The Time I Did A Disney Transatlantic Cruise - Days 7 & 8

(Previously: Days 1 & 2, Days 3 & 4, Days 5 & 6)

Day 7 - Friday, September 25th

Today we hit some rough waters and the boat was rocking crazily in the morning. I had breakfast, snapped a few photos of Belle (who was now wearing her yellow ballgown)...

 and then I stood in line at Guest Services to get a ticket for the Walt Disney Theater Backstage Tour on Sunday...

Afterwards, I sat in a porthole seat on Deck 3 and listened to my audiobook and watched the waves.

Lunch: A veggie burger and fries at Pete's Boiler Bites, a quick-serve restaurant. I think the burger might have been a black bean, which isn't my favorite kind of veggie burger, but it was nice to try something new (read: not Cabanas buffet. Not that I didn't adore Cabanas! Mmm, that macaroni & cheese!)

That afternoon I got brave (and/or crazy) and decided to try the waterslides. They were not busy that day. I started with the Twist N Spout, the big yellow slide.

That was fun. Then I thought, hey, I'm already wearing the swimsuit, I might as well try the Aquadunk. That's the one where the floor drops out from under you and you go shooting out over the side of the deck via a tube.

Yyyyeah.

It's... hard to describe. It's fast, and you just zip through it and come crashing into the water at the bottom. I kept my eyes closed the whole time, so I didn't get to really "enjoy" the views. The lady  who was working at the end of the slide told me that people tend to appreciate the slide best after three runs. So I did it again. It was a little better the second time, but I didn't give it a third try. If I take another cruise on the Magic, maybe I'll try it wearing goggles, if they'll let me do so.

Later, I went to the Oceaneer Club for one of their "Become Iron Man!" events. This is where you stand in front of a screen and the Iron Man armor appears on you, thanks to computer wizardry, etc. You get to wave your arms around and shoot at stuff and pretend to fly. It's geared toward kids, so when people over about 5'6" try it, the tops of their heads would not appear on the screen. Ha! They did take my KTTW card, and the photo collage of me as Iron Man was supposed to get sent to Shutters (the on-board photo place), but it never did. (Not a big deal as I didn't buy any photos anyway.) A quick event, but fun.

The show in the WD Theater that evening was "Walt Disney: The Dream Goes On." It was very good; maybe my favorite show thus far. I really liked that it had clips and songs from a bunch of Disney movies, especially some of the more obscure live-action classics.

Dinner was in Carioca's. The theme of this evening was something like "world cuisine." I had cheese soup, a salad that had pear in it (mmm), and a Chinese noodle dish with sweet & sour sauce and tofu. It was pretty good! For dessert I had a "Canadian Sundae." Ice cream, nuts, and maple syrup.

I was walking through the atrium a little while later, saw Pluto, and decided I really needed a Disney dog hug.

So that happened.

Next I went to Family Karaoke. I was just planning to watch, but I got brave and signed up to sing. I was amused/confused by the booklet of songs, though. 

"God Help The Outcasts"; there's a fun one!

This being a Disney cruise, I figured they'd have nearly every song available from all their hit movies. Not so. In fact, from Beauty and the Beast, the only songs they offered in the booklet were A) the title song and B) "Home," which is from the Broadway show, not the movie.

I sang Jolly Holiday. Which I'd totally forgotten was a duet, hello. Having never done Karaoke before (or maybe because... well, whatever, nerves?) I had a false start, and asked if they could start the music over. They did, and I muddled my way through it. Ha! So awkward. At least my audience was all strangers who I'd probably never see again.

Before bed, I put out a doorhanger with my room service breakfast requests on it. I wanted to have a light breakfast because I would be going to Palo for brunch later in the morning!

(What are your feelings on towel fish, Wes?)

Day 8 - Saturday, September 26th

So yeah, I ordered room service this morning so that I could just have a light breakfast and be ready (read: hungry) for Palo Brunch at 12:30. On the doorhanger order form, I had checked the boxes for "milk," "juice," "fruit," and "assortment of muffins," which I assumed would mean... well, several muffins.

Hilariously, no....

Which reminds me, either the Magic needs to use smaller plates, or else get bigger refrigerators, because there is a size disagreement between the two! Oh well.

It was a nice breakfast.

I don't recall what I did with the rest of my morning, but I probably just watched Disney movies or something. As the time for my Palo appointment neared, I got dressed up and made my way toward the restaurant.

I had heard many good things about Palo, but the consensus seemed to be that if you were only going to do one (brunch or dinner)... do brunch. Otherwise, I hadn't read much about it, and didn't even know what it looked like.

My reservation was for 12:30, and I'm guessing that's one of the later times. The restaurant was only about half full when I got there, and by the time I left, there were only two other diners in the room. My server was very friendly and accommodating. He showed me all my food options. Some things I could just walk up and take. Other things I could order.

My server said that they served complimentary champagne, but I declined that. He then asked if I'd like juice. I asked what kinds they had, and pineapple was a choice. I love pineapple juice, and hadn't had any in a long time, so yes, please! Mmmm.

As for the food, I ate... a lot. There were so many things to try! And the desserts! They were so beautiful. Everything was delicious.

I think I ate about 6 desserts, two entrees, and way too many appetizers. Now you know.

Eventually I did get full.

My impressions of Palo? Very nice atmosphere and very delicious food. It costs an extra $30 per person (plus tip to the server) to dine there, but honestly, compared to some other things you can pay extra for aboard (spa, Bingo) that's very reasonable, IMO. Plus you get an hour or so of eating treats and being treated like royalty. What's not to like?

Palo restrooms: also classy....

After Palo, I went to O'Gill's for another craft session, "Create An Ornament." We got plastic spheres and could make Disneyesque ornaments. Mine turned out kind of silly-looking, so sorry, no picture.

Next I went to "Crafts: Buttons" in the promenade lounge, but after a few minutes, decided I didn't really want to make a button after all. There was an Open House in the Oceaneer Lab, so I wandered down there for a little while and did some coloring. Annnd, well, some of the kids in there were getting on my nerves. Throughout the cruise, I hadn't been annoyed by any kids. Suddenly, on Day 8, it seemed like a lot of them were starting to be... well, noticed. Noticeable. Whatever.

So I left the Lab, then I walked around the ship for half an hour or so. And then I suddenly realized I was no longer holding my camera.  My camera has a wrist strap attached to it, and so far, I had managed to keep track of it. But I must have set it down somewhere while going about the ship. I hurried back to the last few places I'd been, but the camera wasn't there. I ran back to my stateroom to see if just maybe I had left it in there. Nope. Now what? Well, maybe Guest Services? At least I could report it missing.

At Guest Services, I explained that I'd lost my camera somewhere. They asked me to describe it, so I did. This man went into a back room and came out a minute later with... my camera! Someone had turned it in! (In hindsight, I think I probably left it in the Oceaneer Lab.) I had to sign a form stating that I was claiming it. The man also asked me if I would show him some pictures on the camera to prove it was mine. I thought... um... that's... a little awkward. I found the selfie I'd taken before going to Palo earlier and showed him. He nodded, and I got my camera back. I felt a tiny bit embarrassed, but mostly I felt grateful.

I should mention that a few days prior, the day we left Madeira and I was feeling dizzy, I had just bought the new Transatlantic pin and had it in my pocket. I went in the D lounge for a few minutes. Feeling unwell, I went back out to the atrium area to sit by a window. A minute later, one of the crewmembers came out, saw me, and said "Did you lose a pin?" My new pin had fallen on the chair or the floor, he had seen it, apparently remembered what I looked like, and had come out of the D lounge to see if he could find me. (Luckily, I hadn't gone far.) Wow! Those two events really impressed me.

The show in the WD Theater that evening was Magic Dave. A lot of people seemed to really enjoy it, but I couldn't get into it. Maybe his humor is just not my thing. Several of my tablemates, however, liked it so much they went to another show he did, later in the cruise.

Round 2 of Officer Pin Trading....

 Tonight I traded Chip and Dale (separate pins) for one of Meeko and one of the Wardrobe from Beauty and the Beast, which is actually a pin they were selling in the store on the cruise. Score!

Officer Pin Trading is neat and all, but it's a little bit awkward because you have to go around and stare intently at people's necks/chests to see if you want anything from their lanyards. Just a liiiittle strange.

Outside, the moon was reflecting off the water prettily, so, photo:

Dinner at Lumiere's, Take 3.

Previously on "Dining at Lumiere's": Molly ordered the portabello pasta but instead received the lobster pasta. Server assured her he would watch out for her and make sure she was not served meat in the future. What will happen tonight?

I don't remember what I actually ordered, but it was definitely vegetarian.

Annnd I was brought what appeared to be beef stroganoff, with chicken on top.

UGHHH.

Now, I'm not great at flagging down waiters, and on this particular night, the staff seemed preoccupied, and neither server came to check on us after bringing the food, not for a long time. So I was like, um, hello? But, like the last time, I wasn't super hungry, so I didn't want/need a whole 'nother plate brought out. The chicken was easy to push off, and I ate what I could. When our server came over at last, I told him that I had gotten meat again. He just seemed confused.

My servers were nice and sweet and great, but these experiences were odd. And I was not the only one at my table to have things go wrong at Lumiere's. But we (my tablemates and I) did have some good laughs about the mistakes that happened, and I came away figuring that there was some kind of uprising occurring in the Lumiere's kitchen, or maybe a conspiracy was afoot. MAYBE GASTON WAS ALIVE AND HAD... nah. Who knows.

Hey. Alls well that ends well, and I ended the dinner with a Mickey ice cream bar.

Mickey makes everything better!

Alllll bettterrrr....

Next: Days 9 & 10)