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We were both pleasantly surprised that we awoke at around 7:30am - which was 8:30am because of the time zone change.
We went to breakfast at Cabanas. Because I was already in vacation mode, there are no pix of our breakfast, which surely included Mickey Waffles!
We were once again the only ship in port.
We returned from breakfast and read and napped.
We headed back to Cabanas for lunch. There wasn’t much that intrigued me (Gayle) today, but I did spy a Mexican station near the back, which is rare. (Perhaps this is a beginning attempt since we know there will be a Mexican section of Marceline Market on the Disney Wish!)
We talked with Tony, our head server who told us 1300 people headed out on excursions today. Also, there are 2500 on board this cruise (roughly 62.5% capacity); the next cruise will be around 3300; and then they are expecting/planning to be at capacity for the summer season.
Then we did the Midship Detective Agency - this time able to do the Muppet game.
This one had been removed during COVID for social distancing issues based on a key location in the game. This one, as compared to the Fab 5 and Puppies versions, was more sophisticated. So if you’re doing this with little ones, I advise choosing one of the non-Muppets options. (Pro Tip: Take a photo of Pepe’s Door and the Call Board.) Muppets took us about 45 minutes. We weren’t able to find out the reason why the culprit committed their wrong-doing as that painting is in Deck 5, Aft, which is closed for quarantine passengers. Guess we’ll just have to do it again in the future!
We’d heard rumors online that the Disney Dream nursery was suddenly/sporadically open and discovered the same to be true on the Disney Fantasy.
Then we went back to the stateroom, grabbed a deck of cards, and headed to Vista Cafe and we played war and rummy. Gayle: How old are we?!
Then we did Disney Parks Trivia at 4:15pm. It was more challenging than expected.
Kara: This was the only day we had Internet so I got to talk to my dad and Kona twice.
In an earlier post I bought a print that I wasn’t sure if I already had. Luckily, I got through to a work colleague who was able to swing by my house, and yes, I already had it. Yay for saving money, but boo that I obviously need to display it more prominently!
We got dressed for Palo and arrived for our 6pm reservation. By the time we got to Palo it was pouring rain.
Kara: We had bread, I had Caprese, and G had potato gnocchi, then we shared the new butternut squash ravioli.
Then we both had pappardelle - G got a side of Mac and cheese and I got the Fried Yukon potatoes. G had the chocolate soufflé and I got a trio of mixed berry gelatos. We finished off with our palette cleanser with sorbet and apple brandy and Prosecco. Our server was Tony from Sicily and he was lovely.
Notes about dinner: As we shared in past blogs, we always order a la carte from Palo. With this and our Castaway Club Platinum benefit, we each are required to spend a minimum of $45. (We know most others have NO issue surpassing this threshold!) To reach this, Kara had to add the Fried Yukon potatoes and I had to add the “mac & cheese”. Personally, I (Gayle) was not impressed with the mac & cheese and only ate a few bites. To be frank, I love this option from Panera far more!
Additionally, and for the first time, we felt pressured to order an entirely different/new dish. There was no option to even get a tasting of it first. Kara overheard all of the servers doing this, which is historically very out of character for Palo. In fact, we are really dismayed if this is their new approach. Because of this we ordered the butternut squash agnolotti. While I thought the filling was wonderful, the pasta and sauce were unimpressive.
However, the pappardelle and desserts earned rave reviews like always!
For our rotation, we would have been in Animator's Palate. As we like that rotational menu the least, our habit is to always book Palo in its place. Tonight was also the Frozen, A Musical Spectacular stage show, which we skipped. For us, having seen it once was more than enough.
So keeping to our “rest & relaxation theme”, it was back to the stateroom to change clothes into jammies, read in bed, and type up a few notes here. Due to the delightful desserts in Palo, we didn’t make it to Sweet on You today!
Disclaimer: I (Gayle) am a travel agent with Authorized Disney Travel Planner agency - Off to Neverland Travel. Contact me today for a no-obligation quote!
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