[00:00:00] Speaker A: So we've moved. Wait, hold on. We've moved from let the guest answer, and they might lose points to badgering them into an answer you want.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:00:08] Speaker A: Just want to set that for future guests. There we go.
Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episode of the DCL duo podcast, brought to you by my path, unwinding, travel, and Sam, it's review time.
I really need. You know what? I'm going to put a call out to listeners. Give me some ideas on how I can introduce the reviews more interestingly than its review time. I'm struggling on this one. Like, I need an audio something. I don't know. But anyway, this review this week comes from Hula two. So I'm just going to say, hula. Hula writes best. DCL podcast. My husband and I have been listening to this podcast for years now after we decided to take our first Disney cruise. We have learned so much from both the hosts and the guests about what to expect on a Disney cruise. The diversity of topics and guests is very helpful, and the format is friendly and entertaining. Thank you to Brian and Sam and all of their guests for sharing their experience and tips. I want to call out, they've been listening to us for years now. That's. Wow. Wow.
[00:01:16] Speaker B: Yeah, right? That's crazy. We've been doing this for years now. We're about to start. Well, when we're recording this, we're about to start what we call season five or year five of this podcast. Yeah. So in just like a week, I think we'll be.
[00:01:33] Speaker A: I think we'll be kicking it off with a live show with Wes. I think that's essentially the start of season five or close to it. So. Yeah, so that's crazy.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: This episode will obviously have come out. We'll already be in season five when this episode comes out. So all you out there, I cannot believe that means we've finished four years of this podcast and are, you know, currently recording year five. Crazy. Crazy. But thank you for.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: Thank you, hula hula.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: Yeah, and thank you for the review and calling out our guests. Because without our guests, there's no way we could do this show because then you'd just be listening to Brian, and I drone on all the time. And I know I can't listen to.
[00:02:12] Speaker A: Sam for that long.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: So I was just gonna say, I can't listen to you for that long either, Brian. I don't wanna listen to myself for that long either. But, you know, speaking of guests, we have to welcome our guest, Michelle to the show. Michelle is a first time guest on the show, not a first time cruiser. But we're super excited to talk to you about the cruise that you just took very recently. So welcome to the show, Michelle. Hi.
[00:02:38] Speaker C: Thank you, guys. Thank you for having me.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: Yeah, thanks for reaching out to us to be on the show. You too. That all of you that are listening, you too can be a guest on the DCL duo podcast. If you reach out to us and you've sailed recently or have an idea for a topical related episode, we're happy to have new guests all the time.
[00:03:00] Speaker A: Minimum qualifications require an active email account. Having sailed on a cruise of some sort, at least one Disney cruise. And, you know, just be a friendly, nice person. So there you go. I actually. I stopped at the computer, too. Well, yeah, well, actually, not. No, now, because our recording platform has apps on both iPhone and iPad, so that's not even necessary any longer. It's. It's great. But I highlight that because someone wrote in and I've got to respond to them. But they were, please consider us to be a guest on your show. I'm going to write back and let them know everyone's a good guest. It's up to us to make them shine. So. So there you go. All right. But, Sam, dive. Dive in here. Let's actually. Michelle, Michelle, we got it. We got to start with you, okay? You got to tell us your Disney cruise line background. That's how we start every show. So tell us what your. Your Disney cruising background is like, your general Disney background, and if you've sailed other cruise lines, we always love to hear that, too.
[00:03:51] Speaker C: Okay, so my Disney cruise line background started in 2019.
I'm a big run Disney runner, so my love for run Disney brought me on the show to do the challenge on Castellane.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: I love it.
[00:04:03] Speaker C: Marathon weekend. Yeah. So that's what brought me on. And I've been here ever since they.
[00:04:11] Speaker B: Found you, and they. They'll never get rid of you.
[00:04:13] Speaker C: Now, as far as my previous cruising background, I've only been on one other cruise aside from Disney Cruise line, which was years ago. It was a spring break booth cruise on Carnival, those weekend things. And then my Disney background is, I'm a huge Disney fan. I've actually been to, like, all the parks around the world. So after I checked off that off my bucket list, I was like, let's check off all the cruise ships. I had new goals.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: I love it. Yeah, those. I mean, those are goals that I admire. We have not been to all of the parks around the world.
That is a bucket list, I would say, for us. But it's going to be in the future. It's going to. I think it's going to take a while for us to hit all the parks worldwide. But I'm excited to talk to you about this cruise because this one, as you mentioned, was the way you reached the goal, your fab five goal.
You just knocked off the fantasy as ship number five. That's awesome and amazing that you hit the wish before you hit the fantasy.
[00:05:18] Speaker C: Yeah. Right. But the dream was my first, so I kind of had an idea of what to have on the fantasy, and I was so excited because I think the dream class is definitely, like, my favorite ship.
[00:05:30] Speaker B: Oh, spoiler alert for rapid fire, folks. Dreamclass is her favorite line. All right, well, let's talk about what actually first. What itineraries had you done previously? Because I know this one was an eastern Caribbean, but what were the previous itineraries that you had kind of covered?
[00:05:48] Speaker C: So my first one was the Nassau one on the dream. And then we've also, I think, on the wish we had to do Nassau also, because that's the only thing it covers. We've also done some. I'm California based, so San Diego is always a great port that I love taking out of, and I've done two of them now out of San Diego, and they're. I wish they come back soon because they're fabulous. But what else? And then. Yeah, so it's. Wait, I feel like I'm missing one.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: Where did you sell on the magic to?
[00:06:16] Speaker C: Oh, okay. So the magic, I've sailed out of San Diego to Cabo and the magic. I've also sailed out of Miami to Bahamas and castaway.
[00:06:25] Speaker B: So nice and wonder. I'm assuming you've sailed out of San Diego since.
[00:06:30] Speaker C: You're correct, yes. The wonder out of San Diego. Yeah.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: Nice. Okay, so this was your first time really doing, like, a full caribbean cruise, then, because your other cruises on the east coast were all sort of those shorter bahamian cruises. Why did you choose this itinerary, specifically the eastern Caribbean? Was there a reason other than the fact that it was on the fantasy?
[00:06:53] Speaker C: I guess it had been my. Well, one. It was on the fantasy, but it had been my birthday, like, two days before we boarded. So I did a little bit of Walt Disney world and then went on to finish off the birthday week, like a seven night cruise, which was perfect in my eyes.
[00:07:08] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I mean, we always talk about how, you know, the best itinerary is the longest itinerary. You can get on. Right. But, you know, the eastern is really, I would say our, other than maybe, you know, a southern Caribbean, I think the eastern is our general sort of favorite cruise to go and to recommend to people because it really is such a great itinerary. So tell us, who was in your sailing party? I know, and you mentioned you, you hit Walt Disney world before, so let's talk about that as well.
[00:07:38] Speaker C: Okay. So in my sailing party was me and my husband. And then, like, for the actual cruise, my sister in law joined us after, like, she joined on the board. So with three adults in the room, we took some little bit of planning, but, like, we got, like, some, like, lights for the cabin. Like, they were censored and they're magnetized now. So that just makes things a lot more comfortable when, you know, there's a lot of people in the room and you got to, like, kind of wiggle around and somebody asked and they were fabulous. And you get them on Amazon and it was such a great idea.
[00:08:08] Speaker B: Oh, that is a great idea. I love that. All right, well, what kind of stateroom did you choose and why did you land on that stateroom? You've got three adults, so you could really go in any kind of stateroom, any category of stateroom. But what did you get?
[00:08:24] Speaker C: A veranda. And I kind of have a rule when I'm doing the Caribbean, I go for the verandas because you get the, you know, the nice water, the turquoise, the clear water. And when I do like, the west coast sailings, I go for an ocean view only because the waters, it's kind of cold to go outside sometimes. And it's not like, oh, it's not like turquoise. It's just blue.
[00:08:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Now you sailed in February now and you went to Walt Disney World first. So tell us, how did you get down to the port from Walt Disney World? Did you take Disney transportation or some other method?
[00:09:01] Speaker C: We did, and it was actually really good. So basically they call you at like seven in the morning to your room. So you hear the phone ringing and they say, are you ready for your luggage? And we were staying at the grand Floridian. So we met in the lobby, like around 930, and we had a prompt take off at 10:00 a.m. and we were at Canaveral by eleven, which is even before our port arrival time, which, you know, you can arrive at any time when you're on Disney cruise shuttle. And we just chose that. Cause it was just easier, you know, the luggage, they come to your room and grab it and then you don't see it to the ship instead of hauling it yourself.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's super convenient if you're coming from either a Disney resort or from MCO, you know, from the Hyatt in particular, because they'll come and pick up your luggage exactly as they do at the resorts. The only issue is, if you're doing it from the resorts, they might stop at more than one resort, and so it might be a longer trip. It sounds like you got lucky, and it really wasn't. I mean, leaving at 930 or leaving meeting at 930, leaving at ten, arriving eleven is great.
[00:10:05] Speaker A: You know, I'm starting to wonder if maybe Disney cruise line got the memo here, because the more people we've talked to have taken the bus transportation from the resorts recently, pickups have been earlier, which was a big complaint for people, and they haven't stopped at, like, you know, 20 resorts on the way, and you end up at the port at, like, 230 in the afternoon. So I'm. I'm just wondering if, you know, Disney maybe repurposed some transportation to, uh, to assist with that process a little bit, uh, make it a little bit easier. It's expensive, too, for depending on how many people in your party, it can be a lot more cost effective to use private transportation. So, you know, one would expect if you're paying more than a private transfer, which is going to pick you up and take you directly to the port, you get kind of similar service. So I'm just wondering if maybe Disney got the memo. So if anyone out there has experienced the old pattern of Disney cruise line transportation where they stop at, like, five resorts and you don't get to the port until afternoon, like, would love to hear if that's still happening. Or maybe they've adjusted it too, is what you said you were saying at the grand flow, which is deluxe resort, they may have adjusted some things for deluxe resort guests, too. So anyway, but, Michelle, after you got to the port, how was the embarkation process there at Port Canaveral for you? Is it pretty smooth?
[00:11:16] Speaker C: We had a little bit of a hiccup on this one.
The gangway to enter the ship was down or broken, so we entered into the first floor, which was definitely a first.
[00:11:29] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:11:31] Speaker C: Yeah. They still try to do a little welcome like their family, but it was just very different.
[00:11:37] Speaker B: Yeah, that would be weird, not walking. I mean, we have had it where we've had to walk into a different floor. I can't remember what port that was, but in general, you're so used to walking into the atrium and having your family name announced. It would be a little bit odd to walk onto deck one and have your family name announced in the stairwell, I guess, right before you get to the elevator.
[00:12:04] Speaker C: So, I mean, it could be worse things, you know? Luckily, it wasn't our first cruise, but we made the best of it. Like, this is different.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: Yeah, that is different. Now, what were the port stops? I know you.
[00:12:17] Speaker C: You.
[00:12:17] Speaker B: I think you said there was a little bit of a change in your port stops. Am I correct about that? From what you were supposed to do?
[00:12:24] Speaker C: There wasn't a little bit of. There wasn't any change in our port stops. But at the time that we sailed, there was, like, some kind of storm there. Cause, you know, we are sailing time, so you kind of have to, you know, keep that into consideration. But we kind of sailed outward, like, away from the storm, which led more time in our cruise. So we actually. Our last stop, which was castaway, we actually got there pretty late at noon. So if. And. But we already had for eastern caribbean versus western, because I have a western book for next year. The one thing is that normally you get to cast away around ten in the morning, as opposed to the normal 830. So definitely your first time cruising, and this is your first time to castaway. You might want to something to think about because you are going to get there a lot later. But because of that, I did take advantage of the spa and having the in port, uh, discount. Because even though we weren't at port yet, I got an 08:00 a.m. reservation, and I had a full. The. What was it? The couple's villa.
[00:13:28] Speaker B: Ooh, that's wonderful. That's. We love the couples villa. It's a great. That's a great treatment. It's the massage and then you. And you get the time in the hot tub and whatnot. Yeah, that's a really nice treatment. And the discount is a nice discount because it's a price. All the spa treatments are kind of pricey on board. And that one, of course, is because it's a longer one, but that's kind of awesome. You know, I forgot. That's a really good tip to tell people, though. I forgot that because the eastern. You're coming from further away than the western to get to castaway. Cause that's. Castaway is gonna be your last stop on that cruise always. And it's gonna be the night before disembarkation. So, yeah, I forget that because it's a little farther away. You do usually get there later. And it's a little bit of a bummer to get there not until noon, but you still get a. Probably a pretty full, full day there. Let's start by, though. Let's rewind a little bit and talk about the other ports that you went to because you had some, you know, this itinerary has great ports. What was your first port of call?
[00:14:30] Speaker C: It was the British Virgin islands.
[00:14:33] Speaker B: Love it.
And that's Tortola then, right?
[00:14:37] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: Yeah. Awesome. What did you guys plan for Tortola? Did you book through Disney cruise line on your own?
And what did you guys get up to?
[00:14:48] Speaker C: We booked the excursion of the baths in virgin Gorga through Disney line. So from what I learned from my Facebook group, there's two major, like, excursions that everybody goes for, and one was the baths, and one was the Josh Van Dyke beach. So those were, like, two that were, like, sold out. So we did the baths and we did it through Disney because I had heard your podcast before where somebody did it on their own, but I feel like with traveling, you know, getting on a ferry, going far away and coming back, I definitely want the comfort, peace of mind of Disney, you know, bringing us back on time and things like that. But I'm glad we did it that morning that we got to. To the BVI. It had been a little bit windy, and I didn't think about it at the time, but the boat that we got on to go to the baths, I wish I would have had some motion sickness medicine, because there was a lot of people that got seasick.
Yeah. And there was a lot of people that couldn't sit outside because the waves would just crash over them. And it came into the little cabin, like, drenched.
[00:15:51] Speaker B: So.
[00:15:53] Speaker C: They had to move, and they were giving them towels and stuff. But once we got to the island, the weather was fine. But that was just one thing. Like, if you are taking, like, a little ferry boat to your. Wherever you're going, your destination, definitely have some medication, because the waves are way different than they are on the ship.
[00:16:10] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, that's a great tip, because as I tell people, and people ask about seasickness to us all the time, and I get seasick on small boats. I rarely get seasick on cruise ships. I can't say I don't because we've had days where the seas have been rough enough that I'm feeling it, and I get a little bit seasick. I'm actually, like, well taken care of. If I take the medication or wear the patch, something like that. But those small boats. They could, whether it's a tender or ferry boat. Yeah, it can. That can really make me want to hurl. So.
[00:16:49] Speaker C: No, we had a light breakfast, like the continental one in the room. So I was like, oh, thank God. We did not eat a heavy breakfast. And we were fine. Some poor kids on the thing. Oh, I just felt bad.
[00:16:59] Speaker B: Aw, poor kids. Well, so tell us about. About the excursion. We've heard great things about the baths. We haven't actually done it ourselves, but what did you all think about it?
[00:17:10] Speaker C: So with Disney, it was great because they get. You get there, and basically, if some people are concerned about their mobility issues, they have an easier trek to the beach versus the more complicated trek to the beach. They give you an option. Yeah, that's like, nobody really talks about that. You're like, oh, okay. Because, you know, some people are concerned, like, can I get through some of that stuff? But along the way, in the complicated one, they're there guiding you and like, you know, there's places where you have to climb a rope and stuff like that, and they're definitely helpful. So that's why we kind of decided to go through Disney in case there was any issues or anything like that. But the beach there is great. It's beautiful.
The caves, it depends on when you are in the line, because it's only one by one. So if you want to take your time, I would say maybe do it towards the back of the line. If you think you're okay, go to the front and, you know, you can keep the line moving. Just take your patience, because it does take a while for everybody to get through.
But once you get through, there's a great beach there. Also you can get drinks and food, and I think there is food included in the excursion. So at the top of the hill, there's a restaurant there and you get fed. So that that always helps.
[00:18:21] Speaker B: Nice. And how long of the, how long was sort of the whole thing. Obviously, the ferry ride is going to take some time, but you've got the ferry ride, you've got this hike. I'll call it. It's not like the most intense hike, but it is a hike, right. Then you have time at the beach, then you've got the hike back. Then you've got a ferry right back. So how much time would you say for, like, each of these parts?
[00:18:42] Speaker C: I think it was 5 hours. And we got back on time and we still had time to explore the port if you wanted to. So, like I said, it was a little windy, but it was, you know, you made the best of it. And like. Yeah, you had time. We had plenty of time to get back on.
[00:18:55] Speaker B: How much time did you guys get at the beach? That part, like, sort of. How much relaxing time did you get?
[00:19:00] Speaker C: Oh, of, like the hidden beach. Because that's what people go there for. We had about, like 30, 35 minutes at the most. And then they rounded us all up.
[00:19:09] Speaker B: Okay, so it's not, I mean, it's not. It's not nothing, but it's not super long. So people should just know that it's, uh. Yeah, because you've got all of these parts of this, this excursion and you're going to eat and all of that, too, so.
[00:19:24] Speaker C: Yes. And then to shut the ferry boat back. Yeah.
[00:19:27] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Well, what did, what was your second port? And what did you guys get up to this one?
[00:19:33] Speaker A: I'm excited to already know the answer to this question because it's St. Thomas. They're going to Megan's Bay Beach.
[00:19:38] Speaker B: I know it.
[00:19:38] Speaker A: Right?
[00:19:39] Speaker B: Don't spoil it.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: No, no, no, because. No, because I'm. I'm setting this up because I am so excited to hear they did this on their own without a Disney excursion. And I want to hear how that went because we're going on Royal Caribbean here in April. We're stopping at St. Thomas. We're going to Meg. I want to go to Megan's Bay beach. I do not want to pay the Royal Caribbean price. I want to hear how the experience was. We are docking at a different place than, than Disney, doc. So it'll be a little different. But I just want to hear if it went smoothly and, like, what did it cost you out of pocket? And are you able to get beach chairs and umbrellas, all that fun stuff. So tell us all about Megan's Bay as my favorite beach in the Caribbean.
[00:20:11] Speaker C: So the Disney excursion was actually sold out, but because I was more concerned about booking the baths. And what I really wanted to do in the US Virgin Islands was I wanted to go on the aerial tram tour. Have you guys done it where it takes you to the top?
[00:20:24] Speaker A: I don't think we have. We've done zip lining at several caribbean islands, but I don't think we've done the tram tour. No.
[00:20:30] Speaker B: Yeah. No. The ziplining was at St. Martin, though, Brian. That's what you're thinking of.
[00:20:33] Speaker C: So basically, I think through Disney, what we did was basically like $80 for the day, but we did it on our own. We first got off the port, and the best part was it was slightly raining, so the crew members were handing out free ponchos.
[00:20:50] Speaker B: And those are the same as the Disney Parks ponchos. People who. The ones who are listening, you can get free Disney parks ponchos on Disney cruise line, but only if it's raining. They don't give them out for free.
[00:21:00] Speaker C: Otherwise, add it to the value of the cruise, right?
[00:21:03] Speaker B: That's right. That's right.
[00:21:05] Speaker A: Only 10,000 ponchos will make up for the cruise that you just purchased. But, yes, keep going, keep going.
[00:21:12] Speaker B: Every penny counts, Brian. Every penny counts.
[00:21:15] Speaker C: So, yeah, so then we got our ponchos, and then we walked across the way to the Skytram, which was dollar 25 round trip per person.
[00:21:23] Speaker A: So is this the thing you can see on the side of the hill from the port? You can kind of see it, like, going up into the side of the hill?
[00:21:30] Speaker C: Yes. It's like a quick ten minute walk from the actual port. And that's part of the Disney excursion? That's part of it. So we got on the sky tram, and, you know, there's a restaurant up there. You can have drinks. It's an aerial view. You can see all the cruise ships that are at port that day. And then after that, we went back down to the cruise area because it's right across the street. It's very walkable. And we got onto a taxi. But these taxis are kind of like animal kingdom. Like, yeah, cars and safari vehicles.
[00:22:00] Speaker A: Safari vehicles.
[00:22:00] Speaker C: Yeah, we got on the safari vehicle, and these safari vehicles are like, they're $12 per person each trip. So if you have like, I guess, families of like five or six, it could really add up. But the, the tram ride was smooth. We got to Megan's Bay, but fun fact that they drive on the wrong side of the. Well, the left side of the room, which is funny.
[00:22:22] Speaker B: It's because it's a us territory. It's.
We talked. Tortola is part of the British Virgin Islands, but St. Thomas is part of the US Virgin, and so is St. John and St. Croix. They're US Virgin islands. So, yeah, that is weird that they drive on. I wonder if it's just because of the, like, they were part of the british colonies a while ago, you know?
[00:22:45] Speaker A: So let me pause. Let me pause you here, Michelle, for 1 second. So I want to see you got that about what time was this, roughly? And did you know, I mean, were there, like, a lot of taxis around to take people? I'm assuming you had to wait. Cause they wanted to, like, fill the taxi up with people. Like, wasn't just you and your family. But, yeah. How did, how did it. How did it work? And were there a lot of them around?
[00:23:05] Speaker C: They filled up pretty quickly. Like, we didn't really wait. So after we went on the aerial thing and we got back down, it was about maybe like ten or eleven. It wasn't like, like, maybe.
[00:23:16] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:23:16] Speaker C: Yeah. And. But luckily. Well, there was not luckily, but there was about, like, three other cruise ships total with us. So they were. They were filling up pretty quickly. Like, it wasn't like you had to wait a long time. And they were readily available. Right. Like, right there in that whole cruise port docking area. And then I was kind of worried, too, like, if we'd be able to get one, like, quickly to get back. And that was. That was smooth, too. They were. They had the. They had. So when you go on the excursion through Disney, they just have a preset one for all the people. But they're like, oh, not like, not with the tour. They just pointed us literally, like, down the. Down the way by, like, where you buy the drinks by the drink shack. So they're behind there and, yeah, they. That filled up. I would say it took us, like, maybe ten minutes at most to fill up for people going by.
[00:24:04] Speaker A: So you got on the taxi somewhere between ten and eleven, maybe closer to eleven. What time did you decide to come back from Megan's Bay?
[00:24:11] Speaker C: Around one. Around one.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: Okay, so you weren't there that long. Okay.
[00:24:15] Speaker C: More concerned with, like, not getting back on time.
[00:24:18] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm curious when you got to Megan's Bay. Cause that's a little, you know, it's a little later in the day to get to the beach to start. I'm assuming there was already a bunch of people there. How crowded was it? And did you like. My memory is there was an area they had roped off for Disney. You still had to, like, pay. You had to tip the guy to put an umbrella in the sand for you, basically. But, like, were you able to get a spot on the. Be a nice spot on the beach and what was, like, the chair umbrella situation?
[00:24:45] Speaker C: Like, so there was nothing roped off for Disney. It was. I didn't think it was too crowded, but I did make friends on the cruise, and they were actually on the Disney excursion that we were not on. And they were saying the last time they were there, it was a lot more empty. Like, it wasn't as crowded as it was that day because of all the cruise ships at port. But I still had plenty of swim area. The water was great.
One thing they did complain about was they said that the chair, the chair and umbrella was not included in their excursion through Disney. And the last time they had been there, the chair rental was like maybe five or $10 at most. And now the chair rental was like $20.
[00:25:24] Speaker A: Although, although I've read, I've read that it's like a rental with a deposit. Like, so it's like if you return the stuff at the end, you get some money back. So I wonder if that's playing into it here. Also, when I ask you, I've heard that there is a fee. If you go over on your own, there's a fee you have to pay at the gate to get into Megan's Bay. Did they have that running?
[00:25:44] Speaker C: Yes. What was the fee? I don't remember what the fee was like.
[00:25:47] Speaker A: Ten or $12 a person, I feel like when last I read. But we haven't done it in a long time, so.
[00:25:52] Speaker C: Yeah, what was the fee? You're right. Now that I remember, we did stop at the gate and I don't remember how much the fee was. But you are correct. There is a fee to enter. So just. And it's all cash based. I didn't see anybody getting out. A credit card reader. So if you're definitely going to do it, cash on you.
[00:26:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:09] Speaker A: I mean, Megan's Bay is a great beach. I wanted to like. So I'm just, I'm super curious. The mechanics of the getting over there on your own, because it's so for folks out there, we've done the Disney excursion. I mean, it's just as you're describing, Michelle. Get off the ship, get in a taxi. They usually have you stop at like a viewpoint on the Disney excursion. And there's like some guys around with like, monkeys and things trying to get you to take pictures and give them money, and you get a nice view of Megan's Bay.
[00:26:31] Speaker B: It didn't include the tram thing for us, the, the time that we have done it, we've done it, I think, twice, and it didn't include. But this was years ago, so it may have changed.
[00:26:39] Speaker A: No, but she wasn't on the Disney one. She was on Disney.
[00:26:42] Speaker B: No, I know, I know, I know. But she was. But Michelle was saying that the tram that they did was also part of the Disney excursion and that was not included. Yeah, there was a, we had a drive around the island, a lookout spot that was pretty. And like Brian said, there were people there holding, you know, monkeys. If you want to take your picture, you'd pay them so you could take your picture with the monkey that, and.
[00:27:03] Speaker A: Then you drive down the other side of the mountain through. It's like in a gated neighborhood kind of thing. You drive in, they drop you off. When we went, I feel like they did have chairs set up for everyone.
[00:27:13] Speaker B: Yes, a chairs were included, but chairs were included.
[00:27:17] Speaker A: Umbrellas were not. Someone would come around with an umbrella and ask if you wanted one. You tip them, you know, 510, $20 and they pound it into the sand for you. And there's a bar where you can get some, you know, decent food and beers and stuff and, you know, just kind of lounge.
And then they obviously take you back. And my biggest criticism of the entire experience was you get like two, two and a half hours at the beach. And I was always like, man, I just want to stay here for another hour or two and the ship's not leaving for another, like, you know, four or 5 hours. And the reason they did that was they had a morning version when we did it, they had a morning version, afternoon version. So they need to get the morning crowd out so they could get the afternoon crowd in. And so I'm glad to hear that you had a successful on your own over there, because I really just want to, like, on this royal caribbean cruise, we're taking, get off, get a cab, go to the beach, stay there for as long as I want and get back. And I'm operating under the assumption that, you know, even if it's not the height of people coming and going from the beach, like, the bar's there, so they can always call a cab if there's not one, like, readily available. But I've also heard there's just a line of them waiting to take people back to the port when the cruise ships are in town. So, yeah.
[00:28:22] Speaker C: Yes. It was not hard at all. It did not take long. It was very easy. And I was, I was actually surprised at how easy it was. But I think for now, like I said, if the going rates $12 a person, like, that's what it is.
[00:28:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:34] Speaker A: Which is still a lot less than Disney charges per person on the excursion side, I think. I think it's like, yeah, 75, 80, $90 ahead for that excursion.
[00:28:41] Speaker B: Yes, per person. Exactly. So even if you're paying, let's say you're paying, even if you're paying $24 a person between. Well, I guess that you said the shuttle each way, so 24 it would.
[00:28:51] Speaker A: Be for our family of three, it'd be dollar 72 round trip, which would be less than the cost of one adult taking the Disney excursion.
[00:28:57] Speaker B: Right. Well, plus, though, if there's an entry fee to the beach area. Right. So, like, yeah, so. But still, if you're having to pay for the chair and the umbrella and your drinks, of course, because that was never included in the excursion price. There's not this, from my memory, the excursion doesn't include any food or drinks at all.
[00:29:16] Speaker A: No. Yeah.
[00:29:17] Speaker B: So, yeah, I mean, you're already going to be paying some money out of pocket for those things. It just seems like quite a lot for basically a tax.
[00:29:24] Speaker A: I think even if you ended up paying 10%, you're not. But even if you ended up paying, like, 10% more on your own than what Disney was charging, the advantage is you can stay for as long as you want.
[00:29:33] Speaker B: Like.
[00:29:33] Speaker A: Like, I mean, you got to get back to the ship, everyone, like, so leave enough time to get back to the ship, always, because you don't know if that taxi is going to blow a tire and then, you know, it creates a hole. Yeah, yeah. But leave enough time to get back. But you can stay there longer than, like, the 2 hours or two and a half hours that Disney usually allots you for a beach excursion, so.
[00:29:52] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, well, let. Moving on. So, great day at Megan's Bay beach. Did you. I am assuming your third and final port was castaway. Unless you had a fourth port in there.
[00:30:04] Speaker C: No. Yeah, it was castaway.
[00:30:05] Speaker B: Okay. That was.
Yeah, your late castaway. Tell us what you got up to on castaway. You know, people are always asking us, like, whether or not they should book excursions on castaway. And we always tell them, you don't have to. There are excursions you can book, but you certainly don't have to. There's, you know, it's a relaxing, lovely beach day and there's stuff to do without an excursion. But I'm curious if you had booked anything other than your beautiful, you know, couples villa massage thing on board the ship.
[00:30:34] Speaker C: I did. I had the stingray booked. But I think Disney knew that we were going to be late because of the weather, because it got cancelled, like, two days before.
And so I was starting to think, oh, they probably know we're going to get there late. We're not going to make it. Because I got one of the first ones.
[00:30:51] Speaker B: I was going to say, I wonder if they just canceled the morning ones or if they canceled them all or if you could have adjusted.
[00:30:58] Speaker C: I don't think so. I think they canceled them all. I think they were really, like, anticipating it. One thing, though, they did bring all the characters from Castaway into the atrium to take photos.
[00:31:09] Speaker B: That's awesome because they don't. Yeah. I've never heard of them doing that, but that's great because they did in those costumes.
[00:31:18] Speaker A: But they did the characters all the. Well, they didn't do them in the special costumes. They did all the characters on the Panama Canal cruise because Tracy and Michael have a fun photo of all of them in there with them, so. Yeah.
[00:31:27] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying, though, in the castaway costumes, you don't. Yeah, you don't get the characters in their castaway costumes except on castaway. So, you know, and they're unique costume, and some people, you know, want the characters in every.
[00:31:42] Speaker A: That was one of the last opportunities to get the old costumes.
[00:31:46] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:31:48] Speaker A: Pre kid and play short. I mean, chip and Dale's new shorts. Yeah.
[00:31:53] Speaker C: And it was all in the atrium and just had to walk right up.
[00:31:56] Speaker B: Oh, that's so fun. That's awesome. Well, yeah. Tell us about your day on cast. Despite getting in late, did you have, you know, did you have nice weather and did you have a nice day on castaway?
[00:32:07] Speaker C: Yeah, the weather was good. We mainly went to Serenity Bay this time. We had been other times, you know, with family or different areas where we go to the family beaches, but today we're like, oh, let's go to the Serenity Bay. And we spent. So by the time we got there, I think they started serving lunch a little later because they obviously had to make it. So everything took a little bit of a delay. Like, we went to the bar to get a drink, and they're like, can you give us another 20 minutes to set up and things? But we made the best of it. They did extend our port time at castaway, so we were supposed to leave, like, all aboard. Time was, like, 430, and we got, like, an extra hour. We got. We left, like, all aboard was at 530, I think, just to make up for the late start. So Disney does try to help wherever they can. But, um, no, we didn't do our stingray, and we just kind of relaxed and, you know, the hammocks and things, and it was fun.
[00:32:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Nice. How was Serenity Bay? We haven't been there now in, in quite a few years because now, you know, Nathan's been on all of our castaway sailings in recent history, even though our first couple cruises we did without him there. Yeah. So, yeah. Just curious to know how the beach was there and is it as shallow is a bad way to describe it, but is it as short? And I mean, from the sand to the water, not lengthwise, but, you know, sort of width wise, is it as short as I remember it being?
[00:33:28] Speaker C: Yeah, I think the water only went up to, like, our ankles. It was definitely low tide there and you look out far, but it was a great time to see, like, starfish and things because it was so low.
[00:33:39] Speaker B: So. Yeah, that's fun. That's really fun. You don't get to see. You don't always get to see the starfish out there. So that's really nice. Well, that sounds like a nice day. And the fact that they extended the time at castaway is nice, considering you all got in late, move back on board the ship, and talk about some of the highlights from your cruise. Now, you had been on the dream before. You mentioned the dream was your first ship. What did you think of the fantasy in comparison? Did you like her more? Did you like her less? Did you like her the same?
[00:34:13] Speaker C: I liked her a little bit more because I thought the adult bar spaces were better themed than they were on the dream.
[00:34:19] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:34:20] Speaker C: And then. Let me see. So. But I think after sailing on the magic and the wonder for, like, the last couple cruises, I did find the room a little bit smaller or maybe cabin space or, like, drawers that are not. That are normally on the other. On the. On the magic class versus the dream class, I feel like there was less drawers.
[00:34:41] Speaker B: I think you're right. I think that. And it's. And it's decreased even more from, like, each class. It's like. Cause I think you're right. The magic and the wonder have, like, really good, like, storage space, and the dream and the fantasy have good storage space, but not quite as good as the magic and the wonder. And then the wish has pretty terrible storage space. So imagine the treasure is going to have also similarly terrible storage space. So that's. That's.
[00:35:07] Speaker A: Don't even get me started on the curio cabinet approach to storing your clothes on the wish and those, like, you're supposed to like, it looks like you're supposed to put little statuettes and stuff on the corner thing, not your. Your underwear and socks.
[00:35:19] Speaker B: So, yeah, just bizarre tsar is right. Well, I'd love to hear what kinds of things you all got up to on the ship.
The thing I would really love to hear about is the adult activities. And we haven't been able to do the adult activities in a while because that kiddo, he kind of cramps our style. No, no.
[00:35:39] Speaker A: Let's get real. Let's get real for a second. Nathan stays up. Fine. Late. It's us going. I'm so tired.
I can't stay up for match or mate. It's past my bedtime. So let's not blame our son for our own shortcomings here, Samantha.
[00:35:56] Speaker B: You know, I don't want people to know that we're just kind of old now, Brian, so. Yeah. But, yeah, I would love to hear, Michelle, what you, your husband and your sister got up to.
[00:36:08] Speaker C: Okay, so my sister in law, she did the rain, she did the rainforests, and she loved it. She would go. We had late dining, so she would always excuse herself and just go relax right before dinner. And it was just that it was really empty and. But we did. We started off the cruise with the kickstart your day beverage tasting.
[00:36:26] Speaker B: Oh, we haven't done that in so long. Brian used to love doing that.
[00:36:30] Speaker A: Yeah, that's great. It was great. Yeah. What, what did they, what do they offer for the beverage tasting? Because when I did it, it was like a green smoothie, mimosa, Apollo bloody Mary and something else. I can't remember what the other thing was.
[00:36:41] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a green smoothie and then it's like a strawberry, like a tropical smoothie. And then it's a fresh orange juice mimosa. And then the palo Bloody Mary, which tastes like a pizza. For those that have not tried it, I'm not a Bloody Mary fan, but that one was really good.
[00:36:56] Speaker B: Yes. I might have that Bloody Mary then, because I don't like. I don't like Bloody Mary's because they're, like, too spicy.
[00:37:04] Speaker A: Oh, the pale Bloody Mary is not. Is not very spicy. That's the thing that distinguishes it. You can make it spicy or, you know, add some pepper or something, but it's more like the. They use the tomato soup to make the bloody berry almost. It's really, really good. It's really good.
[00:37:18] Speaker C: That's more back to adult stuff. Okay. So we also did a martini tasting. And that is great. Um, it's a little. It's a really good bang for your buck, but some of those drinks are very strong.
[00:37:33] Speaker B: Gotta love it. I think those martini tastings are awesome. And like, the mixology, those are, like, my two favorites, I would say beside, I mean, I love champagne, but I like mixology and I like the martini tasting. I think you. I think both of those, you get really good bang for your buck, for sure.
[00:37:47] Speaker C: I used to love the champagne tasting, but then they really don't change up the champagnes.
[00:37:52] Speaker B: Yes, exactly. You can only do it, like, once or twice, and then you're like, okay, like, I've had every champagne that's on Disney cruise line now, so.
[00:37:59] Speaker A: Well, a friend of ours recently gave us a bottle of Disney cruise line champagne as a gift. I'm trying to remember what it's called. She visited the winery in California, I think it was where they produced the champagne and they were selling the, it was called, like, fairytale champagne or something like that.
[00:38:15] Speaker B: Something like that.
[00:38:16] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The Disney cruise line champagne purveyor.
[00:38:21] Speaker C: Yeah, I have to look into that.
[00:38:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:25] Speaker C: So let's see. I did do a mixology, but we had bad weather one day on the ship, and I was feeling a little under the weather, so I went to guest services and they were able to cancel because there was no way I was be, I was going to be able to drink that day. And we were able to add on mixology towards the end at Meridian, and that was a lot of fun, too.
[00:38:45] Speaker B: Oh, awesome. I love that. That's so good. And it's really nice when they can make those kinds of adjustments on board. I feel like they're, they're usually pretty, pretty flexible with that kind of stuff. Um, you just have to go and ask nicely, though. Like, go and be very nice and, and be like, I'm really not. Like, I'm really feeling seasick today. There's no way I'm going to be able to do this. Is there any way I can move it or cancel it or whatever? And I feel like they're usually pretty accommodating. Well, I love that. Okay, I got to ask you about, you know, shows because obviously that's my favorite thing to do on board any cruise. Did you go see the shows and what did you think? Because, you know, you got to see, these are new to you. Well, not all of them, because obviously Aladdin is on the wish and then frozen is on the wonder.
I guess they're all, neither of them are new, I guess. Were they?
[00:39:38] Speaker C: No, but the frozen show was phenomenal. It was great. I've seen the, I went to go watch the frozen and the Aladdin show, and the frozen show stole the show. It was phenomenal.
[00:39:49] Speaker B: Isn't it so good? And it's a little bit better on the fantasy than the wonder. And I always tell people it's because there's more trolls. It's like, yeah, it's a bigger cast. So the scene with the trolls, there's more trolls. And it's just, yeah, it's really fun. I love that. I love that.
[00:40:06] Speaker A: More cowbell. It's more trolls. We need more trolls.
[00:40:09] Speaker B: That's.
[00:40:11] Speaker C: I did learn my lesson, though, because I thought by having late dining that the theater wouldn't get that crowded for Aladdin. And I got, like, a partially obstructed view because I got there a little too late. I feel like, still, make sure you give yourself enough time. But I didn't think I was missing out on much. I'm like, I've seen this show a few times, and even on Broadway, I'm like, I can get a partially obstructed.
[00:40:31] Speaker B: I think that's fair for Aladdin. I think that's totally fair for frozen. I would say. Definitely get there. You don't have to get there like an hour early or anything like that, but, yeah, get there 15 minutes early. Maybe don't get there right at the last second, but that's a good point. Yeah. I don't think the late dining makes it so it's easier to get a seat. I think the only difference I see is there's less really little. There are some still little kids if you have late dining or the earlier, your earlier theater seating. So it makes it so it's a little bit less smaller kids, you know, you'll still see. You'll still see kids, you'll still see even. Even babies, but just less of them than the. Than the later show. Okay. So great opportunity to see shows on the Disney fantasy, of course. Tell us, did you do any of, like, the game shows, whether those were the adult ones or the family ones or trivia. Are you guys big into any of that?
[00:41:29] Speaker C: Yes. So my husband's a big, avid bingo goer.
[00:41:35] Speaker B: There are many of those on Disney cruise line.
[00:41:38] Speaker A: Has he ever hit it big? Has he ever hit it big?
[00:41:41] Speaker C: Yes, one time on the. Was it the magic? He won the, I guess the last grand prize, and he split it with somebody else. He won like, 2300.
[00:41:50] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:41:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:54] Speaker C: But you get escorted to the front, like, all. Seriously? And like. Yeah.
[00:41:58] Speaker A: Although we've heard they hand you a wad of cash.
Like, like, we've heard from others that, like, they hand you, like, here. It's like a. It's like a, you know, a mafia movie. Like, here's a. Here's the wad of.
[00:42:07] Speaker B: Depends how much you win, I think.
[00:42:08] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:42:09] Speaker C: Tax form.
[00:42:11] Speaker B: And they give you the tax form. Exactly. Exactly.
[00:42:13] Speaker A: You're definitely getting stopped by customs on the way off, depending on how much you. If you buy art or you. You win bingo. Usually there's a customs check at the end.
[00:42:22] Speaker B: So, yeah, I think if you win, like, less than, like a. Don't know that they give you the tax form, but if you win anything, like, more than that, for sure they're giving you that tax form. Well, that. Yeah. Well, that sounds like fun. I mean, like I said, lots of people are big. They love bingo betty. And that's what they call it on Disney Cruise line for those who haven't been yet. Yeah. And they have all their funny sayings that they, you know, that they do throughout bingo. And it's definitely a big activity for a lot of people. Now, Brian, I know I haven't asked about food yet, but before we asked about food, what are. What are we forgetting? I'm trying to think.
[00:43:00] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:43:01] Speaker B: Sorry. What did you say, Michelle? I didn't. I missed.
[00:43:03] Speaker C: It's a Pixar day at Sea cruise. So there was picture.
[00:43:08] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness.
[00:43:09] Speaker A: I buried the headline. Buried.
[00:43:10] Speaker B: I totally buried the headline. We did not even. I did not even realize this was a pixar day at sea Cruise. You got to tell us all about that.
[00:43:21] Speaker A: Are you listening to our show? Because you want to make the most out of your next vacation. Great news. The fabulous team over at my path, unwinding travel can help guide you so you don't miss a thing. Their team of professional travel advisors are caring, knowledgeable, and experienced. It's why we use them to book our own travel. Mypath Unwinding Travel is an authorized Disney vacation planner, which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, adventured with Disney, relaxed at Alani, and so much more. Whether it's a Disney cruise, a theme park vacation, or adventures by Disney, or if you are looking to expand beyond the mouse, Mypath unwinding travel will elevate your next vacation planning experience. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your vacation even more magical. Ready to talk to the experts? Head over to mypathonwinding.com dclduo or email dclduoypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks, mypath unwinding, for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:44:20] Speaker B: What was the. I know, there's the incredibles like thing. There's like deck shows. There's all great characters. Yeah. Tell us what, what was offered on Pixar day at sea?
[00:44:32] Speaker C: So they have a special hey, howdy. Breakfast with Woody and friends. And that one was good. They do get to come to your table. It's not like a lot of interaction, but they do come around for individual photos and they do a little show with guitar and they dance and it's kind of like they play all the school songs from when you were little.
[00:44:52] Speaker B: Now, how did you book that? Do you book that at the 30 day mark online? But when I say 30 day mark, I mean 30 days prior to your cruise through the app at midnight.
[00:45:03] Speaker C: Correct. And then.
[00:45:05] Speaker B: But it's a free event. It's not. It's just a ticketed free event.
[00:45:09] Speaker C: Yes. And then the meet and greets that you do get, you get the option of either meeting Rex and Buzz Lightyear, which Rex is kind of rare, I feel like, and. Or you get to meet the incredibles. And you either get Edna mode and misses incredible together, but they're actual people, so not like the ones you see in the parks. So they'll definitely. Yeah. Face characters. Exactly. Or you get Frozo or Mister incredible. We did the Rex one, so. And that was. That was good. That's actually at animator's palette, so you get, like, the backgrounds and everything like that.
[00:45:44] Speaker B: Awesome. So now the character meets. Did you also have to book those at that 30 day mark, 30 days in advance of the cruise online?
[00:45:52] Speaker C: Yes. Correct.
[00:45:53] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. And for those listening, the reason I'm asking this is that's typical for, like, a Pixar day at sea or a Marvel day at sea. And they used to do Star Wars Day at sea. You would book those just like you would book the princess gathering, which is just like, these are all, like, photo opportunities. Right? So you would book it ahead of time. It would give you a specific, like, time and day that you go. It's a free event, but you can't go to it unless you actually have it booked. And then sometimes on board the cruise, they might have other times that you could see and take pictures with those same characters, but they're not guaranteed and they might be more sort of random and subject to change. So it's better, of course, if you want to get as many characters as possible to do those bookings in advance. Now, were you able to book more than one then, or were you only able to just, like, book one of these sort of character experiences? Did you have to choose, like, incredibles versus Toy story?
[00:46:47] Speaker C: Yeah. At 30 days, it says that you can only choose one. And then on the cruise, like, I think the incredibles were not sold out. So we went to ask because you could still book it. And we were like, is this allowed? And they're like, yeah, it's still open. Go ahead. But, you know, after everybody has gotten a chance to book one, at least.
[00:47:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. That's great, though. That's. And that's awesome, because those are characters. That one are. Even if you can see them in the parks, they're pretty. They're still somewhat rare in the parks. Like Rex, obviously, and the incredibles, as you mentioned, you can see them in the parks, but they are not. They are head characters. They are not face characters. So. Head. Meaning they're wearing a head like Mickey and Minnie. Let me put it that way so I don't spoil it for people who don't know what I'm talking about. Let's see.
[00:47:32] Speaker C: There was a lot of good activities. They had, like, an open mic night with Mike Wazowski. So that was neat.
[00:47:39] Speaker B: That's amazing.
[00:47:40] Speaker C: They also had, on Pixar day, they had an end of mode fashion show. So she. She stole the show on that one. Let me see. What else was.
[00:47:50] Speaker B: When you say Edna, mode fashion show. Who competed? Who were the competitors in the fashion show? Like cruisers?
[00:47:55] Speaker C: Yeah, the cruisers. They asked for different themed. People who are ever themed. Like, alike. Like, everybody dress like toy Story. Please come up. And then she comes and critiques you.
[00:48:06] Speaker B: So she's judging you, is what you're saying. It's a little bit like rapid fire.
[00:48:10] Speaker C: Yeah. And then. What else was there? There's like, the one thing I didn't do was the dory memory game. There's a game. People to play. Oh, I did do. Anyone can cook, but I did do the adults version.
[00:48:23] Speaker B: Oh, cool.
[00:48:24] Speaker C: So they pair wine with the food that they're cooking. And. Because, obviously, because it's Pixar, we did ratatouille.
[00:48:32] Speaker B: Love that. I love that. Did you get to see. Did you get to see Remy and Emile on board?
[00:48:38] Speaker C: Just Remy. No. Emile.
[00:48:39] Speaker B: Just Remy. Okay. Well, I mean, that's good enough. He's also a really rare character. The only time we have gotten to see Remy is at Disneyland. At the Pixar. What did they do? It was like a Pixar pals. Whatever. Evening event. Ticketed event at Disneyland a few years ago. But he's one of our absolute favorites, so that would be a must for me. For sure. Now, tell me. Deck party, right. I feel like there's kind of. Aren't there, like, two of them?
[00:49:12] Speaker C: Yes. So one night we had the incredibles fireworks type show. And that's kind of similar to, like. I guess the roller coaster, if you've ever been on it, where Jack Jack kind of, like, is running around with all his powers and their fireworks and you're trying to. They're trying to get him back. But that was a good show. It was kind of quick and to the point of just a dance party all night.
And then the second night was Pixar celebration night. And spoiler alert, there is a party source. Rex.
[00:49:44] Speaker B: I love that.
Yeah.
[00:49:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:49:47] Speaker C: If you've ever seen the short, it's a cute, like, show, and it's everything. Our, there was thunder, our pirate night, so our fireworks got moved to the last night of our cruise. So this was just, like, a really busy day that night. But they did not have the pirate dance party. They just went right to the fireworks, and then it was over. It was perfect.
[00:50:06] Speaker B: I was gonna say, that's better. That's way better. I don't want to stand through. I mean, I like the pirate deck party on the wish because it's fun music and stuff, but the. I could skip most of the pirate deck party on the other ships. Well, I like the show part and the fireworks. I don't need to see. I don't need the whole dance party part. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was good.
[00:50:26] Speaker C: I wish they had that option.
[00:50:27] Speaker B: Every cruise, like, oh, yeah, that's great. Wow. I cannot believe this is also a Pixar. This is like, that's a great itinerary. I'm like, I'm super jealous because that, you know, we haven't done Marvel Day at sea. We haven't done Pixar day at sea, and we've done the other themed things like Star Wars Day at sea and Halloween and Maritime. But, yeah, those are two that I really would like to do, but they're hard to get on the calendar because those darn days don't seem to coordinate with school vacations. So, Disney, if you're listening, can you give us some marvel and Pixar on school vacations? I mean, I know we'll pay a premium for it. We're already paying for spring break.
[00:51:06] Speaker A: Someone asked us about this, I think recently, I forget where, on social media, someplace else would we see this stuff start to happen in the summertime or elsewhere? And I think the thing is, Sam, it's a draw, right? They're trying to get people to sail out of a port. That's not.
It's a desire. Fort Lauderdale is not a bad port, but they have a problem getting people to sail out of Fort Lauderdale.
[00:51:29] Speaker B: But this was Port Canaveral because this was, say, fair, but it was.
[00:51:33] Speaker A: But it's also. It's also a draw for off season, right? Like, that's the other.
[00:51:37] Speaker B: Yes. I think Marvel. Marvel is a draw for both off season and to get people sailing out of Fort Lauderdale. Pixar is a draw for off season. They don't really need it to be a draw for Port Canaveral, but they do it because it's off season. Typically. Typically. So. Yeah. But I'm super jealous, Michelle. All right, what other stuff have we missed before we touch on food?
[00:52:04] Speaker C: Oh, okay. So the weirdest thing that happened to me on the ship, I'm a big cove cafe lover. I go there every morning, get my coffee, and the weirdest thing that happened, I love the art on the cups. So one day, I ordered my coffee, my latte, and it came back, and I was so surprised to find a picture of Snoopy. What?
[00:52:25] Speaker B: Snoopy is not Disney. Snoopy is. Is Charles Schultz. He's not Disney. What did. What was the response? Why did they give you snoopy?
[00:52:34] Speaker C: Gianna? I kind of had that, like, face, too. And the guy. The guy behind the bar was like, oh, it's snoopy. And I was just. So.
[00:52:43] Speaker B: That doesn't make any sense. How did they get a snoopy machine on board?
[00:52:48] Speaker C: I have no idea. That was I by far. I think that's, like, one of the strangest things that's ever happened.
[00:52:53] Speaker A: You know, I wonder if. I wonder if Snoopy. I wonder if Snoopy has gone into the public domain, Sam. Oh, because Charles Schultz is not alive any longer.
[00:53:04] Speaker B: I don't know. I bet it just keeps.
[00:53:06] Speaker A: I mean, Mickey is in the public domain.
Steamboat Willy version of Mickey is in the public domain now. So I just wonder if they pass it the public domain, or it's possible that, you know, they've licensed it previously, and we just don't know. I mean, like, they can print Bart Simpson on your latte. They own the Simpsons. They just don't do anything with it. Right. So that's true.
[00:53:25] Speaker C: I don't think I'd be shocked with Bart over.
[00:53:27] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, I would be somewhat shocked, but I wouldn't be as shocked. Right? I'd be like, at least it's something that I know Disney owns right now. That is very, very odd. Okay, well, now we've got to talk about dining.
Let's start with. Did you do any adult dining?
[00:53:43] Speaker C: Yes, I did, Remy brunch.
[00:53:46] Speaker B: Ooh. We haven't gotten a chance to talk about Remy in a while, and especially we haven't gotten a chance to talk about Remy brunch in a while.
[00:53:52] Speaker A: Well, I'm super curious because I just heard recently that, that, um, from someone who came off of the wish that Enchante brunch is really just now. Enchante dinner served at brunch time. Uh, that they do not have a different menu any longer. I, again, going to put a call out there for listeners. I've. I've heard this from one person. I'm curious if maybe it was something unique to that sailing. But anyone out there who's done Enchante brunch recently, I'd love to know if it was actually brunch or if it was, if it was dinner. And when I posed to you, Michelle, the question, was Remy brunch really brunch? Was it eggs and champagne as it has been in the past?
[00:54:29] Speaker C: No, it was not. It was more like dinner. I have done Remy dinner the first time I was on the dream, and I will say that obviously, that one had more courses than this one did, but it was, you know, the wagyu steak. It was basically the lobster. Yeah. It was more like. Now that I think about it, it was more like the dinner.
[00:54:47] Speaker B: Interesting.
[00:54:48] Speaker A: That's sad to say.
[00:54:49] Speaker B: Well, they had when we did it, Brian, though, remember, we had, like, the poulet rouge and things like that. So we did have. It was a mixture, I would say, like, when we've done it. Like, when we did it a long time ago, it was. It wasn't. I wouldn't say it was like, it wasn't a traditional, what you think of as brunch food. Right. It wasn't like scrambled eggs. But I. But I do remember there being having a brunch feel to it, as opposed to a dinner feel, but, yeah. Had you done Remy before, Michelle? Like, are you guys into Remy? Enchante. Type fine dining, yes.
[00:55:20] Speaker C: We try to do it, but I think because we had gone off the magic class so many times, we were like, okay, let's stem away from Palo. Let's go ahead and do Remy this time. But we had. Did Remy dinner. And, yeah, it was, it was, it was great. I have no complaints. I think it's a good value for all the food that you get in comparison. Um, we had just did, uh, takumi tay at Epcot and have done victorian Alberts, and I think it's like, it's comparable. Like, it's up there, but it's better pricing, actually.
[00:55:46] Speaker B: I agree. I think the pricing is better, and I honestly think the food and the experience are more elevated than what we experienced at Victoria and Alberts, actually, not that we didn't like it, I really enjoyed Victoria and Alberts, but I felt, I think Remy and Enchante are a more elevated experience, actually.
[00:56:05] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:56:06] Speaker B: That's awesome. Well, I love hearing that because we just don't hear that very often. How long was the meal? So that people have an understanding of, like, this is, it's a big chunk of the day if you're going to do one of these brunch experiences.
[00:56:18] Speaker C: It was about, like 2 hours, I would say, because we did do the champagne pairing, so. Yeah, it took a while. Yeah.
[00:56:24] Speaker B: And then, well, good. I like that. I like that. And I like to be able to tell people about it because, like I said, we just don't get that many people doing it. And we have also, like, you been on the magic class ships quite a bit lately. So it's been quite a while since we have been on. On the dream or the fantasy. Well, let's talk about food in the more general sense. Any highlights from this cruise? Were there any Pixar day at seafoods that you thought were particularly good and how was your overall dining experience?
[00:56:56] Speaker C: Yes, we did have a Pixar day at sea menu, which was really. I liked the theming of it. Really. So they had a bao bun from the Pixar shore, which was really cute. We did get churros on this one for the Pixar day at sea menu, which were good.
A lava poke bowl. So just, it was, it was, it was really themed, and I liked it. As far as the food, the food's always great, but since this was my first seven night, I did enjoy lobster night.
[00:57:27] Speaker B: That's right. They don't have that on the shorter cruises. I always forget that. Yeah. You don't get. There are certain menus that they just can't. They don't bring out for the shorter cruises, that they only bring out for the longer cruises. I'm really jealous that you got to have the bao bun because I, I also love that short, and I also love a bell bun.
[00:57:47] Speaker C: The best of both worlds. But, yeah, so it was good. Like, the food, the typical stuff that always stood out to me was like, the Mickey churl waffles, you know, definitely the pan. Is it. The seared pan bass. Sea bass. Is it, I think.
[00:58:02] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. The pan. Pan seared sea bass is super. That's a super good. In enchanted garden, right? Yeah, that's a great lava cake.
[00:58:10] Speaker C: Like, the food was, was good, as always, but the Pixar dance menu was really cute. But dessert was like a cheesecake, and it was more, like, pretty or aesthetically pleasing than anything because it was, like, shaped up a pixar ball. And I was like. It was all right. It just looked cute. Yeah.
[00:58:27] Speaker B: I still maintain the only worthwhile cheesecake on Disney cruise line is that oreo cheesecake on embarkation day. All other cheesecakes on Disney. I do love a cheesecake. Like, a plain cheesecake from a really good, like, bakery or something. But, yeah, every cheesecake I've had on Disney cruise line except Oreo cheesecake is just like. None of them are that great. Yeah. I mean, tasting wise, they. They all look prettier than they taste, but that's something. That's a lot of desserts.
[00:58:54] Speaker A: But to be fair, Samantha, you're a New Yorker, and you are very particular about your cheesecake. You really only like one or two brands. You want nothing in it. You don't like flavors. So, like, let's. Let's be clear. Sam's universe of acceptable cheesecake is generally fairly narrow.
[00:59:12] Speaker B: Yes, that is true. It is a small universe of cheesecake.
[00:59:16] Speaker A: It's an even smaller universe than the universe of acceptable pizza for a New Yorker. So.
[00:59:22] Speaker B: Yeah, because I'm actually not like I'm. To me, like most. There's really not a lot of bad pizza. It's just like, it's either New York pizza or it's not. Right. So I just don't compare the. I don't compare the others to New York pizza. So that's a fair assessment. Brian. I am quite picky when it comes to cheesecake. I'm also just not a huge dessert person in general, so.
[00:59:43] Speaker C: But no, oreo cheesecake is delicious.
[00:59:45] Speaker B: Yes, that's right. That. That's a right answer for anyone thinking, you know, if you ever get asked a question from me in rapid fire about what is your favorite sweet food on board? If you answer oreo cheesecake, you'll automatically win. There's a secret.
[00:59:59] Speaker A: It's gonna be like ray from Ghostbusters or whatever it is. If someone asks you if you want the Oreo cheesecake on Disney cruise line, you say yes.
[01:00:06] Speaker B: You say yes.
[01:00:07] Speaker A: All right, Sam. Well, we need to wind down into rapid fire here. Is there anything we haven't talked about on the cruise, Michelle, that you wanted to be sure to cover?
[01:00:15] Speaker C: I guess if we're talking about the Pixar stuff, they do, like, at the day of sea, they do have the little green men marching around the atrium, just randomly, no fun.
And then they do have a special core memory backdrop where you get the actual core balls and you get a pose with it. So that's cute, too. Aw. The characters were nice, but no, that's about it, really.
[01:00:38] Speaker B: I love that. Oh, I love the green army men, too. I like to go to Sarge says when they have that on board, and they have that sometimes on non Pixar day cruises where it's like, you know, it's like Simon says, but it's sarge from the green men leading it, so it's. It's. Yeah, it's really, really cute. Yeah. Yeah, but no, I think that.
[01:00:57] Speaker C: Yeah, we covered it.
[01:00:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Nice. Well, then, Michelle, 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 a rapid fire. So, Sam, take it away.
[01:01:12] Speaker B: Why, thank you, Brian. Okay, Michelle, I'm going to ask you some of your Disney favorites, and then, of course, your Disney cruise line favorites. Since you have now completed your fab five, you are free to answer with any ship in the fleet or anything on any of the ships in the fleet. So you get much less strict rules than most. All right, but we. But we'll start with who's your favorite Disney character? And by Disney, you could pick Bart Simpson, anything Disney owns.
[01:01:40] Speaker C: I'm going to go with the classic Minnie mouse. I'm a big, like, ear collector, so I would definitely say Minnie Mouse.
[01:01:46] Speaker B: Absolutely. I am a girl who has many ears as well, and I don't have enough racks for the number of ears that I have. So Brian, put it on the list of birthday or Christmas presents or whatever, because I could use another rack for my ears.
[01:02:00] Speaker A: I'm adding it to the list right now.
[01:02:03] Speaker B: I don't have a list.
[01:02:04] Speaker C: There you go.
[01:02:06] Speaker B: I never have too many ears. What is your favorite Disney movie?
[01:02:11] Speaker C: I will definitely have to say up.
[01:02:13] Speaker B: Oh, such a good one. But I cry at the beginning every, every, every time. Okay. Favorite Disney song?
[01:02:19] Speaker C: The lava song.
[01:02:20] Speaker B: Oh, I love that song. You know that I learned how to play that on ukulele because I love that song so much. Yeah, it's so lovely. I'm not great at the rhythm of it. It's actually got a kind of a complicated rhythm, but I can play all the notes and. Yeah, it's wonderful. Okay, moving on to Disney cruise line ship. What is your favorite Disney cruise line stage show on any of the ships? So you already told me that frozen was the best on the fantasy, and that was a correct answer. So I'm actually trusting that you're going to choose from one of the couple of right answers.
[01:02:55] Speaker C: Okay, so we've moved.
[01:02:56] Speaker A: Wait, hold on. We've moved from let the guest answer and they might lose points to badgering them into an answer you want.
[01:03:03] Speaker B: Okay.
[01:03:03] Speaker A: Just want to set that for, you know, future guests. There you go.
[01:03:07] Speaker B: Only for Michelle because I have a feeling she's going to give a right answer.
[01:03:10] Speaker C: Okay. I think it definitely has to be frozen, but a close second is tangled.
[01:03:15] Speaker B: Ah. So those are two of the three acceptable answers I'm going to tell you.
Yeah.
[01:03:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:03:22] Speaker B: The other acceptable answer that is actually my favorite most of the time is beauty and the beast. It's just so, so, so well done. Yeah. And I say most of the time because when I've just seen tangled or frozen and sometimes I'm like, I consider, do I need to change my favorite? Because all three are so, so, so good.
[01:03:42] Speaker C: Yeah, it's hard.
[01:03:43] Speaker B: It's really hard. Okay, favorite bar space on board a Disney cruise line ship. So on any of the ships, but pick your favorite skyline.
[01:03:54] Speaker C: And if you guys didn't know, or maybe you do, it has the magic band thing, how it now sparkles when it changes scenery.
[01:04:03] Speaker B: I didn't know that. Yeah.
[01:04:05] Speaker C: As it's changing, your magic band goes off too with it.
[01:04:08] Speaker B: Oh, that's awesome. Because we have not been on the fantasy or the dream since the Magic band edition.
[01:04:15] Speaker C: So.
[01:04:15] Speaker B: Yes, we have not seen the. Yeah, we have not experienced the flash and the light up and the vibration. When that changes. That's awesome. Do you have a preference between skyline on the dream and the fantasy? Because they are a little bit different.
[01:04:30] Speaker C: They are a little bit different, but no, not really. It's a great bar overall.
[01:04:34] Speaker B: It is a great bar. Okay, favorite onboard activity. Favorite thing to do on a Disney ship.
[01:04:42] Speaker C: That would probably have to be bingo. I'll be answering for my husband's side.
It was, for me, it would be the spa.
[01:04:49] Speaker B: Fair enough. I love it.
[01:04:51] Speaker A: I mean, if you're going to win $2,300 in an activity, I know. That's my favorite activity, too.
[01:04:56] Speaker B: It helps pay for the cruise. Right. So, okay. A favorite space to relax on the ship, aside from the spa.
[01:05:05] Speaker C: Okay. To relax, I would definitely say the adult pool.
[01:05:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Which one do you have a favorite between the ships? Do you like quiet cove on the magic and the wonder? Do you like satellite falls? On the dream and the fantasy?
[01:05:17] Speaker C: I like satellite falls. That's a great place. Yeah.
[01:05:20] Speaker B: Yeah. Love it. All right.
[01:05:23] Speaker A: As Colson would say it's a magical place.
[01:05:25] Speaker B: It is a magical place. Favorite rotational dining on any of the ships.
[01:05:31] Speaker C: This one might not be liked so much, but I really enjoyed animation magic.
[01:05:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I love animator's palette, and I love animation magic, too. That's the best of the. Like, that's the best of the. Sort of classic. I feel like shows, you know? All right, we gotta talk food. I need a favorite sweet item and a favorite savory item. So we'll start with Swede.
[01:05:55] Speaker A: You already gave her the answer.
[01:05:56] Speaker B: Well, she can answer something. Liz, you don't have. I want to be very clear here. You don't have to say Oreo cheesecake here, because there is more than. There's many good answers. And this is very palate specific, so I give people a lot of leeway here. What's your favorite? Sweet.
[01:06:13] Speaker C: I would have to say churro waffles, but with the second close, the lava cake. I don't care if I'm not hungry. I can still, like, continue eating it. Cause it's so good.
[01:06:23] Speaker B: It is good. That one's a little rich for me, but I would. But I would go the churro waffles. Absolutely. I mean, I don't. It's like the perfect breakfast food ever. Okay. A favorite savory food.
[01:06:36] Speaker C: Okay, let's see. I do love the mexican hot pocket in the morning. That's savory.
[01:06:42] Speaker B: That's a Brian food.
[01:06:45] Speaker A: That is the right answer. You win. Rapid fire. We'll stop there.
[01:06:49] Speaker B: No, no, Brian, this is my show.
[01:06:52] Speaker C: And then, if not food wise, I do also enjoy, like, the pan seared sea bass.
[01:06:59] Speaker B: Yeah, that's such a good dish. Okay, now I've got to ask you. I'm going to. I have to throw in this. I have a couple of questions that are optional. Questions that I don't always throw in, but I have to ask you, because you do adult dining.
Remy and Anshanta, I'll put them in one category, versus paulo.
[01:07:18] Speaker C: Ooh, that's a tough one.
[01:07:20] Speaker B: Yeah, right? It is a really tough one. I don't ask this question often, because we don't have a lot of people who are Remy. Enchante. Goers. Right?
[01:07:28] Speaker C: So, yeah, I would definitely have to say, remy. Enchante. But I am an adventurous eater. I do like to try the different options and things like that. So I would definitely say Remy. Enchanted.
[01:07:38] Speaker A: So I got to take it one step further on Sam here and ask.
[01:07:41] Speaker B: Oh, he's going to ask you brunch or dinner?
[01:07:43] Speaker A: No, no. I wanted to know no, I want to split them up now because Remy and Enchante are actually two very different dining experiences. So I'm just curious, which do you prefer?
[01:07:53] Speaker C: I think maybe Remy. Just because it's classic. It's more classic.
[01:07:57] Speaker A: I'll tell you what puts Remy over the top for me. You get a free drink to start the meal, and that's.
[01:08:01] Speaker B: Yeah. The Colette.
[01:08:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:08:04] Speaker C: Don't get the call out for brunch, though.
[01:08:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:08:06] Speaker B: Yeah. You don't. That's right. But. But we love the Colette, so. Yeah. Okay, now we gotta go to water slides.
[01:08:12] Speaker C: Okay.
[01:08:13] Speaker B: Aqua dunk, aqua duck, aqua mouse. Which one is the best?
[01:08:17] Speaker C: Aqua duck. It's the longest of the ones. I think it's the best.
[01:08:21] Speaker B: No, love it. Okay, now, of course, I have to ask you your favorite ship, because now that you finally, you know, finished your fab five, you have to have a favorite. You said you like the dream class the best. Yes. But you have a favorite between the dream and the fantasy.
[01:08:39] Speaker C: I do, but I'm a little biased. It is the dream. Only because I got engaged on it.
[01:08:45] Speaker B: Oh, that's okay. That's a fair answer. I would normally say the fantasy is the right answer, but you can have the dream. Yeah, absolutely. It's special memories that.
[01:08:56] Speaker A: Well, you're so benevolent to allow memory of her.
[01:09:00] Speaker B: I'm a benevolent dancer dictator. Okay, Brian. Benevolent dictator.
[01:09:04] Speaker A: You know, your rapid fire round has come completely off the rails since beginning of the show.
Like it is. It is no longer.
[01:09:11] Speaker B: Brian's gonna start cutting this out of the show now.
[01:09:14] Speaker A: I'm just gonna take over. I'm gonna get this thing back on track where it needs to be, and then I'll hand back the reins, so.
[01:09:21] Speaker B: Okay.
All right, Brian, be quiet. I have one more question. All right, the last question is the.
[01:09:28] Speaker A: Remember, I have the power of the mute button over here, sam, so tell me to be quiet.
[01:09:34] Speaker B: We're letting Brian have too much fun today anyway. Michelle, what is your bucket list? Cruise anywhere in the world you want to go, but you want to do it on a Disney cruise ship, even if the Disney cruise line ship doesn't currently go there. Where are you going?
[01:09:48] Speaker C: I think I have to say Antarctica. It's just. It's so unique. But imagine it doing Disney way, and it'd just be perfect.
[01:09:55] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I love that. That's awesome. You might be able to do it with natgeo or ABd, but not quite with Disney.
[01:10:03] Speaker A: I think abd ended the Antarctica stuff.
[01:10:05] Speaker B: I can't remember if it was. I couldn't remember if it was Antarctica or the arctic circle that they had ended? I always get those too confused, to be perfectly honest. But I think you might be right, Brian. But anyway, there are opportunities to do those on ships, but not right now through Disney cruise line. But that would be amazing.
[01:10:22] Speaker C: Okay.
[01:10:23] Speaker B: Well. Well, Michelle, I know Brian's going to want to jump in here, so I'm going to let him jump in here, since I've. Since I've been a benevolent dictator thus far.
[01:10:31] Speaker C: Did I show?
[01:10:32] Speaker B: You passed with flying colors, Michelle. You did. You absolutely won. Rapid fire. No questions.
[01:10:40] Speaker A: Wow. I find that leaving her tributes helps with the score. So, you know.
So there you go. Tributes of topo chico, accepted to improve your odds at rapid fire. There you go. All right. Well, Michelle, I always like to end the show with what's next. Have you got anything booked on Disney cruise line? Any Disney cruise line vacations you're eyeing? The 2025 itineraries just came out as we're recording this episode. So, yeah. Anything planned?
[01:11:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I have a few, actually. I have a trip for the treasure the same weekend as princess weekend because, like, I'm a big run Disney runner. So we were doing the treasure during that weekend and then for next year, and then I have a trip booked on the wish with, like, my entire immediate family. So there's, like, 14 of us going.
[01:11:27] Speaker B: Oh, fun. It'll be a little crazy, but fun. Yeah.
[01:11:30] Speaker C: A lot of people's first times. Yeah. So I'm kind of navigating that one.
[01:11:35] Speaker B: You're the organizer. That's the rough part of that one.
[01:11:38] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And then with the new itineraries, I'm definitely looking into the mediterranean cruise for next year.
[01:11:43] Speaker B: Oh, nice. Those itineraries on there, if you take.
[01:11:47] Speaker A: It, if you take any of those cruises, you know, let us know. We'd love to have you back, but come on back. Yeah. But for now, Michelle, we will just say thank you so much for taking some time out of your weekend to share your experience with. Just a fabulous sailing on the Disney fantasy, Pixar day at sea, some fun ports, some fun excursions. Thanks for sharing it all with our audience, and we just really, really appreciate it.
[01:12:08] Speaker C: Well, thank you guys for having me. Take care.
[01:12:15] Speaker A: Well, thanks to everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast. You can keep getting great content from us every week. In fact, twice a week we publish shows, so be sure to hit the subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us live. We have a live show now every week. Monday nights 05:30 p.m. pacific 08:30 p.m. eastern over on YouTube.com dclduo so be sure to head over and check that out. If you want help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcast. And if you leave us a written review, a five star written review, we will read it at the top of one of our main episodes. So please head over there and hit those five stars. Of course, you can also help support the show by supporting our fabulous show sponsor, mypath unwinding travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation? Head over to mypathunwinding.com dclduo or email
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