CRUISE Day 1: Embarkation Day!
So thanks to our own private mini van from Happy Limo, and the very nice porters who took good care of us once Poppop pre-tipped him, our arrival at the port was stress free.
Here we are grabbing a quick selfie with the Dream before going through security:
It turns out arriving shortly after noon worked out pretty well... there was a long line to take pictures with cruise director Minnie and the kid was not into that so we just walked on the ship with relatively no people around and it was nice. We were able to grab a picture with Admiral Donald before it got crowded:
Now Poppop doesn't like people. The corollary to that is that he REALLY doesn't like people handling his food... like people mixing it around and touching it with a spoon and putting that spoon back. Also I knew that a lot of people hold their seats in Cabanas until they can get to their room, and it can be crowded with luggage. So we opted for the Embarkation Lunch at Enchanted Garden. This worked out because it was also where we had to go to pick up Meme's wheelchair. Did I mention Meme broke her ankle in Aruba 6 months earlier and it wasn't fully healed and by the time she told me she thought she might need help it was too late to move to a room that could accommodate a
scooter? A wheelchair is much better anyway, as the reason my mother is no longer allowed to use the scooters in Costco is epic, and the stuff of sitcoms.
Anyway, we were shown to a table and got the menus. I will warn you, I will no longer show food waste because it was a lot. I rarely get to take a taste of this or that and I enjoyed being able to have the multiple courses. As I started drinking more and getting more comfortable with my server team, I started to order more and more. My mom and I shared a lot of things. I ate a lot of food (for me). It was awesome, truly, and I enjoyed the heck out of it. I was exactly the same weight when I came home as when I left and then within 2 days of being in the bathroom nonstop I was down 3 lbs. This felt awesome, I was so active on vacation and could eat whatever I wanted. For anyone considering the surgery and how it will impact your enjoyment of life... this felt like THIS is the way it's supposed to work. I gained 9 lbs on a 3 night cruise once, eating somewhat normally (not eating ridiculous amounts). It never seemed quite fair how easily it got packed on no matter what so it just felt great to have my body work the way it was supposed to.
I'm sure most of you aren't interested in that, so on to the food.
I tried for my appetizer the Beef Empanada with Red Chimichurri
This was just okay. The filling was savory and beefy but the "chimichurri", which was really onions in some kind of red oil, was not fantastic. This was not worth spending the tummy space on it.
For lunch I had the Grilled Salmon Salad: Grilled Salmon Filet on tossed iceberg, citrus marinated couscous, spinach, artichokes, tomatoes and cucumbers
This was decent and had a cool mediterranean vibe. It wasn't as flavorful as you'd expect though and needed more dressing, some olives and some feta and I'd be happy. Still it was a damn sight better than that plate of relish we got at WCC. The salmon was cooked well, not dry at all but not rare (the way I like it). I ate about half this, trying to be good on the first day (nothing else was super calling to me anyway).
The kid had sliced roasted beef sirloin with a side of kid mac and cheese. The waiter cut up his meat for him. Which I'll admit, I had read happens and was just as weird as I thought it would be. This is really the last pic of the kid's food that I have because it is hard to take pictures of anyone else's food besides yours on a cruise... you're in kind of tight quarters, pushed all the way in and as I said my parents make me anxious so I was too busy drinking to take pictures of anyone else's food.
This was no filet, but the kid enjoyed it.
For dessert he had the Welcome Aboard Sundae: Vanilla bean ice cream with pecan caramel cupcake bites, butterscotch sauce, whipped cream, and upside down chocolate mickey:
besides his complaint that the bottom of the glass was empty, he polished this off and then declared himself glad there wasn't more ice cream because he was stuffed.
I tried the no sugar added offering because I was trying to be good and because it sounded good to me too... Chocolate Marquise Bombe: rich chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce
This was beautiful and delicious. I really enjoyed it. It was not too sweet (being a "not much of a sweets person" I prefer desserts that aren't too sweet), very rich but yet very light in texture mousse with a lovely sour raspberry sauce. I only ate half of this but it was really really good.
I am planning to take the kid on a 7 day cruise in 2 years and honestly, I liked going to enchanted garden for embarkation lunch. The menu isn't super exciting but if I were less concerned with being good I would have gotten the gumbo and the muffaletta sandwich but honestly, I'd be coming back mostly just for this dessert.
Now, I will add my first night rotational dining review here because I didn't take any photos. By now the stress of managing my parents and my child through embarkation, lunch, getting to the stateroom, the lifeboat drill and waiting for dinner to open along with a big crowd and my mother and the wheelchair and my dad giving everyone who got too close the death ray look was getting to me. Our first night was Animator's Palate and that restaurant is VERY VERY VERY loud. there are a lot of hard surfaces. The kid was wiped from our time at Disney, my dad is deaf in one ear anyway so he was sitting there scowling and my mom and I decided to split a bottle of wine. I remember sitting there thinking "Holy cow, I think I made a huge mistake" with this vacation.
Our waiter team presented us with the menus and the kid immediately turned his nose up at the kid's menu, which had nary a steak on it. The waiters were of course totally fine with him ordering off the adult menu and we had reviewed them in advance so we knew what to order.
The kid decided to try a bunch of stuff and didn't like any of it. He got the much internet praised
Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes – Pasta Purses filled with Truffle-scented Cheese and coated with a delicate Champagne Sauce
I told him these were like tortellini, but the earthy (and when I say earthy I mean it, it kind of tasted like dirt to me) flavor was very off putting to him and I was not a fan of the cheese used in these either, I found it very strong. I took a bite but it wasn't worth the tummy space and we sent these back mostly untouched
He also tried the:
Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup – With Bacon Bits and Chives
This was unfortunately a miss as well and sent back pretty much untouched. By now the waiter is kind of like "are you SURE you don't want the kid menu?" but no, the kid did NOT want the kid menu. The kid was starting to get discouraged a bit about "trying new things" and a bit agitated as well, but I promised we'd find something for him to eat.
I had the:
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup – Garnished with Chives and drizzled with Sour Cream
Wolfgang Puck Express was my introduction to butternut squash soup and I have loved it ever since. I make it at home and am pretty picky about it... I don't like it TOO sweet. This was really good, just sweet enough, perfectly creamy. I only ate half saving room for dinner but it was delicious. I will say that in general (except for a few misses) the food on the Disney Dream is far more delicious than mass prepared banquet style food has any right to be!
Then just as I'm sitting there contemplating flagging down the beverage guy for more wine, something magical happened. Crush came on the monitors and Poppop, who was sitting there scowling because he couldn't even hear me across the table started to smile. The kid started to smile and act goofy. Crush got everyone in our section starting a wave. Poppop was laughing at the kid having a good time. And then the entrees came out, and everyone was a bit more relaxed.
I had the:
Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin – Served on Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Bok Choy and a Tamarind Barbecue Reduction
This was DELICIOUS! I asked for it medium rare and it came out a perfect medium rare. The slight bitterness of the bok choy was a perfect counterpoint to the sweet tamarind bbq sauce, the wasabi mashed potatoes just had the barest wasabi flavor but were creamy and light whipped perfection and the true baby carrots were also a bit of sweet crunch on the plate. I ate about half of this, it was awesome and I'd totally order it again.
The kid had the filet cooked medium with sauce and a side of mac and cheese and he LOVED it too. I mean LOVED IT. He knew he liked the tamarind bbq from CA Grill and he gobbled this whole thing up.
I have no idea what my parents had anymore but they liked their food.
For dessert the kid had:
Cookies ‘n Cream Sundae – Cookies & Cream Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce and Chocolate Chip Cookie
Can anyone guess how this went down?
yup, just like you'd imagine.
I didn't order a dessert because I was still trying to exercise restraint but I did try my dad's:
Apple Crumble Rice Pudding – with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
I love rice pudding and so does he, you'll notice this is the second time he ordered it. This was good, it was comfort dessert in a bowl. I had a few bites and it was plenty. I would try something else next time though.
Also I will mention here that after the kid devoured his steak, the serving team started lavishing attention on him. The assistant server gave him a puzzle to solve with the crayons and we sat around the table all trying to figure it out. It started off a little dicey but the meal ended very well and we were all happy and a lot more relaxed.
The kid went to the kid club for a bit and we went to the show and then I got the kid and we went back to the room. The upper bunk was converted for him and although I had some reservations about him sleeping there (a sudden vision of me waking up in the middle of the night to him screaming on the floor after falling out), he did fine. he was SO excited to be up there, he made me take this selfie to post to the internet. So I am doing as he asked and posting this selfie.
our first day was kind of stressful for me, feeling like I had to manage everything and every one... but it ended on a high note and we both got a good night's sleep and had a truly awesome cruise after that.
Next up: Nassau Day
Cabana's breakfast
Flo's Cafe lunch
Enchanted Garden Rotational Dinner