[00:00:00] Speaker A: And so, like, I don't know if life ever slowed down or slowing down now, but what, like, where are you at in the journey of being off of the ship and.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, good question.
[00:00:09] Speaker C: Where am I at?
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Welcome back, everybody, to this week's live episode of the DC L duo podcast, brought to you by my path unwinding travel. And now also our, our favorite sponsors over at WGW magazine, who wanted me to let you know. Hey there, Disney friends. We are excited to announce the upcoming DCL magazine, packed with stunning photography, in depth stories, and interviews with imagineers about all the behind the scenes Disney cruise line details. If you want to help make that magazine happen, please head over to WdW Dash magazine.com and sign up for their waitlist, their expression of interest list. I think Sam on the last show said it's a paper copy. It is. It will come to your house. But they also have a digital subscription. And right now, if you head over to, uh, head over there, you can use code DClduo in their store to get 10% off everything, including a magazine subscription or their digital subscription or the calendar that I still need to order for Sam. So thank you, WTW magazine, for sponsoring these live and bonus shows. We really appreciate it. But Sam, I want to dive in. Cause we got. Oh, man, I'm so excited for this show. Excited. I'm excited and sad. Cause I feel like this is like our last chit chat on this topic, but hopefully not our last chit chat with these two fabulous people. But, uh, Sam, intro them.
[00:01:37] Speaker C: You want me to intro them? All right.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: I mean, they need no introduction at this point.
[00:01:40] Speaker C: We need no introduction for those who have been following for the last, I don't know, however many months, because they've been off the ship now for a bit last, let's say, like eleven months. We've had both of these guests, Leslie and Jenny, on our show before each a few times and even, of course, together on one occasion, we were able to bring them both on together, but they were world cruisers. They are world cruisers now. Official world cruisers. They sailed on the serenade of the seas, which is a royal caribbean ship, for nine months, with, of course, some excursions off the ship as well, for sense of time. But we're so happy to welcome to the show Leslie, who's also known as point my soul north, and Jenny, who's also known as Doctor Jenny travels. Welcome, ladies.
[00:02:28] Speaker D: Hi.
[00:02:30] Speaker C: It's so great to see you both.
We should dive in with where in the world are each of you right now? Jenny, let's start with you.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: Yeah, well, it's weird not being in my cruise cabin and talking to y'all as that's how we originally met. But I am currently coming from Las Vegas in the United States in my rv right now, which is what you see behind me.
[00:02:54] Speaker C: Love that. And, Leslie, where are you in the world right now?
[00:02:58] Speaker D: I wish I could tell you. I was on the serenade. I know we're going to jump into it, but holy transition. It has been so hard.
I am in Arizona. I live in Scottsdale, Arizona, and I am back home.
[00:03:15] Speaker C: Yeah. So how long has it been since you got off the ship, you guys?
[00:03:20] Speaker B: We got off on September 10.
[00:03:23] Speaker C: Okay, so a month and, like, eleven days. Yeah.
How. What was the transition like? I mean, you immediately we get off the ship.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: We didn't cover the rest of the sailing.
[00:03:39] Speaker C: Right. Okay. All right, all right. I thought we were talking about the transition back to land, but I understand.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: We will, we will. But before we get to the sad part, let's.
[00:03:48] Speaker C: Let's.
[00:03:48] Speaker A: Let's revisit some of the fun parts. So I think when we last left you, you were headed into the rest of your european sailing, and then ultimately the transatlantic crossing. And as I recall, is a port intensive period of time. It was like port after port after port at that transatlantic crossing.
Any highlights from the european leg of the sailing that just, like, really stood out to you? I mean, I saw pictures of, you know, kissing the Blarney stone. I saw all kinds of fun stuff happening. So, yeah, what. What highlights you have? Leslie, let me start with you.
[00:04:18] Speaker C: What.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: What highlights did you have out of Europe that really stand out for you?
[00:04:22] Speaker D: So Europe is just, you know, it's Europe. We went to Paris. We went to the Olympics. So that was super cool.
I can't keep the leg straight. So that actually might have been a different than the fourth. But regardless, that was a highlight. I think the very first thing that comes to mind is my partner Roy has family in Norway. He's never met, and so we met them in Oslo, and that was just such a crazy experience. You know, you're literally strangers 20 seconds ago and now, like family. So it was really cool. And they don't have any other family other than him, so it was really special. That reunion was really cool. And they came back to the port and watched us sail away. I mean, literally, until the ship turned where they could not see us. They were still standing there waving. And I just have to tell you a quick, funny story. We were waving from that to them, from our cruise cabin right there on the. On the port.
And the captain in the bridge is.
I mean, he can see us and we can see him. We're waving at the family, and captain and his first mate thought we were waving at them.
They were looking at us like, okay, kind of go, right.
We're not waving at you. It's just so funny.
[00:05:51] Speaker C: We're waving at them, not at you. Yeah.
[00:05:53] Speaker D: We wanted to continue to acknowledge our family, so we just kept waving. It was just funny. He finally brought the entire crew over on the bridge to wave at us from the court.
It was really special for Roy to be with his family and meet them, and we've totally connected with them in a really special way. So that was really cool.
[00:06:13] Speaker C: Oh, my God. Jenny, what about you? Yeah. Last part of the Europe leg. Yeah, Europe.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: Well, Europe, Washington. Such a marathon, you know, just to give people a context of how many port days. Like, there were so many. But there were particularly two stretches where we had 17 to 18 port days in a row with no sea days, and they were long days, and there's minimal time of sailing in between each place. So we were.
[00:06:42] Speaker D: I.
[00:06:42] Speaker B: It's hard to explain just how, like, tired and fatigued I was at times. But the thing that continues to stand out to me for Europe were our overnights. We still had quite a few overnights, which means the ship would be in port for a full 24 hours, if not more, and we could come and go as we wanted throughout the night, even in the late night, middle of the morning, etcetera. So Iceland actually popped into my head first when you said that, and because we had an overnight in Reykjavik, and we. For those that follow me or have been listening along, you know, my husband and I, who I traveled, we go on some crazy adventures, and Iceland is just full of crazy adventures. It's so otherworldly. And when we were there, the volcano erupted, and some people were at Blue Lagoon, and they had to leave and be evacuated and our crazy selves. We went toward the volcano from a safe distance, but we went. We knew exactly where we needed to go to see it. This had been a continuous thing in Iceland for the past year, and we went and saw the lava erupting.
[00:07:56] Speaker C: That's so cool.
[00:07:57] Speaker B: That was just one of those out of this world moments.
[00:08:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:02] Speaker D: There were so many of the world cruisers that were grouping together in cabs, and they were all jumping in the cabs to go drive out there.
[00:08:09] Speaker C: Just see it, see the volcano.
[00:08:11] Speaker D: Yeah. It was really crazy. Crazy day. The other thing is, we got a special overnight in Newfoundland because of weather. They were concerned about us leaving on our way, and so we ended up staying, and that was a total surprise. We were out preparing to come back on board, and then the message started getting around town that we were going to stay the night, and so we ended up staying. And, Jenny, we were there together, getting our special honorary newfie.
[00:08:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
Did you kiss the fish?
[00:08:43] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:08:43] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:08:46] Speaker C: Anyone who's watched everyone who's seen the show come from away know that, knows that that's a thing, right? When you go to Newfoundland, Canada, you. Yeah. If you want to be an honorary newfoundlander, you've got to kiss the fish and drink. And drink this. Whiskey.
Yes.
Oh, rum.
[00:09:05] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:09:06] Speaker C: Yeah, it's like a. But it's like a. It's like a bootleg. Like rum. It's like maybe moonshine. Someone's. Yeah, it's like a moonshine version of rum. Yeah. Yeah. We got a question.
[00:09:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Josh has a good question here. I know you guys experience this because there are protests coming in and out. Was it. Was it Amsterdam, right? Amsterdam, yeah. So people, for context at home, Josh is asking, what was it like visiting Europe with the anti cruise protests happening? How did that impact your travel? And for those of you who aren't aware, outside of Amsterdam, there have been folks who've been, like, occupying a bridge that they have to raise in order to get the cruise ships in. And so some cruise ships are going to dock in other places. So what was that like? Let me start with you, Jenny, because I know your cruise was potentially impacted by this, but I think you guys made it in ok.
Yeah, it was.
[00:09:55] Speaker B: Impacted, and I have a whole video about this on my social media. But we were able to get in. We were. So it was actually, we left Norway early, and in order to get to Amsterdam early. But what happened was we were blocked by the protesters, so we had to go sit out at sea for a little bit.
Six to 8 hours, I believe. And then finally, once they cleared up the protesters, we were able to get in and we ended up having an overnight in Amsterdam, which was great. But, you know, these kinds of situations definitely make you think, and, you know, why are they going on? And I will say, traveling in Europe and I think people would find this cruising or not over tourism is definitely a thing. And we also were almost met with the, you know, made big news. The protesters in Barcelona. Fortunately, we didn't meet them, but Barcelona tourism is crazy right now, and so it does make you kind of step back and think, you know, what what is causing this? What's going on? And yeah, people are flocking to Europe right now. And we were there in euro summer.
[00:11:00] Speaker C: Like the most popular, most popular time of year, especially July. And August is just crazy in Europe because it's. All the cruise ships are there. Yeah, yeah.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: So I would just say it's something good to be aware of. And I'm a big proponent of like shoulder season, like off season. So I think that's just something I'm going to look into a little more in my future travels.
[00:11:19] Speaker C: Yeah, that makes sense.
[00:11:21] Speaker D: Leslie, what are so many ports? We saw that, that it just is so great to be in these places. But holy people, it's just so packed and, you know, it is, it's definitely something that gives you pause of your own plans, but also the impact of the people. Like people actually live there. This is not a, you know, this isn't a movie scene. Right. And so, you know, it's just, it's a little bit of both. But yeah, we thought for sure we missed the Amsterdam protesters. They were there a week before we royal was aware we were trying to get, we missed port like Jenny said in Norway, which was a huge bummer, but trying to circumvent them. And I thought for sure we made it. I would feel. And I was like, oh my gosh, like there's nobody there. There's nobody there. And we were in the, in the, what's it called? The lock system. We were there and it was clear. It was all good. And then they came running. I was like, oh, we were right there.
And then captain actually backed out. We were going to go in the other lock and then they came and ran and chained themselves to that lock too. So yeah, it's, it's just the world and you. If we haven't learned, I don't want to speak for Jenny, but I'm sure she would agree. If you don't know, if you, if we didn't learn anything, we've learned, you just have to be fluid. Things happen, you know, that are thousand percent out of your control and you just gotta roll with it and, you know, so it wasn't the end of the world. We got there, got to spend an incredible time in Amsterdam. So it's all good.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: So one of our viewers is asking, I don't know if you know the count, how many total countries did you visit on this cruise?
[00:12:59] Speaker B: I'm pulling it up. I believe mine is.
I think I'm just under 70.
69 I think. Yeah, yeah.
[00:13:13] Speaker D: A little bit of different journey. Because Jenny bored for Africa. So hers is a little different. And I've revisited some places that I've already been to. So, you know, overall places I've been in the world. I'm at, like, 64. Wow. Yeah. I mean, just a way to see places in the world that you would just not maybe think of going to. It's just an incredible way to do it. This whole nine month cruising thing is definitely not for everyone, but if it is, if it's in your thought process, there's just no other way to do it like this.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: We should. We should highlight for folks who are listening to this after just. Just two quick things. One is something you said, leslie, about you. You were on a different journey. If you want to understand kind of what Leslie means by that, head back in our catalog. This is, like the fourth installment, maybe the fifth installment overall, that we've been checking in with Leslie and Jenny about the cruise. And so we have those episodes in the back catalog. But, you know, to put a point on it, Jenny and Leslie were both able to take, I forget what they call independent journeys off the ship to do certain things. And so that means they had slightly different experiences on board and throughout the cruise. And, uh, Leslie disembarked and did, uh, sort of the mediterranean portion that got cut off because of the. The issues with the Suez Canal. Jenny stayed on for. For most of Africa. So it is two very different kind of journeys at the end of the day, which is really cool. So by the time you hit the transatlantic, uh, crossing, you're down to really few days left on board, because you're. You're headed for. I don't know if you stopped it. I guess you headed to.
[00:14:57] Speaker C: They stopped.
[00:14:57] Speaker A: Oh, that's right.
[00:14:58] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:58] Speaker A: Well, they stopped in New York. Coco key was the last stop, I think, before.
[00:15:02] Speaker C: Yeah, that's right.
[00:15:03] Speaker A: New York first. What's the. I mean, so is it a collective, like, after all of that activity at the port? Was it kind of a collective? Oh, all right. That's great. Now we get some time to relax before we really hit home. What was the mood like on board as those days counted down? Leslie, let me start with you on that one.
[00:15:20] Speaker D: I think it would depend on who you asked. There was some people that had kind of reached a. They're, you know, they were ready and they were ready to go home, you know, and we're probably more on the kind of six month page. And then there were others that, you know, you kind of turned the corner, and it was like, oh, no, this is like, coming to an end, and, you know, you want to stay present in the experience that's still happening, but knowing that, you know, it's. It's. It's. And it's home. This was home. This was not a vacation. We were travelers, and we lived on that ship, and these people. People were family, and we spent every single day with them. Like, literally, pretty much. And it wasn't just us as passengers that had come to know each other just from traveling together. It was the crew and the executives, even, and the captain. And. I don't know. I can just speak. For me, it was incredibly difficult. I was crying. I'm getting choked up just thinking about it.
Every time I think about it, to me, and I know it's not, but to me, it sounds so stupid that you would get, like, all upset and sad and take weeks and weeks, and what I think is going to be months and months to recover from or be okay again. But I'm telling you, it is. It is a process to re acclimate.
Somebody in social media said to me, it's almost like being at college, and it's a great example.
[00:16:55] Speaker C: I was thinking that that and summer camp were the sort of things I was thinking. Our kid goes to sleepway camp, and he was away for only three weeks. And I'll tell you, the day we brought him home that night, he was crying of how much he missed camp, and he was only away for three weeks, and he was only, like, an hour away from us. Of course, he was staying in cabins and all that. But you guys were away for nine months, right? And you were living on a ship with a whole bunch of other people and a whole bunch of crew and making relationships and becoming friends. I think one of the questions here was whether you all knew each other on board and hung out on the ship. And the answer, Wesley, is yes. They didn't know each other before they sailed, but they met each other.
[00:17:34] Speaker B: We did meet and talk through Instagram.
[00:17:36] Speaker C: Oh, you did?
[00:17:37] Speaker B: Oh, funny.
[00:17:38] Speaker D: And it was funny. We were on board for probably 45 days, I think. I don't even know, but we were on board for a long time before we ever even ran into each other, because, again, if you rewatch our conversations in these other posts of ours, we. Yeah, there's just so much going on that we actually didn't even meet each other on board, but, yeah. So that's kind of a roundabout answer to your question, I think. You know, there's some people that were excited and ready to go, and, you know, there's, like, kicking it off. Let's go home. And others that were just sad. Royal did a great job to kind of have a whole bunch of stuff at the end to celebrate our homecoming, so that was cool, but, yeah, just bittersweet.
[00:18:24] Speaker A: What was it like when you got to New York, Brian?
[00:18:28] Speaker C: You got to ask Jenny the same question.
I want to know how you were doing those. You're crossing. You're crossing the Atlantic, right? You've got a. You've got, like, over a week to kind of veg at this point because you've been port nonstop, and you're, you know. But all you have to do in that time is think, I imagine. Right. And so, I mean, work, of course, Jenny, for you. But how was that last, you know, week or two when you're crossing the Atlantic?
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Yeah. I share a lot of the same feelings that Leslie just shared. It was. It was so surreal and daunting. Right. With that end coming, I had a lot of anxious inner, anxious, excited energy because there were so many events and parties. Honestly, I wasn't sleeping much, like, at all. Yeah. And I was crying, too, because, yeah, I. We lived there. It was our home, and other guests and crew became family, and so it was very difficult to leave.
[00:19:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. All right. Now I'm going to ask my question.
[00:19:33] Speaker D: Mentioned the whole transatlantic thing, but I'm looking at our schedule because, honestly, like, keeping track of all this has been almost impossible. So I have it all written down. But you know what? We didn't have a lot of days. We had two sea days after Newfoundland. We were in New York for two days. We sailed for one. We were in Bermuda. We cruised for two. We were in Cococay, and we came home to Miami.
[00:19:53] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:19:55] Speaker D: And there were four days of parties and celebrations and a whole bunch of stuff going on through royals, homecoming party stuff. So there really was no time. And I think that's part of why it's been so difficult being home is, you know, Jenny did a post on processing and how difficult processing on board was because you were in one place that was amazing, and then you're in the next place that's amazing. You can't even celebrate the last amazing thing before another amazing thing is happening. And so I don't. I think at the end, you can't even process all of it either, because it's all so coming at you in a million different directions.
[00:20:30] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: So let me go back to Michael. What was it like seeing New York? Because that's your first time back in the states, and, I mean, I got to imagine. That was a pretty emotional moment, too, to sail into New York. Leslie, how was that?
[00:20:45] Speaker D: So, New York. Sailing into New York is special in and of itself, is just so cool, you know, and it's New York, and it's just so cool.
But I don't know, I might have been a little distracted, because Roy's from New York, so we are very familiar with New York, and it's kind of his stomping ground. And we were going to visit family. While we were there, we took some Australians with us because it was fun to see them. They had just had a. They just were like big apple eyes and had no idea how to even walk, get anywhere, do anything.
[00:21:21] Speaker C: They're just looking up the whole time.
[00:21:24] Speaker D: Everybody's bumping into everything. Royce almost got us, like, preschoolers, hand in hand in order to keep us. Get. To get us onto the train, and, you know, because everybody's just so distracted. So it was fun to see it through their eyes. But I. For me, it was kind of like, oh, God, we're all coming to an end. And so I think I was a little distracted.
But, yeah, New York is just incredible. And leaving there, it was really cool because we got special permission to kind of do this pivot thing around the Statue of Liberty.
[00:21:59] Speaker C: Oh, cool.
[00:22:00] Speaker D: Yeah. I don't know about you, Jenny, but we nicknamed the pivot. Captain Stig would pivot everywhere he possibly could. He would do the ship 360 so everyone on board could see it from every angle. And so it was the stig pivot around the Statue of Liberty. So. And had a huge parties, and I was just really cool and, yeah, so, you know.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Jenny, what was. What was New York like for you?
[00:22:26] Speaker B: Yeah, it was so exciting coming back. I've never sailed into New York. I've been to New York many times. So kind of like, Leslie, I was like, oh, yeah, cool. Like, I don't know what we're going to do, because we've been here, we've done a lot of the touristy things.
[00:22:39] Speaker C: Right?
[00:22:40] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, honestly, the first thing we did was go to Verizon, because we had to take care of something with our phone.
[00:22:50] Speaker C: I mean, it's not glamorous. Sometimes the errands need to get done, right?
[00:22:56] Speaker B: Yep, yep. So, anyways, yeah. But I will say the way I've described it was there was a bit of culture shock coming back to the US, and particularly with New York City being the first place we came back to, I felt like I was looking at things with a new lens. Like, just. I guess one thing that pops in my head is, like, trash, particularly around the port area and walking into the city, there was a lot of trash around. And that was one thing that people in particular complained a lot about in other countries. And so it was just one of those things, like, you know, this is in our country, too. We're not perfect. So just little things like that. I just felt like I was looking at with a little bit different of a lens and just a bit of culture shock of coming back home. But it also was so exciting and familiar, and we ended up having a great time while we were in the city. And like Leslie said, sailing into New York, if you ever get a chance to cruise there, even if you've been to the city many times before, was unbelievable. So beautiful.
[00:24:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:03] Speaker D: And there was some skyline as we're sailing, the skyline is like, right by the ship. Videos that, like, it's something you've seen a thousand times, but watching it pass by like that, like it's a movie, it was. It was incredible. And to Jenny's point, I don't think we're going to ever look at a single thing in our lives or in the world ever the same way ever again. Nothing. Not a single thing.
[00:24:30] Speaker C: Interesting. Wow. Well, and there was quite a bit of press attention, of course, to the ship coming into New York. I know that today's show, or Good Morning America, one of the morning shows, was like, you know, interviewing some of your fellow passengers and reporting on the fact that you all had landed in New York and that it was the end, or toward the end of the world cruise. Now, you sailed down to hit Coco key, as Brian mentioned, as your last portal.
[00:24:57] Speaker A: I wanted to ask, did you stop at Coco Key on the way out, too? I can't remember.
[00:25:00] Speaker C: Yes, they did. Yes. Yes. Twice.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: It's a coveted royal Caribbean double dipsy.
[00:25:05] Speaker C: And we all the time, it's almost. I mean, it takes nine months to get there.
[00:25:11] Speaker D: But on the way back, they closed Hideaway beach for us, and we had a huge party at Hideaway beach. And that was really cool. And that whole vibe is not really my thing, but, oh, my gosh, it was so fun. We had such a great time when Michael Bailey was there. And you would have thought Michael Bailey, who's the CEO of Royal Caribbean, you would have thought that he was just, you know, like Bob and Marianne from, you know, cabin 1020. Right. He was just the guy, but he was mingling with everyone. He had the champagne out and giving everybody champagne, and he was out there in a swimsuit and, like, just partying with all of us. And they had a whole bunch of entertainment. It was really, really a great way to be in Cococay like that.
[00:25:58] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: Were you the only ship at Coco key or was there another ship?
[00:26:01] Speaker C: No, there was another ship. I remember seeing one of your. I can't remember if it was Jenny's post or Leslie's post. I remember seeing one of your posts and it was. It was showing picture of your ship next to another. Like, I think it was it a celebrity ship.
[00:26:14] Speaker B: It was the wonder. It was the wonder both times, actually.
[00:26:17] Speaker C: It's so funny of all.
[00:26:18] Speaker A: So the wonder of the seas and what looks like it's lifeboat sitting next to it. Yeah.
[00:26:24] Speaker D: Because with all those people there, there were a lot of people getting off the wonder at the same time we were getting off the serenade. Right. And they were coming up saying, oh, my gosh, I followed you. I followed you around the world and, you know, like, I know you.
[00:26:36] Speaker C: I know you.
[00:26:37] Speaker D: Yeah, it was cool.
[00:26:39] Speaker A: It sounds, like royal almost, like, kept you all so active so that you, to the point where we're processing, you could, because I can imagine that last day on Coco key knowing you're getting off, like, the next morning. It could be really bittersweet. And it seems like they're like, no, let's party. Let's keep this party.
[00:26:53] Speaker C: Yeah. Nobody depressed. Exactly.
[00:26:56] Speaker A: Nobody's going home yet. Yeah. Yeah. I know they had a big, one thing I wanted to ask about. I know they had a big, you know, lots of big stuff going on, but they had a big announcement for you. It sounded like they have committed. They will be doing another one of these. They just don't have details about it in terms of ship, timing, itinerary, any of that stuff. Am I getting that right? If they said they're going to do another. Another world cruise, Jenny?
[00:27:18] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Even, yes. They have said they're going to do another one, and they haven't shared much more than that. They also announced that they're going to do a reunion cruise, which I was going to say in my answer, I think that helped with the dread, is that they, in those last four or five days of events and parties, they announced that they would have a reunion cruise. And so I, you know, that lifted everyone's spirits. Like, it's goodbye, but not yet. That helped a lot. But they said they will announce the next world cruise at that reunion cruise, I believe.
[00:27:51] Speaker C: When are they doing the reunion cruise? And do you know if it will be on the same ship or if it will be on a different ship. And will you have the same crew or some of the same crew? Right. Because the crew move around from ship to ship in, you know, within the royal fleet. And of course, the spa people move around even from company to company.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, it will be on the same ship. I know. We've been requesting that hopefully bring back some crew. It's certainly not realistic to bring back everyone, although we would love that to bring back like that those core crew that were with us for nine months and, yeah, it'll be on the same ship. We were not able to get our same cabin. It was already taken. So that was a little frustrating.
[00:28:32] Speaker C: How is that possible? You're the world cruisers.
[00:28:36] Speaker D: Here's the thing with it. They didn't announce it as a reunion cruise.
It was a cruise. It had been on the calendar as an Alaska cruise for a while. And so we had actually been pitching just make the Alaska cruise a reunion cruise. It'd be perfect. You've already got it scheduled. It's in September. Right.
And just connect them together. And they just didn't want to commit to it. And so, you know, the just cruisers are going to book Alaska. And so there was a lot of the rooms already booked. And so, yeah, we did get our cabin, though.
[00:29:11] Speaker C: Oh, yay. Well, Alaska is one of the places you guys didn't go on the world cruise. So it's actually pretty cool. That was this something you guys suggested, that they choose Alaska, or is this something that royal kind of thought of themselves?
[00:29:26] Speaker D: We had been pitching it. We had been pitching it and they just didn't want to, I don't know if they thought of it or didn't think of it, but they didn't want to commit. And so we actually, as our group booked it, we just booked it and said, well, we'll just reunion as the ten of us. And, you know, it'll just be our, our own little reunion. And then they announced Alaska is going to be the reunion cruise. But it was also obviously open to the public. So then it restricted the world cruisers from getting either getting a cabin. Some of them aren't even booked because they couldn't get the cabin. They wanted the room. They want, not the specific room, but style. And then some couldn't get their actual cabin. The other thing is right behind it, there's a San Diego to Miami that goes through the Panama Canal, which we also didn't do. So we did the back to back so we could do both of them. And it is special. We didn't do Alaska. So.
[00:30:15] Speaker C: Wow. Yeah. So is that. Is that this coming summer then, like. Or may, obviously, because. Oh, September. Oh, so the end of the Alaska season. Not the beginning of season.
[00:30:24] Speaker A: Is it out of Seattle? Because if it is, standing invitation for drinks or dinner to both of you, because we would love to say hello, but, yeah, it's out of Vancouver. Oh, that's all right. That's all right. We got to go up. We could go up to Vancouver. Sam and Vancouver, our favorite dim sum dumpling place. Yeah, there we go.
[00:30:42] Speaker D: Jenny and I are not above just Seattle trip, just to, you know, like, hang with you guys.
[00:30:46] Speaker A: So after you travel for nine months.
[00:30:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:30:49] Speaker A: Vancouver to Seattle by a train is not that difficult.
[00:30:52] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: So let's talk about the disembarkation for a second, because I think some really interesting stuff happened around that disembarkation. And we've got some good questions in here, too, about sort of the process there.
[00:31:05] Speaker C: Oh, and the. And the. And the souvenirs. I think that's actually a great way to start.
[00:31:10] Speaker A: Yeah. I want to put this one up. So Josh is saying, Ginny, your situation might be a little different because you moved back into your rv, um, but was curious about souvenirs, and we just. We discussed this off air figures. You both picked up a lot of souvenirs. And did you have any difficulty transporting items home? I think Leslie has one story. Jenny has a. Has another story.
[00:31:31] Speaker C: But I think these. I think these ladies are actually unique to the world cruiser. So I want. Yeah, if you. If you guys can tell us, like, what you did, but as compared to what some of the other world cruisers did. Uh, Jenny, we'll start with you. You have a. You live in a small space, although you mentioned it's actually bigger than your cabin was on the serenade of the seas. Yeah. Did you pick up a lot of souvenirs, or how do you deal. How did you deal with that?
[00:31:56] Speaker B: Yeah, to be honest, we. We did not. Um, we try to lean toward what I call functional souvenirs. So kind of the easy, um, examples are clothes or hats, um, things like that, shoes.
[00:32:10] Speaker A: So we remember that fabulous indian. Uh, sorry. That you. Yes.
[00:32:14] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:32:15] Speaker B: So that's a perfect example. I have some indian clothing that's probably up there as my favorite souvenir, and, you know, I might be. Won't wear that a whole lot without being. But I can, and I have it, and it's a really good memory of our time in India, so, yeah, it helps to live in such a small space. This is the rv for those of you that can see, this is the rv behind me. And so that helps us pick and choose, because we do have to be mindful of space. So. So, yeah, you know, we really didn't have too many souvenirs that were, or too large of souvenirs that we were hauling off the ship, but I can say some others did. And that disembarkation day was crazy. Crazy. But I'll say we. I mean, even ourselves, like, we had 17 bags. Now, that counts, like, every little backpack and briefcase in smaller bags, but we had 17 bags ourselves, so just.
[00:33:12] Speaker C: You can imagine that's a lot for. How many? Yeah.
[00:33:17] Speaker A: How many did you get on board with? This is my question is, how many did you start with?
[00:33:21] Speaker B: 15.
[00:33:22] Speaker A: Okay. All right, so, yeah, there you go.
[00:33:25] Speaker C: Listen, I think. I think Leslie is the. Leslie's the winner in this. This whole game, though. I'm gonna put this out there, and I. And then I want Leslie to tell us about the person who's on the other end of the spectrum, too, but Leslie, how many?
[00:33:37] Speaker A: Yeah, well, we should. I did want to point out just logistically, because I saw this on Jenny's instagram. They did offer you shipping, like, they offered you the ability to have your bags shipped back home as opposed to having to take them. And I think that was something you had to do because you were driving from Florida back to Las Vegas. And so they did offer that you had to pay for it. I assume they didn't cover it, but, yeah.
[00:33:59] Speaker B: Well, me particularly, actually, that was a brand deal that I got with luggage forward.
Yeah. So I was making content for them there, but, yeah, that was super exciting. I had mentioned them in passing in another video, and they reached out and wanted to work with me, so that was super exciting. But that was a service that was offered even in New York. So a lot of people offloaded luggage in New York, and some in Canada, I believe, too. So that was. That helped.
[00:34:30] Speaker D: That helped.
[00:34:32] Speaker A: Ccm. Just keep mentioning Topo Chico, and they might reach out for you.
[00:34:35] Speaker C: Yes, topo chico. Call me Topo chico, please. I'm still trying to get my number of Instagram followers up, so if those who are listening, please follow our Instagram handle DCl duo, because I'm trying to get Topo Chico sponsorship. All right.
[00:34:54] Speaker A: She just wants free water, to be fair. That's all she wants. Free water.
[00:34:57] Speaker C: Busy water. That's all I want.
[00:34:58] Speaker A: Leslie, sorry we cut you off.
[00:35:00] Speaker D: Go ahead. I was going to say luggage forward, obviously, was at the beginning, too. So if people wanted to ship their bags to start the journey, they would do that as well.
I didn't use them, but all the feedback I got about them, they were great. And they brought a representative on board. So when everyone was coordinating their shipping back, which, you know, obviously there was a lot of the bags, they coordinated that and, you know, were accessible and available with hours on board. And so they provided a great service, because my story is, I started with two hardback pieces of luggage. We each did. So that's four. We each had a carry on, which is makes it six, and my computer bag, so that's eight. We basically had eight. And I'm kind of of the experiences over souvenirs, so we've got a few things. Most of it was a lot of things that Royal Caribbean gave us, and then we got some things along the way, just little things. But we also donated. Royal Caribbean had a whole donation gig going on at the end that they had actually to shut down because there were so many donations. They donated, allowed us to donate a lot of stuff to the crew. And then they also have a charity that they have in Haiti that they donated a bunch of stuff to that charity. And there were so many boxes. It was incredible. So the donations, all the storage stuff that we didn't need in our cabin, we donated a lot of clothes that had been washed over nine months in commercial hot washing machines got donated. And so what extra space allowed for the things that we were given and the few things that we bought? And so I left with exactly what I brought on board, and I'm still unpacking, but, yeah, and then tell us.
[00:36:52] Speaker C: About the lady with the most bags.
[00:36:55] Speaker D: Oh, my God. There was one woman on board that had 40 pieces by the time she left. And, yeah, there was a lot of. Significant amount of luggage. Before we started tonight, we were talking about it, and I was saying that there was a lot of concern that there would be enough porters to help people with all this luggage, because Royal Caribbean did not restrict us at all. You could have as many things as you wanted. If they didn't fit in your cabin, you surrendered them and they held them in the hole for you. And there were people coming off with, yeah, I've never seen so much luggage in my life. And it makes sense. I mean, nine months, it makes sense. But holy luggage. It was crazy. The baggage claim was an experience.
[00:37:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:46] Speaker D: On social media is showing my bags, and then I panned to someone that has a rack. There must have been 20 of them on the rack. It was funny. And she actually reached out to me and she was like, that was me.
[00:38:01] Speaker C: Well, you didn't name her, right? You didn't call her out.
[00:38:04] Speaker D: I'm not showing you any shade, but wow.
[00:38:08] Speaker C: I love it. I love it. Leslie.
[00:38:09] Speaker A: Yes, Tracy.
[00:38:11] Speaker C: Yeah, Mike.
[00:38:12] Speaker A: I don't think Michael can accuse you. Yeah. Yeah.
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?
[00:38:23] Speaker C: Yeah. Whether you're considering branching out to a new cruise line, an all inclusive resort, or exploring Europe, the team at my path 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.
[00:38:41] Speaker A: 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.
[00:39:03] Speaker C: 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.
[00:39:24] Speaker A: So we've got some great questions in the chat, and I want to get to those, but I just want to ask. Just step back. You talked a little bit at the beginning about how hard it has been to kind of, you know, know, reenter and be off the ship and away. Like, where are each of you in that. In that journey? Um, ginny, I know you had some stuff that hit right when you got off, uh, the ship. Uh, you. You, uh, we were talking, you had your red carpet moment out in hollywood. Uh, and so, like, I don't know if life ever slowed down or slowing down now, but what, like, where are you at in the journey of being off of the ship and, uh.
[00:39:56] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, good question.
[00:40:00] Speaker C: Where am I at?
[00:40:02] Speaker B: No, it's, life has nothing slowed down? I have said that I regret not working in, like, just some serious downtime. I. To be honest, I was forced to take some downtime when my body started getting sick, and it was just a minor head cold. But, like, that was my. Okay, you need to stop. But we. Our truck stayed in Florida, and as you know, we live out of rv, which stayed in Las Vegas. So after the world cruise, we had to get across the country from Florida to Las Vegas. And we had a lot of fun with it. We visited family and friends along the way, but we even had to cut some trips short because we had three weeks to get across the country. And it's. That's quite cumbersome, right? Especially with all those 17 bags we were just talking about.
[00:40:50] Speaker D: So.
[00:40:50] Speaker B: Yeah, so once we got back to Las Vegas and we got the rv back in its current spot, I just. I crashed hard. My husband, too. We both just crashed hard. And we did nothing for a few days, which was nice. And now it's getting back into the swing of things, like, kind of not putting any pressure on ourselves to do much. Like, we are working but not do much. We don't really have much travel plan. Although I did just get back from Boston for a work trip. And honestly, I feel a bit of pressure to see more family and friends because I haven't seen them in so long. But that's exciting stuff, and I want to see them. So we're working out, like, our Thanksgiving and Christmas plans.
[00:41:29] Speaker D: Right.
[00:41:29] Speaker B: I. Now.
[00:41:30] Speaker C: Nice.
[00:41:31] Speaker A: Nice. What about you, Leslie?
[00:41:34] Speaker D: So, yeah, I don't even know if I can articulate it. It's just the weirdest thing. I left the ship with a level of exhaustion that was indescribable. Like, just sheer exhaustion. So I knew that I needed to restore, but I don't rest well. I'm not a rester. And. And I also had so much fun going and seeing and doing and planning and experiencing and really immersing in all these different cultures and people and experiences that, you know, shutting it off like that, it's just very difficult. And, um, so to be honest, I'm going. I'm now on a probably half day by half day process. I was on an hour by hour, to be honest. I was like, okay, what do I need right now? What do I want right now in this hour? And I'll deal with the next hour and the next hour. Because it was all just very overwhelming. You know, we spent two years planning this trip, and that was so much work. And then being on board was so much that coming home to none of that, it's just. Yeah, it's a. It's a process. I met someone on board that had sailed a sailboat for eleven years around the world not knowing anything about me. He looked at me and he said, it'll probably take you a year. And I was really struggling that day. So I don't know if he noticed the struggle, but he said, it'll probably take you a year. And I really feel that. That it's really going to take a significant amount of time to kind of find my barrier.
I so want to go somewhere, but I don't want to go anywhere.
[00:43:31] Speaker C: I'm super interesting. I don't want to rest.
[00:43:34] Speaker D: I'm super busy, but I don't want to do anything. And there's tons of stuff I want. It's just this, like, weird.
Yeah, it's just weird is the best way to describe it.
[00:43:46] Speaker C: Yeah. Wow. Now, Jenny, I know that you, Brian, mentioned your media appearances and your as particularly now. You know, actually, I think it was Leslie who mentioned about Barcelona is not a Hollywood film set, but you got to be a part of a Hollywood movie, Jenny, why don't you tell our audience about that? And of course, then you got to be on the red carpet as well.
[00:44:10] Speaker B: Yeah. So that was a crazy experience, too, where this was actually way back on the ship, I was reached out about collaborating on a big project and in terms of, like, social media, and I had no idea what the project was. They couldn't really tell me. It almost felt a little spammy at first, to be honest. But I kept communicating and, you know, met all the requirements, and it was a making content for the new show that is out now called Doctor Odyssey, about a doctor who lives and works on a cruise ship. And so I, you know, at first, I do think they thought I was a physician working on a cruise ship.
[00:44:51] Speaker C: Because you're Doctor Jenny, right. But you're PhD doctor, not MD Doctor.
[00:44:56] Speaker B: Yeah, I was very clear that I. Yeah, I'm PhD Doctor Jenny, and I am working on the ship, but I'm not crew on the ship. And so once we cleared that up, they were still super interested in working with me, and I had content ideas. They had content ideas. So this was like two months in the working, actually, the day of cococay, I filmed my final con, final final piece of content. And so I was working on stuff way before I could announce it or the show came out ultimately. And then. Yeah, so I had to be very clear, like, I'll be on the ship hit here, I'll be off the ship here. So.
But eventually, you know, we made all the content, and then I got invited to the premiere in LA. And so at first, right, we're just coming off the ship. I was like, christian, my husband. I don't know that we need to go to this. There's so much going on. He's like, no, we absolutely have to go to this.
And you can find a lot of content about it on my pages. But I got to meet a bunch of celebrities. It was. It was insane. And so they are celebrities that are acting as actors and actresses on a, you know, cruise ship. And so I would ask them, uh, would you go on a nine month cruise? And you got to go look to see their responses. It was too fun.
[00:46:08] Speaker C: It's really funny. Yeah, it's. I thought it was. I love the content that you did, Jenny. We, of course, didn't know anything about this. I like while you were cruising because you couldn't reveal it, of course. But, like, I'm amazed that, like, you guys are machines, and I mean that in the best way. Like, a biggest compliment.
I'm giving you both compliments. I I mean, like, between, like, your personal content on the cruise, you've continued with the content after the cruise, and then, Jenny, you did this additional content for the show and other brands. Like, I don't know how you all balance, like, you know, actually being tourists when you're traveling on the ship, of course, working Jenny at the same time, and then doing all of this content. Like, I understand why you're exhausted, Leslie. I was just thinking, it exhausts me.
[00:47:05] Speaker D: Yeah, you definitely have to put different hats on. You have to put different hats on. Again, I don't want to speak for Jenny, but we were travelers first. Like, this was our journey. This was our, you know, experience.
But it's such a unique experience that we want to share it with everybody. So there were so many times I was like, oh, my gosh, they would love this.
Oh, my gosh, they would love that. They're not going to be able to see that. So I got to get it down like that, right? And so much so that Roy was, like, ready to seriously throw my phone over, right? So I had to tether it. I have it tethered. So it was tethered to my arms. Could not throw it overboard. He went over it. But their feedback, everybody was just so. Felt like they were on board with us, and they were seeing it and seeing it through our eyes, and the world is such an amazing, beautiful place. Like, we just want to share it, and it's hard not to. So, yeah, it's such a.
[00:48:08] Speaker A: It's such a funny question that you're asking, Sam, because we're like, we do this. Like, we go on cruises, and we have to, I know we don't do it for nine months at a time, but.
[00:48:16] Speaker C: Right. We do this for short stints and when we're, we're on, so we do the, like, more social media and stuff when we're on a cruise, obviously, and we still do the show while we're working full time jobs from home, too. But it's. And it is a lot to juggle. At times. I forget that, but when I'm on a cruise, like, I am on vacation, typically, but I. And then doing some extra content. Right. But that's like maybe a week, maybe five days. I'm not doing it, you know, straight for nine. For nine months plus. Yeah.
[00:48:47] Speaker D: I think the other thing, too is everybody had so many questions that it turns into what would be a, you know, five minute post turns into could be a couple hours because everybody's so intrigued and so many questions.
[00:49:00] Speaker C: And they want you to be on podcasts, right, exactly.
[00:49:04] Speaker B: Yeah. And having said all this, like, I have not shared everything by any means, and I know Leslie hasn't either, because I follow Leslie and she's been sharing all kinds of stuff. So, like I said, leslie's sharing stuff. I have some plans for how I'm gonna go about sharing. There's so many stories and whole countries that I never even posted on. Like, maybe it seems like I did from, you know, the outside perspective, but there's entire countries that I never made a single post on, and so I want to tell that story, and I get comments all the time, like, where's Germany? I didn't see anything about where's Brazil? I didn't see it. And I'm like, I have so much. Yeah. So I've got some ideas for, like, ways I'm going to keep sharing. So, you know, stay tuned.
[00:49:48] Speaker D: Do you know how many pictures you took? No, I took 25,000 photos. That's just, that's just pictures. And then I probably have another at least 20,000 videos of just, they're just. Yeah. Those experiences and moments and things and stupid little things and big things.
[00:50:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Because, you know, social media aside, it truly, like, we wanted to capture everything because it truly felt like the adventure of a lifetime. Like, I'm, I'm in my thirties, but yet my husband and I, we may never do something like this again. So it's. Yeah, it's. Or go to those places again. So it definitely felt like trying to capture all the memories.
[00:50:38] Speaker A: So we've got some great questions I want to get to before we wrap up here, they're in kind of.
They're kind of two different veins. So let me start with. Let me just kind of pull one up here. So Chris is asking us, having spent so much time on board, I'm curious if royal has had feedback sessions with you all on improvements, learnings they could make to their ships, staterooms, dining venues, public spaces, et cetera. Do they do, did they take. I mean, I know they took feedback from the world cruisers throughout the cruise, but they do anything like this to kind of get your take on the ships and what you'd love to see on Royal Caribbean going forward.
[00:51:12] Speaker B: Yeah, they actually did.
Sure. In those end of the world cruise events, they actually had a, like, open Q and a with the CEO of Royal Caribbean, which I thought was kind of crazy, but it actually was very civil and very good feedback. And I guess kind of the main takeaway from that in general is, I think a lot of people agreed that they wanted less stops and more time at each stop.
[00:51:45] Speaker C: That makes sense.
[00:51:46] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:51:47] Speaker C: Look at that effect. I love that. Leslie, you're getting fireworks. She gave two thumbs up and got fireworks.
[00:51:52] Speaker D: This is what I wanted to say, something about that Q and A with Michael Bailey, because, like, who? I thought it was equally crazy, but it was funny, because after about a half an hour, he said, okay, I'm going to just concede, and we will put it on record that you all love Royal Caribbean and you love the staff, because the number of people that stood up and said, we are so grateful. We're so thankful. And the crew that you put on this ship were incredible. And they just kept standing up and saying, okay, now here in the starboard side, upper deck, then that person would say, the crew is amazing, and we love this hearing aid. Right? And it just kept going on and on and on. And there was very little, like, the.
[00:52:37] Speaker C: CEO was like, be quiet about that and give me some actual feedback. Right?
[00:52:42] Speaker D: And he got some good feedback.
One of the persons said, captain would come on and do his announcements. And we loved captain, and we love his announcements. And everything he says, we hung on every word, but he would say it would ding and you would have to run to get out into the hallway. Right. Because they don't patch it into your room. And so someone said, you know, I'm sure you probably think we need to lose some extra pounds and that, you know, speaking immediately gets us running to the door and, like, you know, we can get our exercise, but could you just give us a couple seconds to get out there before you start talking? So it was, you know, but, yeah, then they did a survey where. An intensive survey where they. They asked very specific questions so we could give our honest, specific feedback. So they. Plus, they've been getting it for nine months. They know.
[00:53:34] Speaker C: Yeah. That's great. That's really great.
[00:53:36] Speaker A: So the other question Chris had was, because you just mentioned that folks said how much they loved Serenade of the seas.
If you were to do it again or if you were able to kind of go back in time, would you keep it on serenade of the seas or would you love to see them do it on a different class of ships? I think some of this might be that it's hard to get into some of the places you went on an oasis or an icon class ship, but did you like the ship that you were on? Or would you have said to royal, maybe if you put us on a freedom class ship, that would be more fun? What do you think, Jenny?
[00:54:06] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I don't think we could even go on a lot of these ships that you've listed.
I'm not sure the exact sizing, but the reason why we had to go on a smaller ship, Washington, that in order to get to some of the ports, like you mentioned. But I also believe there was something to do with the way the ship was designed and getting through ice, if that was a.
So not only do the ships have to be small, but they have to be designed in a way that they can handle the arctic climates. So that's two things to consider. And then, yeah, I thought that I was going to not enjoy the smaller ships, but, um, I came to really, really like the smaller ships. I think my only thing was that it was just the way the serenade is designed. It's so centrally located, so centrally designed, like the centrum and everything kind of, like, leads to the centrum, that it's great for a vacation cruise because you hear the music, you hear the people, you hear this and that going on, but on a nine month cruise, it was so overstimulating, so not a lot.
[00:55:11] Speaker C: Of quiet spaces to get away from that. Yeah.
[00:55:14] Speaker B: Yeah. That was my only qualm with it, which I could have never anticipated that, you know, per se, and in a nine month cruise, but, yeah.
[00:55:24] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, it probably meant that you had to. When you were working, Jenny, probably meant you had to be more in your cabin, right?
[00:55:29] Speaker B: Yeah. That's what it ended up being.
[00:55:31] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:55:33] Speaker A: What about you, Leslie?
[00:55:34] Speaker D: It was interesting because if you could find a place to be, there was overhead something all the time. So you can't record anything because it would pick up the overhead music of whatever.
And it wasn't just any. There was zero. There was zero quiet space anywhere, which was definitely feedback that we gave because, you know, I mean, there was significant number of people that worked or you have life, right? You just have your normal life. You want to be able to be outside of your cabin and working or checking in at home or having a phone call or whatever, and so having quiet time. But I loved the ship. I loved the size of the ship. I loved the capacity of the people. It felt like we were our own little village of trout, you know, of people and travelers and little family that. I'm not a fan of the big all of that. And it afforded us the ability to really get to know a lot of people. And there were still people that at the end we were like, that's not, no, that's not a world cruiser. Like, I've never seen that person before. I know they're not a world cruiser. Right. And come to find out they were, we just hadn't seen them. So even small amount of space we had, we still hadn't met everybody in nine months. So I loved it.
[00:56:50] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:56:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:56:51] Speaker C: That's amazing.
[00:56:52] Speaker A: All right, well, we've got, we've got two questions along the same lines. And you kind of hinted at this that, you know, one of the answers to these questions was fewer ports, it sounded like from the folks on board, but someone asked, what change would you recommend royal make for a future cruise like this? To make it even more special than it already was. And our friend Tracy's asking, would you do it again? And anything that would make it better, worse. So, Leslie, anything you would have changed about the experience, looking back, so.
[00:57:21] Speaker D: Absolutely. Number one is the overnights, multiple nights even, we could have stayed several nights in ports, and maybe the bigger ports do longer time in.
You know, it's fun to be able to see a lot of these smaller places and things, places you wouldn't go, but, you know, overall, there was enough of them that you could have said, you know, skip that and let's do these, because they were just. That would have changed the experience for sure. But short of that, I don't think there's much I would have changed. There's the little things here and there, but it was so extraordinary. There's not enough time left in my lifetime for me to describe how incredible and extraordinary and amazingly awesome something it was.
[00:58:07] Speaker B: It really is.
[00:58:08] Speaker C: Leslie, will you do it again?
[00:58:11] Speaker D: You know, we were just talking about it. I think it would depend how they did it. Right. If they said, you know, we're going to do multiple nights in bigger cities, I definitely would because there is so much to see that we could do the same thing all over again and not see the same thing. Right.
And I think. But I think if it wasn't and it was a lot of the similar ports, I don't. I don't know. I don't know that I would because there was enough of those that I could say, yeah, did that, and I enjoyed it, but I don't need to go back there, and I don't want to have more sea days. Although we. I loved our sea days because it was just finally a moment to breathe.
[00:58:59] Speaker C: And sleep and, you know, recharge a little bit.
[00:59:02] Speaker D: Recharge. But I don't know that I would want more c days. Would I take a lot of sea days to spend four days in Tokyo? Absolutely. Right. And skip the other. Japan is not a good example because Japan, like, we could just all move there because it was amazing. But you know what I mean? Like, we don't need all these places in between. Let's just cut to the chase and get to the good one and then stay there a long time to really be able and to do the nightlife. Trailhead traveling and nightlife are like peanut butter jelly. Like, you have to do it. And when you had to get back on board at 06:00 it's like, no, no.
[00:59:37] Speaker C: Yeah, that's fair. You can't really do a lot of the nightlife. Jenny, what about you? Any, any other changes that you would, you would make if you were sort of going to do it all over again? And then, of course, the follow up question is, do you think you will do it? You mentioned you're not sure if you'll be able to do it again, but do you, you know, know, would you want to do it again?
[00:59:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, we would. I would do this one all over again. I would like, like, you know, there's nothing really I would change from this one, this experience, like, because it was the ultimate world cruise, and that came with some major, like, fatigue and seeing so many places, but, yeah, that was just like, I don't think they'll ever do it like that again. So I feel very lucky and fortunate to have been able to experience the, the first one. But just like Leslie said, and like I said before in looking for another one, if we were to do one, I would want less stops and more time at each stop, more overnights especially because those were just so overnights were so much fun. They were so special and. Yeah, I think that's what we would look for in the next one.
[01:00:52] Speaker C: Yeah. Now, are you, like, actually going to consider. I mean, Jenny, are you going to. Would you consider doing, like, if they announce they're going to do another one, let's say, I don't know, a year from now, two years from now, would you be like, sign me up?
[01:01:06] Speaker D: Well, she's going.
[01:01:10] Speaker B: I mean, like, time, money and everything aside. Yes. So. But realistically, I do think it would be more like three or four years from now.
[01:01:18] Speaker D: I don't know.
[01:01:19] Speaker B: Again, we don't know. Yes. What I think. So my husband and I, you know, we have some work stuff that we're working on and it's very realistic that in three or four years we could do it again. And, you know, we. We had the time. We didn't want to get off. And my husband, you know, this is mostly my perspective, but my husband had a blast as well. He actually ended up losing 20 pounds on the cruise is in the best shape of him, his life, because we just looked, usually goes, yeah, yeah, he, he just. He got, like, he was already very healthy. But on a cruise that long, like, if you were on a week cruise, by all means, enjoy yourself, enjoy the buffet. But when you're on nine months, you gotta think about those things. And we were so active, we ate very healthy. Like, a cruise has all the tools you need to have to live a fairly healthy lifestyle. And so. So we embraced that and we had the time of our lives.
[01:02:16] Speaker A: That's awesome.
All right, so someone did ask, and I know, I know from talking to you prior, but someone's asking, so now are you like, all top tier royal Caribbean status? And I think the answer is not even this cruise can get you all the way to pinnacle alone. So. Yeah.
[01:02:35] Speaker C: Not even. Well, some of it is like, nights on, and if you stay, like, as a one person in a room, that's meant for two people. Right, more, you get twice the points. If you stay in a suite, you get more points. So, like, staying. They. It matters what night and what category. Stateroom, you stay. And you both have significant loyalty status with Royal Caribbean now, but not pinnacle status. Yeah, yeah, we were talking about.
[01:02:58] Speaker A: I think they should just carve out a special status.
[01:03:01] Speaker D: Yeah, we were pitching that. We were pitching that they should have like, a world cruise status or something in between because it's super awesome to get to diamond plus, which, to answer the question, that's where we are. But then it's like, stratosphere to. At pinnacle. Like, it's like. Well, there's no, like. I guess if we did a world cruise again, we may. But in, you know, the grander scheme, it's. It's not. It's. It's out there.
[01:03:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:03:25] Speaker A: There you go. Pro tip. Pro tip. Fastest path to, uh, uh, to whatever. Whatever diamond plus is back to back world cruising. There you go.
[01:03:34] Speaker C: Yeah, back to back world cruising. Love it. There. There's one. There's one final question. This is actually directed at us from our. From Tracy school for Nathan. And cost aside, would you try this cruise? The answer is heck yes. Heck yes.
[01:03:50] Speaker A: Costs aside.
[01:03:51] Speaker C: Sign up.
Yeah. Yeah. Like, so if. If, like, we talk. Brian and I talk about this. Like, I. I don't see this in our near future. I see this in our retirement future. Um, but because of our jobs, I don't think it would be possible for us to, you know, take a year off or nine months off and go on a world cruise. But I do think that. And we wouldn't be able to work the jobs that we work from around the world. I am so jealous, Jenny, that you were able to do it that way. I just know it's not possible for every job, and I know it wouldn't be possible for our jobs, but, yeah, I would totally do this after.
[01:04:31] Speaker A: If you'd like to see the DCl duo do a world cruise, head over to patreon.com.
[01:04:35] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
I don't even.
Exactly.
[01:04:41] Speaker A: Yeah. There's one more question. I think this is a great question to end with, actually. Is. So now you've done a nine month cruise, would you do a seven night cruise?
[01:04:49] Speaker D: Yes.
[01:04:50] Speaker C: Or is that too boring?
Can I ask my one follow up question is now would you consider doing a Disney cruise? You both have done, obviously, lots of nights on royal. No. Leslie shaking her head no.
[01:05:04] Speaker D: I'm sorry. I know I'm going to create all kinds of controversy. Disney is nothing. My.
[01:05:10] Speaker C: Not your vibe.
[01:05:11] Speaker D: Yeah, it's just not so. But, you know, no shade to the Disney lovers or that's everyone that's watching right now.
[01:05:21] Speaker C: It's just not your. Not your jam. That's.
[01:05:24] Speaker D: I've actually already looked. I would sail solo to get back on the cruise ship set for three days if I had to. Like, anything to get back on, for sure.
[01:05:33] Speaker C: Love that. What about you, Jenny?
[01:05:34] Speaker B: I would totally consider. I've heard how much fun they. They are, and we are big Disney fans, so.
[01:05:39] Speaker C: Totally love it. Love it.
[01:05:42] Speaker A: Well, if you go, Jenny, like, open invitation to come back but yeah, I think Sam's getting ready to wrap us up.
So I'll just say to both of you, it has been a pleasure, the time we've gotten to spend with you and to track this cruise and to follow along with you. I want to say thank you to both of you for taking time out of your vacations to actually let people follow along with you because I think to your point, we have some inkling of what the tax that you have to pay on your vacation in order to do that. So thank you for doing that. Thank you for coming on and sharing the whole experience with audience has been just amazing. So just thank you to both of you for doing that. Thank you.
[01:06:21] Speaker C: Yes.
For those who want to continue following along with Jenny and Leslie, Jenny is on all the socials at Doctor Jenny travels. Leslie is on all the socials at Point Mysolnorth. Follow them on Instagram. TikTok. Tons of great content. They are amazing. And they'll continue. As I mentioned, they have lots of content they haven't yet to share because if you imagine 25,000 pictures, videos, whatnot, you can't possibly have enough time while you're traveling to post all of those things or post all the interesting stories that you.
[01:06:57] Speaker A: Let me wrap us up by just saying real quickly, we will be back live next week. Monday night, 05:30 p.m. pacific. 08:30 p.m. eastern. We will have half of, I don't know if both of the DCL do senior coming on or if it's, no, just Tracy.
[01:07:12] Speaker C: It's just Tracy coming. Okay, so half of our Michael just started a new job, so Tracy's. Yeah, I didn't want to.
[01:07:19] Speaker A: All right. Tracy's going to come on to talk to us all about all the fun adult things you can get up to on board Disney cruise line. It is not just for kids only, so stay tuned for that. But for now, Leslie, Ginny, thank you for coming on once again.
[01:07:32] Speaker C: Oh, Leslie wanted to say something.
[01:07:34] Speaker D: I just wanted to say one thing. If anybody listening or listening later has any questions, send them in, send them to us, send them to DCl duo, whatever. We are totally open to answering anything.
[01:07:46] Speaker C: You're the best.
[01:07:47] Speaker A: Thank you.
[01:07:48] Speaker C: You guys are amazing. Thank you again so much. We'll just say to everyone watching or listening, we will see you real soon. Soon.
[01:07:59] Speaker A: 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 alive, 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 help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts. And if you leave us a written review, a five star written review, we will read it at the top of one of our main episodes. So please head over there and hit those five stars. Of course, you can also help support the show by supporting our fabulous show sponsor, my path unwinding travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation? Head over to mypathunwinding.com dclduo or email
[email protected] so they know we sent you their way. If you've got questions or you'd like to connect with us, the best way to do that is to head over to dclduo.com dot. It's got links to all of our things. Full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast links off to our vlog, a link to our Etsy store where we sell some fun, fan inspired magnets, a link to our Patreon. If you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com dclduo. Also as a way for you to sign up for our substack newsletter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here, at least on a few blog articles that we've written. So dclduo.com is the best way to connect with us. You can also, of course, email
[email protected] or reach out to us on our voicemail line at 402-413-5590 that's 4024-135-5590 the DCL duo podcast 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.
