Wonder, Feb 3-7 2019, San Juan to PC

Thanks for sharing. I really want to go to San Juan.

I did think about using "Princesses don't get naked," which is something DH overheard a grandmother telling a little girl who did NOT want to leave her clothes on.

Um, you can still change it. This world be the best title ever!

Sadly they did not have the amazing salt and pepper calamari at this location

Mmmmmm. Also my favorite. The rest of the meal looks great still though.
 
Our cruise was the very first one with the new Sail-A-Wave Family Deck Party. We got notified just like a week before, so there was a flurry on the FB group of people deciding whether to try to Disney bound at the last minute. We did not. I did see one woman on board repeatedly with the best Disney outfits. The really fancy Cherry Tree Lane type dresses with crinolines. And perfect Hollywood Golden Age hair and makeup. (I'm weak on telling whether it was 30s, 40s, or 50s style.) She was bounding as Snow White on boarding day.


We did see families making paper Mickey hands in the kids club for the sail away party when we checked DS in. We looked around the club for a bit to see what was different from the Magic. Very little. It's really unpredictable on your first cruise with kids whether they'll want to spend time in the kids club, but he's never wanted to leave. An only child but very social, so he likes the time with other kids. And we are not a busy family. We have dinner together every night and usually spend the entire weekend together, so this is a time for everyone to go off and do their own thing rather than a time to reconnect.

The Disney kids clubs are much less structured than on other lines. The activities are not really optional on Norwegian, for example, and he was always coming back with some sort of completed craft project. Also, he's very into his screens at home and they're widely available in the DCL clubs. But every time we pick him up, both last cruise and this one, he's playing with other kids instead. Usually in Andy's Room.


Unpacking was much faster this time because we didn't bring costumes for Pirate Night and we didn't bring costumes for Marvel Day at Sea. So we didn't overflow into the desk drawers this time either. I did Kondo DS's clothes. It worked really well! We don't have dressers at home so this was my first time trying it.

33231745168_6faa0eb770_z.jpg
 
We did second seating again. 8:15 feels like 7:15 for us, and we don't tend to eat until almost 7:00 at home. We also never have the energy to go do things after dinner so it's better to maximize the time before.

We dropped DS off at the club right before 7:30 and went to Disney Tunes Trivia. We love trivia. We're on a local team. We even participated in a 24-hour tournament this year. You were allowed to have team members come and go over the 24 hours but I stayed for the entire thing. And we won. It was pretty great. Anyway, this one was in Azure because the Crown & Fin Pub was showing the Super Bowl. I've never lived in a state with an NFL team, let alone a city, and poor DH was raised a Raider's fan, so we didn't care. I can't remember the trivia host's name, but she was The Irish Girl. She hosted something else later and that was her thing then too. As in the only one on the ship.

I'm a 70s kid, so I grew up with the Disney Dark Age. And the tv show every Sunday night. Little Mermaid came out when I was in college. So on the one hand I have some older knowledge, but there are big gaps from the 90s and 00s. DH is 13 years younger (yes) but tended to only watch the movies once, not repeatedly.

I liked the structure of the trivia. There were 15 questions but each had three parts, and each was good for a point, so you didn't have to get the whole thing. She would play a very brief snippet of a tune from a movie. The first point was for the name of the song, the second was for the name of the movie, and then there was a trivia question related to the movie. We got all of the movie title answers correct and I think 13 of the trivia questions, but only like 10 of the song title questions. Even when you haven't seen the movie, which I hadn't in at least 4 cases, you can piece things together. There was a team who had a perfect score and another who only missed 1. We had zilch interest in Mickey medallions so we were there just for fun. I mean, we get competitive at home when it's the same opponents every time and there are cash prizes, but this was vacation. We were sitting in one of those wall booths in Azure so I couldn't look around at the whole room, but there were probably 10-12 teams participating.

We somehow forgot to take drink photos but I had the Elderbubble (Absolut Raspberry, St Germain Elderflower Liquor, Moët & Chandon Impérial) and DH had the Azure (Kissed Vodka, Sparkling Sake Mio, Patrón Citrónge, Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice, Guava Juice, Sugared Rim and a Souvenir Glow Cube). As usual, he stopped reading the description once he'd decided it sounded tasty, so he was startled by the glow cube when it came. I invented a really nice breakfast cocktail over Christmas: pink grapefruit juice, prosecco, St. Germain. We ran out of orange juice for our mimosas and improvised. The St. Germain was wonderful with the grapefruit.
 
Last edited:
I dithered ridiculously over dinner on the first night. Last cruise, we were seated with a family of 5, which is pretty normal when you're a family of 3. Three women and two kids. They were all very nice and we had a good time. But the first night they were all in nice tops, like those patterned rayon numbers that are somewhere in between a tee and a blouse, and I was in my Marvel character tee and felt underdressed. So I brought a couple nicer tops just for dinner purposes but DH talked me out of changing because my shirt was so cool. And then after all that, we sat alone!

So dinner was weird this cruise. Not bad. Just disorganized. We go in the first night and they ask us if we're willing to change tables because a family requested a boy their son's age and we fit the bill. No problem. But then when they take us to that table, it's full. So we're just standing around while the waiter goes back to figure it out. Turns out he got the table number wrong but also something happened with that family the first night (I was never clear on what, in part just because I have poor hearing) so we were seated at a 4-top. Really close to the stage, so that was fun. But DS was so disappointed to not have a kid to sit with. He didn't make a fuss but he looked sad enough that the dining room manager brought us a free bottle of prosecco for the inconvenience. Or probably just because it was an inconvenience. When we were first checking in at the front of the dining room and they were telling us about the change, two different adults came charging up with some sort of dissatisfaction with their table, so they were in full apology mode.

All that said, it was a lovely meal. It was in Tiana's Place. Of the three of us, only DS has seen the movie. Generally I would watch it for the cruise. We watched Lilo and Stitch for the first time before last year's cruise because we knew the characters would be around the ship and Castaway Cay. But I know that Tiana's father dies and I lost mine just a couple years ago and I couldn't. A lighter note: There's a less-than-cute firefly in the movie and DS wrote CREEPY in big letters over his photo on the kids menu. He felt strongly about this because DS's name is also Ray. Fortunately, Tiana didn't see this when she stopped by our table. As a child, DH hated sharing his name with a plump, maybe less than bright mouse, and is still a little bitter about the related teasing, so it runs in the family.

The band was okay. A lot of the tables looked dissatisfied. It was strange that they had a British (?) lead singer for southern music. The bass player got some applause and DH, who is a musician, said he was the most talented of the three.


Backtracking a bit, the line before the restaurant opened stretched past the Promenade Lounge and they were also showing the Super Bowl. With a snack buffet.

32172519277_649c50e9b5_z.jpg


46390814914_9535dcc822_z.jpg
 


I do like southern food but a lot of Cajun stuff is too spicy for me. I'm a spice wimp. However, I figured it would be safe here because it has to appeal to a broad range of people.

I usually get an appetizer OR the soup/salad. DH couldn't decide between the charcuterie board and the tuna tartare, so I ordered one and he ordered the other and then he ate both. I tried a bit of the charcuterie (Cured Pork Shoulder, Duck Rillette, Duck Pastrami, Saucisson, Cajun Egg, Spiced Mustard and Pickles). It disappeared too quickly for a photo. The pickles were cornichons, which I love. Not a fan otherwise.

Here's the tartare with only one bite missing. Ahi Tuna Tartare with Mango, Pine Nuts, Radish and Wasabi
33231744768_6a64b036ff_z.jpg


The bread was delicious and DS stole most of it. He didn't want anything on the kids appetizer menu. I think it was soup or salad.
Herbed brioche with roasted onion dip
32164983307_7c85aa3538_z.jpg


The pepper pot soup looks like it has a matzo ball but that's a scallop. Small cup! Delicious and not at all spicy.
Creole Bouillabaisse with Calamari, Shrimp, Scallops and Flat Leaf Parsley
33231744218_2e68249511_z.jpg


We're pretty casual food photographers. My iPhone is like three generations old and I don't have Instagram, which I suspect is full of useful tips. So I apologize for shadows etc.

Sliced Pork Tenderloin with White Rice and Greens on an Andouille Sausage Stew
Again, no real spice. Despite the andouille. It could almost have been kielbasa. Again, I really liked it. But a warning for pepperheads.
32164982927_5b03c13488_z.jpg


Cajun spiced sea bass on Shrimp Jambalaya with crisp Fennel Salad and Rémoulade
33231743408_6e595888b8_z.jpg


Baked salmon, Broccoli florets, Jade rice, and Strawberry yogurt parfait.
After this, DS always ordered the baked salmon from the everyday section of the adult menu. Kid loves his salmon and that was too small. Especially since he won't eat rice. Not a picky eater overall but doesn't like rice or potatoes. We got off easy.
32164983067_a19062a7a2_z.jpg
 
We didn't notice this was a lily pad until the salt and pepper shakes and sugar holder had been cleared away.
32164982827_abbb508030_z.jpg


I like the Mickey detail on the water glasses.
33231743858_a36babd8ba_z.jpg



And then dessert. Reader, I ordered one of each. Well, for the table. I knew ahead of time, thanks to reading the online menus over and over, that this would happen here. And only here. There was just no way to narrow it down. And it's allowed. Our waiter reacted like this happens all the time.

Mama Odie’s White Chocolate Bread Pudding with Praline Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream
This was probably my favorite thing that I ate all cruise. Bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts. Not big on white chocolate but I knew this would be one of those cases where it just makes everything richer rather than being a dominant flavor. The ice cream was a little gratuitous. Creme anglais would have been enough.
33231743128_9aecea636b_z.jpg


New Orleans Bananas Foster Sundae French Vanilla Ice Cream with Rum-flavored Caramelized Bananas and Whipped Cream
I love banoffee desserts. And rum.
32164982697_c05e304905_z.jpg


Tiana’s Buttermilk Beignets dusted with Powdered Sugar and served with Chocolate Espresso Dipping Sauce
Confession: Beignets don't really do much for me. I tried a bite and then let DS and DH have the rest. I have been to Cafe du Monde. My one trip to New Orleans was for my 30th birthday. With my parents, but they're fun. And put me under the table. Think the Parrothead type of Boomers.
33231742768_278e018e64_z.jpg


Chocolate Doberge Gateau: Six-layer Sponge Cake filled with Chocolate Chantilly Creme
This was for DS. We binged four or five seasons of Great British Baking Show in December (only the Mel and Sue episodes) and these multi-layered cakes were some of his favorite things to watch. Now we're deep into the Food Network's Kids Baking Championship. I may have tried one bite but maybe not.
46390813924_52aa449832_z.jpg


Southern Style Pecan Nut Tart with Bourbon Caramel Sauce
Pecan desserts have always been my mother's big thing. But this got wrapped in a napkin and stashed in our cabin's mini fridge to have with coffee the next morning. We'd had plenty. And it would keep the best.
32172518867_e1ec69b489_z.jpg
 
So ends our first day.

32164982567_06c1ec334a_z.jpg



I noticed the pull-down bunk in the cabin this time when we were unpacking so I left a note for the cabin steward to please set that up for DS instead of the couch. He LOVES bunk beds. He doesn't have one at home but we get hotel rooms with them when we can.

33231742488_152516f38d_z.jpg



For the record, I finally remembered what we did in the three hours between the muster drill and trivia. DS was in a hurry to go to the pool. He likes to just bob in there and watch the movie. But they still had it covered over from the sailaway party. So he tried the little kids pool but got kicked out for jumping in. Or got embarrassed about being called out for it by the lifeguard and left voluntarily. I was watching from the deck chairs but couldn't hear. We had a discussion about how not seeing the sign is no excuse; you have to proactively look for signs. He did happily play with those duck-themed splash buckets for about an hour. I like how the encouraging playing with other kids to make them work best. And then he decided to be brave and do the Twist n Spout for the first time. The line actually moved pretty quickly, since most people were either at dinner or the shows. There were a few kids who changed their minds and came back down the spiral staircase. I hung out at the bottom of the stairs half-expecting him to do the same, but he didn't.

46390815274_fc3789cec6_z.jpg


I chatted with the CM at the bottom of the slide for a bit. I guess he's usually the slide attendant and his own son refuses to go down it and the irony kills him.

We didn't attend any of the stage shows on our last cruise and talked about making an effort to do them this time around. We are theater people. But there's just always so much going on. It's not like being at home and a touring company comes through two or three times a year to shake up your routine. I left the choice of Golden Mickeys or trivia up to DH because I couldn't decide and he obviously voted for trivia.
 


Thank you for writing a trip report. We were on the same cruise and it will help me relive our wonderful vacation! We stayed at the Decanter Hotel which is very close to El Convento. We walked around the lobby and thought it looked very pretty. I heard a tour guide say that there have been ghost sightings of nuns wandering the halls at El Convento.
 
Day 2!

I'll get the Navigators scanned when I'm back at work.

Sleep on the first night was exciting. The sea was pretty rough. Like an old man trying to return soup. We were rocking up and down rather than side to side. When laying in bed rather than trying to get anywhere, it's kind of fun rather than nauseating. People have speculated that the Magic has worse mattresses than the other three ships, but I had the same trouble staying comfortable. I kept waking up (every night) with uncomfortable pressure points and needing to reposition. The pillows are wonderful though. I need to upgrade what I have at home. And it wasn't bad enough that I spent the days feeling unrested.

This was what felt to me like our only port day. St. Thomas. We also visited Castaway Cay but that's not a town. One way I research ports for these cruises is by going on Pinterest and typing in the name of the city and "with kids." Lots of articles pop up. Blackbeard's Castle had sounded really neat but they still haven't reopened post-hurricane. DCL had a semi-sub excursion at Coral World, a restoration park, but that was still unavailable after the hurricane as well. We don't snorkel, so that eliminated a lot of things. And I try to find something educational, for DH and I as much as for DS. So the eventual plan was to just take a cab to Coral World, spend however much time that it took, and then visit the pirate museum on the way back to the ship. Ashore was 7:00 and all aboard was 3:15.

But then two weeks or so before the cruise, I was looking at the official excursions again just in case, and the semi-sub was back. So I booked it. It's officially called Coral World Ocean Park by Land and Sea.

See a coral reef through the viewing windows of a passenger submarine; then look through an ocean park's observatory.

On this adventure you will...
  • Embark on an approximate 30-minute ride to Coral World Ocean Park. Established 30 years ago, the marine park is one of St. Thomas' most famous tourist destination, dedicated to educating people about marine life conservation through interactive exhibits and entertaining attractions for the entire family.
  • Board the Nautilus VI, and take in a guided underwater ocean tour. Relax and revel in the intimate glimpse of marine life 8 feet beneath sea level as you gaze out from the boat's submerged viewing windows. Marvel at the uniquely shaped coral gardens and admire the tropical fish that dart back and forth.
  • After your approximate 45-minute underwater adventure, resurface and enjoy a 40-minute guided tour of Coral World and 65 minutes of leisure time with the option to explore Coki Beach nearby.
  • The friendly, knowledgeable aquarists will entertain you with little-known facts during your tour with interactive, narrated animal presentations. Observe a stingray and encounter endangered sea turtles. Get up close and personal to many other sea creatures in the Caribbean Reef Encounter. Stop by the touch pool where you’ll find some creatures from the ocean that are safe for you to handle. View gregarious rainbow lorikeets and tortoises.
  • Unwind with a scenic 30-minute ride back to the ship after your exploration is complete.
Re-reading this just now, I realize we did NOT get the 40-minute guided tour of Coral World after the semi-sub. It just turned into 105 minutes of leisure time. And that was smart on their part. The place really doesn't require a guided tour. It's not very large and the maps they hand out are really self-explanatory. We had a much better time exploring at our own pace. And there were lots of people who wanted to go straight to the beach.

There is also a shorter, cheaper excursion under Port Adventures called Coral World Comeback that just skips the semi-sub part.

The downside to this new plan was that it meant skipping the pirate museum. The excursion didn't start until 11:30 and I wasn't willing to try to go into town to visit the museum and then get back to the port in time for our pick-up. So that was a bummer, but I figured we were still better off with this plan. DS went through a 2-year Octonauts phase (obsession) when he was in preschool and is still really thrilled by aquariums and marine life, and the semi-sub we tried to do on our Mexican Riviera cruise broke down at the last minute, so I really wanted to try again.
 
I woke up around 5:30am. Not normal for me. We were pulling into St. Thomas.

46193137385_2285f50cfc_z.jpg


At first it looked like we were pulling up to the dock but then we went a little ways past it and just idled for a while. And released some sort of milky substance into the water. I assume it's safe and authorized. It's easy enough for ships to get caught and fined. But it looked kind of gross.

33231742198_4cfc0769ae_z.jpg


Fortunately I got tired again standing there at the porthole, crawled back into bed, and fell asleep. We didn't set an alarm because the excursion wasn't until 11:30.

Four hours later:
46193137145_9e154d15dd_z.jpg

47062745602_54ece8d04a_z.jpg


We dressed and went up to the pool deck. I popped into Cove Cafe while DS and DH found a table just outside the adult area.

The morning pastry selection. For those who haven't done a Disney cruise yet, the coffee in Cove Cafe has a charge but the pastries do not. And then there are things like prosciutto and Parmesan in the afternoon.
33231741748_d6c9b133e3_z.jpg

46193136575_ab603d4e69_z.jpg


I assume from the cranberry slices that Starbucks is involved somehow.
There are several kinds of jam for the croissants and they have a few of them in a warmer behind the counter if you prefer.
The mini muffin flavor changed from day to day but nothing else seemed to.

We each had one cinnamon roll and one chocolate pillow thing. DH and I had iced coffees.
33231741288_7b07f22a8e_z.jpg


DH is very serious about sunscreen and always on our case about it. That's one of those GenX/Millennial generational differences. I grew up with tanning lotion. He grew up completely covered in sunscreen. Especially growing up in Los Angeles. And he has a point. Not just in general, but especially because DS and I got HORRIBLY sunburnt on our first Disney cruise. It caused issues the rest of the trip and for a few weeks after.
46193136045_13e521f4aa_z.jpg


We then went over to Daisy's Delites for fruit and sandwiches. They'd already switched out from breakfast. I don't know why I don't take photos of the cases there. There are so few of them floating around. But it's a little awkward with people always there. There were always 3 or 4 kinds of cold deli sandwiches like you see here, 3 or 4 kinds of paninis toasted to order, and three kinds of wraps. Along with sliced melons (all 3 kinds), sliced pineapple, whole bananas/apples/oranges, and 2 or 3 kinds of cookies.
33231740818_b474d01270_z.jpg


We were docked right next to a decent-sized yacht, which was fun to watch. There were at least two hot tubs and one pool. There were several young male crew members half-heartedly cleaning it and we were pretty sure they were hired primarily for their looks. They were all pretty stunning, and all of the same general type.

One of the Cabanas attendants walking around cleaning up the pool deck tables was really fun to watch with little kids. He'd give the school-aged ones high fives and act terrified of the preschoolers in pirate gear. (It was also Pirate Night.) I wrote down his name and mentioned him on the comment card at the end.
 
Last edited:
We gathered in Azure for the excursion. DH had brought a beach towel from home just in case but they had stack of pool towels there for people to take with them. No check out process. Just on the honor system. A ship photographer was there for something. Maybe related to one of the other excursions meeting there.

Once outside, there were three vans waiting for us. It's not childseat friendly if you have younger kids. The driver asked about motion sickness before we left. DS and I actually can suffer from it but I just crossed my fingers. There is a winding road up a steep hill but it doesn't last very long. We were fine. You drive through the touristy area and then up over the hill into the part where people really live. Our driver pointed out some dramatic examples of hurricane damage and talked about how they were recovering. (We had a different driver on the way back who didn't talk at all, so YMMV.) There were a lot of colorful Afrocentric paintings on the retaining walls along the road. And one really clever stretch of a woman dancing so it acted like flip art as you went by.

32173054977_8214d0518c_z.jpg

46201207715_7b2539ca33_z.jpg


Once at Coral World, a retired American (who turned out to be from North Dakota!) showed everyone where the restrooms were and then took us straight onto the semi-sub. It was called the Nautilus IV and was decorated with photos from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The view from the dock before boarding.
40150383903_bdd8a6e51e_z.jpg

40150382213_c0ea6ed3d9_z.jpg


We saw all kinds of neat sea creatures but they don't photograph well with an iPhone. A few times, one of the older kids would spot a stingray or turtle and everyone would rush to that side of windows to see it. (It's safe to do that.) We also passed over a sunken airplane. Cessna-type, not a jet. It was actually scuttled and sunk on purpose to provide extra habitat. The guide would point out which debris was down there on purpose and which was deposited by the hurricane.

There were tons of remora.
47062743542_c4670be673_z.jpg

33239750298_25c5e9a55a_z.jpg


The captain went down with some fish food and slowly swam completely around the sub so everyone got a good view.
47062743292_62794f3235_z.jpg

33239749748_1b57c99e54_z.jpg

40150380553_727c3e0471_z.jpg


The one thing I would have changed was the fact they just had bare white walls down there and it would have been nice to have color photos of all the fish with their names, for identification purposes. They did have those at the on-land viewing station.
 
In order to drag DS away from all the iguanas at the fort in San Juan, I promised there would be even more of them in St. Thomas. And they delivered! Some were hanging around under the table of a man eating a cheeseburger and fries, like they were pigeons waiting for him to drop something.

33239749478_2e3446564b_z.jpg

40150379993_0d8e3e1ef9_z.jpg


I have a map of the facility that I'll scan and insert later.

Stingray pool.
32173064447_89078e4bae_z.jpg


Local beer from the snack bar. They also had real fruit ice pops.
40150379453_c149bbb7eb_z.jpg


Turtle pool. This is about half of it. There's a waterfall in the half not pictured. Kind of small regardless but there is more than one.
32173062567_3b4dab26b8_z.jpg


Starfish making a slow escape from the touch pool. There was another pool just a foot or so down. But the attendant noticed him at the last minute and put him back in the water.
40150378313_9bfb991e2c_z.jpg


Striking flora.
47115045291_42913b0a1d_z.jpg
 
Apart from the semi sub ride, the definite highlight of the facility for all three of us was the lorikeet exhibit. They sold mango juice to feed them with. I think it was $3 for one cup and $5 for two. There are at least a dozen of them and the keeper knew all their names and personalities.

So beautiful. And once they were on your shoulder or arm, they were in no hurry to get off. They'd just hang out when not drinking. It wasn't any sort of feeding frenzy. They'd take a few sips and then just perch for a while before drinking more. There were wooden birdhouses mounted to several trees for the ones feeling antisocial.

47115044331_b5ca797252_z.jpg


47115043571_9d6c1f8c6b_z.jpg


The Timon sticker identified which excursion group we were in.
47115042951_12b0e5433e_z.jpg


47054695472_b5b22a4ce6_z.jpg


33231739968_a065862908_z.jpg
 
The macaws didn't have nearly as good a deal. They were just behind the lorikeet exhibit and we heard them talking (English) a few times.

47115041251_52054b9f20_z.jpg


32173058677_b9854fbf8a_z.jpg
 
There were some pretty waterfalls but the selfies didn't do them justice.
47115040521_e63a8829e8_z.jpg


We were skipping Pirate Night in favor of a Palo dinner but I was hoping to get some photos of the characters in their pirate gear beforehand. Between the stripes and the red tones, I figured this was a great shirt choice. (And I've read enough PTRs here to know putting an insane amount of thought into your wardrobe choices at Disney is completely normal.)

It's not entirely clear, because they were well camoflauged, but there were over 40 tortoises in this enclosure. They had much more room than the turtles. Maybe the turtles don't need as much space. It would be really random to have some areas huge and some tiny otherwise. Now I wish I'd asked.
32173057697_3ff9c0acf1_z.jpg

32173056747_af7f053bba_z.jpg


More bold roaming iguanas.
32173056467_841e8a652d_z.jpg

32173056047_11381d727c_z.jpg
 
There's an observatory tower out in the water, with submerged viewing windows in the lower level. This is taken on the walkway to it. You can see cords for a sea trek group, with those heavy helmets. DS is still to small to try that. But you can also see the beach and how close it is. The entrance to the park is right on the other side of those rocks/trees.
46391329274_03453a5341_z.jpg


A hilarious viewing guide if you're a young boy.
33231739378_038db6e8f2_z.jpg


Additional lovely views from the deck of the observation tower.
32173063557_bf3cc7036d_z.jpg

40150378933_5b688aa3dd_z.jpg


Headed back to port after a successful excursion.
32173055227_43ed60ea35_z.jpg


DH and I bought sun hats at the gift shop. DS selected a plush, as usual. And we bought him a fun tee. They did not have plastic bags for purchases (yay!) but you could buy a lovely reusable one for something like $0.75.
32195114187_2cd787670c_z.jpg

47084884482_863eff0471_z.jpg


View of the ship coming back down the hill.
32173054557_efebdd855d_z.jpg
 
DH and I are now trying to piece together the rest of the afternoon. We got back to the ship around 2:30. We grabbed some pool deck food and cocktails. The tuna salad wraps are a little dry. As in very little mayo, so it's a healthy dry. We dropped DS at the kids club in time for the cookie class. And then we just lounged in the cabin with our complementary prosecco. That's a $40 bottle in stores, impressively.

33231739088_7cdb2b10ae_z.jpg


The Wonder is the only remaining ship with no on-demand television but we did manage to find the channel that shows a live feed from the bridge and plays Disney tunes. We often had that on. I was impressed by how many Spanish-language channels there were.

I got outvoted on pirate character photos. No one was in the mood to stand in line. And the time slots were inconvenient.

That may have also been when I bought pins (I have a ridiculous collection) and took all those merchandise photos in the other thread. The CM ringing me up felt all the bags of the mystery pins with purchase to make sure I didn't get any duplicates. I would have just taken my chances. I mentioned him by name on the end of cruise survey too.
 
We went full out for Pirate Night on our Magic cruise and it was fun. But we wanted to try Palo dinner this time and, like so many, we really hadn't cared for the Pirate Night menu. So this was the obvious choice. I had thought ahead of time that the pirate menu sounded delicious, but everything was a little off. On the Magic, we did do Palo brunch, and would have probably done it again if we'd managed to snag a reservation on this trip.

DS had also asked repeatedly on the Magic to be allowed to eat dinner in the kids club one night, so that worked out as well. We did swing by the kids club on our way to dinner to give him his pirate accessories for dressing up. They ate macaroni and cheese and pizza.

Our reservation was for 6:00, which was when Palo first opened, so there was a bit of a wait with half a dozen other couples outside the door. We were all dressed about the same, formality-wise. I'm not sure I'd want to go with a larger group, because then you're in those booths facing away from the window and we really enjoy looking out at the water. And at the sunset.

The bread basket and the antipasto.
46201206795_8716fb88ae_z.jpg

32173054197_55250bcf60_z.jpg


We both started with the cioppino: Mussels, Shrimp, Calamari, Red Mullet and Monkfish poached in a Garlic Basil, White Wine Tomato Broth
32195453457_9701612194_z.jpg



We swapped pasta plates halfway through so we both got some of each.

Caramelle di vitello: Pasta stuffed with Milk braised Veal, Pancetta and Porcini Mushrooms
That sauce was like pure demiglace.
32173053907_8626e87c15_z.jpg


Pappardelle con Aragosta: Pappardelle Pasta tossed in Lobster Tarragon Sauce with Leeks, White Truffle Oil and Grilled Lobster
47115032271_ca86a0e3b1_z.jpg

This was better than I was expecting. I'm meh on lobster, having been raised on the much more flavorful King crab. Tarragon is easy to overdo. And I really burnt out on truffle oil when everyone was overusing it. But this was delicious. I let DH eat the entire lobster tail and the sauce still tasted of lobster without it. Everything was really well balanced.

And then I'm afraid that's it for food photos. We completely forgot the entrees and desserts. And I'm guessing we didn't have pre-dinner cocktails like we usually do because we'd just had that bottle of prosecco.

I had the Osso bucco (Slow-roasted, center cut Veal Shank with Gremolata and Milanese Risotto) because you can never find that any more. DH had the Grilled prime beef tenderloin (with Pancetta [aka bacon!]) Potato, Sautéed Spinach, Barone Chianti Wine Sauce). Both looked and tasted like you'd expect. We were happy. It is too bad that although the MDRs will let you take leftovers back to your cabin, Palo will not. Despite the official online menu, DH received the gorgonzola cream sauce in addition to the red wine sauce.

I only ate about half my meat in order to save room for the souffles. We never had souffles on our last cruise. And DH had never had one at all. So we ordered one of each - chocolate and amaretto. Based on trip reports I saw here, I asked the waitress to skip the sauce pouring. I did that myself after trying it without. It was super moist inside. And generally delicious. Just like with the bread pudding the previous night, the ice cream was unnecessary and I didn't eat it. (I do love ice cream, believe it or not.) DH loves amaretto but it's always too sweet for me, so I didn't try his. He enjoyed it, however.

The menu doesn't include wine suggestions for each entree, so we asked the waitress to have the sommelier choose our glasses. Well, I said wine steward and got corrected. He came to our table and suggested we get a bottle instead because we both had red meat. That was fine. Especially since they do allow you to take the rest of that away. Based on the preferences we gave him, he suggested a Super Tuscan. For $83. I was a little suspicious of the way DH agreed to it, and confirmed after the sommelier had left that he hadn't caught the price at all. We're extravagant on vacation but not to that level. But it was done. And it was a tasty enough wine, both that night and the following dinner, but maybe not $83 tasty. It's $40 in stores so a very normal mark-up at least.

46201200985_7a2d021f23_z.jpg



Two takeaways from our official photos. I need to be more conscious of relative sleeve length when packing. That's just from San Juan and St. Thomas. And we need a different color scheme in Palo. Ironically, our semi-formal night clothing would coordinated perfectly with the frame.

47061628312_a0a079fd26_z.jpg

47061627722_a86620351d_z.jpg

47061628912_ab26006eae_z.jpg


I noticed in the online dress code that Disney calls this style of mens shirt "Tommy Bahamas shirts." On our Magic cruise, DH forgot to pack a dress shirt from our Palo brunch and so bought this in the gift shop. Since he'll never wear it outside of Disney, he brought it for this meal. The shirt on the fellow sitting behind him is from the gift shop as well.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!







Top