[00:00:00] Speaker A: For everyone out there, this is the week of Wesley and the wish. And so thank you for capping that off for us, Wesley. We really, really appreciate it.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: Take that, DCL dude.
[00:00:11] Speaker C: Or DCL dude who has the same name.
[00:00:29] Speaker A: Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episode of the D Cl duo podcast, brought to you by my path, unwinding travel. And Sam, I'm throwing it over to you for the review of the week. So who's our review from?
[00:00:41] Speaker C: Our review is from. I'm going to think. Well, I'm going to say it's Soccer 98. It's SOCR 98. So I'm going to guess soccer is what they're going for there. It's like a. Like, if your license plate said that, that's how I would pronounce it. So. And this reviewer titles their review all the things, which I love that. That's the title of the review. I started listening to this podcast about nine months ago when we booked our first cruise. I needed to know all the things, and this podcast was perfect for that. I appreciate listening to this, to other stories as we prepare to set sail. I'm definitely a type a planner, so you're just like Brian. And this podcast is perfect for gathering all of the need to know and nice to know information. I appreciate the host style of interviewing, especially the rapid fire. Thank you for sharing all of the stories of your guests and your own. Well, you're welcome, Soccer 98. Thank you for this review. I love it. I love that you get to learn all the things from us. We hope to continue to give you all of the things that you need to know or all of the things that are nice to know. So I love it. All the things. All the things.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: The good, the bad, the ugly.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: It's all the things.
[00:01:50] Speaker C: That's right. And I love that they love my rapid fire. See, Brian? See, some people still like me, even if I'm.
[00:01:56] Speaker A: This review is. This review is back from July of 2023. Sam. So, almost a year since this review, and clearly we just.
[00:02:03] Speaker C: For everyone out there.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: Yeah, we just recorded an episode where some things came to light that will be coming out soon.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: So people are scared of my rapid fire.
[00:02:14] Speaker A: But hey, we've got a great show today because we've got Wesley back to talk to us all about his cruise on the wish. This episode should be coming out the same week as a bonus show that we recorded with him before he got on the wish, where he, you know, had some apprehension, some things that he was. He was trying to noodle through a little bit concerned about maybe time to find out how the wish fared. And so, Wesley, welcome back to the show.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: Guys. Thanks so much for having me back.
[00:02:43] Speaker C: Yeah, we're excited to talk to you because, as you know, as Ryan mentioned, you were nervous about the wish. You've been on other Disney ships and loved them. We were talking before the show even started. You know, you continue to love Disney ships despite the fact that you've gotten the chance to compare with Royal Caribbean. And. But there's differences about the wish. And I, we think that this is something that's come up kind of time and time again with tried and true Disney cruisers and Disney fans in general. Right. We want Disney to change things as long as everything stays the same. So.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: That'S probably the best way to put that. Yeah.
[00:03:22] Speaker C: Right, right. Because we want all of the nostalgia. Like, we don't want them to take away, like Peter Pan or Mister Toad's wild ride in California, but we also want them to create rise of the resistance and things like that. Right. We want new things all the time.
[00:03:37] Speaker A: We want all the things according, just like the reviewer. We want all the things.
[00:03:41] Speaker B: So there you go. Exactly.
[00:03:42] Speaker C: So we want. Right. We want all of. We want every show that they've ever done, plus new shows that they've ever done. Right. So they could do. So with that. Why don't you remind folks how many cruises you have been on prior to this wish cruise and what kinds of itineraries you've done.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: Yeah. So we've. I've been on just a handful of cruises. I've been on the wonder a few times. We went on the dream last year. Also last summer, me and my wife without kids, went on Royal Caribbean's symphony of the seas. We've sailed from San Diego and Port canaveral and in the Mediterranean.
[00:04:21] Speaker A: Remind folks, to Wesley, some of the things that you were a little nervous about heading into this cruise on the wish.
[00:04:29] Speaker B: So since our last recording, I've been kind of kicking myself because I led off with there wasn't enough plants on board.
[00:04:37] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: And I thought that was kind of a. That was a weak start to the things that I was.
[00:04:44] Speaker C: That's right.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Well, here.
[00:04:46] Speaker A: Here's your chance. Here's your chance for the steel man version of the recap of your. Of your concerns.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: So I was, I think if I had to rank them. So let's just say last show was not ranked in no particular order, and now that I've been on it, I can rank them a little bit better.
[00:05:04] Speaker C: Yeah. Right.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: I was definitely concerned about the pool deck situation with, like, all the different pools and the different levels. This includes the different areas of the pools, like, for, like, the main pool deck, maybe the kids area, and the adult area of the pools and the.
[00:05:22] Speaker C: Hot tubs too, right? Didn't we talk about the. Yeah.
[00:05:25] Speaker B: Very passionate and very concerned about the hot tub system.
[00:05:28] Speaker C: Yes, I know. I remember.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: So we can get into that like everybody else, I think, who has been on the wish. I was concerned about the layout. It's obviously different. It's. They've made some different choices about where things are located and how to get to them. I was also concerned about dining, the rotational dining.
A lot of people say that the restaurants are too loud and too crowded and everyone's too close together.
So there was a little bit of apprehension about that, especially because we have a small child that sails with us. We have a child with add whole, is very sensitive to a lot of distraction. And then we also have some elderly folks with us who like a nice, quiet dining situation as well. So that was a concern. Another concern was the kids clubs. We have a twelve year old who at the time of our booking, was able to go to Oceaneer lab and Oceaneer club. We booked this cruise specifically because he was able to experience the new version of all these spaces. And then, of course, the age range changed before we got on board, and he wasn't able to spend all his time there like he might have otherwise.
[00:06:42] Speaker C: Right. He could only go to open house hours, couldn't go to the secure hours. And as we talked about, not everything is available during those open house hours. In the kids club, even. I mean, there are. It's cool to check out the spaces, but it's not the same as being able to play in those spaces.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Definitely not the same.
[00:06:59] Speaker C: Yeah. And he had to go to edge instead if he wanted to be in a kid's club environment.
[00:07:03] Speaker B: And he had never been to edge before, and he's a little more reserved than his younger brothers, and so it was a concern of mine, maybe more than his, that was he gonna fit in? Was he gonna find friends? Was he gonna find enjoyment going to edge, not knowing what to expect, or not having anybody like a brother to kind of lean on and help him integrate into whatever they had going on there.
[00:07:27] Speaker C: So let's. I think a good place to start is layout. And let's. Let's not talk about pool deck yet, but let's talk about sort of general layout. Like, you know, in the other ships, we've got concentration of, like, adult areas in one part of the ship, you know, we've got adult pool deck, of course, is concentrated also. There's a little different on the wish, but the general layout is different, although there are some things that are the same. Right. We still have the buffet at the back of the ship. You still have, you know, the, like, dining is sort of down lower on the ship, that sort of thing. You've got one dining close to the atrium or off the atrium. So there are some similarities, but there certainly some differences. And obviously the two elevator banks is a bigger difference. Right. Instead of having three sets of elevator banks, we've got two with more elevators, but they're spaced differently. So, yeah. Tell us what, what you thought of how the general layout flowed, whether your concerns were founded unfounded or did you come out with maybe different concerns once, you know, having gone on the ship now?
[00:08:35] Speaker B: So I try to give myself a little pep talk going into this cruise and think about the disposition of most Disney fans. Like we've discussed, like, are kind of resistant to change. And so I kind of try to put myself in this mindset of like, okay, it's going to be different, but it's not the end of the world, and different can be better. So I try to, I tried to give myself, prepare myself in that way to kind of embrace the change that I was about to encounter. And I'll tell you, when I. When you get on the, like, a wonder or magic or dreamer fantasy, it is apparent which direction you need to go when you get on the ship. There is kind of like, this open flow about the atrium, spaces that lead to, like, guest services or elevators and stairs or the restaurant right off the main atrium or the main space where you enter the ship. And so when we finally got onto the wish, because there was a little delay getting on with, like, the gangway was broken, and they said it was weather related, so we didn't get on right away. So there was even more anticipation building to this debut for us. We got on, and it was a big, open, bright space, but it wasn't apparent to us right away, like, where we go next or what we do next. We were in this big grand hall now they call it, and there was a big stage, and there was lots of people, like, lingering about, but there wasn't an obvious way to find where we needed to go next.
[00:10:08] Speaker C: Yeah, that makes sense, I think, you know, it's figuring out which direction is aft and which direction is forward when you're in the grand hall is maybe a little bit less intuitive than on the other ships. Or maybe it's just because we're used to the other ships. I'm not sure which it is, but I do think I get turned around with remembering which way is Afton, which way is forward. More on the wish, maybe, but again, in that central part of the ship, not like if I'm in hallways by the rooms that there are signs everywhere that tell you. But in that center part of the ship, there's not as much, maybe signage that is obvious.
[00:10:48] Speaker B: Yeah, well, if you can. If. If you can recall, on other ships, there is. You can. You can see the elevators from the atrium. You can see the stairs. So, you know, okay, I need to. If you've looked at a deck plan before you got on, which I'm sure most people do, they know the buffet is on whatever deck it's on. They know what deck their room is on, if it's ready, and then they know, okay, I can go to the elevator. I can go to that floor, or I can take the stairs. I can go to that floor, and we can get about our business while we kind of take the lay of the land here on the wish. There is none of that. It is just the grand hall. There is no apparent mode of transportation from that space to anywhere else besides the grand staircase, which only takes you to what else you can see, which is just like the, you know, the balconies overhanging the grand hall. So it was a little weird at first. We kind of spun in circles for a minute, like, okay, now what? Yeah.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: Although that's, you know, when we talked to the. One of the designers involved on the show, it's interesting you're noting. You don't see the elevator. Right. But that was actually part of, uh, why they split the elevator, why they did the elevators the way they did. They noted, I guess, when they did the traffic study on the other ships, that people would assign the midship elevator as, like their elevator, because it was the first thing they saw. And so the other elevators on either end of the ship weren't getting used as much, and all the traffic was coming to the midship elevator. So they said, what if we got rid of it and expanded the two elevator banks to sort of spread things out? So it's interesting. It seems like in some ways, it's having that intended effect for you.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: Right?
[00:12:25] Speaker A: I don't see the elevator, so I.
[00:12:27] Speaker B: Don'T know what to do. Yeah, yeah.
[00:12:30] Speaker C: You have to walk further forward or further aft, and you might go the wrong way. Now, to be fair, the ship's not that big. So if you go the wrong way, meaning you go when you, let's say you wanted to go to Marceline market, which is in the aft, you might go to the forward elevators and then walk across the pool deck and you'll get right to Marceline. So it's not like you're going that far. Um, but yeah, you're right. There's a little bit less of that, you know, obvious because there's not that elevator right there. Now, were you, did you find. Okay, so your initial reaction is a little bit of confusion. Right. Did you find over the course of the cruise that that abated? And did you get sort of more used to that layout and able to navigate it better once you sort of orient yourself as to, like, where things are and where your room is relative to those things as well?
[00:13:21] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. Like, once we, you know, we, we picked a room that was not too far from the aft elevators on the starboard side. And so it wasn't hard for us to find our room or figure out where we were going. We knew we were towards the back so we could get to Marceline market, and it was. We were on deck ten, so it was easy, you know, purposefully. So it was easy for us to get to the pool deck.
It was just kind of that initial, and I wasn't worried about like, oh, I'm going to get lost or I'm going to walk in, you know, walk towards the front when I wanted to go to the back, because like you said, it's not that big, so it's not.
It just wasn't an intuitive way to start. You know what I mean? And I think if, if you look at the deck plan for the wish, I think it would be easily could have been fixed if the stairs and the elevator bank in the aft portion were just flipped. If the elevators were first, then the stairs were behind it, then as you look down the hallway with the split 1920, between 1923, you know, you can still have this ornate, like, hallway with artwork and whatever, but there would be an elevator lobby with stairs beyond it, and it would give you kind of a visual way to go. Way to go. More intuitive, like wayfinding. And when I looked at the deck plans of the other ships, that's actually the way that the elevators are. It's the elevators are first and then the stairs are behind them rather than the stairs. Then the elevator. And between 1923, right, there's two sides. And I didn't know they were actually totally separate sides. I thought maybe they connected some way and there was just this thing down the middle. I didn't know it was like two totally separate restaurants.
[00:15:01] Speaker C: Yeah. They're really separate restaurants in a sense. Yeah.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: But we ended up calling that little. I mean, it's just like a. It's like a janky hallway, right? You go down, you have to turn. You have to. You make a right. You make a left. You make another left. And then, like, you come around the backside of the elevators. And so it's just. It was kind of. I don't know. We called it that. We called it the hospital hallway. Because it was just kind. It just kind of ended up being like, where am I going?
[00:15:26] Speaker C: It is kind of this long hallway. And you're not sure exactly where you're going because you can't really see. Yeah, you can't really see where. Because of the way it turns. And that's. And that's. It's done that way on purpose. Not because of the hallway, but because of the restaurant. Right. Because 1923, they wanted to make it have all those windows. And in order to do that, you've gotta. You have the hallway down the middle and the Walt side and the roy side next to each other, which makes the restaurant lovely for that, you know, getting that light and that view. But, yes, it affects the flow right there of just that. That kind of long, skinny hallway. Well, what did you think about other parts of the layout? For example, the way or the placement of the kids club is different. Right. It's. You can. You know, the kids can enter from the grand hall and then. Or enter. You can check them in on deck two also. And then the other part is where. Sort of where the adult areas are. Is spread throughout the ship. I mean, mostly near the atrium, but they're still spread out rather than concentrated. Any thoughts about those layout aspects?
[00:16:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I didn't mind that some of the adult spaces were more spread out or on different floors. I thought that made it kind of, I guess, to the point of the person you talked to about the design of the ship. It kind of forced you to move around the ship a little bit more.
And there were some places I didn't see until later on, rather than them all being clustered into one spot. I think the slide from the grand hall into the kids club was the most obvious place to go when you got on the ship because it was right there in front of you.
[00:17:08] Speaker C: You can't miss the kids club.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: And that ended up being. The first place we went was down the slide into the kids club so everyone could check it out. So I think that was a win. I think. I think putting the entrance to the kids club in the grand hall was the perfect place to be. It seems like it's one of those choices where you think, or it seems like it should have been that way all along.
[00:17:29] Speaker C: Yeah, I think so. And putting it. And putting on deck two, also to putting the Kids club on deck two, which is, let's call it less prime real estate than deck five. Right. Because you get better views of the water from deck five than you're going to get from further lower down. That's where the kids club should be. And then they can have more rooms on deck five and less rooms on deck two. It's just, I think, smarter kind of overall, overall design. Well, let's talk about the Kids club. And I want to talk about Kids Club and edge because I am curious how things went with your twelve year old and I'm curious as to how things went with the younger kids as well.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: Right. So we all toured the kids club together and thought it was great. There was definitely new things in there that they hadn't seen before and were excited to experience once it opened up after the open house, we were kind of rushed because like I said, we were delayed in boarding and we had to get to our buster drill, but it was great. Everyone immediately found something that they were interested in and wanted to experience later.
The spaces were big, they were open, they seemed really detailed, especially, like the Star wars area for me was a big catch. I would have loved to have gone and spent some time there playing with all the gadgets myself.
[00:18:51] Speaker A: I want to design my own roller coaster. That thing looks.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: I know. Yeah. The thing that I was most watching, like the, watching the preview videos of the Wish and the announcements, like, I was really interested in the imagineering lab and trying to go through those classes and see what kind of activities or projects they had for the kids in there, but alas, I could not. So, and I don't know if any of the younger kids actually did anything in there. They never, we never, like, got caught up on like, what did you actually do there most of the time and on, in past cruises when we have come down to get them, they're kind of like in that central, like, hub area of the kids club and they're like playing foursquare or like balls or. I don't, I don't know what kind of games they play in that, like, kind of central hub area of the kids club.
[00:19:42] Speaker C: Yeah, they play like Gaga ball and. Yeah, some other games like, or they play with hula hoops and. Yeah, yeah.
[00:19:49] Speaker B: More like physical games, I guess. Thank the you. Video games, whatever. But everyone, I mean, it was, it was, you guys have been down there. It's great. The fairytale hall area was nice, you know, with the three different areas from, from some of the movies. Even the little, even the little like playground area seemed more. It seemed bigger.
[00:20:11] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah, the Mickey and Minnie.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: Yeah, the Mickey, Minnie's captain's deck. I think it is.
[00:20:17] Speaker C: Yeah, that, I think it's a great, it's a great space and it's very interactive and perfect for the younger kids club kids and then also for the toddlers in the nursery because they will sometimes use that space. They'll sort of block it off from the kids club and let the nursery use it. Yeah.
[00:20:36] Speaker B: Yeah. I think that's another, another thing that I really enjoyed about this club is that they can section off portions of the club for other use. Like you said, like the nursery kids can go and make a minis. Some of the edge kids can go. They ended up going to Marvel superhero Academy and Star wars cargo bay.
[00:20:53] Speaker C: Oh, cool.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: For some dedicated time. So I think everybody got a win.
[00:20:59] Speaker C: Well, I'm glad to hear that, by the way. I actually love that feedback because Nathan's going to be on the treasure and he will have just turned eleven when we're on the treasure, we're not going on the wish before then. And so that's. He doesn't. He will have no more chances to be in the kids club after our June cruises, our podcast cruise. But that's on the magic. So the only ship he's going to be on before he ages out of the kids club as the magic. So he's not going to get to experience. Yeah. So I'm, I'm glad to hear that they had that dedicated time because I feel like he's going to want to take advantage of that.
[00:21:37] Speaker B: So that kind of soothed my dad heart a little bit knowing that my twelve year old, like, was going to get the experience that he had been looking forward to or that I also had been looking forward to for him in that area. So we went up to edge. He got acquainted up there. We did the check in. They give him a little extra little, I don't know what you call it, but they put something extra on their magic band so they know they can like have checked in and can participate in all the activities. And then to our surprise, we didn't know this ahead of time, but because the older, our older child was able to legitimately be an edge. Our ten year old, who was not technically old enough to be an edge, but because he has a sibling old enough and he's ten, we can sign a waiver and they'll let him in edge as well. How did that go? Turns. Turns out two of our kids went to edge, and we weren't expecting that. Um, I thought it was going to be, like, a no brainer for the. For the middle one, the ten year old to go to edge with his older brother, but he suddenly turned a little shy and, like, wasn't sure if he wanted to go with the big kids and edge. So we got, we got him all signed up and we walked him in. The counselors were, like, extremely supportive and nice and tried to help him, like, get acquainted and comfortable in the space. He kind of declined to go in on our first we'll call attempt, and he went back to the kids club with our six year old. But as. As the day wore on and the days went on, he embraced. He embraced his, like, new status as an edge kid and participated in the lot of the activities and ended up really, really enjoying it as well.
[00:23:23] Speaker C: Oh, that's awesome. Well, it's funny you say that, because I remember you telling us that this middle child is actually the extrovert and sort of the one who is less shy about going to the club in general. That's your older kid, who is usually the more shy one. So that's really funny. But that's great that they ended up being, one, able to go to the same club for part of the time. And two, they both ended up getting comfortable in edge.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: I loved hearing that the middle one is more extroverted and not shy about anything, so I thought it was a gag at first. I was like, dude, you're pulling my chain here. There's no way you're shy about doing this thing because it was packed. Edge was packed and there was video games and there was all kinds of stuff going on. You know what I mean? It was like. It was like his. It was like his vibe, you know? It's like what he's like, I imagine he's. He's. He's all about, but, yeah, he. It took us all for a kind of a. We all had to go step back for a minute and be like, like, get our bearings on it because we weren't expecting that, like, at all.
[00:24:30] Speaker C: Yeah, that's funny. I mean, he's still. He's ten, though, so it's. Yeah, they still have some. There's some, you know, sometimes there's some social anxiety around being with older kids, more so than kids your own age or younger kids.
[00:24:44] Speaker B: Yeah, because, like, in the kids club, he's like. He's the top dog, right?
[00:24:49] Speaker C: He's like.
[00:24:50] Speaker B: It's like his kids club. You know, I've been here before. Like, I'm the leader.
[00:24:53] Speaker C: He's the leader. Yeah, exactly.
[00:24:55] Speaker B: And so in this new space, it's, like, everyone. And he's, like, a shorter kid, so. So the kids in edge are, like, much taller. And. And maybe that just intimidated him. But it was interesting to see. It made it, like, made my heart be tender for a minute. And I realized, okay, he's, you know, he has a big vocabulary, and he picks up on, like, subtleties in conversation more than the other kids, even our older kid. And so I had to. It was a good reminder for me, like, okay, he's just. He's just a ten year old. Like, he has an apprehension about this. Let's just be sensitive. We'll walk away, and when he's ready, he'll go. And he got ready, and he went, and he was a blast.
[00:25:37] Speaker C: Oh, awesome. Well, I. I love this. Okay, so right now, we've two of your sets of fears about the wish really totally alleviated. Let's put it that way. Right. The layout part, I mean, some confusion at first, but not that much of a big deal. After the beat, after the initial, the fears about kids club changes, age changes most, it sounds, like, really completely allayed by the end, because your kids did get a chance to do some stuff that they wanted to do in the. In the kids club, even though they had. They were on edge. Okay, so then we're checking these things off the list. I want to go back to the.
[00:26:18] Speaker B: Let's go back to the layout. So, like.
[00:26:19] Speaker C: Oh, layout. Okay.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: Yes. I got used to it. I still don't agree with it.
[00:26:24] Speaker C: Okay, fair.
[00:26:26] Speaker B: You know, it's. I mean, yeah, it's not that big. You can find your way around. It's not. It's not great, but I don't. I.
[00:26:33] Speaker C: Your favorite layout?
[00:26:35] Speaker B: No, not at all.
[00:26:36] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:26:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I disagree. I will. And if I ever talk to anybody who is in charge of the ship, I will. I won't be shy. I disagree with the elevators and the stairs being in the position they are. They need to be swapped, and it will be much better for everybody. I'm sticking to it.
[00:26:52] Speaker C: Okay, fair enough. Fair enough. Okay, so I want to talk plants. This was kind of a funny issue, and this really came up because you were kind of comparing what you see on Royal. It wasn't so much about the other Disney ships, but more what you see on Royal. And I told you you need to go to the rainforest room because that's where, like, there's tons of green in the rainforest room. I'm not sure that it's mostly not real, I don't think. But it's green. Yeah. Yeah. But I want to. I want to know one. What. What did you think of the green on the ship? Was there enough? Uh. And if there wasn't enough, was it a big deal?
[00:27:29] Speaker B: It's.
This is a silly thing to me now, but.
But it's real. But I think it's a real thing. I think. I think there's almost no live plants on this ship. It's like one of those things that I didn't know, and it's like one of those things that I didn't know I needed until I knew that it was possible. You know, I mean, until I went on. Until I went on the royal ship, and there was. I don't know. I'm not like a. I just enjoy the presence of plants.
[00:28:04] Speaker C: I don't know. I'm sorry. We're all laughing about this because it is such, like, a nitpicky thing, but I also think it's really, like, it's true, though. I mean, it's true. Like, it is nice to see, like, real plants around. I mean, why else do we like to go out for a walk outside? But because we, like.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: So we're on this tropical, like, caribbean cruise. Like, if you went to Castaway Cay and there were no plants and it was just concrete and, like, a steel cabana, it would be. It would feel like it was not. Right? Right.
[00:28:37] Speaker C: Yeah. Even if there were sand. Right. Like, you'd still feel like it was just odd, right? Yeah.
[00:28:42] Speaker B: So, like, there's something about the colors or the smell or it's, you know, helping to circulate oxygen in the space or whatever it is, there's something calming and reassuring about it. Okay. So, yes, we bought a length of cruise past to the rainforest room. We spent a total of about 45 minutes in the rainforest room. If I could set this up a little bit. There was some bad weather when we got on the ship on Friday. There was bad weather on Saturday while we were in Nassau. So much so that almost nobody got off the ship in Nassau. I know not that many people get off in Nassau as they do other ports to begin with, but it was exacerbated by the rain and the wind?
[00:29:35] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, usually there are. While less people get off at Nassau than most other ports in the Caribbean or Bahamas, there are still people who like to go to Atlantis or Blue Lagoon or who go, do you know, a dolphin excursion or something like that. There are plenty of people who do get off, even though it's not the whole ship.
[00:29:56] Speaker B: So, in fact, we were the only ship that docked at Nassau that day. I think Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships, I think it was allure they bailed and just stayed at sea because the seas were rough and it was hard to dock.
[00:30:12] Speaker A: So that that happened. That happened to us. That's what exactly. I remember we were up going into Nassau one time, and I saw a parade of ships passing us on the left as we were headed for the harbor. And I said, well, they're going to turn around. And then we got there, and I have video of this.
[00:30:28] Speaker B: It looked like the ship was just.
[00:30:29] Speaker A: Going to ram into some rocks, but we made it in, and then they pushed us into the, push us into the pier. But, and we had rough seas the.
[00:30:36] Speaker C: Night before because of it was the.
[00:30:38] Speaker A: Weather impacted across the whole cruise here? Because we haven't talked about it yet, but you all got a letter ahead of the cruise basically saying weather's not looking great for castaways, so we're probably not going.
How was the weather overall on the cruise?
[00:30:53] Speaker B: Well, there was mass panic. There was like, on the Facebook group, everyone was like, we're checking the wind, you know, because really, I think it's like a wind issue. Right. That keeps you from going to castaway because I've been on castaway when it's been raining and. But no problem docking anyway. So, yeah, a bunch of people in the Facebook group are panicking. My in laws are panicking because the last cruise, their first Disney cruise, they didn't dock at cast away. They're like, we got to go to castaway. I was like, well, we got this letter. Might not happen. It was raining the day we boarded. It was raining and windy the next day when we were in Nassau. So then, skipping ahead to our castaway day, everybody was pretty much resigned to the fact that we weren't going to get there, which, by the way, the cruise was sold out. So there was 4000 people ish on board guests. And we know that there was at least, what we were told was there was 1700 plus kids on board.
[00:31:52] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: There's almost half. Half of the people on board. Children. And because we kept getting notices from the kids club. Hey, if the kids club is really busy. Make sure you get here early to get your kids for dinner or a show so you don't miss it. So we woke up anticipating a sea day on castaway day. So we weren't. So we weren't, like, up and at them as, like we normally would be. We kind of took it a little bit slower since we just figured we'd be on the ship. And we looked outside, and the skies were clear, and we were so, so close. We were so close to castaway. We could see it. We were on the starboard side, and the ship backs in, and our neighbors were out on their veranda, and we were like, what's. What's going on? Like, it seems like we're close. And we had already tried to dock once and was unsuccessful, and so we were back out a little bit, and then we watched as Marco, the captain, and everyone, a few people out on their verandas were, like, cheering him on, which, obviously he can.
[00:32:52] Speaker C: He can't hear them. That's awesome.
[00:32:54] Speaker B: We're, like, cheering for Marco.
[00:32:56] Speaker C: Marco, right, exactly.
[00:32:57] Speaker B: They're like, come on, Marco, you can do it. And so ever so slowly, like, ever so slowly, we creeped and creeped and creeped. At about 10:30 a.m. The ship docked at castle.
[00:33:10] Speaker C: Yay. Yay. Captain Marco, he did it.
[00:33:14] Speaker B: He pulled it off, and. And then everyone rushed and then everyone rushed for the tender lobby to get off.
And it was fun. So it was an abbreviated stay, but the weather was absolutely perfect.
[00:33:30] Speaker C: And that's not super late for cast. I mean, it's later than, like, normally the wish docks, but there are certain itineraries that, because they're coming from further away when they're not the wishes itineraries, but some of the other itineraries, there are some that don't dock at castaway until ten or 1030 anyway, like, normally. And so it's not. I mean, it is an abbreviated day by, I would say, about 2 hours for you all, but not. It's not necessarily. It's not, like, a super short day. Yeah.
[00:34:00] Speaker B: Yeah. It wasn't crazy. Like, they. So we docked. They had to let some crew off.
[00:34:04] Speaker C: To get things ready to set up the island. Yeah.
[00:34:06] Speaker B: So we.
Then we went into, like, you know, get ready mode. So we got dressed, went to breakfast, and then. And then headed out on. And then headed out onto the island and had a great day. We took the tram, um, all the way to, like, now I'm blanking on the beaches names, but the one, family beach, two, not.
[00:34:28] Speaker C: Yeah, I guess yeah, family beach one.
[00:34:30] Speaker B: Pelican plunge.
[00:34:31] Speaker C: Yes. Family beach two. Yeah, yeah.
[00:34:32] Speaker B: By cookies.
[00:34:33] Speaker C: Well, yeah, pelican plunge is at, is at sort of the end of family beach one. At the beginning of family beach two. So it's at that like second tram stop.
[00:34:41] Speaker B: Yeah, that second tram stop. Exactly. And we found some loungers with an umbrella still played in the water. We did the whole, then we had lunch, then we went snorkeling, then we did water slides. And then at about four oh, they extended our all aboard time, too, from 415 to 445. So they gave us like an extra half hour, which was very nice. But maybe you've experienced it, like when it's time to get back on board because it's getting late and people have to get ready for either a dinner or a show. I get that. But, like, it empties out like quick. Like everyone heads back and we're usually like the stragglers heading back. And we didn't want to take the tram. My in laws took the tram back. We wanted to walk because we just wanted to see everything along the way. But at about 415, 430, it dumped again.
[00:35:30] Speaker C: It rained.
[00:35:31] Speaker B: The storm just blew in in like 15 minutes and just downpoured.
[00:35:35] Speaker C: Yeah, that's very common at castaway. That doesn't mean you'll get rain all day, but like, you, it's very common. Well, I guess in the Bahamas and the Caribbean, like, it would downpour for like, I don't know, half hour and then it's, you know, it was sunny right before, downpours for a half hour and then sunny after. Right. Like, it's just the way it, the rain works there.
[00:35:57] Speaker B: So it was really, so when I think about the cruise, like, it's really a tale of two cruises, right? Like one day is like super stormy and rainy and windy and the pools are closed and the slides are closed and, and there's like half the people on board are children and everybody's indoors.
[00:36:14] Speaker C: And that's a lot of people indoors.
[00:36:17] Speaker B: It's tight. It's tight. And then, and then the second part of the cruise on Castaway d was bright and sunny and everyone was out. We tried. Since the pools and the slides were closed on majority of the Nassau day, we tried. We thought we were going to be smart and be like, okay, everyone's getting ready to get off the ship to go to castaway. Now that we're docked, let's go ride the Aqua mouse real quick. But a bunch of other people had the same idea and the line was the line for the Aqua mouse went all the way back to the slidosaurus rex.
[00:36:54] Speaker C: Oh, bummer.
[00:36:55] Speaker B: That's really long.
So we wait. So we got in line, and then some common sense took over. We're like, we'll figure this out later. Let's just get off the ship. So we ditched on that. So Friday, no pools, no slides. Friday, no pools, no slides. Saturday, no pools, no slides. The pools were open for, like, a little bit, and we got. And the kids got in the pool for, like, a little bit, but then it started raining. They closed everything. So it was like, it doesn't count. I don't think you count. So we didn't get into a pool or a water slide or a hot tub or anything until after castaway key on Sunday.
[00:37:35] Speaker C: Well, what did you think of? I mean, you had limited opportunity to explore the pool deck. And it was, might be, I don't know how many people thought to come in and use the pool deck after castaway. I bet a lot of them were, frankly, going back to their rooms. But what did you all think about the pool deck? And, you know, it's hard to sort of, without seeing it with. Filled with people. Right.
You know, did you, were your fears of the layout of the pool deck founded, you think, unfounded, or did you come away with. With some different perspective? Because it is very different. It's just a very different layout.
[00:38:13] Speaker B: I'll say this. The pool deck on the wish seems purpose built for entertainment purposes. It seems purpose built for deck party. And pools are secondary or afterthought. So, like, I feel that's a justified explanation of it based on a couple things. The whole. Right. You have the tiered pool decks. Right? So, like, Minnie's pool, Daisy's pool, Donald, goofy. Like, they tier up, which makes sense if you're trying to tier people so they can see the show under funnel vision. Another reason why I feel that's true, that it was built for entertainment, not for pools, is the slidosaurus rex kind of goes in a direction away from the main pool deck. And it's not really a part of the main pool deck. It kind of, it goes towards, like, Trixie's falls and, like, toy story splashes on. I think it is back there. And so that was a little disappointing because I like to go on cruises for, like, for those things, for like, a pool deck situation where you can relax and swim and watch a movie or get a drink or whatever, but the kids had a good time. This is a me thing. It's not a. It's not. It didn't affect the kids fun or anything. And it didn't really affect, like, the fun that I had in the limited time that we had in the pools. It was just not everything that I thought it could be, if that makes sense.
[00:39:33] Speaker C: That's fair. Yeah, that's fair.
[00:39:35] Speaker B: It was fine.
[00:39:36] Speaker C: I think. I think it's well laid out for, like, watching your kids in different pools because you can sort of sit above and watch down and also for watching funnel vision from multiple places. But, yeah, it is. It's a different. It is. It's just a different layout. Right. And, like. And to your point, that other slide, the Celidosaurus rex, is sort of more geared or closer to the, like, little kid kind of water areas than to the sort of regular family pool deck area. But it's a little bit split, though, on. On that ship. The. I mean, it is still split on the other ships as well, because the splash pads always sort of on the other side of something. It's a little bit more separated on the wish. I think that's a good thing, frankly, because it does sort of make. It ends up where the. The families with very little kids are in sort of that area, and the families with more range of kids, elementary and above, are in sort of a different area. So it's. It kind of. I think it spreads out the crowd a little bit better, but it definitely is more difficult if you've got really little and older kids. Right. Because you're having to, like, split between two different areas, so. Yeah, yeah.
[00:40:47] Speaker B: And we don't, like my, like, our six year old, like, went into the splash zone, like, real quick, just, like, because it was available to him, you know, and kind of, like his size. But he's trying to keep up with his two older brothers, and so he's. He's not trying to spend all his time in, like, a splash zone. He wants to go into the pools and he's even by himself.
[00:41:06] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And it's made. I would say the splash pads are made for, like, the toddler crowd. Not even the six year old. I mean, the six year old can go and enjoy it, but it's not. But it's definitely more geared. But that. But the slidosaurus rex is probably in between. Like, it's not toddlers. It's probably, like, young elementary, um, through kind of through late elementary. Yeah.
[00:41:28] Speaker B: And so the slatosaurus rex was open more frequently than the Aquamaus. So all three of them did go on the slide, and it was fine. They're, like, they. They all got off or, like, that was slow.
And then they moved on and they moved on from that.
[00:41:47] Speaker A: Hey DCL duo fans, you know, we get the question all the time. Should I use a travel agent to book my next Disney cruise or should I just book with Disney directly? And I'm going to tell you, if you have that question in the back of your mind right now, you should stop what you're doing and head over to mypathunwinding.com dclduo. The folks over at Mypath Unwinding provide an amazing service. They are so knowledgeable and so friendly. We rely on them ourselves to book our family vacations and they provide an amazing service. And the best part is you don't pay anything extra for it. Disney, other tour providers and other cruise lines have built the cost of their commission into their pricing. So if you're booking directly, you are just paying that money back to the provider when you could be spending it on the kind of service you would get. From my path unwinding travel, you've heard from their agents on our show. They are so knowledgeable, so giving of their time. They know so much about Disney Cruise line, sailing, concierge, other cruise lines, other all inclusive vacations and adventures by Disney that if you have a vacation in mind, they are the ones to book it for you. So again, head over to mypath unwinding.com dclduo so they know we sent you their way. Thanks my path unwinding for sponsoring the show and with that, back to our episode.
So I want to move us on from the pool deck a bit. I want to ask generally about the restaurants. That also tends to be a little bit of a contentious spot for the wish. What did you think of especially I think Marvel and not Rapunzel's, the frozen restaurant Arendelle. What did you think of those two restaurants? I think in particular, and what did.
[00:43:15] Speaker C: The ADHD kid and the grandparents thing too?
[00:43:20] Speaker B: So good questions.
We started at 1923. That was our first rotation.
Everyone loved this restaurant. Everyone loved the decor. Everyone thought the food was good or there were seven of us and the ship was full, right? It was sold out and so we got a table that was for six and then they stuck a chair on the end for the seven. And so it made a situation that was tight feel a little tighter because there wasn't really a place setting for the 7th person. In a perfect world. We can always stick the smallest child there and it won't be a big deal. But he wants to sit next to grandma or he wants to sit in between grandma and papa. And. And so it didn't always work out. So I had to sit. I sat on the edge, 23, and I'm like, in the way. I'm like, yeah. I'm like, six one. Like, I'm a big guy. Like, I'm in the way. I just felt like I was in the way the whole time. Our server was great. His name was angel. He. I didn't ask. He brought me a second steak, and.
And everything was fine in the world.
Uh, so that was 1923. It was a nice start. It wasn't. There was nothing obnoxious going on around us besides the tight seating, but it was good. And the head. The head waiter, is that what they're called? The head?
[00:44:39] Speaker C: Yeah, the area manager.
[00:44:42] Speaker B: She was great, too. She came over and talked to us for a little bit. So. 1923, great, everyone, thumbs up. Next night, worlds of Marvel. Now, this is at the. We had the late seating, so this is after a long day where everyone's just been on board all day with everybody else. Worlds of Marvel was a bit. It was a bit chaotic for everybody. We were. We were seated, like, on an aisle way, which was good because it gave us a little bit more space with the seven of us and one being at the end. The show was fine. It wasn't. It's not really like it's going to be the same, I think, next time, if we ever go to that restaurant again, like, it's not going to be anything, you know? We got everything out of it. The first time we went, the food was good. Spider man stopped by. I don't know. There's not much else to say about worlds of Marvel.
[00:45:36] Speaker C: Nobody's wowed by worlds of Marvel, but nobody's like, I hate this place.
[00:45:40] Speaker B: It's not.
It's like, we have three boys, so they love sitting there and watching the screen go through all the different Marvel movie characters, you know, and they played a game amongst themselves, like, oh, who's this? You know, like, who's this guy? Do you know what movie that's because there's some obscure characters in there, and so they're playing this little trivia amongst, uh. So it was fine. There's nothing spectacular I wouldn't tell anybody. I wouldn't, like, recommend if it was a restaurant you can go to on your own free will and choice, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. But there was nothing wrong with it, you know what I mean?
[00:46:12] Speaker A: But, I mean, as long as Disney Cruise line's holding a gun to your head and making you eat there, then.
[00:46:18] Speaker B: As long as the food's free and included.
[00:46:20] Speaker C: Yeah, I'll go there.
[00:46:21] Speaker B: I'll eat pretty much wherever you want me to eat.
And then. So on the third night, that leaves us with Arendelle. And it was probably the restaurant I was looking forward to. The least of the three, I think on the last show I said I liked it. I think Disney is at its best when it's, when it's subtle. Disney and Arendelle is the exact opposite of this.
[00:46:44] Speaker C: It's not subtle.
[00:46:45] Speaker B: It is not subtle. And everybody had the best time. Everybody loved it.
[00:46:51] Speaker C: I love, see, this is, this is why we do this show. I love when, like, somebody says, I think I'm going to hate this, and then they go and they give it a chance and everybody loves it. Right? Like, because sometimes that's what happens. And we tell you, I told you, it's going to be loud. It's going to be crowded. All of the restaurants are going to be crowded and Marvel and Arendelle are going to be loud with Arendelle being the loudest. But it's a great show.
[00:47:17] Speaker B: It was so, it was so much fun.
[00:47:23] Speaker C: For those non frozen fans out there. Please listen. It's a very, really fun. It is really loud. It is. It can be a little bit obnoxious in moments and you can't really have a good conversation at that dinner, but it's really fun.
[00:47:37] Speaker B: So our table was, it was like as close as you could get to the stage as possible.
[00:47:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:47:46] Speaker B: The stage is square in the middle of the restaurant. Our table was kind of at an angle. Like Kitty cornered to, like a corner of the stage with the 7th person sitting at the end of the table facing the stage. Our little less six year old sat in the seat closest to the stage.
He's kind of like our song and dance guy. Like, he loves, like, his big thing right now is trolls world tour. Like, he loves, like, singing and dancing. And so we sat him right next to the stage and when the trio came out and they were playing live instruments and singing, like, he was just amazed. I think he fell in love with the girl who was singing because she, like, looked, I have a video of her, of the trio performing and she comes over to our table and is like, singing to us. I get not to, you know, and then she makes eye contact with Max, he's the six year old. And then she turns away and goes to. So. And he turns and looks at my wife and her. You could just tell, like, he's a little.
[00:48:51] Speaker C: He's in love.
[00:48:52] Speaker B: Yeah, he loves her.
And. And the whole thing. The whole thing was like, they were such good performers. The trio, especially, everybody else, you know, fit in their place and where it was good. But the trio, especially the songs they sang, they were. They were good performers. They were excellent singers, and everyone had a good time. We, like, you know, we were transfixed on, like, the whole show and performance the whole time.
[00:49:17] Speaker C: Yeah. And how did you like Oaken?
[00:49:21] Speaker B: Okay. I think he's a fun character. He was a little hard to understand.
[00:49:26] Speaker C: Yeah. I think that's perfect, accent wise.
[00:49:29] Speaker B: But, like, I don't know, just like the. Where we were in the room with the speakers, it was a little. It was a little sound thing, but. But he was. Everybody was fun. Everyone was funny. He came over and let us sing into the horn. What's it called?
[00:49:45] Speaker C: I know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah.
[00:49:47] Speaker B: During the let it go performance, and again, the six year old was just.
He just couldn't get enough of what was happening.
[00:49:56] Speaker C: What about the grandparents? Yeah. I mean, did the grandparents enjoy it? And it is loud. So did they have thoughts about that?
[00:50:06] Speaker B: I think by this time in the crews, they had kind of come to terms with, like, what was happening and how it was going to happen. It was my in laws wedding anniversary that day, and the head server and our head server were very nice. They brought over a special drink for them and they poured in champagne glasses, and we all had a nice toast. Like, my father in law is like, trying to toast in the middle of, like, let it go or whatever. Just give it a minute. Just give it a minute. When the song's over, there'll be a reprieve and you can do your little emotional toast.
But it was great. It was great. I think they enjoyed it, too. And they enjoyed it, I think, mostly because the kids enjoyed, which it's about can be true for most adults in this situation in Arandale, but, yeah, I'm not shy about saying Arendelle was. Ended up being my favorite rotational dining restaurant, the show's food show or both.
[00:51:09] Speaker A: That made it your favorite show.
[00:51:11] Speaker B: The food was the worst. Oh, really?
[00:51:16] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:51:17] Speaker B: I didn't like the food as much as Marvel, obviously.
[00:51:22] Speaker C: Obviously, 1923 is the best food of the three, but, like, it was the best.
[00:51:25] Speaker B: Yeah. So I started out strong in 1923, worlds of Marvel. I did something. I don't normally get pasta, but I got in worlds of Marvel, I got the pasta with the scallops. The pasta and scallops in world of marvel, which I thought was good. I couldn't even tell you what I got for food at Arendelle?
[00:51:42] Speaker A: Oh, that was the one I was. Yeah, I was gonna ask you what you got. Cause the. Was it. The puff pastry is usually a real hit.
[00:51:47] Speaker C: Yeah, I got the scallops in the puff pastry. That's the appetizer. And then the main is that, like. It's like the meatballs. It's like a lingonberry jam. And the meatballs.
[00:51:58] Speaker A: Yeah, it's like swedish meatballs, basically.
[00:52:01] Speaker B: Swedish meatballs, yeah, I've got the meatballs.
[00:52:05] Speaker C: Yeah, that's the. Probably the best dish there. But there's. I mean, I actually, there's one time I ordered the kids barbecue chicken pizza in Arendelle, so, um, because I just. Nothing was sounding appetizing there. Um, but that doesn't mean there aren't, you know, decent dishes. It's just what you're in the mood for. I think sometimes I'm trying to scroll.
[00:52:25] Speaker B: Through my pictures real quick to see what I ate. And we were so. I think we were just so into the show, we didn't even. There was no time for, like, pictures of food. I normally take a lot of pictures of food. Very obnoxiously.
I take a lot of pictures of my food.
[00:52:41] Speaker C: Brian gets annoyed with me because I do the same thing. I take lots of pictures of the food. Well, what did you think of food kind of, overall? Because obviously something that was new to you was, well, Marceline market is obviously different. Not that different, but different from cabanas. And then the pool deck food is very different. We talk about how the wish has, in our opinion, the best pool deck food because you got the Mickey smokestack barbecue, then you got Donald's cantina. Curious what you thought of the food sort of in those casual food places as compared to the other ships.
[00:53:17] Speaker B: So I was very bummed that the day we got on the ship, like I said, our port of arrival time was like, 1130. We got there a little bit late, then there was a delay. Like, nobody was getting on the ship for a good, like, half hour, 45 minutes. And so by the time we got on the ship and everyone wanted to go to the kids club open house and make sure we did some of the, like, some of the things before the mustard drill. We, like. We missed going to Marceline market for lunch the day we board, which, like a lot of people, is what we like to do when we get. But we did go for breakfast the next couple days, and, yeah, loved it. I will say that feels the food was good. Nothing stood out as better or worse food wise, Marceline marquet compared to cabanas, but for a ship that is bigger, the space felt smaller, and I think that's kind of a theme throughout a lot of the ship, whereas. And I think it has a lot to do with layout and flow. Like, it just felt tighter. Like Marceline market from the edge of the buffet to the windows on either side of the ship, and I just felt a little bit more cramped. I love the decor. I love the look and the feel of the area. It's very inviting. I wish I could have eaten lunch there or spent a little bit more time there, but it was everything. There's so much to do, like, you know, I don't want to limit my experiences in other areas by spending time at the.
[00:54:44] Speaker C: Yeah, well, and, you know, I think it is a little bit narrower because they've got crew serving the food, like, which is different than on the dream. It's. I'm comparing it to dream and fantasy because comparing it to magic and wonder is not really workable because they're different sized ships. But compared to dream and fantasy, I think it's a little bit narrower. The. The seating space a little bit narrower on the wish because they do have a little bit more space for the crew to serve. I'm. I'm guessing. I don't know for sure, but that's kind of how it feels to me. I don't feel a huge difference, though, between the two. Um, I actually think the layout is better in Marceline. I just think the layout. The flow of where you get the food is, I think, a little bit better in Marceline, but I agree. The seating area maybe is a little bit smaller. Um, but I don't really have a. I don't. I don't think one is, like, ultimately much better than the other. I really think they're. They're on par with one another. Um, we've seen a couple of, like, more interesting dishes in Marceline, but I think they've started to diversify more in. In cabanas, too. So I'm not sure that that's, like, a unique to the witch type of a thing, but, yeah. What. What about pool deck food? Did you get to eat? I mean, you didn't have a lot of time on the pool deck, but that doesn't mean you can't eat off the pool deck.
[00:55:58] Speaker B: So, cabana, or. Sorry, Marceline market was closed by the time we were ready to eat the day we got on the ship. So instead, we went to Mickey and Minnie's festival of foods. We got a little bit of everything. I. Me and my wife got barbecue, the kids got pizza.
I thought the barbecue was great. Like, as far as, like, poolside food goes, like, this is. It's kind of astonishing. Like, it was good. And the fact that, like, I could just get as much brisket or sausage that I want is pretty great. And so, yeah, I think the standout was, like, the barbecue. Everyone talks about it. I went back later and I got tacos from the cantina. I thought they were really good. Like, it was a lot of food. Like, I got three tacos, one of each, pork, chicken and steak. Like, there's so many options that you can top it with. It was like a full. Like, three tacos was, like, more than enough to get by to whenever I was going to eat my next unlimited food meal. It was. Yeah, it was great. It was great. I think it's a big upgrade from just, you know, what they have on. On the other ships in the fleet. We did. I don't know if we talked about this last time, but we did have a reservation for Palo and we went to barranch at Paulo as well.
[00:57:15] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Let's hit up Paulo now. You've been to Palo on the other ships, but Paulo is now Palo Steakhouse. The menu is not really different for brunch, though. But what did you think of sort of the upgraded version of Paulo? It's more about the decor layout. I would say there are the biggest differences.
[00:57:35] Speaker B: Yeah, it is about decor layout for me, because the menu is pretty much the same. As we talked to our. Our waiter about it. It was beautiful. It's a nice. It's. It's like a gorgeous space. Like, I like. Like the dark tones of the restaurant. We sat in a booth. I love, you know, sitting in on the other. On the dream. We are on the wonder. We sat in a booth, too, and it was like a round booth and was kind of like we were facing away from the window. So on the wish, we sat in a booth that was like, facing. That was like, facing the window to the side, which was great. So we had a nice view of the rain and the clouds outside. But again, the food was fantastic. Our waiter was fantastic. We did try some new entrees that we didn't get, that we haven't gotten before, specifically the chicken parmesan and the lasagna. How do you. I don't know. It's like, what can be said that hasn't been said before? It was fantastic. It was unreal. It was so good. All the appetizers were greater.
They don't call them appetizers. I don't know what they're called, but, like, everything they brought out was delicious. And he even brought, like, an extra little plate of shrimp because I was lamenting that I didn't get to go to Marcellin market for lunch when they have shrimp. And the ones at Palo are obviously better because they're peeled and they're ready to go. There's no labor involved, which is even better. It was great. It was a great meal. It started raining so hard when we were Apollo. It was, like, kind of clear. And by the time we were done, it took us about two and a half hours from start to finish. You couldn't see. You couldn't see Nassau when we were done. And you're just, like, one dock out from the shore, but, like, you couldn't see the shore when we were done. It was raining so hard and it was so windy.
[00:59:24] Speaker A: Wesley, we could spend a lot more time talking about the wish.
I want to ask just one last question to round us out here before I subject you to rapid fire, which is just scale of one to ten. Where does the wish rate? Will you go back?
Will you do a wish class ship? Will you do the treasure? If you had seven nights, would you do it on the treasure? So, yeah. Where does this ship rank for you?
[00:59:46] Speaker B: This is a tough question. Ive been thinking about it a lot. I dont know if wed go on the wish again. I dont know if wed do it again.
Especially at this itinerary, I think in our.
[00:59:57] Speaker C: Well, this itinerary. Yeah, you got to set aside this itinerary because three, four night cruises are too short. Too short?
[01:00:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I think we're done. I think we're done with the short situations, kind of my concerns that linger throughout the whole cruise and afterwards aside, I don't think the general, like, decor is, for me, like, it's beautiful, right? It's well appointed. It's, like, top notch. It's very kind of exquisite in, like, the detail and the furnishings, like, everything's, like, really nice. It's, like, state of the art. It's just not. I just don't think it's for me. I think the treasure, all things being the same, just swapping out the colors and the characters and some of the other space or themes in some of the different spaces, I think is much more like my vibe. So I'm very interested in going on the treasure. But the seven night, like, really super expensive, like, itinerary, like, we have three kids. So sticking five people is. Is a tall task for us at this point. So I'm very interested in going on the treasure. We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. But as far as the wish specifically. Probably won't. Probably won't go back on the wish.
[01:01:19] Speaker A: Yeah, sounds like. Sounds like a one and done opportunity.
[01:01:23] Speaker B: I'm glad we did it. I'm, like, super ecstatic that we did it and got to experience it, and we by no means had, like, a bad time. We had a fantastic time. You know, we didn't even get into, like, shows and some other pirate deck parties and.
[01:01:38] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of.
[01:01:40] Speaker B: Really, it was all great. Everybody on board was super. All the crew members were super helpful, obviously, and there for you if you needed something. So top notch experience overall. There's more to discover, and there's more to explore. So we're going to move on from the wish.
[01:02:00] Speaker A: Sounds good. Well, with that, I think we have reached that point in our show where I need to hand you over to Sam for some arbitrary questions, some arbitrary rules, and a dash of judgment of the round we know as rapid fire. So, Sam, take it away.
[01:02:12] Speaker C: All right. I've got a special rapid fire for you, Wesley. We're not.
[01:02:18] Speaker B: I've been both dreading and looking forward.
[01:02:20] Speaker A: To this second guest. Second guest in a row of recording, Sam, who has used the word dread or fear in response to rapid fire.
[01:02:29] Speaker C: I. So I actually. I don't want to do our. Our regular rapid fire with you, Wesley. I want to do a versus show or versus rapid fire, but we're going to do a versus. We're going to do classic ships are in one category and wishes in the other category. So I'm going to ask you which is better between and we're focusing on the ship, so not itinerary based. Okay. So, like, sort of set aside the itinerary, because I think that's not a fair comparison.
Okay, so I want to ask you who. Who has better pool decks? Is it the wish or is it the classic ships?
[01:03:10] Speaker B: Oh, boy.
I.
I like the pool deck on the classic ships better.
[01:03:17] Speaker C: Okay, so what about. What about waterslide? I mean, obviously, there's actually. I'll ask this in a different way. Aqua dunk, aqua duck, aqua mouse.
[01:03:27] Speaker B: So we haven't been on the Aqua dunk.
[01:03:30] Speaker C: Okay.
[01:03:30] Speaker B: Yet.
[01:03:30] Speaker C: So aqua duck versus aqua mouse, then.
[01:03:33] Speaker B: I think we all like the aqua mouse.
[01:03:36] Speaker C: Wow.
So give it the wish one in the wish column.
[01:03:41] Speaker B: I'll tell you why. When we skipped the show, on the third night and we went on the Aqua mouse probably 20 times. I'm not making. I'm not exaggerating. This is not hyperbole. We probably went 20 times in a row. They didn't make us get off, and we just went in a circle. So there was no stairs, there was no exit. There was no reentry. It was just in a row. And there was five of us. So one of us waited while four of us went around. Then one got out and one got off, and we just kept going and going and going. And it interrupted our, this Aquamaus situation interrupted our rainforest room time because we got a text from our oldest son that said, the Aqua mouse is open and there's no the aqua mouse is open and there's no line. So we. We got out of the hot tub, my precious hot tub, and went. Went up to the. Went up to the aqua mouse and we rode incessantly until we couldn't. Until it was just. Yeah, we had had enough.
[01:04:44] Speaker C: Love it. Okay, we're going to stay on the pool deck.
[01:04:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:04:47] Speaker C: And I'm going to ask you. Pool deck, food, wish, classic ships.
[01:04:51] Speaker B: Wish.
[01:04:52] Speaker C: Yeah. All right, two in the wishes column. Yeah. All right, moving on to.
We're going to stay. Actually, we're going to go back to sort of food and we're going to talk rotational dining, which do you think there's a better. Right, because wish has more unique and two different shows. Right. Versus the other ships. Really, it's only like one of the restaurants that has kind of a full show. Well, at least on the dream class, the magic has a kind of two shows, but animators is a little bit less involved, so. Yeah. Who's doing rotational dining better, classic ships or wish?
[01:05:35] Speaker B: I think even though we had such a spectacular time at Arendelle, I think I give this one to classic ships as well because I think one show is enough.
I think. I think one is enough. I think the other restaurants on the classic ships are better to kind of, like, wind down the night because, like, you're just. You're probably gonna go to a show anyway, right?
[01:05:57] Speaker C: Sensory overload, like, yeah, I don't need.
[01:06:00] Speaker B: Two shows plus a deck party plus a, you know, I hear you. So classic ships.
[01:06:07] Speaker C: Okay, speaking of entertainment, we're talking shows. We've got some great shows on the wish. We've got some great shows on the. On the other four ships. You got to see two of the shows. I think you said on the wish the two better of the. Of the shows, I would say, because you. You skipped the Disney dreams.
How would you.
[01:06:28] Speaker B: We also skipped Aladdin, and I'm very sad.
It was. This is what it came down to, Sam. It came down.
[01:06:35] Speaker C: Are you actually not dream. Sorry. You skipped little mermaid, then?
[01:06:38] Speaker B: No, we saw Little Mermaid was on night two, and Aladdin was on the last night.
[01:06:43] Speaker C: Aladdin was on that. Okay, so that's a little mermaid. You saw little. But little mermaid is the better, I think, of the two, in my opinion. I actually think that's the better of the two of the full main stage shows. And then you saw seize the adventure, right?
[01:06:56] Speaker B: No, we only saw the. We only saw the one.
[01:06:59] Speaker C: Wesley disappointing me, falling down on the job. Wesley falling down on the job. Okay, it wasn't.
[01:07:07] Speaker B: It wasn't.
[01:07:07] Speaker C: Well, then you're gonna have to give it to the classic chips, because you. If you just compare one show, I mean, little Mermaid is. Is a good show, but honestly, you know, I can't beat beauty and the beast, especially one on one, so.
[01:07:17] Speaker B: Yeah, we.
[01:07:18] Speaker C: I'm answering that for you.
[01:07:19] Speaker B: Little mermaid was great. Little mermaid was great. We decided not to see Aladdin. We had just been to New York, and we saw Aladdin, like, on Broadway, like, last year. So when it came down to aqua mouse or Aladdin, we had to do the Aquamas.
[01:07:34] Speaker C: Okay, you. Listen. I actually don't fault you for choosing aquamas over Aladdin, especially if you just saw the Broadway version, because the Broadway national tour is much better. I think, of Aladdin, not of frozen, but of Aladdin. Okay. All right, moving on, then. I just have a couple more questions for you. Bar spaces, they have some beautiful spaces on the wish, I think maybe more beautiful than on the other ships. Which do you prefer, wish or classic ships on bar spaces?
[01:08:03] Speaker B: I mean, as far as, like, a decor and, like, setup, I think the wish ships are. The wish is more beautiful. You know what I mean? I think especially.
Oh, what was it?
[01:08:18] Speaker C: Nightingales or the rose? Those are two, I think, are the beautiful.
[01:08:22] Speaker B: Yeah, those are really nice. The bayou was great. Like, I like it. It's kind of open on the side, and it's a little, kind of free flow. You can hear the music. I think the combination of their music and the setting is really nice. Yeah. So I think overall, I like the adult, like, bar spaces better on the wish than the other ones.
[01:08:39] Speaker C: All right, favorite ship. Now, you've been on wish. You've been on classic. You've been on dreamclass. Yeah. Tell us which one is of the ones that you've been on. Of course. Which one is your favorite ship?
[01:08:50] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't think you're going to like this answer either. But right now, my favorite ship is the dream.
[01:08:55] Speaker C: Yeah, that's an odd answer.
[01:08:59] Speaker B: I think. I'll tell you what I like. The decor is like, my style. That's what I like. I like. I think the atrium better than the grand hall. Like, on all levels, all the way around.
[01:09:14] Speaker C: That's wrong. That's just wrong.
I'm not saying you can't like the dream. I actually think the dream is a lovely ship, but that. Your description of the atrium versus the grand hall is just wrong.
Sorry about that.
[01:09:28] Speaker B: I'm going to stick by it. Like grand hall on the wish I think is a fail. I'm going to say that I dislike it very much. The grand hall stage. I don't. We don't need any more stages. Like, like they're taking. They're making the pool deck into a stage. They're taking the atrium and turning into a stage. Not all life is a stage, as the saying goes. Like, they're hat. Like, it's enough. There's a theater and that's where shows go.
You can fit a deck party onto a pool deck that is purpose built for a pool deck, but don't make it a stage.
[01:10:05] Speaker C: Okay, we're going to move on because there's a hard disagree here between you and as a show person, I have to.
[01:10:15] Speaker A: You may be the first. The first guest to be disqualified from future shows. Rapid fire.
[01:10:21] Speaker C: All right, my last question is, are my standard bucket list cruise question. If you can go anywhere in the world, I'll even let you go on the dream. Where do you want to go?
[01:10:31] Speaker B: This is. This is hard because if I just have to name one, I think Alaska has kind of become my number one, even though I've kind of not always wanted to do it. But I think listening to. I mean, you guys are very influential in my life at this stage, except.
[01:10:53] Speaker C: As it pertains to shows, but.
[01:10:56] Speaker B: So you're really selling the Alaska and the Norway or like a northern. Like a northern european is also very enticing to me, especially in, like, 2025. I know there's some. I guess some of the european cruises aren't as great as they have been in the past, but like, that northern european cruise space, to me, I would love, and I don't know, like, the logistics or if it would work, but if you're just spitballing stuff, like a South Pacific, like a really intense, like, South Pacific situation would be. Would be great for me as well.
[01:11:32] Speaker C: Yeah. Love that. Yeah. Okay, so you've redeemed yourself a little bit on that last question. I'm going to give you. I'm going to give you a c, Wesley.
[01:11:43] Speaker B: That's fair.
It's your show.
[01:11:47] Speaker C: It's my show. Listen, he passed to see is still passing.
[01:11:52] Speaker B: That's right.
[01:11:54] Speaker A: The poor guy at a d plus or something. Yeah, right. Well, Wesley, I'll give you an a for having come back on our show and survived Sam's brutal, rapid fire. That's two guests who've given you that feedback now, Sam, they love it.
[01:12:12] Speaker C: Listen, they keep coming back.
[01:12:13] Speaker A: First step is admitting you have a problem, Sam.
[01:12:15] Speaker C: First step is a problem.
[01:12:17] Speaker B: Even though it was a little scary, I was looking forward to it, and I'm glad that she changed it up at the last minute, because I had some answers already written out, and I've been thinking about it. So, like, the impromptu situation was good. And I'll tell you this, there's two reasons why I'll continue selling with Disney Cruise line. One is because the service is fantastic and the product, it's always top notch, even though I don't disagree with every decision that they make. This is true for the parks, too. But I keep coming back because of the level of service, the detail, and the nostalgia that it brings. And the second reason is because now when I sail, I can come on your show and talk about it, which not everybody in my life around me wants to talk about this all the time. And so this is a good outlet, and I can get some of my thoughts out without annoying my family and friends.
[01:13:07] Speaker C: I love that. Oh, well, that warms my heart, Wesley. So, despite your seat, you can come back anytime you want and tell us about your next cruise. Do you have anything booked? Brian always likes to ask this question, but I just co opted it. So what's next? Do you have any other cruises booked?
[01:13:24] Speaker B: So we thought long and hard about it, and we ended up buying a placeholder, because why not? It's a risk free situation. So we bought a placeholder while we were on this cruise, and we do have a seven night sailing booked on the Disney magic. On the Disney magic. From Galveston to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with stops at Lighthouse Point, Nassau, and Kasowaki.
[01:13:47] Speaker C: And that's a fan. Yeah. That's a fantastic. That's a southern. It's a southern caribbean ish itinerary because it ends in San Juan. That's awesome. That's fantastic. And seven nights on the magic.
[01:13:59] Speaker B: Yeah, seven nights is going to be. I'm looking forward to just like the seven night. The lighthouse point and castaway are good, like a bonus, but I just want to be on a ship longer than three nights, and the next cruise that we use with our placeholder will be most likely someplace that we haven't been before. We want to kind of expand the horizons to go either deeper into Mexico from the west coast if that ever happens in the next couple years, or eastern, western, southern, Caribbean, Europe. I mean, there's tons of choices, as you know. So we're looking to go beyond what we've, what we've already experienced.
[01:14:35] Speaker A: And I'll be looking to you guys.
[01:14:36] Speaker B: For some recommendations, too. So keep it up. You guys love the show, so well.
[01:14:41] Speaker A: We are here to help, except for sam, who's just here to judge. But anyway, with that, I will just say, Wesley, thank you for taking time on Easter Sunday. Nonetheless, for folks out there listening to come on the show and share your experience on the wish and enables us to connect it back to the prior show we had. So this is the for everyone out there, this is the week of Wesley and the wish. And so thank you for capping that off for us, Wesley. We really, really appreciate it.
[01:15:05] Speaker B: Take that, DCL dude.
[01:15:11] Speaker C: DCL dude who has the same name.
[01:15:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:15:16] Speaker B: Just kidding. I love wes too, and he has a great show, too. And he was one of the ones who got me, you know, who got me this far as well. So shout out to Wes over there.
[01:15:26] Speaker C: Shout out to a little shout out to wes. We enjoy him as well.
[01:15:33] Speaker A: Well, a big thank you to all of you out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate it. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast. You can keep getting great content from the DCL duo each week. We'd also love it if you'd head over to Apple podcasts and leave us a five star review. If you hit those five stars, that's great. If you leave us a written review along with a five star review, we will be sure to read it on the air at the end of one of our main episodes. If you're hovering over anything less than five stars, we really want you to reach out to us so we can take your feedback. Best way to do that? Head to dclduo.com to find all the ways to connect with us. It links to our podcast, our vlog. Our blog has all the ways you can connect with us on social media, has our Etsy store where you can find our fun beach bags and magnets that we designed as enthusiasts of each of the Disney cruise line ships has a link off to our Patreon if you'd like to to help support the show. We really, truly appreciate each and every one of our patreons for helping to support the show. Each and every month has a link off to our show sponsor my path unwinding where you can get more information about booking a fabulous vacation, which also really helps to support our show. All the things are there, including a way you can sign up to be a guest on the show if you'd like to share your Disney Cruise line experience. Most importantly, you can always email
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[01:17:25] Speaker B: Good night.
