We'’re out of it! A summer 14 “MAGICal” Med adventure Day 14/Aug 05 updated 05/05

[dizneeat]

Day 9, July 31

Palo, Tastings and more „we’re out of it“ - Part 2

Once we were done, we walked out onto deck 4 to watch the waves, but soon headed back to our stateroom to relax for a while.
And since we still had quite some time to go until dinner we decided that some room service might be a nice idea.
So we placed a call to room service and after ordering I was asked if we cared to try the cake of the day. Hm, why not, so please bring that as well. It didn’t take long and there was a knock at the door and our yummies had arrived.



Needless to say that if you sail Disney, you need to order some Mickey Bars. So that plate was the first we took and headed out onto the veranda with.





Nothing better than some ice-cream on the veranda. We opened the plastic sleeve the bars come in, grabbed the wooden stick and


………



pulled it right out.
Both of the bars were completely melted and the only way to “enjoy” them would have been with the help of a straw. Okay, can happen. So we went back inside and checked the rest of our loot.
We have only recently discovered to order room service on the new ships, so we have a staple menu of items that remind us of those trips and that was what we had ordered. First off, a



Caesar Salad, which unfortunately was swimming in water – thankfully the dressing came in a little extra container, so after straining the salad we put the dressing on and tried the salad. Not quite as we had remembered, but again, our verdict was that they had to do grocery shopping in Europe and maybe the salad was not as crisp here as it was in the States.
Next dome lifted and we had the



Chicken Tenders and Fries. They were actually just as we had remembered them and we really enjoyed those. Tom was really looking forward to the



Chicken Wings and when we lifted that dome off we both had a good laugh. Yip, there were some chicken wings, but they were tiny and the portion of veggie sticks looked bigger than the wings themselves.
There was hardly any meat on them either. And then we went to find out what the cake of the day was and it was actually


yesterday’s dessert.


Don’t tell me again that you don’t serve yesterday’s desserts, Disney, you DO!!!
I pulled up the photo of the dessert Tom had had the day before and it was exactly the same including the fruit decoration.



Well, we had not liked it the day before and we did not like it now, so for once we had to send back quite a bit of what we had ordered. Thankfully we had bought some snacks while shopping in La Spezia and ordered a



cheese plate as well, so we sat outside







enjoying these and getting over the room service “surprise”. After a while we decided that it was time to head out again.
We walked around a bit













and ended up in front of Keys again.







It looked fairly empty and quiet, so we sat down and the same bar keeper, we had had the day before was on duty again. Tom ordered something that wasn’t on the menu but had a glow cube in it.



They were happy to make for him especially when we told him WHY we needed the glow cube, and since he offered to make me one of the



substitute Moet Ice drinks, I just went with it. It took a while for both drinks to be made, but they looked really good when they were served. The barkeeper stayed for a few minutes chatting and putting a little container of roasted peanuts on our table as well. Once a few more guests were arriving the barkeeper needed to tend to them too and left us and we could try our drinks. Tom liked what he had gotten, mine didn’t taste like the one I had had the day before, at all. It was very sweet and tasted mostly of the flavoured liquor. I kept sipping it, but it didn’t get any better and since we didn’t want to hurt our server’s feelings, we never told him about it. So, once Tom had finished his drink and we had paid our bill we left.

To be continued ..........​

 

[MEK]

Boo on the Moet drink not tasting the same. I hate when that happens. Sometimes anymore I almost hate ordering mixed drinks for fear that I won't like it. I find myself sticking more and more to beer and wine.

Palo brunch looks delicious. We really enjoyed Palo for dinner on our last cruise, but the brunch also looks fantastic. Do you think I can talk Denny into both on our next cruise?

The chocolate and wine tasting also looks like so much fun!

 

[michelle9343]

Hi Karin I finally had a moment to catch up . It is amazing to me that Disney could run out of WINE...I am also disappointed that you have been having less then perfect food , but like always you make the best of it!!
I love seeing all of the pictures and really hope some day I will get to see Italy.

 

[Leshaface]

Yikes, room service sounded like a complete bust that day. And day old cake?! No disney, say it isn't so!

It's hard to tell bartenders about drinks. I've had to suck up many a drinks over the years, because I'm too nice to say anything. I guess that's why I stick with beer and wine so much. I know what i'm getting.

 

[KatMark]

Why is it every one of your updates usually starts with food? But a Mickey Ice Cream Bar is sure a pretty site.

The water is so blue.

The bar looks lovely and I like the look of Tom's drink. I'm sorry yours was not as good.

 

[jenseib]

I love the cheese plate....at least that looked normal and I assume tasted just fine.
Thats a bummer about the Mickey bars. I had one fall off my stick onto the ground and I was so tempted to still eat it.

 

[Poolrat]

Sorry your room service was a complete mess. Sounds like only the chicken fingers were okay. Melted Mickey bars are not OKAY. So sorry you are having so many problems.

 

[dizneeat]

Boo on the Moet drink not tasting the same. I hate when that happens. Sometimes anymore I almost hate ordering mixed drinks for fear that I won't like it. I find myself sticking more and more to beer and wine.

Palo brunch looks delicious. We really enjoyed Palo for dinner on our last cruise, but the brunch also looks fantastic. Do you think I can talk Denny into both on our next cruise?

The chocolate and wine tasting also looks like so much fun!

The drink was just one more tick on the list on inconsistancies. I really love the mixed drinks, but am not really a fan of them tasting differently every time. Especially not if they have been made by the same person.

You HAVE TO talk Denny into both, brunch and dinner at Palo. Two totally different experiences, both really great. And the variety of things at brunch is just out of this world.

Have you done any tastings on your cruise? We just love doing them - the champagne one is my favourite.

Hi Karin I finally had a moment to catch up . It is amazing to me that Disney could run out of WINE...I am also disappointed that you have been having less then perfect food , but like always you make the best of it!!
I love seeing all of the pictures and really hope some day I will get to see Italy.

Thanks for coming back, Michelle. You have so much on your plate I admire you for finding the time to come here and read about our vacations.

There were a lot of things they ran out of on that cruise. It was a totally different experience to what we had had before. I hope that it will be back to what it used to be for Tom's 50th birthday cruise.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for you to some day make it to Italy. I really hope that we could be your tourguides for some parts of it!

Yikes, room service sounded like a complete bust that day. And day old cake?! No disney, say it isn't so!

It's hard to tell bartenders about drinks. I've had to suck up many a drinks over the years, because I'm too nice to say anything. I guess that's why I stick with beer and wine so much. I know what i'm getting.

While service itself was always pretty fast and the CMs were so nice - the food kind of was a let down. And the "cake of the day", which was actually panna cotta and no cake at all was the "not icing" on the cake. Especially when you hear them rave that they would never serve anything from the day before.

The bar tender was a really nice guy and loved talking to us (might have been the additional tips ) and I really did not want to hurt his feelings as he was so proud of this drink. But the fake Moet drink just didn't taste nice and not like my favourite champagne at all.
And I wish I could just stick with wine (I don't drink beer) but most of the white wines that are served in the US are too sweet for my taste.

Why is it every one of your updates usually starts with food? But a Mickey Ice Cream Bar is sure a pretty site.

The water is so blue.

The bar looks lovely and I like the look of Tom's drink. I'm sorry yours was not as good.

Kathy, you should know me by now - it is ALL about the food.

Well, this Mickey bar was not such a nice view, it looked so sad, being all melted away already.
Keys was a lovely bar, unfortunately they often had music in all the bars and it was pretty loud, so no chance of really having a conversation without shouting at each other. But it was nice and quiet in the afternoon.

 

[dizneeat]

I love the cheese plate....at least that looked normal and I assume tasted just fine.
Thats a bummer about the Mickey bars. I had one fall off my stick onto the ground and I was so tempted to still eat it.

The cheese plates were really nice. Believe me, we had way more than just one over the course of 2 weeks.

The Mickey bars not so much - it was our one and only attempt to have one. They looked very unappetizing all melted away - so that cured us. I hope to get one on our upcoming cruise though.

Sorry your room service was a complete mess. Sounds like only the chicken fingers were okay. Melted Mickey bars are not OKAY. So sorry you are having so many problems.

It was a "different" kind of Disney cruise. One I hope we will not have again. And I will never ever cruise with them anywhere else than the US/Caribbean. There are a lot of great cruise lines out there here in Europe that are way cheaper and go to the same places.
It actually amazes me HOW many things were not Disney like when I wrote that trip report - just so sad, as we had been really looking forward to this cruise and I was so prepared to tell everyone how wonderful it was and it just was not.

 

[dizneeat]

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Day 9, July 31​

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Palo, Tastings and more „we'’re out of it“ - Part 3​

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So, once Tom had finished his drink and we had paid our bill we left.
We walked over to the duty free shop and had a good look around, then went into Fathoms, but something was going on and we decided to not stay. We still had quite some time to kill before dinner and Tom had seen something in the duty free shop he wanted to have a closer look at, so we went back.
And after we had checked out whatever it had been he had had an interest in we had a look at the O’Gill’s merchandise. They sold all sorts of things, including a mug and I urged Tom to get one and have an O’Gill’s in it. He did not agree to buying the mug, but agreed to getting an O’Gill’s.
He had had it on the Fantasy and had liked it, so why not. So in we went and there were already several tables filled with people. We found seats at one of the higher tables and sat on the bar stools. A server came to greet us and asked about our drinks order.
Tom asked about an O’Gill’s. Guess what,

they were out of it.

So Tom asked what other beers there were on tap and one peeked his interest. Um, sorry, but

they were out of it.

So Tom went to order a Guiness – it is an Irish pub in the end and surely they would have Guiness on tap. Um, no,

they were out of that too,

but did serve it in a can. Not what Tom had expected, so in the end he ended up with some kind of

American beer and I just ordered a Diet Coke, praying they would not be out of that as well.
And boy, was I lucky, as they actually HAD Diet Coke – in a can,
but I could not have cared less. And as soon as the server had vanished with our key card to place our order my Spanish “friend”, Brent’s sidekick, was to enter, together with some kind of entertainer and they were doing a pub quiz.
So we were all handed little notepads and pencils and we had to stay put as we were still waiting for our drinks. It got pretty loud during the quiz and we were finally served our drinks and Tom had gone and gotten some

tortilla chips and salsa from the buffet as well. We sat, listened, made up answers and sipped our drinks and once we were done, we were happy to leave.
This is something we really missed on the Magic, a nice quiet place to have a drink in the afternoon. Wherever we went, something was going on and it got loud, really loud.
Tom and I went outside to deck 4 and walked around the ship as this was the most quiet environment we could find outside of our stateroom. Thankfully it was a nice day and many of the cruisers were now getting ready for the first dinner seating or the first performance in the theatre.
We had no interest in today’s performance, so after some time on a deckchair on deck 4 we walked back to our stateroom and rested for a while. And we really rested, we only left our stateroom again, when it was time to head downstairs for dinner.
We actually arrived after the first rush and quickly sat down. Jay again was there with the Diet Cokes and the menu and we had not even opened it yet, when Jason came to make his recommendations. And while we were still reading Jay brought the bread service of the day,

Fig and Date Ciabatta rolls with a

Mint Yogurt Dip. We ordered our main courses and tried the dip, but were not impressed so we just enjoyed the rolls with butter and soon enough our starters were served. Tom was served the

Slow Roasted Duck and Cheese Quesadilla with Mango, Cilantro and Red Peppers, Chimichurri Sauce and Arugula drizzle. I had my heart set on the

Roasted Roma Tomatoes and Herb Flavoured Goat Cheese on Mixed Greens and Balsamic Vinegar Dressing. There weren’t a lot of mixed greens, but the Goat Cheese was nice with the fresh rolls. Once we had finished our plates were taken away and new ones were set in front of us. My main course was the

Rosemary Scented Medallions of Lamb, with grilled Red Peppers, Yellow Squash and Zucchini on a Polenta Cake, with Lamb Jus, while Tom had asked for the

Peppercorn Crusted New York Strip with Green Beans and Corn, whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes and Brandy Sauce. Both were really nice, even though the meat was a bit tougher than we were used to by DCL.
Tom refused to have dessert, he was far too full and just ordered some coffee, but that menu has something that I really love, so I had to get dessert. I had my heart set on

Princess Jasmine’s Banana Bread Pudding, Brioche Bread Pudding, Caramel Sauce and toasted Macadamia Nuts. This has never disappointed and it did not disappoint this time either. But once I had finished my dessert we were done. We quickly said our goodbyes to our servers and headed back to our stateroom, where we found a towel elephant

and the next day’s personal navigator. We peeked out onto the veranda and saw that there were more cruise ships out there on the horizon,

then got ready for bed and called it a day. We needed to be up early the next day. ​

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To be continued ..........​

 

[Leshaface]

Wow, this "We're out of it" quote must have gotten pretty old, pretty fast huh? How annoying

Brioche bread pudding!! That sounds delicious!!

 

[dizneeat]

Wow, this "We're out of it" quote must have gotten pretty old, pretty fast huh? How annoying

Brioche bread pudding!! That sounds delicious!!

It was really funny when I said to Tom that I already knew what the title of the TR would be while we were still on vacation - we're out of it was a phrase that became such a catchphrase and we would say it over and over again.

OMG that bread pudding is just to die for - swimming in caramel sauce.

 

[KatMark]

I do not think I would be a happy person if I couldn't find ONE quiet spot on the ship to just sit, relax, have a drink and a conversation. Why must something always be going on. And why do lounges have to be so loud?

That Peppercorn Crusted New York Strip is making my mouth water (and I'm only having pizza tonight).

Love the elephant that greeted you when you returned.

 

[Flossbolna]

The beer situation is quite ridiculous!! Were the European cruisers drinking so much more beer than those in the Caribbean?? And it is not the first time DCL is in Europe. Having stock problems on the first European season is excusable, but now it is just plain bad organisation. And it is not as if it is difficult to run cruise ships in the Med, there are plenty each year which seem to have no big problems being stocked well. If they have trouble getting O Gills, get at least some nice European beers!!

 

[dizneeat]

I do not think I would be a happy person if I couldn't find ONE quiet spot on the ship to just sit, relax, have a drink and a conversation. Why must something always be going on. And why do lounges have to be so loud?

That Peppercorn Crusted New York Strip is making my mouth water (and I'm only having pizza tonight).

Love the elephant that greeted you when you returned.

I know for sure that there are quite places on board the new ships - we have had many a nice cocktail in the afternoon. But it was really hard to find somewhere to sit and have a nice conversation that was outside your stateroom.

They are so creative when it comes to towel animals. We really loved to come back to the stateroom to find a new one (and a piece of chocolate on the bed as well).

The beer situation is quite ridiculous!! Were the European cruisers drinking so much more beer than those in the Caribbean?? And it is not the first time DCL is in Europe. Having stock problems on the first European season is excusable, but now it is just plain bad organisation. And it is not as if it is difficult to run cruise ships in the Med, there are plenty each year which seem to have no big problems being stocked well. If they have trouble getting O Gills, get at least some nice European beers!!

We talked to the servers in the bars and they all said the same - they are only allowed to reorder when they are seriously low on something and then it takes weeks to ship things from the US. It just seems to be so much easier for them to restock in the US than here in Europe. Thankfully Tom stocked up in every harbour with local brews.

It definitely IS bad organization on their part. You would think with the experience they have with going to Europe they would have a propper system in place.

And how funny that you mention they get some nice European beers. On one of the last days of our cruise they DID get some European beer. Tom took a look and told me that he had tried that one and it was one of the cheaper ones he had gotten. He was not fond of it, but at least they had something to offer.

 

[franandaj]

Wow. That's just sad that they were out of so many things and there was so much inconsistent food preparation. I'm glad Tom stocked up in port so you didn't have to suffer there!

 

[dizneeat]

Wow. That's just sad that they were out of so many things and there was so much inconsistent food preparation. I'm glad Tom stocked up in port so you didn't have to suffer there!

We would have laughed it off, if it had only been one thing, but it were so many things and since we were not happy with the situation as a whole, it just got worse and worse. I mean, things can go wrong or can be broken, but there were just too many issues that trip.

And YES, Tom stocked up on local beers in every harbour and even I got lucky a few days later.

 

[jedijill]

Wow, how frustrating that they were out of everything! We experienced a little bit of that on the Southern since it was the first cruise after the TA. One of the bar staff said they had something but since it hadn't been inventoried yet, they couldn't sell it. Silly rule!

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

Wow, how frustrating that they were out of everything! We experienced a little bit of that on the Southern since it was the first cruise after the TA. One of the bar staff said they had something but since it hadn't been inventoried yet, they couldn't sell it. Silly rule!

Jill in CO

The "We're out of it" got old pretty soon. I do understand that it can happen, but I don't get the fact that they ran out of most of the things on their menu.

Well, with the "not inventoried - no sale" policy Disney is missing out on a lot of extra money. Just like they were out of a lot of stuff if they don't stock their bars or merchandise locations.

 

[dizneeat]

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Day 10, August 1​

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And another private tour …..“ - Part 1

Today we were woken by the alarm clock. We were both still tired and would have loved to just pull the blankets over our heads, but we had another semi-private tour booked.
Athens was on the itinerary today.
So, when the alarm clock rang, we rolled out of bed and looked out the veranda door and we had not arrived yet. So we quickly took showers, then went to grab some breakfast.

And even though we were no fans of the lukewarm buffet breakfast, there was no way around it, we had a whole day of touring ahead of us. After breakfast we headed up to the top deck to see the Magic float into the port of Piraeus for our day at Athens.

I had been very torn about booking another semi private tour, as there was the option of a simple HOHO bus as well, but when I had read that the Acropolis got very crowded with tour groups and the HOHO didn’t go there for a while on this route, so the private tour won. But we were going into it with very mixed feelings after the Rome fiasco.
And once the ship had docked we went back to our stateroom, changed into some comfortable but light clothing and walking shoes and then went down to get off the ship. We were supposed to meet our tour guide and our friends Bobbie and Connie outside the terminal and they were all already waiting for us together with another family of four from the Magic.
Paul, the owner of the tour company was our driver and a young lady was our tour guide. Everyone introduced themselves and off we went and climbed aboard the minivan. It was different to the one we had been on in Rome as it had huge windows and you had a great view. Once we had gotten on the way we were told that indeed the Acropolis would be our first stop as many tour groups put it at the start of their tour as it can get pretty hot around midday. And we were even more pleasantly surprised when the guide started to give us all the background details we needed on the way there. There was just a short stop at a viewpoint and soon we were on our way again.

And with all the information it made for a pretty short trip and soon Paul stopped and let us get off the bus. After a very short restroom break we started our way up to the Acropolis.

There were already a lot of people doing the same while we tried to stay close behind our lady guide, who was walking at quite the fast pace.
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To be continued ..........​