Loyd Have Mercy - Escape from Mos Eisley (to the Death Star) - Stick a fork in me, I think I am done.

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Joining in!

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

ITA about the reusable bags. Paper bags would be so much better. And thanks for posting a pic of the lounge snacks, I saw people with those on our last cruise and didn't know how to get them!

For our next cruise I plan to buy paper bags, probably from Amazon, and give them as fish extender gifts. I have not decided yet if I should decorate the bags myself or provide stickers so the recipient can decorate the bags.

Joining in!

Hey PiperGirlInWondrland, love your handle!

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

Time for dinner, and to meet our dining room servers. We have always had good to great servers, assistant servers and head server but this cruise they all fell short of expectations. We are not difficult people, we ask for very little but these guys just weren't on the ball at all. Maybe because there was just two of us but we were ignored in regards of refilling drinks, food was brought out cold when it should have been hot, food was dried out and flavorless, items we had ordered were not brought out, items we had not ordered were brought out (i.e., fish instead of chicken), the list is endless and we finally just ordered room service the last couple of nights so we would have a decent meal. When the cruise ended we tipped the servers only the suggested amount, a first for us since we always overtip. We also commented about it on our "comment cards". But in the beginning we were excited to report to dinner.

First night, Enchanted Garden, Deck 2 Midship.



The menu cover.







For some reason I do not have photos of Rob's food on this night but I had:

Cucumber Garden Roll, very good.



Tomato soup, also good.





Scallops, good so far.



The dessert menu.



Left side. These items come with an additional charge.



And the right side. These are included in the cost of your cruise. You may order more than one if you wish.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

My choice for dessert, Sticky date pudding, which was also good. Sadly this was the only night when everything was as it should have been...



The lights in the Enchanted Garden are beautiful. My photo does not do them justice.





We could have ordered a wine package to go with our meals but find the packages overpriced for what they are offering.




Tummies full we head back to our room to get ready for the big day tomorrow. Sea day. I love sea days!

Along the way we did a bit of sight seeing.



The female big cheese.









Then back to our room to find our first night's towel animal.


Tomorrow would be a big day indeed. We had a Champagne seminar scheduled, fancy coffee to drink, lunch in the Royal Court, a Captain's Gala to attend, another Skyline drink to try, a cooking seminar and so much more.

 

[jedijill]

That stinks you had poor servers...that totally takes away from the best part of cruising.

Jill in CO

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

That stinks you had poor servers...that totally takes away from the best part of cruising.

Jill in CO

You are correct, servers can really impact the enjoyment of the cruise. A couple of times we have had, maybe one of the team that was good but not great but most of the time, everyone in our dining team has been awesome. Oh well, at least they were not wearing cologne and I was able to breathe.

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Sorry to hear about the servers they really do make or break it

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

Sorry to hear about the servers they really do make or break it

Sadly that is true. Oh well, most everything else was great!

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

Big day today with much planned. First up was the need for coffee. I am one of those who wants coffee immediately after waking and I want "good tasting" coffee ... which you have to pay for on a Disney cruise. The stuff they offer for "free" sucks! So up to the Cove we go, or at least one of us goes. The other was taking photos.





Before heading out on our cruise I ordered a drink carrier from Amazon. They come two to an order for slightly under $20. At the time I ordered, the cost was $18.41 with free prime member shipping. Because the drinker carrier folds flat it was very easy to pack. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0754Z4D2T/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_8?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1



It worked great! Now I need to buy some Disney patches and glue them on to make it more "Disneyfied" (Disneyfied is not a real word...)



Since I tend to pick up pastries in addition to our drinks having this carrier eliminated having to try to juggle both food and drink items while walking downstairs. When we stayed in concierge we could request a cardboard drink holder to carry drinks back to the room but when I asked in the Cove for one, they said they did not have them there... Now I have my own.




The Cove is reserved for those over 18.



I love sitting in here on sea days, or actually any day but this time there did not seem to be much time to just sit and relax. As you can see, you can order alcohol drinks in here in addition to coffee/tea drinks.



Best pastries on the ship, in my opinion. The snacks are free (included in the price of your cruise). In the olden days, you could just reach in and get what you wanted, now you have to ask one of the CMs to plate them for you.



The menu.



The options. Since I was taking our drinks back to the room I did not ask for a ceramic mug but if I had been drinking my coffee in the Cove, I would have preferred a ceramic mug over styrofoam mug.




Up next, breakfast #1.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

As most of you know, you can pick up a card in the Cove and have it stamped each time you buy a coffee/tea, if you buy more than one coffee/tea in a transaction, they will stamp it per the number of drinks you buy. After five drinks you receive a free one. We brought this card with us from a previous cruise.



This was new to us, writing something on the foam of your drink. There is a machine that does this. When we were cruising Alaska, one of the baristas would use cinnamon in creating a design on the top of your drink. I found out that I do not like cinnamon in my coffee.





Breakfast #1. I had the same breakfast #1 almost every day.



Tonight was formal night and the Captain's Gala, something that normally we really enjoy, free drinks and you get to talk with the big-wigs.

.

In honor of the Captain's Gala we changed our stateroom door decorations to:





After first breakfast we did a walk about on the way to second breakfast... Don't judge , we did a lot of walking to offset the extra calories we were ingesting.

We checked out some of the adult areas like the adult pool.



And Currents, the bar near the pool.





Then we continued on our way across the deck headed towards Cabanas.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

Along the way we passed the kiddie areas:



Nemo's Reef.



The regular pool. It is small and tends to get rather crowded.



The AquaDuck which tends to draw long lines. The best times to hit it are immediately upon boarding, in the evening, and on port days.



I like that Disney is "trying" to be environmentally friendly but until they stop using manmade materials and selling balloons, I am going to view it as engaging in the "Social Desirability Bias", saying one thing and doing another.



Lots of pop options but I wish if they were going to offer lemonade that many children drink instead of carbonated pop, that they would not offer "light" lemonade that has chemicals in it that are not good for children.



I did not try the creamer so I do not know if it is real half-n-half or a fake creamer. Maybe someone else on here knows??? If so, share with us please.



Loads of good tea options.



Bad, bad coffee. Also, styrofoam cups, not good for the environment...Wish they would find an alternative to-go cup.



One of Disney's many beautiful bathrooms.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

Continuing on with the washroom theme:



The first time I cruised Disney and used one of the public washrooms I had a hard time finding the flush. I finally figured out that you had to close the lid to flush the toilet. Since we are one of those households where everyone puts the lid down when they finish their business, it should not have taken me as long as it did to figure out where the flusher was hiding. I am not always the sharpest crayon in the box.



Lovely towels to dry your hands. I hate air dryers, they just make my hands, umm, dry and uncomfortable.



When I went up for coffee earlier, I had planned to swing by Cabanas and pick up bacon to go with our croissants but Cabanas does not start serving hot breakfast until after 7.30 so a second breakfast was in order.

Since we had already eaten a bite, we shared a plate. Rob is not a fan of donuts for breakfast so he probably did not eat his half of the donut.



Rob also grabbed a bowl of oatmeal which I sampled... and then asked him to go get one for me. I had no idea that Disney made great oatmeal.



Second breakfast over we headed back to our room that was already clean and orderly thanks to Giselle.



The night before, Giselle had taken away our wine glasses but when we got back to our room this morning she had left us replacements, without our having to ask. She was awesome!



She also had secured our various cords with little velcro strips. After arriving back home, I ordered something similar from Amazon to use around the house. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B012A5D9BO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1( $6.99 for a pack of twenty various lengths)





Our rose was opening beautifully.



At 12.30 we had a champagne seminar scheduled but first we needed to walk off second breakfast.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

We interrupt this program for exciting news, we are booked on the Eastbound Panama Canal cruise November 2020!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

I hope you will love the PC cruise as much as we did ours!!

I am loving all the pics of the Fantasy. It’s starting to be a long time since we were on a cruise... but currently we are planning to try another line for a change in 2020. We want to do a transatlantic cruise and don’t like the DCL itinerary.

 

[franandaj]

OK lots to comment on and I'm too tired out to do multi quoting.

Thanks for the little tour of the Tabasco Factory. We are not Hot Sauce fans and it takes me years to go through a bottle of Tabasco, I only use it as a "brightener" in my cream sauces so it rarely comes out of the fridge.

I'm sorry that your servers were subpar. We have rarely been seated at a table for two since we kind of like meeting new folks, or we are already cruising with folks we know so we're OK with a larger table. On that menu, I always get the Prime Rib, I tried the scallops once, but I really like a big chunk of meat so I can't turn that one down. I love the date pudding as well. I have since learned to make something similar and I think I need to do that again soon, because it is so good!

Thanks for the tip on the drink holder. I forwarded Fran the link and ours arrived today. We don't have a cruise for another 9 months or so, but now we have one! We do the pre-breakfast as well. I need my coffee early on, and Fran doesn't like to get out of bed, so I always go get beverages (sometimes she wants a hot chocolate, sometimes not) and bring back some fruit, bacon, or rolls so that she can take her pills not on an empty stomach. Then we go out and get the full on breakfast. I love the oatmeal on the ship too! Lots of brown sugar and milk and it's so tasty!

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

It has been a busy past couple of weeks, the weeds were taking over the gardens, the rhubarb and strawberries needed harvesting and students kept sending me emails. Darn students, who do they think I am, their professor or something? Actually, I do not mind their emails at all, it means they are engaged with the class and for online classes that can be an issue.

I hope you will love the PC cruise as much as we did ours!!

I am loving all the pics of the Fantasy. It’s starting to be a long time since we were on a cruise... but currently we are planning to try another line for a change in 2020. We want to do a transatlantic cruise and don’t like the DCL itinerary.

Which cruise line are you going to try? I would love to read a trip report about your upcoming cruise.

We are not Hot Sauce fans and it takes me years to go through a bottle of Tabasco,

Actually, I do not like Tabasco or any hot sauce but that is because I hate the smell of vinegar. When I was a child, my job was to take all the kitchen chairs to the back porch and wash them with vinegar water. My older male cousin lived with us and he had the habit of wiping his dirty hands on the bottom of his chair (he was weird). His chair was nasty to clean. The smell of vinegar reminds me of him and cleaning his chair.

Thanks for the tip on the drink holder.

I think that before our next cruise I will buy a Disney patch and glue it on our drink holder. I would draw something but I do not have the talent.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

After breakfast #2, we walked about the ship checking out the stores and just enjoying the promenade deck before our champagne seminar. This is one of my favorite drink classes. However, I think the Dream provided a more impressive class and was much more enjoyable. Also the pours on the Dream were more generous. Here is one of our photos from the champagne seminar on the Dream.



And below is a photo from the class on the Fantasy. The pours were smaller but it was easier to walk after this seminar compared to the one on the Dream.





We started the seminar with four empty glasses and panna cotta sitting in front of each person.



This is the first time that we have had panna cotta served with our champagne, which added a very nice touch to the class. It was YUM! It was suggested that we wait until the end to eat our dessert... with our Moet Ice.



Our sommelier was a bit reserved but did a great job of explaining the different wines. I did not write it down but I think he said he worked in Palo. He mentioned living on a small farm as a child. I asked him if they grew grapes and made wine. He said yes, that everyone in his village grew grapes and made their own wines. How fun!



As the sommelier was speaking, the waiters came around filling our glasses with the wine that was being discussed.



After the first four samples, the Moet Ice was brought around.



And finally we could enjoy our delicious dessert.



The champagnes we sampled were: Taittinger Brut, Moet Chandon Imperial, Veuve Clicquot Brut,Taittinger Rose and the Moet Ice.



Next we head to one of the MDRs for lunch.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

For some odd reason, I ordered meat loaf. I do not like meat loaf, except when I make it so I have no idea why I would have ordered it. Rob and I had the same thing so maybe I was taking the easy way out and just said, bring me what he orders.

Rob order calamari as a starter. I am sure I snagged a few off his plate.



I ordered lentil soup, it was ok, nothing to write home about. It could have used a squeeze of lemon in it.



Meatloaf that we both had. It was "not good".



Dessert was good, but how can you mess up a Sundae?



After lunch we noticed that there was a cooking class about to begin so we popped in to learn how to make Pan Seared Sea Bass.



More free drinks.



The chef did not seem comfortable being an instructor and was rather boring and difficult to understand. Still though, another free tasting of wine and an appetizer to enjoy.



Shortly after sitting down, a CM brought around the samples of the dish the chef was preparing.





By this time we were feeling pretty good and decided to try a selfie. We are not good at selfies.



Time for a nap and then showers. Tonight was the Captain's Welcome Reception with free drinks and we wanted to get all dolled up for the event.

 

[CarolynK]

I'd need a nap after all that, too!

We're not champagne fans (love wine though!), so would've skipped that, but I love panna cotta!

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

I'd need a nap after all that, too!

We're not champagne fans (love wine though!), so would've skipped that, but I love panna cotta!

Wine, red wine in particular, is my drink of choice but I do enjoy champagne also. I thought the panda cotta was a very nice touch to the seminar. I always like it when they serve food with "anything" be it a drink seminar or a lecture, even if the food are just snack like chips or dessert.