Get Off The Ship - we are running out of towel animals! Update 10/25 Day 31

[jedijill]

Karin...hope you feel better soon!

I've never tried dinner at cabana's...looks like a nice low key experience. A nightcap at Skyline is a nice way to wrap a day!

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

Well at the moment both are booked !

Everytime i sit here and start to read any of your trip reports it brings me back to all the fun we had together back on the cruise we had together !!
and with that being said it was great to hear you guys had a great time and
Please get well soon PIXIES for that speedy recovery and be careful !!!!
I so cannot wait for our cruise after seeing all these delicous pictues dinner looked so great and those drinks are amazing and look tasty . and that was one big lobster with glasses :O) I so cannot wait to hear more feel better and talk to you soon XOXOXO

Jeff, we feel just like you and talk about the days we spent together so often. We truly had a magical time.

Your cruise will be here before you know it, Jeff. And it will be a wonderful cruise for all of you.

Karin...hope you feel better soon!

I've never tried dinner at cabana's...looks like a nice low key experience. A nightcap at Skyline is a nice way to wrap a day!

Jill in CO

Thank you, Jill!
I guess staying home with "nothing" to do apart planning our next Disney vacation will help my recovery.

I can highly recommend Cabanas! The food is a mix from all the dining rooms, with an extra steak thrown in and the service is just outstanding. AND, it is so nice and quiet up there.

It was awesome to sit and chat with our new British friends. And it was such a nice and relaxing way to finish the evening.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 13, August 19

A trip to Hell and back - Part 1

We were up by 7.30am, got ourselves ready and were out the door to head down to the Royal Court for breakfast by 8.15am.
And after a quick stop at the reception desk we were led to a table, handed a menu and told that a server would be with us shortly. We both didn’t really need the menu as for today we both had known what we wanted to order before we had set foot in the restaurant.
So once the server came by Tom ordered some coffee and I ordered some orange juice. We needed a hearty breakfast, as we were signed up for an excursion that day. So it did not take long and our usual breakfast starters arrived and Tom tucked into his



Swiss Bircher Muesli, Muesli with raisins, shredded apples and yogurt and I indulged in my wonderful



Mornin' Tug Boat, a fresh blend of strawberries, bananas, almonds, raisin granola and low-fat yogurt. Our hot breakfast was my favourite there,





the Traditional Eggs Benedict, toasted English muffin with grilled Canadian bacon, served with poached egg topped with hollandaise sauce, grilled roma tomatoes and link sausages, which we both ordered and enjoyed.
After breakfast we went back to our stateroom and got things ready for our excursion. Bags packed and everything ready to go we then headed to deck 13 to watch the ship dock at Grand Cayman.





It looked so different from islands we had visited the week before, it was flat and reminded us of Nassau. And while we still tried to get a closer look of the island and the tender boats that were already waiting we were treated to something we had never seen before. A cast member came out and started polishing the ship’s bell.







This was our twelfth cruise and I had never before even noticed the bell there. It was so fun to watch him polish it over and over again until it was all shiny and looked like brand new. Then he pulled up the DCL flag and another signal.





And while all that was going on we had gotten to our anchor point and the ship dropped anchor. Right after that had happened the tenders moved closer and closer to the Fantasy













and we knew that soon it would be time for us to get to the D-Lounge and sign in for our excursion.
We slowly walked back to our stateroom, gathered all our things, double checked and off we went to the D-Lounge. We signed in and were asked to take a seat until our group was complete and about 5 minutes later we all followed a cast member down to sign off the ship and get onto the tender.



We found a seat on the top deck and waited until they had filled the boat to the limit and were soon on our way ashore.





Once we had made it to dry land we followed a cast member holding up a paddle to one of the buses.


There were two buses and the way it looked they filled up the first one and then directed everyone still waiting to the second one.



Yes, score again, as the second bus was nowhere near to get full and most people were having a full seat to themselves. Once we were all seated we were off.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[eandesmom]

what a fun picture of the bottom of the hot tub! The tub was packed when we were there, as was the pool so we never ventured in.

Excited to see where you are off to on your excursion!

 

[dizneeat]

what a fun picture of the bottom of the hot tub! The tub was packed when we were there, as was the pool so we never ventured in.

Excited to see where you are off to on your excursion!

The tub and Satellite Falls were packed during the day too, but I guess having so much time on a b2b we just picked a really good time to hit the tub and Satellite Falls - when half of the ship was to see the show and the other half was having dinner.

Update to this TR coming soon!
We have just come up with a fun title for our February vacation and I need to finish the intro before going on here.

 

[dizneeat]

I started the TR for our February vacation!

Here's the link:
"Did you feel pressured to provide only EXCELLENT ratings?"​

 

[RGirl]

Hi Karin! Welcome back!! Sorry to hear you are sick.

I really enjoyed reading about your dinner at Cabanas - we have never tried that option for dinner. But I am sure we will on a future cruise! I love that we have several options on DCL.

We really enjoyed the Aladdin show too - it was the first time we had seen it.

Your drinks look wonderful! But hey! You got ahead of me again!!! I may have to try to get an update done tonight so I can take us up to this morning as well.

Mmm - Royal Court breakfast. Love that place! I really loved seeing all the pictures coming into port as well.

And now I need to go check out your latest TR as well!!!

 

[perfectmatch300]

OK, I'm all caught up here now! I can't wait to read the rest of this report because this is the cruise we did this past fall. Also, we are headed to Grand Cayman for a week this coming May, We did stop there on our cruise, but I spent my time under water on a scuba excursion and DH stayed aboard ship. Needless to say, we did not get to see much of the island! I am in the process of planning our activities for the week, so I am interested to see what you did and how you liked it.

I hope you are feeling better now. Having the flu is no fun at all. for a speedy recovery.

Nancy

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Karin! Welcome back!! Sorry to hear you are sick.

Feeling a lot better already, but a little more rest and DIStime cannot be beat, can it?

I really enjoyed reading about your dinner at Cabanas - we have never tried that option for dinner. But I am sure we will on a future cruise! I love that we have several options on DCL.

We really enjoy it up there. Not many people seem to know about the option of having dinner at Cabanas and so you most often get a really nice and quiet dinner with all the great menu items.

We really enjoyed the Aladdin show too - it was the first time we had seen it.

We saw Aladdin for the first time at DCA and I was in awe. It was such a beautiful show. So when we got on the Fantasy I just HAD TO see it. It was the only show we saw on both cruises.

Your drinks look wonderful! But hey! You got ahead of me again!!! I may have to try to get an update done tonight so I can take us up to this morning as well.

We just loved those bars - lots of yum drinks there.
Don't worry of me being ahead - you will VERY soon be ahead of me given the pace I update.

Mmm - Royal Court breakfast. Love that place! I really loved seeing all the pictures coming into port as well.

We rarely have breakfast anywhere else on the ship. You cannot beat being served, can you?

And now I need to go check out your latest TR as well!!!

Yeah! Seems like I cannot live with about three reports at the same time.

OK, I'm all caught up here now! I can't wait to read the rest of this report because this is the cruise we did this past fall. Also, we are headed to Grand Cayman for a week this coming May, We did stop there on our cruise, but I spent my time under water on a scuba excursion and DH stayed aboard ship. Needless to say, we did not get to see much of the island! I am in the process of planning our activities for the week, so I am interested to see what you did and how you liked it.

I hope you are feeling better now. Having the flu is no fun at all. for a speedy recovery.

Nancy

It's a great itinerary isn't it? Even though I was not really impressed with Costa Maya, but they seem to let go of that in the future.

We really enjoyed the excursion here. It was fun and I am looking forward to get back to the island soon.

Thank you for your well wishes. It was kind of a bummer at first being sick right after a vacation, but at least I can catch up on much needed sleep.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 13, August 19

A trip to Hell and back - Part 2

Once we were all seated we were off.



First we learned that they still drove on the “wrong” side of the road – yes, the Cayman Islands are British. Our driver pointed out a lot of sights,







cute old houses





and we were able to get some peeks out onto the sea.





And after about half an hour we had reached the first one of the major sights of the trip – HELL!







The bus stopped in front of the Hell post office









and we all got off to see the famous rock formations.

















It was pretty impressive to see those dark grey spikes rising from the ground.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[Leshaface]

Ugh, the black truffle pasta is AMAZING! I need to try and find a recipe to replicate it at home.

Your drinks at the Skyline lounge look delicious.

Oh wow, those rock formations are kind of creepy but cool at the same time!

 

[veggiemama]

Haha - I was wondering why your day was titled a trip to hell? Now I get it!

This is making me want to take a cruise to Cayman Island - the rock formations are very cool!

 

[jenseib]

I hope you are getting back to normal. Being sick really sucks!

What a wonderful evening with your friends. sometimes just sitting and chatting can be just so much fun. Thats what I like about the longer cruises...you can have more time to relax like that.

I finally tried eggs Benedict for the first time...and I was hopeful, but i didn't like them. Oh well, at least I tried them.
I have some friends that I talk with often and we say we are driving a bus to hell....I think our meaning is different though.

 

[RGirl]

Karin,

You crack me up thinking that you are a slow up-dater. When you're not off on another holiday, you are crazy-fast with the updates! Now that you have another TR going though, I can't imagine that you could help but slow down the pace. I can't even fathom trying to do two TRs at the same time!

Loved seeing the pics from your excursion.

 

[annmarieda]

So you went to Hell and it actually looked beautiful.

Great update! So glad you are back! I missed you when you were away.

 

[dizneeat]

Ugh, the black truffle pasta is AMAZING! I need to try and find a recipe to replicate it at home.

It is one of my favourite foods on the ship and I order it every time.

Your drinks at the Skyline lounge look delicious.

They were! They were a bit different from the usual "stuff", but so disneylicious.

Oh wow, those rock formations are kind of creepy but cool at the same time!

They were even more beautiful than what they look like in the pictures - very impressive.

Haha - I was wondering why your day was titled a trip to hell? Now I get it!

I didn't keep you guessing long, did I?

This is making me want to take a cruise to Cayman Island - the rock formations are very cool!

We really enjoyed our stop at Grand Cayman, it was really nice there and so different from the stops on the Eastern itinerary.

I hope you are getting back to normal. Being sick really sucks!

I am a lot better already, going back to work on Monday.

What a wonderful evening with your friends. sometimes just sitting and chatting can be just so much fun. Thats what I like about the longer cruises...you can have more time to relax like that.

It was so nice to connect with friends we seemed to have known for a long time, but never got to know in person.
They are European, so we got a lot to chat about.

I finally tried eggs Benedict for the first time...and I was hopeful, but i didn't like them. Oh well, at least I tried them.

Jen, not everything is for everyone. Eggs Benedict are so European. There are quite a few US things I tried and will never ever touch again - Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and rootbeer come to mind.

I have some friends that I talk with often and we say we are driving a bus to hell....I think our meaning is different though.

 

[dizneeat]

Karin,

You crack me up thinking that you are a slow up-dater. When you're not off on another holiday, you are crazy-fast with the updates! Now that you have another TR going though, I can't imagine that you could help but slow down the pace. I can't even fathom trying to do two TRs at the same time!

Loved seeing the pics from your excursion.

I might be a bit more on the ball, now that I am home, but wait until I am back at work.

Oh yeah, several trip reports at the same time ...... and I still owe you all the rest of the Paris TR.

So you went to Hell and it actually looked beautiful.

It definitely did! And it looked even better out there. The photos don't really do it justice.

Great update! So glad you are back! I missed you when you were away.

Ah, Ann, you are just too nice! Thank you!

 

[annmarieda]

Ah, Ann, you are just too nice! Thank you!

I will admit that I have been considering stepping away from dis. You and a few others here though are the reason I stay.

 

[dizneeat]

I will admit that I have been considering stepping away from dis. You and a few others here though are the reason I stay.

Oh, please stay with us, Ann, it would not be the same without you.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 13, August 19

A trip to Hell and back - Part 3

It was pretty impressive to see those dark grey spikes rising from the ground.
Our next stop was the Turtle Farm.







Not quite what we would have chosen to visit, but it was part of the tour.







We stopped at several ponds and watched the turtles,









some really big ones and some baby ones,





then walked around a bit and finally got some turtle food to feed them. The little bag turned out to be kind of a lot of food and the turtles were happy to slurp it all in.









After an hour we walked through the shop to cool down a bit and to pick up some more postcards and a bottle of water before we went outside into the heat again. We passed a tree and saw another quite big Iguana sitting in it.





And after taking even more pics we finally made it over to our bus.





It took about another 10 minutes until everyone was on the bus again, a mother and daughter being the last ones and they seemed to be in no hurry to get on.

To be continued ............ ​