I LOVE Comedians with Guitars......You didn't tell me that part...

[jenseib]

And look who else I found.

 

 

 

I went down and sat along the edge and chatted with them.

 

 

I took a couple of pictures while sitting there too.

 

 

 

[Host Mick]

I'm just loving all of these pictures. It's like being on the Magic again.

The attention to detail and the richness of the decor and furnishings is wonderful... er, Magical.

[jenseib]

I'm just loving all of these pictures. It's like being on the Magic again.

The attention to detail and the richness of the decor and furnishings is wonderful... er, Magical.

 

Yes it is. I want to be on her right now, as the wind is whipping something awful outside.

[jenseib]

After chatting with the girls by the pool, I made my way back towards the room. We were going to meet a little later and go on the Art of the Theme Show Ship tour.

As I was walking I took a few pictures once again.

This totally cracked me up. This little girl was getting her hair braided and was sound asleep.

Toy Story was playing on the big screen.

I headed back to the room and freshened up. I believe Lisa came back for a bit too. She wasn’t in the mood for a tour, so she was just going to go off and do her own thing.

The tour was to meet outside of Palo. I was one of the first to arrive.

And while you wait, you take pictures ….right?

[jenseib]

Brook and the others arrived. Brook took this picture. I have the stupidest look on my face. LOL

This was our guide. I believe his name is Andy.

One of the last to come in for the tour was Jazzy! Remember her, the lady who can dance. We are such dorks, but we acted like we had a celebrity joining us.

[jenseib]

Andy started up. He was really good. He was fun and informative. We learned about the book Palo has. Everyone who dines there is supposed to sign it. Something we did not know, and I had planned to go back later and sign it but I never did.

He also told us about the glass in Palo, and for the life of me I don’t remember its importance anymore.

We also learned about the guy that watched the ship being built and made this mask as a gift.

[jenseib]

We moved on making stops here and there and learning different things like the carpets and how some have different meanings and the different signs on the ship. Many of it you notice, but not really, more subliminal.

Andy made a joke about the wave phones. He said he had been with Disney since Feb (it was now Sept) and he still couldn’t figure out how to use the dang things. Which was pretty funny as they are horrid. I can’t figure them out to save my life.

While standing here Lisa comes walking down the hall. We tried to get her to join us, but she left shortly after. It was kind of funny as Andy had said something about Fluffy. I can’t even remember what, but I looked up and saw Lisa, and Fluffy is her nickname. Back in our bar days she always had a ton of fluffy hair and people just started calling her that.

We made a stop near the nursery. I didn’t know this, but originally the ship was not built with one. This was an extra kitchen area. After a few months of sailing they realized this was a must for Disney and they gutted it and converted it. The Wonder was built the same way and on her transatlantic crossing she was gutted and redone into a nursery as well.

Also I did not know the glass was on one way mirror so parents can come and look in, but the kids don’t see them.

We next made our way towards the atrium.

See the lady with the yellow tank top? That’s Jazzy!

[riofriotex]

He also told us about the glass in Palo, and for the life of me I don’t remember its importance anymore.

 

 

I also went on this tour in January. "Palo" means pole in Italian, and is named for the gondoliers' poles in Venice. The glass is Venetian (Murano I believe) and is meant to look like the tops of the gondoliers' poles (which are rather decorative). The masks are Carnival masks from Venice.

[jenseib]

I also went on this tour in January. "Palo" means pole in Italian, and is named for the gondoliers' poles in Venice. The glass is Venetian (Murano I believe) and is meant to look like the tops of the gondoliers' poles (which are rather decorative). The masks are Carnival masks from Venice.

 

Thank you. I knew I had heard all about it, but just couldn't remember it all. LOL

[jenseib]

 

Something I did not know was that the chandelier is made of plastic and not glass, as glass was too heavy.

 

 

And look who we spot! It’s always fun to see a character out.

 

 

 

I LOVE you Goopy!!!!!! (Claire used to always call him that and he was her favorite when she was about 2)

 

 

We checked out these pictures with facts about the ship. If you ever get a chance take a look at them. They are really interesting.

 

[jenseib]

Another character sighting! The Big Cheese himself!

If you remember way back earlier in this report I mentioned that Walt was missing something in this picture.

It was his cigarette! I am not sure if the original ship mural had it or if it was made this way from the start. I have heard from some that it was there, but Andy made it sound like it wasn’t.

Moving on.

[jenseib]

It was kind of funny as when we would stop at times, a few other people would stop for a bit and listen in. I am sure not everyone realized they had “free” ship tours. I am really glad I read about it and took it. It was very interesting.

We started to head outside and guess what? It was raining! But Andy said he had something he wanted to show us and we had a roof over us, so we would be fine.

The ships belly button! This is where the 2 halves were brought together and welded. The Wonder also has a belly button, but was made as a whole rather than halves, but they felt she needed a belly button to so they just put one on her. I don’t think the Dream and Fantasy have them though.

Trying to get artsy while Andy talked.

[jenseib]

The sun was trying to peek through.

Andy then told us the story about the ships color. Monica Blue. I have heard this story before and it is always similar, but not always the exact same. Basically the story is that they were trying to come up with a color. They wanted black like the old ocean liners had, but yet that was drab, and they wanted blue, but there was some issue with that. Monica, who was a secretary or something along those lines was wearing a very dark blue skirt, dress, or pants, depending on who tells it and they said I want that color and they had the color made specially going off her clothing. So it is now called Monica blue. And she still works for the company, and if I remember right is quite high up now.

And then a freaky thing happened. Look at the sky.

It cleared up in a matter of seconds. Andy looks back and gives this funny look and says “well that is a bit creepy”. LOL

We finished up talking a bit outside and headed back in for the final bit of the tour.

[riofriotex]

Thank you. I knew I had heard all about it, but just couldn't remember it all. LOL

 

LOL. YOU are doing great to remember as much as you have, from way back in October!

 

I thought this tour was great, too.

[jenseib]

LOL. YOU are doing great to remember as much as you have, from way back in October!

 

I thought this tour was great, too.

 

I definitely need to start taking better notes.

[jenseib]

We headed back inside to finish up the tour.

And what do you know? Another character sighting!

He was happy that we were all gushing over him.

We finished up with Andy, and he told us something about this pole, but I can’t remember once again what the importance of them are.

[jenseib]

And if you look directly up, guess what you see?

A hidden Mickey!

The tour pretty much ended and a few people stuck around and asked a few questions and some of us took some more pictures as well.

[jenseib]

And we all headed back towards our rooms.

Some of the girls stopped to talk to the DVC guys. The shorter one in the blue shirt pointing, we had met him earlier and he was from Toledo, OH. I live 30 minutes from there and when we talked to him we found he was really from Maumee, which is where my sister lives. Small world.

[jenseib]

You could tell we were getting closer to Texas. The Oil Rigs were all over once again.

Once back in the room I got ready for the show of the night, Remember the Magic.

Lisa and I headed off to the show and met up with the other girls. We found a seat together and really enjoyed this show.

We all had tears, even Lisa. She told me that she is now a convert! She really enjoyed sailing with Disney.

I also want to say that Lisa thanked me over and over for inviting her on the cruise. Now she paid her own way, but she said she never would’ve done this if I hadn’t asked. I was really happy that she had enjoyed herself. It made me really glad I had invited her as well.

After the show, we headed back to the room for a short while before dinner.

Our favorite stateroom host, Rodrigo had come through for us! He left us some extra lotions.

The sky was beautiful, so I attempted to take a few pictures.

That speck of light out there is the Carnival Triumph.

[jenseib]

Before we knew it, it was time to head to our last dinner of the cruise. Boo hoo!

Lumiere’s was our spot tonight.

We settled in and chit chatted and took a look at the “Till We Meet Again” menu.

Out came the rolls.

I think Chris said something about keeping the ice tea coming and they brought her out several! LOL

Lisa mentioned that we didn’t have many pictures of the 2 of us together, so Brook took one for us.

[jenseib]

As for our appetizers, I have lovely pictures, but no clue what they are. I have looked at menus and not one seems to have a description that fits either one of them. So here they are.

If anyone knows what either of these is, I would love to know. LOL

I believe for the soup I had the Crawfish and Lobster Bisque served with roasted corn-chili relish.

And Lisa had the Potato Leek Soup garnished with sour cream, chives and caviar.

For our main courses, again I am not seeing a good match on the online menus. I have no clue what this is, but it looks like an alligator head on veggies. LOL! This was Lisa’s. I am guessing some kind of fish or chicken.

This was mine, which I think was some sort of beef tenderloin.

[jenseib]

Dinner was good once again, even if I can’t remember what I actually ate.

I did however take a picture of the inside of the dessert menu.

And then the servers paraded around with the Baked Alaska.

[jenseib]

High Fives for all!

Then Luis and Raphael posed for us. Luis was always being so funny.

This was the look we got often from Luis. He had the funniest eye expressions.

Brook asked if they would take a picture with Crush. She had been taking pictures through the trip with him for her son Henry.

They decided to hold Crush for ransom.

[jenseib]

They totally were cracking themselves up.

Dessert then came out after all the goofing around. I think both Lisa and I got the Till We Meet Again Sweet Temptations - A trio of Celebration Cake, Chocolate Decadence, and Cappuccino Mousse.

I kind of wished I had gotten the Baked Alaskan as well, but I didn’t because I was too full …and too fat. We all were joking how our clothes were fitting pretty tight this evening. I was smart and saved my roomiest dress for this evening!

Julie, who is a tiny little thing said she had very little that she could fit into and wasn’t sure what she would wear home. LOL! She said her cruise consisted mostly of lying around or drinking or eating. Sounds like a fun vacation to me!

After dinner was over, I think we roamed around a bit then came back to the Atrium for the till we meet again fairwell party. This party was CROWDED!

They were playing a few Disney tunes to get us in the mood.

Soon Peter came out and the characters came not far behind.

[jenseib]

I took a TON of pictures and about 70% of them are completely blurry. I don’t know what the deal was, but I couldn’t take a good picture to save my life. And with it being so crowded, it was hard to get them as well.

The other 30% weren’t all that great either.

After the characters come out, they have a little bit of time set aside for some last meet and greets. I went around and tried to get pictures of some of the characters.

This girl was Lisa’s favorite. She noticed her at the 2nd show. Her arms are so muscular. Probably too muscular, but I should could take lessons from her.