A leisurely day at sea and Palo,

Take 2 and Take 3

We were able to sleep until 8am. Then we got up and had lots of time to get ready for brunch at Palo. We sat out on the balcony for a while enjoying the scenery and the sea air. At 10.45 we arrived at Palo for our Brunch reservation. Needless to say, we asked for Michele as our server again and our wish was granted.

Within a minute we were taken to our table and Michele greeted us and offered us some Prosecco or a Mimosa to start off our Brunch. Everyone except Joe opted for the Prosecco. Joe had some iced tea. Then Michele took us for a tour of the buffet. There were lots of different options from fish and meats and cheeses and breakfast pastries and breads and and and. Once we were done with all the savoury cold offerings, Michele showed us the hot offerings.

There was another whole buffet with entrees, before he took us over to the desserts and we were stunned. There were so many offerings we just could not believe it. So we all had two plates of cold offerings, then everyone had a main course. I had the Eggs Benedict and since Tom couldn't decide between the Chicken Parmeggiano and the Veal Saltimbocca, he left it to Michele to decide for him. Well, he brought him both! And they were both just delicious! We were really stuffed by then, but we could not pass up dessert, so we all went over to the dessert part of the buffet and loaded up.

It took us quite a while to clear our plates, but we did it! Since we had had so much fun we asked Michele to have his picture taken with us. He sat down with us and the other servers made a big fuss about it and we could not stop laughing. Once we left the restaurant we went back to our staterooms and just chilled for a while.

Then Tom and I made our last fish-extender round and took photos of ALL the doors of our group that were decorated, we just forgot to take a photo of ours!! And we checked out a few places on the ship we had not been to before by pure accident. When we ended up at the Disney Cruise Line desk we decided to go ahead and book another cruise for our next vacation. That really got us into the mood to do some “big time” shopping and  we left with two big bags full of souvenirs.

Once we got back to the room we crashed on the balcony for a while with a drink.But there was not much time to rest, we had signed up for the Martini Tasting that afternoon. As we had signed up for the Tagrel Gift Exchange as well, we tried to get there early. Unfortunately the room was still occupied by another party but soon there were a few other Tagrel Members to chat with.

We handed in the gifts we had organized and stayed as long as we could before we had to say our goodbyes and head to the Martini Tasting. Once we arrived there a few small tables were already set up and we were told to just seat wherever we wanted. Soon after a few more people arrived and were seated next to us. We were so amazed at how easy it was to get in contact with people, but it did not take long to get to know new people.

We were so amazed at how easy it was to get in contact with people, but it did not take long to get to know new people. The tasting was fun, they had five different Martini’s to taste, the Classic Gin, The French Kiss, the Washington Apple, the Citron Martini and the 53 Coco Cadillac. Drinking 5 Martinis got everyone in a fun mood. After the Martini Tasting we headed back to our room, but not without picking up a few more treats.

We went to Goofy’s Galley and Tom picked up a Tuna Sandwich and a Chicken Wrap to take back to the room. There were more goodies in our Fish Extender and we put them all out to take photos of our loot! But since we had to disembark the next day we started to do some packing, but did not get much done until it was time to go to the Walt Disney Theatre again for “Disney Dreams”.

The third show we experienced on board.

This was our last evening on board, we both were in a fun mood, so we ordered a cocktail before the show started and enjoyed that along with the performance, which was as wonderful as the previous shows had been with lots of characters and to join in on stage. Peter Pan flying across the stage and TinkerBell sprinkling the Disney Wonder with Pixie Dust made for a wonderful memory.

After the show we hurried back to the room to pick up our collectables to have them signed by Captain John, who later became really famous for rescuing a Carnival Cruise passenger. I guess there are easier ways to get on a Disney ship, but some people go to great length to be able to get on board a Disney Cruise line ship, even jump overboard.

Time to head back to our room and do some more packing, actually ALL the packing before our dinner at Palo. There was not much time left, so many things just got thrown into the suitcases. I could not believe that we actually finished packing just in time. And it was already time for our dinner at Palo. We arrived at the Check-in desk and were remembered from our morning visit! No need to ask for Michele, we were told that he would be over to greet us shortly. Once he had welcomed us, he brought over the Antipasti, Specialita' Del Palo: Antipasto Freddo, Prosciutto, Bresaola, Parmesan Reggiano and Marinated Olives, the Pane Casalingo the freshly baked bread selection from their bakery, accompanied by Homemade Dips, the Olive Tapanade, some Aioli and Roasted Pepper & Garlic Spread  and served some water. We happily munched our antipasti while Michele was delivering our drinks.

In the meantime we had all studied the menus and we were quite sure what we wanted to order for starters - but Michele changed it all again! He told us about the Chef's starter of the day and since he is a trained chef he made it so tempting we ALL got his recommendation! It was Griddled Slices of Zucchini, layered in a baking tin and filled with mozzarella and mascarpone cheese, then baked in the oven and served with tomato sauce and shaved Parmesan! But Michele did not stop there and since we had all chosen the same appetizer, he delivered two more appetizers so we could try some more of their selection.

He brought us the Polenta covered in Mushroom sauce and balsamic drizzle and the Tuna Carpaccio and Lemon Oil Dressing, thin slices of ahi grade tuna brushed with our Chef's special lemon oil, which was our favourite of the two extras. The Palate Cleanser was Basil and Lemon Sorbet, with a blueberry on top. So fresh, so nice, so good! I had the Beef Tenderloin "Palo" served with Gorgonzola Sauce and Tom had the Lobster and Mascarpone Ravioli. Freshly prepared and served with a light truffle beurre blanc.

We were stuffed after our main courses, but Michele talked all of us into dessert. ALL of us decided on the same dessert again - the Chocolate Soufflé with Vanilla Bean Sauce or Chocolate Sauce. And since we had all decided on the same dessert, Michele brought out another dessert to share, Panna Cotta, sweet, White Cream Custard with fresh Berries - light, creamy and cool, the perfect dessert but we were all far too full. After having our photo taken together with Michele again we all said our goodbye’s and “rolled” back to our room. We were just in time to stuff the last pieces of clothing into the suitcases and  put them out in front of our staterooms. We spent a little more time out on our balcony and enjoyed the night out on the ocean before we fell into bed for our last night on the Disney Wonder.