Travel with the Whitakers

We’ve enjoyed sharing all about our November 2016 Very Merrytime Cruise! We had so much fun and so much amazing food and we can’t wait to do it again! We’ll actually be doing the same sailing, the same exact week, too, this year as part of a back-to-back cruise magic! This will be our last post specifically about this particular sailing, but don’t worry this won’t be our last cruise line post! We have plenty more to share! Today we have for you what our itinerary looked like as well as the highlights of each day. Keep in mind that itineraries and daily activities vary. This is what we experienced. Day 1 Galveston, TX Embarkation Day Highlights: Life Boat Drill Sail Away Party Mickey’s Tree Lighting Day 2 At Sea Highlights: Formal Night Day 3 Key West, Florida Highlights: Deck the Deck Party Santa’s Winter Wonderland Ball Day 4 Castaway Cay, Bahamas Highlights: Pirate Deck Party Day 5 Nassau, Bahamas Highlights:

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to participate in a runDisney event? I can tell you firsthand that a runDisney race weekend is a unique experience. We had been to Disney World twice before during Marathon Weekend by chance, but this time we were ready to run in an event. Today we have for you all of the details you need to know to help to decide if runDisney is right for you, which it is, and to pick which weekend and event is right for you! runDisney Race Weekends Star Wars Half Marathon – The Dark Side – Walt Disney World – April 20-23, 2017 Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend – Disneyland – May 11-14 Virtual Running Shorts – Virtual – June 1 – August 31, 2017 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend – Disneyland – August 31 – September 3, 2017 Disneyland Paris Half Marathon Weekend – Disneyland Paris – September 21-24, 2017 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend – Walt Disney World - November 2-5, 2017 Super Heroes Half Marathon – Disneyland November 9-12,

On the last evening of our sailing the menu in the main dining rooms was the Captain’s Gala Menu. On this particular evening we were back at the beginning of our dining rotation and dining at Triton’s. The menu fit in well with the location. That evening we started off with three appetizers. The Marinated Tiger Shrimp , four herb marinated tail on shrimp served with celery hearts. If you like shrimp you’ll like this dish. We’re big eggplant fans, so we had to try the Lightly Breaded Baked Eggplant . Big slices of breaded eggplant served ricotta and Mozzarella cheese, a slightly sweet tomato sauce and topped with basil. I would have been happy with this dish as an entrée! We also had to try the Braised Oxtail Soup . The soup was rich and flavorful, we enjoyed it. Christian enjoyed a Kid’s Burger again. In addition to his burger we also order the Oven-Baked Lobster Tail . A buttery lobster tail, taken out of the shell at your table and served over lemon and sun-

As a family we’ve taken a fair amount of trips to Walt Disney World. Some trips we took as a couple, some as a family of three, and one each with our families when we were kids. Our past trip was a special one and so is our upcoming trip – they were and will be multi-generation and multi-family trips. Our trip in January involved four hotel rooms, two sets of dates, guests from five different households and four generations. With so many people, there were thirteen of us total over the course of eleven days, and so many different tastes and interests this trip took some serious planning. The first step in planning this trip was to pick someone to be in charge – that person was me (Miriya). Pick someone that is passionate about the trip and is ready and willing to plan. Next comes the actual planning! Start out by picking your dates, resorts, tickets, dining plans, etc. The most important step is obviously booking the trip. I’m already doing this again for our upcom

We have been on two sailings with Pirate Nights, and our next sailing will have one as well! Both nights were celebrations of all things pirates, but they were each unique. Our sailing on the Magic included Pirate Night, but because it was a three night sailing the menu in the dining room was the regular menu for that restaurant and because of that there was a late night Pirate Buffet. That was not the case on our most recent 7-night cruise. Prior to the Pirate Deck Party we enjoyed a special pirate themed menu in the dining room. The bread on this particular evening was a Johnny Cake with Mango Dip . A Johnny Cake is a flat cornbread. We love cornbread, but mango can be hit or miss. The bread was good and had nice corn flavor. The dip was also full of flavor, but if you’re not a fan of mango, the bread also goes well with regular butter. Sometimes a crab cake can taste more like breading than crab, but that was not the case with the Davy Jones’ Locker Rock Crab Cake . The

As a family we like to try to things – try new foods, visit new places, and on our trips to Disney World we even combine the two by attempting to try new restaurants on every trip. On our last trip we were able to try three new places! One of those places was The Wave… of American Flavors at the Contemporary Resort. The Wave is located on the first floor of the Contemporary Resort. As the name implies it has a bit of an ocean feel to it. The entrance to the restaurant, located to the right of the resort check-in desks, gives you the feel of going under the water. The waiting area and the lounge are full of dark blue seating and are dimly lit – adding to the ocean feel. Inside the dining room the sculpture-like metal near the ceiling and the backs of the chair also carry on the wave and ocean theme. We’ve covered the Wave portion, now let’s talk about the American flavors. The menu features a great selection of appetizers, entrees and desserts all based on the great flavors of