Viking Crown Lounge On Vision Of The Seas

 Every Royal Caribbean ship has a Viking Crown Lounge.  On most of them it's just an observatory lounge; a place to chill.  But on their Vision-class ships it's also the ship's disco and such is the case here on Vision of the Seas.

DJ Amir (PA) in the booth surveying the dance floor below!

Things starting off rather slow but it went from this at 11pm.....

....to this at midnight!  These pictures were taken the night of the White Party and when that ended the crowd headed here!

The club's format is "international" so it included plenty of reggaeton on this cruise but also R&B, Hip Hop and House.

In fact he played a pretty good mashup of LMFAO's "Party Rock" and David Guetta's "World Is Mine" that I had never heard before!

Returning to the club Wednesday night for nearly an hour of House/Dance that got the dance floor pretty full!  A good time was had by all!

White Party on Vision Of The Seas

Being that this is a Spanish immersion cruise, nearly every event is taking place in Spanish, although there are translations into English too.  Thus Royal Caribbean's "White Party" has become "Fiesta De Blanco" on this sailing.

My last Carnival cruise had 6 DJ's while my last NCL cruise had at least 2.  But this RCI ship has just one: DJ Amir (PA).

Taking turns on the pool deck with live Latin band Zafiro (PA).

The White Party began with many of the ships officers doing the "Cupid Shuffle".

That's the ship's captain in the center doing "The Wobble". I've never seen a captain more involved than this guy.  Earlier in the day he was in the pool doing a water volleyball "officers versus guests" game!

The music was all Salsa and Reggaeton.

Considering there was no advance warning pre-cruise to bring a white outfit, a surprising number of people had white to wear to the party!

But not everybody.

But a good time was had by all!

Port-of-Call: Cartagena (Folkloric Show)

This is Cartagena, Colombia, a surprising city of 1 million residents located on the Caribbean coast.

And this is Cafe del Mar, the first pit stop on a race around the world!

With a live Caribbean/Colombian band performing along the beautiful shoreline!

For the Folkloric show that's included on most tours of the city.

Very colorful and enjoyable to watch, the stop comes with a free soft drink or beer.

And a good time was had by all!

Time For Another Cruise!

Greetings from Panama City, Panama where I'm sailing tonight on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas. The ship is pictured here at the Port of Stockholm where I previously sailed with her to Tallinn & St. Petersburg back in 2011. It was a crazy trip where I took three short cruises on three ships within one week.  The Blog covered all the clubs on all three ships within one article!  I don't like to repeat ships but the itinerary is foremost and this coming sailing has some good ones. Will be doing club and port articles along the way. Meanwhile, our roving reporters are out there to supply me with any important news from beautiful Pleasure Island.

DTD Update: Construction Moving Quickly

The Pleasure Island sign at the No. 2 Bridge near Mannequins is still brightly lit each night and brings back a flood of memories!

And the crowd still lines-up each night waiting for Mannequins to open!

Land clearing continues along the Waterfront near Planet Hollywood.  Interestingly, the 3/20/14 edition of the Downtown Disney Guidemap no longer shows the No. 4 Bridge. We've discussed in the past how those Guidemap people seem to have inside information.  So maybe they really are going to take that bridge down and replace it with a lower-to-the-ground link.

In that grass & mulch zone where RRBC used to stand, it does seem like some sort of outdoor amphitheater is being built here.  So maybe after all there will be an entertainment area here as envisioned in the Hyperion Wharf plans.

Light on in BET Soundstage.

Nothing to see in this nighttime photo but there would be nothing to see even if this were taken during the day.  You see, the former Pollo Campero / McDonald's building has been razed!

Formerly known as Bongo's Lawn, this is the future Food Truck Park area under construction.  Really can't make anything out yet.

The West Side's Wetzel's Pretzels venue was closed to be converted into Downtown Disney's first Starbucks and finally the long-promised replacement location is under construction.  This is right along the western wall of Disney Quest.

Lastly, the parking garage construction continues at a very rapid pace.  They're already working on decks 3 & 4!  And that's the latest news from DTD.  Tune-in regularly for the latest updates!

DTD Update: The Entertainment Continues!

The darkened Pleasure Island sign at the entrance of the No. 4 Bridge; certainly consistent with last week's dark news that Mannequins and 8TRAX are being retrofitted into a restaurant.

The Island pedestrian bypass now has its own entertainment to keep things lively on the long walk around.

For a moment I thought I was in a London tube station.

Raglan Road always has a Irish band playing. Paradiso 37 has a Latin band.

At Splitsville there's nearly always one or two entertainers outside. More music is available outside House of Blues & Bongo's Cuban Cafe.

For the indefinite future the Waterside Stage is reserved for school groups performing nightly. Access is easier without the students getting tangled up in all the construction areas.

But if you're looking for Electronic Dance Music at Walt Disney World, look no further than when DJ Elliot (USA) performs at the Fountain Stage beside Earl of Sandwich.  He mixes Top 40 with a lot of EDM!

Just back from performing at Tokyo Disneyland Resort, DJ Elliot was working off these brand new decks!

It is called the "Kids Dance Party" so expect lots of kids.

During holiday weeks this place is packed!

Say what!

The other great entertainment option is at the Ring Stage between Planet Hollywood and AMC Downtown Disney 24 Dine-in Theaters. Acts such as Nova Pop and, pictured above, the Andre Caram Band perform here. 

Featuring singer Drey-C, the music selections were all EDM last night. With that portable piano hanging from his neck, he kind of reminded me of DJ duo Sultan & Ned Shepard (CDN) when I saw them in Toronto a few years ago!

Belting out an Avicii (S) song!

And at Downtown Disney last night, a good time was had by all!

Blog Mission Statement and Disclaimer

We try to post this message once or twice every year for your safety and protection:

The original goal of the Save Pleasure Island Blog was to rally support to reverse the decision to close Pleasure Island. There were Save Pleasure Island and Save The Adventurers Club petitions and letter/e-mail campaigns. Unfortunately, all that fell on deaf Mouse ears.

The current mission is to keep you informed about what is happening with the clubs on our beloved Island. Factual information is provided when available but most of what is printed on here is rumor-based. Please understand that rumors by their very nature are very unreliable. Even if a rumor was true at one time, it's possible that things change and it never becomes true. Thus, readers should consider the information on this Blog to be fiction and opinion and not rely on any of it in any way. Do you have any inside information? Please email me at: king bob of the north at gmail dot com.  Thanks so much to those of you that have been doing that all these years.

With PI closing so many people kept asking me where I would be hanging out. Thus, this Blog also evolved into reporting on nightclub alternatives and DJ concerts playing EDM. Only the Save Pleasure Island Blog covers the clubs, the clubbers and the DJ's.

In conjunction with Federal Trade Commission Rule 16 CFR Part 255, all opinions are my own and I accept no consideration for any endorsements made. Thanks for tuning in!

This Weekend In Techno Town

THURSDAY APR 3
Best known for his melding of Hip Hop to EDM, DJ Snake (F) visits Orlando and Roxy Nightclub tomorrow night!
($15)

FRIDAY APR 4
Having played Orlando recently twice, rising star Audien (USA) is playing House & Electro at Amphitheatre in Ybor this Friday night!
($15)

SATURDAY APR 5
The Breaks are back at Suite B Lounge this weekend as DJ Trashy (USA) is in town and joining up with the famous DJ KJ of K5 (USA)!  Plus Orlando's RobE & Security and Christian Michaels!
($7-$10)

What Restaurant Will Mannequins Become?

No April Fools tricks this year folks; last week's announcement that the Mannequins/8TRAX building was going to become a restaurant was enough of a shock. But our April Fools joke three years ago where we announced that Mannequins was going to become an IHOP sure did end up being prophetic. Not only did that article predict in jest that a restaurant coming but it also correctly predicted that Disney changed their mind about Hyperion Wharf.  For our thousands of newer readers, here's the link.