Thanksgiving 2010: Traditional vs. Nontraditional

After a delicious traditional Thanksgiving meal in Florida with the whole family the weekend before real-Thanksgiving, the CT Rosenbergs gathered together for a decidedly nontraditional Thanksgiving on the actual date.  Last year it was Lasagna, this year was Fondue - both meat and chocolate.  Yum!  The food itself wasn't overly exciting (the sauces kinda blah and I forgot about a starch - potatoes would have been good...  oops...), but the whole fondue experience is always fun.  Some pictures from both:

Fakesgiving (Yummy, Traditional, Whole Family)

Dad carving Turkules

The Table

Table setting with pretty napkin-fold (and oh-so-yummy sweet potatoes!!)

Oh David, I have no words...

Sophie, showing she clearly is superior in what she eats compared to David.  She is also an accomplished potato painter...

Actual Thanksgiving (Tasteless, Nontraditional, Some Family)

Table setting with napkin-pocket  (and a tablecloth that clearly wasn't ironed for the occasion)

 The table, with massive salad for 3 people (and no cucumber - oops)...

 The sauces, each with pretty labels (but the tastes were nothing exciting) 

 The goodies for the chocolate fondue - we did a surprisingly good job eating almost all of that among the 3 of us

All Booked

The final legs of the big train trip have been booked:

• Aug 17-18 ~ New Orleans-New York ~ Crescent
• Aug 18 ~ New York-Hartford

Now we just have to book hotels and find things to do in Seattle, LA, and New Orleans.  Any suggestions?  I definitely want to do the Seattle Underground tour and ride on a streetcar in New Orleans.  Sadly, the Red Sox are in Seattle and LA about a week or so after we are there.  That would have been good timing...

Riding the Rails...

Dad booked the first 4 legs of our train trip for next summer, with the final leg not yet open for reservations.

Booked today were the following legs:

• Aug 1-2 ~ Springfield, MA-Chicago ~ Lakeshore Limited
• Aug 3-5 ~ Chicago-Seattle ~ Empire Builder
• Aug 8-9 ~ Seattle-Los Angeles ~ Coastal Starlight
• Aug 12-14 ~ Los Angeles-New Orleans ~ Sunset Limited

To be booked as soon as it becomes available:

• Aug 17-18 ~ New Orleans-New York ~ Crescent

Hotel accommodations will be needed in Seattle (3 nights) and New Orleans (3 nights).  We'll stay with Susie one night in Chicago and Betsy & George for three nights in LA.

This happened quickly...

Begin the Countdown?!

Pre-pre planning is underway (meaning we have discussed it once or twice and looked up some information) for a father-daughter trip 2 years from now.  I'm writing about it here because the more I think about it, the more I really want to actually do this.  The trip is straightforward - take a train around the country, spend a little time in the "corner" cities on the trip.  Here is the tentative route we are throwing around:

Leg 1) Chicago - Seattle on the Empire Builder (46 hours)
Leg 2) Seattle - Los Angeles on the Coast Starlight (35 hours)
Leg 3) Los Angeles - New Orleans on the Sunset Limited (48 hours)
Leg 4) New Orleans - Chicago on the City of New Orleans (19 hours)  OR New Orleans - New York on the Crescent (30 hours)

On Leg 4, we are undecided about what is best to do - The City of New Orleans would make a nice loop for the trip, but isn't the most exciting of train rides.  The Crescent goes through Atlanta and DC and obviously includes some of the east coast elements.  There is always the option of taking a train from New Orleans to Orlando and then north the NY, too, but we've both seen a lot of that scenery before so something new might be nice.

New states for me on this journey:  North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama (on the Crescent only)

victoria & albert's, or, our 7th anniversary gluttonous feast

so once upon a time, 7 years ago, we got married in walt disney world. and since then, we have celebrated anniversaries in various fashions - dinner at nice restaurants, cruises, what have you. but this year, since it's looking like our last local year, we (well, maybe i) decided to splurge, and go to the fanciest, most posh disney restaurant there is. so fancy that no kids under ten are allowed. so fancy that women must wear dresses, and men must wear suits. so fancy that it cost a small fortune. yep, kids, we went to victoria & albert's...

the night began with complimentary valet parking (woo, because self parking at the grand floridian involves a hike across a road, and in high heels that just was not going to happen). after some confusion over the operational status of an elevator, we headed upstairs to the 2nd floor, and walked around to the restaurant. they opened the doors for us as we arrived; we are still not sure how they knew we were coming (hidden camera? spy with a walkie talkie? alert from the valet? who knows...). we were escorted to our lovely table for two (ok, pretty much all the tables were set for two), where they pulled out the chairs for us, and assisted us into our seats. they even gave me a purse hook for the table to hang my little palm tree purse (yeah, i used my fancy purse, if not now, when??) from, so that it wouldn't have to sit on the floor - if you had a clutch without a strap, they brought out a little footstool for it...we had big cushy chairs, and a nice big table, set with fancy china & wine glasses & silverware. the setting included the ever popular show plate, which they take away before any food comes. i wonder if they still have to put those through the dishwasher...the room was very nicely appointed - there were maybe 12-15 tables (there is another room, as well, with four tables, that gets even fancier service, if you can imagine that), a harpist, muted lighting & lots of drapes, and a lovely, GIANT flower centerpiece in the middle of the room. that centerpiece was quite the distraction for me - it was a hair off center under the chandelier in the middle of the room, which drove me nuts.

we had two gentlemen, whose names i have forgotten, waiting on us. one was from boston, but not - his name tag said boston, but he was really from seekonk, which is practically rhode island, so i don't know why he used boston, but oh well. they were both quite professional & whatnot. kept our water filled, our silverware fresh, and our crumbs cleaned up, as well as delivering our food. we made a game out of the whole crumb-scraping thing - i think steve had the most crumb swipes by the end of the meal, but i am not sure. i am sure they also would have refolded our napkins, had we gotten up, but neither of us did. amusingly, the waitstaff would also escort you to the bathroom, and the manager would escort you back, just to pull out your chair for you. it was funny seeing him trying to race through the restaurant to beat people back to their seats. anyway, one of the waiters brought us water (they had little glass bottles that they left in a bottle holder thing at the table), and the other soon brought our fancy personalized menus. When we had made the reservations, they asked for our full names, and if we were celebrating anything, and now we knew why.



(sorry about the pictures, they were all taken with my cell phone. the menu pix were at home, and the others were in the restaurant, which is why they are so dark.)

the menus were personalized on the outside, and were in lovely black folders, made of some kind of thick plasticky paper. inside, they had our names, and the date, and wished us a happy 7th anniversary.



the waiter left us to review the menu for a bit, then came back to walk us through the options. after a few more minutes (we had lots of leisure time during dinner; it was a very slow, relaxed meal), he returned to see if we had any questions, and take our food & beverage orders. we had to order for all 6 courses (including dessert) then, and we also each ordered a glass of the iron horse fairy tale cuvee, which we had at our wedding.



to start, they brought us an amuse bouche course (the same for each of us). It consisted of four (more or less) bite sized items. Clockwise, from the upper left: some kind of seriously delicious custard thing in a demitasse cup that had small pieces of salmon in it; a very creamy scrambled egg in an egg shell, scented with smoked salmon; the world's smallest, cutest blini with caviar, itty bitty bits of egg yolk and chive (i think, the picture is really dark), and some kind of savory panna cotta with bits of onion and something in it, and a bit of roe on the top. they were all delicious, but that first thing was *so* good.

the next course was the cold appetizer - i had the gulf shrimp with watermelon radish, kohlrabi & vanilla aioli. mine had two shrimp on a bed of watermelon radish & some other vegetables, with some radishes, hearts of palm, and kohlrabi around the edges, and a (very lightly flavored) vanilla sauce around the edges & under the shrimp. it was yummy.

steve had minnesota elk carpaccio with olives, artichokes and chorizo viniagrette. his had very (very, very) thin slices of elk in the middle, something leafy & artichoke hearts around the edge, and chorizo viniagrette dabbed around it. on the spoon was olive oil powder and in a little pile on the edge, there was some smoked paprika. per steve, the olive oil powder was "weird", and when it was on his tongue, it "melted into the flavor of olive oil without being oily." so there you go.

i think we got our first of three bread courses at this point - mini baguettes with unsalted butter. yummy. not particularly remarkable, but still yummy.

the next course was the fish course. steve had citrus-poached alaskan halibut with warm verjus viniagrette, which was REALLY good. it was a piece of fish (duh), coated in herbs, then cooked in citrus, served with some kind of greens on the top, and a swimming pool of sauce around it. awesomely, it was garnished with a baby cucumber with the flower still attached. it was very citrusy, and the sauce was *so* good. they gave him a spoon to eat the extra sauce; that's how awesome it was. mr. fish hater said "i could eat it every day!" so that should indicate how delicious it was.

i had sake-soy-marinated king salmon with bok choy and soy beans. yum, and yum. the salmon had an asian glaze that was all sweet and caramelized around the edges. it was on a bed of basmati rice with soy beans and bok choy, and had some sort of sweet-salty-umami sauce around it. steve gave it the highest compliment - "i guess i don't hate all salmon." mine was delicious, but his was still better :)

i believe we got another bread course here, and it was my favorite of the three - the seasonal bread, an herb brioche. it had (i think), chive, chervil, garlic chive, and some other herbs baked in, and was served with a compound butter with the same herbs. it was delicious; i am drooling just thinking about it. i think i am going to request that recipe - of everything we ate, i think it's the only thing i could actually successfully make myself ;)

the next course was the warm appetizer - i ordered the poulet rouge with mushroom-truffle ragout and trumpet royal mushrooms. this was a small piece of chicken breast wrapped around a chopped mushroom-truffle mixture, breaded in panko and fried, and served with a sauce of mushrooms and maybe something red wine-ish, i think, with espresso foam on the top. it was yummy. crisp, savory, plenty of sauce, good filling - just plain yummy. the espresso foam gave just the barest hint of flavor, and everything else was very full & rich.

steve ordered the duck breast, duck sausage & duck confit, with strawberry & rhubarb, or as i called it, "duck, duck, duck." it was good (duh); he liked the sausage best. i seem to recall it had a freeze dried strawberry slice with it which he said was intensely flavorful. it also had a shmear of some kind of rhubarb sauce.

i think we were served our third and final bread course at this point; multigrain bread with butter salted with maldon salt (yes, they made a point of telling us what type of salt it was). it was fine, if unremarkable, and of the three, it produced the most crumbs. i was worried the crumb-swiping was going to be messy at this point, but fortunately, we weren't too bad.



now, it was entree time (and i think by this time we had also both ordered second glasses of champagne). i had the kurobota pork tenderloin and belly with baby beets and sherry-bacon viniagrette. holy yum. best pork i have ever had. the tenderloin was super tender & full of flavor, and the belly melted in my mouth. biggest surprise of the night were the beets, though - i have never had beets, but these were so good (there were also some turnips & carrots, which i also enjoyed). the beets sweet, and the sherry-bacon viniagrette went perfectly with them. finally, there was a small square of root vegetable gratin that was a good match for the rest of the dish - it brought in a cheesy flavor, and also some crunch from the breadcrumbs on top. all in all, this dish was absolutely divine.



steve had niman ranch lamb with spring asparagus and minted jus. it had lamb chops, and some kind of shredded lamb, as well as green & white asparagus, and some gnocchi with herbs. the white asparagus were extremely thin (like spaghetti noodle thin), and the green ones were tender, and smallish. the gnocchi was super-flavorful (that's the only part i tried). per steve, the lamb was quite good, if a bit on the standard side.

next, we had the cheese course, or really, the dairy course. i had cheese, of course. it had 4 cheeses - from the left, gouda reypenaer v.s.o.p. (with local honey), el porfiao (with dried date), thomasville tomme (with spiced almonds), and thomas hoe stevenson stilton (with poached pear & port sauce). there was also a piece of fruit bread in the center, with apricots and who knows what else. they were all delicious. the gouda was my favorite, followed by the stilton, the tomme, then the el porfiao.

steve got the white chocolate gelato with tableside shavings. it was what it sounded like - white chocolate ice cream. very white chocolatey. it was a little edible flower on top, and white chocolate shaved over it. not much more to say about that ;)



now, they asked us if we wanted coffee or tea - we had seen the awesome coffee pots around, and we wanted to see one up close, so steve got coffee, and i ordered vanilla rooibus tea (the tea list was basically the same as the tea list down in the tea room where amy & i go for afternoon tea). the coffee gizmo was delivered, and started the brewing process. my pictures suck, but basically, the water is in the bottom, and the freshly ground coffee is in the top. an alcohol burner is lit under the water, and as it boils the steam is forced up through the coffee grounds, into the top chamber. once the majority of the water has been boiled up into the top chamber, they extinguish the burner, and the now-brewed coffee falls back down into the bottom. very cool. and very flavorful (i tasted it) - it's a good thing steve didn't have more than one cup (and had had two glasses of champagne), or i think he would have been up all night. i, on the other hand, had three cups of tea. oops. i wasn't up all night, but boy did i have to pee a lot.



finally, it was time for the dessert course. steve ordered the highly recommended caramelized banana gateau. it had a bunch of banana slices that had been sugared & torched, a macadamia nut tuile wrapped around a mascarpone-banana-sponge cake concoction, and this crazy thing called a sugar waterfall which looked like sugar-packing material. though he was surprised by the presence of macadamia nuts (they weren't mentioned on the menu), steve enjoyed his dessert. the sugar waterfall thing was particularly odd - basically, a 3"x6" (or so) spun sugar piece. i had a bite; it tasted like sugar. if you chewed it, your teeth stuck together. if you didn't, it melted on your tongue. weird, but good.

i had the tanzanie chocolate pyramid with a champagne-chambord truffle. pretty much, it was a pyramid of super-rich chocolate mousse on a thin layer of chocolate cake, with a touch of edible gold leaf on top. there were dark chocolate tendrils that stuck out of it, with some strawberry compote around one side, some raspberry coulis down another side, and a gooseberry & a bunch of dots of dark chocolate ganache in the front. on the other side was a leaf shaped cookie with the truffle on it. all very rich & chocolatey. just what i wanted :)



we thought we were done now, but they brought us a tray of "friandises" - pina colada fruit gels (fancy gumdrops, pretty much), chocolate caramels with sea salt (i am sure he told us what kind of salt, but i forgot), and lemon shortbread cookies with lemon curd. all divine, all different. yum. i wish i had a box of those. they also brought us a little victoria & albert's bag with our menus, and also a small loaf of orange-date-nut bread for today. and finally, they brought me a very nice long stemmed red rose. and of course, the (very large) bill. all i can say is yay for 20% from tables in wonderland (disney's dining discount program). then they called the valet to have our car waiting for us, and we headed home to relieve dad of crazy baby duty (thank you again, dad - though i know it was more fun than work, i really appreciated it :).

all in all, the meal was delicious, and the service was impeccable. in particular, steve's halibut and my pork stood out, but there was nothing i could nitpick about - everything was perfectly cooked and seasoned. i was worried that steve would have difficulty finding things he'd like (i had visions of cheese, fish and nuts for every course), or we'd feel out of place, or be looked down on for not ordering the wine pairing, but there were no problems at all. sophie and i even enjoyed the fruit bread for breakfast this morning, and steve and i had some as a snack tonight. it's not a meal i could have every day (neither my wallet nor my waistline could afford it), but i think every 5-7 years or so, we will be up for revisiting it :)

some notes for the evening:

meats steve ate: salmon, elk, halibut, ducks, pig & lamb
meats sarah ate: salmon, shrimp, halibut (just a taste), poulet rouge (aka, chicken), & pig
new produce steve ate: artichokes, white asparagus, radishes
new produce sarah ate: kohlrabi, radishes, beets, turnips, gooseberries
number of time steve's crumbs got swiped: 4
number of time sarah's crumbs got swiped: 3
distinct pieces of silverware steve got: 17 (including an extra spoon at the fish course, and a spoon at the dairy course)
distinct pieces of silverware sarah got: 17 (including a fork and knife at the dairy course)

I'm patiently awaiting my inheritance

We needed an April post...

Within the last month or so, the Rosenberg-Thomas clan has learned a great deal about our ancestry.  What began as quick little project, erupted into a rather large undertaking.  On Dad's side, we can get back to about the 1850s-1860s and the point of immigration for all but one of our great-great-grandparents (that one missing person is driving me crazy).  It's hard to go much farther back on that side of the family since they came from Eastern Europe and changed their names, sometimes more than once.  Plus, Dad just isn't that interested in this project, so I guess it's better that all the good stuff isn't on his side...  He's just jealous.

But Mom's side is well documented.  On her side, we are direct descendants of Jamestown settlers, a Mayflower passenger, and multiple Kings and Queens of several European countries - including King John, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and William the Conqueror.  Because of this link, I do feel that the call could come any day to take my place as a member of the nobility.  Or to inherit one of many palaces and castles criss-crossing the continent.  And since I am not nearly complete with that side, I'm sure more impressive connections will emerge.  I feel so very special now :)

Now I want to plan a roadtrip - Mom's side moved ever-so-slowly westward and I've found cemetery records all over the place.  Who wants to go on a graveyard field trip?!?!  Anyone???  Hmpf, I'm not surprised.  It was hard enough convincing Dad to join me on a trip to the New York City Municipal Archives...  (I also found some cemetery records for his side, we'll try and add that visit into our NYC daytrip.  I hope.)

Happy Birthday to...

Sophie

 

and Michelangelo

and Cyrano de Bergerac

and Ed McMahon

and Dick Fosbury

and Shaquille O'Neal

and for good measure, Sophie again!

Day 5 - Thursday, February 18, 2010

Sniff, sniff, end of the cruise :(

We got up earlier than we wanted to (but at least we didn't have to eat at 6:30 am!) and eventually made our way to breakfast.  Joel and Marco did not disappoint - breakfast took a very long time...  But I finally got my eggs and bacon.  They never came to our table with the pastries, we had to ask for toast and croissants and even that took forever to show up.  It's a good thing I didn't want a refill on my hot chocolate, I might still be waiting...

We left the ship, found our luggage easily, went through customs, made our way to the car, and were on our way with little trouble.  The drive home was uneventful.  Sarah was very happy to be reunited with Sophie, they were very cute :)

Welcome home, Mommy!

In the end, the cruise was lots of fun and I accomplished my goals of eating, sleeping, reading, and relaxing.  Thank you, Sarah!!

Day 4 - Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Today was the last full day of the cruise, and a day at sea.  After dinner at Palo last night (from which we were still full), we had brunch reservations there as well.  We were seating with our same server (Judy?) and shown the breakfast buffet options - lots of good choices!  We had a variety of cheeses, fruit, pastries, etc. before having our cooked portion.  Sarah had some type of eggs and I had pancakes.  We also had dessert - yay for chocolate covered strawberries!  When done we were once again stuffed full.

It was of course time to relax again.  We did some final shopping, looked at the pictures for sale (but didn't buy), mailed our postcards, decided on tips, and contemplated packing.  There was a nap in there as well.  It was a quiet day for us.

Before the show, we ordered a cheese plate from room service.  Yum.  The show that night was Disney Dreams, which was enjoyable.  I liked the snow :) 

Waiting for the show to begin.  Check out that sunburn...

It was also our last dinner with our new pals.  We finished off the rotation at Triton's.  Our dining selections:

Amy

Tomato Basil Soup

Market Green Salad

Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Olive Oil Smashed Potatoes and Bacon-Wrapped Green Beans

Triton's Sweet Temptations

Sarah

Chilled Jumbo Shrimp (but only 3, not 6!)

French Onion Soup

"Triton's" Seared Sea Bass with Mushroom and Herb Risotto and Sweet Onion Marmalade

Triton's Sweet Temptations

The funniest part of the meal, and perhaps the whole cruise, was when the whole dining room was asked to applaud if their serving team was the best.  Our entire table just sat there and then ended up bursting into laughter.  Thankfully, Joel and Marco weren't standing nearby.  All 8 of us were in hysterics about that (and about an interesting family sitting nearby).  I was a bit hesitant before the cruise about sitting with random other people, but it all worked out.  It's good there was one very social couple because they kept things moving along (and this was important given the slooooowwwwww service we had).

The Japanese couple got a Happy Honeymoon cake to honor them, just like Sarah's from earlier in the week.  We also got a group shot of the table.  Minus Joel and Marco.

Table 38!

We checked the store out yet again after dinner (overpriced boxer shorts, anyone?) and then finished packing and set the bags out in the hall.  We had the final breakfast seating in the morning, so thankfully we didn't need to get up at the crack of dawn the next morning, back in Florida.

Overpriced underwear

Day 3 - Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Tuesday began with some question as to whether or not we'd be able to dock in Castaway Cay, as scheduled.  We should have already docked by the time we got up but were still a bit offshore.  Very slowly, the boat inched its way to the dock and finally made it.  While the ship moved slowly along, we enjoyed our room service breakfast.  It was pretty cloudy outside but we got our things together and ventured off the ship.

The Disney Wonder and the Flying Dutchman

It was rather blustery as we made our way out to adult beach.  Not many people had ventured out yet, probably something we should taken greater note of.  We did manage to wait in a very short line for the all important picture with Mickey.  At the adult beach, it was so windy and cold (and there was a bit of a drizzle), that we turned right around and went back to the main beach.  We claimed a couple of beach chairs and settled in to read, but soon  the rain picked up and it just wasn't beach weather.

Mickey Mouse!

It seemed like a good time to buy some postcards (and pens).  We picked out a bunch and settled in to write those and then make our way back to the boat to wait for warmer and sunnier weather.  We walked back and stopped for a picture with Donald at the post office.  We tried to mail our postcards but the post office was closed since there were no boats over from other islands.

Donald Duck!

We took a little rest on the boat and by lunchtime, the weather started to look much better.  It was still a bit breezy, especially on the dock, but the day turned nice.  Lunch was buffet style, very standard.  We read for awhile and walked around a bit (I stole a seashell - don't tell!).  I finally got my fruity tropical drink after missing out in Alaska.  As Sarah and I began to burn, we made our way back to the boat.

 

Sarah insisted on a picture of me with "an Amy sized palm tree."  She's so sweet.

We wandered about a bit.  Sarah showed me the secret deck at the back of the boat.  We then prepped for dinner that night was at Palo, the fancy restaurant.  We had lots of yummy food to eat:

Assorted Breads

Antipasto

Amy

Mozzarella and Plum Tomatoes with Balsamic Dressing

Beef Tenderloin with Gorgonzola Sauce

Chocolate Souffle

Sarah

Sicilian Pesto Marinated Grilled Shrimp & the Grilled Portobello and Polenta with Roasted Shallot Sauce

Lobster & Mascarpone Ravioli

Chocolate Souffle

Shared Mini-Portions

Lasagna

Chocolate Amaretto Indulgence

It was all very, very filling.  My filet was a bit overcooked, but I still managed to finish it - I'm a trooper.  Once dinner was finished, we had to get changed into warm clothes because it was Pirate night!  Due to a bit of confusion (on our part) about the start time, we had no trouble grabbing a table on deck 10 - it was pretty much deserted.  We watched little kids having fun with some games on the big screen.  Eventually, some cast members passed out blankets, or actually tossed them to us from the deck below.  That kept us nice and warm for the evening.

Keeping warm for the Pirate Party!

The party was fun, who knew pirates could dance that well...  And Mickey saved the day by kicking the bad pirates off the ship (though they just wanted to dance, they weren't overly threatening...).  The fireworks were a nice touch at the end.  We hung out for a bit to watch the beginning of Pirates of Caribbean in the Caribbean.  You gotta admit that's pretty cool.  If it wasn't so cold out and I wasn't suffering from stuffing myself at dinner, I would have liked to have stayed and watched the whole thing.  But I was tired.  And very, very full.

Day 2 - Monday, February 15, 2010

So began back and forth nights of not sleeping very well.  Sarah and I seemed to take turns...  When we finally got up and moving, it was a bit late for breakfast so we wandered around a bit.  The ship had pulled into Nassau, Bahamas early in the morning.  We were sandwiched between two other cruise ships.  Down near the end was docked the Pelorus - the 16th longest motor yacht in the world.  We spent some time oohing and aahing over what it would be like to sail on that.  It had a "garage" for small boats, jet skis, etc.  And 2 helipads.  Just crazy.

Lighthouse in Nassau

Pelorus Yacht, with the Atlantis Resort in the background

We ate lunch at the buffet and then grabbed our books to sit and read for awhile.  We had to keep moving because the sun was playing hide and seek but eventually found good seats up on top.  After reading time, it was naptime, and then time for a show.  We saw a musical version of Toy Story.  It was enjoyable.

Hidden Mickey!

Dinner was at Parrot Cay.  Couple #2 wasn't there, but everyone else was.  The Japanese couple left dinner early because girl was looking VERY sick.  They had to go track down a Japanese speaking cast member to translate for her.  Apparently there are only 2 Japanese people working onboard the boat...  Our dinner choices were:

Amy

Jamaican-Marinated Chicken Tenderloins

Parrot Cay Salad (with Warm Bacon Dressing - yum!)

Braised Jerk-Seasoned Pork Chop

Chocolate S'More Vanilla Cake

Sarah

Jamaican-Marinated Chicken Tenderloins

West Indies Romaine Salad

Island-Spiced Grilled Rib-Eye of Beef

Parrot Cay's Sweet Temptations

Dinner didn't drag on quite as long tonight, but Joel and Marco hadn't really improved in their speed and attentiveness.  After dinner, we wandered around a bit, checked out the store, and finally went to bed.  Piedad had left us a towel rabbit.  All in all, it was a nice, quiet day. 

Towel Bunny

Day 1 - Sunday, February 14, 2010

Sarah and I set out for our cruise on Valentine's Day - sorry Steve!  We made the ~45 minute drive from Celebration to Port Canaveral, leaving at about 10:30 AM.  The situation at the port was rather crazy.  For the first time in the 10+ years of Disney cruises, both ships were in port at the same time.  There is only one Disney dock, so that created a bit of chaos.  The Magic was supposed to have been in and out the day before but weather prevented it from leaving it's dock.  Oops.  Staff at the port was spread thin between directing traffic and getting people and their luggage to the right spot.

Kennedy Space Center, as seen from Port Canaveral

We dropped off our suitcases, parked the car, went through customs, and checked it.  We were in boarding group 13, so we had a bit of a wait before it was our turn to go on-board.  Once on board, we waiting to make Palo brunch reservations (yay - first in line!).  We then had lunch at Parrot Cay and afterward, made our way to our stateroom (#2586).  This was Sarah's first time staying in a stateroom without a veranda.  The room was otherwise identical to the standard veranda rooms, we just had a big porthole window, instead.

Waiting our turn to board the Wonder in the cruise terminal

We then went to check out the ship a bit.  We had an inpromptu encounter with Mickey and Minnie.  We were pretty much alone with them up on deck 10.  It was very cute.  Luggage finally arrived so we then unpacked.  The muster drill was uneventful, we lined up, listened to the safety spiel, and went on our way again. 

Surprise encounter with Mickey and Minnie

 Getting ready for the Muster Drill

The Sailaway Party was fun, lots of silly dances and that sort of thing.  The highlight of Sailaway, though, was sailing past the Magic.  We waved to the people on the Magic, they waved back to us, the horns went back and forth a bunch of times, a lovely time was had by all.

This is our boat, the Wonder, as seen from someone on the Magic when we sailed by

Video of the Wonder sailing past the Magic

We went to the first show, The Golden Mickeys, which was cute and then prepared for dinner.  Dinner the first night was at the Animator's Palette.  Our menu was as follows:

Amy

Taleggio Cheese Tart with bacon, fingerling potatoes, micro greens, and balsamic reduction drizzle

Confetti Tomato Salad

Fire Roasted Beef Tenderloin with wasabi mashed potatoes and bok choy with a tamarind-barbecue reduction sauce

Warm Apple Crumble

Sarah

Wild Mushroom Risotto and Porcini Twist

Smoked Salmon and Trout with Goat Cheese Salad

Phyllo-Wrapped Salmon Fillet with sun-dried tomato, garlic cream cheese on fava beans, and green pea ragout

Warm Apple Crumble

There was an additional surprise dessert for Sarah to share with the table.  We got a birthday cake for her birthday, which was a couple weeks earlier.  Sarah isn't exactly crazy about public birthday celebrations...  Overall, dinner was good.  I didn't eat much of either dessert as I had stomach "issues."  Our table staff were less than stellar.  The head waiter, Richard, was fine, but the 2 people for our table were practically useless the whole time.  Both Joel and Marco were terribly slow and not particularly observant.  Getting drink refills was next to impossible.

Sarah's surprise birthday cake

Our dining table was made up of 4 pairs of adults - 3 married couples and then Sarah and me.  Couple #1 was from Wisconsin (married with 6 kids, talkative, amusing to listen to), Couple #2 was from NW Connecticut (quieter, but opened more by the end), and Couple #3 was from Japan (on their honeymoon, she had a lot of trouble adjusting to the sea - I didn't think it was possible for an Asian person to look that green).

After dinner, Sarah showed me around the ship a bit more and then we headed to bed.  Our room person was Piedad.  She made up towel animal swans for the first night, how sweet :)