Day 6
We woke up at a reasonable time at 7:30. We got up and decided to get some breakfast. Parrot Cay was in use for the character breakfast that morning so our options were Beach Blanket Buffet or Triton's. We decided on Triton's, which was very quiet that morning. When we were seated, our server for the morning came over to clarify which one of us was allergic to bananas. I was absolutely floored. The previous evening this had never been mentioned. I had assumed that shoreside operation had not passed this information on to the ship, which has happened before. I was not too worried as after 9 previous cruises, I basically know what is safe for me to eat and I am a creature of habit anyway. If there is something new that I am not too sure about I either check if it is safe for me to eat or avoid it. However, the Parrot Cay menu is probably the most dangerous of the standard menus for me as some of the dishes on there contain bananas or plantains, which are also part of the banana family. Apart from that, the bread service on that menu is banana bread with a banana spread. There was also some normal bread, but it had all been touching the banana bread. So this was out for me. In the past, I had been given a separate bread basket with just the other bread. So I was just a little bit disappointed that the ball had been dropped in such a spectacular fashion.
Breakfast was lovely. We both had coffee and apple juice. Graham had Fresh Fruit with Yoghurt, Honey and Granola and Toast. The poor thing was still not feeling 100%, but at least his lobster colour was turning into a nice shade of brown now. I had a Blueberry Pastry, a Mango Mountain Hike, which is a mango and yoghurt smoothie with Granola followed by Eggs Benedict with Sausage, Tomato and Hash Brown. This is normally my favourite breakfast, but this ended up the only time while we were on the ship that I had this. Maybe I have outgrown this particular dish.
After breakfast, it was time for the DVC Member Celebration. When I had passed the DVC desk the previous evening and had checked that we were on their list, I was advised that they would have two Member Celebrations this time round as there would be a special announcement that would draw more people. I had decided to go to the first one. I was just about to say goodbye to Graham when he told me he had decided to come along. He had nothing planned. There was a quite a line at the door of Wavebands, but it moved quickly. When we got to the front of the line, we were each given a DVC Member baseball cap and one writing portfolio between the two of us. We were also given a card to fill out for the raffle. We went and found a seat and shortly afterwards a server came around with Mimosas. They also had set up a table with pastries, cookies, fruit and coffee, but as we just came from breakfast, we did not go over to this. Normally the Member Celebration is good fun with either Member Bingo where you have to find members that fulfill certain criteria and get them to sign your card or a team challenge. There is also quite a bit of trivia. There are also usually some videos about different parts of Disney. So usually there is something about
Adventures by Disney, something about what is new in the parks and something about a DVC resort. There is also a bit of a sales pitch, but that is usually short and sweet. This time round it was different. There was no game. There was a short segment about the changes that they are going to make to the Magic. Then there was a video about the new Villas at the Grand Floridian and the rest was essentially a sales pitch for the Villas at the Grand Floridian. There were a couple of trivia questions, but that was it. I did not bother attending the Member Celebration on the second half of our back to back cruise. On the exit, we were given a neoprene gym bag.
We still had some time until our next commitment so I quickly took the goodies back to the cabin and then we took a couple of laps around deck 4. We then at a quick look at the photos from the previous day before heading to Studio Sea for the Castaway Club reception. Even though we got there with plenty of time to spare, Studio Sea was packed. We managed to get a table in a corner near the entrance. Not long after we sat down, the officers arrived and Captain Thord stopped by our table and we talked for a while. This was a real treat. I had told Graham that on the very first Alaska cruise that the Wonder did, they were not allowed to sail the inside passage due to some strange maritime rule. Graham asked Captain Thord about this. He explained that this is a rule made by the Canadian authorities that the first time a ship sails in this part of the world, they can only sail the inside passage (or at least the part that is in Canadian waters) during daylight hours. As this is not compatible with the way cruises work as a lot of distance is covered over night, they had to sail a different route on the first Alaska cruise.
Shortly after Captain Thord moved on, our cruise director Jimmy welcomed everybody and then Captain Thord said a few words, too. Shortly afterwards Captain Mickey arrived for photos. I got in line, which was surprisingly long for a Castaway Club reception, but still a lot shorter than the normal character lines. They also had a photographer coming round the room to take photos. I had never experienced this during a Castaway Club reception before. There was one drawback with sitting so far away from the stage and the bar. The servers coming around with drinks and canapés never quite seemed to make it as far as us. It was only when some people started leaving that we and the people sitting at tables around us were noticed. Graham had a glass of sparkling wine and I had another Mimosa. We both had some fruit and a canapé and I also had a chocolate chip cookie.
I'll have to come back and read your update, heading out to do my not-so-fun 4th of July stuff, so maybe we can do something fun later!
And your dress is so magical!
