5 Adults, 2 Staterooms, 1 Amazing Western Caribbean (C) Cruise on the Disney Fantasy!

[LittleMissMagic]

Dinner - Animator's Palate

Tonight's show at Animator's Palate was "Animation Magic". Animator's Palate on the Disney Fantasy has three different animation shows - Finding Nemo (like Turtle talk with Crush), Pirate Night, and Animation Magic. We saw the Finding Nemo show the first time we dined in Animator's Palate that week.

We arrived to these sheets on which we drew our own character.


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

That is not a girl - it is a guy athlete with dreads. Max had first drawn a big '1' on his jersey, but colored over it because the instructions say not to use numbers or letters (perhaps because they might appear reflected?).


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

Dad drew himself.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

Rachel's animation skills really impressed me this week.


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

You could tilt the menu and the Sorcerer Mickey Animation would come to life.


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

There weren't many options for us, as the appetizer and soup were pre-selected. You only had to choose a main course, or off the Lighter Fare menu. This is because we were eating at Animator's Palate on the final night and had the "See Ya Real Soon" menu.


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

Throughout the meal, Sorcerer Mickey would come on the screens with our artwork, showing him transporting it backstage to make some Animation Magic. I am a huge fan of Mickey Mouse, so I much preferred this theme to the Finding Nemo/Crush show earlier in the week. I also felt that it fit better in the setting - a show about animation in an animation-themed dining room. Makes perfect sense!


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

Much to Max's delight, they sang Be Our Guest to us before serving our appetizer.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Appetizer Sampler Platter by vshingl, on Flickr

Appetizer Sampler Platter


Macaroni Cheese and Baked Potato Soup by vshingl, on Flickr

Macaroni and Cheese Baked Potato Soup.... two really good things combined there.


Roasted Filet of Beef Wellington by vshingl, on Flickr

And I had the Filet of Beef Wellington. Notice that the greens are wrapped in bacon!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

Before dessert, they played the Animation Magic theme. It's really cute because all of our characters came to life and marched in, broomstick style (Fantasia), then danced with Disney characters.


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

Someone drew an impressive Fred Flintstone!


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

There's Max's (left), Rachel's (second from right), and mine (right).


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

And then the fun part...


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

 

[LittleMissMagic]

And our signatures appeared in the credits!


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

What's in the paint jars? Paint! Not wet paint - they painted the outside of the jars.


Baked Alaska by vshingl, on Flickr

And for dessert! Rachel got the Baked Alaska.


See Ya Real Soon Sweet Temptations by vshingl, on Flickr

I had the See Ya Real Soon Sweet Temptations.


Animator's Palate by vshingl, on Flickr

At the end of dinner, they returned our drawings to us with a seal!

Though you can pre-pay your tip and charge it to your onboard account, Disney still does tip envelopes for your dining team and room steward. We had been given the envelopes and vouchers showing our electronic tip the night before, so we brought them to dinner that night to give to our head waiter, waiter, and assistant waiter. I do like the old-fashioned way of delivering tip envelopes to dining staff, as I think it provides good closure and gives you an opportunity to personally thank them for their outstanding service.

 

[KelleyK75]

Goofy golf looks like a lot of fun. And what a great last dinner. I love that they let you draw the pictures then put them up on the screen. Too cool!

 

[Alohagirl73]

Thanks for the update and wonderful trip report. Made me even more excited for the trip this Saturday!!!!

 

[cheeser]

A truly delightful trip report. You write very well and the trip report was very well put together. Look forward to seeing more trip reports from you in the future.

 

[lauralynn0612]

I enjoyed the trip report, and all your lovely pictures! We sailed the Fantasy Eastern itinerary May 31-June 7. Definitely fun to see the different ports you visited.

Also, we were told you couldn't put numbers, letters, etc. because someone recently drew inappropriate things on their character, and there were a few complaints. So just a random piece of unsolicited info for you! Ha.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Thanks for the update and wonderful trip report. Made me even more excited for the trip this Saturday!!!!

Thank you! I hope that you are having a wonderful time on your cruise!

A truly delightful trip report. You write very well and the trip report was very well put together. Look forward to seeing more trip reports from you in the future.

Thank you very much! Check out my blog, Victoria on Vacation, for more Disney and cruising fun.

I enjoyed the trip report, and all your lovely pictures! We sailed the Fantasy Eastern itinerary May 31-June 7. Definitely fun to see the different ports you visited.

Also, we were told you couldn't put numbers, letters, etc. because someone recently drew inappropriate things on their character, and there were a few complaints. So just a random piece of unsolicited info for you! Ha.

I thought there might be an issue with gang signs or naughty words, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions. If it was something obviously inappropriate like a curse word or middle finger, I'm surprised they wouldn't know to omit the character from the show. I suppose with all types of cultural backgrounds and nationalities that the cruise staff comes from, they wouldn't necessarily know what was naughty and where.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

See Ya Real Soon

After dinner, we returned to our staterooms to add some final things to our bags then put them in the hallway (the requested deadline was 10:30 PM). We then headed to the atrium for the See Ya Real Soon final character meeting. They introduced the entire gang, and then they dispersed around the lobby for photos and autographs.

I had a prime location for photographing the characters, but I regretted that I didn't bring my exterior flash because my shutter speed wasn't quite fast enough. You can see a bit of motion blur in the photos below.


See Ya Real Soon by vshingl, on Flickr


See Ya Real Soon by vshingl, on Flickr


See Ya Real Soon by vshingl, on Flickr


See Ya Real Soon by vshingl, on Flickr

We then did what we love to do... go shopping! We picked out four 8x10 photos to purchase. Rachel got herself another Alex and Ani bracelet. I contemplated getting a lot of things, but never make a final decision (I want it all!), but I did get a plush Captain Mickey Mouse and a Donald Duck pin. Rachel got a plush Sailor Minnie Mouse.


DCL Merchandise by vshingl, on Flickr

Our motto.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Towel Animal by vshingl, on Flickr

Just a little nightcap before bed...


3 Liter Bacardi by vshingl, on Flickr


3 Liter Bacardi by vshingl, on Flickr

Max had purchased a 3-liter Bacardi and a 3-liter Crown Royal on our Carnival Breeze cruise. He purchased one for a friend when he was in Cozumel. They run about $38-40. Except on DCL, we were able to take the bottle straight to our cabin, so we could have been sipping out of it all week!

Rachel, Max, and I sat down that evening and filled out our post-cruise evaluation. I really appreciate that Disney Cruise Line does this and that they give you a hard copy. So many cruises have moved to emailing surveys after the cruise. After cruising the Carnival Breeze in March, I was expecting to be emailed a post-cruise survey, but never received it. Anyway, it was fun and interesting for me as a blogger to get to go through and discuss each category with Rachel and Max. We were able to reflect back on certain events that stuck out in our minds. It was an enjoyable conversation.

After filling out our survey, Rachel decided to watch a little on-demand television before going to bed, and Max went with me on my long exposure photo walk of the ship.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Starting on the Royal Princess over Christmas, I've made it a habit to bring my tripod and remote so that I can take long exposure photos in the late evening or early morning around the ship. Between 11 PM and 6 AM, most guests are in their staterooms which allows for the opportunity to take photos of large public spaces without people. Not only that, but the lighting design on the latest cruise ships has become quite beautiful, and taking photos after dark allows you to really showcase the light both indoors and out on deck.

I was especially excited to photograph the Disney Fantasy because the ship is so beautiful. On the first night of the cruise, Max and I were walking back from the hot tub late at night, and he even admitted that he was excited to photograph the ship because the lighting on the Disney Fantasy is so incredible.

Well.... in all of the fun that I was having with my family, enjoying activities that the Disney Fantasy had to offer, I put my long exposures off until the last night. This was a mistake, and I will never be so careless again because on our way from Castaway Cay to Port Canaveral, we sailed high winds, rough waters, and periods of rain. I was really upset with myself and concerned that I wasn't going to be able to take the photos I wanted.

Cabanas


Cabanas by vshingl, on Flickr

We started in Cabanas because I absolutely love this mosaic and wanted to make sure that I photographed it.

Creating a 'correct' exposure is balancing the three elements of the exposure triangle - aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. The idea behind long exposures is that setting your camera on a tripod for stability allows you to lengthen the shutter speed so that can have a higher narrower aperture (meaning greater detail is rendered) and lower ISO (meaning less noise), and light is allowed into the camera over a longer period of time.

I am not an expert, I am simply a hobbyist photographer who enjoys improving my craft. I'm also not the best teacher, as I've taken Max with me several times to take long exposure photos, and I still can't seem to explain it to him so that it makes perfect sense. So if you are interesting in photography and how to create manual exposures, I strongly recommend that you read Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure. It's the book that really taught me how to shoot in manual mode.


Cabanas by vshingl, on Flickr

Pool Deck


Mickey Pool by vshingl, on Flickr

Max volunteered to go with me, and thank goodness for him! Like in Aruba on the Carnival Breeze, Max helped me block the wind from the camera and steady the tripod. He also really enjoys clicking the remote and helping me with the composition of the shots. I've learned that Max has an eye for detail, and he'll give me suggestions on how to compose each shot.

This shot was actually entirely Max's idea -


Mickey Pool by vshingl, on Flickr

Because the wind was so fast and strong, a really long shutter speed just didn't work, as the wind would shake the camera a bit over a period of 30-45 seconds. So I bumped up the ISO and was able to use a shutter speed of around 1-3 seconds while battling the wind.

In hindsight, I think my aperture was a little too narrow, and I could have opened that up to f/8 or f/11 and used a lower ISO.


Disney Cruise Line by vshingl, on Flickr

The shot pictured above was almost dangerous! The wind was really fast, so we were really cautious while on the top deck. We decided that trying to take photos on Goofy's Sport Deck would be unsuccessful and dangerous.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Nemo's Reef by vshingl, on Flickr

Nemo's Reef is the shaded splash area for small children.


Aqua Duck by vshingl, on Flickr

The photo of the Aqua Duck entrance might be my favorite shot, even with the carts and the cones in the background (which I would have attempted to move out of the frame if the wind wasn't enough of a battle). I really love the up-lit staircase.

Quiet Cove Pool (adult-only)


Quiet Cove Pool by vshingl, on Flickr

The Quiet Cove Pool was protected from the wind and a much easier location to shoot. They must put the net up early on the last night because normally the pool stayed open until midnight.


Quiet Cove Pool by vshingl, on Flickr

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Shutters


Shutters by vshingl, on Flickr

I really like how Disney Cruise Line designed "Shutters" their photo store. Each guest has a folio book which is stocked with hard copies of the photos they take on the ship throughout the cruise. Disney uses face-matching software, as well as Key To The World cards (room keys) to assign the photos to the appropriate folders. The folders look like library books and are stored on shelves. This keeps the lobby area a bit controlled and organized. I also suppose that this works well for Disney because there is such a high demand for photos with the character photo ops around the ship, so they aren't really losing out on a marketing opportunity by displaying all guests photos for everyone to see.


Shutters by vshingl, on Flickr

There is beautiful art in this gallery. I picked out a Captain Mickey original canvas that I really wanted.

Vista Cafe


Vista Cafe by vshingl, on Flickr

The Vista Cafe is where we met Jesse, our wonderful bartender at the Captain's Reception!


Vista Cafe by vshingl, on Flickr

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Atrium


Atrium by vshingl, on Flickr

And the most grand lobby that I have ever seen on a cruise ship. Disney Fantasy, you have stolen my heart.


Atrium by vshingl, on Flickr


Atrium by vshingl, on Flickr


Atrium by vshingl, on Flickr


Atrium by vshingl, on Flickr

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Bon Voyage Lounge


Bon Voyage by vshingl, on Flickr


Royalty by vshingl, on Flickr

Preludes


Preludes by vshingl, on Flickr

Preludes is the atrium connecting all of the shops. We were told on the second day when we took a ship tour that Preludes is actually the name of the snack bar outside of the Walt Disney Theatre (which was showing Million Dollar Arm, so I couldn't photograph), but whenever the Navigator says to meet at Preludes, it means here.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Europa (adults-only)

After 9:00 PM, Europa is the adults-only (18 and older) nightlife district on the ship. It consists of four distinctly themed lounges and a nightclub.

La Piazza


La Piazza by vshingl, on Flickr

La Piazza is the Italian-themed lounge with classic Italian drinks like prosecco, wine, grappa, and limoncello. There is often live music, and the lounge has the capability to serve as overflow seating for The Tube, equipped with a drop-down projector screen. Also at La Piazza is a small bar with self-serve hors d'oeuvres.


La Piazza by vshingl, on Flickr

Ooh La La


Ooh La La by vshingl, on Flickr

Ooh La La is the French champagne lounge offering exclusive champagnes, as well as delicious champagne cocktails. The lounge is restricted to guests 18 and older at all times of the day.


Ooh La La by vshingl, on Flickr


Ooh La La by vshingl, on Flickr

We really enjoyed Ooh La La as a quiet getaway for great pre-dinner cocktails. I also love the decor in Ooh La La. The ceilings are beautiful.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

O'Gills Pub


O'Gills Pub by vshingl, on Flickr

We really didn't hang out in O'Gills this cruise. Max and Dad went there once to get a draft beer that had been recommended to them, but they were really annoyed because the bartender wouldn't let them sample the beer before they purchased it (this was the only time that occurred on the cruise). Sure enough, they were both stuck with 22 ounces of a beer they didn't like.


O'Gills Pub by vshingl, on Flickr

Skyline Lounge


Skyline Lounge by vshingl, on Flickr

The Skyline Lounge is where our mixology class was held on the first sea day. The concept of this lounge is that the skyline changes, so you always have a different view. The menu features drinks created for each of the skylines that appear - Paris, London, Barcelona, Athens, Florence, Budapest, and St. Petersburg.


Skyline Lounge by vshingl, on Flickr

The bartenders saw me photographing the lounge and called me over to take their photo! The one on the right is Arthur who taught our mixology class.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

The Tube


The Tube by vshingl, on Flickr


The Tube by vshingl, on Flickr


The Tube by vshingl, on Flickr

Cave of Bathrooms


Cave of Bathrooms by vshingl, on Flickr

If you are offended by photos of bathrooms, I'd like to strongly recommend that you briefly push that aversion to toilet pictures aside so that you may enjoy the next photograph.


Cave of Bathrooms by vshingl, on Flickr

The "Cave of Bathrooms" located inside Europa contains the most beautiful bathrooms I have ever seen. The walls are completely mosaic. The stalls are actually mosaic-covered pods that you shut yourself in by pulling a round pocket door. Also, these bathrooms are always sparkling clean. I think as soon as the cast member finishes cleaning all of the bathrooms, she immediately starts back again. Disney Cruise Line easily has the cleanest and most beautiful public bathrooms at sea.