If we can DREAM it, we can do it! ..... another 30 day vacation Update 02/07

[wiigirl]

I am so sorry! Between the cigarette smoke wafting in at you and the thieves... Please tell me the hooligans were caught!

As always... lots of yummy food pics!

But OH! I am still irritated by the boys' behavior!

 

[dizneeat]

So sorry your gifts were taken. I bet they are the ones that took the magnets as well.

You know, it's not the value of the present, but those boys took them out, destroyed them and threw them in the bin. People put a lot of thought and work into them and that was what bugged me the most.
And they WERE the ones who stole the magnets as well.

Karin I am sorry about your trouble with thieves on the cruise last year. I had not noticed teens running around like that on any of our cruises. I did read about it on the longer cruises, with teens getting bored easy.

Teresa, it was the first time we ran into trouble with unattended children. I would have NEVER thought of it.
We "learned" to live with it.

The meal at Cabanas looked awesome !!Tom's steak looks wonderful!!! I am hoping that those boys were caught and duly punished !1Walking the plank comes to mind !!!!

Rosie, it was one of the best meals we have had and it was so quiet and peaceful up there. We REALLY loved it.
No, the boys were not caught, but we stood close to one while in line for customs and I did mention the word thief while looking at him. Quite a few people looked in his direction too. He couldn't look at me.
But walking the plank would have been a nice suggestion. Why didn't I think of it.

Wow. I can't keep up with all your great updates. I know you are working hard to get this TR down before you leave next week.

How much fun is it to get off the cruise and right back on again? That's awesome. It's like deja vie.

Nice dinner from Cabanas.

Still no vanilla rum? What the heck?

So you caught the thieves. I hope they bring your magnets back. I agree with Rosie - time to walk the plank!

I am trying to have as much of it done as possible, even though I doubt I will be able to finish this baby and the Pre-trippie as well before we leave in 6 short sleeps.

We just love going back to back. All those sad faces that have to get off and you just turn around and get right back on.

Yip, no vanilla rum, but he found plenty other rum he wanted to try.

We didn't really catch the thieves, just went after them, but they ran too much.
I just hope it will be a one time experience. It really dampens that fun cruise feeling. :sad2:

 

[eandesmom]

I am appalled that kids would do that. That is awful!!!! Love your dinner, it sounds like the perfect choice but ugh, between the smoke and the thieves not exactly totally magical.

I would be SO bummed about the smoke.

 

[KatMark]

Karin, I was way too far behind, and I will admit I skimmed most of it (this is what happens when you take a two-week sabbatical from the DIS to protest and then go on vacation and then your son's wedding and then three more weddings after that ... and still one more tonight). I'm still enjoying.

I cannot believe the thieves!

 

[scottny]

Nice Sorcerer Mickey started the fireworks.
Nice ending to the cruise.
Here we again. LOL
What nice gifts you got. The sweaters sound nice.
Smokers. Yuck.
MMM, rum cakes.
Nice pic with Mickey.
I was wondering if anyone ever stole what was on the door. That is a bummer.
That is too bad smoking is allowed.
That food looked good at Cabanas.
Horrible the kids were stealing. I would have taken a pic through the peep hole. LOL
All caught up.

 

[englishrose47]

I am so sad those boys did not get caught !!! I would have been soooooo mad !!!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

If you had caught those boys they would have denied everything, plus the parents probably would have backed up the boys. It seems to be the way nowadays. I'm sounding like a cranky old lady.

The food looked so good, especially Tom's steak. Vanilla rum sounds interesting, I really like rum.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Forgot to add, the smoking on the balcony would really have upset us. I didn't realize they allowed smoking anywhere on the ship.

 

[dizneeat]

OMG!!!! Those BOYS!!!! That is HORRIBLE! I really hope you see them again on the ship, this time with their parents. Who I HOPE do something other than defend their misbehaving kids.

And I am VERY envious of that great big plate of truffle pursettes! YUM YUM YUMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are my favorite, too. Was that offered as a main course, or did you just ask for a larger plate full of them?

I am really bothered by the FE & magnet theft- I hope this story has a happy ending!

And thanks for the advice on the cabanas and Remy! I have seen that brunch in Remy, it does look really good. HMMMMMMM...... too bad we won't have that on our DD. That would have been the perfect time to do it, Evie is like me, she loves bubbly- Pods, not so much.

We did see the boys again, but only when they were on the "run". Never with their parents and I guess that is the reason they misbehaved so much. They were not in any clubs, just "roamed" the ship unsupervised.

The truffle pursette WAS an entree on the menu. I was so happy to see that there as I just LOVE it!

Unfortunately the theft stories do not have a happy ending, but then it was the first time in 9 cruises that this happened.

I see Remy lunch is not offered on your double dip cruise. But if you are doing a longer one, you HAVE TO try it. It's absolutely awesome.

I am so sorry! Between the cigarette smoke wafting in at you and the thieves... Please tell me the hooligans were caught!

As always... lots of yummy food pics!

But OH! I am still irritated by the boys' behavior!

There is a first time for everything. Even the cigarette smoke and we were quite lucky it was just a four night cruise. But they seemed to be out there most of the time and there is nothing you can do, as Disney allows smoking out on the balcony.
Oh, and sorry to report that the thieves were not caught. But when we left one of them got in line at customs pretty close to us. I did drop the word thief a few times and looked straight at him.

I am appalled that kids would do that. That is awful!!!! Love your dinner, it sounds like the perfect choice but ugh, between the smoke and the thieves not exactly totally magical.

I would be SO bummed about the smoke.

You would think that they would steal once as kind of a kick, but we no longer received ANY more gifts and more of our magnets went away, so I guess they were pretty "organized".

You are right, the thieves and the smoke took away quite a bit of the magical experience, but then you have to remember that you are on vacation and need to make the best of it and that is what we did.

 

[dizneeat]

Karin, I was way too far behind, and I will admit I skimmed most of it (this is what happens when you take a two-week sabbatical from the DIS to protest and then go on vacation and then your son's wedding and then three more weddings after that ... and still one more tonight). I'm still enjoying.

I cannot believe the thieves!

Glad to have you back, Kathy.
I was pretty shocked by your announcement of no longer writing trip reports, and am overjoyed to be able to still read along with your adventures.
Sorry I don't post much, but somehow my time management sucks.

Nice Sorcerer Mickey started the fireworks.
Nice ending to the cruise.
Here we again. LOL
What nice gifts you got. The sweaters sound nice.
Smokers. Yuck.
MMM, rum cakes.
Nice pic with Mickey.
I was wondering if anyone ever stole what was on the door. That is a bummer.
That is too bad smoking is allowed.
That food looked good at Cabanas.
Horrible the kids were stealing. I would have taken a pic through the peep hole. LOL
All caught up.

Seeing Mickey kick off the fireworks was truely awesome.
We were aware that sometimes "things" outside your stateroom disappear and I was thinking that non personalized things might be "lost", but they took just about everything, personized or not.
And guess what, we WERE actually considering taking that photo out the peephole.

I am so sad those boys did not get caught !!! I would have been soooooo mad !!!

Rosie, we did not want it to spoil our cruise even more than it had already done, so we just forgot about it.

If you had caught those boys they would have denied everything, plus the parents probably would have backed up the boys. It seems to be the way nowadays. I'm sounding like a cranky old lady.

The food looked so good, especially Tom's steak. Vanilla rum sounds interesting, I really like rum.

Forgot to add, the smoking on the balcony would really have upset us. I didn't realize they allowed smoking anywhere on the ship.

You are completely right, Doris, THOSE boys would have never admitted having done it and I guess neither would have their parents. And you do not sound like a cranky old lady - you are just stating the truth.
Well mannered kids would not do it in the first place.

Yes, they DO allow smoking on the balcony, even though there is a little sign you should be consider that you are in the middle of a lot of people and maybe utilize the smoking areas on the ship. It has NEVER before been a problem, just this one time. Oh well, one out of ten cruises was not perfect.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 21, August 31

Concierge Level thieves - Part 1

Today was another sea day.
We were able to sleep in a little bit and only got up around 7.30. There was no need to be up and about as we had a brunch reservation at Palo at 11am. But once we were up, we were up and at 8.30 we decided that it might be okay if we squeeze in a small breakfast.
So down to the Royal Palace we went again. We were quickly signed in and taken to a table. Tom ordered some coffee, I only ordered some orange juice, and then we decided on what to have to eat. Tom went for his favourite,



the Swiss Bircher Muesli, Muesli with raisins, shredded apples and yogurt and I ordered



the Mornin' Tug Boat, a fresh blend of strawberries, bananas, almonds, raisin granola and low-fat yogurt, again.
I just love this yoghurt, Tom didn’t hold back and ordered



The Big Breakfast, a large filled omelet on savory toast with grilled tomatoes, bacon and baked beans topped with caramelized onions. I had decided against Eggs Benedict and just gotten



the Express, Scrambled eggs, grilled ham, bacon, sausage. and hash browns. It was way past 9am when we finally finished our breakfast and headed back up to our stateroom. And guess who we came across.
The little thieves. They ran when they saw us, but this time we did not give up and walked after them. And after going all across the ship they pulled out a key and headed into the concierge lounge. So we knew where the thieves were staying, but what to do. We decided to let it be for the moment and headed back to our stateroom. Needless to say the little thieves had emptied out the Fish Extender again, but at least the rest of our magnets was still on the door.
And while we still talked about it, Oana came walking up to us with nearly all the missing magnets in hand. She had asked her fellow Cast Members to take a look out for them and had found them all over the ship. We thanked her and her friends and then put the magnets back on the door.
There was still some time left before we had to go to Palo and we decided on walking around the ship for a little while. We did not get far. Once we had reached the Cove Café we decided that instead of walking around, why not have a nice coffee creation. So we walked inside, I made it a point that we wanted our coffee in real glasses and both ordered



a Frozen Cappuccino, 1/3 Espresso blended with vanilla ice cream. I got mine with whipped cream on top as well.



We sat inside the air conditioned café and did some people watching. But soon enough it was time to get ready for our Palo brunch. We returned to our stateroom to find that again two of our magnets had gone missing.
And before we got changed I went and took them all down. There is no reason to keep them up if those little Concierge level thieves were going to steal them anyway.
Once dressed appropriately for Palo we walked up to the restaurant to sign in. We asked to have the same server as the cruise prior and were granted our wish. Then we were asked to wait at Meridian until our table was ready. It didn’t even take 2 minutes and we were taken to our table.
Our server was right there to greet us, take our drinks order



and when he returned he took us for a tour of the buffet. Now, we have been to Palo brunch so often, that I have the feeling that we could do the spiel as well, but it was nice to see him trying so hard.





















We were then left at the buffet with a plate in hand to be filled. There are lots of yummy things on that buffet and we had no trouble filling our plates. After returning to our table and taking a few photos of our food we indulged in all the wonderful offerings.





And while we were still enjoying that first plate of food, our server came by to ask if we had liked what we had sampled so far and to ask if we had decided on any hot dishes. I was already pretty full, but the server more or less insisted on us trying at least something. So Tom ordered



the Eggs Florentine. To our huge surprise, the server also brought us a pizza, it was



half Grape and Gorgonzola and half Goats cheese and Sundried tomato pizza. He was sure we would like it and told us how wonderful it was.
Well, we had had it before and knew how good it was, so we stuffed ourselves even more. Once we had finished pizza and Eggs Florentine there was still dessert to conquer. No matter how full I am there is always room for dessert.
So back to the buffet we went and we both loaded up a smaller plate to fill that sweet tooth.







Totally stuffed we signed the receipt and left a nice tip for our server before we rolled back to our stateroom to get changed and rest for a while.
And after we had recovered from the food overload we grabbed some drinks out of the fridge and sat on the veranda for a while. But not for too long as the smoker decided to smoke us all out again.
So we headed back inside and after a while decided to just walk around the ship for a while again.
And when we walked past the D-Lounge we saw that the “Anyone can cook” presentation was just about to begin, so we headed inside to sample a little more food.

To be continued ............

 

[dizneeat]

Day 21, August 31

Concierge Level thieves - Part 2

And when we walked past the D-Lounge we saw that the “Anyone can cook” presentation was just about to begin, so we headed inside to sample a little more food.
The presentation was fun, they had a cook from Italy who was in the Remy team and now showed us all how to make Lobster Ravioli.





At the end of the presentation we were served a small plate of the Ravioli







and a glass of wine to go with it.
Once the presentation was over we sat on the loungers on deck 4 for a while in a smoke free environment, then looked through the Art shop again, walked through the shops and picked up a few more things and then returned to our stateroom.
I started packing as we would have to get off the ship in two days time and the next day was Castaway Cay day. It was pretty easy to fill about half of our luggage with things we no longer needed and by the time I was finished it was time to get all dressed up again.
We had an early ADR at Remy again. Mathieu had promised us a different menu and that was, what had made us change our reservation. All dressed up again we headed up to Remy, where we were greeted with a smile and told that Mathieu would be our server.
We were then again asked to take a seat at Meridian and it would not take long until we were called. It actually took less than two minutes, as we had just sat down and picked up the drinks menu when we were escorted into the dining room. We were seated at a table right by the window



and a moment later Mathieu arrived to greet us and share some more jokes with us. Now, the last time we had dined at Remy, Mathieu had picked his favourite cheeses for us to sample and while he did, we had taken a photo of him doing so. Since we had had time to spare in the afternoon Tom had now photoshopped Remy into it. He had now brought his tablet with him, to show Mathieu. I am pretty sure the Maitre d’ was not happy about all the giggling going on at our table and Mathieu taking off with the tablet to show it to anyone who wanted to see it or not.
He even showed it to the Maitre d’ who then smiled and rolled his eyes. First fun being had, Mathieu wanted to know if we wanted some wine with our dinner and when we told him no, he told us that when we had chatted last time we had told him that we liked a special “Disney wine” and he had gone and organized it for us. Well, the special Disney wine we had been talking about had been the one from Diane Disney’s winery, Silverado, but what Mathieu had organized was the Fairytale Cuve.
It is a nice sparkling wine and after a short deliberation we decided to just roll with it. So Mathieu went to get the Sommelier present it to us and then went to get his cart, to prepare their signature cocktail, “Colette”.





It was as much fun sampling it, as it was watching him making it. And once we had our drink in hand, an assistant came over to serve the first Amuse-Bouche, the liquid filled little breaded bite of cheese.
And she quickly returned offering us



some brioche, baguette, butter and sea salt. Then the real Amuse-Bouche arrived. It was



a cold melon soup, served with a spoonful of



nicely diced melon. Now, I am not a huge fan of melon, but didn’t want to spoil it, so I spooned the melon bits into the soup and tried it. It was quite nice actually, nothing I would go out of my way to order again, but I was pleasantly surprised. Next was



the Tuna “Nicoise” Salade, seared tuna, mixed leaves with a mild vinaigrette, caviar and a quail’s egg. Now, that was right up my street.





I really really loved it. Next course that was brought out were





the Gnocci, served with a white wine foam. I had a good laugh when the server asked me if we had had gnocci before. Well, we go to Italy a lot and these ARE Italian, and we last had had them at Remy for lunch. We took our sweet time to finish the gnocci course and then it was time for the next little masterpiece, Seared Black Cod, served with Pea Foam.

To be continued ............

 

[dizneeat]

Day 21, August 31

Concierge Level thieves - Part 3

We took our sweet time to finish the gnocci course and then it was time for the next little masterpiece,





Seared Black Cod, served with



Pea Foam. Now the cod was really nice and flaky and super moist. And everyone had told us about the pea foam, which seemed to be one of the chef’s favourites. If you have ever been to England and have tried “mushy” peas, there you have it. When Mathieu asked about the pea foam I could not help but tell him that it tasted like “runny mushy peas”. We had a good laugh about it.



But then we moved on to the next course,



Veal wih Barbecue Sauce. The presentation of this was absolutely awesome. The veal was so tender



and was served with





a small breaded dumpling which was filled with sauce. It was really wonderful. The next course was the same we had had during our first visit.



Boeuf Kobe, which was



Kobe beef, cooked medium, accompanied by



perfectly cooked baby veg, some really



concentrated beef jus and the best



mashed potatoes ever. They had a very light hint of garlic and were so creamy and fluffy light. They were topped with a cornel of pulled Kobe beef which was to die for. We both didn’t mind at all that it was a repetition.
We slowly finished our food and as soon as we had put the forks down, a server took our plates away and another server came over with the Plateau de Fromages. We really wanted the same cheeses we had had before, so we asked if we could wait for Mathieu, who was tending to another table. Didn’t take very long and Mathieu picked his favourite cheeses again for us.



We were so full already, so we really took some time to finish off the cheeses and soon our first dessert arrived. It actually was two desserts served in different styles. There were



cornels of raspberry sorbet and vanilla ice cream sandwiched in between to squares of Meringue, served with fresh raspberries and raspberry coulis. And the same was served in a cocktail glass.





Raspberry sorbet, vanilla ice-cream, raspberry coulis and little drops of Meringue. It was funny, as we had been told the different methods of presentation would influence the taste and we just didn’t believe that. But it was true, being served differently actually did change the taste.
And next was





the Chocolate Croustillant, the same dark chocolate dessert that we had had during Remy lunch. It was awesome, as this time they had put some raspberry coulis on it. When the Mignardises came out we knew we would not be able to eat it.
So we again asked Mathieu to box it up for us. We paid our bill, left Mathieu a hefty tip and then said our goodbyes. Again, Mathieu and the Maitre d’ presented me with a long stem rose and we promised to come see Mathieu again before we left.
We wobbled back to our stateroom, changed into far more comfortable clothes and grabbed a drink out of the fridge to sit out on the veranda with. It was nice and peaceful out there, and there was just a little breeze. So enjoyable for a while, until the smoker used his veranda again. Back inside we went, and after finishing our drinks we took the two long stemmed roses and the sweets and walked down to guest services.
We didn’t see Bettina right away, but a Cast member got her from the staff room and we handed her the roses and sweets and chatted for a while. She was so happy with her little gift and the little bag of Austrian sweets we still had for her.
I guess we chatted for quite a while, until the line at Guest Services got a bit long and we did not want to keep her from her work. We said our goodbyes for the night and promised to be back the next day to finally say goodbye before we had to disembark.
A short stroll through the shops again and then we slowly walked back up the stairs to our stateroom. When we walked back to our stateroom the Concierge Level thieves came towards us again, but they ran once they recognized us. Good for them. We returned to our stateroom



and went straight to bed. We were done.

To be continued ............

 

[KatMark]

I needed to take a break and get over my displeasure. But it's fun writing them and I'm even managing to do two at a time and I'll have them finished before I leave in 14 days.

Do you KNOW when it is my lunch time and purposely do an update with ALL food in it? Today is supposed to be my soup/salad day, but after seeing all of that food, I'm not sure that is going to cut it today.

 

[dizneeat]

I needed to take a break and get over my displeasure. But it's fun writing them and I'm even managing to do two at a time and I'll have them finished before I leave in 14 days.

Do you KNOW when it is my lunch time and purposely do an update with ALL food in it? Today is supposed to be my soup/salad day, but after seeing all of that food, I'm not sure that is going to cut it today.

I am just happy you are back and still writing your reviews, Kathy, they are a lot of fun to read.

Hm, I wonder if it is dinner time soon, as I am planning on updating again ............

 

[KatMark]

I am just happy you are back and still writing your reviews, Kathy, they are a lot of fun to read.

Hm, I wonder if it is dinner time soon, as I am planning on updating again ............

You are killing me.

Actually, I'm off to our fifth wedding of the summer, so no DIS time for me until Sunday as I'll spend time with Mark and Alisha tomorrow (Mark is in the bridal party).

 

[dizneeat]

I need to update my latest updates .......

I have been looking for those photoshopped photos of Mathieu and could not find them.
Turns out they were on Tom's tablet. So here they are!

 

[dizneeat]

You are killing me.

Actually, I'm off to our fifth wedding of the summer, so no DIS time for me until Sunday as I'll spend time with Mark and Alisha tomorrow (Mark is in the bridal party).

Have fun at the wedding! Even though I doubt it will be as beautiful as Mark and Alisha's!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 22, September 1

Castaway Cay – take 3 - Part 1

Another day that we got up early again. We were going back to Castaway Cay and had ordered room service breakfast again. So we got up in time to be ready our 7.30am breakfast. No idea, how they do it but at 7.30 sharp there was a knock at the door and our breakfast had arrived. The server put it on the little table in the stateroom, thanked us very much for his tip and left. We took the tray outside onto the veranda and enjoyed coffee and tea, bagels with cream cheese, croissants with jam, some juice and a fruit bowl





while we watched the ship dock at Castaway Cay.





Once we had finished breakfast we put the tray outside, then got our beach bag ready, put on our Cabana bracelets and waited for the announcement that the ship had been cleared.
At around 9am they made the announcement and off we went. Almost everyone tried to get off at the same time and it caused a little traffic jam to get to the point where you sign off the ship. But within a few minutes we were off and on our way to the tram.



This time we didn’t have to do any more shopping, so we went to the end of the first tram line,







then changed to the one for Serenity Bay and within a few minutes we had arrived. Our stateroom host was laughing and waiting for us, leading the way to the golf cart.
We got on and were taken to out home for the day. The stateroom host accompanied us to the Cabana and once inside asked if everything was okay the way it was. He even mentioned that he had made sure the bell to his pager worked properly this time and after asking if there was something we needed right away, he left.
We put our valuables into the safe, then had some drinks out of the fridge and a few bites of fruit



and we sat out on the porch and enjoyed the sun and the view.









Soon after that we put on our water shoes and headed for the ocean. Again, there was a bank out there, but it was not as shallow as the last time.



We swam and drifted and enjoyed the sun for quite some time, before we made our way back to the Cabana, showered and sat outside, wrapped in a soft towel until we had sufficiently dried off. Time for a drink. We pressed the button for the stateroom host and within a few minutes he arrived to take our order. It took him about 10 minutes to come back with the drinks,



a Corona for Tom and Konk Kooler for myself. We got comfortable on the loungers and enjoyed our drinks before we headed back into the ocean again. We stayed out there, talked about our vacation so far and enjoyed the time in the sun.







We were surprised to see that it was already close to 11.30 when we got back to our Cabana and we decided to just dry off some more before we would walk down to the barbeque station for lunch.
And while we enjoyed sitting in the sun we noticed some commotion further down the beach. Didn’t take us long to realize that a certain Captain had come to visit the beach, Captain Jack.







He walked down the beach, talking to guests and gladly willing to pose for photos. It took him quite some time to get to the end of the beach and head over to the Cast Member beach and once he was gone, we put on some shirts and beach shoes and walked along the beach to the Castaway Air bar, where we made a pit stop at the restrooms and then walked over to the barbeque.


To be continued ............

 

[dizneeat]

Day 22, September 1

Castaway Cay – take 3 - Part 2

It took him quite some time to get to the end of the beach and head over to the Cast Member beach and once he was gone, we put on some shirts and beach shoes and walked along the beach to the Castaway Air bar, where we made a pit stop at the restrooms and then walked over to the barbeque. Everything looked good and we were just weighing our options when one of the cast members asked if we cared for some freshly grilled steaks.
Very good idea. We both filled our plates with salads and Tom got a burger too, and then we stood to the side to wait for the meat.





The cast member, who was manning the grill, then told us that they would bring the steaks to our table and we were welcome to find a seat. That’s what we did. We found a shady table, picked up some drinks and a few minutes later two juicy, freshly grilled steaks arrived at the table.





We were in heaven. Once we had finished our main courses, Tom went to pick up some desserts for us, a plate of grapes, pineapple and melon



and two chocolate chip cookies.



The perfect sweet treat after such a yummy meal. And after another trip to the restroom we managed to sneak past our Cabana host and down to the beach to walk along the water’s edge up to our Cabana.
We got another drink out of the fridge and a cool towel to cool us down a bit, then applied some more sunscreen and back into the ocean we went. We drifted around for quite a while,





then headed back to our Cabana to chill some more. At around 3pm we ordered some more drinks from our Cabana host, and we were a bit stunned as it took quite a while until he returned. Again, he brought 4 drinks instead of two. We needed to chill those drinks, so we put one of



Tom’s Coronas and one of my



Pina Colada’s in the fridge, while we enjoyed the other one. It was a very relaxed feeling, just lying on the loungers, drink in hand with a view of all the umbrellas and the ocean in the distance. But once we had finished our drinks and checked our watches there was just time for one more dip in the ocean, before we would have to say goodbye for the next 6 months. So we slipped into our water shoes again and headed out into the ocean for some watery fun.



About 40 minutes later, when we saw the Cast Members closing the first umbrellas on the far side of the beach, we headed back to our retreat, took a shower, and dried off before changing into our regular clothes.
We packed up all our stuff and then we headed outside



to find our Cabana host waiting for us to take us down to the runway. Once there, we thanked him for his services, handed him a tip and said our goodbyes. We got on the next tram back to Pelican Point and were there in no time. There we changed to the tram back to the ship and who should get in behind us, but AnnMarie, a server we had gotten to know at Palo, who had now moved on to be a Concierge.
She struck up a conversation with us, mentioning that she remembered us being her guests before, but could not place us. Her memory was quickly refreshed when I reminded her that I had been the one who brought her own tea to the afternoon tea! Needless to say we had a lot of fun riding back to the ship.



We got back on and the air conditioning on the ship really hits you when you have been “fried” all day. Up in our stateroom we took showers, then grabbed a drink out of the fridge and sat outside on the veranda, enjoying the view and finally setting sail again.



There was one more thing we had not done in all our cruises on the Dream, ride the Aquaduck. So while the first dinner seating was in place and the first show of the evening was on, we put on our swim suits again and headed up one floor to first enjoy the adult pool, which we had all to ourselves.
Then we switched over to the hot tub, which indeed was hot and we again had it to ourselves. It took a bit of getting used to, to be able to look down to the ocean several decks below us. We talked about getting on the Aquaduck, but were not sure about it. At least we wanted to have a look at crowds.
And once we were up there we struck up a conversation with another very sweet cast member, who laughed about our worries of getting stuck and told us to just go for it. It would be practically empty and she was sure we would come back to ride it again. Reluctantly we got in line and walked up to the starting point. And there was really NO one in line apart from us.
Another very friendly cast member explained how to get into the boat and after telling her that this was our first time, she even explained what it would be like and that she was sure we would come back. And off we went and it was fun, a lot of fun and we were laughing so hard that we had a hard time getting out of the tube at the end. We needed to do it again and the cast member at the beginning of the stairs, just laughed and told us that she had told us so.
We headed up the stairs, this time there was another family ahead of us and when they were off the cast member helping us into our boat told us, that she had told us so before, too. Again, we were laughing far too hard to easily get out of the ride at the end and when we walked around to pick up our shoes again, the cast member at the bottom of the stairs told us to just go for it a few more times, we needed to catch up.
We talked to her and I briefly mentioned that this was our 6th cruise on the Dream and she said that we had to at least do it once for every cruise. And this is what we did. Rode it once for every cruise we had taken and not ridden the Aquaduck. When we were coming round for the 5th or 6th time the cast member told us that she would need to get to another station, but she wanted to try and work a little magic for us, as we were such nice cruisers.
She took down both of our first names and our stateroom number and told us to fully enjoy our last evening on board. We rode our full 6 cycles, then got our shoes and headed back to our stateroom.
Again, we needed to shower, I needed to do my hair and we were cutting it close to dinnertime. Thankfully we had packed up most of our things way ahead of time, so we didn’t need to worry about and we had talked to Oana and she had told us that if we at least put our luggage out before 11am we would be fine.
We indeed were 10 minutes late to dinner, but once we made it there we were quickly taken to our table. The assistant server took our drinks order and quickly returned with our drinks and we put in our order. It did not take long and our server returned with our starters, the Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower, with crispy noodles and wasabi dressing and the Thyme and Garlic Brioche, filled with chanterelle, hedgehog and black trumpet mushrooms and leek stew in a light buttermilk cream and our server had decided to get us a third appetizer as well, the North Atlantic Lobster Ravioli, with roasted garlic and sweet basil in a light tomato broth to share. And while we were still enjoying our first course, Zan, the head server came by to chat for a while. When he left he told us not to leave the dining room until he had returned to our table. We still had two courses to get through, so we didn’t mind. Once our plates were cleared it did not take long for our main courses to arrive at the table. Again, there were three plates for the two of us. We had ordered the Pan-seared Sea Bass, with saffron and fennel risotto with a sweet chili glaze and the Roasted Pork Tenderloin seasoned with Smoked Salt, Citrus flavored polenta cakes and oven roasted carrots, parsnips and caramelized Granny Smith apples and we received the Caramelized Sea Scallops, with roasted asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, and pearl pasta, garnished with caramelized leeks and veal jus reduction as an added bonus dish. Thanks to our Aquaduck adventure we were both pretty hungry, so we did our best to polish off all three mains. And again, we had no choice of the dessert, as our server had taken that into his hands again. So after a short while we were served the Sweet Temptations, a trio of Sacher cake, strawberry cheesecake, and chocolate silk mousse, the Steamed Lemon Buttermilk Pudding, with citrus reduction and the Banana Foster Sundae, Rum glazed bananas, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and caramel sauce. We were stuffed already, but at least wanted to give all the desserts a try. And while we were still “working” on them, Zan came back, and put a small packet on our table.
He told us that we were very special guests to him and his crew and because we had always been so generous and always had brought him and the servers a lot of chocolate and sweets, we deserved a little token of his friendship. Inside the packet were two small china salt and pepper bottles. We were told that when the dream was first in service they had used these salt and pepper shakers, but people had started “taking them with them” and they had exchanged them for regular ones. But he wanted us to have a “piece of Dream memorabilia”. We were SO stunned. Shortly after our short conversation he had to leave and get something else done, but he promised to be around the next morning, before we had to disembark.
Happy with the gift we had just gotten and stuffed to the gills we got back to our stateroom where we found another surprise waiting. There was a rolled up “something” attached to the seahorse next to our door. We took it inside and opened it up and it was a Magical Moments certificate from the cast member we had met at the Aqua duck.
The certificate was to announce us as honorary citizens of the Disney Dream and we only then realized that the cast member manning the Aquaduck that night was indeed one who worked at the shops and we had handed her some chocolate a while ago.
It really made it hard to think about the fact that we were to disembark in just a few more hours. But we still needed to get our luggage sorted and so we packed up everything we no longer needed, then found Oana and helped her getting our luggage to the holding area. There was no way we would be able to get to sleep right away, so we decided to head down to Skyline and get a drink.
There were not too many people in there, we found a nice spot to sit and ordered our drinks. Tom got a



Mojito, while I had a some



blue concoction with a glow cube in it. We sat for quite some time enjoying our drinks before we headed back to our stateroom at about midnight. Whilst walking up to it we saw someone standing by our door. We could not believe it, but Narciso, our former stateroom host had come to say goodbye and have a chat. We went inside our stateroom



and shared what was left of our drinks in the fridge and he stayed for more than two hours. We did have a good time, but when he left we were so tired, all we could still do was fall into bed and we drifted off to sleep immediately.


To be continued ............