Chapter 43
Mystery Dessert

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All aboard was relatively early—just 4:45pm—this afternoon, and we got back a little while before that anyway.

I don’t remember where on the ship this old-fashioned apparatus was (possibly the Outlook Cafe?) but I always got a kick out of it because it reminded me of Titanic.

It was Pixar Night aboard the Wonder, which meant there would be a special dinner menu in addition to a few other one-time offerings. The first of these was the Pixar Pals Party in the atrium, but since it started at 4:30, we didn’t make it down there until it was almost over.

The characters were already starting to go away as we arrived.

Since we were there anyway, though, we stuck around this part of the ship for a little while after the crowds cleared out.

We were back in Parrot Cay for our last dinner in that particular restaurant, and the menu was very Pixar-centric.

Our first course was a Wholegrain Cinnamon and Raisin Bread with Roasted Eggplant and Tahini Dip. It wasn’t my favorite, but luckily there are also always plain rolls and butter as well.

For appetizers, I think Tracy got the Emeryville Cocktail (Warm Water Lobster, Alaskan Crab Leg, and Shrimp Cocktail with Sour Cream, Caviar and a Spicy Lime Tomato Dressing) while I opted for the Mr. Davis’s Duck Prosciutto, Heirloom Tomato, and Mozzarella Bruschetta (with Napa Valley Virgin Olive Oil, Pickled Basil, and Ground Black Pepper). I have no idea what either of us thought of these dishes.

Honestly, I’m not 100-percent sure what we actually got for entrees this evening either. I may have gotten the Trenette Pasta “Frizzi” (tossed in a Roquette Pesto, with Garlic Shrimp and Caramelized Atlantic Scallops), and Tracy possibly got Geri’s Oven-baked Warm Water Lobster (with Grilled Dill Shrimp and Creamy Sweet Corn Asiago Cheese Risotto), but I’m sort of guessing.

As we talked to John and Candida this evening, we found out that they had done the Dogsled Summer Camp Port Adventure (very similar to the one we had done in Skagway) in the morning. Since they had tried the Skagway version on their last cruise, they could accurately compare the two, and they deemed Skagway the better choice. They also told us that today’s afternoon session had gotten rained out even though the weather had never gotten all that bad. We were so relieved because we had been signed up for the afternoon session of that Port Adventure up until a couple weeks before we cruised, when we decided to do it in Skagway instead. If we had kept our original plan, we wouldn’t have gotten to go dogsledding at all, and we would have been beyond disappointed.

 Neither Tracy nor I were incredibly excited about any of the dessert options tonight, but I ordered the Opera Slice (layered with Coffee Cream and Bailey’s Sauce) anyway. Tracy actually did the unspeakable and told our server Putu that she wanted nothing for dessert.

When the desserts came out, however, he still put a plate in front of Tracy.

Confused, she lifted the lid to find this.

We thought it was pretty funny.

After dinner, we walked back through the Route 66 entertainment district (as we had done countless times at this point in the voyage). I finally stopped to take pictures of and with my favorite spot on the carpet map.

Pixar Night on the cruise ships presents one of the only opportunities in the world to meet some rare characters. We specifically checked our Personal Navigator to find out when Remy and Emile would be doing a meet-and-greet because they are a duo that is practically never in the parks.

Their line was relatively long, but it wasn’t too bad.

We were glad our picture turned out well.

Since we were already here in the atrium, we decided to hop over to the line on the other side and wait to meet Russell and Dug as well (even though we’d met them before at Disneyland).

While we waited, we noticed that profiles of the ship’s officers were flashing across the big TVs that usually show the daily calendar. Here’s some information about our good buddy, Captain Fabian.

And here we are with our friends.

We went back to our stateroom for a little while after meeting these Pixar compadres, and we discovered a pretty awesome towel monkey that Jay had left hanging for us.

As we stepped out onto the verandah to look around, Juneau was already far behind us.

Continuing with the Pixar Night theme, tonight’s entertainment in the Walt Disney Theatre was Toy Story: The Musical. We had been looking forward to this show because we always enjoy the Toy Story movies. One of the guys I went to NYU with was also one of the first Woodys when they started performing this particular show on the Wonder several years earlier, so I’d seen lots of pictures on Facebook.

Now, we’ve learned that it can be hit or miss when Disney decides to adapt one of its non-musical movies as a stage musical. I personally adore Finding Nemo: The Musical at Disney’s Animal Kingdom—particularly its tunes by Bobby and Kristin Anderson Lopez—but there have been other efforts that didn’t turn out quite as well. Based on the score alone, I’m sorry to lump Toy Story: The Musical into that latter category. I was not impressed by the music at all. As always, Disney has a lot of great spectacle in its stage shows, and this one was no exception. Some of the character costumes and puppets were great, and we enjoyed a number of effects. But when you don’t connect with the music in a musical, the overall experience is never going to go that well. I was lukewarm about the show, but Tracy really didn’t like it.

Luckily, these hour-long shows always go by relatively quickly. We went back to our stateroom afterward and were feeling pretty exhausted. Tomorrow was our last port of call, so we hit the hay early in preparation.

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