Spring Break 2016 Cruise – Part 4 – Sea Day

Day 2 was our first of two sea days.  The kids jumped out of bed to decorate our whiteboard.  It is a tradition they’ve been practicing since our first cruise in Alaska.  I only wish I had managed to capture all of their pictures.  Our younger daughter loves french toast, so it was off to Beach Blanket we went for her traditional breakfast of french toast with french toast and a side of french toast.  After breakfast, we all went our separate ways.  The older one headed to Vibe to meet up with friends and the younger one went to the Edge.  The day was overcast and the seas were up a little bit.

Nancy and I had brunch scheduled at Palo, but we had a few activities we wanted to do beforehand.  The first stop was at the Onboard Booking Desk to book a placeholder cruise.  We got it done in less than two minutes and were on our way again.  We are going to use the placeholder for a cruise next Christmas!

Nancy and I then headed off for a cooking demonstration called the Art of the Appetizer.  They were going to be making Wild Mushroom Risotto.  We hadn’t attended  a cooking demonstration on a cruise before, so we figured it would be interesting.  The demonstration was taking place in Studio Sea, which is one of the venues on the ship.  They hold family activities in this venue (we’ve also attended towel folding and a family game show in here as well).  There are televisions above the activity leader so you can see if you are further in the back.

The demonstration started with the chef’s assistant handing out copies of a recipe to everyone in the audience.  He then introduced the chef, who promptly said he didn’t follow recipes and tore it to pieces.  Then he basically followed the recipe. 😉  He was a chef from one of the dining rooms and did a great job of explaining what he was doing as he was cooking.  Once he produced a finished plate, they sent around sample plates to all the people watching the demonstration.  The entire cooking demonstration took about 30 minutes and we really enjoyed it.  We sat off to the side but agreed we probably should have shown up early in order to get a more centralized seat for a better view.

After the cooking demonstration, Nancy wanted to sign up for the Castaway Cay 5K.  This meant a stop at the Port Adventures desk.  I thought I would look through what was available at Cozumel since we didn’t have anything planned other than a walk down the main street.  On the way to the Port Adventures desk, we passed through the atrium.

The Port Adventures desk is opposite Guest Services on Deck 3.  Signing up for the Castaway Cay 5K was really easy, just a quick stop for Nancy to register and receive her event ticket for the race (it’s like the tickets you receive when you register for a Port Excursion).  We grabbed a listing of activities available on Cozumel as well.  There wasn’t anything that really appealed to us, so we didn’t end up booking anything.

We were then ready for one of our favorite cruise activities, Palo brunch.  Palo is the adults-only restaurant on Deck 10 aft on the Disney Wonder.  Disney describes the menu as classic Northern Italian cooking “with a modern twist.”  Palo serves brunch and dinner for an additional charge of $30 per person.  The brunch consists of a combination of a buffet and a limited number of a la carte items.

We were seated at a nice table by the window after checking in.  Our waiter quickly arrived and brought us each a mimosa.  He walked us to the buffet and explained all the food choices, including the a la carte items.  Due to Nancy’s shellfish allergy, the food service staff is always careful to explain what is safe to eat and what should be avoided, which is very helpful.  I selected the lasagna and Nancy selected the chicken parmesan from the a la carte menu, then we filled up our plates with delicious looking foods from the buffet.  We returned to the table to enjoy the food, lovely views, and excellent company.

After a short wait (and an appropriate time to eat our buffet items), our entrees items arrived.  The chicken parmesan is normally my “go to” favorite, but I decided to try something else this time.  The lasagna did not disappoint.  It was delicious, as was everything we tried.  Once we finished our entrees, we returned to the buffet to try some of the desserts.

Nancy and I left Palo and rolled ourselves back to the room to change.  I don’t remember what we did that afternoon as I don’t have any pictures from it.  One of our favorite activities is to go up to the pool deck to watch Funnel Vision movies — Funnel Vision is Disney’s term for the movie screen on the back of one of the ship’s funnels.  We eventually met up with the kids to go to dinner.  Tonight’s dinner was at Animator’s Palate.  This restaurant starts in black and white and slowly adds color as the evening goes on.

The meal started with bread service — which is bad for me, because I tend to eat too much bread before anything else arrives.  Luckily, I held off because this is one of my favorite meals on this itinerary.  It is probably bad to say, but we’ve eaten enough meals on the Wonder to be bored with the menus.  I ordered the Black Truffle Pasta Pursettes, which are delicious.  I also had the Baked Potato and Cheese soup.

I was bad on this night, because I ordered two entrees.  I always get the Ginger Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin, which I like.  But this time around, I wanted to try the pasta, because it sounded good.  Shane brought both for me to try.  I was glad I ordered the beef though, because the pasta was not good.  I took two bites and went back to the beef.

I looked over the desserts,  but nothing jumped out at me.  I went with an old standby.

Planning | Travel | Boarding | Sea Day | Cozumel | Sea Day | Castaway Cay | Disembarkation

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