Disney Mediterranean Cruise with Greece: Day 6 - Bella Itala @ Parrot Cay

Date of Visit: June 20, 2013

The Bella Itala was a themed menu that was the same for all restaurants that night.

Drink – Mik did not initially want the special non-alcoholic drink, but once he saw my Dolce Vita he wanted his own. It is a blend of apple and cranberry juice, agave nectar, chamomile tea, pomegranate puree, and fresh lemon juice.

Appetizer – Mik choose the beef and pork tortellini. He liked the tortellini, but not so much the mushrooms and the thyme red wine reduction that went with it.

Soup – Mik tried the Cream of Trevi Celery Soup. It was somewhat of a disappointment because he found no croutons in it like the description suggested it had.

Entrée – Mik had the Spaghetti con Polpette (i.e. spaghetti and meatballs). He really enjoyed the huge meatballs.



Dessert – For dessert Mik tried both the Sicilian Chocolate Indulgence and the Warm Stuffoli. He did not really like the Sicilian Chocolate Indulgence, but it had a pistachio cake and it was kind of surprising he even ordered it. He totally loved the stuffoli, which are mini doughnuts, although he did not particularly like the honey lemon dipping syrup.

Disney Mediterranean Cruise with Greece: Day 5 – Prince & Princess Dinner @ Animator’s Palette

Date of Visit: June 19, 2013

The Prince & Princess dinner was the themed dinner for the Formal Night in all the restaurants.

Appetizer – Mik tried the Slow Roasted Duck and Cheese Quesadilla. He liked it, although, it was different than a typical quesadilla since it was with phyllo dough rather than a tortilla.

Soup – Mik had the Beast’s Potato and Sausage Casserole Soup.

Entrée – Mik could not decide between the Oven Roasted Tom Turkey Breast and the Rosemary-scented Medallions of Lamb. He went with the turkey because the sides seemed more to his liking, although we thought sweet Mashed Potatoes meant regular potatoes sweetened and not Mashed Sweet Potatoes, which Mik never likes. In the end, he also asked for some lamb, so he tried both anyways. He ended up preferring the lamb, but still liked the turkey, especially the stuffing with it.

Dessert – Mik choose the Prince Charming Chilled Chocolate Souffle. He had been wondering what a soufflé was since it was on another menu earlier and he had instead choose something else. At least the chilled one was a lot like the mousse dessert.

Disney Mediterranean Cruise with Greece: Day 4 – Rome by Private Vehicle w/ Lift

Date of Visit: June 18, 2013

Mik’s first port adventure for the cruise was from Civitavecchia. We decided not to do the first two ports because it required using the tender boat and it was unclear if it would require a transfer. Turned out Villefranche would have been no problem other than it is quite hilly to go around too much in the port town. The gangways up in La Spezia, though, were too narrow at the top and would have likely required carrying Mik and the chair on separately.

Mik did not much care about missing the stuff from La Spezia, but he would have liked to see Monaco. However, he really did love having his first two days basically as at sea days compared to all the people we overheard saying they wished the first at sea day came before the three days of port calls to give more time to adjust to the time and get settled on the ship.


Mik and Mom did only the 4-hour private vehicle w/ lift port adventure. All along we were warned it would only allow time for a panoramic tour, which was fine with Mik and Mom since 4 hours is about their limit on touring, as they are the ones that always prefer the at the hotel/cruise ship parts of vacation and not long days of seeing stuff like Dad and I. Also, it was flexible enough that they could have stayed out longer and just paid for the extra time if they ended up finding something they wanted to spend more time at or wanted to see more things.

The ride between Rome and the port is about an hour to 90 minutes, so that does take up a big chunk of the 4-hour private vehicle tour in Rome. However, they still saw more different parts of Rome than Dad and I saw in our 10.5 hour tour, although that was because we spent most of our time in the Vatican and the other time was just seeing the inside of the Coliseum. Mik and Mom still got to see the outside of both, which while the insides are at least partially accessible Mik probably would not have enjoyed inside much because of the crowds.

During their tour, they mostly viewed stuff from the vehicle, but the driver would stop and open the side door to give a better view. They did get out once, though. They parked about a block from the Trevi Fountain and the driver even pushed Mik to it. He then took a picture of Mom and Mik in front of the fountain. Mik was totally excited to hear when we got back that he went to something I have never been.

One of the coolest parts of the tour for them was that they got to drive around/close to the Capital Hill and Forum area that you normally have to walk through. Mik also liked that the way they tied down the chair made it feel very secure, which really has to be saying something with the way driving and traffic in Rome can be crazy.

Disney Mediterranean Cruise with Greece: Day 3 – Island Dinner @ Parrot Cay

Date of Visit: June 17, 2013

The Island Dinner is the theme for the Parrot Cay restaurant.

Appetizer – Mik had the Baked Crab Martinique for this appetizer. He liked the crab and the plaintain chip, but not so much the tortilla chips as they seemed like guacamole flavored.

Entrée – Mik choose the Mixed Grill, although he had extra shrimp and no sausage, since he is not really into sausage. He enjoyed it, although he ended up with more than he could eat, especially since they also gave him extra steak.

Dessert – Mik had a hard time deciding between the Chocolate S’More Vanilla Cake and the Ice Cream Sundae, but he really enjoyed the Ice Cream Sundae, especially the brownie in it.

Disney Mediterranean Cruise with Greece: Day 2 – Chocolate Croissant @ Goofy’s Galley

Date of Visit: June 16, 2013

Mik was really excited on the first full day of the cruise to discover that they not only had chocolate croissants at Goofy’s Galley, but they still did them the good way. It seems they only do it with the chocolate inside and in a rectangle shape at Disney World and he has been missing the chocolate drizzled and inside actually croissant shaped ones since they at least temporarily seemed to disappear from Disneyland when they were remodeling the bakery on Main Street. They are his absolute favorite breakfast thing, although Mickey waffles are a close second. It was also fun for him to have it the first day since the port call was in France.

Disney Mediterranean Cruise with Greece: Day 1 – Let the Magic Begin Dinner

Date of Visit: June 15, 2013

The first night of the cruise we had dinner in Lumiere’s, although the dinner menu is the same Let the Magic Begin menu in all the restaurants that night.

Appetizer – Mik choose the Chicken “Basteka” and found it so-so. Not sure if it was the spices and/or the cinnamon/sugar sweetness that made it only okay.

Soup – Mik also had the Blue Crab and Seafood Chowder before his main course. He thought it tasted good, although he was expecting a thicker/creamier soup like clam chowder and this was thinner broth.

Entrée – Mik went with the Yachtsman Steak House Cut Grilled Sirloin Steak. He loved it and we loved that the waiter cut it up for him. He also really liked the cheese potato that came with it.

Dessert – Mik had the Apple Tart-Tartin as his dessert.

Disney Mediterranean Cruise with Greece: Barcelona Airport/Port Ground Transfers

Arrival - Barcelona Airport to Port Experience

Date of Visit: June 15, 2013

Upon arrival at the airport it was easy to find the Disney Cruise people by baggage claim. They odd thing was that they sent us already out to the bus before even asking if we wanted an alternative option. The buses do not have lifts, but they could make alternative arrangements (sounded like a private vehicle with lift). Since it would have taken half an hour and Dad was with us, Mik choose to have Dad carry him onto the bus and the chair easily fit in the luggage area underneath.

It would have been nicer if they had asked if we wanted an alternative before walking out of the airport like when we checked in Vancouver and had to wait for the bus with lift to arrive. We totally were prepared for an extra wait, but we thought they just happened to already have something there when we were walked out (involves escalator/elevator) with a group to a waiting bus. If we had also realized we would end up at the port before boarding began, but with a high enough number that we ended up just in the all aboard abandoning the group numbers five before ours situation waiting for the transfer at the airport would have been better than at the port. It all still worked out good, just would possibly do it differently in the future.

Departure - Port to Airport Experience

Date of Visit: June 27, 2013

Several days before returning to Barcelona we got a message in our stateroom telling us that a vehicle would be available to take us to the airport at 8:15 a.m. on disembarkment day.  We got off the ship right after breakfast around 7:45 a.m. and they first tried to direct us to the buses.  When we told them we were supposed to have a vehicle with lift they quickly got a taxi around (it is all paid for by Disney when you get buy the ground transfer).  It was just a mini van with lift in the back.  It barely would have been able to seat us four much less our luggage, so Dad and I had to take the bus with luggage and Mom and Mik went in the taxi.  It was kind of inconvenient to have to split up, but they do drop you at same spot when you get there and we were not that far behind leaving the port as they had the buses leaving every ten minutes or so full or not.  However, with the chaoticness of the Barcelona Airport and having to wait for someone to escort us just to go through security with the wheelchair I think we would have been cutting it close if we had left the port at 8:15 a.m.  Of course, that was nothing compared to the back and forth in circles that happened to us when we got to Miami.