The Last Trip: An (Eastern) Fantasy Food Adventure-Bonus Feature, Pam & Her Mom Pt 2 Sept 17 the end

[dolphingirl47]

Eventually she finished and we went back to White Caps. I ended up with this pendant.

That is a beautiful pendant.

While Fran headed to the elevator, I took the stairs to the SWDAS backdrop, but I didn't need to, there was no line at all.

I love that backdrop and the photo. I am really surprised that this did not draw a line.

We were seated with a couple, who it turns out, came from Southern California as well.

It really is a small world.

I also got a Grand Marnier to accompany the souffle.

What a great idea.

I see you had Captain Fabian. We had him for two of our long cruises.

Corinna

 

[franandaj]

It would probably not be wise. A back to back on The Dream is safer you are right.

Definitely best to keep close to civilization.

Great update. Lol re Fran wanting to get to the store. Just like me. It is interesting to see photos of The Fabtasy some parts like The Dream some quite different.

They do it on purpose, the Dream is Art Deco and the Fantasy is Art Nouveau just like the Magic and the Wonder respectively.

Nice to get the Royal Table. Your table mates sound nice. The dinner sounds lovely. Love the photo back drops cool Star Wars ones.

They were nice enough, we made good conversation.

Very nice pendant.

Thank you!

I love the Imperial drink!

It was tasty, I would get it again!

Lovely towel animal tonight sounds like a great day and nice pick for the next day to see the droids.

Actually the Star Wars day at Sea is about five days away. We had to turn in the cards the next day. Later in the week the steward left our tickets in the room.

Fran is the queen of shopping. I love reading your reports and seeing how much she buys or window shops.

Yeah, she certainly is the queen of shopping. Sometimes it's for her and sometimes its for eBay. I never know which! I only buy things I want for me.

Glad you got the dinner rotation you wanted! That is always a plus! Also glad you got decent table mates. After our experience on the Dream in 2011, my husband doesn't want table mates ever again.

I'm not sure if you told that story on the DIS. Our first Disney tablemates were almost a nightmare, but luckily they judged us silently, but it was awkward. Since then we've had mostly good experiences. Our cruise out of Texas had one awkward couple at a table of eight, but the fella from Texas kept real interesting conversation going except when it circled back to himself. We got a good laugh out of it!

That soufflé looks awesome and I love that you ordered grand marnier to sip it with!

It pairs perfectly!

Great first day! Love the dress you are wearing; it looks so comfy. Character pics are so cute! That necklace is gorgeous! Hope Fran gets to sell all her items.

Thaks! I really like that dress too! I've had it for a while, and I don't get a lot of opportunity to wear it. Most of the year it's too hot in So Cal for denim!

 

[DnA2010]

Great pictures with Chip and Dale! Fran looks super happy and I had a feeling that she would be hitting the shops right away! Nice pendant- I wondered if you would get any earrings, I was remembering the buying an extra pair in case one gets lost!

When we were on the Fantasy in 2015, Disney did a great job with our tablemates- gotta hand it to them there! the family we were with had two girls and my stepdaughter was a year younger than one and a year older than the other so perfect, the other parents were very pleased!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Any chance you're willing to share the cabin number? We have 8090 booked for November and I'm hoping that it's like yours with the grab bars in the bathroom to the left of the toilet. My mother had a right sided stroke and I always try for the best bathroom set up for her that I can (doesn't always work but I try).

thanks.

 

[franandaj]

Pretty

Thank you

Either Potholder works for me! I am also going to spend some time looking at rentals. When we are back out in May, we will be soooo close.

I'm gonna suggest the one at the corner of Lakewood and Stearns. It has parking and the ones on Broadway are in places where parking sucks. The menu looks good!

Fun update! I always love that you take the time to meet the characters.

That's why we love the Disney cruises! I love meeting the more rare ones that they bring out on the ships.

Dinner looks delicious. That strawberry sundae too. I love simple desserts though your Grand Marnier souffle looks good too. Happy you had nice tablemates as well.

I'm stuck in a rut on DCL. I have my favorites and don't venture away from them!

Your new pendant is gorgeous!!!

Thank you!

This is making me curious. You always talk about Fran shopping. How much of her purchases are to keep, and how many are for your Ebay store? Or are there some things that she buys and figures if it sells, it sells, and if not, she gets to keep it? And does this also mean that these are really business trips?

Honestly I can't tell you. I never know what she's thinking, but often with the Limited Edition pins, she's hoping to make some money.

Gotta say, the decor is quite entertaining!

The Imagineers do a fantastic job!

 

[mvf-m11c]

It is nice to read another one of your adventures and on the DCL. I haven't been on the threads with all the things I have been doing lately and it is nice to read one of your trip report threads.

All of your pictures with the Disney characters are very nice along with you two.

After reading and seeing all your pics of the food on the ship, I can't wait to leave this Thursday back down to SoCal and enjoy the DCA Food & Wine Festival. Hope you and Fran have a good time on Saturday during the seminar.

 

[afwdwfan]

For a while I helped her out checking sizes and stuff, but then I noticed Minnie, and she had no line, so I hopped in for a picture.

Sorry Fran, I see a friend. Gotta go!

They told us to pose the force.

You do realize that when you use the force to choke someone, you don't have to physically have your hand on their neck, right?

We were seated with a couple, who it turns out, came from Southern California as well. Culver City for any of you familiar with the geography. We got on pretty well and it wasn't awkward at all.

Awesome!

They were really nice about my food porn obsession and even volunteered their dishes for photographs.

Yes, you clearly had good tablemates. I "know" you and like you and I'm not even sure I'd wait long enough for you to take pictures before I dig into my steak!

So if you've read any of my previous cruise reports, you should know what I'm having for dessert. The Grand Marnier Souffle!

Not a doubt in my mind.

I wanted to check out how our pictures had come out so far in Shutters, and that was we right next to the Art Gallery. Of course Fran couldn't resist checking that out.

Well at least it was convenient. You each had an objective.

I was so full every night that I put our chocolates into a ziplock bag (we brought a whole box) and I’ve been munching on them as a late night snack before bed at home.

It is nice to have a little bit of Disney like that when you come back home.

Since the Fantasy has “on demand” movies, I had to actually pick one. I didn't feel like watching an Animated feature that starts out with someone dying, so I settled on Guardians of the Galaxy, forgetting that the first thing that happens is his mother dies of Cancer.

But it isn't an animated feature, so there's that...

Eventually I turned the movie off since I was falling asleep and the rocking motion of the ship put me to sleep.

But how long would it last...

 

[chunkymonkey]

I'm here!!!!! At last I can join in early enough in the journey! And it's gonna be your last...(for a while).
I love the pictures, the jewelry, the food, the drinks, everything! I loved the Fantasy! There was lots to keep us enterntained.
I can't believe your arrival at port took so long! But at least you made it! And your room looks huge! Are all the accessible rooms like that?
You got yourself a very pretty pendant. I love me some cruise shopping
And the foood...Oh that Gran Marnier souffle...I love thee...yum yum.
We had the same rotation as you and we loved it. I thought it was perfect for us. You seemed to have some nice dining partners! Cool!
Can't wait for more!!!

 

[franandaj]

Sounds like a wonderful first night!

Love all the shopping ladies after my own heart! That pendant is lovely!

After the craziness of the morning, it was nice to have a fun and relaxing night.

I don't think you mentioned your serving team (since this was the first time meeting them), hopefully you've got a good team!

Our team was good. As you'll see as the week unfolds they didn't play as large of a role in our experience as serving teams on past cruises.

You've already taken so many adorable pics with the characters and it's only the first night

This may have been our best night, but we tried hard to get our money's worth

The traffic getting to port would have had me crawling out of my skin! So close to the ship!!!!!

I know! We had our first glimpse and then it was another hour until we got there!!!!!!

Too bad they didn't keep Cabanas open later. I never understood that, especially on embarkation day.

They have to close Cabanas at 3:30PM otherwise no one would make it to the muster drill at 4PM!

Great pictures of the ship, and all the characters, great start

We really tried to get a lot of characters, an did great in the beginning, our momentum did slow as the cruise went on, but we did pretty good.

Fun that your tablemates got into the food porn spirit right away

I know I was really surprised when they started offering up their dishes for me to photograph!

 

[franandaj]

That is a beautiful pendant.

Thank you

I love that backdrop and the photo. I am really surprised that this did not draw a line.

I think it was because dinner seating time had passed. Most people were lined up to go into the restaurants.

It really is a small world.

What a great idea.

It pairs very nicely.

I see you had Captain Fabian. We had him for two of our long cruises.

He gets a mention in the next update.

Great pictures with Chip and Dale! Fran looks super happy and I had a feeling that she would be hitting the shops right away! Nice pendant- I wondered if you would get any earrings, I was remembering the buying an extra pair in case one gets lost!

She loves Chip and Dale. And fortunately I didn't find any earrings I couldn't live without.

When we were on the Fantasy in 2015, Disney did a great job with our tablemates- gotta hand it to them there! the family we were with had two girls and my stepdaughter was a year younger than one and a year older than the other so perfect, the other parents were very pleased!

Yea, we can possibly be a hard pair to place since we don't have kids we've always been seated with other childless couples or friends traveling together.

Any chance you're willing to share the cabin number? We have 8090 booked for November and I'm hoping that it's like yours with the grab bars in the bathroom to the left of the toilet. My mother had a right sided stroke and I always try for the best bathroom set up for her that I can (doesn't always work but I try).

thanks.

Truthfully I don't remember the cabin number off the top of my head. I'd have to find our paperwork, but I can tell you that the stateroom door is featured in my next post so you will see the number when I get to posting. I think it might have been something like that, but I've been in such a whirlwind since coming back from this trip my brain is fried!

 

[franandaj]

It is nice to read another one of your adventures and on the DCL. I haven't been on the threads with all the things I have been doing lately and it is nice to read one of your trip report threads.

All of your pictures with the Disney characters are very nice along with you two.

Thanks! We love our character pictures.

After reading and seeing all your pics of the food on the ship, I can't wait to leave this Thursday back down to SoCal and enjoy the DCA Food & Wine Festival. Hope you and Fran have a good time on Saturday during the seminar.

It was great to see you this weekend and catch up with you. I hope that things with you and your family go smoothly.

Sorry Fran, I see a friend. Gotta go!

Totally!

You do realize that when you use the force to choke someone, you don't have to physically have your hand on their neck, right?

Actually my hand is about an inch away from her neck, but I wasn't sure if I was being clear with the joke.

Awesome!

Yes, you clearly had good tablemates. I "know" you and like you and I'm not even sure I'd wait long enough for you to take pictures before I dig into my steak!

I can understand that, perhaps they weren't starving from all the earlier courses.

Not a doubt in my mind.

You all know me so well!

Well at least it was convenient. You each had an objective.

It did work out for both of us.

It is nice to have a little bit of Disney like that when you come back home.

Yup!

But it isn't an animated feature, so there's that...

True. One of our newscasters pointed out when some movie came out that it always begins with a tragedy, and ever since then I have a hard time picking a movie. I like the Wonder's system better where you just flip around and pick from what's already playing.

But how long would it last...

Well you are seeing through me there!

I'm here!!!!! At last I can join in early enough in the journey! And it's gonna be your last...(for a while).

It's hard not to plan trips, but then again we really need to get our stuff out of the old place! F&W at DCA is not helping that cause.

I love the pictures, the jewelry, the food, the drinks, everything! I loved the Fantasy! There was lots to keep us enterntained.
I can't believe your arrival at port took so long! But at least you made it! And your room looks huge! Are all the accessible rooms like that?

Thanks, we found plenty to do as well. Yes, accessible rooms are substantially larger than the standard rooms. Luckily Fran's scooter is not so large so it doesn't take up a ton of room. I do appreciate the extra space, it almost feels like the same size as a regular hotel room.

You got yourself a very pretty pendant. I love me some cruise shopping

Thanks! I like it too! I have another one from DCL, but this one is much prettier.

And the foood...Oh that Gran Marnier souffle...I love thee...yum yum.

Me too! I wish I could make them at home. Actually, maybe I'm glad I can't make them at home!

We had the same rotation as you and we loved it. I thought it was perfect for us. You seemed to have some nice dining partners! Cool!
Can't wait for more!!!

The dining rotation actually turned out to be sort of a moot point with the way that our cruise ended up going, but that will unfold soon.

 

[franandaj]

Day 3

I woke up at 4AM. I'd had about 5 hours of sleep, and I tried really hard to go back to sleep, but it didn't work. I had left the curtains slightly open so I could see when the sun started coming up. I missed the Sunset the night before because we were shopping, but due to the direction we were headed, I knew the sun would come up on the side of the ship where our cabin was located. You can see my actual view here which is why I had to choose the particular framing that I did on the actual sunrise photos.



I checked the map on the TV just to verify that the sun would rise on my side of the ship.





At first I thought I would be out of luck as were headed Southeast and not due South. However as that glisten on the horizon began to shimmer, I realized that I would be treated to the view of the orb rising from the horizon.













By the time I finished taking pictures it was 7AM and I decided to go get coffee at the Cove cafe. But first a quick picture of our door. I reused the gifts we got on our Alaskan Cruise as door ornaments.



Here is the elevator landing for our deck.





The adult pool area. The jacuzzi didn’t open until 8AM.





There it is! The Cove Cafe!



Even though I came here every day, I never took a seat anywhere.








I had saved my coffee card from the Alaskan cruise and I had one more Coffee to buy before my free one!

I grabbed a croissant for Fran and I had hoped to get some fruit from the QS places, but they didn't open until lunchtime. I brought the croissant back to the room.



Then went up to Cabanas for a plate of fruit. I ate half of it while I watched the rest of GotG.



I also got caught up on my Journal while Fran slept some more. Then I unpacked the last of our suitcases. The movie wasn't quite over, but I was able to get Fran awake enough to eat her fruit and croissant. Then I went down to the lobby to turn in our request for SWDAS character meets and to get in line for Boo. And as I was going to look for the picture, that’s the one they didn’t include on my photo package. Boo hoo!

After that I went back up to the room. Fran had me take a picture of this bag that we bought and this was for us and our usage. It was one of those, buy X amount of dollars, get this for some outrageous price.



We got ready and went to the Castaway Club Gold and Platinum members reception, and our Palo brunch which would be taking place right afterwards.



We were the first in the door and grabbed seats near the back so we could easily slip out when our reservation for Palo came up.







We were immediately greeted by waiters with trays of Prosecco, Mimosas, Bellinis, Kir Royal, and Apple Cider. I got the Prosecco while Fran ordered the Apple Cider.



Then a gal came by with a tray of Canapés. Fran got the salmon, Brie, and shrimp in Gazpacho.





I got the prosciutto wrapped asparagus crostini, the blue cheese stuffed roll, and the shrimp in gazpacho.





All of them were very good, but we had Palo Brunch coming up in half an hour and didn't want to fill up here. A gentleman came by with fruit and I got a couple strawberries and grapes, which I didn't have in my snack this morning. Goofy came by to say “hi”.



Pluto was in the room, but he left before he came to our table.



Before getting up and speaking to the room, Captain Fabian stopped by our table. I didn't realize this but he was the Captain of the Wonder three out of the five times we sailed on it!

He took the stage talked a bit about the fleet before wishing us all a great cruise, and we were done by 11AM, just in time to make our Palo reservation. Plus we got a Mickey head Rice Krispie Treat on the way out!

 

[krrrristen]

Beautiful sunrise pictures It's so nice to be up before the crowds of people, but less nice if you're tired and can't sleep! IMO, those pictures were worth it. Sad that your picture with Boo didn't come through, though. She's so cute. And hard to meet!

That reception looks wonderful. Sometimes you go to one of those little "appreciation" receptions and it's just some pastries and fruit. Blah. Being gluten free, free fruit isn't enough to get me to go... anywhere.

 

[dhorner233]

Beautiful ship and sunrise! You had to pay for the coffee. Did you have to pay for everything else? Disney really has it going on at the parks with me at least. I pay a lot of money to get into the park and then spend most of my time spending money in shops or eating.

 

[franandaj]

Beautiful sunrise pictures It's so nice to be up before the crowds of people, but less nice if you're tired and can't sleep! IMO, those pictures were worth it. Sad that your picture with Boo didn't come through, though. She's so cute. And hard to meet!

I normally don't like to leave my room while it's still relatively calm, but to get my first cup of coffee, I'll do it. I may have just slipped on my cover up instead of actually getting all the way dressed.

That reception looks wonderful. Sometimes you go to one of those little "appreciation" receptions and it's just some pastries and fruit. Blah. Being gluten free, free fruit isn't enough to get me to go... anywhere.

They usually do really good at the receptions on DCL, when we sailed Concierge they also had some great snacks at the Concierge reception.

Beautiful ship and sunrise! You had to pay for the coffee. Did you have to pay for everything else? Disney really has it going on at the parks with me at least. I pay a lot of money to get into the park and then spend most of my time spending money in shops or eating.

You have to pay for "specialty" coffee. You can get the swill they try to pass off as coffee at the drink stations. Being from the PNW, I would imagine you have some coffee snobbery, especially after our discussion on our first day at WDW. You can also order coffee delivery from Room Service if you put the tag out the night before, but I found it to be substandard to the freshly brewed coffee made by a Barista.

The good thing about the cruises is that pretty much everything is covered except for most of the places Fran and I end up going! Palo and Remy are extra as is the Cove Cafe (coffee and mixed drinks). The Main Dining Rooms (MDR), buffets, room service and quick service are all included. The only thing is you should give your room service guy a buck or so since he doesn't get tips as a regular part of his job.

 

[bcwife76]

Gorgeous sunrise photos!! I'm not much of an early bird so have yet to get any cruise sunrise photos, one of these days though!

It's nice to be welcomed back with a little meet and greet, something to strive for for ourselves I'm a coffee snob so Cove Cafe is a must!

Woohoo, excited for your Palo brunch!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I just love the sunrise from the boat! I wish I had a cruise soon to see it. At least I get our pretty Naples sunsets!

Nice to see what happens in those Gold/Platinum Receptions! I'm only 4 cruises down at this time so I haven't made it there yet!

 

[afwdwfan]

At first I thought I would be out of luck as were headed Southeast and not due South. However as that glisten on the horizon began to shimmer, I realized that I would be treated to the view of the orb rising from the horizon.

I'm glad it worked out that you could see it. I mean, if you're not going to be asleep, might as well.

But first a quick picture of our door. I reused the gifts we got on our Alaskan Cruise as door ornaments.

Wow, that's a lot of magnets...

It was one of those, buy X amount of dollars, get this for some outrageous price.

Oh yeah... spend 50 bucks and we'll throw in this $10 bag for an additional $19.99? Something like that?

Cool bag though.

He took the stage talked a bit about the fleet before wishing us all a great cruise, and we were done by 11AM, just in time to make our Palo reservation. Plus we got a Mickey head Rice Krispie Treat on the way out!

Nice reception! I don't blame you for not wanting to eat too much before Palo, but that is a nice little perk that they offer.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Gorgeous sunrise pics! Worth getting up for!

 

[DnA2010]

Lots of my favourite things in this update!
Your sunset pictures are lovely, great colours! The empty calm ship is great, I really enjoyed the couple of times I walked around at that time, checking out details.
Man do I love both coffee and croissants- my hubby pulled an Alison one day and brought me fruit and croissant to the cabin also- mostly it was me bringing him the coffee

That tray of drinks at the reception looks splendid indeed- nice shot!

Very excited for the Palo update!