Disney Dreams

Our last full day on board the WONDERful Disney WONDER had broken and we slept in a little. When we finally got up we decided against having some breakfast and instead just enjoy the cooking demonstration Monica had told us about. So about 15 minutes before it was supposed to begin we headed down, found a table and sat and waited. A little while later Monica joined us and made us change our table as we were at a slightly off angle. We had not thought about that, but were happy she had pointed it out to us.

It didn’t take long for all the tables to fill up and they even had to prep some more tables, so everyone who wanted to participate had a table to sit at. Then the Chef arrived and started his demonstration. The demonstration itself took about 20 minutes, then a sommelier explained the best wine to go with it to us. And then we were served a tasting portion of the Phyllo Wrapped Salmon Fillet.

It was very nice and once we had done our tasting we all went up to the Chef and had our photo taken with him. When we finally left we had to hurry back to our stateroom to change for our Brunch at Palo. We took the elevator and went to check in and it did not take very long until we were seated. Teresa and Mick had told us that they had a Brunch reservation at Palo too, so we were looking out for them, but they had not arrived yet.

Oliver was taking care of us again and he brought out our welcome drinks, a Mimosa and some water with a slice of lemon in it. And then it was time for our tour of the buffet. Oliver explained all the goodies, pointed out a few extra nice treats and then handed us some plates to serve ourselves. We both filled our plates with lots of wonderful seafood and cheeses and some very yummy breads. At one point in our feast Tom even went back to get some more cheese and bread for both of us.

When we had finished the first part of the buffet we ordered our hot dishes. Tom ordered a Fritatta, an open faced omelette, which was huge and very tasty and came with a little salad, while I ordered the Egg Florentine, English Muffin, sauteed spinach, poached egg, hollandaise and parmesan shavings. We were actually full but still had desserts to conquer. So, after ordering some coffee and Earl Grey Tea, we made our way over to the heavenly dessert offerings.

We both picked a plate full of desserts, went back to our seats, waved to Teresa and Mick, who had arrived in the meantime and sat down to devour our treats. Everything was so good and we felt stuffed when we finally signed for the extra bill at Palo and it was then that Oliver mentioned, that if we wanted to, he could get us another reservation at Palo for dinner that day. Now that was something we could not pass up.

We thanked him a lot and told him that we were going to see him that evening. We dragged ourselves back to our stateroom, changed into some more comfortable clothes, picked up the rest of our Fish Extender gifts and made our usual round to deliver them. When we got back to the stateroom we did a little packing up and finally plopped down into the chairs out on our veranda. We enjoyed our time sitting out there and watching the waves and discussing what still lay ahead of us this vacation. We had already enjoyed two thirds of it, but there were still 10 more days to enjoy. By the early afternoon we got ready to head out again. This time we had signed up for a wine tasting.

We all gathered inside the Parrot Cay Restaurant where a long table had been set, glasses had been poured and a few people were already sitting there. We joined them and after all the spots had been filled the sommeliers came to introduce themselves and to tell us about how to determine wines. We then got to try all the wines and the Fairytale Champagne they offer. Having tasted all those wines we were in really high spirits and started to walk around the ship.

It was such a wonderful and sunny day out on the open seas. We walked for quite some time, all around the ship, tried different sun lounges and explored some areas we had not seen before. It was WONDERful, but then it was time to head back to our stateroom to finish packing and to make our way down to the Walt Disney Theatre for the final show of the cruise, Disney Dreams.

We love this show, it is such a tear quencher and we had told Teresa and Mick about it and that it was really worth seeing. We were delighted to see them there. We felt like having another drink and picked up two Pina Coladas to enjoy during the show. Needless to say that the show was wonderful as always and ended in standing ovations and the rest of my drink being spilled all over my trousers.

So when the show was over we headed straight back to our stateroom, so I could change my trousers. We needed to have our suitcases packed before we went to dinner, so I finished packing everything we did not need any more, and we had a look if we could fit everything else into our carry-ons. Then it was time to leave for our reservation at Palo. Again we took the elevator and were soon being greeted by Oliver, who handed us the menu, offered to bring us some more drinks, but this time we had to decline. Too many drinks all day long, so we just opted for soft drinks.

Right after our drinks were served Oliver brought The Specialita' Del Palo: Antipasto Freddo, Prosciutto, Bresaola, Parmesan Reggiano, Marinated Olives and Sun-dried Tomatoes and the Pane Casalingo, freshly-baked Bread in their Pizza Oven, Grissini Sticks, Olive Rolls, Ciabatta Rolls and Six Grain Wholemeal, together with Palo's famous Homemade Dips, olive tapenade, aioli and roasted pepper & garlic. Menu in hand we started reading and deciding what to have before indulging on the wonderful antipasti we had just received. And while we were still discussing the menu, Palo’s sommelier, who we had met earlier on during the wine tasting, came over to us for a little chat. Then it was finally time to place our orders. We both had decided on trying their pizzas. Tom ordered the Pizza Al Gamberi, Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Shrimp and Asparagus, which was really nice, while I wanted to try the Pizza Margherita, Tomato Sauce, Sliced Tomatoes and Mozzarella.

Whilst it was really tasty I was surprised to find the base not to be homemade! The sauce however was really good and so were the tomatoes, very fragrant and top notch Mozzarella. We both enjoyed it, but could not finish it, especially since we wanted to enjoy our main course and dessert as well. Once we had finished our starters Oliver brought the Palate Cleanser, a Lime Sorbet, which was refreshing and tart. And then it was on to Main courses. Tom had ordered the Chicken Braciola, a baked Chicken Breast filled with Escarole, Raisins and Pine Nuts served with a light White Wine Sauce and it was to die for. I had wanted to try the Lasagna with meat ragout, bechamel sauce, tomato sauce and sauteed mushrooms. While it did not look all that big a portion, it was more than I had bargained for. But it was very good and tasty, just too much to finish. For dessert we had both ordered something we just cannot get enough of, their famous Chocolate Soufflé, with Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Sauce. We both did our best to finish the dessert and we succeeded. When it was time to sign the bill and leave a tip we asked Oliver if he would be willing to take the rest of our FE sweets and maybe share them with his fellow Cast Members. He wasn’t sure about sharing but was more than happy to take the sweets.

We than finished our digestive, some Lemoncello with lime sorbet, before we said our final goodbyes. It was quite late and we still needed to put our luggage out, so we headed straight back to our stateroom, removed the door decorations, slipped into more comfortable clothes and packed the rest of our stuff, checked if we had forgotten something and out the door the suitcases went. When we checked if they were still there about 15 minutes later, they had already been collected.