Who Needs Toes Anyway? A 2016 EBPC Trip Report *COMPLETE*

[arielmomma]

By the time I made it back to the cabin, James was awake, but the kids were still sleeping. We let them sleep, while James and I went to Art of Entertaining.



We had a new chef today.



The risotto with crab and snow peas was creamy and delicious. The tomatoes were quite spicy, but good.


Afterward, we returned to the cabin and got the kids moving. Outside our door, we discovered some pixie dust in our Fish Extender. Since we booked this last minute, we decided not to participate in a fish extender exchange. However, we did hang our FE outside of our room in order to find our cabin easily. The pixie dust gifts we received throughout the cruise were nice treats. I hope to do this for others in the future.



Jimmy and Emily headed toward their favorite clubs, while James and I opted to skip Ridley's lecture today. We were pretty worn out. So, we decided to relax out on deck 4.

 

[arielmomma]

When noon rolled around, we went to Triton's for lunch so that we had time to eat before dance class. Jimmy met us there. Emily decided that she did not want lunch today.



I had the Emmental Leek Quiche. It was okay, but nothing special.



Jimmy had a double order of calamari for his main course.



Jimmy and I also had the raspberry soup. This was one of my favorite fruit soups.



James and I both ordered the pork tenderloin. This was incredible.



For dessert, I got the raspberry crème brulee to go. It was time for dance class.



Today Willem and Natalia taught us the Tango. I came out of class relatively unscathed.

After class, we went up to deck 9 to watch the ice carving. We missed the actually carving, but arrived in time to see the sculpture before it melted.

 

[arielmomma]

James and I decided to spend the afternoon on deck four. After the busy cruise we'd had so far, we needed a day of rest.

When dinnertime rolled around, we all headed to Parrot Cay. Tonight was the Standard Rotational Parrot Cay menu. We would be the last people to ever eat this menu. Apparently, I forgot to take a picture of it. So here's the link to Disney cruise line blog: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/menus/parrot-cay-menu/

Since the whole table loved the banana bread, we ordered an entire basket.



I got the St. Maarten Stack. It was okay.



James and I also ordered Chicken Tenderloins. These were very good.



Jimmy ordered the kids' pizza. He ate it before I could take a picture.



James also had the chicken noodle soup. He said it was good, but not as good as mine.



I had the Parrot Cay Salad. This was very light and refreshing.



For the main course, James and Emily had the prime rib.



Jimmy had the mixed grill.



I had a double order of the Crab Martinique. I will miss this dish. It was so good.



Alison had the Pearl-Barley Cakes.

 

[arielmomma]

Before dessert, another special guest stopped by -- Minnie Mouse! She danced around the restaurant. She moved too fast for me to get a decent picture.

Onto dessert. The Irelands left to do some pin trading. James ordered a bowl of rainbow sherbet. Claudius brought him two.



I ordered the coconut cake



and the warm sticky date pudding. I loved this dessert so much on a previous cruise that our Head Server, Deniz, gave me the recipe.



I apparently didn't take a picture of the kids' desserts. Although I'm sure Jimmy had the sundae and Emily had a Mickey bar.

After dinner, we went to Wavebands to play So You Think You Know Your Family? On the way, I took a picture of the storm brewing outside.



The Irelands met us in Wavebands. Neither of our families were selected to play the game, but it was still a lot of fun.



The rest of my family decided to skip the main show tonight. I decided to give Liverpool Legends a shot.



I only lasted in the theater for about 10 minutes. The music was so loud it hurt my ears. I'm also not a huge Beetles fan. So, I slipped out of the theater to join my family for a movie --Zootopia.

 

[arielmomma]

We all enjoyed the movie. Afterward, the kids went to their clubs, while James and I returned to Wavebands to play Adult Wonder Quest.




It was a lot more wild than the family version. Let's just say there was a bit of flashing involved. We had a blast.

We stayed after the game to watch The Adult Heath Show. As before, Heath was hilarious!





Before we left Wavebands, I had to get a shot of Brett in his snazzy comic book suit.



Once we'd had our laughs for the evening, it was time to collect the children for bed. Back in the cabin, we not only had an animal friend waiting for us, but our prizes for completing Anna's Chocolate Chase.



It was time for bed. We had a Character Breakfast to get to in the morning!

Up Next...Another busy sea day and a hearty bruise.

 

[arielmomma]

Whoops! I forgot to post the navigators from Wednesday 8/31. Here they are:

 

[wilma-bride]

Hi Joy, loving your trip report so far. We are going to be on the WBPC with you in April and reading your report has got me excited all over again. Looking forward to more.

 

[arielmomma]

Hi Joy, loving your trip report so far. We are going to be on the WBPC with you in April and reading your report has got me excited all over again. Looking forward to more.

Thanks! Writing this is making me even more excited for April. I can't wait!

 

[arielmomma]

On Thursday 9/1, I set an alarm to wake us up at 9am to make our 9:30am character breakfast. Some of us woke up more easily than others.




With a bit of effort, we got everyone up and made our way to Animator's Palate.





The servers made each of us a napkin hat.





Our first character friend came by right after our server took our drink order.



Shortly thereafter, another server came by with the usual pastry tray. I decided to switch it up today and selected a cherry muffin (only because she didn't have my usual). It was good, but I only ate a few bites of it. I wasn't particularly hungry this morning.

 

[arielmomma]

As soon as our server took our meal orders, the characters made their rounds pretty quickly.



With the character meets out of the way, it was time to eat. James had bacon, hash browns, an English muffin, and a fried egg over-easy.



I ordered a fruit plate and some Raisin Bran. I ate the fruit plate, but not the cereal. I just wasn't hungry.



The kids both ordered the same thing: Mickey waffles with strawberries, Dulce de leche, and whipped cream.



In addition to the waffles, Jimmy also ordered a hash brown and a bagel with cream cheese. Needless to say, his eyes were bigger than his belly. He never made it to the bagel. Both of the kids said the waffles were amazing though.



The character breakfast was a lot of fun. What a special way to start our morning!

 

[arielmomma]

With breakfast behind us and the kids off at the clubs, it was time to consult today's navigator.



Breakfast ended just in time to slip into Art of Entertaining. The chef made Halibut.



The halibut was really good, the veggies not so much. They had way too much lemon zest on them.



Afterward, we stayed in Studio Sea for the oil and vinegar seminar. It was interesting. 8 year old balsamic vinegar is delicious!

 

[wilma-bride]

I love how much of the activities on board you are participating in. Interesting that the character breakfast was in Animator's - I've always known it be in Parrot Cay previously. Out of interest, did you have to book it prior to the cruise or did everybody get a ticket in their room the way it used to be done?

 

[arielmomma]

I love how much of the activities on board you are participating in. Interesting that the character breakfast was in Animator's - I've always known it be in Parrot Cay previously. Out of interest, did you have to book it prior to the cruise or did everybody get a ticket in their room the way it used to be done?

Thank you. We love the onboard activities. I booked the breakfast online prior to the cruise.

 

[arielmomma]

Believe it or not, it was time to eat AGAIN!



We kept to two courses today. I ordered the veal scallopini. I only ate half of it, but it was very good.



James had the Cuban Sandwich.



For dessert, I ordered the banana panna cotta. This was glorious!



James had the crispy beignets. It wasn't what he was expecting. It was a deep-fried apple. He enjoyed it though.



We went straight from lunch to dance class where we learned to rumba. Regardless of the fact that this was one of the easier dances we learned, I left class with a bruised left knee. Did I mention that we are terrible dancers?

We had a little time before Ridley Pearson's writing workshop, so we returned to our cabin to get cleaned up for the day. This was on the bed waiting for us.



Tonight was the Coast 2 Coast Campout in the Oceaneer Lab/Club. Looks like we'll be child-free this evening!

We collected our children and went to Wavebands. As a homeschooling mom, I couldn't let the kids miss out on an opportunity to learn to write with an author as accomplished as Ridley Pearson. His workshop was educational. We were glad we went.

 

[arielmomma]

Once again, the adults and children parted ways. James and I went up to deck 9 to refill our soda/water bottles. Remember earlier in this trip report when I said the family pool was the more peaceful of the two pools? I have photographic proof. This is the middle of the afternoon on a sea day.





Quiet Cove looked like this all day, every day. Later in the cruise, James' back started to bother him. He found that if he wanted to use the hot tubs with any semblance of peace he needed to be up here at dawn. Crazy!

I couldn't leave deck 9 without one of these.



Tonight's dinner was semi-formal. The kids met us at the cabin. We all changed our clothes and headed to Triton's. It was the California Menu.

 

[wilma-bride]

Ooh, a child free night - can't wait to see what you do with it. I can't believe how much you are fitting in to every day. I feel quite lazy for having spent a huge proportion of each day, on our last PC cruise, by the pool. And, yes, you're quite right - the adult pool was packed to the gills every single day while the family pool lay empty. Luckily, I am an early riser

 

[arielmomma]

Tonight's featured bread was sourdough. The table enjoyed it so much, we ordered a whole basket of it.



Lauren ordered the children's surf-n-turf.



Emily's appetizer was a bowl of French Fries.



I had the marinated artichokes. These were so good I ordered seconds.



I also ordered the polenta with mushrooms. It was okay, but in its defense, I'm not a huge polenta fan.



James had the potato croquettes. These were really yummy.



I had the pumpkin soup. This was also very good.



For the main course, James had the beef tenderloin.



The kids and I had the mushroom ravioli.

 

[arielmomma]

Time for dessert!



All of the kids had the Long Beach Sundae.



I ordered two desserts. First, was the crème brulee. It was okay.



Next was the flourless chocolate cake. This was wonderful!



Jimmy also had the citrus cheesecake. He really liked this.



Emily couldn't leave the table without building something.



After dinner, we all returned to the cabin to change out of our nice clothes, then we parted. James and I went to the Walt Disney Theater to see Michelle Mallardi. She was very talented. Plus, I loved her outfit.

It was time to drop the children off at their campout. We gathered their bedtime necessities and headed to the hallway outside of the Oceaneer Lab to sign them in. The kids met us there. After hugs and kisses goodnight, we were free!

We went straight to Wavebands for An Evening of Dance. Despite our dreadful (and painful) dancing skills, this was our favorite activity onboard. Nearly our entire class showed up. Willem and Natalia taught us a few extra moves. We had a fabulous time!

Both tired and wired from dancing, we hobbled over to The Walt Disney Theater to see the Adult Buckets-n-Board show. We'd seen them perform on the Fantasy. They were as fun as we remembered.



By the time the show ended, we were exhausted. We returned to our cabin to call it a night. This froggy friend greeted us.



We added him to the menagerie.



It was time for bed. We had to be up early to pick up the kids.

 

[wilma-bride]

What a fun evening

 

[arielmomma]

On Friday 9/1, James and I woke to an alarm set for 8am. We had to pick up the children from their campout. They were awake when we arrived but hardly functional. The CM's had them lay down at 1am, but they claimed to stay awake for some time after that. It was going to be a long day!

Since we were all up, we decided to see a movie: Captain America Civil War.



First, we needed breakfast to take with us into the theater. So, we stopped by Beach Blanket Buffet.