Today was a relaxing day at sea as we head towards Greece. After sleeping in, I attended the Gold and Platinum Castaway Club celebration, which was held in Fathoms. Following a brief introduction from our cruise director Brent, we were able to mingle with the crew and spend some time with Mickey Mouse.
Speaking of characters, Anna and Elsa were doing Meet and Greets in the Walt Disney Theatre. They had a nice backdrop and it was nice to see guests being able to meet the stars of Frozen with just a 10 minute wait instead of the four hour wait seen at the Magic Kingdom.
Following a round or two of Disney Trivia, I attended a seminar by the ship’s historian “Playground of the Gods” held in the Buena Vista Theatre. He discussed the areas we will be visiting and gave some tips and tricks to handling the ports including where the free Wi-Fi is and how not to get pick-pocketed. But following this presentation, it was time for the main event.
D Lounge was home to our Adventures by Disney Welcome Reception. We had appetizers and smoothies as we mingled and met our new Adventure Family for the next 12 days. Our Adventure Guides Dusty and James went around and had each family introduce themselves and talk about their previous Adventures. It turns out, most of our crew had done prior Adventures with our Guides so it was a reunion of sorts. James also gave us an overview of what we will be experiencing in each port. We were then given two pins, one Adventure by Disney logo pin and our Pin of the Day as well as our Adventures by Disney lanyard, which featured James and Dusty’s contact info.
We were then set free, so it was time for another round of Disney Trivia and some time for exercise. It was formal night, so I changed and attended our performance of “Twice Charmed” and then headed to the Captain’s Reception. Dinner tonight was Lumiere’s with the Bella Italia menu as we were officially leaving Italy and heading to Greece. I enjoyed the caprese salad with buffalo mozzarella, The summer minestrone soup and an amazing sea bass. For dessert, I had the Tuscan style sundae which was a perfect way to end my day. The dinner concluded with our server team wearing masks and participating in a Carnivale parade as they invited guests to dance with them. It was simple, but fun.
Upon returning to my room, I discovered a special lithograph. The note attached from Captain Robert explains that a special lithograph was commissioned especially for this voyage. It was created by illustrator Don “Ducky” Williams and features Hercules, Meg, Phil, and the Disney Magic and is entitled “Meg and Her Hero Discover Extraordinary Greece.” So I put the litho away and went straight to sleep.
