dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Hopefully there will be another installment either today or tomorrow. It is about half typed up.
Corinna
Corinna
Transatlantic Adventures
- Thread starter dolphingirl47
- Start date
Tammy Stringer
<font color=red>I love babies - all milky and baby
- Joined
- May 5, 2002
Loving your report Corinna - the above had me chuckling!!!!
Can't wait for more
Tammy
Pinky166
<font color=deeppink>a little on the OCD side<br><
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2008
What a fab day!! I love all the photo's, especially the one's of you, Woody & Jessie. 
Did you book the Madiera tour direct with Disney or was it privately arranged? I am getting so many fab ideas from you for my WBTA next year.
Did you book the Madiera tour direct with Disney or was it privately arranged? I am getting so many fab ideas from you for my WBTA next year.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
What a fab day!! I love all the photo's, especially the one's of you, Woody & Jessie.
Did you book the Madiera tour direct with Disney or was it privately arranged? I am getting so many fab ideas from you for my WBTA next year.
This was privately arranged. Somebody from the DIS got in touch with a company called Daniel Taxi and they tailor-made the tour for us. From what the organizer shared with us, they have been an absolute joy to deal with. In the end 98 people did that tour. They also offer similar tours in taxis that hold up to 4 people. You can find more information here:
http://www.danielmadeirataxis.com/index.php
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Day 8
This was the first of 5 “relaxing” sea days in a row. If you have followed the trip report so far, then you know that there won’t be anything relaxing about it, but the sea days were hugely enjoyable. As per usual, Mickey called at 7:00 to wake us up and we headed for the stretching class, which was again on deck 10 in the Wide World of Sports Area. Initially I was a little reluctant, but this had become an important part of my daily routine and I actually started to feel big benefits from this. I could feel from day to day that I was becoming more flexible. We went back to the gym after the class and had a bit of a workout. From there it was straight down to deck 4 for Walk A Mile.
After all this exercise, we went to Lumiere’s for some breakfast. Graham had fresh fruit with Granola and yoghurt followed by a cooked breakfast and I had a Mango Smoothie with Granola followed by Eggs Benedict. This might have turned me off Eggs Benedict forever. I had a near miss with Eggs Benedict at Lumiere’s before, when the Hollandaise tasted like custard one morning on the Med cruise. I was not too upset about this as in a funny way, this actually worked. This time round the Hollandaise just tasted of raw vinegar. I hate vinegar at the best of times and this was just awful. I know I should probably have complained, but I did not want any fuss. I just ate what came with it and got on with my day.
There were plenty of photo opportunities mid morning. I got there a bit early and just sat down in the atrium to watch the world go by. Graham joined me. We were soon joined by another couple from the cruise meet thread and we chatted for a while. Graham hung around for a while when the characters were out, but soon went off to do his own thing. I managed to get photos of Mickey in his Italian costume, Donald in his French costume, Belle, Minnie in her Italian costume, Daisy in her French costume, Pluto, Chip and Dale in their Italian costumes, Donald in his Italian costume and Goofy in his French costume.
After the photos were taken, I had still a bit of time left before I would meet Graham for lunch. So I headed up to Mickey’s Mates to sort out my appointment for Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique. I had double-checked the schedule that morning and noticed that they had given me the wrong date for formal night. Formal night was not on the 24th, but on 25th September. When I got there, I said that I had noticed that formal night was a different night and asked for an appointment on 25th September. The timings on that day made a lot more sense. I managed to get an 18:30 appointment, which was perfect. I hung around a bit longer looking at some of the 2010 merchandise, when I heard another member of staff speaking to the colleague that made my appointment. To her credit, I think she genuinely believed that I had left the shop. I could overhear her saying how unfair it was that I just came in and changed the date. I was absolutely floored. It was them who gave me the wrong date and I was just putting right their mistake. I made it very clear from the start that I wanted to do this on formal night. If anything, I would have expected them to apologize for the mix up, but was OK with the fact that they didn’t. However, then having a go at me behind my back for trying to sort out the mess that they created was a bit rich. I was so tempted to turn around and just cancel full stop. Instead I quietly left the shop.
I met Graham near Parrot Cay, where we had lunch. After lunch I showed him where he needed to go for the beer tasting that I had booked for him for that afternoon. I then went to get changed for my next commitment.
Some of the ladies had arranged to meet for a Champagne Girls Party. This had been done on previous cruises and we decided that this would be a bit of fun. Initially we had tried to get DCL to organize the champagne tasting, but they were not very forthcoming. So we decided to do this ourselves. Everybody was dressing in pink, wearing tiaras and boas and we were each bringing a bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine. I had managed to get a nice pink dress in the sales and also bought a pink tiara. Unfortunately it was the style with the comb that would not stay on at all as my hair is so fine. I passed on the boa as I hate the texture. The person who had organized this had brought spare tiaras so I used one of those.
Before the cruise, about 20 women had signed up for this and one of the members of our cruise meet thread had kindly offered to host this in her suite. With 20 people, this would have been perfect. Unfortunately on the day about three times as many people turned up and this was not fun. It was just way too crowded. When we signed up, we were asked to bring a glass each. I kept the glasses that we were left with the stateroom gift and brought one of them. I think I was the only one who did. Sue had asked for some glasses from room service expecting the original 20 people. So there were not enough glasses to go round either. I was more than a little relieved when somebody suggested that we should head for the landing to have some photos taken. We tried doing this just on the stairs, but there were too many of us. So somebody suggested that we should go down to deck 6 and the photos were taken from a balcony on deck 8. This worked fantastically well.
After the photos were taken, most people headed back to the suite. In the meantime, extra glasses had arrived and some people had left. There were still far too many people for the space available and I left soon after. I did get a taste of both an Australian sparkling wine and some Fairy Tale Cuvee before I left though.
I slowly made my way down to deck 4. Mickey was supposed to be coming for photos just outside the Walt Disney Theater. When I got there, there was some kind of signing in progress and it did not look as if this was going to finish anytime soon. I still decided to hang around. Shortly afterwards the photographer and Mickey turned up. It was decided that the photos would be taken outside on deck 4.
Once I had my photo taken, I headed back to the cabin to get changed again and to chill out for a bit. I was reading, but must have fallen asleep at some stage. Fortunately I woke up in time to meet Graham on Beat Street for the next installment of Desperate Shipmates.
I got there quite early, but Graham was already there. He had made himself comfortable in one of the large portholes. They had split the group from the day before into two and we were in the second group. Some people from the first group were late and they were not allowed in. This was very unlike Disney to exclude latecomers.
Soon it was our turn. This session took place in Diversions. Once everybody was sat down, the characters came in. The Creepier Twins were sharing this “meeting” and advised us that they we are in grave danger as the captain had lost control over the ship and we were heading straight for the Bermuda triangle. We then observed how the other characters reacted to this and how they interacted with each other. Most of them stormed off one after the other. The Creepier twin then proceeded to tell us that they knew who had kidnapped Dr Shadowski and had control of the navigation device and therefore the ship. Suddenly there was a loud crackling noise, flickering lights, smoke and then darkness. When the lights came back on, the twins had disappeared. Officer Curt took charge and decided that the venue was not safe. We were led down a backstage passageway that contained a number of visual puns. This passageway led us to the Walt Disney Theater, were we found a “cleaner” in front of an open trapdoor. We were told that this trapdoor was leading to the staterooms. We were each given a card with the details for the next installments and were dismissed.
This was the first of 5 “relaxing” sea days in a row. If you have followed the trip report so far, then you know that there won’t be anything relaxing about it, but the sea days were hugely enjoyable. As per usual, Mickey called at 7:00 to wake us up and we headed for the stretching class, which was again on deck 10 in the Wide World of Sports Area. Initially I was a little reluctant, but this had become an important part of my daily routine and I actually started to feel big benefits from this. I could feel from day to day that I was becoming more flexible. We went back to the gym after the class and had a bit of a workout. From there it was straight down to deck 4 for Walk A Mile.
After all this exercise, we went to Lumiere’s for some breakfast. Graham had fresh fruit with Granola and yoghurt followed by a cooked breakfast and I had a Mango Smoothie with Granola followed by Eggs Benedict. This might have turned me off Eggs Benedict forever. I had a near miss with Eggs Benedict at Lumiere’s before, when the Hollandaise tasted like custard one morning on the Med cruise. I was not too upset about this as in a funny way, this actually worked. This time round the Hollandaise just tasted of raw vinegar. I hate vinegar at the best of times and this was just awful. I know I should probably have complained, but I did not want any fuss. I just ate what came with it and got on with my day.
There were plenty of photo opportunities mid morning. I got there a bit early and just sat down in the atrium to watch the world go by. Graham joined me. We were soon joined by another couple from the cruise meet thread and we chatted for a while. Graham hung around for a while when the characters were out, but soon went off to do his own thing. I managed to get photos of Mickey in his Italian costume, Donald in his French costume, Belle, Minnie in her Italian costume, Daisy in her French costume, Pluto, Chip and Dale in their Italian costumes, Donald in his Italian costume and Goofy in his French costume.
After the photos were taken, I had still a bit of time left before I would meet Graham for lunch. So I headed up to Mickey’s Mates to sort out my appointment for Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique. I had double-checked the schedule that morning and noticed that they had given me the wrong date for formal night. Formal night was not on the 24th, but on 25th September. When I got there, I said that I had noticed that formal night was a different night and asked for an appointment on 25th September. The timings on that day made a lot more sense. I managed to get an 18:30 appointment, which was perfect. I hung around a bit longer looking at some of the 2010 merchandise, when I heard another member of staff speaking to the colleague that made my appointment. To her credit, I think she genuinely believed that I had left the shop. I could overhear her saying how unfair it was that I just came in and changed the date. I was absolutely floored. It was them who gave me the wrong date and I was just putting right their mistake. I made it very clear from the start that I wanted to do this on formal night. If anything, I would have expected them to apologize for the mix up, but was OK with the fact that they didn’t. However, then having a go at me behind my back for trying to sort out the mess that they created was a bit rich. I was so tempted to turn around and just cancel full stop. Instead I quietly left the shop.
I met Graham near Parrot Cay, where we had lunch. After lunch I showed him where he needed to go for the beer tasting that I had booked for him for that afternoon. I then went to get changed for my next commitment.
Some of the ladies had arranged to meet for a Champagne Girls Party. This had been done on previous cruises and we decided that this would be a bit of fun. Initially we had tried to get DCL to organize the champagne tasting, but they were not very forthcoming. So we decided to do this ourselves. Everybody was dressing in pink, wearing tiaras and boas and we were each bringing a bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine. I had managed to get a nice pink dress in the sales and also bought a pink tiara. Unfortunately it was the style with the comb that would not stay on at all as my hair is so fine. I passed on the boa as I hate the texture. The person who had organized this had brought spare tiaras so I used one of those.
Before the cruise, about 20 women had signed up for this and one of the members of our cruise meet thread had kindly offered to host this in her suite. With 20 people, this would have been perfect. Unfortunately on the day about three times as many people turned up and this was not fun. It was just way too crowded. When we signed up, we were asked to bring a glass each. I kept the glasses that we were left with the stateroom gift and brought one of them. I think I was the only one who did. Sue had asked for some glasses from room service expecting the original 20 people. So there were not enough glasses to go round either. I was more than a little relieved when somebody suggested that we should head for the landing to have some photos taken. We tried doing this just on the stairs, but there were too many of us. So somebody suggested that we should go down to deck 6 and the photos were taken from a balcony on deck 8. This worked fantastically well.
After the photos were taken, most people headed back to the suite. In the meantime, extra glasses had arrived and some people had left. There were still far too many people for the space available and I left soon after. I did get a taste of both an Australian sparkling wine and some Fairy Tale Cuvee before I left though.
I slowly made my way down to deck 4. Mickey was supposed to be coming for photos just outside the Walt Disney Theater. When I got there, there was some kind of signing in progress and it did not look as if this was going to finish anytime soon. I still decided to hang around. Shortly afterwards the photographer and Mickey turned up. It was decided that the photos would be taken outside on deck 4.
Once I had my photo taken, I headed back to the cabin to get changed again and to chill out for a bit. I was reading, but must have fallen asleep at some stage. Fortunately I woke up in time to meet Graham on Beat Street for the next installment of Desperate Shipmates.
I got there quite early, but Graham was already there. He had made himself comfortable in one of the large portholes. They had split the group from the day before into two and we were in the second group. Some people from the first group were late and they were not allowed in. This was very unlike Disney to exclude latecomers.
Soon it was our turn. This session took place in Diversions. Once everybody was sat down, the characters came in. The Creepier Twins were sharing this “meeting” and advised us that they we are in grave danger as the captain had lost control over the ship and we were heading straight for the Bermuda triangle. We then observed how the other characters reacted to this and how they interacted with each other. Most of them stormed off one after the other. The Creepier twin then proceeded to tell us that they knew who had kidnapped Dr Shadowski and had control of the navigation device and therefore the ship. Suddenly there was a loud crackling noise, flickering lights, smoke and then darkness. When the lights came back on, the twins had disappeared. Officer Curt took charge and decided that the venue was not safe. We were led down a backstage passageway that contained a number of visual puns. This passageway led us to the Walt Disney Theater, were we found a “cleaner” in front of an open trapdoor. We were told that this trapdoor was leading to the staterooms. We were each given a card with the details for the next installments and were dismissed.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Graham and I arranged when we would meet back in the cabin and I headed off to have some more photos taken. I had photos taken with Alice and the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts and Stitch. I was especially looking forward to meeting Stitch. Not only is he one of my favourite characters and the favourite to have photos taken with, I also had brought the wallet that I had printed with a photo of Stitch and me to show to him. Of course, he took it off me and tried to hide it underneath his armpit. This resulted in me tickling Stitch until he gave it back to me. Once the wallet was safely with his escort, I had some fantastic photos taken with Stitch.
After I had all the photos taken that I wanted, I headed back to the cabin to get changed for Villains Night. Graham helped me to get the dress on. Unfortunately it has an old-fashioned metal zip, which was not very cooperative. Graham ended up using my jewellery making pliers to get this done up. Once I was dressed and had put up my hair and added the fascinator, we headed down to deck 4. I dont often go and see the shows and Graham had never seen a show on the ship before. However, I really wanted to see the new Villains Tonight show. This had premiered just before the Eastbound Transatlantic cruise and when we were on the Med cruise, this was only the third time that this was shown. The verdict at that time was damning, but I heard that they had tweaked it since and I was determined to see it this time. Based on how much Graham was enjoying Desperate Shipmates, I convinced him to come along. I thought that this show might appeal to his sense of humour.
We got there in plenty of time and decided to get some Virgin Pina Coladas from Preludes. This is where I made a tactical error. Graham had offered to carry my drink for me. Stubborn and independent minded that I am, I declined. Well, floor-length evening gown, mask in one hand and cocktail glass in the other really does not work out. I ended up spilling some of my drink down the dress.
The show was seriously funny. Villains Tonight! begins as Hades and his faithful sidekicks, Pain and Panic, welcome new souls to the Underworld. But instead of a frightening realm, guests will discover that Hades has turned the Underworld into an upbeat and happier place. The lively fun comes to a halt when The Fates arrive and predict that Hades will lose his position as Lord of the Underworld if he doesnt ramp up the evil factor. Worried by the news, Hades checks his Evil-O-Meter and discovers it is running dangerously low. So he comes up with a plan: Hell conjure up the very best of the worst the most powerful Disney villains to help him replenish the world of evil. (Summary courtesy of Stitch Kingdom) Rather than scary, this show is absolutely hilarious. I do not really rate this as a family show though. Some of humour was definitely aimed more at an adult audience. There was not anything that I would classify as naughty, but a lot of the humour that made the show would have gone straight over the heads of kids. We both enjoyed it and I was glad that I have seen this. However, I doubt that I will go and see this again. This is not the kind of show that you can enjoy time and time again.
After the show, we headed down to the atrium, where I had my photo taken with Captain Hook and Mr Smee and with Cinderella and Perla.
Our favourite photographer Claire was taking photos against a black backdrop and we decided to get in line for this. The line was moving very slowly, but the photos were well worth the wait.
Once we had our photos taken, it was time to head for dinner. Graham ended up with Jafars Caramelized Bay Scallops, Broccoli and Maytag Blue Cheese Soup and Oven-roasted Duckling. I had Crispy Cheese Ravioli, Cruella DeVils Sangria Bisque and Yachtsman Steakhouse Grilled NY Strip. Neither of us fancied dessert and as I was quite cold, we left before dessert was served. I noticed that this time round the ship was colder than usual. The outside temperature throughout the cruise was lovely, but I was often cold inside.
We headed straight up to the cabin. I took a quick photo of our latest towel animal, a snake, and then went to bed and went straight to sleep.
After I had all the photos taken that I wanted, I headed back to the cabin to get changed for Villains Night. Graham helped me to get the dress on. Unfortunately it has an old-fashioned metal zip, which was not very cooperative. Graham ended up using my jewellery making pliers to get this done up. Once I was dressed and had put up my hair and added the fascinator, we headed down to deck 4. I dont often go and see the shows and Graham had never seen a show on the ship before. However, I really wanted to see the new Villains Tonight show. This had premiered just before the Eastbound Transatlantic cruise and when we were on the Med cruise, this was only the third time that this was shown. The verdict at that time was damning, but I heard that they had tweaked it since and I was determined to see it this time. Based on how much Graham was enjoying Desperate Shipmates, I convinced him to come along. I thought that this show might appeal to his sense of humour.
We got there in plenty of time and decided to get some Virgin Pina Coladas from Preludes. This is where I made a tactical error. Graham had offered to carry my drink for me. Stubborn and independent minded that I am, I declined. Well, floor-length evening gown, mask in one hand and cocktail glass in the other really does not work out. I ended up spilling some of my drink down the dress.
The show was seriously funny. Villains Tonight! begins as Hades and his faithful sidekicks, Pain and Panic, welcome new souls to the Underworld. But instead of a frightening realm, guests will discover that Hades has turned the Underworld into an upbeat and happier place. The lively fun comes to a halt when The Fates arrive and predict that Hades will lose his position as Lord of the Underworld if he doesnt ramp up the evil factor. Worried by the news, Hades checks his Evil-O-Meter and discovers it is running dangerously low. So he comes up with a plan: Hell conjure up the very best of the worst the most powerful Disney villains to help him replenish the world of evil. (Summary courtesy of Stitch Kingdom) Rather than scary, this show is absolutely hilarious. I do not really rate this as a family show though. Some of humour was definitely aimed more at an adult audience. There was not anything that I would classify as naughty, but a lot of the humour that made the show would have gone straight over the heads of kids. We both enjoyed it and I was glad that I have seen this. However, I doubt that I will go and see this again. This is not the kind of show that you can enjoy time and time again.
After the show, we headed down to the atrium, where I had my photo taken with Captain Hook and Mr Smee and with Cinderella and Perla.
Our favourite photographer Claire was taking photos against a black backdrop and we decided to get in line for this. The line was moving very slowly, but the photos were well worth the wait.
Once we had our photos taken, it was time to head for dinner. Graham ended up with Jafars Caramelized Bay Scallops, Broccoli and Maytag Blue Cheese Soup and Oven-roasted Duckling. I had Crispy Cheese Ravioli, Cruella DeVils Sangria Bisque and Yachtsman Steakhouse Grilled NY Strip. Neither of us fancied dessert and as I was quite cold, we left before dessert was served. I noticed that this time round the ship was colder than usual. The outside temperature throughout the cruise was lovely, but I was often cold inside.
We headed straight up to the cabin. I took a quick photo of our latest towel animal, a snake, and then went to bed and went straight to sleep.
tinker1bell
<font color=teal>I'll never grow old<br><font colo
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2005
Corinna,,,,I am sorry you had a problem with the folks in Mickeys Mates. I hope you said something on your survey. That was just not right what that CM did, someone else could have heard her and got a bad impression as well. She needs to be taught better customer service.
I was so happy when we saw Jason and Erik go by to get them to take our pictures.
eeyorefanuk
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2009
I am loving your trip report again. You have got some lovely photos of you and Graham, really nice.
I must admit I really like the "white" background photos, they make the characters stand out so much more
Some lovely dresses of yours as well
I must admit I really like the "white" background photos, they make the characters stand out so much more
Some lovely dresses of yours as well
ForTheLoveOfDCL
A Dream is a wish your
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2008
Corinna I love the pics , especially of you and Graham!!! Can I post some on our MR website?? Can't wait for more!! =0)
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Sure, post away.
I am going to have to slow down a little as I have so much on at the moment. I am hoping to post a new installment every Wednesday and Sunday.
Corinna
disney_princess_85
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2009
Ooh Corinna, I hadn't noticed your TR until now! I loved your last one so I'm going to start reading this one today. 
disney_princess_85
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2009
Phew! Over a day has passed since my previous post and I am now up to speed with your TR! I love how you go into so much detail and your pics are just amazing. You really do look like you're having the time of your life. Can't wait for more.
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Here are some of the items Corinna taught us to make in the jewellery classes she held on the cruise:
The necklace in villain colours :
The pirate themed phone charm:
A massive thanks to Corinna for the classes ... I know everyone really enjoyed them. I also learned a few things whgich I can put to good use in making bits and pieces in the future.
The necklace in villain colours :
The pirate themed phone charm:
A massive thanks to Corinna for the classes ... I know everyone really enjoyed them. I also learned a few things whgich I can put to good use in making bits and pieces in the future.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Here are some of the items Corinna taught us to make in the jewellery classes she held on the cruise:
The necklace in villain colours :
The pirate themed phone charm:
A massive thanks to Corinna for the classes ... I know everyone really enjoyed them. I also learned a few things whgich I can put to good use in making bits and pieces in the future.
Thanks for posting the photos.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Day 9
This turned out to be a restful day. Well, by my standards anyway. As per usual, we got up at 7:00 and headed to the gym for our stretching class. After the stretching class, we had some fruit and pastries at Goofy's Galley and then headed down to deck 4 for "Walk A Mile".
Once we were done with this, I arranged to meet Graham for lunch and then headed off for the scrapbooking party. We were each given two special pages and they had old Navigators and leaflets to cut up and use, foam letters and sea life, various die-cut shapes and markers. They also had example scrapbooks to look at. I made the title page for my Med scrapbook and I was very pleased with the result.
I then had some time to spare and checked out the photos in Shutters. I went to see if I could find Graham, but he was not in any of his
usual places. It turned out later that he had gone to see a movie in the Buena Vista theatre. I decided to head for the Rainforest Room
with my book. I found an empty heated tile lounger and settled down for a while.
I had arranged to meet Graham for lunch at Topsiders. On my way there, I thought I spotted what the photo of the day was of. They did
something new this cruise. Every day, they posted a photo of a detail from something on the ship in the Navigator. If you knew where it
could be found, you filled out a slip with the location, your name andcabin number and put it in a box on the shore excursion desk. Every
day a winner was drawn from all the correct answers. I had not really done this up to that point, but as I was walking past the Mickey slide on my way to Topsiders, I thought I has spotted this. I was convinced that this was the underside of Mickey's hand, which is holding the slide.
Graham was already waiting for me, but we were a bit too early. So we decided to have a look at the copy of the Navigator that is displayed on deck 9. We realized very quickly that I had been wrong. I was still convinced that it was either a hand or a paw. As the photo was slightly yellow, I started to wonder if this was in fact Pluto's paw. So we headed back towards the Mickey pool and Pluto's Dog House. I suddenly noticed what it was. It was not Pluto's paw at all, but it was Goofy's hand on the mural behind the Mickey pool.
This feat accomplished, we hung around a bit longer to hear the horn at midday and then went into Topsiders for some lunch. After lunch we still had some time before we had to be at deck 10 forward for the next installment of Desperate Shipmates. We decided to have some post lunch coffee at the Cove Café. Our favourite bar tender was on duty. He makes some superb Margaritas. Unfortunately he is only very rarely at the Cove Café these days and if he is then it is in the morning. In the evenings he now works in the bar in the galley of Animator's Palate. He asked when we would next be eating at Animator's Palate, which was that evening. He said that we could always order a Margarita there and just tell our assistant server that we are Fernando's special guests. I also found out that he would be the Tequilla Tasting that afternoon.
While we were still at the Cove Café, one member of cruise staff came in to get a Virgin Pina Colada for Desperate Shipmates. One of the characters loves her Pina Coladas. This just proved once more how much detail DCL put into this. We took this as a hint to finish our coffees and head up to deck 10.
We had received an invite over night that had said that we are to meet in the forward elevator lobby on deck 10. However, when we left the Cove Café, it was obvious that the action would happen around the Quiet Cove Pool as they were setting up around there. So we went upstairs and staked out a spot overlooking the Quiet Cove pool. A short while later, the characters appeared. We all had a good giggle when Wanda Shadowski appeared and one of the people by the pool tried to convince her to sit down on the empty lounger next to him. She was not having any of it. Because of the location, you could not hear much what was going on, but I think this was arranged like this on purpose. Our brief was to see how the suspects were interacting with each other and body language can be very powerful. All of them had envelopes and after all of them had left; one envelope with a video was found.
Once this was over, I headed downstairs to deck 3. There was a DVC Member Social in Rocking Bar D, which had started at 13:00. Still, I was not the only one who came late as a lot of other people had been to Desperate Shipmates first as well. There was a buffet with finger food, but I was still stuffed from lunch. They were also passing around cocktails and I had a Sour Apple Martini. They were showing short videos about various features of the Disney resort that is currently being built in Hawaii. This was really interesting. There was also member bingo, but unfortunately I did not win anything.
Once this was over, it was nearly time to head across to sessions, where our Tequila and Margarita Tasting would take place. This had again been arranged that it was exclusively for people from the DIS. We tried three different Tequilas, one of which (Patron XO Café) is coffee flavoured. I can normally take or leave Tequila and do this tasting for the Margaritas, but I was totally blown away by this. We also got a blue Margarita and a passion fruit Margarita. They were nice, but the one thing that stood out for me was the coffee flavoured Tequila. After the tasting, I chatted with Fernando for a bit and then chatted with some other people from the DIS who were still hanging around.
Next up was the room tour. We had everything from category 11 to category 3. Some categories we had more than one room in to show variations. For instance we had a sideways category 11 and a standard layout category 11, a category 9 with 2 portholes and a category 9 with one porthole. We also had an accessible category 8 and an accessible category 3. We started on deck 2, went down to deck 1 and then worked our way up again. As we had a sideways category 11, I had offered to open our cabin for this. I went to the cabins that were before mine first to have a quick look and then went to our cabin to open it up for the others. Once the last people had come to have a look, I then had a look at the rest of the cabins. I have to say our cabin was by far my favourite. The only other cabin that I liked was one with a Navigator's Veranda. I just loved the cozy feel of the outside space.
At the end of the tour, I chatted with some of the others before heading down to the atrium for some more photos. I managed to get photos taken with Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket, Suzy and Perla, Dopey and Belle and Aurora.
After the photos, I met up with Graham at the adult pool again. We had been given a beach ball as Fish Extender gift and Graham had taken this to the pool. We had great fun playing catch and generally messing around with the beach ball. Once we tired of this, we dried off and then went to the Rainforest Room to relax for a bit.
Dinner that night was pack at Animator's Palate and it was the Flavours of the Mediterranean menu. This was my favourite Menu on the med cruise. We also decided to take Fernando up on his offer and a Margarita each. Out assistant server was a bit surprised that we knew one of the bar tenders in the galley, but he was happy to oblige.
Graham as per usual had his dinner chosen for him. He only wanted either an appetizer or a soup/salad and he ended up with “Tapas” consisting of Parma ham, cheese, sundried tomatoes and olives. For his main course he had St. Sebastian Seared Chicken with tomatoes, cheese and pasta and for dessert he had Warm French Almond and Apple Tart wit Vanilla Ice Cream. I also had the Tapas and followed this with the Andalusian Tomato Soup. I ten had Osso Bucco with Saffron Risotto and for my dessert; I had the Barcelona Sundae (Butterscotch Ice Cream with Cinnamon Pistachio Crunch, Almonds and a Honey Caramel Sauce)
After dinner I wanted to have another photo taken with Lilo and Stitch. Graham normally does not do character photos, but he got in line with me for this. I asked him what this was all about. Graham told me that he had seen the photos with me and Stitch from the previous day and that he was there to make sure that there would be no more hugging and kissing. I had not had him down as the jealous type. Still, I love the photos that were the result of this.
Photos taken, we headed back to the cabin. We found a towel stingray, which was wearing my DVC cap. We went straight to bed as I had another busy day ahead of me.
This turned out to be a restful day. Well, by my standards anyway. As per usual, we got up at 7:00 and headed to the gym for our stretching class. After the stretching class, we had some fruit and pastries at Goofy's Galley and then headed down to deck 4 for "Walk A Mile".
Once we were done with this, I arranged to meet Graham for lunch and then headed off for the scrapbooking party. We were each given two special pages and they had old Navigators and leaflets to cut up and use, foam letters and sea life, various die-cut shapes and markers. They also had example scrapbooks to look at. I made the title page for my Med scrapbook and I was very pleased with the result.
I then had some time to spare and checked out the photos in Shutters. I went to see if I could find Graham, but he was not in any of his
usual places. It turned out later that he had gone to see a movie in the Buena Vista theatre. I decided to head for the Rainforest Room
with my book. I found an empty heated tile lounger and settled down for a while.
I had arranged to meet Graham for lunch at Topsiders. On my way there, I thought I spotted what the photo of the day was of. They did
something new this cruise. Every day, they posted a photo of a detail from something on the ship in the Navigator. If you knew where it
could be found, you filled out a slip with the location, your name andcabin number and put it in a box on the shore excursion desk. Every
day a winner was drawn from all the correct answers. I had not really done this up to that point, but as I was walking past the Mickey slide on my way to Topsiders, I thought I has spotted this. I was convinced that this was the underside of Mickey's hand, which is holding the slide.
Graham was already waiting for me, but we were a bit too early. So we decided to have a look at the copy of the Navigator that is displayed on deck 9. We realized very quickly that I had been wrong. I was still convinced that it was either a hand or a paw. As the photo was slightly yellow, I started to wonder if this was in fact Pluto's paw. So we headed back towards the Mickey pool and Pluto's Dog House. I suddenly noticed what it was. It was not Pluto's paw at all, but it was Goofy's hand on the mural behind the Mickey pool.
This feat accomplished, we hung around a bit longer to hear the horn at midday and then went into Topsiders for some lunch. After lunch we still had some time before we had to be at deck 10 forward for the next installment of Desperate Shipmates. We decided to have some post lunch coffee at the Cove Café. Our favourite bar tender was on duty. He makes some superb Margaritas. Unfortunately he is only very rarely at the Cove Café these days and if he is then it is in the morning. In the evenings he now works in the bar in the galley of Animator's Palate. He asked when we would next be eating at Animator's Palate, which was that evening. He said that we could always order a Margarita there and just tell our assistant server that we are Fernando's special guests. I also found out that he would be the Tequilla Tasting that afternoon.
While we were still at the Cove Café, one member of cruise staff came in to get a Virgin Pina Colada for Desperate Shipmates. One of the characters loves her Pina Coladas. This just proved once more how much detail DCL put into this. We took this as a hint to finish our coffees and head up to deck 10.
We had received an invite over night that had said that we are to meet in the forward elevator lobby on deck 10. However, when we left the Cove Café, it was obvious that the action would happen around the Quiet Cove Pool as they were setting up around there. So we went upstairs and staked out a spot overlooking the Quiet Cove pool. A short while later, the characters appeared. We all had a good giggle when Wanda Shadowski appeared and one of the people by the pool tried to convince her to sit down on the empty lounger next to him. She was not having any of it. Because of the location, you could not hear much what was going on, but I think this was arranged like this on purpose. Our brief was to see how the suspects were interacting with each other and body language can be very powerful. All of them had envelopes and after all of them had left; one envelope with a video was found.
Once this was over, I headed downstairs to deck 3. There was a DVC Member Social in Rocking Bar D, which had started at 13:00. Still, I was not the only one who came late as a lot of other people had been to Desperate Shipmates first as well. There was a buffet with finger food, but I was still stuffed from lunch. They were also passing around cocktails and I had a Sour Apple Martini. They were showing short videos about various features of the Disney resort that is currently being built in Hawaii. This was really interesting. There was also member bingo, but unfortunately I did not win anything.
Once this was over, it was nearly time to head across to sessions, where our Tequila and Margarita Tasting would take place. This had again been arranged that it was exclusively for people from the DIS. We tried three different Tequilas, one of which (Patron XO Café) is coffee flavoured. I can normally take or leave Tequila and do this tasting for the Margaritas, but I was totally blown away by this. We also got a blue Margarita and a passion fruit Margarita. They were nice, but the one thing that stood out for me was the coffee flavoured Tequila. After the tasting, I chatted with Fernando for a bit and then chatted with some other people from the DIS who were still hanging around.
Next up was the room tour. We had everything from category 11 to category 3. Some categories we had more than one room in to show variations. For instance we had a sideways category 11 and a standard layout category 11, a category 9 with 2 portholes and a category 9 with one porthole. We also had an accessible category 8 and an accessible category 3. We started on deck 2, went down to deck 1 and then worked our way up again. As we had a sideways category 11, I had offered to open our cabin for this. I went to the cabins that were before mine first to have a quick look and then went to our cabin to open it up for the others. Once the last people had come to have a look, I then had a look at the rest of the cabins. I have to say our cabin was by far my favourite. The only other cabin that I liked was one with a Navigator's Veranda. I just loved the cozy feel of the outside space.
At the end of the tour, I chatted with some of the others before heading down to the atrium for some more photos. I managed to get photos taken with Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket, Suzy and Perla, Dopey and Belle and Aurora.
After the photos, I met up with Graham at the adult pool again. We had been given a beach ball as Fish Extender gift and Graham had taken this to the pool. We had great fun playing catch and generally messing around with the beach ball. Once we tired of this, we dried off and then went to the Rainforest Room to relax for a bit.
Dinner that night was pack at Animator's Palate and it was the Flavours of the Mediterranean menu. This was my favourite Menu on the med cruise. We also decided to take Fernando up on his offer and a Margarita each. Out assistant server was a bit surprised that we knew one of the bar tenders in the galley, but he was happy to oblige.
Graham as per usual had his dinner chosen for him. He only wanted either an appetizer or a soup/salad and he ended up with “Tapas” consisting of Parma ham, cheese, sundried tomatoes and olives. For his main course he had St. Sebastian Seared Chicken with tomatoes, cheese and pasta and for dessert he had Warm French Almond and Apple Tart wit Vanilla Ice Cream. I also had the Tapas and followed this with the Andalusian Tomato Soup. I ten had Osso Bucco with Saffron Risotto and for my dessert; I had the Barcelona Sundae (Butterscotch Ice Cream with Cinnamon Pistachio Crunch, Almonds and a Honey Caramel Sauce)
After dinner I wanted to have another photo taken with Lilo and Stitch. Graham normally does not do character photos, but he got in line with me for this. I asked him what this was all about. Graham told me that he had seen the photos with me and Stitch from the previous day and that he was there to make sure that there would be no more hugging and kissing. I had not had him down as the jealous type. Still, I love the photos that were the result of this.
Photos taken, we headed back to the cabin. We found a towel stingray, which was wearing my DVC cap. We went straight to bed as I had another busy day ahead of me.
ForTheLoveOfDCL
A Dream is a wish your
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2008
This day again was a wonderful update. I just love your detail. I always swear I am gonna take photos of our meals but I either rememeber after its half eaten or when its gone completely. I really like the photo of Graham with you, Stitch and Lilo...wow that was a rare moment ...=)) I love more updates but eventually you will be at the end of the cruise and this will be sad..LOL
Corinna, I am really enjoying your report and pictures. The jewlery that you taught everyone to make is beautiful- it was so nice of you to do that for your Dis friends! You guys seemed to have a great group on this cruise. Looking forward to more. Karyn
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