This is Part 2 of my Disney Cruise Line Mediterranean Food Blog.
Click HERE for Part 1!

Day 4

We were Animator’s Palate for dinner, it was the “show” dinner. My appetizer was my favorite of the entire week, the Sesame-flavored Rock Fish and Caramelized Onion Cheesecake. This was not at all what I was expecting – I thought it looked like a dessert – but it was just delicious. The “cheesecake” was more like whipped herbed cream cheese, and light and flavorful. There really wasn’t much shrimp in it, though. Lee got the same thing.

For the second course, I was torn between the Butternut Squash Soup and the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup. So Lee got one and I got the other. They were both good, though I make my own versions of both of them that I think are a little better. (One issue I had with the soups all week was that by the time they got to the table they weren’t very hot – the exception was the French Onion soup, which was just about perfect.)

My entree was another rather unusual one – Black Bean Chipotle Cakes served over brown rice. These were really good, though I didn’t taste much “chipotle” in them.

There were only four of us at the table that night, so not the variety that we usually had. Lee had the Asian Marinated Beef Tenderloin. It came with wasabi mashed potatoes and a tamarind barbecue reduction and reminded him a little bit of the tamarind beef dish he used to enjoy at California Grill, though it wasn’t quite up to that standard.

For dessert I ordered the Double Fudge Chocolate Cake. I was expecting a slice of cake and not a square. It was ok – at least it was moist and chocolatey. But one of my least favorites for the cruise.

Lee had the Buckled Warm Apple Crumble, which came with a scoop of ice cream.

Gary ordered the Sweet Temptaions plate, which included Strawberry Sable, Cranberry-Orange Cheesecake, and the Double Fudge Chocolate Cake.

Day 5

This was a long day in Naples, when we visited Vesuvius and Pompeii. Our dinner was the Caribbean-themed dinner in Parrot Cay, which didn’t appeal to me and I just wasn’t up for a two hour dinner that night. As it turned out none of our tablemates went, either, so Lee was the only person at our table.

Unfortunately he didn’t take a picture of the menu, so I can’t give you a description of what he had. And he forgot to take a picture of his first course. Sigh. You just can’t get good help sometimes! 😉

This is a spinach salad. It was supposedly served with hot bacon dressing, but Lee said there was no bacon or bacon flavor in the dressing – he was disappointed about that.

His entree was fish (we think it was grouper) pan-seared and served with shrimp over rice. He said this was very good.

Dessert was a slice of chocolate cake served with a scoop of coconut ice cream, with sliced bananas and caramel sauce on the side. He really liked the coconut ice cream and the bananas – the cake itself was fine but not exceptional.

He enjoyed his meal even though he was by himself – Ignatius and Nathan spent extra time with him, and the people at the table next to us visited with him, too.

Day 6

The ship-wide menu was Master Chef, and featured selections from lots of different Disney restaurants like Yachtsman Steakhouse, Flying Fish, and Citricos, as well as some other special dishes. We were in Lumiere’s that night.

A couple of us ordered Citrico’s Shrimp, which was ok – the shrimp was a little tough, I thought.

Lee had the Exotic Fruit Cup, which had pineapple, mango, and papaya with some coconut. It really looked good.

A couple of people also tried the Serrano Ham, Spicy Tomato, Kalamata Olive Bruschetta.

Second course for me Beefsteak Tomatoes and Baby Mozzarella – I love both tomatoes and mozzarella, so that was pretty much a given for me to order that! As I recall it was good.

Lee and several others had the Succotash Soup, which had lima beans and corn, and they seemed to enjoy it.

My entree was Flying Fish Potato Crusted Red Snapper, which I have enjoyed previously at the Flying Fish restaurant. I have to say this wasn’t nearly as good, though. It was ok, just not great. The potato crust wasn’t quite right somehow.

Lee and a couple others had the Pan Seared Scallop and Asparagus Linguine. As I recall there were varying opinions on this, but the consensus was that it didn’t have very much flavor.

John had the Oven Roasted Breast of Pheasant, which he said was very good.

As you can see, Jane and Eva were very hungry that night. 🙂

My dessert was the Triple Chocolate Terrine which was chocolatey and good – in the top 5 for the cruise.

On Jane and Gary’s recommendation (they are from the U.K.) Lee tried the Sticky Toffee Date Pudding. He liked it – said it was sort of like sponge cake with butterscotch soaked into it.

Day 7

It was semi-formal night, and the ship-wide menu was Villains Tonight. We were in Animator’s Palate for the third time. (That was one thing that was very different about the longer cruise – we ate in all of the restaurants at least three times, and were in Animator’s and Parrot Cay four times.)

This menu was pretty hit and miss – with more misses than hits, I think. Though the first course had a BIG hit – one of everyone’s favorite appetizers of the entire cruise, I think, the Crispy Cheese Ravioli. This was just really excellent – crispy and cheesy. Ignatius brought us at least two extra plates of this, in addition to the three plates of it that several of us initially ordered. (I think something similar to this used to be on the Pirate Night menu, but this was better.)

Lee ordered Jafar’s Caramelized Bay Scallops, which he enjoyed. I think he’s decided that he likes sun-dried tomatoes.

There was nothing on the soup and salad menu that appealed to me, so I had the Spiced Asparagus and Citrus Delight from the appetizer menu. It was fine – a different take on a fruit salad.

Several people had the Broccoli and Maytag Blue Cheese Soup, which was strangely not very blue cheesy.

My entree was the one that I think I was most disappointed in all week, the Potato Gnocchi . This was in a cheese sauce with pesto and pine nuts. The gnocchi had been grilled, which I thought was a nice touch but it was too cheesy – the sauce was very heavy and kind of like glue. I ended up not eating very much of it.

I think Jane had the Oven Roasted Duckling which she enjoyed.

The big winner that evening was Hades Oven-Roasted Tom Turkey Breast. It was a mini Thanksgiving dinner, and came with mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans, gravy, and cranberry relish. Everyone who ordered that really enjoyed it. I had a little bit of the turkey and it was very moist and flavorful. Not at all what I expected to find on a ship, especially at this time of year!

I think John also ordered the Yachtsman Steakhouse Grilled New York Strip which came with asparagus and baked potato. Other than the first night, the consensus was that the beef was very good all week.

My dessert was The Villains Chocolate Ending – which the menu called the “ultimate chocolate experience.” I wouldn’t go that far – it was pretty good, but not one of the best of the cruise.

Lee (and Gary) ordered the The Villains Tonight Sweet Temptations (somehow calling it “temptation” seemed much more appropriate on Villain’s Night!) This came with the Chocolate Ending, Maleficent’s Ricotta Creme Brulee, and Raspberry Cheesecake.

Nathan entertained us with a puzzle that night: move 5 crayons to end up with three squares of equal size. We eventually got it. Can you?

We also celebrated Lee’s 50th birthday that night, even though his birthday was still some weeks away. They brought out a cake and Simone (our head server) and Ignatius and Nathan and some of the rest of the servers sang to him.

Part 3 still to come!

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