Mandymouse's '5 Days to book a holiday !! .... You Must Be Kidding' Report

[lmhall2000]

You are a vision of loveliness in that purple dress! I am not good at knowing what colors go with people, but purple is yours!! Your mate looks like a fun guy, he earns huge kudos for pulling this off! Can not wait for the island pics...very cool you got to do high tea!! Love the report!! More more!

 

[darthtatty]

looks like you had a fab time, cant wait to hear more.

 

[dixonsontour]

Very glam in the dress - looks like you are both having a fab time in all the pics

 

[tennisfan]

Lovely dress Mandy & the high tea looks scrummy

 

[jjk]

Lovely day and the high tea looks yummy

 

[dolphingirl47]

Wow, that was quick. I think the whole holiday from booking to return happened while we were on holiday.

I really need to make the effort to visit the Kennedy Space Centre. In our family it is me who really wants to go and Graham who things that he would be bored. Seeing those photos makes me want to go even more.

I think it would have killed me seeing two Disney ships and not being able to get on even if I had a cruise in my immediate future.

I love the purple dress that you wore for formal night.

Corinna

 

[UKANGEL]

Must agree with everyone else, Mand, that purple dress looks stunning on you.

Loving the report, and seeing the ship through your eyes glad that DJ Matt is still working hard

 

[mandymouse]

Another fab frock and that afternoon tea looked so dainty and delish
the swans, too cute. We're you the only ones in there?

I am so falling in love with the Fantasy right now I can't begin to tell you.... your Trippie is coming along nicely I'm really enjoying your trip .....soooo relaxing!

Mandy, you look fabulous, loving the trippie, I so want to go on the fantasy. Enjoying this sooo much

Mandy, great trip report! I can't wait for our Sept trip.

Your pictures are great, however I was noticing in most of them there are very few people in the background, such as at tea and in the Tube. Is this just a matter of when you took the pictures, was the ship fairly empty, or is it the Fantasy is so large there is plenty of space without feeling crowded?

Phil -

Two things strike me looking at your pics. One, you must pack WAYYYY better than I do, I am useless at packing. Second, Paul remembers that there's a timer on the camera...why oh WHY do we not remember that and then take stupid pictures with just one of us in them?

We must just have missed each other in the Tube that night, we got there about midnight and closed the place down.

Good so far, can't wait for the St. Maarten report.

Mandy...just catching up with your trip pie...fab pics!! I love your purple dress its beautiful on you! Going at such short notice....good for you!!Looking forward to more

You are a vision of loveliness in that purple dress! I am not good at knowing what colors go with people, but purple is yours!! Your mate looks like a fun guy, he earns huge kudos for pulling this off! Can not wait for the island pics...very cool you got to do high tea!! Love the report!! More more!

looks like you had a fab time, cant wait to hear more.

Very glam in the dress - looks like you are both having a fab time in all the pics

Lovely dress Mandy & the high tea looks scrummy

Lovely day and the high tea looks yummy

Wow, that was quick. I think the whole holiday from booking to return happened while we were on holiday.

I really need to make the effort to visit the Kennedy Space Centre. In our family it is me who really wants to go and Graham who things that he would be bored. Seeing those photos makes me want to go even more.

I think it would have killed me seeing two Disney ships and not being able to get on even if I had a cruise in my immediate future.

I love the purple dress that you wore for formal night.

Corinna

Must agree with everyone else, Mand, that purple dress looks stunning on you.

Loving the report, and seeing the ship through your eyes glad that DJ Matt is still working hard

Thanks for all your lovely comments everyone

At Palo High Tea, there was probably only 1/2 a dozen tables set up, it was very quiet and relaxing in there, we loved it

At The Tube, most evenings we were in there quite early, that's why it looks so quiet in my photos, but it did fill up

Thank you for your comments on my purple dress, it was a bargain from West One at £28 in the New Year sales

 

[mandymouse]

Monday 7th May

I woke around 7.30am, and sat on our verandah catching up with my trip report and reading today's Navigator, while the people in the next stateroom were for a change not sitting outside smoking

Today was going to be another day at sea, and we would spend another day chilling, sunbathing, chilling, reading, chilling, doing the Martini Tasting, chilling and going to Palo for dinner

We got changed, and the first stop for me was a skinny latte from the Cove Cafe. We then found a couple of loungers on Deck 13 and spent the next few hours there while it was just nice and warm and not too hot. Around 11.30 we had our first Bahama Mama of the day, then we returned to our stateroom to change for lunch. We decided to eat in the Royal Court, where we were served a cocktail, lentil soup, pasta and tiramisu for me, and duck, burger and apple crumble with ice cream for Paul.

It was all very nice, and afterwards we went for a walk around the shops, followed by a game of Goofy's Golf before chilling in our room for a while

At 3pm we had the Martini Tasting at the Meridian Lounge. The tables were set out with 5 different Martini's, a classic dry one, my fave a Malibu & Midori one, a chocolate one and two others that were rather nice, but I can't remember what was in them, to be honest it was only the first one that most people didn't like

After the tasting we went back to the room to chat to the girls on Skype (by the way the Internet connection was very good on this ship compared to the Magic)

Cont'd ...

 

[mandymouse]

...

While chatting to the girls, our Platinum Castaway Club gift was delivered

After another hour in the sun, we got ready for dinner at Palo.

Our reservation was at 6.30pm and once again Laszlo was our server. We were shown to our table and Laszlo brought out some breads and a plate of Antipasti (meats, cheeses, peppers and artichokes), it was all lovely. We ordered a bottle of Asti Martini, and our starters Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Polenta for me and Chianti Braised Beef Ravioli "en bordo" for Paul. We both next ordered the Palo Beef Tenderloin each, though I had it with a cheese sauce, and Paul had red wine sauce. For dessert I had Tiramisu and Paul had Panna Cotta, and in between we had a sorbet (palate cleanser) and we finished off with their vodka based limoncello. We had a lovely meal, the food was delicious and we had a perfect view of the ocean from our window seat.

After dinner I got changed, and we headed to La Piazza where Giovanni (the guy who hosted the Martini tasting) made a couple of Cosmos for me. In La Piazza there's a Vespa and side car, and at one point Captain Marco and Ray the Cruise Director got on it (I wish I'd got a photo lol, it was a funny sight), then Paul & I had a go

We then moved into O'Gill's for a drink, then wandered into The Tube

A juggler/comedian came on, and we were surprised that he was quite funny. We got chatting to one of the barmen, Stewart from Scotland, who told us he used to work in our favorite TGI Friday's at the Trafford Centre. He made me a delish and strong Cosmo or two, then we staggered off to bed

Tomorrow ~ St. Maarten

 

[dolphingirl47]

The mini golf looks like fun. I am coming around to the idea that there may be elements on the new ships that I would enjoy.

The Polenta and Portobello Mushroom starter at Palo is probably my favourite dish on the ships.

Corinna

 

[irongirlof12]

What a fab day, wish I was there, love your dress, I am not quite sure where you put all of that food you are eating...not fair!

 

[wilma-bride]

What a great day Mandy. Were you bothered a lot by people smoking on the verandahs? We have booked a verandah for the first time for our cruise on the Fantasy next year and I am really worried that we won't get to enjoy it because of smokers

Love your Palo dress You look like you have caught the sun a bit.

 

[wickesy]

What a great day Mandy. Were you bothered a lot by people smoking on the verandahs? We have booked a verandah for the first time for our cruise on the Fantasy next year and I am really worried that we won't get to enjoy it because of smokers

We've never been bothered by smokers when we have had a verandah.

 

[Tinks1984]

Mandy, Mandy, Mandy...I think I'm drunk just reading your trippie! I absolutely love your reports, and I did wonder where you were on FB for a couple of weeks! The F1 was on and not a Mandy in sight

As I say, I so enjoy reading about your adventures, you always pack tons of things in for us to drool over and keep dreaming! Looking forward to reading more...

 

[tennisfan]

Another lovely day, the food looks lovely

 

[princess_ariel_85]

Just caught up....

Mandy, you really do wear some beautiful dresses & I love the cool designs on your nails.

High tea looked fab, very yummy.

What's in a Bahama Mama? Sounds good...

Martini tasting looks fun, they look so colourful

lovely update xx

 

[mandymouse]

Tuesday 8th May

We woke around 8am, and we were already docked in St. Maarten. We got changed and grabbed a quick breakfast of fruit at Cabanas.

We disembarked and headed to find our tour guide. We had booked a tour with Bernard's Tours (We booked independently, $40 each). Our guide was 'Sugar' and he was an absolute case. He had a cooler box full of water, lager and a dreadful 'rum cocktail' that was so strong it tasted like paint stripper

First we stopped off to feed some Iguanas, then our next stop was with a guy who picked out sea urchins and other creatures from the sea for us to hold (I felt brave so handled one )

Along the way he would stop or slow down for us to take photos, then we had our first long stop at Orient Beach (though we all agreed to lessen our time here by half an hour, and have more time later at Maho Beach). We paid $5 each for a lounger and umbrella, though after a short while it began to rain, so we had to take shelter at 'The Brothers' bar where I tried out the guava berry cocktail which was a bit of an island speciality. It was nice, though a little sweet

Sugar seem to know everyone on the island, he would be peeping his horn to everyone, or he would know people where we could get seated at a restaurant or ran gift shops. Our next stop was Marigot, but it didn't interest us, there was just a market there which wasn't busy as it was a holiday that day

Our next stop was Maho Beach, which we were really looking forward to. We only had an hour and a half here, and as we hadn't eaten since our fruit this morning, he got us seated and served at a restaurant promptly. It was pretty cool here, we saw a few planes land, and we enjoyed our burgers and cocktails too. It was fun too as a fellow Diser (Jenny, ukintheus, and her hubby Scott) had introduced themselves to me earlier in the tour, and we had lunch together

After our time at Maho Beach, which went far too quickly, we had a final stop at a souvenir shop, then Sugar dropped us back at the ship at 3pm. He would've dropped us in St. Philipsburg too if we had wanted, but we wanted to take the water taxi over

** Note, I'm really pleased that we did the tour, we did have a good laugh, though we felt we wasted time seeing the Iguanas, the guy with the sea urchins and the gift shops, and we weren't over keen on Orient Beach, so I doubt I'd recommend it. We loved Maho Beach though**

Cont'd ...

 

[mandymouse]

...

We took some photos and enjoyed a Hurricane at the Hard Rock Cafe (Paul sent his friend a text saying he was in St. Maarten with a hurricane, and his friend replied with 'stay safe', lmao, that gave us a laugh )

Anywho, we caught the water taxi back to the Fantasy, and spent an hour on top deck as the sun set

We returned to our stateroom and got showered and changed for dinner, as tonight was Pirate Night (Arrrrrr). Dinner tonight was back in Animator's Palate. We caught up with all our table mates tonight, as over the last few nights a few of us had been to dinner at Palo. To start Paul & I both had pot stickers, then for main I had beef and Paul had chicken, then for dessert I had fruit cobbler with vanilla ice cream (which was delish), and Paul had the Sweet Temptations

From dinner we went up to deck 12 for the Pirate Night Party. This party was totally different to the one on the Magic/Wonder. It was just pirates and Captain Jack Sparrow. I wasn't impressed, though the fireworks were good (I missed Mickey Mouse saving the day from Captain Hook to 'I need a hero' lol

We had a final cocktail at the Cove Bar, then called it a night

 

[wilma-bride]

Mandy, your latest instalment has brought back some lovely memories of our day in St Maarten. We absolutely loved our tour with Bernard's - while i can appreciate what you're saying about the bits you weren't that bothered about, I thought it was a great way to see a lot of the island. And Maho beach was just amazing.

Interested to see what you did at St Thomas.