Disney Cruising without Kids - Date Night Every Night Part II

From my Disney Southern Caribbean Cruise - 
4 Oct through 11 Oct 2014 

While cruising the beautiful Southern Caribbean aboard the magical Disney Magic with my husband, Mike, I was pleasantly surprised by the fabulous dates we had each night of our cruise. Part II of Date Night Every Night is our last 3 date nights on our Disney Cruise sans kids. You can read about our first 4 dates in Date Night Every Night Part I.

The majestic Disney Magic

Our 5th date started out with a bang.  As we were leaving my favorite island, Grenada, we watched the ship sail away while lounging in comfortable chairs in the adults-only area.  After a very active day in Grenada, hiking and swimming, the lounging in the sun was so relaxing, I soon dozed off.  When I opened my eyes, I was delighted to see that the sun was about to set right in front of us. We celebrated with the drink of the day, Spooky Juice, and watched the sun retire for the evening. 

Gorgeous sunset leaving Grenada

After our pre-dinner sunset entertainment, we showered and got ready for dinner.  We had become big fans of Cabana's because we could show up any time instead of waiting until our assigned dining time of 8:30 pm. We found that Cabana's served many of the same dinners as the main dining rooms so there really wasn't a down side.  We enjoyed a nice dinner with just the two of us and decided to have an after dinner drink at one of the adult only nightclubs.

O'Gills Irish Pub

We chose to re-live our favorite part of our Ireland vacation and headed to O'Gills Irish Pub, located in the After Hours section of the ship. Kids are not allowed in the adult nightclubs after 9 pm but unfortunately we were trying to enjoy our drinks around 8:30 pm. Surprisingly there were quite a few loud kids in the pub at that time. Couldn't their parents have dropped them off at the kids club before coming in for a drink? Although our drink was delicious, the ambiance was not what we were hoping for so we ended our night early.  I wasn't too upset, however, as I was eager to wake up early the following day to see Barbados for the first time!

Lots of Halloween activities were available for the kiddos

Date night number 6 was packed full of fun, food and entertainment. We were going with the "cruise ship traditional" dinner and show, starting with the main show followed by our scheduled dinner at 8:30 pm in my favorite restaurant, Animator's Palate.  The nightly show in the Walt Disney Theater was "Walt Disney, The Dream Goes On" and I knew I didn't want to miss this tribute to one of my heroes, Walt Disney. The show did not disappoint and walked the audience through the major milestones of Walt's career.  There were some very talented actors, some of who could really belt out a tune.  Adding to the scenes of Walt's career were a few classic Disney song and dance numbers, including "Got no Strings" from Pinocchio and "I Wanna Be Like You" from the Jungle Book.  My only complaint was that the show wasn't long enough!

Our Cruise postcard singed by the Captain

After the show and feeling inspired to change the world, we went to meet the Captain and had him sign a postcard from the cruise.  I complimented him on the impressive parking job he had made in Barbados and he thanked me.

We had some time to kill before dinner so we walked around the ship and stumbled across a comedy show, Heath Hank with The Heath Show, in the nightclub, Phantoms.  He proved quickly to be quite hilarious, not only with his kid friendly jokes but with his rubbery facial expressions. I was almost in tears a couple of times from laughing so hard and it felt great!

The hallway leading up to Animator's Palate

We showed up to dinner in a great mood and told our table mates how funny Heath Hank was.  We had already had a fun night but it was just beginning.  Not only is Animator's Palate a restaurant like no other, but it was lobster night!  On 7 day cruises, one has the occasion to eat at Animator's Palate twice and each time you are treated to a different show.  The 2nd show is the one I enjoy the most because you get to draw your own cartoon character and later watch it animated on screens throughout the restaurant.  We quickly drew our characters to turn into our server and ordered our lobster and lava cake.  My lobster was over cooked so they brought me another lobster.  It was better but still not as succulent as Mike's lobster. The waiter insisted on bringing me out a 3rd lobster despite my protests.  I was impressed at their desire to please.  We then enjoyed the chocolate lava cake and watched the show begin. Everybody in the restaurant cheered as they saw their drawings turn into animation.  My silly looking character danced with Donald Duck just as my first drawing had on the Disney Fantasy almost 2 years ago.  

After a delicious and fun dinner, we went to see Heath Hank again because he was having an adults show too.  I found that I enjoyed the show for the kids more but wasn't surprised since I am basically a big kid.  I mean after all I'm cruising Disney with no kids!  We called it a night after having a great day and an eventful night.

We had a pre-date night swim on our last night

Our last night on the ship was our most relaxing, mostly because I was exhausted after a week of non-stop fun.  We had planned to have dinner at Cabana's again but found out that it is closed on the last night of the cruise.  I didn't want to wait until 8:30 to eat so we grabbed a burger and fries on the pool deck.  We ate under the stars and watched the "Princess and The Frog" on the large outdoor screen called Funnel Vision. It was a beautiful night and I was glad to have dinner outside to enjoy it.  After dinner, we went back to our room to start packing, which is when signs of the real world start creeping in.  I don't know if it was the prospect of facing the real world again or if it was all of the excitement of the past week hitting me at once, but suddenly I was utterly and completely exhausted. We finished packing and watched Ghostbusters on the TV in our room.  Neither of us could keep our eyes open to finish the movie and thus ended our last night of the cruise quite uneventfully.

My husband, Mike, and I thoroughly enjoying our Disney Cruise without kids

This concludes my writings about our Disney Southern Caribbean cruise. We started out in beautiful Puerto Rico and had 5 amazing ports of call, including Antigua, St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and St Kitts. After each port we had a beautiful cruise ship waiting expectantly for us to return and showing us a fabulous date night every night with delicious food, entertaining shows, sunsets and even fireworks. This was one of the best weeks of my life, if not THE best week of my life, and you can't put a price on that!

Next week read about my California adventure with my 10 year old son. It was the least I could do after cruising Disney without him!

Click here for more pictures of the Disney Magic.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels.  I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people travel! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities like wine or shipboard credit. If you would like to receive weekly travel offers from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for our Exclusive Travel Specials.

Happy Travels!

Disney Cruising without Kids - Date Night Every Night Part I

From my Disney Southern Caribbean Cruise - 
4 Oct through 11 Oct 2014

I am a huge fan of cruising on Disney Cruise Line and I had cruised Disney twice before with kids but this was my first time kid free, cruising with only my husband, Mike.  I knew Disney had a lot of adult only spaces and adult only activities so I was confident our cruise would be enjoyable and not overrun with kiddos everywhere. Early on during our magical 7 night Southern Caribbean cruise, I commented how great it was that it was date night every night when cruising without kids. And it was! And we had some of the best dates of our decade together!

The magical Disney Magic

Our first date onboard the magical Disney Magic was a Broadway caliber show followed by a luxurious four course dinner and ending with a gorgeous San Juan sail away. The show took place in the beautiful Walt Disney Theater and was called "All Aboard: Let the Magic Begin!"  The singing and dancing Disney characters, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald, were boarding the Disney Magic for their vacation when they met a young man who dreamed of being the ship's captain. Mickey Mouse inspired the boy, as only Disney can, to follow his dream and believe. The show ended with a full live rendition of "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast. We left the theater excited for our vacation to unfold and went to dinner at our assigned restaurant, Carioca's.

The romance and beauty of night time at sea

After the traditional "dinner and show" part of the evening, the real romance began for there is nothing more romantic than night time on the tranquil and captivating Caribbean sea.  We walked leisurely along the promenade deck which is on deck 4 and wraps around the entire ship.  The moon was bright and the air was warm, a perfect combination that we enjoyed almost all to ourselves while others were distracted with the ships inside activities.  

We ended our date with another show as we watched our ship depart from San Juan from the balcony of our stateroom. The lights of San Juan looked beautiful at night and we saw the light of the lighthouse at Fort Morro, which we had visited earlier in the day.  It was an awesome end to a perfect day.

The beautiful and delicious Palo

Date night number two boasted the best dinner of the cruise at the specialty, adults-only, Italian restaurant called Palo.  Palo is themed after Venice and means Pole in Italian.  It is a classy and elegant restaurant with authentic Italian food and an amazing wait staff. Mike and I thoroughly enjoyed our indulgent dinner sandwiched between the best aged parmesan cheese I've ever had and the first chocolate souffle of my life. Palo not only lived up to my expectations, but flew past them with a wonderful combination of romantic ambiance, tantalizing delicacies and accommodating waiters.

Many of the ship's activities take place in the atrium

After dinner, we made an appearance at the Captain's Reception  in the grand atrium before heading to our chosen evening entertainment, the movie "Saving Mr. Banks." Although we did not get to see the Captain, we did score a free Bahama Mama at the reception. The awesome "Saving Mr. Banks" was showing in the smaller of the two theaters, the Buena Vista Theater and was even better this second time seeing it, since I was watching it on a lavish cruise ship and drinking a yummy Bahama Mama.  The seas were so calm, I didn't feel a single movement during the entire movie. We capped off the night by going up to deck 9 to enjoy another beautiful night on the Caribbean. There was a warm wind, a bright moon, and lovely light clouds glowing in the moonlight. It was a perfect ending to a magical date at sea.

The AquaDunk

Day number three of our cruise was an exciting day spent ashore in Antigua. That evening we decided to forgo the show and dinner for some pool deck fun and relaxing room service.  We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset at sea as we sailed away from that day's beautiful Caribbean island.  

Although I was afraid to try the Disney Magic's signature waterslide, the AquaDunk, the rum punch I'd had in Antigua gave me liquid courage and I worked up the nerve to do it. Boy was I glad I did! The AquaDunk, a 3 story drop that hurls you over the side of the ship, was over in a flash yet it was long enough to get my adrenaline pumping and put a huge smile on my face. It was what I like to call good old fashion FUN! After our fill of fun up on the pool deck, we retired to our stateroom and took advantage of room service for a relaxing dinner in our pjs.

    

The Pitons of St Lucia in the background

Cruising and romance go hand in hand for there is beauty in love and beauty in being at sea.  Our fourth date night showcased this perfectly as we had our most beautiful sail away of the trip while leaving St Lucia.  Under an almost full moon, we saw the sun set among colors of orange and yellow on the starboard side and lovely views of St Lucia's famous Pitons on the port side. To me, this was better than any show on board.  And that was only the beginning of another fun-filled evening.

Night time on the ship is a magical time

Instead of eating in our assigned dining room for the second seating (which wasn't until 8:30 pm), we ate earlier at Cabana's.  This was nice because we got a table to ourselves and we were still served a delicious four course dinner by an attentive wait staff. I believe that the flexible Cabana's option is a hidden gem not many people are aware of, for it was not very crowded and as a bonus to us, there very few kiddos.  

After dinner, we went to the evening show, The Atlantic City Boys, a tribute band to Frankie Valli. They were talented and funny and we enjoyed a fun show with lots of laughs and great music.  We capped off a great night by watching fabulous fireworks from the Pirates in the Caribbean show from the privacy of our balcony.  We found that much more relaxing than being up on deck with the masses.

It's date night every night on a Disney Cruise!

The first four nights of our cruise were special date nights filled with variety, luxury and fun that would be hard to replicate on land. Best of all, we didn't carry a wallet or purse or worry about how we were going to pay for such decadence because it was all included! (With the exception of Palo which was an extra $25 per person.) Stay tuned next week for part II and find out if our next three dates were as magical as our first four!

Click here for more pictures of the Disney Magic.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels.  I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people travel! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities like wine or shipboard credit. If you would like to receive weekly travel offers from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for our Exclusive Travel Specials.

Happy Travels!

Disney Cruising without Kids - A Perfect Day at Sea

From my Disney Southern Caribbean Cruise - 5 Oct 2014

Once in awhile, there is a day that stands out among all the others. A day so magical, you wish it didn't have to end.  This day was our day at sea, the first full day on our Disney Southern Caribbean cruise this past October.  You know that it is going to be a great day when it starts out with room service delivered to your luxurious stateroom and that is how this perfect day at sea started for my husband, Mike and I.

Our luxurious Verandah Stateroom

After a simple breakfast of cold cereal, I took my coffee out to the verandah and wrote in my journal for a bit. Sitting out on your own private balcony is one of the greatest joys at sea.  There is something so peaceful watching the cruise ship glide through the water while the world goes by in all of it's sunny Caribbean glory. Not only is it motivational but it feeds the soul with the beauty we all seek.   

The captivating, never-ending sea

Next we went to get some exercise and even my workout was magical on this perfect sea day.  In the Fitness Area on Deck 9 Forward, I hopped on an elliptical machine and was pleased to have a view straight out over the bow of the ship.  Not only did this workout come with a view, but it came with a show. There were a handful of birds flying with the ship and at times I could watch them dive down to fish.  It was fun to watch and a great reminder that not even a workout is mundane when one is at sea.

The workout room faces forward for great sea views

After working out, we rewarded ourselves with a swim in the adults only pool in the Quiet Cove adults area. The adults area was serene and relaxing.  We hung out in the pool for awhile and I marveled at the perfect weather, in the low 80's with only a couple of small clouds to give contrast to the big blue sky.  I looked up and felt the gentle movement of the ship while I watched the clouds go by.  At the risk of over using the word, it was magical.  After swimming, we went up one deck to sunbathe.  It was so soothing to lay in the warm sun with the gentle breeze and watch us move through that lovely Caribbean sea. These were the smoothest seas I had ever seen and traveling at a leisurely 9 knots made for a peaceful pace and a peaceful state of mind.

Adults Only pool in Quiet Cove

It was a wonderful morning of working out followed by glorious relaxation at sea and next it was time to fill our hungry tummies. We decided to forego the craziness of the buffet and opted for the sit down option at Lumiere's.  It was a good choice because instead of fighting the crowds, we sat at a civilized table all to ourselves and marveled at how few kids were in the restaurant.  I enjoyed a decadent and decidedly delicious four course meal which consisted of a Cheese Quesadilla, Walnut Apple Salad, Pasta Alfredo and Key Lime Pie.  I found Lumiere's, named after the candlestick in Beauty and the Beast, to be a beautiful, classy restaurant with very accommodating servers.

Lumiere's is named after the candlestick in Beauty and the Beast

We needed to walk off some of that yummy yet calorie laden lunch so we opted to join the Art of the Theme Show Tour.  With a title like that, I didn't know what to expect but I at least knew there would be walking.  It turned out to be a ship tour for adults and was filled with fun facts about the Disney Magic and Disney Cruise Line.  I thought the most interesting of the Disney Magic facts is that the ship is almost as long as the Eiffel Tower is tall.  One thing that we learned, which really impressed me, is that Disney leaves no detail left unnoticed.  One example of this is that the deck with the kids clubs on it has a shorter ceiling than other decks to make the kids feel bigger. Another example is that the carpet is different on every deck to match the theme of the deck.  We also learned a lot about the history of cruising and how Disney cruise ships today pay homage to the golden era of cruising. It was a very enjoyable tour for a ship geek like myself!

The carpet in front of the Walt Disney Theater

Earlier in the day I had what can only be described as a Disney Magical Moment at Sea.  I was walking back to our stateroom to meet back up with my husband when I heard piano music from the atrium start to play "When You Wish Upon a Star."  I looked over the nearby railing down into the atrium and saw that 3 Disney Princesses had come out to greet the excited kids.  I thought to myself how surreal this scene was compared to everyday life.  And therein lies the magic, this total escape from everyday life where Princesses are real, live music is heard on a daily basis and a floating resort takes us to a new exotic destination every day.  I stood there in front of the pumpkin window and stared out at sea taking in the beautiful piano music and I just stayed there and enjoyed this unexpected moment.

Site of the Disney Magical Moment at Sea

By the time our Art of the Theme Show tour was over, it was time to get ready for our dinner at Palo. I'll save the details on that dinner for my next post where I talk about date night every night when cruising Disney without kids. Let's just say that Palo didn't disappoint us and it was the perfect end to a perfect day. From the relaxing morning and luxurious meals, to the magic moments and soul enriching beauty of the sea, this day at sea on the Magic was indeed magical. Not only was it my best day at sea, it's very possible it was the best day of my life!

Me at sea, where I am the happiest!

Click here for more pictures of the Disney Magic.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels.  I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people travel! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities like wine or shipboard credit. If you would like to receive weekly travel offers from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for our Exclusive Travel Specials.

Happy Travels!