Trip Report Land & Sea - Baja Style! - Complete

And it's been a while

Well here we are again after a pretty long Disney hiatus, minus a holiday resort-only visit.

In just a few weeks, we're off to the grand state of California! On this journey, we'll visit the Disneyland Resort and sail the Disney Wonder.

Here we are!

As you can see (or sea - get it?) we're on a cruise. We have been cruising during the hiatus.

We've sailed Celebrity:

If you haven't sailed Celebrity and you're looking for a bit more refined and adult (mostly-kid free) experience, this is the line for you. Plus, drinks are included. Lots of drinks. The food tastes better (for the most part) and you have a much better variety. The Edge class of ships are beautiful.

Then we hit this up:

This was a true kids-free experience. The food is amazing! By far the best food I've ever had on a cruise ship. There's some really great outdoor spaces as well. They're working out new cruise line issues so there were some hiccups. Entertainment isn't great and the pool is miniscule. We also had the pleasure of running into a former DCL server we had on the Dream or Fantasy (I can't remember). It was an awesome experience.

We just finished up sailing on this lady:

We liked Celebrity so much we sailed again on the Millennium. This is Celebrity's oldest ship (22 years I think) and there were some spots showing age, but I'll tell you, this in no way detracted from the experience. It's just been Revolutionized (refurbished in fancy terms) and most of the ship is looking great. Again, the food choices....

Embarkation Day Desserts

This is what the dessert presentation looked like every single day.

If you're on the fence about Celebrity, do it.

Next up - our plans!

 

[imahistorygeek]

The suspense. Whale watching in an inflatable boat no less. At least we know you lived to tell the tale!

A legit pun!

Without further ado, here's the rest of our experience.

We would see a lot of these things. Our boat captain and our guide would be radioed when a whale was seen surfacing. We'd race to that location. It was exhilarating. I love being on small boats in the water. The waves were significant. The guy in front of me wasn't really having it. At one point, a relative/friend beside him asked if he was having fun, and it was a big NOPE. I felt for him though. Seasickness is no joke.

Mr. Cool Hand Luke ain't bothered by nothing.

So we're out here in the rocky ocean. Our eyes are peeled. What do we see?
This is not our video (unfortunately), but this is EXACTLY what we saw. Our whale wasn't as close, but still very close. Our whale came up completely out of the water, a spin, and splashed back down. Even our guide was shocked. Everyone was just quiet. It was amazing. I cried a bit because I never thought in a million years I'd get to see this.


This is what this guy or gal did next for at least 4 minutes. This is our video. Our guide said the breaching and tail slaps are a way to alert the other whales. You don't really realize how loud they are until you hear them hit the water.

 

[cgersic]

Sooooo amazing! I cried a little reading you tell about it. Such beautiful creatures and I'm happy along with you that you guys got to experience it!

 

[imahistorygeek]

Sooooo amazing! I cried a little reading you tell about it. Such beautiful creatures and I'm happy along with you that you guys got to experience it!

I cry just a bit thinking about it. It was amazing.

 

[ChuckElias]

Sooooo amazing! I cried a little reading you tell about it. Such beautiful creatures and I'm happy along with you that you guys got to experience it!

I cry just a bit thinking about it. It was amazing.

The seasick guy probably cries a little bit when he thinks about it, too!

 

[fractal]

A legit pun!

Without further ado, here's the rest of our experience.

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We would see a lot of these things. Our boat captain and our guide would be radioed when a whale was seen surfacing. We'd race to that location. It was exhilarating. I love being on small boats in the water. The waves were significant. The guy in front of me wasn't really having it. At one point, a relative/friend beside him asked if he was having fun, and it was a big NOPE. I felt for him though. Seasickness is no joke.

Mr. Cool Hand Luke ain't bothered by nothing.
View attachment 636908

So we're out here in the rocky ocean. Our eyes are peeled. What do we see?
This is not our video (unfortunately), but this is EXACTLY what we saw. Our whale wasn't as close, but still very close. Our whale came up completely out of the water, a spin, and splashed back down. Even our guide was shocked. Everyone was just quiet. It was amazing. I cried a bit because I never thought in a million years I'd get to see this.


This is what this guy or gal did next for at least 4 minutes. This is our video. Our guide said the breaching and tail slaps are a way to alert the other whales. You don't really realize how loud they are until you hear them hit the water.

Awesome!

 

[Swissmiss]

That was really amazing - thanks for sharing your video!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

The whale experience looks amazing! So glad you got to see that!

 

[coachwnh]

So, ok Disney, it was our problem, not yours. Ok, sure.

Ok. For some reason this is very funny to me and made me laugh.
Love the whale pictures. Looking forward to more.

 

[Sbk1234]

The guy in front of me wasn't really having it. At one point, a relative/friend beside him asked if he was having fun, and it was a big NOPE. I felt for him though. Seasickness is no joke.

I suffer from sea sickness and it is the WORST feeling. Especially when it interferes with something you really want to enjoy!

I did manage to go whale watching in Hawaii and I have to say it was an incredible experience. Words can't adequately describe it. Like you, we saw the whales breaching. Some got fairly close to our boat. At one point a mother and calf swam under our boat. But at no time was it ever scary or did we think the whale could capsize the boat or anything like that.

Glad your trip turned out so nicely eventful.

 

[imahistorygeek]

I suffer from sea sickness and it is the WORST feeling. Especially when it interferes with something you really want to enjoy!

What's surprising to me is that I'll feel seasick occasionally on a cruise ship, but never on a small boat in fairly choppy waters.

 

[imahistorygeek]

After we headed back to the ship, we cleaned up a bit and then headed to the pool. It wasn't too crowded and we found a loungers right in front of the pool. I have no idea about any of these drinks (@lostpro9het) . Mine was probably a margarita. Whale watching wears you out. I napped for a while.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Drinks before leaving Cabo and dinner.

Looks like a white sangria. I probably picked it up from the pool before heading to Crown and Fin.

We stopped for beer before dinner at French Quarter Lounge.

Day 3 dinner was at Tiana's Place once again. We just waited for the line to dissipate and then just walked to our table.

Tonight was pirates night and the menu was Pirates in the Caribbean. This is usually our Palo night.

At the previous night's dinner, we asked our server if we could get curry instead. He said yes, so the curry dishes replaced most of our meal. The pirate menu is probably the weakest of the menus in our opinion.

Johnny Cake with Mango Dip - I like some good cornbread. This wasn't it. It was dry Jiffy Mix.

Tonight's wine.

Beet salad, but I can't find a menu with it listed. If you like beets, then you'll like it. If you don't, they taste like dirt. I was ok with it.

Sri Sumbhajee’s Vegetable Samosa with Potato Peas, Garlic, Cumin and Ginger served with Tamarind Chutney and a plain Yogurt Raita

Now we move on to the curries. We asked for one meat and one vegetable. They were both served with basmati rice and a flour tortilla.

I asked the type of meat. Our server says beef. Laura takes a bite. She slowly chews. The curry flavor is excellent. But then, what does she realize? She's eating . Lamb has a certain flavor. Luckily the flavor wasn't too overpowering, so I ate it and mostly enjoyed it. I'm just not a fan of lamb.

This was our vegetarian curry. It almost had a vegetable soup type of flavor, but much tastier. I really enjoyed this dish.

I'll be honest, the curries are probably some of the best food you can get in the main dining rooms.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Day 4 - We saw things and did stuff, but can't remember a bit of it. But what I do remember was dinner at Palo.

As fancy platinum members, you get a $45 credit/person, which translates to the prix fixe menu or up to $45 a la carte.

This is the outside area right off the elevators and stairwell. We always book the first available time which is usually when they open. There were a few couples waiting. We're not the only early eaters.

This is walking inside.

A little table decor. I really love the fresh flowers on the tables. This rose was perfect.

We met our server, Julian (we are 99% sure on his name) from France, who was fairly new to DCL. I believe he said this was his first contract. He originally worked for a small French exploration cruise company. He was the assistant manager for onboard dining. He was hired on with DCL as a server in the MDR, but then applied for an opening at Palo and was hired. He was very good and personable. He was almost on par with David from Hungary.

A QR code was available, but we requested paper menus.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Our meal was excellent. The pacing was nice and Julian was attentive.

Sean ordered the right side of the prix fixe menu and I ordered a la carte.

We were presented with a pre-appetizer (amuse bouche ) of gnocchi and some type of sauce.

Bread Service

For our appetizers, we Buffalo Mozzarella, Baby Arugula Salad, and the Antipasto. I sure miss the antipasto cart.

Again, these were all very delicious.

Sean ordered the beef tenderloin (aka The Palo) and I ordered the Piquant Dover Sole.

This dish arrives looking like this:

Julian was in charge of of removing the fish from the bones. This takes some skill. I asked him how long it took him to master it. He said about 5 minutes from watching a video on the internet! He did very well for a 5-minute video. There was only one bone left in the fish.

His first presentation:

His second presentation:

The fish was better than the first time I had it on the Magic.

As we were eating our meal, the chef came out and spoke to us and asked us if we were enjoying out meal. It was a nice touch. This is the first time the chef has ever visited our table in Palo.

The one thing you don't get anymore in Palo is the palate cleanser between appetizers and main course, but we didn't miss it.

 

[imahistorygeek]

And, finally, dessert.

We ordered coffee service and the souffle.

The coffee is no better or no worse than MDR. It pairs well with the souffle.

I would love to make these at home. But, I have a track record of burning things.

The souffle was delicious. It's my favorite DCL dessert.

Our end-of-meal drink is usually a slushy apple prosecco. There were out of the apple and substituted with lime sherbet. It was fine.

 

[MinnieM123]

@imahistorygeek -- lovely table presentations in Palo. Funny thing was, I was thinking (after seeing all the layered plate sizes, etc.) -- gee, I wish I had the plate concession for that place!

 

[lostpro9het]

My bride conveniently left out a fantastic conversation we had with Julian prior to our meal. He had asked about previous dining experiences and honed in on Remy. We were pretty blunt with him and expressed our opinions on Remy and French food particularly Remy French, that is. Julian, being french and probably far more sophisticated when it comes to dining, was a little shocked that we cared so little for Remy. This spun into me asking about his favorite French foods to which he described a dish of fried potatoes with cheese melted directly on the block that is then dredged over the potatoes. I immediately lamented that Remy should be serving that dish. I believe our conversation resulted in us getting a special visit from the head chef half way through out meal. He did not visit any other table the whole two hours we were there. We had a great experience overall and Julian was an excellent server who provided great conversation. We Wish it up in September and Im not super excited about the “new” Palo but hope we can give it a go.

 

[Swissmiss]

My bride conveniently left out a fantastic conversation we had with Julian prior to our meal. He had asked about previous dining experiences and honed in on Remy. We were pretty blunt with him and expressed our opinions on Remy and French food particularly Remy French, that is. Julian, being french and probably far more sophisticated when it comes to dining, was a little shocked that we cared so little for Remy. This spun into me asking about his favorite French foods to which he described a dish of fried potatoes with cheese melted directly on the block that is then dredged over the potatoes. I immediately lamented that Remy should be serving that dish. I believe our conversation resulted in us getting a special visit from the head chef half way through out meal. He did not visit any other table the whole two hours we were there. We had a great experience overall and Julian was an excellent server who provided great conversation. We Wish it up in September and Im not super excited about the “new” Palo but hope we can give it a go.

Hmm. Julien may be Franco-Swiss (coming from the border region) What he described sounds like a mixture of raclette (cheese melted on the block and then poured over steamed potatoes and tartiflette - which probably is made with fried potatoes but I thought the cheese was heated onto the dish directly. With raclette, you would continually melt the cheese and dredge it on each potato as you eat it (it is made with small potatoes about 2-3 times the size of a cherry tomato)

 

[lostpro9het]

Hmm. Julien may be Franco-Swiss (coming from the border region) What he described sounds like a mixture of raclette (cheese melted on the block and then poured over steamed potatoes and tartiflette - which probably is made with fried potatoes but I thought the cheese was heated onto the dish directly. With raclette, you would continually melt the cheese and dredge it on each potato as you eat it (it is made with small potatoes about 2-3 times the size of a cherry tomato)

Raclette, that’s what he called it! Sounded awesome to me.

 

[RememberWhen]

Raclette, that’s what he called it! Sounded awesome to me.

Raclette is definitely awesome. Somewhere, someday, you should find it.