I got to Cadillac Lounge well ahead of time and they were still setting up for our tasting. However, there were other people there already so I found myself a seat and watched the world go by out of the big portholes. I realised very quickly that this would not be a tasting for the faint-hearted. In front of each seat, the bartenders put a round wooden board with 5 numbered slots. This in itself was not surprising as many tastings that I had attended on previous cruises included 5 different drinks. However, those drinks had never been regular sized drinks, but ranged in size between half and third of the normal drink size. As the started to put out the drinks, it became very obvious that this time round, the drinks would be full size.
Once all the drinks had been put out and it looked like everybody that was going to come was there, one of the bartenders introduced the team and then went into the history of the Mojito. He then introduced the ingredients for the first Mojito, which was a Classic Mojito consisting of Lime, Sugar Syrup, Mint, Ice and Club Soda. He also explained that mint does not actually have a taste, but just strong smelling oils. He gave out some fresh mint leaves so that people could try for themselves. The next Mojito was a Raspberry Mojito, which was made with Bacardi Razz and fresh raspberries. I really liked this, but a lot of the others claimed it tasted like cough syrup. The next one was not to my liking. This was a Caipiroska, which is made with vodka rather than rum. Most people seemed to love it, but I found it to be too abrasive and just had a couple of sips. The next one was much more to my liking. It had another fancy name that I cannot recall and it actually tasted a lot like a Margarita. However, it was still a rum based cocktail, but instead of the sugar syrup, they used Agave Nectar. The last Mojito was a Mango Mojito and was probably my favourite. When the bartender introduced the drink, he asked us to try some, but also to leave some. The reason for this request soon became clear. He offered a spiced rum float to go with the Mango Mojito. It was lovely on its own, but it was out of this world with the addition of the spiced rum.
Once the tasting was over, I stayed behind for a bit and chatted with other people who had the same idea. The reason behind this mainly that I did not trust myself to stand up straightaway after all those Mojitos. It was however also nice to meet some new people. About 30 minutes later, I figured that I have to get up at some stage and it was not as bad as I had thought. I headed back to the cabin to drop of the stuff that I no longer needed and grabbed my swim stuff and the dress that I was going to wear that night. I then headed up to the Rainforest Room, where I settled down on a heated tile lounger with plenty of water to sober up. After a little nap, I was as good as new. I used one of the showers in the spa and got changed up there, to. I just had to take my stuff back to the cabin and I was ready for dinner.
Dinner that night was the rotational menu at Animator's Palate. We both like the menu, but neither of us is keen on the show. As I am also not too keen on the desserts that come with this menu, we agreed that we would make a swift exit once we had finished our main course. Graham had Ahi Tuna Tatare, Cheese and Bacon Soup and Lemon and Thyme Chicken Breast, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Root Vegetables, Grain Mustard Jus. I had Wild Mushroom Risotto, Polenta Cake with Tomato, Portobello Mushroom and Monterey Jack Cheese and Lemon and Thyme Chicken Breast, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Root Vegetables, Grain Mustard Jus. The chicken had been the recommendation of our server. I have to say I was not overly impressed. It was too plain for my taste and the chicken was rather dry. Next time I will have the beef again.
During dinner, suddenly one of the people at the table next to us asked us if we were from the UK, if Graham was a lawyer and if I worked for an airline. Initially we were just confused, but then the Penny dropped. We had shared a table with this lady one lunch on our Med cruise in 2010. We had hit it off straightaway, but we had not seen her again after that lunch and I definitely would not have recognised her. Once I had made the connection though, I remembered that she was going to travel around Europe for a couple of months before doing the inaugural Baltic cruise. So we chatted for a bit about her European adventures.
Once we had finished our main course, we got up and left. We explained to our server what we were doing and said goodbye. On the way out we bumped into our head server. He could not understand why we were not staying for the show, but after I explained to him that we hate the show, he wished us a good evening. We had a quick look at our photos in Shutters and then headed down to the atrium. We wanted to get some more photos, but we were way too early. So we decided to just sit on one of the sofas in the atrium and wait.
We had maybe sat there for a couple of minutes when somebody in an officer's uniform came up to us. I really was a bit slow on the uptake that day and I just assumed that we were in the way. I was just about to get up, when he said something along the lines of that there is to be no more talk of waves. It was actually Captain Fabian. He sat down with us and we had a great chat. He has been with
Disney Cruise Line from the very beginning and was involved in the building of all 4 ships. It was very interesting to listen to him and he patiently answered any questions that we had. He spent a good 30 minutes with us. This was definitely a treat. Again, I was impressed that he not only remembered what Graham had said, but also that he had recognised us. He must have met hundreds of people the previous day.
By the time we had said goodbye to Captain Fabian, the photographers had reappeared. We had our photos taken against a pink backdrop and then had some more photos taken against the white backdrop. This time round, they had some props and we also ended up with a couple of magical photos with Captain Hook and Tinkerbell.
Once we had finished with the photographers, we headed back to our cabin. The Navigator for the next day had not arrived yet. I took a couple of photos of our towel animal and then got ready for bed.