[00:00:00] Speaker A: So you've just hit Brian's favorite and my favorite in one sentence, Devin. So there you go.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:00:05] Speaker A: You're earning brownie points here.
[00:00:08] Speaker C: Pandering. Just pandering.
[00:00:09] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
[00:00:24] Speaker C: Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episode of the DCL duo podcast, brought to you by my path, unwinding, travel. And Sam, I'm gonna kick us off, off with a review, but I have to start by apologizing to our listeners. I'm getting so confused as to which ones we've read and which ones we haven't. This weekend, I'm actually going to sit down and kind of map them out and so I can keep them straight in my head going forward, because I feel like I spent 15 minutes at the beginning of every recording trying to figure out which review to read. So if you've heard this one before, it's not because we doubly love it. It's just because. Well, no, we do doubly love it.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: That's what it means. It means we doubly love it.
[00:00:56] Speaker C: It just means I've lost my place. Let's just be honest. So this one comes from. It's the Miller fam. Great.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: This one.
[00:01:03] Speaker C: Oh, see, there you go. I'm actually going to leave this in so people can see the struggle. All right, so then this one comes from in progress, 42, who writes delightful podcasts that have everything you want. I have been listening to Brian and Sam for months. I normally save their podcasts whenever I need to pick me up. Great energy and information.
[00:01:19] Speaker D: Can't wait for the next episode.
[00:01:21] Speaker C: Well, thank you for that review. We really appreciate it.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Thank you, Sam.
[00:01:25] Speaker C: I'm going to kick it off.
[00:01:26] Speaker A: Work in progress. Even though I'm older than 42, I.
[00:01:29] Speaker C: Just want to put that out there, decipher the usernames. I can't get that, like, unless it's, like, a blatant, like, oh, they must be the Miller family, or that's Chris. Uh, anyway, with that, I'm going to kick it over to you, sam, to intro our guests and our topic for today. Really excited about this one.
[00:01:43] Speaker A: Yes. Oh, my God. I'm super excited. Stefan is a first time guest to our show, but he is an author himself. He writes novels in the YA or young adult space. I'm, like, super excited. When I saw his outreach to come on the show, I was like, we don't get, like, writers who want to come talk to us. I mean, this is like, a bigwig guest. He's sort of rediscovered or discovered Disney as an adult, and so we're super excited to talk to him about his eastbound transatlantic cruise on the Disney dream. But welcome to the show for the very first time. Stefan.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: Brian, sam, thank you so much for having me. This feels surreal to be on the other side of a podcast that I listen to literally all the time. So I'm very excited. Starstruck, even.
[00:02:30] Speaker A: Oh, well, we're just regular old people, Stefan. We don't have. We don't have. We're not published authors. Let me just put that out there.
[00:02:37] Speaker C: I mean, I just. I wake up every morning and put my pants on and then make two podcasts a week, so I'm not special.
[00:02:45] Speaker B: As for a side hustle, that's a lot.
[00:02:48] Speaker A: Well, anyway, let's start with. Actually, let's start with who you are. Cause I think it's just, like, really cool what you do. Like, tell us about what you do for a living. I just feel like that we have to start there.
[00:03:00] Speaker B: Sure. So I am a writer, and I'm a published author, and I do consider that my career now, because that's where I probably make the most money and also probably. It's definitely what I think about the most. I also have a day job at Netflix. I write for Netflix. About Netflix. So Netflix has a website called Ta Doom, and it's pronounced tadum, kind of like the sound effect. And it's owned by Netflix. And we write all about their shows. We do commentary, we do a bunch of interviews and behind the scenes. And before that, I worked for a long time at Entertainment Weekly and wrote about a lot of entertainment projects, including some Disney and some theater. So, Sam, you and I will have some things to talk about in that space. So, yeah, I've always been in the entertainment space, and I'm always a writer.
[00:03:55] Speaker A: Love that. Oh, my God, that is such a cool job. I mean, I write for a living, too, but in a very different space. I wish I wrote entertainment stuff for a living. That would be really cool. But anyway, let's dive into talking about your Disney discovery. You did not start out as, like, a lifelong Disney fan. So tell us, like, when did you either discover rediscover Disney? Tell us about that journey.
[00:04:20] Speaker B: Sure. So this is kind of like a fraught story, because I did start out very early on as a Disney kid. I was very obsessed with Disney when I was a very little kid, specifically Minnie Mouse.
And I was so obsessed with Minnie Mouse that my parents. And at the time, we couldn't really afford trips to Disney, but they found a way to take me to Disney because I was just so obsessed and would not stop talking about it. And I actually remember this very clearly, even though I was three years old.
I have very clear memories of this trip, but actually, it was a very traumatic trip because I think I had these weird fantasies about what Disney would be like. I thought I. There'd be no one else there. I thought the castle would be a real castle. And when I met Minnie, I think this was the nineties version of Minnie where she still had a lot of fur everywhere, and I found that really scary. So I. And I remember very clearly being on the small world ride, and I saw one of those red exit signs, and I remember being very upset about that. And I don't think I could express any of this stuff at the time, but my parents were just like, why is he acting so horribly? Because I was throwing tantrums the whole time. And I remember that I was thinking this, but I don't think I knew how to say any of it. So I remember it being kind of a rough trip. And then I think, weirdly, my Disney obsession kind of, you know, paused there, then all the way until many, many years later. I worked in the New York media space again at Entertainment Weekly, and that tends to be a very cynical place where, even though I was writing about entertainment, I think for someone to be very into Disney would have been very, I don't know, stigmatized. I think, you know, all my friends were kind of in the same space in New York City, and then. Yeah. So I never thought of myself as someone who would really spend a lot of time liking Disney. Then during the pandemic, moving to LA, being closer to Disneyland, something changed, and I was just like, I am still that kid who really loves Disney, except I understand reality a bit more now.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Arguably, you don't think the castle is going to be a full, real castle and that the park is going to be empty for just you?
[00:06:46] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. I absolutely know it's not going to be empty ever.
Yeah. So. But in a weird way, I just really came back to it. But then I just started to really love it again because, you know, when we are adults and we're really in our careers and all that, there's so little escape from it, and especially one that feels more real than watching something on a screen. And people can be really cynical about Disney, and as an entertainment reporter, I see it as a business for what it is. But I think there is something special about being able to suspend that disbelief and just let yourself kind of enjoy it and even enjoy the parts that feel really corporate.
I know as an adult that I'm being kind of sucked in by the branding, but I lean into it. I'm a huge merch person now. I never thought two years ago I would ever have been on a Disney cruise or be absolutely obsessed with Disney merch, but here I am. A lot of my friends from New York, they actually had to really adjust to this. They're like, oh, my gosh, what's your name? As a Disney adult now? That's so weird. But I love it, and I am not ashamed of it. I do not back away anymore.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: I love that. Oh, my God. I love that for you. I will tell you stuff. And I feel the same way when I'm, like, walking down Main street at Disneyland and I smell either like, that. That ice cream smell or that popcorn smell. And I know that they're, like, pumping it out of the vents. Like, it's not even, like, real food smell. It's, like, just an artificial, like, smell, but they make it smell really, really real. I don't know, there's, like. I know I'm being, like, advertised to, right? Like, I know exactly what's happening, yet I'm still, like, immersed in this, like, wonderland of Main street. Right?
[00:08:31] Speaker B: Just exactly.
[00:08:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:32] Speaker B: It's kind of a power. It's a superpower in a way. It's not ignorance. It's just giving into the magic, you know?
[00:08:39] Speaker A: Into the magic. I like that. I like that thought.
[00:08:42] Speaker C: Disney likes it when we surrender. Especially our pocketbooks.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: You just don't think about it. It's all Disney dollars.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. It doesn't. It's like. It's like vacation calories don't count. It's like Disney money, you know? It doesn't. It doesn't count.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: So tell us, when did you go on your first Disney cruise? Because I know that was quite recently.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: It was pretty recent. It was January 2023, and it was a San Diego cruise close to where I live now in LA. And it was a five night just to the Mexican Riviera. And I think what was notable about that one was it was the cheapest cruise I've ever seen ever since for Disney. I mean, I think it was something, like, for two people, it was only maybe, like, $1,300 for five nights. And I don't think there was even a special deal at the time, but I haven't seen anything like that since, unfortunately.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Now, you have just taken your third Disney cruise. Tell us, like, so this one is a longer one. The eastbound transatlantic. Tell us, like, what. What inspire you to book this cruise in particular? You've been on two short or not short, but shorter cruises. Like, why this particular itinerary?
[00:10:00] Speaker B: So I had heard from other guests on your podcast, actually, these longer cruises are the way to go, and I now completely agree. I liked how long it was. I love the destination, Barcelona, and that's a place I've always wanted to go but have never been to. I'm familiar with Fort Lauderdale, which is where we boarded or where we boarded from. And I thought the idea of really kind of getting enmeshed in both the Disney of it all and also the community for 13 nights would be a really, really special experience. So, yeah, everything about it was completely appealing. And I thought, really, talking about immersion, whether or not this is really being immersed in Disney, but just having just ocean around you completely, I think for a lot of people, that's a very anxiety inducing thought, but for me, it just felt like complete freedom and the true fantasy. You know, there's no exit sign there, so.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: The only exit is those lifeboats. Right?
[00:11:09] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly. So I really just wanted to go all in, and, you know, I'm a writer, and there's a lot of flexibility at my job, too. So I also thought a long cruise would really help with making it feel like a retreat, because I am an author primarily, and we like to have lots of long periods of time to kind of be away. And it's funny because writers pay so much money for these writing retreats, where they are paying to go somewhere with kind of really base level accommodations, like a little cot, a little cabin fire, webs everywhere. No Internet or very poor Internet, which is something that is supposed to really help you focus. Guess what? The Internet on a transatlantic is always a little spotty. I actually did pay for. I couldn't be away from my iPad streaming for too long, but it was actually a plus to be like, okay, if the Internet cuts out, then that's just me being trapped and having to maybe focus and write. But the other great thing about using Disney as kind of like a writer's retreat, which I can elaborate on a bit later, is that part of being a writer is being distracted or distracting yourself. Well, and there's no better type of distraction than what you can find on a Disney cruise, because they're actually really satisfying. It's better than going off to watch YouTube or walk around the block. You see something beautiful on a Disney cruise just right around the corner, and then you can come right back to it. Feeling kind of energized and inspired again.
[00:12:44] Speaker A: Awesome. Now, did you plan on sort of working or writing while you were having like every sea day or did or was it like every other day? I mean, it's a little bit different, right? Like most people take a Disney cruise as like a full on vacation, right? Where they're, they're going to relax and not do work the entire time. Except maybe they might have to answer a couple of emails or check their email on a daily basis. I know that's what we try to do just so that we don't come home to like a thousand emails. Right. But in general, it's like it's a vacation. What was your plan for this? I mean, you have a whole bunch of c days right in the, in the middle for this cruise. Yeah. So what was your plan of attack there?
[00:13:23] Speaker B: So on my first two shorter cruises, I did have specific deadlines kind of tied to those. So I did use those times to go and pretty much work. The first cruise I was on with a good friend of mine who understood my whole schedule and then the second was a solo cruise. So I did go with the intent to work, but obviously I didn't. I had some realistic expectations around. I'm probably not going to finish like 4000 words a day, which is what you go to one of those really isolated cabins for.
I was thinking I'll just do as much as I can and I will feel like I have kind of a creative reset at the end of it no matter what. Because there's something about the storytelling of Disney combined with the relaxation and rejuvenation of a cruise that works really well. And it's funny because I've talked to people on cruises who are actually doing the same thing as I am, but maybe they don't actually work in a creative field for their job, but they're like, oh, I came on here to really read a lot and maybe get inspired for a novel I want to try writing. And that's kind of perfect. That space is perfect to be in. So for this 13 night eastbound, I didn't have a specific deadline. I actually finished a book each on my previous two cruises. But those were really just, those were primarily, mostly done, but I just really needed to really do that push at the very end. But then for this one, I was just like, I'm just going to be creative and just see where it takes me and do, do what I can, but I'm not going to pressure myself. So what I would do is I definitely hold up at the COVID cafe, one of the best places to be. But I also told people on Facebook ahead of time, like, hi, I'm a writer. I'm going to have my laptop out, but I'm nothing doing work, work. So please feel free to say hi, interrupt me or anything. And people took me up on that, which is great, and it was a lot of fun.
[00:15:25] Speaker C: So I want to ask a quick question here. We should shift into talking about your cruise, but I'm fascinated about this. No, no, this is great. I love this. And it's funny you mentioned the laptop thing. Cause I've had more than one time where I've been, like, on the ship trying to do something for the show. Someone's, like, taking you away from work. What's so important you have to work on it now? It's like, this is just whatever. Do you, while you're on board and you're working, like, are you drawing inspiration from these cruises in some way? Like, is that making its way into your work, or is it really just, like, an environmental. Like, I need the ability to kind of unplug and relax a little bit to really get the creative juices flowing.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: I'm just.
[00:16:00] Speaker C: I'm so curious about that.
[00:16:02] Speaker B: It's definitely more the latter because I'm obsessed with writing environments. And in regular life, it's usually looking for that perfect library or that perfect coffee shop that has the right ambiance. But you're definitely never really gonna do better than the Disney cruise. I've been on other cruise ships, and they've been beautiful, but they don't have that kind of intentionality or storytelling built into them. And what's also really great about a Disney cruise is that it makes you feel things, feel emotions a lot. A lot of it's designed to make you feel things, like, thrilled or touched or whatever, and the things I'm writing about. So on this longer cruise, I wasn't writing young adults. It was very adult stuff. And. And a lot of it's, like, a little bit depressing, but it's funny. People think you need to be all depressed to write something a little bit difficult. But actually, in my experience, and most of my writer friends will agree, no matter what you're doing, it's always good to be in a good mood when you're writing, no matter what type of thing you're writing. So being in a great mood and feeling really plugged into your feelings really always helps. And this applies to no matter what you're doing, also, the kind of sense of independence is great. Like, I think even if you're with your family or you're even with kids, I think a lot of people who maybe want to use their vacation time or specifically a Disney cruise time to kind of reconnect with their creative side, it's really easy to sort of leave a little bit. You know, whether you're dropping your kids off somewhere at one of the kids clubs or leaving your spouse in the adult section or in a pool or, you know, entertain themselves, you can always find a spot. Some of the other great spots for kind of quiet time, reflection, reading, and all that stuff was other than cove. I loved the outdoor space right outside of Meridian. Yeah, there. One side is a little.
[00:18:00] Speaker A: Yeah, there's a little deck. There's, like, the cigar deck on one side, and then the other side is just like. Just deck. Yeah.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: Yes. And I would always think that if there was some event going on in the meridian that it would be off limits, but they actually are just like, no, just walk through and go right there. And it was never, ever crowded. Even though it's just prime real estate, you get a beautiful view of the back of the ship. It's quiet. It's a great atmosphere. You're close to that bathroom.
That's the other thing about what makes writing or doing a creative work on a Disney cruise so great. You pretty much feel good about leaving your laptop and then leaving your bag and going to the bathroom, as opposed.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: To a coffee shop where you're worried it might get picked up and walked away with.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
[00:18:51] Speaker A: Cause it's not just you've lost your laptop, but you have, like, lost your book. Right? I mean, I guess if you wave to the cloud, but, like, oh, my God, that would be terrifying.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm gonna guess that deck four, the promenade deck, does that just have too much activity going on? Is there just too busy? Cause I know there's a place a lot of people like to sit out on those lounger chairs, and it is a beautiful spot to sort of just watch the ocean. But I'm curious if that's maybe too much hustle and bustle for getting that writing.
[00:19:24] Speaker B: Yes, I definitely would say so. I had heard from one of your previous guests that they actually like doing work or writing in the skyline lounge kind of off hours during the day. But I found that that was not a great environment for me personally. I like sunlight.
[00:19:40] Speaker A: It's too dark. Yeah.
[00:19:42] Speaker B: Yes.
But I did spend a lot of time on deck four, but not specifically for writing. I actually met another authorization an aspiring author who wanted to talk, and we met at the COVID bar. But then he was like, I want to pick your brain a little bit. So we walked in a bunch of circles on deck four. Another big thing about writing or creative work, I think anyone who's in those fields would know very little of it, is actually sitting down and writing. A lot of writing happens when you're pacing around in circles and thinking, deck four, deck eleven are great places to do that. Better than doing the block around your neighborhood, for sure.
[00:20:20] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, that's a really good point. There's, I mean, just like, sort of that people watching that, moving around, that's always helpful. I know I write for a living, as I mentioned, very different than your writing, but I sometimes just need to get up and walk around and change the environment or go to even just a different room in my house, like, if I feel like I'm getting a, you know, writer's block or getting stuck on something. So that movement, I think, is key. One thing you mentioned to us when you reached out to talk about this cruise in particular was the community of people on this ship. I'm curious as to. This was your third cruise, so you've had the experience of having a cruise community before and joining a Facebook group and all of that. But I know you said this one was different. Tell us what was different about this community of folks who were traveling on this longer cruise on the Disney dream.
[00:21:13] Speaker B: Yes. So I don't remember the stats of, you know, the demographics of who were. Who was on the ship, but just, you know, anecdotally, it was definitely primarily adults, for sure, by a lot. And I think because it was going to Europe and it was so long, there were a lot of just kind of really engaged, you know, culturally curious adults on the ship, too. What was really key here was because our Facebook administrators were pros. I wish I remembered one of them, but I have to shout out Jazzy, who was one of ours, and she was spectacular. The other was really wonderful, too, I think. I just don't remember her name because it was german. They set up WhatsApp groups and WhatsApp chat chats, and there was a lot of initial. What is WhatsApp? I don't know how to use this, but they actually took the time to be like, you're going to really appreciate this, especially on this long cruise where. And WhatsApp is an app that is really a lot like iMessage on Apple, except you don't have to have Apple, and it's really great for international people communicating with each other for free, basically. So it's great.
[00:22:33] Speaker A: It works on any Disney cruise ship, even without paying for an Internet package. So as long as you're hooked up with the regular guest wifi that the app works through. Imessage works through. WhatsApp also works through. And that's, I think, how a lot of the crew end up communicating with their families back home. They, you know, text over it.
[00:22:52] Speaker B: Absolutely. And they set up so many different affinity groups. They set up affinity groups for every age group, every interest. There was a really active bookworm chat where people exchanged books in the COVID There was a really active LGBTQIA chat, and everybody was setting up little meetups. There was just a really active community. And there was the DVC cruise in the Mediterranean right after our cruise. And, you know, I'm still on the WhatsApp for our eastbound cruise. And a lot of the people who did back to backs with the DVC, they were just like, it is nothing like, you know, the community we had because people really, really felt kind of attached to each other by the end and going back to, like, just really interesting people on board. One of the friends I made was a. Was the music assistant producer to Alan Menken, and he's not even technically a Disney cast member, but he just happened to be. Yes. And it was really cool. And there are all sorts of really interesting people all throughout the cruise. So I highly, highly recommend the eastbound, even for the people you meet alone.
[00:24:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I think the longer cruises in general do tend to have more of that vibe because you are going to be spending more time together and there's more sea days in particular, and that means more, you know, sort of togetherness, and people are looking for that community as opposed to, you know, where you're at port every day and you're really off the ship and you're touring around someplace. I just think it's just a different vibe. But also, I think you're right in. And I'm going to shout out to jazzy, I don't know you jazzy, but you sound awesome. And the other lady, but, you know, really having a great Facebook admin is really important, you know, for, you know, people who answer a lot of questions, people who provide information, especially to first time cruisers, organizing those chats, organizing gift exchanges, all of that kind of stuff. It really does set the tone even before anyone steps onboard the ship. I think that's. That's really huge. You know, one of the other things you mentioned to us in. In your outreach to us about the eastbound transatlantic was some of the ports. And, you know, we. We don't have to talk about all the ports. I think we've done a show on the eastbound transatlantic that we went through each port by port. But you had some hot takes about the ports and about how a couple of them in particular were underrated and maybe one that was maybe not overrated, but just rated. I mean, yes, but, yeah. Why don't you tell us about the ports that you got to see that you felt were underrated?
[00:25:35] Speaker B: Yeah. When it comes to cruises in general, but especially Disney, I tend to be a ship person. That's the reason I'm really on them. So I really had kind of this attitude about some of the smaller ports, like Cadiz and Cartagena. Everyone knows about Cartagena in Colombia, but the Cartagena, Spain, I had a little bit of, oh, I don't even know if I'll get off on those. It doesn't seem like there's that much to do. And when I did a little bit of research ahead of time, but one of our administrators, not jazzy, uploaded these really simple walking tours based on her previous trips, and those ended up being perfect. So I was like, okay, I really only want to be off the ship for, like, an hour or two. And these are not huge ports. There's not, like, there's endless things to discover, but there's a lot to discover in one day. And I didn't really want to invest in a lot of the excursions or port adventures. And especially I bought into this cruise really, really late, last minute, so it was a guaranteed room. And so I really missed the window on the port ventures anyway. But I wasn't really sweating it. The thing is, with Cartagena and Cadiz, they're not known for being these must do ports, but because they're smaller and they're very manageable, they're very, very satisfying to just get off and walk around and come back on. So both these towns are really beautiful medieval cities. There are lots of ruins to see, so I tend to be a really fast sightseer.
So I walk really fast, and I walked really fast from place to place. I looked at things, I took a picture, and then moved on, and it was gorgeous. Just the atmosphere was beautiful at both these places, and they were very popular with the cruisers. A lot of people had the same reaction I did, as in they were really underrated or they exceeded expectations. I would also say I probably wouldn't do the same thing. I do plan on going on the eastbound again, and I think if they are going to stop at either those two port cities or very similar ones and wouldn't necessarily do exactly what I did again, I would probably either do a specific port adventure or just actually not get off the ship. But it was also nice even getting off the ship to come back within 2 hours. A lot of these port adventures took much longer, so then you come back, and I liked being in the gym a lot on the ship, and it would just be completely empty for hours. And a lot of the other amenities were just empty for hours. And the ports were beautiful to look at from the ship, so you could always get the best views. So those were very manageable and really, really satisfying.
[00:28:18] Speaker A: I thought, oh, I love that. I mean, what's better than an almost empty ship, right?
[00:28:23] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly.
[00:28:25] Speaker A: It's just fantastic when you get to sort of use everything without. I mean, it's kind of like how you envisioned Disneyland your first time, right?
[00:28:33] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly. Maybe I just want to be alone all the time. That's why I became a writer. No, I'm kidding.
[00:28:40] Speaker A: I love it. Now, you mentioned about theater, and I feel like we have to talk about the shows on board the dream, because in my humble opinion, the best show in Disney cruise line, beauty and the beast, is on the dream. Not to mention, obviously, there are other wonderful shows on other ships as well as on the dream. But, yeah, I want to hear what you thought about the shows. You also had a couple of, like, we'll call them bonus shows because of the nature of this sailing, those longer sailings, they always do special performances. Yeah. I want to hear what you thought, what you saw. I know there's a couple you've seen that I have not seen, so I'm really excited to hear about them.
[00:29:20] Speaker B: Yes, the main stage shows. So, first of all, Sam, I'm 100% gonna agree with you. Beauty and the beast was just spectacular. I like the story itself just because of the theme and also Belle's character of really loving books and stories.
[00:29:37] Speaker A: Of course. She's, like, perfect. She's perfect for any author, right?
[00:29:41] Speaker B: I mean, exactly. And I was walking around the ship wearing a shirt that said bibliophile and had Belle reading a book on it. So that production was just absolutely spectacular from start to finish. And I actually really love the golden Mickeys as well.
[00:29:58] Speaker A: It was my Ryan's favorite and my favorite in one sentence.
There you go.
[00:30:04] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:30:04] Speaker A: You're earning brownie points here.
[00:30:07] Speaker C: Pandering. Pandering. Yeah.
[00:30:09] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:30:11] Speaker B: No, so I have. I have a thing where I always feel like, whenever there's audience interaction, I'm always singled out. And actually, whether by I'm terrified.
[00:30:22] Speaker C: I'm terrified of audience interaction. I was like, what is the seat least likely to get picked for audience interaction? And. That's right, exactly.
[00:30:30] Speaker B: And I get. I feel like I give a lot of oh, please don't pick me energy. And, you know, I go to a lot of. I've been to a lot of drag shows, and there's a lot of interaction there, and I always get singled out.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: I love that.
[00:30:43] Speaker B: Even though I'm always trying not to.
[00:30:46] Speaker A: Be the one who's, like, raising my hand. Like, pick me, pick me.
[00:30:49] Speaker C: And I know every, like, performers gravitate. Like, if you're putting off the, like, don't pick me energy, they're like, oh, you're getting picked because this is fantastic, right? Like, the people raising their hand, they're like, no, no, no. You guys are going to showboat. I'm going to grab the guy who's a not so.
[00:31:03] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. So for golden Mickeys, I purposely was, like, with my friend Gary, who I was on the cruise with. We were. I was like, okay, let's be on the mezzanine, kind of, like, near a column. Let's not be picked. But then, of course, we were picked for the live interview, you know, exclusive red hot red carpet interview.
[00:31:23] Speaker A: Red carpet interview. I love that.
[00:31:25] Speaker B: But it was actually really fun, and it made it really special. But I was really excited to see the Golden Mickeys because on my first cruise on the wonder, we were supposed to see the Golden Mickeys, and we saw half of it, but it was canceled because there was an injury during the show.
[00:31:40] Speaker A: Oh, no.
[00:31:42] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:31:42] Speaker A: So sad.
[00:31:44] Speaker B: Yes. And even though this wasn't on this cruise, I have to tell you the story. So on the wonder, when I was watching the golden Mickeys in the middle of the show, Lewis the alligator, he fell into an open hatch on stage because it opened and closes. The craziest thing happened. So when he fell, someone, either the actor or someone backstage shouted an expletive, and it was heard throughout the theater.
[00:32:11] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh.
[00:32:13] Speaker B: And then the curtain.
[00:32:14] Speaker A: That poor person. I mean, the poor person, exactly. Because, like, I shot expletives when I hurt myself. Like, that's my thing. Like, I. People always ask me about, like, if they curse in front of our kid and they, you know, apologize, and I'm like, it's fine. Like, I. Like, I curse in front.
[00:32:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:29] Speaker A: I mean, I. I don't curse on the show, but I do curse in real life, you guys. Um, but I especially curse if I hurt myself. I just can't help it. That's like my go to word. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: And, um, it was amazing how quickly the curtain closed.
A lot of people were like, wait, did that actually happen? Or did we imagine it just because it was glossed over so quickly? Yeah, yeah. And then a few seconds later, there was bright star, bright star. Bright star over there. Which means.
[00:32:56] Speaker A: Oh, yes. Is it matter?
[00:32:58] Speaker B: Yes. And they said, deck two under the theater. So we know exactly what happened. But they cancelled the show, and I was at the early show, so they cancelled both that day. But long story long, I missed it the first time. So the second time, I was really like, okay, nothing can go wrong on this one. And nothing did, and it was wonderful. Oh, and then for the third show, mainstage show, I always forget whether it's believe or dream. But it's the one with the flower.
[00:33:24] Speaker A: Yes. That is believe.
[00:33:26] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:33:27] Speaker A: It's Disney dreams is the one with the girl who's going to middle school.
[00:33:30] Speaker B: Yes. And I do actually, like, believe better than dreams because I'm one of those people who really can't do the adult doing the kid voice.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: I understand.
[00:33:42] Speaker B: Yes. So I did like this a little bit more, but it was definitely my third favorite. I do think the Golden Mickeys are a little underrated. I thought it was great, but maybe it was just. I was so glad to see the whole thing without someone getting severely injured.
[00:33:56] Speaker A: I think there are. To me, there's, like, really good musical numbers in all three of those shows, meaning Golden Mickey's dreams and believe. But, like, not every one is a hit. And so. And I, you know, and I don't. I actually think Golden Mickeys is in some ways better because it's not trying to string together a plot line that doesn't really work. Right. Like, it's just an award show. So it's a. You know, obviously there is a plot line that goes along with the award show, but I don't know, it's. Yeah, I think the plot is better than the other two. So I get why you like it. I just feel like there's a couple updates that need to happen. So I don't dislike it. It just needs a couple. It just needs a couple of updates. So.
[00:34:39] Speaker B: Yes. And, you know, I wouldn't say that I'm a difficult audience. I would. I am not overly critical, but I have a lot of experience with critiquing theater, because when I was at Entertainment Weekly for six years, I saw basically every Broadway and off Broadway show that came out during those six years because I was kind of put on as, like, a junior theater reviewer.
I just have to say those shows are really impeccable.
The runtimes are wonderful. There is a saying among theater goers. Oh, gosh. I don't know if I really remember it anymore. It's NMNI. NMNI, 90 minutes, no intermission. At Entertainment weekly, we graded things when we were reviewing them with letter grades. I had a joke that if something was NMNI, 90 minutes, no intermission. It was automatically a b or above.
[00:35:31] Speaker A: Yes. I have to listen. As a. As an avid theater goer, I have to agree with you. I. This is, to me, the show six is perfection because it is under 90 minutes and it is no intermission. I love a show that is shorter and no intermission. These two and a half hour plus intermission. So I'm there for 3 hours. It's just too long. Too long.
[00:35:55] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:35:56] Speaker A: There's definitely numbers that can be cut. There's definitely scenes that can be cut. Like, if Disney can do it in an hour and 15, you can do it in 90 minutes. All right.
[00:36:05] Speaker B: Absolutely. And I have to say, the cast for the Disney dream was incredible because I have to say, I remember the wonder cast being really great, too. But then on the magic for my second cruise, I don't know what it was, but a lot of the cast, they weren't just up to the same level as a lot of them could be. So I definitely noticed that.
But this cast was just absolutely spectacular. I saw the Captain America USO special.
[00:36:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I haven't seen that one. Tell me, how did you like that? That's a shorter show, right?
[00:36:40] Speaker B: Yes. And it's done in. Oh, gosh, I forgot which venue it was. It's the club venue in the.
[00:36:45] Speaker A: Oh, evolutions.
[00:36:47] Speaker B: Yes, it was done in evolution. And it really is just a review show with kind of standard, like very american Cole Porter type standards. And Captain America is not necessarily a huge part of it. So it's not like a superhero reenactment type of show. It's just two of the vocalists from the main theater cast and then a bunch of dancers in the background putting on kind of a club show.
The main vocalists were absolutely spectacular. They were really, really wonderful. So that was actually one of the best shows I saw. And we also had a special show called Disney 100, and that was a pure review show of the biggest Disney hits. And there were, I don't know how often they do this Disney 100 show. I think they said that this was the first time they ever performed it. So it's a main theater show. It's not one of the three main ones, but there were some very unique medleys. There was an amazement, which a lot of people on board really recognized as, like, a late nineties. Nineties in park musical review that combined Riverbend out there and I can go the distance together. Very late nineties. And apparently that's one that had a lot of this nostalgia. There were lots of medleys that were just really, really unique that I thought were brilliant. There was that song from enchanted with kiss the girl.
Just so many great songs. Oh, baby mine and you'll be in my heart together.
[00:38:27] Speaker A: Oh, my God. That's, like, a ridiculous, ridiculous combination.
There are so many tears.
[00:38:34] Speaker B: Yeah. And I don't feel bad spoiling some of these, because I feel like this is a limited show, and I think they'll have as much power, even if he knew that those were coming. But, yeah, the performers are really great. There were some complaints. I mean, I do think that the eastbound transatlantic passenger maybe are a bit tougher of a crowd. There were some complaints about how the show didn't feel super planned, but I think that was part of the charm and also a factor of the fact that it was the first time they were doing it. There weren't really any, like, slick transitions, but I thought that was fine. It was really just the vocal performance. They opened with family Madrigal from Encanto, and I have to say that was really rough vocally, and I was really worried about it, but I don't think it. I think it was maybe just a really tough song, because it's a lot of words and it's really fast.
[00:39:28] Speaker A: But that is one of the toughest songs I can't imagine. I mean, you have to perform it, right, as a group, but performing it live would be really tough. I mean, the recorded track is, you know, they can record it in pieces and splice it together, and you can have a million different takes. Right. That's not done live. And I imagine that is just a really hard one to do. I mean, I. I can't keep up with the rhythm on that because it's so fast.
[00:39:52] Speaker B: Right. It's so funny, though, because when I think anyone who's ever performed, not that I have, but can relate to this, but when you're off, you're really off. So it was absolutely disastrous. And I was just like, oh, my gosh, is this whole show gonna be like that? But it was clearly not really the performers faults because. Or, you know, I think they were just a little bit shaky because later on, those same performers did. Absolutely blew the house down. So, yeah, it was kind of fun to see people, you know, in the creative process. You know, we all fail a little bit at first.
Yeah.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: We have to fail forward, though, right? Like, exactly. Yeah. If we don't try, we're never going to be innovative. We're never going to do anything new. If we, you know, if we can't, like, you know, just sometimes do it and fail. You know that. You mentioned a couple of complaints from the group on board, and I'm curious to hear, you know, we always. We like to talk about when I. Disney gets things right and when there's, you know, room for improvement, we like.
[00:40:51] Speaker C: To be balanced and discuss Disney.
Disney's opportunities.
[00:40:55] Speaker A: Opportunities. We'll end with more positive talk, of course, but I'm curious as to, you know, what were some opportunities for Disney on this cruise?
[00:41:05] Speaker B: Right. So there really weren't a lot of complaints. I think maybe it was because I was so plugged into the WhatsApp. I really got all of them as soon as anybody said anything. There were lots of complaints about the see a real soon show because I think they're supposed to show a bunch of photos from the cruise at the end. All the photos were clearly from a different cruise.
So a lot of people had been really looking forward to that, but that didn't really go. There were some complaints about some of the secondary main stage shows, I think specifically about a Broadway performer show that I don't think went really well. And this is different from the special Broadway guest performer who acts in the main stations. This was a review show that happened on one of the other nights because it's a longer cruise, but really there were some complaints about getting back on the ship and maybe the accessibility on the ramps not being the best. But aside from that, there were not big ones. There was a kind of mishap on the cruise, but I don't think anyone really complained about it. It was just very notable. But we came across a shipwreck in the middle of the ocean, like in the middle of the Atlantic.
[00:42:21] Speaker A: I remember seeing posts about this on Facebook when it happened. Yeah, tell us about it.
[00:42:27] Speaker B: One night after dinner, it was pretty late, around 11:00 p.m.
i was getting ready to go to sleep, but me and Gary noticed that it seemed like the motors had shut off and we could feel the ship come to a stop. And then I looked out onto the veranda, and there was a small ship, like, literally right outside the veranda. And the Disney dream spotlight was right on it because I think they were investigating because I think it's a maritime law, or at least definitely a good practice where if you see a shipwreck, stop and see if anyone needs help. So this was very mysterious.
[00:43:09] Speaker A: And this was like an overturned catamaran, right?
[00:43:11] Speaker B: Yes, it was definitely capsized. And we were all just like, what the heck is that? Because for a second, the WhatsApp was going nuts because people were speculating. They're like, is everyone seeing this? Like, it was such a bizarre thing to see at night with no land anywhere around. Yeah. An upturned ship in the middle of the Atlantic. Like, absolutely no help anywhere else. So, yeah, we stopped for about, like a good 2 hours, and there was so much speculation. But then eventually, I think the ship was like, okay, there are no survivors. There's no one who really needs anything. So we're gonna move on. And we reported it and everything. So later we get the news.
[00:43:53] Speaker C: You weren't like, free boat, I'll take it. No, I was kidding.
[00:43:56] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:43:58] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:43:58] Speaker A: So sensitive, Brian.
[00:44:02] Speaker B: So apparently it was, yeah, it was a missing catch, Moran. All the people who had been on it were rescued. It was a catamaran that was like, I think kind of like a little booze cruise that set off from Virginia. But like a year ago, a year earlier.
[00:44:15] Speaker C: I didn't know. I didn't know Carnival got into the catamaran business.
[00:44:23] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness.
[00:44:26] Speaker C: I couldn't help it exactly.
[00:44:27] Speaker A: But it just floated out into the middle of the ocean is like, yes. Yeah.
[00:44:30] Speaker B: But we all got some really good video and photos. So that was the talk of the cruise for a good two nights.
[00:44:38] Speaker A: Wow. Wow.
[00:44:41] Speaker D: 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. Mypath unwinding travel is an authorized Disney vacation planner, which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, adventured with Disney, relaxed at Alani, and so much more. Whether 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, mypath unwinding, for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:45:40] Speaker A: Now, you also mentioned to us earlier that there were some great character interactions that you had had. I'm curious to hear about those. Well, one did you like, has Minnie redeemed herself? Is she not scary to you now?
[00:45:55] Speaker B: Of course, yes. Actually, my favorite interaction was with Minnie and Daisy together.
They love doing model poses, so I showed them mine ones that I learned from America's Next Top Model.
[00:46:10] Speaker A: Did you smize? You know, I smized.
[00:46:13] Speaker B: I also did the broken doll. I did editorial. I did did catalog. I did all of it.
And actually one of the funnest ones was goofy and Max.
They did a whole bit about Max being mad at goofy and throwing a tantrum and goofy going and telling him to come back and take more photos. That was really cool. There were lots of different outfits because this was a longer cruise, and a lot of the main characters were wearing different outfits every day based on where we were going or not necessarily based on where we were going, but just Europe in general. So there was definitely the Wiederhosen versions of the characters.
[00:46:55] Speaker A: Oh, I love that.
[00:46:56] Speaker B: Yeah, the alpine versions. And there was one japanese cruiser, an adult japanese cruiser with her mom who was first in line for every single character interaction. And she must have also gotten some, you know, heads up about what they'd be wearing because she would match them. Yeah, she was there for every single one. I think someone complained to guest services after a few nights because I think she took maybe five to six minutes, which is actually a really long time for a character intersection.
[00:47:28] Speaker A: Yes, a super long time.
[00:47:30] Speaker B: Yes. After someone asked, I think they talked to her, and she was much faster after that. But people were speculating, like, what does she do? She must be an influencer. Why would you take that many photos? But people asked her what she did, and she's very mysteriously said, no one other than my mother knows what I do for a living. And everyone's like, wow, okay, that's odd. But that's another thing about these longer cruises. There's, like, kind of culture and lore that happens on the ship. They're just like, yeah, who's that lady? What does she do.
[00:48:04] Speaker C: Other than my mother knows what someone must know. You're getting paid, so.
[00:48:08] Speaker A: Yeah, well, exactly.
[00:48:10] Speaker B: And these are expensive cruises.
[00:48:11] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:48:12] Speaker B: So. And she apparently goes all around and does all these characters. And the japanese parks. The characters are a much even bigger focus. So this was Duffy and friends.
[00:48:24] Speaker A: I want Duffy.
[00:48:25] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:48:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:48:27] Speaker B: Yeah. And I have. There were some Marvel characters. Thor and Captain America, in particular, were just really, really great. The actors they had doing those were just really, really tough. Notch.
[00:48:39] Speaker C: I want to shift us over to food because we always say we can't talk about cruising without food. It's such a big component. I wish we could go on diet cruising, but they really don't have that.
So I'm sure, actually, that there is a cruise that does that, but we're not interested in it. So, Stefan, did you do, I mean, long cruise? So did you get some adult dining in? How was the rotational dining? What did you think of the experience overall? I know. I want to preface this by saying, I know sometimes with these longer cruises coming out of foreign ports, it's like, you know, sourcing can be a little different than what we're used to here in the. In the US, and so sometimes they don't always have the things we're expecting or there's different quality. So, anyway, yeah. How was the. How was the food experience overall, and.
[00:49:17] Speaker D: Did you do any adult dining, and how was that?
[00:49:18] Speaker B: The food was great.
I really loved the royal table. I always forgot table or garden on these ships. I love that restaurant a lot more than I expected, because on the smaller tritons and lumieres, they're usually not my favorite, but I would say that was probably, royal table was probably my favorite because it was so kind of opulent and tasteful and really felt like you were in a castle again. With restaurants, I really am more about ambiance and vibe than anything else. I obviously loved animator's palette. We were in a really nice corner for that one. Enchanted garden. Yeah. I really hope they're gonna retheme that.
[00:50:04] Speaker A: It's funny, because I keep hearing that. I love that.
[00:50:06] Speaker B: Yeah. It's just not my favorite ambiance. And I just think that there's a lot of great opportunity to differentiate the dream and the fantasy from each other by switching that one up. And I heard from some of the cast members, we know that the dream is going to dry dock very soon. And one of the cast members did confirm to me that they will be working on the enchanted garden. She only specifically talked about getting rid of those old buffet tables that they haven't been using. I asked, oh, have you heard if they're going to change anything more about that, and she didn't really say, but we did get the early scoop on how they're changing the edge and adding the funnel suite, but yeah, apparently they are taking that out. So I wonder if they're going to do anything interesting there, maybe put a stage in there of some sort. I feel like we probably would have heard if they were doing anything more with the theming, so. But as far as the menus go, I have to say it did get a little repetitive, even though they did do different menus at each of the restaurants every few nights. But the servers were really great about giving you alternatives. Angelina, our server, brought out the curry for me a number of nights without asking, which was really awesome. We were sitting next to a mother and daughter at the other table who ordered a huge plate of pot stickers every single meal.
[00:51:29] Speaker A: Ooh, I didn't know that was a thing.
[00:51:31] Speaker B: Exactly. Maybe the serving teams will be a little bit mad that we're talking about it, but apparently that's a thing you can do. And they always had them before they even like right when they sat down, so they would always come around to our section and hand them out. And so we always got a little. A moose boo chipot sticker. We did do Remy and it was amazing. We did the whole thing where one of us did the european course and one of those, I forget which one.
[00:52:01] Speaker A: American and french? Yeah.
[00:52:02] Speaker B: Yes, american and French. And that was just a really, really great experience. We got a booth that looked right out the window. The service was phenomenal. I really can't say enough about Remy. We were supposed to do Paolo, but I had already done palo on the wonder and had a great experience, so I didn't necessarily feel like I needed to do that again. So we ended up canceling it. Yeah, I was really happy with the food. I did main dining for lunch a couple of times and that was great, too. So no complaints. And I have to say again on the magic, the food, I had really noticed a dip in quality on that cruise that I'd been on, so this was a huge improvement.
[00:52:44] Speaker A: Say, oh, wow. You know, I think the sit down lunch is especially a great tip for like, sea days, especially on a cruise like this where you have a lot of sea days, right. And so you have the time to have a more leisurely lunch and you don't feel like you have to run around in order to, you know, do everything and see everything on the ship. So I find a sit down lunch especially relaxing on the first day of the cruise, we've sort of. We started off when we started cruising, doing cabanas for lunch on embarkation day. And now I feel like it. We pretty much always do sit down lunch. It's just. Yeah, it's just a more relaxing, relaxing time. Yeah. Brian, do you think it's that time?
[00:53:23] Speaker C: I don't know. I mean, do you feel it? Does it feel like that time?
[00:53:26] Speaker D: Is the energy there?
[00:53:27] Speaker A: It feels like it's that time.
[00:53:29] Speaker C: Have you stretched? Have you really stretched? And, you know, there we go.
[00:53:34] Speaker A: All right. You know, I got my work done this morning. I think I'm ready.
[00:53:38] Speaker C: Any deep breathing needed, or have we reached that time in the show where it's time to hand you back over to Sam for some arbitrary questions, some arbitrary rules in a dash of judgment.
[00:53:47] Speaker D: Or the round we know as rapid fire?
[00:53:49] Speaker C: So, sam, take it away.
[00:53:50] Speaker A: All right, Stefan, I'm going to ask you your Disney favorites and then your Disney cruise favorites. These do not have to be limited to your cruise on the dream. You can answer with venues and activities and all of that from the wonder or the magic or the dream. So all three ships that you have been on, I love, by the way, that you've hit three ships and three cruises. That's awesome. Good job. Good job. Very smart thinking. All right, we'll start off with who is your favorite character? And is it still Minnie Mouse?
[00:54:19] Speaker B: Oh, gosh. You know, I actually think she's way up there. But I think it's a tie between Belle, for reasons mentioned before, and Rapunzel for actually similar reasons. I just like that she found so many things to do, and I'm very much that kind of person. My brother, ever since we were little, he would always joke that, oh, you would do really well as, like, a prisoner, because, like, I love, I can just entertain myself with a book or, you know, with a piece of paper forever. And I really liked how the prisoner in a tower.
Exactly.
[00:54:57] Speaker A: If your mother ever locks you or youre, your kidnapped mother ever locked you in a tower, you'll be fine. All right. I love it.
[00:55:04] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:55:05] Speaker A: Okay. Favorite Disney movie?
[00:55:08] Speaker B: Ooh. I will have to say tangled. I just think that that's very underrated. You did not ask this, but I just have to say, this is my billion dollar idea. I think Taylor Swift for live action. Rapunzel.
[00:55:24] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:55:25] Speaker B: She got to be aged up a little bit, but she has the right voice for it.
[00:55:29] Speaker A: She does.
[00:55:30] Speaker B: Look.
[00:55:30] Speaker A: She does. I mean, yeah, the theater would have.
[00:55:33] Speaker C: To be expanded to a point of absurdity at that point, right?
You don't like.
[00:55:38] Speaker A: If you don't like Royal Caribbean movie. No. No.
[00:55:43] Speaker C: Show. Like, you don't want to.
[00:55:49] Speaker A: Remember, Brian. They've been remaking everything. I mean, mandy Moore was great as the voice of Rapunzel and Taylor tangled, but again, she's a little older now, but a young Mandy Moore would have been perfect in a live action version, but a slightly younger Taylor Swift also.
[00:56:05] Speaker C: So I wonder, has Taylor Swift been a godmother for a ship yet? Because Meghan Trainor just was so Disney.
[00:56:11] Speaker B: Get on that.
[00:56:13] Speaker A: She should be. That would be awesome. That would be totally awesome for her.
[00:56:17] Speaker C: Destiny would sell out in a heartbeat if it was like Taylor Swift was the godmother had her endorsement to it.
[00:56:22] Speaker D: There you go.
[00:56:23] Speaker B: Oh, and I have to say, while we're on this topic, there was a Taylor Swift official group that met up a few times on the cruise.
[00:56:31] Speaker A: Did they exchange bracelets on board? Yes.
I feel like the bracelet exchange thing is becoming more integrated into Disney culture, too. Right? Like, obviously it's a Taylor Swift thing, but it's kind of morphed into other places, so. All right, well, favorite song. This is obviously a really important question. Favorite Disney song.
[00:56:51] Speaker B: Oh, gosh, I would say how far? I'll go.
[00:56:56] Speaker A: So good. So good. Okay, now we're going to move on to the ship, or ships. And I think you already answered this, but let's just make sure your favorite Disney cruise line mainstage show is Zachary.
[00:57:09] Speaker B: Beauty and the Beast by far.
[00:57:11] Speaker A: Good job. Good job. And Tangled is great. I know you said you didn't have as great of a main stage cast on the. On the map. I will say with a fantastic cast. We just saw it, you know, last month, and. Oh, my God. It's just with the right cast, it's just so, so good. With the right Flynn rider and the right Rapunzel in particular. It's just so, so good because the mother, Gothel, is always the Broadway visiting artist.
[00:57:34] Speaker B: She was spectacular.
[00:57:36] Speaker A: Yeah, always spectacular. Okay, favorite bar space on board any Disney cruise line ship that you've been on.
[00:57:44] Speaker B: Oh, gosh, this is so hard. You know, I think the best would be.
What are they even called? The Irish one on the magic and the british pub on the wonder. I just love those spaces. They're huge. The menus are great. They have a really nice, relaxed vibe, but actually. Okay, unpopular actual answer, though. But on the dream, I just really enjoyed pink.
[00:58:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:58:12] Speaker B: It's not, like the really nicest venue. It's a little bit off, but I just really like, the piano there, you know, visiting musicians were always really wonderful, and I loved the bartender, Alberto. If you're on the dream, ask for Alberto. He gave me a free souvenir glass at the end. It was real. He was really, really great. He went above and beyond.
[00:58:33] Speaker A: Oh, I love that. Yeah. You know what? Even if the space is, I think the shape of, like, both pink and ulala is kind of an awkward shape. But, like, if you have a great bartender or a great pianist, like, that bar can be your favorite. It doesn't. You know, it's that experience. Right. It's your. Your memory of that experience is. Is sometimes more important than the venue itself.
[00:58:54] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:58:54] Speaker A: All right, let's talk rotational dining. Of the three ships that you've been on, which one has your favorite rotational dining restaurant? And it can be for any reason. It could be the entertainment, could be the food, can be the atmosphere, whatever.
[00:59:07] Speaker B: I have to say, rapunzel's royal table, it's very close between that and Tiana's, but I have to give it for the decorous. I just really like any tangled vibes. And I have to say, in all the main dining, I love kind of higher end Disney flatware. Like, that's what I order on eBay all day, so I really. I have to say, I don't. I didn't, but I really just want to steal all of it when I'm there.
[00:59:36] Speaker A: I understand.
I may or may not have a frying pan in my house. Let's just do that anyway. Okay. Let's talk favorite onboard activity. What is your favorite thing to do on board a Disney cruise ship?
[00:59:54] Speaker B: Ooh. I would have to say, you know, the animation sessions, those are really fun to do. And especially while writing or as a break from writing, it's really nice to just go over there, even by yourself, and just. It's very meditative, and it's really fun. I'm also a really big bingo person. Oh, my gosh. We spent so much money on bingo.
I'm horribly, horribly.
[01:00:18] Speaker C: Have you won bingo?
[01:00:19] Speaker A: No. No.
[01:00:20] Speaker B: He's won horribly unlucky. I never even get close. My friend, he gets pretty lucky. So we've won once on each of the cruises, but it was not enough to offset the cost, of course, of.
[01:00:35] Speaker A: What you actually spent on binge.
[01:00:37] Speaker C: Because I hate golf now, but I used to love the thing that would suck me back in. You take 500 shots, but one of them was just beautiful. And then you think, I'm going to repeat that, and then you spend the next 499 getting back to it, so I was wondering if you had won. And that was like, but we're going to win again.
[01:00:57] Speaker B: There was this one lady who kept winning. I went almost every time there was a woman who, I swear she won almost every time. She was an older lady. She was always bye herself. And I actually do remember her real name just because she was announced so many times as the winner. But I always referred to her as Mabel because she just looked like a Mabel to me. She was just like very much, you know, a woman, an elderly woman who would play bingo, but she just won all the time. She had that chaka gray hair, always wore that black tunic. She was constantly, constantly winning. But in the really big grand prize at the very end, because it was such a long cruise, the jackpot was like something like, I think it was 9000 something dollars and someone won the whole thing by themselves.
[01:01:42] Speaker A: Wow, that's amazing.
[01:01:44] Speaker B: And I've learned from your show that they get paid in a sack of cash, so.
[01:01:49] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right.
[01:01:51] Speaker B: Gosh.
[01:01:51] Speaker A: But then they get the forms because it gets reported to the IR's, so.
[01:01:55] Speaker B: Yes, exactly.
[01:01:56] Speaker A: Customs or whatever. Yeah. All right. A favorite space to relax on board. Board.
[01:02:02] Speaker B: Oh, I have to go with COVID Cafe or that space right outside of Meridian.
[01:02:07] Speaker A: Meridian, yeah. Awesome. All right, since you have done both Remy and Paulo, I have to ask you, Remy versus Paulo, which one did you like better? They're very different. They're very different experiences. But what did you like better?
[01:02:21] Speaker B: I would actually give it to Remy just because it was so special. But I would do Paolo again sooner just because it's just more approachable and a lot less expensive. But also it's more satisfying. I would say just as a meal, just as a one time thing. If you had to choose one once, I would go with Remy personally.
[01:02:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. I think Paulo is more repeatable, but Remy and Anshantay are just more special. And so, yeah, I think that's a great way to think about it. Okay, this is a really important question.
Aqua dunk versus aqua duck.
[01:02:58] Speaker B: Oh, that's so hard. But I'm gonna. Okay, this is where I'm gonna start losing you, Sam.
[01:03:04] Speaker A: You're gonna start winning, Brian. Yeah, you're winning, Brian. There you go.
[01:03:08] Speaker B: Yeah, it's the perfect kind of jolt of energy. Like, especially, again with the whole writing thing. It's a great writing break to be parked at Cove cafe. You know, be wearing your swimsuit bottoms. Go dunk yourself, get your heart rate going and then dry yourself off. Maybe take a quick shower in the spa locker room, which is right near Cove cafe, and go right back to writing. So that was kind of my routine, and it was really great.
[01:03:37] Speaker A: All right. I like it. Even though that thing terrifies me. I understand your process there. Okay. Another controversial question. Which one is your favorite ship? You can only choose from the ships that you've been on.
[01:03:49] Speaker B: Yes. Okay. I'm gonna maybe lose you guys here, too. Cause I know the right answer is wonder, but I'm gonna go with dream.
Because of the specific experience I had. It was so long, and I'm sure it wasn't really full. It felt like a big, substantial ship, but it felt really manageable as well. There was always so much to do, and it felt like there were more, like, kind of hidden corners and stuff, whereas, like, even though the wonder, it's so easy to navigate, it feels a little bit like, okay, everything's exactly where it should be, be, which in a lot of ways is great. I feel like with the dream, there's a little bit more room to kind of search and discover a little bit.
[01:04:30] Speaker A: Zachary. Yeah. I'm not going to hate on that answer. I think your explanation makes total sense. I also think whenever you spend 13 nights on a cruise ship, a Disney cruise ship, you're going to. You're going to fall in love with that ship. Right. And we went on the fantasy a whole bunch of times before, you know, when we first started cruising. And the fantasy was our favorite for a while, even though we had been on the one once. Yeah. The fantasy was, like, we felt it was, like, super repeatable, and we loved it. So, obviously, the dream being its sister ship, the dream we've had less, we have less affinity for because we were on, like, three and four night cruises on the dream. Which three and four night cruises? Sorry, the itinerary is just not my favorite, so. Yeah, no, totally understand that. Okay, my last question, your bucket list cruise. If you could go anywhere in the world on a Disney cruise line ship, even someplace that Disney cruise line doesn't currently sale. Where are you going?
[01:05:22] Speaker C: Well, wait, wait. I want to give. I want to give. I want to get two answers to this, Sam. I'm sorry. I'm going to.
Because the beginning, we talked all about how Stefan likes to cruise in order to, like, be productive with the writing. Right? So, like, I wonder if there's two different answers here. There might be a cruise called I want to go on a 14 day cruise to nowhere.
And anyway. But, Stefan, is there a difference between what your bucket list cruise would be if it was focused on sort of your productivity versus majorly to go.
[01:05:49] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. So in terms of, like, some place I really want to go, I would want to go on one of the american cruise ships, but around Tokyo and also stopping in Korea because my mom actually lives in Seocho, which is a coastal city in Seoul, I mean, a few hours away from Seoul on the korean coast. So I'd love to circle around Tokyo and then stop shop in Korea. But then in terms of, you know, the schedule, I would like it to be as long as possible. And I'd like to start in New York because I still actually have my apartment in New York that I rent out. And it's actually in Hell's Kitchen, which is right near the port there. And it would be amazing to just kind of walk from my apartment on board. That's kind of a dream. And then go through the Panama canoe now and then actually stop it. Or come to an end in Long beach, which I know Disney cruise line doesn't go to, but it's basically right near LA.
[01:06:53] Speaker A: So it'd be amazing to go from your old apartment to your current place, because it should be.
[01:07:00] Speaker B: Exactly. Yeah. So it's the convenience. You know, I would be saving money on airfare. You know. I'm just kidding.
[01:07:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I love it. Awesome.
You won, by the way.
Even though you picked the wrong ship and you picked the wrong waterslide, you still won. Okay.
Because your reasoning was great and your other answers were obviously correct.
[01:07:23] Speaker B: I showed my work.
[01:07:24] Speaker C: Yeah, well, this is what happens. This is what happens when you have a lawyer. She's acting more like a judge. She's looking across the reality of what she's being presented as opposed to just scoring the answers.
There you go. Although it makes me wonder, some of those people you said, who lost? Has anyone lost? Lost rapid fire.
[01:07:40] Speaker A: There are people who have given certain answers that were so wrong that I disqualified right in the middle, but. Yeah, but nobody's gotten, like, raid those people.
[01:07:52] Speaker C: They failed in the middle. But you kept questioning them, like, why just add insult to injury. Okay.
[01:07:56] Speaker A: All right.
[01:07:56] Speaker C: Well, Stefan, but before we wrap up, you're an author. You've got books.
[01:08:01] Speaker B: Yes.
[01:08:02] Speaker C: Where can people find them?
[01:08:03] Speaker B: Yes. So I have two novels out now. They're actually about the K pop world. They're through scholarships, they're in stores. But also at scholastic book fairs, K pop confidential and K pop revolution.
They were being made into films at Netflix, but I don't know if that's going anymore.
[01:08:22] Speaker A: I hope they are. I hope it's just a pause.
[01:08:24] Speaker B: It has nothing to do with my job, so there's no special treatment. And then I have another book coming out. It's actually written with the drag queen Kimchi, who is on RuPaul's drag race.
[01:08:36] Speaker A: That's the best name ever, by the.
[01:08:38] Speaker B: Way, her name, like, it's a first and last name.
[01:08:41] Speaker A: Yes.
[01:08:42] Speaker B: It's called the library's open. That's coming out next fall. And then I'm currently finishing a novel called like we were in Paris, which is based on a. The title is based on a Taylor Swift lyric and that is coming out next summer, so I have to really finish that and.
[01:08:59] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome. Well, what's next as far as travels? Do you have a Disney cruise book? Do you have, you know, some other cool vacations? Vacation booked?
[01:09:08] Speaker B: I'm incredibly tempted. I like to do these last minute guaranteed rooms and that's how this transatlantic was. And it was a great deal in a great room, too. A room I absolutely would have chosen myself. So I'm really tempted by the wonder. Honolulu to Sydney. It's really long and it's really soon, so it'd have to be very fly by the seat of my pants, but. Oh, and another thing. This is, you didn't ask me about this whatsoever, but I'm seriously considering pitching a middle grade novel series, maybe to Disney publishing about Disney cruise line. Like, I would have like a group of kids go on different itineraries and like solve mysteries and maybe there'd be special editions where actually it was more fantasy. So like, a lot of the venues would actually, you know, kind of come alive in those ways.
[01:09:57] Speaker A: So if you need inspiration from, I don't know, let's say, an almost eleven year old boy, I know one.
[01:10:03] Speaker C: Yes.
[01:10:04] Speaker B: No, Nathan has been some good inspiration to get to that target audience.
[01:10:09] Speaker C: I thought you were going to say if you need some inspiration from someone who's almost a 46 year old cruise.
[01:10:12] Speaker B: Addict, actually, you might be a better inspiration for a middle grade novel than Nathan because Nathan has some, oh, like, YouTube tastes and whatever.
[01:10:25] Speaker A: Well.
[01:10:25] Speaker C: Well, Stefan, we really appreciate you taking time to come on and share. I'm not even going to call it your experience. I'm going to call it your stories with our audience and we hope folks will go out and check out your books and we'd love to have you back in the future. So reach out the next time you sail and just thanks so much for taking the time.
[01:10:43] Speaker B: Oh, I'd love to. And sorry about all my answers were so long. You would answer you would ask one simple question, I'd give you an entire novel, so to speak.
[01:10:50] Speaker A: So we'd expect nothing less.
[01:10:55] Speaker B: All right, thank you guys so much.
[01:11:01] Speaker D: 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, my path 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 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 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 us at info duo.com or reach out to us on our voicemail line at 402-413-5590 that's 40 241-355-5590 the DCL duo podcast is not affiliated with Disney Cruise Line, the Disney Company, or the Disney family of theme parks. The views expressed on the show are solely those of the individuals on the podcast and in no way reflect the views that Disney company Disney Cruise line. If you have questions about a Disney Cruise or 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.
