Wish you were spending Thanksgiving on a Disney Ship? Me too! Well, the good news is that we can bring a part of Disney Cruise Line to our homes this year.

Each Thanksgiving on Disney ships, a very special dessert is served: pumpkin cheesecake. If you want to get a taste of what it’s like to eat on a Disney ship for Thanksgiving, or if you simply want to wow your friends and family with a delicious dessert on “Turkey Day,” check out this video of how to make it at home.

Be sure to download the keepsake Disney Cruise Line recipe card for the complete ingredient list and cooking instructions!

Tagged: DCL, Dining, Recipe, Video

Filed: Disney Cruise Line, Disney Dining

Ever wondered what’s in that delicious Champagne cocktail served at Remy? Well you’re in luck! Disney Cruise Line Food and Beverage Manager Salah Chetbi gave us the secret in this video…

Take note of the ingredients listed below so you can impress your friends at your next dinner party. Á votre santé!

1 whole blueberry
1 mint leaf
1 piece dried apricot
5 oz. Champagne
1 oz. pear-infused vodka

In a Champagne cup, place blueberry and mint leaf. Add Champagne and pear-infused vodka. Finish with a piece of dried apricot.

For more Disney Cruise Line news, check out the posts below:

• A Magical Halloween Onboard the Disney Magic
• New Champagne Brunch at Disney Cruise Line’s Remy
• Disney Cruise Line Named No. 1 by Condé Nast Traveler Readers

Tagged: DCL, Dining, Recipe, Remy, Video

Filed: Disney Cruise Line, Disney Dining

Do you love Remy as much as me? Well then I have some great news for you! In addition to dinner at this elegant restaurant aboard the Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream, you now have a second gourmet culinary option with the recently introduced Champagne brunch.

In this video, Disney Cruise Line Food and Beverage Manager Salah Chetbi takes us inside Remy to give us a look at the popular Champagne brunch experience, which falls into the same must-do category as dinner at Remy…

Offered on sea days during cruises four nights or longer, the Champagne brunch is $50 and begins with a complimentary glass of French bubbly. An optional pairing with three additional Champagnes (Taittinger Prestige Cuvée Rosé, Pommery Gold and Moët & Chandon Ice) is an additional $25.

While dinner at Remy is a lengthy experience, brunch is enjoyed in about an hour and a half, still with an unparalleled experience. And while the atmosphere is unquestionably elegant, brunch is a bit more relaxed. Dressy attire is required, but men do not have to wear a jacket as they do at dinner.

Let’s take a closer look at what the six-course meal includes…

Brunch starts in the private wine room with Champagne and pata negra – the finest Spanish ham in the world.

Once you’re seated, the first course is a fluffy gnocchi paired with a light-as-air chili foam. That’s followed by lobster cannelloni, topped with a dollop of caviar and baby vegetables.

Next up, sea bass atop a bed of soft-cooked scrambled eggs, garnished with corn, and veal tenderloin with herb sauce accompanied by a potato croquette. A decadent chocolate duo dessert wraps up the extravaganza.

Is anyone else as hungry as I am now? Tell us in the comments which course you expect will become your favorite!

For more on Disney Cruise Line dining, check out the posts below:

• New Tropical Delectable Dessert at Remy on the Disney Dream
• New Gourmet Dish at Remy on the Disney Dream
• Bake it Yourself: Recipe for Disney Cruise Line’s Crispy Roasted Duck Breast with Marquise Potatoes

Tagged: DCL, Dining, Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy, Video

Filed: Disney Cruise Line, Disney Dining

Yes, you read that headline right! Today, Disney Cruise Line announced that kids 17 and under sail free on select voyages from Galveston, Texas, with two full-fare guests in the same stateroom. It’s time to don your cowboy hat and saddle up for some family fun with Mickey!

The offer is for most Disney Magic sailings from January 4 to March 1, 2013, making this the perfect holiday gift for your little cowboys and cowgirls! The offer is available for stateroom categories 4A-11B (government taxes and fees not included).

The hardest choice you’ll have to make is which cruise to take… Bahamas or Western Caribbean?

On the eight-night Bahamas voyage, you’ll stop at Castaway Cay, Key West and Port Canaveral (with the option to visit Walt Disney World Resort!). You can also explore the beautiful Western Caribbean for six nights (Grand Cayman, Cozumel) or eight nights (Key West, Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Cozumel).

Check out DisneyCruise.com for all the details, and let us know in the comments if you’ll be saying howdy to the Disney Magic in Texas next year!

For more Disney Cruise Line news, check out the posts below:

• Spooky Treats Onboard a Disney Cruise
• Disney Cruise Line Sneak Peek: Port Adventures in Venice
• Disney Magic Saluted by Official Rodeo Drill Team of Texas

Tagged: DCL, Disney Magic

Filed: Disney Cruise Line

If you’re sailing with Disney Cruise Line this month, you’re in for a spooktacular time! Not only will you be treated to haunted parties, spooky movies and ghoulish delights, but for an extra spooky surprise you can order special Halloween treats for your little ghosts and goblins!

Here are a few of my favorites, all with trick or treat bags, sure to make for a frightfully fun Halloween cruise:

Spooky Surprise – A soft, felt treat bucket brewing with candy and Disney Cruise Line memorabilia.

Jack O’ Treats – A bucketful of Halloween cookies and rice crispies.

Pumpkin Patch – Includes Halloween-themed door and car magnets, a spooky finger puppet, glow-in-the-dark tattoos, a plush pumpkin bear and tasty treats.

One last thought for dads: consider a sweet surprise for mummy – this boo-tiful arrangement of lilies, mums, and hypericums in a ceramic pumpkin with some ghoulishly fun adornments.

Read more news from Disney Cruise Line in these posts:

• Disney Cruise Line Sneak Peek: Port Adventures in Venice
• Disney Magic Saluted by Official Rodeo Drill Team of Texas
• Disney Magic Arrives to Lone Star State with Texas-sized Cowboy Hat

Tagged: DCL, Halloween

Filed: Disney Cruise Line

When the Disney Magic arrived to Galveston on Saturday with a Texas-sized cowboy hat on her funnel (check out my last post for photos!), the ship’s crew was greeted with more than just a great big “howdy” from locals and guests eager to sail.

Houston’s Ghostriders, the official rodeo drill team of Texas, also galloped nearby to salute the ship as she sailed into port.

The Disney Magic set sail that very same afternoon for her first 7-night Western Caribbean cruise from Galveston. This week she is visiting Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel, and I’m lucky enough to be writing you from the ship. Let me tell you, these Texans sure do know how to have a good time!

Wish you were here, but I’d still like your help to welcome Disney Cruise Line to the Lone Star State. Give us your best Texas-sized greeting in the comments!

Look below for more posts about Disney Cruise Line’s sailings from Galveston, Texas:

• Disney Magic Arrives to Lone Star State with Texas-sized Cowboy Hat
• ‘Submerge’ Yourself to See the Underwater Beauty of the Caribbean on a Disney Cruise from Texas
• Celebrate Halloween with Disney Cruise Line – 25% Off!

Tagged: DCL, Disney Magic

Filed: Disney Cruise Line

You’ve heard the saying, “Everything is bigger in Texas,” and that rang true today when the Disney Magic said “howdy” to Galveston with a Texas-sized cowboy hat on the ship’s funnel!

This hat is an astonishing 19-feet tall and 14-feet wide. To put it in perspective for you, if a real cowboy was to wear this hat he would need to be about 43 feet tall!

Amazingly, the hat was installed while the ship was at sea, just one mile out from the Port of Galveston. I can’t imagine it was simple to don a cowboy hat that large, so I did a little digging to find out how it was done…

Here’s the engineering secret: The larger-than-life cowboy hat was actually printed on a polypoplene cover, and engineers created a frame for the hat that includes the shape of the funnel’s Mickey ears. Check out this behind-the-scenes shot as the riggers bolted the frame in place.

And in the next shot of the cover in production, you see it includes faux Mickey ears, giving the illusion that the hat is sitting on top of the funnel’s Mickey ears. Pretty cool, huh?

The Disney Magic’s late afternoon departure from the Port of Galveston will kick off the Disney Cruise Line inaugural season sailing from Texas. Take a look back at Jason’s recent post to see all of the itineraries to the Caribbean and Bahamas from Galveston, including some cruises taking guests to Walt Disney World Resort and Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay!

Which Disney cruise from Texas would your little cowboys and cowgirls enjoy most?

Read more about Disney Cruise Line in the posts below:

• Disney Cruise Line Honored As #1 for Families
• A Sight Unseen: Disney Cruise Line’s Castaway Cay Before Guests Arrive
• Disney Parks Blog Exclusive: Pixar Presenters on California Coastal Disney Cruises

Tagged: DCL, Disney Magic

Filed: Disney Cruise Line