Buffet bliss

Shaking off the rudeness of the stupid guest is not easy, but we do our best and enjoy our food. It is a decent spread as always – lots of fruit, vegetable dishes, carved meats, salmon, and of course large, peel-and-eat shrimp. I’m not in a very adventurous mood, food-wise, so I get some chicken, rice pilaf, seasoned potatoes, cheese cubes, bread and butter – and a corn dog.

Our table is right up against a starboard-side porthole, behind my chair, meaning I can watch all of the dockhands working below. Now that we are onboard the ship and our hunger is being satisfied, there is a very strong change of mood among us. We are no longer in any hurry, there’s no place we have to be at any time, and everything we could possibly need is available to us without any stress or distance to travel. Because of that, we settle in, take things slow, and relaaaaaaaaax…

It’s this “no care in the world” feeling that really makes a cruise worthwhile!

Consequently, even without having to wait for food once we were seated, we spend over an hour having a slow, relaxed, casual lunch. Sure, we’re anxious to get to the Walt Disney Suite, but… no hurries, no worries. We’ll get there eventually.

In fact, since the timing is working out, we decide to head straight from Parrot Cay to the concierge meeting in the Cadillac Lounge. We can get Benjamin checked in and meet our concierge staff, and then we’ll be free to head upstairs with all of our “required” tasks behind us (with the exception of the lifeboat drill at 4:00). Yes, it means waiting a bit more to see our suite, but (a) every added bit we put it off just builds the anticipation, and (b) I have a feeling that once we’re in there, we won’t want to leave!

Dessert time! Again, the spread is wonderful – cakes, pies, cheesecake, tarts, more fruit. Cruise life being what it is, we sample all of it. I know some people diet and exercise as a lifestyle and do not break their routine on vacations, even on a cruise, and Disney is wonderful to accommodate those people… but I’m not one of them. To me, the point of the diet and exercise at home is so that I can enjoy all of the food while I’m here!

We do restrain ourselves a bit – just a bit – but mainly because our dinnertime, back here in Parrot Cay, is just four hours away.