Day 13
This was the last of the 4 sea days in a row and we had another leisurely start to the morning. We had set the Mickey call in time for Walk A Mile, but I sent Graham off to this on his own and instead of workout clothes, I put on one of my gowns and my tiara. The second Princess Gathering of the cruise was due to take place this morning. It had an earlier start time of 9:00. I decided I may as well get in the spirit of things. When I got to the atrium about 30 minutes ahead of time, there were about half a dozen families already in line. Actually, they had not set up the lines yet. I staked out my spot. Once the princesses arrived, I did not have long to wait until it was my turn. They all got rather excited about my outfit. I managed to see all 5 of them before the next character set started at 9:15.
When I got up to deck 4 to meet Princess Sofia, she was all by herself with the photographer and her escort. Princess Sofia got very excited as our dresses matched and we were both wearing an amulet and a tiara. I got a bunch of photos from this interaction. I then sat down and waited for Suzy and Perla and was first in line for then. They were also fascinated by my dress and were smoothing out some ruffles. Once I had finished with Suzy and Perla, I headed back to the cabin to get changed into something a little more comfortable and got my book. I then joined Graham who was in his usual spot on deck 4 watching the world go by. I settled down with my book and that is pretty much where I stayed for the rest of the morning with one brief break to get some drinks from deck 9. While I was up there, I also had a hotdog, as I had not managed to have breakfast that morning. I really developed a taste for the hotdogs from Pluto's Dog House this cruise. At one point after I got back, one of my buddies from the entertainment staff came by. He told me that they were doing a rather special show that evening and asked me to come. I normally don't do the shows, but if I am asked that nicely, how can I refuse.
Around 13:00, we took our stuff back to the cabin and the headed up to Beach Blanket Buffet. I had my last tasting that afternoon and the hotdog that I had earlier would not have lined the stomach enough. Graham was in seafood heaven again. They had Peel and Eat Shrimp and Crab Legs. He also had some salad. I headed straight for the hot dishes. I had some Vegetable Fried Rice, Beef Stir-fry, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Pork Loin with Hoisin Sauce. Graham went back for some of the pork and some vegetables. I went to the station at the back of the buffet where they made some Chicken Chow Mein, which was rather tasty.
After lunch, I arranged to meet Graham after the tasting and then I headed off to the Cadillac Lounge. The tasting for that day was Tequila and Margaritas. Unfortunately that afternoon I was on quite a tight timetable and we started late, as people who had signed up did not turn up. So I ended up having to leave before we finished. This was quite educational again. I learned a lot about Tequila that afternoon. I had always known that the name Tequila is tied to a certain region in the same way Champagne or Cognac is. What I had not appreciated is that part of this region is in the state of Jalisco, where we were heading the next day. Indeed, the Patron factory is in the mountains near Puerto Vallarta. Patron was the brand we were sampling that afternoon. We started with a Patron Silver, which is the youngest of the Tequilas. We were encouraged to try it on its own and with salt and lime. On previous tastings, I had always avoided the salt and lime, but this time I decided to try it. It just confirmed that I much prefer it on its own. Next up was a Reposado. We were encouraged to try this with a slice of orange. Apparently this is how Tequila is drunk in Germany. I had never heard that before, but I rather liked it. We also got to taste an Anejo Tequila. Next up were the Margaritas. We got a classic Margarita and some fruity concoction. Neither was anything to write home about. This then left the Patron XO Cafe, which is a Tequila-based coffee liqueur, which is a firm favourite of mine. Unfortunately before we got to this, I had to head off. I collected my Key to the World card from one of the bartenders and signed for the tasting. I then quickly drank my Patron XO Cafe and headed out.
The reason why I was in such a rush was that next on the program was Disney Theme Park Trivia, which I really wanted to do. Graham was waiting for me and we headed over to the Promenade Lounge together. This was absolutely packed. We ended up joining somebody, who turned out to be a cast member from Walt Disney World. He used to be a Jungle Cruise skipper and now works at Hollywood Studios. The trivia was good fun. Some of the answers were a little dubious though. One of the questions was which attraction is two thirds longer at Walt Disney World than at
Disneyland. The answer apparently was the monorail. I know that the monorail at Disneyland is classified as an attraction. However, I was always under the impression that the monorail at Walt Disney World was classified as transportation. Still, we did enjoy it and did fairly well, but not well enough to win.
Straight afterwards there was another trivia at the Promenade Lounge. This was part of the Cruising for Trivia series. We decided to hang around for this. Normally a lot of this type of trivia is very much geared to an American audience, but this was a good mixture of Disney questions, literature questions and some of the more specifically American questions I knew the answers to as the topics has come up in Big Bang Theory. I thought we had done fairly well with this, but I was very surprised when we won this. We got a keyring each.
Graham suggested that we should swing by the Port Adventures desk to see what they still had on offer for Cabo San Lucas. We had originally planned to just go for a wander and maybe charter one of the glass bottom boats, but Graham suggested that it would be nice to do an excursion on our last port day. I was definitely up for this. The person at the Port Adventures desk told us that they availability was still good. We decided to take the brochure back to our cabin to look at this at our leisure. It did not take us long to make up our minds. We decided on the Snorkel & Sea Adventure. As you have probably noticed by now, we really do love the little fishies. However, Cabo San Lucas is the one place I have never been able to snorkel before. Up to this point, all the snorkeling excursions always carried a warning that they are not suitable for people who are allergic to bee and wasp stings as jellyfish can be present and their venom is similar to that of bees and wasps. We never managed to establish conclusively if I am in fact allergic to bee or wasp stings, but as I react very strongly to all kinds of insect bites, my allergy specialist advised to assume that I am. So for this reason we have avoided snorkeling excursions in Cabo. This one did not come with a warning. We headed back upstairs to book this. We took the excursion tickets back to the cabin and then went to Walk A Mile.
Walk A Mile was very enjoyable again and we made good time. This suited me very well. The dress that I had put aside for this evening had a lace up back so I needed Graham to tie me into it. Once he had done this, I headed off to the first character set. They only had one set in the first session so this did not start until 17:30. Captain Mickey was out with Pluto in his nautical outfit.
Once I was finished with them, I headed up to the Walt Disney Theater. I will never understand the way people fill this place. I had got there nice and early, but the back rows were already pretty full. I headed down to the front and everything was empty. I got a perfect seat in the front row pretty central in relation to the stage. The show was called Let's Go to the Movies and showcased songs from movie musicals through the decades. Considering that this evening was a one off, the presentation was incredibly elaborate. They used the screens at either side of the stage. One displayed the title of the song and the corresponding movie as well as the year and the other displayed some trivia about the song or the movie. I was absolutely in awe about the talent of the performers. I was not familiar with most of the songs, but I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. There was one song though where I could really appreciate just how good the performers were. One of the last songs was One Day More from Les Miserables. This is my all time favourite musical and I have seen this so often that I cannot quite put my fingers on the precise number. I have seen it at two of the three London theatres were it has been performed, seen the concert version and have also seen the film countless times. I actually know the lyrics off by heart. I can honestly say that this version of One Day More was the best I have ever heart. It was amazing and I had a few tears in my eyes. I have to say my buddy Alfie makes a very good Monsieur Thenardier. Once the show was over, I bumped into Jimmy. I told him how much I had enjoyed the show and that One Day More was the best I had ever heard this song. I ended up with a huge hug. He was so proud of the performers.
After the show, I headed back to the atrium. This time round Mickey, Goofy and Donald wearing their nautical outfits were out together. This was it for photo opportunities that evening. This was a real shame. I would have loved a couple of portraits with my dress for that night. Graham had appeared at some stage and had taken a photo of me with Mickey, Goofy and Donald from the balcony on deck 4. He then came down to join me.
Dinner that night was in Triton's and the menu was the Master Chef Menu. On that evening Graham went with my choices rather than letting Ahmed choose. We both had Double-baked Gruyere Cheese Soufflé with Maytag Blue Cheese, Spinach and Mascarpone Cheese; Succotash Soup: Lima Bean and Corn Soup with Black Pepper Crouton and Center Cut Beef Tenderloin and Lobster Medallions with Caramelized Carrots and Snow Peas on a Potato Cake with Sauce Béarnaise. I passed my Lobster Medallions on to Graham. We also had our sparkling wine, which was our Platinum gift with dinner that evening. Graham passed on dessert, but I had the Sweet Temptations: A trio of Triple Chocolate Terrine; Caramelized Apple Cheese Cake and Raspberry Tartlet.
After dinner, we headed back to the cabin. I took a photo of our towel animal, checked out the Navigator for the next day and then we got ready for bed.
