Greetings From England – The Brits Are Back!! **COMPLETED 07/05**

[Linda67]

Originally Posted by mamaboogie

(Which one made me want to lick the screen though.....)

Originally Posted by TanzUnited99

Great reviews - can't wait to try EoS!

Adding a new friend into the mix made it even more fun to read!!

We love EOS
I can't wait to the one at DLP opens!
Glad you enjoyed the additional photo

Originally Posted by PrincessBetsy

Loved the new update and can't wait to hear about the Dream!

Hope to start the Dream reviews this weekend

[scanne]

The drinks look so lovely....

Looking forward to your Dream review!!!

[librarygeek]

Mmm, Earl of Sandwich! I'm definitely going to order the Caprese when I'm there, it looks mouth watering good

[Linda67]

Originally Posted by scanne

The drinks look so lovely....

Looking forward to your Dream review!!!

Coming right up

Originally Posted by librarygeek

Mmm, Earl of Sandwich! I'm definitely going to order the Caprese when I'm there, it looks mouth watering good

I love the Caprese sandwich
It's the balsamic dressing that makes it so great

[Linda67]

Thursday 19th May 2011

Morning everyone

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend

So where was I?

Oh yeah we are about to set sail on our first ever cruise

We woke early and took our luggage to the car before heading to Roaring Fork to grab some tasty treats for the journey down to Port Canaveral



Blueberry Muffin for DH



Raisin Scone for Me

We hit the road and before long we saw this;





The Disney Dream



After a quick and easy check in process our boarding number was called and we casually strolled on board ……OK we skipped and giggled like school-girls and bounced on-board

I’m not going to turn this into a trip report as I know you are all here for the food but needless to say we were speechless when we walked into that lobby (do you call it a lobby on a ship?) and we were re-booking our next cruise before the bags were even un-packed (well not quite that quick but I am trying to build dramatic effect )

Anyway onto the food

First stop was Cabanas



We were really impressed with the variety and quality of food here; I must admit I didn’t have very high expectations heading into our first cruise but boy I was wrong!

DH loaded up his plate



Prime Rib, Minted Lamb Chops, Mashed Potato and another cut off beef that I am unsure of?

He loved this; he sure loves meat, so this was a wonderful dish to him

Here’s my plate ……………………….



I was actually too excited to eat much and knew that the peel and eat shrimp and crab claws etc on the buffet would take too much concentration so I just picked away but everything was very good and fresh

I think the fish that you see was Mahi Mahi and it was really well prepared, I sometimes find this to be a bit dry, especially on buffets but this was perfect

Everything else you see is pretty self explanatory but top marks for the freshness of the salads

Servers wandered around the tables with trays full of the cocktail of the day which was the Bahama Mama, well it would be rude not to



BAHAMA MAMA
White rum, Meyer’s rum, crème de banana, Malibu rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, dash of grenadine

After lunch we went off for a bit of an explore as we wanted to take a look at the amazing kids clubs before we set sail and they would be out of bounds

Once we had checked out our stateroom and un-packed a few bits we headed up to Currents Bar on Deck 10 to get a drink for the sail-away party

A Coke for DH and a ‘Bon Voyage’ for me



BON VOYAGE

I can’t seem to find a recipe for this on-line but I seem to remember it was Tequila based

Mmmmm - I could get used to this cruising game

Coming Up Next – Animators Palate

[dizneeat]

Bon voyage, Linda! Bon voyage!

Okay, finally caught up .......... again! I wish work would not interfere with my DIS time!

Okay, comments!

Sorry about your meal at Narcoosee's. Ours was really NOT nice at all, but at least you had a nice window seat with a view of the castle.

Love EoS too! And you picked my two favourite sandwiches - what can I say? Um, oh, yeah, they have a wonderful bread pudding too!

Captain Cooks: We LOVE the Aloha sandwich - soooooooooo good! And I really want to try the grilled cheese in the summer. MickeyNicki recommanded it, and now I see it on your review - wanna have it too!

And finally we are sailing! Love what I see and read of Cabanas and don't hesitate posting a few more pics of the DREAM.
Can't wait for AP! Thank god it's a long weekend here (it's Whitsun here and Monday is a holiday too - schools are closed on Tuesdays as well! ) and I can stay tuned!

Have a fun weekend, Linda!

[mamaboogie]

So excited to read about your cruise!

We have never done one....we keep saying - 'Someday...'

Can't wait to hear all the food details!

[2xcited2sleep]

Im a big EoS fan too! Yummy! I have heard a lot about the grilled cheese sandwich...will have to add that to my Oct to-do list. And your picture is an excellent advertisement for the torch lighting ceremony.

Your cruise sounds like it is off to a great start. I love the drink of the day concept!!

[Tinker12]

I wish that I could get me DH to get excited about a Disney cruise. He LOVES Disney, but does not see why people want to get on a boat. Oh well.

Yur report is still great!!!

[dixonsontour]

Fantastic report again Linda

[PrincessBetsy]

I have never been on a cruise, but I would love to travel on the Disney Dream someday. Preferably sooner than later! Your first lunch looks great and your 'Bon Voyage’ looks quite refreshing indeed!

[librarygeek]

I've never done a Disney cruise, but hope to some day! So it's great to see all of the delicious food on board.

[Linda67]

Originally Posted by dizneeat

Bon voyage, Linda! Bon voyage!

Okay, finally caught up .......... again! I wish work would not interfere with my DIS time!

Okay, comments!

Sorry about your meal at Narcoosee's. Ours was really NOT nice at all, but at least you had a nice window seat with a view of the castle.

Love EoS too! And you picked my two favourite sandwiches - what can I say? Um, oh, yeah, they have a wonderful bread pudding too!

Captain Cooks: We LOVE the Aloha sandwich - soooooooooo good! And I really want to try the grilled cheese in the summer. MickeyNicki recommanded it, and now I see it on your review - wanna have it too!

And finally we are sailing! Love what I see and read of Cabanas and don't hesitate posting a few more pics of the DREAM.
Can't wait for AP! Thank god it's a long weekend here (it's Whitsun here and Monday is a holiday too - schools are closed on Tuesdays as well! ) and I can stay tuned!

Have a fun weekend, Linda!

Hi Karin
Hope you are enjoying your long weekend, it sounds like you have been really busy so enjoy your well deserved break
The Grilled Cheese and the Aloha Pork Sandwich were a big hit with us both so I hope you get to try them on your next trip
It's funny how reading the reviews on the DIS means that we all end up with long lists of 'must try' items
I do it all the time

Originally Posted by mamaboogie

So excited to read about your cruise!

We have never done one....we keep saying - 'Someday...'

Can't wait to hear all the food details!

Hi Shari
I had never even considered a cruise before, I thought I would get bored but ended up loving it
We have re-booked for a seven day cruise next year as three days did feel a bit rushed but a great way to find out if cruising is for you or not

Originally Posted by 2xcited2sleep

Im a big EoS fan too! Yummy! I have heard a lot about the grilled cheese sandwich...will have to add that to my Oct to-do list. And your picture is an excellent advertisement for the torch lighting ceremony.

Your cruise sounds like it is off to a great start. I love the drink of the day concept!!

Ooh you are going to be there in October are you going to go to the Food & Wine Festival?
We are really exctited to be going for the first time this year

Originally Posted by Tinker12

I wish that I could get me DH to get excited about a Disney cruise. He LOVES Disney, but does not see why people want to get on a boat. Oh well.

Yur report is still great!!!

I have to be honest that's kind of what I thought.
DH was actually more into the idea of cruising than me
The only reason I decided to give it a go was because it was a Disney ship
I'm glad I tried it though as it turns out I really enjoyed it

Originally Posted by dixonsontour

Fantastic report again Linda

Thanks for reading along, I hope to get another quick update up today

Originally Posted by PrincessBetsy

I have never been on a cruise, but I would love to travel on the Disney Dream someday. Preferably sooner than later! Your first lunch looks great and your 'Bon Voyage’ looks quite refreshing indeed!

The Disney Dream is an amazing ship, it's great fun to just explore and check out all the details

Originally Posted by librarygeek

I've never done a Disney cruise, but hope to some day! So it's great to see all of the delicious food on board.

I was really impressed with the food on board
I didn't really expect much in terms of quality, I mean there's an awful lot of people to serve but it was actually really good

[Linda67]

Thursday 19th May 2011 Continued

Hello from a not so sunny England

Here we go, our first eveing on board the Disney Dream

Ahead of our cruise we had requested the late seating for dinner which suited us perfectly; we would go to the early show each evening and then have an hour to freshen up before heading to our designated restaurant

We decided not to try and get a reservation for Palo or Remy as we really wanted to try the three rotational restaurants

Our rotation was Animators Palate, followed by The Enchanted Garden and finally the Royal Palace.

If I could have picked an order in which to visit the restaurants this would have been it so we were delighted with our rotation

I wasn’t sure how I would fell snapping photos of my food whilst dining at a shared table aboard The Dream so I headed down to dinner on the first night to meet our table mates unsure if my camera would ever be taken out of my purse

I’m afraid my lovely DIS peeps I have let you down because the three dinner reviews will be photo free

Our table mates were lovely people but weren’t very chatty and seemed to want to keep themselves to themselves and enjoy a peaceful dinner so it really didn’t seem appropriate to keep whipping my camera out!

So you are going to have to try to visualise the dishes whist being subjected to my dreadful use of the english language and inane ramblings

Animators Pallet was probably the most child friendly of the three main restaurants on board The Dream and it was a great setting in which to enjoy dinner.

As I am sure you are aware the artwork on the walls comes to life throughout you dining experience with various characters from Finding Nemo ‘swimming’ past your table.

The star of the show is Crush and if you have ever see Turtle Talk With Crush you’ll get the idea of him interacting with the diners; the kids in the restaurant got a real kick out of this

As soon as we were seated our servers for the next three nights introduced themselves and let me tell you, the service that these guys provide night in night out is outstanding

First off we placed our drink orders

DH again stuck with the water and I ordered a 'Blueberrilicious'

Tequila, Fresh Blueberries, Passion Fruit Juice, Triple Sec, Sour Mix

This was lovely and with all that blueberry goodness it must surely be healthy

The bread served this evening was Herb Foccacia and Ciabatta Bread with a Roasted Garlic Dip

This was wonderfully warm and fresh

For my appetiser I ordered Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes - Pasta Purse filled with Truffle scented Cheese and coated with a delicate Champagne Sauce

This was simply delicious

I have to be honest and say that I had fairly low expectations of the food ahead of our cruise.

I just figured that with so many people to cater for the food would be sub-par; well if this dish was anything to go by I was wrong

The pasta parcels were delicate in flavour and melted in your mouth. I would have happily eaten another portion of these right away

DH ordered the Sesame -flavored Rock Shrimp and Caramelized Onion Cheesecake with Asian Barbecue Sauce and topped with Micro Greens

This was a lovely light appetiser, full of shrimp and the caramelized onion worked really well with the creamy texture of the cheesecake - a big hit with DH

For my Entrée I chose Grilled Pacific Black Cod with Sautéed Morel Mushrooms on a Yellow Split Pea Purée

The fish was perfectly cooked.

I was worried it would be over cooked which can often the case when a kitchen has so many to prepare but this was spot on.

The mushrooms and pea puree worked wonderfully with the peas adding a nice textural balance

DH tried the Marinated Angus Beef Tenderloin, carved to order on wasabi mashed potatoes with bok choy and a tamarind barbecue reduction

He's not a fan of wasabi so asked if he could have regular mashed potatoes which our wonderful server said wouldn't be a problem

DH really enjoyed his entree and cleared his plate.

The beef was tender and cooked exactly as he had requested and he says that the tamarind barbecue reduction gave the dish a welcome asian twist

As always he adored the creamy mash potato

For desserts there just wasn’t anything on the menu that grabbed me so our wonderful server suggested a Mickey Bar ………….. Hell yeah

I loved the presentation of this all-time classic with the addition of Mickey sprinkles so I threw caution to the wind and took a photo



Mickey Bar

DH ordered the Cookies & Cream Sundae, Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Wafer Cookies and Whipped Cream

And his verdict ……….. Yummy, his only criticism was that his spoon wasn’t long enough to reach the bottom

We were both really impressed with our first ever cruise dinner and now felt really excited about the following three nights

COMINING UP NEXT ……… Day Two Of Our Cruise And The Enchanted Garden

[dizneeat]

Great review, Linda, even without photos!

Tablemates can be hit or miss. On our first cruise last year we had "Mr. Know it all" at our table, cruise no two last summer had a DISer at our table and we made instant friends!

Your descriptions of the food sound yummy - I cannot wait to try the restaurants myself.
And for ordering a Mickey bar - they are always delish!

Can't wait for more!