The big Nassau bus adventure and ….

Palo, Take 1!

Even though we had had a late night the day before, we had to get up early as we had an excursion planned.

So, after getting ready we headed to Parrat Cay for breakfast. We were welcomed at the door and taken to a table, our drinks orders were taken and then we were off to the buffet. It was a huge buffet and we first had a look at all the offerings before we picked up a plate and started to pick up breakfast items. We both had some cold stuff first, our second plate had some hot breakfast items.

After we had finished our breakfast we went back to our room, picked up the tickets and went down to Deck 4 to meet with the rest of our group.

There were a lot of different tours that day and we were booked on the Sea and See tour. We were all given Pocahontas stickers to put on our shirts, so our guides would know which tour we were on. Right at 10 our guide came to pick us up and walked us all across the harbour buildings and on to a ferry which took us out to sea to the submarine.

We got on board and it was hot and sticky downstairs, but there were so many different fish outside the little windows that we put up with the heat and smells.

The tour took about an hour and even though it was amazing to see the sealife I was happy to leave the submarine and breathe some fresh air again.

We were picked up by the ferry again and this time brought to the “see” part of our tour, a bus tour to see the “sights” of Nassau. We were walked towards a “bus” that looked far too small for all us but we were ALL loaded onto that one bus. Now, there were a few younger people and some kids and funnily enough they all chose the same side of the bus, so when some of us got on we all had to sit on one side as well.

Now imagine that – the bus driver told people to change seats and some heavier people to sit in the middle of the bus, so the bus would not topple over when she did a turn. WHAT???

Now that made most of us very uneasy even if the driver girl tried to laugh it off. To be honest there are not many sights in Nassau. I don’t think that a water tower qualifies as a “sight” but that was what she pointed it out as. Other sights included the hospital (?), the police station (?) and a Fort. The Fort was quite interesting but we only had 15 minutes to look around, so that was quite a hectic visit.

Climb up to the top, take photos, look down on our wonderful ship the Disney Wonder and walk down again, as our driver had promised not to wait for anyone coming back late. Everyone was ON time! We all tried to level the weight evenly on the bus and after another half hour’s drive we were back at the terminal. I have to admit that none of us was impressed with Nassau and I do more than understand why so many of our group wanted to spend the day on board.

Next time we will spend the day on board as well, maybe just check out Nassau on foot for a while, but definitely NO more tour on a bus.

Once we were back on the ship we took a quick shower, then went to have some lunch. We went to Pluto’s Dog House and Tom had a cheeseburger and fries and I had some Chicken Fingers and Fries as well. Mary Ellen and Joe went to have some lunch at the Beach Blanket Buffet and we met for ice-cream when they were finished. We spent some time on deck and enjoyed the view of Nassau.

It was soon time to get back to the stateroom to get changed before we headed for another theatrical production, “Toy Story, the Musical”. We wanted to meet up with the Tag Group again and we all sat together in the Walt Disney Theater. What a show it was, it was amazing! We loved every single second of it. Once it was over the four of us hurried back to our staterooms to get ready for dinner at Palo.

Palo is the adults only restaurant on board the Disney Wonder. So we got dressed up for the occasion, signed in at Palo and asked if Michele, the CM we had met at the lifeboat drill was working and if we could be seated in his area. Sure! A minute later we were seated and Michele was on hand to greet us.

He brought out water for everyone and told us about the adult beverages and left us a menu to have a look at. Michele let us just enough time to look through the drinks menu when he returned with the antipasti, which were amazing. There was a huge bread service, the Pane Casalingo - Freshly-baked Bread from their Pizza Oven, Grissini Sticks, Olive Rolls, Ciabatta Rolls and Six Grain Wholemeal, served with Palo's Famous Dips. All the breads were still warm and SO good.

There were three different spreads, Aioli, a garlic mayonnaise spread, a dried sunripened Tomato and Red Pepper Spread and Tapanade, an Olive spread - I could have happily lived on the antipasti and would not have regretted dining at Palo! It was just so good. Well, once he brought the antipasti Michele took our drinks orders. Tom and I ordered Diet Cokes and a Strawberry Daiquiri for me and a Whisky Sour for Tom. When the drinks arrived we had had enough time to study the menu and I was all set! Well, that was until Michele told us about that day's Chef's specials! He was very convincing and his Italian accent helped a lot! So Tom ordered the Fritto di Calamari, lightly-crusted Calamari served with Marinara sauce made with deep fried cherry peppers. I went with Michele's recommendation - Grilled shrimp that had been marinaded in spices and then grilled, served with green asparagus and pesto. The different courses were nicely spaced so we had time to really enjoy them.

Once we had finished the appetizers, out came the palate cleanser, a Lime sorbet. Once the table was cleared again Michele brought the main courses. Tom had taken Michele's advice and gone for the Osso Bucco. A thick slice of Veal Shank, slowly cooked in red wine and vegetables, sitting on a bed of saffron risotto, so yummy! And I followed Michele's recommendation for the main course as well and had the Pan Seared Grouper with risotto, red pepper puree and fried onions. We were SO stuffed after our main courses, but Michele "insisted" on us having dessert and not just any dessert! Palo's famous Chocolate Soufflé with Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Sauce and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, oh so good! Tom and I had an espresso with our dessert and they even brought out a digestive, lemoncello with lemon sorbet! So cold, so lemony, so good!

We settled our bill and Michele offered to book us another dinner at Palo if we wanted to. Yes, please, do so! So we ended up with another reservation for Wednesday. We left the restaurant very stuffed and sat on our balcony for a while before we went to hand out another round of fish-extender gifts. Once we returned we filled in the room service breakfast order form and then we just fell into bed, it had been a long day.