Trip Report The “Cruising is not for me” Surf n’ Turf Spring Break Shenanigans Trip Report *Completed*

All the who’s and what’s can be read over here:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/round-five-twelve-months-of-shenanigans-ends-with-a-family-surf-n’-turf-spring-break.911138/

The Cliff’s Notes version is that we took our annual spring trip but for the first time it would be during Spring Break week. The trip also marked the first time the DD would be going on a cruise, something the DW and I couldn’t wait for her to experience. Another first would be our crew experiencing the Poly, super excited about this too! So, without further ado, let’s get this party started!

Wednesday:
We still had to get through the work day before we embarked on the trip which included me teaching my 5:30 computer ethics class and the DW’s Jazzercise class. I picked her and the DD up at 7:00 right after swinging by Zaxsby’s for some to-go chow. We were on the road by 7:20 and heading down GA400 towards Macon for our overnight pit stop. We pulled into Macon around 930-9:45 and checked into the La Quinta inn. The hotel served it’s purpose, a place to sleep part way to the bubble. The DW and I knocked out some grading before calling it a night by 11:30.

Thursday:
So the alarm was set for 5:30 but La Quinta had other plans… About 4:00-4:30 the smoke alarm in the room began chirping..you know that chirp, the one that says “hey, the battery is dying, change it”. Only problem is there is no taking this smoke detector down and replacing the battery. This meant every two minutes or so the detector would chirp. Good luck sleeping through that! So we were up and put La Quinta behind us before 5:00! The good news was that we would be to Disney that much earlier the bad news was that NOTHING drive-thru was open for breakfast yet! So we drove a short while and made a pit stop at a Walmart to pick up some things we forgot, something we’ve gotten quite good at lately; forgetting. By the time we left The Marts McDs was open! So we grabbed some quick food and made for the bubble! About 3 hours of uneventful driving later and we hit our first sign of hope!

About two more hours later and we were there! Don’t let the clouds in the pic fool you the weather was GREAT!

Soon we were pulling into the Poly’s parking lot. It was WARM! I checked in with the front desk but our room was not ready, they’d text when it was. We decided to check out the grounds a bit and hang at the pool.

A family of ducks getting some shade!

With that I decided to relax at the pool for a bit since I still had some classwork to deal with while the ladies branched out for some food.

Soon, the ladies were texting me to come over to the DVC pool as it was quiet and had some good looking food options. It was pretty beautiful over there for sure too.

DD went with the kid’s Hawaiian burger

DW went with the kid’s fish taco

I went with the pork sliders

The food was excellent, especially for a pool side snack shack! So we relaxed here a bit longer before the ladies took to exploring the Poly and GF some until our room became available.

Still to come: An amazing standard view room and The Grand Floridian Café.

 

[lostpro9het]

Great report! We're planning for a summer 2017 DCL cruise and I can't wait (we've never been)! Do either of you happen to remember what those lovely Cove bar drinks were called?

Cafe Mocha!

 

[lostpro9het]

So after a quick visit to Rain Forest our Mixology class time was up. We had done mixology on our previous cruises and really enjoyed it. It seems each time we’ve done a course it has been in a different lounge, coincidence I’m sure. This go around we were in Skyline Lounge which is pretty neat in itself. The “skyline” behind the bar changes periodically between five different cities: New York, Chicago, Rio, Paris, and Hong Kong. In addition to the changing the skyline, the artwork on the opposite wall also changes! The ambiance in the lounge is excellent.

So with that we met Adam and were introduced to his philosophies on the art of drink creation and presentation. He was very passionate about what his work and art. After introductions we were all ready to mix! First up:
Sunrises!

Next we made some martini’s. The DW jumped in and volunteered to demo this one

Next up: Mojitos! We all got to get in on the muddling fun for this one.

Still to come: Mixology shots, Palo, and some Pirate fireworks.

 

[imahistorygeek]

This was my favorite mixology by far. As Sean mentioned, Adam was quite passionate about his work. He made a couple of additional drinks at the end, one being a raspberry and blackberry mojito and a shot with a dash of hot sauce in the middle. You can see the full-size drinks on the bar. He gave them away and I should have grabbed the mojito, but Palo was coming up and I knew wine was in my future.

There are a couple of things that bother me about mixology...they're minor, but they seem to happen....every.single.time.

There's never enough stuff prepped for the amount of people. This event always seems overbooked. We are usually sardines in a can at the bar. People are always late and I don't believe we've ever started on time. There's a time on your ticket for a reason. I believe we started at least 10-20 minutes late because we were waiting on others to arrive.

Overall, this is always a great event and quite a deal considering the amount of alcohol you get for the price. If you're interested, make sure you sign up as soon as you get on board.

 

[lostpro9het]

Next for mixology we had layered shots. This may be my favorite as its more than just dumping a bunch of ingredients in a glass and shaking. You have to carefully layer each pour of alcohol so as not to disturb the layer below and “mix”.
Layer one:

Layer two:

Layer three:

Finished product:

My first two pours were good but my last pour was a little vigorous I guess as you can see my top layer is a bit cloudy. But I still did better than Adam’s assistants; their shot is on the left.

Finally, Adam decided to show off a bit. Here layered two clear alcohols THEN dropped in some Tabasco sauce along the edge of the glass which found its way in between the layers!

When all was said and done we had all made and drank four mixed drinks and Adam made two additional ones. We were allowed to decide amongst ourselves who would enjoy Adam’s work. The DW and I opted out as we were already happy enough and we still had Palo to get to.

On the way out we walked through Pink but not before snapping another pic:

So we made it back to our stateroom to find the DD, you guessed it, watching more Disney movies on demand… We asked her if she was going to attend Royal Palace for our rotation or order in. Any guesses what she chose? Well needless to say those on demand movies weren’t going to watch themselves so the she got back to work while the DW and I got our Palo faces on.

No, you are not loosing your mind, this may be the exact same picture I took in September! Seen here.

If you look over the DW’s shoulder you may notice what appears to be smoke rising from Nassau! Something sure was burning there!

On our way to Palo we noticed another cruise ship heading towards Nassau, a Norwegian I think

We were a little early to Palo so we enjoyed some time out on the back deck before dinner:

Up next: Palo dinner, Fireworks, and Castaway Cay 5k.

 

[lostpro9het]

So it was Palo time! The small up charge for the opportunity to have a quite adult dinner is well worth it. The service and food have always been stellar for us and tonight was no different.

We were quickly seated and introduced to our service team for the evening. While we reviewed the dinner and wine menu our host brought out some cured meats, cheeses, olives, peppers, artichoke, and bread

We ordered a bottle of red to go with dinner, I can’t quite recall the name but it was very good.

For starts we went with caprese, gnocchi, and Tuscan white bean soup. The DW LOVED the soup on our last trip but since September they changed the recipe and it was not as good as before.

After our appetizers we received a palette cleanser.

Up next were our mains. I’m a sucker for a good steak so did not deviate from getting my usual, The Palo. It was awesome as usual and I have no complaints.

The DW went with the wild mushroom risotto.

While we were being served dinner, we let our server know we were interested in the soufflé for dessert as it can take a while to make. Not too long after we finished our meals did our desserts come out with our coffee order.

Of course no meal can be complete without the after dinner apple shot!

We spent about two hours at dinner and it really seemed to fly by. Again, the food and service were excellent and we look forward to dining their again in October. I’ll let the DW speak more to her entrée and the soup.

Up next: Pirate fireworks, Castaway Cay, and Serenity Bay!

 

[imahistorygeek]

Palo is always a treat. The atmosphere, food, and adults-only requirement make this completely worth the up charge. As far as the dress code changes go, I'll just say that I am none too pleased.

I usually order the same appetizers, dessert, and go with a different main entree. This time was no different.

Tomatoes and cheese were excellent as was the dessert.

The soup...where do I begin. The last time I had the Tuscan white bean soup, it was pureed and AMAZING. This time, the beans were whole, sitting in a chicken broth with pancetta and kale.

Side note: Back in the day, Sean and I used to work at Wendy's in the days of the Super Bar. Kale was a garnish. When it became dirty, you washed it in soapy water (which perked it right up) and put it right back out on the bar. It's weird to see kale as an actual food...that people (myself included) willingly eat.

Back to the soup. Let's just say not good. The manager came by and asked about the food. I told him the soup was better pureed. He said that others have mentioned the same thing. I have high hopes the Tuscan bean soup will return to its former, pureed glory!

Main entree: Sean asked me what I had and for the life of me I could not remember. I told him it must have not made an impression. He showed me the picture and then I remembered it was a mushroom risotto. The dish itself was excellent. The presentation however, was quite disgusting. Look at it. There's nothing appetizing about the presentation. It's a brown blob. Would I order it again? Yes, on the condition that it doesn't look disgusting.

Again, this is always a must-do for our trips.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Some of you more savvy readers may also recognize my blue dress in the mixology. Well, that's the same blue dress I wore to the last mixology. I wear that dress every vacation. I had a pinkish one just like that I left at Animal Kingdom Lodge. The sadness was real.

 

[pirategal]

Love the report so far, thanks for sharing! That picture of "risotto" is crazy!! I'm glad it tasted good, at least.

 

[imahistorygeek]

I've decided that my risotto looks like the back end of a cuttlefish.

 

[lostpro9het]

I've decided that my risotto looks like the back end of a cuttlefish.

 

[imahistorygeek]

View attachment 141343

Nailed it.

 

[Sans Souci]

I've decided that my risotto looks like the back end of a cuttlefish.

It looks delicious. I once had something similar there, but there was polenta underneath. I love it. I went to Palo on the Magic last summer on a Med cruise. I had the tuna and it was gorgeous.

 

[lostpro9het]

So it was dark when we left Palo but we still had some time to kill before the Pirates Fireworks. We leisurely made our way back to the stateroom and snapped a few pics along the way.

After returning to our room we noted that we had some towel art and paperwork waiting on us.

We relaxed for a bit before making our way to top deck to get settled in for the fireworks. It seems like we were not the only ones waiting on the fireworks. These two ships were just out there in a holding pattern, I believe, waiting on the fireworks.

Soon it was time, things got dark, the POTC music got loud and things started going BOOM!

The fireworks, as always, were a lot of fun. They do a great job of theming the display to music. We and a quick elevator ride to our room and it was lights out! I would be running the CC5K solo in the morning so I had an early start.

Still to come: Castaway already, a little run, and a little rain.

 

[lostpro9het]

So throughout the night you could feel the boat moving a bit more than normal. I didn’t really think anything of it until I woke up the next morning to see we had already docked at Castaway! Typically, for us anyway, we are awake to see us dock at CC. When I woke early to see CC I figured they must have hauled some tail to get us docked early. The late morning weather front might have been the reason why, but more on that later. So I was up bright and early and had to make my way down to Evolution by 8:15 for the 5k check-in. I dropped into Cabanas first for a little breakfast beforehand.

The weather felt great during breakfast but I knew it would heat up fast, which it did. It was time to head down to Evolution to get my bib and check in.

Once all had checked in, we migrated down to the main level to disembark and make for the starting line. We stopped along the way a few times to regroup. You can see some ominous skies just over the ship.

The DW and I ran this together in the fall and I was amazed by how flat the run was. Being from a mountain town no matter what direction you run there will be a hill so island running was like running downhill the whole time! While I’m not a runner I was on a small mission to do as well as I could. I will say I made one mistake and that was not getting to the front of the line at the start. I was in the very back and regretted it immediately. Right off the bat there is a huge bottleneck moving forward and then you have to navigate the walkers and moms with strollers, yes there were strollers in the 5k. I’d say after the first 200 meters I was able to break off from the herd and found myself about 20 from the front of the pack. After about 2.5 miles I was in the top five but just ran out of course to catch the rest of the pack, not to say that I would have but I might have been able to break top three. Anyway, 22 minutes and 20 seconds later here I am, slightly disappointed but happy to be finished.

Still to come: Aint got no time for rain, serenity bay, and some family fun.

 

[MinnieM123]

Really enjoying your trip report. By the way, that third photo you took (an angle shot over the railing looking down below) was a very artsy in composition. I literally gasped for a second when I saw it, because you captured just how high up you were on that deck. Nice picture!

 

[lostpro9het]

So after the race I took a quick shower and changed at the changing rooms on the beach. I pulled out the stateroom phone, which work on CCC, and phoned the DW to see where she and the DD were at. After about ten minutes of misdirection I found them and began to settle down when the skies opened up and rained down on us. Thankfully our beach spot was very close to Cookie’s BBQ seating area so we made for dry cover:

Even this little guy wanted nothing to do with the wet stuff falling from the sky

THANKFULLY, as quick as the rain came it was gone! A sad side effect, though, was that all the excursions for the day had been canceled. This meant the DD’s teen excursion was a no-go now. I’d like to say she was disappointed but I think she may have been relieved to learn she didn’t have to have fun at CC. I, unfortunately, was at the point where I think she was being moody teen for the sake of being a moody teen and was over her Debby Downess. So, with stateroom phone in hand, she decided to head back to the ship. The DW would not let this bring us down. The sun was coming out and serenity bay was calling our name!

Still to come: Serenity bay, a Mickey cameo, and some surprising ship entertainment.

 

[imahistorygeek]

After about ten minutes of misdirection I found them and began to settle down when the skies opened up and rained down on us.

What he meant to say was that I got him lost. Honestly, I can't find my way out of a paper bag. I turn around at least once when I'm driving to an unknown location.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Sean hasn't mentioned our kid that much. Yeah, she was a Debbie Downer. She wanted nothing to do with the teen club. I did make her go and do things by herself. We probably will not take her cruising again until she's 18. Plus, we have SO MUCH fun by ourselves!

 

[bee]

Loving the report and photos! Especially the Palo and mixology pics. One day...

Glad you didn't let your mopey DD get you down. I went on a cruise with my family when I was 17 and my brother (who I was and still am very close to) was 11. I never went to any of the teenager clubs and probably would have also been a Debbie downer if my brother hadn't been there but we ended up having a lot of fun together without our parents.

 

[Beckett]

Awesome trip report! Still laughing at the cuttlefish risotto I remember being the moody teen myself when my parents took me on a cruise as a teen. I'm not sure if your daughter is an only child, but I was and my mom also made me go to the teen's club and after much complaining I ended up having fun. My 9 year old daughter is also an only child and I know that this stage is coming soon, because it seems to come right after the whole "being embarrassed by everything my mom does" stage which she seems to be currently entering.