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Old 23 Feb 20, 05:55 PM  
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lumosq102
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A Grand Adventure – May 2019 - Day 4 - on a boat (reprise)

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Saturday 18 May

Ahh that first morning walking up on a cruise ship. The gentle rocking of the ship, the sound of the sea. Bliss. You would think by the amount we had drank the day before that we might have been taking it easy this morning. By the standard of our last few days, we were. We were both awake by about 7.30am, with R wandering up to Cove Café to pick up a couple of coffees to help us get our day started – a hazelnut latte for me, a regular latte for R.

Whilst I waited for her to return to our stateroom with our fuel I found myself on our veranda watching the sea behind us. We would soon be arriving into port at Nassau, and by goodness was it a beautiful day.



Sigh.

I was still in my jammies when R got back, so distracted was I by that glorious view.

I was extra excited by the coffee, moreso than my usual need for caffeine – they now print pictures on the foam at Cove Café. Almost too cute to drink. Almost.

R had plumped for Steamboat Willie Mickey:



(lets take a moment for that carpet – such a great pattern)

and Minnie Mouse enjoying a cup of coffee, on a cup of coffee. It’s meta.



We happily decamped to the veranda to relax on the loungers and just take in the view. It was bliss.



We don’t often slow down on holiday, its not our style – mornings are for rope drop and mad dashes around the park – but this morning was definitely a reminder that once in a while a slow start is a perfectly lovely way to start the day.



We hung out until Nassau came into view, the ship swinging around so it could back into port meant that we had a fantastic view of the whole endeavour.



It was quite glorious.





I eventually dragged myself out of my jammies and into day clothes, and whilst everyone else was heading off the ship we were heading up to Cabanas for breakfast.

First priority – POG juice.



R’s plate was up first



She’s a sweet and savoury gal at breakfast – it’s the American in her.

My plate was a tribute to carbs



I love anywhere that will give me rice for breakfast – huzzah for the Asian breakfast section of the buffet.

It was all delicious and we were both very much ready for the day ahead (whilst seeing off that slight hangover from all the drinks yesterday).

We did have tickets for the princess meet and greet in the atrium, but we decided instead to head back to the room, switch out to our swimsuits and head on up to ride the Aquaduck whilst there wasn’t much of a line. Of course, no photos from this point in the day.

The Aquaduck was pretty much a walk on so we zipped up, soared around the ship in a big plastic tube that juts off the side of the boat, and then back to earth with a splash. We then picked ourselves up and headed on over to the adult only pool for a little bit of a dip in the only deep pool on the ship, with some time on the sun loungers and in the hot tub for good measure. I managed to completely reset my fitbit whilst in the pool. Nice work

One thing we did notice was just how busy the adult area was. It was a port day, and whilst we knew that Nassau was not a popular port, we were surprised by just how many people were on the ship, specifically in the adult only areas. When we were on the Fantasy it felt like we had this area entirely to ourselves sometimes, and it was very rarely busy. Today it was difficult to get in the pool or the hot tub. Perhaps the longer cruises have more of a family vibe and the shorter cruises are more popular with adult only cruisers?

We dragged ourselves away from the pool about 11am and headed back to the stateroom to shower off and get ready for our trip to the spa for our manicures and pedicures. We made it back to the top deck a little after noon to grab a light snack before our appointment – Flo’s V8 café for pizza it was. Its not gourmet pizza, but its yummy – I went with the cheese pizza with a load of chilli flakes added, R went with chicken and sweetcorn which was the days special.

We took them through to the seating area in the adult only area as the seating by Flo’s was rammed, and chilled for a little bit before we were due into the spa.

Pizzas consumed, R took the plates over to the collection area and went to throw the crusts in the bin, unfortunately she trapped her finger in the swing door of the bin and managed to take a strip of skin off right by the nail bed. You might say ouch, judging by how white her face went in no time at all I think you might be right.

Timing is everything.

We found a CM who was able to get the blood off the bin and gave R some tissue for her wound. We thought our best place to go would be the spa as they were likely to have a first aid kit and could patch her up, and helpfully the spa is mere steps away from the adult only area.

We checked in and explained what had happened just a few minutes before & the team were able to clean her up and pop on this odd powder stuff that stopped the bleeding and sealed the wound. She of course would no longer be able to have the manicure, but she was keen to go ahead with the pedicure.

The staff got us settled in to the nail salon, a long, narrow room that had floor to ceiling windows looking out onto the sea and our neighbouring cruise ship. It was a beautiful location.

We started off with our pedicures. I was a week away from my 40th birthday and this was my very first pedicure. I know, I don’t know how I have managed to avoid it either. Colours were selected, feet were buffed and massaged, and by golly did they try to upsell us on everything. It was exhausting rather than the lovely chilled afternoon activity we were expecting.

Maybe we were both a little stressed after R’s accident and were having a hard time relaxing… anyway my mani/pedi was $145, R’s pedicure was $85, tips added of course as I know that’s how they are making their wages (along with the commission on the upsell that had been so blatant). I didn’t manage to take pics of what had been done, but sadly my nails had chipped before the end of the day. Que sera.

It was about 2.30pm when we were done, we headed back onto the main deck and decided to get ourselves a little dessert at Vanellope’s, the upcharge ice cream and candy emporium. I can’t resist gelato…

We got a cup each – pistachio, white chocolate and hazelnut for me, R’s choices lost to time… it was fine, not the best gelato we have ever had… one to skip next time.

Hey look – partial manicure shot!





We found a lovely spot to enjoy our treats, a little outdoor seating area in cabanas that we had not found before. We could soak in the sunshine, watch the world go by and just relax… it was lovely.

We skipped back to the room briefly to freshen up before we headed off to our next activity – and of course there had to be a trip out to the veranda briefly. It was a glorious day, quite warm but just pretty as a picture.



Back to the aft lifts and a snap of couple of very relaxed gals.



We were heading back up to Meridian for our martini tasting event. We were a relatively small group, many of whom were already dressed for Pirate Night, hosted by the lovely Lionel. It’s a bit of a surreal sight though - a gathering of adults, half dressed as pirates, sat in a high end bar drinking tiny martinis.

We started with a dirty martini, but things only got better from there:







I wish I could remember what the other martinis were, but that’s another thing that is lost to time. Other than the dirty martini they were all delicious, and ended with this – the chocolate martini



yup, didn’t suck.

Lionel ended with a giveaway of one full size chocolate martini. Lionel said he gave this away each time to the person closest to their birthday. Lucky old me, I was the only person who had a birthday in the next week so I wobbled up to the bar to collect my winnings



I did of course share with R

It was a lovely way to spend the late afternoon & Lionel was fantastic. He was telling us how hard it is to get cardamom pods in the US, which just seems crazy to me, able to rock up to the shops and buy a huge bag for £1. He gave us the recipe for a pineapple cardamom martini that I still need to try out… he usually would serve it, but cardamom pods are apparently a rare find on the ship.

We nipped back to the room for a quick change. We had sort of slept on pirate costumes until we were packing and remembered that we really should have vaguely pirate outfits for pirate night. There was desperate rummaging through wardrobes to create something workable.

Our efforts:



Not tooooo bad.

We were dashing out early to the Walt Disney Theatre for the first show of the evening – it was time for the Beauty and the Beast show.



I was super excited about this one. It was based on the recent live action film version, but still I had heard nothing but good things about the show. We got there early to get good seats, settled in and just…. Wow.

As is standard for DCL shows, no pics are allowed. I’d highly recommend looking at the clips you can find on youtube that DCL released. The cast are exceptional, the sets glorious, the puppetry is beautiful. Highly recommended from start to finish.

Post show, it was 7.30pm and time for dinner. We were determined to skip out on rotational dining this time and wanted to try out dinner at Cabanas. It was delightfully easy – we just showed up and were seated in moments right by the window, ready for a glorious sunset.



Another bonus? A completely different menu to the rotational restaurant, with a pick and mix approach from other menus.



First up – bread service. Perfectly lovely, nothing out of the ordinary, but good fluffy bread rolls



I was obsessing over our view



The main difference for dinner service at Cabanas is that it switches from buffet to table service. This was our adorable server, he was just charming.



and responsible for us wearing napkins on our heads.

On to food! I started with the black truffle purselettes. Heavenly – I loved them 5 years ago, I love them now. I might whine about the menus on DCL in the main dining rooms not changing, but they can keep these little delights on the menu forever and ever…



R went with the aged prosciutto, served with parmesan and roasted garlic. Apparently this was delicious, even if the presentation is a bit plain.




For her main, R went with the salmon. Again, R enjoyed – well cooked and lovely accompaniments.




I had the vegetable biryani – which was surprisingly delicious, considering there was no cardamom pods to be found on the ship.



As I was a little worried about ordering Indian food on DCL (its my favourite cuisine, so I can be a bit – read very – picky) I ordered one of the accompaniments from one of the other dishes – a baked potato with sour cream and cheese. I was a vegetarian at high school in the 90’s where vegetarian options were nothing but a pipedream & the dinner lady would always save me a baked potato to make sure I could eat. You would think I would hate them by now, but honestly I could live on these things. I heart potatoes – in all preparations!



We decided against dessert and went for a little wander to deck four – the deck that has the outside deck all the way around the ship. It was a glorious evening.



We love a character meet and greet, and pirate night means characters dressed as, you’ve guessed it, pirates. So we headed into the atrium to see who we could find.

Donald is such a cutey



We hopped in line for Chip n Dale and waited maybe 5 minutes before we were at the front of the line, at which point R just vanishes, dashing out of line and was just gone… leaving me alone to meet Chip n Dale, feeling ever so slightly bewildered.



I just adore Chip n Dale, they may be my favourite characters, and for my first (accidentally) solo meet n great they were perfect, keeping me very occupied with no time to feel awkward.





Meet and greet over, I found myself wandering around trying to find R. I sent messages through the DCL app (it acts as a messaging service whilst you are on the ship) and looked high and low around the atrium. She eventually surfaced looking very green – she had been taken low by nausea and had to dash to the ladies room. Needless to say, that ended our evening of character nonsense. It was more important to get R tucked up in bed and rehydrated.

We headed up to the room to find the room ready for bedtime, with our towel animal today seemed to be a monkey hanging from the room divider.



And tonight I even managed to remember to take a photo of my sofa bed. It’s the comfiest little nest



Alas I reset the step tally whilst swimming, so we’re a little low on the step count today. Still – not so shabby since we didn’t leave the ship.



and that’s it for today. Tomorrow we head to Castaway Cay – huzzah!

Day 5 is herehttps://DIBB.in/14323890

Edited at 06:04 PM.
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Old 23 Feb 20, 06:21 PM  
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Goldia
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I'm totally addicted to the idea of adding a cruise onto our holiday next year, so seeing your photos of today make me want to do it even more. A nice lazy start to the day. A shame about the ouchy finger though.

When I saw the towel animal I have to say I thought it was a strung up turkey, but I'm sure you're right it's a monkey!

Thanks for putting the photos in of the sofa bed. This is part of what was making me undecided as we are a family of 4 and my son is nearly 6ft tall now so I'm not sure about how we will all get on in a cabin. I'm sure we would cope ok for just 3 nights, but it seems you thought the sofa bed was comfy at least so that's a bonus.
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Old 23 Feb 20, 08:02 PM  
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Tinkermom
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Shame the pampering didn’t go plan but a lovely day was had! And wow all those martinis 😊
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Old 23 Feb 20, 10:57 PM  
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lumosq102
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
I'm totally addicted to the idea of adding a cruise onto our holiday next year, so seeing your photos of today make me want to do it even more. A nice lazy start to the day. A shame about the ouchy finger though.

When I saw the towel animal I have to say I thought it was a strung up turkey, but I'm sure you're right it's a monkey!

Thanks for putting the photos in of the sofa bed. This is part of what was making me undecided as we are a family of 4 and my son is nearly 6ft tall now so I'm not sure about how we will all get on in a cabin. I'm sure we would cope ok for just 3 nights, but it seems you thought the sofa bed was comfy at least so that's a bonus.
A strung up turkey! Ha! It really does look like that doesn't it?!

We're trying to work out when we can add in another cruise too. I certainly don't want to leave it another 5 years before we get onboard again.

Re your son - the extra beds are plenty long enough for an adult, though its worth noting i'm 5'4" on a good day. I have seen plenty of vlogs of grown men sharing the cabins and always saying good things - they're more generous than the fold down beds in Beach Club / Yacht Club rooms. If you are really concerned the family staterooms go one further and have a murphy bed that pulls down by the veranda doors, so might be worth looking into?

The staterooms really are very roomy - and the rooms at the aft in the corner are what we are going to look into next - they have even more room if you are concerned about tripping over each other. So recommended though, DCL really is a special experience, my only complaint is that whatever length you book is not enough

Originally Posted by Tinkermom View Post
Shame the pampering didn’t go plan but a lovely day was had! And wow all those martinis 😊
it was a lovely day - and the martinis were delicious. Thank heavens they were only mini martinis or we would have been on the floor
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Old 8 Mar 20, 09:23 PM  
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Sounds like a lovely day overall, how could it not be with views like you had. Shame about the injury and later illness situation though. I also thought your towel animal looks somewhat turkey like (sorry!).
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