A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - Page 113 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Friday 17 June – part three: so now we know why there were so many police in Copenhagen!
A few minutes later, Stephanie saw us and came across to say hi. We told her we’d seen them coming back last night, and apparently they were so later because they ran into problems at Tivoli Gardens. The reason we’d seen the helicopter circling is because John Kerry had been in Copenhagen. I did a Google search later, and he was over for official talks, but from what I found, he also decided to visit Tivoli, complete with his whole retinue. No wonder they had issues…
Jay joined Stephanie and she said she was going to give us a call and invite us for drinks. We explained that we had dinner booked at the Tuscan Grille for 6:30pm, and their dinner was 8:30pm, so she said it would probably be either 5:00pm or 10:00pm. We opted for the earlier timing, as we knew at least we’d still be awake by then. Also, I knew Dancing with the Officers would be taking place in the Sky Lounge at 10:00pm, and I figured it would be chaos up there then…
We headed back to the room via deck 15. It looked like the lawn was having a bad day…
… as was the canvas above it…
Once back there, we decided to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We did have it with us on DVD, but we figured we’d pay to watch it on our stateroom TV, as it’s much bigger. On that subject, we’ve been very impressed by how big those screens are – much bigger than on Disney.
Watching it second time around was very interesting. I was surprised at how much of it I remembered, bearing in mind we hadn’t seen it since it was released in December. I still marvel at the two lead actors, given they were such unknowns, yet they both put in amazing performances. They really are talents. We also commented again that we still can’t believe how much one of the leads in the original movies (trying not to give away too much here) got paid for such a short appearance. I’m sure if you’ve seen it, you know who I mean.
We finished watching it about 4:50pm and made our way up to the Sky Lounge, where we found Jay and Stephanie. We got some drinks and chatted away, although it wasn’t long before we ended up moving. Stephanie kept asking me if I was Ok with it being so sunny and bright there, and I was, as I had my back to the sun, but she ended up squinting with the sun in her eyes, so we moved.
We tried various tastings that were brought round, and it was only tonight that I actually realised they’re from the likes of QSine and the other speciality restaurants. How many times have these come round and I never twigged that? If it’s supposed to be advertising, it’s not very good…
The time flew by and before we knew it, it was coming up for 6:30pm, so we had to say our goodbyes and head off. Jay and Stephanie had said they were keen to eat at Murano tomorrow night, but they understood it was already full. We said we’d enquire on our way to dinner, given we already had a reservation there, so we headed down there. As we walked along deck 5, I did comment to Mark that we’ve barely seen any of this part of the ship…
We headed into Murano and Marko, the maitre d’ stood there for ages, at times with his head almost in his hands, trying to work out if he could accommodate our request or not. He did confirm that Murano is full tomorrow night and they already have a waiting list, so I wasn’t hopeful, but eventually he did some magic, and told us he could get us all in if we were Ok with a 6:00pm booking, rather than a 6:30pm one. Yep, that works for us! I am convinced that there is no way we’d have got in had we not already had a reservation there.
When we arrived at Tuscan Grille, we were given a window table…
As we sat there, we saw a Royal Caribbean ship go past us, presumably heading out on a Baltic cruise, whereas of course we were now returning from one.
I got some more photos of the restaurant, although in fairness it hadn’t changed much from the last time we ate here, nearly two weeks ago. Where has the time gone?
We had the bread arrive first, although we didn’t eat as much as last time, as we were already quite full.
Then the appetiser trolley turned up, and we both picked what we wanted…
For appetiser, I decided to try something different, despite how much I’d loved the fried calamari last time. This time, I went for polpette di Granchio or crab cake with roasted pepper caponata and basil emulsion. It was very good…
Mark decided to try the carpaccio di Manzo or filet mignon carpaccio with sun-dried tomato and Kalamata olive tapenade.
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A Disney vacation and then just catching up with household stuff has left me far behind..... but I finally have time today!
The views from the top are amazing! Glad you found a Disney store. And then the tower with the ramp is so cool. I'd love to see the bike race inside there!
New Harbour is a very cute area. Very picturesque!
Poor Ariel, I don't understand why people do such things. It just doesn't make any sense! You guys sure covered a lot of ground! The windmills in the ocean looks so odd. But cool.
Those desserts!! Glad you got the photos of the sun and clouds when you could. Annoying sometimes when you have time and the right place to grab a nice sunset and then the clouds show up.
The bridge tour is amazing! Wow, very cool. So glad you were able to take photos too for the rest of us to see!
Interesting about John Kerry. I don't know much about travelling politicians, but I wouldn't guess he'd require that much police protection, wow! Very nice of you guys to change the dinner reservation for the next night, it'll be fun! Great start to your meal so far!
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Wow! Michael has been on those details and I've never thought about how they must look to other people! Especially if you don't know what is going on. What a lovely afternoon and start to your dinner!!
A Disney vacation and then just catching up with household stuff has left me far behind..... but I finally have time today!
Welcome back!
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The views from the top are amazing! Glad you found a Disney store. And then the tower with the ramp is so cool. I'd love to see the bike race inside there!
I bet it's quite something to see...
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New Harbour is a very cute area. Very picturesque!
Poor Ariel, I don't understand why people do such things. It just doesn't make any sense! You guys sure covered a lot of ground!
We did, but we sort of ran out of time there to see everything. I want to go back and it doesn't help that two school friends of mine (who are now married - always thought they would! ) are spending a long weekend there right now. Very jealous of all their photos!
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The windmills in the ocean looks so odd. But cool.
Those desserts!! Glad you got the photos of the sun and clouds when you could. Annoying sometimes when you have time and the right place to grab a nice sunset and then the clouds show up.
The bridge tour is amazing! Wow, very cool. So glad you were able to take photos too for the rest of us to see!
Interesting about John Kerry. I don't know much about travelling politicians, but I wouldn't guess he'd require that much police protection, wow!
My guess is that sadly in the society we live in today that everyone in any position of power these days does require that much police protection. Can you imagine the fallout if anything had happened to someone like him in a foreign country?
Quite a nice tour of the bridge and seems like you learned a lot from it! Nice start to you meal as the apps look quite good! Glad you were able to get a reservation for all tomorrow night!
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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!
Yes, it was him. Of course, we had a much closer encounter with him in whichever Presidential election he stood in, when he came to Disney and did a statement to the media outside our room at the Beach Club Villas. We had an amazing view of him and that was quite something!
Friday 17 June – part four: it’s all Nena’s fault!
For salad, Mark stuck with our old favourite of the Pomodoro e mozzarella di Bufala or Bufala mozzarella and tomato with extra virgin olive oil, aged balsamic vinegar, and garlic focaccia.
After Jay and Stephanie had told me that the insalata di Cesare or Caesar salad made up of Romaine, garlic and anchovy emulsion with parmesan cheese and herb crostini, was prepared tableside, I went for that. On this subject, we had Nena from Serbia, rather than the server we had last time, whose name I still cannot remember. He came over to talk to us and told us about the party they’d had on crew decks last night – apparently it was pretty good and went on for some hours…
Anyway, tonight’s server Nena was lovely, and chatted away to us, answering the questions we had. We were talking about how much we’d enjoyed doing a two week cruise. This has been our longest cruise to date, and you know, I didn’t even think about that until we were aboard. We’ve both now said we wouldn’t mind doing a Panama Canal cruise, although that would need to be a three week vacation to give us some time on either side of the cruise. We were also talking about a Transatlantic cruise, although we’ve heard so many bad things about them in terms of the weather. Nena confirmed that, and said she’s had a couple of very rough crossings. She did also say when the weather’s not rough, the guests can be quite demanding, given the amount of time spent at sea. I hadn’t thought about it before, but of course the crew get no days off while they’re at sea, so they are somewhat run off their feet.
So back to the preparation of the Caesar salad – she talked us through everything she was doing, and it was nice that I got to pick what I wanted to go in it.
And here’s the finished product…
For entrée, we both went with different things from last time. I had the spiedino di capesante e gamberi or scallop and shrimp brochette, which was excellent:
Mark had the bistecca alla griglia or grilled New York strip steak…
Mark opted for grilled Mediterranean vegetables and mashed potatoes, while I went for the sautéed spinach. Sadly, the vegetables and the spinach weren’t that great, which was a huge shame, as it detract somewhat from the entrees.
Neither of us were that hungry by the time it got to dessert, and we both looked at the menu and decided to get the same thing – assorted gelato served in a waffle tuile. I went for the mango and strawberry ice creams, and they were both wonderfully light and just what I needed to finish off the meal:
Mark went for the chocolate and mango ice creams, and struggled to finish his, I think because the chocolate was probably quite heavy, compared to the fruit options.
We then finished off the meal with two limoncellos…
This was probably a bit silly, given that we were already feeling light headed from drinking White Zinfandel and Bailey’s today, but it was Nena’s fault. She asked if we wanted a second, and we didn’t have the heart to say no.
We really enjoyed our meal here, and I’m glad we got to go back for a second time. We got our photo taken before we headed out…
By the time we left, it was just past 8:00pm, and we’d had a relatively quick meal. We wanted to catch Jay, Stephanie and Ethan to let them know we’d got them in Murano, and we knew they’d be heading down for dinner at 8:30pm, so we figured we’d wander around for a bit before then.
I got a couple of photos of the entrance to the restaurant on the way out…
… and we made our way back towards the lobby. Here, something really funny happened. There were lots of photo opportunities, given it was an elegant chic night (their sort of version of formal night – only sort of, because you don’t really have to get dressed up if you don’t want to), and one was for the captain. They were actually asking people if they wanted their photo with him, as he was standing all alone, with no-one waiting to see him. How humiliating! We said no thanks, and did explain we’d got our photo with him earlier that day on the bridge, but I did feel bad for him. As we said, you’d never see that happened on board a Disney ship.
We made our way past the main lobby, getting some photos of the band playing below…
We headed over to the shops to have a browse, and saw the prices they were offering for Bailey’s, but frankly I think I can get similar prices at home, so we didn’t bother. Outside, they were offering tastings, and I tried some of the Grey Goose vodka. I still don’t get the appeal of vodka at all. It just doesn’t taste to me of anything, and all it seems to do is burn as it goes down.
I also tried some Bombay Sapphire. I remember trying this many years ago at a place called Vinopolis in London. I don’t even know whether it’s open any longer, as I never hear anything about it now. I remember it tasting Ok, but my goodness, my memory must be playing tricks on me. Again, it didn’t taste of a lot, except dryness, if that makes sense, and it also burnt. Not a nice experience.
We made our way down to the Moonlight Sonata dining room on deck three, as we knew that’s where Jay, Stephanie and Ethan would be heading down to. We saw loads and loads of people go in, and despite the fact this isn’t an official formal night, my goodness most people had made a real effort to get dressed up. I think I saw every form of the black dress in existence. I did say to Mark I felt as if I was the odd one out, given I was in a floral white, black and blue dress.
After about 20 minutes, we still hadn’t seen them, and we were on the verge of giving up. Mark kept saying we must’ve missed them, but I knew we’d seen everyone go in, and between the two of us, we couldn’t have missed them. We didn’t, as eventually we saw them walking up, so we gave them the good news and then made our way back to the room. After our limoncellos, we were ready for bed!
The weather today was day with some sun and some cloud and temperatures in the high 60s. The best thing today was visiting the bridge. The worst thing today was the fact I kept Mark awake in the night with my snoring. The funniest thing today was “are you taking part in Dancing with the Officers?” Today we tried going back to the Tuscan Grille for a second meal And the result was we enjoyed it as much as the first. The most magical moment today was visiting the bridge.
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What a lovely meal!! Your food looks wonderful and I Limoncello!!! Glad you were able to include your friends for your dinner as well!! I've never seen the Captain without a line on any ship I've been on!
What a lovely meal!! Your food looks wonderful and I Limoncello!!!
Is it easier to get limoncello in the States now? I've never forgotten a friend in Chicago pointing out you could get it in a store and saying how hard it was to find and we were like "you can go down to the local supermarket and get it at home". Mind you, I still remember you taking us to the famous market in Philly - I can't for the life of me remember what it's called now and you saying how hard it was to get some of the cheeses we saw and we saying the same thing about being able to get them in the local supermarket!
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Glad you were able to include your friends for your dinner as well!! I've never seen the Captain without a line on any ship I've been on!
Your dinner looked delicious! I loved that they tossed your salad tableside, very cool. Then you know the lettuce is still nice and crispy!
Mmmmm, Limoncello. We have a bottle, it's not hard to find around here!
That poor captain. I can't imagine why people wouldn't want to meet him or have photos taken!
Vodka is a little harsh, but now they have all those flavored vodkas. So it's much easier to mix that into some drinks and it's quite hidden. Goes down much easier that way!
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Is it easier to get limoncello in the States now? I've never forgotten a friend in Chicago pointing out you could get it in a store and saying how hard it was to find and we were like "you can go down to the local supermarket and get it at home". Mind you, I still remember you taking us to the famous market in Philly - I can't for the life of me remember what it's called now and you saying how hard it was to get some of the cheeses we saw and we saying the same thing about being able to get them in the local supermarket!
Yes it is. At least in these parts!! It is especially popular around the holidays! That was the Italian Market!! It is still going strong. Since then though, lots more gourmet supermarkets have come into the area as well.
Your dinner looked delicious! I loved that they tossed your salad tableside, very cool. Then you know the lettuce is still nice and crispy!
Mmmmm, Limoncello. We have a bottle, it's not hard to find around here!
Cool!
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That poor captain. I can't imagine why people wouldn't want to meet him or have photos taken!
I can only assume maybe because it was towards the end of the cruise and perhaps everyone had already seen him?
Yes it is. At least in these parts!! It is especially popular around the holidays! That was the Italian Market!! It is still going strong. Since then though, lots more gourmet supermarkets have come into the area as well.
I nearly said Italian Market - I was right then! That's so good to hear that a lot more places have opened up since supplying those things.
Wow, that must've been maybe 2004 we did that? Where does the time go?
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We told her we’d seen them coming back last night, and apparently they were so later because they ran into problems at Tivoli Gardens. The reason we’d seen the helicopter circling is because John Kerry had been in Copenhagen. I did a Google search later, and he was over for official talks, but from what I found, he also decided to visit Tivoli, complete with his whole retinue. 
Also, I knew Dancing with the Officers would be taking place in the Sky Lounge at 10:00pm, and I figured it would be chaos up there then… 
If it’s supposed to be advertising, it’s not very good… 
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And then the tower with the ramp is so cool. I'd love to see the bike race inside there!
Glad you got the photos of the sun and clouds when you could. Annoying sometimes when you have time and the right place to grab a nice sunset and then the clouds show up. 
) are spending a long weekend there right now. Very jealous of all their photos! 
He came over to talk to us and told us about the party they’d had on crew decks last night – apparently it was pretty good and went on for some hours… 
We’ve both now said we wouldn’t mind doing a Panama Canal cruise, although that would need to be a three week vacation to give us some time on either side of the cruise. We were also talking about a Transatlantic cruise, although we’ve heard so many bad things about them in terms of the weather. Nena confirmed that, and said she’s had a couple of very rough crossings. She did also say when the weather’s not rough, the guests can be quite demanding, given the amount of time spent at sea. I hadn’t thought about it before, but of course the crew get no days off while they’re at sea, so they are somewhat run off their feet. 
I remember it tasting Ok, but my goodness, my memory must be playing tricks on me. Again, it didn’t taste of a lot, except dryness, if that makes sense, and it also burnt. Not a nice experience. 
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