This morning was our scheduled character breakfast, but since we were on the late dining rotation, it didnt start until 9:45 which meant
SLEEPING IN!!
We dont get many opportunities to sleep in since my daughter is usually up and bouncing around by 6:45 every morning, so this was a nice treat for us. Of course, we still woke up around 7:30, but at least we didnt have to jump right out of bed.
At breakfast, we ordered and got our food quickly so we had some time to eat before the characters started coming around. I didnt get pictures of breakfast, but I ordered the pancakes with strawberry compote and DH ordered the I Cant Decide which was eggs, sausage, bacon, ham and hashbrowns. They were both good, but nothing exceptional.
The characters started coming around 20 30 minutes into breakfast. We saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Chip. Dale was also there, but we decided not to wait to get a pic with him. Ive heard a lot of complaints about the interaction being rushed, and they do try to move quickly, but all the characters stopped for pics with us, even though we didnt have kids and they interacted with us a bit, so I didnt feel like it was a problem. They spent more time with the tables with kids, of course
We were a little surprised when we got to our table because our tablemates werent there, and, as it turned out no one from any of the other tables in our section showed up either! We joked that maybe there was something wrong with us and we scared everyone away (that ended up not being the case, of course, but we did have a good laugh). That gave us some time to get to know our servers a little better and that was great! Our server was Vicky from Hungary and she was awesome really took care of us all week. Her goal was to add a couple more kilos to me (not that I need them at all!
), and shell be happy to know that she succeeded! Ajit was our assistant server. He is new to Disney, but had worked on Carnival for a few years before coming to Disney. He was still learning and had a few slipups over the week but overall did a great job and we had a lot of fun teasing him.
One of the things I love about Disney cruises is meeting people from countries all over the world, because as an American, I feel like I live a pretty sheltered life and its good for me to learn about other cultures and broaden my horizons a bit. And, getting to know my servers and several other crewmembers over the week really gives me such a great appreciation for everyone who chooses to work on a ship. No matter how much they miss their families back home, what troubles they may be dealing with in their personal lives, or how difficult life on a ship can be, everyone always works their hardest to make our vacation as great and memorable as possible, and for that, I feel truly grateful and blessed!
Whew, ok, I got a little emotional there, lets get back to the trip report
After breakfast we decided to spend some time in the sun. It was not super warm out, maybe mid-60s, but the sun felt great and there was a light breeze so it was actually perfect weather for getting a bit of sun without feeling like I was frying. Tisa (super-awesome cruise staff member) kindly pointed out that if you hear a sizzling noise, like bacon, thats you, and you should probably get out of the sun! So true, and boy, did we see a lot of fried people through the course of the week. Just remember, sunscreen is your friend, even if its not 85 degrees out!!
In the afternoon we headed over to the DVC member presentation to try and win the $300 OBC. No such luck of course that went to the member with over 2000 points and 23 cruises under his belt. Boy, would that be awesome! Something to aspire too, I guess
The presentation DID make us decide to part with some more of our money, as we decided to add on some points to own at Aulani.
Cant wait to get out to Hawaii sometime soon.
The rest of the late afternoon/early evening was spent with resident adult beverage expert Romy, the bartender at Cadillac Lounge, for a tequila/margarita tasting. This was a bit of a mini-meetup as several of our fellow DISers joined in the fun as well. We learned some interesting facts and had some yummy drinks, although I was a little surprised that all the tequila that was used was Patron. Dont get me wrong, I like Patron, but I was hoping to be introduced to a few Mexican tequilas as Patron is owned by the Paul Mitchell guy and is generally disliked in Mexico. Oh well, It was still fun and lead to some danger for me later in the week (more about that later, Im sure!).
We headed straight to the Golden Mickeys show, which Ive seen a couple times before, but I still enjoy. It is kind of sad that Bob Iger has taken Roy E. Disneys place in the show. We were on the ship last year just a bit after Roy passed away, and his part was a nice tribute at the time, but I guess it makes sense to update since hes no longer with us.
After the show we headed back to the cabin to get ready for formal night. We very rarely have an opportunity to get dressed up, so we like to go pretty fancy for this night. No tux for my husband, but he did wear a three-piece suit and a pocket square (which I consider to be SO fancy). My hubby is always behind the camera, so we dont really have any pics of him, but this is the pic my hubby forced me to pose for while we were waiting in line to have our pic taken by the professional photog
We were in Parrot Cay for dinner and the menu was the Golden Mickeys. DH ordered the melon wrapped prosciutto (pretty good), mixed baby greens salad (good), the roast turkey (good) and crème brulee (totally disappointing) for dessert. My husband LOVES crème brulee, and orders it pretty much whenever its on the menu, but he was consistently unimpressed by the crème brulees he had on the ship. I ordered the scallops on risotto (good, no fishy taste at all), the broccoli and blue cheese soup (mostly broccoli flavor with barely a blue cheese taste to be found, but still pretty good), the NY strip (good, cooked medium just as I asked) and the sweet temptations, which was raspberry cheesecake (pretty good), crème brulee (eh) and golden mickey chocolate cake (good)
After dinner, we headed over to WaveBands for the comedy stylings of Alfred and Seymour. Theyre advertised as hip hop comedy but I dont really think that description does them justice and it might turn some people away. The room was PACKED!!! so Id suggest getting there early if you want a good seat, and DONT be late you WILL be called out. DH and I both thought these guys were hilarious and consider them a must-see if theyre on your cruise. We sat next to an older couple (Id guess maybe in their 70s) and they were literally howling with laughter, so it seemed like the show had pretty wide appeal.
We were pretty tired after our busy day of relaxation, so after the show ended, we headed back to the room for another great night of sleep. I really love that were literally rocked to sleep by the movement of the ship!
Next up: Palo brunch, an Exotic experience and Trouble (with a capital T) with Tequila