December 01, 2024

01:02:15

Ep. 485 - From the Magic to the Treasure: A Walk Down Disney Cruise Line Memory Lane

Hosted by

Brian Sam
Ep. 485 - From the Magic to the Treasure: A Walk Down Disney Cruise Line Memory Lane
DCL Duo Podcast: A Disney Cruise Line Fan Podcast
Ep. 485 - From the Magic to the Treasure: A Walk Down Disney Cruise Line Memory Lane

Dec 01 2024 | 01:02:15

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Show Notes

Coby joins us this week to share his experience sailing Disney Cruise Line (DCL) from 2002 to today. Some of Coby's early sailings were as the guest of a cast member - so he got a unique peek behined the scenes in the early days of DCL. What's changed over the years? Come find out!!

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Episode Transcript

[00:00:00] Speaker A: But I'm curious. Yeah. How you think things have evolved over time. Let's start with sort of the main stage space. [00:00:06] Speaker B: Sure. Yeah. So obviously one thing that hasn't really evolved is the Golden Mickey's. [00:00:12] Speaker A: I love that answer, Brian. Loves it. Anyway. [00:00:27] Speaker C: Welcome back everybody to this week's. [00:00:29] Speaker D: Episode of the DCL Duo podcast brought to you by my Path Unwinding Travel and Sam Listener review time. One more review in the bag here from. I'm going to read this one out. CVG 123-44-4321 I hope that's not their computer password. I'm. I'm just kidding. [00:00:47] Speaker A: This one review reads my luggage combination. [00:00:49] Speaker D: Brian, this review reads great fun and so informative. Time and time again I enjoy hearing your perspectives, including honest reviews and learning about all that DCL has to offer. I look forward to more great content from your adventures and from your special guests. Hope to meet you at sea sometime in the future. Well, thank you for that review. CVG 123-44-3321. [00:01:12] Speaker A: I love it. I love it. [00:01:13] Speaker D: It reminds me, reminds me of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. [00:01:17] Speaker A: 9, 9, 10, 11, 12. [00:01:19] Speaker D: There we go. [00:01:20] Speaker A: Sesame Street. I love that brand. That's a flashback. [00:01:24] Speaker D: It was like the electric company on Sesame Street I think it was called. But anyway, Sam, over to you for our guest. [00:01:29] Speaker A: Yes, well we're super excited to have a first time guest to our show, but a longtime listener of our show, Kobe to the show. Welcome Kobe. [00:01:38] Speaker B: Hi Sam. Brian, Great to be here. [00:01:41] Speaker A: Yeah, great to have you. Now Kobe, we have you on for kind of a special topical show today which is talking about your history on Disney Cruise Line. You have been sailing for quite a long time with Disney Cruise Line and you have so of progressed through the years from young cruiser with the Big Red Boat company all the way to being a parent of young cruisers on Disney Cruise Line. So we wanted to you know, talk to you about that perspective and how things have changed over the years. But why don't we start with like how many cruises have you been on with Disney and where did your love for Disney and Disney Cruise Line sort of come from? Where did that start? [00:02:23] Speaker B: Oh, that's a great question. So I, I count paid cruises, cruises that I paid for myself. We're at, we're at 10 now. Prior to that we did, I did have the opportunity to go on a couple of non revenue cruises with some friends who were entertainers. We can get into that in the early zeros. And then prior to that got to go on the Big Red boat in the late 80s, I guess, early 90s. And that was a pseudo Disney cruise, I guess. But my love for Disney, I don't really know where it sprang from because my wife thinks I'm a bit of a nut. [00:03:03] Speaker A: Welcome to the club. [00:03:04] Speaker B: Right. We're all there. We've all got a bit of crazy in us. But no, just when the kids were little, I just wanted to do something different. And we started to go to Disneyland. We're not too far from Disneyland, so we take road trips down to Southern California, hit up the land for a couple days. We loved it. And then when our oldest was old enough to. That we felt like he was old enough to go cruising. We, we took him for right before he started kindergarten. And then we were just hooked. And so for the last 15 years, we've been sailing with, with the kids. I would say we can't get enough of it, but we get plenty in there. [00:03:43] Speaker A: I love it. Love it. Well, let's, let's start with back in the day. You went on the big red boat. How old you. When you. You were obviously a kid at the time, but how old do you think you were when you went on the big red boat with, with the folks? [00:03:58] Speaker B: So you know what? This is fun. My, my grandmother on my mother's side, when each of us graduated sixth grade, she would take us on a trip just, just the two of us. And luckily I had a cousin my same age and we were 12. And we got, we, we. We got to go to Disney World and we went on a kind of a land and sea vacation. So it was, yeah, it was the summer of. And we spent four days in Disney World for the first time ever. Enjoyed that, and then got on the big red boat. And that was our first cruise ever with the Premier cruise Line. Went to a couple of Bohemian islands. I can't even remember the names of them at this point, but I just remember touring around and drinking Bohemian sodas and going to midnight buffets. [00:04:50] Speaker A: Midnight buffets. Those are such a thing of the past on many cruise lines. I mean, these exist, I think, on a couple of cruise lines, but obviously Disney doesn't do them at all. They sort of used to do. It was never really a midnight buffet for. My memory is correct. [00:05:07] Speaker B: Right after the pirate night, they usually have a big buffet where you had to go eat a turkey leg. Even though you just had dinner and you couldn't eat one more bite. You're like, I have to have a turkey leg. [00:05:16] Speaker A: Right? And it would be like, it would be like 10:30, maybe 11:00 at night. So it wasn't a midnight buffet, but Irish. Remember when we sailed on Celebrity Cruise Line back in the late 2000 in like 2008 and 2010. I don't remember on the 2010 cruise, but I remember going to the midnight buffet on the 2008 cruise, Brian, because I remember it was like that was my first cruise and so it was just like a novelty, like this idea that you could go to a buffet at midnight and there was all this food and like you said Kobe, you weren't even hungry because it wasn't like there wasn't food available 24,7 on any cruise. But it's kind of hilarious how that doesn't exist anymore. Well, you also mentioned to us in some pre show notes that you've been on some other cruise lines. Tell us what other cruise lines that you've been on and when in time those were. So it helps to sort of orient ourselves to where they fall as amongst your Disney cruises. [00:06:16] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So after the Big Red boat, went on some little short family vacations, you know, did kind of a three, four night dinner dip down to Ensenada a couple times on Carnival and then we did a family trip on Royal Caribbean probably 2006 ish timeframe down the Mexican Riviera, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, you know, really fun, but just wasn't hooked on cruising at that point yet. I enjoyed it, it was fun but it just wasn't like a consistent thing that we were doing. We have also done an Alaskan CRU with my siblings and my parents did that about three or four years ago. We went with Princess, wishing we were on the Wonder. But the level of service that you get on Disney is very different from the one you get on a Princess Cruise. But at least we were in Alaska. You can't beat Alaska. [00:07:17] Speaker D: What has been your go to cruise line or your favorite cruise line outside of Disney that you've sailed? [00:07:21] Speaker B: I would say Royal. I haven't been on a Royal in quite some time. But at least for the bang for your buck, the fun that you get, the vibe that's on the cruise and the ages that our kids are, I think if we were to go on another cruise line again it would be Royal. [00:07:41] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. What did you like about Royal? Did you sail on an Oasis class ship or what kind of ships did you sail on? Royal? [00:07:48] Speaker B: No, it was a Freedom class ship. This was a while ago so we didn't even have a Flow rider back then. Old school. But you know, it was the fun, it was the, you know, the rock climbing, the, the shows that you got to go to. The man, we had a killer shuffleboard tournament. [00:08:05] Speaker A: I love a good shuffleboard tournament. Well, turning to the early 2000s, you mentioned you had the opportunity to go on a couple of non revenue sailings, meaning you weren't a paid passenger with some friends as a young adult that would have been in your 20s, I imagine, your sort of mid-20s. Tell us what that opportunity was like going on to Disney ships with friends who worked on the ships and what kind of roles did they have? [00:08:34] Speaker B: Yeah, so I was lucky enough. I grew up in more of a circle of very theatrical friends. And so I had some friends who were mainstage performers and who were friends of characters on the ship. And so luckily a couple of them were very tall, so they got to be friends with very tall characters. [00:08:55] Speaker A: Yeah, like maybe a Goofy, I don't. [00:08:57] Speaker B: Know a Goofy and you know, a Captain Hook. So I got a couple of different opportunities. A back to back, three night, four night on the wonder and then a seven night on the magic in 2001, 2002 timeframe. Got to sleep in their cabins on the floor. [00:09:18] Speaker A: Oh my goodness. On the floor. That's really where they slept? [00:09:22] Speaker B: Well, that's where I left. [00:09:23] Speaker A: Yeah, but I mean that's really where they put you. Like they didn't put you in a, in a, in even just like a crew cabin that was empty there. [00:09:30] Speaker B: I don't know if there were any empty crew cabins or not, but I didn't really care. I was, you know, I was like I say you were. I was in my early 20s. I. As long as I had a pillow, I was good wherever I laid my head down. But if you think the passenger cabins are small, where do you see their crew cabins? [00:09:49] Speaker A: I imagine, I imagine, I imagine the only floor space there is is where you were sleeping. [00:09:54] Speaker B: No, they'd have to walk over me to go to the bathroom in the. [00:09:56] Speaker A: Middle of the night. [00:09:57] Speaker B: So there was not much room. [00:09:59] Speaker A: Oh my goodness. Now tell us like back then, did you have access to all of like the, the crew areas or did you have access to the guest areas or were there sort of limitations? We sort of hear from folks today that when they have guests on board, unless it's like their husband or wife, they typically stay in a, in a guest cabin. They don't typically stay in the crew cabins, but they do have some access to some of the crew areas. I'm curious how it was back then. [00:10:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I Guess it was just a free for all back then because it was kind of the best of both worlds because no one ever checked my axis when I was going down the crew stairs, down to A and B levels or anything like that, and got to walk down the I95 corridor anytime I wanted and go to the crew mess anytime I wanted. But it was, it was great because, you know, they placed me with a few other couples in a main seating dining, and so I got to have nice dinners and enjoy that with the other guests and, you know, spend as much time as I wanted to in any of the other spaces as well. But, you know, at night we'd, we'd either go to, you know, the late night events with, you know, karaoke or something like that, or sometimes we'd go to crew parties on the Magic and the Wonder. There's that pool up on the front of the, of the ship. And we'd have, they'd have crew parties and there'd be like three or four people that could fit in that pool at the same time. [00:11:22] Speaker A: Yes. A tiny little, like just a little dip. Yeah, a little plunge pool. Wow. [00:11:26] Speaker B: But yeah, no, it was really quite a fun experience because, because like on excursions, you know, we'd, they, they didn't want to do like touristy excursions. They'd just go rent a car and drive around the island and go to a nice restaurant and go to a beach that some of, some of the locals would go to. And it was just a very, very different experience from being on there as a guest. [00:11:48] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. I want to talk about, well, you got to, I mean, watch your friends perform in some of the main stage shows. I'd love to hear, like, how you think entertainment has sort of evolved or changed on Disney over the years. Right. So from like the early 2000s to now, I mean, you just sailed. You mentioned you sailed in May. And now, of course, you sail with your kids who have now sort of grown up on Disney Cruise Line. Over the past 15 years. How would you say entertainment has changed on board? Like, are there more offerings? I mean, we weren't sailing on Disney 15 years ago. We have only been. It's funny enough, we've only been sailing on Disney Cruise line since 2018. I think people think we, we have a longer tenure of experience. We have a lot of cruising experience on Disney, but it's over a short period of time. So I've watched a lot of the shows, the old shows on YouTube. Right. I haven't seen in person the old Toy Story show. Or Villains Tonight. Right. Some of these classic Disney Cruise Line stage shows. But I'm curious. Yeah. How you think things have evolved over time. Let's start with sort of the main stage space. [00:12:55] Speaker B: Sure. Yeah. So obviously one thing that hasn't really evolved is the Golden Mickey. [00:13:01] Speaker A: Love that answer. Brian loves it. [00:13:04] Speaker B: Anyway, still about the same show. I mean, they've added a few scenes here and there. Disney Dreams is about the same, but you haven't really lived until you've seen Toy Story the Musical live and on the front row. My kids were young and they loved it, so we found a version on YouTube and put it on a DVD and they wore it out in the car. [00:13:25] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:13:26] Speaker B: It'd always be screaming the Claw. Because there's a song about the claw and it's really fun. No, I mean, obviously they've upped their game on the main stage and the theaters have gotten more robust and more technologically advanced. But some of those old shows were so much fun. I mean, Hercules the Musical, one of my good friends was one of the muses in that show. That was such a fun. And I think Villains Tonight might have been my favorite show of all time. I may be misremembering how good it was, but I was just laughing my head off. Hades was so, so funny. [00:14:05] Speaker A: People talk about that show as like, Disney Cruise Line canon. Right. Like that. I honestly think, Kobe, that your opinion is not like, super unique. I've heard from a lot of people who have sailed Disney Cruise Line for many, many years, like, and, you know, over a long period of time, and they love that show. Everyone, I think, was really hoping. It's funny you brought up Villains Tonight and Hercules, because we know Hercules is coming to the Disney destiny. But everybody was hoping, I think, that Villains Tonight would be sort of revived on the Disney des. I'm curious, like, you know, we'll do a little prognosticating here. Do you think that the new Hercules, they haven't called it Hercules the Musical? Musical as in Muse, for those who aren't familiar. They've just called it Hercules. Right. For the main stage show on dcl. And of course, they're doing a West End show for Hercules. I'm curious as a theater buff myself, and obviously you've got some theater background yourself. Yeah. Do you think it will be different? Do you think it will be the same? Will they update it? What do you think? [00:15:15] Speaker B: Yeah, unfortunately, I think it's going to be different than Hercules the Musical. I think they'll probably stay more to the original storyline and maybe add a song or two. I doubt that they have the time for that. But yeah, unfortunately, I think Hercules the Musical may have performed its last show. [00:15:39] Speaker A: That makes me sad. Well, we know for Aladdin, they did add that one song for Jasmine Inn that I think was in the live action movie. So they have done some little sort of tweaking. And of course, they tweaked the ending of Aladdin for the most recent version. I should say the version we first saw in the fantasy a number of years ago actually was closer to the movie. And then now more recently, they've sort of updated it both on the fantasy and on the wish. What about character interaction? Of course, we had a big, you know, bump in the road with the pandemic and character interactions were. Were very, very different. But I'm curious as to, you know, over the years, not accounting for the pandemic, have there been any sort of changes in. I don't know that I feel like there's been changes in the number of characters or types of characters you see. But I'm curious as to your thoughts. That's why I've only heard that anecdotally. We have not, like I said, experienced it before 2018. [00:16:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't know the number of characters they have on board, but I feel like back, you know, when I was cruising Non Rev, I got to know some of the. Some of the face characters as I was sailing and some of the face characters, they portrayed multiple face characters during the cruise. And so there was more opportunities. Like you met Alice from Alice in Wonderland. And you know, there was lots of different kind of smaller characters that you wouldn't have met. And I feel like when my kids were young, there were like ad hoc character opportunities where we were walking down the hall and all of a sudden Captain Hook would stop and, you know, do a fencing battle with my son or something like that. And it doesn't. They seem. The character interactions seem a little bit more photo oriented and more staged these days. So. And, you know, I think that's probably okay, but I do miss those more informal greetings. [00:17:39] Speaker D: I think they still do some of that, especially on like the longer sailings in kind of my experience, although I think post pandemic, it's also been more difficult for them to do some of that stuff for whatever reason. But I still do hear about some of those, like, those kind of cool moments. But typically it's like they're on their way to or from their photo opportunity, to your point, or it's a long sailing where, you know, they've been out like three or four times already and you know, the lines are dwindling and they just kind of start to wander the ship. I will not forget the. When we did the 11 night Southern Caribbean cruise, like there was just some great ad hoc character opportunities like Mickey walking around on the promenade deck and his running outfit as people were kind of jogging by. And then he and somebody. I think it might have been Pluto, like running up and down the stairs with the kids for exercise one morning and then sleepwalking. [00:18:28] Speaker A: Goofy came out sleeping. [00:18:30] Speaker B: Goofy. [00:18:30] Speaker A: Yeah. So. But that was in 20, 20, 19. I will say we haven't seen nearly as much of that. To be fair. We haven't sailed as many longer itineraries. But we also haven't seen as many of those impromptu character opportunities. So I do think they have. Those have decreased. But I think to your point, Kobe, there were some more like smaller characters. I mean they used to have like Mary Poppins and Burt on the ships and that hasn't been seen in years and years and years. And Alice in Wonderland is another one. We used to see Tinkerbell and Peter Pan on PIR pretty much every sailing pre pandemic. And I haven't seen Peter Pan or Tinker Bell since the reopening. We still see Captain Hook and Smee typically on pirate Night walking around and they'll do their picture spots and of course the Fab Five will be in their pirate night outfits. But you just don't get. Yeah, you just don't get as much variety. I think of some of the characters in particular face characters. So I think that definitely seems like it's changed. I'm curious about how also dining, main dining has changed because it seems like. I don't know if there were there less shows during dinner. I know that the theming was different. Of course you had like, I can't remember, it was like some Caribbean themed restaurant on the magic of the one Parrot Key. Thank you. [00:19:52] Speaker B: I couldn't remember that karaoke after that. That was very short lived. [00:19:56] Speaker A: Yeah, tell us, tell us about those. Like were there any shows in those. In those dining rooms back when they were Parrot Key and karaokes? Or were there just. Or was it just the decor that was themed? [00:20:08] Speaker B: Yeah, it was really just the decor and the music for those. The original animator's palette show was a little bit different. It was before the HD monitors that they have in there. It was just kind of. It was kind of a condensed version of the show that they have today. I mean, they still had Sorcerer Mickey come out and do the big reveal. It wasn't really like dinner theater at all. And that's kind of what it's evolved into, especially, you know, with the Wish. And you know, how they've redone a lot of the restaurants with the Rapunzel's Royal table and the frozen dinner. And I think that's actually a really good change depending on where you are in the room, like if you want to carry on a conversation at dinner or not. [00:20:53] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely, that makes sense. And we of course love Tiana's. But if you're not in the mood for, you know, a New Orleans Mardi Gras night, it might not be the best atmosphere for somebody. Right. Well, I'm curious about kids clubs. Obviously when you started sailing, you were a young adult pre kids. But when you started, I mean your, your kids have been sailing for 15 years. How old are your kids now and how old when the first started? [00:21:22] Speaker B: So the first started like I say he was just before he started kindergarten. He is 19 now. So this, this was, you know, 14, 15 years ago. It was our first cruise was on the Wonder. And so it was the very, very first rendition of the Kids Club. And it was, it was even before the, the lab and the club were connected. So you had to check him out of the lab to go to the club and vice versa. And it was very, it was a pirate themed and they, they would actually let the parents come in, which I think that changed during COVID or maybe even before COVID Like you could go in and find your kid and like do an activity with them even during closed hours and then, and bring them and bring them out. They wouldn't let you, they wouldn't let you record anything. Like if there was like an activity going on, they didn't want you to record anything. I do have some footage of stuff that I shouldn't have recorded. [00:22:17] Speaker A: You know, I will say pre Covid. I do remember picking up Nathan from the Kids Club Pre Covid with. They would let you in to go find your kid and pick them up, but they didn't want you like sticking around. You could go and like. But instead of them like GPS locating your kid for you, they would let you come in and find your kid and then leave. But they didn't really like hurry you out. So you could have been in there for a few minutes and sort of part if there was an activity going on. Your kid probably could have finished the activity before you left. But you're right, you can't go in at all. Now when it's closed hours or closed. I don't even know programming. Thank you. Yeah, closed programming. You can't go in now. You can only go in when it's full, when it's open house hours, and on any. All the ships other than the Wish, that means the whole club has to be in essentially open house mode or so that it's, you know, the entire thing is sort of unsecure or secure. Whereas on the Wish they can kind of secure different areas and have other areas open. [00:23:12] Speaker B: Yeah. And we were there when on like the second cruise back, I think when the Magic went through its really big dry dock, when it got the Aqua Dunk and it got a brand new kids club. So that was fun to see. So when we went on our first cruise, it was just, you know, it was my wife and I and our son. And then as subsequent cruises went along, it feels like we added a kid every single cruise. So our oldest has gone through all the. All the additions of the kids club. And now next time that he would go, he'd be in the 1920s society. But now we're sailing with all four of our kids and they're in various stages of the Edge and the Vibe and the kids club as well. [00:23:55] Speaker A: Nice. Nice. [00:23:56] Speaker D: I'm curious about to get your impressions, Kobe, of kind of the increasing size of the ships and you know, how you feel about kind of the new design that they came out with the Wish class having sailed on the classic ships in their original version. Yeah. What do you think about that move? [00:24:13] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I think it was needed. I definitely think with the Dream and the Fantasy, it was a needed upgrade and. And it wasn't my favorite thing to be on Castaway Cay on a dreamclass ship because the island seems a lot more crowded and you know, going back on the Magic or the Wonder, you're like, oh, this is great. There's no one here. Especially like post restart, there was like no one, no one at Castaway Cay, which was wonderful. I actually haven't been on a Whis class ship yet. We're planning on going on the Destiny next year. But, you know, I think with the popularity that they absolutely needed to just expand their footprint and give us more space. You know, I think they've had some hits and some misses with some of the common areas, like the adult space at night I think is way too crowded. On some of the longer sailings where it's more adult centric. You can't even get a table sometimes. That really wasn't the case with the Magic because it felt like they were the same size venues and you could always find a place to sit. You know, they needed to increase their revenue and increase their bottom line at the expense of all of us. And so we do what, we do what the mouse says and we continue to pay the premium. [00:25:33] Speaker A: Right. We continue to let him put his white hand in our pocket. [00:25:36] Speaker B: Yeah. His big white glove in our little pockets. So. But yeah, you know, I think, do I think that they should ever do like an Oasis class or size of a ship? I think that might be a mistake. But I think one of Disney's best features is the intimacy and the memories that you can create that everyone can have on their ships. And I think with a mega ship like that, it may be hard to do. And I'm interested to see what the adventure does and see how they pull that off. [00:26:13] Speaker A: Yeah, it'll be, I think, really interesting to see how that works. But I also think, and I actually heard from someone who was talking to somebody who works in the hotel space on board the Disney Cruise. Disney Cruise Line currently, like someone who's fairly high up in that space, that said, they are purposely not going to market at all to Americans, which we kind of had heard already, but that they really don't want American cruisers sailing on the Adventure because it's, it is basically a. I don't want to call it a different brand. They didn't use that word. My term, not theirs. But it is really sort of a different brand and a different experience that those cruisers are going to get than what we get on the ships that sail out of U.S. ports. And maybe the, maybe the Adventure will someday cross over and come over here. Who knows? And maybe, or maybe it will at some point be marketed more towards Americans. But at least when she, when she first sails, I think that's, that's really not going to be the case. And I think that's a smart move because I do think it's, it's, it will possibly dilute their sort of branding as being this luxury, smaller niche cruise line in the US at least. And of course, obviously in Europe and New Zealand and Australia that they do their sailings in as well. But yeah, I think it'll, it'll be, you know, a very, very different experience. I'm curious about, about food. I mean, I feel like Disney is always, well, I shouldn't say always. I think Disney Cruise Line is well known for being on the better end of cruise food. You know, people can disagree about whether or not they like truffle per sets and be completely wrong. [00:27:51] Speaker B: Right? [00:27:51] Speaker A: They would be wrong. But. But there are. There are. I will admit there are some hits and misses on dis. On Disney Cruise Line. As far as food goes. For me, the misses, you know, the pirate menu, a lot of the desserts are a miss for me, but I'm not a huge dessert person. So, you know. But I'm curious, do you think the food has sort of been consistent over the years, meaning consistently good or at the better end in the cruise market? [00:28:16] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I think they. They came out really strong. And our early cruises, I. Some of the best meals we've ever had, they haven't changed the menus a ton. They've added some new pieces here and there, and they're still really good. And then I'll sometimes have a dish that I have absolutely loved in the past and it kind of missed that time. And I'll just chalk that up to maybe it was just cooked poorly or it was just spiced poorly or something like that. But I think overall the food is on the higher end. I mean, we went on that Princess cruise to Alaska, and I was expecting this gourmet food, or at least at the par of the food that we'd enjoyed on Disney. And I was just blown away with how bland everything was. And maybe it was a cruise for retirees and they needed to mash up their potatoes and peas, but it was. [00:29:11] Speaker A: I love that thought. [00:29:14] Speaker B: It was just not good. It just didn't have any flavor to it. And so I just kind of like, had a steak every single night. And it was just an okay steak. And the desserts were not good. Except for. I do. I will say the, like, the paid restaurants were very, very good. And those were some of our best meals. And even, like, the, you know, the fish and chip shop where you'd have to pay extra was much better, higher quality food. But like I say, Disney, I think they do a really nice job with their main rotation. Now, I haven't had every single one of the menus, but the menus that I've had, barring Pirate Night, are very good. [00:29:55] Speaker A: What about adult dining? I think Paula's been on the ships since the inception, if I'm remembering, with obviously some decor changes over time, but the theme essentially being consistent. Being Italian, for example. And then of course, when the wish class, or, sorry, when the dream class launched, then they introduced Remy. And I think that that's been, you know, fairly consistent as far as, like, theming and decor has gone. But have they do you think they've been? I mean, I don't know. We tend to think that their. Their specialty dining on Disney, although it's specifically adult dining, really does knock it out of the park. I'm curious if you think that that's how it was when it started, or has it just gotten to be really good? Or perhaps has that shined as some of the main dining quality has gone a little bit down, perhaps? [00:30:44] Speaker B: Yeah. I did get a chance to go to Paulo once on a non rev cruise, and I thought it may have been the best meal that I've ever had. I mean, I was in my 20s, so I hadn't had that many great meals at that point. It was mostly ramen and Mac and cheese through college. But no, I remember that being a very, very good meal. And I went with my wife to Paulo maybe 10 years later and still had a wonderful experience. And then we've done brunch a couple times since then. Actually haven't been back to Paulo dinner several years, but we have done brunch several times. And I do miss the pre pandemic brunch, but the post pandemic brunch is still very good. Just wish they had the sticky buns. [00:31:27] Speaker A: Yes, yes, the sticky buns that they have now are different, as Brian will attest to. Let's move on to talking a little bit about Castaway. You know, Castaway has been around not since the inception of Disney Cruise Line, but it's been around for quite a long time at this point. I think it's like, I don't know, close to 20 years old now, something like that. Maybe it's a little bit less than that. I can't remember exactly. [00:31:48] Speaker B: I think it's older because we did stop at Castaway in 2002. [00:31:53] Speaker A: Okay, well, that would be 22 years. Yeah. So maybe it is close to 20. I mean, it's not as old as the magic, and the magic is 26 years old. So it's somewhere between 20 and 26 years old, let's call her. Okay. But I'm curious, have there been big changes since, you know, you remember your first visit to Castaway? And if so, have they been for the better, for the worse, or have, you know, or has. Have things really remain the same? Which I would say is a high level of service. But of course, they could always use some improvements on, you know, things like the barbecue. [00:32:29] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, the funny thing for me about the barbecue is it comes, it goes in, ebbs and flows. Like, I remember it being so good, the first few cruises I went on and then, then it just got really bland and stale and now I think it's a lot better than it was five or six years ago. For some reason. I don't, I don't know why that is. But you know, food aside, you know, they obviously have added some to the island with cookies too. And the additional family beach because of the size of the dream and the fantasy. You know, the first few times we were on the island, it was about the same. I mean they had the same tram stops and everything like that. They did have the. Oh gosh, the ship front from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The prop switch. No, it was the other one. The Davy Jones ship. I can't remember the name of it, but they had that prop on the island for some time before it started to disintegrate and they had to take it off. There you go. Brian with the save there. [00:33:36] Speaker A: And Brian just texted me. But I will say it on the show that apparently Cast away opened in 98 when the Magic first sailed, which I didn't realize, I thought it was a couple years younger than the Magic. [00:33:49] Speaker B: Yeah. So it's, it's a great, it's a wonderful place. It's like gotta be one of my top places in the world. I love coming every single time. We've actually missed it once on one cruise where the weather was just bad and it just ruined the rest of the cruise. It's like one of my kids favorite places to be. We love the snorkel lagoon. We hit it every single time. The adult beach, when I sail with just my wife, we love going out there and wandering out to the sandbar and relaxing out there at low tide. The crew beach is actually just if you're going out to the adult beach, the crew beach is just off to the left there. And they've got a fun little area where the crew gets to play volleyball and enjoy some time off when they have it. And so I got to spend some time there when my friends were part of the crew. So yeah, I mean, it's just such a great place to be and you know, we, we look forward to visiting every single time. [00:34:50] Speaker C: Are you listening to our show because you want to make the most out of your next vacation. Great news. The fabulous team over at My Path Unwinding Travel can help guide you so you don't miss a thing. Their team of professional travel advisors are caring, knowledgeable and experienced. It's why we use them to book our own travel. My Path Unwinding Travel is an Authorized Disney Vacation planner, which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, Adventured with Disney, Relaxed at Aulani, and so much more. Whether it's a Disney cruise, a theme park vacation or adventures by Disney, or if you are looking to expand beyond the mouse, my path Unwinding travel will elevate your next vacation planning experience. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your vacation even more magical. Ready to talk to the experts? Head over to MyPathUnwinding.com DCLDUO or email DCLDUOMYPATHunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks MyPath Unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode. [00:35:49] Speaker D: Kobe, I'd love to shift over like, over the years. Let's start with like crew or cast. Like any memorable interactions with cast on board that stand out for you that you've remembered over the years? [00:36:01] Speaker B: Oh, gosh, there's probably too many to recount, but I mean, we've, we've had some amazing experiences where, you know, when my daughter was young, you know, Princess Tiana coming up to her, not in a photo shoot setting, just, she just was walking down the hall and you know, said, I love your dress and it just made my daughter's day and you know, disinteracted with her for, and therefore Tienne is like her favorite princess now and so and then, you know, just any member of the crew that you interact with has just always got this great attitude. The guys that are, you know, pushing the button down at the Aqueduct to send you down the tube, they're just, you know, they're always wishing you a great ride. And you know, the servers who you become so attached to, the event staff, the entertainment staff who you see every single night night when, when I was on the non Rev cruises, we, you know, we got to have dinner with the event staff down in the crew mess and have, you know, their, the, the currys with them and got to know them a little bit better and find out their backstory. And it was just so fun to figure out who they were outside of their, you know, their public Personas on stage. So we got to be very, very close with them. And you know, it's fun to get back on a cruise and find those crew members that you've interacted with before and they, they remember you almost every single time. And I was like, how did, how do they do that? Like, I Can't. I can't remember people from high school at all. So how can they remember me when we only met for one time, you know, 10 years ago? So I think the interactions with the crew is something that Disney rightfully so hangs its hat on because they have selected such a good crew and cast members. [00:37:59] Speaker D: What about favorite memories with your kids on? [00:38:02] Speaker B: So one of the things we love to do is, you know, we're always late dining people. We're coming from, you know, a west coast time. So when we get to the cruise, we're not ready to eat at 5:30 in the afternoon because it's, you know, only 2:30 our time in, in our heads. So we have a first dinner up on deck, you know, at 5 or whatever, you know, have some chicken wings or whatever. Go to the show. We love, we, you know, we always love to go to every single show together, together. And then what we do is we, we don't change from our, our swimsuits for the day. So we go to the show in our swimsuits and this head straight up to the top deck, go on the Aqueduct or the Aqueduct and just do as many laps as we possibly can, you know. [00:38:44] Speaker A: Love it. [00:38:44] Speaker B: I remember my son, he's like, this is my 21st time going down the Aqua Dunk. I was like, aren't you dizzy? [00:38:51] Speaker A: I love that. [00:38:52] Speaker B: Aren't you winded from all those stairs? No, but they, they, it's just, just, it's the family time and those memories that you create together on the ship, doing the Drawn to Magic, the animation at dinners, doing little arts and crafts. They used to have, they used to have this event. I don't. And I haven't seen it for a very long time. Where you used to build your own. You ever knew the Pinewood Derby, Brian? Back in the day with Boy Scout, they used to build Pinewood derbies out of carrots. And it was called Mickey's Roadster Racers or something like that. And so we built a, a Pinewood Derby with my kids. When they were like, I don't know, my oldest was maybe 12 at the time, they were so excited that we kept winning heat after heat after heat. And then when we lost in the finals, they were just devastated. But just those fun memories of building those things together and having that family time is why we keep going back to Disney. Because it forces us to do those things together when we could do them. But it's, it's, it's created specifically for us. [00:40:02] Speaker D: What, what's been your favorite itinerary that You've done so. [00:40:08] Speaker B: I mean, I have to say the. The eastern. The eastern. Seven day, seven night. I've done it several times. I've done it once when it was St. Martin and St. Thomas. We've done it when it's been St. Kitts and Tortola. We've. And most recently we did it when it was the standard as it is today, the St. Thomas and Tortola. And I just love the extra sea days. It's kind of a bummer that you get to Castaway Cay a little bit later. The sea days make it worth it every single time. And the islands, you just can't beat those islands. There's so many fun things to do on those islands. Tortola has gotta be my favorite. It's just a hidden gem. There are so many cool things to do. We've been to Tortola, I guess three times now. Twice with the family and once with this my wife. Just doing some research. One time we went and did. Did a surf lesson on the other side of the island, and there was absolutely no one there except for the performers that they had on the ship. They were called a British troupe called Junk. And we're like, hey, Junk, what's going on? Let's go surfing. And it was just. It was just the seven of us on that beach by ourselves the entire day. And so we took the kids back there one time. Time. And this most recent trip, we decided to do something different. And we were the first ones off the ship and ran down to the Ferry Marina and went over to the baths at the Baths national park. And it was very, very cool experience and so fun to do on our own. [00:41:42] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. [00:41:44] Speaker B: I mean, it's just a great itinerary, but anytime you're on a ship, it's the best itinerary for you. [00:41:50] Speaker D: Sam, what else do you want to ask? [00:41:52] Speaker A: I was thinking it was about that time. Unless we've sort of missed a topic that I can't think of. I was thinking it was about that time for some rapid fire. Brian. [00:42:01] Speaker D: Well, let me ask this then. So, Kobe, I'm curious, what itinerary, like, what are your top three itineraries that you want to do with Disney that you haven't done yet? [00:42:10] Speaker B: Top three. So we definitely want to do a Mediterranean. We're headed to Europe this next spring to do a river cruise, but not with Disney. But that's still just on my bucket list to do a Mediterranean cruise. I would love to do a southern Caribbean. Just listen to your episode about The ABC Islands. That sounded like a really fun itinerary. I love that. You know what? I wish Disney would permanently put a ship on the west coast and I know that you two would be happy about that. But there used to be ships sailing out of Long beach all the time down to the, you know, the western Mexico and those ports are so great down there. Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan and Cabo, like there's, there's gotta be some way to Disney fi that route and make it, make it a long term success because there is such a great crowd base of Disney fans in Southern California that I can't imagine that it's not always going to be booked. So I would love to do that itinerary on a Disney ship, but eventually we'd like to get back to Alaska on a Disney ship as well. [00:43:23] Speaker A: Nice. Those are three great options. We have done, of course, the Cabo Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta on. What was it on the Disney Magic over Thanksgiving, actually one year. So that was fantastic. I would definitely want to do that again, particularly if they can base a ship on the west coast and we can get more than just these, you know, this short season of spring break with some Ford and maybe five night cruises that just hit Ensenada in Cabo. Because I mean, Ensenada is, I mean there's nothing wrong with Ensenada, but it's, it's not really the destination. I want to go to Cabo's much better and much warmer port. I mean, the weather in Ensenada is the same as the weather in San Diego. So you're not really, if you want warm weather, it's really, unless San Diego is warm, it's not really worth going down to Ensenada. [00:44:14] Speaker D: What's the river cruiser doing? Kobe. [00:44:16] Speaker B: So we're going on, let's see, a Danube river cruise out of Venice, I believe. And it's something that I work with a travel agency through my work that does all of our corporate travel and went to an event and won a river cruise. And I was like, well, all right, we're going to Europe next spring. [00:44:40] Speaker A: Wow. [00:44:41] Speaker B: We're going to pair that with some skiing in the Alps and perhaps a Disneyland Paris stopover. So fingers crossed, we can get all that done. [00:44:51] Speaker D: Which cruise line, which cruise line is it with? [00:44:53] Speaker A: Yeah, which river cruise line? And then is it. Because it's six of you in the family, so I mean, that's, we're talking like three different rooms, right? [00:45:01] Speaker B: So this, this is just my wife and I. [00:45:04] Speaker A: Okay, there you Go. There you go. [00:45:06] Speaker B: An adult trip. But yeah. So it's Amadeus cruises and we're headed out at the end of March, so it's going to be a little chilly. But really, really looking forward to it. I haven't been to mainland Europe in quite some time. My wife has never been there. So this will be a great adventure for us. [00:45:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Be interesting to hear what you think of river cruising vis a vis, you know, large ship, ocean cruising. Because it's a very different, of course, experience. We really enjoyed it, but it's, they're not, you know, it's apples and oranges, right. It's, it's, it's hard to compare the experience because they're, they are, you know, similar and very different. Right? Yeah. [00:45:47] Speaker B: Yeah, Definitely looking forward to that. [00:45:49] Speaker D: I'm also curious, Kobe, has concierge ever piqued your interest in all of your time sailing on Disney Cruise Line? [00:45:55] Speaker B: It has not and I'll tell you why. I might be the cheapest human that I know. [00:46:02] Speaker A: I love that. I love that you said that about yourself. I know Europe, yes. [00:46:07] Speaker D: As a guy's going to Europe on a river cruise and skiing in the Alps. [00:46:10] Speaker A: Free river cruise, remember? He's just a free river cruise, Brian. But I will tell you so people probably don't, maybe don't know this about me, but I'm like, if, if I were planning our vacations, it would, they would be the thriftiest vacations you ever heard of. Like, we would be road tripping it down to Disneyland. Right. We would be staying at the Howard Johnson's. Like, it would be a very different than the way that we currently vacation. But Brian, thankfully, other, you know, we have a travel agent, but other than that, Brian is our planner. So it' it's probably a good thing that I'm not the one planning vacations. [00:46:46] Speaker B: We're frugal, we're thrifty. Yeah. No, I actually stayed at the Howard Johnson on my first Disney cruise and I'm like, I'm never staying there. That was scary. The HoJo by the Orlando airport, I'm like, oh, that's funny. Home safely. But no concierge. Sounds like a blast. But if I can go on two different cruises for the price of a concierge room, I'm going to go on two different cruises and I'll create my own concierge like, experience. [00:47:15] Speaker A: Yeah. I love it. I love it. I mean, you got four kids, right? They can wait on you, right? [00:47:22] Speaker B: Absolutely. You know, why did we have kids other than for them to wait on us. [00:47:26] Speaker A: Exactly. And to take care of you when you're old, you know. [00:47:29] Speaker B: Exactly. One of them's got to hit it big and take us on Disney Cruise with their kids. [00:47:33] Speaker A: Right? With their kids. Right. They'll want some extra hands. [00:47:36] Speaker B: Concierge. [00:47:36] Speaker A: Concierge, maybe. I love it. Hilarious. [00:47:41] Speaker D: Well, Sam, I think we've reached that point in the show where I need to subject Kobe to assume. Well, you need to subject Kobe to some arbitrary questions, some arbitrary rules, a dash of judgment of the round we know as rapid fire. So, Sam, take it away. [00:47:54] Speaker A: All right, Kobe, you know this was coming. I'm going to ask you some Disney favorites. I'm going to ask you some cruise line favorites as well. But I want you to give me answers that don't even necessarily have to do with, like, current status of the Disney cruise Line. Right. So, like, if there's a show that you love that isn't, you know, like Toy Story we were talking about earlier. Like, if that was your favorite Disney stage show, then that's our DCL stage show, then that's a perfectly valid answer. Same with rotational dining. If there's some. If you really liked Parrot Key, you tell me that. [00:48:24] Speaker B: No one did. [00:48:25] Speaker A: I had a feeling that was going to be a no. But let's start with favorite Disney character. [00:48:32] Speaker B: So I'm going to have to go the OG Mickey Mouse. [00:48:34] Speaker A: Yeah. All right. Favorite Disney movie. [00:48:37] Speaker B: Yeah. This one may be out of left field, but I love the Emperor's New Groove. We always watch it on every cruise line we go on. [00:48:43] Speaker A: People love that movie. It's got a cult following. There's nothing wrong with that. Yeah. All right. Favorite Disney song. [00:48:50] Speaker B: When youn Wish Upon a Star. [00:48:52] Speaker A: Oh, love it. All right. Favorite Disney cruise line stage show. [00:48:58] Speaker B: Okay, so they're all my favorite. I wish I could say them all, but Villains Tonight has to be the best one I can remember. But Beauty and the Beast is the best done show. [00:49:14] Speaker A: Oh, yes. [00:49:17] Speaker B: They just knocked it out of the park on the Dream with that show. Frozen doesn't come close to what they did with Beauty and the Beast, but the ones that still get me and every single time they get me are the schmaltzy Disney Believe and the Disney Dream. And I always mix them up. But the one that gets me every single time is where the daughter grows up and meets her Prince Charming. And I'm sitting there next to my daughter that's nine, and I'm like, balling like a baby. [00:49:46] Speaker A: That's Believe. Yeah. So Believe is the one with the. It's the dad and the daughter with the flower. Right. But it is she at the end. She's grown up and she's like, in a dress and she's dancing with the prince and whatnot. Whereas the other one's about the middle schooler and she gets taken around by Peter Pan. Yeah. So, yeah, no, I get it. They pull up the heartstrings, but you. [00:50:05] Speaker B: Are what they're doing. [00:50:06] Speaker A: They do. But, you know, you're 100% right about beauty and the Beast. I love that you mentioned villains tonight because as I said, I feel like that's a. People always pull that one out as, like, a favorite from the past, so. All right, well, let's talk favorite bar space on Disney Cruise Line. I mean, it could be, I guess, a crew bar, but I'm curious, I mean, is there a current iteration or maybe a past iteration of a bar that you. That really spoke to you on Disney Cruise Line? [00:50:35] Speaker B: Yeah, we don't spend a ton of time in the bars. Not big drinkers or don't drink at all. But I really liked hanging out in the Cadillac Lounge. I thought that was a fun space. [00:50:45] Speaker A: It is a fun space. We always like it too. Even though it's kind of weird to have, like, a Cadillac themed space on a Disney ship, it just seems a little out of place. But it's actually a really cool space and it has that sort of classic car decor and stuff. It's kind of fun. All right, favorite activity to do on a Disney cruise. Is that that Pinewood derby? That Mickey Roadster racers? [00:51:10] Speaker B: No, I have to say trivia. I love trivia. I'm like a trivia junkie. And this last cruise, I came home with five medals. [00:51:20] Speaker A: So which, which, which categories? What are your, like, what are your killer categories? [00:51:25] Speaker B: So the Disney Cruise Line trivia. I've won two times in a row now, so I feel like maybe all those YouTube videos and the years of being on the cruise has finally paid off. With plastic metals. [00:51:40] Speaker A: Yes. [00:51:41] Speaker B: All those tens of thousands of dollars that I've spent has been worth it because I've got my Mickey metal. [00:51:47] Speaker A: I love it. [00:51:48] Speaker B: No, but I just love general trivia and theme park trivia, and there's some people that are really, really good at it, but I just love to be in the mix. [00:51:58] Speaker A: Awesome. Love that. All right, what's been your favorite rotational dining restaurant on Disney Cruise Line? You haven't been on the Wish, so you can't pick one from the Wish. [00:52:07] Speaker B: Yeah, this wouldn't have been my favorite the first time I went on It. But it is now. But it's the main menu from Enchanted Garden. I think that they do such a good job with the scallop dish and the fish bass. The sea bass is just so, so good. [00:52:28] Speaker A: That is. That is what I will say. I haven't been in Enchanted Garden in a few years now because we haven't been on the dream or the fantasy, but we're going on the fantasy over New Year's Eve, and I'm so looking forward to getting that sea bass. I love that sea bass dish in Enchanted Gardens, so I totally understand. We got to talk. Aqua Dunk versus Aqua Duck. You haven't been on Aqua Mouse, so I'm curious what you think. Which one is the better iteration of the water sl on a Disney Cruise line ship? [00:52:59] Speaker B: It's dunk, and it's not close like it. [00:53:02] Speaker A: You're team Brian here. [00:53:04] Speaker B: Oh, Dunk is way. I'm an adrenaline junkie or an adrenaline dunkey. [00:53:11] Speaker A: I love the play. I love a good pun. Kobe. [00:53:15] Speaker B: I know, I know. Sam. No, you could do it this back to back to back to back. You can keep going on it. This is that quick thrill, and with that countdown when the tube shuts on you where your heart's racing, racing this for a little bit, and you get that shot of adrenaline, you don't get that on the Aqueduct, and I've heard you don't get that on the Aqua Mouse either. [00:53:36] Speaker A: Correct. Correct. The Aquamous is at most similar to the Aqua Duck. I mean, it's not at all similar to the Aquadonk. It's obviously, it's perhaps even tamer than the Aqua Duck, because the beginning part, it's just not as long of a water ride, basically. All right, very controversial question, of course. Which one is your favorite ship in the fleet again, not counting the wish. [00:54:02] Speaker B: Yeah. So we haven't been on her in quite some time. But I still would say the Magic because. And it's because of the Aqua Dunk, and I would say the Wonder, but I don't love her quite as much as the Magic, because the Magic was the first ship I went on with my friends, and we've just had so many great family memories on that ship. And honestly, we've just been on the Dream and the Fantasy in the last maybe 10 years, just, you know, alternating between those two. But I still just have this love for the Magic. And luckily, we're going to be on her again next fall, so. [00:54:45] Speaker A: Oh, awesome. I can't wait for you to get back on her because I do think you know, well, Rapunzel's Royal Table is obviously a fantastic restaurant and experience, from the food to the entertainment, all really, really great. And then of course, I. I actually really like the Soul Cat Lounge. I was very disappointed when it was not the Snuggly Duckling. But I really think they did such a nice job with that space. And I. So I love that space. I love keys. Like, there's some great spaces. And frankly, the fact that she has two water slides is great because the Wonder only has one. And so I. The Wonder is my favorite ship, but I would. I honestly think that the Magic might be my. I switch things around now. You guys. Like, the Magic might be my second favorite ship. So. Yeah, I just love the Cosmic. [00:55:32] Speaker B: It's just so much more intimate. You know, if you're going to go to Lighthouse Point or Castaway, having that. That much. That many fewer people on the, on the island is. It's just. It's really awesome. [00:55:47] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. All right, well, my last question, of course, is the same question I ask everybody. What is your bucket list cruise? If you could go. You mentioned three different. I would call those bucket list cruises, but this one could be even an imaginary one, right? It can be one that doesn't actually exist. An itinerary that doesn't exist. So if you could go anywhere in the world on Disney Cruise Line, where would you go? [00:56:10] Speaker B: So we can cruise to Arendelle? That sounds awesome. [00:56:13] Speaker A: Well, no, let's. Let's keep it to real places rather than imagine it real places. But. But it could be a completely like. I mean, you could cruise, I guess, to Africa and then go to Asia. I mean, like, you could go to. You go to places that aren't really convenient to one another. But let's pick real places. [00:56:32] Speaker B: Yeah. So just hearing some of your. The stories from the around the world cruise sounds very appealing. I don't think I'd want to be on a ship for that long, but I think it would be very, very cool to circumvent like South. South America on a ship. You know, start and go through the Panama. You know, start and in San Diego and go down and then through the Panama Canal and then around back up through the. Around South America would be just awesome. I don't know if you can even do it. But it's fictional, right? [00:57:04] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, you can. I don't think there are any large ships that do it, but I think you can because they do send those smaller ships down there for some of the Galapagos and stuff. So I mean, there are ships that sail. It's. What is it, the Drake Passage and all that. It's rough seas. So they might, they probably, they might not send a large ship. But I think, I love that. That's. It's an imaginary itinerary. So it's perfect. [00:57:26] Speaker D: That celebrity ship we were on, Sam, that went through the Panama Canal, it went, it kept going. It went around, around South America and up to Brazil. That was the next leg of the cruise. So they do, they do send large ships that way. [00:57:38] Speaker A: Okay, well, there you go. So you can do it. Yeah. Well, thank you for playing. Super fun. A plus plus. You did great. Flying colors. You know, of course I got to rib you a little bit for liking because it's such a cheesy show, but your primary answer was correct, which is so schmaltzy. [00:57:58] Speaker B: But this makes me tear up every single time. [00:58:01] Speaker A: It is. [00:58:02] Speaker D: Well, Kobe, once again, thank you so much for coming on and taking some time to share your experience sailing Disney Cruise Line over the years. It's been really fun chatting with you. Next time you're out there sailing, you should reach out so we can have you back and hear about your sailing. Especially love to hear your thoughts on the wish after you get a chance to sail on her. [00:58:21] Speaker A: But Lookout Key, I mean, yeah, I mean, we know you've obviously you've been to Castaway a number of times, but your last sailing was in May and Lookout didn't open until June. So we know that you haven't been to Lookout yet, but. Yeah. What do you have next? You mentioned you have sailing on the Magic next fall. Is that your next sailing or is there anything else in between? [00:58:43] Speaker B: Yeah, that's kind of it right now. That's on the books with Europe in the spring and then the fall, our oldest son is going to be. He's living away right now, so he'll be back. And so we're going to all be back together and hit the. It's kind of a one way cruise down from Port Canaveral to San Juan. So just kind of a quick four nighter. But we will hit Lighthouse Point there. So excited to be back on the Magic. Excited to experience Lighthouse Point for the first time and to have the whole family back on the cruise together. And then we'll probably string it together with a Disney World stay as well. [00:59:27] Speaker A: Awesome. Well, hit us up a little bit before you sail and we'll schedule a time for you to come back on and tell us all about your thoughts on Lookout Key and on the Magic that you haven't been on in, you said maybe like 10 years, so that'll be interesting to hear. She's been through a lot of changes since then. [00:59:47] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:59:53] 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 alive, we have a live show now every week, Monday nights, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern Eastern over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out. If you want to help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts. And if you leave us a written review, a five star written review, we will read it at the top of one of our main episodes. So please head over there and hit those five stars. Of course, you can also help support the show by supporting our fabulous show sponsor, My Path Unwinding Travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation? Head over to mypathunwinding.com dcldu or email them at dclduoypathunwinding.com 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 it's got links to all of our things. Full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast links off to our vlog, a link to our Etsy store where we sell some fun fan inspired magnets. Link to our Patreon if you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO also has a way for you to sign up for our substack newsletter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here, at least on a few blog articles that we've written. So DCLDUO.com is the best way to connect with us. You can also of course email [email protected] or reach out to us on our voicemail line at 402-413-5590. That's 402-413-5590. The D.C. aCL dual 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 SA.

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