Soon it was time to make our way to Meridian for our rum tasting. Nick was definitely more excited about this one than I was. I very much enjoy rum cocktails, but I’m not really a fan of drinking most rums straight. It turned out to be a really fun experience, in a really neat setting, with an amazing view. Carolyn was our bar-tender, and she was fantastic. The entire seminar lasted less than 40 minutes, but it was great. We learned a lot! We had a full sized caipirinha, and then 3 generous samples: a 2 year old Kraken, a 12 year old Blackwell, and the 16 year old Zaya. The Kraken was the only one that burned too much for me to finish. Everything else I had no problem drinking, but the Zaya was my favorite of the rums. Nick’s too.
After the tasting, we went out on the deck outside Meridian for a few minutes to watch the wake.
Then it was time to get more food into us. We are on a cruise ship after all! It was time to try out Sweet on You, the specialty ice cream/gelato shop. You all know we love ice cream! I had mango coconut gelato, Nick had some gelato involving cherries, and then I made the (very wise) impulse buy of a cookies and cream rice crispy treat.
We took our sweets back to the room to enjoy, and enjoy we did! Once we were sugared up, we headed down to the D Lounge, for the first (adults only) Anyone Can Cook series of the cruise: Lobster Ravioli.
This was very interesting, and very tasty. The demo was conducted by the head (executive?) chef of Remy, and it was a demo for the lobster ravioli in tomato broth appetizer that is served in the Enchanted Garden dining room. We were given copies of the recipe to keep, and a sample of the food being demo’d. And, since it was the adult only session, there was a pairing, I believe, of Murphy Goose Sauvignon Blanc. We really enjoyed both the ravioli and the pairing. And we discovered that the tomato broth is ridiculously easy to make, so we are now trying to figure out all the ways we can incorporate that particular component of the recipe into our world.
Following the demo, we stayed in D Lounge, and just moved to the other half of it for adults only Ultimate Disney Trivia. This trivia really was “ultimate”. It was downright difficult. I think we got 5 right. Lots of questions about really obscure movies. It was fun, though.
After trivia, it was back to the room, where we finished discussing our thoughts for next year’s vacation. I checked the digital queue on the app for the vacation planning desk, and discovered only one person in it. So, I headed back down to deck 4, to get that booked. When I arrived, there was no one at the desk, and no one appeared to be present, but still one name in the queue. So, I added my name to the queue, and found a seat nearby. A few minutes later, a vacation planner came along, and about a minute later called my name. Within 10 minutes, we were booked for a 4 night cruise on the Dream for next April vacation. Time to complete the Grand Slam!
I then walked a very short distance outside on deck 4, and then headed back to the room to start getting ready for the evening. It was formal night, and we had a lot on our agenda for the evening.
First up? Ciaran and Michael in La Piazza. We really enjoyed their music, and when I let it slip that I had seen their CDs in the stores onboard, Nick asked why I hadn’t already bought one.
As it got closer to showtime, it was time to peel ourselves away from the fantastic Irish music, and move toward the Walt Disney Theater. Tonight John Charles was the show, and after last night’s preview, we were looking forward to it.
Once again, we enjoyed his performance. We laughed a lot, which was exactly what we needed after these last few months. And I’ve still got his final song, a tribute to the Disney Cruise Line, “I’ve Got the Cleanest Hands in the World” (to the tune of “Whole World in My Hands), stuck in my head…
Following the show, we headed down to the atrium for pictures. This was kind of chaotic, thanks to the Captain’s Reception, but we were able to get some pictures taken. I know we also had some taken after dinner, but don’t remember which were from when, so, they’re all here.
Once we had had enough of the picture taking and the chaos, we headed down to deck 2, where we waited about 10 minutes to be let into Enchanted Garden for dinner. We loved the atmosphere of this dining room, especially for Easter Sunday, and, overall, enjoyed the meal too. I had the tomato soup (delicious), the tuna and avocado tower (who the heck puts chopped onions in that?!) which Emily kindly finished for me, the sea bass (yum!), and the orange yogurt cake (REALLY dense, but delicious). Nick put Ronaldo’s service to the test and ordered both the scallops and the steak. Ronaldo was happy to bring him both entrees. Jenni and Ian did not make an appearance tonight, which was fine. Conversation flowed and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
After dinner, we swung through the store to get a Ciaran and Michael CD, went to Shutters to see our pictures, had a few more pictures taken (seen above) in a now much quieter atrium, and then went back to our room, where we found our very own Easter bunny and some Easter themed chocolates.
We briefly considered going back to La Piazza to listen to some Irish pub tunes, but, in the end, we let the boat rock us to sleep instead.
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