Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

Welcome to the next stop on Magical Blogorail Green . Today we are discussing the most romantic Disney restaurants. Or rather, the MOST romantic of any of the Disney restaurants, Palo. Whether you find yourself aboard the Magic, Wonder, Dream or Fantasy, there is something about these classic ocean liners that evokes simpler, more romantic times. Is it the breezes, the impeccable service, the adventure of living in a bygone era?  Champagne brunch. Perhaps it's the panoramic ocean vistas offered by Palo, a wonderfully unpretentious Italian restaurant with the kind of impeccable service Disney is known for after sleeping in until brunch. Maybe it's simply the romance of blown Venetian glass, champagne brunches and chocolate covered strawberries. Maybe it's the indulgence of late night chocolate soufflés or the clean poetry of Italian food . The chocolate covered strawberries sure don't hurt! “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; th...

Since this was the kiddos fourth cruise, they fully understand that Palo is a place just for moms and dads. A very special place that they look forward to visiting on their cruises after their birthdays. When we let them know that they could try Palo, just because of our lovely concierge hosts, they were *very* excited. Chris, despite starting to have a hoarse throat (Long nights? Kids clubs? Air travel?), could hardly contain his excitement as he has heard tell of the legendary Palo chocolate soufflé .  Starters, Saladas, Antipasti, Breads and Risotto Our server brought in all of the appetizers, salads and starters at one time and promised to return with the main course and finally the desserts. The chef split the antipasti onto a plate of meats and cheese (or as the server said, this one is not for the vegans) and one of olives, pickled vegetables and artichokes. Two salads had been sent for Kylee and I while Ben and Chris mixed and matched from the risotto and the mozzarell...

We hit the pool deck right before the Mickey Pool opened for the day. <<< Waddle This Way As the cast member finished clearing away the net over the Mickey pool, Pumbaa and Timon helped us remember how important it is to be "Wild About Safety." Watching Pumbaa pay homage to Ariel, the little mermaid is worth watching the safety video. The pool opened and the kids flocked in with several of their new best buds. The AquaDuck didn't open for another half hour so I huddled under a towel as there was quite a high wind blowing about the deck. Watching the crew prepare the AquaDuck while keeping an eye on our kids, they set out several "beware high winds" notices and a sign that said that no single riders would be allowed on the AquaDuck. Five minutes before the 'Duck was set to open, Kylee could not wait another second, so we decided to begin the queue. After passing the height check with flying colors, Kylee and I mounted the stairs up into the ...

  Welcome to those of you joining me from Rolling with the Magic and those of you just hopping aboard. I am the 4th stop on our Magical Blogorail ." If your Disney vacation plans bypass Walt Disney World this year (sniff!) or you want to continue the Food and Wine Festival goodness as you take to the high seas, you are certainly in luck! Disney Cruise Lines offers several different cooking demonstrations, wine pairings and tastings during each cruise. On the classic ships (aka the Disney Magic and her sister ship the Disney Wonder), "Anyone Can Cook" is offered several times throughout the cruise. During a fun informative presentation, adults can learn how to prepare a new appetizer, entrée or dessert. Recipe cards are provided, as are samples of both the dish and a wine pairing. If you have youngsters who are budding chefs, they offer a similar program in the clubs. Their project often results in chocolate chip cookies ready to eat ra...

If you wake up super early on your final morning aboard, you can still enjoy a run around the deck, just be aware that the forward end of deck four will be closed off from all passengers even before arrival in the port. You encounter some of the most fascinating people early in the morning on the ship, lovely cast members, smokers, a man sleeping in the lounger on deck complete with a pillow and blanket, a real cross section. As I ran back and forth and watched as we pulled around Galveston island back toward the cruise terminal, I kept passing a lady sitting smoking on one of the loungers. Around the third time I passed her, she stopped to ask me what we were passing. I responded the eastern edge of Galveston island, I think. Next lap, she asked if she could talk to me so I stopped for a bit. She wanted to let me know how much she enjoyed the stage show the previous evening. I replied that Disney Dreams is one of my favorite. Then she said she wanted to thank me for putti...

Waking up on our last full sea day seemed like a good time to take another run around deck. Even though I'd slept in quite a bit after pirate party, the promenade deck still sat abandoned. Which suits me fine, as it makes my average slow running seem more acceptable. Sea air has a wonderful way of waking me up, which is good, because running into a head wind is not the easiest thing in the world.  Until finally. The sun peeked above the clouds and it was time for me to go inside and shower for the day. On my way back down the stairs, I passed one of the Cast Members cleaning out the elevators and caught a glimpse of Mickey clear through the elevator. I love this ship. Anyway, I showered while Ben went for a jog and then we headed out to breakfast. Since it was a lovely cool morning, we sat outback behind Topsiders and enjoyed the sun rising reflecting off of the Gulf and the peace of the early morning quiet. After a quiet morning of perambulatin...

After another early morning jog, Ben and I enjoyed another leisurely breakfast on the sun deck behind Topsider buffet. We popped up to deck nine to get a better view of Cozumel as we came into the dock. Sea days and port days feature entirely different energy on the ship. While the sea days feature a much more sleeping in and hanging out vibe, port days there is a purpose and focus as people wake up earlier, eat breakfast in a bit of a hurry and queue for their appointed Port Adventure meeting times. While on sea days the first announcements may not begin until the late morning, port days involve all ashore announcments sometimes quite early. Thankfully, these can only be heard in the hallways and public areas, so you won't be getting an unintentional wakeup call. (Intentional wakeup calls can be scheduled on your stateroom phone.) As the lines and craziness of the all ashore groups died down, we embraced our plan of the day, which consisted mostly o...

It's been a while since I wrote on this particular trip report, so if you need to catch up, you can check under the Adventures tab or here at Couples Only Cruise . I can wait. All caught up? We found ourselves with some free time with Casey and Chris, so we headed down to Diversions where we discovered Giant Jenga. This game replaced shuffleboard as my favorite on deck activity. On land, I am wonderful at Jenga. If you add in a slight rolling and rocking of a ship, it is quite a different game! So while we waited for Disney Tunes Trivia To begin, we created more and more perilously unstable towers until the inevitable point where gravity won. Chris enjoyed some minor good-natured heckling during Jenga. We laughed so hard. When Disney Tune Trivia began, Casey and I (and ostensibly our husbands) formed a team. For each clip played you needed to provide a title of the song and the movie. Although the men sat through their fair share of Disney films over the years and a...