Dreams do come true – our Med cruise! **Updated 6/30** THREAD 1 *COMPLETE* - Page 13 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
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Moving on with the current of the years.
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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Saturday 27 May – part eight: “what happens on the ship stays on the ship”!
We sat and read for a while and then it was time to head back to the room for the lifeboat drill. Wow, when we came to put our lifejackets on, we couldn’t believe how much more comfortable they were than the old ones. That is such a big improvement.
The drill went off fine, although the signs to get to our meeting points weren’t the best and we were surprised at how many rooms weren’t there. (We later found out that you didn’t have to be on board for the drill, as a lot of people were enjoying Barcelona that day)
That done, it was back to the room for quick shower and then we headed out to go to the show, but plans are meant to be changed and when we bumped into Deb in the hallway, we ended up joining them for drinks in the Promenade Lounge. We were there for the couple of hours enjoying some fun and great conversation with everyone. As we took the pledge that “what happens on the ship stays on the ship” (what Sandy was referring to in an earlier post), I can’t tell you more than that, but I can tell you that we met two of our dining companions for the cruise, Rob and Keith and they were great fun.
”I’m going to give you the bill for everyone!” Becky Sandy (left) and Linda (right) Another cruise ship sets sail
We also saw Tom McAlpine, President of the Disney Cruise Line (I think that’s right, it’s what I wrote in my notes) and I was impressed when he said “hi” to Deb. We saw him quite a bit later just walking around, looking at things and no doubt making mental notes about what he was seeing.
Just before 8.00, the group broke off and we went to do some damage on our Key To The World card. First we hit Shutters and got our welcome aboard photo. Last time we cruised, we couldn’t find the thing, so I was very glad to see it there. We also got a display album with a night-time shot of the Disney Magic, which was just stunning:
Then it was over to Treasure Ketch. Earlier on, during our exploration of the ship, we saw that they had exclusive inaugural cruise items and we knew we had to get some, so two T-shirts, one for each of us, along with a fridge magnet for the collection and a scrapbooking kit (one day I will get round to doing some of them! ) and we were set.
On the way through the lobby, we spotted a friendly face and we just had to say hello!
We took so long in there that we thought that we would be late for dinner, but there was only Cathy and Terri there, our other dining companions during the cruise, at the table when we got there. Soon after, Rob and Keith and Bruce and Marta all arrived and it turned out to be a great table. We were all talking away before long, which was such a pleasant change from our last cruise when we had a family that just didn’t say a word to us the first night and then we retreated to Palo and managed to eat there for the next two nights.
We started off in Parrot Cay, which we didn’t manage to eat dinner in last time and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food there. I started with the sangria bisque, which was just out of this world and a real winner in my book.
Mark had the grilled bay scallops with Madeira and apricot glace and I think it’s fair to say that he wasn’t overly impressed with the quantity, although the quality was fine.
For main course, I went for the lobster and porcini mushroom tagliatelle and Mark had the rack of New Zealand lamb with a Dijon mustard crust. I will be honest and say that I preferred the sangria bisque, although this was still good, it just wasn’t outstanding. Mark said his was very nice and not enough of it.
For dessert, I had the Leaning Tower of Pisa, honeycomb tuiles filled with pistachio and expresso mousse with chocolate sauce and cherry compote. Mark had the Florentine baskets with Maraschino Bavorois, served with exotic fruits and berries on a bed of Champagne Sabayon. You won’t be surprised to know that he didn’t think there enough here either. I think I see a trend….
The Leaning Tower of Pisa – can you see how much it’s leaning? OK, I confess I forgot to rotate the photo before I uploaded it, but I think it looks kind of cool!
Parrot Cay:
Appetiser 10 7
Main course 8 9
Dessert 7½ 7½
Service 8½ 8½
Atmosphere 8 9
Average: 8.30
Next: sailing out on the inaugural Disney Med cruise
Sounds like you had a lot of fun with Deb & the gang. Your meals look delicious, although it does look like there wasn't much to Mark's appetizer or dessert. Waiting for more
Keep it coming Cheryl - your notes are so much better than mine.
It is really strange going out my door eaach day and not running into you and Mark. It is going to be even stranger on the next cruse whe nyou aren't there - unless of course you have changed your mind. ....
Keep it coming Cheryl - your notes are so much better than mine.
It is really strange going out my door eaach day and not running into you and Mark. It is going to be even stranger on the next cruse whe nyou aren't there - unless of course you have changed your mind. ....
We do want to do another cruise, but I just have no idea when at the moment - probably 2009 sometime. I did have a curious look at the Panama Canal cruises for next year and both appeared to be fully sold out, which solved that problem, so maybe 2009, if we can fit it in the budget...
That's an adorable photo of you in front of Deb's door. The food looks scrummy, but did you say that drill attendance wasn't mandatory? Wow, that would be a treat to skip that.
Saturday 27 May – part nine: sailing out on the inaugural Disney Med cruise
Suddenly Mark noticed that it was getting very close to 10.00 and the sail away party, so I went back to the room to get sweatshirts for both of us and the DVD recorder and to take out my contact lenses, which were killing me by then. Mind you, they had been in for 14 hours by that time. I still got back before dessert arrived as well.
As soon as we were doing eating, we wished Cathy a Happy Birthday when a cake arrived and then it was off to deck 10.
I was surprised how quiet it was up there. We ran into Rob, Keith, Deb and Linda up there and, as Deb said, it’s probably got something to do with the second dinner seating not having finished eating yet. I got lots of photos of the sail away celebration and Barcelona, as we headed out of the port.
”Now what else can we find to do with these sail away hands?”
Montjuic Castle at night
Sailing away from the dock!
Rachel, our cruise director
I will admit to being a bit disappointed, as I was hoping that we might get some fireworks, as we knew there had been some when the Magic arrived in Barcelona. Despite that, it was still very special to be on the first ever Disney cruise around the Med.
Around 11.00, we decided to call it a night and headed back to the room with me taking a sea sickness tablet, just to be on the safe side.
This was the scene that greeted us when we got back to the room
The weather today was sunny in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon, with temperatures in the 70’s. Today we walked 4.53 miles The best thing today was being on board the first ever Disney cruise in Europe as it left port. The worse thing today was having to rush back to the hotel in the morning. The funniest thing today was the hour or so we had in the Promenade Lounge. Today we tried eating dinner at Parrot Cay And the result was I was pleasantly surprised with the food there. The most magical moment today was walking into our room and seeing the delivery from Sue and Steve.
We do want to do another cruise, but I just have no idea when at the moment - probably 2009 sometime. I did have a curious look at the Panama Canal cruises for next year and both appeared to be fully sold out, which solved that problem, so maybe 2009, if we can fit it in the budget...
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