After a very busy few days onboard the beautiful Disney Dream which included our amazing Marvel Day at Sea, this wonderful sea day was exactly what we both desperately wanted as well as very much needed – it was calm, it was chilled, it was relaxed and we loved every single minute of it!

We woke up just after 7:00am and the sea was a lot calmer than it had been the evening before but thankfully we had absolutely no trouble sleeping through the night despite the constant movement on the ship. We both sat on the verandah with a cup of tea and enjoyed the sunrise, the fresh air and the blue skies which is simply the best way to start any day. As we had brunch at Palo booked at 10:00am, we did not want any breakfast so we could simply just take our time that morning whilst slowly getting ready for the day ahead.

However we had one important thing that we needed to do before our brunch at Palo which was the Heroic Encounters: Guardians character meet and greet in Animator’s Palate which we had booked for 9:15am. This was the last of our three Marvel Day at Sea character experiences that you were able to pre-book online thirty days before the cruise (the other two being Heroic Encounters: Asgard and Heroic Encounters: HQ) and we had booked each one on a different day of the cruise – they were available to book on both sea days as well as our Grand Cayman day.

There was a short line to meet Groot (at this meet and greet you could also meet Peter Quill as well as Gamora – or a combination of two of them – at certain times) which moved very quickly as Groot is one of the few characters onboard that is not able to sign autographs.

After meeting Groot, we dropped off the camera back in our stateroom before we headed up to Deck 12 and walked outside in the sunshine to get to Palo. Despite the wind, it was a beautiful day and the swimming pools were already very busy.

We had made our Palo brunch reservation 120 days before our cruise when our booking window as Platinum Castaway Club members opened and all dates and times were available which was such a wonderful feeling. We arrived at Palo which is located on Deck 12 Aft a few minutes early so we simply sat in the Meridian Lounge which is located between Palo and Remy whilst we waited.

We were quickly greeted with a huge “Welcome Home” as we entered a very quiet Palo and were shown to one of the tables next to the windows and introduced to the incredible Vaneza who took such amazing care of both of us that morning. We ordered a complimentary Mimosa (you can also have a Kir Royale or a Prosecco) as well as a bottle of San Pellegrino to begin our wonderful brunch which we had both been looking forward to since the cruise began.

Until two years ago I hated tuna so it always makes me laugh now that one of my favourite foods onboard Disney Cruise Line is the Spiced Ahi Tuna from Palo. However I did not want to order either of the two different antipasti plates that are offered so Vaneza simply brought me a plate of my favourite tuna by itself which I enjoyed along with the basket of freshly baked breads including one my other favourites – the Red Onion Focaccia!

When we first arrived at Palo that morning, Vaneza had made the completely accurate prediction that since we had visited Palo many times before, we would want to order the Grape and Gorgonzola pizza that is sadly no longer on the menu. I had been looking forward to this pizza for such a long time as it had been nearly two years since I last had one on our Disney Wonder Hawaiian cruise and it was just as beautiful, if not better than I remembered.

I also ordered the Wild Mushroom Ravioli which I absolutely love but I do wish that there was at least one more vegetarian main course option on the brunch menu at Palo (there are plenty of meat dishes) so I could try something different on my next visit.

Since our last cruise on the Disney Dream in 2022, I had also been dreaming about the best dessert in the world which is also from Palo. The Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Strawberry Popping Pearls and Pistachio Crumble from Palo is so good and so light that I ordered two and savoured every mouthful of both of them along with a peppermint tea to finish our amazing meal.

As of January 2024, brunch at Palo is currently an upcharge of $50 per adult but thankfully one of the benefits of being a Platinum Castaway Club member is a complimentary meal at Palo (which can be either brunch or dinner) so all we had to pay for was the bottle of San Pellegrino that we ordered as well as the gratuity for the amazing Vaneza who was simply the best.

We left Palo just after Midday and went back to our stateroom to change before making our way down to Deck 4 to just sit outside and enjoy the peace and quiet and watch the world go by. We very quickly discovered that this was the perfect place onboard to sit as we saw so many characters all afternoon walking past on their way to different locations around the ship.

After sitting outside for an hour, I made my way back inside to the lobby atrium ready for the Character Dance Party which was due to start at 1:30pm. The party started off with the Cha Cha Slide and it always makes me smile as I only ever hear it when I’m on a Disney Cruise!

Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy and Pluto arrived not long afterwards and danced to Try Everything, Uptown Funk, Blinded by the Light, Shake it Off, Better When I’m Dancin’, a mash-up of Let’s Get Loud and We Don’t Talk About Bruno, Dynamite and When Can I See You Again.

After watching the Character Dance Party, I went back outside to Deck 4 and even nodded off to sleep for a while – there is definitely something so relaxing about the sound of the sea! It really was proving to be a perfect day at sea and although I was loving that I had absolutely nothing to do, I was also internally fighting with the thought that I should be doing something!

Once I had woken up from my short nap, I walked up to Cove Cafe on Deck 11 as I needed some caffeine (as well as a panini from Flo’s Cafe) before quickly returning back down to Deck 4 as the pool areas were so busy, noisy and crowded. It was still very windy outside (the Aquaduck was closed once again due to the strong wind) and although the starboard side of Deck 4 where we were sitting was dry and in the sunshine, the port side was the complete opposite as it was soaking wet due to all of the sea spray.

My favourite character moment of the entire cruise was when Goofy appeared outside on Deck 4 and had a short nap on one of the sunloungers, did his Titanic “I’m Flying” impression and then started desperately holding onto the rails whilst he walked along the deck as it was so windy!

We both chatted and said we will definitely take a lot more time to sit on Deck 4 on our next cruise as it turned out to be a great balance of relaxing, enjoying being on a cruise as well as seeing so many characters out and about – it really was a perfect afternoon on Disney Cruise Line.

After the most relaxed afternoon we have ever spent onboard a ship, we walked back to our stateroom where we watched Ratatouille (another thing we always do onboard as it brings back so many happy memories of dining at Remy on the Disney Fantasy) before making our way to Enchanted Garden on Deck 2 for dinner at 8:15pm.

The standard rotational menu at Enchanted Garden is one of my favourites across the Disney Cruise Line fleet and I had been looking to this dinner since we had booked the cruise due to the Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower starter. I decided to order a triple portion as I enjoy it so much and our server Nele said he would bring me another for dinner the next night when he found out how much I loved this dish.

I also ordered the Cream of Green Asparagus soup followed by the beautiful Lemon Raspberry Mousse Bombe for dessert – it had truly been a great day of really good food onboard the Disney Dream!

Once we left Enchanted Garden, we walked two and a half laps (one mile) of Deck 4 and I always feel less guilty about eating so much food on a cruise when you can easily walk it off – it is something that we really missed being able to do when we sailed onboard the Disney Wish last year. We made a cup of peppermint tea on Deck 11 before heading back down to our stateroom where a turtle made with the blanket from our bed was waiting for us.

Due to the distance that we had to sail from Grand Cayman, we had originally been scheduled to dock at Castaway Cay the following morning at 10:30am but as we had made good time that day, the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app was now showing an ashore time of 9:15am. So with that good news, it was time to go to sleep ready to spend the next day in paradise!

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