The Grand Fiesta 10th Anniversary Trip Report - Cruise Part THREAD 4 COMPLETED Updated 10/18 About This Page:

[chezp]

So sorry you didn't win Marnie, but what a great treat to have him on board! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

[clio]

Aother great update, Marnie. Swimming with the rays looks like fun. It sounds like you had a great day at Castawy Cay. Sorry you didn't win anything at the raffle.
Liz

[mattnkatsmum]

Just catching up. Wonderful updates, Marnie.

I'm definitely considering a cruise for our summer trip now.

[Steph A]

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your last day. I haven't told DH yet, but the cruise sounds great!!!

Can't wait for more!
Steph A

[MAria R]

Great updates!!!

[gwugirl03]

I can't believe the cruise is coming to an end! Great update, Marnie. Can't wait to read more.

[christiejay]

Just getting caught up. I had forgotten that you only had one day at Castaway Cay. You did tons of stuff that day! The bike ride sounded like fun - a simple way to get away from the crowds and have some time to yourselves. Love the pictures! Sorry you didn't win a sketch.

[simbarel]

Marnie, you're so adventurous!!!

[Colexis Mom]

<font color="blue"> Day 13, Part 2 - A great tour, a fabulous meal, and alas packing

That done, we decided to do the Galley Tour which was meeting outside Triton’s. I must say, if you have the chance to do this, do it. What a great tour. We were first brought into Triton’s, where one of the chefs talked about I don’t know what. I couldn’t hear him [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img]



Something about all three galleys (each restaurant has their own galley) running the same meals this trip (now I always thought they had their own menus [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] ) Then we got a tour of the Triton galley. Everything is stainless, there are pictures of the meals/appetizers so the servers know which one they are choosing. Fascinating [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] The chef said they took on enough food for about 10-12 days even though it was a 4 night cruise, because you never know what can happen at sea. They are also only allowed to bring on food in the US, and all the food is certified by the US Gov’t thru their regulations. A guy was having trouble with this for some reason, since the butter was from France, he couldn’t figure out how it got on the ship [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ukid.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ukid.gif[/img] Because the French company is certified by the US Gov’t and they are an approved vendor, so they can bring it on (at Port Canaveral)! It’s not rocket science [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img]

We got a chocolate chip cookie (I think we were near the pastry area by now) and they talked about how they were getting ready for tonight’s dinner (sushi was an appetizer) [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] Gee, we didn’t have Sushi when we dined at Triton’s [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] They also talked about all the chefs on board (I think there was a total of 140 chefs and waitstaff (maybe 12 chefs), and the working conditions. The guys we talked to love working for Disney (and they had worked for just about everyone else) as the conditions were good, you clocked in and out so you got paid for the actual time you worked (usually about 10 hour days), and most of them worked for 4 months and then had 2 months off. I’ve forgotten all the other little details, but he did say there were going to be changes to Parrot Cay during the dry dock, having to do with the area where the buffet is (I guess they don’t like the set up)! So look for that change! They were also gearing up for their 10 and 11 day cruises in September before dry dock, and that’s why we got to partake in all the special menus and events, as they were preparing for that (sounds good to me)! It’s definitely a great tour, and I’d highly recommend it [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]

Next up we walked around some more, watched some of the live Auction that was going on, and went up to check out the Cove Café. Then the buzzer went off, Colin wanted out again. We went to get him, and I asked him to stay as they were practicing and getting ready for the “Celebrate the Journey” show, but he wanted no part of it [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] We changed for dinner, grabbed our cameras, and headed to the Walt Disney Theater to see Alexa in the show. We had a bit of a wait to get in, but were able to snag a seat in the second row. Of course, Alexa was on the other side [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] My gosh, there were quite a lot of kids on this cruise [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]

What a cute show they all put on [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] I videotaped while Matt took pictures!



Once that was done, we went back to the kids club to pick up Alexa, as they wouldn’t let us take her there (which was fine). We also picked up a hat and T-shirt for Colin, as he could get one too since he spent all that time in the Club and just didn’t want to do the stage thing. We made a quick return back to the room to drop off the stuff, and then went to dinner at Parrot Cay.

Tonight’s menu was Until We Meet Again. I started the evening with an Aqua Marina cocktail [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]



For starters, Matt had the Chilled Tuna Sushi Roll (I guess this wasn’t only for Triton’s) and I had the Honey Mustard Chicken Tenderloins coated with crackers. For dinner, I had the Grilled Beef Tenderloin, and Matt had a lobster tail over linguine. The beef tenderloin was out of this world, and rivaled if not beat the filet that I had at Palos [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] For dessert, I had the baked Alaska, and Matt for some reason went light, and had the no sugar added banana crème brulee. This also meant that it didn’t have the flamed sugar topping (not sure why he went for that)! He said it was good though. The kids started out with some melon slices that had orange sauce on them, and then had their usual pizza and Mickey bars. Alexa wanted the chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert this time, so she actually got two desserts (since Udonsik had already brought out the Mickey bars)!



Along the way, Dhana brought out another piece of cake for us to eat [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]



Dhana explained that we had all special offerings on this cruise, since they were getting ready for the longer cruises in September. She said that all three restaurants were serving the same thing (which is different than usual) as they were all trying to get experience with the special menus. She also said that it was a good thing we had the early seating, because as the night went on, there were delays and such with the food as they ran short on some things for the later seatings. There was a farewell dance done by the staff (I think a salute to all the nationalities of the workers onboard). But that might have been another night [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] Anyway, it was a good time, and a great meal [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] We gave our tip envelopes to Udonsik and Dhana, and said our goodbyes [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/bye.gif[/img] We’d see them early tomorrow morning for breakfast. On the way out, we also found Simone, the head server, and delivered his envelope as well.

We played a bit in the portholes on the way back to the room.



We took the kids back to the kids club, and went back to the room to start packing! We bumped into Edgar (our cabin host) as he was getting the room ready. He showed us how to do make a Monkey towel animal, and I videotaped the whole thing. Alas, no picture of Edgar! Matt spent a lot of time talking to him, as Edgar was also from the Philippines, so Matt felt a special kinship with him. Edgar works 4 months on, and then 2 months off. He has to take care of 15 rooms [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] Now this is one thing I don’t understand, as by the tipping guidelines, our dinner server gets more than the cabin host [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] Frankly, in our opinion, the cabin host does much more than the dinner server, and we tipped accordingly. Matt also gave him another tip on the way out.

Matt and I then headed back to the Walt Disney Theater to see Disney Dreams. Wow, what a show. Don’t miss this if you haven’t seen it [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] Of course, Colin beeped us halfway thru, so Matt went to get him and brought him back to the show. He fell asleep during it, so we carried him back to the room and put him in his jammies. He was done for the night.



We did more packing, got the suitcases and stroller out into the hall, and went to get Alexa from the Club. She had made a friend from England :hello: whose Dad had left their email address (of which we still haven’t responded [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/foreheadslap.gif[/img] )! I turned in the pager [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zcry.gif[/img] and took Alexa back to the room. We watched a bit of the party in the atrium before leaving the club. Since I hadn’t bought any souvenirs for myself onboard, I had spotted a DCL collage frame, similar to the ones I have from Disney World. I wanted one of those. I sent Matt to Treasure Ketch to pick that up, and we stuck it in the suitcase as well (hoping it wouldn’t break)! After that, it was lights out. The dream cruise was all quickly coming to an end [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zcry.gif[/img]

Memories of our Thirteenth Day

The weather today was……sunny and warm, about 85.
The best thing today was ………….Alexa in her farewell show, and the dinner at Parrot Cay.
The worst thing today was…….having to pack up and get ready to leave the ship [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zcry.gif[/img] and Colin paging us before brunch at Palo.
The funniest thing today was…….goofing around at our last dinner.
Today we tried ………Parrot Cay for dinner…..
And the result was…….one of the best meals on the ship (remember this wasn’t the normal PC menu)!
The most magical moment today was…….sitting out on the verandah for the last time.

Coming Up Next……….All Ashore, Back to Disney, and It’s a Small World


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[WDWfan]

Marnie - What a great cruise you've had! I've cruised before but never on a Disney Cruise. Were there any adult only groups on the cruise, or mostly just families?

More please..............

[Meggera]

What a wonderful cruise. I really want to go on one now. Thanks for sharing. I'm sad it is coming to an end. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[lauren-roxy]

Great update Marnie!! You guys have really done a lot!! I love the pictures of the kids!!

[chezp]

What a great tour and a superb dinner as well. I love the photo of you and the kids by the porthole. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Caldercup]

The pictures of you with Alexa and Matt with Colin are simply fantastic -- perfection!!

Great reporting on the cruise. If I can ever get over my claustrophobia, I think I'll have to try one. You make them sound so divine.

More, more, more -- back at WDW!
Eileen

[Colexis Mom]

[ QUOTE ]
Marnie - What a great cruise you've had! I've cruised before but never on a Disney Cruise. Were there any adult only groups on the cruise, or mostly just families?

More please..............

[/ QUOTE ]

I know there were a bunch of honeymooners on the cruise, as we ran into a bunch in Palo. As for other large groups, not sure of that [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] Since it was summer, there were still a lot of kids onboard. My guess is if you chose a date when school was in session, there would be less kids (at least less than we had on our cruise)!