Will tonight be the night our tablemates show up? Our adventure on The Treasure 1/11-1/18

[Kari0180]

Day at Sea, part four

DH went with Abuelita Elana's Shrimp Diabla

These were good too, but the croquettes were way better! It was then time for soup

I went with the Chicken Tortilla Soup. This was okay, it actually tasted like the salsa with chicken and topped with tortilla strips. DH tried the other soup

This was the Red and Green Lentil Soup. He also thought it was okay; I tried a bite, and I enjoyed it more than the chicken tortilla. DH also ordered another wedge salad

This was the Baby Romaine Salad, once again, DH wasn't a huge fan of the lettuce, seriously, the dude doesn't understand the concept of a wedge salad It was then time for our mains

I went with something off the "Lighter Notes" menu, this was the Mesquite Spiced Salmon Salad. I really enjoyed the salad, but the salmon was so bland. There was nothing "mesquite spiced" about it, I wound up adding some salt to my salmon and that helped a little

DH went with Enrique's Port Wine Braised Center Cut Beef Short Rib; this was definitely the highlight of dinner! I tried to steal his plate, but he wasn't having it. While we ate, we had some entertainment with a mariachi band and some performances by Miguel and his family


And then it was time for dessert, I went with

The Warm Coconut Tres Leches. If you enjoy coconut (which I do), this dessert is for you. A bonus is that DH detests coconut, so I had this all to myself!

DH went with the Margarita Lime Cheesecake; he thought this was good. It looked beautiful on the plate but wasn't really my thing! Dinner had now come to an end, and it was time to continue with our evening.

Up Next: Our evening at sea

 

[Kari0180]

Day at Sea, part five

A very short end to a fabulous day at sea. After dinner, we headed back to the Walt Disney Theater for the adults only showing of The Great Dubois'

This couple was in The Greatest Showman, I'm not sure what characters, I'm assuming they were part of the circus cast. I thought the show was very entertaining, DH was kind of bored. He really wanted to go see the second show of the Indiana Jones Comedy Adventure. After the show, we headed back to our room and headed to bed. After a couple of days on the ship, it was time for our first port stop, we would be stopping in Cozumel.

Saying good night with our towel animal friend!

Our Day at Sea Vlog

 

[kittylady1972]

First of all, very sorry for the loss of your MIL.

Second love your report so far. Haven't watched any videos, but like hearing about the different venues and experiences having just sailed the Wish.

 

[missjackiemcg]

Until we meet again!

So very sorry for your loss. May her memory always be a blessing, and bring your so many reasons to smile!

You sure did cram a lot of adventure into one sea day!!! What a disappointment about your massage, especially when not only did you not get to relax, but you didn't even get the right darn treatment! I love the beverage tastings, but have never done the champagne one. My mom and I are signed up for a martini tasting in May.

Looking forward to reading about your day in Cozumel! I've sailed DCL to Cozumel twice, so can't wait to hear about your experience.

 

[Kari0180]

First of all, very sorry for the loss of your MIL.

Second love your report so far. Haven't watched any videos, but like hearing about the different venues and experiences having just sailed the Wish.

Thank you for your kind words!

I look forward to sharing more about our trip!

 

[Kari0180]

So very sorry for your loss. May her memory always be a blessing, and bring your so many reasons to smile!

You sure did cram a lot of adventure into one sea day!!! What a disappointment about your massage, especially when not only did you not get to relax, but you didn't even get the right darn treatment! I love the beverage tastings, but have never done the champagne one. My mom and I are signed up for a martini tasting in May.

Looking forward to reading about your day in Cozumel! I've sailed DCL to Cozumel twice, so can't wait to hear about your experience.

Thank you for your kind words!

Martini tasting has become one of my favorite tastings, Mixology (when you can get it) is still #1, but Martini is probably #2. There's so much creativity in the beverages. We did experience Martini on this cruise, and I can't wait to share our thoughts!

Starting to write up Cozumel now, hope you enjoy!

 

[Kari0180]

This week was my mothers-in-law's Celebration of Life. It was probably the most entertaining one I've ever been to. It had the perfect blend of emotion and humor. She was so worried about what we would say during her funeral and that she wouldn't get a final say, that about a week before she passed, DH recorded her "rebuttal" and we played it toward the end of her service. MIL was also in several of our vlogs throughout the years and DH put together a beautiful tribute that played as well.

We're now in this period of trying to move on and get back to our normal lives. My father-in-law and I went out the other night and played Drag Queen Bingo, that was a new experience. I felt very special that he invited me, and I hope that he had a good time (I did). DH and I are trying to convince him to come with us when we sail the Magic in October, so you might be hearing and seeing more of FIL in the future. Anyway, enough with the emotional stuff, back to the Treasure and our day in Cozumel!

Land Ahoy, part one

After sailing for two days, it was time for our first port, Cozumel! DH and I were last here in 2016, and we weren't really big fans then. When we were planning our trip, we originally said we would stay onboard, but we changed our mind and decided on a port excursion. We had a pretty early start to our day, so after getting ready, we headed up to Marceline Market to grab some breakfast. This was an exciting first for us, we were docked next to the Magic! We had heard a few weeks ago that this was happening, and I was so excited, this was our first time being in port as the same time as another Disney ship.


I don't know why I was so giddy about this! It was really neat seeing everyone on the two ships snapping photos and waving across the decks! We headed into Marceline Market and grabbed some breakfast, no photos, but I basically grabbed the same thing that I grabbed the day before. After breakfast, we headed back to Worlds of Marvel to check in, we were in the Stitch Group

Yay, Stitch! We were shortly escorted off the ship and lined up on the pier with our paddle of power.

The Magic is on the left, the Treasure is on the right. I think it was also a little exciting for us because our next cruise is on the Magic, so we were able to say, "see you soon"! We were then escorted down the pier

We were then escorted through the mall area and taken to our transportation for the day. Our excursion for the day was Best of Cozumel: Honey, Chocolate, and Tequila Experience. We had three stops during this excursion, so once we boarded our bus, we headed off to the first one, The Mayan Bee Sanctuary

Our guide for the day was David, he took us through the sanctuary and talked about how the honeybees on Cozumel are different than your traditional honeybees. These honeybees don't have stingers, they make their nests in tree logs and the honey is extracted with a syringe.



This was really cool to see, it was so different than what I'm used to with honeybees. After looking at the bees, we were then ushered into a tented area for a couple of samples, we had a couple of samples of honey

and then we were given a cough drop

They both were pretty tasty. I was surprised at how much power the cough drop had; it was pretty tiny!

 

[Kari0180]

Land Ahoy, part two

After our sampling, David ushered us back outside where he talked about the Mayan calendar

We were handed obsidian discs to look at the sun, it was pretty neat to see through the discs. We were then released to do some shopping. We walked through the couple shops; I purchased some anti-stress drops. They taste good, but I don't think they're helping with my stress at all, thankfully, they weren't that expensive.

Oh my, I totally forgot to mention, when we first got to the sanctuary, we were given a blessing by a Mayan shaman

This was a really cool experience! After our shopping, we took a couple of photos in front of the sanctuary


It was then time to leave the bees behind and head to our next stop, it was time for some chocolate! The chocolate factory was on the other side of the island, it was about a 40-minute ride, during this time, we drove past some of the beaches and places that those local to the island spent their time. It was a very scenic drive, the areas we drove past weren't developed, the water was beautiful. After our drive, we arrived at the Mayan Cacao Company

We first were escorted into a small theater where we watched a short film on cacao. We then headed into our chocolate making demonstration.

We were first given a small sample of chocolate. It tasted good, but was kind of grainy, but this was fresh, it had been made in the session before then. We then got a small demonstration on how chocolate is made

After our demonstration, we were then escorted to a photo op (we didn't purchase) and then were given a tortilla with some mole sauce

I'm usually not a fan of mole, but this was extra chocolatey and really good! They also showed us a bar where they had some drinks that were made with their chocolate

We wanted to order a Chocolate Mojito, but they didn't have the ingredients, so we decided to try the Chocolate Daiquiri

This was delicious! I only wished that we purchased our own, instead of sharing. I wanted this to myself! We were then released to do some shopping, we purchased several chocolate bars, they had some interesting flavors as well as your traditional. They also had some sugar-free options. More purchases in hand, we headed back on the bus to make our final stop, it was time for some Tequila!

 

[allashore]

been following your trip reports & vlogs, I normally do not post, just read & "like" what interest us on this board
so sorry to hear about your MIL,
we just did this Cozumel excursion in Jan, the drinks were fabulous bewtween 3 of us we had the Martini, Margarita & Mudslide,
by any chance are you on the Magic Oct 24th-31st? our paths may cross? I always tell my young adult children to watch your vlogs, especially about the tastings, and honest reviews of your trips
Looking forward to reading more

 

[Kari0180]

Land Ahoy, part three

Our final stop was a just a few minutes down the road, we were headed to Barriecito Tequila. Once we got off the bus, it was another photo op (we skipped) and then we were led to a table with these bottles and a couple of small sample cups.


For the next 15 minutes, we were educated on Tequila, about blue agave, etc. We also learned that anytime you mixed anything with Tequila, it was no longer Tequila, that it was a cocktail. So, the bottles in the photo were actually cocktails. We were then able to sample the drinks. They were both good, but I really enjoyed the Horchata. The samples were so tiny, it was barely a sip. After our discussion, we were led into, you guessed it, another shop to make some purchases. They had a few more tiny samples

They were offering 4 different flavors, Hibiscus, Chocolate, Almond, and Tamarind. They all tasted good; the chocolate was my favorite! We debated buying a bottle, but we knew we would never have room in our luggage. DH and I like our drinks while on vacation, but we almost never drink at home. We have this horrible habit of buying bottles of wine, moonshine, etc. on our travels and we NEVER open them. We passed on purchasing Tequila, but I did buy a bottle of vanilla for a friend. We boarded the bus, and it was then time to head back to port. Once we arrived, we tipped our guide and driver and headed back to the ship. There wasn't any shopping that I cared to do, and we were hungry. As we were walking back, we saw the Cozumel sign

And of course, we had to grab a photo

Headed back to the ship, we had a great view of the Treasure and Magic together


This was such a neat opportunity; we were told by one of the crew members that the Treasure and Magic will be docking in Cozumel together for the next few Western Itineraries.

What did we think of our excursion? I knew it was going to be mainly a shopping excursion, but I was hoping for a little more education (and a few more samples of Tequila!). We had a good time, by DCL standards, this was a pretty cheap excursion, only $54/person. We waited until we got home to try our chocolate and with the exception of the banana and cardamon flavor, we really enjoyed them!

Once back on board, we were going to grab some lunch, but then, we saw there was Movie Quotes Trivia in Tritons. DH and I are both huge movie buffs, so we had to delay our lunch and little and play

We scored a 30 out of 50. We usually do much better, but one thing that we've learned is that we don't do well with the Knows More Trivia. I really miss the Club Hosts; I always did much better with their trivia's! After trivia, it was finally time to grab some food, we headed up to Mickey's Festival of Foods, DH once again grabbed BBQ

I grabbed some Chicken Tenders, a Hot Dog and some fries

We also grabbed a couple drinks of the day

This was the "Cool Breeze", vodka, peach schnapps, cranberry juice and sprite. As we were eating, the Magic was pulling out of port, and we got to witness the horn battle between the 2 ships.

 

[Kari0180]

Land Ahoy, part four

It was then time to head to Skipper's Lounge to play Disney Movie Quotes Trivia

We scored 23 out of 40, another loss. I'm not very good with Disney movie quotes, I got Winnifred Sanderson, and I think DH got the rest of them. We had a little bit of time before dinner, and I really wanted to meet up with Mirabel and Bruno. We headed over to the Grand Hall and got in their line. It was a decent size line and took a while for us to get to the front, but eventually, it was our turn to meet them!

I love Encanto, DH always makes fun of me because if I don't know what to watch, I always go to Encanto. We've been looking to add a new dachshund puppy to the family (trying to find one has been a challenge) and I really want a female, and I want to name her Mirabel. DH is fighting me on the name, we'll see who wins (whenever we get that puppy)! During this time, both Peter Pan and Tiana were in the Grand Hall just wandering, meeting with people and playing with the kids. This was another thing I loved about the Treasure there were so many spontaneous meet & greets, we were lucky enough to take advantage of a few during our week and we had a lot of fun! While we were waiting in line, I also took a couple of photos of the Aladdin & Jasmine statue in the Grand Hall and of the Genie Lamp


One thing that was a bummer about the Grand Hall was the lack of trash cans. Almost every time we walked through, this area with the lamp would be covered in coffee cups, drink glasses and other stuff. This photo was taken during one of the few times that the area was clear. I hope that DCL puts some trash cans up in the near future, hopefully, it will help to keep the area cleaner. We then headed to our room to change for dinner. Once we were changed, it was time to head up to deck 12 because dinner was at Palo Steakhouse! We checked in and grabbed a seat in The Rose

We basically took a quick peek at the menu, found that the brand of wine we enjoy was on the menu, but before we could order, it was time to be seated. Our server for the evening was Herlina from Indonesia, fun fact: her identical twin sister was also on board, was also a server at Palo Steakhouse and was serving the table right next to us. Herlina let us know that they didn't intentionally wear their hair the same way, it just happened. Every time we saw one of them coming, we weren't sure who was who! Herlina also let us know that they shared a room, good thing they get along! We ordered our bottle of wine and it was soon brought to our table

We love Selbach Rieslings, our favorite is the Selbach Oster, but this one was very good too! We were then brought out the amuse bouche

Why can't they have this on the menu?? I would pay extra if I could have this be an actual meal, not just a little bite. This is a perfect bite of heaven. The gnocchi is crispy on the outside, potatoey goodness on the inside and that mushroom sauce...I want to forget manners, dip my fingers in it and wipe it clean! We're platinum with DCL, so we each had a $50 credit, so we were debating eating the Prix Fixe menu or ordering things separate. In the end, we both decided to go with the Prix Fixe menu. After we ordered, our breadbasket was delivered

That pizza bread is amazing, I try to stop myself at one piece, but I had to grab a second one. It was still warm, and I loved the saltiness and the fresh herbs. Our appetizers were next to come out

DH went with the calamari, he loves this! I had a couple of pieces, and it was good, but there was more breading on it than previous visits. DH was also a little disappointed that it was only rings, he actually likes the little squid pieces.

I went with the Tomato Caprese for my appetizer. The tomatoes are always so fresh and that burrata, it's so creamy and delicious, I only wish that I could have more.

 

[Kari0180]

Land Ahoy, part five

We both went with the Caesar Wedge for our salad course

I love the flavors of this, but I really wish it was a normal salad. I'm not a fan of the whole wedge salad thing. We both wished we could have more dressing, but the little quail eggs were perfection! It was then time for our mains

We both went with the 6oz Angus Beef Tenderloin, served with spinach and potatoes. This was cooked to a perfect medium rare and the sea salt on top provided the perfect flavor, it just melted in your mouth! For our final course, it was time for dessert

We both got the chocolate souffle. While this is amazing, I LOVE the amaretto souffle and they wouldn't let me substitute. So that was kind of a bummer, I've never had an issue substituting in the past, but Herlina said the only way I could get the amaretto was by ordering it separately. Since my birthday was coming up later in the cruise, I was also presented with a plate wishing me Happy Birthday

To wrap up our evening, we were served the shot of Sgroppino to help us digest our meal.

We took care of the bill (free, minus the wine and tip) and made our way out. I love Palo Steakhouse (and Palo), but I miss pre-pandemic Palo, I miss the meats and cheeses and the pasta course they would serve. I think the next time we dine here; I'll order ala carte. Get some gnocchi instead of the salad and then I can also get my amaretto souffle.

Our first stop after leaving Palo Steakhouse was to Hero Zone. It was the Vikings vs Rams playoff game, and I wanted to see the score. The game hadn't quite started yet, so we headed out, Mickey's ColorSpin Party had just wrapped up, kind of wish we were able to see some of it, the stage looked really cool! The show for the evening was a magician, I was kind of surprised that DH wanted to skip it, he's usually a big fan of magic. Instead, we headed to Triton's to play Advanced Disney Movie Quotes Trivia

We scored 23 out of 40, another loss for us. As I mentioned earlier, there were a lot of vloggers on this cruise. Tim and Jen Tracker and their family were on this cruise. I admit, I did a little bit of fangirling, I've been a fan for a very long time. I really wanted to meet them, but also really wanted to respect that they were on vacation and I'm also a little shy. But who happened to sit right next to me at trivia...it was Tim! DH struck up a conversation with him, he was so nice and down to earth with both of us, we even got a picture with him. I never got a chance to meet Jen, but was very happy with the interaction we had with Tim.

We wrapped up our evening in Sarabi playing TV Catchphrase Trivia (31 out of 40, we lost) and 70's Music Trivia (23 out of 40, of course we lost). TV Catchphrase Trivia was fun, but not what I would call a catchphrase, I don't think they know what that means. It was just random quotes, a lot of stuff from Seinfeld and Saturday Night Live. We still had a lot of fun playing and then it was time to head to our room where we had a new friend waiting for us

We had a fun day in Cozumel, but I think unless there is something new offered, we'll treat Cozumel as a day to enjoy the ship. We had another busy day ahead of us, this time in Grand Cayman.

Up Next: Meeting some princesses and exploring some caves

 

[Kari0180]

Our vlogs for our day in Cozumel

 

[Kari0180]

been following your trip reports & vlogs, I normally do not post, just read & "like" what interest us on this board
so sorry to hear about your MIL,
we just did this Cozumel excursion in Jan, the drinks were fabulous bewtween 3 of us we had the Martini, Margarita & Mudslide,
by any chance are you on the Magic Oct 24th-31st? our paths may cross? I always tell my young adult children to watch your vlogs, especially about the tastings, and honest reviews of your trips
Looking forward to reading more

Thank you so much for your kind words, they are so appreciated!

I really wish we got more drinks at the chocolate factory; I loved that daiquiri, I wish we could've done more!

We'll be coming on the ship as your departing, we're on the October 31st Magic cruise. I'm so excited to do a true southern itinerary! I hope that you have a great time on your cruise!

 

[missjackiemcg]

DH recorded her "rebuttal" and we played it toward the end of her service. MIL was also in several of our vlogs throughout the years and DH put together a beautiful tribute that played as well.

I absolutely love that he did this. My grandma and I used to tease all the time about what I was "allowed" to say whenever she died. When she did pass away, I couldn't even talk, but I fondly remember all those things we talked about. It must have been so special to hear her own reflection on things.

This was an exciting first for us, we were docked next to the Magic! We had heard a few weeks ago that this was happening, and I was so excited, this was our first time being in port as the same time as another Disney ship.

This is so cool!! On my very first cruise in June 2000, we sailed the Wonder and were at Nassau the same day as the Magic. I have a picture just like this! I remember how excited the crew were that we were docked together.

Our excursion for the day was Best of Cozumel: Honey, Chocolate, and Tequila Experience.

I've done this excursion twice--once with my husband and once with my Mom. The first time was in 2022, and the bus was so tiny and run down and scary! The three stops were decorated minimally and looked a bit rough, as well. Last year with my Mom, I was so impressed by the new bus transportation, as well as how the three stops were more built up and in better condition. I think this excursion has really helped bring income to the area!

Look how tiny the Magic looks!!!!

This was the "Cool Breeze", vodka, peach schnapps, cranberry juice and sprite. As we were eating, the Magic was pulling out of port, and we got to witness the horn battle between the 2 ships.

Mmmm, the cool breeze is one of my favorites!! Love a horn battle, too!

But who happened to sit right next to me at trivia...it was Tim!

So great! I'm glad he was kinder than that other vlogger y'all bumped into earlier in the trip. I had a fangirl experience myself the year I ran the Dopey Challenge. I bumped into michaeldoesdiz (I follow him on IG) at the expo, and I'm so glad I said hi and introduced myself--he could not have been kinder!

 

[Kari0180]

Grand Cayman, part one

We woke to another bright and sunny morning! We hadn't quite arrived in Grand Cayman; we were set to arrive at 11:30 am. But we had a busy morning ahead of us before we even got off the ship. We got ready for our day and headed up to Marceline Market for breakfast.

Same as every morning, eggs benedict, both turkey and regular bacon and a hashbrown. This morning's breakfast also included a Mexican hot pocket, and a strawberry filled doughnut. My eggs benedict was served to me as quite a mess, but it was still very tasty! DH's plate looked very similar, but he also got the pastrami eggs benedict in addition to the traditional one. He enjoyed it but preferred the traditional one.

After breakfast, we had a date with some princesses. When it came time to sign up for the princess meet & greet, I totally forgot about it, thankfully, I get up very early for work and someone in our cruise group had posted about them getting a time. When I logged in, the sea days were already gone, but there were still times available on Grand Cayman day, this worked really well for us, and I was able to snag a 9:15 am spot. Once we arrived, a crew member looked at my phone to make sure we had signed up and then we got in line. It took a little while to meet with our first princess, but we both loved watching the interactions with the guests in front of us. It was then our turn and we got to meet with Princess Jasmine

Once we got to Princess Jasmine, we got through the rest of the characters pretty fast, next was Moana

Then Belle

Another meeting with my girl Rapunzel

And lastly, Tiana

I think it's worth it to sign up for the Princess meet & greet when you're on the Wish and the Treasure, they make really good use of the Grand Hall and it's great that you get to meet with 5 princesses. Our 3 previous cruises were on the Wonder and for all 3, the princesses were the same, Ariel, Cinderella, and Belle.

Once we were finished with the princesses, we noticed there were so many meet & greets going on around us. Stitch was meeting and we hadn't met him yet, but his line was sooooo long. We didn't have a lot of time left until we needed to meet for our excursion, so we thought we wouldn't be able to meet with him. However, we saw that Goofy and Max were meeting, and their line wasn't terribly long, so we headed upstairs and had a great interaction with them!
!
I love Max! Anytime that I can have an interaction with Max, I'm always very happy! I love A Goofy Movie; I feel that a lot of people either have never seen it or didn't like it. I think it's great Max is making more appearances, I hope I can make it to Magic Kingdom during a Halloween party and that Powerline Max will still be greeting!

We had finally arrived in Grand Cayman and before we headed to meeting spot for our excursion, we headed to deck 4 to see who we would be in port with for the day. On one side of us, there was an MSC ship

I don't have a photo, but there was a Celebrity ship on the other side of us. We're cruising on Celebrity in a couple of months, even though it will be a different ship than what we will be sailing, I was very obsessed with seeing Celebrity ships in port on this cruise. It was then time to meet for our excursion, we headed back to Worlds of Marvel, checked in, got our sticker (Anna) and soon after, boarded a tender to port

It was only a few minutes on the tender and then we were at the port


Once we arrived, we were ushered into a tent area where we were put in a line. We were watching all these groups come, also be lined up and then leave. Our group was a little confused because we're just standing there and nothing is happening. Finally, someone asked what was going on and they were told that we arrived too early and that our transportation wasn't arriving for another 20 minutes and that we could explore the port area if we wanted. 20 minutes turned into almost 45 minutes, but then we were finally being led out of the port and to the bus loading area. We boarded our bus for the day and then it was time to head for the first part of our excursion.

 

[Kari0180]

Grand Cayman, part two

Our Grand Cayman excursion was through DCL, it was called Crystal Caves, Sights, and Beach. Once onboard our bus, we made way to Crystal Caves. Once we arrived, we first made a stop to use restrooms, apply bug spray and pick up our tour guide. We then made our way to the actual caves.

Upon arrival, we were told that we could order lunch (not included with the tour price) and that it would be ready for us to eat when we were done with the tour. Since we had a long day ahead of us, we decided to each order a chicken burger and fries. It was then time to do some exploring, there are three caves on site, but we would be exploring two. The walk wasn't far to our first cave

The first thing we noticed when we headed inside was how hot and humid it was inside. DH LOVES caves, so we've been to a lot of them. But this was our first cave in a warmer climate, we're used to the humidity, but the caves we've been to before are a lot cooler. The formations inside of the cave were really neat!



It was fascinating seeing the roots around the cave formations

Of course, we had to take a selfie. We spent about 15-20 minutes inside the Roots Cave, at one point, our guide turned off all the lights so we could see (or not see) what everything looked like with the lights off. The cave was pretty easy to walk through, it was mostly a flat surface, with a couple of small inclines, but nothing taxing. After we finished with the Roots Cave, we headed back outside and over to our next cave

If we thought the Roots Cave was hot and humid, the Lake Cave was even more! We headed inside to see even more formations

 

[Kari0180]

Grand Cayman, part three

The Lake Cave was even better than the Roots Cave, so many awesome formations


At the very end of the path, there was an underground lake, it was beautiful! Our guide was nice enough to take photos in front of it

I tried to get a photo of just the lake, but this kid wouldn't stop playing in front of it, so this was the best I got

As we were headed out of the cave, we went past an area with SOOOO many bats!

I couldn't get close enough photos, but they were so cute! They would fly down, but not anywhere near us. They were tiny little fruit bats! We spent a few minutes with a few others watching them, there were others in our group that exited the cave pretty quick when they saw the bats! We were probably in the Lake cave for closer to 30 minutes, it was a larger cave, but still pretty easy to walk through. We headed back to the entrance where our food was now waiting for us

Our chicken burgers were basically chicken tenders with lettuce, tomato, and mayo with fries. It wasn't too bad, the fries were hot, crispy, and had good seasoning. The only downfall was that we sat down, opened our meals, ate 2 bites and then we were told that we needed to go and that we could finish our meal on the bus. I really wish this would've been communicated before we purchased our food, but if they had, I'm sure most of use wouldn't have purchased anything. The space on the bus was small and it was difficult to eat, especially going over all the bumps getting out of the cave area. Thankfully, we had our water to drink, I felt bad for a few people who had purchased smoothies or other beverages and watching them try to balance everything. I eventually gave up on eating the sandwich as a sandwich and instead, just ate the chicken tenders and fries. I didn't even bother with ketchup, DH did, and it was almost comical trying to watch him eat.

Eventually we made our way back to town and we were dropped off at our second destination, Seven Mile Beach. We had about 90 minutes to enjoy the beach and the area, we wore our swimsuits under our clothes because I wasn't sure if there would be a place to change, but there were changing rooms. You could rent two chairs and an umbrella for $20, but since we were there for such a short time, we just put our towels on the sand and headed to the water. The water was pretty chilly, but once we got used to it, it was very nice. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I just loved spending the time in the water. It looked like there were jet skis and other water toys to rent. There was also a restaurant that we could've eaten at, if we had known, we would've eaten there instead.

Our 90 minutes came and went before we knew it and it was then time to board our bus to be taken back to port. Once we arrived back at port, we decided just to board the tender and head back to the ship. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long and soon boarded a tender back to the ship

Back on board, we headed to the adult's area, grabbed some food and the drink of the day

This day's drink of the day was the Cool Breeze, Malibu, Midori, Blue Curacao, Pineapple Juice, and Sprite. DH got another Long Island. We noticed that Stitch was wandering around the pool deck, so we headed over to get a photo. It was a very cute moment, Stitch grabbed me by the hand, and we took a little walk. We then got this adorable photo together

 

[Kari0180]

Grand Cayman, part four

We also grabbed a selfie with Stitch

Our interaction was adorable and even better, we didn't have to wait in line, we just happened upon him! We spent a lot of time on the pool deck, it was nice just taking some time to relax

We grabbed a couple more drinks

This time, I went with a Pina Colada, I love them, and I don't know why I don't order them more often. It was getting closer to the first dining time and show. We were having a great time just hanging out and decided to skip the show this evening. We noticed that the line for the Aqua Mouse was pretty short, so we got in line for our first ride. It was getting windy; they weren't allowing any single riders. There was a family of three in front of us and they wouldn't let one of them ride solo, but they told one of the parents to hang off to the side and then when finished, they could swap out. It was our turn to ride and just like the Wish, it was a lot of fun! I think they were having some difficulties with the first tunnel that shows the story, the water functions weren't working and the sound kept going out, but we still had a great time! When our ride was finished, there was no line, and we were asked if we wanted to ride again, of course we did! We actually wound up riding 4x without having to get off, we could've kept going, but it was getting dark, and I was getting cold. Since it was now during dinner and the show, we decided to go to the adult's pool and hoped that it wouldn't be "adult soup" like it was when we checked it out earlier. Thankfully, there were only a few people in the pool, and we were able to spend some hanging out and watching the sunset before it was time to start getting ready for the rest of our evening.

We went to the room, showered, changed and had enough time to make it to Triton's for Music Hits Trivia

I knew we stood no chance when I didn't know the first 3 songs. I got a little better as trivia went on, but still a loss. It was then time for dinner, we would be dining in Worlds of Marvel again. It was Pirate Night, so no special show, but they did have videos of the Marvel characters playing on the screens to keep us entertained.

Once again, our tablemates were a no show. When talking with our dining team, we asked if they had shown up the previous night and they hadn't. We learned through our head server, Cindy, that if someone doesn't show after the third night, they contact them to find out if everything is okay and if they planned on coming to dinner. Cindy said she left them a message earlier that day but hadn't heard back from them (I think she called us by mistake, on our final evening, I was playing our messages that I ignored through the cruise and one of them was from her asking if we were coming to dinner). We placed our order and soon our appetizers were coming out

We both started with the Crab Cake, I'm always impressed with how good this is. There's so much crab and barely any filler, I also love the remoulade that's served with it. I also went with the Lime Marinated Shrimp

The shrimp were very good, I didn't bother with the corn, onions, or sweet potato. Next up, DH went with the Baby Gem salad, I somehow forgot to take a picture, but just imagine another wedge salad, this time with thousand island dressing. DH once again complained about his salad, but he still ate it.

This is one of my favorites, the Chilled Mango soup. On our first cruise in 2014, there was a chilled fruit soup on almost every menu, both lunch and dinner. I was so sad that when we went on our next cruise in 2016, all those soups were gone. Now, I get my Mango soup on Pirate Night and that's it. It was then time for our main entree

We both went with the Strip Loin. Looking at it, it looked delicious, it was a perfect medium rare, but it had no flavor, it was so bland. Both DH and I reached for the salt and pepper just to try and get some sort of seasoning on it. Another picture that I forgot to take, since there was a pasta with scallops on the menu, DH asked if he could have some scallops. Our server delivered, and DH got a big 'ol bowl of scallops. It was then time for dessert

We both went with the Rum-Soaked Chocolate Cake. This is very delicious, but I wish that the portion was just a little larger, it was only a couple of bites, I would've loved for some more.

We usually try to dine in Palo for Pirate Night, minus the mango soup and the rum cake, it's my least favorite menu. Of course, with the amount of Concierge and Pearl cruisers, Palo was already sold out when it came time for Platinum to book. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get Palo on Pirate Night on our Magic cruise this fall.

 

[Kari0180]

Grand Cayman, part five

Once we finished with dinner, it was time to head up to the Pirate Party. We got there a little early and grabbed a great spot in front of the stage and got ready to enjoy the show

I love that there is a live band on The Wish and Treasure for Pirate Night. I'll admit, I'm bored with the show on the other ships (minus the fireworks), but the band makes this show very entertaining!

It really feels more like a party when you have a live band! It was then time for fireworks


It's a bummer that the Aqua Mouse blocks some of the view but still got a pretty good view.

After the Pirate Party, we headed back down to Sarabi to spend our evening. We grabbed a couple of cocktails

I got the Pride Sunset which was POG juice, Agave, and Poma Pomegranate. I was very excited to have a cocktail with POG juice, but I actually didn't really like it that much, pretty much could only taste the Agave.

DH went with the King's Den, Rum, King's ginger, strawberry, basil, agave, and lime. This one tasted better but still wasn't that big of a fan. DH felt the same about both drinks.


We were in Sarabi to watch "Match Your Matey", we were very excited to watch this. We were a little bummed that Match Your Mate was the first night of the cruise because we were so tired that we couldn't stay up to watch it. Match Your Matey was hosted by Coriander and Sage, in their pirate's best

It was fantastic that there was another one and this one had a pirate theme to it. The 3 couples were hilarious, and they were great sports, even though I think some of the pirate language was lost on a couple of them. After Match Your Matey, it was time for bed. We were headed to Jamaica in the morning, although this was our third western itinerary, it was our first time in Jamaica, and I was very excited for our day ahead!


Up Next: Waterfalls, sharks, and characters galore!