As you board the boat for the first time, musicians and entertainers welcome you aboard the steamboat, setting the stage for a wonderful week. You always leave and return to the ship on this deck, scanning your passenger ID card. There is a water station on this deck so you can refill your water bottle before you leave.
Sometimes you can feel the engines on this deck while you are eating but it isn’t horrible. Continue reading American Queen Steamboat – Deck 1
We sat with 3 other couples in the dining room and I am happy to say we are now Facebook friends and over a year later we still chat and email. There are several different size tables and you are assigned based on your preferences.
The food on the American Queen is very good and is brought on board fresh regularly. One night we were offered Bananas Foster for dessert, the next morning we had some bananas on the breakfast buffet so that night at dinner we we all joking and wondered if we would be offered banana pudding or if all of the bananas had been eaten.
Greece – 2018
We chose to experience the recommended pairing of Loaded Greek Nachos (Vegan) and Domaine Skouras Moscofilero.
We tasted the Moscofilero before the nachos and did not love it but once we began eating, we found the pairing of the wine and food to be perfect. Continue reading Disney Food and Wine Festival – Greece
Islands of the Caribbean 2018
You should stop here, YUM!!
Once again we chose the recommended pairing and wow was it good.
The Jerk Spiced Chicken Lollipop was a perfect blend of spicy & sweet plantain and mango. The flavors mixed together and delighted our taste buds.
I think it is called a lollipop because it is a drumstick – nice name.
Continue reading Disney Food and Wine Festival – Islands of the Caribbean
Festival Center 2018
Stop by the Festival Center to get information about the food and wine festival.
They have an information booth and a huge map. This is also where they have classes and seminars, both complementary and for an extra fee.
The Ghirardelli chocolate experience is a nice self-tour display with some amazing chocolate sculptures. You will also get a small sample.
If you are an annual pass holder, stop here to get your magnet and on your 4th visit, pickup your small cutting board.
At the Shimmering Sips Mimosa Bar, the Tropical Mimosa ($6) was cold and sweet, we liked it but it would have been too sweet for more than one glass. The Blood Orange Mimosa ($6) was cold and tart but not sour. Both Mimosas had a nice taste but they were great when we mixed them together.
There are shops and a craft beer experience here as well.
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The Light Lab
This is not our first visit to the Food and Wine Festival but it is our first visit in 2018. We usually start at Mexico and work our way around but this year we decided to be different.
Our first stop was the Light Lab where we began our Food & Wine experience with a cider flight ($9+). Yes, $13 for 3 small glasses of cider and a bottle of water. I wasn’t in a Disney Frame of mind just yet but I was working on it.
The Dry Rose was dry but had a nice taste because you could still taste the cider through the rose.
Surprisingly, the blueberry peppercorn cider was quite tasty, not too dry not too sweet and not overly spicy.
The third cider, 
Zen Berry, was less cider and more sweet.
It is a good sample of different ciders. This location is a temporary location so water is only available by the bottle, no free glass of water here.
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We had the privilege of touring the Norwegian Sky before it traveled to Cuba.
Norwegian Sky was built in 1999 and served as Sky until 2004 when it was overhauled and renamed Pride of Aloha. For four years she sailed the Hawaiian islands as a U.S.-flagged and crewed ship. When she reverted to her original name and was re-flagged to the Bahamas Norwegian wisely kept her beautiful Hawaiian themed decorations. A 2013 refurbishment and good maintenance has kept Sky looking good. Continue reading Norwegian Sky – Ship Tour
Just a 33 minute train ride outside of Edinburgh, is a wonderful town called North Berwick
(Pronounced: burr ik, or ber ik depending upon who you ask).
We arrived at low tide and spent about an hour exploring the beach. The rocks are covered in different types of sea weed and some sea life (snails, etc). They are on different areas of the beach and extend quite a way. During high tide, they are completely covered by water.
We could see the Firth of Forth, Bass Rock and other islands in the distance. Continue reading North Berwick, Scotland
We recently got a chance to tour the newly renovated Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas. The main public areas have all been upgraded. Including the Perfect Storm Sports deck adding a Flowrider, Dueling Waterslides (Typhoon and Cyclone) and Adventure Dunes Putt Putt Golf course. Continue reading Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas – Ship Tour
Just behind Hoolyrood Palace is a nice park and a series of “mountains” and cliffs. The highest of these is called Authur’s Seat. We set out from our hotel, walked 1/2 mile down the Royal Mile (downhill) to the park.
If you are smart, you would stop at the information center and get a map of the trails to the top. We stopped here after we descended so we could see where we had gone.
