You've got a friend in Me(d) - Day 10 - Villefranche

[Scruffette]

Day 10 – Villefranche

With no planned coach excursion, we decided to start the day with a leisurely breakfast in Lumiere’s. This was our last chance to try Lumiere’s for breakfast, as tomorrow we would be having brunch at Palo (spoiler – brunch was great!)



We shared a few pastries between us – a chocolate twist, a lemon muffin and a cinnamon whirl. I had a hot chocolate to drink and Ollie had an orange juice.



I went for the Waffle Sandwich - Two Waffles stuffed with Dulce de Leche and rolled in Sugar Cinnamon and garnished with Watermelon wedges



This was incredibly sweet, definitely more pudding than breakfast! I think I preferred the pineapple French toast from our first breakfast.

Ollie went for Traditional Eggs Benedict - Toasted English Muffin with Grilled Canadian Bacon served with Poached Egg topped with Hollandaise Sauce, grilled Roma Tomatoes and link Sausages



He also had a side of hash browns and a side of baked beans.

After breakfast we noticed that the re-booking desk didn’t have a queue (a rare sight) and thought it would be rude not go and have a chat.

We had spent the past few days discussing honeymoons (clearly prioritising the honeymoon over the wedding) and really fancied the transatlantic. We knew putting down a placeholder, the 2018 transatlantic probably wouldn’t fall within the two year window. However, we put down a placeholder ‘just in case’.

I’m glad we did this, as the transatlantic for 2018 turned out to be a disappointing, and we’re using the placeholder for a 7 night Caribbean on the Disney Fantasy instead (which falls two days inside our booking window).

I think on any future cruise we’ll put down a placeholder ‘just in case’.
We told the lady on the desk about the engagement, and she said ‘ooh, that was you!’ Word had gotten around the staff on the ship

Feeling quite happy with ourselves, we headed down to catch the tender boat, where they had just announced it was now an open tender (no need to pick up a ticket).

The tender boat journey was a great opportunity to take pictures of the beautiful ship.











The Villefranche coastline was also beautiful.









We had no particular plans, and just went for an amble for a couple of hours.







We headed along the coast and couldn’t resist a paddle.







Villfranche is made up of narrow little streets with various shops and eateries, and we spent time just having a wander.









We found some lovely gardens near the museum. I think it was Citadelle Saint-Elme, which was a lovely point to get some more ship pictures!













We picked up our magnet in one of the shops. The magnets were definitely pricier in Villefranche, I think as there aren’t the same volume of touristy type stalls. The magnet is more robust though. We also picked up an ice cream to share.



We made our way back to the tender boat and had very little wait. We probably spent just over two hours on Villefranche, and had a nice chilled morning.

[Scruffette]

Once back on board we headed back to the room, where our pirate bandanas were waiting for us.

As today was the only day we would get the chance for a sit down lunch, we headed back to Lumiere’s for our second meal of the day. Our serving team were here again – they really do long days, as we saw them at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

To start, we shared a piece of quiche. I can’t find this lunch menu online, but I’m pretty sure it has cheese in. It wasn’t the most exciting quiche I’ve ever had, but the nutty crust was quite nice.



For mains, we both went for the pork dish. I really enjoyed the rich sauce on this dish.



For dessert, we shared a bread pudding and a chocolate cake. The bread pudding was the winner out of the two.





Please can I have this as a feature wall in the lounge?



The afternoon was to be spent chilling in the rainforest room, using the passes that Ollie ordered as a surprise in the room. My thinking was that it would be less busy on a port day than on a sea day. This theory was right – most of the time it was just us, and one other couple came in towards the end.

We spent some time just relaxing in the steam room and on the heated chairs. I may have had a brief nap on one of the heated chairs. However, one of the steam rooms I didn’t think was particularly warm.

Also, I was certain I could hear some kind of banging on the ceiling of the area. Turns out the basketball court is above the rainforest room. Not great planning there!

The other thing the area was missing was a Jacuzzi. So, we popped out to the adult only pool deck to use the Jacuzzi there, and then went back into the rainforest room. Perfect! A lovely chilled couple of hours.

I headed back to the room to shower and get ready for dinner. Ollie popped back with a snack of some fruit and a wrap to share. Our stomachs had definitely adapted to cruising!



We donned our pirate bandanas, I wore a stripy dress and Ollie put in a bit more effort with a striped top, a patch and sword.

Tonight’s show was Junnk, who do comedy/percussion.



The show was very entertaining and we had a good chuckle. Their set had a few Disney touches hidden throughout. However, I thought their ‘beware of the alligator’ sign wasn’t in the best taste.

The characters were all out in their pirate outfits.



After the show, we met Minnie in her pirate gear. We posed like pirates, and there was a hilarious moment with the cast member saying ‘Look Minnie, he’s got his sword out’.

It was then time for a pop to Shutters, where we made our final decision on the prints of the engagement photos and ordered these.



Dinner tonight was in Lumiere’s – yes, that’s 3 meals in a day there!

Unfortunately, one of our table mates was feeling unwell and unable to join us, so it was just 3 of us. The serving team were great and took up some dinner to the stateroom for her.

Tonight was the Captain’s Gala menu – a bit of an odd choice for Pirate night!

My straw cover was made into a heart.



To start I had the Lightly Breaded Baked Eggplant – Filled with Sweet Ricotta and Mozzarella, served on Toscano Sauce and Drizzled with Aged Balsamic



This was one of my favourite appetisers of the trip. Effectively, this was like an eggplant parmigiana.

Ollie ordered the Aged Prosciutto – Served with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Parmesan Cheese, and Roasted Garlic, which he enjoyed



I then went for the Braised Oxtail Soup – With Spinach and Roasted Garlic Tortelloni



Ollie had the Beef Steak Tomato and Vidalia Onion Salad -With Baby Greens, Spring Onions and a Cabernet Wine Vinaigrette



The salad looked a bit sad, and less cheesy than last nigh’ts salad. I just showed Ollie the picture to ask him his opinion, and he said ‘Did I cry when I received this?’ Not remembered fondly then!

For mains, I had the Pan-Seared Venison Medallions – With Marinated Red Cabbage, Potato Croquettes and a Port Wine and Juniper Reduction



There was a pork dish on the menu that also sounded nice, then I realised it sounded just like what I ate for lunch!

Ollie ordered the Fettuccine with Parmesan Crusted Chicken – Chicken encrusted in Parmesan Cheese, with Sweet Peppers and Mushrooms in a Cheddar Cheese Sauce



Ollie asked our servers for some paper, and taught everyone how to make these water balloons.



Our servers also gave us some logic puzzles which were great fun. I liked how we still got games and interaction, even though we were an all adult table.

For dessert, I had the Warm Chocolate Lava Cake – Served warm with Double Chocolate Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream



This was right up my street as I love a chocolate dessert.

Ollie had the Sweet Temptation – A trio of Banana Crčme Brulee, Cheesecake and Apple Pie



After dinner, it was time for the Pirates deck party. I love how Mickey zip lines across the ship! The whole party just seemed a lot more high energy than the Frozen party.



I love the fireworks at sea and the novelty of watching fireworks from a ship.



My one firework snap!

After the fireworks, there was the pirate buffet. Being that close to dinner, we obviously weren’t hungry. However, neither of us had ever tried a turkey leg and we both really wanted to try one.



A few bites each was enough. I’m not sure I’m going to be buying one in the park any time soon, but I’m glad I tried one!

After the deck party, we headed to the shop to pick up a few things we had been eyeing up.

First up was this DCL frame, for one of our engagement snaps, which is proudly displayed in our lounge (but no Beauty and the Beast feature wall as yet…)



I bought my Dad this Star Wars model for Christmas.



I also bought him this mug as his holiday present. Interesting that the Star Wars day at sea merchandise was available, even though this wasn’t applicable to our cruise.





I then bought my mum this bag for Christmas. I thought it was very nautical!



We had a chat in the shop to some of the cast members that Ollie met on Monday night.

It was after midnight by this point, so definitely time for bed.

Tonight’s towel animal, complete with gold coins.



The tip envelopes started to make it feel real that there wasn’t too much cruise left!



Day 11 – Day at Sea

[Gill H]

What a lovely day. Villefranche looks beautiful. I think we will do the same - just mooch.

I wonder what happened to the pirate menu? Lots of people don't like it, so maybe they have dropped it!

[saffy202]

We were on the same cruise as you and have booked the fantasy western cruise for sept 2018

[Scruffette]

Originally Posted by Gill H

What a lovely day. Villefranche looks beautiful. I think we will do the same - just mooch.

I wonder what happened to the pirate menu? Lots of people don't like it, so maybe they have dropped it!

See more...

After some busy days, just having a mooch around was perfect!

I think they had to make room for the Frozen menu, so dropped the pirate one last year. There are some navigators available for the med cruises from this year (on the blog) and it looks like the pirate menu is back.

Originally Posted by saffy202

We were on the same cruise as you and have booked the fantasy western cruise for sept 2018

See more...

Snap! Have you booked the first one in September? It was just in time for the placeholder!

[Gill H]

Yes, I've seen that the pirate menu is back.

[saffy202]

Originally Posted by Scruffette

After some busy days, just having a mooch around was perfect!


Snap! Have you booked the first one in September? It was just in time for the placeholder!

See more...

Yes we have! So excited that it is turning into a Halloween Cruise