Disney Magic – Part III

Feature Article

This article appeared in the June 20, 2000, Issue #34 of ALL EARS® (ISSN: 1533-0753)

We began our relaxing day at Castaway Cay with a great spot at the Adult Only Beach enjoying a non-alcoholic frozen slushy drink –banana daiquiris for me and strawberry daiquiris for LindaLunch was a BBQ — hamburgers, salmon burgers or steak sandwiches. The fixin bar was wonderful! Great fresh red leaf lettuce so we ended up making a salad and adding the steak to it. We later learned the BBQ at the family beach included ribs and baked beans.

After lunch we took a LONG walk along the beach….the beauty, quiet and relaxing quality of the island was just wonderful! The water was incredibly clear and you could watch the fish swim about you. Eventually we decided we had enough sun (we did use SPF 30) and headed for the next tram and back to the ship.

Everyone had to be back on board by 4:30pm for a 5:00pm departure. Once again there was a Sail Away Party! Disney does know how to throw good parties!

It was our last night and we had lots planned. We off to the Walt Disney Theatre for Disney Dreams. It is a wonderful show full of lots of your favorite Disney songs. Anne-marie takes us on a journey through her Disney Dreams. Peter Pan hosts this musical adventure!! This show was great!!!!!!! I'd definitely see it again!

The last night of pin trading was going on in the atrium. It was the night to get the special Cruise Pin Trader pin so we had to be there! We did some cool pin trading for the Helmsman Mickey trader as well as some others. I met Sasha, a Cast Member, who had wonderful pins to trade! He was great fun! Definitely keep your eyes open for him if you trade pins!

Dinner tonight was at Palo's! Let me tell you, this restaurant was everything folks said it was! A wonderful, relaxing dinner with excellent food and incredible service. Gregory was our server and he certainly added to our wonderful experience at Palos!

Gregory made several recommendations for us, including a wonderful wine — a Cecchi 1990 Spazgolo, a Tuscan Table Wine! I have to find it here at home! To begin our meal, we had a Herb-Grilled Barbeque Chicken Pizza with Calamata Olives, and Spinach. It was WONDERFUL! Similar to the pizza appetizers at California Grill in the Contemporary Resort.

I started to order the tomato and mozzarella salad, but Gregory reminded me I could have that all summer at home and encouraged me to order something different. So, I did! I ordered the carpaccio. I NEVER eat beef rare (or even much beef) but he made it sound so wonderful, I decided to go for it. Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio with Stone-Ground Mustard, Tomato Relish, and Lemon dressing. It melted in my mouth and was outstanding! Linda enjoyed the Lightly-Fried Calamari with Tomato-Garlic Sauce which she also felt was great.

For dinner, I had the Homemade Ravioli with Artichoke, Ricotta Cheese, and Oven-Dried Tomatoes — very nice. Linda had the Tortelloni Freshly made Stuffed Pasta stuffed with crab meat that she said was outstanding!

Dinner was relaxing and slowly paced. We were enjoying the wine and the evening! We each ordered a Chocolate and Hazelnut Souflee with Vanilla Bean Sauce for dessert. Again, wonderful! Linda had never had a souffle before and this was a wonderful one for her to start out with!! As we were finishing our souffles we asked Gregory what the folks next to us were eating. Tiramisu was the response. Before we knew it, we had one at our table. This had to be the BEST Tiramisu I have ever had. It was light and oh so tasty! As you can tell, we were quite thrilled with out dinner at Palo. Our meal took about 2 hours and we loved every moment of it. Special thanks to Gregory who made it extra special! I would highly recommend Palo's to everyone!

Day Four………Back to Port Canaveral

We got up early (to see our last sunrise) and pack our bags! By not having the bags out by midnight; we, instead of the crew, would have to bring them into Port for Customs. Since we each only had one rolling suitcase, this turned out to be ok. A porter met us as we got off the ship and assisted us through customs.

We got coffee and Danish to munch on while we packed. Then we went to Shutters and made our final selection of photos! Back to the room, grab our luggage and off the ship we were! Everyone had to be off no later than 9am!

After customs, we got outside and found the bus to take us to the Boardwalk. We stored our luggage there during the day and went to the Disney MGM-Studios before catching a late flight home that evening.

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

I rated the following A+ Character Availability, Cleanliness, Friendliness of Crew, the Spa and the Palo's Experience!!!

Adult Activities, the Sail Away Party, Lumiere's, the Pastry Chefs and the Welcome Lunch Buffet — B.

The cruise was wonderful! This may have been my first cruise, but it won't be my last. Next time it will be a four day cruise.there was just too much for me to do and relax in three days. For folks who enjoy sitting still and only have 3 days; I'm sure it will do you just fine.

There were lots of things we didn't do..a few worth mentioning here are: seeing one of the first run movies offered, going to OffBeat the Comedy Club, taking the Bridge Overlook Tour and enjoying the Spa's Rainforest rooms.

Disney Cruise Line does things right and in a classy way! From someone who had never cruised and didn't want to… I say GO FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!! Take a trip on the Disney Magic or Wonder, you'll be glad you did! I sure am!

Get a free Disney Cruise Line Video by visiting: http://disney.go.com/DisneyCruise/video/intro.html

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.