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Neither of us slept especially well last night so we were up only just before our alarms at 8 a.m. After getting ready we headed up to Cabanas to eat breakfast and wait to get the word that the ship was cleared.
After breakfast, we headed down to the Deck 1 gangway. I think we went all the way forward, although both midship and forward were both open. So we changed course at one point to avoid getting caught behind Port Adventure groups that were leaving the ship.
Once at security, we quickly disembarked - down a set of stairs! Another first for us. The gangway planks can actually pop into place as stairs in the event that is needed - and it was very handy today.
We were greeted by some locals at the hospitality tent set up just inside of the first security checkpoint. They handed us a map of the area. We reviewed it but quickly decided just to follow the crowd. Being Sunday morning, the town was quiet and skies overcast.
Kara: I can’t really describe what I expected of Fredericia, but it defied all of my expectations. It was more metropolitan than I expected, and also more quaint than I expected. We made our way over to the promenade after browsing the little craft fair set up in one of the parking lots on the edge of town.
The promenade went for 3 or 4 blocks and was an absolutely lovely to stroll. The first shop we stopped in was a bookstore (of course). The back half of it was all journals and art supplies. About 10 - 15% of the books were in English, so we could have found something to buy if we’d wanted to.
The second store we stopped in was very similar - it was more “Barnes and Noble”-esque with some chairs and things for you to sit in if you wished. There were a lot more toys in the back of this store so a few families were out for a stroll on this Sunday morning.
We continued along our way and came to a sweet shop. The young woman inside was helpful in translating the words we couldn’t figure out from the context. Gayle got a tart that she simply described as sweet along with a peppermint stick. I got a chocolate frappe, which was really just a chocolate milk shake along with an orange and a peppermint stick. I felt like the frappe had a bit of licorice taste but it was quite good, although I only felt like drinking about ⅓ of it.
We continued strolling and did stop in one other gelato shop (although we didn’t get anything here). Gayle felt vindicated at the sign that called it a “sweet lunch”. Gayle: The shop was larger than a typical gelato/sweet shop in Europe. There was an abundance of natural woods & tones and seating at standard tables or cushy chairs & beanbags. There also seemed to be bins of blankets at each door, so you could really settle in here if you had the time!
Kara: We made our way back towards the ship - but not before stopping at the local car show. The fire truck had caught our attention on the way by the first time so I had to check it out for my dad. There were also a few other fun cars that caught our eyes.
After grabbing a few more photos we headed to the security checkpoints to begin the boarding process again. This time the town hospitality committee was handing out local candy as we returned. We were back on the ship in a jiffy. We went to our stateroom to read a bit. I enjoyed doing so from the verandah where some nice paddle boarders glided right by the ship.
Gayle: When it was nearly time to leave - 2pm - we headed up to Deck 12 to watch the festivities as we pulled out of port. During the normal course of cruise prep, I learned this small town makes a Big Deal of a large cruise ship being in town. They develop the visits as all day town festivals, both for the visitors and citizens. Chief among this was to be the departure. This lived up to the online stories!
Kara: At departure time, the line of folks getting back on the ship was still so long, it was clear we wouldn’t pull out on time. So, we waited and people watched. The town had a great musical group there and some folks dressed in some traditional Danish costumes came out to wave us away. There were also some historic military gents who were going to fire off some cannons as we departed!
Gayle: The return line endured to the point Disney Cruise Line crew has prepped, staged, and were handing-out cups of hot chocolate to the awaiting guests. (Another great example of Disney Service!) While it was a long wait for all involved, it was a jovial mood. At some point, based on the reaction of the people of Fredericia, they must have brought some of the characters to Deck 4 to wave goodbye.
Kara: Once everyone was back on board, the Captain played all the horn tunes we had, while the townspeople waved and fired their cannons. It was certainly the most memorable sendoff by any town or group we’ve ever experienced! Thank you kind people of Fredericia! (Gayle: And I tried not to think about the lost opportunity at The LEGO House….)
We grabbed some poolside deck food and headed back to the stateroom. Then Gayle was off to the “Step in Time Dance Class” in D Lounge, while I caught up this blog post a bit.
Gayle: For those of you who don’t know, I took 8 years of tap, ballet, & jazz classes, so I’m always keen to get back to my roots! This was the 3rd onboard dance class I’ve gotten to experience, as they aren’t a regular offering. The first was on the Disney Fantasy. There was a guest artist doing an onboard talk, followed by learning a part of “Arabian Nights” from Disney’s Aladdin.Then, during our 4 night-turned-6 night sailing on the Disney Wish (as they scrambled to offer more onboard activities), we got to learn a section of “Under the Sea” from the new stage version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. (And wow was it fast!)
If you’ve ever been on the Disney Dream, you know that “Step in Time” (from Disney’s Mary Poppins) is a notable piece within the Disney’s Believe stage show. In fact, it’s my favorite part of that show. But really? This is the song we’re learning?! I say this because in the show It. Is. FAST.
The dance floor portion of D Lounge was overflowing with (almost entirely women) aged 1 to 80! Three of the dance cast, including the Dance Captain, were our teachers/demonstrators. As you do in dance, we were taught 8-24 counts at a time with repetition and with & without the music, adding on more sections as time passed.
Having not taken formal dance classes in a good long while, I’ll say I was keeping up… ok. The sure sign that we were in trouble was that roughly halfway through the class, the “dance teachers” were dripping with sweat, including the one male who discarded his sweatshirt! Uh oh. To wrap things up, they divided everyone into groups simply to provide more space as we attempted to make it through the entire combo with the dancers and music. Phew!
I will add during one of these final run-throughs a younger mom in a long teacher-esque jumper dress and plain white sneakers hopped in. (She looked very much like Shea McGee from Netflix’s “Dream Home Makeover”.) She nailed it, was hardly out of breath, and obviously turned to smirk at her family. HA! You go girl! Definitely a former or current dancer! I’m super happy I participated in this (like every other time) as it makes watching the stage show more insightful.
Kara: After Gayle returned from class, we had some business to take care of in relation to onboard gratuities, booking a Placeholder (future cruise), and settling our onboard account. We took care of all of that with a stop back at the room and then headed to dinner in Royal Palace for LOBSTER NIGHT!!!
While we waited briefly for the doors of dinner to open, we enjoyed the musical talents of Jordan Caswell. Jordan is a dancing string player (my description - not his). He was enjoyable to watch and listen to. Gayle: I would say fascinating!
Kara: Rama, our assistant server, walked us to our table. We each got the marinated shrimp appetizer and the grilled lobster tail as our main. Nadine was sweet and brought us an additional entree serving to split between us. For dessert, we both got the Mint Chocolate Chip sundae - and Gayle liked it so much she got 2! Gayle: Seriously? Is this even a surprise?
Kara: As dinner wrapped up, Nadine gifted us and the ladies at the table next to us with little butterfly barrettes. Very sweet. We also enjoyed chatting with the family next to us a bit. They were on the 10 night before this cruise and did 3 days in London before that so they’ve been away 20 days in total with 17 of them on the Dream. You can tell Nadine has really bonded with their two young daughters. Gayle: London + back-to-back Disney Cruises?! #LifeGoals
Kara: There was no Disney show tonight - just a magician - which we chose not to go to. So we headed back to the room and played some cards (rummy and war, as we’d already played plenty of Gayle’s new fave, Monopoly Deal.) and then it was off to dreamland for another early day in Northern Europe.
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!
Next up… The hats saved the day.
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