Third Time's a Fantasy? 6/18/22 Western Caribbean Cruise

[Geomom]

6/21/22 Grand Cayman part 1

DD18 slept in while DD22 joined DH and I for breakfast in Royal Court.
DH had the smoked salmon

And the DCL Express

I had a pastry, the blueberry, raspberry yogurt parfait,

And a spinach, tomato, cheddar cheese omelet

DD22 had a pastry and the power crepe.

We got in the huge line for the tender at 11am (almost back to Animator's Palate!) Eventually we made it onto a tender, then walked to the public bus depot a couple blocks from port (masks required on the bus, $2.50 USD/person every time you get off) and took the yellow bus/van (public bus 1) to the Cayman Turtle Center. (We got there around Noon.) We paid $29/person for the Turtle Safari–you can look at everything, touch the yearlings, etc. The swimming/water park version costs more.



We went in the aviary as well.


We ate some prepackaged snacks that we brought with us (nuts/cracker sandwiches/etc).

 

[Geomom]

6/21/22 Grand Cayman part 2

We took another bus to Hell. (Buses run this route every 5 minutes or so!) We took pics there, shopped (postcards, magnets, stone sculpture of a manta ray), and sent ourselves a postcard from Hell.





We walked to the nearby gas station and took the next bus back to the bus depot (lots of locals getting on/off this bus). Total of $30 spent on transportation for the 4 of us with our 2 stops!

Heroes' Square

Then we took the tender back to the ship.



Tonight was Pirate Night. We just brought pirate themed Tees and wore the bandanas that Lovi put in our room.

 

[Geomom]

6/21/22 Grand Cayman part 3

Tonight was the Pirate menu (loved it!) in Animator's Palate. We loved seeing all the pirate illustrations on the screens!

I had the Pirate's Nest drink

DD18 had the Pearl drink

DD22 and I had the Vegetable Samosa

DD18 and I had the Chilled Mango Soup

I had the Swann's Red and Yellow Beetroot Carpaccio

DH had Angelica's Lime Marinated Shrimp (no pic) and the Deep Fried Calypso Crab Cake

DH had the Baby Gem Salad

DH had the Barbary Coast Falafel

DD18 and I had Tia Dalma's Jerk Chicken

DD22 had King George's Roasted Privateer Strip Loin

 

[Geomom]

6/21/22 Grand Cayman part 4

Desserts:
Bounty fruit cobbler,

bananas in paradise,

rum soaked chocolate cake,

Pirate's treasure sundae,

caramel macadamia nut cheesecake tart,

Celebration cakes for the girls to celebrate graduation (and a song). We brought the cakes back to the room and put in the fridge since the girls were full.

We got out of dinner too late to attend the Mickey Pirate thing at 7:30pm by the pool. But...after dinner, we came across pirate Stitch and got a pic!

DH and I saw "Lightyear" (nightly entertainment). The girls got fries and hung out on the comfy couches by the adult pool.

We went to the 10:30 Pirate show, (I bought a Sunken Treasure 'daily drink' from Cove bar on our way there.) We watched from deck 12 port side: pirates singing, then Captain Jack rappelling down, and the fireworks. We headed straight back to the room vs going to the buffet.

 

[Geomom]

6/22/22 Jamaica part 1

Looked out this morning and saw another ship... apparently we're already docked!

We did our usual cove cafe pastries, coffee/tea from beverage station then went to the Tube to meet up for our DCL excursion (FA02) Highlights of Falmouth and Greenwood Great House ($52/adult). Tanisha was our terrific tour guide with a good blend of humor and information. The Greenwood Great House had its own tour guide and she was great as well.

She played the old record player

and very out of tune player piano–singing along to it.




A very weak rum punch or lemonade at the end of that part of the tour (and bathrooms.).

 

[Geomom]

6/22/22 Jamaica part 2

Next was a stop at St Peters Anglican church with some vendors outside (bought a magnet.).




Then a scenic pic stop before returning to port.


We did a little shopping at port–DD18 got a dress, DD22 got earrings. We were back on board by 1pm.

 

[Geomom]

6/22/22 Jamaica part 3

We went to Royal Court for lunch



I had Cumin spiced red lentil soup,

And roasted red pepper arancini

DD 18 had the kids chicken tenders,

And a salad with grilled chicken

DD22 had the fettuccine pasta with meatballs

DH had a burger (the southerner?)

 

[nancipants]

I am (hopefully) going on the Fantasy this weekend and this report is making me so excited!

 

[Geomom]

6/22/22 Jamaica part 4

All the Desserts!

Chocolate ring a ding Sundae,

baklava,

lemon meringue pie,

warm Pina colada bread pudding,

chocolate silk cake

After lunch, DH and I did 3 loads of laundry…took forever to figure out how to start the washer…you really need to slam it shut. I think the kids did an animation class of Mickey, and probably more Midship detective agency.

I had a 4pm Mixology tasting in Skyline ($25 now $40?). Big Mama ran this and she was fantastic. Gave out extra drinks to a bunch of people. All premixed now vs making your own. Lots of alcohol in these drinks. I honestly can't remember what we had now…but I have no pic of the last drink which was a shot of Bailey's and butterscotch schnapps.
#1...way too strong for me, the only one I couldn't finish...

#2

#3 prosecco base?

#4 Mangorita? My fave!


Pulling away from port:

 

[Geomom]

6/22/22 Jamaica part 5
Dinner was the Prince and Princess menu in Enchanted Garden
I had the Coronation of mixed leaves,

And the portobello triangoli pasta

DD18 had the Enchanted Garden Platter,

And the chicken pita salad

DD22 had the Green Lentil Soup,

And the NY strip steak

DH had the salmon gravlax,

And the oven roasted tom turkey breast

 

[Geomom]

6/22/22 Jamaica part 6

We had ALL the Desserts again!
Creme Brulee Cheesecake and Tiramisu,

Sacher Torte and Strawberry and Cream Tower,

Forest Berry Sundae,

White Chocolate Bread Pudding

Then we saw Taylor Mason, the ventriloquist in the Walt theater (sat in balcony again.) Clocks went 1 hr forward at bedtime.

 

[Geomom]

I am (hopefully) going on the Fantasy this weekend and this report is making me so excited!

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[greensombrero]

I’m curious if the burger in the sit down lunch was better than what they serve on the pool deck? I would hope it would be!

 

[Geomom]

I’m curious if the burger in the sit down lunch was better than what they serve on the pool deck? I would hope it would be!

We didn't have any burgers on the pool deck, but the MDR one definitely should be better, as it's cooked to order vs mass prepped.

 

[Geomom]

6/23/22 at sea part 1

We had some excitement this morning when DD22 couldn't find her phone…she lost it in the sofa bed. It fell between the bed and the wall, where no hands could reach and flipping it back to a sofa didn't really help. In the midst of moving the bed back and forth, DHs phone ended up by the wall too (he had put his phone on the bed when trying to retrieve DDs phone. It was a comedy…one that made DD18 in the top bunk extremely grumpy as she was still trying to sleep. We did eventually get both phones, somehow...and let DD18 go back to sleep.
And this is why we don't sleep with our phones…

I got a plate of fruit from Flos before my Noon Chocolate and Liquor tasting in Ooh La La with Khen ($37, now $50).






Thankfully for the whiskey, Khen said you could add water to it. I am not a whiskey fan...but the water diluted it enough to drink it and the chocolate pairing helped even more..to the point that I actually drank it all!

From my seat in Ooh La La, I could see my adult kids doing Disney song trivia in La Piazza, so I saved them a set of Valrhona chocolates to split. They got 24/25 right and a bonus question…but 2 other groups got them all right and had a tie breaker. Next was a 3D craft of Simba and Nala, so I helped the kids with that when my tasting was done, and DH joined us towards the end…not sure how he spent his free time, I know he did the jogging track a couple days, so this was probably one of them…and likely grabbed some food by the pool deck.

At 2pm, the rest of us got food from the pool deck.
I had pizza and quinoa salad.

DD22 had a Chicken wrap and fries

DD18 had chicken tenders and fries

 

[Geomom]

6/23/22 at Sea part 2
Meet and greet with princess Minnie and Daisy

Apple strudel class for adults, with a sample!

Then off to the Tube to do a craft…not the one listed on the app…since it always listed the wrong crafts! It was a moon/star wind chime set…so we all did that. Afterwards, the kids got all the free charms they had missed and the bracelet chain from the jewelry shop (there was a line of people.) DH and I did Goofy Golf… once we figured out how to get to it…yet another moment when DH said 'I hate this ship'. (We found the aft areas very hard to navigate after being on the Magic/Wonder…when going to the adult area from our forward room, I went to deck 4 and walked the starboard promenade to get there easier.) Then we walked around to check out Satellite Falls and grabbed bags of lays chips from Currents for the kids

Tonight was Semi formal night with the Captain's Gala menu in Royal court.

I had the Tuxedo

DD22 had the Caramel Pecan Chai

 

[Geomom]

6/23/22 at Sea part 3
I had the Aged Prosciutto,

The beefsteak tomato and Vidalia onion salad,

And the Thai red pumpkin and coconut curry

DD18 had the kids garden salad and Mac and cheese. (I understand why they bring kids meals out immediately for actual kids…just wish they'd serve it with everyone else when it's an 'adult' ordering it…)

DD22 had the lightly breaded baked eggplant,

The braised oxtail soup,

And the pan seared venison medallions. (We specified medium doneness, as the venison she had on the Magic in 2018 was very chewy…and rare…since it's usually how the chef wants to prepare them, but she normally asks for steak to be medium well. These were perfectly cooked and delicious!)

DH had the marinated tiger shrimp,

lemon fennel salad (with smoked fish),

And fettuccine with parmesan crusted chicken.

 

[Geomom]

6/23/22 at Sea part 4
ALL the Desserts again!!!
Raspberry vanilla creme brulee,

apricot trio,

chocolate lava cake,

captains table sundae,

old fashioned apple pie,

chocolate cheesecake

We sat out on the Promenade to watch the sunset before the Eric Jones magic show.

 

[Geomom]

6/24/22 Castaway Cay part 1
We were in port by 8 am. They said it was the best day they'd had there in weeks! Sunny, low 80's for temps, etc. We saw the Wish 'parked' off the coast of Castaway.

Despite having cruised twice before, this was a trip of firsts…first time sailing out of the US, first time on a 'big' ship, first pirate night/fireworks, first time in a verandah room, and first time at Castaway Cay! So happy the weather cooperated!

DH and DD18 had an 11am Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure (C13), $56/adult. DD18 loves rays, so while this is pretty overpriced for what you get, it was worth it for her to do once..they managed to get off the ship by 10:15 and took the tram.

DD22 and I left 10 minutes later and decided to walk and take some pics:


Came across Goofy and Pluto,

Mt. Rustmore.

We managed to catch up with DH before his excursion started so we could get the snorkel equipment from our 2 prebooked Castaway Getaway packages (C05) $46. It was DD22s first time snorkeling (and I last went 23 years ago!)…it took a long time to get her comfortable enough to start swimming. Her mask wasn't tight enough, so her eyes were stinging from salt water. We were far enough out that we were closer to the first marker than the shore, so once we got the mask tighter, and I agreed to hold her hand/pull her, we made it to the first marker…Boo's door. Lol, I was a little disappointed to just see a door, so I convinced her to go to the next marker–Minnie! The next marker was too far for DD22 to make it to, so we went back to shore…with me pulling again. Got back to our stuff and a man sitting nearby mentioned music coming from our stuff…DD22s phone alarm goes off at 11am with music. Ug. We apologized to him, but he seemed okay about it. We made it back before the Stingray adventure was done, so we returned our snorkel equipment, gathered our stuff, and waited for DH and DD18.

Then we all took the tram to Serenity Bay for lunch. Both DDs had their cards checked for their age. We enjoyed the BBQ lunch and the serenity of no children, lol. I changed out of my bathing suit and into clothes, so I'd be more comfortable riding a bike.

We took a couple pics of the adult beach.

 

[Geomom]

6/24/22 Castaway Cay part 2
Then both DDs headed back to the ship vs using the included float rental….which is fine as the package price basically gives you either the float or bike rental for free. DH and I did the bike rental part from the adult beach…and I was happy to hear we could return it to the family beach! I think the last time I rode a bike I was 16…so it was terrifying, lol. We went to the lookout spot at the end of the adult beach (it was a chance for me to test my 'bike legs' to see if I could actually make it to the family beach afterwards.)



Then we continued on the bike path to the observation tower (saw the kayak excursion from there).



And then we went to the family beach to drop off the bikes. We took the tram back to the ship,, walked to the forward entrance, and up to the room to shower and pack..always sad to see these luggage tags...

While we were biking, the kids both showered, and did a quick round of Goofy Golf.

We took some pics from the verandah before we left Castaway.