On the fritz

Animator’s Palate is a stunning, imaginative restaurant, themed as a tribute to Disney animation and animators over the years. With the special effects and unique musical score, this one restaurant added $4.3 million to the costs of building the ship.

It is a delight to the eyes and ears as well as the taste buds, for as you enter the restaurant, all is in black-and-white – the walls (covered, on closer examination, with copies of Disney character pencil sketches), the ceiling (which features painters’ palettes supported by “paint brush” columns), the framed artwork of Disney characters on the walls. Tables, chairs, even the wait staff’s uniforms, all are in black and white.

As you dine, the music swells and recedes with themes from many classic Disney features, and portraits associated with that film change to color. When all the pictures have turned to color, they change back to black and white – some of the frames change pictures entirely – and the process begins again. Splashes of color pulse overhead as well, on the ceiling palettes and with fiber optics in the paint brushes.

Then, after the entrees have been cleared, the lights lower and video screens play a sweet and stirring tribute to the art of storytelling through animation, and at the climax of the video “Zip-Ah-Dee-Doo-Dah” plays, the lights come up, and the restaurant has turned to color – not just the pictures and paint brushes, as before, but the formerly black and white walls are awash in oranges and yellows. Our servers parade enthusiastically to the music, now wearing colorful vests instead of plain ones.

That’s the experience of Animator’s Palate. When it works.

When the doors finally open, it’s quickly apparent that the delay was caused by the “show” part of the restaurant, as the walls are already in color as we enter. That… just shouldn’t be yet.

Some of the show lights flicker on and off, and the music doesn’t even play until we’ve been seated for twenty minutes. Eventually they get the lights to the black and white setting, but there are still obvious problems. At least, the problems are obvious to those of us who know what to expect. I just feel sorry for new cruisers not getting to experience the full effect.

Dinner is still delicious, even without fully functional effects. As an appetizer, Linda and I each order the seafood and avocado wrapper, which is very tasty, while Becky and Brandon get the wild garlic mushrooms in a pastry cup. Benjamin has a fruit plate, while Bob passes on an appetizer and just orders a Caesar salad. Linda gets a bowl of butternut squash soup, but Becky, Brandon and I add a Caesar salad as well.

When the salads arrive, Benjamin decides he’d like one, too. We flag Sutas to see if that’s okay, knowing the answer before we ask. Life on a cruise ship is pretty amazing, and they do their best to spoil you rotten. Benjamin soon has his salad.

Portrait and Palate

After we’re well on our way, we return inside to dress for dinner. This night we will be in Animator’s Palate – always a great experience – but we’re also dressing up a bit to have our shipboard portrait done.

Once we’re ready we head down to the atrium. I’m hoping the backdrop with the ship against the Mickey sunset is still available. That looked so cool. Alas, when we arrive, the background is a stark white. They’re just going for plain and artsy this time. Bummer.

We start to line up for our picture, but as we look around we see a second photographer one floor up. The background is abstract but colorful, which is already an improvement, but the big difference that makes us go there is the fact that the portraits are being done with Mickey!!

Mickey Mouse is posing with all comers, resplendent in his tuxedo. We’ve had family portraits done on both previous cruises, but never with the Mouse. This’ll be great.

We head upstairs and join the short line, with Becky double-checking the boys’ hair and making sure we’re all photogenic – to the limits of what she has to work with, of course. Soon enough, our turn comes, and we gather around Mickey. The photographer poses us and takes a few shots, and a nearby female crew member is nice enough to take a couple of pictures with our own cameras.

Mickey, of course, doesn’t say much, but he’s still pretty nice to hang out with.

We’re done with pictures at about 5:45, meaning that we have 15 minutes to go until our official dinner time, but we still head down to the restaurant, just down the hall on this same deck, since they usually begin seating early.

Shutters, the photo shop, is on the way, and we stop to look at some other pictures. Since we just had our portrait made, we’ll have to come back by here again, probably tomorrow morning, to buy it. It’s possible it might be here later tonight, though.

When we arrive at Animator’s Palate, the doors are shut and there is a bit of a line already formed. I don’t mind the wait in and of itself, but it’s quickly getting warm and stuffy in this hallway. Brandon is especially feeling the warmth, since he got a little sunburned on the beach.

I eventually step out the nearby double doors to the outside deck for some fresh air. The sun has just set, and the Caribbean sky is absolutely beautiful. It is windy and a little cold, so I cool off in a hurry. After I return, Brandon goes outside himself.

Six o’clock is fast approaching, and the restaurant doors still haven’t opened. That’s odd, especially considering how punctual shipboard activities usually are. Of course, they’re not late yet, but usually people are being seated well before the scheduled arrival time.

At 6:00 straight up – there’s that punctuality! – the Animator’s Palate doors open, and the servers work quickly to seat everyone waiting. There’s no hint of whatever problem might have delayed the opening… Oh, wait. Yes, there is.

The walls are in color.

Casting off

Around four o’clock I go to get clean – in the two-shower-head walk-in stall again. I take my time and savor the experience, knowing I probably won’t use the Suite’s shower again. (The tub, however? We’ll see.)

When I’m out and dressed, we begin packing in earnest. We normally leave packing for after the show, but that always seems to end up as a rushed effort to have the bags out the door by 11:00, when the crew picks them up. This time, I really want Becky to experience the “’Til We Meet Again” character goodbye in the Atrium at ten, and I know she won’t think about coming unless the packing is mostly done.

We’re departing from Castaway Cay at 5:00, so at five minutes till most of us go out on the balcony to watch the departure. Since we’re right over the dock, we have a front row (if elevated) view of the well-rehearsed interplay of activity that accompanies the ship’s exit.

The Wonder is attached to the dock with several big heavy ropes both at the fore and aft of the ship. Workers on the dock at each location are already casting off some, but not all, of those ropes, even though a couple of gangways still attached.

When we look to the right, we can see that Captain Henry and his first officer are overseeing the departure on the port wing of the bridge, which is on the same deck as us. The cover is open on the outdoor-grill-shaped console they use to control the engines and side thrusters.

The main task needing to be completed before departure on the dock below is apparently the final gathering of all of the towels. A tractor has pulled a trailer loaded with bags of used towels near the base of one of the ramps, and crew members are quickly transfer the towels into tall wheeled carts. When the bags are empty, the carts are pushed up the ramps and onto the ship.

Once that is completed, forklifts remove both gangways from the ship and set them on the dock. The final ropes are cast off fore and aft, and when we look straight down we can see that the ship is moving sideways away from the dock, pushed by the Wonder’s side thrusters. It’s an amazing thing to watch.

We start to detect some forward motion as the ship slowly begins to accelerate out of its slip – and then the “When You Wish Upon a Star” horn sounds. We’re on our way!

On the dock, six of the island cast members, their work done, stand side by side waving goodbye to us – with Mickey-gloved hands. I love Disney!

Once the ship clears the outer marker buoy, the officers retreat from the wing. It’s fascinating to watch so massive a ship depart so gracefully, but it’s also a bit sad. It means we’ve started the last leg of our cruise.

Unlikely entertainment

Shortly after Captain Henry leaves us, Bob and Linda get up to go to the Suite to change. Becky and I spend another 20 or 25 quiet minutes relaxing on deck, and then we follow.

When we arrive in the Suite, Aladdin is showing on the television. Disney, Disney, Disney, all around us. It's wonderful. Certainly there are people in the world for whom this would be "Disney overload" – and there are plenty of non-Mouse-related channels and other options for them – but I love the total immersion in the magic.

Bob and Linda point out our newest delivery from the concierge staff – a plate of deluxe sweets, including chocolate truffles, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and mini fruit tarts. I’m still full of hot dog and pizza, so I just share a truffle with Becky, and then she also has a chocolate-dipped strawberry.

I flip the TV over to the other Disney movie channel and find Lilo & Stitch, a movie I can watch over and over without getting tired of it. Bob goes to take a nap, and the boys return from swimming. We send them to shower the chlorine off.

Once again, this is the life – just relaxing, doing not much of anything, in the Walt Disney Suite. It's still hard to wrap my brain around the idea that I'm actually getting to do this, but it's getting easier. I'll be fully adjusted to the luxury by the time the cruise ends, I'm sure.

At one point I flip over to a shipboard channel, where cruise director Christiaan is giving the debarkation talk. They used to do this live in the Walt Disney Theatre and then replay it for those who missed it, but now I think it’s just shown on the television.

Normally I don’t pay too close of attention to these talks, since they don’t tell me much I don’t already know, but I find myself really enjoying Christiaan’s version. He’s pretty funny.

Christiaan gives the usual information about using the luggage tags and filling out the customs forms. When he starts talking about the printed charge information being slipped under our stateroom doors in the wee hours of the morning, he says, “Now, for some of you, your printout will be too big to fit under the door. So when you hear a big ‘thud’ in the middle of the night, that’s what it is.” He then gives an embarrassed laugh and says, “I shouldn’t say that!”

Whatever reluctance he feels about improvising on his script doesn’t last long. He advises cruisers that no alcohol can be in checked bags, and then says if any is found, “it has a way of showing up at crew parties.”

He then reminds cruisers that, before they put their bags out in the halls tonight for removal from the ship, they should remember to get clothing out for the next day. He reports that he has seen whole families appear in the atrium, “wearing nothing but pajamas or pillow cases, and it’s not funny.” He pauses a bit, and then admits, “Okay, it’s funny for me…”

I’ve never been so entertained by a debarkation talk before.

Captain Henry Andersson

Benjamin and Brandon are having a good time in the pool, Becky and I are resting and reading at the table. Then Bob and Linda appear. I guess the island just wasn’t fun any more without us! They did stay to eat lunch on Castaway Cay before returning to the ship.

Hey, there’s Captain Henry – just strolling around chatting with people. I’ve written in previous trip reports about how his job is one of the most fascinating I can think of. Being master of the vessel not only puts him in charge of the operation and piloting of the ship itself, it also makes him the ultimate boss of everything else – dining, hotel, and entertainment. There is an extensive social aspect to the job, what with the various receptions and the mingling that is required (I’ve seen him autographing purchases in the Treasure Ketch store!), and being a Disney captain certainly means that he must take “making magic” seriously.

In a moment, the good Captain walks over to our table and chats with Becky, Bob, Linda and me. He is extremely nice and easy to talk to, and gives no hint of reluctance to answer questions that I’m sure he has answered literally thousands of times over. (For the record, though, the answers are: He’s been at sea for 38 years (!); he has been a ship’s captain for the past 25 years; and he has worked for Disney for 12 years – which by my math would start his employment with DCL before either the Disney Magic or Disney Wonder were launched.)

While he has captained the Magic, he is only aboard the Wonder now. I ask him about the two new, much larger Disney cruise ships that are being built, and whether he will put in to helm one of them. I’m behind the curve, though – Captain Henry says that he has already been assigned to one of them!

Bob asks what itineraries the new ships will be on, but Captain Henry does not yet know. Surprisingly to me, though, he expresses a hope that his ship will be assigned to the 3-day/4-day cruise rotations. He says he really, really enjoys these shorter cruises.

Captain Henry wishes us a enjoyable remainder of the cruise and safe return home, and then excuses himself. What a very nice guy.