[00:00:00] Speaker A: And my daughter's twisting one of the wrestlers arms and my son has one in a headlock and it's actually in our office right now.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Hold on. I just want the ability to, like, can I climb up on the ropes in the corner and, like, dive out in one of them?
Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episode of the DC L duo podcast, brought to you by my path unwinding travel. Sam, I'm going to jump right into a listener review here. I'm not even going to throw it over to you because you'll just keep talking. No, I'm just. Hey.
All right. This listener review this week comes from Diane Costigan, who writes such a helpful resource. I love this podcast. Sam and Brian are so helpful. Whether it's planning for a Disney cruise or even spending time in one of the ports, their insights are super impactful. I use their tips for cruises, but I also leverage their advice on New Orleans when we went earlier this year. We had also never been to Disneyland, even though we are Disney World veterans until recently. So those episodes were also helpful. I appreciate their honest reviews and their sense of fun and adventure spliced in. We also just cruise concierge for the first time and heavily relied on their insights. I'm also in their Facebook group and love and appreciate the positive, lovely, helpful and non judgmental community of Disney and DCL fans they have curated. It's so nice to be connected to like minded people. Thanks for all the helpful content. Well, thank you for that review, Diane. A comprehensive and we appreciate it.
[00:01:29] Speaker C: She covered, like, everything. That's kind of awesome. Thanks, Diane. We love it.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: Yeah. All right. And for all of you listeners out there, again, it really helps us out. If you leave us a review over on Apple Podcasts, you can either just hit the five stars or you can leave us a written review like Diane did, and we will read it at the top of the show. But with that, Sam, you want to introduce our guests for the day?
[00:01:48] Speaker C: Yes, I'm super excited to introduce our guests. They have caught the Disney cruising bug over the last two years. I won't say how many cruises they've done, but it's more than you might expect. But I'm super excited to welcome to the show for the first time, Matt and Scott. Welcome, you guys.
[00:02:05] Speaker A: Hi.
[00:02:06] Speaker D: Thanks for having us.
[00:02:07] Speaker C: Yeah, we are so excited to talk to you both. Thank you so much for reaching out to come on the show. We always love it when folks that we haven't had on reach out and want to come on and tell their stories about their cruises. But before we get into talking about your cruise on the Disney fantasy, we have got to talk about your Disney creds. So, Matt, why don't you tell us where your love of Disney came from? And, you know, are you parks people? Well, I know you're cruise people now, but how did you. How did you become cruise people?
[00:02:42] Speaker D: Uh, well, we went to the parks for the first time in 2012. I had never been as a kid, and Scott, one day, he was just like, hey, you want to go? And I'm like, do I? Do I want to go? And so we went in 2012. We followed up another parks trip in 2015. And then in 2019, after we had our two kids, we took them to the parks, and then we took our son when he was, like, 18 months. That was a lot of fun talk about work.
[00:03:11] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:03:12] Speaker D: And then in 2022, with a pandemic and everything, we really wanted to give our son his first trip that he would remember. And Scott was like, let's go. You know, we have all the stimulus money. We might as well spend it in a good way. And I'm like, okay. And then I thought it back to our 2019 trip, and I'm like, hold the phone. Every time we go to the parks afterwards, we're like, I wonder, what would a cruise look like? What would it be like to go on a cruise? And so I made a family decision. I remember it in the kitchen, and I was like, we're going on a cruise. This is happening. Here's what we're doing. Here's the date. I'm booking it. And I threw in my poker chips, so to speak, and we went.
And so in April, march of April, 2022, we went. Followed that up with another cruise in August of 2022 before school started off. Cause we're both teachers.
[00:04:00] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:01] Speaker D: And then in March of 2023, we went on the fantasy for the first time, and then they did the 25th anniversary sailings. And so we went that following summer for another one. And just. It's just one of those things where you get the magic of Disney and, like, everybody talks about with cruising, you get the relaxation aspect of it. Our kids love it. And it's just been a really great thing to see our kids grow up with Disney and especially with the cruise line.
[00:04:28] Speaker C: Oh, my God, I love that. How old are your kids?
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Our daughter is eight, and our son just turned six, actually, just a couple weeks ago.
[00:04:38] Speaker C: Oh, wow. That's, like, the perfect Disney age.
[00:04:42] Speaker D: And I'm 39, which is another perfect age. 39 is a great age. To go to.
[00:04:46] Speaker C: Of course. Of course.
[00:04:47] Speaker A: I do have to correct them, though, because between our first cruise and our second cruise, we did actually do a park stay in there also.
[00:04:56] Speaker C: So you haven't completely abandoned the parks, it sounds like, in favor of the cruise line, but it sounds like there's kind of a preference now here for cruise lines. So this was your fifth cruise, am I right?
[00:05:08] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:09] Speaker C: Okay. So welcome to gold you all. I love it.
Amazing. Okay, well, what made you choose this particular itinerary? You had already been on the fantasy, I think you said once prior. So why did you pick going on the fantasy again?
I imagine this is probably spring break for you all of 2024.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: So we had originally had a trip planned on the magic, and I can't remember if it was a five or six day. It was a six day, and we'd picked it mostly because we really love the magic. It's actually our favorite ship, and it was working within our schedule. We really liked the budget. Everything was working out well, but it didn't have the island day. And so we were like, we did it anyways. And we're like, okay, let's go. And then as it got closer, we decided to cancel that trip. But, of course, the minute that we canceled, we went into the spiral of, oh, no, we don't have a trip planned.
And we kept looking at other itineraries that would work during our time, and the fantasy popped up, and, of course, so did the price.
[00:06:20] Speaker C: Well, you're adding a night, but you're also booking closer to the sale of date, right. There's a couple of different factors that make the price go up. Yeah.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: So, of course, our logical brain was saying, no, no. But, you know, we kept going, oh, let's do it. One of us would always be the logical one and be like, we can't. We can't. We can't. And we'd be, like, texting each other every day, like, let's do it. He's like, no. And then finally, while he was actually looking at a different cruise, because, you know, we're always looking at cruises, he just happened to go over and the price had reduced, and he was like, what do we do? And I'm like, I don't know. You know, I was, like, scrounging for quarters. Like, we can pay for it.
[00:06:57] Speaker C: Look in the couch cushion. Yes.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: He's like, I don't know. I don't know. And I'm like, I don't know, either. And he's like, well, too late. I already booked it. And so we just went forward, and that was that.
[00:07:07] Speaker D: And we've never looked back.
[00:07:08] Speaker C: Yeah. Do you guys flip flop? Like, who is the, like, sensible one and who is the one booking? Because I feel like that's what Brian and I do. We kind of. Usually I'm the more sensible one. Let's be honest about booking. But, like, in general, we do flip flop. Like, who's the sensible one?
[00:07:24] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. We'll go back and forth on it because we're always budget minded. Right now. He's like, every time that we have a dollar saved, he's like, that's a $1 closer to a cruise. And I'm like, wow.
[00:07:38] Speaker C: I love that. Now, you all have sailed on Royal Caribbean before, is that right?
[00:07:43] Speaker A: We have, yeah.
[00:07:45] Speaker C: And so how come you're booking? I mean, we know Royal Caribbean. You can get a cheaper cruise, and it is still a target family demographic. How come you're booking on Disney knowing that difference exists?
[00:07:58] Speaker D: So it's funny, because, Brian, when you went on independence of the seas last summer, we went, like, a week or two beforehand. So that show, we were like. Like, listening, just like, what can we get? You know, what can we expect when we're on the ship? And when we were there, granted, it's an older ship, but just, it wasn't the same. Even, like, when you embark and you're going through deck four on the running track and just, there wasn't the pomp and circumstance that you get. You know, it was interesting because we went on that royal cruise, and we followed that up with our first magic cruise, which is a ship that's ten years older. And the one thing we said was, I can't believe this ship is ten years older and it's in such good condition. You know, does it have its faults? Yes. I mean, it's. It's aging. But we had the best time. The crew was absolutely fantastic. And our kids love the kids clubs. Out of all the kids clubs, they've really taken the magic one. And it was just. I mean, I consider that one to be the perfect vacation. And so when you look at the two, it's just. It's, you know, I'd rather pay more for Disney and never look back and feel like I got exactly what I wanted versus getting a cheaper vacation and feeling like you're not getting your money's worth, if that makes sense. Zachary.
[00:09:11] Speaker C: Now, I can't wait for you all to sail on the wonder, because if you love the magic, you are going to just die over the wonder. I really believe that.
[00:09:20] Speaker B: Yeah. The wonder, I think, is a superior ship for sure.
[00:09:22] Speaker A: Oh, really?
[00:09:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:23] Speaker D: That's what I've heard, obviously, from you guys and other sources. But it's just that west coast.
[00:09:29] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:09:29] Speaker D: It's just. It's so hard. Like, when we were looking at a spring break, I saw the wondergot discount, and I'm like. I'm like, looking at flights, I'm like, how do we make this happen?
But then, you know, it's obviously one day. One day it'll work.
[00:09:42] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. Well, let's. Let's jump into talking about the cruise. You know, I think, Matt, I think it was you who had posted in our Facebook group about the lucha libre and wrestling excursion to Cozumel.
[00:09:57] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:09:57] Speaker C: And I. So I feel like I need to start there with booking stuff. Right. So I need to start with, like, how things went with your booking process. Obviously, I think that was a new excursion, or at least new to us. And so I know you were hoping for intel, and unfortunately, nobody in our group, I think, was able to give you that intel. But curious, what do you have any difficulty with the booking process and what kinds of things were you hoping to book? And were you able to book really everything or most of what you wanted?
[00:10:27] Speaker D: So obviously, we booked this trip, and then the first thing you do is you go into the app and you look to see what's available. And I was expecting. This is a month before the sailing. I was expecting things to be picked over. They really weren't. I was shocked. Like, we were able to get this excursion. We were able to get Paulo Brunch. We were able to get Bibbidi boppity for our daughter. The cabanas were opened. Oh, wow. Serenity Bay Cabana.
[00:10:50] Speaker B: Whoa, wait. A month before the cruise, you could have gotten a cabana.
[00:10:53] Speaker C: Well, but only Serenity Bay one, Brian, which doesn't work.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: Those still sell out. Usually.
[00:10:59] Speaker C: They do. They usually do sell out.
[00:11:01] Speaker D: That's like, this is like, we're budget. Like, my philosophy is, let's spend as little money as possible on this cruise, so that way it gives us money to go even more.
[00:11:10] Speaker C: Right, right. On another cruise.
[00:11:13] Speaker D: And so I was absolutely shocked. We got whatever we wanted. And so one thing that popped up, Scott actually saw it was la lucha libre. And we saw it. I'm like, like, this is like wrestling. Like, you know, barbaric. Like, people going at it and just, you know, trying to kill each other. And he's like, I remember Scott. What did you say?
[00:11:33] Speaker A: I don't remember.
[00:11:33] Speaker D: Our son will love this. Right?
[00:11:35] Speaker B: Well, right.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: We have a five year old son at the time.
[00:11:38] Speaker C: Right.
[00:11:38] Speaker A: I mean, like, this is right up his alley. I mean, come on.
[00:11:44] Speaker C: I love it. I love it.
[00:11:45] Speaker D: We get society with our son and I'm like, with our daughter and I'm like, let's go to bippity boppity, you know?
And so we ended up.
We are able to book that. And we're very. When it comes to excursions, we haven't done a lot of excursions, mainly because our two kids, I mean, anybody with small kids knows that you need, like, instant access to food, water, and, you know, things to keep them warm.
[00:12:07] Speaker C: Yeah. And bathrooms. Bathrooms, yes, yes.
[00:12:10] Speaker D: Oh, absolutely. And everything. So nobody really could give me any feedback. And when we went to the D lounge to, you know, set up everything and to check in, they actually said it was like one of the first times that they were doing this excursion. And so I went to Tripadvisor and all the reviews on Tripadvisor from other cruise lines, people who had sailed other cruise lines, they said that it was absolutely fantastic. It is well worth the money. Go do it. And we did it. And it was something else. It was a lot of fun.
[00:12:38] Speaker C: Oh, my God, I love that. Well, so let's talk a little bit about your ports and then we'll talk about onboard stuff, since we are. Since we're on this topic, anyway, which port? We know you went to Cozumel, castaway. What was your. What was your third? Or you might have had four ports because it was. Yeah, because it's a seven night cruise.
[00:12:55] Speaker A: Again, he's got the notes. I remember it was Cozumel.
I think we went to Jamaica in Grand Cayman. Yes.
[00:13:02] Speaker C: So what all did you get up to? So you do the cozumel, you do the wrestling. Lucho Libre, which is mexican wrestling. Tell us what was involved in that excursion, what it included, and obviously, we know you really enjoyed it.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: Yeah, well, we met in D lounge, like you said, and the process was super smooth. We were super impressed, again, having been on royal, and we actually did do an excursion there, so it was a very different experience. It was super smooth. They let us out. Everybody was really, really forward with exactly what to expect. They walked us to the area where the taxis were going to be, and they boarded us onto several vans. So there were probably like three families per van, probably three vans. There weren't many of us, actually, from the cruise.
You drove about 20 minutes out and you. You went to the arena, and the arena is kind of in like a self sustaining little plaza where there's, like, a shop, certainly. I think there must have been some other excursions that were happening there. Maybe like a tequila tasting. There were some other ones that were going on. There was a taco stand where they were making fresh tacos. So it was like a nice little space where you could kind of walk around, but there wasn't much, and you were isolated. We walked into the arena, and the arena probably held 200 people. I mean, there weren't many. It wasn't very large, and there were probably only three different cruise lines represented there.
So we walked in and we sat down. Matt actually went. There was, like, a little concession space inside. He got some water for us because it was a little bit of a warm day. And then the chaos began. I mean, it was just. It was so fun. And the announcer is announced, and, like, serpentine de Fuego came out on fire, and just all of these wrestlers are coming out, and they're giving you different things that you're gonna say if you want different, you know, like, the different wrestlers to do different things, and they're, like, leading the chance, and mister taco, the referee, is, like, running the show.
[00:15:21] Speaker C: Mister taco the preponderance.
[00:15:24] Speaker A: We just.
I'm not. I mean, to be perfectly honest, people ask me all the time, and I'm like, I'm not 100% sure what was happening or going on. I was just laughing, and we're, like, rooting. There was this lady in front of us, and she's like, yeah, there was another family with. So our daughter was loving it. Our son was loving it. We were having a blast. Like, we're having the best time. The wrestlers were coming out into the crowd, and they're wrestling the wwf kind of stuff, right? They're doing it in front of us. I look over and there was a family that we kind of befriended from the Disney cruise, and her little daughter. Their daughter had been at bippity boppity, so she still had her hair in, and she's like, get him.
Everybody was just having so much fun. It was so much fun.
[00:16:15] Speaker C: Oh, my God. I feel like we need to do this excursion, Brian. We need to look at what. I don't know if we have any cruises booked that are going to Cozumel, because Cozumel's on the western itinerary, and I feel like what we have booked. Yeah, we have got all eastern or eastern. Yeah, yeah.
[00:16:32] Speaker B: We went to. We went, like, all in on eastern in the beginning of our cruise life, and then we kind of had to go to the western a few times because of schedules and stuff, and now we're, like, back on the eastern side again, so. Yeah, yeah. But this is going on the list for sure.
[00:16:45] Speaker A: Like, yeah, it was so much fun and so much energy, and we really. I kind of scanned the crowd, and I thought it was kind of interesting because. Because it is so new, I think, for Disneyland. I think it might be still new for some of the other cruises, too, because, you know, because we have small children, we've always been kind of limited as to the things that we wanted to do, knowing and understanding our family. And this is right up that alley for kids because it's probably two and a half hours in total, maybe just a little longer. And it's just so exciting, you know? I mean, we had looked at some other things, but we're like our kids. We just can't go out and do a three hour bus trip into the jungle to go see, you know, ruins.
[00:17:28] Speaker C: Ruins, yeah.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: Yeah. That's just not going to fly for us right now. So this was, like, a perfect one. I will say, too, one of the things that was a little bit different about the Disney version versus the other ones was, after the whole show, they. The wrestlers came down and they stood there, and you could get pictures with them if you wanted. Like, there was, like, a little. Just, like, quick pictures. All the people that were on the Disney trip, all of the wrestlers went up onto the mata, and you got to go up onto the mat with them, and then you got a group picture with all of the wrestlers, but then you got to choose your two favorite, and then you got to get a picture with them. So we have this picture of us and my daughter's twisting one of the wrestlers arms, and my son has one in a headlock, and it's actually in our office right now. And so we bought, like, the keepsake, and it was just. It was such a great moment because it was something unique that they didn't, that we got offered that kind of just made it a little special. Right. And it was the same price.
[00:18:29] Speaker C: That's amazing. I love the headlock.
[00:18:31] Speaker B: Hold on. I just want the ability to, like, can I climb up on the ropes in the corner and, like, dive out on one of them?
[00:18:35] Speaker A: They probably would let it all happen. I mean, there was chaos. It was, you know, and you gotta keep your eyes on Mister Taco. Cause, you know, he's in with the bad guys. You know, there were all these different guys coming in.
[00:18:48] Speaker C: That's awesome.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Is this reminding me of nacho libre? Like.
[00:18:54] Speaker C: That'S awesome. All right, so it sounds like Cozumel was a successful excursion day. What about, or what did you guys plan for Grand Cayman?
[00:19:03] Speaker D: So Grand Cayman and Jamaica, we pretty much were like, let's just stay on the ship because that's exactly why we booked the cruise. And nice, you know, we're, we're kind of, like I said, we're kind of picky. You know, if there's something that we really want to do, we'll go do it. But as of right now, we'd rather book the excursions. When our kids get to an age where we know that they are 100% going to enjoy total sense.
[00:19:26] Speaker C: Because I hear great things about the falls in Jamaica, but I also think that's like, your kids are probably on the young end for that, or maybe too young, and it might, it probably wouldn't be enjoyable for you guys even if it was enjoyable for the kids, frankly.
[00:19:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:40] Speaker D: And that's one of the funny things about, like, when we get back, they're like, how was it? Where did you go? And our immediate answer is, we went on the ship. Like, that's like, what are you attracted? That's where we wanted to go.
[00:19:52] Speaker C: I love it. I love it.
[00:19:53] Speaker A: And we did actually talk, you know, that's one of our favorite things on the cruise, is meeting other families and making friends. We always make so many friends.
And we did hear some of the other families, particularly on, like, the seven day, um, because there were three ports that you could get off on who really felt as if, because they did so many excursions that they really were really worn down, their kids were starting to get crampy, uh, crampy, cranky. And, um, that they were, they were feeling slightly rushed because they weren't able to enjoy. That's the best thing about the cruise, is like, kind of the, like, ah. And enjoying, yes.
[00:20:32] Speaker C: The relapse, relax, and then also getting to do things on the ship. I feel like, you know, if you only, if you leave everything that you want to do on the ship to a sea day, you're going to have a really packed sea day, and you're probably not going to be able to, like, I don't know, sit at the pool watching funnel vision eating your hot dog. Right?
[00:20:50] Speaker A: So there's something to be said about that. I mean, we really, our favorite is watching princess and the frog eating bowls of oatmeal. Like, I know it sounds silly, but, like, that is really, like a special moment. And I think for people who maybe have never been on a cruise, thinking, like, but I'm going on a cruise and I'm going to sit there and I'm going to watch a movie. And you're like, there's something. It's so special. It really, really hits in such a different way. And it's hard to explain, but it does.
[00:21:15] Speaker C: Zachary. We watch. I feel like we watch rat Tatooey every time we cruise. And Zootopia every time we cruise. And then we also watch that hockey movie. What's that hockey movie, Brian? You know, exactly.
[00:21:26] Speaker D: Miracle.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: Miracle.
[00:21:28] Speaker C: Yeah. I don't know why. Like, we, we like, so we like Disney sports movies. We're not really sporty people. This is like, the funny thing about us. Like, we don't watch like, like professionals.
[00:21:38] Speaker B: I love college. I'm a sucker for any Disney sports fan.
[00:21:42] Speaker C: No, that's what I say.
We love Disney sports movies, even though we're not like sports people, which is just kind of funny. But, yeah, we tend to watch them on the ship. And then sometimes pirates of the Caribbean is in the mix.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: I actually love the bad Mark Wahlberg movie about him playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. It's a good movie.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: Yeah, we have, you know, we have. Prior to the cruise, we had never watched the goofy movie. Oh, I love it. And it is exclusive to in the stateroom when we're having a little downtime. It is a family favorite, and we do it every single time. It's just, it's like this funny thing that just, it's so special in that moment. It doesn't replicate somewhere else. Almost.
[00:22:22] Speaker C: Absolutely. I mean, powerline is just better in your city.
[00:22:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
And we always get to meet Goofy and Max when we're on, like, our seven days. It's so fun.
[00:22:33] Speaker C: I love that. I love that. Well, we got to talk about Castaway because we know that you went to Castaway and that was a big draw for this cruise and, you know, and why you canceled the cruise that you had had booked and ended up rebooking on the fantasy. But, yeah, when it comes to castaway, are you like, oh, I've got to do all these activities, or are you, like, sitting on the beach drinking your blended drink? Both.
I love it. Tell me more, Matt.
[00:22:58] Speaker D: Okay, so, you know, obviously, anybody who goes to castaway loves castaway. So I'm an early riser. Like, 04:35 a.m. i'm, like, sneaking out of the stateroom because I'm like, I'm gonna get this shipped to myself. This is gonna be great. And so I'm over on, like, deck. I think it's deck five, where bippity boppity is? Actually, no, it's deck four, the running track. And so I'm over. I'm having my coffee. I'm enjoying it. I look out to over where deck four is, and I see lights and I see buildings, and I'm like, what is going on here? So I walk outside, and I'm like, I recognize this. I'm like, I felt like I was in a scary movie. We were in Nassau on our castaway day.
[00:23:32] Speaker C: Oh, weird.
[00:23:33] Speaker D: So, yes, I went to guest services because I'm like, like, what's going on here? And they told me that there was a medical emergency, and so that delayed our castaway day, but I do want to mention that. So on deck four, you could see what was going on, and there were a few of us that were congregating and to see. Who is it? Cruise director Ashley. For the fantasy to see her, she was out there. I can assume maybe it was the captain. They were out there. They had had these, like, guests. They had their belongings. Ashley was, like, rolling luggage out. She had, like, their backpack on. I was absolutely amazed at just the level of urgency and the level of just, like, she wasn't above that.
[00:24:19] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:24:23] Speaker D: And I was like, this, like, this is exactly why you cruise Disney is. Because even down to what is most likely the worst part of these people and a situation that. Where their vacation has completely been thrown for a loop. You see, like, the care that is going into helping them to get the help that they need. And so it was really, I hope everything's okay, but it was really great to see just the staff members and the crew and exactly how much care was there. And so they announced that we would be a little bit delayed to castaway key. And so I was like, okay, well, Nassau, like, that's in the Bahamas. Like, I'm guessing we're just like a hop, skipping jump to castaway key. 4 hours later, we arrived.
[00:25:04] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, that is, though, still a hop, skip, and a jump. Right. Because these ships don't move. Like, they're not jet boats. They move kind of slow. Right.
[00:25:14] Speaker D: And so we. I would say we got off the ship at about 1115.
[00:25:20] Speaker C: That's not bad.
[00:25:21] Speaker D: Yeah. And our day, like, we got on the ship or back on the ship around 334 o'clock. Like, so it was. It was absolutely. It was a wonderful, wonderful day. We usually, Scott has made it so that way we have a tradition where we get off, and from there we go to pelican plunge.
[00:25:36] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:25:36] Speaker D: And our first thing is go right to pelican plunge and, like, go down the slides. The kids were, like, putting up fight. He's like, this is what we're doing. This is a tradition.
[00:25:46] Speaker A: They bemoan the whole process. My son's like, I don't want sand and salt in my eyes. I'm like, we're doing it.
[00:25:53] Speaker C: I'm your son, by the way.
[00:25:56] Speaker A: It's my favorite. It's so fun.
[00:25:59] Speaker C: I always end up with water up my nose. I don't know what it is. I'm not big on. I'm not that big on water slides in general, other than, like, the aqua duck and aqua dunk and aqua mouse type ones.
[00:26:12] Speaker B: Wait. I wanted to back up and understand the impact that the NASA medical merger. So what time did you get to Castaway, Keaton?
[00:26:18] Speaker D: It was about 1115.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: And what time were you. You were up in Nassau? What time is that?
[00:26:23] Speaker D: That you were about 545-53-5456 615. We left.
[00:26:28] Speaker B: All right, so just confirmation of the fact that the ship can literally float to castaway Key. All right, so. Yeah. Okay. All right.
[00:26:34] Speaker C: Yeah. No, I mean, in that. Just for folks who haven't listened to other shows where we've talked about castaway, depending upon your itinerary, like, you might have a port of call at Castaway at, like, 830 in the morning, but you also might have one that's 1030. It really depends on which itinerary. Some itineraries are the 830 and some are the 1030. So yours, I know, is expected to be an 830 arrival at Castaway, which is typically what the fantasy does, not so out of the ordinary to arrive later. One, because sometimes even weather can impact docking at castaway. But also, a lot of other ships do dock later at Castaway, so. But of course, they're always going to prioritize if there's a medical emergency. You know, Nassau is a major city, major hospitals there. And so they. That's what they're going to prioritize. And that's something that anyone sailing should know that, you know, ports are subject to change and port arrival times are subject to change because of emergency. So that is something that just happens. Okay, so you get to pelican plunge. You get all that salt water in your eyes and up your nose like I do, or at least your son probably does.
What are your other must dos on castaway?
[00:27:48] Speaker A: That's pretty much it. I mean, Bennett is just like. We just ease right in. The kids love being able to go down to the beach. They definitely have gotten to the age now, and, you know, now this is, like, our fifth trip, right? So, like, there are pros this, but we really love the fact that we can kind of give them a little bit of space. They can go out into the ocean. They can play. And it's not like a typical beach where you have to be worrying about the waves crashing in and knocking them over. It's really beautiful and relaxing. Often we will kind of pull the little sitting chairs. We, like, pull them down into the water.
[00:28:25] Speaker C: I love that water.
[00:28:27] Speaker A: And just work on our tans. Talk to other families. This time we went out to. I can't remember the name of the little area in the family beach space where there's all the jungle, the one that.
[00:28:42] Speaker C: The climbing structure out in the water that's a little bit past pelican plunge.
[00:28:45] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's actually my.
[00:28:47] Speaker C: What it's called either. I just call it the climbing structure. I don't know if it has a name.
[00:28:51] Speaker A: And it has multiple monkey bar areas, which our kids love monkey bars. They love going out there because they're very good at it. And so they'll be like, teenagers that'll get out, like two or three thinking they're hot stuff, and they fall in, and my daughter and my son are like, watch this. Like, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop. And they go all the way out and they hit it and they fall down and, like, how old are you guys? They just can climb, and they love it. So they love going out there, and I go out with them. But, you know, obviously, as an adult, we're not allowed to climb on those things, but it's fun to go out there.
[00:29:20] Speaker C: Monkey bar, as yourself.
[00:29:22] Speaker A: I'm not going to anyways. I want to be. I'm going to be shown up by my kids.
Then we, you know, we usually do. We'll do cookies, too, or cookies. We do also have, like, a family tradition. Matt always gets two cookies, and then he puts ice cream in between.
[00:29:41] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:29:42] Speaker A: And then the kids and I will get our ice creams. And we do. We call it the ice cream pose. And we take a picture where we're pretending like we're singing with ice cream microphones. And so we have this every cruise. It's just, again, it's another little family. It's our little traditions that we do that are. They're nothing special independently, but together, you know, they kind of make that even more special.
[00:30:03] Speaker D: I'm really excited about, like. Cause we're noticing it with our bibidi. Boppity pictures because our daughter at this point, she calls her fairy godmother by her name and phone number.
But we're starting to see her age and these pictures of her growing up with bippity boppity. And I'm looking forward to, because we're not gonna stop cruising anytime soon. These pictures that we have where every single cruise we're getting the same exact picture, but they're growing and I am remaining the same age.
[00:30:32] Speaker C: That's right. You're not aging at all, just their aging. Absolutely. I love it. Sounds like a great day on castaway, even despite it being, you know, a shortened day. Yeah. And, you know, and I love. I feel like I need to do the ice cream picture. I might. I might have to copy your family tradition since I use a hairbrush as a pretend microphone, so ice cream seems like a perfect substitute.
[00:30:55] Speaker A: And it is really weird because we always strike the exact same pose. Like, I don't know how we do it. We just always have the same pose. I guess we have one in our mind.
[00:31:03] Speaker C: You have one pose. I love it.
[00:31:05] Speaker A: We do always. We do always take the kids to scuttles Cove.
And they love it. They have a great time. And we only usually leave them in there for an hour or so, but that's usually just our time together as a couple. Maybe we'll get a drink, we'll wander around. We never really have an agenda. One time we did do it and we did the.
The castaway five k. We did that once.
[00:31:31] Speaker C: You're like, and we're done. We're not going to do this.
[00:31:34] Speaker A: It's hot out there. Even in the spring, we are like.
[00:31:36] Speaker C: Woo dog it is. I feel like so I never do it in the summertime because it's just too hot. I will sometimes do it in the spring, but if I'm doing it, I'm doing it in the morning and I'm done, and then I'm getting in the water immediately thereafter. You really. I mean, anytime afternoon on castor away. It's so, so, so hot. Like, yeah, it's just. Yeah, you'll. You'll die from dehydration.
[00:31:59] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:32:00] Speaker C: Not. Not a great idea. Well, yeah. Sounds like a great day at castaway. Let's go back on board. I want to talk about some of the things that you all did on board. Obviously, you did bibbidi bobbidi, and it sounds like that is a consistent crowd pleaser for your daughter. Does your, does your son ever do any of the make, like, the pirate or anything?
[00:32:20] Speaker A: He has he's done? Actually, I think it was last spring break, our first time on the fantasy. We did the prince, and as soon as we were done, he hated it and wanted it all off. And it was just because I think, of the timing. He loved the whole thing, but I think he was so tired and was ready for a nap that he was just like, I'm done. Get this off me. And then we did do the pirate. The pirate league, which is so cute. Like, oh, my gosh, it's so cute for both of our kids. They loved the whole thing. I love the little pirate pledge that they had to do. And the yoho at the end, he did it. And as soon as he got out and he saw his beard, he was like, get this off me. What is this?
[00:33:03] Speaker C: I wish Nathan would do it. We've asked him several times if he wants to do it, and he always says no, but he's got so many. Such sensory sensitivity. I feel like anything, if he felt anything on his skin. I mean, we did do at Alani.
[00:33:18] Speaker B: I was gonna say he did it at Alani. And he loved that red hair that he got.
[00:33:21] Speaker C: He did. But he wanted it, like, the feel of it. By the time we got finished with the. It was. He did it on Luau night, and he wanted it, like, he showered before he went to bed that night because he wanted the. It was like, the hair. The hair gel, really, that was the issue, not the red color, because that's what he was feeling in his head. But there. I've seen so many cute pirate makeovers and so many cute prince makeovers. I love it. I. You know, it's obviously, you see a lot more girls doing it than boys, but boys can do it, too.
[00:33:49] Speaker D: So there is a part, like, as a parrot, where you're like. Because we like to give them their choice. It's their day. It's their fairy godmother, and there's a part of me that's, like, biting my nail. I'm like, pick this outfit. Pick the blue pirate outfit. Pick, pick jasmine. Pick jasmine. It was the opposite.
[00:34:04] Speaker A: I'm like, the first time we ever took our daughter, they're showing all of the options of the hair, right? And there's so cute. There's so many. And the only one, I'm like, please don't pick the pink hair. Please don't pick the pink hair.
[00:34:16] Speaker C: And then, of course, the pink hair.
[00:34:18] Speaker A: She loved it. She. I mean, and it was her most special moment. And I'm like, you can't. How do you steal that from, you know, that's. And that's why we go, like, here, take our money, make the kids smile.
[00:34:28] Speaker C: I love it. Well, let's talk a little bit more about some family traditions. I know that there's some dressing up and family matching outfits and things. You all do. Tell us, like, have you always done that? And how extreme do, do you guys get with that? Like, is it, like, an everyday thing? Is it just, like, embarkation day? What are we. What are we talking about here?
[00:34:49] Speaker B: Is it shirt, shirts, shorts, and socks?
[00:34:52] Speaker C: Is it the whole thing? Right?
[00:34:53] Speaker A: So I'm the oldest of five, and my parents would take us to Disney as a kid, but we can only afford to go one day. You know, it was the eighties, right? It was a very different time, and that was our thing. My mom would always make our outfits, and we would be coordinating three boys, two girls.
[00:35:10] Speaker C: Right. You were the von Trapps. Exactly.
[00:35:11] Speaker A: Yes. Yes. And, you know, I kind of, like, retained that piece myself. Um, and so I learned, actually, how to sew. So I will sew sometimes dresses for my daughter, shirts for my son, shirts for us, shorts. Um, I will do those things. Um, of course, I will coordinate because there's a lot of things I can't make. We'll get pretty. We we. I get pretty into it. I mean, it's. It's sort of my way of working out, like my pre cruise, um, you know, jitters. We will dress, um, I mean, we dress other than just our lounge wear. We're dressing in coordinating outfits the whole day. So embarkation when we are, um, when we are in our swim stuff. And I also try to make sure that I'm nodding to the characters. If I know, like, how they are dressed, I'll try to make sure that it's, like, color story. This past time, we had. We nodded to, like, very traditional mickey colors and many colors. So we had, like, I had made my daughter a mini dress that had, like, the polka dots, but it was a little bit more grown up as she's getting older. My son had a little Mickey red shorts and the suspenders, the bow ties. Tie. Matt had a yellow bow tie with some suspenders. So, I mean, we really try to make sure that we're all knotting together. We look like a family, but also that we're doing it. But it's definitely, you know, I mean, it's definitely, like, one of my things that I really like to do. And it's funny because we're a conspicuous family anyways, but then we become even more conspicuous, and people will come up to us and they'll be like, I love it. I'm doing that next time. Oh, my gosh. You guys look so cute.
[00:36:40] Speaker C: Aw. I love that.
[00:36:42] Speaker A: And I secretly love that.
[00:36:45] Speaker C: I would love that. If my family would cooperate, they will wear t shirts. They'll work coordinating t shirts or matching t shirts, but that's probably as far as I can usually get them. I will say I have bought, like, Brian and Nathan, like, matching swim trunks. And so there are times where they will be matching.
[00:37:03] Speaker B: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm the one who actually, you're right. You bought the matching switch.
[00:37:08] Speaker C: You did buy the matching sim trunks. But we've bought, like, the Disney cruise line swim shirt, like, the spirit jersey swim shirt, so that the. And I make sure they're wearing them on the same day and things like that. That's like, as far as I can get them to go. But I always appreciate when I see the families, other families on board that are coordinating or matching in a. In a more thoughtful way than what we typically do. I think it's just really, really, really fun.
[00:37:34] Speaker A: And I feel like it, like, for us, again, it's like just another piece of, like, adding to the general magic that the whole entire experience is like. It's kind of, you know, you're like, you're like, really diving into all of the magic.
[00:37:49] Speaker B: 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 Mypath 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. My path 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 a and so much more. Whether its 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 mypathunwinding.com dclduo or email dclduoypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks my path unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:38:47] Speaker C: So what are some of the favorite things that you all like to do as a family when you're onboard a cruise. And then I want to ask you what you all like to do as a couple. Of course, on the cruise, when the kids are at the kids club and giving you some time. Yeah. So what are the family activities that you all enjoy together?
[00:39:03] Speaker D: Well, the kids love hunting for ducks, like, every morning it is. Let's go look for ducks. And so my eye for ducks is not the greatest. Scott. It seems like he's finding a duck. They're finding him, and so he, like, usually gives them. The kids. The kids also. What else do they like, Scott?
[00:39:20] Speaker A: You know, we're. I mean, in many ways, we are just a really relaxed family. When we get on the cruise, we always say, like, we're our best family, like, together, and we kind of have, like, a structure to our day in general. So we'll get up, we go to breakfast. We always do the pool in the morning, and our kids really love the pool. We do. Always do. You know, obviously, the different ships have different water slide experiences, but if we are on the. The dream or the fantasy, we always will alternate. Um, and so, like, I'll do. I'll ride with my daughter, he'll ride with our son, and then we'll switch. So we'll do the. The aqua duck. That's always, like, a family favorite, of course.
[00:40:00] Speaker D: And then we usually sneak, like, when the kids are in the kids club, like, and this is something that every, like, couple should do. We usually sneak onto the aqueduct as well, and it's like, let's go on the aqueduct. Okay, so we really like to do that.
[00:40:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, those things are really, like I said, we just. We generally kind of, like, follow our children's lead, um, and then kind of relax with them. But we do really like to go for walks. Um, we do, like, walking on the walking deck and playing shuffleboard. Those are. Those are big ones. And we really find that actually, that element always leads to lots of really personalized, um, character meet and greets. We always run into characters, and there's, like, certain times that we find are, like, better. And that's a space where we run into. We run into goofy. We run into. We've run into, you know, we just run into so many characters. We had this really great experience.
Chip and Dale, and they, like, I mean, probably for, like, ten minutes, we just got time alone with them, which just feels so, like, if you've been to the parks. Ten minutes, that is an hour of time. This is so long.
[00:41:01] Speaker C: Totally that's a lot of time. I gotta. I gotta ask you about shows, because I know that you go see the shows, and I know you have a hot take on one of my. My favorite show, and I say that tongue in cheek, but, yeah, tell us about going to see the shows on the fantasy and what that hot take is. Matt, why don't you lead us there?
[00:41:21] Speaker D: So our first spring break trip, we saw, like, frozen Aladdin, and we're going on the wish in June, so we decided, let's skip Aladdin. A frozen. We just never got to. But one of our favorite shows is Bella. I have a boat to pick with you, Sam.
[00:41:41] Speaker B: Wait. Just so listeners know, this is the show that Sam consistently describes as the man in the flower.
[00:41:45] Speaker C: The old man in the flower.
I always call it the old man in the flower. It's actually, like, he's just a dad. He's not, like, that old. But I just. I don't know. That's why I always think of it as.
[00:41:56] Speaker A: It is so good. So good. It is so good.
[00:41:59] Speaker D: So I think the reason why we really take to it, one, well, because it's good. But two, our very first cruise on the dream, we were there in the theater. It was like we had skipped beauty and the beast, which, you know, is blasphemous, but, you know, our kids were tired, and it was two years ago, and Golden Mickeys was not playing at that time, because it was just the slow.
[00:42:18] Speaker C: Like, right, the slow. Restart.
[00:42:19] Speaker D: Yeah, restart. And so we saw believe it was our one show, and we looked at our daughter, and she was cracking up laughing. There was one point where she fell off her chair, and we realized, like, she's, like, a theater buff. Like, she loves the theater.
[00:42:34] Speaker C: I love that.
[00:42:35] Speaker D: Since then, I've seen her taking her to shows around our area. We saw Mama Mia, which probably wasn't the greatest parenting decision, but. Oh, well.
But we just noticed that she really likes going to shows, and it was a really special moment. Our son couldn't have cared less. But.
[00:42:53] Speaker A: And thematically, right, you're having this moment, and you're watching your child, and you are seeing her just really, really kind of glowing, right? Like, having this moment. I mean, that genie was cracking her up. The popcorn hair gets us every time. And then, you know, you hear sort of the reveal, and it just kind of connected with us.
[00:43:18] Speaker C: It's the whole dad daughter thing. It's like, you know, and that. Which is so sweet. Of course, we don't have a daughter, and our kid doesn't like theater. So it's actually really hurtful to me. I want to tell Nathan this. It's really hurtful to me that he is not a theater lover.
It's all right. He actually. I actually think he would be better on stage than in the audience. But, you know, he. He's a little bit shy.
[00:43:44] Speaker B: He says every mother everywhere.
[00:43:46] Speaker C: Yeah, he has a lovely little, like, both singing voice and speaking voice. I'm just going to put that out there. But, you know, that's, you know, I'll be. I'll be a stage mom anyway. All right, well, I love that you love the theater, regardless of which show you go to see, you know, I'm. I say whatever theater your kids love is theater that worth watching. So I love that. Okay, now, I know you all went to Paulo, and so we need to talk about. I know you wanted to talk about the almond croissant specifically.
[00:44:19] Speaker D: It's like, my third child.
It just has a special place in my heart. So we went to Paulo for the first time last year on the magic. You know, they explain everything. They're like, all right, you're going to have, you know, a lot of carbs. You know, maybe, you know, space it out a little bit. And, you know, as, you know, new time cruisers were like, okay, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. This time they said the same thing. I'm like, I don't care. I want five almond croissants. This will be amazing. Yes, please. They're just so good.
[00:44:46] Speaker C: Yeah, they're good.
[00:44:47] Speaker D: Scott, you got the, like, the croissant, the egg.
[00:44:51] Speaker A: Yeah. So we had gone and we'd done it on the magic, and I remembered how amazing everything was, and then I forgot what I really, really love. And so then I was ordering different things because I'm like, oh, this sounds good. This sounds good. And then he was getting things that I was like, oh, no, I like that, too. And you're, like, in that panic, and, you know, you can't eat that much, right?
[00:45:09] Speaker C: Eating fomo?
[00:45:10] Speaker A: Yes. And they're just bringing things out.
[00:45:13] Speaker B: I was gonna say, I'll tell you the worst experience I had. Not the worst. It's the worst experience I had at Palo, but by no means was it a bad experience, but it was like, we had been to Palo brunch earlier in a week. Like, we decided to do it twice. Never do that, do that. But we did it twice. And the second go, the server was like. He just, like, grabbed the menus from us, is like, I got you. I got you. You know, I got you. Handled here. And, like. And all of a sudden, it's just food and food and food. I'm like, oh, my God, please stop. I can't eat anymore.
[00:45:40] Speaker A: Yeah. And you feel so bad because you're like, not only is it so delicious, so you're like, I can't stop eating you, but then they're bringing more food out, and then you're kind of in, like, stomach pain because you've eaten so much. Like, and I feel like it was a little different because some of the things that I really loved the first time, and this is, I think, just our general Disney cruising experience, it's like, what? Like, what each cruise brings, like, what their a game is is slightly different, but it's never a bad. It's just, this becomes even better. The lasagna that I had was so good, but I had also ordered the chicken parmesan, which was equally, if not better. And I could not stop eating. And I was like, I'm like, I'm so. But I can't stop myself anymore. And I'd just be like, I couldn't.
[00:46:30] Speaker C: You have, like, a meat sweats.
[00:46:32] Speaker A: And I'd put my fork down and push it away, and then I'd be, like, regretting my mo, because I'm like, I know that I'm gonna walk out and I'm gonna regret this moment so much.
[00:46:40] Speaker D: The first bite of the chicken parmesan is one of the best bites I've ever had. And, like, every bite after, it can't match that first bite. It's just. It's just.
[00:46:49] Speaker C: I know. So everything at Paulo brunch, frankly, most stuff at Paulo dinner, but everything at Paulo brunch, with. Except one exception, I think I had, like, the. The ham and cheese frittata thing one time, and that was just. Meh. It was really. I would never.
[00:47:04] Speaker B: Cause you broke up your own rule.
[00:47:05] Speaker C: I know. Well, it was just, like, one of those things where I was like, I should probably try something. Like, I never tried many of the breakfast foods, and, like, then I. I mean, don't get me wrong, that ginormous Mickey waffle I'm sure is delicious, but I just feel like I don't need the Mickey waffle when I'm eating the chicken parm or the lasagna. Or maybe I'm having the chicken parm and a couple of bites of Brian's lasagna, which is more likely the case.
Yeah. And then, of course, like, the pizzas and the soups and all of it's just there. Too much food. It's all good? Um, yeah. It's hard to find, like, something to really say is gross or bad. It's just, it's just I don't think.
[00:47:41] Speaker B: There'S probably anything that's gross. Stuff that you like or you don't like.
[00:47:44] Speaker C: Yeah, but it's like too much of a good thing. Right? Like, at some point and then you have. Yeah, we always, I always tell people if you're going to Palo brunch, like, try and make it for like a little later in the morning or closer to lunchtime, and then don't eat any breakfast, like, have your coffee, because obviously, like, for me, I, I wouldn't be able to survive the morning without having my coffee, but, yeah, so it's. And then go on an empty stomach, and then I'm usually at the point at dinner time, I'm like, I don't know if I could eat, but then I find room.
[00:48:11] Speaker A: Oh, he always makes fun of me because, you know, you get to the point where you've eaten everything and then you've eaten everything, and then you've eaten everything and then dessert comes out and then you're like, you know, you're, you're like, I can't not eat the dessert. And then they bring out, like, the surprise dessert, right? Like the one you didn't order, but they're like, I know you're going to love it. And you're like, no, no, no. And then you do it anyways. But then we go and we walk a lap and then he's like, next thing I know, I'm eating a burger. And he's like, what is what?
[00:48:34] Speaker D: It's amazing how much he eats on a cruise. I like, it should go in the Guinness records or Guinness World Records.
[00:48:41] Speaker C: Speaking of eating, I know you all have a tradition having to do with desserts and your kids, and I need you to tell our audience about this tradition and what your rules are with regard to eating desserts on cruises is.
[00:48:57] Speaker D: So it's something that Scott came up with, which is like, each day of the cruise, our kids get that day of desserts. So, like, day one is one day of desserts. Day two is two days. Like two desserts, two dessert day. Day three is three dessert day. And I'd say by midway in the cruise, it's like eleven dessert day.
[00:49:14] Speaker C: And we're not eating seven desserts anyway. So do they actually, do they, do they eat, like, desserts at dinner or are they like, would they rather have, like, the soft serve on the pool deck?
[00:49:27] Speaker D: Both. Yeah.
[00:49:28] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah. And they have, like, usually during lunch, they will get dessert, and then I also typically will, like, sneak a dessert downstairs and put it in. I'm like, look, guys, you're your kids, but they also always get, like, my daughter always gets the carrot cake and my son always gets the jello. So I don't feel like, tremendously, like, there.
[00:49:49] Speaker C: It's not. Not the most unhealthy of things, what they're eating. I mean, carrot cake is a vegetable. It's totally fine.
[00:49:54] Speaker A: Sure, we'll go with that.
[00:49:57] Speaker C: How do they do with food, really, in general, on the cruise?
[00:50:01] Speaker D: It's the one thing I would say that I wish would change a little bit is our kids are eating the same. Like, it's chicken tenders, hamburgers. I wish. I mean, I know they can order from the adult menu at dinner, but they don't seem too interested in it. I just wish, like, maybe, like, variet, you know, tacos, maybe, you know, maybe, like, I know you can get hot dogs, but, like, just seems like dinner is a little repetitive.
[00:50:23] Speaker C: And it's, you know, that kids menu is repetitive. That's a really good point, because that's why Nathan ends up eating, I mean, Mac and cheese every night.
[00:50:30] Speaker A: Almost every night.
[00:50:32] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:50:33] Speaker A: And you're like, are you sure you don't want something else? And our kids will, like, try some other stuff. Our daughter's starting to graduate up a little bit more into some things on the adults, but you're like, and then, like, the. I find that the alternative, like, the one little thing that they do vary, is usually just never really like, that exciting eating. Like, most kids aren't going to really go for vegetables.
[00:50:54] Speaker D: Our daughter, like, I remember the. I think it was the last night of our cruise. She ordered the turkey meatloaf, and I was like, okay, something different. You like meatloaf? And it came out and she's like, I.
[00:51:03] Speaker C: You know, we ordered that once too for Nathan. And his reaction was, and he likes meatloaf at home as well, and so. But he. But their, their turkey meatloaf was not, not good. Yeah, yeah. I mean, he'll do the burger.
That's a sort of alternative to the Mac and cheese, but it's generally either a burger, macdje, Mac and cheese. They don't always have. I wish they would have a steak, a kid's steak, like, most nights, because he will order that, you know, occasionally. Um, but it's not sometimes. I mean, yeah, it's just not there very often.
[00:51:31] Speaker A: Yeah, just like some grilled chicken or something. I mean, just something. Just a little variation. I mean, but arguably, like, our kids never complain that they're hungry, and they're never hungry. There's always food available. So that part is it's. It's like, it's like that nitpicky piece where you're just like, I kind of wish, but, like, yeah, whatever.
[00:51:46] Speaker C: Yeah, I love it. Yeah. I feel like the same with Nathan. Well, one thing we. You also mentioned in when you first reached out to us about coming on the show was the scent of the ship. And so I wanted to make sure that we cover this because, you know, a lot of people ask about, you know, what's the scent that they're pumping into the ship? I think we hear that the wish maybe has a different scent that they're using. But the other four ships have a particular scent. And I know that, like, magic candle company has one that people swear is the same. But you all have said that you found the scent or what you think is as close to the scent as can be. Maybe.
[00:52:23] Speaker D: Yeah, let me.
Let me pull it up. So there's an app called Life in Lilac. It's a website, too, and it's a diffuser. I was at my sister in law's house. I was at my brother's house, and I was, like, in their bathroom. And, like, it's just smelling. And I'm like, it smells amazing in here. And I, like, pulled Scott, and I'm like, come in here. Like, we're quietly in their bathroom. Like, smell it. Like, he's like, I'm like, it smells like the ship. We got really excited. And so there is a diffuser, like, scent that they have. I think it's pinky promise diffuser.
[00:52:58] Speaker A: I will say, though, every time we do get the smell, there's, like, pockets of space within the ship that it's stronger and will, like, stand there. Even this pastime, as we were walking onto the ship, you know, you're walking up the gangplank, you can kind of see what's going on, but you're walking up, and there was another family behind us, and we were sitting there, and we were in. The lady was like, do you guys get it? Have you got it yet? And I'm like, well, there it is. And you could smell it coming off. And, like, that kicks off the trip right there, right?
[00:53:24] Speaker C: I mean, I think it's funny that people don't realize. Cause it's something that Disney does in the parks, too. They're pumping smells in different places for different reasons. Right. They're giving you, like, in certain places, they're giving you the ice cream smell or the popcorn smell because they're trying to get you to buy those things. Right. Like on. Right on main street, for example. And on the cruise, it's. There is a scent and it's a like trying to. I don't know, it just gets you in that.
[00:53:46] Speaker B: Like, I have this. I have this one on my desk, if I can get it to show this h two o for those listening to this, it's. It's magic candle company's sea salt and h two o. And it is fabulous smelling. But I am not allowed to, uh, light it in house because all scented candle products.
[00:54:06] Speaker C: Well, I'm just. It's funny because I. On the ships, it's fine. Cause it's, like, light enough, but I'm just quite sensitive to smells.
[00:54:14] Speaker B: And so smelling it now fresh in.
[00:54:16] Speaker C: Of the ocean, I don't mind, like, smelling a candle.
[00:54:20] Speaker B: You need diffusers instead of cheese.
[00:54:22] Speaker C: Yeah, but even diffusers if it's a really strong scent. And I always. It's funny, whenever I go to the spa on the ship and I get a massage, I always tell them, no aromatherapy, because I just. It's not that I don't like the smells, it's just they're too strong. I don't know if it's something about. I don't know if I just have a strong nose or whatever. Yeah. When I was pregnant, it was even worse. I just.
[00:54:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that. I agree with you. I think that the smell on the ship, I think. I mean, for me, it really, again, it, like, it's so weird to say this, but the overall vibe of the, like, the, like the vacation is like, that's the smell of the relaxation. Cruisy ocean feel. Like, it is like, it is as if they went in and. And they said, let's make this feeling a smell. And that's what it is. It's really, really, truly what it is.
[00:55:14] Speaker D: And it makes embarkation because you walk towards the ship and you are getting excited, you start smelling the smell and you're just like, it's happening. It's happening. We're here. We're here. And it's a lot of fun. I think it's picky. Promise. I'll have to double check with it.
[00:55:28] Speaker B: Well, with that, I do believe we have reached that point in the show where I need to hand you back to Sam, who's. Who's been asking mostly questions today anyway, but now she's going to apply some arbitrary judgment to your answers. So it's time for a rapid fire. So, Sam, take it away.
[00:55:48] Speaker C: I love it. All right, you guys, you know this is coming. We are. I'm going to ask you your favorite Disney things, and then I'm going to ask you favorite cruise stuff. So we're going to start off of the cruise line and ask you both who is your favorite Disney character, and Disneyland means anything and everything that Disney owns. Scott, we're going to start with you. Favorite character.
[00:56:11] Speaker A: Princess Tiana.
[00:56:12] Speaker C: Love it. Matt, your favorite character.
[00:56:14] Speaker D: Yesterday it was Mickey, today it's Mickey. Tomorrow will be Mickey Mouse.
[00:56:19] Speaker C: Classic. Always. Okay. All right, favorite Disney movie. Matt, we'll start with you.
[00:56:25] Speaker D: Oh, I'm going to say Encanto. Every time I watch Encanto. It's just. It's such a feel good movie.
[00:56:33] Speaker C: Love it. All right. Okay, Scott, your favorite Disney movie.
[00:56:37] Speaker A: Little mermaid.
[00:56:38] Speaker C: Oh, I thought you were going to say princess and the frog.
[00:56:40] Speaker A: It's a little mermaid.
[00:56:42] Speaker C: All right. Okay. Favorite Disney song, Scott. And why is it part of your world?
Yeah, right.
[00:56:49] Speaker A: Oh, geez, that one's a hard one.
I would say anything. Probably from Moana. I think that's an amazing soundtrack.
[00:56:57] Speaker C: Totally agree. All right, Matt, your favorite song.
[00:57:00] Speaker D: We don't talk about it.
[00:57:02] Speaker C: That's right. We don't talk about Bruno. All right. Okay. So we're gonna stay in the song genre, but we're moving onto the cruise ship, favorite Disney cruise line stage show. And you can pick from all of the ships that you've been on. Your answers, because you've been on multiple ships, are not limited to the Disney fantasy. So, Matt, your favorite Disney stage show.
[00:57:20] Speaker D: Believe.
[00:57:22] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
Okay. All right. I'll allow it.
[00:57:26] Speaker B: Scott, can you feel that judgment? Can you just feel it away like.
[00:57:29] Speaker A: It'S palpable through the audience, say golden nikkis.
[00:57:33] Speaker C: Fair. Fair.
[00:57:34] Speaker B: Hey, now, you can't judge it for.
[00:57:36] Speaker C: Me, but I judge him for that, too. Scott, your favorite stage show.
[00:57:42] Speaker A: It's also believe I would see that show a hundred times and never get sick of it.
[00:57:46] Speaker C: Okay. All right. But you all still need to go see Beauty and the beast. You need to get back on the dream and go see Beauty and the beast. Oh, you have? Okay.
[00:57:53] Speaker D: Our second dream cruise, we saw beauty and beast.
[00:57:55] Speaker A: It is a phenomenal. That is a phenomenal show.
[00:57:58] Speaker C: That is right. Okay, all right. A favorite adult bar space on a Disney cruise ship. Scott, we'll start with you.
[00:58:06] Speaker A: You know, I don't really know because we haven't really gone to a lot of formal bars. We're not really nite owls.
I do love there's a space. It's an open space where it's kind of like a lounge, and there's always lounge singers, but I don't know what.
[00:58:23] Speaker C: The name of it is, you mean.
[00:58:27] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:58:28] Speaker C: So that was promenade lounge. Now it is the soul cat lounge.
[00:58:31] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:58:33] Speaker C: All right, Matt, your favorite.
[00:58:35] Speaker D: I liked. We had a dream tasting at keys. I think that's in the magic. Yeah, that was a really fun place. Just, like, everything that was around and just seeing everything. The piano theme. It's great.
[00:58:45] Speaker C: Yeah, it is a great. That is a fun space. All right, favorite onboard activity. I'm gonna say favorite, like, family activity. Matt will start with you.
[00:58:55] Speaker D: Aqueduct. I mean, it's just so much fun to do with your kids.
[00:58:59] Speaker A: I would say the dance party, when they have, like, a dance party in the atrium and all the characters. That's so much fun.
[00:59:08] Speaker C: I love that. All right, favorite place to relax on a Disney cruise line ship.
[00:59:13] Speaker A: Scott, we'll start with you in the adult. Like, the pool area for the adults. It's so luxurious and relaxing. Relaxing. All the other haggard parents that have been exhausted with their children are there, too.
[00:59:25] Speaker C: Totally. I totally agree with you there, Matt. What about you?
[00:59:29] Speaker D: I'll say, like, going back to what I said before, like, 05:00 a.m. just walking around the street.
[00:59:34] Speaker C: Promenade.
[00:59:35] Speaker D: Yeah, promenade. Or even the whole, like, you just walk around and, like, you just get to enjoy everything to yourself and just connect to yourself a little bit. It's really nice just to walk around it, like, early morning.
[00:59:45] Speaker C: Yeah, I love that. Okay, favorite rotational dining.
Matt, let's start with you.
[00:59:52] Speaker D: When we first went to Rapunzel's on the magic, it was our first met in the magic, and we were like, this is something else. It's just so beautiful. The lanterns just absolutely love it.
[01:00:04] Speaker C: Awesome. I can't wait for you to go on to Tiana's. Oh, my God.
[01:00:08] Speaker D: Right now.
[01:00:09] Speaker C: I know. Seriously, I mean, I love rapunzels, but I also like Tiana's. And Rapunzels are both, like, so fantastic. All right, Scott, your favorite rotation? Dining.
[01:00:17] Speaker A: I really, really loved rapunzels, too. I mean, it's so fun.
[01:00:22] Speaker C: It is.
[01:00:23] Speaker A: It's such a special.
[01:00:24] Speaker C: Awesome. Okay, aqua, have you guys been on the wish yet?
[01:00:29] Speaker D: In June. In June?
[01:00:30] Speaker C: Oh, in June. Okay. All right, so let's go. But you've been on the magic, so we got to go. Aqua dunk versus aqua duck. Okay, so, Scott, we're going to start with you.
[01:00:41] Speaker A: I think aqua dunk, I mean, I regret it getting in, and you're like, no, no, no, no. But we have a lot of fun on it.
[01:00:50] Speaker C: All right, Matt, what about you?
[01:00:52] Speaker D: I love them both, but Aqua dunk is a lot of fun. It's just.
[01:00:58] Speaker A: What?
[01:00:59] Speaker D: It just.
[01:01:00] Speaker A: And then, like, I survived.
[01:01:01] Speaker C: This is great. It's terrifying. It's terrifying.
[01:01:03] Speaker A: That is so scary.
[01:01:05] Speaker B: Those are the correct answers. Amazing element.
A fire over.
[01:01:10] Speaker C: They're not, but that's okay. It's all right. Listen, I actually think all the water slides are great for different. All. All three types of water slides are great for different reasons. But the aqua dunk always scares me. So I have been on it a couple times, but it's the one that I'm willing to skip. Okay, I want to talk favorite food item. A favorite sweet, and a favorite savory. So, Matt, we'll start with you with a sweet item.
[01:01:36] Speaker D: Okay. So I don't know what it is exactly. It was on the magic. I think it was the welcome aboard menu. It was a play on the sticky date pudding. I think it had pecans in them.
[01:01:45] Speaker C: Yeah, it was.
[01:01:47] Speaker D: It was so good.
[01:01:48] Speaker C: So good.
[01:01:48] Speaker D: So good.
[01:01:49] Speaker C: Oh, love it. Okay, Scott, what about you? Favorite sweet item?
[01:01:53] Speaker A: Um, there is a. A little cheesecake tart that has caramel on top of it. I think it is. Is it the one, um, for pirate night? Is it the pirate night dessert?
[01:02:05] Speaker C: Oh, it could be. It could be.
[01:02:07] Speaker A: And it's. It's so. It's. It's one of my favorites. I like, it's rich and caramelly and yummy.
[01:02:14] Speaker C: Okay, I'm gonna. If you like cheesecake, you gotta try the oreo cheesecake on embarkation day. I tell this everyone, if you. But that one's my favorite, and I am kind of a cheesecake snob, but I think that oreo cheesecake is, like, the best dessert ever. All right, well, let's go to savory foods. Cause those are my favorites. Scott, what is a favorite savory item on board a Disney cruise?
[01:02:35] Speaker A: I really like the samosa.
[01:02:38] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:02:39] Speaker A: I had never had one before, and I really feel like if you get it with that, like. And they come out in the right temperature, too. Real good.
[01:02:48] Speaker C: Yes. We're big fans of samosas. Like, in general, we. We love indian food. And so they. I will say when they're hot, they are really, really good. If they're not hot, they're less than. Less than stellar. All right, Matt, your favorite or a favorite savory item.
[01:03:05] Speaker D: Um, I really like the fried brie. Even when it's, like, the last time we had it, it was like, the cheese was, like, coagulated, but I was like, I'll take another.
[01:03:13] Speaker A: Like, this is great.
[01:03:15] Speaker C: I love it. More brie, please. Okay, very important question is coming up next. Which is your favorite ship? Now, we know you haven't been on all of the ships yet. You've been on the fantasy, the dream, and the magic. So you've got three to choose from. What is your favorite ship?
[01:03:30] Speaker D: Matt, there's something about the magic. It's. It was. I look back at that. Like, any Disney vacation is amazing. It's got its highlights. But the minute we stepped on that. That ship, the magic, and when we left, I mean, it was really special. Like, I think that'll be a cruise that's difficult to beat.
[01:03:50] Speaker C: Oh, I love that. Scott, what about you?
[01:03:53] Speaker A: I always want to say the dream because it was our first, and I loved it so much, but it's. It's the magic. I mean, it was so special, so quaint. We just had such stellar service. I mean, it is so. It does make me really excited about the wonder, because hearing people say the wonder, it's so.
[01:04:14] Speaker C: Well, I will say, though, we've had the best service that we've had in the last couple of years has been on the magic as well. So we've had some really, because the wonder has been doing its Alaska season and then doing the Pacific, you know, trans Pacific and all that. We haven't really been on the wonder much in the last. Well, we haven't been on the wonder at all in the last year or much in the last, like, two years, so. But the. We've had fantastic service lately on the magic, and the. There's just something special about the classic ships, and I think that sort of more intimate feel. Yeah. Even though, I mean, the fantasy was our first, and we love the fantasy for a ton of reasons, but, yeah, I don't know what it is, but. Okay, the last question of rapid fire. You know, this is coming. Your bucket list cruise. If you could go anywhere in the world, and it's on a Disney cruise, even if Disney cruise line doesn't currently sail there, where would you go? Scott, we'll start with you.
[01:05:08] Speaker A: Oh, there's so many places I want to go. You know, I would love. I would love to do something in, like, Asia and go around and kind of see that, because I do know there's so many places that are on our list, and they are doing them. I'd love to see something like that.
[01:05:25] Speaker C: That would be awesome. And maybe hit up, you know, Shanghai, Tokyo. I don't know why you would want to go to those places, but some Disney parks, no reason.
Matt, what about you?
[01:05:40] Speaker D: Okay, Sam, do you want my, like, Mary Poppins answer? Like, oh, I'd like to go around the world, or you want, like, my dark sided Disney answer?
[01:05:49] Speaker C: I want your dark side Disney answer. Yeah.
[01:05:51] Speaker B: No, like, if you set it up that way, we know which choice we're going to to make it. Okay, well, you want a Darth VadeR voice overlay, I can add that in.
[01:05:59] Speaker D: Well, your royal Caribbean, like, around the world episodes. Like, they sound amazing, right? So whatever. So my dark side answer is, I'm not proud to admit this, and I'm ready for the hate mail. There are points where we're on the Disney ships, and I think to myself, this would be even. Maybe even better without kids.
Like, a cruise without the kids would be absolutely amazing.
[01:06:27] Speaker C: That is a right answer, Matt.
You will get no criticism. That is, like, you just, like, canceled out your answer on believe with that answer.
I think people don't realize, like, I think a lot of folks think it's weird when we say, like, the first few times we sailed Disney cruise line were without Nathan, even though he was alive at the time, it was not pre having him.
And I know that there is sometimes judgment about, I don't know, people who don't have kids at all and sail on Disney cruise line. And I don't understand it whatsoever, because the only thing more magical about a Disney cruise is that going on one without your children.
[01:07:08] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know that I would enjoy an all adult meaning, like, the whole ship was adult. I think there is something to the Connecticut, that sort of thing. But I do enjoy experiencing the adult only areas, and it's made even better if we don't have to worry, like, oh, do I? You know, I mean, it's gotten a lot better for us because Nathan's so independent now. So, like, it's not. It's a lot easier for us to feel like we're on a cruise, just the two of us, for good portions of it, and then still come together as a family. But, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[01:07:38] Speaker A: I mean, there's a whole piece of the cruise that we haven't been able to experience because we have kids, so we're in bed and we don't get to do any of the night, and we always are interested in that piece.
And I think so many people don't realize, like, they think, well, why would you go on a Disney cruise without kids? And you're like, no, there's so much to do for adults. Like, there it is. There's so much for adults on a Disney cruise. There's just too much.
[01:08:03] Speaker C: Absolutely. And then you can be contestants on match your mate, right? Like, I mean, these are life goals, right?
I could see you being excellent contestants on match your. I mean, you might have to tell people a little bit more about your lives than you want to, but it's fun for everybody. It's fun for everybody watching just a little bit.
[01:08:24] Speaker B: Just a little bit more, you know? I mean, geez. Yeah.
[01:08:28] Speaker C: Well, anyway, thank you for. For playing my ridiculous rapid fire game. As I mentioned, you know, Matt won because he. Because of his answer to bucket list cruise. But I very much appreciate it, and I always appreciate when people are willing to subject themselves to some of my judgments.
[01:08:50] Speaker D: Our kids will never be able to watch this or listen to this podcast.
[01:08:55] Speaker C: We'll just cut out the end of the episode for them.
[01:08:58] Speaker B: Well, Matt, Scott, I know that you are also both travel agents with Mickey world travel. So you want to let folks know where they can find and connect with you if they want to book a vacation.
[01:09:07] Speaker C: Yep.
[01:09:07] Speaker D: You can reach us at Scott and mattickyworldtravel.com dot. We are travel agents specializing in Disney vacations, but we can also book royal all inclusive inclusives, trips to different countries and anything that, you know, anyone their heart desires.
[01:09:24] Speaker C: Awesome. Now, what's next for you all? Do you have your next cruise booked, or did you just get the placeholder? You've got notes, I see, Matt.
[01:09:32] Speaker D: Okay, well, we have a special one coming up in June on the wish. There's a lot of pressure, too. One of my best friends, she's joining us, and so I'm really excited. I'm hoping that I'm not over hyping everything.
[01:09:46] Speaker C: Start under hyping it.
[01:09:47] Speaker D: Yes. And then that'll be in June and then in November. I'm really excited about this one. We have our first very maritime cruise in November, and we will be spending my 40th birthday on castaway key.
[01:09:59] Speaker C: Oh, that's awesome. Which ship are you going to be on for Mary time?
[01:10:03] Speaker D: That will be the dream.
[01:10:04] Speaker C: Awesome. Okay, good. I was going to say. I was hoping you were not on the wish for Mary time because I feel like. Well, the tree, it's just not as true. The decorations are not as traditional. I like the decorations better on the. The four other ships than the one.
[01:10:19] Speaker B: I will say, add to your list if you can. Actually, I know there's a lot of people out there about the treasure who are like, I can't believe they're doing that. But if you can sail over an actual holiday, like a Christmas, a Thanksgiving, a new year's, man, it's fantastic. So the very maritime aspect of it is great. But if you can couple it with the actual holiday, it gets, I don't know, I think it just amplifies everything. It's just so fantastic.
[01:10:38] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:10:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:10:39] Speaker D: Twist my arm.
[01:10:42] Speaker A: Oh, he doesn't. We do also have one for 2025 with my entire family.
[01:10:47] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[01:10:48] Speaker A: In the works. It's already booked, so we like to keep them in the hopper.
[01:10:53] Speaker C: Yes. You have to have something to be excited for, planning for, and of course, making outfits for.
[01:10:59] Speaker A: Exactly. I've got to be sewing.
[01:11:01] Speaker C: I love it.
[01:11:02] Speaker B: Well, we just want to thank you both for taking time out of your day to share your experience with our audience. We really, really appreciate it.
[01:11:10] Speaker A: Well, thank you very much for having us.
[01:11:11] Speaker D: Thank you very much.
[01:11:17] Speaker B: 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 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
[email protected] so they know we sent you their way. If you've got got questions or you'd like to connect with us, the best way to do that is to head over to dclduo.com dot. It's got links to all of our things. Full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast. Links off to our vlog, a link to our Etsy store where we sell some fun, fan inspired magnets. Link to our Patreon if you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com dclduo also, as a way for you to sign up for our substack newsletter letter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here, at least on a few blog articles that we've written. So dClduo.com is the best way to connect with us. You can also, of course, email
[email protected] or reach out to us on our voicemail line at 402-413-5590 that's 402-413-5590 the DCLjewo podcast is not affiliated with Disney Cruise Line, the Disney Company, or the Disney family of theme parks. The views expressed on the show, or solely those of the individuals on the podcast and in no way reflect the views of the Disney Company or Disney Cruise line. If you have questions about a Disney Cruise or a Disney vacation, please contact the great folks over at Mypath unwinding travel or Disney directly or your own travel agent. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time for another fabulous adventure with the DCL duo.
