[00:00:00] Speaker A: I forgot to ask up front, how many days left?
[00:00:03] Speaker B: 52, I think.
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:00:05] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
That's like nothing, you guys.
[00:00:09] Speaker A: That's like 51. Oh, you're. Within two months. Oh.
Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episode of the DC L duo podcast, brought to you by my path, unwinding Travel. And Sam, we've got some friends, some globetrotters joining us yet again. We have them both together this time. It's the first time we've had them both together. It's going to be great. We've got Jenny and Leslie joining us from the middle of the ocean, heading toward Ireland aboard the world cruise on the Royal Caribbean serenade of the seas. Thank you so much for joining us once again, Jenny and Leslie, we really appreciate you coming on here.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: Thanks for having.
[00:00:57] Speaker D: Hi, thanks for having us.
[00:00:59] Speaker C: Yeah, welcome back, you guys. This is so fun to have you both on. It's funny because you're each in your own cabins, but you're just, as you mentioned, kind of down the hall from one another. So it's funny, just like Brian and I, we record next door to one another rather than in the same room, even though we are in the same house as we record. But it's fun to check back in with you guys. As Brian mentioned, you're on your way to Ireland. Now, the last time we spoke to each of you, you were both in Asia. We spoke to you a couple days apart because Jenny had taken a detour off the ship for a couple of days and so it was easier to work out times with you each.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: When we last spoke, you were just getting ready to head into Dubai to start the leg of the cruise that was going to go around Africa. Since then, from following your instagram, I know you both have taken some time away from the ship at various points. You've seen multiple 8th wonders of the world.
Just some fabulous adventures. You all have had. A. I want to start with maybe, I hate to do this to you, but there's so much ground to cover. Maybe we could bounce back and forth for a minute with some real highlights for this leg of the cruise that went from Dubai around Africa. And for you, Leslie, I know you got off and went and experienced sort of the european side of things that the ship was going to skip this time around. But how about we do kind of like some five top experiences and I'm sure that we will detour off of those occasionally for some more stories. But. But Jenny, why don't we start with you, like that leg from Dubai to Africa or around Africa. What was a highlight for you?
[00:02:31] Speaker B: Oh, well, it was, first of all, it was amazing. So many highlights, like you said. But I think the biggest one that comes to mind, first of all, that people may not realize is Royal Caribbean did not sell that to the public so family and friends could join. But for the most part it was just world cruisers.
[00:02:51] Speaker D: Oh, wow.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: So we had the ship to ourselves and it was so nice.
[00:03:00] Speaker C: That's amazing. So it's like a much smaller number of cruisers and especially relative to the crew that's on board, you get like even better. I mean, I know you guys have had great service the whole time you've been on from talking to you both, but you got even more personal service. Wow. Did people actually have family and friends? Come on.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Were there, but not a lot. You know, I think the number was around 700 on board. On this ship, that's over 2000 person capacity for just guests, not including crew. So as you can imagine, it was pretty empty. And at this point in time, we know most of our fellow world cruisers are at least acquainted with everyone. So it was very, very fun and familiar. And yeah, we joked it was our own private yacht.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: Did they scale back the crew or any of the onboard services at all for the lower capacity or was it just like a normal cruise, just with fewer people?
[00:03:58] Speaker B: It was a normal cruise with fewer people.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: Amazing. Amazing.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I think crew. It was like two crew to one person, which is absolutely crazy.
[00:04:07] Speaker C: That is nuts. Oh my goodness.
[00:04:10] Speaker A: So, Leslie, from your standpoint, like, what's a, what's a top highlight for you?
[00:04:15] Speaker D: So it's funny that Jenny said that because one of the things that was great for me, I got a lot of highlights and stops. But one thing that was so great was quiet. It was so quiet. It is. So there's just constant activity and noise and chatter and people and talking and, you know, everything on board. And so getting off the ship, it was just palpable how quiet it was. And I. That was just. I missed that and so I just soaked it up. We were off the ship for 40 days. We soaked up a lot of quiet. But I think the number one highlight for us was we chose not to do the Africa leg because the world wonder excursions for Petra in Jordan and the pyramids in Egypt were a non negotiable for us. And so that was where we headed when we left Dubai. We went directly to Egypt. And I think the number one blue out of the water for everything we've done since December was Petra. If you or your listeners have not been to Petra. It is beyond anything I could possibly describe.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: Petra is the, like the. I don't know what to call it. I want to call it like a cathedral, but I'm sure that's not what it's meant to be. Like the cathedral carved into essentially a canyon. Right? Yes. For those, since there are Disney Cruise Line podcast, all of you out there will recognize it from the third Indiana Jones movie as the place where the. The Holy Grail is being kept. But. Yeah. That's what you're talking about. Yes. Yeah. That looks amazing.
[00:05:48] Speaker D: Yes, yes.
It's a whole narrows canyon that you can go miles and miles and miles and miles and miles through. And there are hundreds of carved, literal, like, housing spaces. And treasury is the one you're referring to.
It's just beyond description. Magical. Absolutely loved it.
[00:06:12] Speaker C: That's got to go on our bucket list.
[00:06:14] Speaker D: And I think Jenny and I both did Egypt. Right, Jenny?
[00:06:17] Speaker B: We did. I was just about to say that. So, interestingly, even though I didn't opt out, my husband and I didn't opt out of this segment, we did take an independent journey, which means we disembark the ship and re embark at a different port. And we hopped on up to Egypt to see the pyramids in the four sea days that were between Dubai and the Seychelles.
[00:06:40] Speaker C: Oh, nice. So instead of getting any rest, Jenny, you decided to go to Egypt as well.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: What is rest?
[00:06:48] Speaker C: You can rest when you're dead. Right.
It's funny, our listeners can't see the look on your face, but it's like, I know you guys have been going and going and going and going, and it's just kind of crazy. And so, I know on our last show, when we talked to each of you, we talked about how few c days you had been having, too. And so. And the cds are really, you know, the time for rest and recharging, with one exception, is that, you know, as Leslie mentioned, it's a lot of, like, activity and there's, like, a lot of fomo if you don't, you know, go out and participate in things. But sometimes you just have to just say, no, I'm gonna stay in my cabin and rest because I'm exhausted.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: And full disclosure for our audience. Cause you can't see this, but they are having quite a ride right now, uh, to Ireland. And so. Yes, uh, poor Ginny's got her c bands on. So, uh, just a special thanks here mid. Mid show, just for. For riding this one out with us, because I. I've been on a ship when it's moving. It's not fun. Jenny, I'm curious, though, to go back for a second. How was the experience of the pyramids? Uh, was it as awe inspiring as so many people report or what did you think?
[00:07:57] Speaker B: Yeah, it really is amazing.
[00:08:00] Speaker C: It's.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: It's just unbelievable that they built them. And what really shocked me is you're driving through Cairo and I don't know why I had it in my head that they were out in the middle of nowhere in the desert, but they're just right there in the city, which makes sense, right? But they just stand so tall. And I know Leslie went in inside the pyramid as well. But don't skip that if you get a chance to go, because it's. Unless you're claustrophobic, maybe, but it's tight and you. It's one way in, one way out. It's super crowded, but you just really have an appreciation of why they were building these things and what they were used for and, you know, just how grand they are.
[00:08:44] Speaker C: Right. And without modern machinery, like, that's the crazy thing, right? Like, we can imagine somebody building a pyramid today because we have skyscrapers, but when we think about when they were built and, you know, we still don't really understand how, because they didn't have, you know, bulldozers.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: And we have the Luxor hotel in Vegas says proof point. So there you go.
I forgot to ask up front, how many days left?
[00:09:10] Speaker B: 52, I think.
[00:09:12] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:09:12] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
That's like nothing, you guys.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: That's like 51. Oh, you're. Within two months. Oh.
[00:09:19] Speaker D: And you can't see our faces, but, Jenny, like, 51. Yeah. Like, it is as exhausted as we are. It's just so, like, I'm just trying to hold on.
I'm thinking, like, is there a place I can hide? I don't wanna leave. Don't wanna leave. Yeah.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: What's the mood on board? I mean, as the clock starts to wind down or the discussion starting to turn a little bit to what are we gonna do when this thing is over?
[00:09:45] Speaker D: Yeah, I think that's kind of mixed. I think some people feel the way I do. I think a lot of people are kind of on the 6th month is kind of the sweet spot to what this cruise should be, you know, because it starts to kind of blend together and you kind of start to lose what was where and, you know, what was awesome. And, you know, it's just a lot. But then there's others that just are, you know, saying, oh, my gosh, there's only 51 days left, so. Yeah.
[00:10:12] Speaker A: Well, Jenny, just to pause for a second on this sort of bouncing back and forth on favorites. I know you had your parents join you on board, so this has got to be kind of mixed feelings because you're sailing with your family, which has got to be great to be seeing them again, but also you're winding the clock down with them. So. Yeah. How's your mood doing these days?
[00:10:27] Speaker B: Oh, yes, it was.
I mean it's great. Everything is going so well. But yes, my parents joined. Unfortunately, their cruise booking wasn't affected by the big itinerary change that we've been talking about. So they joined in Ravenna, Italy and sailed all around Italy with us. We visited five different countries and we just had such a good time.
[00:10:50] Speaker C: Awesome. Now are they still on board or how long were they on board for?
[00:10:55] Speaker B: No, they were on board for twelve nights.
[00:10:57] Speaker C: Oh. So they did like a normal long cruise.
[00:11:01] Speaker A: What's normal anymore? Yeah. Yeah.
[00:11:03] Speaker D: There you go.
[00:11:04] Speaker B: Yeah. So if people aren't aware throughout this cruise people have been able to join. It's just that when we had the big itinerary change to sail around Africa rather than through the Middle east because it was such a big change and such, you know, going to so many ports that Royal Caribbean doesn't typically go to, they, they held their word and didn't sell it to the public.
[00:11:25] Speaker C: Yeah. Which it's interesting because they wouldn't have had like excursions and things set up right ahead of time. They had to probably scramble a bit to set things up for all of you. And as you mentioned, about 700 people, you know, those ports are not generally cruise, you know, familiar. Right. They don't have cruise ships coming to them on a regular basis like the other ports that you all were more, you know, originally set to go to, although those are also unique ones. But yeah. So I'm sure that scrambling to figure out excursion options and tour providers and all of that for 700 people is hard enough, much less 2000 people. And so I think that's really great, frankly. I mean, obviously royal could have sold more and that would have put more money in their pockets. But I think it's really great that they committed to making sure that the world cruisers had such a great time and that the focus was on you all. So that's, that's awesome. Yeah. I don't usually give shout outs to companies like that, but I actually have to in this case.
[00:12:28] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:12:28] Speaker B: And it really was great. Just, you know, before we move on to Europe, like going to visit those places we visited in Africa. It truly did feel like once in a lifetime, like, we went to so many countries that, like, have never, probably would have never been at the top of my list, but we got to see so many different parts sailed all the way around the Cape. South Africa was a highlight for me. It was so beautiful. We had an overnight in Cape Town, and I posted a lot about South Africa in my social media. If anyone wants to go back and look and you'll see just how much fun we had there. So just going back to highlights, I know we've been jumping around a lot, but that was a big, big highlight for me.
[00:13:05] Speaker A: Yeah. And what, outside of South Africa, any other big highlights out of Africa that you'd want to? Because, again, I think so many folks don't get the chance to do that, and it's such an interesting destination. So, yeah. Any other big highlights that you'd call out on Africa?
[00:13:20] Speaker B: Another one that we loved and that a lot of people loved was Namibia, which is on the west side, down towards, you know, the southern part of the continent of Africa. It was just so beautiful. It was cooler weather. So if you know, this cruise, you know, we've been chasing summer around the world and it's been hot. So being around South Africa and Namibia and the southern parts was so refreshing because it was winter down there, so it was cool, nice weather. I mean, there were so many great excursions. We often do our, like, our own excursions and just had such a great time. Senegal also was a place that I never really knew much about or thought about, and we just had an excellent safari. And the thing across the board with the continent of Africa, the thing I learned is that you can go on amazing safaris in just one day. I kind of had the impression that you had to go on these multi day game drives. And while I certainly want to do that, it's on my bucket list in the future. We went on so many amazing safaris in just one day at port. Right. And highly recommend for anyone that will be cruising or visiting Africa.
[00:14:29] Speaker C: Did you see the big. What is it, the big five? The big six? I forget what the number is. Did you see the animals?
[00:14:36] Speaker B: We saw four of the five, which is crazy.
We never did an overnight. You know, we did our independent journey of the pyramids, but we never did an independent journey when we were sailing around the continent of Africa. And on our safaris, we saw, I think, again, these are just one day game drives. We saw four of the big five, which was the only one we didn't see was the leopard, which is very hard to see, I've heard.
[00:15:00] Speaker C: Oh, that's amazing, though. Wow.
[00:15:02] Speaker A: Well, Leslie, let's hop back over to you. You got off the ship and did your own independent journey for a good chunk of time through Europe. Some of the highlights in Europe that. That you'd want folks to know about.
[00:15:15] Speaker D: So one thing I want to say first is just another, not compensated or sponsored by Royal Caribbean, but a shout out to them, because they also had to accommodate just a whole bunch of people going in a million different directions with this Africa change. And they were just unbelievably supportive. We had one on one meetings with several people wanting to make sure that we were happy. We did what we wanted to do. We were 100% compensated for the 40 days we were off ship. So they retained our cabin, all of our stuff in the cabin. We could not have asked for anything else. And it was as seamless to get off. Seamless to get back on. They were opened arms when we got back. Just an extraordinary. I'm so grateful to them and the people on board that helped facilitate that. There was a lot involved and just concerned. So shout out to them again. Yeah, we. We did 40 days. We got off in Dubai, went to Egypt, spent time in Egypt, went to Jordan, did Petra. Then we did about 20 days in Italy. We started in Rome and worked our way up. We had about a week planned in Italy. And then we decided we were just going to go town by town, and if we liked somewhere, we were going to stay. If we didn't, we were going to move on. And it was one of the best decisions we could have made is we just found some. Just amazing places and spots. We spent seven days in Tuscany just unwinding and drinking and unwinding and drinking.
[00:16:50] Speaker C: And eating gelato, I hope, wineries.
[00:16:54] Speaker D: And really just soaking in just real relaxation, which was beautiful. Another highlight for us is we went up to Milan. We were originally going to Milan because we were going to see Bruce Springsteen in concert in Milan.
[00:17:09] Speaker C: Amazing.
[00:17:10] Speaker D: Yeah. He actually canceled his concert. He had health issues.
Yeah. So we saw Eric Clapton in Luca, and. Huge thing in Luca. Oh, my.
[00:17:21] Speaker C: We've been to Luca. We have actually been to Luca.
[00:17:25] Speaker D: Okay, so time out. I had no idea about Luca. I wanted to go to Pisa, and I did not want to stay in Pisa because I was afraid it was going to be just a tourist mess. And so I looked at the map and said, the closest place to Pisa is Luca. Had no idea. Got a hotel in Luca. And it is one of our favorite spots we've been to since December. Absolutely loved Luca. Spent three days there, saw Eric Clapton.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: So, Leslie, I wish I'd known you were going to Luca, because I would have given you the tip that we. So we always tell people now if they're thinking about going to Pisa to stop in Luca. There's a wine store in Luca. I don't know if you made it in, but when you walk in, I bet you did. It's, like, the size of a medium sized closet, but all their wine is stored underground in caves that, like, predate the birth of Christ. And they will take you down and. And let you see, like, they've got. And they've. Their claim to fame is they have one bottle of wine from, like, every year, you know, since a certain date, and, yeah, it was unbelievable.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:23] Speaker D: So. But while we were in Milan, we decided we weren't real thrilled with Milan, and so we decided to take the train from Milan to. Through Switzerland. We did the Bernina express through Switzerland, and I also have pictures of that on my social media. That was insane. On the train going through the mountains in Switzerland. Literally, a little excursion, and. But, oh, my gosh, it was just magical. Switzerland is amazing. We originally were going to do Switzerland, and instead, we did this train ride for a day through Switzerland and changed our plan again, because, remember, we had no plan, so we were just winging it. And my husband found the Met game. The New York Mets were playing in London. So instead, we spent four days in London, went to the meth game, and then we saw Liam Gallagher in concert in London, which was unleashed and incredible. So, yeah, it was. It was crazy. We went to the Dolomites. The Dolomites. Another huge recommendation. If anyone has not been to the Dolomites, that is off the chart. So, yeah. Zachary.
[00:19:35] Speaker C: I can't believe that you guys just, like, did this all seat of your pants. Leslie, like, how does. How does one get comfortable with that level of discomfort? Let me put that out there.
[00:19:46] Speaker D: Well, you know, if you've been to Italy, it's not very difficult. Right. Because they're there. Their transit system is incredible. So we weren't real worried about the transit. We did rent a car to do Tuscany for a little bit, but we're super adventurous, and we're also just kind of super supportive of each other. And as long as I've got him and he's got me, we'll figure it out. You know, we've got a credit card, and we got our passports. We'll. We'll figure it out. We had a carry on. We each only took a carry on with us for 40 days.
Yeah. But we also made strategic stops to make sure we could do laundry. And so, you know, we just kind of were like, what do you think? How do you feel? And we're usually pretty much on the same page, so, like, okay, are you done now? Yep. So then where do you want to go and how are we going to get there? And. Yeah, short of Cairo, doing Egypt and Jordan, we had a booked, planned whole private excursion, you know, trip for that. We had a private guide, private car that we were not going to do on our own. But the rest of it, we just, you know, kind of were like, let's go see how it goes. And we did, and we had an incredible time. We mentioned coming back that when you think about cars and trains and planes and walking and getting on the ship, getting off the ship, the amount of things that could go wrong, and it was absolutely seamless.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: Leslie, I want to ask, before we jump back over to Jenny, I just want to ask one question. So you kind of got a taste of being back amongst the rest of civilization in, like, a non cruise setting there. Uh, maybe a taste of the, uh, the reintegration experience you'll have coming up here in a couple months. But, like, what, what was that like? Was that, were you like, I'm longing to be back on this ship, uh, very, very soon, or were you like, it's just, it's the same. It's more the same, just a different way of doing it.
[00:21:26] Speaker D: It's. There's definitely pros and cons to land and sea travel that is crystal clear now. Right? I definitely know there's benefits to cruising and having everything accommodated for you. I don't have to think about where I'm going to eat, when I'm going to eat. I don't have to think about how I'm going to get there, when I'm going to get there. I don't have to think about where I'm going to sleep. Right. And that whole thing. But also, we've had restrictions on the amount of time we can spend in ports. So our trip, we said we're going to sit until we don't want to sit anymore and then we're going to move. And so there's that benefit. But we also had to rent cars. We had to get train tickets. We got plane tickets. So, you know, it's pros and cons. We definitely loved the land part because we could spend more time. But I'll tell you, getting when we got to Ravenna, we took a bus from Venice to Ravenna. Coming around the corner and seeing the serenade, I just lost it. I was screaming on the bus, yay. There she is.
[00:22:21] Speaker A: There she is.
[00:22:22] Speaker D: I was so excited. And then getting on board, they were saying welcome home. And everybody was hugging us and stuff. And so we were definitely ready to get back and see our friends on board and excited to come back. It was just kind of a little bit of both. I don't think it's going to integrate me back home, though. Back home, I know I'm not getting back on board. And so that's. Yeah, that's a journey I'm going to go down on September 11. I don't even want to think about it.
[00:22:46] Speaker A: Yes, yes. All right, well, try to minimize that. It's like when we're on a cruise and our son's like, so when are we getting off? I'm like, no, no, don't talk about that. We don't talk about that.
All right, Jenny, let's come back over to you. What's another highlight of this trip? You talked about Africa a little bit. What are some highlights post Africa?
[00:23:03] Speaker B: Well, we kind of a highlight and also a tiring aspect. We're in Europe now and we just got off of a stretch of 18 straight port days, which is like, it's such a conundrum because it's so incredible that we are visiting so many places, but just it's also so challenging to visit so many places.
You know, actually, my husband and I, we did just got get off the ship for a night in Morocco. We went and stayed in Marrakech for the night. So Morocco is in Africa, but this was part of our original scheduled itinerary. So if you can imagine, we've done the whole Mediterranean. Then we came through the Strait of Gibraltar and went down south to Morocco, visited two ports, and now we're headed back up, as you've heard, toward Ireland. But we got off the ship and it's just a good reminder of just how fortunate and thankful we are to be here. And doing this, like, it can become quite tiring. And, like, visiting this many ports is overwhelming. I will just not even deny that. But just stepping away from home is like, wow, we are seeing so much of the world. And, yeah, it's now that we're off of that 18 day stretch, that was the first time we had that many ports in a row.
[00:24:27] Speaker C: And with that 18 day stretch, do you feel like you even remember each port individually or do they kind of blend together. Right. Like, in other places, I'm sure. So unique that they really stand out, but, like, yeah, I don't know that many ports back to back. Does that really impact your ability to remember and differentiate the different places?
[00:24:52] Speaker B: I feel like I'm pretty good at the memories, and I take tons of pictures, right. Not just for social media, but for the memories. I'm journaling when I can, too, so. So I feel like I do pretty well of remembering where we were. My husband's always turning to me and saying, where were we when we did this? And I, like, I'm on it, but I will say the hard part for me is I'm not getting to, like, research places that I norm, like I normally would. So this is my first time ever in Europe. Like, this is all new to me. Until we get to New York City, basically, until we get back to the US. And so there's obviously so much history. And, Leslie, I don't know if you're struggling with this as well, but I just don't have time nor the capacity to take in, like, the history, the culture, the. It's just. It's a. I'm not able to travel necessarily the way I love to right now. It's more of just seeing the sites, taking it in, making those mental notes, putting it in my journal, and coming back to it one day. Whether it's just me, I need to personally research somewhere or going back to visit, like. Like, maybe, like Leslie was doing on land, spending more time in a place that we fell in love with.
[00:25:58] Speaker D: Yeah, it definitely exposes you to the area, so you can say, you know, okay, I really liked it here. We came around the corner in Malta, and it was jaw droppingly beautiful. And I just had no idea, like, had no idea, no research, no information about Malta. Like, where are we? It felt like we were in a Game of Thrones episode. It was just stunning. Stunning. So, you know, it definitely exposes you, but a lot, especially some of these, you know, european areas. You know, you've got a lot of churches and a lot of, you know, little cobblestone streets, and it's a lot of a similar experience. And so it does. And it's a beautiful problem to have to have too many ports. Right. But when you are, it's hard to not rejuvenate, to really be able to get up and go again. You kind of have to practice self care. And is this a day that I need to really just stay on board and rest?
[00:26:53] Speaker E: We know that people trust Disney for their vacations.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: And it can sometimes be a little.
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[00:27:59] Speaker A: So I want to co opt one of your highlights from each of you for a second and ask favorite local food experience that you've had on this leg of the trip because you've hit some pretty broad ranging regions at this point. So, yeah. Favorite local food experience. Let me start with you, Jenny.
[00:28:16] Speaker B: Okay, so in Africa, the first one that came to mind is this is so wild. But we went to, we hired a local guide, and as part of the day we, this was in Senegal. We went to his home. He took us to his home and they served us a traditional senegalese dish, which is probably, maybe more people would be familiar with, like paella style, right? Huge pot, rice, vegetables, local meats. We had a lot of fish and there was chicken and. But the interesting part was you all sit around and eat out of the same dish, like, with your hands, like rice. Imagine like rice. And the woman of the house that cooked, she was sitting there stirring the pot the whole time with her hands. So it was like, so delicious, but also a little challenging to eat.
But then they picked mangoes from the tree in their backyard and cut them up right there. We had fresh mango. I mean, probably the best mango I've ever had. It doesn't get fresher than that. So that one really stands out to me.
[00:29:30] Speaker C: Wow. I bet it was delicious. But you have to kind of suspend any, like, germaphobia stuff that you have. Like, if you, you know, as an american, like, eater, we don't tend to share our plate, except maybe with our spouse or our child. You know, we tend to have like, you know, even family style meals. We serve usually, you know, with a serving spoon and we put it on our own plate. And this is, that's an american style eating. Right. But in many other places in the world, yeah, I'm actually thinking that, I know in, like in Morocco, in parts of Africa, like there, you know, oftentimes there's like a shared food source and that's very, very different, so. Wow, interesting. Leslie. Leslie, what about you? What was either unique or amazing food experience on this leg?
[00:30:23] Speaker D: So, I mean, we were in Italy for so much of it, that kind of speaks for itself. But a couple funny stories about that one. I brought a whole bunch of protein bars because I was worried about, I'm a vegetarian, so that was a challenge already out of the gate, right? And so I brought a bunch of protein bars for Egypt and Jordan because I had no idea. And actually the food was amazing and I never even ate them. I started just, you know, packing them for our Europe trip in case we needed a snack on the road. You know, we had tapas in Spain that were just incredible. It wasn't this leg, but I eat fish, obviously.
I eat fish even though I'm vegetarian, I guess, pescatarian. And the fish, you're, you know, on the Mediterranean, you can't like, it's just, just salted cod. It's me. Amazing fish all over Japan. Not in this lake, but Japan was amazing for the fish. So yeah, the food is a whole incredible experience. You gotta be open to eating it. My husband's not super open to eating alternative foods and so, you know, you gotta be open to eating it. But wow, what an incredible. That is a whole like, podcast we could probably, Jenny and I could have for months about food all over the world. Crazy, different, yummy, amazing experiences.
[00:31:42] Speaker C: I have a different category of question to ask you, which is a favorite souvenir. Right? Like, I'm sure you guys have to be really choosy about what you purchase along the way so that you don't end up like, with a room full of just stuff that you won't even remember, you know, where it came from or what it was or whatnot. Because obviously visiting so many different places.
[00:32:04] Speaker A: But this is not a good exercise for a Disney cruiser who just merch? Yeah, all the merch.
[00:32:10] Speaker C: Because, yeah, we Disney cruisers, we buy all the things that we can't help ourselves. But mostly that's in the shop on board because it's Disney branded stuff. But I'm sure you guys aren't really buying stuff on the shop on board other than if you ran out of deodorant or toothpaste or something like that.
But yeah. Curious as to, is there a favorite unique maybe or just meaningful souvenir that you've gotten recently that you're just really excited about to bring home? Leslie, let's start with you.
[00:32:43] Speaker D: I would say a couple things for me. For me, I would buy anything if I found it and loved it and wanted it, and I'll figure out a way to get it home. But I actually haven't really on that page for me, like the experience and taking it all in. I've learned so much in this 179 square foot cabin that we can live with so much less than we have or think we need. So when we buy a lot of stuff, like, I just. I don't know. I don't really. It's just not the experience for me more. But I did create a little bitty. I have about four inches of wall space in the cabin on the bathroom wall that's in the hallway, not inside the bathroom. That I put magnets only for the places that are like the top, top super spots because they were super special. So those are cool because they. They're kind of, you know, the extra super spots. But, yeah, I haven't. I've gotten some gifts, but otherwise I got a japanese dress.
[00:33:40] Speaker C: Oh, fun.
[00:33:41] Speaker D: In Vietnam. Yeah. That was just cool to wear on board and, you know. Yeah. Otherwise it's really the experience for me.
[00:33:48] Speaker C: I love it. Love it. Well, the magnets are a great idea. Cause it's like a visual reminder, right. Of the places that you love and maybe you want to go spend even more time back at. What about you, Jenny?
[00:33:58] Speaker B: Yeah. So, you know, in a similar manner, we, my husband and I are pretty minimalistic. If y'all remember, we back in the.
[00:34:07] Speaker C: US, we live solely out of our life.
[00:34:12] Speaker B: Small living is very familiar to us. And like Leslie said, we've learned for a while now that we need so much less than we think. So if I get a souvenir, it's a functional souvenir, an easy one, right. Is clothing. Clothing doesn't last forever, certainly, but it's a great reminder of somewhere you've been. So the thing that comes to my mind is when we were in India, I don't know what came over me, but indian clothing is just so stunning. So I bought an indian sari, which, whatever, you know, I know you can't see us, but whatever you're picturing in your head, like, the sparkly, beautiful fabric, like, traditional kind of indian wear, you may be thinking in your head, like, that's what I bought. It's 6 meters long, and you wrap it. You wrap it all around you. No pins, nothing. And it's got sequins all around, rhinestones all over it. I've worn it for, like, formal nights on board, and I bought that. And then I bought a. If you look back at my Taj Mahal pictures, you'll see a traditional India dress as well that I wore that day. And then I bought a more just standard dress that's super bright and colorful and gold and pink that I could wear back home in the US. It's kind of indian looking, but not so traditional. So, yeah, that's what comes to mind for me.
[00:35:31] Speaker C: I feel like you've got to get invited to an indian wedding then, Jenny, because it sounds like you have, like.
[00:35:35] Speaker D: I'm prepared now you have all the.
[00:35:38] Speaker C: Outfits because there's, like, multiple with indian wedding. It's like a multi day event. Right? So if you've got a couple different outfits. Yeah.
[00:35:45] Speaker B: And I met the. We had an indian folkloric group on board that did singing and dancing, and I met them and talked with them. Actually. They ended up helping me with my sari to tie it more because trying it on your own is so hard. It's so hard to tie and tuck and do. Do this traditional wear. So they helped me, and they were like, oh, yeah, you got, like, a Bollywood style one. So I was like, yeah. Yes.
[00:36:09] Speaker C: I love it. That's awesome.
[00:36:11] Speaker D: You know what? Sam, too. I'll say. Although Jenny and I haven't bought a ton of things, we will leave with a ton of things because royal has given us a ton of stuff. Like, they need to give us a piece of luggage to take all of our stuff home with us.
[00:36:27] Speaker C: What kinds of stuff?
[00:36:28] Speaker D: Like, everything you can imagine. One thing that we used, we took with us to Italy is they give us a raincoat, which is this, like, totally collapsible down, gets into a little package. But it was a lifesaver raincoat. We've gotten hats, umbrellas, beach towels, koozie cups, wine cups. Cup cups, scarves. All the excursions. We get something special. We got over. Yeah, the cross body bag.
It's endless. There's always something they're leaving in our rooms with these special little notes saying, you know, just a little something from us. And. And, yeah, it's. When we came back, we wondered if we were going to have the things while we were. While we were gone. And they had just lined them up on our bed.
[00:37:13] Speaker C: Oh, my God. How often? So Jenny has been showing us a couple of the things. One was a crossbody bag and one was a hat. Actually, a quite nice, like, straw. It's not a fedora. Bigger than a fedora, but, yeah, I can't describe it other than that larger brim than a fedora, but kind of fedora style. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah, totally. Vacation hat. Love it. Yeah. So how often are they giving you guys something? And that's branded with. It says world cruise. I noticed on the wrap around, but you can take the wraparound off, but.
[00:37:48] Speaker D: It'S cool memory item, you know, to have the world cruise and the date on there. And I don't know, we've probably gotten enough to say maybe once a month.
[00:37:56] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, that's a lot.
There are gifts that you get on cruises usually for, like, your, like, loyalty status. They'll usually give you gifts, but, I mean, you guys are, of course, now the highest level loyalty status on Royal Caribbean.
[00:38:15] Speaker D: We've also gotten them on the elite excursions. You know, they included the seven world wonders. So as we've been doing those and getting gifts from Royal, when we went on those, Jenny's showing a little pin right now. They've given us these little pins that have all the world wonders on them that are little pins. We get certificates for all the different world wonders.
[00:38:34] Speaker A: Oh, well, challenge.
[00:38:36] Speaker C: Challenge coin. Yeah.
[00:38:38] Speaker D: We got to China and we got on the bus after doing the great wall of China, we got on the bus and they gave us these super cool bookmarks that look like almost Christmas ornaments, but they're bookmarks scarves when we were in India. Yeah. It's been just unbelievable.
[00:38:57] Speaker C: That is so cool. Wow.
[00:38:59] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:38:59] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:38:59] Speaker A: That is really cool. That is really cool. I feel like they should create a specialty, loyal, a special loyalty level for all. You should just be top tier, but then, like an elevated tier. Oh, world cruiser. Yes. You get everything, right?
[00:39:12] Speaker C: You just get the title.
[00:39:14] Speaker D: Yeah. And you'll have vote 667 for that because we've all said that already. We need to go from the diamond plus to world cruise to pinnacle because there's such a huge jump. Pinnacle that the majority of us won't make pinnacle in our lifetimes. And so if there could be another tier in there, that was world Cruise tier, we would all be very happy about that.
[00:39:36] Speaker A: And one step further, you should be above pinnacle. World Cruise should be the top level, because that's, like, such a unique experience to have on royal. There's going to be so few of you up there, so. Yeah. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Amazing. Let's talk.
We've talked favorite food, favorite souvenir off the cruise. We're going to go whole cruise here of the wonders of the world you've seen. Do you have a favorite, Leslie?
[00:39:59] Speaker D: So, on board? Yeah, on board. Out of all the world wonders, if they were, let's say, tens out of a scale of one to ten, all the world wonders were tens. Petra was 100. It's that good.
[00:40:15] Speaker C: Wow.
Holy cow.
[00:40:18] Speaker A: Amazing. All right, Jenny, what about for you?
[00:40:21] Speaker C: Jenny's now jealous she has to go to Petra.
[00:40:25] Speaker D: She will the second. The week she gets home.
[00:40:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:40:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
It's so hard to pick, I will say honest. So just. Just the world wonder by itself, not including the travel to get there, you know, because some. Some were quite a bit of travel to get there. The Taj Mahal stands out to me. There was just an energy there that is hard to explain. Like, it's not. There's so many people local to the country that are there that you can tell they've waited their whole lives to see this. And I cried. I actually recorded my reactions on my social media. I don't know, it's just. And it's very well hidden. Like, you can. Unlike the pyramids, you cannot see it anywhere as you're approaching it and in the very long journey to get there. So I will say the journey to get there was not my favorite of, but there was just something inexplainable about that kind of vibe you get when you're at the Taj Mahal.
[00:41:27] Speaker C: Speaking of the wonders, what's the most difficult to sort of get to? And then I'll ask what's sort of the easiest one to sort of get to for, like, accessibility? If somebody just was like, I want to see a world wonder, but I don't want to go through days and days of travel to get to see it. Obviously, Machu Picchu is a difficult one, but what's the most difficult one that you all got to go to? Leslie, I'll ask you that question and then I'll ask Jenny what's the easiest one?
[00:41:59] Speaker D: Yeah. So that's a difficult question, too, because there's a lot of difficult ones, which also makes this journey just so special because we were afforded the ability to see some really remote and incredible places. But again, you know, for me, although it's also my number one, getting to Petra is a journey through the desert in Jordan. And we were in a car with a guy we had met like, you know, 8 hours ago in the middle of absolutely nowhere. And I had a moment thinking like if something happened out here, we are literally in the middle of the desert in Jordan because it's about a three hour drive from Amman to get to Petra. So that's a journey. And then just getting in to see it, you know, you're hiking through the narrows. So it's. Yeah, it's a lot. It's worth every single second.
[00:42:49] Speaker C: I would walk 500 miles.
[00:42:54] Speaker A: I mean, I got. I gotta believe. I gotta believe. To your question, Sam, I would assume since you. I think you both. You both. You did not see the pyramids, right, Leslie? Is that right?
[00:43:04] Speaker D: I did. I saw them pyramids.
[00:43:05] Speaker C: Yes, you did. They both saw the pyramids. Yeah.
[00:43:07] Speaker A: I would assume the easiest one is the pyramids.
[00:43:09] Speaker E: Right.
[00:43:09] Speaker A: Cause you can fly directly into Cairo. You could. You know, there's tour providers that could get you out there.
[00:43:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Like I was saying, the pyramids are right there. You can just drive by them.
That really, really surprised me. Yeah, yeah. Of course, getting in there and buying the ticket and getting up close is certainly worth it. But honestly, I think Christ the redeemer was the easiest. First of all, you can see it from anywhere in Rio, Brazil. And then you could certainly choose to hike up the stairs if you wanted. But there was also escalators, elevators. Like you, you drive on a bus or whatever your means of all the way up to as far as you can, then hop on the elevator. It was crowded, but I think that one was maybe the most accessible.
[00:43:55] Speaker A: I'm curious for the one that I've been most curious about lately, and I don't know why. The Great Wall of China, could you really get a sense of it from visiting it? Because it's such a massive, massive thing. Right. And I'm just wondering, could you get a sense of the scale of it? And I've also heard it's very, very crowded. So I don't know if you experienced that, but do you feel like you got a really good sense of the great Wall? Or is it something that needs something more to really understand it?
[00:44:19] Speaker B: I don't know if any of us can. I mean, you. I don't. I think that's kind of what makes it so great is you can't. Because you see, you're driving along and you're. You see it as you're driving along, which also is cool. I don't know why this is so cool. If you're like driving and you see that. No wonders. This clearly amazes me. But yeah, I mean, I think that. I think that's what makes it so great is you can't appreciate just how big it is. I will say being there, I knew it was gonna be steep. I had no idea it was that steep. And it's also the stairs are. Parts of the stairs are huge and parts of it are uneven. And, you know, it was designed that way to keep others out. So it makes sense why it was like that. But it was. That one was amazing too. And we got so lucky because we were the only group there at the park we visited. Leslie, you were on that one at night, right?
[00:45:11] Speaker D: I shout out to Royal. They shut down the wall section we were at just for us at night. And let me tell you, like there you can't even. This stuff is just crazy. It's just crazy. It was dark, lit up. They had local performers performing all the way up to the wall for us. We're climbing in the wall with maybe, I don't know, 400 other people maybe out there because not all, maybe 500, not all the world cruisers went on that excursion and some of them had already seen it. And so to be out there on, at night lit up. Just us being able to take pictures without 8 billion people in them. Yeah, it's just, it's just crazy. And on that note, I'll say too, and Jenny will probably agree with this. For Egypt and Jordan, you know, with what's going on in the Middle east, those countries have just gotten just slaughtered with tourism and being in Egypt and being a. In Jordan, you know, for example, in Petra, they usually have about 5000 people visit Petra every day. And if there were 500 when we were there, I have pictures that are literally, there's no one in my pictures. I have pictures of us on the backside of the pyramids. There's no one in the picture. And, you know, that's bittersweet. It's a beautiful experience for us but it was very difficult, you know, to be with those people who desperately live on those tourist sites. So that made for a very interesting experience as well.
[00:46:51] Speaker A: Cruise all the way around has been fascinating to follow. So, yeah, just amazing. Amazing. What are you, as we look forward, what are you looking forward to the most out of these last 51 days? On board. Like what a port stop. An experience like, what are you really looking forward to? It could be the 13 days of. It's typically 13 days of downtime to get across the Atlantic, but, yeah. What are you looking forward to the most?
[00:47:14] Speaker B: We are looking forward to Norway. That one is definitely shining in the itinerary of what's upcoming. So my husband and I are really big hikers. I can say we've hiked around the world now, and it is totally doable from cruise stops.
[00:47:32] Speaker C: Are you doing pulpit rock?
[00:47:33] Speaker B: Do we need to do pulpit rock?
[00:47:35] Speaker C: Yes. You need to do pulpit rock?
[00:47:37] Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes.
[00:47:38] Speaker C: If you're big hikers, you need to do pulpit rock. It is, it is. Are you stopping in ten hikes? Yeah. In the. In the world.
[00:47:46] Speaker A: Oh, but they're not stopping in sevanger.
Yeah. It's most accessible from Stavanger. It. If you want to get a sense of.
[00:47:53] Speaker C: There might be another port close.
[00:47:55] Speaker A: Yeah. If you go out to.
What is it? I don't remember which mission impossible it.
[00:47:59] Speaker C: Is, but there's one of the mission impossible movies.
[00:48:01] Speaker A: Yeah. He's hanging off the side of this cliff that juts out, and that is.
[00:48:05] Speaker C: Pulpit rock into the fjords.
[00:48:07] Speaker A: The hike is amazing. Cause they actually, like, they laid planks of wood down to protect the. You know, so, like, you're. You're walking basically across boardwalks for part of the hike. And it does get steep, but they carve stairs. So, anyway, if. If you are Jenny, I so recommend. It's such a great hike. It's such a great hike.
[00:48:22] Speaker C: Yeah. It's considered one of the top ten, like, hikes in the. In the world. Not because it's a difficult hike, but because of the views. It's just incredible. Yeah.
[00:48:32] Speaker B: Yeah. I'll have to look that up. Cause we go to six different stops in Norway, which is pretty exciting. Cause you really do get a sense of the country when you're able to stop that many times as we have for some of these other countries we've visited. So, yeah, we've got the. Already planning the hiking we're gonna be doing there. So I'll definitely look into that one.
[00:48:49] Speaker D: Plus, our captain is from Norway, so he is very excited to just drag us all through everywhere. And he had never. When we talked last time or the first time, I was telling you that he had never been through the chilean fjords, and so he drug us all through the chilean fjords to just check them all out. And we went down some areas that we probably wouldn't have gone down just because he wanted to show them to us. And so to go through the norwegian fjords with him, um, that is his. Like, he knows that area like the back of his hand, so that is going to be really, really special.
[00:49:24] Speaker B: And he's the kind of captain your listeners will be familiar with with this. Maybe he's just the kind of captain that will come on. He just has that kind of fatherly aura to his voice, and he's talking us through both the good times and the bad times. Like, he prepared us for the rough seas we're having today and back to the Chilean Fords, like, fjords he talked us through that, gave us history, told us about each of the glaciers we were seeing. So I cannot commend him enough for the way he has cruised us around the parts of the world he's been on the cruise for.
[00:49:57] Speaker D: Yeah, he's incredible. He tells us all the sightings. He tells us when he sees stuff in the water, you know, there's a whale on the port side or whatever, and he calls. Calls us fellow sailors when he comes on the system to announce something. And so we're kind of all in it together, so it's cool. He's cool.
[00:50:15] Speaker A: I'll say. I'll say. Norway was one of our favorite spots. I so hope he gets to take you up, because those fjords are closing to big cruise ships here in the next year or so. And so, like, that was the best experience that we had. And, yeah, loved every port stop that we had in. In Norway. I'm curious about one thing, about the captain. Before Sam asked her question.
Has he been on with you the entire cruise? Because that's a long contract for him. That's impressive.
[00:50:41] Speaker D: Yeah, we've had two.
[00:50:42] Speaker A: We've had two. Okay. Okay.
[00:50:44] Speaker D: Went off for, I think, two months, two and a half months, something, and then he came back.
[00:50:49] Speaker C: Isn't that funny? His entire vacation, and he. And you were, you know, still on the ship, basically.
[00:50:55] Speaker B: I was gonna say, this one specializes in arctic water, arctic and antarctic waters.
[00:51:00] Speaker C: So.
[00:51:00] Speaker B: So that's why we've had him on for this last segment. And we also had him on for the first segment when we sailed for the polar, you know, opposites of the Earth.
[00:51:09] Speaker C: That's. That's. Yeah, that's awesome.
[00:51:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
We want no Titanic incidents on this ship, so let's get some experienced captains on.
[00:51:17] Speaker C: Well, I mean, we had talked. It's funny. We had talked early on, I think, with both of you about how, you know the crew, how you get to know the crew so well, and then they go on their vacations. And sometimes they actually come back because it, like, you've been on for so long, Leslie, what's something that you're looking forward to coming up on this last leg of the journey?
[00:51:38] Speaker D: So definitely Norway. My husband's from Norway, so that's a big, big deal. We're excited to see that and just do all of it. But we leave on Tuesday for Paris. We're going to Paris for the Olympics. So that is no joke all the way around. I'm prepared for it to just be a complete, complete mess of.
Yeah. But we are super excited about that. Yeah, we have football tickets, soccer tickets, we have Moulin rouge tickets and Eiffel Tower tickets. So we are super excited. I've been there, but he has not. So we're just yet. It's going to be so weird, wonky with the Olympics that it'll be fun. The Olympics actually opens two days after we get there. They do pre, they do all kinds of competition and early to kind of get it started. So, yeah, we're ready. We're excited. Tuesday.
[00:52:26] Speaker C: That's awesome. Well, you know, you mentioned being off the ship before you had like, quiet. I'm. You are not looking forward to the non quiet because Paris in the Olympics is not going to be quiet.
[00:52:39] Speaker D: No, no, no. We actually got kind of restored and we were really ready to get back on board and got, had our downtime and our quiet time and we're back on board and it's all good.
[00:52:52] Speaker A: Well, I want to get you back to your cruise. The time is short and so I want to get you back to your cruise. Maybe we can all check in one last time after you get off so we can hear how things are going, you know, post the transition back into the real world a little bit. I'm sure life is going to look very different for both of you after you get off of this cruise because what an amazing experience. Before we wrap up, I know we've had you on several times, but please remind our guests where they can follow along with you on this last leg of the cruise because I love following along with all your posts. So, yeah, remind folks where they can find you. Let me start with you, Leslie.
[00:53:26] Speaker D: I'm on everything under point my soul north. So YouTube, point my soul north and then all social media, same thing.
[00:53:35] Speaker B: And I am on social media as well as Doctor Jenny travels. Dr. Jenny travels and most intimately. You can follow along in my email subscription, which I launched while on the cruise. And you can find that in the link in bio on any of my socials or on my website.
[00:53:53] Speaker A: Awesome.
[00:53:54] Speaker E: Awesome.
[00:53:54] Speaker C: Well, thank you both.
[00:53:56] Speaker A: Yeah, once again for taking some time out, especially on a rocky day at sea. We really, really appreciate it.
[00:54:01] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:54:02] Speaker B: Thank you for having us again.
[00:54:09] Speaker E: 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 to help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts. 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 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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