Our last morning began with breakfast at Olivia’s after leaving our packed suitcases in the room, tagged for the ship, for transportation to the Fantasy. We had four luggage tags with our room number and cruise confirmation on them, so our previously checked and carry-on luggage was transported for us to the ship. The limo (a gift from our travel agency) picked us up early and had us at the cruise terminal just as their doors opened. After a brief wait in the check-in line, we walked on to the ship.
Once checked in and onboard, we headed to Remy/Palo to secure reservations for dinners. This is our last cruise as Gold members of the Castaway Club (a previous-guest club), and since it’s the Maiden Voyage of Disney’s latest ship, all the Platinum members had scooped up the ressies before the Gold members had a chance!
We were able to secure a dinner at Palo, a wait-list slot for brunch (only served twice during the week-long cruise on sea days), and eventually scored a dinner reservation at Remy for that night! Hope those tuxedos show up and aren’t too wrinkled!
At Sea Day
Today we’re recovering from our meal at Remy’s and trying to remember what we were served and what we drank. They serve a five-course dinner (two main menus - earth/sky or sweet/savory) with matching wine flights in addition to the a la carte menu and very extensive wine list. They do things very much as in the movie Ratatouille - very posh, wonderful food, well-matched wines, gracious service. And there was a thank-you card and box of chocolates waiting for us in our cabin when we finished our three-hour meal.
[I’ll think on this and try to remember some of the dishes we were served.]
And now it’s time to close the computer and adjourn to the deck as we sail south into the Caribbean. I understand we should be near Cuba by evening.
This was a great day and what we most enjoy about longer cruises: days at sea. No hurry to make port excursion times; no reason to worry about anything, just relaxation. We met our travel agency friends for The Art of the Theme Show tour of the Fantasy to learn about creating the special Disneyesque- style cruising experience. CM Philippe-Luc from Quebec City led the tour and was very well informed on the precepts followed by the Imagineers who designed the ship.
Drinks in the Skyline Lounge, where the ‘windows’ reveal scenes of seven different cities around the world. Dinner was in Enchanted Garden, a restaurant patterned after a large conservatory. Excellent food and service by the team that will follow us from restaurant to restaurant through our rotations.
Grand Cayman Day
Today we decided to remain on board rather than take any port excursions. So a day to explore the ship further, read, lounge, nap, do laundry, and generally loaf!
Chatted with friends we’d met on board while in the Cove Café. And we had to listen to a cast member go on about working aboard ship, prompted by an inquisitive couple at the coffee bar. We finally abandoned the coffee bar for a ride on the AquaDuck (where we got drenched) and a laundry run (there’s a launderette here on Deck Two! Very convenient, but also rather busy.)
Breakfast was at the Royal Table restaurant - one of the rotational venues at which we had not yet dined. I think it’s scheduled for dinner tonight, so we’ll be able to see it in its night time finery, too.
It’s a bit after 4 pm as I write this, and I see out our port hole that we’ve left Grand Cayman, so in a few hours it will be a show with Larry, the Cable Guy and then dinner in the Royal Court. RC takes pride of place like Triton’s (on the Wonder) or Lumiere’s (on the Magic), adjacent to the main atrium on the Fantasy. The atrium on the smaller ships featured a Y-shaped staircase up to the second level. On the Fantasy it’s an asymmetrical, curving staircase the reaches the third level. Very grand with a statue of Minnie Mouse a la 1930 and a grand piano at its base. Both the main chandelier and other ceiling fixtures on the individual levels surrounding the atrium feature crystal beading, creating a really special ambiance with faceted light rays illuminating the areas.
While today the serving staff were dressed in a more usual vest and shirt costume, tonight they will be wearing an interpretation of a royal frock coat with lots of gold all over it. A really special look for dinner.
In re: Larry the Cable Guy, there are three production shows on the Fantasy: Aladdin, Wishes, and Believe. Acts such as LCG fill in the schedule. We skipped the first night’s non-Disney show, but have decided to see Larry. At least he’s a known-quantity.
I hear Buffalo wings have just been ordered from room service…guess I need to sign off!
Cozumel
Although we canceled today’s port excursion to the Mayan ruins at Tulum, we decided to leave the ship and walk about Cozumel this morning. The excursion, it turned out, involved a 45-minute ferry ride to the mainland ‘through rough seas’ and then a 90-minute bus ride before reaching the ruins which, in turn, involved strenuous walking and climbing to view the site - and then the return bus and ferry rides for a total of a seven-and-a-half hour day, supported only by a sandwich and bevvie around 3 pm.
After a late awakening and breakfast at Cabanas, we grabbed our camera and headed off the ship. One of our first encounters was with a Starbucks, which provided a wi-fi connection for Michael to check emails. They used the same user name and passwords that the San Miguel Starbucks used (it’s printed on the receipts), but when it didn’t work, we figured out that they probably had changed the password on the first of the month and not re-programmed their cash register yet! Things were fairly peaceful in the world at large.
So at that point we headed over to the local Mega. What a large enterprise! Two-stories tall with interior escalators, it was spaciously laid out and held a lot more inventory than our local SMA Mega does. There was even a CFE office (the national electric company) with automated kiosks from which we could determine that our home CFE bill had been paid by our local bank in our absence.
Continuing down the thoroughfare toward the resorts and the three cruise ships anchored near them on foot, it was interesting to see the remains of their hurricane of a few years back. There were some shops that had been re-opened, a dauphin experience place that was up and running (we could watch from the street what was happening in their pools, with people and dauphins cavorting together!), and some other businesses, homes, and hotels that had reopened.
We turned around before reaching the resorts/ships as the wind was intermittent, and without the wind the humidity was rather oppressive. We decided that we’d not move to Quintana Roo (the state in which Cozumel is located) as we couldn’t imagine what the hot months would be like!
Once back at the ship (the Magic was moored right next to us!) we headed to the adult section (Cove Café, pool, et cetera) to recharge our inner batteries and grab a quick bite for lunch.
Afterwards I headed to the cabin for a nap, only to awake to news of the severe storms centered around Dallas. American Airlines had cancelled flights into and out of their airport and released all their staff in nearby Arlington. Hail had been reported in golf-ball to softball sizes; semi-trailers had been flipped over onto their backs; and word was that the storm had touched down around the area (five was the reported number - later amended to twelve).
So we’re watching the news on Fox (we’re sort of like non-resident Texans, having a mail-drop address in Texas and having Texas as the nearest part of the US) to see what will happen. Not that we like being considered Texans - their present governor is an idiot; their former governor having proved his lack of brains. But it’s the most ‘happening’ thing on TV at present! And we flew to the US on American Airlines and will return to Mexico the same way.
We’re hoping we’re on for dinner at Palo tonight. Michael just walked up to the restaurant to check on our reservation, but couldn’t find anyone with which to verify it. At least we believe it’s at an early hour, so if it’s not tonight, we can appear at our assigned restaurant for dinner and no one will be the wiser!
It’s also Pirate Night onboard, so there’s the pirate party on deck and fireworks afterwards. Woo-hoo!!!
Michael brings news that our ressie is for tomorrow night at 6 pm, not tonight. So it’s dinner tonight in Royal Court with friends, then a bit of the pirate party (we got there just in time to see the fireworks), and then to bed. Not even sure if they have a ‘midnight’ buffet on this ship - and couldn’t care!
And the evening outfit for the servers in Royal Court are sort of reminiscent of a military tunic with lots of gold braid - a la Prince Someone. The tunic works better for some than for others. Perhaps with a bit more tailoring….
Costa Maya
This morning is the port adventure exploring Mayan ruins which we did not cancel. An early breakfast and meet-up in the Buena Vista Theater, then off to the bus that would carry us to the Checcohoban ruins. Very, very neat with several pyramids unburied and restored; others in various stages of overgrowth. Other than the weather, which was a bit warm and sticky, a very enjoyable experience. We switched to the adults-only version of the tour to be with two pairs of friends who had had the foresight to initially sign up for the adult version. There was a total of about 99 people, broken into two groups. Great guide, interesting venue, and only an hour’s ride, not a 45 minute ferry ride followed by a 90-minute bus ride.
Before the tour happened, Michael went to guest services and added gratuities and transfers to our account. The adding of the transfers required that our cards be re-printed and there was a problem with their printer. So he came back to the cabin with the new cards and we thought we were set until we tried to leave the ship for the tour. Buzzzzzzz! Managed to talk our way off the ship, and back on when we returned (the departure officer had made an entry about the difficulties with our cards), then headed to Guest Services again, where they managed to print new cards with the additional information and that worked, too!
At lunch we found two of the friends who we had joined for the tour and promptly joined their table. Just can’t get enough of good friends, eh?
Now for a quick nap before our 6 o’clock Palo ressie. We hope to be finished before the 8:30 show of Wishes, the new show written for the Fantasy and Dream.
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