Another fun day at sea was on the horizon, except I was super tired.  I had taken some Dramamine the night before because I was feeling under the weather.  Well, probably because of the Mixology class and not really anything else.  Dramamine makes me really, really sleepy for a long period of time.  I spent a good part of the morning sleeping in various location around the ship.  I slept some up in Satellite Falls and some near the adult pool area.  The weather was a bit overcast and it was chilly to be up on deck with the wind blowing.  After lunch time, I started to get my second wind.  I felt like I pretty much wasted the first part of this day, which was a shame.  After seven cruises, I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that I should never take Dramamine, even if I do feel seasick.

We had two big activities planned for the day, the Chocolate and Liquor Tasting and dinner at Remy. 

We signed up for the Chocolate and Liquor Tasting at the same time that we signed up for Mixology.  I don’t remember the exact price of the tasting, but it wasn’t much more than the Mixology class.  The class was held in Ooh La La Lounge, which is the champagne bar , so we headed there at 12:15 PM for our class. 

We had gotten to the club a few minutes before the tasting so we could look around.  We had never been in Ooh La La, so this was new for us.  The club has a very luxurious feel, with cozy corners, velvety chaise lounges, and decor reminiscent of champagne bubbles.  We took some pictures of the club prior to the tasting.  I don’t know if I would return to the club to get a drink, mainly because I’m not a huge fan of champagne. 

 

The bartender leading the class came around to collect our tickets for the tasting.  Each table had two complete setups for the class already prepared.  There were four glasses, with each glass accompanied by an assortment of chocolate, cheese, or both.

The class started with the instructor giving a history of chocolate and the various ways it has been enjoyed over the years.  He discussed how the percentage of cocoa powder and cocoa butter affects the taste.  Another interesting fact he told us was that the cocoa butter content would help to coat the taste buds and make some of the more harsher liquors easier to drink.  As the class went along, he also explained the various liquors and how they are made.

The first tasting would be Prosecco along with melted white and dark chocolate.

The second beverage was a red wine along with three different types of chocolate.  One was a dark chocolate that was 70 percent cocoa powder.  The second was a milk chocolate.  The third was a white chocolate with a high cocoa butter content.  We sampled each of them along with a sip of the wine to see how each changed the experience.

The next drink was a Port accompanied by some Parmesan cheese cubes.  The cheese was a nice change of pace after having had so much sugar. 

The last beverage was a scotch along with a dark rich drinking chocolate.  I’m not a scotch drinker, so I liked the chocolate and the way it helped to mellow the scotch out. 

The class was a lot of fun and tasty too!  I definitely didn’t finish all the drinks this time so that I wouldn’t have any unpleasant effects like I did with the Mixology class.   Overall, we really enjoyed the class and had a good time. 

After the class, we went to see Moana in the Walt Disney Theatre.  We saw the movie when it originally came out, but we really liked it and figured it was a great way to see it again.  The movie was really crowded, but we still enjoyed it.  I ended up watching it again another night with our youngest daughter.  I think I actually fell asleep in the later viewing.  

Our dining tonight was scheduled for Royal Palace.  Nancy and I had booked Remy dinner for 6:15 so that we would be done in time to join the girls for their dinner.  We got dressed and headed up to Remy, which is on Deck 12 across from Palo.  We checked in and were escorted to Meridian, which is the bar between the two restaurants.  Nancy ordered a glass of wine and we waited to be seated.

We were escorted to our table before Nancy had finished her glass of wine.  We had a nice table right by the window so we could look out.  The only sad part was that the sun started setting not too long after we sat down, so we lost the view pretty quickly.  We must have had one of the first reservations of the night because I think we were alone in the dining room to start.

Our waiter quickly appeared and introduced himself.  He talked to us for a few minutes to get us settled in, then started to make us a complementary “Colette” cocktail, which was a mixture of Grey Goose Vodka, Grand Marnier, Taittinger Champagne, Cassis Pearls, and some dried Pineapple.  It is delicious!

After we enjoyed our cocktail, bread was offered (and accepted).  The bread was sooo good.  We were then offered an amuse bouche.  I won’t spoil what it was (other than to show it in this picture), but I will issue a warning.  Mine was extremely hot, so much so that it actually burned the roof of my mouth.  I’ve had it before on a previous Fantasy cruise, so I know it is delicious, but I didn’t get to enjoy it at all this time.  I probably should have let it cool a bit more.

We were then brought a tasting of a salted caramel with macadamia nuts.  It was really delicious, a mix of sweet and salty.

Nancy chose the seafood based menu with the exception of any shellfish, since she has an allergic reaction to it.  The waiter was happy to suggest substitutes for those items.  I requested the other menu, with the exception that I didn’t want any seafood as I don’t enjoy the taste.

Nancy was served the appetizer above.  I actually received the same thing, despite having not ordered seafood.  I mentioned it to our waiter and he whisked it away from the table while apologizing.  It was quickly replaced with this fabulous dish.

Nancy’s main course was the sea bass. 

My main course was pork three ways. 

We ate dessert, but passed on the cheese cart.  We were absolutely stuffed and wanted to get to the main dining room to meet up with the girls.  The waiter then brought us additional desserts along with a lovely message in honor of our anniversary.  We tried a small part of the tart and decided we were done.  The waiter packaged up the remaining items so we could take them with us.

We left Remy and headed straight to the dining room to meet up with the girls.  They were already seated and had ordered dinner.  They told us about what they had been up to.  Dinner was in Royal Palace and I was kind of sad that we had chosen this night to enjoy Remy.  Royal Palace has my favorite dessert, the Grand Marnier Souffle.  Last time on board I ordered two of these desserts.  After dinner, we all went back to the room and changed out of our “formal” clothes.  The girls went off to their clubs and Nancy and I called it a night.

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