Pixie dust on our DREAM vacation! Update 06/08 TR finished!!

[cjlvsccm]

Hi Karin!

Long-time lurker here. I have really enjoyed all the tips and "vacation narration" you offer in all your reports, and the great photos too! (Especially of the food! )

Hubby and I will be boarding the Dream 04/29 for our first-ever cruise (squeee!!), celebrating our 5th anniversary. I'm so excited!! , and I'm pretty sure we will be booking a future (dummy date).

Looking forward to more of YOUR adventures, as well as our own!

Cindy

 

[annmarieda]

That is so cool you got it all rebooked for LESS!! PLUS had the better category!!!

 

[gallmcduck]

Hi I'm away to catch been a busy time recently back soon

 

[gallmcduck]

All caught up Being stuck on the plane after a long flight is no fun we have experienced that as well – not for immigration but thunderstorms to top it off they let all the flights enter immigration at the same time needless to say it was chaos . Poly sounds disappointing but a perfect location we did stay a long time ago but did not have the same understanding we do now about WDW. Yey for pixie dust it was a plenty on your arrival. those mickey gloves and to your b2b trip

Remy sounds excellant so far look forward to the rest

 

[michelle9343]

Thanks so much for the photo map of Tortuga Rum company I can't wait to check it out!!!

 

[podsnel]

Don't stop! Don't stop!! What came next??????

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Karin!

Long-time lurker here. I have really enjoyed all the tips and "vacation narration" you offer in all your reports, and the great photos too! (Especially of the food! )

Hubby and I will be boarding the Dream 04/29 for our first-ever cruise (squeee!!), celebrating our 5th anniversary. I'm so excited!! , and I'm pretty sure we will be booking a future (dummy date).

Looking forward to more of YOUR adventures, as well as our own!

Cindy

Hi Cindy!
Welcome! I am so happy you decided to come out of lurkdome!

You are going to love the Disney DREAM! She is such a beautiful ship and the service is just wonderful!
Good idea booking a dummy! Always nice to know that you have a cruise to look forward to.

More of OUR adventures are coming up pretty soon and hope to hear about yours too!

That is so cool you got it all rebooked for LESS!! PLUS had the better category!!!

It took quite a while to do all the changes, but it was nice to have it all rebooked and upgraded and getting the discount.
Needless to say I have changed it again in the meantime!

Hi I'm away to catch been a busy time recently back soon

Welcome back!
Glad you found some time to come back again!

All caught up Being stuck on the plane after a long flight is no fun we have experienced that as well – not for immigration but thunderstorms to top it off they let all the flights enter immigration at the same time needless to say it was chaos . Poly sounds disappointing but a perfect location we did stay a long time ago but did not have the same understanding we do now about WDW. Yey for pixie dust it was a plenty on your arrival. those mickey gloves and to your b2b trip

Remy sounds excellant so far look forward to the rest

No, being stuck on a plane is NO fun. But neither is it, when they cram everyone into immigration. Don't worry, been there, done that too!

The Poly doesn't have that fascination for me, don't know why, but it is nice that we now can say that we were able to stay there. The location was awesome though!
The cruise was wonderful. Started out with lots of Pixie dust and stayed that way!

 

[dizneeat]

Thanks so much for the photo map of Tortuga Rum company I can't wait to check it out!!!

It's not far from the ship at all and they have lots of different flavour rum cakes as well!
Our vacation/cruises is coming up fast now. We have two more short trips to DLRP and Italy before that, but by the time we will enjoy them we will be at 100 days until our summer vacation! Can't wait!

Don't stop! Don't stop!! What came next??????

Hm, maybe I should take a loooooooong break?

No, I cannot do that to you!
Update coming up in a few minutes!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 3, February 20


Remy, a dining experience - Part 5

We were still discussing what we thought of the place when another assistant server came by to hand us our first amuse bouche.
It was a small cube of something fried, with a liquid tomato filling. She presented it to us and we had to use our fingers to take it off her plate. We were advised to eat it whole, because of the liquid filling. Once you put it in your mouth and bit it, there was a burst of tomato flavour in your mouth. Very unusual and very nice though.
And then it was time for the real amuse bouche –

chunks of lobster in a spicy fish broth. It was nice, even though the broth was very thin, but I would have much more preferred it if the broth had been warm and not cold.
And here comes the sommelier, he introduced himself and while I am still trying to figure out the accent, looking for his nametag, he mentions he is Swedish! Heck, a truly French restaurant with a Swedish sommelier.

Tom had the French menu and I had ordered the American one, but that was to change lateron, and you’ll find out why. His first wine was a sparkling wine,

the Taittinger Prestige Cuvee Rose NV, while I had the

Michel Picart Vouvrat 08. They were both nice, but we still had to finish the Collette.
And then it was time for our first course. Mathieu brought out the

Langoustine Royale, Royal Norway Lobster with Nage Reduction and my first course was the

Jambon Wrapped Shrimp, Iberico Ham Wrapped Florida shrimp with melon. Both dishes were very nice and went perfectly with the wine.
Now here is my other pet peeve with this restaurant. While we ate there were about 4 – 6 restaurant staff hovering over us and as soon as you put the fork down, they would whisk away your plate, refill your glass and put another plate in front of you.
Being from Europe, we take our time dining and this was far too hurried for me.
Well, we had put our forks down and there went our plates, and new ones were placed in front of us and there was some more wine to taste. Tom’s wine was the Domain Louis Latour Pouilly Fuisse 09 and his second course was the

Asperge Verte, Green Asparagus with black truffle and Vin Jaune Sauce. It came with a

poached egg, shaved asparagus and champagne foam. We both tried all our courses and this one was just outstanding!
It was so good, we could have made a whole meal of it! Now, my second wine was the Michel Redde Sancerre 08 and my second course was the

Tomato Ratatouille, in Calamarata Pasta with Cuttlefish. Again a nice dish and while the Ratatouille was fine, I have had equally fine ones in regular restaurants.
By then the wine started to kick in and the giggling started. I drank a lot of water with my meal as well as the wine which was actually very nice.
Again, forks down and the plate magically, or not so magically disappeared. The sommelier came over to fill our new glasses and Tom had the

Domaine Mont Redon, Chateau Neuf du Pape 08, while my glass was filled with the

Domaine Vincent Girardin Chambolle Musignt 08. While Tom’s was a white wine, mine was a red.
So I have to say I am not a huge friend of red wines, they make my mouth all puffy and I have a feeling as if it would leave some “fur” in my mouth. I carefully took a small sip and my mouth started to feel funny. I could feel my mouth and face show signs of “not liking it at all”. Tom noticed and since we were sharing anyway, we changed wines and started to confuse both the servers and the sommelier.
So my main course then was the

Sea Bass Atlantique, with Thai Sauce and Tom received the

Duck Breast, Sausage and Confit with Strawberry Rhubarb Puree. Both dishes tasted very nice, but my piece of Bass was rather large and filled me up quite a bit.
Again, as soon as we had finished eating, our plates were removed and new wine was poured. Two reds this time! I received the

Chateau Bataillet 06 and Tom was poured the Chateau Gloria 03. Again I thought I had to try the wine, and this one made me gag! I had to put my hand over my mouth, it was as bad as that.
So, I have discovered I cannot drink red wine – my body does not agree with it. The sommelier saw how I felt and hurried over to remove my glass and pour me some white wine.
He showed it to me, but since I cannot copy from the menu, I have no idea what it was. But it was nice and crisp, not too sweet.
Then we received our main courses. Tom’s was

Australian Wagyu Tenderloin, with Braised Shortribs.

The shortribs rested on a bed of beautifully scented mashed potatoes. It was a very nice main course and he enjoyed it very much. I received the

Poularde Rotie, with Sauce Albufera. It came with

a cute little tiny portion of veggies. Now, don’t get me wrong, this was wonderful, moist, with crisp skin, but it reminded me totally of Wienerwald, a Rotisserie Chicken Place that used to be all over Austria.
Be that time I could seriously feel the alcohol and was starting to feel full. But again we still had dessert to conquer.

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

 

[dizneeat]

Day 3, February 20


Remy, a dining experience - Part 6

But again we still had dessert to conquer.
Again the sommelier came with fresh glasses and started pouring. I am not a huge fine of dessert wines as they are far too sweet for my liking, but these went pretty well with our desserts. I had the

Chateau Sudutraut, paired with

Tanzanie Chocolate. Tom’s glass was filled with Chateau Doisy Vedrines 06 and his dessert was the

Vacherine Framboise, Raspberry Flavours. Along with it we received a tray with

homemade cookies,

dark and milk chocolate and

home made Marshmallows, along with another container that had

sugar crusted puff pastry (we call them pigs ears) and some honey nut candy and chocolate fudge like candies. There were also two lollies and they all were home-made.

We sampled a little bit of everything, then finished off our desserts and finally the bill was placed on our table.
We topped it up with a tip and were ready to leave when our server came over to hand me two long stemmed roses, a red one and a pink one.

After thanking him we chatted on for a little more time before it was finally really time to leave.

Back in our stateroom we found a note from Remy, thanking us for dining with them and a

small box with

four home made chocolate treats. But there was one more thing we wanted to do. Our server, Mathieu had told us that he wanted to ask his Austrian girlfriend to marry him, when she was going to visit him on the DREAM in a few weeks’ time. He planned to get married on Castaway Cay while she was on vacation and told us how he had planned it all out.
We thought he deserved a little Austrian treat as well. So we walked back to our stateroom where a small glass vase was already waiting and filled a little goody bag for him and then just walked back upstairs, thanked him again and surprised him with his treat. He was stunned and even went back to write down a tea that he really loved and was only available in France, since we had talked about my obsession with good tea too! It was fun to see the Maitre D come out, checking what was the matter and so we had a chance to tell him, how much we had enjoyed Mathieu’s company!
Then it was back to our stateroom.

We were too full to do anything and too tired, so we just filled out one of the Room Service breakfast requests, hung it on our door and went to bed right away.

Final thoughts on Remy!
Was it what we expected?
NO way. I was expecting a truly French experience, very European, very different.
To me, that was not the case. I even asked Mathieu if he could think of a similar restaurant in France, and by NOT answering straight, I knew the answer.
So, this is a very americanized version of a French restaurant.
The food itself was very good, well prepared and arranged and service was outstanding.

Will we return?
YES! I am going to try for a reservation for our summer trip. NO more wine pairing for me though. I'd rather enjoy the food on it's own. If Tom wants the wine pairing, that is up to him.
There is just one thing I will tell them beforehand. I want service to be much slower than this time. We were done in about 2 and a half hours and I felt like I was speed eating. Just a few minutes between courses and I will be a very happy bunny.

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

 

[Shazzasmd]

An excellent review of Remy - we dined there last week on the Dream and had similar observations (except service was at a more relaxed pace). Thanks for naming all the dishes!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Thank you for posting such an honest review of Remy. Reviews like these make it easier for me to decide if it is something I am interested in doing. Disney always seems to do great things with asparagus (I love asparagus) and Remy seems to follow suit - it looks so delicious! I'm glad that you enjoyed your time there!

 

[eandesmom]

what an experience! I would need to be rolled back to my stateroom. I assume the wine pairing was extra? I would have been annoyed with that much hovering, not only does it make me feel rushed, it takes away from the experience as the whole thing can become a little less intimate.

It would be fun to try once however it just wouldn't be Jeff's thing for a variety of reasons. He loves Palo but has no desire to try Remy. Thank you so much for the incredible detail!

 

[annmarieda]

Oh my goodness that is a lot of food and a lot of wine. I though, like red more than white... white is what has a tendency to make me cover my mouth. So Remy is outside of the cost of the cruise itself? I think this is what gets me a little nervous about cruises... what is covered vs. what is not. I am sure I would figure it out easy enough...

 

[Teri1]

Loved your review of Remy, we had been looking forward to it. I read it to Mick and showed him the pictures. The only way we would eat there is if we could go with you and Tom so you could tell us what we are eating! You and Tom told us about Palo when we were on the Wonder, so I made sure we had dinner at Palo on the Dream and we enjoyed it.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Karin! I'm finally all caught up and still awake! Sometimes when I read, I fall asleep - it's not your writing! I love how you ran into so many of your favorite servers right away.

Looks like your Dream cruise is a culinary experience. I don't know why you had to wait in line at the cruise desk - as much as you two are cruising, they should send a sales rep to your stateroom with a computer in tow and a bottle of champagne to sip while you book.

 

[gallmcduck]

Great remy review food looks dreamy We did contemplate the wine pairing but have decided against this way too much with all that food plus the extra cost!

 

[dizneeat]

An excellent review of Remy - we dined there last week on the Dream and had similar observations (except service was at a more relaxed pace). Thanks for naming all the dishes!

Thank you for your kind words.
We felt very rushed, but it might have to do with coming from Europe where we take far more time for dinner. I will just make sure next time to let them know I want it more spaced out.

Thank you for posting such an honest review of Remy. Reviews like these make it easier for me to decide if it is something I am interested in doing. Disney always seems to do great things with asparagus (I love asparagus) and Remy seems to follow suit - it looks so delicious! I'm glad that you enjoyed your time there!

I am glad you like the review. While the experience itself was really great, it was by far not what I had expected.
The asparagus was soooo good. I could have eaten that dish over and over again all evening.

what an experience! I would need to be rolled back to my stateroom. I assume the wine pairing was extra? I would have been annoyed with that much hovering, not only does it make me feel rushed, it takes away from the experience as the whole thing can become a little less intimate.

It would be fun to try once however it just wouldn't be Jeff's thing for a variety of reasons. He loves Palo but has no desire to try Remy. Thank you so much for the incredible detail!

Dinner at Remy is $75 per person and the wine tasting is $99 per person, so you are talking 350$ plus an added tip for the sommelier there. Now, add in a nice tip for your server.
We were glad we did it and maybe you could show your DH the new menu. We had NO desire whatsoever when they came up with their first menu, but they have tweaked it a bit now and it is much more appealing.
And btw, we LOVE Palo, as it is much more authentic to a real Italian restaurant.

Oh my goodness that is a lot of food and a lot of wine. I though, like red more than white... white is what has a tendency to make me cover my mouth. So Remy is outside of the cost of the cruise itself? I think this is what gets me a little nervous about cruises... what is covered vs. what is not. I am sure I would figure it out easy enough...

Actually the food might look more than it actually is on the plate. The portions are not HUGE, but there are so many courses and since I don't usually drink wine (only for special events, otherwise I like a fruity drink with an umbrella in it! ) I could feel the effects very soon.
As for what is covered - ALL your food from the regular dining rooms, quick service and room service. Speciality drinks are extra and so are the "upscale" restaurants. Palo is 20$ per person and Remy is 75$ per person, wine pairing again is an extra $99. We just love Palo and the 20$ seems like nothing compared to the really wonderful food they are serving!

 

[dizneeat]

Loved your review of Remy, we had been looking forward to it. I read it to Mick and showed him the pictures. The only way we would eat there is if we could go with you and Tom so you could tell us what we are eating! You and Tom told us about Palo when we were on the Wonder, so I made sure we had dinner at Palo on the Dream and we enjoyed it.

So we have a date for Remy on the Fantasy?
I knew you'd love Palo, knowing that you love European food!

Now all I have to do is convince you to join our FE exchange!

Hi Karin! I'm finally all caught up and still awake! Sometimes when I read, I fall asleep - it's not your writing! I love how you ran into so many of your favorite servers right away.

Looks like your Dream cruise is a culinary experience. I don't know why you had to wait in line at the cruise desk - as much as you two are cruising, they should send a sales rep to your stateroom with a computer in tow and a bottle of champagne to sip while you book.

All caught = , being still awake =


We both could not believe that we would run into Ana and Sapto right away and then be able to get Ana as our server.

Cruising with Disney always is a culinary experience. I am still really surprised at how good their cruise food actually is!
Oh, and I love your idea of the sales rep coming to my stateroom with a bottle of champagne!

Great remy review food looks dreamy We did contemplate the wine pairing but have decided against this way too much with all that food plus the extra cost!

Thank you!
The wine pairing really hikes the price and it is just over the top for you are not really into wines. I know it was kind of wasted on me.

 

[Teri1]

Yes I hope we have a date at Remy on the Fantasy! I plan on doing the FE on the Fantasy too!! I just don't plan to do it on the Dream, 4 nights seem to go so fast and I felt like we stayed so busy it was over before I was ready!! Karin you should of seen me running to the opposite end of the ship each night to iron Mick's pants for dinner. I have to find a travel iron to use in the stateroom!