WDW/DCL Western Caribbean Honeymoon Extravaganza!! DONE!!! - PG 51!!

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Add me to the list of bathing suit lovers! I think I actually spotted that on Disneyshopping as well last year. But I am always hesitant to buy swimsuits online. Looks like a great suit though, and absolutely perfect for the cruise!

Remind me...is it a 1 piece, tankini or bikini. I think I saw similar designs last year in both the 1 piece and tankini.



I am *completely* like this as well. I purchased a couple baby outfits I adored a couple years before I even became pregnant!

And when I find the *perfect* pair of pants, shoes, dress, ect....well, I buy a couple at a time, sometimes in various colors. And if anything my regrets always tend to be not buying enough as opposed to overbuying!

Yes! I do that too!! A few years ago, I decided that I LOVED the old navy ribbed tank tops. I wear them practically every day in the summer and I bought one in every color, some 2 of the same!

The bathing suit is a one-piece. I usually don't like to buy things without trying them on, either, but I had to have it! The first one I got actually didn't fit but I was able to exchange for a different size.

.......it's quite interesting to note that on my Adventures by Disney trip (coming up in 15 days! YYEEA) Ben Franklin had a word for people who "partaked in a little too much adult beverage intaking" and that is to refer them as being in a state of nimtipsicallness (hope I spelled that right).
Anywho, makes me wonder if the word "tipsy" evolved from that word as I will be doing something similiar to your tequilla tasting (during this trip on my pre-day) but it's called the "Tipplers' Tour" (you go to 4 colonial taverns - learn colonial customs, toasts, tankard songs & such while nibbling on snacks). .

I hear ya about the DCL food . Per se, sometimes it's just a hit or a miss.

Wonderful trip report & lovin the pics & the suggestions (esp "Beaches & Creame"....hope I said that right).

What ABD are you doing?? I was actually seriously looking into the Hollywood/Disneyland one. It looks AWESOME!! Not for a few years though! You're sounds great too! That's funny because at our beer tasting, there was actually a Ben Franklin quote on the paper!

Really sorry you're not having the best of times. Have to say I am a little nervous of our 7 night cruise, firstly for sea sickness and secondly because i'm more of a get and do stuff type of person. " sea days don't excite me at all. But still looking forward to it, we've been on the Wonder several times and always loved it. I guess cruising isn't for everyone and there is nothing wrong with that. Hope things pick up.

Waiting for more updates

We really didn't have a BAD time, just not as fantastic as I imagined it would be! Updates coming soon!!

Although I love to cruise I do completely understand your feelings towards it and it not being all that. I really do. We had all those same feelings on our 1st cruise.
We cruise for a different type of vacation than WDW. So we do WDW and a cruise when we can afford it.

For those with upcoming cruises...hang in there....and figure out what would make it fun for you.

cruise things/ideas we enjoy:

hot breakfast on our balcony looking at the ocean every day We would hand our tag out and voila we wake up and breakfast is on its way. and Royal Carib has hot breakfast. so srambled eggs and bacon for me. yumm. with a beautiful ocean view. great way to start any day.

sitting on our balcony enjoying the view. We have seen dolphins, flying fish, and a SHARK once. it was a black tip and sooooo awesome. always look around the seaweed patches floating in the ocean...we saw the shark circling the seaweed like he though it was food.

sitting at the pool reading my new book and knowing that I don't have to do anythign but relax and eat lunch.

lunch at Johnny Rockets (on royal caribbean ships)

playing cards with my Sister and her hubby and just visiting

getting snacks in the afternoon at the Promenade (royal caribb)

I loved reading the port planner for each stop making plans of where we would shop that day (for jewelry of course)

and really we loved dinner every night in the dining room and specialty restaurants. we loved having the same waiter...the waiter/side waiter really can make your night a lot more fun and ours were fantastic. We love that they remember the little details of what you like and bring them each night. loved that.

I know that all doesn't sound energetic...but the whole point for US is to relax from our daily stress filled lives. and enjoy our time with family and just enjoy the ocean view and realize life is good.

oh...I want to book acruise soooo bad...I am obsessed with the Oasis of the Seas....I can dream

I wish we would have thought to do breakfasts in the room. I'm sure if we ever cruised again, we would have more of an idea what to do...but it was all so new to us, it was hard to figure out the best things for us.

Yes, the Oasis sounds awesome! Was hoping to go along with my family in April but the school that I teach at has a different schedule than everyone else! Bummer!! My cousin just went out to Florida to rehearse for the shows on the Oasis. He is doing Hairspray and a Cirque de Soile show. Would have been awesome to see him!

So exciting!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

 

[knewton64]

....cheesesteak sandwich and cherry Dr Pepper . That's what time I will be at home (from work) trying out some cherry Dr Pepper 4 the 1st time.
Anywho -

I am off in a few days for my Adventures by Disney's "Spirit of America" tour which takes you into colonial Philly, Williamsburg & the Wash DC area. Looking forward to it cuz I wanna see more as to why we are who we are as a nation.
Will promise to post pics on my trip report (listed below) where we are allowed to take pics.
Was really an interesting 08-08-09 to 08-15-09 time frame via this trip as an earlier DISser was on it & noted that they cudnt get into the Liberty Bell area (Secret Service came outta no where surprisin everyone & said NOPE! CANT GET IN!)....just as they were seeing the First Lady & their 2 daughters walk on by. .


"Backstage Magic" has caught my attention but I am really drooling over their "Emerald Isle" trip - may pull the trigger on that one....will know in a few months.
Yes, to me I would recommend Backstage Magic but....IMO - I wud book a pre and or a post day onto it to give u more time and flexibility to do more if ya want. Like have a late flight on your departure day & u can spend it at the parks or go to a spa retreat...

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Day 10 ~ July 28, 2009
Twice Charmed and Palo dinner​

Once we were ready, we decided to FINALLY go see a show, which I was super excited about! Tonight's show was Twice Charmed in the Walt Disney Theatre.

The theatre was huge and it was packed! It was also gorgeous!!

I really thought the show was great. Great music and special effects. I DIDN'T love the storyline too much but that's only because of my problem with "change." I've known the story of Cinderella since I was a little girl and I like that it ended how it ended and that's the whole story. I don't want there to be more!! It's kind of the same issue I have with Wicked. We are HUGE musical fans and everyone says this is the best one but I really don't want to see it. I read the book and was kind of put off. I don't like that they are changing the story. But again, that's just my insanity talking!

So after the show, it was time for PALO!!! I felt bad because we had dinner with our tablemates the first two nights, missed the third because of intoxication and now will be missing the fourth!! I was worried they would think we didn't like them! That, and the fact that these two nights were both at Lumiere's, which we hadn't yet eaten dinner at yet!

We took some pics on Deck 10 before making our way to Palo.

Ready for the food????

They put this on our table for starters. Neither of us ate any of it! There were some breadsticks that I dipped in the first sauce on the left, which was good.

Tom ordered a glass of wine and I got champagne.

These were the most gigantic glasses we've ever seen! We had to put the water glass next to it for perspective in this picture!

Okay, side note! So, we had the same waiter we had at brunch the other day. And we was wonderful but, like most of the other crew members, English was not his first language. Which I'm TOTALLY fine with...but it did get frustrating after a while. Not in particular with this waiter, but in general on the cruise. I don't want to come off the wrong way, but the language barrier and cultural differences made it hard to have a rapport with the crew members because our mannerisms and way of speaking are so different. Does that make sense? For example, when he brought Tom the wine glass Tom joked, "Could you possibly get me a bigger glass?" And the waiter didn't get it, like he was confused which then make Tom feel bad. At one point Tom also had to squish a tiny bug on the table and asked the waiter for a new napkin and fork and he was trying to discreetly explain about the bug (not complaining at all, just wanted a new napkin, which he used to do the squishing and fork, which was near the bug). Again, the waiter didn't quite get it and gave him a new fork but put it RIGHT on the bug guts.

Again, I don't want to come off the wrong way, I don't mean to speak badly of internationals it was just difficult to communicate, which made us just a little uncomfortable.

On with the food!

I had the Fresh Arugula Salad with Palo Dressing for an appetizer.

Tom had the Mozzerella and Plum Tomatoes with Balsamic Dressing.

We were then given this sorbet thing as a palate cleanser.

For the main course, I had the Bigoli atta Contadina (Pasta with shaved Prime Rib)

Tom had the Beef Tenderloin.

For dessert, Tom got the Tiramisu.

I got the Souffle!!!! Yes, I'll have BOTH chocolate sauces, please!!

Since our dinner was at 7:30, we got out in time to DO STUFF!! We saw a Disney Tunes Triva game in the Promenade Lounge on the Navigator and I LOVE games!! Especially when they have to do with disney AND music!!

So we made it there just in time and got our game sheet.

Here's how the game went. The guy would play a small clip from a song, we'd have to write the title, the movie it's from AND there was a bonus question pertaining to that movie. One of the questions didn't have a movie because it was from It's A Small World, so by the end, there was a total of 41 possible points.

Once we were done, we had to pass our papers to another team and we went over the answers. I thought we had this in the BAG! Well, we ended up with 35 out of 41 points (SORRY, I don't know Troy Bolton's basketball number, it's embarrasing enough I knew the song Bet On It) but one team had all 41 points!!! I think it was SHENANIGANS but whatever. It was still really fun!

(See now if we had gone to our rotational dining that night, we would have missed this. What makes them thing that the people who have late dining don't want to participate in these kinds of things??)

While we were tallying up the scores, our tablemate, Donna, strolled by! I was so excited because I was worried that they thought we abandoned them! We told her about where we've been and she was into us winning this game!

Now, because we were already out and having a good time, we were in the mood to keep going. So Donna went to grab Janet and we all went together to Rockin' Bar D to see the illusionist/comedian Josh Bishop. His illusions were great and he was very funny, although he turned me off when he made a "short bus" joke. Listen, I had a group of friends a few years ago who were probably the most offensive people I've met and they were hilarious. But you can't stay stuff like that in public. Buddy, you're not in your living room with your friends. You don't know who's in the audience and who you might offend with stuff like that. NOT COOL, BISHOP!

After the show, Rockin' Bar D started getting crazy so we got out of there QUICK! We walked down the looooooong hallway back to our room. Tom was waiting for the girls from The Shining to come down that hall at any second!

Up Next: Cozumel.....well......

 

[swankybeth]

Enjoying all of the updates! So, did you like the food at Palo (besides the awkward communication with the waiter)? I love trivia type games too, hopefully we will get to partake in them since we also have late dining. Love the dolphin pics!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Enjoying all of the updates! So, did you like the food at Palo (besides the awkward communication with the waiter)? I love trivia type games too, hopefully we will get to partake in them since we also have late dining. Love the dolphin pics!

Oh the food was delicious! And again, I want to stress, our waiter was wonderful! Just an overall observation about the international crew members that popped into my head while writing this update, since it sort of came into play at dinner.

 

[cdotla]

The dolphin pictures are adorable!!! Too bad you couldn't see the video, although maybe that is just as well. I am sure they charge a fortune for it!

Overall, was Palo worth it?

And your last comments have me set on a 1st dining rotation. I never thought of missing fun evening stuff like the tunes trivia if you are a late diner. For us with the kids, 1st dining is a necessity, but I was kinda thinking I would have preferred a later sitting. Maybe not!

Good job on the trivia! I think without a young daughter in your household you should get a pass on Troy's song!

 

[PopArtGal]

Those are great!!

Lucky girl!

 

[anetnmike]

I'm so glad you had an enjoyable evening!!
Ya know, I was just thinking about our honeymoon.(We did a 7 day cruise on a Royal Carribbean ship and then a week in WDW.) On our cruise, by Tuesday we disliked our tablemates (there were 3 other couples) so much we holed up in our room for dinner every night and ordered room service.
Good for you guys for winning the Trivia!

 

[moet7]

Hey Nikki
Great report. Happy to read you are having some "magical" fun times finally.

I totally agree with your comments on the communication thing. My husband has a dry sense of humor and it was totally lost on our waiter in Palo, who we had for both brunch and dinner. Thankfully our dinning room guys were great and got everything!

I just asked my daugher what Troy's basketball number was and she knew it right away,,,,,,,,so I guess you needed a 12 year old girl as your partner in that game.

I also love games and we did the "adult savenager hunt" in rock in D bar one night and I couldn't beleive how crazy that got. Let's just say "someone I know put on an orange bra!" and leave it at that!

I'm with you on the "short bus" joke as well, not the place for it!

Not sure if you saw the comdey show of Seymour and can't think of his partners name right now, but they were on earlier in the cruise. They were funny, very funny,, ...but we were just surprised with some of their jokes, being on a Disney cruise. For example: A black gentleman walked in late for the show and Seymour jumps off the stage and gets in the mans face and says "hey whats wrong with you showing up late? There aren't very many of us brothers here and you are giving us all a bad name" of course it got a huge laugh, but I kind of felt it was a bit out of line.......I should add that they would make fun of anyone who walked in late, and would ask them if they washed their hands before coming in and would then go on to say "someone smell their hands and see if they really did wash them" again a huge laugh.

I'm guessing Cozumel day was the day that you visited the med center on the ship, hoping it wasn't for anything to bad!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

The dolphin pictures are adorable!!! Too bad you couldn't see the video, although maybe that is just as well. I am sure they charge a fortune for it!

Overall, was Palo worth it?

And your last comments have me set on a 1st dining rotation. I never thought of missing fun evening stuff like the tunes trivia if you are a late diner. For us with the kids, 1st dining is a necessity, but I was kinda thinking I would have preferred a later sitting. Maybe not!

Good job on the trivia! I think without a young daughter in your household you should get a pass on Troy's song!

I definitely wouldn't have bought the video anyway so I didn't really care that I didn't get to see it. I'm not sure if it was just luck that the Trivia game happened to be on the right night for us to catch it because of our early dinner. I don't remember specifically seeing other things that we missed because of dinner but it's possible.

Oh I KNEW the Troy song...it's just his basketball number I didn't know. I forget the other ones we got wrong. I'll have to find the sheet...

Those are great!!

Lucky girl!

Yes, I'm really happy with the way the pics came out!

I'm so glad you had an enjoyable evening!!
Ya know, I was just thinking about our honeymoon.(We did a 7 day cruise on a Royal Carribbean ship and then a week in WDW.) On our cruise, by Tuesday we disliked our tablemates (there were 3 other couples) so much we holed up in our room for dinner every night and ordered room service.
Good for you guys for winning the Trivia!

I'm so grateful we had tablemates that we liked and that it was just the 4 of us!

Hey Nikki
Great report. Happy to read you are having some "magical" fun times finally.

I totally agree with your comments on the communication thing. My husband has a dry sense of humor and it was totally lost on our waiter in Palo, who we had for both brunch and dinner. Thankfully our dinning room guys were great and got everything!

I just asked my daugher what Troy's basketball number was and she knew it right away,,,,,,,,so I guess you needed a 12 year old girl as your partner in that game.

I also love games and we did the "adult savenager hunt" in rock in D bar one night and I couldn't beleive how crazy that got. Let's just say "someone I know put on an orange bra!" and leave it at that!

I'm with you on the "short bus" joke as well, not the place for it!

Not sure if you saw the comdey show of Seymour and can't think of his partners name right now, but they were on earlier in the cruise. They were funny, very funny,, ...but we were just surprised with some of their jokes, being on a Disney cruise. For example: A black gentleman walked in late for the show and Seymour jumps off the stage and gets in the mans face and says "hey whats wrong with you showing up late? There aren't very many of us brothers here and you are giving us all a bad name" of course it got a huge laugh, but I kind of felt it was a bit out of line.......I should add that they would make fun of anyone who walked in late, and would ask them if they washed their hands before coming in and would then go on to say "someone smell their hands and see if they really did wash them" again a huge laugh.

I'm guessing Cozumel day was the day that you visited the med center on the ship, hoping it wasn't for anything to bad!

Yes, I definitely could've used the help of a 12 year old girl for that question! Yeah our tablemates told us about the scavenger hunt, we probably would've liked that!

I think it was Alfred and Seymour. Yeah, they didn't seem like the kind of comedy Tom and I usually like. I heard they were hilarious, though. I see what you mean about the comments. I don't really like when comedians need to talk about their race/gender as part of their act. I don't care that you're a woman or overweight or black, or whatever you are! If you're funny, just be funny...


Let's just say, Cozumel did NOT go as planned....

 

[anewmac]

The Dolphin pics are adorable.

Palo looked YUMMY.. I miss my souffle I had both chocolates also LOL.

ahh ohh what happened in Cozumel.. cant wait to read!

 

[daveyc150]

Love the dolphin pics, we are doing the Dolphin swim at Grand Caymen, if you don't mind me asking, how much did the pics cost?

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

The Dolphin pics are adorable.

Palo looked YUMMY.. I miss my souffle I had both chocolates also LOL.

ahh ohh what happened in Cozumel.. cant wait to read!

The souffle was soooo good! As for Cozumel...you'll have to wait and se.....

Love the dolphin pics, we are doing the Dolphin swim at Grand Caymen, if you don't mind me asking, how much did the pics cost?

Ya know, I really don't remember. Hold on, let me see if I have the receipt...

Wow, I actually found it! $15 a picture.

 

[mamaboogie]

Awwww! What cute dolphin pictures!

Really interesting reading about your meal at Palo - the food looks amazing!

Tom's face in the looooooooooong corridor cracks me up!

Hey! I was doing some decorating today and what did I decide to put on the CD player? Once more with feeling!

'How can I repay?'......'Whatever...'

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Awwww! What cute dolphin pictures!

Really interesting reading about your meal at Palo - the food looks amazing!

Tom's face in the looooooooooong corridor cracks me up!

Hey! I was doing some decorating today and what did I decide to put on the CD player? Once more with feeling!

'How can I repay?'......'Whatever...'

LOL! I love it!! It's the best for when you're doing stuff around the house! I had in on repeat when I was packing for this trip. And we drove to my brother-in-law's yesterday and listened to it twice! It's soooo good!

"No I'll save her, then I'LL kill her, I think this line's mostly filler...." I LOVE Spike! Which is something you can't say about many attemped rapists! I was actually saying to Tom yesterday that I wonder if Joss Whedon had the idea for Spike to get his soul back FIRST and then decided he would have to do something THAT terrible in order to go to such extremes to redeem himself and that's when he came up with "bathroom scene." Ugh, such good writing!

Yes, the food was fantastic at Palo! The way I expected it to be every night, which unfortunately, it wasn't. Yeah, Tom and I know how to make a good funny face with the mood strikes!

 

[mamaboogie]

Regarding the uncomprehending waiting staff - do you think it could be that DiSer's/Disney freaks/Buffy lovers live in their own little world with their own sense of humour that not everyone gets??

On a break from painting I had to put an episode of Buffy on to eat my lunch to.
I chose the one from Season 7 when Spike gives Buffy a good talking to. 'There's only one thing I've ever been sure of. You.' I love Spike too!

'I hope she fries, I'm free if that b*tch dies!....I'd better help her out..'

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Regarding the uncomprehending waiting staff - do you think it could be that DiSer's/Disney freaks/Buffy lovers live in their own little world with their own sense of humour that not everyone gets??

On a break from painting I had to put an episode of Buffy on to eat my lunch to.
I chose the one from Season 7 when Spike gives Buffy a good talking to. 'There's only one thing I've ever been sure of. You.' I love Spike too!

'I hope she fries, I'm free if that b*tch dies!....I'd better help her out..'

Sooo funny! I'm in my classroom, supposed to be setting up, listening to it and that line just came on RIGHT NOW! So funny!

Have you ever watched any of the special features? I was shocked that he was American the first time I heard him speak! He's much better British! It's weird to hear with without that accent!!

"If my heart could beat, it would break my chest!"

 

[emcreative]

I was shocked that he was American the first time I heard him speak! He's much better British! It's weird to hear with without that accent!!

LOL I say the same thing (in reverse) every time I hear "House" speak off-show!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Love the dolphin pictures!