Monday, June 18, 2007

First Sea Day

Hello, Jeff here again. Sorry I missed blogging yesterday but I spent my internet time trying to figure out how to download the photos from our Panasonic digital camera to my laptop. The Microsoft Camera Wizard, which works fine for our Canon digital camera (which we also have with us), will NOT work. Boo! I checked the Panasonic web site looking for a device driver or the Lumix software that came with the camera but had no luck. Too soon it was time to go see the Golden Mickeys stage show and then get dressed up for formal night.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. We started the day with a wake-up call of sorts from Palo at about 9:30 am. On Embarkation day we’d asked to be put on the standby list for Brunch for each of the three sea days and Inga or Ingrid or Hagrid (I was still not totally awake) was happy to inform us they could fit us in! Cool! We still had a couple of hours before our reservation so Susan and I dragged our carcasses out of the bed and went walking on Deck 4. Three laps equals one mile so we did two miles in all. It was a nice way to start the day and get rid of the cob webs.

After refreshing showers, we made our way to Palo’s which is on deck 10 aft and were promptly seated after picking up our complementary drink (champagne or Mimosa). Our server (Annie Marie) then gave us the tour explaining the various appetizers, cheeses, breads/buns, pizzas/flatbreads, hot breakfast items, hot lunch items and finally the desserts. Everything looked wonderful. Our drink order was taken and we were off to eat. Everything I had was excellent.

Next up was the DIS board gift exchange on the secret deck 7. It’s called “secret” because it’s kind of out of the way so it’s not some place you stumble upon or accidentally walk by. We chose it expecting that we’d have it to ourselves; unfortunately so did about a half dozen sunbathers. We soon outnumbered them and some of them decided to bask somewhere else. It was nice putting face and real names to our fellow DIS’ers we’d not yet met and to exchange small gifts with them. One of the people I met that I’d not met on Embarkation day was PurtyPat1. By the way, she says hi to all her family that is reading this blog! And Danielle, Jack (smilingjack) says hi too!

Soon it was time to make our way to the Roy Suite (8530), one of the two luxurious suites onboard the Disney Magic. Another DISer, DVC4US (LeiLani) was kind (and crazy) enough to invite all the DIS board participants and their families to tour the suite. It was HUGE by cruise ship standards and very ornate. The bathroom off the master suite was almost as big as our stateroom! There we met up with even more fellow DIS board members. I suspect we set a record for most people crammed into a cabin but it was all fun. One of the families we met was Michael, Vicky and their daughter Kristine. Michael is an Airbus captain for America West. Kristine and Katy took off on their own while the parents went up on Deck 9 to grab some beverages and chat. The weather was perfect for sitting outside and getting to know Michael and Vicky. Soon it was time for them to go get ready for dinner (they have the early seating at 6:30) so Susan and I grabbed a sandwich each as a snack and that catches us up to my camera problems.

The Golden Mickeys show was pretty good – I especially like the Hunchback of Notre Dame number. The stage show that ran for years at the Disney-MGM Studios was one of our favorite Disney shows EVER. I can’t count the number of times we saw it. After the show, we returned to our stateroom to don our formal attire. I wore my tuxedo and the girls looked lovely in their dresses. We waited in a couple of lines to have our picture made by Disney photographers before it was time for dinner.

For those not familiar with Disney cruises, dining is done on a rotation between three separate and distinct restaurants. Our first night was in Parrot Cay, a tropically themed restaurant. Our second night we were in Lumiere’s, which is an ornate, formal dining room. Tonight, we will be in Animator’s Pallet, which is a restaurant that starts out completely in black and white and as the evening progresses, it transforms into color.

Last night’s dinner at Lumiere’s was excellent. Both the calamari (that’s squid) and the chicken appetizer were amazing. Several of us had both of these or two of the same as they were SO good. The Moroccan lentil soup was delicious. For the entrĂ©e, we all had the sirloin steak which turned out to be good, but not great. The dessert was a Golden Mickey chocolate something that too was very, very good. After dinner, we went back to our stateroom and crashed as we knew we were going to have to get up early (6:30 am) in order to catch our tour to the Village of Cefalu (pronounced chefalu (like the “ch” in “church”) from our first port, Palermo Sicily.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Greetings!! Sounds like alot of fun eating! Better walk 3 miles tomorrow. Missed your report yesterday! Susan, are you ready for that birthday?? Keep having fun! Love you all, Myra

lqqieee said...

I just wanted to say thanks again for the NASA pin, I really was tickled by it, such a sweet gesture!

I miss the Magic already!!!