The Grand Fiesta 10th Anniversary Trip Report - Cruise Part THREAD 4 COMPLETED Updated 10/18 About This Page:

[cre8fmom]

The chandeliers are done by Dale Chihuly, a remarkable glass artist. I love his work!! You think the guide might have mentioned that!

Dale Chihuly

[DrDolphin]

Great update Marnie! Sorry Atlantis wasn't exactly what you thought it would be.

[DreaminDizney1002]

We weren't overly impressed with Atlantis either...it's nice to see it once just to say "we've done it" but it won't be somewhere we will return to again on our next cruise! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img]

[Jillybean]

I love the Sail Away party and leaving port! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

That meal sounded phenomenal!And how terrific that you get a character breakfast!

Jill

[BelmontBelle]

[ QUOTE ]
The chandeliers are done by Dale Chihuly, a remarkable glass artist. I love his work!! You think the guide might have mentioned that!

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I was thinking. I love his work to!

Sorry it rained on your day in Nassau, but I'm glad you made the most of it anyway. Hope your weather improves!

[chezp]

I'm so sorry you didn't enjoy Atlantis Marnie. We did that tour a couple of years ago and loved it, but the day we were there, it was pretty quiet, which probably made all the difference.

[Steph A]

I just caught back up on your trip. Sorry about the rain, but can't wait to hear about the remainder of your cruise.

Thanks for sharing!
Steph A

[Tink and co.]

My kids reacted the same way Alexa did any time we suggested them leaving the club/lab. Too funny! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] More please!

[christiejay]

Great update! Sorry you had a disappointing visit to Atlantis, hope you had better weather for your other excursions.

[Jillybean]

Thom went by himself to gamble at Atlantis on our cruise back in January and he was not impressed with it at all. We had even talked about staying there at some point, but now we've dropped that idea. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Glad that you got back to the boat safe and sound.

Jill

[gwugirl03]

Great update, Marnie. I am sorry to hear that Alantis wasn't much fun. I think the rain would have put a damper on my day as well. Can't wait to read more!!

[mattnkatsmum]

Thanks for the update. I was also unimpressed with Atlantis.

In 2002, when we were there, we were charged a fortune in a taxi to view the place.(No tours were offered). I asked if I could pay for a tour but was told absolutely not, Atlantis was for the benefit of the guests, but I was very welcome to eat at the cafe or drop money in the casino. And the staff were not pleasant. Not at all.

So you know what I did? I got in the elevator, headed to the top floor, walked down the corridor, down another elevator, right into the pool area. We then spent the afternoon, sunbathing and using the slides. And I didn't buy a single drink.

On the way out, we walked through the tunnel aquarium, again totally free as the charging booth was at the lobby entrance.

Having spent a day at Atlantis, I found the place loud, brash and unwelcoming.

Looking forward to your next update. Hope the weather improves.

[Colexis Mom]

<font color="blue"> Day 11 Part 2......FREEDOM times two [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

We stopped for some shots of the ship before boarding again.



There was quite a line to board the ship, and of course, we were met with some rude people who felt that they deserved to bypass everyone else in line, but I won’t go into it here. We were also greeted with hand sanitizer and wipes, which was standard practice any time the kids when into the clubs, we went to dinner, and or we entered or left the ship [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

Back on board, Colin was starving since he missed lunch, so I went up to Pluto’s Dog House and got him some chicken strips, fries, and fresh fruit. I also stopped at the bar, and indulged in a Plantar’s Punch (boy was that thing strong [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img] )! After he had eaten (and Alexa had snacked) I took them to the kids club and checked them in at 3:30. I had to go all the way up to Deck 10, because that’s where Alexa’s group was. Of course, Matt was napping [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/snore.gif[/img]

I walked around a bit and snapped some pictures. At least the sun was finally coming out.



The cast member’s pool

The tallest building in Nassau


I then went back to the room and sipped my drink [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img] and sat on the verandah. And filled out my Passporter pockets. I was also watching something on TV. Maybe RV with Robin Williams [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] Anyhoo, about 5 I went out to check up on the kids. Now, do I take them out for dinner, or leave them in the club? Alexa I didn’t care about, as I knew her answer already [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] She said she was fine, and didn’t want to come out. Whatever. Colin’s group was already having dinner up at Beach Blanket Buffet. I went up there to check on him. Thankfully his back was to me so he couldn’t see me. He was sitting at the table with 3 other children, eating his dinner and seemed to be having a good time. One of the counselors came out, and said he was fine, and to go and enjoy myself! I was a bit nervous, but decided that since he wasn’t asking to come out, he must be fine as he’d page us otherwise. I was also nervous as this was our Palo night, so I didn’t know if I should take him out, and then put him back in before Palo, or risk just leaving him in there. I decided to risk it [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]

I went back to the room and Matt was still napping [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img] Really! He finally woke up just after 5:30, and asked where the kids were (the club) and if I wanted to go to dinner. I told him I was fine, and then remembered that tonight was Animator’s Palate and it was the “show” on the walls (which we wouldn’t get to see tomorrow night since it would be Pirate night)! So he said let’s go. We did a quick change, and ended up being late for dinner. Better late than never. The show had already started, but that was fine.

We explained to Dhana that we were eating at Palo’s later this evening, so we were trying to eat light here. I didn’t want to miss the “show” that I had heard so much about. Tonight’s menu was the Captain’s Gala, and it was the “dress up night” (although you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in a suit or tie)! I believe we skipped the appetizer and salads altogether. For the main course, Matt had the baked lobster tail, and I had the eggplant parmigiana (which was the vegetarian option). YUM-O! So much for a light dinner!



I don’t believe we had dessert either as we were saving ourselves for Palo. We said goodbye to Dhana and Udonsik, as we’d see them tomorrow morning for the character breakfast in Parrot Cay.

Still no page from either kid [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] so we walked around and took more pictures.



Then we went back to the room to change into nicer clothes for Palo. At that point, something in my tummy wasn’t agreeing with me (probably the alcohol laden Plantar’s Punch), but I trucked on. First stop was to deck 3 (or was it deck 4), where they were taking formal pictures with the ship behind you (I’ll scan that one later). Then we went up on deck and took a bunch of pictures before heading to Palo as the sun was setting.



We finally arrived at Palo (we had an 8:30 seating) and waited for a few minutes. Fine with me, as my tummy was still giving me issues. But still no page on the pager, so things were good. We were seated not soon after, and our server would be Michael. We didn’t have a window table, but it didn’t matter to me. Soon we were ordering our drinks. I think Matt had his usual Pina Colada, and I had the Signature Bellini (always wanted to try one of those) [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img] For appetizers, we decided to share the lightly fried calamari (and boy was it good [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] )! For dinner, I had the grilled filet mignon with a port wine reduction, and Matt has the pan fried tuna. Sorry, no pictures [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] I just didn’t feel right snapping away in Palo [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/sorry.gif[/img]

The meal was fantastic, what can I say. Michael’s service was great as well. There were a bunch of couples that were newlyweds around us, and they were all celebrating. There was also a celebrity of sorts (who I didn’t know at the time…….stay tuned until the at sea day) who was drawing Disney character pictures for some of the guests.

For dessert, since this was the second meal of the night [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/whistling2.gif[/img] we opted to share the chocolate soufflé. Ooh boy, what a dessert. And better yet, the pager didn’t go off! Colin had now been in the club for almost 6 hours straight [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img]

We settled our bill with Michael (and tipped him well) and headed off down the stairs. We started trying to take the stairs everywhere (especially if we didn’t have the kids) as it was our only real exercise since we weren’t walking miles thru the parks here)! No sooner had we made it down to deck 9 that the pager was going off “Colin would like to be picked up please”. We couldn’t have asked for better timing. At this point, it was almost 10:30 and we were all ready for bed. Well, everyone, except Alexa. She gave us a hard time about leaving the club again, but it was 10:30 and I wasn’t about to give in [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] So she watched Curious George when we got back to the room. Where she gets her stamina, I don’t know. Oh, to be seven again [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] It was to be an early morning tomorrow, as we were landing at Castaway Cay [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] and we had our character breakfast!

Memories of our Eleventh Day
The weather today was…….pouring rain in Nassau, upper 70s. The sun came out about 3, low 80s.
The best thing today was…….dinner at Palo.
The worst thing today was……the rain [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rain.gif[/img]
The funniest thing today was……….Colin saying “sucking stroller”. You had to be there [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]
Today we tried……..Atlantis and Palo…….
And the result was……..we wont’ be going back to Atlantis……Palo was FANTASTIC!
The most magical moment today was ………..Colin staying in the kids club for more than an hour [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img]

Coming Up Next……Character Breakfast, Castaway Cay, and a magical moment


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[Cheriemek]

Thanks so much for all of your great pictures, and for your review of Atlantis. And, does Matt take naps at work?

[MAria R]

Sorry to hear about all that rain. Ready for more!