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

[dizneeat]

I wish I would have known about that elevator! That was the hottest longest climb of my life!

Jill in CO

Yikes! No thank you, with the temperatures that we had that day I would not have wanted to walk up. The elevator provided a nice and easy way to get up there.

I think in this case, the elevator is the way to go even if it seems scary....

It was the only way to get up there. It was far too hot to walk up.

I would have loved to do that bus ride !! So many sights to see!! Can't wait to see where you go next!!

It was such a fun and interesting bus ride. If only we had thought to bring more sunscreen.

I love seeing the ship from afar and thinking, 'that's my beautiful ship ' great pictures.

Yes, that was the one thing I really really enjoyed in every port - comparing "our" ship to the others in port and thinking that YES, we were on the most beautiful one.

I don't know any history on this town, is this a fort you're going up or a different historical site?

It is a very old town and there are several forts there to guard the entry to the harbour and the island itself. Not that it is still necessary today.

Hi Karin! Backing up a bit.... I can't believe the bad behavior of some people. So many feel they are the only people who matter on the planet. Sorry about the spilled drink. I was thinking it could have stained your clothes

It did stain my clothes and they needed to be washed several times to get the staines out.

Malta does sound exotic. Probably the "Maltese Falcon" reference. Beautiful pics, and you managed to keep the hoardrs out of your frame.

It is a very old European city and very beautiful.

Looking forward to the view... very cool pic of the tower.

Not sure if my photos will do the view justice, but it was stunning standing up there.

 

[dizneeat]

​

Day 14, August 5

„Duck! There’s Jay!“ - Part 4

In the end we really enjoyed the elevator ride and were in awe with the view once we had made it up. You had the most beautiful view over the harbour and there were several platforms to check out.

So we went right ahead to check them out and enjoy the different angles of the views.
I guess we spent about half an hour exploring there before we decided it was definitely time for lunch and something to drink.
We made our way into Valletta, looking for a restaurant where we could have a break. Well, there were several what we would call “greasy spoons”, but they were not what we were looking for. We stepped into one or two and quickly left again, either for lack of air conditioning or lack of a food menu.
So after wandering around for the best part of an hour we decided to head back to where the elevator was, as there had been several hotels. It took us about 15 minutes and by then we were seriously thirsty and hot, so we stepped into a small restaurant, which looked like it belonged to the hotel. We found seats in a little side room and quickly ordered some drinks, a

Cisk beer for Tom and a Diet Pepsi for myself and before we could even have a look at the menu, we needed a second set of drinks. Then we finally had a look at the menu and while I was still reading and talking about the options Tom whispered,
“Duck!!! There’s Jay!!!”
Yes, the Jay, who was our assistant server turned magician, who we smiled at, but did not understand a word he said. Luckily we sat in the corner and he went the other way to the restroom, but we were just not in the mood for a little small talk with him. We then ordered our food, there were only 4 things on the menu, so not much to choose from and Tom went with the

Penna Pasta wish spicy tomato sauce, while I thought you cannot go wrong with

Lasagna. Well, we should both be wrong. After just a few minutes both plates arrived and they offered pre grated Parmesan cheese from a small bowl. Tom took a little, I declined and then we tasted. Tom’s pasta was okay, but you could taste that the sauce was not a homemade one. My lasagna was just plain tasteless and blasted in the microwave. We ate a few forkfuls, but then decided that this was not what we wanted to eat.
So we decided to head back to the ship and get some snacks there. And with that in mind we paid our bill and walked back towards the elevator to go down to street level. On the way there we saw a little kiosk and Tom wanted to have a look if they had some local beers to try, so we walked over.

Once there we saw they sold Pastizzis, a filled pastry, that was very much recommended to us. So we picked two of those Pastizzis, Tom got some

drink to try and I got myself an ice-cream cone. They warmed up the Pastizzis, packaged them nicely and off we went.

We used the elevator to go down to street level again and then walked towards the ship.

Before we went back onto the ship we walked through the duty free store and picked up a thing or two before finally getting back on board. Back in the room we looked outside and low and behold, the workers who we had seen working on the the AquaDunk were right outside our balcony.

We watched for a few minutes and then went back inside to try our food.

And were so happy we had decided to pick up those two Pastizzis. They were just delicious. One was filled with

roast beef and veggies and it was just seasoned to perfection. The other was filled with

tuna and again veggies and to die for. We sat, enjoyed every last morsel of that yummy goodness and sipped some cold drinks out of the fridge. Lunch done, we took showers and then headed up to the top deck



for some dessert from the soft serve machine.

Unfortunately it was pretty hot on deck and the ice-cream turned into a melted mess within a minute. After our sweet “treat” we returned to our room to wash our hands and have a cold soda out of the fridge, before we sat out on the balcony for quite a while. Later we sorted out things a bit to start packing, but it was soon time to return to the top deck as we wanted to see the ship sail out of Valletta. We went to the aft, found a great spot and stayed there while the Magic slowly started to pull out of the harbour.

To be continued ..........​

 

[franandaj]

That looks like a very interesting city. Three hours is a long time to sit on top of an uncovered bus, I would have been burned to a crisp! The elevator looks like a very interesting ride.

Sorry that your first try at food was not very good. I'm glad you ended up with something tasty to eat after all!

 

[jenseib]

Those Pastizzis look really good.
I would think that part of the Aqudunk would be pretty important part to keep fixed. LOL

 

[englishrose47]

That pasta and Lasagna looked disgusting !! However the little pie things looked great I would have passed on the Tuna , but that beef one OMG!!!

 

[dizneeat]

That looks like a very interesting city. Three hours is a long time to sit on top of an uncovered bus, I would have been burned to a crisp! The elevator looks like a very interesting ride.

Valletta is a really beautiful old city. I wish we had had more time to spend there, but by the time we got off the bus we were just wanting to have some lunch and get out of the sun. The elevator looked scary, I mean, it was really high up, but so worth the ride in it.

Sorry that your first try at food was not very good. I'm glad you ended up with something tasty to eat after all!

It was not what we had expected. Not a fan of microwaved food in the first place, but in a restaurant? The Pastizzis were so yummy. I wish we had had more of those.

Those Pastizzis look really good.
I would think that part of the Aqudunk would be pretty important part to keep fixed. LOL

The Pastizzis were absolutely divine! SO yummy.
Yes, they better keep that part of the Aquadunk in order - could turn out for a not so fun ride for someone if they didn't.

That pasta and Lasagna looked disgusting !! However the little pie things looked great I would have passed on the Tuna , but that beef one OMG!!!

They were not nice at all. But that pie was like a Cornish Pasty and it was out of this world good. Both were yummy, but then I really like tuna.

 

[dizneeat]

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Day 14, August 5

„Duck! There’s Jay!“ - Part 5

We went to the aft, found a great spot and stayed there while the Magic slowly started to pull out of the harbour.

It was really nice to see the city get smaller and smaller and before we knew it we were out on the open sea again.

When we returned to our stateroom there was only a little time left before we had to go to dinner anyway, so we packed away some of our stuff, then rested on the beds until it was time to go down to Lumiere’s for dinner.

Tonight’s menu was the Captain’s Gala.

To be continued ..........​

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Wow! It was a great view! Too bad you didn't find a nice place to eat. The snack you did find looks yummy, though. I love the way the sun was shining on the city as you sailed away.

 

[dizneeat]

Wow! It was a great view! Too bad you didn't find a nice place to eat. The snack you did find looks yummy, though. I love the way the sun was shining on the city as you sailed away.

We really enjoyed the visit to Valletta. The meal at the hotel not so much, but the Pastizzis were really good.

Sail away was beautiful. One of the most beautiful in all as we had to slowly sail out of that beautiful entry to the port.

 

[jedijill]

That meal looked gross but glad you found the pastizzis to make up for it! I just love Valetta...such beautiful architecture.

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

That meal looked gross but glad you found the pastizzis to make up for it! I just love Valetta...such beautiful architecture.

Jill in CO

We never expected to be served microwaved pasta, but the Pastizzis made more than up for it.

 

[englishrose47]

Waiting for more food porn !!

 

[Rabb it]

Amazing report!

 

[Leshaface]

No problem, lady, she is a kid, sure she can stand there.
Well, it turned out that this was not the only kid they had with them and instead of just having her standing there, grandpa sat her on top of the crate and stood right next to her, holding on to her, now completely blocking my view.
We looked at each other and moved a bit more to the side, which resulted in more of that families members moving in and pushing in front of us. Grandma was ordering drinks for all of them and they started to put them on the crate in front of us. By then we were all kind of huddled together as they pushed in more and more. Well, it ended as it had to end, grandpa sat another one of his cute little angels on the crate, this time we told him not to block our view even more, so they sat on the side, side by side.
Needless to say they were pushing and shoving and grandparents smiling until they pushed over one of the drinks which spilled all over me. You would guess grandma would say that she was sorry, but NO. The way she looked at us, now that WE had her drink, well it was spilled over the crate, my blouse and trousers, did not say “I am sorry”.
She actually was waiting for us to get moving and get something to mop up her mess!

Yikes what a pushy family! And can't believe none of them apologized for spilling their drink on you! So extremely rude.

The turkey leg comes with a pocket knife too?!

How gorgeous.

Yes, the Jay, who was our assistant server turned magician, who we smiled at, but did not understand a word he said. Luckily we sat in the corner and he went the other way to the restroom, but we were just not in the mood for a little small talk with him.

I don't think i've ever heard of these before, but they look delicious!

 

[GoofyFan1515]

So much old world beauty, and the views after braving the elevator ride were just so gorgeous!!!

Well, we should both be wrong. After just a few minutes both plates arrived and they offered pre grated Parmesan cheese from a small bowl. Tom took a little, I declined and then we tasted. Tom’s pasta was okay, but you could taste that the sauce was not a homemade one. My lasagna was just plain tasteless and blasted in the microwave. We ate a few forkfuls, but then decided that this was not what we wanted to eat.

REALLY? How in the world can you mess up pasta???

And were so happy we had decided to pick up those two Pastizzis. They were just delicious. One was filled with

roast beef and veggies and it was just seasoned to perfection. The other was filled with

tuna and again veggies and to die for. We sat, enjoyed every last morsel of that yummy goodness

Those definitely look like an upgrade, and so yummy!!!

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm back in town and catching up. Great couple of updates. Except for the microwaves pasta of course. We were once served microwaved fries in England of all places. We couldn't believe it...

Beautiful views of the city.

 

[franandaj]

Nice view pulling away from the city!

 

[chicagolaw]

I am enjoying reading all your posts. I can't wait to finish to see how the trip ends up. I just booked the 10 night Med cruise next summer (July 2017) so I am reading everything and trying to learn as much as I can before we go. It will be me and my two boys (10/11). I am sorry to hear about your experience in Rome. I plan on booking a non DCL trip and have already taken notes not to use the company you did.

All the problems you had in your room are definitely making me nervous. We have taken three disney cruises before but all have been on the Fantasy. This will be our first time on a different ship. We were really excited to go on the Magic but now I am very nervous.

Can't wait to see more food pics and port reviews.
Liz

Day 8, July 30

Stromboli, the Messina Strait and more on board fun - Part 2

Unfortunately we could not stay until the end as we needed to head to the top deck to secure a good space to see the next sight of the day – the Messina Strait.





So we headed up to the top deck and low and behold there were already people up there but we were able to find a free spot at the most forward point.





The man who was standing next to Tom started talking and we chatted for a while. And while we were chatting the space around us filled up with quite a few people. There was a young lady standing next to me and we started talking as well. Turns out she is a cast member at Walt Disney World and her grandmother on her father’s side was from Austria. Now we had even lots more to talk about. So we watched while the ship was gliding through the very narrow body of water between the main land of Italy and the island of Sicily.





















The ship had taken a pilot on board for that part and it was good it did, as some spots were really pretty narrow and when we went past a Costa ship I think everyone remembered what had happened to one of their fleet’s ships. And with chatting and watching time just flew by and we soon were out into the open sea again. We said our goodbyes, but not without telling our new friends that we had DVDs of Austria to hand out as FE gifts and we would bring one to their stateroom. We then strolled along the deck and found our friend Bobbie enjoying the sun on one of the loungers. I couldn’t help it and talk to her and she was pretty stunned when she saw us standing there. And when we finally passed the Cove Café we decided to treat ourselves to some coffee goodness. Tom ordered a



Cappuccino, while I went for the Frozen Cappuccino, 1/3 Espresso blended with vanilla ice cream, again. Again, we had to make a point of it that we wanted our drinks in china and/or glass and it took a lot of discussion for them to finally agree to it. Their argument is that you get more in a Styrofoam cup. Actually we would get less, as I don’t like the taste of the Styrofoam cup and most of it would get thrown out. So, after a while the server returned with the drinks. Tom’s coffee came in a funny cup for a cappuccino and mine was missing the whipped cream on top. Oh, well, less calories.
And while Tom enjoyed his coffee I only took one sip and realized that one key ingredient was missing, the vanilla ice cream. My Frozen Cappuccino was just coffee mixed up with ice cubes and there were still huge chunks of it in it. And while I was still looking for a server to let them know that this was not what I had ordered (and paid for) they both had just disappeared. So, after a while we gave up and I sipped a bit of the watery drink and once Tom had finished his coffee we just left. On the way back to our room Tom picked up two







gyros with different fillings to snack on back in our room. And he was happy to report that they both were very good and he enjoyed them out on the balcony together with a beer out of the fridge. I joined him, but I was nibbling some sweets we had gotten as our Fish Extender gifts and was washing it down with some Coke out of our fridge as well.

To be continued ..........​

 

[chicagolaw]

I am glad to hear that the Magic redeemed herself. Guess I will need to read that trip review to learn all about it. Im still nervous about the Magic in Europe, but I guess I will wait and see what people have to say after this years Med cruises.

Bad news AND good news!!!

We are back! And we come with a bit of news .........

Let me get to the BAD news first.
I had to push our resisting summer cruises to 2016!!! Well, that's not really bad news, but we were really looking forward to this year's summer vacation. Unfortunately there have been a few hickups along the way that pushed us to move the cruises and while we are still holding our breath to at least be able to fly to the US (the flight is booked and is non changeable and non refundable) the chances are pretty slim. Like VERY slim. So I have already made plans for spending this summer in Europe and so far a week long trip to Italy is already booked (as well as one that starts in close to three weeks) and a 10 day trip to the Cinque Terre, which we loved so much during our cruise last summer.

On to the GOOD news!

First off - the Magic REDEEMED herself, BIG time!!!!!!!!!!! Stay tuned for a TR to start soon and many magical surprises.
Tom's birthday trip went off without a hitch and again we were sprinkled with A LOT of Pixie dust and we are completely back in love with Disney - guess I will hold on to my DVC after all.

Summer 2016 is all set! We will fly out in early August and stay a few days at WDW, then head to Port Canaveral for a back to back on the Dream. Get off on the 26th and right back onto the Fantasy on the 27th for an Eastern Caribbean. The Fantasy Eastern is a new OBB, the other two were pushed from this summer.
Once we get off the Fantasy we will be left with about a week of WDW time again. Should be fun and at least something to count down to again!

Stay tuned for an update/sneak peak of Tom's birthday cruise tomorrow.

 

[chicagolaw]

I soon want to do a galley tour. How did you do it? Did you have to sign up when you board or is it something you sign up for in advance? What other kind of behind the scene type tours do they offer? I can't wait. We have never done anything like this before.
Thanks

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Day 13, August 4

Another day at sea - Part 2

Characters were out and people were lining up and we walked around a bit and people watched before returning to the stateroom and guess what, no stateroom host in sight and the room still not done.
By that time we were kind of used to coming back to an untidy room so we just shrugged our shoulders and made ourselves comfortable again for the short time we would be in the room.

About an hour later we headed out again. And we went to an all too familiar location, Lumiere’s.

Well, this time we didn’t go there to eat, but to go on a “behind the scene’s tour” to see one of the galley’s. We were a bit early but there were already quite a few people lined up outside and about 5 minutes before the tour was supposed to start we were all led to the side entrance, tickets were checked and we were let into the restaurant. Chefs from several of the galleys were there to introduce themselves

and give a little insight before we were led into the kitchen behind Lumiere’s.

This was not our first galley tour and we knew what to expect, but it is always neat to see how similar or different these places are. Turned out this kitchen was not much different to the ones on the Dream and Fantasy but it was interesting to hear at how many cooks they had, and how things worked during service.

In the end we were treated to freshly baked chocolate chip cookies which are always welcome.

They make the best cookies on board of these ships. Once the tour was over we strolled around the ship for a bit,

looking through the shops again and having a look at the pirate merchandise they had pulled out for pirate night that day. Lots of characters were out,

all in their pirate gear, all with long lines to visit them. We watched for a short while before returning to our stateroom again. When we got back to the room we made a joke that we were sure it would not be done yet, but since we saw the host’s cart in the corridor, we were not too sure. Guess we should have made the bet, as our stateroom still was not done.
So we decided that we would just live with it and ask for new towels once we saw our host around. Instead we called room service and ordered a

cheese plate. It was brought up within 15 minutes and we poured ourselves some wine and Moet ice and shared the food.

After that we sat on the veranda for a while, but all too soon we felt antsy again and thought we would go and find somewhere nice (and clean)

to sit and have a conversation. So we went and checked the different venues. Keys was first, but it was closed for some kind of function. Well, let’s check out O’Gills. Yikes, they had some kind of quiz going on and it was LOUD in there. What about Promenade Lounge? We headed over and it looked pretty good, just a few kids, so we took a seat, smiled at the cheap pallets of beers they had still out and were now offering at a premium price and took a look at the menu. We ordered two glasses of wine and as soon as they arrived so did a group of kids. They were having some kind of kids even and it got loud, so loud that you could not hear the person opposite without leaning in. No fun. The server, noticing we were not happy, asked what was wrong and after telling him that we would have liked to finish our drinks in a more quiet surrounding answered that we could pick up a drink at the adult pool and sit in the Cove Café. After previous experiences there we did not really want to do that, so we left most of our drinks and fled. And on the way back to our stateroom we noticed a few of the things we had seen in connection with the drydock the Magic had been in. There were quite a lot of places with paint drippings, paint on windows and overpainted spots where rust was already coming through again. Being not in such a good mood made these things stand out even more.

Back in our stateroom we were surprised with a clean room. The beds were already prepared and we had Pirate bandanas on the bed together with the chocolate coin and Navigator. Well, it was about time, it was past 5 pm already. So we started to get ready for dinner at Palo. And shortly after 6pm we headed upstairs for our 6.15 reservation. We were greated and asked to wait for a few minutes, but instead, as soon as we had sat down, the Maitre d’ decided it was time to lead us to our table. Didn’t take more than a few seconds and the server was on hand to greet us. We sat and studied the menu, then ordered some drinks.

To be continued ..........​