Trip Report Buffalo, Bugs, and Beer - A lostpro9het Surf 'n' Turf report.

Alright, alright, alright let’s get this beast going! As pointed out in the PTR, this trip had some purpose to it and I wont rehash the reasons why here. I will say that we had an amazing time saying goodbye with some great surprises along the way. With that, lets go!

Saturday May 11th
We got up bright and early at 04:00 and were pulling away by 04:30. This seems to be the only time one can navigate through Atlanta without hitting traffic, sadly the same cannot be said for Henry County’s traffic. Anyway, our go-to pit stop is always Tifton where we fueled up and grabbed some breakfast at Starbucks, we skipped ChikFilA for some reason. About an hour later and we passed the boarder.

All was going swimmingly until around the time we hit Gainesville. Then it was tick….tick…tick..tick. The swarm made its first appearance. The windshield started to look like a Jackson Pollock painting that could not be undone with wipers and fluid. I swear, lovebugs bleed quick dry contact adhesive, more on this later. Soon we were hitting the turnpike and then 429 to Western Way. We made right for home.

 

[imahistorygeek]

I was totally thinking the same thing!

Aka sugar, corn syrup, egg, and vanilla

 

[Swissmiss]

Only of it has the correct pecan to goo ratio. Too much goo will ruin a pecan pie.

Absolutely. I always put more than the recipe calls for.

 

[LadyBelle]

While we’re on the subject, I’m gonna set the record straight. It’s PEE-CAN, not PUH-KAHN.

Bingo.

 

[lostpro9het]

Tuesday May 14th, Nassau, cont.

So we relaxed for a few hours by the adult pool as we made port at Nassau. Folks flowed from the ship and we mostly had the adult area to ourselves. It was nearing lunch time when we decide to head to the room to freshen up but not before getting one ride in. With the flocks of folks exiting this also meant the AquaDuck should be easy to get on. It was! We made our way over and had a less than 10 minute wait for the experience. We've ridden the AD a few times and enjoy it, just not enough to wait a long time for it.

 

[lostpro9het]

Tuesday May 14th, Nassau, cont.

So after our AquaDuck trip we made for the room to clean up before getting lunch and disembarking. I'm happy to day all the lovebugs had been cleared! This meant we could have breakfast on the veranda tomorrow, Thanks Nicky! Nassau was actully looking decent from our room today.

After we got ready we made our way down to deck four to visit with guest services. We needed to put our Disney gift card on file so all room charges would debit from it. A short wait and we were all set ready for lunch.

So typically we will hit up Cabanas for lunch but today we decided to try something different.

Royal palace serves a sit down lunch experience similar to a dinner. The only difference with lunch is you will have a random service team and not likely your dinner team. Our service team for lunch was headed by Ivan and his crew did a great job.

 

[lostpro9het]

Tuesday May 14th, Nassau, cont.

While we were seated looking over the menu I noticed some details about Royal Palace that I simply overlooked on our previous dinner visits.

As for lunch we were provided bread service.

We also went with some apps; serrano ham and tortilla soup.

We also sampled their salads and marinated artichokes.

For mains, the DW went with the classic burger and I had the Kofta burger, both were very good.

We enjoyed lunch for a bit and decided it was time to make our way to Nassau.

 

[MinnieM123]

The AquaDuck looked like so much fun! I was surprised at how quiet you were during that -- I'd be making noise!

 

[imahistorygeek]

The AquaDuck looked like so much fun! I was surprised at how quiet you were during that -- I'd be making noise!

Not to make light of anyone's fears, but IMO, this is a very tame ride. The only part I'm not crazy about is getting water in my nose and eyes, but otherwise, it's a lot of fun. The only ride in which I scream is Tower of Terror. I will never get used to those drops.

 

[lostpro9het]

Tuesday May 14th, Nassau, cont.

So after lunch we decided disembark for a bit. We successfully avoided eye contact as we navigated our way through the onslaught of Bahamian poachers.

It should come as no surprise to those that have followed previous our cruises that we don't care for Nassau and only disembark for one thing...

Pirates Republic, while not the greatest, is a fun place to visit and they do rotate taps offerings which is nice. We each went with a Coconut porter while trying to make sense of how cricket is played, which was all overt the TVs in Nassau.

After our beer we made the short walk back to the ship. Seriously, nothing for us in Nassau. We grabbed our token selfie and snapped some pics of the CMs cleaning The Dream up.

 

[lostpro9het]

Tuesday May 14th, Nassau, cont.

We embarked and made straight for our stateroom to change into our bathing suits. Then made straight for the adult pool that was still not very crowded. We pooled it up for a few hours which also allowed me to start into my beer exchange pulls. First up was the the Graffiti Orange Wheat beer by 7venth Sun Brewery. I gave it a 4/5 and noted it was perfect for the heat we were in.

Next up was the Hopadillo by Karbach Brewing Company. I gave it a 3.5/5. This one was a little too hoppy for me and overall I'm not an IPA fan.

We continued to sip and sun for a few hours, the weather was still perfect. The late night, length of the day, and the heat were weighing on us and we needed a little recharge. Thankfully Cove Cafe is is conveniently located a few steps from the adult pool. We popped in for some A/C, caffeine, and sweets. I met a namealike CM too!

The caffeine and sugar hit the spot! We were fueled up for the rest of the day.

 

[Zipadeelady]

That Steamboat Willie . J is wearing me down, I'm starting to like the wheat beers. Oberon from Bell's brewery is pretty darn good. Joe on the others hand probably would've really liked that Hopadillo.

 

[lostpro9het]

That Steamboat Willie . J is wearing me down, I'm starting to like the wheat beers. Oberon from Bell's brewery is pretty darn good. Joe on the others hand probably would've really liked that Hopadillo.

I prefer the wheats over IPAs but porters and stouts are where its at for me.. Hopadillo is in J's wheelhouse for sure.

 

[lostpro9het]

Tuesday May 14th, Nassau, cont.

After finishing up our caffeine/sugar rush we made our way back to the room to clean up and relax a bit befor the '80s music trivia challenge. The ship began pulling away as we got to the room and not a moment too soon as the skies looked ominous!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I prefer the wheats over IPAs but porters and stouts are where its at for me.. Hopadillo is in J's wheelhouse for sure.

I'm suppose to tell you that he won me over with a 3 philosophers. I will admit, it was pretty tasty. At least he knows now to quit having me try all his IPA's.

 

[lostpro9het]

I'm suppose to tell you that he won me over with a 3 philosophers. I will admit, it was pretty tasty. At least he knows now to quit having me try all his IPA's.

Thats a Belgian quad, strong and tasty! IIRC, yall had it at Il Mulino too. You know, that restaurant thats sells frozen pizza and noodles with ketchup. Nothing like that sig PizzeRizzo.

 

[lostpro9het]

Finally submitted my final grades for Summer semester just in time for the new school year to start, crazy times! Anyway...

Tuesday May 14th, Nassau, cont.

After cleaning up we explored the ship a little more before 80's music trivia. We started aft and walked forward. We began in the adult district. Here's a wonderful view of the bathroom corridor.

We walked all the way forward to Walt's Disney Theatre before heading aft again.

As we headed back to 687 for trivia we noticed this contraption at the Bon Voyage bar. It sounded kinda amazing but no one was working the bar yet and we had to get back for trivia.

 

[lostpro9het]

Tuesday May 14th, Nassau, cont.

Back at 687 we were a little early but not "lets play chess" early. I grabbed a few room pics while we waited on our drinks.

As for drinks I went with a LA Trappe, pretty decent Quad. I think I get one or two of these each cruise they are that good.

DW went with a Pinot Grigio

Soon #tonyfromspain was leading the 80's music trivia challenge. We've won this event a few times on previous cruises but just came up short this trip. We would make up for it later in the evening.

 

[lostpro9het]

Tuesday May 14th, Nassau, cont.

After 80's music trivia we made the short walk back to our room to drop a few things off before dinner. Nicky had already worked her magic.

Not wanting to be the "Late Couple" we did a better job of getting to Royal Palace on time tonight. We spent a short time before dinner catching up with Team Buffalo and Team Canada. Team Canada(mom) gave us the lowdown on what her son was going through as a first time CM on the ship. She told us that things were very busy with rehearsals and the living quarters were tight. She said her son came to her room to take a bath and soak since all they had were showers. Still, she said her son was loving it and she was beaming with pride and anticipation for the BatB show that her son was going to be in on Thursday.

Time for dinner! Leo was on point tonight was building up to be one of our top servers of all time. If you've followed along in the past when I go to RP I get two things, brie and duck! They do the duck here so well. But first we were provided with the seasoned EVOO and bread.

For apps, yup, duck confit and fried brie!

For mains, I went with, you guessed it, Crispy Duck

The DW went with the Conchiglie Pasta which is fancy talk for lobster ravioli.

We shared the Classic Opera Gateau. We passed on the souffle tonight since we were having Palo tomorrow night and Palo's souffle is...well...worth waiting for.

 

[lostpro9het]

Tuesday May 14th, Nassau, cont.

After dinner we made straight for Evolution for what is typically a hilarious night of entertainment. We got some up front seating for the first game of the night, Snippets.

For those not in the know Snippets is a game where several rounds of random opinion questions are asked and whatever answer is given the most in each round is the "correcto" answer and points are given to teams that guessed it. By the end of the game I'm happy to say TSAAEAP mastered Snippets and carried home all the awards...bask in it.

After Snippets I made my over to 687 to grab a 687 draft, which is a custom brew for The Dream. My untappd notes read: "2/5, Still ain't nothing to write home about but you gotta get one while on board"

Now for the main event, Match Your Mate, i.e. the newlywed game for Disney Cruisers. Tonight's couples included a duo that had been married a coupe days(and also CMs), a duo that had been married 14 years, and a couple linked up for 37 years. Needless to say we learned a lot about them tonight and the eventual champions were the newlyweds but the most entertaining couple of the night were the older couple who we dubbed Acapulco for hilariously magical reasons.

After MYM we decided to skip the DJ party tonight as we had an early morning planned for Castaway tomorrow. Another great day in the books!

 

[Disstevefan1]

I have to be honest - as someone who has reached an age to need reading glasses for everything - these new shower dispensers may not be all bad. If I don't read the small bottles before getting into the shower and then place them in a specific order, I am never sure if I am washing my hair with shampoo, conditioner or body wash. But I'm pretty certain I would be able to make out what is in which bottle given the size of the words on them

For me, as someone who has reached an age to need reading glasses for everything AND is totally bald, I also do not mind these new shower dispensers