BethC1952
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2001
We began our day with yet another breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet, and dined on the aft deck and enjoyed watching the ship's wake behind us. It occurred to both of us that it appeared that the ship was just sailing in big, lazy circles! We knew from watching the TV in our room that the ship was making the grand speed of 5 knots. It didn't even look like we were moving!
After reading the personal navigator the night before in our rooms, we had decided that there were some activities that we didn't want to miss on this day. The first was a cooking lesson which would be held at 10 AM in Studio Sea, so that's where we headed after an extra cup of tea and some extra pastries at breakfast.
Chef Paul from Palo demonstrated how he prepares a wonderful Risotto with Shrimp and Zucchini. His sense of humor and his very clear instructions made it worth the 45 minutes! Then Artur, the wine steward (maybe not the right title but definitely the right guy) came in and explained a little bit about wine tasting (we would be going to his presentation after lunch) and presented a wonderful white wine which would be the perfect accompaniment to this dish. THEN--they gave us a good-sized helping of the Risotto (delicious) and a glass of the wine (I like any wine steward who serves wine at 10AM).
From there, we went to the Walt Disney Theater to attend the "Captain's Corner" and hear what the Captain and Crew had to say, and what other cruisers would ask. This turned out to be an amazingly good time. The Captain and the senior crew have wonderful senses of humor, and handled the audience questions well. I have to admit that I was really amazed when they said that they serve more than 10,000 meals a day on the ship (2,700 guests and almost 1,000 crew members, each eating at least 3 meals a day really does add up to that many!). This adds up to almost 30 tons of food for a 4 day cruise. If you want more details, don't miss this!
Immediately following was the debarkation talk. We had originally planned to watch it on our TV, but since we were already sitting in the room, we stayed to hear what the cruise director (Rick) had to say. Pay attention to what he says, whether you watch it on TV (it runs at various times during the whole cruise) or you go to hear it in person. He really made the debarkation process a snap!
By the time this was over, it was time to eat again (hmmm, maybe 10,000 meals a day is an understatement!) so we headed to Beach Blanket Buffet once more. I was surprised to notice that the menu was different each day, each meal!
Then it was off to the wine-tasting at Palo. DH and I have wanted to learn more about wine for a long time. We were given 6 different types of wine to sample, and various members of the staff explained the different features of each wine, and how to sample wines properly. Of course, after six glasses of wine, they could have been asking me to sample salad dressing and I probably wouldn't have known the difference! There were also small plates of cheese and crackers on each table, which really made a nice afternoon snack for us. This was worth the $12 each, and the only ressie we made during our entire trip!
The Quiet Cove pool was calling us very loudly by this time, so we changed into our bathing suits to spend some quality relaxing time until it was time to get ready for the early showing of Disney Dreams.
Disney Dreams is one show you don't want to miss. DH didn't want to go--said it would be to "corny" and he'd take a nap instead. He came with me, however, and totally enjoyed it, corniness and all! At the end, there wasn't a dry eye in the house, including his!
After the show, we went back to our room to pack, so that we wouldn't have to rush after dinner. We followed all of the instructions, including remembering to keep clothes and shoes to wear the next morning.
Since this was our last night, dinner was once again at Parrot Cay. This time, it was Master Chef night. For an appetizer, I had grilled vegetables with a cheese and pesto sauce served over a corn cake (from Jiko at AK), and for dinner I had mahi-mahi. Once again, I can't remember what DH had, but I know he ate all of it and didn't even offer me a taste!
We headed out again for Deck 9 festivities, a walk around the ship, take some pictures, a stop at the Promenade Lounge to listen to the duo performing there, and our regular visit to the Cadillac Lounge.
We went back to our room just before 11 PM to put our baggage in the hall so that it would be picked up, and it was picked up while we watched, so we knew it would be safe!
We went back up to Deck 9 to refill those mugs (by now you can see that we really got our money's worth out of those mugs!
Then it was early to bed, because I had to go to guest services in the morning to pay my bill (I don't believe in credit cards, and was paying cash, and wanted to be the first in line!)
After reading the personal navigator the night before in our rooms, we had decided that there were some activities that we didn't want to miss on this day. The first was a cooking lesson which would be held at 10 AM in Studio Sea, so that's where we headed after an extra cup of tea and some extra pastries at breakfast.
Chef Paul from Palo demonstrated how he prepares a wonderful Risotto with Shrimp and Zucchini. His sense of humor and his very clear instructions made it worth the 45 minutes! Then Artur, the wine steward (maybe not the right title but definitely the right guy) came in and explained a little bit about wine tasting (we would be going to his presentation after lunch) and presented a wonderful white wine which would be the perfect accompaniment to this dish. THEN--they gave us a good-sized helping of the Risotto (delicious) and a glass of the wine (I like any wine steward who serves wine at 10AM).
From there, we went to the Walt Disney Theater to attend the "Captain's Corner" and hear what the Captain and Crew had to say, and what other cruisers would ask. This turned out to be an amazingly good time. The Captain and the senior crew have wonderful senses of humor, and handled the audience questions well. I have to admit that I was really amazed when they said that they serve more than 10,000 meals a day on the ship (2,700 guests and almost 1,000 crew members, each eating at least 3 meals a day really does add up to that many!). This adds up to almost 30 tons of food for a 4 day cruise. If you want more details, don't miss this!
Immediately following was the debarkation talk. We had originally planned to watch it on our TV, but since we were already sitting in the room, we stayed to hear what the cruise director (Rick) had to say. Pay attention to what he says, whether you watch it on TV (it runs at various times during the whole cruise) or you go to hear it in person. He really made the debarkation process a snap!
By the time this was over, it was time to eat again (hmmm, maybe 10,000 meals a day is an understatement!) so we headed to Beach Blanket Buffet once more. I was surprised to notice that the menu was different each day, each meal!
Then it was off to the wine-tasting at Palo. DH and I have wanted to learn more about wine for a long time. We were given 6 different types of wine to sample, and various members of the staff explained the different features of each wine, and how to sample wines properly. Of course, after six glasses of wine, they could have been asking me to sample salad dressing and I probably wouldn't have known the difference! There were also small plates of cheese and crackers on each table, which really made a nice afternoon snack for us. This was worth the $12 each, and the only ressie we made during our entire trip!
The Quiet Cove pool was calling us very loudly by this time, so we changed into our bathing suits to spend some quality relaxing time until it was time to get ready for the early showing of Disney Dreams.
Disney Dreams is one show you don't want to miss. DH didn't want to go--said it would be to "corny" and he'd take a nap instead. He came with me, however, and totally enjoyed it, corniness and all! At the end, there wasn't a dry eye in the house, including his!
After the show, we went back to our room to pack, so that we wouldn't have to rush after dinner. We followed all of the instructions, including remembering to keep clothes and shoes to wear the next morning.
Since this was our last night, dinner was once again at Parrot Cay. This time, it was Master Chef night. For an appetizer, I had grilled vegetables with a cheese and pesto sauce served over a corn cake (from Jiko at AK), and for dinner I had mahi-mahi. Once again, I can't remember what DH had, but I know he ate all of it and didn't even offer me a taste!
We headed out again for Deck 9 festivities, a walk around the ship, take some pictures, a stop at the Promenade Lounge to listen to the duo performing there, and our regular visit to the Cadillac Lounge.
We went back to our room just before 11 PM to put our baggage in the hall so that it would be picked up, and it was picked up while we watched, so we knew it would be safe!
We went back up to Deck 9 to refill those mugs (by now you can see that we really got our money's worth out of those mugs!
Then it was early to bed, because I had to go to guest services in the morning to pay my bill (I don't believe in credit cards, and was paying cash, and wanted to be the first in line!)
