Disney Cruise Line Makes Magic for Adults - Poolside

Jump on in, the water's fine! I'm not kidding. No matter what ship you are on, or what pool you are in, the water temperature will never fall below a refreshing 75 degrees. There goes my "It's to cold" excuse for not putting on a bathing suit. I can't even use the "It's too crowded" reason since all 4 ships have an Adults Only pool. So I put aside my excuses and image issues to check out this 18 and over haven called the Quiet Cove Pool.

Deck 9, Forward of the Disney Magic & Wonder is where you will find the 4 foot deep adult pool and 2 adjoining whirlpool spas. Cool down and enjoy some adult conversation, and if all that talking makes you thirsty, hop out of the pool right on to one of Signals' bar stools. Conveniently located across from the pool, Signals has your beverages and snacks covered. They also have waiters walking around the deck just in case you get too comfy on the padded deck chairs and can't find the will to move. If coffee is your drink of choice, be sure and stop in the Cove Cafe for their specialty blends, teas and mixed drinks. Keep in mind, no food or drinks are allowed in the pool.

Adult Time - Dining on Your Disney Cruise

  

Disney does food! Plain and simple, no matter where you eat on board, you can always find something tasty and uniquely designed. However, there may come a time you would like a tranquil dining experience, no crayons on the table or servers dodging little unsupervised cruisers. My friends, let me introduce you to a little slice of heaven on deck 12, Palo & Remy.  These two exclusively adult dining options are the perfect getaway for a little romance and elegant pampering. Both venues are softly lit, colored in earthy tones, and every table has a view of the water, you can even choose to dine al fresco on their private decks. Keeping an atmosphere of elegance, you will not find shorts, jeans or flip flops here. Men must have a jacket and ladies in a dress, skirt or pants suit. Your choice now comes down to your food preference, Italian or French.

Being a big fan of Italian food, dinner at Palo was my choice this past cruise. Upon entering Palo, you must look up at the blown glass chandelier.This was designed to look like spaghetti and meatballs, they wanted to give you a feeling of Italy the moment you walk in.. Once we were seated, our server Michelle began walking us through what to expect for the evening. We were first served a mix of flat bread sticks and parmesan bread wedges. Both hard and crispy, but oh so tasty! After Michelle took our orders, she rolled over a  chilled cart and proceeded to make to large antipasti platters.

My husband was in heaven; Prosciutto, Bresasola, Parmesan Reggiano, marinated olives & sun dried tomatoes, I think he licked the platter clean. The next course was appetizers. I was unadventurous with just an arugula salad while the rest of the group tried the Tuscan White Bean soup. If you are torn between which entree you would like to order, you can choose a smaller portion of one as your appetizer, but that seemed a little too much as we were all trying to save room for the infamous dessert.

Before bringing out the main course, we were all given a small scoop of lemon sorbet to cleanse our palates, then before we knew it, our dinner had appeared. The men enjoyed a beautifully cooked and arrange portion of beef tenderloin with two sauces, one creamy and one red wine. My sister in law and I devoured a bowl of potato gnocchi swimming in a Gorgonzola sauce. I must admit, when I first saw the portion size I thought I should have ordered two, but the sauce is so rich, one was just enough. Once we were finished eating and had a chance to relax we were shown a dessert listing. Each choice sounded more delicious than the next, (costing about about 2 hours in the gym each) but Michelle assured us Palo's chocolate souffle was not to be missed. She was not kidding. These tall, airy cakes were served in individual ramekins with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and two little pitchers of vanilla and chocolate sauce. She demonstrated how to open the souffle and pour the sauces into the middle to get the full effect. Oh my gosh! Now it was my turn to lick the plate clean.

Completely stuffed, Michelle appears again with one more tray. This time there were 4 little shot glasses with a very cold drink in them. She explained they were called Sgroppino, a combination of lemon sorbet, vodka and apple iced wine, to aid in digestion of the meal. Whether they helped or not I do not know, but they were the perfect end to a wonderful meal. We soaked in the atmosphere for a while longer, thanked Michelle for a magical evening and "rolled" out the door.

Does Disney make Magic for Adult Cruisers?

Ten years ago, when I had three young children, cruising with Disney seemed to be the logical extension of a Walt Disney World visit. This year, a number of people have asked me why we still choose to cruise with Disney, especially since my children are beyond stalking characters 24/7. I had my standard answers for them; exceptional service, great excursions and Broadway caliber entertainment, but what I learned this trip extended way beyond that. You see, this was the first time all 5 children (including a niece and nephew) were old enough, and mature enough, to come and go as they pleased. This left the adults in our group a lot of time to enjoy all the ship had to offer, much of which we missed on past cruises.

For the next 5 Tuesdays, I will be covering adult only activities and opportunities Disney Cruise Line offers. I know we have many fellow cruisers out there, so please share your experiences with us. See you next week with Disney Cruising for Adults - Dining.

Hakuna Matata Monday-Disneyland Guide

Disneyland at a Glance

            A few months ago, I was honored to be asked by some of our fellow Disney fanatics over at the new MouseQuest Podcast if I would share some of my Disneyland expertise with them.  I happily jumped at the chance to talk a little bit about my favorite place in the world and share some of the tips I have gathered over the last 57 years of calling Disneyland my home away from home.

Top 10 Disneyland Questions:

1. When is the best time to visit the Disneyland Resort?

Anytime is a great time to be a part  of the magic but to be able to make the most out of your visit, the best times of year to visit the Disneyland Resort are: Mid-September-Mid November, Mid-January – Mid March or Mid April – Mid May.  Tuesday- Thursdays typically have the lowest crowds while the weekends and holidays have the highest crowds but also have extended hours to help handle the influx of visitors.

Guest Author - Paul Roszkowski takes us drinking around the world

About myself:

I'm the one on the right

First I'm Disney Gal Judy's son. I'm 32 and a Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. I am a homebrewer and write a blog about my travels and brewing. I've been going to Disney since before I was born (no, really mom went when she was pregnant with me). I've lost track of how many times I've been to the parks on both coasts. I'm usually the one taking the photos at Disney so I'm not usually in them (thanks mom).

Drink your way around the world or One reason EPCOT is my favorite park:

I love EPCOT. As a homebrewer, food and beer lover it's a great place to experience new flavors and, especially during the Food and Wine Festival, different beers from around the world.

When it comes to the parks I get a little disappointed in the beer selection. Yes, I will admit I've been accused of being a beer snob. I prefer the moniker of beer geek personally but I think you get the idea. My problem is that in the parks that serve alcohol the beer is usually an AB InBev product. I won't go into an entire diatribe here but suffice it to say...not my first choice.

Guest Author Sunday - Kathleen Christensen

Guest Author Sunday

Kathleen Christensen

Meet this week's Guest Author-Kathleen Christensen.  Kathleen's first trip to Walt Disney World was in 1984 with her husband and then 10 month old son and of course, it was love of Disney at first site! Enjoy her article on one of her more romantic journeys to Epcot.

Disney World is known for being " The Happiest Place on Earth" I can't deny my family has been there more times than we can count, we've been very lucky.

My first visit to the Magic Kingdom was in December of 1984, our son was only 10 months old, we drove over from Tampa, went to the Magic Kingdom for the day and fell in love with it immediately! Every visit since then is just as special as the first time! We've been lucky enough to share the experiences with both of our sons many, many times and have also enjoyed our couples only trips. 

Navigating Your Disney Cruise - Looking Over Overlooked Activities

In my last article we covered the Personal Navigator, or Bible, and how you can use it to plan the activities you would like to do. Today I would like to tell you about a few programs for families and adults that often get overlooked, but in my book they are a "must-do" every cruise.

The Mickey 200 - Veggie Car Races

Seeing the word "veggie" in the title may scare the kids, but don't worry, there's no eating involved, just building and racing. In this tournament, kids need to team up with an adult and create a race car. After all teams have checked in, they will be given a cutting board, knife, one potato, one carrot, toothpicks and 4 wheels. Racers have 10 minutes to design and build a car out of any and all supplies given. The only stipulation is the car can not be wider than your room key, so it fits on the track, and can not be so long that it will not fit behind the starting line.

Once building time is up, the cruise staff will call up the first three teams to race. Cheering and laughter fill the room as the veggie cars fly down the track, or when wheels fall off and cars get stuck. All part of the fun. The winning cars go on to the next round and the races continue until there is only one winner.

While the first place team will get a medal, there are also winner pins for best Disney design and best name. And ladies, don't be afraid to join in . My all girl team beat my dad, the ex-race car driver, and his all boy team!