest of the group to themselves (we had lost others before). I felt a bit guilty about disappearing without thanking the CM doing the tour, but I also thought that if you advertise activities then you ought to let people know what they are in for.

I did not head straight to the pool though. First I needed to stop by the DVC desk. Remember that I still had no DVC lanyards? At the reception in the morning they said that we ought to have gotten a box with DVC lanyards. So I went to the desk, told the guys that I was still without DVC lanyard. And they gave me a cardboard box with a pirate Mickey theme which had four lanyards in it. They also gave me the DVC gift of the day which was a pirate Mickey pin. So now I could exchange my illegal Silver Castaway Club lanyard for the red DVC Member lanyard!!! I think I also gave one to Michael and Katharina got one, too, so that she is prepared when she goes on her first cruise and does not have such a horrible lanyard-free time as I had!!!

Next I headed up to the adult pool where Michael was already. He had not wanted to come along to speak with the DVC people& When I got there the pool was still rather crowded, but around 4:30pm people were quickly leaving and soon the pool was nice and uncrowded. The water though was very murky. It did look dirty, but I actually think it is not dirt in there, but it is all the oil based sunscreen in there which is not soluble in water that makes it so murky. However, I also managed to find quite a few straws in the water and thought that that was rather silly& Why do people lose those in the pool?

Far too soon it was time to leave the pool. Our show would start at 6:15 pm, but I wanted to see the pre-show to it, the red carpet arrivals, as well. Since we had Palo reservations for 8pm, there was not so much time between show and dinner, so I decided to go and take a shower before the show. Also I thought it would be appropriate to not go to dinner to a nice restaurant with wet hair. I am lucky as my curls dont need a hair dryer. The one that was in the stateroom would not have been a help and bringing my own would not make sense as it requires 220 volt. So I did not use a hair drier the whole trip and that worked great. Especially on the ship the humid sea air and the wind made my hair actually look pretty good all the time! If you have natural curls, I would suggest to embrace them while you are on the cruise, dont try to tame them!!

Once I was fresh and clean we headed off to the Walt Disney Theatre and ended up with pretty good seats. The show was  interesting. The idea behind it is that it is an award show like the Oscars and the awards being given out are the Golden Mickeys. Hence the Name of the Show: The Golden Mickeys. It has some kind of back story which I found to be rather contrived. In between however were very enjoyable scenes with Disney music from various films. So I went from feeling slightly embarrassed about the back story to truly enjoying the singing and dancing. If the show did not have that split personality, I think I would have enjoyed it much more. Michael has been to Hong Kong Disneyland and the Golden Mickeys is an attraction there. But he says that the show is quite a bit different  from what I understand it does not have the back story that I had problems with and is much more straight forward. I think I would like that better. So I guess I need to plan a trip to Hong Kong to find out&

Next: Meeting my favourite Croatians

 

[nodnol]

I didn't know you went on a tour, so finally some suprises

So we escaped… Just slowly walked away and left the rest of the group to themselves (we had lost others before). I felt a bit guilty about disappearing without thanking the CM doing the tour, but I also thought that if you advertise activities then you ought to let people know what they are in for.

I think it's strange that they didn't mention how long the tour would be. But maybe, they don't have a fixed time and carry on, as long as people keep up with them? But I guess then thy would have mentioned that at the beginning of the tour. But it is nice to know that this means you don't know everything about the ship yet, as you didn't go on the whole tour...

The water though was very murky. It did look dirty, but I actually think it is not dirt in there, but it is all the oil based sunscreen in there which is not soluble in water that makes it so murky. However, I also managed to find quite a few straws in the water and thought that that was rather silly… Why do people lose those in the pool?

Okay, I vote for early morning swims.... Maybe the straws get blown in by the wind from the floor? I know it's crazy as the water in pools, even with all the stuff that might be in there, are still "cleaner" because of the chemicals, but I prefer the lakes around here.

 

[lovealldisney]

And my friend and I went for a short excursion down to Tacoma, Washington to see the Museum of Glass

Interesting DH has an Uncle a very close Uncle that lives in Tacoma... Maybe a vacation there is in order..

If you have natural curls, I would suggest to embrace them while you are on the cruise, don’t try to tame them!!

I agree, not that I have natural curly hair what I don't get is why so many people that do have natural curl want to have straight hair. Its not that great. I wish I had some natural curl. Unfortunaly by the time I came along all the natural curl genes went to my older siblings... I got stuck with the straight fly away hair...

It did look dirty, but I actually think it is not dirt in there, but it is all the oil based sunscreen in there which is not soluble in water that makes it so murky. However, I also managed to find quite a few straws in the water and thought that that was rather silly… Why do people lose those in the pool?

I would have not gone in.. seeing oil on the water would have grossed me out.. and the straws are probably people not cleaning up after themselves. I'm with Katharina I'd rather swin in the lake..

I'm glad you finaly got your lanyard.. nice update..Looking forward to more.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

We headed up to Palo and arrived a few minutes early, it seemed like nobody was there yet. I was surprised that Palo was open so we wandered in there for a bit and I took some pictures.

That seems a little surprising to me also that they have the tables all set up and anyone can just walk in and have access to the place.

And on closer inspection you could see that there were some bottles that did not go so well with the Italian theme of the restaurant:

My suspicion was that these were added last year when the Wonder did some cruises along the California Coast that had a Pixar theme – as these bottles are from John Lasseter’s vineyard.

Nice catch! Not being a wine person, I would not have had a clue there was anything unusual about this.

There are also some Venetian masks along the wall:

I saw these along the wall on the right in your earlier picture and they looked very interesting to me. Glad you chose to focus on them and give a better view!

The tour was all about the design of the ship, why certain things were done the way they are etc. It was all very interesting and I really don’t want to go into any details as I think it is an enjoyable tour to take if you are on a cruise and don’t want to spoil it for anyone. A few of the trivia I already new, but many things were new to me.

This does sound like it would be very interesting, but like you I would have also been confused about the length of the tour the way it was listed on The Navigator. Not sure I would have wanted to spend that much time either.

So whenever I see something of his, I am reminded of my wonderful vacation in Canada – which definitely ranks among the top 5 vacations in my life. And now it also reminds me of the fantastic cruise I had on the Disney Wonder – which has a spot in the top 5 as well. I guess I need to seek out places with Chihuly artwork in the future. This seems to be a good sign for my vacations!!

Sounds like you might be on to something there!

So we escaped… Just slowly walked away and left the rest of the group to themselves (we had lost others before). I felt a bit guilty about disappearing without thanking the CM doing the tour, but I also thought that if you advertise activities then you ought to let people know what they are in for. !!

Yes, I imagine that would have been a tough call, but I think you were certainly justified!

I did not head straight to the pool though. First I needed to stop by the DVC desk. Remember that I still had no DVC lanyards? At the reception in the morning they said that we ought to have gotten a box with DVC lanyards. So I went to the desk, told the guys that I was still without DVC lanyard. And they gave me a cardboard box with a pirate Mickey theme which had four lanyards in it. They also gave me the DVC gift of the day which was a pirate Mickey pin. So now I could exchange my “illegal” Silver Castaway Club lanyard for the red DVC Member lanyard!!! I think I also gave one to Michael and Katharina got one, too, so that she is prepared when she goes on her first cruise and does not have such a horrible lanyard-free time as I had!!!

Glad you finally got your lanyards, and that they did a little extra for you after the wait!

It did look dirty, but I actually think it is not dirt in there, but it is all the oil based sunscreen in there which is not soluble in water that makes it so murky. However, I also managed to find quite a few straws in the water and thought that that was rather silly… Why do people lose those in the pool?

Maybe the straws get blown in by the wind from the floor?

This is what I was thinking.........but then with people, you never know!

So I did not use a hair drier the whole trip and that worked great. Especially on the ship the humid sea air and the wind made my hair actually look pretty good all the time! If you have natural curls, I would suggest to embrace them while you are on the cruise, don’t try to tame them!!

Nice to know it is possible for a woman with curls to actually be able to tame them..............

But he says that the show is quite a bit different – from what I understand it does not have the back story that I had problems with and is much more straight forward. I think I would like that better. So I guess I need to plan a trip to Hong Kong to find out…

That's the spirit!!! Glad you have a plan. I hope there is also some Chihuly artwork there to make the trip one of your best!!!

 

[wiigirl]

Great update and pics!

 

[twinmom]

The Bellagio in Las Vegas has a lot of Chihuly. Google it. It is wonderful to look at.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Sorry about your tour... I too like to know what/how long I'm getting into something for...

I can only imagine the humidity and with curls-the best thing is too embrace them... in Florida too

I was laughing when I read earlier about Cool Whip- I guess that wouldn't translate very well culturally - I'm personally not a big fan ... although I know many people are... Give me real whipped cream any day...

It's really interesting reading a Cruise TR-especially since you haven't been on one before... so I'm enjoying your observations... So far it seems like the positive are far outweighing the negatives... (I can't wait to hear about your Palo dinner...

 

[Poolrat]

I also stopped by the bathrooms there before our tour would start, they are very very nice as well!!

I like the bathroom pics.

I did not head straight to the pool though. First I needed to stop by the DVC desk. Remember that I still had no DVC lanyards? At the reception in the morning they said that we ought to have gotten a box with DVC lanyards. So I went to the desk, told the guys that I was still without DVC lanyard. And they gave me a cardboard box with a pirate Mickey theme which had four lanyards in it. They also gave me the DVC gift of the day which was a pirate Mickey pin. So now I could exchange my “illegal” Silver Castaway Club lanyard for the red DVC Member lanyard!!! I think I also gave one to Michael and Katharina got one, too, so that she is prepared when she goes on her first cruise and does not have such a horrible lanyard-free time as I had!!!

I am sorry you had to keep going back but glad you got your DVC lanyard. I know I would have gone back multiple times myself.

It did look dirty, but I actually think it is not dirt in there, but it is all the oil based sunscreen in there which is not soluble in water that makes it so murky. However, I also managed to find quite a few straws in the water and thought that that was rather silly… Why do people lose those in the pool?

The heat, sunscreen, lotions and just general dirt being blown or tracked in makes it murky. The smaller the pool the harder it is to keep up with the use. I hope you found it clear the next morning.
Straws? blown in, tracked in or if they are clear hard to see when you are drinking in the pool.

.

So I did not use a hair drier the whole trip and that worked great. Especially on the ship the humid sea air and the wind made my hair actually look pretty good all the time! If you have natural curls, I would suggest to embrace them while you are on the cruise, don’t try to tame them!!

I gave up trying to tame my curls a few years ago. My hair is healthier now than when I was using the hair dryer every day. Still a mess but healthier.

.

So I went from feeling slightly embarrassed about the back story to truly enjoying the singing and dancing.

Glad you enjoyed well at least half the show.

 

[glennbo123]

Twice in that last update I saw things in pictures that I thought I was going to be able to tell you something you didn't already know (the Lasseter wine and the Chihuly glass) and then you go and explain them in your narrative. Well, I should have known better.

Wow, the ship looks gorgeous...even those bathrooms.

Maybe I mentioned it here already, or maybe it was Cynthia's TR, but I work with a guy who used to be an accountant on-board one of the Disney cruise ships. Seems like a great job, but I'm guessing that the time away from family got to him.

 

[eandesmom]

The Navigator listed the following under “Adult Activity Highlights”:


The tour was all about the design of the ship, why certain things were done the way they are etc. It was all very interesting and I really don’t want to go into any details as I think it is an enjoyable tour to take if you are on a cruise and don’t want to spoil it for anyone. A few of the trivia I already new, but many things were new to me.

We wanted to do that tour but it never fit in, I would not have been happy nor would have Jeff, had it gone on so much longer than advertised, or at least without the CM stopping and mentioning that it was supposed to end now but for those who are interested I am happy to keep going. Or something like that!

It is designed by an artist called Chihuly. And he always reminds me of a wonderful vacation that I had in Canada in 2003. I visited friends in Vancouver whom I had met at university in London were we all were in the same masters program. I stayed with them for a bit and also did a tour of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the National Parks there. And my friend and I went for a short excursion down to Tacoma, Washington to see the Museum of Glass because she wanted to visit the museum, but nobody in her family could be convinced to go (or was not deemed old enough as a three year old and a museum filled with glass don’t go together very well). At the museum is a “Bridge of Glass” that exhibits artwork designed by Chihuly. I had never heard of this artist before, but I think his work is very distinctive. So whenever I see something of his, I am reminded of my wonderful vacation in Canada – which definitely ranks among the top 5 vacations in my life. And now it also reminds me of the fantastic cruise I had on the Disney Wonder – which has a spot in the top 5 as well. I guess I need to seek out places with Chihuly artwork in the future. This seems to be a good sign for my vacations!!

Well you need to come visit me then! Amazing chandelier at the Symphony Hall and an entire new exhibit at the Seattle Center. Actually you can find his stuff all over town, I love it!

I did not head straight to the pool though. First I needed to stop by the DVC desk. Remember that I still had no DVC lanyards? At the reception in the morning they said that we ought to have gotten a box with DVC lanyards. So I went to the desk, told the guys that I was still without DVC lanyard. And they gave me a cardboard box with a pirate Mickey theme which had four lanyards in it. They also gave me the DVC gift of the day which was a pirate Mickey pin. So now I could exchange my “illegal” Silver Castaway Club lanyard for the red DVC Member lanyard!!! I think I also gave one to Michael and Katharina got one, too, so that she is prepared when she goes on her first cruise and does not have such a horrible lanyard-free time as I had!!!

I don't use lanyards so I am somewhat amused by the lengths you went to but didn't they give you the basic one at least to start?

I love that pirate mickey pin, it is so cute!

Next I headed up to the adult pool where Michael was already. He had not wanted to come along to speak with the DVC people… When I got there the pool was still rather crowded, but around 4:30pm people were quickly leaving and soon the pool was nice and uncrowded. The water though was very murky. It did look dirty, but I actually think it is not dirt in there, but it is all the oil based sunscreen in there which is not soluble in water that makes it so murky. However, I also managed to find quite a few straws in the water and thought that that was rather silly… Why do people lose those in the pool?

Ick! Very few people used the pool on our Wonder cruise (and those that did were all from the Northwest) but ICK! I will say on the Dream that pool was so crowded it might not have surprised me to see straws and the like. That is so rude, especially given that it's an adult only pool.

It has some kind of back story which I found to be rather contrived. In between however were very enjoyable scenes with Disney music from various films. So I went from feeling slightly embarrassed about the back story to truly enjoying the singing and dancing. If the show did not have that split personality, I think I would have enjoyed it much more. Michael has been to Hong Kong Disneyland and the Golden Mickeys is an attraction there. But he says that the show is quite a bit different – from what I understand it does not have the back story that I had problems with and is much more straight forward. I think I would like that better. So I guess I need to plan a trip to Hong Kong to find out…

I found some of it contrived as well but agree with the split personality and that the good and entertaining did outweigh it the part that felt forced.

 

[Flossbolna]

After the show we headed down to the room to get dressed for dinner at Palo. Michael also still had to shower. Somehow it took me longer to get ready than him?!?! I have to admit that I also had quite a bit of a fight with my dress&

The previous winter (11/12) one of my favourite stores had this dress on display that I liked so much& But I really had no use for any long formal dress. But that was when I booked my first cruise (the booking that got changed around so many times) and I thought that it would be a great dress for formal night as it was made with a material that would travel well. Still, I had no idea whether I really would go on that cruise that was booked for one and half a year away. But then I saw that this dress did not sell very well as it kept hanging there& And then around February 2012 the dress started to be reduced. Still I thought it was silly to spend that much money on a dress without any real purpose. But then it came down to half price and started to look like a really good deal. I tried it on and while the larger size fitted better, it was also longer and I thought too long. So I went with the smaller size that was really tight  thinking that if I would go on a cruise where I could wear it for formal night, I would have a great incentive to lose weight before&

Then spring and summer 2012 came, life was stressful and I actually put on weight instead of losing it!! But any cruise was still far away. And then in the fall 2012 the cruise plans became more firm, however I ended up on the 5 night cruise that does not have a formal night, but something called optional dress up night. From reading here on the DISboards I gathered that most women would dress more in cocktail dresses than long dresses, so I kind of never thought about bringing this dress along. But still, I wanted to lose weight (just because it was sensible), even though it was no longer necessary for the dress. And with some setbacks (like Christmas), I did mange to lose about 14 pounds between September 2012 and April 2013. A few weeks before the cruise when I was trying summer clothes on, I also tried on the long dress. I was back at the weight where I could fit into it! And was a bit sad that it would make no sense to bring it on the cruise. I mentioned this to Michael on the phone and he told me to bring whatever  if I felt like dressing up, he thought the cruise would be a perfect opportunity.

So thats what I did! Since our optional dress up night did fall on our Palo evening, the dressing up seemed a bit moot anyway as people dress up for Palo (and it has a dress code, but mainly no shorts, jeans or t-shirts I think).

Ok, after this long story about my dress, I better show you a picture of me in the dress  even though it is from after dinner:

Michael was dressed very nice, too. He had brought a black suit and white shirt.

We headed up to Palo and were greeted by the manager of the restaurant, Dragan from Croatia. He was very excited to hear that I am from Germany as he speaks fluent German and does not get many chances to practice this skill. He was very nice and immediately led us to a wonderful table at the window. We were then also greeted by our server Sasha, also from Croatia. He was the most wonderful server I ever had. I am not sure how to explain this, but there is a certain attitude of politeness that is part of the culture in the former Empire of Austria and Hungary (which included Croatia when it existed). It is something which for Germans is especially noticeable in Austria as they speak the same language there, but use it in a way that is much more pleasant and less blunt as we do in Germany. And even though we were on a cruise ship aimed at the American market and were speaking English, it seemed as if some of that came through and got mixed with the American way of service which I often admire as well. It seemed like it was a mixture of the best of the Old and the New World. And I guess thats a lot of words to try to tell you that Sasha is a fantastic server!!

I was also impressed that he told us that he was already on the maiden voyage of the Disney Magic and only had transferred to the Disney Wonder 7 months ago as he wanted to travel to Alaska.

I found it very interesting that both Sasha and Dragan were from Croatia  and so was our head server Josip and one of the servers at lunch was from Croatia, too. It seemed like there were disproportionally many servers from the tiny country on this ship. I asked Dragan about this and he told me that there were even I think two or three other Palo servers from Croatia and he told us that they just have an excellent school in Croatia for a high level of service. But whatever the reason was, I really liked my Croatian CMs on this cruise!!

We took some time to read the menu:

And I discussed some options with Sasha as I really wanted to try the risotto and he suggested that I could have it as a second starter. We also ordered a bottle of red wine with the meal, the Kingston Oregon Pinot Noir, which I think is on the standard wine menu, not on the special Palo one.

However, dinner at Palo first starts with a serving of antipasti:

These were brought out on a cart and from there Sasha put our plate together, which was for both of us to share. After we had finished he offered to bring us more. It was all very delicious, but we did not want to spoil our appetite for the other things that were going to come!! In the pictures it all looks a bit too colourful, but it was actually really high quality antipasti, not the stuff you can get at the supermarket.

I had the Tuna Carpaccio and Lemon Oil Dressing, Thin Slices of Ahi Grade Tuna brushed with our Chefs Special Lemon Oil:

I love tuna  especially raw. Its my favourite fish for sushi and this was just excellent! The carpaccio was really thinly slized, the lemon oil was a nice addition without being overpowering. It was the perfect start for the meal!

Michael had the Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Polenta with a Roasted Shallot Sauce, A light creamy Polenta served with Grilled Portobello and Parmesan shaving

This was a much earthier dish than mine and it is served warm. He liked it a lot (as he did with all his dishes at Palo, so I am not going to repeat this). I got to taste a little bit and it was extremely flavourful. The polenta was nice and creamy. I am thinking of ordering this dish next time when I am at Palo as it was so good.

For the next course we changed roles. I got something warm with mushrooms: Wild Mushroom Risotto Served Creamy with Freshly-shaved Parmesan and a Chianti Reduction

I like risotto and I like mushrooms and this was an excellent combination. There was a generous amount of parmesan on top which was shaven, but Sasha brought extra parmesan to freshly grate over my dish.

Michael went for the lighter fare: Fresh Arugula Salad with our special Palos Dressing

I must say that I did not try this dish, so I can add nothing besides that Michael thought it was wonderful. Ok, I just remembered, that I ate the cucumbers which were good, but standard. But I also think that I am a bit arugulad out. One of our typical lunch places has an arugula salad with a vinaigrette dressing which is one of my standard lunch options (I had it today), so there is nothing special in arugula to me anymore&

Sasha also brought out a pepper grinder for every course. While I am no fan at all of this (thanks to my father being possibly slightly allergic to it and therefore hating pepper being ground at the table) Michael thought it was wonderful as he loves pepper. You can see from the plate that it is sprinkled with pepper.

After our second starter we were served some sorbet  I think it was lemon:

The black ball on top is a blueberry. This was nice and refreshing. And then we were served our main course.

Michael had chosen the Cianti Braised Beef Ravioli en bordo tossed in a Red Wine Reduction with oven-roasted Carrots and Celery:

While this dish was widely popular with Michael, it would not have been anything for me as I hate root vegetables and braised beef.

My choice was instead Our Beef Tenderloin Palo Topped with Gorgonzola Cheese or Palo Signature Barola Red Wine Sauce. I chose the cheese, but Sasha suggested I get the red wine sauce as well. Since I am not such a huge fan of sauces on my steak I opted to get it on the side.

This was just wonderful. The steak was perfectly cooked, very tender. It was served with crushed potatoes that seemed to have been boiled in some beef or vegetable stock and had soaked up that taste as well as with some spinach. The wine sauce was nice, I had a little bit with the potatoes, but really thought that the dish did not need any. The gorgonzola cheese went very well with the beef and the potatoes. All in all I would say an extremely flavourful dish where every component brought something different to the table and it all worked very well together. I will have a hard time ordering a different entrée when I am at Palo the next time.

I think Sasha had given us the dessert menu before our main course was served  as the Palo speciality is the chocolate soufflé and this takes some time to prepare. However, Michael and I liked the sound of the Zabaglione with Sangiovese-infused Berries made with Marsala Wine and Biscotti Chips:

And if you were looking properly at this picture, you could see another dessert in the background. That is the chocolate soufflé  which Sasha suggested that we ought to get anyway despite wanting something else for dessert. So we got one to share between the two of us. There is no way escaping the food on a cruise! I was very happy with the suggestion as it meant that I could get the dessert that truly appealed to me as well as try the one that everyone talks about.

The Zabagione was delicious, but it was heavier than I had expected it to be. I am used to it being very light and frothy  more like a foam. This had more substance to it, but was still very delicious. The thin piece of dark chocolate on top was delicious as it was infused with orange  so went very well with the candied orange on top of it.

The chocolate soufflé was good, too. It had the typical warm chocolate taste to it which I often found very overpowering. But I could tell that it was high quality chocolate. I did not really like the chocolate sauce though, that was far too sweet for my taste. The vanilla sauce on the other hand added a lot to the soufflé in my opinion. However, while I could tell that this was a higher quality soufflé than the one I had at Tritons the day before, I still liked Tritons better. I am just a citrus lover  and would always pick the citrus dessert over the chocolate one.

We ended the meal with a complimentary little lemony drink:

I cant really tell you much about it as by that time I was so full that I could not really appreciate it very much. It was however rather sweet.

With that we were ready to be rolled out of Palo after a most excellent and wonderful meal where everything was near perfect&

And we even had somewhere to go to. It was just before 10:30 pm (our dinner started at 8pm, but I never felt like we waited for a long time, it just took that long). And at 10:30pm there was a show by the illusionist Scott Pepper, whom we had seen in the show the first evening, at the adult club Wavebands. Michael thought that this could be fun, so thats where we headed to. We arrived shortly before the show was about to start and it was already rather crowded in the club. But we were able to find a free small table (here the seating is not in rows, but at tables) more towards the back. The show was quite impressive as he did some of these truly classic tricks (he sawed a woman in half for example) which I had never seen performed live. I think I expected it to be more adult in nature, but in my opinion the show just as it was could have been performed for a family audience  but then maybe I just did not understand some of the jokes? Here we were surprised that the show was only half an hour  even though that is exactly what the Navigator said.

Since it was only 11pm after the show we headed back up to the top deck for a walk (we might have changed out of our formal clothes for that though&). It was mild and warm outside and just a beautiful night. There was the most amazing moon  huge and bright orange. I tried to take pictures, but they all turned out a bit wobbly. This is the best:

And with that the first full day of the cruise ended and I was so happy that we would have three more days of this  and whished it could be many more.

Next: Fishies!

 

[Flossbolna]

I didn't know you went on a tour, so finally some suprises

I am happy to surprise you!!

I think it's strange that they didn't mention how long the tour would be. But maybe, they don't have a fixed time and carry on, as long as people keep up with them? But I guess then thy would have mentioned that at the beginning of the tour. But it is nice to know that this means you don't know everything about the ship yet, as you didn't go on the whole tour...

I have no idea what it was supposed to be like.

Okay, I vote for early morning swims.... Maybe the straws get blown in by the wind from the floor? I know it's crazy as the water in pools, even with all the stuff that might be in there, are still "cleaner" because of the chemicals, but I prefer the lakes around here.

Lakes are lovely, but I guess this is just one of the things you need to live with on a ship... I don't think it was much worse than our public pool here in the middle of the summer.

Interesting DH has an Uncle a very close Uncle that lives in Tacoma... Maybe a vacation there is in order..

I think that whole area is a wonderful spot for a vacation! We drove down along the coast line and it was spectacular!

I agree, not that I have natural curly hair what I don't get is why so many people that do have natural curl want to have straight hair. Its not that great. I wish I had some natural curl. Unfortunaly by the time I came along all the natural curl genes went to my older siblings... I got stuck with the straight fly away hair...

Whenever I get a hair cut, I do get the hairdresser to straighten my hair. Just because I love how different I look. And yes, as a kid my dream was to have straight dark brown hair instead of my blond curls.

I would have not gone in.. seeing oil on the water would have grossed me out.. and the straws are probably people not cleaning up after themselves. I'm with Katharina I'd rather swin in the lake..

It wasn't so bad that you saw oil on the water, the water was just clouded, not very clear...

I'm glad you finaly got your lanyard.. nice update..Looking forward to more.

Yeah, somehow those lanyards became very important to me...