Originally Posted By goodgirl Day Six of Nine – Wednesday – All Ashore at St. Thomas We awoke on Wednesday to find ourselves in St. Thomas. I had contacted Tammy (TiggerPooh1973) before the cruise to arrange meeting up with her. To our surprise her husband, John, called our stateroom that morning to say he had docked our ship. I told him I’d like to see what the view looks like on the other side and could he please turn the ship around. He laughed at my suggestion. We ate breakfast up at Topsiders on Deck 9 and then headed ashore. There were lots of shops in the area and we perused a few and then boarded another open-air taxi for downtown. There was an annual festival called Carnival going on. At one of the jewelry shops recommended by Disney I inquired about some tanzanite and diamond earrings. They were very pretty and I was hoping with the discount coupon I had they would fit into my three-figure budget. The lady was very nice and said “You my first customer. I make you excellent deal.” So she pulled out a calculator and starts plugging in some numbers. Does a few more calculations, looks at my coupon, punches in some more numbers and then turns the calculator to me with the fantastic price of…$7,280. Ouch! I was about to explain that my car isn’t worth that much money but instead politely asked to see earrings that better fit my budget. I ended up making a purchase that I’m pleased with. At another shop I purchased some Georgio cologne at a great price. By then the others in the group were done with shopping and ready for lunch. Leary of the food booths and afraid of getting ill on the local food they headed back to the ship for lunch and swimming. I stayed in the general shopping area near the ship and decided to seek out some duty free liquor. I asked around and found out that the best shop was a place called “Al Cohen’s Discount Liquor.” I had priced a bottle of Bailey’s at our local liquor store (in Oregon hard liquor is only sold in state controlled stores) for $48. Well, to my delight I was able to buy a bottle of Bailey’s, Kahlua and a really good light rum (bottled in St. Croix) all for $42 total. Shortly after that Tammy and John arrived. They whisked me up to their home in the hills. Oh my gosh! What an awesome view they have! I could see The Magic! We grabbed little Jayden and headed back down to the Port. We had a leisurely lunch at a restaurant called The Fat Turtle. Then it was time to say goodbye. John drove me over to the ship via the employee entrance and I made it on board with 15 minutes to spare. That night would have been dinner at Animator’s Palate where they do the black-and-white-to-color show. However, it was also the night we had dinner reservations for Palo. Diana chose to babysit Caleb. She attempted dinner at Animator’s Palate but part way through Caleb had had enough and she had to leave before the show ended. In the meantime, Casey, Kathy, Kay and I dressed up and headed to Deck 10 Aft. For those of you not familiar with Palo, it is a sort of exclusive, high end restaurant on the ship. You have to have reservations which can be difficult to get. I was lucky enough to snag us some on line before the cruise. Women must wear a dress or nice pants suit and men must wear a dress shirt and slacks with a tie recommended. There is an extra $15 cost per person. Keep in mind that this is the type of dinner you might spend more than $100 to $150 for at a comparable restaurant on land. Our server was Laura from Uruguay and she was wonderful. We started out with freshly baked bread and a variety of dipping sauces along with an antipasto platter that included Prosciutto, Parmesan Reggiano, Marinated Olives and Sun Dried Tomatoes. I also had a perfectly prepared Vodka Martini. Laura highly recommended we order some of their pizzas as an appetizer and so we selected Margherita (tomato sauce, sliced tomatoes and mozzarella) and Quattro Formaggi (Mozzarella, Mascarpone, Gorgonzola and Parmesan). Each pizza allowed for four small, perfect slices and was wonderful. For our next course I ordered Traditional Fish and Seafood Soup with Roasted Garlic Crostini. It was delicious. To cleanse the palate we were then served a small scoop of lemon sorbet. For my entrée I chose a special for that night which is not on the menu. It was moist and delicious pork tenderloin with a wonderful sauce served on a bed of flavorful pasta. For dessert we each had Palo’s signature chocolate soufflé. Laura punches a hole in it and pours in some cream and then a chocolate sauce. It is pure heaven! We also ordered one serving of Panna Cotta with fresh berry sauce because Kay wanted to try it. It was delicious also. To wrap up our wonderful dining experience Laura brought us each a small glass of Limoncello. We teased Casey for kicking it back like a shot of tequila! Oh, and while we were dining we heard a “tap tap tap” on the window. There was Diana outside on deck with Caleb in the stroller. Poor little waif. Our show that night was Alfred & Seymour also known as The BlackStreet Boyz. OMG! This was the funniest show ever and my favorite of all of the productions in the Walt Disney Theater. Diana got to see this while Casey stayed back in the stateroom with Caleb.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ I'm so pleased you got to meet up with Tammy and John. They are such incredibly nice people. And you got to meet Jayden! Your day sounds like so much fun. Actually, every day has sounded like a ton of fun, lol. If we ever cruise Disney again, I'd like to try Palo. It's such a small upcharge. It sounds like all of your meals have been wonderful. We were very impressed with the food on our trip.
Originally Posted By Ursula Oh...I'm so sorry. Here, let me wipe up that drool from my keyboard... I need to go to Palo. And I'm so jealous you got to meet Jayden! I adore the TP73's. They are such a lovely family!
Originally Posted By quincytoo Ursulka pass those napkins please, my keyboard seems to have sprung an odd leak too.....;D
Originally Posted By Kala STOPPPPP! I am sooo hungry for chocolate souffle' right now! I also like their panna cotta. Their dessert pizza is also awesome! :9
Originally Posted By goodgirl I loved the Stollen bread also. One morning Casey brought me down a plate of pastries and some coffee from Topsiders. On the plate was Stollen and several other yummy pastries. Turns out this was the only time they were on the Topsiders buffet, but they came from Palo.
