From the Sea to the World - Holiday Edition - Completed

[sager1969]

I have been reading along and love your whole report! We leave on the fantasy soon and it really helps. I have a few comments on the last updates.

1. Bacon tragedies are sad, but I am sure some sea animal enjoyed it.
2. Love the addition of Michael's perspective. Maybe I will try that with my DH. He thinks this whole 2D friend thing is weird. I have made some good friends this way.
3. Love the pictures! Your are very detailed and it is appreciated.
4. I could never take a cruise to get it out of my system. My DH and DS would rather cruise the go to the parks. I promised them a 2 year break. I have made it one year and am already trying to figure out how to squeeze it in this year. I won't but reallllllllly want too.
5. I have managed to not have a rough cruise wind wise. I get off balance when I first get on board and then sway for a couple of days after. I am not sure how I would be after your kind of cruise.

Can't wait for the rest!

 

[franandaj]

Based on your information, I shall have to try both venues for breakfast on our cruise. I am a breakfast fan, and in the mornings!

I love seeing the pictures of the ship. When I finally sail on her, it will give me an idea of what to expect.

I usually find special holiday drinks to be overly sweet and not to my taste.

I always love to listed to presentations by Disney Imagineers and other executives.

I have yet to try the Rainforest Room, but I hear wonderful things about the ones on the Dream and Fantasy. I might have to try it on this next trip.

I too enjoy Ouzo, and my maternal Grandfather was the youngest of his family who emigrated from Germany. He was the only US born child. So perhaps there is something to people of German heritage liking the drink, or maybe just liking Anise flavor! I really can't wait to have a drink in that bar. I've heard to much about it.

 

[Poolrat]

A lovely time at the spa. Sounds so relaxing and blissful. Both drinks looks interesting, but I think I might be only part German that would not like ouzo. Don't like licorice.

 

[Steppesister]

I am running out of steam in replies, but did get through the reading. I just gotta say I figured out the multi-quoting feature and love, Love, LOVE it! So easy-peasy!

So I will utilize that hopefully tomorrow before my all-nighter Clinical starts.

 

[podsnel]

Hello my new-DIS-tutor! Better late than never, i guess? So, I am busy catching up, but just wanted to say-
I hope Michael's father is feeling better now-
I completely understand his mother's horror at serving you an out-of-a-box Thanksgiving meal- that is a BIG deal, this meal, especially when you are treating someone from another country who has never had it before AND she is your son's girlfriend; it should be perfectly homemade and delicious- I hope you are coming back this year to give your boyfriend's mom another shot! Or just come here! I will feed you!!
Thank you for posting the Christmas decorations at Vero- so pretty to see! I have been twice- it is so quiet and relaxing there- I would love to stay in one of the cottages some day! And the CMs who have checked me in there have ALWAYS been fantastic. VERY VERY nice.

Ok, back to catching up!

 

[eandesmom]

The rocking was fine while onboard. It wasn't so much fun a week later at EPCOT or IOA. I didn't sleep particularly well, but I generally don't even at home. M seems to be able to sleep peacefully no matter the conditions around her. I could see her sleeping through the start of the zombie apocalypse!

Spoiler: An idea for your next cruise...

I've had that happen twice now. First time lasted two weeks and was pretty debilitating. 2nd time...a month. The 2nd time was actually kind of pleasant at first and then just super annoying. Ever since then I've taken Bonine every day while on the cruise, and haven't had the rocking happen off the ship once. It's only been 2 cruises, a 4 day and a 7 but both, esepcially that 4 day, had some rough sea patches so it's a decent data point. Something to consider.

The mere thought of food just does nothing for me until I have been awake at least two hours under most circumstances.

I'm with you on the at least 2 hours but can't agree on the breakfast part.

It's actually best for all if I don't speak to anyone until I'be been awake for 2 hours...and have had coffee.

I just prefer to think of it as Brunch.

When I left I took some pictures of the fountain that is in the middle of the restaurant and one of the head servers working there for breakfast came over and offered me to take a picture of me with the fountain:

Love those booths!

Oh – and see those “Caution” signs. Not sure if they are there always, but they were certainly needed as the ship motion caused the fountain water to escape.

Seems like a fountain on a cruise ship may not have been the most practical idea

Disney just recently changed the rebooking offer. You now can just reserve a placeholder that is no longer attached to a certain cruise, you pay a 200 $ deposit and then you can move it to whatever cruise you want to take at a later point in time, as long as you sail within 24 months. The great thing is that your future cruise fare will be reduced by 10% and you will get a 100$ or 200$ onboard credit to spend on that future cruise depending on length of the cruise. However, when we sailed you had to book a specific cruise and pay a 10% or 20% deposit (depending on cruise length) on that particular cruise. So, I had done some research beforehand and had determined that the cruise to book with the lowest possible deposit would be one of the Southern Caribbean sailings the Wonder was doing from San Juan in January 2016. We thought that the itinerary looked great and thought that this might even be an option we could be interested in. So that’s what I booked.

I really wish I'd had an inkling they might change it. The 20% required at the time was just more than we wanted to spend on a long shot. 24 months makes a big difference and I would have booked under the new plan. Oh well.

I have to say that I think deck 4 is much nicer on the classic ships. Since it is less deep, you feel more connected to the ocean. And on the classic ships the deck itself is real teak and that is just much prettier than the fake teak.

Agreed, very very much so. I'd kind of forgotten until our last cruise and then remembered how much we loved our strolls on the deck.

When we got there the tile loungers were all taken, so we started with the other stuff. I totally loved the showers and the different programs. One that was called “Caribbean Rain” was my favourite as it had a sound effects with birds chirping and also a lovely smell. Some of the showers have programs that include cold water, but I would suggest that you warm up in the sauna or steam room first and then use those, that’s lovely and refreshing!

Slowly the area emptied out a little and we found our spaces on the heated tile loungers, spent some time in the hot tub, went back under the showers etc. It was so wonderfully relaxing! I loved the Rainforest Room as it is so much brighter than on the classic ships! Michael loved it as well and I managed to convince him to skip the main show this evening which was another show by the Atlantic City Boys. We watched the sun set from a hot tub and left at around 6pm. By then it was getting dark and I could tell that the whole area would look amazing in the evening as well, it was lovely lit up!

It was great. Blissful. Tranquil. You pick the adjective. I could use one day a week like that -- or even one a month!

I really need to do this one day, it sounds perfect.

I loved my cocktail, but Michael hated his. I had been a bit surprised that he ordered a cocktail with ouzo as I would have thought that this would not be his taste. But I did not want to question his choice and assumed that he knew what ouzo tasted like. Here in Germany when you eat at a Greek restaurant, they will always serve you a glass of ouzo with the bill, so I think everyone knows what it tastes like. It is anise-flavoured and therefore has a very distinct taste, it is similar to the French pastis. Well, Michael took one sip and then told me that his cocktail had a very strange chemical taste, I think he said it tasted like medicine. Not surprise there on my side, that’s why a lot of people don’t like ouzo. Lucky for Michael I do like ouzo and offered to swap our drinks. Lucky for him the cilantro in his drink was not muddled and everywhere in the drink. It was just floating on top and could be easily removed. While I like ouzo, cilantro was the reason why I ruled out that drink.

The drink sounded very good. But I hadn't had ouzo and I doubt I ever will again. I think you need to be Greek or ... perhaps German to enjoy that!

I love ouzo...I love licorice. Very much in the minority though and super surprised to see it as an option. Glad you could just pull the cilantro out, the concept of the 2 together, to me, is not appealing.

 

[Flossbolna]

I see I have some reading for Wednesday night! Yippee! Tonight though, I"m headed to bed early, as my first exam for the term is at 8:00 AM. It's 100% about Labor and Delivery, Gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, etc... so I really need to get a good nights sleep in case something I don't quite get will "gel" as I sleep. Yes, truly, sometimes in a dream that actually does happen to me.

Tomorrow, Mike's sister and family will be over for dinner, so family time. But I am totally looking forward to reading this and catching up.

Hope you have found some time to relax since your exam!!

Yes, we tend to either go to the pool first thing in the morning or during the early show/ dinner. So I don't think we would have any issues with crowds. Graham likes swimming laps though. He manages that on the Wonder and Magic, but this would not be an option on the Dream and Fantasy.

Yes, laps would be rather impossible in that pool. However, I once had it for myself and kept swimming in circles in the deep round bit in the middle. That worked surprisingly well!

I finally got to see Aladdin at DCA in November. For all the times I have been there, I never made the time to watch this. I would not have done it on this trip either, but our VIP guide talked us into it. I am glad she did. I absolutely loved it.

Seeing Aladdin at DCA is really high on my list for my next visit there! I am usually not a show person at all, but after seeing it on the Fantasy and recently watching the film again, I really want to see it! I think I saw Aladdin when it came out in the cinema in the German version with Thomas Gottschalk as the Genie!!

What a shame. The photos we got in front of the Christmas tree on the Magic in 2013 are some of my all time favourites.

The next update will make it quite clear why we did not get any pictures...

Dinner looked lovely and the candy is a really nice touch.

I think it is interesting that they incorporated it for that night. I loved the Enchanted Garden menu, but it seems to be very unpopular in general on the cruise board here. Not sure why.

I can imagine hiding up there with a good book. It looks like the perfect wedding venue.

I think that is the main use now: weddings.

I hope the hot dogs on the Fantasy are as good as on the Wonder.

Michael loves DCL hot dogs and he would have complained loudly if this one had not been the usual quality. So I would say, yes they are as good!

That sounds like the kind of space that I would love to hang out.

I think for you the Vista Cafe would be the perfect spot to sit in-between character meet and greets!

This sounds like my idea of paradise.

I had very high expectations of the Rainforest Room - and it did manage to exceed them! It was so wonderful!

I think you may be on to something with the German thing. I quite like Ouzo and I am German by birth.

But I know enough Germans who don't like ouzo...

I really enjoyed all the photos. They have come out great and the Fantasy is a really beautiful ship.

I often wished that I had taken even more pictures. I have so few of the adult area. But it is difficult to photograph as it is dark in there.

 

[Flossbolna]

I wish I'd had time to see Aladdin in DCA. I've heard so many good things. And I agree with Michael that anything is better than the Toy Story musical.

You will be back at DCA! You still need to get on Indiana Jones!

I am with the two of you on Toy Story. And I was at least smart enough to know how bad the show is after the first time I saw it. Michael went to see it for a second time to make sure that it was not worth seeing. He would not believe me that this was a case of second chances being totally useless.

I hate this all the time! This is why men end up always talking about sports. It's one of the few subjects we all have in common with strangers.

I love the British in that regard: They can always talk about the weather and they do it in such a civilized manner!

So Katharina might Hulk out at some point? Cool!

Not sure how happy she is about that image...

And does this mean all of us are invited to come to Berlin and make Rice Krispie treats?

I would suggest that when you and your family come, we should change the venue and make Rice Krispie treats in my kitchen here in Nuremberg. There might be a space issue if all 6 of you want to be in her kitchen at the same time...

Hey, careful there. I know what happens when Disney elevators reach the 13th floor.

I would hope Michael would at least nudge you awake as he runs out the door.

One would hope - but then it might be less painful to just sleep through the whole thing.

I would be popping Dramamine pills like candy.

Not a good seaman?

With Disney pizza, there is Via Napoli...and everything else.

Still haven't tried Via Napoli, but I know that the general rule is to avoid Disney pizza.

I have no idea what you just said.

Think Beverly...

 

[Flossbolna]

I have been reading along and love your whole report! We leave on the fantasy soon and it really helps. I have a few comments on the last updates.

I am happy to hear that you find the trip report useful!

1. Bacon tragedies are sad, but I am sure some sea animal enjoyed it.

Oh, I hope some fish really liked it!

2. Love the addition of Michael's perspective. Maybe I will try that with my DH. He thinks this whole 2D friend thing is weird. I have made some good friends this way.

My sister Katharina and I did our first trip report in that style and it was a lot of fun!

3. Love the pictures! Your are very detailed and it is appreciated.

I wish I had taken more pictures, there are some areas where I really missed out.

4. I could never take a cruise to get it out of my system. My DH and DS would rather cruise the go to the parks. I promised them a 2 year break. I have made it one year and am already trying to figure out how to squeeze it in this year. I won't but reallllllllly want too.

Well, you will see how it worked out for us...

5. I have managed to not have a rough cruise wind wise. I get off balance when I first get on board and then sway for a couple of days after. I am not sure how I would be after your kind of cruise.

We will come to the after effect later on...

Can't wait for the rest!

Next update is around the corner!

 

[Flossbolna]

Based on your information, I shall have to try both venues for breakfast on our cruise. I am a breakfast fan, and in the mornings!

Oh, there is a third option!! I think I might have liked that third option the best...

I love seeing the pictures of the ship. When I finally sail on her, it will give me an idea of what to expect.

Before my cruise I read a lot of trip reports about the Fantasy, just for that reason!

I usually find special holiday drinks to be overly sweet and not to my taste.

You are right and I should have known better. I am not keen on the ones Starbucks has either.

I always love to listed to presentations by Disney Imagineers and other executives.

Yes, it is fascinating to hear all their stories! This one was interesting because it was about something totally new to me.

I have yet to try the Rainforest Room, but I hear wonderful things about the ones on the Dream and Fantasy. I might have to try it on this next trip.

I would suggest to pre-order a day pass. There are reports that they are more expensive if you buy them on the ship and sometimes they don't sell day passes at all.

I too enjoy Ouzo, and my maternal Grandfather was the youngest of his family who emigrated from Germany. He was the only US born child. So perhaps there is something to people of German heritage liking the drink, or maybe just liking Anise flavor! I really can't wait to have a drink in that bar. I've heard to much about it.

I think the German - ouzo connection is just a myth that Michael created!! There are enough Germans in Germany who don't like ouzo!

A lovely time at the spa. Sounds so relaxing and blissful. Both drinks looks interesting, but I think I might be only part German that would not like ouzo. Don't like licorice.

And there we have the proof that there is no German-ouzo-connection!! I hate licorice, but like ouzo...

I am running out of steam in replies, but did get through the reading. I just gotta say I figured out the multi-quoting feature and love, Love, LOVE it! So easy-peasy!

So I will utilize that hopefully tomorrow before my all-nighter Clinical starts.

The new multi-quoting by way of highlighting is fantastic! Makes things so much easier!! Hope your all-nighter went well despite not getting a proper nap in before!

 

[Flossbolna]

Hello my new-DIS-tutor! Better late than never, i guess? So, I am busy catching up, but just wanted to say-
I hope Michael's father is feeling better now-

He is doing great now! Thanks for asking.

I completely understand his mother's horror at serving you an out-of-a-box Thanksgiving meal- that is a BIG deal, this meal, especially when you are treating someone from another country who has never had it before AND she is your son's girlfriend; it should be perfectly homemade and delicious- I hope you are coming back this year to give your boyfriend's mom another shot! Or just come here! I will feed you!!

Thanks for the invitation!! So far we hope that Michael will spend the holidays in Germany again this year and then I will be back in the US for 2016.

Thank you for posting the Christmas decorations at Vero- so pretty to see! I have been twice- it is so quiet and relaxing there- I would love to stay in one of the cottages some day! And the CMs who have checked me in there have ALWAYS been fantastic. VERY VERY nice.

The beach cottages look wonderful! Great to hear that others had good experiences with CMs there as well. It somehow had such an overall happy vibe there.

Ok, back to catching up!

From your comments it seems that you still have quite a bit of catching up to do!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Spoiler: An idea for your next cruise...

Ok, you can't quote the spoiler with the mark up multi quote method. But I mainly just wanted to say that I will reply to your suggestion later! Don't want to create a whole side conversation in spoiler tags!

I'm with you on the at least 2 hours but can't agree on the breakfast part.

It's actually best for all if I don't speak to anyone until I'be been awake for 2 hours...and have had coffee.

I just prefer to think of it as Brunch.

I think you get up earlier than Michael - that's why he can then go directly to lunch! But those two hours of better not speaking to anyone sound familiar!

Love those booths!

I was hoping that Michael and I would be able to get one for lunch one day, but we never had lunch at Enchanted Garden.

Seems like a fountain on a cruise ship may not have been the most practical idea

It is not as bad as building a tiny adult pool hidden in some kind of hole with no sunshine...

I really wish I'd had an inkling they might change it. The 20% required at the time was just more than we wanted to spend on a long shot. 24 months makes a big difference and I would have booked under the new plan. Oh well.

Disney rarely takes back changes, so it seems like a lot of people thought the same way as you and their onboard bookings really dropped. I think the policy they have now makes a lot of sense and seems far better than the 18 months. However, with all your Run Disney events it will be a long time until you get back on a cruise ship anyway!

Agreed, very very much so. I'd kind of forgotten until our last cruise and then remembered how much we loved our strolls on the deck.

We only went for a walk once this cruise (well, two nights the deck was closed because of the weather anyway).

I really need to do this one day, it sounds perfect.

The Rainforest Room on the new ships is perfection!

I love ouzo...I love licorice. Very much in the minority though and super surprised to see it as an option. Glad you could just pull the cilantro out, the concept of the 2 together, to me, is not appealing.

If you like ouzo, this was a really delicious cocktail! You could always ask for them to leave out the cilantro. I hate cilantro anyway (however, I have started to learn to tolerate it in small doses), so having that in a cocktail is never appealing to me!

 

[Flossbolna]

Santa's Winter Wonderland Ball

Then it was off to dinner. Tonight we would dine in Royal Court with the rotational menu for that restaurant.

We were led to our table and I really liked the Snow White mural that we were seated in front of. I tried to take a couple of pictures of Michael in front of it, but he was not very cooperative (not only does he not like his pictures being posted, he does not even like them being taken…).

It just is impossible to capture my true essence, my true beauty with a simple photograph, so why try? (Huh??) Also, while I often take great action shots, whenever I have to pose and say 'cheese' the results are usually not great. Actually, they are shredder ready. I've never been a smile on cue and look happy kind of guy!

And still we managed to get quite a lot of really lovely pictures of the two of us together during our Panama Canal cruise vacation... Maybe me standing next to you helps you smile?!

We were greated by our servers and found a cute table setting:

Meible, our assistant server was really great. On our second night she came over and enquired if we wanted the same drinks as the first night. I think it was cherry coke for Michael and it was club soda for me. We confirmed that we wanted the same drinks and she immediately appeared with them, she had them prepared, but not served. I thought this was such a great way of doing that. From the third night on she appeared with the drinks immediately after we sat down. I had read about how servers already place drinks on the table after the first night for everyone depending on what they ordered the first night. The way Meible did it, she made sure that we were people who keep the same order every day and she always asked before putting the drinks down if this is what we wanted and thus giving us the option to tell her if we wanted something different. I actually think the preparing drinks is not only for the comfort of the guests, but it is also a way how servers make their own life easier as they don’t have to get into a huge rush at the drinks dispenser when the dinner starts. Meible even kept a carafe with club soda at her counter from which she replenished my drink regularly. It was great as it meant that I had a constant supply of bubbly water during my meal!

What I also liked was that she made the Cherry Coke with just the right amount of cherries. For those unfamiliar with the finer points of what carbonated and non-carbonated Coca-Cola brand products available on DCL, Cherry Coke isn't one. So, they have to make them the old-fashioned way, the right way. On our Panama Canal crossing, our server got a little carried away and it seemed like every one had 8-10 cherries in it. I felt bad throwing them away, but who wants to consume all of them times two or three drinks a meal?

We looked at the menu:

It is more or less the same as the rotational menu for Triton’s. Somehow Michael really struggled with what he wanted to eat. I guess there is only a limited amount as to how often you want to eat the same dishes.

The bread was served in a pumpkin coach bread basket and looked rather fancy:

While I approved of being served the speciality bread, I was disappointed by it. It was rather bland and did not even have a nice crust.

Michael ordered the onion soup:

I had the Duck confit:

I found this a bit too bland for being duck. But it arrived also rather cold, so that might have been the reason for the taste to not develop to its fullest.

We then both had the Royal Market Green Salad: Cherry Tomato, Cucumbers, Peppered GoatCheese, and a Raspberry Vinaigrette.

This salad was a little bit disappointing as the dressing was rather oily.

For his main course Michael decided to chose a vegetarian entrée, the Wild Mushroom filled Pasta in Vegetable Broth topped with Watercress, shaved Parmesan Cheese and Paprika Oil Drizzle:

He said those were very good and tasted fresh. I obviously asked him for his comments when writing my trip notes as I wrote down in English (my notes are usually in German) that everything on the Fantasy tastes fresh, fresher than on the Wonder. And that the food does not taste as if it was prepared in a giant cafeteria.

I went with the fish again and got the Oven-Baked Salmon Royal – Crowned with King Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Crust accompanied by sautéed Swiss Chard, truffle-infused Cauliflower Puree and White Wine Beurre Blanc. Since I don’t like cauliflower, I asked if that could be replaces with steamed rice (which is a side that is offered with the “Lighter Note Offerings”). Our server asked if it would be ok, if he just brought out the dish as it is and some additional rice. I was ok with that and that is what I got:

This was a huge portion of white rice!! The rice was very good though.

It also turned out that if you put truffle into the cauliflower, it becomes eatable… The whole dish was delicious! The white sauce that it came with was perfect! The salmon was a bit on the dry side, but not too bad.

We then got the dessert menu:

We really did not think long, as this is the menu with the best dessert options on DCL in our opinion.

Michael’s standard is the crème brulee:

And mine is the Grand Marnier Soufflé:

Hands down the best dessert in the main dining rooms! I told our server that I really loved the soufflé and he was ready to jump into the kitchen to get me a second one. But I was too full. I think on my next cruise I will not eat any desserts on the other days, but two soufflés!

Even after Michael’s original boredom with the menu, it turned out to be a very nice meal. We also really liked our table that had plenty of space around it. However, for some reason we found Royal Court to be far noisier than the other two dining rooms. In the end I liked this one the least of all the three on the Fantasy. I think my ranking would be in the same order that we ate in them: AP, EG, RC.

I would agree with all of M's comments above. I'd also say this was probably my second least favorite dinner in the seven nights. It was loud in there. The food was ordinary, raised only slightly by a good dessert (crème brulee they do well on DCL). BTW, I had to laugh as last week USA Today did a ranking of ice cream on cruise lines and rated DCL second of 10 because of its lousy (DQ is worlds better) soft serve available on deck. No, I'm sure the fact the writer likes free cruises had nothing to do with it. It is worth reading, though, if you're interested in my point about other lines having real variety. It pointed out Celebrity making 8-10 flavors a day fresh on the ships for instance.

After dinner we visited the shops where I finally decided on which t-shirt I was going to buy as a souvenir for myself. And then we headed to the atrium where at 10:15 pm there was Santa’s Winter Wonderland Ball. The Navigator for the day told us this about this event: “An evening of spectacle and holiday enchantment, join the Cruise Director and our holiday Snowbells as we celebrate the arrival of a very special holiday guest – Santa Claus! Get your cameras ready. You don’t want to miss Santa and the World Famous Disney Characters as the create a Winter Wonderland … at sea!”

This was a new event that was created especially for the season of “Very Merrytime Cruises”. DCL announced last year that they would have special Halloween and Christmas themed cruises in the respective seasons (and with Disney you know that Halloween starts in September and Christmas starts in November). I think it is a great marketing tool in a season that usually is kind of low season for cruising and offers the guests something special. There were other Christmas themed events like gingerbread house building, Christmas stories with Mrs Claus, a deck party with the Characters.

We arrived a bit late and did not get the best spot. But it was good enough and since a lot of the action takes place on deck 5, you can see pretty well anywhere from deck 4.

The show started with the Snowbells:

And then Santa arrived:

And then the Disney characters arrive in winter outfits:

And then it started to snow in the atrium:

It was all very cute and fun! A great addition to the cruise and very festive! Next to us was a young couple from Japan and they were quite in heaven seeing all the cute characters. I am pretty sure that there were photo opportunities afterwards, but we were not interested in those.

How many Duffys and Duffy/Shellie Mae/Gelatoni items do you think they own?

Well, more than you, but only just... I think they had several on them, I remember the lady having a Shellie Mae purse. And if anyone wonders: Shellie Mae is Duffy's girlfriend and she and Duffy are huge stars in Japan and at Tokyo Disneyland. Gelatoni I had to google myself: He (She?) is a cat that is a friend of Duffy.

The show took about half an hours and afterwards we headed back to our room to find this:

Somehow our room steward was not creating towel animals, but blanket animals for some reason. We liked them, whatever they were made out of!

I spent some time getting caught up on my notes while Michael was watching TV and then we got our stuff together for the next day. We finally were going to get on land again and had an excursion with an early start time…

Up next: Paradise!!

 

[eandesmom]

But I mainly just wanted to say that I will reply to your suggestion later! Don't want to create a whole side conversation in spoiler tags!

Spoiler Fail! LOL. Definitely do, it's helped me tremendously.

Disney rarely takes back changes, so it seems like a lot of people thought the same way as you and their onboard bookings really dropped. I think the policy they have now makes a lot of sense and seems far better than the 18 months. However, with all your Run Disney events it will be a long time until you get back on a cruise ship anyway!

That's exactly it, the rebooking deal got worse and worse and it made it simply not an option. It really didn't occur to me that they'd go back to something even better than the original plan.

It will likely be a long time before we cruise again. At some point in the not so distant future we will have to make a call on GASP Evan's last Disney trip before college. I fear we will have to go in summer. I'd prefer spring, or mid winter break but realistically, 7 days is a short trip when you lose 2 to travel and longer is better. Not to mention the crowds in mid winter are ugly. But I'll need to see what he want to do. A cruise as part of it would be nice, though I think we would all prefer a 7 day, I am not at all sure we can swing that plus WDW and Universal and we will have to include universal. So...a cruise will likely have to wait. At some point though I'll have to start crunching numbers but it is just 2 years out. GAH.

If you like ouzo, this was a really delicious cocktail! You could always ask for them to leave out the cilantro. I hate cilantro anyway (however, I have started to learn to tolerate it in small doses), so having that in a cocktail is never appealing to me!

I am not opposed to cilantro in certain things, especially Mexican dishes. But in a drink of any sort and combined with ouzo...not remotely appealing to me. Then again in general I'm not crazy about herbs in my drinks, especially when muddled. Something about leafy green things stuck to my teeth....

It just is impossible to capture my true essence, my true beauty with a simple photograph, so why try? (Huh??) Also, while I often take great action shots, whenever I have to pose and say 'cheese' the results are usually not great. Actually, they are shredder ready. I've never been a smile on cue and look happy kind of guy!

You and Jeff would definitely get along!

Michael ordered the onion soup, I had the Duck confit. I found this a bit too bland for being duck. But it arrived also rather cold, so that might have been the reason for the taste to not develop to its fullest.

I seem to recall the same issue with the confit and do think the temperature negatively impacted it. That onion soup looked good.

We then both had the Royal Market Green Salad: Cherry Tomato, Cucumbers, Peppered GoatCheese, and a Raspberry Vinaigrette.

I wish the raspberry vinaigrette trend would end.

Michael’s standard is the crème brulee:

I give DCL major props on their creme brulee. It is in the correct dish, with the correct creme to brulee ratio. So often it is too much custard and not enough topping and the topping isn't carmelized just right. It is one of the better ones around, or at least for what I want out of that dish and I am not much of a dessert person.

It was all very cute and fun! A great addition to the cruise and very festive! Next to us was a young couple from Japan and they were quite in heaven seeing all the cute characters. I am pretty sure that there were photo opportunities afterwards, but we were not interested in those.

That show looked adorable and a wonderful way to get in the holiday spirit.

I don't get the whole Duffy, Shellie May, etc thing. Especially with adults. That said...Gelatoni is kinda cute.

 

[glennbo123]

I thought the place setting was really cool, but I must confess, I have no idea what animal the blanket-animal is!

 

[Steppesister]

Cormorant reading the magazine?

I've spent all day studying, and then 2 hours on an assignment. As much as I'd love staying up to read more, and comment appropriately, I need to go to bed. Seems I am STILL in recovery mode from Thursday night.

Promise I'll be back just as soon as I can!

 

[nodnol]

I'm FINALLY cought up! Maybe I should have stayed at home over easter to catch up with the disboards...

Again, I learned something for our cruise in June: let you check the weather conditions outside first, before I take my breakfast outside, as there will be lots of bacon on it!

But I know enough Germans who don't like ouzo...

Me too! I like it, but more pure or only with water or ice. I think Michael's drink would be a wast of good ouzo and good bourbon.

So Katharina might Hulk out at some point? Cool!

Not sure how happy she is about that image...

You should ask my husband whether I Hulk out, he might have a different opinion on that than me.

And does this mean all of us are invited to come to Berlin and make Rice Krispie treats?

I would suggest that when you and your family come, we should change the venue and make Rice Krispie treats in my kitchen here in Nuremberg. There might be a space issue if all 6 of you want to be in her kitchen at the same time...

What she said. I would love to show you around in Berlin, you could even camp out in my living room, but maximum occupancy for my kitchen is 3,5 persons…

I've never been a smile on cue and look happy kind of guy!

I thought small kids in the US learned that even before speaking?

Magdalene, I loved your updates and all the detailed pictures. Regarding the food, I'm with Liesa, I don't have to cook for a whole week and get warm food served while sitting down? This sounds really appealing to me!

 

[dolphingirl47]

And mine is the Grand Marnier Soufflé:

I wish I could have one of those right now. I am not normally keen on the DCL desserts, but I love this one.

And then it started to snow in the atrium:

I would have loved to see this.

Santa’s Winter Wonderland Ball

This sounds like a very nice event.

Corinna

 

[Steppesister]

The new multi-quoting by way of highlighting is fantastic! Makes things so much easier!! Hope your all-nighter went well despite not getting a proper nap in before!

Went pretty darned great! From 3-5 it was pretty hard, but doable. Ok, back to read...

I think the ravioli looks divine! I could eat it all day long!

The shows just look like so much fun. The venues really seem elegant and add so much to the atmosphere.

 

[TeresaNJ]

Finally caught up on your TR! We've been to WDW more times than I can count, been DVC members since 2001, but have never taken a Disney cruise. Doing our first one on the Dream next May, 2016! I'm really enjoying your report. Very detailed & descriptive, which is what I like! Thanks!