How The Western Caribbean Was Won! Completed 8/10/2016 - Page 22 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Glad you enjoyed them and especially enjoyed the experience of witnessing firsthand of the Carnical Conquest docking next to us!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Disneybine
I've looked at the Oasis of the Seas several times in the past. We did consider cruising on it but in the end, we always chose Disney instead
May be a while until I do my next cruise even though I am enjoying this one as I want to visit other areas first. Disney is quite expensive but loved my stateroom and the meals for great on board for the rotation! I think this cost me close to a two week trip in WDW at a mod. And I chose the cheapest of this particular Western Caribbean cruises! I may go Disney for another, but perhaps a four one. Think, I'll avoid Disney for Europe or Alaska(as I eventually want to do) and chose another company as too expensive. I had a veranda for this cruise and once you do that, there is no going back and do otherwise with a porthole, whether small or large! There actually, wasn't a big difference in price between my veranda stateroom on Deck 7 than a room with a large porthole window on another deck!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Looking forward to hearing about your excursion in Cozumel.
We love to cruise but have never cruised Disney, due to price. We have cruised Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Norwegian. We are booked for our 4th Carnival cruise in November of this year (Western Caribbean itinerary on the Carnival Glory). We have always had verandah cabins and I agree with you - once you have a verandah, there's no going back! On our last cruise, we booked a suite (on the Carnival Liberty). It was very nice and the price was great. For our upcoming cruise in November, we booked an Aft Balcony Cabin with an extended verandah. These are the cabins on the very back of the ship. We have never booked one of those before and we're really looking forward to it.
Can't wait to read your next update! Glad you're enjoying your first cruise!
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Sharon
Magic Kingdom, March 2015
Last edited by SharonK0527; 03-11-2016 at 01:07 PM..
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The weather was nice in Cozumel with no rain, although a bit hot and quite sunny!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SharonK0527
Looking forward to hearing about your excursion in Cozumel.
We love to cruise but have never cruised Disney, due to price. We have cruised Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Norwegian. We are booked for our 4th Carnival cruise in November of this year (Western Caribbean itinerary on the Carnival Glory). We have always had verandah cabins and I agree with you - once you have a verandah, there's no going back! On our last cruise, we booked a suite (on the Carnival Valor). It was very nice and the price was great. For our upcoming cruise in November, we booked an Aft Balcony Cabin with an extended verandah. These are the cabins on the very back of the ship. We have never booked one of those before and we're really looking forward to it.
Can't wait to read your next update! Glad you're enjoying your first cruise!
The cruise has been great so far and have enjoyed every aspect of it from the cruise itself, the stateroom and veranda, meals, excursions, nightlife and downtime!
Like you said DCL is quite pricey and was my first cruise overall. Being a solo traveler adds on costs to the room with the supplement fees as not a double occupancy! I definitely, want to take another cruise, but will probably use another cruise line that is cheaper, but at the same time has a great itinerary (not sure where I want to go for my next!), cuisine, excursions, stateroom and veranda, nightlife and overall amenities!
Will be looking into this, but may be a couple of years away.... ! We shall see, but will happen, depending what I decide to do on future trips. Could always, combine a 4 day DCL cruise with WDW, which would be affordable before I do another major one down the road! Who knows?
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
The Disney CM was still with us while we were waiting for our taxi to arrive and take us to Playa Mia for our Mexican Cuisine Workshop. In a few minutes it arrived and we were on our way. It was a bit of a ride partly due to the distance, but mostly because of the congestion in Cozumel with all the tourism, including many shops, hotels and another cruise port down the road a bit. Once we got out of this stretch of about two miles or so, we were on open roads and it was much easier. We arrived in about twenty minutes.
Once we arrived we were met by a Playa Mia employee who led us to the building, where the cuisine workshop was being held. He also pointed out various highlights in our walk in Playa Mia, such as various shops, bars, counter service options, beach and pool areas.
We entered the building and went up to the second floor, where our excursion was being held. We met Luis, the chef who is conducting this experience along with one of his assistants.
My cooking station for the event. That piece in front is used to form and flatten tortillas.
All ready to go in my chef’s gear!
Before, we started Chef Luis gave us an overview on hygiene and food safety, which he stressed as being of the utmost importance, when cooking and handling food. His assistant came around to us and asked us for our drink orders. I went with a strawberry margarita, which was excellent! Now it was time to begin cooking.
The first item we cooked for our lunch was actually the dessert course, which would have to be chilled before it was ready to eat. It was pan fried plantains in a chocolate sauce. There were various ingredients in it, including chili powder and tequila.
Cooking the chocolate sauce. It doesn’t look dark enough for a chocolate sauce, but that would change as we had just added some cream to it.
Pan fried plantains
Next, Luis gave us a little lesson on how to make those fancy decorations on a plate with various sauces, you get with a dessert. I didn’t do so well with mine, but Luis’ looked good.
It looked easy but wasn’t! Just takes practice.
Here’s mine. The one below the plantains isn’t too bad. It certainly tasted good!
Course number two was the main course. This was pan fried Grouper in a sweet sauce spiced up with chili pepper accompanied by mixed vegetables. They use a lot of that and tequila in Mexican cooking.
My grouper, seasoned and ready to cook.
My cooked grouper, but not fully as they’d finish it off in the oven.
My pan, before cooking the veggies. This is just the bits leftover from cooking the fish.
Pan frying mixed veggies. This went well with the Grouper. The pan wasn’t cleaned after frying the fish as they would be placed on top of the fish later.
My Grouper ready to be finished off in the oven.
The finished product! Looks good!
Finally, it was time to cook the appetizer, which was pan fried shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce with tequila, chili pepper and cheese powder. You can add as much or little of the chili pepper to your liking.
Pan frying my shrimp in olive oil and a bit of butter seasoned with salt and pepper.
My completed shrimp dish, topped off with lettuce and Mexican cheese. Perhaps, a bit too much sauce but was too good to let it go to waste.
The shrimp are there, I believe or at least buried!
My Grouper creation
Finally, my dessert!
We all sat down to eat and everyone seemed to enjoy the cuisine we just made. I had a glass of Mexican white wine along with my meal. It was similar to a Sauvignon Blanc and was quite good. All of the courses were very good, but I probably enjoyed the shrimp course the most as it had so much flavor in it with the spicy tomato sauce and cheese.
Chef Luis, our instructor for the afternoon.
This excursion was well worth the price of $92 as you cooked a great lunch to indulge in as well as transportation and complimentary beverages almost anywhere in Playa Mia. The exception being the buffet area, where others on other excursions ate. I think this was a great deal. This was an enjoyable experience and learned a lot about cooking from this class. Even better as I got to enjoy a great meal, which I created.
If you’re reading this Cam, I mentioned to Chef Luis, that you had taken this class as well. I told him you were on the Passporter Boards(which you said to him), but it was tough for him to recall you as he instructs so many travelers in these classes. I told him that after reading your trip report about this experience, that I had to do this. He thanked me and glad others could recommend and enjoy this experience!
The outside of the building I had my cooking class. Quite colorful!
One of the locals, spotted just outside my cooking class!
It was about 1:45 pm and I still had some time as we didn’t have to be back in front and meet to take a bus back to the port. The transportation back is by bus since others from the Magic and the Carnival ship were here on other various excursions including beach and water activities. I had brought a towel (we were given, when departing the Magic) and swim trunks, but decided against going in the pool or gulf as the beach and pool areas were quite crowded. I also wanted to check out the shops here as well.
A shop in Playa Mia
I visited a number of shops in Playa Mia, which were located in one area and got a Cozumel tee shirt for $10. I thought that was quite cheap and is good quality. After this I checked out various areas of Playa Mia including the beach and pool areas. I also stopped for at least one margarita at one of the outdoor bars. It may have been two!
Water activities in the Gulf of Mexico.
The pool area in Playa Mia. It was more crowded than it looks. I don’t think a single beach chair was available!
Liked this area as it was quiet with no one around.
I actually saw quite a few of these guys here today!
It was getting near the time I had to meet for the bus so I walked up near the entrance in front where we were scheduled to meet shortly. The four who were in my cooking class were there waiting and I talked with them for a bit, while we waited to be called for our bus. They all seem to enjoy our cooking class very much.
At the Playa Mia entrance
A few minutes went by and we all got on the bus. There were a number of buses and ours was quite full. I think it took about 25 minutes to return back to port. I spent the time on the bus taking a nap as the hot sun and margaritas were taking their toll, but felt good when I woke up, just before arrival.
We arrived near the big mall across from the port and visited that for a bit, but didn’t see anything of interest to purchase. It was quite touristy.
A Mariachi band playing in the courtyard of the mall. I enjoyed their playing.
Cozumel from the second floor of the mall
After, spending some time in the mall, I made the few minutes walk back to the Magic from across the street and through the dock area.
.
Carnival ship and the Magic, just behind it.
An interesting view of the two cruise ships.
It was 4:30 pm and I was back on board the Magic after going through security and scanning my KTTW card for the Magic staff to know that I am back on board. I returned to my room for a while and just took it easy for a bit, before getting ready for other activities later.
NEXT: A Magic Show On The Magic!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
your excursion looked great. You did great on your meal and it all looked pretty delicious.
It was a lot of fun and so glad I chose this particular one! The cuisine, which I cooked with some guidance turned out well and tasted even better! I can cook fairly well and I guess I showed my knack for this!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
That looked like a great excursion. I assume you could choose how much chilli you put into each dish, as you were cooking it? If so, that would work for me, as the dishes would probably be too hot for me otherwise.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
That looked like a great excursion. I assume you could choose how much chilli you put into each dish, as you were cooking it? If so, that would work for me, as the dishes would probably be too hot for me otherwise.
Yes, you could put however amount of seasoning your dish with chili pepper to your particular taste. I like spicy food as long as it's not too spicy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coop
It looks good - but I wouldn't have fared well with this as I don't really care for seafood. Hubby would have loved it though!
Too bad you don't care for seafood as it was all quite good! This was a fun class and the margaritas were great too!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Sounds like a great choice! How fun to learn such a yummy meal.
It was a great experience and enjoyed it so much!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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Disney is quite expensive 
but loved my stateroom and the meals for great on board for the rotation! 
I think this cost me close to a two week trip in WDW at a mod. And I chose the cheapest of this particular Western Caribbean cruises! 
I had a veranda for this cruise and once you do that, there is no going back and do otherwise with a porthole, whether small or large! 
There actually, wasn't a big difference in price between my veranda stateroom on Deck 7 than a room with a large porthole window on another deck! 
! We shall see, but will happen, depending what I decide to do on future trips. Could always, combine a 4 day DCL cruise with WDW, which would be affordable before I do another major one down the road! 
Now it was time to begin cooking.
and everyone seemed to enjoy the cuisine we just made. 
but felt good when I woke up, just before arrival.
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