Land and Sea - Yippee! September 2013 -TR updated 02/11/2014 - Page 16 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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The bike ride sounds nice! You got some gorgeous photos! (What kind of camera do you have? I'm wanting a nice one (aka DSLR) before our next trip.) Glad it only rained a bit for you all.
What a great day at Castaway Cay! I've thought about doing the bike trail before, so it's good to hear your thoughts on that. I hear you about the thunderstorm on Castaway Cay - that's exactly what happened to us on our last stop there, although the weather was appalling for the rest of the day onwards.
I'm thinking about writing a short article on the bike rental I remember your experience that day - yikes!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
What a fun day at CC! Great photos!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Even with the rain, it sounds like a near-perfect day at CC. Good thing you went with Max on his snorkeling adventure. That doesn't sound like something even an adult should do solo unless a VERY strong swimmer and experienced snorkeler. I hope Titus wasn't too disappointed that the older boys shuffled him off-- looks like he still had a great day!
I asked him a few days ago and he said he came to get me. I think that's right - don't even think I'd like to go out there by myself! Titus is, thankfully, very independent. He did say he was a little lonely on parts of the trip, which I'll know to watch for next time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stardust190
Sounds like a great time at Castaway Cay!
It was!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
What a nice day at CC! The place sounds amazing.
We didn't even do that much, but it was fun anyway!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Looks like a fun (despite the rain) day on Castaway Cay!!
It was fun! But next time, I want to do a little more "nothing"
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
What a wonderful day at Castaway Cay! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the bicycle rentals. I want to try that sometime.
It was a great deal and a very easy ride.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
what a wonderful day on Castaway cay. The bike ride sounds really nice.
I'm glad we did it, especially early in the day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastYorkDisneyFan
I always find it amazing that even a rainy day at castaway cay can still be a good one. On two of my there trips to it it rained. The first time we arrived early to try and avoid it but the rain held off until it was time for the ship to leave the skies opened up and it poured they even drove the trams right up to the ship so ple could get on quikr. The second time there was appen;y a ring of clouds and rain right around the island but no frain that day. My third time it rained a bit in the morning.
I was worried about it raining. I hoped that if it did, it would be a quickie, like in Florida.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
Great day at Castaway Cay, it's just so beautiful and fun there! The bike trail sounded like a lot of fun, I'm putting that on my list for the next time we are there
I hope you get to do it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by PrincessSharon
What a fun day at Castaway Cay! There was certainly a lot to keep y'all busy, even in the rain! Glad you had fun!
I was indeed fun, but like I said before, next time I want to just relax a little more...
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
The bike ride sounds nice! You got some gorgeous photos! (What kind of camera do you have? I'm wanting a nice one (aka DSLR) before our next trip.) Glad it only rained a bit for you all.
Thanks! I have Nikon D5000, a kit from Costco. I've been happy with it, but it's so heavy! I wanted to use my son's little camera, but it wasn't powerful enough. I need something in between, small, powerful and doesn't cost a ton.
******************
Sept 10, Tuesday continues, Pirate Night!
(The Christmas whirlwind has died down, loot, er, gifts have been put away, dishes and house are cleaned. I've got a little bowl of M&Ms (my poor blood sugar!) and I'm ready to continue with our trip from September!)
Here's our family photo from when we first got off the boat that morning...
From the anemic notes I took from that night, it looks like I finished delivering my fish extender gifts. I had glow sticks for everyone and I wanted to make sure they got them before the piratey festivities. Max was doing Edge stuff somewhere, and you couldn't pay me to remember what Dh and Titus were doing . We all eventually made it back to the room to gussy up for dinner at Animator's Palate. If you've ever wondered about what it's like to get ready to go somewhere with boys, I think it's the same as if you had girls - it takes forever ! We were finally ready and met Gus and Erika at our table. I LOVE having the same table all the time, it makes it so much easier to meet up with people in your party.
Erika and "Jake"
My boys (They loved the "mustaches" I put on them. The big guy had his taken care of already )
"AARGH!" Gus is in his "I don't want to smile for the camera" phase .
There were gypsies back in the pirate days, right?
This artwork being shown is from Treasure Planet, I think...
POTC...
Pirate dinner at AP was SO VERY COOL. Dh, as I've said before, is hard to impress. I honestly think this night was the kicker for him wanted to sign up again. The images on the walls changing throughout dinner were amazing. I can't draw more than just a smiley face, so all the artwork was just awesome to watch.The food was really good too! I'm glad I took at least one picture of what I ate, lol.
"Jack Sparrow's Barbecue Marinated Beef Short Ribs - Rubbed beef short rips with tamarind-barbecue sauce and served with onion red bliss mashed potatoes and plantain chip." Very tender and flavorful, yummy!
We had a great time and of course, excellent service. After dinner, I went back to the room for something and this guy was on our bed...
They had some special things for the kids to do in the clubs, so they went there. The rest of us went to find a spot for the Pirate party. We ended up looking down on the fun from an upper deck.
Titus is down there somewhere...
We really had a good time! I tried so hard to get a good shot of Jack, but I just couldn't. I have an old friend who had a serious crush on the captain, I can totally see why... We could see Titus down there dancing with the other kids in the Oceaneer's Club. Max showed up after the party - the Edge had a special reserved place for them to dance and watch the fireworks. We were standing next to a family that seemed like the night had gone on for just a little too long. The grandpa was nodding off and the two little girls were literally asleep! (They had such a good spot too!) I said to Dh, that they should take that poor man back to the room! After the fireworks, we stayed for a while dancing to the music from the live DJ - awesome party Disney!
This may be my favorite photo of our cruise...
Groovin' to the beats...
After that Max went back to the Edge, Dh and Titus went back to the room (Titus hit the sack right after brushing his teeth and washing his mustache off ) Erika and I had a date with karaoke in the District Lounge. I had never done karaoke and was really looking forward to it... until it was our turn! I couldn't seem to find anything I wanted to sing, but we eventually landed on "Rocket Man" by Elton John. After our performance (was that howling dogs in the background?), the MC said no one had sung that in a while, so we were happy with our choice. I can't remember what happened after that! I think I was just plain tired and went to bed.
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Great photos of Pirate night! I just can't make myself stay up late enough on the cruises so I've never been to the party. It's really fun to see everyone dressed up at dinner, though. I love the photo of Gus at the party and also the family photo in front of the ship at CC.
Great photos from Pirates' Night - and you are right, spending it Animators' Palate is the coolest. We were so lucky to be in there for our Pirates' Night.
This night looks like so much fun! I missed Pirate night on my cruise due to sea sickness and the fact that we went in June (longest daylight hours) so fireworks didn't start until 10pm and my son was asleep by then.
I just realized that we had the same dining rotation as you did on our cruise, we started in Royal Palace and then had Pirate Night in AP. We didn't get any cool Pirate drawings in the pictures on the walls though, ours were all Disney characters
Everyone looked great all dressed up for Pirate night!!! Sounds like you had a really fun evening!
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
You all make great pirates! Sounds like a fun night!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Looks like everyone had fun on Pirate night.
It WAS fun!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Great photos of Pirate night! I just can't make myself stay up late enough on the cruises so I've never been to the party. It's really fun to see everyone dressed up at dinner, though. I love the photo of Gus at the party and also the family photo in front of the ship at CC.
I was so tired Laurie, but it was a lot of fun!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great photos from Pirates' Night - and you are right, spending it Animators' Palate is the coolest. We were so lucky to be in there for our Pirates' Night.
AP ended up being our favorite restaurant. Maybe even gets in our top 10 of all Disney dining??
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
Great fun on Pirate night!
Quote:
Originally Posted by stardust190
Fun pirate night!
Oh yes!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
This night looks like so much fun! I missed Pirate night on my cruise due to sea sickness and the fact that we went in June (longest daylight hours) so fireworks didn't start until 10pm and my son was asleep by then.
I was so afraid of seasickness! I'm sorry you had to go through that
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
AP for Pirate Night looked awesome! Ours was at RP. That party is so great! I loved everything about it!
It was so cool - we requested the same rotation for next time to do Pirate night there again
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
I just realized that we had the same dining rotation as you did on our cruise, we started in Royal Palace and then had Pirate Night in AP. We didn't get any cool Pirate drawings in the pictures on the walls though, ours were all Disney characters
I loved the rotation. It seemed like it built up so that our dinner experience got better and better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PrincessSharon
Looks like Pirate Night was a lot of fun! And for doing karoake!
Girl! I was so scared. Maybe I'll do 2 songs next time...
***************
Sept 11 Wednesday - Day at Sea
Our day began at 6:52am with some of this...
...a little of that...
...a pinch of this...
...with a little of this thrown in for good measure...
While we were getting ready for the day, the Captain announced that the ship would be observing Patriot Day, with a moment of silence in honor of those who were affected by the tragedy of 9/11...
Today we would be eating at Palo for brunch - something I'd been waiting to do for a long time. Our reservations weren't until 12pm, so we had a light breakfast with the kids at Cabana's. When we were done, we went back to the room to start organizing to pack . "Brunchtime" came around quickly, so we met Erika and Gus, then dropped him and Titus off at the kid's clubs. (Max had already gone off to do his thing .) We found Palo, and I immediately stood up a little straighter and walked a little more slowly - it was so elegant in there! We were seated by the window and met our server Dogan (I think that's spelled right) pronounced, "Dough-ahn". He was very nice, but I could just barely understand what he was saying. I think he was from Turkey. Thankfully, he was talking mostly about food, so it was all good . He gave us the little tour of the brunch stations - I wanted everything! Then we helped ourselves to the gorgeous hors d'oeuvres buffet and Dogan brought us our mimosas and (surprisingly good, in spite of me teasing Erika ) "glacier water".
The buffet (I'm sorry I couldn't get better shots, I was getting the "people are behind you" look from Dh... )
Our 1st plates: (I don't know what Dh had, probably had some combo of warm sticky buns and crab legs.)
Mine... I loved everything! Especially the tiny caramelized onions. And the bloody mary shrimp thing. And the smoked salmon mousse. And Hey! Caviar is good!
Erika's
Here's our view:
Lucky bird!
Dogan had taken our orders for our entrees and I had the Strawberry Soup and Veal Saltimboca. Both Dh and Erika had the Rum Pancakes and the Chicken Parmesan.
These were some of the other choices:
The Strawberry Soup. This is not what I had imagined or seen on internet photos. I thought it was going to be more savory. My version was more like a very excellent, sweet, velvety strawberry smoothie.
Veal Saltimboca - very good flavors, cooked perfectly.
We relaxed with our beautiful view and I only thought of the kids a little bit . Soon it was time for dessert! (I was sucking in the gut by this time, but I wanted to try everything!)
Oh my goodness... All so good, but I could've had 5 more of those passionfruit panna cotta/cheesecake things. But that would have been totally ignorant, considering how full I was!
Everything was wonderful and we had a great relaxing meal. Definitely worth $20!
The ceiling at the entrance of Palo.
Even the restroom was elegant!
At this point there is a big gap in my memory (food amnesia?). After our meal at Palo, I think I walked around with Erika just enjoying the ship. At some point, I made it back to the room to change and pack a little more. (Leaving the door decorations up just a little longer!) I think it was when we were going to pick up Gus from the club that we saw some of the "See Ya Real Soon" party. I'm glad we missed most of it, too sad !
Catch ya later Goofy!
I think it was Gus' naptime, because I ended up by myself on a photo tour. I also wanted to check up on Titus - he wasn't in the club, so I figured he was in the pool somewhere. I was right . He had gotten pizza for lunch and ate in the room (again) and went out to enjoy himself.
Cannonball!
Hey Bubba!
Tarzan was playing on the big screen
Browsing the art on the way to Believe. I was the only one who wanted to go (Amazing show by the way!)
Light sconce in the theater
Wanna see the back stairs leading up to the balcony?
My seat. All by myself.
The sun going down on our last day... (I apologize for all the horizon pictures, but if you squint really hard, couldn't this be Mickey waving goodbye? Yeah, I know it's a stretch.)
We got our luggage ready to put outside the door and it was time for dinner at Animator's Palate again. I think this is our favorite restaurant of the whole trip!
Proud of Max for choosing the Smoked Salmon Tartare. Laughing when he spit it out (politely of course). He's eaten sushi, so I thought it'd be ok
Traded him my delicious Wild Mushroom Risotto. He practically inhaled it, but he's not a mushroom fan, go figure .
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup. This was so good!
Curly Endive, Arugula and Watercress Salad
Lemon-thyme Marinated All Natural Chicken Breast (I admit being nervous about ordering the chicken - you know how mass cooked chicken can turn out. I was pleasantly surprised. It was moist and tender, very flavorful. I could have had a whole bowl of the root veggies )
Mihaly recommended the kids' sundae. It was a great ending, not too heavy.
My only regret and plea for a do-over happened after dinner. Erika and I were looking forward to the 80's Trivia game - we were going to crush it! Unfortunately, I had stupidly ordered the Riesling at dinner and the combination of that great glass of wine and 7 days of non-stop Disney excitement = me hitting the proverbial wall. I was done. In spite of my baby sister pleading with me to hang out with her just one more night, I sadly bailed on her . I was just simply exhausted. I couldn't believe it! Back in the day, I could've hung out with her for drinks and partying, but I'm old now (44 lol) and sleep was starting to cover me with it's light and comfy blanket about the same time Mihaly and Francia finished clearing our dishes. I felt like an a$$, but I just couldn't do any more . Then next morning at breakfast she made me feel even worse by telling me that while I was in a coma , she lost the trivia game by like two points because she was all by herself against 5 other teams. Of course I knew the answers, "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Right Said Fred". I'm the worst big sister ever ! I'll make it up sis, I promise...
Thanks for being patient with this long and never-ending TR. Next time I'll try to finish it up
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
I've thought about doing the bike trail before, so it's good to hear your thoughts on that. I hear you about the thunderstorm on Castaway Cay - that's exactly what happened to us on our last stop there, although the weather was appalling for the rest of the day onwards. 
I remember your experience that day - yikes! 
. We all eventually made it back to the room to gussy up for dinner at Animator's Palate. If you've ever wondered about what it's like to get ready to go somewhere with boys, I think it's the same as if you had girls - it takes forever 
! We were finally ready and met Gus and Erika at our table. I LOVE having the same table all the time, it makes it so much easier to meet up with people in your party.
(They loved the "mustaches" I put on them. The big guy had his taken care of already 
) Erika and I had a date with karaoke in the District Lounge. I had never done karaoke and was really looking forward to it... until it was our turn! I couldn't seem to find anything I wanted to sing, but we eventually landed on "Rocket Man" by Elton John. After our performance 
(was that howling dogs in the background?), the MC said no one had sung that in a while, so we were happy with our choice. I can't remember what happened after that! I think I was just plain tired and went to bed. 
PassPorter Guide Author
Holly: 
Maybe I'll do 2 songs next time... 
)
All so good, but I could've had 5 more of those passionfruit panna cotta/cheesecake things. But that would have been totally ignorant, considering how full I was!
and the combination of that great glass of wine and 7 days of non-stop Disney excitement = me hitting the proverbial wall. I was done. In spite of my baby sister pleading with me to hang out with her just one more night, I sadly bailed on her 
. Then next morning at breakfast she made me feel even worse by telling me that while I was in a coma 
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