[00:00:00] Speaker A: The crowd didn't seem like they were very much like, oh, let's stand in the pool with a drink for a few hours type of crowd. One morning, I went and there were people swimming laps in the pool.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: There were. You know, this is why you have to cruise with old people, Brian.
[00:00:12] Speaker A: If, you know, they're not taking up any space, you know, there's no line endeavor for anything that requires physical excursion, so it's wonderful.
Stairs were always empty.
[00:00:35] Speaker C: Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episode.
[00:00:37] Speaker D: Of the DCl Duo podcast, brought to you by my path unwinding travel. And Sam, it's review time.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Woohoo. Mail call.
[00:00:46] Speaker D: Just get less excited over time. I am excited for these reviews.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: I love excited reviews. I don't know what you're talking about. I love them all.
[00:00:53] Speaker D: All right, well, here we go. This one comes from Julie. I'm going to say Filipe Philippi. It's spelled P h I L l I p p e. You know how to pronounce that?
[00:01:02] Speaker A: Probably.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: I'd say Philippi, but I don't know Philippi.
[00:01:04] Speaker D: All right. And, uh, she writes excellent content with great guests. I've been listening since the beginning, and it's wonderful to see how the podcast keeps getting better. Guests are interesting and offer multiple perspectives that really add new things to someone who is a huge Disney fan. Congrats on a great show, and I wish you all the best in the future. Hugs from California.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: So.
[00:01:21] Speaker D: Well, thank you, Julie. We appreciate the review. And hugs right back at you. Right, Sam?
[00:01:25] Speaker B: Yes, I'm all about the hugs, so thank you, Julie. I love hugs. And I'm sending you a virtual hug right back.
[00:01:31] Speaker D: There you go. There you go. Well, Sam, do you want to introduce our guest and our topic for the. For the evening?
[00:01:36] Speaker B: I would love to, Brian. Thank you so much. We are excited to do a compare contrast episode for you. We'll do it kind of part trip report, part compare contrast. But our. Our guest today went on his first. I was about to say carnival cruise, but Princess Cruise. Recently, he's been on several Disney cruises, but this is the first time he's been on our show. So welcome to the show, Ryan.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: Yeah, thanks for joining us. And I have to say, I said this off air, but I have to say this on there. Congratulations on your recent engagement.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that.
[00:02:12] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. Well, we're excited to chat with you. You've got some Disney cruising experience. You just went on a princess cruise, and I know you're actually set to go on a royal caribbean cruise in the future as well. But let's, let's rewind and go back to what is your Disney connection? How did you end up on Disney Cruise line? How many cruises have you been on with Disney? And then if you have any other cruising experience prior to either Disney or this princess cruise.
[00:02:41] Speaker A: Sure. So growing up, my parents were part of the Disney vacation club. So every other year and then eventually every year we would go down to Disney World. And for the longest time it always seemed, you know, Disney Cruise line, oh, that's, you know, two, three times the cost of a Disney world vacation. Don't even bother looking at it. And then right after the restart of sailing, after the COVID pandemic, I started looking into it and I said, you know what, I'll give this a try. And immediately fell in love with it. You know, a few weeks later I was already booking something for the wish that had not even come out yet. And then a few months later I was on the fantasy and I was like, okay, wow, this is, this is how I want a vacation.
[00:03:15] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: And then fast forward to this past May. I was looking, or, sorry, last November, I should say was looking and I saw a princess come up and that's how I kind of got into princess. But other than that, I have no other cruise experience.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: Wow, interesting. So your family always thought that cruise line was more expensive and maybe it is if you're a DVC owner, particularly these long term DVC owners who got in early. Really, really smart.
Which home resort is your parents home resort?
[00:03:47] Speaker A: So yeah, they bought back in I think 2000. So they really got in pretty soon after it all got started and they bought in that boardwalk. And then I think in 2011 they purchased Animal Kingdom Lodge. But then after my brother and I graduated from college, that's when they sold their contracts and they said, you know, we really enjoyed it, gave us a lot of great vacations. But now they're cruising more often than I am.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: Well, they didn't want to pass along those points to you all. My goodness, no.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: Have to earn it just like they did, apparently. So.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: Bummer. Well, I understand, frankly, you can actually do pretty well on resale of DVC if you were a particularly an early owner or if you have a desirable contract. So anyway, well that totally makes sense that you would want to venture into Disney Cruise line. It certainly, like we talked, have talked about on a couple other shows. In some ways it's not really more expensive than a Disney Parks vacation if you're including, you know, calculating, you know, park passes, resort hotel on property, food, all the, you know, lightning lane, multi pass, all that stuff together.
That stuff can all add up. But what made you decide to venture over and try Princess Cruise line after taking three Disney cruises? I think that's kind of an interesting move.
I know you just recently got engaged. I'm assuming you don't have any children yet. You're a young guy.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: No, do not have any children. And so I booked this last November. And at the time, my then girlfriend, now fiance, we had only been dating a few months, and my parents were going on a trip on the fantasy. And so I was just looking on Costco travel, and I filtered from cheapest to most expensive, and princess was somehow at the top of that list. And so I looked into it a little bit more, and I believe it was Josh. A few weeks ago, I mentioned the whole difference between plus premiere, all those different packages. And so even with Princess plus and all these great things added in, it was still maybe half the cost of a Disney vacate or Disney cruise. So I figured, you know what? For half the price, I'll give it a shot.
[00:05:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Now, your fiance, hadn't, had she ever been on a cruise before?
[00:05:59] Speaker A: No. And she is a Disney fan. Not to the extent that I am. So I figured, you know what? I don't want to scare her off just yet. Let's not do a Disney cruise where her only option is jumping off the side of a ship.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: Right.
That's interesting. I think that's, that's, that's funny, but I think it's not a bad move. Right. See if she even likes cruising, and then you can sort of, you know, meld the two. And you did it sort of in the reverse. You, you went for Disney, you know, first and sort of cruising second. So, yeah, I think that's kind of a smart move. Well, and so the itinerary you ended up on is a seven night western Caribbean itinerary. I take it that was just because of, you know, price and dates? That just worked. It wasn't like you really wanted to go on this particular itinerary, or am I wrong?
[00:06:44] Speaker A: No, it was just price and dates. So I originally looked at eastern Caribbean, but my parents were just getting home at that point, so I sold to watch our dogs for a few days.
[00:06:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: So the next available one was the western Caribbean. And so this one is a little bit different than Disney in that this one goes to Cozumel, roatan, Honduras, Belize City, Belize, and then Costa Maya.
[00:07:04] Speaker B: Oh, nice. Okay, so two ports that Disney does go to, obviously, Cozumel and Costa Maya. Costa MAYa they don't go to on a lot of western itineraries, but on some western itineraries they do Cozumel, they go on a ton of western itineraries, but yes. So Roatan and. Sorry, what was the other one you mentioned?
[00:07:24] Speaker A: Belize.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: Belize. Okay. Well, I do want to talk about ports, but before we get there, let's talk about the booking process. So you, I, you, did you end up booking it through Costco travel or did you book it directly?
[00:07:36] Speaker A: So I did book it through Costco travel and Disney, I would usually go through a travel agent just for onboard credit, but this time Costco, they gave a fantastic Costco shop card. So I figured, you know what, let's try it. And then it was pretty seamless to link it into the Princess app and then Princess reservation system. So it was a overall fantastic booking experience.
[00:07:55] Speaker B: Oh, that's good. You know, we hear pluses and minuses with Costco because if things are smooth, they're great and you get that Costco shoppers credit. If things are not smooth, like, it can be a bit of a, if there are, you know, mistakes in the process or something, you can be waiting on hold for a long time. So I'm glad you didn't have that experience.
Tell us about the, you know, pre booking for like, activities, shows, restaurants, like, how does that work and how does that compare to the process on Disney from your perspective?
[00:08:27] Speaker A: So, princess, it's just, hey, you booked something great. Go ahead and book everything else while you're at it. So we could go ahead and even with just deposit down, we could book any main dining reservations, specialty dining reservations. There are no reservations for shows you could look at and book excursions. And this is, you know, December for a may cruise. So really no set time frame unless, you know, 188, 180 day out time frame, which I'm not aware of, but it was a pretty much open season. Just go on, book what you'd like. And even, I'd say a week or two before the cruise, there were still pretty wide open availability for everything.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: Wow. Now did you have to pay for those things like the dining or the excursions when you booked them, or were they going to be paid for either a couple days before the cruise or when you sailed? How did that work?
[00:09:17] Speaker A: So those were paid at the time of booking. So, you know, I personally prefer that. Just so you know, it's not, oh, I just enjoyed this great vacation. Why is there an $800 charge on my credit card.
[00:09:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I totally get that now. Were you, were you able to change things if you wanted? I know on Royal Caribbean, if you, it is similar in that when you book something, you are purchasing it like that on board dining, but you can switch things if you want. And so you just get, essentially get refunded and then, you know, recharged. If you end up canceling something and booking something else, are you able to kind of move things around or did you not really have the opportunity to do that or want to do that anyway?
[00:09:58] Speaker A: So we did end up like going back and forth between a few excursions and anytime I would cancel one, if it was shipboard credit, it would appear pretty much immediately into my account again. And then if it was anything but that, it would be refunded within like two or three business days. So kind of similar to royal because I've been messing around with getting the drink package now. Seems like it's a lower price and it goes lower, then it's higher. Nothing's gone even on the ship. We had canceled an excursion, I think 30 minutes before the cutoff date, and by the time we got back to our room, the ship or credit was already back on our account. So pretty, pretty quick with everything considered.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: Now tell me about, like drink package. Did you, I know we talked about this with Josh, as you mentioned on a live show, did you end up booking one of those sort of add ons that gives you, you know, the drink package or gives you some specialty dining or what did you end up sort of booking?
[00:10:50] Speaker A: Yes. So we did Princess premier figure go big or go home. And so that included two specialty dining, unlimited casual dining, the photo package, reserved seating that was seemingly never reserved or available.
And there's a few other things. You know, it included premium liquors, which, you know, my ideal drink is a coke zero with a lime. So having, you know, top shelf liquor is like, oh, great, wonderful.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: You're like, I'm going to still drink that coke zero, the lime.
[00:11:20] Speaker D: Exactly.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: I love it. And did you have to both book the same thing, meaning both yourself and your fiance? Because I know, like I said on royal, you have to for drink package, for example, all the adults have to be, if one gets the drink package, all the adults have to get the ultimate drink package. The kids don't have to because obviously they can't drink liquor. So they just get like, you can get like a soda package or no drink package for them. But did it work like that on princess, like because you had the premium, did your, I assume you wanted your fiance to have the premium anyway. Did you have to?
[00:11:55] Speaker A: I didn't look into whether or not there could have been exceptions. So I just wanted us both to make sure we had the same package. And I think the only real difficulty is at one point in her app, it was showing she had premier and I had the plus package. And then as soon as we got on board, everything was squared away. But the whole time, like, if we went into the actual princess website, everything looked the same. So again, I don't know if there's any sort of exceptions, like there have, like there can be on royal or carnival, but I would imagine, you know. Yeah, I would imagine there can be.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, so tell us about travel to the cruise. Where were you coming from and where were you sailing out of?
[00:12:32] Speaker A: Sure. So in Pennsylvania, you know, your airports are either Philadelphia, Baltimore or Washington. So we went down to Washington, flew into Fort Lauderdale, and I have to say I loved flying to Fort Lauderdale. The cruise port is now five minutes from the airport, it seems. So we flew in two days early just because, you know, there were some stories of flights being delayed, baggage being lost. So I figured, you know, an extra full day in Fort Lauderdale wouldn't hurt. And then getting to the cruise terminal from the hotel, there was a shuttle that you could arrange and there was pretty seamless transportation.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, you must be in eastern Pennsylvania because you said there's only three airports. But you're forgetting about Pittsburgh. For those people in western Pennsylvania could.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: Almost drop the Florida. Then it would take the Pittsburgh.
[00:13:13] Speaker B: Right, exactly. Or Ohio, I guess.
Yeah. Yeah. So.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: But.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Okay, well, you, you travel in two days before. That's very, that's very conservative and smart. But. Well, we know with weather's been in Fort Lauderdale and Miami lately, maybe that's. Maybe that's something everyone should start doing, frankly, right now as we're recording. Of course, hurricane Debbie has hit in Florida as well, so. All right, well, where did you guys decide to stay? I know you said it had a shuttle, but what was the hotel you stayed at? Did you feel like it was, you know, was it decent, nice enough? Include breakfast, include shuttle, that sort of thing?
[00:13:53] Speaker A: Yeah. So we stayed at the Hampton Inn, Fort Lauderdale south. So, yeah, I think that was the official name of Fort Lauderdale south. So it was right across from a nice shopping center. Walk around there a bit. The only bad part is that the pool was under construction the whole time, so didn't get a chance to look at that. But overall, really nice hotel. And then you just went to the front desk. And then they charged the shuttle cost to your room. So I think it was $20 a person to go from the hotel to the Portland, but then they had a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. So kind of balances out. So.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Because then you didn't have to pay for an Uber to your hotel, so you only paid for one of the. One of the trips to get to between the hotel and getting to the port. That's not bad at all. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. All right, well, let's talk cruise embarkation day.
How was the embarkation process? Did you have, like, an assigned boarding time? How did that whole Shebang work?
[00:14:47] Speaker A: So this was probably the starkest contrast aside from entertainment to Disney. So Disney, you know, very used to, you know, wake up at midnight, 30 to 40 days before your cruise. Hope you get a decent port arrival time. If you show up five minutes early, maybe you'll be let in, maybe you won't. And so when I checked in on princess, it just said, oh, arrival between 10:00 a.m. and 02:00 p.m. and so I figured, okay, well, let's see what happens if we try to get there at 10:00 so we were in our hotel room at 09:45 a.m. and we were standing in the atrium at 10:45.
[00:15:16] Speaker B: A.M. so with transportation, with transportation, with.
[00:15:21] Speaker A: Dropping off passengers at the celebrity terminal, security check in was just so unbelievably fast that the whole time I was telling my fiance, you know, might have to wait a little bit in the terminal, you know, ship might not be ready till noon. Room may not be ready till, you know, two on board at 1045. At 1130. All right. Hey, everyone in your rooms already. I mean, my jaw never came off the floor. Just walking around like, oh, my gosh, it's 1045. We're on the ship. Like, we're on the right sailing, right?
[00:15:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:49] Speaker A: So it was really great experience.
[00:15:51] Speaker B: Oh, that's awesome. Now tell us about the ship.
About how many passengers. I've already forgotten the name of it. That's how good I am with all these ship names.
[00:16:02] Speaker D: But the enchanted princess.
[00:16:05] Speaker B: Thank you, Brian. Okay, so the enchanted princess. Tell us about how many passengers did you get a sense of, or did you ask if the sailing was full or close to full?
[00:16:15] Speaker A: So I think official listed double capacity for enchanted princess is about 3660. And we had 3772 passengers and 1347 crew. So it was a full sailing, but the ship really never felt full.
[00:16:30] Speaker B: Yeah. So a little bit smaller than fantasy and dream, but significantly bigger than wonder and magic. Yes.
[00:16:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: Nice. Okay, well, tell us, what did you think of, like, the. The ship, you know, cleanliness and sort of overall appeal, because that's always, we always like to hear about that. Some cruise lines are doing it great, not just Disney, but, yeah, I'm curious about the enchanted.
[00:16:55] Speaker A: So the overall impression when I walked in, it was kind of skewed because we walked in and we were right next to the casino. So even though it was closed, you could still kind of smell the lingering smoke from the previous sailing, smoke in the carpet, whatnot. So that kind of, you know, it wasn't that classic Disney cruise line smell where you walk in your brief. It's like, oh, you know exactly where you are. I walked in, I'm like, am I in a bar? Am I in a bowling alley? It's. No, we're not too sure about that one. And so, you know, aesthetically very pleasing. The biggest thing that I noticed is that there were not a lot of windows at all. Like in the shops, there were none. In one of the lounges, there might have been two. So you really never felt like, at least in the lobby or the atrium or the piazza, they call. That's what they call the piazza. You really never felt like you were on a cruise ship? I always felt like I was kind of at the king of Prussia mall for most of the sailing, unless I was outside or on my balcony. So definitely not the classic cruise line aesthetic that I think DCl really nails.
[00:17:48] Speaker B: Yeah. For those listening who don't know what the king of Prussia mall is, it is a huge mall in the New Jersey Philadelphia suburbs, basically.
Brian, should we go to ports first or onboard experiences first?
[00:18:03] Speaker D: Well, I want to. What kind of stateroom did you book?
[00:18:05] Speaker B: Oh, sorry. Yeah, good question.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: So booked a. Just a regular balcony stateroom. And I have to say, like I saw it was, I think, 222 sqft versus Disney. I think it's 246 figured out. 20 sqft won't make that much of difference. No, it very much does when you're playing with that small of a space. The single bathroom was very, very, very tiny. The storage was interesting in that it was mostly a closet to hang up clothes and then maybe three or four shelves. So storage really wasn't there. And then there was no couch in the room like there is on the veranda, rooms on DCL.
[00:18:39] Speaker D: Oh, wow. I guess when you booked, what drove your decision over which kind of room to book? Was it just price or was there.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: Something else so I had only ever done a veranda, and I figured, you know what? Maybe a seven night with my girlfriend Al fiance was not the best time to try an inside stateroom with no windows and plus just having a balcony. I always enjoy just sitting out there with getting breakfast or just reading.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: Yeah. And you're trying to convince her to go on another cruise, so you made the right call. You don't want to put her in an instant.
[00:19:09] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm not saying here, let's sleep in the shoebox where you can't see anything. Trust me, you'll love it.
[00:19:14] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:19:17] Speaker D: Sorry.
[00:19:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:18] Speaker D: I'm curious, so what was the demographic like on board the ship for you? Because princess, we've heard, tends to skew maybe a little older. I'm curious if you experience that or if you felt like there was a good mix of folks on board and, you know, did I.
[00:19:31] Speaker A: You.
[00:19:31] Speaker D: Did you feel like you were the, you know, in the mix, or did you feel like you were some of the youngest people on the ship?
[00:19:35] Speaker A: Definitely felt like some of the youngest people on the ship. And I would say out of the seven nights that we were on there, we saw maybe 1012 couples that seemed to be around our age. In that, you know, 30 and under type of category, I'd say at least 50% of the passengers were above the age of 50 and probably 30, 30% over 70. So it definitely did skew much, much older than a family crowd on DCL. And it may have just been that school wasn't out yet because it was May 18 to the 25th, so right before the Memorial Day holiday. So that might have skewed it, but not entirely sure.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: Did you see any kids on the ship? I mean, especially in. Obviously, in the northeast, kids are not out of school before Memorial Day, and some aren't even out until mid June, and actually were the same. In the northwest, we're not out until actually mid or late June. But did you see any kids? Because I know, like, Florida, for example, they're out earlier, but I'm not sure if they're out by Memorial Day.
[00:20:34] Speaker D: Really.
[00:20:34] Speaker A: The only kids that we saw were probably those young enough where they weren't in school, so probably zero to three years old, and they were with, if not just parents, then, you know, parents, grandparents, large families. So it really was never, you know, there were no kids running around at all hours of the night. You know, there were no large groups of kids hogging the stairways. It was always just, you know, if they could walk, then maybe people were taking their time behind them. But, but other than that, they were young enough to be carried, I would say so really not the typical, I guess, demographic, as you would say, as a Disney sailing.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, interesting, you say about not really hogging the stairwells because I feel like that's definitely a thing on Disney where.
[00:21:15] Speaker A: The, you can tell when the kids club start doing their scavenger hunts.
[00:21:19] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Or the teens are out. Right. Groups and kind of of sitting in random places on the stairwells. Yeah. Well, interesting. Let's talk about, let's talk about some of the onboard experiences then. First, let's talk about the nightlife. I want to hear about the nightlife. On Princess, you said obviously this skewed older, so most people, or a lot of people over the age of 50 and quite a few probably over the age of 70. But did they have nightlife, you know.
[00:21:49] Speaker A: They had nightlife in the sense that on the schedule, yes, there was, you know, club princess or, you know, princess live after dark or, you know, however it was phrased. I walked by there one time and there were maybe three people in there listening to a dj. And other than that, I can't really say that there was. It was about similar to Disney where, you know, at about 11:00 everything kind of quiets down. It wasn't carnival where, you know, at 03:00 a.m. you know. All right, let's keep the party going. Night's just getting started or something like that. So pretty similar to Disneyland. There wasn't really too much that started after ten. So even something that started at 1030, like a lot of the adult game shows on Disney does, I'd say those are about half an hour to an hour earlier on princess.
[00:22:31] Speaker D: What about during the day? Did they have much program during the day for trivias or things like that?
[00:22:37] Speaker A: That was one of the larger disappointments I found. Is that on Disney it's a matter of on sea days, you better print out that navigator and cross off what you don't want to do, highlight what you want to try to do. See if you can split time to get two places that once somehow. And princess, it was, oh, we have trivia ten, oh, we have trivia four. And then in between, then it's like if you're not swimming or at a spa appointment, there really was not a whole lot to do. And then even less so, unfortunately, on port day. So there really was not that constant entertainment factor of, oh, here's an animation class, here's a movie, here's, you know, a few different trivias. Here's a tour of the ship. It was mostly just two rounds of trivia a day, maybe around a bingo at seven, and then a musician in one of the lounges.
[00:23:21] Speaker B: Oh, interesting. What about ship amenities? Like what? So obviously there's a pool deck, but like, tell us one about the pool deck. But then what other, if any, amenities did they have around the ship?
[00:23:32] Speaker A: Yeah, so the pool deck, I have to say, was great. So they had two pools that were, I think, about 45 by 15. So two of those on the Lido deck, and then up on the adults only deck, there was one that was about 36 by twelve. So they were large pools, like much larger than any Disney ship. And they were about six and a half feet deep. So I had never seen or heard of a pool that big on any sort of ship, let alone three about that size. So the pools were great. And then in terms of other ship amenities, they had a walking track up on the, I guess, Disney, that would be about deck 13 or 14, and then a sports court where kind of where goofy's is on the dream and fantasy. And then the one of the largest things I thought was missing is that on the lubber decks, there was just no ability to go outside. So I always loved walking along the promenade decks, I think on deck four on the Dream fantasy, but there was nothing like that on the enchanted princess.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: Oh, interesting, because they only had the walking track up at the top deck.
[00:24:30] Speaker A: Yeah. And then one of the biggest things, I keep saying one of the biggest things, now I'll just keep making a list so I can say, oh, the 7th biggest thing.
[00:24:36] Speaker B: The 7th biggest thing ever.
[00:24:39] Speaker A: There were no forward facing views of the ship. So, yeah, so like, you know, one of my favorite areas is satellite falls on the Dream fantasy, you know, because you can just go look out and see the front of the ship. But the only way that you could see that on Princess was if you purchased a pass to the sanctuary. And so I think that was like $60 a person on a port day and like $100 a person on a sea day. And I'm like, I just kind of want to see the front of the ship, that's all.
[00:25:03] Speaker B: But, right, the sanctuary, I take it, as their kind of rainforest type room.
[00:25:08] Speaker A: Not even that, because there was something that was their thermal suite. So the sanctuary was kind of like the solarium on an Oasis class ship, if I'm remembering the YouTube videos I've watched correctly, where it's like a covered thing at the front of the ship, except it would be like a paid for solarium.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: Oh, interesting.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: That's odd. Yeah, that's odd. I mean, I guess it's like, there's like a sweet sun deck on Oasis class also, that is not covered, but it's its own sun deck. I want to say, at the front of the ship as well, is kind of above where the solarium is on those ships. But that's. Yeah, I mean, you get it if you're in the suite class, there's not a paid for, and then the solarium is just adults only and anyone can go to it in Oasis class. So. Interesting.
[00:25:51] Speaker D: So I know you mentioned up front that you booked the princess premier package.
[00:25:56] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:25:56] Speaker D: How did it work getting all your dining put together for Princess premiere?
[00:26:00] Speaker A: So that was all just done in the app. So as soon as I booked Princess premier, I could go in and just make dining reservations. We did one reservation at the steakhouse and then run one reservation at the italian restaurant. And I was just going into the app, selecting a time, and then since we had the premier package, it wouldn't charge your credit card, but if you just have the plus package or no package, then it would charge you at that time.
[00:26:22] Speaker D: And how many restaurants were on board?
[00:26:24] Speaker A: Enchantment, I believe there were three restaurants. So there was a steakhouse, italian, and then a seafood restaurant.
[00:26:30] Speaker D: Okay. And then, and then main dining, I assume there was just like a. How did Maine dining work on board? Did you have to pick a dining time or did you just show up or could you do either?
[00:26:40] Speaker A: So it was kind of neither. There were no set dining times, but you had to make a reservation for the times you wanted to dine if you didn't want an hour and a half wait. So each day it was kind of nice in that each day you go in and say, oh, no, we're in a port this day, so I'm going to eat a bit later, or it's a sea day, so I want to eat a bit earlier so you can really customize it to your schedule. And so there were three main dining rooms, so you just have to pick which one you were going to. And then you would just show up. And I'd say, if we had a reservation at 720, we'd show up at 715, and we're seated by, I'd say, 723, 725. So it was really never a long wait if you had a reservation, but if you didn't, then, you know, that line was, you know, go have a drink, walk around the ship, you know, take a swim, and then by the time you're all done with that, we might be able to see you.
[00:27:22] Speaker B: Might be able to see you. Now, you said there's three. Three dining rooms or three main dining rooms. Were there differences? Did they serve the same food? Was like, what, if any, differences were there?
[00:27:34] Speaker A: They all serve the same food, and the only difference is who was staffing them. I'd say they all pretty much looked like a. Just a generic dining room, I would say, you know, kind of like a Marriott or a upscale Hilton restaurant dining room where, you know, not much of core. I think they were named for different places in Greece. I've never been to Greece, but I don't think many places in Greece look like that.
[00:27:56] Speaker B: Well, before we get to talking about, like, food, because I do want to. I know I've heard good things about food on princess, but I don't want to go there yet. I want to save food, because I know Brian likes to talk about food. Sort of towards the end. I do want to talk about ports a little bit. You know, you mentioned, obviously, we talked about which ports you went to, but did. And you mentioned booking excursions ahead of time. Did you book excursions for all four of your ports? Did you decide to book them all through the cruise line or on your own? What, if anything, did you end up doing with regard to excursions?
[00:28:30] Speaker A: So we booked excursions for Cozumel and Roatan. Belize was a ten report, so we didn't necessarily want to, you know, go through that. I didn't know how tender process worked on princess. Turns out to just be a ticket system where you go grab a ticket, then they call you when you're ready. We just didn't book anything for that. And then post Amaya, we had originally booked something, but then after our experience in Cozumel, we figured, oh, okay, we've already seen some ruins, and we'll stay on the ship that day. And they were all booked. They were both booked through the cruise line.
[00:28:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Costa Maya has great ruins, but if you already went to the ruins, Cozumel, I'm sure you don't. I'm not saying that ruins are not different from one another, but you don't probably need to see two sets of ruins on one cruise, not when it's.
[00:29:11] Speaker A: 90 degrees out and you start sweating as soon as you leave your stateroom now.
[00:29:15] Speaker B: Right. Right.
[00:29:16] Speaker D: Then you'll be ruined for ruins. Yeah.
[00:29:19] Speaker B: Nice, Brian. All right, well, let's talk about what you booked at Cozumel and what you thought of it, because there are ruins, excursions I believe available through Disney at Cozumel. We've done a ruins excursion through Costa Maya as to what the excursion was like, what you did, and what you thought of it overall.
[00:29:41] Speaker A: Sure. So the excursion that we did was a San Gervasio, if I pronounced that correctly, San Gervasio ruins, and then a stop at the mine cacao factory. And so the way the excursions worked on princess is that when you checked into your room, all your excursion tickets were in a little envelope on your, like, dresser mantle, some area where you could easily see them. And so that was your ticket for the excursion. And I'm used to Disney where it's like, okay, everyone meet in the D lounge, get your little sticker, we'll all walk off together. This was okay. Find us in the pier, find us at the port. And I'm like, well, I've never been to Cozumel, and there's two other ships here, so let's. Let's see if we can find our excursion.
[00:30:18] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:30:19] Speaker A: And it wasn't too difficult to find. And it seemed like where we were docked, it was kind of built up specifically by carnival and princess. So the only two ships that were in that specific area of the port were carnival and princess, but there was a royal caribbean ship in as well. And then. And then down a bit further north, I want to say, is where the fantasy was that day.
[00:30:40] Speaker B: Oh, interesting. So were you having Fomo when you saw the fantasy?
[00:30:44] Speaker A: Just a little bit. I saw the nice exterior and Allison had said, oh, I don't know why, but when I look at that ship, I just think of Disney. It just looks like Disney. I'm like, the imagineers are smiling right now because that is exactly what they wanted you to think.
[00:30:59] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly. Well, what did you think about the excursion? I've heard good things about the cacao factory in particular, although I confess we haven't been there ourselves.
[00:31:10] Speaker A: Yeah, that was really interesting. So I grew up in Hershey, so Hershey's chocolate roll was the summer thing to do. So I'm very used to. I have a little sugar milk and cacao powder. And there we go. There's Hershey. Smell chocolate. But this was actually very interesting that it went to the history of why the cocoa bean was so significant in Mexico, why it was so significant to the mayan civilization, how it was used as currency and all that good stuff. And then the chocolate, I have to say, was the absolute best chocolate I've ever had. They made some fresh right there, and it was just a matter of crushing up some cacao beans, adding in different mexican spices a little honey. And it was just absolutely delicious. So that was a really, really fun experience. And then after that, it was about a 30 minutes drive until we got to, like, some sort of beach club. I don't know, it was not listed in the excursion, I guess, description. And so it was just, okay, go out, take a picture of the ocean if you want, grab a drink if you want, and then hop back on the bus in 15 minutes. So it might have been an added stop, might have just been a, hey, you know, people want something to drink, let's stop here. And so from there is about another 30 ish minutes to ruins. And it was not as deep into the jungle as they made it seem. So, you know, I was like, you know, dousing myself a mosquito repellent, you know, leaving breadcrumbs from the bus, you know, just in case got lost or something. And, no, it was pretty wide open. And as we were leaving, the fantasy group actually came in. Oh. So the ruins were definitely a lot less, I don't want to say exciting then I thought, but in my mind I had the aztec pyramids in my head and these were the mayan ruins. And so it was still interesting to hear why they chose this island, why they chose this specific area on the island. And just kind of seeing like, these are things that have lasted for thousands and thousands of years. And so it was a really neat cultural experience. And then got back on the bus and it was about another 30 minutes drive to the pier. So I'd say we spent just about as much time on a bus as we did outside.
[00:33:03] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And that's fortunately or unfortunately. Right, like that is, you know, in order to get to the ruins from really any of the cruise ports, because you have to go significantly inland, whether that's Cozumel, Costa Maya or other ports that have ruins close enough, you do end up taking some time on the bus. So that makes sense. But sounds like overall a good tour, but maybe not one that you would repeat.
[00:33:33] Speaker A: No. I mean, if anything, I would probably just take a cab or taxi or some excursion specifically to the Monica Cow company and just be able to read the signs a bit more because they would. Was just brutally hot and sunny that day. So I was just dodging him in and out of little pavilions and trees to, you know, really just stay out of the sun.
[00:33:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's talk about roatan. What did you book in Roatan? And. And did you book that through the cruise line as well, yes.
[00:34:00] Speaker A: So where we were in Roatan, it was the Mahogany Bay cruise center cruise terminal. And so that was also kind of an area that looked like it had been up just for the carnival corporation. So there was, I think, the carnival liberty and then us there as well. And so it's kind of like their version of a private island that's not fully a private island, if that makes sense.
So we booked a. Like a beach day, you know, extreme adventure, add a few more adjectives. And that was the name of the excursion. And so it was a very, very scenic area. I know I from the earlier ports, that came out a bit more foliage than lookout key. And so once we got to the cruise center, like off the ship, there was a chairlift that would actually take us up and to the beach area. But then as soon as we got off the chairlift, it was kind of a matter of, okay, well, hope you can find your way. And there were no. No one really guiding us as to where do we need to go for the clamshell that we rented? Where do we get the kayak rentals? Where do we get the snorkel rentals? So we stood in about two or three different lines before someone said, oh, yeah, I guess we can help you. And the clamshells were just stacked very, very close to each other, so privacy was at an absolute minimum. The one thing that really surprised me is that smoking was allowed on the beach. And I don't have asthma or anything, but I just have a sensitivity to that where I know I just have a little trouble breathing, some coughing when I get close to secondhand smoke. So that does kind of detract it from the enjoyment.
[00:35:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, that's a bummer. That's a total bummer. Was it a nice, like, beach club experience, other than, obviously the smoke and the privacy issues? Like, was the beach nice?
[00:35:36] Speaker A: It was interesting because I'd say about 3ft out from shore, you were about in 6ft of water. So it was a very, very steep beach. But then it leveled out, but then after about 30ft of it, just being level is all seaweed at the bottom. So it was a really interesting beach where it wasn't. It wasn't clear water, it was nice, cool water. But between the steep entry and then the seaweed, it was just a little. Little different than castaway key.
[00:36:04] Speaker B: Yeah, I was going to say, no, no, it sounds like it wasn't any. No castaway key. Yeah.
[00:36:11] Speaker C: We know that people trust Disney for their vacations and it can sometimes be a little nerve wracking to think about trying something new, right, Sam?
[00:36:17] Speaker B: Yeah. Whether you're considering branching out to a new cruise line, an all inclusive resort, or exploring Europe, the team at mypath unwinding travel has the expertise and connections across the globe to plan almost any vacation. They can even help with the universal parks. They've helped us plan our vacations beyond Disney, including Royal Caribbean Princess cruise line, and Virgin voyages.
[00:36:35] Speaker C: Their team of travel professionals all understand the needs of a Disney traveler, can help you decide if another option is right for you, and then guide you through every step of your new vacation experience. Whether you are dreaming of a fun getaway to an all inclusive resort, a river cruise in Europe, or an adventure in Costa Rica, the folks at mypath unwinding are ready to help. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your next vacation even more amazing.
[00:36:57] Speaker B: To learn more and take advantage of the amazing team at mypath unwinding travel, then head over to mypathunwinding.com dclduo or email dclduoypathunwinding.com to let them know we sent you their way. Thanks. My path unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
All right, well, okay, so you spend the day at the beach at roatan. Is that. How far was the. I mean, did you have a long bus ride or anything like that to get there?
[00:37:28] Speaker A: No. So the ship pulls up right next to the pier, and then from the pier, it's about a five minute walk to the, like, main hub of the island.
[00:37:35] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:37:36] Speaker A: Yeah. So it was, it was just about, I'd say, from what I hear, the distance from the ship to lookout key. And so the big bummer that we didn't find out till we got there is that food was actually not included on the island. So everything there was paid for additional, and not even a drink package that you had on the ship would carry over.
[00:37:53] Speaker B: So interesting.
[00:37:55] Speaker A: Yeah. And we didn't know that because we saw signs for, you know, jerk chicken for $16, and we're like, let's just go to, like, whatever's included that would be back on the ship. And so I think we spent maybe three and a half, 4 hours on the island, and then we just went back because it was just brutally hot and humid. And we're like, well, we're not going to pay dollar 45 for lunch when we can just go back on the ship again for free.
[00:38:16] Speaker B: Right?
[00:38:17] Speaker A: Included.
[00:38:18] Speaker B: Interesting. I wonder if it's, you know, they have their own private island experience on Eleuthera. That's not that far from where lookout key is. I wonder if it's similar or nothing curious. We'll have to, we'll have to see if we can get somebody on who's, who's done that private island experience because.
[00:38:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I've heard and a lot of other people were saying that on Princess Key, food is it. Food is included.
[00:38:42] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:38:42] Speaker A: But just not chairs or umbrellas. So you have to rent those individually. So who knows what's included. Yeah. And it was so funny because my brother was saying, oh, I'm going to get you guys an excursion. And he sends me a screenshot for one at Princess Key and it was a pool noodle for $4.50 and he.
[00:38:59] Speaker B: Said, happy coat of happy birthday. Oh my God, that's hilarious. Your brother has a good sense of humor.
[00:39:05] Speaker A: Oh, he does.
[00:39:06] Speaker B: That's awesome.
I would say to my sister, speaking.
[00:39:11] Speaker D: Of pools, I know we touched briefly on it, but the pool on board, how crowded was it?
[00:39:16] Speaker A: Like never really very crowded. You know, even during sea days, midday, there were always plenty of chairs and plenty of space in the pool. Now the crowd didn't seem like they were very much like, oh, let's stand in the pool with a drink for a few hours type of crowd. One morning I went and there were people swimming laps in the pool. There were.
[00:39:35] Speaker B: You know, this is why you have to cruise with old people, Brian.
[00:39:38] Speaker A: If I know they're not taking up any space. Now, there's no line endeavor for anything that requires physical excursion, so it's wonderful.
Stairs were always empty.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: Stairs are always empty. Stairs are always clear.
Oh my God.
[00:39:55] Speaker D: So you're saying Emma's show started off a blog called cruising with old people is glorious. Yeah, is glorious.
[00:39:59] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:40:01] Speaker D: So was it one main pool or were there multiple pools?
[00:40:04] Speaker B: No, he said there were three pools, Brian. Three pools, two main pools.
[00:40:09] Speaker D: And there were no kind of like water slides or anything, I assume?
[00:40:12] Speaker A: No, no. So no water slides. And even the mini golf course was just a standard putting green like you'd find at the beginning of any regulation golf course. And so I was hitting it back and forth for about five minutes. I'm like, can't there this be like some sort of obstacle to make this, you know, interesting, challenging? So I started playing left handed at that point.
[00:40:31] Speaker B: Any. Were there any pools at this? I'm taking it you would have said probably if there were, but were there any pools at the resort at Roatan?
[00:40:39] Speaker A: No.
[00:40:39] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:40:40] Speaker A: Or at least not that I saw.
[00:40:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:42] Speaker D: Were any of the pools. Were any of the pools on board covered at all, or are they all exposed?
[00:40:47] Speaker A: So the adults only pool wasn't covered, but it was surrounded on all sides, so it was. Yeah, it was kind of like, almost like in a valley of some sort where you still got pretty massive wind. So that. That was nice or bad, depending on how you looked at it. But then the other two pools were just open and exposed.
[00:41:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:04] Speaker D: And how. How full did the ship feel?
[00:41:06] Speaker A: It never really felt all that full, except for, like, one or two bottlenecks either near the shops or near one of the bars and lounges that also kind of fed out close to one of the dining room stairwells. So other than that, it really never felt crowded or full.
[00:41:21] Speaker B: Well, that's amazing, considering you were at full capacity. That's pretty good. Yeah.
[00:41:26] Speaker D: We should talk about food.
[00:41:27] Speaker C: We hit it at restaurants.
[00:41:28] Speaker B: I know I said that we. You're definitely going to hit that at the end. And so I. But I wanted to just ask, um, one more question about the other two ports. Did you get off at the other two ports, or did you end up just staying on the ship?
[00:41:42] Speaker A: So we stayed on at both. At both ports. We looked out at Costa Maya and just were like, you know, we thought maybe, oh, if it's not too bad, then we'll get off. But it was just a. It's a pretty long pier there. There was no shade. Kind of like one of Disney's other unnamed ports at this point. Um, just long, hot, sunny. Figured, no, we'll stay in the air conditioning.
[00:42:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. All right. That makes sense. And the other one was a tender, I remember you said. Yeah.
[00:42:06] Speaker A: And it was looked to be about a 25 minutes boat ride, almost.
[00:42:10] Speaker B: Yeah. All right. Okay, now, Brian, now you can ask your question about food. Sorry.
[00:42:14] Speaker D: Well, I mean, let's start with main dining. How was the food? Uh, was it.
[00:42:19] Speaker A: Yeah, how was it at the service, main dining? The food was exceptional. I would. I would put that.
Take the best night you've had on Disney and put that across seven nights of main dining. It was really fantastic. The service with a full ship, we usually ate at pretty prime times around seven ish. So it took about an hour and 15 minutes, hour and 30 minutes to get through a full service. But kind, quick, courteous, professional, and definitely not developing a connection like you would with rotational dining. But no, if you just want really great service and, you know, if they remember you the next night, great. If not, because you could be assigned a different waiter, you know, if you're looking for great service. Princess has that.
[00:43:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:43:03] Speaker D: Awesome. Well, I mean, what. What were some. Were there some standout food items that you remember from the cruise?
[00:43:07] Speaker A: Yeah. So there was a braised short rib over horseradish mashed potatoes that I thought was, you know, absolutely divine. And then I. And the beef Wellington on. I think one of the formal nights was now cooked to a perfect medium, wasn't dry at all. And even one night they had beef Wellington on the buffet line, and I thought that was better than what Disney has in their main dining room.
[00:43:31] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:43:32] Speaker A: Yeah, it was really exceptional food. And I think part of the reason is that they're not doing too large seatings. It's kind of a constant churn of new people coming in and leaving, so they kinda. To have more small batches of food cooking at any one time.
[00:43:46] Speaker B: Interesting. Okay. You mentioned, um, formal night. I gotta ask. Did you have to dress up for the formal nights? I've heard that's one of those things that still exists on certain cruise lines.
[00:43:58] Speaker A: So reading online, all I could find is, oh, if you don't want to be kicked out to the buffet or the pool deck, put on pants, shirt, and a tie. So I'm like, okay, well, I'm sweating already, but let's do this. And so I get down to the waiting area, and there has to be three or four people in t shirts, shorts, backwards hats. I'm like, which is it? You know, just some consistency would be great. And, you know, even the cruise director, the night before it said, you know, make sure, you know, you're wearing your best, or, you know, we're gonna ask you a dine in the buffet. And I would have loved to not sweat through dinner. So next time. Next time, at least I know.
[00:44:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, that's good to know. So they're not super strict to enforcing it, even though they still say they have the dress.
[00:44:35] Speaker D: Well, this one time, we don't know.
[00:44:37] Speaker B: Right?
[00:44:37] Speaker A: We don't know.
[00:44:38] Speaker B: Well, that's exactly.
[00:44:40] Speaker A: Could have been because it was a caribbean sailing, you know, and they might be more formal on their european and canadian sailing, so.
[00:44:46] Speaker B: Fair curious. Okay. About the specialty dining. Then you went to, you mentioned you went to two different. The steakhouse. And I forget what the italian one was. The other one you went to, you didn't go to seafood, is that right?
[00:44:58] Speaker A: No, we did not go to the seafood restaurant.
[00:44:59] Speaker B: Yeah. So tell us about the. Let's start with the italian restaurant. How does it compare to, let's say, paulo?
[00:45:06] Speaker A: Paulo, hands down, was much better. And I think, yeah. And it was honestly, the specialty dining was as bad as it sounds. The worst food that we had on the ship.
[00:45:15] Speaker B: Zachary. Wow.
[00:45:16] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, even the buffet, because we had walked through the buffet the night, that night that we went to the italian specialty just to see, you know, because we ironically went to the italian restaurant on the main dining rooms. Italian special night. So weren't listening to much of anything. But, yeah, I mean, the buffet smelled great. We tried, like, a little bit of something, and it was fantastic. And then we got to the specialty restaurant. It was just, you know, that's the quality that I would expect, the buffet.
[00:45:40] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:45:40] Speaker A: You know, and I think one of the big things that I absolutely love about Paolo is I've only been on. Been to palo on the fantasy, so I can't speak of the other ships, but, I mean, you just can't beat that. Setting up on one of the top decks, looking out at the ocean. It's just beautiful. And here we were right off the atrium. So we heard all the games going on down there. And it was kind of like an afterthought of, like, I guess we could squeeze the specialty restaurant in here and the atmosphere just pretty bland, non existent.
[00:46:09] Speaker B: Wow, that's so interesting to think because generally, obviously, we think of specialty dining because you're paying more for it.
[00:46:17] Speaker A: Right.
[00:46:17] Speaker B: You're paying extra for it. You'd think it would be better. What about the steakhouse? How did that fare, at least in comparison to main dining?
[00:46:26] Speaker A: I'd say the steaks were pretty equal. Between main dining and the steakhouse, there was nothing absolutely exceptional. It wasn't by far the best cut of meat I've had. I'd say it would be like, you know, going to a local chain steakhouse and having, you know, a perfect steak on a great night. So, you know, it was a good experience. But, I mean, the atmosphere was much better than the italian specialty restaurant. It was a bit more secluded, not as loud. You got a view into the kitchen, but, yeah, it was. It was good.
[00:46:53] Speaker B: Interesting. Okay. Sounds like you would have just if you could sort of do it over again, maybe just do main dining.
[00:46:59] Speaker A: Just do main dining in the buffet some nights because, you know. Yeah.
[00:47:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Wow. Did you. Did you do the buffet for, like, other meals? Um, like, for example, breakfast, or were you sort of main dining for that stuff?
[00:47:11] Speaker A: Yes, we did the buffet for breakfast every morning and then lunch most days. And then we actually did that for dinner one night. And the buffet is open for dinner. And so if you don't feel like dressing up when apparently you don't have to or just don't want to make a reservation. The buffet is always open. And even when it's, you know, quote unquote closed, there's always some sort of like, finger food or snacks or like charcuterie out and available for people to eat. Nice.
[00:47:36] Speaker B: Is there pool deck food separate from main dining like we see on Disney or.
[00:47:42] Speaker A: Yes. So there was Alfredo's slice, I think, and that, that pizza was great. I mean, no, no. Hate Daisy's pizzas or, you know, Luigi's pizzas. But I mean, this was like local pizzeria pizza on land that you would get. And it was just fantastic. And then there.
[00:47:59] Speaker B: And he, and for those listening, he's talking about real pizza.
[00:48:03] Speaker A: New York, New Jersey, northeast.
[00:48:05] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Talking real pizza.
[00:48:08] Speaker A: Not Floridian pizza or Pennsylvania pizza. No, my mom's from the Bronx. She, she baptized me with real pizza.
[00:48:14] Speaker B: There you go. Both my parents grew up in the Bronx. Wow, that's awesome. Yeah. Love it. All right. Well, that sounds like. I mean, it sounds like a good cruise.
[00:48:24] Speaker D: I have one more question. I have one more question.
[00:48:26] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:48:26] Speaker D: We screw it in and out. Princess premiere. Worth it or not?
[00:48:30] Speaker A: No, I think if you're nothing, I think if you're someone that, you know, genuinely likes high quality liquor, high quality wines, whatnot, we're going to have, you know, a top shelf or, I don't know, if top shelf wines, even a phrase now, really high quality stuff every night, then maybe it's worth it. The photo package was a great addition. You know, I think we got unlimited digital prints and then three printed photographs. But other than that, I don't think most people need four devices worth of wifi. The specialty dining, I honestly think main dining is just as good, if not a little better than specialty specialty dining. So with all that said, I would not do that. I would not do princess premier again. I would do Princess plus, just because I think it's a great value, including gratuities, but not premier.
[00:49:14] Speaker B: Interesting. Well, I do think, you know, the one thing that skews it is the fact that you're not really an alcohol drinker.
[00:49:21] Speaker A: Right.
[00:49:22] Speaker B: So that makes a big difference. But it is an interesting thought as to the specialty dining because that obviously is an important aspect of, of that.
[00:49:32] Speaker A: And I have to say no. Being able to know as someone who's not a big drinker, being able to go to any bar and just get a soda or get a mocktail and not having to go all the way up to the pool deck to refill my cup and something that was really, really convenient.
[00:49:46] Speaker B: Yeah, that is definitely.
[00:49:48] Speaker D: I wish Disney would make the free soda a little bit easier for people.
[00:49:50] Speaker A: You know, just put something in the adults only area. Just put, like, a small fountain dispenser there. Solve a lot of problems.
[00:49:56] Speaker B: A freestyle machine. How about.
[00:49:57] Speaker A: There we go.
[00:49:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:49:59] Speaker D: So here's my. Well, Sam's probably going to do her versus rapid fire, if I had to guess. So I probably need to hold my. My ultimate question for the end. So I will say that we have reached that point in the show where I need to hand you over to Sam for some arbitrary judgments and arbitrary rules and a dash of judgment or the round we know as rapid fire. Although I feel like this is a less judgmental rapid fire, Sam, because it's just who wins, right?
[00:50:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Cause I know and I know, but probably I know most of the answers already. I could predict.
I'm going to predict where Disney wins and where princess wins. And I'm not gonna say princess doesn't win in any category. I think they actually are gonna win in maybe one or two categories. But anyway, let's. We're gonna start, though, since you haven't been on the show before, I'm gonna start with who's your favorite Disney character?
[00:50:44] Speaker A: Oh, I love Donald Duck.
[00:50:45] Speaker B: Oh, of course. Who is your favorite, or what is your favorite Disney movie?
[00:50:50] Speaker A: Pirates of the Caribbean at world's end.
[00:50:52] Speaker B: Oh. Ooh, I like that one. Favorite Disney song.
[00:50:56] Speaker A: You're going for a deepen cut here out there. From the hunchback of Notre Dame.
[00:51:00] Speaker B: Oh, yes. Oh, my God. Okay, you just won rapid fire just for that answer. All right, we can. We can know. You can wrap this up now, Brian. We're all done. All right, well, I'll continue. Okay. I've got a. I realize I neglected to ask you about shows, but I'll just do it in this. In this versus round. So let's start with the booking process.
What was sort of easier, I'm going to take booking includes, like, booking activities in addition to just booking the cruise in and of itself was what's easier or better as far as booking processes, Disney or princess?
[00:51:33] Speaker A: I would say princess because there's not that hard deadline. You know, you're not waiting until midnight one night, and I experienced absolutely no, it issues. So that was great. Not having the website or app crash while, you know, trying to enter passport information.
[00:51:46] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm going to tell you, I predicted that you were going to answer that in that way. All right, now we got to talk. We didn't talk shows. But I do want to ask you about shows. Um, did Princess have any like Broadway style shows or variety act entertainers on board?
[00:52:02] Speaker A: So they had Broadway style shows. If by Broadway style shows, you mean just taking a bunch of random songs and smashing them together and calling it a show, it was, we only went to one of them and it was supposed to be like, you know, their big, big show, you know, the headliner one, get their 30 minutes show type of thing and starts out with, you know, a few songs from the greatest Showman and then adds in, you know, a rap song, another thing from greatest Showman, a few more like eighties nineties pop songs. And there was just no cohesive theming whatsoever. Like I was waiting for them to get to the dialogue or what's the plot of this all? Because it was great. I think rock opera was the name. Like, okay, there's maybe like some sort of storyline here, right? It's like I went on a Spotify hit shuffle between show tunes, nineties rap and late 2000. And wow. I mean, the performers were great. It's, with any show, it's, you know, the performers are great. Just the writing, or I guess in this case, lack there of any writing whatsoever is, you know, what's going on.
[00:53:02] Speaker B: They should have just done it like as a decades theme. At least they, they do that. I think I'm one of, at least one of the royal ships where they do like a, at least they go through different decades of music. And so even though there's no plot, at least there's like some kind of theme to it.
[00:53:16] Speaker A: But, yeah, I mean, this was just, I mean, I think there were at least four songs from the greatest Showman. I'm like, well, I might as well watch a movie at this point.
[00:53:23] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a good movie. You know, good music. All right, well, then, okay, the answer is obvious. Who is doing Disney? Who's doing, who's doing shows better?
[00:53:32] Speaker A: Oh, Disney. Hands down. Hands down. Disney is also doing Disney better. So.
[00:53:39] Speaker B: Okay, what about onboard activities?
So, like trivias and, you know, towel folding and pool deck stuff, all that kind of activity?
[00:53:50] Speaker A: Disney, without a doubt. And one of the big things that surprised me is that, you know, princess really takes pride in its culinary arts. And, you know, on a seven night Disney cruise, I think there are at least usually three, maybe four cooking demonstrations. And here where food is, you know, so forward in their, you know, company, there was one cooking demonstration that was like only one, barely a demonstration. It was a, it was a very fun act. Between the executive chef and the mater. D. But it was just, you know, like, I thought there'd be a bit more insight as, you know, like how they source everything, how they prepare stuff in subdivision batches, and there was just nothing of that. So that was kind of disappointing, actually.
[00:54:25] Speaker B: That's a bummer. All right, cabins. Who has better cabins? You. You stayed at. You've stayed in a veranda multiple times on Disney. You stayed in a veranda room on the enchanted princess. Which cabin was better?
[00:54:37] Speaker A: Disney. Specifically, the Disney dream and fantasy cabins. I like those just a bit better than the ones.
[00:54:42] Speaker B: All right, well, they have better storage, so that.
[00:54:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And small tangent here. I don't know if the air conditioning was broken, but I. I don't think the ship ever got below 75 degrees. So if air conditioning was a category in rapid fire Disney, without any sort of doubt.
[00:54:58] Speaker B: Okay. Well, it is not usually a category, but I'll give a bonus point to Disney for air conditioning.
[00:55:05] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:55:06] Speaker B: Okay, well, I've got to ask service.
Disney versus princess. Who's doing overall service? We're not talking about, like, food quality yet. That's a separate category.
[00:55:18] Speaker A: I would say Disney because on princess, the service was definitely professional, but it wasn't always happy or kind. So, like, there were times where I get to the bar and just ask for a can of soda, and I figured, you know, a can of soda would be just, you know, pretty easy. Ask, you know, instead of a mixed drink and just got a look of, like, sure, yeah, I guess I can do that type of thing. And so, you know, meanwhile, the person ahead of me had, you know, three mai ties and two pina coladas.
[00:55:43] Speaker B: Right. Yours is easy.
[00:55:44] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm like a pentagon.
[00:55:45] Speaker B: All you gotta do is lean down to the cooler.
[00:55:47] Speaker A: I'm trying to give you a break here, but, you know, even me and dining, there was never that real connection. Or, you know, even with most of the crew members, you know, sometimes you get a smile. Most times you wouldn't. And so. Yeah, and with the shopping, like, I've never felt pressured. Pressured on Disney, cruise line, the shop, mostly because I'm walking out with $100 of merchandise each night because. No, why not buy that?
[00:56:07] Speaker B: Of course.
[00:56:07] Speaker A: But, princess, it just seemed like, oh, well, you should really buy this. Really buy that. I'm like, well, there's no need for me to buy a $100 polo for a ship that I'm kind of this way, that way about.
[00:56:17] Speaker B: Yeah. All right. Well, my next question is food. Who's doing it better, Disney or princess?
[00:56:23] Speaker A: I would have to say overall, it is princess in terms of food quality.
[00:56:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:56:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:56:29] Speaker B: I mean, I had a feeling you were going to say that. You know, obviously, the add on dining is the only exception, but, like.
[00:56:36] Speaker A: Yeah, no main dining and buffet. Princess specialty dining, Disney.
[00:56:40] Speaker B: Yeah, but I feel like. But the overall.
[00:56:42] Speaker A: Overall princess.
[00:56:43] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. All right. Okay. Well, I would like to know your favorite ship and this because I haven't asked you my regular rapid fire questions. I got to ask you what's your favorite ship? And you can pick any of the ships that you've been on.
[00:56:58] Speaker A: Favorite is the dream. It's very close between the dream and fantasy. I just like the art deco and now a bit more modern theming of the dream as opposed to the fantasy.
[00:57:06] Speaker B: Awesome. All right, well, I'll ask you your bucket list cruise. Now, if you can go on a Disney cruise line ship anywhere in the world, and it doesn't even have to be someplace that Disney currently goes, where are you going to go?
[00:57:18] Speaker A: I would love to somehow finagle that last seven night european sailing and then just go right into a transatlantic for a fun three weeks on a yemenite Disney ship.
[00:57:26] Speaker B: Oh, that would be amazing. I love that. That's a great idea. All right, well, thank you for playing I told you, you already won because of your hunchback out there answer, because that's, like, one of the best songs in the Disney catalog.
But I know Brian wanted to ask you his question, which is, I think, value.
[00:57:46] Speaker D: Well, I've got two. I've got, actually.
Thank you, Sam. So let me combine two of them, which is, do you think the value is there for princess? So we talk a lot about, you know, price is price, whatever. But, like, you know, if Disney is a eight out of ten on a scale of ten, one to ten in terms of price and princesses, I don't know, a five on that same scale. You. You adjust the scale as you see fit, you know, do you feel like the difference, uh, you know, and what you paid was. Was, uh. Or the difference in what you'd pay for Disney Cruise is made up for and the savings on a. On a princess cruise, so to speak, do you think the value holds up? Like, yeah. How was the value that you receive for what you sort of paid for this sailing?
[00:58:24] Speaker A: I think I got what I paid for. So, overall, including the princess plus, or, sorry, the princess premier room, gratuities, all that stuff, excursions, travel. It was about $4,200 for the seven nights, again, including travel. So backing out, travel goes down to about 3200 and so compared that to the cheapest veranda I could find on the fantasy being about 5000 for that timeframe and that 3200, including alcohol, specialty dining, photos, gratuities. I definitely do think the value is there for princess for a very particular type of cruiser. If you want to go on and just read a book, do a puzzle and just really sit back and relax, I truly think Princess is the cruise line for you. If you're looking to explore outside of Disney. I'm more of a no, I like to do things that I can't do on land. So for me, sitting at home reading a book, I'm not going to go on a cruise to sit down and read a book.
I like the animation classes, the trivia, the walk tours, kind of doing things that I just can't do at home. So again, the value is there for princess, just not personally for me.
[00:59:27] Speaker D: And then I guess my last question is, would you sail princess again? It sounds like probably no, I would.
[00:59:33] Speaker A: Sail Princess for Alaska because I've heard that they do great Alaska sailings. They bring natures on board and there, I think the destination isn't the ship, it is Alaska now in the Caribbean. It's kind of a toss up, you know. Yeah, you can go to a few beach days, but a lot of people nowadays, I think, go on these caribbean cruises for, or the ship icon, utopia, the treasure destiny, they're all going to the Caribbean. So now once you've done enough caribbean sailings, they're all one and largest team. So now you're going for the ship. But Alaska, I know I'd love to be able to see and if I can do it at half the price, I won't complain.
[01:00:04] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean that's a, that's a good point. When you're spending a lot more time off the ship during the, at least the, the full daytime hours. Right. You don't really have a lot of sea days. Then being on a ship that maybe doesn't appeal to you as much as far as amenities but has good service and great food works out, particularly if they have good excursions to book, which I will tell you, my aunt and my cousin, both adults, went on a princess cruise. I don't know, maybe it's got to be more than five years ago, maybe seven, eight years ago now, and had a wonderful time, said, and said the food was fabulous and that would have been like sort of the main thing for them because they were, you know, going off and doing excursions. So I think that that makes a lot of sense. Ryan, did you have one more question?
[01:00:51] Speaker D: Well, what's next is always the last question, right?
[01:00:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:00:54] Speaker D: You have anything booked going anywhere? Eyeing a Disney cruise perhaps?
[01:00:59] Speaker B: And what. And what does the fiance think about cruising? And will she go on maybe a Disney cruise next?
[01:01:04] Speaker A: So Alison enjoyed the cruise? No, she has nothing really to compare it to. So she's like, oh, yeah, it's great. You know, people are taking away my dishes and I don't have to cook, clean, do anything, and I can just order food from my phone. What is not to love about this? So right now, I have a fortnight sailing on Utopia of the seas, booked in December. So excited to try Royal Caribbean for that for the first time on their newest ship. So hopefully it's a positive experience. And then I currently do have a five night sailing on the fantasy book for next November, going to Nassau, castaway key and lookout key.
[01:01:35] Speaker B: Oh, fantastic. Well, I hope you enjoy the utopia. As you know, we just did a show about Utopia with Leia who just did a preview cruise with her mom, and they really enjoyed ship and found it to have really nice amenities. And obviously it's a new ship, so there's, you know, there's always something new that royal is doing on their ships. But of course, getting going on your old standby of the fantasy or dream is also going to be a great experience. Well, awesome.
[01:02:05] Speaker D: Ryan, I just want to say thank you for taking some time every day to come share your experience with Princess Cruise line with us. Dear Josh out there, write in and let us know how wrong everyone was about Princess Cruise lines on this episode. No, I'm kidding. But Ryan, I thank you for sharing your experience and for taking time out of day to come on the show. Thank you so much.
[01:02:23] Speaker A: Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
[01:02:28] 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, my path unwinding travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation? Head over to my path unwinding or email
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