I LOVE Comedians with Guitars......You didn't tell me that part...COMPLETE 2/28/13 About This Page:

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by pamcarey

That was my guess, too!

Great pictures of the sail away party!

Yes!

Thanks.

Originally Posted by chezp

Great shots of the sailaway party. Those dancers do look really hot.

I was sweating and I was just standing still. I can't imagine doing all they were doing.

[jenseib]

As we were about to sail away, Lisa said she was going to go inside because it was so hot. I told her I was just going to stand at the railing and watch us go. Well wait…She said she better not miss this too and she stood out there with me and we just had such a nice time watching us leave the real world.
I totally enjoyed it. If you read my trip report about our Dream Cruise, you know it rained that day ….very hard, and the sail away party was inside in the Atrium. It was also at a later time because the ship stayed late to let passengers who had flight delays because of the bad weather able to make the ship. (Ironically I had the same experience on the last NCL ship I sailed too) We left late and we didn’t start moving till it was time for us to go to the first show, which I did not want to miss, so all we saw from our balcony was us moving away from the dock.





Lisa and I hung towards the back of the ship and we were practically alone back there.





We were making news!



We first watched them untie us.







We did lots of waving!









And we blasted the horn once more if I remember right.









We did walk from side to side at times to take it all in.



Lisa and I both grew up on farms and then married farmers, so we had to get a picture of all the tractors lined up.



Lisa told me to be sure to get a picture with the John Deere’s and combines in it.



While we were standing there, we noticed that the windows into Palo looked like a mirror and we easily each lost 20-30 pounds while looking at ourselves in them. We wish we could walk around with those reflecting our images all the time. It doesn’t take much to excite us.







I was so amazed at how many ships we saw out at sea.

And I really liked this sail boat.







And we then decided to head back to the room and relax a bit, get showers and get ready for the show.

We showered and just hung out and watched the world go by on our balcony.
I remembered to take a picture of the goodies inside of the bag.



We then headed off to the show ….All Aboard, Let the Magic Begin.

This is the Disney Magic Performers…A.K.A. the cast that would be entertaining us at the main shows, and also a comedian, David Williamson and a Venquilotrist, Lynn Trefzger. The performers had a small storyline and then the other entertainment would come out.
I really enjoyed the show. I am at such a lost that we can no longer take pictures of the shows though. I love taking pictures of things like this, and I was soooo tempted, but I refrained. The Comedian was really funny and brought kids up on stage. The Venquilotrist was good, but she kind of over did her 2 things and it became a little too long.
We were happy to see the show and Lisa got her first taste of what a Disney show is like ….and she liked what she saw.

After the show we headed back to the room once again. We had a little time to kill.

Our beds had been turned down and we had a new friend & chocolates.





Something about chocolate left on your bed make it tastes so much better. We ate them each morning …breakfast of champions!

We had a little time to kill so we went down to the shops before heading to dinner.







I was happy to see a few Galveston related items.

I loved this hat. I was so tempted to buy it. I loved the look and color …but I am not a hat person. I never wear them, they look horrid on me and my head must be weird shaped, because they never sit right on me.



We weren’t inspired to buy anything, so we headed out and explored a bit more before dinner.

We saw Minnie out for a greet.



I had a thing about trying to take the perfect chandelier picture. You will notice this is a theme for me. I did it on the Dream as well, and also of a few other items as well on that cruise.



We stopped and learned a little history about the Magic.



And we walked through Studio Sea since we hadn’t yet looked at it. This is more the family type club.







It was close to 8:15 now so we headed towards dinner.

[chezp]

Great photos as you sailed away. I think it's such a shame you can't take photos any longer in the shows.

[lauriep]

Really nice to see the shots while you were departing Galveston. Except for the restaurants, you've really explored the whole ship on the first day. Good going!

I like this photo of the chandelier. I'm very partial to the Chihuly ones on the Magic and Wonder. Not a big fan of the more stained-glass style of the ones on the newer ships.

[shazza]

Excellent photos of the ship, the party and the sail away! Makes it easy to feel we were there with you.

[pamcarey]

Great update! It really disappointed me too that we can't take pictures in the shows any longer.

[rhinohunter]

Beautiful ship. Thanks for sharing the tour. You girls really look ready for this. Nice to know where the gym is (just in case you get the urge to work off some fo the food.) The party looks like a lot of fun. Sorry you will not be sharing any pix from the shows.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by chezp

Great photos as you sailed away. I think it's such a shame you can't take photos any longer in the shows.

I do too. This is my biggest complaint. I think if you can turn off your screen, you should be allowed to

Originally Posted by lauriep

Really nice to see the shots while you were departing Galveston. Except for the restaurants, you've really explored the whole ship on the first day. Good going!

I like this photo of the chandelier. I'm very partial to the Chihuly ones on the Magic and Wonder. Not a big fan of the more stained-glass style of the ones on the newer ships.

I liked it too. On a tour they told us it is really made out of plastic. I was surprised as they often make you believe it is glass.

Originally Posted by shazza

Excellent photos of the ship, the party and the sail away! Makes it easy to feel we were there with you.

Thanks. I am hoping it does feel that way. I like to relive it and take my friends with me down memory lane!

Originally Posted by pamcarey

Great update! It really disappointed me too that we can't take pictures in the shows any longer.

I hate that too. I love taking pictures of the shows.

Originally Posted by rhinohunter

Beautiful ship. Thanks for sharing the tour. You girls really look ready for this. Nice to know where the gym is (just in case you get the urge to work off some fo the food.) The party looks like a lot of fun. Sorry you will not be sharing any pix from the shows.

Some girls did use it ...this girl did not.

[jenseib]

Lumiere’s was our restaurant for tonight.

I will forewarn you now the lighting is bad and my pictures are not that good.

I believe our table number was 41 and we checked in and were led to it. Mary’s gang was there and I think Brook, Carolyn and gang followed us in.



We all introduced ourselves to Mary’s friends, Chris, Erin, and Julie, and then set to the task of figuring out what to eat.
I took pictures of the menus…they are horrid, but here they are.





We started out with some bread that was very good.



I think this was an olive spread. It was good, but not great, but I am not a fan of olives. I can eat some olive spreads, and like I said, this was good, but if I liked olives it probably would’ve been better to me.



I tried to get a few shots around the restaurant, but I failed miserably and that is one regret I have.







For appetizers I ordered the Chilled Jumbo Shrimp
White and Green Asparagus, Micro Greens and Lemon-Dill Dressing with Horseradish Cream



I think Lisa ordered this too. It was very good.

I also got "Gaston's" Escargots Gratinés
Herb-marinated Snails with Finely Chopped Mushrooms, topped with Garlic Butter.



I am not sure if Lisa ordered a 2nd appetizer or not. If so, I did not get a picture.

For entree’s, we really had a hard time deciding. There were a couple of things I wanted to try, and same with Lisa. We decided we would order 3 between us and share all 3.

I ordered the Lumiere's Seared Sea Bass
With a Mushroom Herb Risotto, Sweet Onion Marmalade, and garnished with a Potato Crisp.



This was very good. I thought the fish might be a little too fishy though. Not bad, but it wasn’t perfect to me. We both ate it though and enjoyed it.

Lisa ordered the Three-Cheese Lobster Macaroni
Lobster Meat, Gruyère, and Cheddar Cheese Sauce tossed with Tubular Pasta and topped with a Parmesan Wafer.



This was excellent. I actually liked it better than the fish.

We also ordered the Crispy Roasted Duck Breast
With Braised Napa Cabbage and Potato Cake, with Pomegranate Jus.



Well there was nothing crispy about this duck. It was very fatty and not good at all. Lisa took one bite and spit it back in her napkin. That should tell you something, because her husband is a duck hunter. I think they eat duck here and there if I remember right. She was not impressed at all.
I took a bite and it was fatty, but I got it down. I tried another bite, digging into it to find the meat. It was just OK. So I tried a third and it was yuck. That plate got pushed to the side. We found out that we do not like duck, or at least duck this way.

During dinner we all talked. We really didn’t talk as much to Mary and her group. Not that we were being rude, it was just that with 10 people at a table it’s hard to talk to everyone, and they all seemed to be in conversation about something.

Chris kept making comments about the ship movement. Up till that point I had felt basically nothing. Now I felt it slightly, but not bad at all. Most of us agreed that we couldn’t feel much. I am not sure if it was the bonine Lisa and I took, or if it really was just that great. I will say we really had very calm seas most of the trip.

While eating and chatting we looked out the window we were sitting by. Our window looked out to the Atrium and guess who we saw?



Cowboy Goofy.

I loved his costume! For the most part, I did not do any official character meets this cruise, though looking back I kind of wish I did do some. I just wasn’t in the mood to wait in line for any on this trip. I do have a few character pictures, but more on that later ……

Time for dessert now. Here are the menus. Again, really horribly shots.





Lisa ordered the Lumiere's Sweet Temptations
A Trio of Crème Brûlée, Chocolate Mousse and Praline Petite Choux.



She liked it. She never had Cream Brulee before if I remember right. She loved the chocolate Mousse, but said she could’ve done without the sauce on top.

I had the Grand Marnier Soufflé
With Vanilla Sauce.



YUM! I LOVE this stuff. I am going to let you in on something …we went to Palo later in the week and I got the chocolate soufflé there. This was just as good. I did not think Palo’s soufflé was any better than this little bugger.

I also got the Chocolate Mousse
With Brandy-marinated Cherries.



Again, this was really good, but I agreed with Lisa, I would rather have it without the cherry sauce.

Before we left dinner I did go and take one more picture before I left.



We then headed out. I think Lisa was feeling tired, and bloated and just very full and decided to go to bed. I told her I wanted to explore just a bit more.



At some point I went and put gift cards on my account, this might’ve been when I did it.

[jenseib]

I wanted to go up top and look at the ship lit up.



Warning, moving ship at night ….very windy. If you are wearing a dress or skirt …wear shorts under them. Luckily I was, or several people would have gotten a very unpleasant view.





I loved the adult area on the Magic better than the Dream.





I got a shot of the ping pong table and paddles.







I really enjoyed the lit up ship. Just beautiful ….BUT I think the Dream is prettier. If I remember right, it had more stuff lit up and it stayed lit for a longer time. I think all night long, while I noticed on early mornings that the Magic normally wasn’t lit up still.









They did a lot of painting and repairs daily and you would see signs like this around after they were done, or the area roped off.







And some shots of the drink station.





It was just too windy up there, so I headed inside.











This is outside the theatre and list show times for the day.

[rhinohunter]

Very pretty ship. Sorry about the meal choices.

[chezp]

Both the sea bass and the macaroni looked lovely to me - just up my street. Perhaps I'll get to try one (or both? ) in December....

[lauriep]

Looks like a great meal. I think Lumiere's is a very pretty restaurant. Nice shots around the ship at night. Interesting that you liked the adult areas on the Magic better than the Dream.

[dutchdisneyfamily]

Love the pool are. The meals look yummy. Too bad about the duck.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by rhinohunter

Very pretty ship. Sorry about the meal choices.

Well 2 of the 3 were good. So it wasn't all bad.

Originally Posted by chezp

Both the sea bass and the macaroni looked lovely to me - just up my street. Perhaps I'll get to try one (or both? ) in December....

Yes, those would be good choices for you! Have both!

Originally Posted by lauriep

Looks like a great meal. I think Lumiere's is a very pretty restaurant. Nice shots around the ship at night. Interesting that you liked the adult areas on the Magic better than the Dream.

It's more secluded on the Magic. Both are beautiful, but it's se easy to walk through the adult area with kids on the Dream.

Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily

Love the pool are. The meals look yummy. Too bad about the duck.

I am definitely not a duck person.