The Last Trip: An (Eastern) Fantasy Food Adventure-Bonus Feature, Pam & Her Mom Pt 2 Sept 17 the end

[Malia78]

Loved reading all about the star wars day at sea--I have been wanting to sail one of these since they started. Some really great photos you got with the characters. I have one booked for the last week in January 2018--hopefully I can find a travel partner in time so I can keep it. If not.......

 

[bcwife76]

First off I LOVE your skirt!!!

Excellent meet and greet photos - I bet Darth was trying to intimidate you both and you just looked and him and though, 'nice try buddy'

Remy dessert looks quite exquisite. We had it booked for our January cruise but a couple of weeks before sailing I ended up cancelling it, my husband thought it was too much money 'just for dessert'. Bastard. I'll book it again next time and won't tell him

I loved the Star Wars day menu, I think it was my fave of the whole cruise. I'm so sorry the evening ended so abruptly and .......ummmm...icky?? for you

 

[cruisehopeful]

Really awesome skirt. I always love your clothes. Sorry you had to lose your meal that day. That's never fun on a cruise.

 

[franandaj]

What an adorable skirt and excellent photo ops!

Thanks, they were fun photo ops as well!

The dessert tasting looked decadent!

It really was, I could feel my blood sugar going through the roof.

Amazing sunset pics!

Thanks!

So sorry that you fell ill after dinner.

It was not a highlight of the cruise!

Loved reading all about the star wars day at sea--I have been wanting to sail one of these since they started. Some really great photos you got with the characters. I have one booked for the last week in January 2018--hopefully I can find a travel partner in time so I can keep it. If not.......

I was really fun. I'm sad that they don't run them year round. We have one booked in August of 2018 and I wish it would be a SWDAS cruise.

First off I LOVE your skirt!!!

Excellent meet and greet photos - I bet Darth was trying to intimidate you both and you just looked and him and though, 'nice try buddy'

Thanks! I'm so glad that I finally fit into the skirt. It only took a year and a half.

Remy dessert looks quite exquisite. We had it booked for our January cruise but a couple of weeks before sailing I ended up cancelling it, my husband thought it was too much money 'just for dessert'. Bastard. I'll book it again next time and won't tell him

If it were 'just dessert' maybe it would be overpriced, but every one of those was a little work of art!

I loved the Star Wars day menu, I think it was my fave of the whole cruise. I'm so sorry the evening ended so abruptly and .......ummmm...icky?? for you

I would have been very happy with that menu and there were a bunch of things that sounded good as I reread the menu writing this update! I wasn't feeling good all day, I realize in hindsight.

Really awesome skirt. I always love your clothes. Sorry you had to lose your meal that day. That's never fun on a cruise.

Thank you!

No its not fun getting sick on the ship, but at least I got it over with and out of my system.

 

[Pinkocto]

I went back and read the update again, main priority was to look at the yummy desserts again, but noticed Fran's fun SW shirt. As well as the cool Ratatouille wine bottle. Really cute!

 

[afwdwfan]

C-3PO talked to us, you know casual conversation, he may have even commented on my skirt.

Cool! I'm glad there was at least some interaction with them. And that is a pretty awesome skirt.

At first the photographer told me that I was supposed to get behind the barrier, But I told him that I wanted my skirt in the picture. When he saw, he understood.

Looks like a nice relaxed pose anyway. Less stiff than the "stand behind the sign and smile" pose.

I think was probably the coolest restaurant to be in for the SWDAS as they had all this cool stuff displayed on the screens. We ended up missing all the “traditional” shows in this restaurant this trip. But it was fun too see all the Star Wars Displays on the screens, they kept changing throughout dinner.

Hadn't really thought about it that way, but it makes a lot of sense. I'm sure they can do a lot with that restaurant.

But as I sat, I realized that wasn't the case. Fran noticed too and sent me back to the room. I made it just in time for my own worship ceremony. I blame either the coffee from the dessert tasting or the rich chocolate. No more after meal coffee for me, just in case. Now I'll only drink it before or with breakfast.

Oh no... sorry it was a rough end to the evening for you.

 

[pooh'smate]

I love your skirt.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Ok I am finally caught up!! your Remy dinner looks amazing!

I love the cocktail that they prepare for you at Remy dinner. It’s called a Collette. This is the recipe. Though I took pictures of our waiter Stephan during every step of the preparation, I will spare every single picture.




Collette Cocktail


1/2 oz. Grey Goose VX
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier Paris Edition
4 oz. Taittinger La Française
3 Cassis Pearls
2 Dried Pineapple Cubes

In a martini glass, place Cassis Pearls. Pour Grand Marnier, add champagne and vodka. Finish with dried pineapple cubes.

Thanks for the recipe for the colette. Although I probably will never make it myself, I did enjoy it very much.

After reading the name (which I found on a Disney Cruise Line Blog), I became curious as to what the heck that meant. So I looked it up.

The siphon is an indispensable accessory in the kitchen for making good mousses, various pastries and Chantilly, creamy creams or tasty verrines for aperitifs or appetizers .

So evidently the fois gras is made into that creamy stuff, and then they put macadamia nuts in it. I imagine at least one of you are saying, “Blech!” But it wasn’t bad at all. I actually liked it!

I loved the foie gras siphon!! It was very rich without it being too rich since it was in mousse form. Then again I have not met a foie gras I did not like.

Fran had Sablefish, which she liked very much.

Sablefish was one of the best things I ate at Victoria and Albert's last year. Yum.

Oh wow this looks delicious. I love gnocchi but only when it's made well. These look divine.

I was served Halibut, and here’s where the chapter title comes in. This is where I regretted eating lunch. I took one bite, it was delicious, and I couldn't eat another bite, I was just too full.

Oh no I'd be so sad. I'm sad you had to skip the cheese course too. That was my favorite part!

That dessert looks super cool!!

We planned on having breakfast in Royal Court right when they opened, since i missed it yesterday.

I really enjoyed Royal court breakfast and wish we were able to go there more than once.

And a side of bacon, but you would have thought she said a side of pig with the portion they brought her. (It looked bigger in real life)

MMMMMM Bacon.

Cute tank top! I have seen those before!

I love this picture! It's super cute!

Then last Wednesday we got some very bad news. Remember I mentioned that we had an investment that was selling and we were supposedly making 25% over our initial investment? Well the buyer lowered their offer. Substantially. The original offer allowed us to buy a car, finance the remodel of our old place and beef up our savings account. The reduced offer barely covers our monthly mortgage payment. So the property managers are back to square one, seeking out new offers. Instead of receiving a nice payment next week, we get nothing. Even if an acceptable offer comes in tomorrow, escrow will take 30 days. Our “Pay in Full” date for the Panama Canal cruise is June 29. It's an expensive trip, and without that extra money in our bank account I can't justify spending money we don't have, so the Panama Canal cruise is off the schedule.

Oh no sorry you have to cancel your PC cruise. But I'm sure you will find another time to go on it.

As soon as that is done we can plan some kind of trip. As silly as this sounds WDW may be the cheapest option. Our APs are paid for, DVC as well, we have just enough frequent flyer miles to get a free flight, so the only expense is food! But we'll have to see, first we need to finish up moving and get the place under renovation!

YAY! Hope to meet you both this fall!

I love the bread service at Palo. So yummy!

YUM

Palo dinner looks amazing! I really really want to try this souffle.

Then they served us the Limoncello digestive aid. This really works to settle your tummy and make you feel less full.

I like a nice limoncello after a rich meal

Even the hot chocolate foam patterns were Star Wars related.

That's awesome! I like how they added a few extra touches this year with the SWDAS.

I went back for another Mickey waffle and a roll so that I could make a Sopracetto sandwich for lunch.

That's a good idea! That sandwich looks yummy.

Even the bars were decked out in Star Wars gear.

Love it!

Great skirt!!! Love this picture of you both and the droids!!

I love this pic too!

That's awesome! We did not have the speeder on our cruise.

I have this cooler too!

I am not a fan of the Disney Cruise pizza. Taste is very bland and usually quite soggy. OK in a pinch but there are much better things to eat I think.

Our next delight was a Strawberry dessert, almost like a Strawberry oreo with merengue as there were wafers and Strawberry parfait filling. On the top was a Meyer lemon zest and a citrus leaf, it smelled very herbaceous almost like basil. Then they poured a pure and strained strawberry juice reduction around it.

Ooooh that looks divine. The dessert tasting looks really yummy. I will have to try that on another cruise if we're ever on the Fantasy again.

I think was probably the coolest restaurant to be in for the SWDAS as they had all this cool stuff displayed on the screens.

We were in AP for our SWDAS as well. They just had the logo on the screen, but looks like you guys had some sort of montage? That's really cool, and I agree AP is the best restaurant for SWDAS.

It looks like some sort of collage? Did they change the pictures up?

While I was back in the room suffering, she did get a final picture of our servers.

I love how they have new uniforms for SWDAS! Our servers didn't have them last year.
I wonder if they will do that for Marvel Day at Sea!

Great updates, sorry it took me so long to catch up. Getting excited again about our cruise in October![/QUOTE]

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Our first meet was with R2D2 and C-3PO. I completely understood why they had this set up, they could just close off the doorway the rest of the week and not have to reset it for each SWDAS.

Neat photo op!

C-3PO talked to us, you know casual conversation, he may have even commented on my skirt.

Well, he should. The skirt is awesome!

I thought R2D2 was a virtual door stop, but he moved to give more room when Fran got in the picture.

That's the job I want. Virtual door stop.

The pizza was gross so I didn't eat it.

It had a pink Champagne soaked lady finger as the base, an apple “chutney” sort of filling and an apple infused gel dome on top with the green stuff.

Try the green stuff, it's delicious?

Very nice sunset shots!

I think was probably the coolest restaurant to be in for the SWDAS as they had all this cool stuff displayed on the screens.

Looks like a lot of fun.

But as I sat, I realized that wasn't the case. Fran noticed too and sent me back to the room. I made it just in time for my own worship ceremony.

Oh no! Sorry you had a rough night.

 

[Steppesister]

So fun!! Love this shot of you two all themed out!

Our next delight was a Strawberry dessert, almost like a Strawberry oreo with merengue as there were wafers and Strawberry parfait filling. On the top was a Meyer lemon zest and a citrus leaf, it smelled very herbaceous almost like basil. Then they poured a pure and strained strawberry juice reduction around it.

This particular one sounds unbelievably amazing! WOW!

This a really nice artistic shot! Good work!

The chef came out to chat with us and we took a picture with him and our server.

I LOVE this one too! Very elegant.

There was this bottle of Lasseter wine sitting out. He always produces a limited amount of wine for each Pixar feature

I was just admiring my wine charms from his winery that @Flossbolna introduced me to the other night while I sipped a pre-vacation glass. I love his labels! (Not had the pleasure of imbibing his wine yet.)

Gorgeous!

But as I sat, I realized that wasn't the case. Fran noticed too and sent me back to the room. I made it just in time for my own worship ceremony. I blame either the coffee from the dessert tasting or the rich chocolate. No more after meal coffee for me, just in case. Now I'll only drink it before or with breakfast.

OH geez. Yuck. So sorry, Alison, just not a fun way to spend an evening.

 

[franandaj]

I went back and read the update again, main priority was to look at the yummy desserts again, but noticed Fran's fun SW shirt. As well as the cool Ratatouille wine bottle. Really cute!

Thanks. She loves her character mash up stuff. She has Mickey Jedi on her phone case and she swears that she can't ever get a new phone since they don't make those mash ups anymore.

Cool! I'm glad there was at least some interaction with them. And that is a pretty awesome skirt.

There was a nice amount of interaction, I took me by surprise. I can't wait to wear the skirt again, especially now that I can fit in it comfortably.

Looks like a nice relaxed pose anyway. Less stiff than the "stand behind the sign and smile" pose.

I thought so too!

Hadn't really thought about it that way, but it makes a lot of sense. I'm sure they can do a lot with that restaurant.

The screens make it very versatile.

Oh no... sorry it was a rough end to the evening for you.

Well at least it was over quickly!

I love your skirt.

Thanks! Me too!

 

[franandaj]

Ok I am finally caught up!! your Remy dinner looks amazing!

It really was, I'm so glad I have a redo in a little over a year.

Thanks for the recipe for the colette. Although I probably will never make it myself, I did enjoy it very much.

I doubt I would make it either but it was easy to find since Google is my friend.

I loved the foie gras siphon!! It was very rich without it being too rich since it was in mousse form. Then again I have not met a foie gras I did not like.

I'm ambivalent about foie gras, but I've had some good ones. I don't know why I'm sketchy about it.

Sablefish was one of the best things I ate at Victoria and Albert's last year. Yum.

It would be hard to single out anything from a meal at V&A's. I remember every course being as good as or better than the last.

Oh wow this looks delicious. I love gnocchi but only when it's made well. These look divine.

They were, I ate everything of the 1st two courses and that's why I got so full.

Oh no I'd be so sad. I'm sad you had to skip the cheese course too. That was my favorite part!

Next time I'm going with a plan. No food after 1PM! Maybe no excursions on Remy Day. I may order individual courses as opposed to the French or American menus. And then be sure to add the cheese.

That dessert looks super cool!!

It was! I love lemon.

I really enjoyed Royal court breakfast and wish we were able to go there more than once.

That's one reason I'm bummed about no PC cruise. On a cruise that long, I could have had sveral breakfasts there.

MMMMMM Bacon.

Cute tank top! I have seen those before!

I have all of the colors in the series. Hence the problem of not trying them on, I just bought them all!

love this picture! It's super cute!

Thanks!

Oh no sorry you have to cancel your PC cruise. But I'm sure you will find another time to go on it.

I'm hopin for the WB in 2019 and it seems Karilynn may be on that one too!

YAY! Hope to meet you both this fall!

Looking at both our plans, it looks like meeting up doing the kiosks your first day is where our plans seem to overlap.

Palo dinner looks amazing! I really really want to try this souffle.

It is sooooo good!

I like a nice limoncello after a rich meal

So calming for the stomach.

That's awesome! I like how they added a few extra touches this year with the SWDAS.

I think last year they were testing, and since it was a success they added more details for this year.

That's a good idea! That sandwich looks yummy.

Ever since I visited France and we made sandwiches picnic-style in the parks with a baguette, salami, and butter, that's a go to for me.

Great skirt!!! Love this picture of you both and the droids!!

Thanks!

I love this pic too!

That's awesome! We did not have the speeder on our cruise.

They must have continued to add details. I bet next year's ship will have even more details.

I have this cooler too!

She actually got that one to sell, we are using the circular one regularly.

not a fan of the Disney Cruise pizza. Taste is very bland and usually quite soggy. OK in a pinch but there are much better things to eat I think.

I found that they used a variety of crusts. I preferred the thin crusted pizzas with the more adult toppings.

Ooooh that looks divine. The dessert tasting looks really yummy. I will have to try that on another cruise if we're ever on the Fantasy again.

I think that's the one thing that I'll skip on the next cruise. Too much for my blood sugar.

We were in AP for our SWDAS as well. They just had the logo on the screen, but looks like you guys had some sort of montage? That's really cool, and I agree AP is the best restaurant for SWDAS.

looks like some sort of collage? Did they change the pictures up?

Yeah, they were changing it up throughout dinner, but since I wasn't feeling good, I wasn't noticing a lot.

I love how they have new uniforms for SWDAS! Our servers didn't have them last year.
I wonder if they will do that for Marvel Day at Sea!

Great updates, sorry it took me so long to catch up. Getting excited again about our cruise in October!

Good question! Is this the first year of Marvel day at sea?

 

[franandaj]

Neat photo op!

Thanks!

Well, he should. The skirt is awesome!

I'm glad everyone agrees!

That's the job I want. Virtual door stop.

This totally made me LOL!

Try the green stuff, it's delicious?

I never thought I'd hear YOU say that!

Very nice sunset shots!

Thank you!

Looks like a lot of fun.

It definitely was!

Oh no! Sorry you had a rough night.

Well on the good side, it was over fairly quickly.

So fun!! Love this shot of you two all themed out!

Thanks!

This particular one sounds unbelievably amazing! WOW

They all really were, so good!

This a really nice artistic shot! Good work!

Thanks! I wasn't even trying!

I LOVE this one too! Very elegant.

Thanks!

I was just admiring my wine charms from his winery that @Flossbolna introduced me to the other night while I sipped a pre-vacation glass. I love his labels! (Not had the pleasure of imbibing his wine yet.)

I can't wait to visit hopefully around a year from now.

Gorgeous!

Thanks!

OH geez. Yuck. So sorry, Alison, just not a fun way to spend an evening.

As I've been saying to all the condolences, at least it was kind of a "one and done", and I just went to bed feeling slightly icky as opposed to staying up all night.

 

[franandaj]

So another Real Life update. We lifted the Travel Ban! We're getting really close to being done, essentially just a few more pieces of furniture left to sell or donate. It's just been so overwhelmingly hot here, we are taking baby steps. We have two major furniture pieces still to list on eBay/Craigslist. So the end is in sight, pretty much.

So for that reason, we went ahead and booked flights to Orlando in Oct/Nov. Unfortunately we have reached the end of an era. American has changed their mileage options (either that or we booked this trip way too late). The 1st class/business flights that we used to take for 25K miles for each jaunt are now 45K each flight. We might have had to deal with that on our last trip, but we had more miles then. Now we only have 116K, and if we travel coach, we need three seats which is almost as expensive, 20K per seat, so a total of 120K. Plus when you fly coach, you have to pay for your bags. So hello Southwest!

The agent who helped me book our tickets told me that we get our money back for the third seat regardless, but I am skeptical. I think you only get it back if the flight isn't full. Either way, we now have three seats booked for October with a plane change in Houston and the return trip in November with a plane change in Denver.

I know of three DISmeets that may happen during the trip, two are fairly solid the other is in the works. Anyone else who is planning to be there the last week in October, please feel free to chime in!

Other than that keep posted on the other TR as I wrap up all the day trips out to Disneyland. I'm not sure if I can keep up and may need to combine a few different days to catch up because part of the reason we're not getting work done is too many tempting Disney days!

With that said, let's get back to the TR!


Day 8


Let’s start off with the Navigators for Today.













Today was our Castaway Cay day and the final day of the cruise. Here is a map of the island.



We had decided to wait to go on the island since the barbecue in the adult area didn't open until 11:30.

When I woke up it was pouring rain, like monsoon, not the sprinkle we had in St. Thomas.















I was glad I planned to start the day in the Rainforest room. Both of us were starved so I went up to Cabanas around 7:15 and got cereal, fruit, cottage cheese, yogurt and a chocolate croissant. While we ate Breakfast she requested that we watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua. This food held us over nicely until second breakfast after the Rainforest Room.



I got to the Rainforest Room just after 8AM when it opened. I changed first in the locker room. Since there was no one in there, I snapped these shots.











Then I crossed the hallway into the actual Rainforest Room, and there was only one other person in there.





First I went in the Turkish bath (similar to a steam room), but it wasn't as nice as an actual steam room. So I went into the actual steam room.



When I had sufficiently perspired, I tried the various showers. They were all too cold, but they rinsed me off well enough to get in the hot tub.







I probably spent half an hour in there, before retiring to a tile lounger.





They're heated and soothed my aching shoulder muscles. I had turned the hot tubs up to 104°, and I hoped that they had heated up while I rested on the lounger. Another couple had taken the tub I was originally in (the tubs have a maximum occupancy of 2), so I went in the other one which was substantially warmer. Not sure how long I stayed in that one, but eventually I decided I better get showered and dressed so we could get to the Island. The rain had long since let up and I was sure that by now people were being let off the ship. It was a little bit before 10AM when I left the Spa.

I stopped in the Cove Cafe to get my double Americano and realized that I forgot my coffee card. This was my last one before I got another free one. The CM was so nice he gave me a new card with 5 stamps on it! Perhaps adding on an extra tip (even if it's small) helps out.

Then I went to Cabanas again. This time I got some hash browns and all the white bread rolls that they had. I also tried to get mayonnaise, but when I pumped the dispenser, the nozzle shot off and hit the floor! A CM ran over immediately and offered to get me some from the back. I also got some Swiss cheese, and went back to the room. Then I made us little steak and Swiss sandwiches with the meat Fran had stolen the night before.



We resumed the movie as we ate our sandwiches. I didn't have too large of a struggle with Fran to get dressed and go.

[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]


As we rode down in the Elevator I noticed a photopass photographer in the Atrium so we went back up and were rewarded with photo ops with Mickey and Pluto in their beach wear.

























Then we were on our way to the beaches and shopping.











A number of excursions had been cancelled that day due to the rain.




There was a tram waiting right there when we walked up, and the handicapped riding spot was empty! We had decided to go to the main shopping area first (last time we did it the opposite) and we sent all our purchases back to the ship to pick up later that evening. We ran into our CM clerk “friend” whom we met the first evening. This time we had a lengthy discussion. I heard her tell another guest that she could hear the fireworks from her house. The only time I've heard that phrase was in respect to Disneyland. Turns out she was from Yorba Linda, that only means something to folks who know So Cal, but we talked for about 15 minutes before we headed off to the next stop.





I was amazed at how empty the beaches were, I guess a bunch of people opted to stay on the ship that day.





We had actually never been past the shops and Fran saw the buffet area for families and suggested we just eat there. I looked at the food options and they were similar, but I realized that they didn't have the Mahi Mahi, and there were a few other things missing. She really liked the idea that the area was all paved, but I convinced her to go to the adult beach. She did get a diet Coke to drink for the road.







There was a path between the main area and Pelican Point. You could take the tram, but I figured that with all I'd been eating I could use the walk. I was amazed at how empty the beaches were. Maybe everyone was scared off by the rain.

It didn't take long to get to the next tram stop and we didn't find anything at the gift shop, so we waited for the tram to Serenity Bay.




Next Up Serenity Bay!

 

[Pinkocto]

CC day!!! only bad thing about CC day is its almost always the last day of the cruise

Lovely to spend some time in the Rainforest Room, and how fantastic you pretty much had it to yourself.

Very nice of the CM and the coffee card.

Love your HM shirt!

Oh my about the mayo top flying to the floor.

Your CC pictures are lovely!

 

[Malia78]

I'm hopin for the WB in 2019 and it seems Karilynn may be on that one too!

Yes--that is definitely the plan!

We lifted the Travel Ban!

Hooray! Glad you've made enough progress that traveling is back on the table

I was amazed at how empty the beaches were.

Pretty cool to have such low crowds at Castaway Cay--like having the island to yourself.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

When do you leave in November? We arrive on November 2nd!

 

[bcwife76]

Yay for Orlando!!! Woohoo, good news indeed!

I totally missed photo op's of characters in their beach wear, bummer. Glad the weather improved, such a shame to dock at CC and have that awful weather greet you. Starting your day off at the Rainforest room was an excellent idea

 

[rndmr2]

I was away for a few days so I was a couple of updates behind.

Glad you are just about done with the house so you can lift the travel ban! I love WDW in the fall, I think I like the Fall decorations maybe a tad more than the Christmas ones. I just love those Mickey Pumpkins.

Fun SDAS pics!

That dessert tasting looked really good, definitely looked enough to replace a meal. I would definitely add that to my list if I ever get on a Disney Cruise.

Sounds like the rain probably did scare people away from Castaway Cay but I bet it was nice to not have a huge crowd there.