[00:00:00] Speaker A: Now, again, my daughter did not know.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: Oh, at this point, she thinks you're just going home.
[00:00:05] Speaker A: She thinks we're going home.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. This is crazy.
[00:00:10] Speaker C: Double surprise.
[00:00:11] Speaker B: Double surprise. I didn't even, like, think that until you just said that. In my mind, it's like, that.
[00:00:16] Speaker C: Was it? Was it an Instagram double rainbow? Like, we have double cruise? Surprise.
Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episode of the DCL duo podcast, brought to you by my path, unwinding travel and Sam headed over to review time.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Review time. Yay.
[00:00:43] Speaker C: Review time. Hey, we're out of July of 2023 and into August, so we're making progress.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Finally.
[00:00:48] Speaker C: Here we go.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: We had a lot of reviews in July of 2023, apparently.
[00:00:52] Speaker C: Well, you know, it's like you put a call out like, hey, you should go review the show. And then something like 20 people review the show, and you're like, oh, fantastic. But no. So we're into August. We're into August. This review comes from. I am just going to spell it out cause I have no idea how to pronounce this. It is sc L y. I can't tell if it's an Ies because my eyes are failing me or l E s, but skylies. Sky, whatever that means. So we appreciate you. We just don't understand your username. And they write always makes me smile. I was looking for a DCL specific podcast and found this a few months ago. I've been binging through the catalog and love the guest insights and pro tips. I continue learning new things along the way as I'm thinking about my future cruising plans. Thanks, DCL Duo. Well, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. Yes.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: Could it be like. Could it be s Lyles, Brian?
[00:01:41] Speaker C: But it's got a c there. It's like Skliles Sc Lyles.
Yeah, maybe.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know.
[00:01:47] Speaker C: Write in and let us know. Write in and let us know.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: I'm good at figuring out these names. But anyway, thank you for the review. We really appreciate it.
[00:01:55] Speaker C: Maybe it's the South Carolina Lyles. Maybe that's what it is.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: Oh, it could be. Could be. Anyway, I won.
[00:02:00] Speaker A: Up to you.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: Anyway, let's get back to our actual show, Brian, and welcome our guest. This is a second time guest who hasn't been on the show in about two years, but we are so happy to get him back. Not to talk about one cruise, but talk about two cruises today. So welcome back to the show, Scott. Scott, welcome.
[00:02:22] Speaker A: Hey, guys, it's a big Texas hello. From Dallas, Fort Worth, Texas, and glad to be back on the show with the DCL duo.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Oh, you're so sweet, Scott.
[00:02:31] Speaker C: Texas has the biggest hellos in the country. Like everything else, right?
[00:02:34] Speaker B: Everything is bigger in Texas, including the hellos, including. Well, we've got a big show to talk about today with. Like I said, not one, but two cruises on Disney cruise line. Scott, why don't, before we talk about your cruises, why don't we tell folks your Disney and Disney cruising background?
[00:02:52] Speaker A: Sure. I've made about 17 trips to the parks all across the United States and have been on five cruises, most of them on, three of them have been on the fantasy, one on the wish and one on the magic. So we just made gold just last trip.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: Yay. Awesome. Awesome. Now you get that, you know that better booking window for the next cruise. Awesome. Fantastic. Well, let's dive in and talk about these two cruises you booked. One was on the magic and one was on the wish, is that right?
[00:03:21] Speaker A: That's correct.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: Tell us what the itineraries were, how many days, what the port stops were, that sort of a thing.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Well, I'm still working on the fab five on the ships. And so that was the goal for this one as either a week long cruise or try to knock out two for the price of one. We went for two for the price of one. This was also a last minute cruise, meaning it was not really planned. It was, hey, I just switching changes in jobs. Let's go take a vacation. Let's get out of here and refresh. And so daughter did not even know what we were doing. So basically we showed up the airport and by the way, pick a, pick a wheel. And here we are. And on our way to Florida.
[00:03:57] Speaker B: Oh, my God. She didn't even know you were.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: She had no clue.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: She thought we were driving to New York on a trip to New York, though.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: I mean, like, she's got to know what to bring. What do you, what did you tell her?
[00:04:10] Speaker A: It was warm in New York that time of year.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: Weather close. Okay.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: Yeah, she had, she had no idea. So this was a total surprise. Packed less than 30 day trip. And so we departed from Dallas Fort Worth airport, landed in Orlando because our first trip was to Port Everglades, and we had a little snafu on the trip. They forgot to load our luggage, which caused a little bit of delay. We arrived with no luggage. And that was interesting. We'll bring it to the airport hotel. And I was like, no, that's not going to work. So rugged arrived 3 hours late. So we took the bright line train.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: At least wait, let me pause you right there. At least you're traveling from Dallas Fort Worth airport, which is a major, major airport. So there's lots of flights that are going from Dallas to Orlando. I will tell you, for us, like, it wouldn't be like a three hour wait to get luggage to wait for the next plane. It would be probably like 9 hours between the next flight.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: So fun fact, Dallas Fort Worth to Fort Lauderdale or even Dallas love Field to Fort Lauderdale only had one or two flights and we didn't want to take that risk. The other thing we had, knowing this was a back to back cruise, they were charging us one way fares for each trip of the leg of the trip. And so we got smart and flew into Orlando. Knowing the research and watching the bright line from our last trip being built. We left out of the Brightline station in Orlando, took all the way to Fort Lauderdale. Guys, if you want to talk about no stress, no hassle, nice ride, clean, clean place, good price, free Internet, the brightline is the place to be.
[00:05:49] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:05:50] Speaker A: Props to the bright line.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Yeah. So, so you wait an extra, you know, 3 hours for your luggage. So did you have to delay your, like, which Brightline train you were originally going to take?
[00:06:00] Speaker C: We did.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: We walked right to the terminal. We explained the circumstances. They have a policy as long as you notify an hour ahead, no charges for changing your train. We changed everything. We changed the mirrors, pickup point and everything worked seamlessly. So the one thing I will tell you is we paid for the premium bright line, which is it's not much different than the regular ticket. Just the upgraded food, drinks, and all the other stuff. The upgrade was truly worth it. Had great Wi Fi service, had better seats, free food the whole trip. I mean, 3 hours. We never went thirsty or hungry. It was a very nice train station. Very nice premium train station. The seats were great, the atmosphere is great. I would strongly recommend the bright line from Orlando to where they everglades.
[00:06:42] Speaker B: Now, how long is the train ride between the, the two places? I know Brian took it once before. I haven't taken it myself.
[00:06:49] Speaker C: Can I just pause this here for second because I want to just emphasize what Scott was saying about the upgrade. So what you get from the upgrade is you also get access to a lounge pre departure, I think at least I did in Miami. Yep. Which is really nice because otherwise it is kind of like free for all airport seating to wait. There's food in the lounge, there's beer in the lounge. There is beer and wine and wine. And it's only good for about 2 hours pre departure, which we learned because we showed up like about 4 hours pre departure. Need to support the magic. And we could get into the lounge, but I think it's good for about 2 hours pre departure. So just want to highlight that aspect of it that you also get access to that pre departure lounge, which is really nice.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: But now the chairs were a lot more comfortable. Sam's question, too.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:32] Speaker C: Yes. Oh, for sure.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I missed because we were talking over each other. Sorry about that. How long was the train ride from Orlando or from Orlando? From MCO to Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale?
[00:07:46] Speaker A: Approximately 2 hours and 45. 2 hours and 50 minutes. Right. Right about that. Each stop that they stopped at, there was. We were the fourth or fifth stop on the train. They literally stopped for two minutes. Two minutes only at each train station. So you have a two minute window to get on or get off, and then they're right back out the door. They were on time. The train was very smooth. It was a smooth experience. No technical difficulties. They. It's like an airline on wheels on the train tracks. Literally. They had a person walking up and down the free food the whole time. I was very impressed.
[00:08:18] Speaker B: Price, that's awesome. That sounds like a fantastic way to travel between those two places, especially now that Disney is doing these sailings out of port everglades. Quite a few sailings out of port everglades. And knowing that, you know, for us and for others, like, it's actually, for some of us, easier to fly into Orlando than it is to fly into Miami or Fort Lauderdale's airport.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: Another fun fact, it's approximately ten minutes from the port, from the train station. And if you buy the premium package, they'll give you, like, ten or $20 per person to take an Uber from the train station to the port.
[00:08:57] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: Yeah. The only downside to where we were at Port Everglades, there was no taxis in the waiting area. So I was glad that we booked a Mears private pickup for that. But I will say it was a great experience. It was well worth the money and the expense. It was cheaper than two one way tickets, and it was also cheaper than taking the one way to, from Dallas Fort Worth to Fort Lauderdale and then Fort Lauderdale, having to fly back on a one way trip, you know, to get another one to MCO. So overall, great. Big props to the brightline.
[00:09:32] Speaker B: Awesome. Okay, now you all, I'm sure, listened to our advice and got in the day before your cruise not the day of your cruise. You're nodding your head. So I see that I'm correct. Tell us, where did you stay in Fort Lauderdale? Where'd you take that mears transport to?
[00:09:48] Speaker A: So we took the Marriott Harbor Beach Hotel and resort. Great hotel experience. The only downside, the ocean View restaurant, was not the best food that we've had. I expected it to be a little bit better for the price we were paying, but it was, it was decent. I'd give it a mediocre at best, but it was a great hotel. The other fun part was they had a Disney shuttle that picked you up, academy came and picked you up and took you from the Marriott to the Fort Lauderdale Portlandhouse port of everglades.
[00:10:16] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: We had 22 people on board of this whole big bus. I mean, there was nobody at the hotel. So another props to Disney that this has never happened to me before. They upgraded us from boarding group seven because we're on Disney time to when we got to the hotel. Since we stayed at the Marriott, they upgraded us to boarding group two.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: Oh, nice. Sounds like it's quite similar then to if you're going out of Portland Canaveral, like, and you stay at the McO Hyatt. Right. It's like. So we did that partnership.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, we've done that before, but we've never been bumped up to. They make you stay in the, you know, boarding group seven is about the earliest one you can get this one. We went straight into boarding group, too. We were on the boat by 1105. I mean, we were right there fast.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: I love that. Awesome.
[00:11:08] Speaker A: Props to cruise.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, how long was the. So that your first cruise on the magic, you got on like, early, which is awesome that you have that really the full day, that first day, which is always the goal for us. How many days was this cruise on the magic?
[00:11:26] Speaker A: This was a five night cruise, and it did two sea days, one in Bahamas and one in castaway. Then we came back to reality.
[00:11:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: I also want to give a shout out to the port Everglades terminal, man, that they have that very, very, very efficient there. The port. The terminal itself is extremely beautiful. I was very impressed with how efficient they were and how they were moving people through that process just as a whole, too. I mean, there was lots of people coming in and off from Port Everglades. So props to Port Everglades terminal, too. That was a very smooth process. I was very impressed.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: Awesome. Awesome. Well, let's, let's talk about what you got up to on this magic cruise. Now, you had not been on the Disney magic before, so what were you looking forward to?
What places and spaces did you find that you really wanted to spend your time in?
[00:12:19] Speaker A: So I enjoyed the magic to see how it all started. And the magic was one of the first ships. I was very excited to see that. So that was the goal, was to see where it all began. It was a much smaller ship than the fantasy, so learning that process of where everything was at in the different restaurants and the views was amazing. I spent a time almost everywhere. I kind of liked a little bit of soul cats lounge and some of the other stuff that were there. It had a great vibe to the ship for being as old as the ship is. It was really well taken care of. There's some upgrades that need to be done, but for the most part, it was really well taken care of. It needed some additional adult spaces and things like that. But I was very impressed with the overall process of the, of the magic.
[00:12:59] Speaker B: Oh, I love that. Yeah, I mean, she is the original 19, eight. She is. She's an old girl at this point. She's 26 years old. Last year was her 25th birthday.
[00:13:09] Speaker A: So I'll also say animators palette, the decorations at the original animators was better than the fantasy. That was another truly amazing experience of seeing that from a different point of view.
[00:13:21] Speaker B: Yeah, we love it too. I think the original animators is the best. Also, of course, it doesn't have, you know, talking with Turtle, talk with crush, but I'm okay with that. I'm perfectly happy to just have sorcerer Mickey come in or. I love when you get animation magic on the longer cruises. Yeah, it's fantastic. Well, tell us, what kinds of stuff did you get up to on this cruise? Let's. Let's wait to talk about castaway, because I know you did get to go to Castaway, but let's talk about onboard experiences. Um, what kinds of things did. Did you all get up to and what did your daughter really, you know, I know your daughter's a teenager, so she let me just set expectations. She's not going to probably Bibbidi bobbidi boutique or anything, but tell us what?
[00:14:04] Speaker C: Why not, Sam? Why not?
[00:14:08] Speaker A: Funny story about Bibbidi bobbidi boutique. I got the dad when I was a kid and you took me to Disney. You never took me there. I never lived that dream and checked it off the box. So I got that guilt trip on the chip. But no, this was a truly an unwinding cruise from all the stress of work and really unwinding from that as we started another school year for her and job transition into me. There you go.
[00:14:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: And one things that we really did, we didn't get off in any of the ports this time. It was strictly stay on the ship and relaxed. So I enjoyed a lot of adult spaces. We did a lot of, I did investigate the spa to make sure that it was up to Disney cruise line standards. I may or may not have investigated a few things there to provide review services of what I need to do for Disney.
[00:14:54] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:14:55] Speaker C: You got to take one for the other, you know, you really got to take.
[00:14:57] Speaker A: Yes, I did. I think I had two or three massages there and two acupunctures and a partridge in a pear tree. So I did live in the census spa for quite a bit.
[00:15:08] Speaker B: I love it. And you know what's great is the, the locker room showers. They're so bigger than the showers in your stateroom.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: So I may or may not have taken advantage of that. That may or may not have happened, but I also took advantage of the day pass in there to go in the rock chairs and things like that. So that was kind of nice and relaxing and really decompress and unwind. So it was a truly amazing experience on the Disney magic. I do have to give him props. The crew was great. It was not a very packed ship. I think they were only at 3700 or 3800 folks, plus another 1500 crew members. So it was well below the 6000 on that market. So it was a very, very good ship. It was not that crowded. Lots of great entertainment and things of that nature.
[00:15:56] Speaker B: Yeah, let's talk entertainment for in particular.
[00:16:00] Speaker C: I want to ask about the spa for one. I want to ask about the spa for 1 second and first. I just want to acknowledge like Scott, your job, you're a public servant. And so I just want to thank you for what you do. Thank you very much. But on the spot, acupuncture, I don't think we've ever had anyone on the show talk about acupuncture at the spa. Like how was that? I think there's people who like, look at it, like, should I try it? Should I not try it? Like, what's it like? How did you find it?
[00:16:22] Speaker A: So I, as Brian says, I'm in public safety and I live a very high stress job in what we do in today's society. And I know I've been very tight and wound up. So one of the things that I did on the last cruise because was I actually locked up on the, on the ship, they suggested acupuncture, and it worked. So I started off with a round of acupuncture. It worked. It started that from there to help loosen things up. Then it made the massage even more effective. About two and a half to three days later, on the last sea days, I would go back and do the same round one more time just to get totally decompressed before I got back off the ship.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: I love that.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: And it was great. I did not pay for any Internet packages or anything else. So on our first day, you know, when we got on the ship, I made a rule to myself that I was, I had enough people below me that I didn't have to answer the phone. And I turned the phone off and I did not turn the work phone back on until I got back off the magic on our. On day five.
[00:17:22] Speaker B: Awesome. So you truly, truly unplugged that?
[00:17:25] Speaker A: I truly unplugged.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: Yeah. That's awesome. You know, we don't do that enough, I think in this day and age in general, I don't just mean we as in me and Brian, but the royal we, I think we as society don't unplug enough and really take advantage of a full vacation. Well, so I wanted to ask you about the shows, and because you mentioned great entertainment and the magic, of course, has different shows than the fantasy. And the fantasy is the ship you had been on three times before, so you'd seen all the shows on the fantasy, I'm sure, but you hadn't seen any of the shows on the magic. And she's got what I think are three great shows on board. We've got, of course, tangled, you've got Disney dreams, and you also have. Oh, my God, I'm about to blank. Oh, it's twice charmed. Yeah. So the twist on the Cinderella musical and on a five night sailing, my guess is you had all three. Sometimes on a three night sailing, they won't do one of either dreams or twice charm. But yeah. Did you go see the shows and if so, what did you think and how did they compare to the fantasy?
[00:18:29] Speaker A: So I have a daughter who is all in on theater. It's her starting her sophomore year, and last year she was in seven shows. Her dream is to be a Broadway actress, and we're working on Disney Cruise on the theater show. So we went to every show. I will say all three of them were amazing. It was great to see a different set of shows than what the fantasy had because we had seen those before. So it was a different set of shows. I wasn't a really big fan of twice charmed. However, it was still a good show. I mean, it was, it was good. Tango was great. The actors they had were amazing on the magic. I full, full props to them. The only one I was really not impressed with was this juggler. That was just. The juggler was off.
It was not.
[00:19:16] Speaker B: And that is not a Disney cast member. Right. So, like, I'm not going to ask you the name of the juggler because.
[00:19:22] Speaker A: I don't want to.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: We don't want to, right. We don't want to hurt their livelihood. Some of the variety acts that Disney has, I will say are fantastic. Most of them are fantastic. But a couple, you know, every once in a while, you get one that's a miss. But love to hear that you all enjoyed the main stage shows and the main stage cast. Did you go see the Broadway visiting performer do the songs forever after in the, what is it, the azure no fathoms lounge?
[00:19:51] Speaker A: Yeah, we definitely miss, we didn't miss any of those activities because she was all in on theater. Yeah, this was, this was a once. Once you realized that surprise was up, you know, my daughter didn't know we were going to Orlando until we showed there. Then she's trying to go get the Disney line thing. We're going to Walt Disney World, right? Tried to go to the hotel thinking, we're going there. I'm like, nope, we're going to a train station. Then she was mad. So we didn't miss any of those performances because it was part of the journey for her on her theater experience and really trying to build her up for that. So that was a special moment that we got to do to.
I planned this trip with all my Disney experience, but I planned it as a no holds barred, let's pull all the stops out. We have three years left before you graduate. Let's make everything happen for your Broadway dreams.
[00:20:39] Speaker B: Oh, I love that. That's awesome. That's so amazing to hear, Scott. I think that's fantastic. You're such a good dad. I love that you did this for. Did this all for her. And that's really just, it shines through. We got to talk food, because you did mention that you made sure to sample, you know, the truffle per sets so that, you know, be prepared to talk about it, you know, on the original ship, in the original animators palette, you. You had the truffle process. I need to know, Scott, how were the truffle presets?
[00:21:11] Speaker A: Amazing? Oh, they were great.
The only problem I have with Disney food is that you can try so much and they don't put a limit on anything. So I would try a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and go for rounds of different things. I mean, the food was amazing. The magic really had their stuff together.
Shout out to the serving team we had with Sudie and his partner. They were amazing. The service was great. The only thing that I was not prepared for was we sat down. Our first night with a party of three was me, my daughter, my dad, her grandfather, and they had placed another family with us and we were not expecting that. And it was a great family. We enjoyed them. They're from Canada. They were amazing family. I wish I would have known that was going to happen to me. The experience is great. We connected great. The family's worked well, but I would probably just request a little bit more private table just because, just to have that private time, I was not prepared for that.
[00:22:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:10] Speaker A: But overall, food service is great.
[00:22:12] Speaker B: Yeah. I think that, that it's, it's really hard to know whether or not you're going to get seeded with other folks. I mean, I think as a, I think I would tell folks who are listening to this show, if you are a family of four or less, you should probably expect to be seated with another family unless you request a private table. But I will say, though, we've had it happen where we hear from folks who are, you know, a party of three, party of two, party of four, and they get seated by themselves and then they're disappointed that they didn't get seated. So I always like to tell people that one, if you want to be seated privately, tell, let them know. You can just put it, you can just, you know, either you or your travel agent call Disney Cruise line and let them know. Or if you're sailing concierge, you put it in your concierge email or make friends in your Facebook group with another family of similar demographics as you and, you know, ask to be, and then ask to link up dining with them so that you'll be seated at least with folks that you've, you know, at least made some kind of connection with. So I think either is great. It's really just a personal preference, but I totally understand and wanting to have a private table. Now, Scott, you did stop at Castaway. Did you all get off at Castaway?
[00:23:26] Speaker A: We did get off at Castaway, and we completed a mission for my daughter that has been failed for the past two trips. So with 2022, we went to catch up on Covid sailing so we had to cruise in July 2022. And then I pulled all the stops out for Christmas 2022. In both of those days, castaway just would not cooperate. Everything was canceled. It was raining and it poured down. It was a horrible experience for the kids. But knowing I was going on a back to back, I booked the same excursions twice. So if it failed on one platform, we had it booked on the other platform, and it was a great experience. So on castaway, we did the banana boats to go see the island and then parasailing. That was one of the best things we ever did, was the parasailing. Note to self, though, if you do the banana boats, please take goggles with you. If you would like to see any part of the water or what's going on around you, the salt water flashing in your eyes, you will not be able to see, but you'll be able to taste it. The other one is make sure you sit behind all the kids because they will block the majority of the saltwater for you, for us adults, but you still won't be able to see.
[00:24:41] Speaker B: That's a good.
[00:24:42] Speaker A: So the first banana boat we did on the magic, we didn't know to bring goggles. And so I spent the whole time just holding on, closing my eyes to keep the salt water out of the eyes. But it was truly a great. It was truly a great ride. So props to those guys.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: Now, how long was the banana boat excursion? We've never done that one.
[00:25:00] Speaker A: It's about 30 minutes, and it takes you all the way out of the canal and all the way to almost Serenity bay on the far side of the island. And then they circle back and bring you around. It truly is a great ride. And it takes you around the boat to, depending on what the boat operator feels like that day, but it's about 30, 35 minutes. They put you with a couple or family, so they try to fill the boat up, but it's a really, truly a great experience. I was actually impressed. You get to pretty up close to the boat from the seaside and it was really great. The water is amazing.
[00:25:29] Speaker B: Awesome. And then you said you also did parasailing. Now, did you? We also did these back to back, or did you, like, have some time in between to, like, relax on the beach? How did that work out?
[00:25:39] Speaker A: So I always try to do parasailing at the last part of the day. I like, it's my, you know, you know, this is the last part of the thing you're going to do and, you know, your cruise is over. So I try to do as the last thing we did.
[00:25:49] Speaker C: However, that is such a, like, why didn't we think about that, Sam? We always think about it. I don't know.
[00:25:53] Speaker B: I didn't think about it. We're always, well, we're always like, we're.
[00:25:57] Speaker C: Going to stay in the cabana all day, but then we never do. Or we're going to stay on the beach all day and we never do. We end up going back early, and I'm just thinking, like, huh, we should just schedule the last Paris sailing.
I don't know why we never thought about that.
[00:26:08] Speaker A: I will flag that now. You know, normally I would tell you to do that all day long, but actually, I'll flag that now. So we saw the storm clouds coming in about noon to 01:00 and I got ahead of it, and I went to the dock and asked the captain, hey, is there a way to move us up? They're like, heck, yeah. Because we're going to be canceling this afternoon. We see the storm clouds. They took us on the next ride immediately, and they were more than happy. It was better than a cancellation. They took us on the boat and we had a great time.
[00:26:36] Speaker B: Right. Because they don't get the money. Right. Like, if they have two, if they have two or three open spots earlier in the day, they'd rather fill them than not because they've already got other people on there. That's very, very smart. Yeah. You know, I will say the reason we always book the morning is because we think, generally speaking, the morning is more likely because you do get those afternoon storms down in the Caribbean and the Bahamas, that sometimes you'll get, like, you know, a downpour and thunder and whatnot. And so the afternoon is just a little bit more touch and go. I think it would be beautiful to go in the afternoon and have that, you know, when it's really sunny out. And because in the morning, it sometimes is not as clear in the afternoon. It can be, actually, you know, if all the clouds have burned off.
[00:27:17] Speaker A: So we moved this one, and we hit about 1130, and at 02:00 sharp, the downpour rain came, and everybody was doing the typical castaway non five k run.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: Right. Running back to the ship. To the ship.
[00:27:34] Speaker A: And it's always great to watch that from the boat area. Yeah, I do.
[00:27:39] Speaker B: Because you're over at Marge's barges. You're, like, really close to the ship when you're at Paris sailing.
[00:27:44] Speaker A: We actually came back on the ship right after the Paris sailing because we saw the cloud fixing a hit and we're like, I'm not beating that crowd again. I'm not running that race. So the only thing. I'm not a fan on Castaway, and I wish Disney would change this. The. In the five cruises I've been, castaway food has never changed. Like, it's.
[00:28:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:04] Speaker A: It is not my favorite. It's time to change. So we timed our day. We did eat a little bit at cookies and then really ate lunch back on the boat.
[00:28:14] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I. So I think, to me, the burgers are just like, okay, at castaway. The. Frankly, the burgers on board are better because the burgers at castaway, they're just sitting for too long. But I do like the ribs. That's the one thing.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: The ribs were good.
[00:28:29] Speaker B: They were good ribs. Yeah, yeah.
[00:28:31] Speaker C: I'm hoping they'll bring some of the food from lookout on to.
[00:28:34] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe.
[00:28:35] Speaker C: I don't know how they do it logistically because of the way that the barbecues or the dining venues are set up totally differently, but I suspect that they will find a way to bring some of that food over. So.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. I don't think they will. To be perfectly honest, I'm not optimistic about the food changing.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: One other tip that we don't talk about on castaway that I'd really like to stress to the listeners is when you get off the boat and you have three different picture spots to get, don't wait till the afternoon to get them. That was a huge miss for me. We went because the line was so long. We'll come back in a little bit to get them. And by the time we got back, which was about noon, everybody was gone. So we missed the classic boat pictureship and the long castaway. So listen to others wait in the line. If you're interested in those three picture spots with the picture folks, it is worth the wait. Don't skip it like what we did, because they leave about 1010 30, I think, was the time we saw they were. They were gone. And so that's another pro tip.
[00:29:34] Speaker B: Yeah. They tend to head to the beach to take pictures of people, like, on the beach or in the water. And so they. They have left those picture spots because they figure everybody has already past that point, essentially. And so they're there for the first couple of hours, and then they kind of move on further onto the island. So. And I will say in late afternoon, I think most of them are back on the ship.
Once they hit their picture quota, they're like, that's too hot.
[00:30:02] Speaker A: Yeah. I just wish I would have known what time they were leaving. I would have gotten those lines, but I did miss those shots. But it was a truly.
We caught up for it on the next cruise because I said, I'm not making that mistake twice.
[00:30:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Nice. Nice.
[00:30:16] Speaker A: The other thing, too, is when you have everybody at Castaway, we took advantage of all the slides and everything else because everybody was gone. I did want to hear, you know, hit the aqua dunk and all the other little slides that they held the magic just to experience those, and it was nice to hit those while there was no line. So, you know, that's another valid, smart point for your pro tips.
[00:30:37] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think people forget, especially about that twist and spout slide, which is that yellow slide that. That is not just a kid slide. That is for kids of any age. So adults as well as kids. It's not a real thrilling slide. It's so. But it's. It's the one, you know, if you want a more. A less scary slide than the aqua dunk, I would recommend the twist and spout. It's the same as the one on the wonder, and on the wonder, that's all they have. All they have is the twist and spout slide. They don't have the Aqua dunk slide. So.
[00:31:13] Speaker A: So I. I did sacrifice the daughter to do the Aqua dunk drop from the machine. Yeah, I don't like that one. So, yeah, I sacrificed her that way. She. You know, if the slide opened up or she got thrust overboard, it was just one kid. It was expendable. But she enjoyed the aqua dunk, too. That was a great experience on the Disney magic. Magic.
[00:31:35] Speaker B: Good.
[00:31:36] Speaker C: Here's my quick question, though, on the. On the twist and spout slide. Cause there's a slidosaurus. Is it slidosaurus rex that they have on the wish?
[00:31:42] Speaker B: Yes. On the wish? Yes.
[00:31:43] Speaker C: Is it different? Because, like, if you're. If you're an adult, you get, like, a quarter of the way down, and then you're.
[00:31:48] Speaker B: No, no. It's like a dog. No, no.
Yeah, yeah, no. So the slidosaurus rex on the wish, technically, anyone can go down, but I don't recommend it for adults, because you do. You will. Like, you will stop, like, halfway down. But on twists and spout, an adult can go on it comfortably. Like I said, it won't be thrilling, but you will. You won't. You won't get stuck, at least like you do on slightosaurus rex. Or at least I got stuck on.
[00:32:14] Speaker A: I did. I did. Ride. Twist and twist and spout. I did ride that one.
[00:32:17] Speaker B: Yeah, there you go.
[00:32:18] Speaker A: The other thing, too. I thought that was neon castaway. This trip was something that I've never. I didn't really pay attention when we got on the magic. So, you know, during the morning, they're. They're doing their stuff to get into magic and port. One of the things is, I didn't realize that when they dock the magic at castaway, there's no elements as they're to protect the captains and all that. The engineering team, bridge team, they're out in the elements docking the ship old school because that's not part of the wing. And I didn't realize that until we were docking in the ship and we were right above where the bridge was. I was like, wait a minute. Those guys are docking the ship here? That's usually, you know, done up there. And that's pretty neat to see old school techniques being used on the Disney magic.
[00:33:03] Speaker B: I love it. There is something special about getting to see it because it really is a different ship. I mean, like I said, 26 years old. They have to do things differently and they have to use their skillset differently. Absolutely.
[00:33:18] Speaker C: Was it the magic, Sam, or was it the Royal Caribbean ship we were on that they had to block the running track when we were docking because the crew was out on the track doing the lines. It was the magic or.
[00:33:29] Speaker B: I believe it. It's both, Brian. I believe it's both. They. Yeah. Because where they. Where they dock up on the magic and the wonder where the lines come out, part of. It's not the whole part. It's not the whole running track, but part of the running track is blocked off for that.
[00:33:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:44] Speaker B: Anyway, well, let's. Let's transition, Scott, because you all the next day after castaway, you were getting off of the Disney magic. So you're disembarking in Fort Lauderdale, and then you've got a head back to the Orlando area, but Port Canaveral to head on, you know, head on to the Disney wish for your first, not just sailing on the wish, but your first concierge sailing on the wish also. We've kind of buried that in the, in the headline. But I want to talk about first how you got there. I know you took the bright line train, but did you take the bright line train, like, all the way down to Port Canaveral, or did you take it to Orlando? Like, tell us the logistics here, because this is, I think, something people will want to know if they want to do this back to back between these two different ports.
[00:34:32] Speaker A: Pro tip. What I really enjoyed was not having the rush of getting off the magic like you normally have or getting off your cruise ship with that magic rush to breakfast or you're trying to confide at cabanas like that struggle was not real. This time.
I'd like to say that it was really nice to have the sit down breakfast, not feel rushed. There was no pressure. So my blood pressure wasn't up. So we, we got up in the morning, we went to breakfast, had breakfast. The only thing I was not really impressed with on the magic is their disembarkation process is not as smooth as some of the other ships. The wish was very, very smooth. Getting off the fantasy was very smooth. This was multiple lines, multiple people. It just, it blocked up a lot of different things with the main, the main arteries. I know it's the smaller ship. Ship. Yeah, it's, it's probably, you know, they're setting their ways and that's great. But getting off the ship was definitely a struggle.
So we, we got off the ship about 930, almost 10:00. We were one of the last people off. And we had Mears pick us up at Port Everglades again. Take us from Port Everglades to the Brightline station. We drank coffee and everything else. Got back on the train, took the three hour trip back to MCO. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency, which is our preferred hotel, as we're going back to Port Canaveral.
[00:35:58] Speaker B: Oh, perfect. So you have a night at the airport hotel before, I'm going to guess Disney. Transportation to Port Canaveral. I love it. Very, this is a very smart plan. So you didn't disembark and embark on the same day. You have a day in between, which is. Yes, that's actually, I think works out well.
[00:36:17] Speaker A: We were able, there was no rush. There was no, you know, rushing around to, oh, my God, we got to get there. We have 3 hours. If there's an accident, we're not going to make it. No, we had day in between, checking emails, you know, resting again. The hotel. We walked around through MCO, you know, we mall basically.
[00:36:34] Speaker B: I mean, you can go to World at Disney, go to the Seaworld shop. You go to the universal shop. Right. Like we always go eat at Chick fil a or macaroni grill. There you go. You could have a food court. They've got. Yeah, they got a whole bunch. Yeah, yeah. It's great.
[00:36:47] Speaker A: The hotel was great. I mean, we had a great experience in the hotel. Again, it's our third or fourth time to stay in at that hotel. That process works. The train ride, I said, was great. It was a three hour trip. We got there an hour before. So again, they had the premium food lounge. You know, we had food. They had breakfast food, coffees, all that stuff, ready to go, hopped on the train, cruised on back. Daughter was extremely tired because the vibe and the edge were keeping her pumping and going. So it was a great trip. And I'll say that also to having that little bit of downtown at the hotel was great to decompress as you're getting caught up on your trip notes and things like that. And, you know, we went on the next morning. So the next morning, we woke up. Now, again, my daughter did not know.
[00:37:34] Speaker B: Oh, at this point, she thinks you're just going home.
[00:37:37] Speaker A: She thinks we're going home.
[00:37:38] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. This is crazy.
[00:37:41] Speaker C: Double surprise.
[00:37:42] Speaker B: Double surprise. I didn't even, like, think that until you just said that. In my mind, it's like that.
[00:37:47] Speaker C: Was it. Was it an Instagram double rainbow? Like, we have double cruise surprise.
[00:37:52] Speaker A: I love it.
[00:37:53] Speaker B: Oh, my God. What was. Okay, so the morning you wake her up, I know you've got to set your luggage out, right? So tell what? How do you tell her?
[00:38:01] Speaker A: What we did was I took her to breakfast assignments, right? Go to Starbucks and go do this. Go do that. See what they have for breakfast.
[00:38:10] Speaker B: Right?
[00:38:10] Speaker A: And I disappeared to go down to check it in, and my dad was working on getting the tags out, but we didn't want her to see that they were a Disney tags and be the concierge tags.
[00:38:25] Speaker B: Right.
[00:38:25] Speaker A: So I sent her on a wild goose chase on purpose to the farthest Dunkin donuts location in the airport.
[00:38:32] Speaker B: I know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. I go to. So, because there's only one Dunkin donuts, I think, in MCO, and we don't have Dunkin donuts here in the Seattle area, but I grew up on Dunkin donuts, so I like, when we're in that airport, I try and hit Dunkin donuts for a little iced coffee.
[00:38:50] Speaker C: This is diabolical, and I love everything about it.
[00:38:53] Speaker A: It went really well until check in time and then. So I have to admit, I'll be one of the centers on your show. I'm one of those rope drop guys for check in because I always want to get that first bus to get there to make money.
[00:39:09] Speaker B: That's a lot, Scott. Brian is one of those.
[00:39:12] Speaker C: Once you get on the ship, once you get on the ship.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: He's just against rope dropping for dinner. He's not up against rope dropping to get on the first bus, unfortunately.
[00:39:22] Speaker A: For dinner, too.
[00:39:26] Speaker B: Okay, well, anyway, we'll have a therapy session after this.
[00:39:34] Speaker A: In my previous trips, you said one person down and they check in for everybody. And that's what I was expecting. So I was all great with that. They changed the process.
[00:39:45] Speaker B: Oh, okay. Well, this is good to know.
[00:39:48] Speaker A: And so what they did now was now you check in by boarding time. I'm sorry, not boarding time. Your castaway status. So they wouldn't let you check in until your castaway status was called. So. And then they also said you have to have your whole party there. Oh, I was anticipating that. And so I was the first one there ready to check in. Well, Mister Collins, you're only a silver because at the time, we had to hit the completion of the fifth.
[00:40:14] Speaker B: Right?
[00:40:15] Speaker A: So your boarding time was like 930 to be here. I'm like, well, if I'm concierge, does that change? She goes, now you're first. Yeah, but she goes, you have to have everybody here checking your passports.
[00:40:27] Speaker B: Right?
[00:40:27] Speaker A: Check everything, right?
[00:40:29] Speaker B: This is. Yeah. So this is. They're basically doing the whole process before you get. They did, yeah.
[00:40:34] Speaker A: And so we got checked in, and.
[00:40:37] Speaker B: You had to, you had to say, hey, dad. Hey, kid, come meet me.
[00:40:41] Speaker A: Get here now.
[00:40:42] Speaker B: Now.
[00:40:43] Speaker A: He was still distracting her because I knew the luggage was gone. I was like, that's another concern anymore, right? And they. They made a mad rush. So we get there and they just pulled us to the first. The first table had concierge. The lady didn't know that. She didn't know she was doing Dad. I was like, we're going back to back. So I was trying to keep everything hush, right? Then the lady checks us all in. Everything's great. And then she goes, well, you need these magical stickers to get in concierge. And that's when the screaming ensued in the hotel.
[00:41:19] Speaker B: That's awesome.
[00:41:21] Speaker A: My daughter's eyes got about this big, popped up her head like you see in all the commercials.
[00:41:25] Speaker B: Like a cartoon. Yeah.
[00:41:26] Speaker A: She goes, are you serious? We're going in concierge? I'm like, yes, we're going in concierge.
[00:41:33] Speaker B: To surprise her at the port. But you know what? You got? You still got to surprise her. It was just an hour earlier.
[00:41:39] Speaker A: Yeah. And then he goes, whoops, my bad. And I was like.
[00:41:46] Speaker C: I have a picture in my mind of what's going on here. And it's fantastic, by the way.
[00:41:50] Speaker B: I love it. I still love it. Listen, it doesn't, it's not like she spoiled the surprise. She just revealed it earlier than you had wanted, right?
[00:41:58] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:41:59] Speaker A: I had pulled it all the way out. My dad looks at me, I looked at him, I was like, I mean, because we had, she didn't know we had mad, I meand did the whole family thing, matching shirts like we normally do. We had magnets, you know, I hate the wish magnets. We had all those things done for this trip, and I was super excited about how well this was going. And I tried to, like, get the stickers quietly, right? And she goes, well, now that you're concierge, you go here, here, and here. When you get to the port, follow this one. I'm like, so epic, epic story was. It was great to find that out. And we got there. We did the pictures at Port Canaveral, checked in. Another fun fact I will tell you, make sure if your passport changes or you get a different one because you had to update it updated ahead of time before. Otherwise you get sent the timeout at Disney customer service. And that's never a fun experience. So once, but twice.
[00:42:57] Speaker B: Okay, so, yeah, so if you checked in online with a, with an older passport or that was what was in the system, but then you had to update your passport. You have a new, I mean, it's a new passport, right? So they. Yeah, they do have to, like, redo kind of everything and reload it all in.
[00:43:13] Speaker A: Well, he thought since it would be updated from the first cruise. I said, no, dad, it's a second process. He got sent to Disney customer service twice, and he was less than happy about that.
[00:43:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, what did you, what did you think of, you know, the concierge lounge? You know, it's not lounge on the ship. Let's talk about the lounge first. At Port Canaveral, you know, you do get a separate little area you can, you know, sit in to wait to board the ship. I will say there is, of course, one at Port Everglades as well. That's sort of upstairs. You can kind of see it from down below in port Everglades. But in, at Port Canaveral, you can't really see it cause it's kind of behind, behind a different door. But, yeah, what did you think about that and the boarding process there?
[00:43:53] Speaker A: So two different parts is what was killing us when we were waiting for the magic in Port Everglades is we are eyeing the concierge lounge up above us. Like, man, in five days, we're going to be up there, experiencing that, my dad was actually like. He goes, what the heck's going on up there? It's like, there's a party up there. I was like, dad, you'll experience that in a couple days. And, of course, he's whispering like, dad, just shut up. She's, like, gonna hear us. Like, we can't ruin the surprise, right? We did do all the picture sessions, and then we went through the double glass doors, and my daughter's like, dad, is this really happening? Are we supposed to be back here? And of course, she's showing her gold sticker to everybody, like, hey, I'm concierge. You know, get out of the way. And I imagine launch to be a little bit nicer. But it was a nice waiting area. It was nice to have the refreshments. And then they. We truly experienced the magic of hearing the spiel and then getting on the ship right before everybody else. And, man, it was. It was great to have that. That advantage.
[00:44:47] Speaker B: Yeah. So I just want to put out there for those who don't know what Scott's talking about. So there is a concierge sort of waiting room. It's not anything really that fancy, I think, as. As you sort of revealed. And it's just a separate waiting area. And you do get to board first after the family of the day. The family of the day still gets to board first, and actually back to back cruisers technically board even before that. But the thing that people don't maybe know is that at least one, sometimes two or three of the concierge hosts will come out and give you a little spiel about, you know, the concierge sit down lunch, about the lounge, about who they are and some of the benefits of sailing concierge before you even. And then that way, you get a little bit of an introduction to what the experience is going to be. And then, of course, you. You board. And it's the same boarding process as anybody else goes through. It just happens first. Now, did you all go to the sit down lunch?
[00:45:44] Speaker A: Yes. And a little bit about the magic real fast or not the magic. Excuse me, the Disney wishes. We're transitioning into that. You know, there's two camps about the wish. Either they like the wish or they hate the wish, but there's not really much in the middle of fans. So I was really skeptical. I did come with a mind of wide open. You know, I didn't want to judge it based off everybody else's. I had really studied the YouTube videos and things like that, but walking onto the wish was truly just different than the fantasy or the magic. Yeah, it just felt different when you walked there. And that ship was just amazing. When you walked into the grand atrium, you know, of everything of that ship, it was truly different. So I want to give props to the way they designed, the way the ambience and the feeling about that. That was truly amazing. On that. On that part of walking onto the ship, I really enjoyed that. We did go to 1973. We sat on the Roy side for lunch.
[00:46:43] Speaker B: 1923, not 73.
[00:46:46] Speaker A: Yeah, 1923. Yes, 1923 on the Roy side. The service was very slow that day.
[00:46:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
I will say, I think sit down. Lunch on the first day sometimes can be. It's not always the best, unfortunately.
[00:47:03] Speaker A: Yeah, it was, it was. The food was great. Don't get me wrong, the. The atmosphere of the Roy side of 1923 was amazing. It was great. It was. It was a different atmosphere. The food was great, but it was just super slow. And it really tied up. You know, we were in lunch for almost an hour and a half. Yeah, it was a lot longer than expected. So I will. I will say that that was the only negative part of the. And right after we ate lunch, I made the mistake of, let's go walk around the ship and see what concierge life is like. Let's see what Sam and Brian are talking about on all these, these days.
[00:47:38] Speaker B: I love it.
[00:47:39] Speaker A: And the struggle is real.
[00:47:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:47:43] Speaker A: Real struggle going up there.
[00:47:46] Speaker C: 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 a thing. Their team of professional travel advisors are caring, knowledgeable and experienced. It's why we use them to book our own travel. Mypath Unwinding Travel is an authorized Disney vacation planner, which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, adventured with Disney, relaxed at Alani and so much more. Whether it's a Disney cruise, a theme park vacation, or adventures by Disney, or if you are looking to expand beyond the mouse, Mypath unwinding travel will elevate your next vacation planning experience. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your vacation even more magical. Ready to talk to the experts? Head over to mypathunwinding.com dclduo or email dclduoypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way.
[00:48:38] Speaker A: Thanks.
[00:48:39] Speaker C: Mypath unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:48:45] Speaker A: So our. Our cabin was on 13 at forward of the ship. We had a state room for a. On both of these, state room four. A concierge was a great fit for our family because we had the trundle bed. I'm sorry, the bed that came out of the. The wall. And we also have the couch and then the regular bed for all three of us. And then we made the trip down to the 12th floor to the concierge lounge. That was a mistake for taking my daughter with me. I highly regret. I regret taking her with me to the concierge lounge because I'm pretty sure if they would have let her, she would have lived there.
[00:49:20] Speaker B: I know, right? It's really beautiful. It's such a beautiful space.
[00:49:24] Speaker A: Even my dad.
[00:49:25] Speaker B: And there's always food there.
[00:49:27] Speaker C: Well, and did you figure out the trick that you don't have to go down to twelve? Can you access the lounge from 13?
[00:49:32] Speaker A: Yeah, we did after the first day, because my daughter explored the whole concierge lounge. I mean, it looked like she had a tactical plan of where to go. If there is a ninja place we could find, we found it. So props to the concierge lounge. It was truly an amazing experience walking through there. Everybody was great. But the one thing that I really enjoyed, me and my dad, we did this. My dad and I have a tradition on the cruises.
Our internal alarm clocks. We get up pretty early and we always go have breakfast together and coffee. Well, usually on the magic, we would sit at cabanas.
[00:50:08] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:50:09] Speaker A: Sit there by the deck or the window and watch the world go by and drink our coffee together. On this one, we sat in the far forward part of the ship, facing the bow, inside on those comfortable chairs, and just living life into a great family experience to catch up. My daughter was still unconscious because of, you know, partying at the vibe the night before. But just going there and having breakfast and, you know, drinking coffee and just catching up and just totally unwound.
[00:50:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. So I will say when we stay, when we sail concierge, I love getting up in the morning and I get up early also. I get my coffee and I usually I'll sit and drink some of my coffee in the lounge. Then I get up, make Brian a coffee, and then I head back to the room with his coffee. Cause he's not as early of a rise.
[00:50:58] Speaker C: I am not a morning person.
[00:51:02] Speaker B: This is true. But neither our son gets up early, but he doesn't start moving like I. Like I'm up, and I'm awake, and I'm ready to go, right? Like, I'm, like, ready to start moving. I get antsy if I'm, like, laying in the bed.
[00:51:13] Speaker A: Well, I volunteered on the Disney wish and the concierge service to make sure their food was up to par. And so we ordered, like, we ordered the food there. And, I mean, there was never a bad meal. Even my daughter loves these little macaroon things. And so. So I didn't know they had them in the concierge bar. I was like, oh, I should go buy her that. And I didn't buy it on the sweet store. I was like, I'll buy them another day, you know? And I came back in a room, and she has a plate filled with them macaroons, and she goes, they fell in my hand, dad. The guy gave them to me.
[00:51:51] Speaker B: They fell in, and I looked.
[00:51:52] Speaker A: I was like, really? So it was. It was truly a great experience. I will say this. The concierge staff was great.
[00:51:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:59] Speaker A: The atmosphere of the concierge area was great. We competed with, like, a little girls family reunion on one side of us, and on the other side was the Disney wedding that was happening on. Passed away for our trip.
And I will tell you, it was great to. To listen to various things that was going on, but the amount of families and how they were so respectable in the concierge lounge, even with kids there, you know, you didn't feel like, oh, my gosh, there's too many kids here. I can't enjoy this. The experience was amazing.
[00:52:32] Speaker B: Oh, good. I'm so glad.
[00:52:33] Speaker A: The service was amazing. Like, it didn't hurt that the free drinks were, you know, in the afternoons. I did test those out for customer safety.
[00:52:41] Speaker B: Right. You have to listen this for science, Scott.
[00:52:44] Speaker A: I had. I had to provide an honest customer feedback for you and your podcast. I didn't want to let you all down, so I sacrificed just for you.
[00:52:51] Speaker C: So I want to rewind for just. I want to provide a couple of pro tips here that, Scott, you've kind of. You've alluded to or been involved with, but I just want to. So, one, I think Sam mentioned this on the wish specifically. I think we tend to skip that concierge lunch because the real magic of that lunch is on the other ships when they have the concierge hosts circulating through lunch, and they come by your table and they're like, here's what we have planned for you. And, you know, what can you do?
[00:53:21] Speaker B: Thing.
[00:53:22] Speaker C: They're on the phone just dealing with that stuff. And then they come back and, like, all taken care of and you're, you're wrapping up your lunch, which is, which is.
[00:53:28] Speaker A: We did miss that experience. I was looking for that and expecting that, and we did not have that, that as an experience with us.
[00:53:35] Speaker B: They, they don't do it on the wish because they just can't. They, it's, there's too many people and they can't hit everybody. So what they do instead is if you have changes to make or if you want to go through your stuff, you go to the lounge and just chat with them on that first afternoon.
[00:53:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:53:52] Speaker C: And I want to also say the, the, the wish is a particularly great concierge lounge on warm weather cruises because of their special sun deck area with the pool and all that. It is, in our experience, almost never fully subscribed. The pool deck above it is like a madhouse sometimes in that area is just relaxing and open. And what you just hit on about kids in the lounge is such, it is really nice how they have created spaces. Like there's the tv with playing shorts and stuff, and all the kids tend to go over there and kind of hang out there and the adults are having a drink, you know, in the chairs. And it feels like a welcoming environment for everyone and it creates a space for everyone. So it is sort of Bravo to Disney for doing it that way.
[00:54:36] Speaker B: Yes. Excellent.
[00:54:37] Speaker C: Dear Disney, I'll still tell you, you're charging too much for it. But I love it. I love it.
[00:54:44] Speaker A: I'll say this, too, you know, the price on this one was great. It was, you know, we couldn't pass it up. We had some luck with. I took the Disney coupon route and I lucked out. I got a guaranteed. I did the guaranteed stateroom and they ran out. And so we got the upgrade because I was. This was the fifth cruise to move up the gold. So we got lucky enough and we got upgraded. That's, this was not a planned experience, but once I found out we hit it, I was like, this is going to be an amazing trip.
[00:55:14] Speaker C: Nice.
[00:55:15] Speaker B: Yeah, that's the jackpot for sure.
[00:55:17] Speaker A: Also, props to the concierge team for just the service level. They remembered everybody's names and what we liked and, like, little details like that. The only room, the only problem we had, we didn't connect with our stateroom host the first day or the first night, so we had to call maintenance to unlock a bed. But that was not a huge, you know, it wasn't anything major on online aspect, but I will tell you the attention to detail that they have is great. Now, another pro tip. We talked about concierge lines that I. I did have with a theater daughter was knowing that you get theater access before the show.
[00:55:55] Speaker B: I was going to ask you about that. Yeah.
[00:55:57] Speaker A: So my daughter wanted the popcorn bucket and everything else. I'm like, I'm not lugging a popcorn bucket around.
[00:56:02] Speaker B: Good.
[00:56:03] Speaker A: Knowing that we were going to concierge on the next trip. So we get there and she's all excited, like, banging down the door. And then the mad rush. First row, center seat for all the, all three of the shows.
[00:56:16] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:56:17] Speaker A: Popcorn in hand. And it was a truly. It was different seeing the show that close, that up front. It is truly different than being in the back nosebleed. It brings a totally different angle to the show. So props to Disney on the magic that they're really doing. You know, that. That you see on these shows. So props to Disney on the those.
[00:56:37] Speaker B: I love that. I love that. I will say you can get great seating in the theater, even if you're not sailing concierge. If you show up early and you sort of wait to be, like, first in line, you may not get first row center because that's probably taken by someone in concierge, but you can still usually get first row.
[00:56:55] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:56:55] Speaker B: And you can get center in, you know, maybe 2nd, 3rd, 4th or fifth row. Right, so that's true. Yeah. There's definitely still plenty of seating available, even if you're not selling concierge. But it is a really nice benefit.
[00:57:07] Speaker A: What do you think of that, though? They're not taking advantage of, because every time we met with our guests, maybe ten, maybe 15 guests total, take advantage of that. But that's a great little perk that I will tell you. I knew about it and my daughter didn't know about until we get there, and then we should. She's pulling me to the show. Dad, we're going to be late. She was there almost an hour early, so we didn't miss the window on that. So no kudos to Disney and concierge years.
[00:57:35] Speaker B: Awesome. Well, what did you think of the shows on the wish? Because you're talking three. Well, you had Aladdin on the fantasy, of course, so. But you have Aladdin on. On the wish. You've got seize the adventure. So that was a new one for you all. And, of course, little Mermaid was a new one for you all. What, what did you think of the shows?
[00:57:52] Speaker A: You know, I get mesmerized, even at the parks, by the puppets, how they make those puppets come to life. And you know that there were puppets. Puppet. And the person's right there talking. Yeah, but the puppet is just coming. You're like, man, that's a really amazing bird. And just watching the shows come to life was great. I liked see the adventure. I did like Aladdin. I think Aladdin on the fantasy, though, was a little bit better, but it was a great show. And Little Mermaid was good, too. I enjoyed that show that all three of them were great, but the puppets just coming to life and how they make that magic happen in. Kudos to Disney. It's that Disney extra magic touch.
[00:58:30] Speaker B: I love it. Well, and there are puppets in both little mermaid, of course, because you have Sebastian and some of the other, some of the other sea creatures are puppets. And then of course, you've got Iago is a puppet in Aladdin. So, yeah, I mean, the great puppetry and then sees the adventure has a bunch of different, like, they've got crush and all of crush's friends. So fun. Love it. Awesome. All right, well, let's talk about the wish more generally. This was your first time on the wish, so your first time with all the new dining experiences on the wish, of course, you've got worlds of Marvel, 1923, and. Oh, my God, I'm blanking. Oh, Arendelle. Yeah. What did you all think of those dining experiences and, of course, the shows that accompany them?
[00:59:15] Speaker A: Well, let's hit Marceline market first, because I did not know what I was going to experience with Marceline market. We didn't hit it till the second day. Day for lunch. But I hate to tell you, I'm a fan of Marceline market. I know they love you and things like that. It was great. The food was great, I think was better than cabanas. I think you had more food options, more food control. But I also, this is, again, a Texas thing. I had to go investigate the barbecue from Mickey Smokehouse on the back.
[00:59:47] Speaker B: Of course, you had to. I mean, again, for science, for the listeners, right.
[00:59:52] Speaker A: I'm taking one for this whole. Your DCL fan club that's out there. Don't worry. I'm investigating.
[00:59:59] Speaker B: Our roving reporter Scott has got you covered on Mickey smokestack barbecue. Scott, what was your, what was the verdict on Mickey smokestack barbecue?
[01:00:08] Speaker C: I'm nervous for this one.
[01:00:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Their brisket wasn't really brisket. It was more of a straw me type brisket.
[01:00:16] Speaker B: Agreed.
[01:00:17] Speaker A: So it's not kudos to that. They did try a for effort, but you're not going to get a smoked flavor on a brisket for Texas. This in a cruise ship. Sorry, just not going to happen. But the cruise food was actually really good. Their corn salsa was good. The Mac and cheese was great. I had every single kind of meat. It was great. But the other one I want to really give kudos to, and I can't remember what character it was.
[01:00:43] Speaker B: Is it Donald's cantina?
[01:00:45] Speaker A: Yes, it was.
[01:00:47] Speaker B: I love it.
[01:00:48] Speaker A: Chipotle at sea.
[01:00:50] Speaker B: Chipotle at sea.
[01:00:52] Speaker A: I was like, I gotta try this. Amazed. It was great for Texas, you know, for having tacos and things like that and having a chipotle at sea. Kudos to Disney on that.
[01:01:06] Speaker B: Yeah, well, and we're thinking it's coming to the Disney dream and then hopefully the Disney fantasy, because they did say there's going to be a cantina. They didn't say Donald's cantina, but we assume that they mean the same food at least. And they might.
[01:01:20] Speaker C: And they, they used to have an actual brisket. I'll say that. They used to have an actual brisket.
[01:01:26] Speaker B: Yeah, they did. When they first opened the wish, our first couple of sailings wasn't the most.
[01:01:30] Speaker C: Amazing brisket, by the way, even.
[01:01:31] Speaker B: But it wasn't. It was a real brisket. And then they changed it. And it is more like a, more like a pastrami or corned beef. Yeah, it's still good. It's just not a real.
[01:01:41] Speaker A: Yeah, it was, it was definitely, they were clear. I was like, that's not a brisket. The lady looked at me and I said, I'm from Texas. That is not brisket or whatever. I will say this, too. The way they designed a, the smaller cantinas and things like that around the ship worked out for there wasnt a big crowd of people everywhere. I like the entrances I did to Marceline market because it flowed. They really did that flow to make marceline market work. So I will say kudos to Disney on that design plan. I think it worked better. I did try their pizzas or hot dogs or hamburgers or ice cream. I did try all that. They were great food. So id like to say, you know, im a fan of cabana, but I'm going to double down and say marceline market. And all those cantinas and smokehouse, they're, they're worth the wait. It was great variety. Kudos again. They did a really good job.
[01:02:32] Speaker B: Yeah, we, I agree. I think the food on the wish is the best. And I do think the layout moves people better than cabanas does inside.
[01:02:41] Speaker A: It's so many options and so many choices. If you can't find what you're looking for, go down this, go down the hallway a little bit. You're going to find something that will get get there. Their pastas were great, the fish was great, the lamb and everything else we had in there. Kudos. I mean, it was truly amazing food. I have to give them that.
[01:02:59] Speaker B: Awesome.
[01:02:59] Speaker A: Now on, on the three.
[01:03:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Mean dining. Yeah. Let's hear about mean dining for so especially with the show is I gotta hear. Yeah.
[01:03:07] Speaker A: We are not marble fans, and I will tell you that point blank, I don't follow the marble thing. So I did not want to waste a pirate night, which I don't know why we have to have pirate night on a three night cruise. Do the fireworks, do whatever, but don't make it pirate theme. Come on, people. So we sacrificed pirate night on the least one that we didn't want to worry about. So we got pirate night on marvel night. They did put a pretty good show on with that. The food was great, and it isn't.
[01:03:36] Speaker B: A pirate menu on a three night.
[01:03:39] Speaker A: I'm glad that that did not happen. The food was good. We ate well. The desserts were good. Marvel 1923. We ate on the waltz side of 1923. So I got to experience both sides of 1923. The food is really good. 1923 also, I was impressed seeing both sides. Yes, they were identical, but they did have their different twists. To me, it felt like a, in a way, was a cheaper animator's palette. It had a lot of pictures and everything, but just didn't have the animators vibe. So I was glad to see it was a change. And it had its own unique personality built in to that.
[01:04:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:04:17] Speaker A: Now, the last one, I cheated, and I'm going to tell you I cheated and used the concierge card. I don't know. I didn't know what to ask for all the way. So I was doing my research about what to ask for. And thanks to the DCL duo, Sam and Brian, you guys gave me some tips and tricks. In our room was the drinks we wanted. In a room was the fan and the electric cords I needed that magically appeared. I didn't have to wait in line and fight for all that, but I also made a quest, not only for a private table, but knowing what was going on in Arendelle. I wanted to be as close to the stage as we could get.
[01:04:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:04:51] Speaker A: And that magic happened. We were front row, center stage, and the show was great. I want to say kudos to Disney magic for making that show as magic as they could between the pre show, the show, during dinner, and then the after show. I gotta admit, they got the crowd engaged. The kids were dancing around the ship. I mean, just having a blast.
[01:05:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:05:19] Speaker A: Kudos. It was truly a different experience.
[01:05:21] Speaker B: Yeah. It's the best entertainment.
[01:05:23] Speaker C: I just want to put in one more tip here, because you mentioned it about the getting the drinks and everything in your room and all that sort of stuff. So two things that I've learned, thanks to a friend of ours that we sail with. So I think Kristen, the concierge lounge, has been on a few times, has kind of mentioned this offhand, but they will actually load in, uh, just about any beverage you want that's a Coca Cola product. So, in the last sailing that we went on, I. I drink vitamin water. And so I didn't. I just had never asked. I didn't know this, but as long as you're, like, a sailing, I think you have to be exactly like one sailing before.
[01:05:53] Speaker B: Two sailings before.
[01:05:54] Speaker C: Two sailings before.
[01:05:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:05:54] Speaker C: They basically have to put in the order with the, you know, the purveyor, and then when they come back in to restock, it's there and they can stock it in.
[01:06:01] Speaker A: Right.
[01:06:01] Speaker C: So. But if it's a Coca Cola product, you can ask for it. I don't want to promise I'll always do it, but, you know, they brought on vitamin water. They brought on Topo Chico for Topo chico. Wrong kind, right. Wasn't the wrong kind.
[01:06:12] Speaker B: Well, they. What they got was the variety pack. And I only actually drink. I will. I drink regular topo chica, the plain. But I also drink what I'm showing on camera right now. If you're watching us on our video version of this. But is a. This is a lime with mint. But I actually. I like the lime with mint. That's the only flavored one that I drink, though. They have two other flavored ones, so it was like a multi pack. So when they delivered me some topo chicos for the first time, it was like blueberry hibiscus. And I looked at it, and then the other one they had is, like a tangerine ginger. And I was like, well, maybe I drink that, but I probably won't like it.
[01:06:50] Speaker C: And for everyone out there, Sam is now on a mission to get to 10,000 followers on instagram or somewhere, because then she can become, like, a topohichio.
[01:06:58] Speaker B: Meets a threshold influencer.
[01:06:59] Speaker C: Topo chico influencers.
[01:07:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Tell your friends my goal in life, because I. I drink so much of this stuff already. I should be getting it for free. I talk about it so much on this show. I should be getting it for free. I should have a topo chico shirt.
[01:07:14] Speaker C: Wait, okay, the other tip, I just want to give Sam's offer, soapbox and topo chico. Uh, the other tip, I just want to give along the lines of drinks is if there's a particular, like, alcohol that you really like to have, you know, and you want it stocked at the bar, as long as it's within reason. Like, they're not going to bring up a Louis Tres brandy for you, but, you know, it's kind of the mid range to lower end of the top shelf. They'll throw a bottle in there. So, like, I'm a big fan of a particular kind of gin. And basically, my friend asked the bartender if they could, they could stock it, and they were like, we have it on the ship. We'll bring it up. So, like, if you want that kind of, you know, particular alcohol and your free drink in the evening in the concierge lounge, they'll bring up a bottle to have for you there behind the bar. So just, just one last tip there? I think so, yeah.
[01:07:54] Speaker A: But those tips, if you don't know how to plan in the concierge thing, I've watched, listened to all the shows previous, you know, so I was trending there, but watching that experience was really great to know those ships. So I made the most of the three days we have on the wish, and that's the only downfall I'd like to really talk about on the wishes. Yeah, these three and four nights, they're not cutting it. Guys like you can't explore the ship and knock everything off the list you want. I missed a lot of things on the ship. I would like to do the wish again to get the things that I missed.
[01:08:29] Speaker B: But I think, yeah, I think that's a really good point. Especially, I'll say, especially if it's your first time selling concierge, you are going to want to take the Ben. You know, you get certain benefits, and you want to take advantage of those benefits, like that early entry into the shows, like the lounge access and the food in the lounge. And so you are, I will say, going to spend more time, like, for us, if we're on the wish and we're sailing concierge, we spend a lot of time in that concierge sun deck. We spend a lot of time in the concierge lounge, and so we don't do as, as much of this other stuff on the ship. As when we sail non concierge. If we sail non concierge on the wish, we do more of the other stuff on board. So it's just a different experience. But as you said, just a three or four night cruise, frankly, are just too short to hit everything on the ship, regardless of whether you're sailing regular or concierge. So, yeah, definitely.
[01:09:19] Speaker A: I wish maybe the magic and the wish would flip so you could have that longer experience there. And it truly does make a huge difference.
[01:09:27] Speaker B: There you go. The treasure. That's what the treasure is going to be for, right? Yeah.
[01:09:32] Speaker A: I will say this. Everybody complains about the wish setup.
I see it. But losing that extra set of elevator banks really wasn't a big deal. Like, I hate to say it, but I really. The ship was set up great. You could get anywhere and everywhere you need to do. We did the pretty much on both ships. The no elevator challenge. Trying to take the stairs. Keep moving.
[01:09:53] Speaker B: I would say with all that food that you were having to eat, as our roving reporter.
[01:09:58] Speaker A: Yes, I took one for the DCL duo. Don't worry. I mean, I can't get this title of your executive bodyguards because you already got security, but executive body, you.
[01:10:08] Speaker B: You can be director of security. You're qualified. Our current security guards are not qualified.
[01:10:13] Speaker C: Tracy. Michael. You've been demoted. I'm sorry. I have a new boss.
[01:10:19] Speaker A: But I will say this to, you know, the. The experience on the wish. Like I said, people like her, they hate. Hate it. I'm a fan. I was really a fan. The newness of the ship was there. The experiences, the photo opportunities. That ship does move really, really well after the shows and things like that. They have. It flowed out really well. I'm impressed.
[01:10:41] Speaker C: Yeah. I will say I think people were overly critical of that ship when it launched. And I think it came from a place of. This doesn't feel like the other ships. And so I don't like it. It was like that immediate resistance. And so then people are looking for every reason not to like it. Oh, they got rid of the elevator bank, so that must be worse. But when you just. When you step back and you see the ship and you experience it, and if you keep an open mind, I think it's a fantastic addition to the fleet. And I'm super excited. They got two more.
[01:11:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:11:09] Speaker C: Well, actually, three more of them coming.
[01:11:11] Speaker B: Yeah. I think. I'll be honest. I think you. I think that we have a lot. There's a lot of, like, people who've been converted, though, too, after they've been on the wish a couple of times, maybe their first time, they were a little bit in shock and they just needed to adjust. But I do think there's been a lot of people who were not convinced when it first came out and then now are convinced.
[01:11:29] Speaker C: Yeah, but none of those people who put out those really telling reviews about like, oh my God, this is the worst ship ever. None of them have gone back to correct themselves. Let's just be honest.
[01:11:37] Speaker B: Right, because they did that for the clicks. Right? Exactly. Exactly.
[01:11:41] Speaker A: I will say one other thing about the wish, too, is that on castaway we did the exact same excursions as we did there on the first trip because we were scared that we weren't going to get them if it had a rainier season day. But one of the things we did was, im not a fan of cookies. We came right back on the ship and it was empty. So eating at marcelines and smokehouse and the cantina was truly better food than it was worth going through security again to get that experience. So kudos again for what they did on that part.
[01:12:12] Speaker C: So, Scott, I want to ask one last question and then I need to shift us over to rapid fire. But the one last question I have is, okay, so now you have experienced concierge. I'm sure your daughter lost her mind. She wants to always sell concierge. Now, you know, I assume, you know that you're probably like many people out there who are like, I'd rather sail more than sail in concierge alone. I don't know. How did it land with you? Did it feel like something you want to do again, or was it kind of a, you know, glad you tried it, but it's not going to like, you know, be the thing that you try to do every time.
[01:12:40] Speaker A: So that's a double edged sword. If you ask my dad. It was a one and done thing because we just looked out Washington, dumb luck. But if we had a price break like, you know, some of these last minute cruises on the wish and things like that, the price from a regular sailing to concierge was less than $1,000. It's worth it.
[01:12:58] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[01:13:01] Speaker A: It's going to be hard, but yeah.
[01:13:04] Speaker C: That'S the nice thing about concierge, like a shorter sailing, you can do the upgrade. Just it, it hurts, but it doesn't hurt as bad. Yeah, on a longer sailing it hurts a lot more. And then, you know, our problem. I'm probably overly critical of the pricing. Really. What I want to be critical of is the, I just feel like, they need to add more into the experience to keep up with the other cruise lines that are out there who are, frankly, charging similar pricing in some cases. Some of them not. Some of them are much lower. But whatever. I won't get back into that. But I think the longer sailings, and then we sail it at premium times.
[01:13:34] Speaker B: Holiday premium times.
[01:13:36] Speaker C: Yeah. And so the prices is like, oh, that cruise, it was eight grand is 16, or whatever it is.
[01:13:41] Speaker B: Thanksgiving. All the times that are. Yeah.
[01:13:43] Speaker A: I will say this from a. A first time concierge cruiser. The, uh, the room service and everything else, by the way, the bed and concierge. Holy cow. I could have taken that with me. Um, that bed was amazing. I died in that bed a couple times.
My snoring went from critical levels down to hardly anything by the time we got off the wish. So kudos to those scenes. But, wow, in all seriousness, the concierge experience is amazing. Yes. I would love to do it again. However, you know, price wise, most of the time is not feasible. But I'd rather sail, be sailing and on a disney cruise than not sailing at all.
[01:14:24] Speaker B: Yep.
[01:14:25] Speaker A: That is truly my vacation of choice, because I can just disappear, relax, and the phones don't work there, and it's a truly amazing experience.
[01:14:32] Speaker B: I love that.
[01:14:33] Speaker C: For sure. For sure. Well, Scott, we have put it off long enough, avoided the. The pain that you're about to experience, because it's reached that time in our show where I need to hand you back over to Sam for some arbitrary questions, some arbitrary rules, dash of judgment, or the round we know has rapid fire.
[01:14:49] Speaker A: Brian, are you assuming the position of judge for rapid fire?
[01:14:53] Speaker B: No, he is not.
[01:14:54] Speaker C: I'm not allowed. I'm not allowed.
[01:14:57] Speaker B: He only gets to do it if there's, like. If I'm, like, sick or something, and he wants to it, he can do it. But if I.
[01:15:03] Speaker C: This is not a democracy. It's a samocracy.
[01:15:06] Speaker B: This is a samocracy. I like it. I like it. That's why. Yeah. All right. Happy wife, happy life. Okay, I'm going to skip your general Disney favorites, because I think we did that the last time you're on the show. And I want to hit your favorites on Disney cruise line, because at that point, you had only been on the fantasy. So now you've been on three ships. And so I've got to ask you your favorites across the three ships that you've been on. So let's start with your favorite Disney cruise line stage show. You can choose any of the shows from the fantasy, the wish or the magic? Which one is your favorite? I. Scott, I'm going to go with.
[01:15:40] Speaker A: Aladdin on the fantasy.
[01:15:42] Speaker B: Okay. All right. Okay. My next question is your favorite rotational dining. Again, it can be across any of the three ships you've been on.
[01:15:52] Speaker A: You know, I will say, usually it would be animators or enchanted garden. Enchanted garden is my number one, but for the total experience, Arendelle won that one.
[01:16:03] Speaker B: Wow. Yeah. The. The entertainment is really, truly top notch.
[01:16:07] Speaker A: I am an enchanted person. I love Enchanted garden. It is my favorite. But for the whole overall experience, that's going to go with Arendelle.
[01:16:15] Speaker B: Wow. All right. Favorite bar space on any of the ships.
[01:16:21] Speaker A: Well, that's an easy one. That is going to be the concierge lounge bar.
[01:16:26] Speaker B: I love it. On the Disney witch, I love it.
[01:16:29] Speaker A: Because they were bad.
[01:16:31] Speaker C: That makes me sad.
[01:16:35] Speaker B: The bartenders and concierge are fantastic, I will say on several of the ship.
[01:16:40] Speaker A: So they made drinks in whoever's been talking about in our various podcasts here, the old fashions.
I did take one for the team and investigate the old fashioned, and that was a truly a great drink. I've never had one before, so.
[01:16:57] Speaker B: Oh, there you go.
[01:17:00] Speaker C: It makes me sad because we're going to be not in concierge for our next two Disney sailings and probably beyond at this point. I don't think we have another sailing.
[01:17:07] Speaker B: You know what, Brian? We're gonna be on the treasure and there is a Hooks Barbary on the show.
[01:17:11] Speaker A: No, no, no.
[01:17:11] Speaker B: But we're gonna be on the fantasy, and there is a meridian on the fantasy.
[01:17:14] Speaker C: Yeah, but let me finish my thought. I feel like I'm gonna be, like, glued to the glass outside the concierge lounge. Like, looking in. Like, I just wanna come in.
[01:17:21] Speaker B: I just wanna come in for an old.
[01:17:23] Speaker C: Do you wanna make me a dream?
[01:17:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:17:26] Speaker A: Sam, one thing. As we were talking about rapid fire and Hooks Barbary, I did live that experience of hooks Barberry and got taken care of so I looked presentable, so I didn't look like a homeless person coming back off the ship. But that feeling inside that Hooks Barbary is amazing. There are several customers that were there. One of them, his daughter, was getting married the next day, and we were just having this great conversation. It was like a typical barber shop you would walk into with strangers. But it was a great experience. So if you do have that, they did have a old fashioned class there. And I may or may not have accidentally sampled the second one to make sure it was the same consistency. But don't worry, they were really good.
[01:18:09] Speaker C: So I like to just finish the drink and tell them, you know, I didn't like this.
[01:18:13] Speaker B: Can you be another.
All right, well, you got to tell me, what's your favorite onboard activity? And this can be, again, across any of the ships. It doesn't have to be an activity that's available on all the ships.
[01:18:26] Speaker A: Sam, we. We have a problem. I investigated the art of bingo two years ago, and I thought it was not going to be something enjoyable.
Unfortunately, on both ships, I missed zero games of bingo and was heavily addicted.
I did have a bingo. I did win two games. There were small prizes, but I did win two games. But for the record, I was very entrenched in bingo. Matter of fact, I may or may not have had three or four electronic cards at the same time trying to win.
[01:19:00] Speaker B: So let me guess. You spent more on bingo than you won. I'm going to put this out there.
[01:19:05] Speaker A: Even. Oh, you broke even.
[01:19:06] Speaker B: Okay. That means you won, Scott. That's actually really good.
[01:19:09] Speaker C: Well, I mean, look, once you experience concierge, you got to find a way to get back in.
[01:19:12] Speaker B: So fingo is the pathway I was hoping for.
[01:19:16] Speaker A: The big jackpot.
[01:19:17] Speaker B: Yeah. I love it. All right, now, I know you skipped the aqua dunk, but now you've been on the aqua duck and the aqua mouse, so I need to know which one is better. Aqua duck. Aquaman mouse.
[01:19:31] Speaker A: I'm going to have to say the aqua mouse.
[01:19:33] Speaker B: Wow. Okay. You like the screens? You like the whole show?
[01:19:37] Speaker A: It was a great show. It was a little bit shorter than the aqua duck, but overall, it did have a better vibe feeling, and it just didn't dump you off in the rod. You actually got off on a little conveyor belt. It was a bit easier to get on and off.
[01:19:51] Speaker B: That's a good point. I've never, you know, I have never thought about that, but that is a good point. The exit is a little bit better.
[01:19:57] Speaker A: Smoother.
[01:19:58] Speaker B: Yeah, smoother. Okay.
[01:19:59] Speaker A: Also, they. They allowed for. It's a two person ride, so they allowed my daughter, my dad to tag out. So we both got to experience it. So kudos to the staff that was working that. That day.
[01:20:08] Speaker B: Awesome. All right, now I've got to ask you, which one is your favorite ship? You've been on three of them now. And you, the great thing is you've been on one of each class, right? You've been on one magic class ship. You've been on one dream class ship and one wish class. Which one is your favorite?
[01:20:24] Speaker A: We're going with the Disney wish, followed by the fantasy, followed by the magic. And I've been a long time fantasy person, but yeah, I did switch over after this trip. The. The wish did take the lead and the overall experience was just better. The amount of opportunities and the growth that Disney did put into the wish. If the treasure and some of the others are going to be like this, it's really going to be. It's stepping up the game. So congratulations to Disney on that.
[01:20:51] Speaker B: Awesome. Okay, now, my last question of rapid fire. You just checked off a bucket list item. I would say, by being, you know, on the wish and going sailing concierge. But if you could sail anywhere in the world on a Disney cruise line ship, it doesn't even have to be someplace that Disney cruise line currently sails. Where are you going, Scott?
[01:21:10] Speaker A: I would like to do one of the inaugural cruises that's coming up just to say I did it to be on the first round of pass passengers. I do want to hit the last two remaining ships to do the Fab five. So that is another goal, too, is to try to find those and check those off the list.
[01:21:26] Speaker B: Yeah, well, soon it's going to be the big hero six and then the seven dwarfs right thereafter. So, yeah, you know, you know, someone.
[01:21:33] Speaker C: Else had had a term for the 6th one that I'm trying to remember what it was now because I was actually like, that's better.
[01:21:38] Speaker B: I don't know. I don't remember what it is. But anyway, thank you so much, Scott, though. It's always so fun talking to you. You got to tell us what's, what's coming up next. Do you have a, do you have a cruise booked or Disneyland trip booked or are you just saving up those pennies for a kiddos college education? Because that's coming in a couple of years.
[01:21:54] Speaker A: So we're hoping to have another cruise within the next two years and go relax again. It is truly amazing thing. And the one thing I like to tell all your listeners, if you guys, regardless if you sell regular or concierge, if you guys listen to the various guests that have all the tips and tricks, you're going to have all the pro chips. So if you're the first one, so it's your first Disney trip, man, you're really going to have an amazing experience looking through all the tips and tricks. Because if I would have known the DCL duo on my first one seven years ago, my experience on my first trip would have been great. It wasn't until two years ago that I learned all these tips and tricks. So that's why I'll pass everything on to you guys. But kudos to the DCL duo and your whole podcast community out here. That's all supporting you behind the scenes. We're so proud of your accomplishments and the amount of people that come to your podcast and the quality of people you bring to the podcast. Thanks for what you do for the community.
[01:22:45] Speaker C: Well, you're the best. Yeah. As Sam said, we absolutely love having you on the show, Scott. So you stay elegant in the future. Just, you know, the guest slot anytime you want it.
[01:22:56] Speaker A: I just want you guys to know, as the director of your security services, you probably need me to go with you on the treasure, right? Because now if you're in regular, we're.
[01:23:07] Speaker B: Kind of famous now, right?
[01:23:09] Speaker A: You're going to need a bodyguard. I sacrifice for the DCL duo to go. Don't worry, I will make time in my busy schedule to go. Guys need me.
[01:23:20] Speaker B: I appreciate that.
[01:23:21] Speaker C: I love it. I love it. Well, Scott, thanks as always for joining us. We appreciate you taking time out of your day to share your experiences with our listeners. So just thank you so, so much.
[01:23:31] Speaker A: Thank you guys for having me. It's an honor and a pleasure to be here.
[01:23:38] Speaker C: 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 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 has 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
[email protected] or reach out to us on our voicemail line at 402-413-5590 that's 402-413-5590 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 of the Disney Company or 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.
