2022 Epic Cruise & Orlando Eats - Disney Springs 1 added

[CumbrianKitten]

Just as a side note before I start today. As the cruise was drawing closer we were unsure about booking excursions for the islands as there was a chance the port authority’s wouldn’t allow the ships to dock at all the ports. We decided we would just do a little research and just spend some time on the beach and have a general look around the cruise port area.

So after the disappointing breakfast yesterday we decided to try the main ship buffet.

I had a coffee with some fruit, plain yog and a cinnamon doughnut 🍩 which was amazing. Then I’d spied French toast so had this with some banana caramel sauce and American bacon and a Spanish omlette which DH recommended.

This was his plate

We both enjoyed this and thought it was good for buffet food and was better than yesterday.

You not that there was no gym this morning! 😆

More wandering around the ship to see the areas we hadn’t been yet. Found some Lego people and the kids water park.

Then we hung around and packed a bag to take with us whilst waiting for Jamaica to approach!

DH fancied something sweet so picked up one of these from the lounge

We got off the ship and knew there was a public beach close by so walked there. If this was your first cruise I would imagine leaving the cruise port could be quite intimidating. There was a lot of taxi drivers and people touting for business. It was not aggressive in the slightest and everyone was just looking to earn a living. If you said no everyone was lovely and polite but you are constantly pestered until you leave the area.

We took some pictures of the boat since this was the first time you get to see the size of it. It’s quite hidden at the port area. We knew us was under half capacity at less than 3k passengers due to covid rules.

The beach was lovely cost $2 for access and $5 if you wanted a subbed but we knew we would only be there an hour or so.

After relaxing on the beach 🏖 we headed back to the port as I wanted to get a magnet (buy them from everywhere we visit) and a cocktail at Margaritaville. We took a few touristy photos and made our way back to the ship after the ultimate Margarita and a Rum Runner.
Was a party vibe and we had a laugh in here. Got a shout out from the DJ and it was nice to see the holiday atmosphere returning to the places that have suffered.

We were feeling the effects of the drinks (and sun DH said) so returned to the ship for a relax and a snack. When we returned to the room we had this

We had been told we could choose a bottle of spirit for the room and we received some kind of snack. Was some Parma ham, string cheese and breadsticks. 🤔
We had a selection of sandwiches from the lounge and I had a glass of wine and sat on the balcony for a while.

We went to the back of the ship to take some pictures of the bridge of sighs

This was a lovely area but the infinity pools at the back were strictly no drinks even though they had beds in the water couldn’t take the plastic glasses past the steps for some reason. Was all adults only too!

So we decided to give the dining room another go tonight and got dressed for the occasion.

The menu for this evening

Starters were the Beef Tartare, Asparagus and the Swordfish. As meatloaf sang “2 out of 3 ain’t bad”. The swordfish was super salty and I couldn’t eat it.

For main I asked for grilled salmon which turned up with no sauce but it was lovely

DH had the Sea Bream and he said it was nice but wasn’t much accompanied it.

We decided to share the Rum Cake for desert. For me the ice cream was divine as I love coconut. DH said it was a step up from yesterday but still not as good as the first day!

Had a few night caps In the top sail lounge as we do enjoy their whiskey sours.

Tomorrow is Grand Caymen

[Goldia]

The food on board and the cocktails in Jamaica look delicious. It looks like you're having a fab time.

I'm enjoying reading about your cruise. We've never done one but I am tempted.

[ClaireNJ]

Breakfast looked yummy
That beach was great too, quite empty 😎🙊
I’ve been waiting for your next update 🤩

[CumbrianKitten]

Sorry for the delay I’m so busy being back at work but I really want to get through this xx

[CumbrianKitten]

So the pre-narrative about today is that absolutely no research was done into this islands because we were certain that we wouldn’t get here. Their stance on letting cruise ships in had been a big fat NO! Our itinerary had shown an additional sea day since Xmas and we honestly didn’t think it would change.
Well the government announced in April that the cruise ships could return as long as they were at 60% max capacity were fully vaccinated or it was the first port following a neg covid test.
So here we were going to an island we knew nothing about like a right pair of tourists 😆
But……it did mean I got another magnet!

Georgetown was a tender port so we needed to wait for boats to get off. We had arrived early so we heard an announcement we could get off from 8am. We had a quick breakfast which was a bowl of cereal and packed a bag to get off. We had googled the island and knew we would need a taxi to get to a beach but there was a few things round the port area so we thought we would stay there for a while.

First thing we see were chickens 🐓 crossing the road

this amused me greatly.

We walked around the port but hardly anything was open and there wasn’t much to see.
We decided to get back on the ship and spend some time I. The thermal spa and chill out. I wish we had booked an excursion in all honestly as we didn’t get anything from this island. Im sure it’s lovely but not finding out we were coming here until last min made it difficult to plan anything.

Back on the ship and who pulls in next to us?

Disney Fantasy looking amazing 🤩

We had lunch which for me was a cheese burger which was so lovey probably one of the nicest I’ve ever had. DH had a bite and ended up eating half as well as the chicken Kiev and mixed peppers. He said this didn’t compare to the burger.

We chilled in the sun a while

then went and used the spa facilities which was great as it was so quiet we had everything to ourselves.

We changed for the evening and headed out to the restaurant

This evenings menu

We fancied a few things so ordered a selection to share
Asparagus soup

beef consume

Cheese fritters

All a hit but the stand out was the cheese fritters and we really enjoyed these.
Watched the lovely sunset

Mains were Beef Tenderloin

Veal

And lobster

Verdict was 5 star ⭐️ defo stand out meal of the cruise. Everything was perfect and delicious.
Deserts were vanilla cream

Ice cream pyramid

Again fantastic we really enjoyed the evening and we went to watch a few things going on around the ship before calling it a night

Tomorrow 🇲🇽 Mexico

[CumbrianKitten]

We had decided to book an excursion in Cozumel and chose to book Mr Sanchos through Viator’s after seeing some excellent reviews. It was an all inclusive resort where food and drinks were included. They also had kayaks a lovely beach area and pools to use. There were other water sports and activities available at an on cost but it was really reasonable.

Today is quite light on pics as we popped our things in a locker and enjoyed the time on the beach working our way through the cocktail menu.

We had a light breakfast this morning on the pool deck

We headed off the ship and knew we would need to jump a taxi as it was about a 20 min car journey. It cost $25 each way and taxis went straight from the port area. Cozumel port area was really big with lots of nice shops, bars and restaurants. We felt it was the nicest port we visited on the cruise.

When we arrived at Mr Sanchos there were lots of little shops selling nice things for reasonable prices. We went to the reception and checked in and we’re allocated a server who asked if we wanted beds or a table. We asked for beds on the beach

He explained how things worked. There was a buffet available to help yourself and there was a menu to order fresh food. Cocktails were brought to you by your server if you wanted or there were a few bars to visit.
We had our first margarita locked out belongings away and went for a wander.
There were 2 pool bars where you could sit in the water at the bar or sit on bar swings. The bar tenders were amazing. They were engaging and funny writing messages on the cups as they served you. We became known as “English Barbie and Ken” and the bartenders knew how to make a cocktail.
The buffet consisted of chips and salsa with fresh guacamole. There was lots of Mexican dishes to chose from but we decided to order some coconut shrimp, beef tacos and a Mexican burger. Unfortunately I didn’t take any more pics as I kept my phone locked away.
The food was lovely and we couldn’t fault anything.
We spent more time drinking and enjoying the sunshine before returning to the ship.
Not before I bought the best hat ever!

When we got back to the ship we had a power nap to Sleep off some of those margaritas.

This night turned into a bit of bar hopping and we completely missed dinner. We ended up chatting to a couple from Brazil and had a lovely night so we ordered a pizza to the room which ended up in the bed with us. 😆

Tomorrow is a sea day

[ClaireNJ]

Food looked amazing especially that ice cream pyramid 🙊🙊
Love your bikini lovely colours 💕

[CumbrianKitten]

Originally Posted by ClaireNJ

Food looked amazing especially that ice cream pyramid 🙊🙊
Love your bikini lovely colours 💕

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I’m very bright and love a matchy x

[KarenG]

I’ve heard great things about Mr Sanchos

Are you finding issues with the food being hot enough? It all looks picture perfect but if the taste is disappointing it doesn’t really matter how it looks.

[CumbrianKitten]

Originally Posted by CumbrianKitten

I’m very bright and love a matchy x

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Originally Posted by KarenG

I’ve heard great things about Mr Sanchos
It was amazing

Are you finding issues with the food being hot enough? It all looks picture perfect but if the taste is disappointing it doesn’t really matter how it looks.

See more...

A few things were bland. Mainly the chilled starters we found tasteless. The breakfast on the first day was cold but that was our only issue with cold food,