From the Sea to the World - Holiday Edition - Completed

[Flossbolna]

Mmm...Danish...

Oh, you mean the country.

Looks like a nice walk! I probably would have chosen that option as well.

Yes, I can see you dragging your poor kids through the baking sun...

Rub it in, why don'tcha?

There you see what I have to suffer through!! Add to that the constant complaining about it being so warm while I am freezing in a 45 degree "spring" weather... I think I deserve some snorkeling excursions as a trade off!

Looks the same as getting off the boat in Nassau. No thanks!

Other parts were really quite neat!

If you ever figure it out, please let me know!

I once read something about how people from different countries have different ideas of what they want to do for entertainment when on vacation. And supposedly shopping is very high on the list for Americans. I am not sure what Germans prefer - I think Germans are the one nation you find the most in really remote areas - searching for solitude. Of course not all of them - the other half of the nation enjoys roasting to a lovely lobster red on the beaches of the Spanish islands, drinking too much and singing embarrassing songs....

Looks like my buddy Extra Crispy from Kauai.

was he yummy?

Cool! I think I saw this fort on The Amazing Race once.

That's a TV show? So, I was in a famous spot!!

I'm glad it was fun! It definitely looks better than the Aqua Dunk. At least it's a longer ride.

The Aqua Duck is really similar to Crush and Gusher, but a bit slower. It is really nice as it does give you time to enjoy the view from up there.

Gorgeous! I bet it was nice watching the island light up at night.

It was really lovely! It is so strange to have those short days, but have warm weather. To me short day equals freezing weather.

Sorry you missed it. It's a good movie. Not great--I found it somewhat predictable. But very entertaining.

I am sure I will catch it at some point - maybe on a cruise in a few years time!

I don't think there's much you can do to improve upon pineapple. Apparently Disney doesn't, either.

Have you ever had flambéed pineapple? Put sugar on top, pour rum over it and then light it. Be carful with the lighting the alcohol though! Don't let Drew do it!

 

[Flossbolna]

Arriving in San Juan

December 3

The next morning we did not have to meet for an early port adventure, so we slept in a little and got up at 9am to start our day in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Since it was a port day we both got up and when Michael opened the curtains he was very excited. Directly next to us was the MSC Divina and his parents just had been on a cruise on her at the beginning of November (paying about 1/4 of what we paid for the Fantasy...).

It may have even been less than that. And they loved the ship. And they have cruised with DCL before, but never MSC.

This was the first view of her from our balcony:

When we left our cabin, I noticed that the room next to us had a new magnet out stating that this was the 365th day they spent on a Disney cruise ship (obviously over the years, not consecutively). I was kind of in awe, but am not sure that I would want to cruise that much, even if I had the money and the time.

I am starting to think that may be healthier than the people who live at the WDW parks to avoid life. At least the ship moves and goes places, things change. Space Mountain and Small World and Dumbo do not. And since I have spent 32 nights at sea with DCL in a little less than two years ... wait, nope, 365 days is definitely too much.

(just a note as I am not sure that our readers are even aware of that phenomenon that there are not so few people who seem to live in Orlando and their main purpose appears to be to visit WDW nearly daily. As much as I love WDW and often wish I could often more regularly like certain Florida residents, I agree with Michael that there should be more to your life than being among the first to tweet about a new attraction/restaurant/coffe mug etc.)

I convinced Michael to do something very unusual for him: Go and eat breakfast with me. The reasoning was that a good breakfast would be a good basis for all the walking we had planned to do in San Juan. So we headed up to Cabanas.

I was surprised how crowded it was. But we managed to get quite a nice table and proceeded to go and find some food. And I also scared a little boy! I am pretty sure I ruined his day, but it was quite necessary. I was at the pod with the pancakes and there were a few people in front of me. Directly in front of me was a boy that was about 8 or 9 years old, he was there on his own. When it was his turn, he took some of the pancakes with the tongs provided. Once they were on his plate, he realised that those were the pancakes that had nuts in them, not the plain ones. He made sure that there was something in them, by feeling them with his hand, he took one pancake and squished it. Once he was sure, he wanted to place them back onto the serving dish and I told him not to do that. He was very confused but I was very firm in telling him that he had to keep them on his plate. I explained why and said that he does not have to eat them, but that he was not allowed to put them back. He looked at me as if he was going to cry any minute... We had to wait for more plain pancakes to be put out (he and I both wanted the plain ones) and I waited until he had his pancakes and had disappeared with the ones he wanted as well as the ones he did not want, but had touched, to make sure that the touched ones did not make their way back onto the buffet.

I am generally proud of M every day she is in my life. But it is the little things, like this, that drive that poing home. Too many people simply watch as things fall apart around them or are done wrong and choose to ignore it. That child could have started a Norovirus outbreak. Sometimes, you have to parent other folks' kids, even if you'd rather not.

Oh, thanks!

I started the day with some fruit and one of the mango yoghurt thingies:

(in case you wonder about the two mugs, the second mug is for the tea bag once my tea has been infused long enough)

I think this is Michael's first plate:

The bowl has muesli with all kind of toppings. I have to say the muesli at Cabana was very good and the toppings bar had a great selection!

Loved it!

I got one of the fun divided plates for my second plate - that was when I went to get pancakes and scared the little kid!

All in all the selection was really good. And it was slightly more extensive than what you can get at Enchanted Garden. We also had a table at the window and had quite a nice view:

However, I remember that I did not really enjoy the breakfast there. I found it once again too crowded and I think the story with the little boy made me feel bad as well. In general I found that there were too many unsupervised children running around. When I had been there on a sea day, it seemed calmer than on this port day when we went there rather late. I would have thought that most people would already be on their way to explore Puerto Rico by then.

But I used the opportunity to take some pictures of the decorations in Cabanas. It has a general beach theme and one thing I really liked where the "sand castles" they had: reliefs of all the different Disney castles around the world made out of "sand":

Another neat feature is the wall of clocks that shows the time in the different Disney theme parks around the world. I liked this because I live in the same time zone as Disneyland Paris, so it always showed "my time" there!

We decided to take the scenic route back to our stateroom. Since we were forward and Cabans is aft, we had to walk the whole length of the ship. I had read before the cruise about how much bigger the Fantasy is than the classic ships and that it adds so much walking. We never thought it was too bad! We did not mind at all when we had to walk all the way to the back, it really was not more than one minute that was added (most likely even less).

The scenic route was up on deck and I took some artsy pictures of the Aqua Duck:

I also documented both pools:

Took some more pictures of the MSC Divina:

It was fun to check out the other cruise ship. I remember that I was impressed with the pool towels they had there. I think they looked bigger than the ones that DCL provides. Michael's parents really had enjoyed their cruise on the ship and my parents have friends who love MSC. It is an Italian cruise line that is quite popular here in Europe. I think Michael's parents commented on the food that there you could tell their Italian origin as the Italian dishes were very good, the other food was not so exciting though. They have recently started to get into the American market and have the Divina stationed in Miami year round now.

They are offering some great deals too. I hope to check them out at some point.

We continued on up on deck all the way to the front to get a first glimpse of San Juan from the ship.

This was a good chance to take some pictures of the Satellite Falls area, the additional adult area with the very flat pool with waterfall:

And I also had to take a picture of this sign:

And then we got our first good view of San Juan:

In the top right, up on the hill where there is a lot of green, is one of the two forts of San Juan: Fort San Christobal.

San Juan was a very important port in the trade routes across the Atlantic. In the time of sailing ships, this was the first place where the ships would arrive due to the way the wind blows across the Atlantic. It is a very sheltered harbour, so perfect. Of course being an important port also meant that it was of interest to many people and therefore needed strong defenses. Therefore there are two large forts directly in the Old City. San Christobal to defend the approach to the harbour entrance and Fort San Felipe del Morro to defend the actual entrance. Today both forts are National Parks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Our plan for the day was to explore the forts and Old San Juan.

Here is a zoomed in picture of Castillo San Cristobal:

Walking down to our stateroom to collect our stuff to head out to San Juan I saw this lovely picture in the stairwell:

And I took a picture down one of the hallways with the concierge staterooms:

Looks far more posh than where we were staying! (Interesting maritime language tidbit: The British adjective "posh", which means "fancy, elegant", supposedly is an acronym for "port out starboard home" as a cabin designation on the ocean liners between England and India. It was the preferrable location as it would mean that your cabin was mainly on the northern side of the ship and therefore out of the sun and hence cooler. So the rich people would have the "POSH" cabins...).

We got our stuff and headed out, where I proceeded to take a picture of our balcony from the dock:

We were on the level that is the highest one that kind of "groups" the balconies. And on that we were in the first one that runs the full length, just about in the middle.

The anchor looked like it was about to go down:

And getting out from where we docked, there was a great opportunity to take a picture of the Disney Fantasy and the MSC Divina:

Up next: If you had been from Mainz...

 

[GoofyFan1515]

The Virgin Islands…………I need to get out more! As usual, your little history lessons were quite interesting.

You call a pelican “wildlife?” I thought little crabs that walk sideways were wildlife…………

Michael, I know exactly what you mean about thinking about what might be going on at home. No matter how relaxing a vacation can be, or how short, there are still things that linger on the mind.

Pirate Night looks like it could have been a pretty good event. Sorry it didn’t seem to pan out, and that you didn’t enjoy your meals better! Some of the dishes sounded really interesting and looked very good……..but apparently not quite as good as it looked or sounded.

I agree with the philosophy that there can be too much of any good thing! I certainly look forward to exploring other things this world has to share outside of the Disney “world.” This new DIS “update” has certainly afforded me the opportunity to spend more time in other places than I used to be able to, so I guess to a certain extent the update was an improvement………….

So cool that you two actually got to share breakfast together. That seems like quite a rarity. And I agree with Michael in being proud of you for dealing with the pancake situation. Since the little boy was at the buffet on his own, which I’m sure at his age is a big no-no, I have to wonder if his parent’s would have done as admirable a job of dealing with it like you did!

There is something about having Disney “fruit” for breakfast that really appeals to me also! I’m sure it isn’t any better than fruit elsewhere, but it sure seems to be.

I really like all of the sandcastle…….uh, castles!

 

[eandesmom]

But maybe you need to follow @eandesmom and her strategy - she got her DH cruising with a cruise to Alaska. I could see your DH liking that as well.

I need to go catch up but I did want to add....it worked so well he has been on three total now!

 

[eandesmom]

I am fairly sure that I missed an update and need to go back but what the heck, I'll jump right in here anyway

Directly next to us was the MSC Divina and his parents just had been on a cruise on her at the beginning of November

I think this may be the line that Happydog and her family went on a few years back. They really liked it (in Italy)

When we left our cabin, I noticed that the room next to us had a new magnet out stating that this was the 365th day they spent on a Disney cruise ship (obviously over the years, not consecutively). I was kind of in awe, but am not sure that I would want to cruise that much, even if I had the money and the time.

I am starting to think that may be healthier than the people who live at the WDW parks to avoid life. At least the ship moves and goes places, things change. Space Mountain and Small World and Dumbo do not. And since I have spent 32 nights at sea with DCL in a little less than two years ... wait, nope, 365 days is definitely too much.

365 is too much, in the parks OR on a ship

(just a note as I am not sure that our readers are even aware of that phenomenon that there are not so few people who seem to live in Orlando and their main purpose appears to be to visit WDW nearly daily. As much as I love WDW and often wish I could often more regularly like certain Florida residents, I agree with Michael that there should be more to your life than being among the first to tweet about a new attraction/restaurant/coffe mug etc.)

The idea of being able to go whenever you want is not all that appealing to me, either in CA or FL. I'd like it to be easier to go more frequently but every free moment or most weekends? Every opening of everything? There is just so much more I'd like to do with my time.

I waited until he had his pancakes and had disappeared with the ones he wanted as well as the ones he did not want, but had touched, to make sure that the touched ones did not make their way back onto the buffet.

That is a bit young to be unsupervised like that, it's a fine line at that age and really depends on the child. As a parent you'd hope your kids would know better but I can tell you from experience occasionally they pull things and you are like "what?" how could you think that was ok???

Ick. Poor guy but thank you for stopping him.

The bowl has muesli with all kind of toppings. I have to say the muesli at Cabana was very good and the toppings bar had a great selection!

That was my favorite thing at Cabanas or the buffet on any of the ships, they all seemed to offer the same set up.

I remember that I did not really enjoy the breakfast there. I found it once again too crowded and I think the story with the little boy made me feel bad as well. In general I found that there were too many unsupervised children running around.

If we ate outside it was usually much better, something about being inside made me slightly claustrophobic and I think a lot of it was proximity to viewing the buffet pods and the general craziness and unorganized kids everywhere. Which I expect on a DCL cruise especially at the buffet, I just don't need to see it while eating.

San Juan! Looking forward to your day there.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Yes, I can see you dragging your poor kids through the baking sun...

Well, I can't afford to pay for any other ways to travel!

There you see what I have to suffer through!! Add to that the constant complaining about it being so warm while I am freezing in a 45 degree "spring" weather... I think I deserve some snorkeling excursions as a trade off!

Absolutely! No one should have to suffer like that!

That's a TV show? So, I was in a famous spot!!

Yes--The Amazing Race is a "reality" show in the U.S. Several teams of 2 are sent on a race around the world. They have to follow clues and perform various tasks in different countries that typically have to do with that particular culture. For the most part, it's a lot of fun and we enjoy watching it for the chance to see all of the scenery from different parts of the world. However, I couldn't watch it this season because they tried to turn it into a dating show--all of the teams were either in a romance or a blind date. That was a disaster. Hopefully the next season will get back to the basics.

Have you ever had flambéed pineapple? Put sugar on top, pour rum over it and then light it. Be carful with the lighting the alcohol though! Don't let Drew do it!

No, I haven't tried that. But now I want to!!! And we'll make sure to give Drew the alcohol without lighting it. Thanks for the tip!

When we left our cabin, I noticed that the room next to us had a new magnet out stating that this was the 365th day they spent on a Disney cruise ship (obviously over the years, not consecutively). I was kind of in awe, but am not sure that I would want to cruise that much, even if I had the money and the time.

No thanks. I would like to have the money to be able to do that, though.

(just a note as I am not sure that our readers are even aware of that phenomenon that there are not so few people who seem to live in Orlando and their main purpose appears to be to visit WDW nearly daily. As much as I love WDW and often wish I could often more regularly like certain Florida residents, I agree with Michael that there should be more to your life than being among the first to tweet about a new attraction/restaurant/coffe mug etc.)

I could not agree more! Variety is the spice of life.

And I also scared a little boy! I am pretty sure I ruined his day, but it was quite necessary. I was at the pod with the pancakes and there were a few people in front of me. Directly in front of me was a boy that was about 8 or 9 years old, he was there on his own.

Poor guy...but you did it for the right reasons.

(in case you wonder about the two mugs, the second mug is for the tea bag once my tea has been infused long enough)

I just thought you really needed your coffee.

The scenic route was up on deck and I took some artsy pictures of the Aqua Duck:

For a second I thought a giant tidal wave was about to crash onto the ship!

In the top right, up on the hill where there is a lot of green, is one of the two forts of San Juan: Fort San Christobal.

I know what I would want to explore!

Our plan for the day was to explore the forts and Old San Juan.

Great minds think alike!

Looks far more posh than where we were staying! (Interesting maritime language tidbit: The British adjective "posh", which means "fancy, elegant", supposedly is an acronym for "port out starboard home" as a cabin designation on the ocean liners between England and India. It was the preferrable location as it would mean that your cabin was mainly on the northern side of the ship and therefore out of the sun and hence cooler. So the rich people would have the "POSH" cabins...).

I had no idea, but that's a neat tidbit!

 

[dolphingirl47]

When we left our cabin, I noticed that the room next to us had a new magnet out stating that this was the 365th day they spent on a Disney cruise ship (obviously over the years, not consecutively). I was kind of in awe, but am not sure that I would want to cruise that much, even if I had the money and the time.

That is impressive. I have to admit, if I had the resources, I could imagine aspiring to this. Going to the parks every day on the other hand would wear thin pretty quickly.

I would have thought at that age the boy would have know better. Well done for intervening.

San Juan is on our to do list so I am looking forward to see more.

Up next: If you had been from Mainz...

This intrigues me. I am not from Mainz, but quite close and this is my favourite German city.

Corinna

 

[franandaj]

You really have been updating! The Pirate Night menu never has anything on it that looks appealing to me. After having done one Pirate Night and dressing up for it, I'm over it. I do enjoy the fireworks, but just can't get into the food and hate to be in large crowds.

I am not sure that our readers are even aware of that phenomenon that there are not so few people who seem to live in Orlando and their main purpose appears to be to visit WDW nearly daily. As much as I love WDW and often wish I could often more regularly like certain Florida residents, I agree with Michael that there should be more to your life than being among the first to tweet about a new attraction/restaurant/coffe mug etc.)

There are people here in So Cal like that too. There was a guy who was written up in the Orange County Register about how he visited Disneyland every day for a year. I could do that, but I have far better things to do with my life. Also by not going often it makes me really really really look forward to being there. Even if I don't go to a park, just staying at the hotel, and looking out into the park is fun for me! We'll see how I do on not actually going in in a few days.

He was very confused but I was very firm in telling him that he had to keep them on his plate. I explained why and said that he does not have to eat them, but that he was not allowed to put them back. He looked at me as if he was going to cry any minute...

This is just unbelievable, first that the parents let the kid go to the buffet unattended and that they don't even train their kids proper manners any more! That's just rude. Good for you for speaking up!

I got one of the fun divided plates for my second plate - that was when I went to get pancakes and scared the little kid!

I love the divided plates. On my TRs there are constant jokes about how I don't like my food to be "touching" and these plates are the best way to do that!

Looks far more posh than where we were staying! (Interesting maritime language tidbit: The British adjective "posh", which means "fancy, elegant", supposedly is an acronym for "port out starboard home" as a cabin designation on the ocean liners between England and India. It was the preferrable location as it would mean that your cabin was mainly on the northern side of the ship and therefore out of the sun and hence cooler. So the rich people would have the "POSH" cabins...).

Thanks for the little bit of history and language tidbit!

And getting out from where we docked, there was a great opportunity to take a picture of the Disney Fantasy and the MSC Divina:

Nice shot! I like seeing all the shots of the ship that you take. Someday.....

 

[Steppesister]

Got myself caught up through your latest chapter. Yay me! So many ports; so many opportunities to see new places and take fun walks! I think I'd love to see the history just as much if not more than the cruise experience itself- I mean the onboard stuff like shows and meals and spas and pools, etc...

Michael, I'm with you. I don't care for one bite to eat until nearly 10:30. Anytime before that, I just have ZERO appetite; but when I DO get hungry I want REAL food. Hot, meaty, lunchy type stuff. So I don't blame you a bit for wanting to sleep in and skip it altogether.

 

[glennbo123]

You were right to keep that boy from putting food back onto the buffet, but I'm sure he was a little stunned!

Looks far more posh than where we were staying! (Interesting maritime language tidbit: The British adjective "posh", which means "fancy, elegant", supposedly is an acronym for "port out starboard home" as a cabin designation on the ocean liners between England and India. It was the preferrable location as it would mean that your cabin was mainly on the northern side of the ship and therefore out of the sun and hence cooler. So the rich people would have the "POSH" cabins...).

Yes! Have you ever seen "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"?

Great picture!

 

[nodnol]

Need to try to get your DH to upload a few pictures for me to use... Mine did not turn out so well.

Does he know that you need some pictures?

But I have 2 more updates ready to go and 2.5 more updates waiting to be sent off to be commented on by Michael!

I gave it to Katharina, so we should ask her: @nodnol, any chance you can take a picture of it and post it?

Yes, there is a chance. It's with all the christmas stuff, I'll try to take a picture on the weekend!

This intrigues me. I am not from Mainz, but quite close and this is my favourite German city.

I think Mainz is one of the few major German cities I've never been to. I guess I should pal to stop there next time I'm in the area…

 

[nodnol]

I enjoyed both your updates. Sorry, the pirate food was disappointing. But I guess it was still better than what real pirates ate…

Looking forward to the tour of the forts!

 

[Flossbolna]

May 1st is labor day in Germany and a public holiday. So, I am home from work. And in good May 1 tradition the weather is cold and rainy (after a week of nice warm days with sunshine when I had to work... ). But the good news for you is that I can get the trip report moving!! 5 weeks from today Katharina and I fly to Copenhagen to board the Disney Magic the next day! One of the strange things about cruise vacations is that they seem to require so little planning (all your transportation, accommodation and food is already taken care of) that I am much less inclined to actually do a lot of planning about the few things that need to be planned. And our flights to Copenhagen and hotel there have been booked for quite a while now... Feels strange. But then, this gives me time to work on this trip report!! We will see, if I am going to do a trip report about the Norway cruise though - maybe Katharina will do one and I will be her co-author and photographer...

The Virgin Islands…………I need to get out more! As usual, your little history lessons were quite interesting.

Oh, you definitely should get out to the Virgin Islands, I would highly recommend them!

You call a pelican “wildlife?” I thought little crabs that walk sideways were wildlife…………

Anything that is not a domesticated animal is "wildlife" in my book. Including the lovely Exmoor ponies on the British coast that tried to eat @nodnol when our father wanted to take a picture of her and the pony.

Michael, I know exactly what you mean about thinking about what might be going on at home. No matter how relaxing a vacation can be, or how short, there are still things that linger on the mind.

I am really lucky that I am someone who can easily forget troubles at home. However, the category that Michael had to deal with, I would not have been able to forget either...

Pirate Night looks like it could have been a pretty good event. Sorry it didn’t seem to pan out, and that you didn’t enjoy your meals better! Some of the dishes sounded really interesting and looked very good……..but apparently not quite as good as it looked or sounded.

I think part of my problem with pirate night is also my personal taste. There are some things on the menu that I just don't like very well. So that limits my choices.

I agree with the philosophy that there can be too much of any good thing! I certainly look forward to exploring other things this world has to share outside of the Disney “world.” This new DIS “update” has certainly afforded me the opportunity to spend more time in other places than I used to be able to, so I guess to a certain extent the update was an improvement………….

I am happy that you can see good sides the new DIS. I am sorry to see less of you, but I guess we just need to catch up on the phone soon, so I can hear all about your speed record!!

So cool that you two actually got to share breakfast together.

On our next trip I am expecting a few more breakfasts as it will involve quite a bit of sightseeing.

Since the little boy was at the buffet on his own, which I’m sure at his age is a big no-no, I have to wonder if his parent’s would have done as admirable a job of dealing with it like you did!

Thanks! I think he really just wanted to get some more pancakes and that might have been why his parents let him go on his own. It all would have been good, if there had been plain pancakes. He was just so confused about those being out.

There actually were quite a few kids at food outlets on their own. We once had two about 10 year old boys sitting at a table next to us eating fries when we had burgers and it was quite fun to listen to them trying to pretend being very grown up.

There is something about having Disney “fruit” for breakfast that really appeals to me also! I’m sure it isn’t any better than fruit elsewhere, but it sure seems to be.

Actually, the fruit on the Fantasy was really good, very good quality!

I really like all of the sandcastle…….uh, castles!

It is just such a neat whimsical addition!

 

[Flossbolna]

I need to go catch up but I did want to add....it worked so well he has been on three total now!

And it seems that he enjoyed the non-Alaska ones very much as well! So, @Steppesister should learn from that!

I am fairly sure that I missed an update and need to go back but what the heck, I'll jump right in here anyway

Don't worry! I am happy for any comment. I sometimes need to rather just start commenting on the newest update instead of thinking that I need to go back and comment on every previous one.

The idea of being able to go whenever you want is not all that appealing to me, either in CA or FL. I'd like it to be easier to go more frequently but every free moment or most weekends? Every opening of everything? There is just so much more I'd like to do with my time.

I think I could imagine living in Southern California and being able to do day trips to Disneyland. But I also think that that area has so much to offer, that I would not be tempted to hang out at DL every second evening and treat it as my local city park. In Orlando I get the feeling that all there is, is either theme park or similar type of entertainment. I would also not mind living in Paris and have an AP to DLP...

That is a bit young to be unsupervised like that, it's a fine line at that age and really depends on the child. As a parent you'd hope your kids would know better but I can tell you from experience occasionally they pull things and you are like "what?" how could you think that was ok???

Ick. Poor guy but thank you for stopping him.

Obviously I know very little about parenting, considering that I have no kids (and I try to do very little backseat parenting with my friends' kids as I feel that they should bring up their kids as they see fit. I just reserve the right for myself to see some of the kids more often than others... Depending on whether they are more , , or ). It is interesting that both you and Marv commented on the boy being too young. I got the impression that he was there just to get some additional pancakes and got confused because the normal ones were out. I don't think he wandered from pod to pod on his own.

That was my favorite thing at Cabanas or the buffet on any of the ships, they all seemed to offer the same set up.

I got the impression that Cabanas had the best selection of add ons to the müsli though. I am already looking forward to eating it on the Magic!! And to have @nodnol with me at breakfast to share maybe some pastries with her, so I don't have to end up eating a whole danish or donut myself!

If we ate outside it was usually much better, something about being inside made me slightly claustrophobic and I think a lot of it was proximity to viewing the buffet pods and the general craziness and unorganized kids everywhere. Which I expect on a DCL cruise especially at the buffet, I just don't need to see it while eating.

Cynthia, when I read the comment, I finally understood why Michael and I had such a different opinion!! You are totally right!! On that first lunch we sat at a table that was along the long bench that separates the seating area from the pods and the walk way. Michael sat on the bench with his back to the mayhem. I sat opposite him with a view of the chaos. I think that really is it! And the good thing about Beach Blanket was that the buffet line is kind of hidden away. So, as long as it is not too crowded with people desperately searching for places to sit, you have less general hustle. I need to make sure to let Michael have the seat with the view of the buffet the next time!

San Juan! Looking forward to your day there.

Coming up shortly!

 

[Flossbolna]

Well, I can't afford to pay for any other ways to travel!

Better to travel by foot than not at all!

Yes--The Amazing Race is a "reality" show in the U.S. Several teams of 2 are sent on a race around the world. They have to follow clues and perform various tasks in different countries that typically have to do with that particular culture. For the most part, it's a lot of fun and we enjoy watching it for the chance to see all of the scenery from different parts of the world. However, I couldn't watch it this season because they tried to turn it into a dating show--all of the teams were either in a romance or a blind date. That was a disaster. Hopefully the next season will get back to the basics.

Sounds fascinating. Need to try to catch it when I am in the US next time. And that whole dating thing sounds really stupid. I can understand why you stopped watching...

No, I haven't tried that. But now I want to!!! And we'll make sure to give Drew the alcohol without lighting it. Thanks for the tip!

Oh. I think something got lost in translation there...

No thanks. I would like to have the money to be able to do that, though.

Yes, I remember that you are not the most avid cruiser...

I could not agree more! Variety is the spice of life.

I told Michael about your travel plans for the summer the other day and we both were a bit envious about how you manage to put so much variety in your travels. We tend to do a lot of the same stuff... But this summer will bring new adventures for both of us!

Poor guy...but you did it for the right reasons.

After reading Marv's and Cynthia's comments I am starting to realize that it really was not my fault, but the parents who let the poor kid go on his own. He really tried to do his best...

For a second I thought a giant tidal wave was about to crash onto the ship!

I am not sure I would have been able to write about it if that had been the case!

I know what I would want to explore!

Great minds think alike!

I think you will love the next update!! And if Puerto Rico becomes the 51st state you are required to travel there with your kids anyway.

 

[Flossbolna]

That is impressive. I have to admit, if I had the resources, I could imagine aspiring to this. Going to the parks every day on the other hand would wear thin pretty quickly.

I think Michael's point makes sense: A cruise takes you new places, even if you keep your accommodation with you. The parks don't really change. But then the Disney ships seem to go mainly to the same places over and over again, so that makes the point a bit mute. On other cruise lines that offer world cruises, I think that sounds actually intriguing!

San Juan is on our to do list so I am looking forward to see more.

Coming up!

This intrigues me. I am not from Mainz, but quite close and this is my favourite German city.

I used to live in Frankfurt for two years and only went to Mainz once. But I do remember it being lovely.

 

[Flossbolna]

You really have been updating! The Pirate Night menu never has anything on it that looks appealing to me. After having done one Pirate Night and dressing up for it, I'm over it. I do enjoy the fireworks, but just can't get into the food and hate to be in large crowds.

I agree with you on the crowds and the food. And I am not even one for dressing up anyway...

There are people here in So Cal like that too. There was a guy who was written up in the Orange County Register about how he visited Disneyland every day for a year. I could do that, but I have far better things to do with my life. Also by not going often it makes me really really really look forward to being there. Even if I don't go to a park, just staying at the hotel, and looking out into the park is fun for me! We'll see how I do on not actually going in in a few days.

That is one of the things I like about the DIS. While most of us are pretty crazy Disney fans, we all have things in our lives besides Disney that are important to us as well. And I agree with you, going every day is just going to spoil the specialness of the experience.

Hope you are having a wonderful day of looking out over the park from your grand villa today!!!!

This is just unbelievable, first that the parents let the kid go to the buffet unattended and that they don't even train their kids proper manners any more! That's just rude. Good for you for speaking up!

I already mentioned it in other comments: I think the boy just went there to pick up a few more pancakes and was confused because they were out and he did not know how to deal with it.

I love the divided plates. On my TRs there are constant jokes about how I don't like my food to be "touching" and these plates are the best way to do that!

I actually don't mind my food touching if it is something that is meant to be eaten together. But with the divided plates I can get several "courses" so to speak on one plate. Very practical!!

Nice shot! I like seeing all the shots of the ship that you take. Someday.....

You will get on the newer ships!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Got myself caught up through your latest chapter. Yay me! So many ports; so many opportunities to see new places and take fun walks! I think I'd love to see the history just as much if not more than the cruise experience itself- I mean the onboard stuff like shows and meals and spas and pools, etc...

That's why my ideal cruise has a nice balance of sea days to enjoy the ship and relax and port days where you can go and explore. I will see how that works out on the next cruise where we start with one sea day, then have four days in port directly after each other and end with one day at sea...

Michael, I'm with you. I don't care for one bite to eat until nearly 10:30. Anytime before that, I just have ZERO appetite; but when I DO get hungry I want REAL food. Hot, meaty, lunchy type stuff. So I don't blame you a bit for wanting to sleep in and skip it altogether.

Yes, Michael certainly prefers lunch food to breakfast food.

 

[Flossbolna]

Yes! Have you ever seen "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"?

This was very funny!! I have never seen it. I think it was mentioned in that documentary about the Sherman brothers though that they wrote the music for this? Or am I getting things mixed up? It does sound like the Sherman brothers.

Great picture!

Thanks!! I liked the symmetry of the two ships tied up crosswise.

 

[Flossbolna]

Does he know that you need some pictures?

Ooops, maybe I should tell him...

I enjoyed both your updates. Sorry, the pirate food was disappointing. But I guess it was still better than what real pirates ate…

You will miss out on the pirate food. No pirates in the Scandinavian Seas. Only vikings (or more precise: Arandellians).