Ep. 499 - Shock and Awe: A Surprise Cruise on the Disney Magic!

[00:00:00] Speaker A: And then our older daughters, they had recently been in a play of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So one of them was dressed as Violet Beauregard a la the 2005 version. And then the other one was kind of like in the play it was like a chew crew, like her kind of like gang of bubblegum chewing pals. So she was like that. And then my husband and I dressed up as the Australian break dancers that. [00:00:43] Speaker B: Welcome back everyone, to another episode of the DCL Duo podcast, brought to you by my Path Unwinding Travel. And as you can tell, you're hearing my voice, not Brian's. And so I am solo hosting today. But I'm super excited to talk to our guest today. We're going to be talking about her recent Halloween on the high seas crew cruise, which is always a fun topic. It's been a while actually since Brian and I have been on one. So I'm going to welcome first time guest to the show, Christine. Christine, welcome to the show. [00:01:13] Speaker A: Hi. Thanks so much for having me. It's been really exciting to listen to so many of your episodes. I'm glad to finally be a guest. Thank you. [00:01:21] Speaker B: Yeah, thanks for joining me. I'm super excited to talk to you for a lot of reasons, one of which is you have a really cool Disney family history. And so before we jump into your cruising history, I want to talk about a little bit about your family history with the Walt Disney Company. Tell us, where does this connection with Disney for you date back to? [00:01:46] Speaker A: Yes. So my paternal grandmother, my dad's mother, she was working in a trailer and casting in 1969 in Orlando, before Walt Disney World even opened. And she was a founding cast member and she worked until her passing in 1992. So the guests can't see whether they're listening, but behind me you can. This photo from 1991, the 20th anniversary. She and all the other cast members who'd worked there for 20 years are featured. I showed you a photo of her with our main mouse, Mickey at her 20 year distinctive award. So it's like literally in my blood. My aunt met her husband who had been working there since 72. Several members of my family had worked there. I love it. I'm in my family a long time, so it's a really special place. [00:02:36] Speaker B: Love that. Love that. Now, you yourself have never been a cast member. Am I correct in that? Correct. [00:02:42] Speaker A: I have not. I wanted to do the dcp, but at the time when I wanted to do that, I was already married and they were not accepting married people then my Understanding is they changed that. But at the time I was married when I was 19 and I went to school and they did not, but now they do. So my daughter is really interested in going to the dcp. She's a freshman in high school now, so she's really interested in being friends with some of our favorite people. [00:03:09] Speaker B: Love that. Oh my God, that would be so fun. You know, it has to be, you know, passed down. Maybe it skips a generation, but I love that. That's awesome. [00:03:16] Speaker A: Yeah, I've instilled it in them for sure. [00:03:20] Speaker B: Well, let's dive into talking first about your history with Disney Cruise line. I know it's, it's, there's obviously there's interruption from COVID but you had a couple more interruptions than just Covid. Tell us when was the first time you cruised? [00:03:37] Speaker A: So our very first ever cruise was booked as a Halloween on the high seas in September of 2017. And three days prior to our cruise it was canceled due to hurricane Irma. So we were booked for seven night Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy. And when that was canceled three days prior, we were given a 25% credit as well as a full refund. And we had 90 days to rebook. And so we took our time off because we still had time off and we went to Gatlinburg instead and had a nice time there. And then we rebooked to go on the Wonder in March of 2018. Well then my husband got a new job in January of 2018 and he was not able to cruise with us. So my mother in law came with myself and our two daughters at the time and we had a wonderful time on a seven night eastern Caribbean down the Wonder. And we met wonderful friend who was a cat, is still a cast member and her name is Kirsta. Hi Kirsta, if you're listening. And we had such a great time and we booked an Alaskan cruise on our Bounce Back and then because of COVID we ended up having to cancel that cruise. Anyhow, we came back and we just had a really good time. But then Covid happened. We had a baby, we had another baby and so we didn't want to cruise with babies. There was Covid and so my husband and then these two other children had never cruised before and we finally booked this other cruise that we just took. [00:05:19] Speaker B: Awesome. I love that. Well, and you kind of did this cruise as a surprise for your kids, but you had some good cover. Tell us about what your cover was and you know how you sort of kept this A surprise from them. [00:05:33] Speaker A: Exactly. As I mentioned on that first slash second cruise, the actual cruise we took, we had booked Alaska then because we really had wanted to go to Alaska. Alaska next year. My husband and I are turning 40 and celebrating 20 years of marriage. And so we had been wanting to book Alaska for a very long time. So our children knew that we were planning to book that cruise. So as I was listening to your podcast and other podcasts and gearing up for that, I was able to kind of hide that we were planning another cruise. We actually incentivized our three year old daughter to potty train so that she could go to the kids club by saying, you can't do of just cruise unless you can go potty. And so we eventually did tell our teenagers because since it was a Halloween cruise, we knew that they would want to pick their own costumes with the little kids. We could pack costumes for them, but the guys was. Because obviously we're going to get on an airplane and there was going to be some level of travel involved because we live in Indiana. We said we are going to the beach. So any conversation allowed revolved around the beach. So we would be like, oh, at the beach there will be this thing happening and we have to wear this at the beach. We need to buy this for the beach. And when we would interact with people, it would just be a lot of conversation about the beach. We met some families on the airplane. Yeah, the, the boat became the beach. And so when we got to Florida, we did go to the beach. We made our way to the jetties. And another kind of foil in our plan, we, we rode a bus because Google Maps said we could walk to the jetties by the port from this bus stop, but we couldn't. Google Maps didn't show that there was like road construction. So then we had to call an Uber and we didn't have car seats and get us around to the jetties. It was beautiful and wonderful and we had a really nice time. Saw lots of sea turtle nesting and saw some ships go by. No Disney cruise ships. They had already left for the day. So then my husband goes, okay, we went to the beach, you guys ready to go home? And our little kids were like, okay. And so the next morning we had done that little phone call where they will call you. And so in the morning one of. [00:08:15] Speaker B: The Fab five will call you and say, happy cruising kind of a call. [00:08:20] Speaker A: Yes. So in the morning they're calling my phone and my husband has his phone out recording. And even though they asked for like really specific information. So I was expecting the call to be more detailed than it was. It just kind of said, hey, we're really looking forward to seeing you on your Disney cruise. And they were like, wait, what? And we're like, yeah, we're going on a Disney cruise today. And they're like, what? And so we're like, yeah, let's get ready. So then we had on matching shirts and we all went down to the port and it was really awesome. They were so excited. [00:08:52] Speaker B: Oh my God, I love that. And you didn't have to hide that you are watching like YouTube videos or listening to our podcast because they did know that you were going on an Alaskan cruise, what, next year, right? [00:09:04] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah, we're going in 2025. So I didn't have to hide anything about the cruise because they knew we were going. They just didn't realize that we were going now. And my younger daughter, she would say something about it and I go, you know, we might be going sooner than you think. Or I'd say, well, you know, we're going next year, we're gonna go. [00:09:23] Speaker B: And by the way, I love. We got a little bit of a preview of the sounds of the kids in the background. So cute. [00:09:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:32] Speaker B: How old are your kids now? [00:09:35] Speaker A: So my oldest daughter just turned 15 and my other daughter, she is going to be 14 on Valentine's Day. And then we have a five year old son, he'll be six in December. And then we have a three year old daughter, she'll be four in March. So we have like two sets of kids. They're all our kids, but they're. [00:10:00] Speaker B: Right, you've got the teens and you got the little ones. [00:10:03] Speaker A: I love it too. [00:10:04] Speaker B: Funny. Well, it's great. I mean you get experience both ends of the spectrum. It's funny how the older ones obviously went on a cruise, but now, you know, previously, but it was a number of years in between that your family grew. Well, what, what kinds of things did you do to sort of prepare? I mean, I know you listen to our show and, and watch some other, some other YouTube channels. Did you, you know, what did you show the kids, if anything? I mean, the teens hadn't been on in, in years and so of course, and they were going on a different boat than they had previously been on. You know, what kinds of things did you show them and maybe what kinds of things did you show the littles to kind of prepare them for, you know, what this trip was going to be? And also your husband who had never been on A Disney cruise. [00:10:49] Speaker A: So my husband said he really didn't want to know much of anything until, like, right at the very end, he was like, okay, what's happening? And so I was like, okay, hold on. Let's. Let's do this. So we did watch. There was from during COVID time, someone from the UK had filmed a very empty ship from when they were doing the, like, magic at sea before it came back to the United States. So we watched because we were on the magic. So we got to see the magic and see a tour of it. Then we showed our kids, the younger kids, a couple videos. So since we had been on the Wonder and we were doing the magic, the older girls were pretty familiar with the layout. The little kids were just kind of like, oh, that looks so cool. I want to go there. And we're like, yeah, does look cool. Yeah, that looks fun, right? And because I was a little nervous with them being young, my older girls had, of course, been like most children and really loved and never wanted to come out of the kids club. And I had hoped that the little kids would do the same. They did. They never wanted to come out. I was thankful for that. And. But we just kind of talked about, like, okay, what might this be like? So the girls, it was mostly focused on them. The older girls, like, all right, don't go into anybody's stateroom. Don't try to stay together. Although eventually they did end up splitting apart. But we felt really comfortable with, like, the situation and where they were and what they were doing. So it was okay because they each kind of, like, had different friend groups, and we kind of felt a little bit more comfortable with what was going on. But initially we had really wanted them to be together, but we were like, it's okay if you're doing your own thing. You're not, like, alone. But don't go in anybody's room. That was the main thing was like, I don't care. The only person we said was. The other surprise was that our friend from the original cruise, she was cruising on this ship with us as well. [00:12:50] Speaker B: Oh, that's awesome. [00:12:52] Speaker A: So Piper, my second daughter, she had, like, latched onto this girl. So I mentioned she was a kid cast member. We had found her at Epcot, because after we had had breakfast the morning before the cruise, she was actually at the the world entry gate. She let us in. She goes, oh, are you going on the Wonder today? Me too. And I'm like, you're at work. She's like, yeah, I'm getting ready to leave. I'll see you there soon. So then we found her and my daughter, she was 18, she was seven at the time. And I mean, just like latched onto her and, like took all these pictures with her and just wouldn't leave her side. So then they recreated those photos on this cruise together and they just. It was so cute. So we had so much fun. And she was there with a friend for her birthday because I said, hey, I'm going to go on this cruise. It was actually going to be the week after. She was like, no, no, no, no. I'm going to be on the cruise the week before. And I was like, yes, I'm so there. So when we met up with her at the cruise terminal at the port, my daughter was like, oh, my goodness. She was so excited. So there were so many surprises on this cruise. So she. They didn't know that we were going to see her and they met up with her and did several things. We got a cabana. So that was a big surprise for my husband, really, for everybody. Nobody knew that we were able to secure a cabana. But you were asking me about prep. We just. [00:14:10] Speaker B: That's awesome. [00:14:11] Speaker A: Just kind of like, I mostly did a lot of packing prep and then way over packed too much stuff. [00:14:19] Speaker B: Well, listen, you have a big family, so there is a lot of packing that needs to be done for a family of six. And then. I can't. I'm the same way, Christine. I overpack always. I can't help myself. I try every time to pare it back. And even if I pare it back a little bit, I'm still. I'm still notoriously an over packer. Well, I want to talk about the cabana because you mentioned in notes ahead of the show that you all were able just randomly. Right. To get a cabana. You weren't sailing concierge. You just. Just happened to be on the app one day and a cabana was available and you booked it, right? [00:14:58] Speaker A: Yes. [00:14:59] Speaker B: Yeah. People. People. Yeah, people don't believe us always when this happens, but it happens to people and it happens. I wouldn't say it happens regularly, but it happens often enough that you hear about it now. You also ended up getting upgraded. I want to hear about this. [00:15:17] Speaker A: Yes. [00:15:18] Speaker B: Yeah. Tell us what happened. [00:15:20] Speaker A: So in the Facebook group, I had seen close to the couple weeks prior to the cruise that people were starting to drop cabanas and commenting, and as soon as I would see it. I'm not on Facebook very much, but I was really trying to be kind of active there at the end. And every time I would go check it, it would be gone. I would check it and it would be gone. And I was like, man. And I said, you know what? I'm just gonna start, like, randomly checking it. I wasn't a slave to the app, but if I was thinking about it, I would just try to check it. And I was like, if it's available, I'm grabbing it. And so this one cabana. Cabana 10, which was for Lookout Key. And it is very close to the dining, the food. So it's like 10 the food, and then 11. And so we were able to book 10, and somebody else had already booked it, dropped it. Someone else booked it, and then they dropped it. [00:16:16] Speaker B: This. [00:16:16] Speaker A: It gets really funny. Okay, So I picked it up. My husband is also in this Facebook group, and I didn't want to say anything about it. So when the person commented, hey, we dropped it, I had already booked it. And I didn't. I just hearted it. I didn't say a word. Then I went to Reddit and I was like, hey, guys, I booked this thing. What do I do? And I went to your Facebook group, and I was like, hey, guys, I booked this thing. [00:16:41] Speaker B: What do I do? [00:16:43] Speaker A: And I went to the My Path Unwinding group. I went everywhere trying to. Went to YouTube. I discovered that we could get a massage and tried to, like, get that figured out. That was the most difficult part about it. I don't know why. Probably because it's a new island. There was no way, even through our TA prior to sailing, that we could book this massage. I mean, I saw more than one person blogging and vlogging. [00:17:10] Speaker B: Christine. I didn't. I didn't know this was a thing. I honestly. So you're telling me something totally new. I didn't know you could book a massage in your cabana at Lookout Key. Because that, as you mentioned, Lookout Key is still fairly new. I mean, we're at. What is it? It opened in June and it's October as we're recording, so we're talking. It's only been a thing for four months, but, yeah, I haven't. I confess, I haven't seen the vlog that you're talking about. So what ended up. Did you end up getting the massage in the cabana? [00:17:43] Speaker A: I did. So when we got on, the general consensus was, wait till you get on board. But of course, the people who were vlogging and Instagramming, they were gatekeeping their TAs, and they were like, well, if you book with me, but I'm like, guys, I'm cruising this weekend. I cannot book with you. [00:18:01] Speaker B: I've already got it. I hate that. [00:18:03] Speaker A: I know. It's so frustrating. So as soon as I got on board, I went to guest relations. They called the spa. The spa said, yes, we'll book you. Then to the spa's credit, the. Since it was going to be the very next day, that night, they did send a text, I'm assuming to myself and the other guests that said, hey, book this. It's available. But then the masseuses, they said that everybody was asking them as they were bringing their tools to our cabana, hey, who are you? What are you doing? And that all these people were, like, looking in while they were doing it. So they're saying that they don't think it's been very well advertised and that, you know, they wanted us to comment on it in our thing at the end, which we did. And so hopefully that will help them to advertise it better. [00:18:54] Speaker B: That. That's amazing. That is. Well, it's. It's funny because, yeah, it hasn't. It clearly hasn't been well advertised. That's actually funny that there are people sort of gatekeeping this information. I want to say that I know from my experience with my path unwinding, and in particular, the concierge Facebook group that they run, they do not gatekeep information. Like, if there' information, even if you're not booked with them, they are always willing to freely share that information. And I. I think that's a service to the greater Disney community. I hope that we do the same. We don't. Obviously, we can't. We don't gatekeep information. Where Brian and I are not travel agents, we have. We would have no reason to anyway. But that's unfortunate because the whole point is, right, like everybody, if you spread this information, frankly, I think think generally speaking, it comes. Good karma comes back around, right? Like, people know and, you know, if you're willing to more freely share information, I actually think for certain, you know, if travel agents are listening, I think you will get more business if you, you know, make relationships first. And oftentimes that will lead to business. Right. So even if you don't get a person's cruise that they're already booked on. [00:20:13] Speaker A: I agree. And I want to clarify. I said I went to the my path unwinding group and they allowed me in. And in part of that, it said, hey, post a photo and a. And a post. And I did that. And in there is where I posted my question but that question, it didn't even get posted until after my cruise, so nobody was even able to see it to answer it. So my path unwinding did not keep me. They didn't even see my question until after I'd returned. I wanted to clarify, but so. [00:20:53] Speaker B: No, no, no, no, that's. [00:20:54] Speaker A: Yeah. So I want to kind of tie this together because it's really crazy. So Facebook group says, Hey, 10 is open, and remember, it'd been dropped twice. Okay. So I go to Reddit and I'm talking about it on Reddit, and I say, hey, I got this cabana for this day. Somebody on Reddit comments and goes, hey, are you going on this date? But it's an incorrect date that they comment. And I was like, well, no, actually I'm not going on that day. He says, Saturday, but it's a wrong Saturday in October. And I go, wait, that's not even a Saturday, because, no, actually, I mean this day. And I go, I'm trying not to, like, dox myself, but I'm also kind of trying to be like, oh, if this is the guy, I want to be friendly. So it turns out it is the guy. And he's like, yeah, my wife's actually in that group. So what's crazy is his wife's in the Facebook group. He's on Reddit, finds me. They originally had it and dropped it, and then we met them in person on the cruise, and now we're Facebook friends. And I was like, it's a surprise. Don't say anything when you see my husband. If I see you before the day, don't tell you anything. So we met them, and then I explained to my husband, you know, after I was like, oh, yeah, hi. And I was like, yeah, they let that cabana go. So. So it's funny how that went. So then the upgrade. So then back to the Facebook group group. So I booked it one day, then the very next day I get an email that says, hey, we just want to let you know that you were booked in Cabana 10, but we're going to be upgrading you to Ada Grand Family Cabana. A. Hope that's okay. And I'm like, yeah, cool. Thanks. And then somebody in the group, hey, guests in Cabanas 9, 10, and 11 have all been asked to go. Now, this is a concierge guest. So they're speaking to Shoreside. They've been given this information, but they haven't been told why. And then somebody assumes possibly that there's a problem because it's the Food in the bathroom, maybe the water. Hopefully everything is okay. So people are speculating. And again, I'm not commenting because my husband's in the group and I don't want to be like, yeah, I got one of those. I don't know. So silent. Well, it turns out when we get to the island, they're actually filming marketing material. So anything that you see now and forever or until they do it again, they were filming. So for some reason, they wanted to push everything there. And they had all their people docked right there, and they were doing a lot of filming, which they actually ended up filming right by our cabana. Because with us being at the very first one, they had the ship right there. And so there's all these Mickey and Minnie with the ship behind them. They were like, right in front of us. And we didn't get to stop to take photos with them, but we got to take photos of them as they walked by. But as we talked about some more, you know, kind of trouble in the water, this was one of the first things. Well, that's not true. This was one of the kind of bigger things that was a bump in the road. So I didn't ask to be upgraded. Right. They needed my other cabana. And so I looked at my. [00:23:59] Speaker B: For their marketing. [00:24:01] Speaker A: Exactly. I looked at my statement right early on, and I noticed that they charged me that grand family cabana price. And I was like, wait a minute. [00:24:11] Speaker B: I didn't ask to be put here. No, no, no, no, no. [00:24:14] Speaker A: Yeah, I didn't ask to be put here. No way. And so they immediately got it fixed. But that was over $400 difference. Now, they took care of it right away, and it wasn't any trouble. And thankfully, because I didn't get the Internet, I had screenshot that email that showed, hey, here's the change. Because I was like, I think I need this in my back pocket just in case. So I was glad that I did that because I was able to show them, hey, this is the real thing. And so they took care of it, no problem. [00:24:44] Speaker B: Right? This was Disney's change. [00:24:46] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:24:47] Speaker B: Yeah. That's actually a. Christine, that's a stupid. Yeah, that's a super, like, good tip, though, to give to people when you do have some kind of. I'm going to call it irregularity, Right? You have not changed anything, but Disney has changed something, right? They have put you. They have put you in a different room than what you booked, they have put you in a different cabana than you have booked, or they have put you in a Different, let's say, you know, excursion, then you have booked, right. If you have, you know, screenshots of the communication or screenshots of what you originally booked or you know, whatever the sort of proof may be, that's super helpful. And I don't think that Disney's trying to, you know, trick anyone into paying more for something that they did on their end. It's just a matter of like the computer systems are terrible. Honestly, I really think that that's a huge part of what this ends up being. The mistakes happen because Disney, it is so bad and just the left hand and the right hand aren't talking to one another or aren't talking one another properly. And so these things like do happen. But it's a super, super smart to one, pay attention to your bill, right? Like whenever you're on board cruise you should be paying attention to your bill because occasionally things might get charged to the, you know, like somebody might accidentally charge drink to your room and they gave you a room number. Something like that doesn't happen often but you know, something to just sort of pay attention to and, and guest services is really good about fixing these things. But of course if you make it easier for them, you know, that's, that always makes it easier for you. Well, I realize we've jumped far ahead into the cruise and obviously we've been talking about lookout key, but. So I wanna, I wanna, but. But it's really helpful because we're talking about things that you booked and then sort of how those things turned out. But I wanna rewind back to the moment you all get to. You are sailing not out of Fort Canaveral, out of Fort Lauderdale. Right? Right. [00:26:47] Speaker A: Okay. [00:26:47] Speaker B: So I want to get to that moment. Yeah. So I want to get to that moment where you all get to the cruise terminal, you got all checked in and you're getting on the ship. You're getting on the beautiful Disney Magic, the 26 year old ship. She's gorgeous. Still. But your little ones and your husband have never been on the ship before. You have been on her sister ship, the Wonder, as well as your older teens or your older kids who are teens have been on the ship. But what was the moment like when you all get on the ship with the littles and your husband for the first time who have never been on a cruise? [00:27:23] Speaker A: They were really taken aback by the announcement because they didn't know. So when they were like, welcome Wilson family. They were like, wow, this is so cool and everything was so beautiful and they just thought that everything was so nice. Now, I did make a beeline straight to guest services, so. Oh, no. Yeah, you're still there. So, hey, they sat really nice, and it wasn't a long line. And then we went to sit down lunch, and that was really nice. My husband was super impressed. We went to Rapunzel's and we actually met our two friends there. The people that had the cabana that they didn't know we had the cabana yet. And then our friend from the previous cruise, she was also there. And then we had a really great time. And my husband was just like, this is great. Good job, mom. Good job, mom in the kitchen. I love that. Yeah. And that was just such a great way to enjoy the, you know, first time on the cruise. [00:28:28] Speaker B: Love that. Love that. Now I want to talk about some of the onboard stuff, and I also. But I also want to talk about the Halloween on the high seas aspect of this cruise, because that's. People always love a themed cruise. I love a themed cruise. So let's start there. What of the Halloween on the high seas activities were you and the family able to enjoy on this sailing? [00:28:52] Speaker A: So my oldest daughter was the only one who got to see the Sanderson sisters. She left dinner early to go check them out. We were able to. We tried to get into line with them at the very end, and we got their little signed cards, but we didn't get to meet them. But I do have a picture of my daughter with them, and we got to meet some of the other characters in their costumes. We took three of the four children to the Halloween show, and it's so cute because my son, he's in his costume, and I can see him dancing on the big, like, funnel vision. Just really rocking out, too. Yes to the. The monsters like to dance as a. From a TV show. Anyhow, he's just really. It's one of his favorite Halloween songs, and he's just really getting it, and he's on the screen. It's hilarious. We all went trick or treating and we actually. So we homeschool our kids, and when we got home, we did this, like, math activity. And I think we said we had, like, 22 pounds of candy. [00:29:58] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. That's crazy. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, you can get a lot of candy. It's like at the parks, at the Mickey's not so Scary Halloween Party or the Oogie Boogie bash at Disneyland. Like, you can get a lot of candy. Like, they are not stingy with the candy on the ship. Did you all dress in? You brought costumes I imagine you all dressed in costumes. Did you do, like a themed family costume? Yeah. What did you do? [00:30:26] Speaker A: So our youngest daughter, Paisley, she was dressed as Bitsy from the Disney Junior show Super Kitties. And then our son, he was dressed as a spider man. And then our older daughters, they had recently been in a play of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So one of them was dressed as Violet Beauregard a la the 2005 version. And then the other one was kind of like in the play, it was like a chew crew, like her kind of like gang of bubblegum chewing pals. So she was like that. And then my husband and I dressed up as the Australian break dancers. [00:31:12] Speaker B: I love that. [00:31:14] Speaker A: And we got a lot of comments on that. [00:31:16] Speaker B: I bet. I bet you did. [00:31:18] Speaker A: And we were doing the like, kangaroo pose in our photos. It was really funny. [00:31:23] Speaker B: That's awesome. That's awesome. For those who haven't been on a Halloween on the high seas cruise, the Sanderson sisters that Christine is talking about are actually Minnie, Daisy, and Clarabelle dressed as the Sanderson sisters from the movie. What's the movie? Hocus Pocus. I was blanking for a second. Hocus Pocus. Yeah. And it's really, really cute. They only come out a couple of times and they are like very coveted characters to see because of their costumes. Like, you might see Minnie in her other Halloween costume, but people want to see her in her Sanderson sister's costume. And so if you are not there like, before those characters come out, like, you might get the line. You know, the line will get closed at some point because. Because it really, it takes. I mean, they'll be out for like an hour each time or more in order to get all the pictures in. But yeah, super fun activity. I would love to talk about some of the regular cruise activities because obviously the Halloween ones are great, but of course, you know, they aren't available every, you know, at every part of the cruise. And the characters only dress up in their Halloween costumes, usually on one day. And it's that day that the do the show with the trick or treating and whatnot. So. Yeah. So what kinds of things did. Let's talk about what things the Littles wanted to do or that you took them to. What were their favorite activities on board? [00:32:49] Speaker A: Well, I already mentioned they really loved the kids Club, so. Yeah, they spent a lot of time at the kids Club. [00:32:54] Speaker B: Love that. [00:32:55] Speaker A: We. Yeah. And they really enjoyed the beach when we were at Lookout Key. They really enjoyed swimming in the ocean at the cabana. And then we also did Spend a little bit of time at rush out, gush out, but there was a lot of people there. So we did go back to the cabana and they really enjoyed. My 5 year old really liked the snorkeling aspect and my 3 year old loves playing in the sand, so they really liked that. And then we, my son really enjoyed playing on the little yellow Mickey slide and playing in that. Oh, they didn't play in the, the Donald like his duck nephew area very much, but there was just kind of a little splashy pool. They played in that a little bit. [00:33:38] Speaker B: Bit. [00:33:38] Speaker A: And then we did get to go to the royal gathering and we also did the royal tea and what's funny is that day we did the, you know, this the same day and we had seen the princesses and then they went to the kids club and my husband and I did the DVC showcase and then we went to pick them up. And my son did not want to leave the kids club to go see princesses. [00:34:03] Speaker B: He was like, I don't want to. [00:34:03] Speaker A: See any more princesses. I already saw princesses. I don't want to see these princesses. I want to stay here. I'm like, no, you know, we paid for this. You're really going to like it. I promise. There's going to be food. And he was really upset, but you would not know that from the pictures. He had so much fun. He drew photos of the princesses and they signed next to the photos he drew of them. He has like such a huge cheese ball smile on his face. My. The Paisley, the baby, she went to the Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique that morning. Oh, perfectly for her. So she's. [00:34:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:35] Speaker A: Kind of looks sort of like what's happening right now a little overwhelming. So. [00:34:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:42] Speaker A: But she was so happy and was telling everybody and they made, you know, they got to meet Stitch, which is a personal favorite of theirs, and made slime. They talk a lot about that. They really had a good time at the kids club. They, I think one time Paisley asked to leave and it was like 11:30 at night. [00:35:02] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. Wow. Wow. I want to, I want to pause and talk specifically about the royal gathering and the royalty. I just want to put it out there for folks who don't know what they are. The royal gathering is a. A ticketed but free princess meet and greet where you get to meet usually three or four princesses. It's usually held in the grand hall or the atrium, depending upon which ship that you're on. And it's like you take your picture with one princess, you get her autograph and then you go meet the next princess and you sort of go down the line and you have reserve it when it becomes available through the app ahead of time. I believe it's. It's usually at the 30 day mark before the before the cruise and so at midnight everyone is, you know, on online is sort of with your check in process depending upon of course what status you are, you can reserve the royal gathering. Like I said, it's free. It's just something you have to reserve in advance. You might be able to reserve it on board, but. But that sort of, you know, depends on availability. I think they do hold back some spots for onboard booking, but most people try and book that in advance. [00:36:11] Speaker C: Are you listening to our show because you want to make the most out of your next vacation? Great news. The fabulous team over at MyPath Unwinding Travel can help guide you so you don't miss a thing. Their team of professional travel advisors are caring, knowledgeable and experienced. It's why we use them to book our own travel. Mypath Unwinding Travel is an authorized Disney vacation planner which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, adventured with Disney, Relaxed at 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 my path on one unwinding.com forward/dclduo or email dclduo mypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks My Path Unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode. [00:37:10] Speaker B: The other thing that we are talking about, the Royal Tea is a little bit different. Christine, why don't you tell people what the royal tea is? Because I will be honest and tell you I've been to Olaf's picnic which is the same event but on the wish but not the same event. So I actually have never been to the royalty. [00:37:26] Speaker A: Yes. So I want to say about the Royal gathering, we were not able to book that prior to because it did fill up really fast. But I was able to book it in the terminal as soon as I could connect to the WI fi. I was able to book it so don't be discouraged. So get try when you get there. And then for the royalty this was another murky waters. So we'll talk about it. But it is $75 at the time of recording per person 13 years and older. And for 3 to 12 it was $220. And you can't let me add, you. [00:38:03] Speaker B: Can'T book it if you don't have a child that's age 3 to 12. Like they won't let actually let you book it. So like when Nathan is 13, for example, I would not be able to book it for my family. [00:38:14] Speaker A: Correct. And I will also say, you know, we do have a large family, so we were sat at a table together. But if you have a smaller family, say if it was just you and Nathan going, I'm assuming this, I think you've mentioned when you Olaf table you may be sat with another family and because there is food involved, you may be sharing your food with other people. So there are the little kids got apple juice and we got tea. And then there was a variety of snacks and desserts and little tea sandwiches. Then the children and that's kind of where the food cost comes for adults. And of course it's entertainment. There was a male and a female host as well as the princesses came and they sang and danced and then they came and did interviews and sort of had like one on one time with the children. I've seen different kind of gifts at the pictures, but my daughter received a tea set. But it was a different one than I'd seen online. It was like a plastic tea set. And so I had seen a metal tea set but it was very nice. They received like a drawstring backpacks. They both received a really nice sort of like fur like a cape and then they each got a crown. Then they got these exclusive to the Royal Court tee. It's like a little Gus Gus and he's wearing the same cape and crown and he's in a little teacup. And then they also got these Disney Cruise line autograph books which I've also seen different autograph books be featured. So I think you just sort of get a variety of different things. It used to be you got like a American Girl doll sized Cinderella and then it was like a Barbie doll size. So they change. But my kids were really impressed. They had a great time. Oh, and then they also print an 8 by 10 photo of the children with the princesses. And then they brought them to our room and they printed two different images of the kids with them. Like in one of the photos, my daughter was like, making a strange face. And I was able to say, hey, can you actually replace one of these with a photo of our family with the pr? And they did, and I was thankful for that. And then this is another time where. So we're in two different staterooms because there's a lot of us. And in my stateroom, they charged me for everybody. And then in my husband's stateroom, where three of the four children were with him, they charged again for the $220, twice over. So an extra $440. So I go back to guest services and say, can you please remove this extra $440? So twice over. They double charged me $440. [00:41:09] Speaker B: Wow. For the little. The little kids. Because your older girls would. You paid the adult price for. And they don't get the gifts. To be clear, what Christine is explaining is the. The reason the younger kids cost more is because they are the ones who get the gifts. Anyone who is 13 and older does not get the gifts. So they're just being charged. Charged. Essentially what you're saying, the food costs and that. I think that's correct. Like, you're taking a seat and you're eating the food. Now, it's not really $75 worth of food, but it's an experience. [00:41:41] Speaker A: Right. [00:41:42] Speaker B: It's a show. [00:41:42] Speaker A: It's entertainment. Yes, right, right. [00:41:45] Speaker B: And actually the time they took it. [00:41:47] Speaker A: Off, you know, so again, they made it. [00:41:49] Speaker B: Right. [00:41:49] Speaker A: But I was like, man, that between those two expenses, the cabana and that, I mean, that was over $800 that. Had I not been paying attention. [00:41:59] Speaker B: Yes. Look at that folio, people. I will say, Christine, yours is. I would. The unusual case I have seen where, you know, have you seen or heard where somebody gets like, one thing gets double charged or mischarged. In fact, we had it happen for our. I'm trying to remember if it was. I don't think it was for our podcast cruise. It was actually the cruise that we took right before the podcast cruise. That was a DVC cruise. And we had gotten a cabana. And we had gotten a cabana. We were splitting with two other families. One that was a couple and one that was a family of four. And so it was supposed to be split, you know, per person across the. Across the three rooms. And instead it had all gotten charged to us. So we had to deal with that. I think we ended up. We ended up being able to fix it, but it was just one of those things where it was annoying and we were staying concierge on that cruise. So it was made easier by the fact that we only had to deal with the concierge managers rather than dealing with guest services. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with dealing with guest services. They're lovely people. It's just, as you mentioned, you might have to wait in line in order to see someone, and then it might take a little bit of time, and you don't necessarily know if they're following up. Whereas if you're saying concierge, I will tell you, the concierge host will make sure that it's followed up on and that it gets done, even if it doesn't get done immediately. So just something. It is nice to have that availability. I will put out there. Brian and I have not. We only have one cruise that is booked concierge in all of the cruises that we have booked upcoming. So only because, you know, that price, that sticker price is getting a little bit. A little bit higher than we would like. So. But back to. Back to your cruise, let's talk. What were the. What were the teens up to on this cruise? I know they attended, of course, the Royal Tea with you all, but what were the things that they wanted to do? Because I imagine the Royal Tea was not like, you know, their highlight. [00:44:04] Speaker A: They enjoyed it, but they really. They. So we had. They were 13 and 14 at the time, so we did go to the Vibe, but. Excuse me, we went to the Edge, but they decided ultimately that they wanted to go to the Vibe, and so they spent the most of their time in the Vibe. My daughter actually made a really good friend that also had a cabana, my oldest daughter, and they talk nearly every day now on the phone as she lives in Florida. And they've become, like, best friends. And so they. They just made friends and hung out and did things with the crew staff. They did. Like there was some sort of challenge where they went on, like, a scavenger hunt, and they could not use the elevators, so they had to go up and down the stairs and do all kinds of things. And then they played some kind of game where they had to try to get someone to give them a high five. And the other person was not supposed to know that they were their target or something. So they had a lot of fun playing with the cast members in the Vibe. They spent a lot of time there. My one daughter was the only person to order room service. My Piper, my second daughter, she spent some time just hanging out, chilling in the room and watching some. She's down a big Marvel kick right now. So she watched some movies. I think she may have gone to the movie theater. We actually didn't watch any of the shows except for the deck parties. [00:45:28] Speaker B: Wow. Well, I, I'm not gonna criticize you, Christine, because you do have a three year old and a five year old and, and that's. There are. I am always impressed when I hear about families who take like 3 year olds and 5 year olds to the theater and sit through an hour long show. But I know from personal experience, Nathan at Now age almost 11, 10 right now, but he won't sit through the shows really. I mean he will, I can, you know, maybe get him to sit through like a half hour show, but he will not sit through an hour long show. So I, like I said, I'm impressed when people are able to get those younger kids to sit through them. But I. No judgment for not seeing the shows, particularly in your circumstance. You know, one other thing we haven't talked about is adult only activities. Now I know you've got four kids, but your kids like the kids clubs. Did you and your husband get to do anything without the kids on this cruise? [00:46:26] Speaker A: Yes, and that's part of why we didn't watch any of the shows. Because the very first night. So they actually, actually only showed two shows. There was a three night cruise so that they showed up tangled on the first night, nothing the second night because it was Halloween and the pirate night. And then on the third night it was dreams. Yes. So they skipped twice. Charmed, I believe. And so on the first night my husband got his hair cut and I went to Prima Note and so our kids went to the kids club and we skipped the show. And then on the last night, I don't remember what we were doing. Probably just hanging out. I played bingo at some point in time. I don't remember when that was, but I did. Maybe then now you had, now you. [00:47:24] Speaker B: Had another hiccup with Paulo. Am I right? I remember reading this in the, in the show notes. This is like comedy. [00:47:33] Speaker A: So this was. I. It really was. And this was another time where I almost wanted to show the screenshot, but I didn't because I almost kind of felt like it was kind of naughty. So I had booked the literal last spot for Prima Note and it said it was only going to be $50. And I thought that was insane because it's an $85 thing. And I thought that's crazy. But the screenshot says Prima Note. And I thought, well, maybe because it's like the last one. And I'm single. That seems so strange, but whatever. And then when I got there, for some reason on my app, it showed myself and my husband booked for the dinner. And I was like, well, no, that's, I don't want the dinner. I want Prima Note. And that's not right. So as I was going to Guest Services to talk to them about the cabana and adding that friend Kirsta to our cabana reservation and booking, the massage and all those things that I took my family straight from welcome Wilson Family to Guest Services, I was like, hey, this says that I'm. The two of us are going, but he's getting his haircut and I'm going to Prima Note. And they said they got it fixed. Well, then my husband had gone to the room, and I don't know why we weren't together, but he said, hey, Paolo called. And they said it was supposed to be two. And I told them, no, it's one. And I was like, right, it's just one. So then I showed up and they were like, oh, no, I'm sorry, it's not for now, but we can get you in in like 45 minutes. And I was like, okay. So they did, they got me in and I did get to Prima Note. They charged me the full price. I didn't complain about it because I was like, that feels like the right thing to do. And so I had a great time. It was wonderful. There were a lot of solo diners. It was really nice. I had been on Topalo and I eat alone on that dinner. So on my first cruise, which I also thought was crazy until I didn't know until I listened to your podcast, I went when it was still all you could eat. Brunch buffet, right Pre Covid. My mother in law went with me then, and then she didn't feel well when I went to the dinner. And it was so. And I went all alone to the dinner then too, but it was so, it was so delicious. And it was such a fun time getting to know my table mates and hearing the sommelier to tell us all about the drinks and where they come from. It was really neat. And the pin was so cool. I love pins. [00:50:14] Speaker B: Yeah, same. I thought Prima Note was a fantastic experience. We're actually doing it again, not on the Treasure maiden voyage, because I don't want to miss, you know, I, I, we are going to Paulo one night, but I don't really want to miss much across that cruise. But we decided to do it on our New Year's Cruise on the fantasy we're going to do Prima Note again because we, we had such a great experience with it. I wonder. I guess there's the time in the app must have been wrong because they had you down still as dinner for some reason instead of actually the priminote which they only do for those listening who haven't done it, they do it twice on the first night. That's why it's called Prima Note meaning first night in Italian. And it's a, a wine tasting with food pairing experience. I would say it's heavy appetizers. I don't know what you think, Christine. I don't think it's a quite a full meal, but it's not. But it's not like tiny apps either. [00:51:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. I still went to dinner and ate a whole lot of food. [00:51:16] Speaker B: Same. Same. I love it. I love it. Well, let's, let's talk about ports for a second. You. This is a three night cruise. So did you go, did you guys go to Nassau in addition to Lookout Key or Castaway in addition to Lookout Key? I know we talked about look that you went to Lookout Key, but I'm assuming you had another port. [00:51:35] Speaker A: Technically the boat went to Nassau, but we did not. [00:51:40] Speaker B: I love your description of it. I love that. Nice. That makes sense. A lot of people don't get off at NASA and that way get, you know, more time on on the ship. Of course I want to talk then we'll, we'll segue here to, to dinner since we, we know you didn't do the, the shows. Oh actually let's segue first to deck parties. You had a Halloween deck party or deck show. You had a sail away deck show and you had a pirate night deck show. So you had on a three night cruise. Three deck shows. What did you think of them? [00:52:14] Speaker A: They were awesome. So we had done the sail away in 2018 and similar to the Sailor Wave that we did now on the magic, except for the song was different. You know, it was themed to a different ship and my 3 year old's still going around going Disney magic. She was really taken with that song. The kids really enjoyed dancing and singing along with the characters and all the fun stuff. And the Shakira waka waka waka. Hey, they're dancing and doing that still. So they really enjoyed that. Then I mentioned the Halloween dance deck party. The kids were really involved with that. And then my husband and I, we were the only ones who went to the pirate deck party and I had seen that before. So I was really excited to like, for him to see when, you know, Pirate Captain Mickey comes out flying across the deck at the end and he thought that was neat. And we had the magic band pluses. And at first they are a little jarring almost because with the kids in the kids club, he was like, are they trying to get a hold of us? And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. It's just, it's just a part of the, you know, experience. And he was like, oh, okay. [00:53:32] Speaker B: Right. Because he thinks it's like, it's like the streetmosphere. Yeah. [00:53:37] Speaker A: Yes, yes. And he was like, oh, okay. Because all the fireworks are going off. But yes, it was really neat to see that. We really enjoy that. I would be really excited to see. I hear you guys talk a lot about the one on the Wish that that pirate party is really cool. But yeah, we really enjoyed the deck parties. [00:53:53] Speaker B: Awesome. Love that. Totally agree. I think they're a lot of fun and I, I like, like I said, I like the streetmosphere of the band because it's making. It's like when you're in the parks, it's the, the park is interacting with you. Right. And so this is the ship is like interacting with you. I like it. Brian doesn't like it. That's, you know, it's, that's fine. To each their own. Let's, let's talk about food. Talk about food. But I want to talk about sort of the dining experience overall, because your younger ones had not experienced it yet. Your older ones had not experienced it in a number of years. Your husband had never experienced it. What did they all think of the dining experience on the Disney Magic? You've got, of course, entertainment in animators, entertainment in Rapunzel's. And then you've got your one sort of quieter dining dinner. [00:54:43] Speaker A: Yeah. So we had second seating, which even with a three and five year old was still really good for us. The kids were all tuckered out and ready to go to bed. No meltdowns, everybody did great. So Rapunzel's was first and even though we had that same day, had lunch there, the experience in the nighttime was totally different. [00:55:06] Speaker B: Right. [00:55:06] Speaker A: And we had an excellent seat right on the aisle where all of the characters were walking by. So it was really interactive and fun for them to get to see everybody coming by. And then they got to kind of get in like the conga line as they're celebrating her birthday. And they really enjoyed the interactiveness of that party. The food was delicious. We ordered lots and lots of food. And it was great because everybody got to try different things. I think my daughter ordered a lot of Mac and cheese, but she also ordered some steak, and it was great because, you know, as I've heard, so much theater, they really did cut it for her. And my older kids could cut it themselves on our first cruise. But on this time, you know, I was like, oh, this is so nice, and make a little Mickey ketchup. And it was really fun. The next night was Lumiere's, and I got the escargot, because I've had that before, and I really like that. And everybody kind of took a little bite. I was like, it's just, like, mush mushrooms, and so they liked it. Okay. But nobody ate, like, a lot of it. And I was excited because I've heard so much about lots of food, listening to your podcast. So I took into account a lot of those things, as well as what our server would suggest. He did a really good job suggesting things. So I tried the fried brie, but I actually didn't really care for that. But there was. The potato leek soup was delicious. I could have probably drank a gallon of that. It was awesome. It was good. But then the grand Marnier souffle, it really didn't hit for me. The assistant server told me, perhaps because I didn't crack it open and pour the stuff in there right away. It was a little eggy to me, so I will give it another. [00:56:50] Speaker B: I don't think it's that good. [00:56:52] Speaker A: I'm gonna. [00:56:52] Speaker B: I'm. I'm gonna. I'm with you, Christine. I don't think that. I think the souffle at, well, 1. The souffle at Paulo is a lot better than the one in the main dining room. But also, I just don't. Yeah, I, I'll be honest and say I don't think most of the desserts are amazing. Maybe it's because I'm not that big of a dessert person or because I'm kind of picky, but I don't know. I, I. I haven't been wowed by too many of the desserts. [00:57:19] Speaker A: Well, I liked there. I. At that restaurant, I got three desserts. So I had the Grand Marnier souffle, the creme brulee, and the opera. Like a chocolatey thing. [00:57:30] Speaker B: Yes, that one's. That one's the best one. The opera Ghetto Cake, Whatever. Yes, that was the best. [00:57:36] Speaker A: The opera is good. And then. Yes, that was good. And then we actually got a smaller portion of it at the Royal Tea. So I was excited to have that again. So, yeah, the Opera was good. The Creme Paris Brulee, it was good. But I didn't like the Grand Marnier. So yeah, they really liked that. And that was Halloween, so we're all like in this really fancy restaurant in our costumes. [00:57:58] Speaker B: But everyone is right, so it's fine, it's fine. [00:58:01] Speaker A: Oh yeah, yeah. A lot of people were still. [00:58:04] Speaker B: What did you think of animators? And of course the truffle presets are at Animators. So I'm waiting for that review. Yes. [00:58:10] Speaker A: And I. Yes, I love them. And I actually did not have them on my first cruise. Even though I went to animators. I did not try them when I was on the Wonder before. And I love them. They are very good. They're very. I will love it when I go on the Wonder next year. [00:58:30] Speaker B: Did the kids enjoy animators? Yeah, they really did. [00:58:34] Speaker A: They really did. They loved watching all the animation come on the screen. Now, as I mentioned, having gone on it before, I did get to see when they used to change the uniforms and so I was sad that they don't do that anymore. But I actually had to leave dinner before the show. They let me take my dessert to go because I had to wash laundry and pack before the 10:00 time. So my husband stayed at the table so the kids could see Mickey. But I had seen it before, it was okay. I was like, no, no, no, you stay with the kids and let them watch it. They gave me the dessert to go. But then sadly there was another big show. Another some service server dropped an entire plate of trays of like half eaten food, you know, after they cleared the tables before dessert, all over the floor. And the server was really upset about it. [00:59:30] Speaker B: Oh my God. [00:59:31] Speaker A: Yeah, that's like telling me that tea after dinner. [00:59:34] Speaker B: Yeah, that's kind of. Yeah, that's a nightmare. Well, and in Animators, of course, you're on a three night cruise, so you don't get animation magic, but you do get Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey who comes in and it's a really. I love that. It's really fun. Fun. It is the same, you know, on the Magic and the Wonder. Again for shorter than. Basically, I think it's shorter than five night cruises or shorter than seven night cruises. I can't remember right now. But yeah, I think it's a fun experience. But if you've seen it, it is really the same on both. Well, before we get to Rapid Fire, Christine, is. Is there anything that we've missed that you wanted to make sure to tell our listeners about that was either, you know, something that was good, bad or otherwise notable from this wonderful three night cruise experience. [01:00:24] Speaker A: Well, what I want to say is we got the Rainforest Pass, but with it being a three night and Halloween, I knew what I was getting into. I really viewed this as like a practice cruise. Right. Half my family had never cruised before. We know we're taking a longer cruise in the future. I had taken a longer cruise in the, the past. We did not use the Rainforest Pass at all. I did, we both each did separately take a shower in the spa, which we did not even need the Rainforest Pass to use those showers. And they are lovely and big and they have everything you could need in there. So I don't know if I would suggest purchasing that on such a. It was such a busy cruise because there was so much to do, so I would not do that again. We did have the photo package and I feel like that was really good for us. Christmas cards, lots of photos with the kids. That was a great purchase. Short cruise is better than no cruise. But I, I don't know if I. Although they happen a lot, these shorter times are happening, sort of less expensive are they're put together with these holiday times and there's so much to do. So much to do. So the relaxing that I thought would have been nice mostly happened on the beach. I would definitely try to score a cabana again. But it was wonderful. I really did all the things that I thought I would do and I guess my only thing I would have done differently was not have gotten the Rainforest Ramp package on this short trip. [01:01:54] Speaker B: I think that's a, I think that's a great tip. I do think that the. Now of course they, they, it costs based on the number of days. So like a shorter cruise, the Rainforest Pass is going to be cheaper than on a longer cruise. But if you're going on like a themed cruise, I don't know how you possibly pack it in. Right. Like unless, unless you sort of skip, I guess if you divide and conquer a lot, right. If you've got two parents with a family and you divide and conquer a lot and one is with the kids and one gets to go to the Rainforest Room and then you swap, that's possible. But there's just so much to do. I have fomo so like I can't miss out on all these activities and do the Rainforest Room. And that's why I don't really ever book the Rainforest Room even though Brian loves it and I know, it is a wonderful, relaxing place. It's just. Yeah. When I have bought it, Christine, I have not used it, and I have not felt the value in it. I know others who, you know, do it every time and spend a lot of time in there and see lots of value in it. So I'm not saying there's one way to do it. I just. I agree with you. I think it's a good tip, especially if you've got kids and you're doing a themed cruise and you've got two port days or things like that. It's just. It's going to be really hard to fit in that time in the rainforest Room. All right, well, I think it's time for this part of the show where I ask you some arbitrary questions, impose a lot of arbitrary rules and a dash of judgment, or the round that Brian and I like to call rapid fire. All right, Christine, I'm going to start with some Disney favorites. I'm interested to hear your Disney favorites since your family has such a rich history with Walt Disney and Walt Disney World in particular. But let's start with who's your favorite character? [01:03:34] Speaker A: Cruella De Vil. [01:03:35] Speaker B: Ooh, I love that answer. Do you like the new, Newish. It's not new anymore, but the new version of Cruella the movie. [01:03:43] Speaker A: I do. I do like the new Cruella, but I really love the classic Cruella. [01:03:47] Speaker B: Nice, Nice. What's your favorite Disney movie? [01:03:50] Speaker A: I love Up. [01:03:53] Speaker B: Yes. So good. But I cry every. You know, at the beginning of that movie. I have to, like, fast forward the beginning of that movie because I can't. Yeah, I just. I don't want to cry at the beginning of a Disney movie. And it seems like a lot of Disney movies make you do that. All right, what's your favorite Disney song? [01:04:09] Speaker A: Hmm? Favorite Disney song? The song that's in my head right now. And I don't know why, but it's the Bare Necessities. [01:04:17] Speaker B: I love that. That's awesome. That's a good song. All right, we're gonna move on board. I'm not gonna ask you favorite show because you skipped the shows. So it just feels like too much judgment to ask you of. How about a ship that you sailed on that many years ago on the Wonder? But I'm going to. [01:04:34] Speaker A: But I didn't see Frozen, and I really liked it. Okay, good. [01:04:37] Speaker B: I was gonna tell you. I was actually gonna say, if you didn't see Frozen Wonder the last time, you should absolutely see Frozen on the Wonder when you sail in Alaska. So that's that's going to be my. Yeah. Absolute recommendation to you. Okay. Favorite rotational dining. And you can choose between. You know, you don't have to just choose on the Magic. You could also choose from the Wonder, since you went on her previously. But which one was your favorite rotational dining across both your cruises? [01:05:03] Speaker A: Tiana's. [01:05:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. It's a wonderful place. And I mean, you can't. It's hard to be Mardi Gras on the Disney Wonder. Okay. [01:05:12] Speaker A: Beignets. [01:05:13] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, good point. Good point. You can get. On the Disney Wish, you can get the same beignets in the Bayou. So I'm hoping that they'll have those beignets available somewhere on the ship. On the Treasure as well. But who knows, because the Bayou is going to be the Skipper Society. All right, what's your favorite onboard act activity? [01:05:38] Speaker A: I really enjoyed just walking. My husband and I took a walk on deck four. That was really nice to just kind of like walk around outside. I really liked that. [01:05:50] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's, I think, the best to do on one of the four original ships because on the Wish doesn't have the full. The full promenade deck is. Is. Is not there. And I love doing that on both the. The Wonder and the Magic. Fantastic spot. All right, what was a favorite food item? We're going to start with sweets and then we'll move to savory. So a favorite sweet item on a Disney cruise. It could be from either of these cruises that you went to. But I'm curious. Yeah. What was a favorite sweet item? [01:06:19] Speaker A: I think actually one of my favorite sweets was from Priminote. It was that, like, chocolate blood orange dessert thing there. I think it was one of the last desserts they served. That was so good. [01:06:31] Speaker B: Yum. Yes. [01:06:32] Speaker A: I didn't think I would like it, but it was really, really good. [01:06:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I. In my opinion, Paulo, desserts are the way to go. Absolutely. If you're going to choose a dessert, it's Apollo dessert. All right, what was a favorite savory item on board? [01:06:45] Speaker A: And then I think a savory. I really like that potato leek soup. It was very good. I really drink a lot of it. It was. It was. I really. It was so good. [01:06:56] Speaker B: Love that. Love that. What was a favorite spot on the ship? Touring. Relax. [01:07:00] Speaker A: Oh, my husband and I sat in a spa. We went and watched Match youh Mate in the. Is that the D Lounge or. No, no, no, no, no. [01:07:13] Speaker B: It's. It's azure. It's. It's azure on the Magic and no Fathoms on the magic. [01:07:20] Speaker A: Yeah, and Fathoms. Fathoms. Fathoms. Yeah, and Fathoms. So. And that's where I played bingo, too. And actually the chairs in there were really quite comfortable and so kind of like people watching. We were in there to see the Black Panther, too. So the. The seating in there was really comfortable, and I just kind of liked hanging out with him in there. So I guess Fathoms was a nice place to hang out. [01:07:44] Speaker B: Nice. All right, now you've been on the Magic. You've been on the Wonder. These are the two original Disney cruise line ships. Christine, which one is your favorite? [01:07:56] Speaker A: I would say I like I the Wonder because is my first one so good. Yeah. [01:08:11] Speaker B: Love that. Awesome. All right, the last question of rapid fire. What is your bucket list Cruise? If you could go anywhere on the. In the world on a Disney Cruise Line ship, it doesn't even have to be someplace that Disney Cruise line currently sails. Where are you going? [01:08:26] Speaker A: I want to go everywhere. Just take me all around the world. [01:08:30] Speaker B: I love it. Around the world crazy cruise. Well, I love the idea of an around the world cruise. Brian and I would love to do that at some point in our lives. Maybe after we retire, someday far in the future, we'll get to do that, and hopefully at that point, Disney Cruise line will be doing that. Now we know you've got Alaska booked for next year. Did you book a placeholder or anything else or give anything else in the hopper? [01:08:56] Speaker A: We did book a placeholder, and I would like to get on the fantasy before she goes through dry dock and they take out the teen club and turn it into a concierge tower suite. So I'm hoping to get on it before they do that for my teenagers. I want them to see that cool teen space. [01:09:19] Speaker B: Yeah, well, it's. You know, it's actually going to be. Well, the funny part is. So that's actually the tween space on the. On the fantasy in the dream, not the teen space. The teen space is even better. It's actually at the front of the ship where, like, the rainforest room is on the wish. So it's actually a really great. The teen club is not going to stay. Oh, yes. But it's going to be split because it's going to be part half tween and half teen, we believe. So we don't know exactly what it's going. We'll know. [01:09:50] Speaker A: I got to get them on there first. [01:09:52] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, we'll know very soon because the dream will be sailing very soon. She should be out of dry dock. I mean, as we're talking In October, it's October 12th. So in the coming, I think, week or so, she's going to be coming out of dry dock and heading back across, back across to the US because she's, of course, finished her Europe season. And so, yeah, the fantasy will be going and doing whatever she does next year. I don't know if it'll be identical, but I imagine it will be quite similar. So, yeah, it'll be very interesting to see how that goes. Well, Christine, thank you so much for being a good sport for Rapid Fire, but also for coming on the show and chatting with me about your Halloween on the high seas cruise. Sounds like a. That was a fantastic cruise, even though you wish it was longer and that even though there were some bumps in the road. Now, Christine, I know you actually have a couple of YouTube channels that you. You aren't really doing anymore. Right. But I want to give you the opportunity if you want to share them with folks and to catch up on the videos that you did made. I think they're kind of fun topics that you had. [01:10:56] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, thanks. So my channel is called Domestic Chris. D O N M E S T I C K R Y S and I would like to get back into doing them. But the two major topics that I had was Mickey Money Monday. And so as I was preparing to go to Walt Disney World in 2017 to do the marathon after I graduated from nursing school, I recorded weekly videos where I talked all about how I was saving money for that trip and different kind of tips on how to save money for going to Disney World. And a lot of those, not all of them, but a lot of them are still applicable now. So you can still check those out. It's called Mickey Money Monday. And then after that, as I was saving up for that original 2017 cruise that was canceled, I started filming a series called Cruise Day Tuesday. And again, a lot of those tips are still applicable. I did some filming of packing videos and things like that. And as I mentioned earlier, packing way too much for this cruise. I thought about filming some videos regarding this cruise and I think I still will. I just need some time to still kind of like decompress from coming back. It's been a lot. But yeah, thank you so much for this opportunity and for having us. And thank you so much for you and Brian and Nathan for all of the time that you guys take to, you know, put this work of heart together for all of us. I really appreciate it. I have gained so much and I know so many other people have too from the work that you put into this. And I just want to thank you so much. It has really been a blessing to my family. [01:12:32] Speaker B: Oh thank you Christine. And thanks for joining me. [01:12:39] 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, 5:30 30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out. 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