12/07/08 This was the best birthday I’ve ever had… Maybe the best day I’ve ever had! Part II 10/22/08
We took these pictures in the atrium earlier in the day.
Palo
Our reservation at Palo was for 6:30pm and we were right on time. There was no “show” tonight. Beverly Hills Chihuahua was playing in the Walt Disney Theater at 8:15pm and the Pirates in the Caribbean Party was tonight at 9:45pm. Since we were in Palo for 2 hours, we missed the movie, but it would play tomorrow several times in the Buena Vista Theater. Anyway, back to Palo.
What can I say, that hasn’t already been said many times, about Palo? It was an elegant, wonderful, dining experience,.. probably the most elegant I’ve ever had. I honestly didn’t know what to do. I don’t think Brenda was completely sure either. It was the most high class restaurant I’ve ever been in, and at first I felt “out of place”. After all, I’m just a truck driver from Ohio, what do I know about 3 forks and wine from Italy? But our server, Emmanuel, from the Philippines, came over and set our minds at ease! That’s the thing about Disney. They understand that all kinds of people vacation with them, and for many, it’s a once in a lifetime thing. They try, I think, to make everyone feel at ease in any environment. Emmanuel was very patient with us, and helped us through “the 3 forks and a bottle of wine” thing so that we had a unique dining experience.
First Emmanuel brought us an anti-pasta plate with olives, cheese, and cold cut ham and beef. Bread and a plate of sauces came next. I ordered a salad with a special house dressing made right there at Palo. Brenda, I think, had salad with French dressing. Because we had the “Romance At Sea” package, we got a bottle of wine from their premium wine list. Emmanuel gave us the list and waited for our order. I don’t know anything about wine, so I left it up to DW. She didn’t see any that she was familiar with, so we asked Emmanuel for his recommendation. He asked us what we were looking for, and Brenda said a red wine, but she didn’t know beyond that. Emmanuel said he knew of a sparkling red wine from Italy we might like, so we got that one. We didn’t get the name of it! It was a wonderful wine! We even ordered another bottle at dinner the next evening and shared it with our friends at the table. If I find out what the name of it is, I’ll post it later.
For an entrée, Brenda ordered a pasta dish. She really couldn’t decide between that and the tenderloin, so Emmanuel talked her into a half order of the pasta and a full order of the tenderloin. I ordered the tenderloin, mentioning that the lamb looked good, too. He talked me into a half order of each, and then brought out a full order of each! All I can say is that it was all perfectly cooked and delicious! Some of the best food we’ve ever had! We mentioned, at some point, that it was Brenda's birthday, so Emmanuel brought out her surprise "Happy Birthday Plate" before dessert.
It was time for dessert so I had a chocolate, raspberry thing (maybe the Chocolate Amaretto Indulgence,.. hey! It said raspberries!) and Brenda had their homemade Tiramisu. Now, let me dispel any nasty rumors about these Palo desserts: if, the only way to endulge in these desserts again was to jump off a cliff,.. I’d jump off the cliff! They were both “to die for”!
We waddled out of Palo completely and adequately stuffed and satisfied! We had missed the start of the movie, so we went back to the room and got dressed for the Pirate Party. We looked good, if I do say so myself, but you’ll have to take my word for it because I forgot to take any pictures of us!
We had made up some orange Mickey head magnets with the cruise dates on them and had several extra ones for people to take if they wanted. Up to this time, only one had been taken, so we wandered the corridors of deck #6 placing these extra magnets on any doors that had been decorated till we ran out of the ones we brought.
Pirates
We went on up to deck# 9 for the Pirate Party between 9 and 9:15 and it was already going strong with the pre-party party! We found a place next to the wheelchair pavilion where we could lean or sit on the railing. It was fun watching the kids and adults dancing and having fun. Now I know you’re going to say, “I’m not a party-er and I don’t like loud music, and it’s just for the kids, and (place your own excuse here)” Nonsense!! If you are on a Disney cruise get up to deck #9 or #10 on Pirate Party night and join in the fun, even if you just watch like we did,.. but don’t be surprised if you find yourself dancing and singing along!
AND THEN, SUDDENLY, CAPTAIN HOOK AND HIS PIRATES STORMED THE STAGE AND TOOK OVER THE PARTY!!! HORROR OF HORRORS!! CAPTAIN HOOK HAD CONTROL OF THE PARTY AND HE WOULDN’T LET GO!!!!
Saved by a Mouse!
We all thought our party was doomed!! Only one could save the day (or night, as it was)!! And then, just as all hope was fading away,.. up on deck #10, starboard, CAPTAIN MICKEY APPEARED!! He assessed the situation and could see that there was only one way to take the party back from the clutches of that dastardly Captain Hook!! A PARTY IN THE SKY!!!! A wonderful fireworks display was then unleashed in the Caribbean sky unlike anything for, probably, hundreds of miles around,.. it was truly “a party in the sky”!! Captain Hook slinked away as Captain Mickey took over the party which went on, happily, deep into the night.
As the fireworks ended, I looked around and noticed tears in Brenda’s eyes. I asked her what she was crying for, and she said: "this was the best birthday I had ever had!" (The next morning on the veranda with our coffee, she said, “Yesterday may have been the best day I’ve ever had!”)
We were told, the next day, by our cruise director, Brent, another cruise ship was observed watching our fireworks that night.
About 11pm, we went back to the stateroom, passing up the buffet (we were still full from Palo). This is what we found lurking on our bed as we entered the stateroom: (you tell me what it is! Star Wars?)
We ordered coffee from room service and had our Irish coffee on the veranda before we went to bed.
