[00:00:00] Speaker A: How'd she do with the characters?
[00:00:02] Speaker B: Great. She, like walks up, she's good at posing, she loves taking her picture.
I'm a bit concerned, actually.
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Welcome back everybody to this week's episode of the DCL Duo podcast. Brought to you by My Path Unwinding Travel and Sam. I, I have now, I have just taken a stand on the reviews. I went back, I listened, I was unable to untangle this web we have woven of reviews. And so I'm just going to start with a review from BP Gentry from a year ago.
[00:00:48] Speaker C: No, that's Beth.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: Yes, it is. Beth Gentry. Thank you, Beth. And I'm just going to put a plug in here. If for some reason you think, you know what? I think the duo skipped my review and I don't like them for it. Just email us and let me know and I will go back and find your review. Just let me know the username for the review and I will go back and find it and we will make sure it gets read. But for now we're starting here. BP Gentry, who writes five stars for the duo, exclamation point. The DCL duo is the gold standard in Disney podcasting. They have an amazing variety of guests and topics and top notch production. I love hearing about all the cruises I've never gotten to do and taking notes for future trips. Listening to the new episodes is always one of the highlights of my week. Well, Beth, that is just an exceedingly nice review from you. We've actually say, I want to say one thing because we've been on a couple shows where people are like, they're the best. They're like the, like, we're like, we're just standard.
[00:01:42] Speaker C: I love that.
[00:01:43] Speaker A: Yeah, the gold standard as Beth articulated. I think we were on with Paul Thornton. His episode should come out by the time this releases and he was like, oh, they're the, they're just the world class and like we appreciate it, but we're just two people who invested in some microphones, just weirdos. That's how I look at the world. That's how I look at the world. So anyway, thank you, Beth for that wonderful review. We really appreciate it. Sam, over to you to introduce our fun guest. And I'm actually, I'm actually pretty excited about this topic because we get a lot of feedback around, you know, folks wanting to understand what cruising's like for families.
[00:02:13] Speaker C: So this is absolutely super excited to welcome first time guest but not first time cruiser to the show, Becky. Welcome to the show, Becky.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: Thank you for having me. Yeah, exciting to Be on.
[00:02:25] Speaker C: Oh, nice. Love that. Thank you for, for volunteering to come on the show. I always think people, we always say like, if it was just the two of us, you know, two weirdos with microphones, at least we have other people that we can, you know, talk to on the podcast. But let's start where we always like to start. Before we dive into cruising with kids and we're going to talk about cruising with kids, we're going to do a little bit of compare contrast cruising on Disney Cruise Line. And you have a lot of experience on Norwegian Cruise Line. So we're going to talk about that as well. But before we dive into that show topic, we got to get your Disney credentials and of course your cruising creds.
[00:03:02] Speaker B: So I did a lot of Disney parks, mostly Disney World really as a kid. So that three I was lucky enough to go three times and, and then I think I went in college and then I took my 12 year old sister one time, so did that. And then I had a daughter. We went back and I've taken her pretty much every year. And then we decided to do a Disney first Disney cruise in 2023 in September.
[00:03:29] Speaker C: It was nice. And how many of you done now?
[00:03:32] Speaker B: So three Disney cruises and then I have seven Norwegian cruises.
[00:03:38] Speaker C: Oh wow. That's a lot of. Yeah, that's a lot of experience on Norwegian. When did you start sailing on Norwegian Cruise Line?
[00:03:45] Speaker B: So I took my first one in 2010. It was a three day and I don't think I didn't really fall in love with cruising at that point. It was nice, I enjoyed it. But it was a three day and it was cold. It was in February. I think it was so not as nice because the next cruise I took was in 2015. So it was a five year gap. That time is with my now husband and so I love that one. And then I just kept going back more often. The Next one was 2020, right before the COVID shutdown. Luckily was able to do that. Right. I had my daughter. So she was seven months old. Oh wow.
[00:04:21] Speaker C: She was just a baby. For I mean most cruise lines it's six months is sort of the minimum that you can be. In fact certain sailings it's like it's a year if you're doing like a Panama Canal or something like that. But wow. So she, she's been sailing since she was real little. How old is your daughter now?
[00:04:37] Speaker B: She's five.
[00:04:38] Speaker C: Oh my goodness.
[00:04:39] Speaker B: So we got married actually, I've missed one. I think we got married in 2018. On a Norwegian cruise. And then as soon as I can get back in 2020 with the six, the seven month old. So she finally, she was over the six month mark.
[00:04:51] Speaker C: So you caught the bug, but you caught the bug on Norwegian cruise line. That's super interesting. Now she started at seven months. She's been sailing through the age of five. So how many cruises has your daughter been on then?
[00:05:08] Speaker B: She's been on three Norwegian and three Disney. I think at this point, if I'm calculating that correctly.
[00:05:16] Speaker C: Wow, that's some pretty good creds for that little.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: Yeah, she thinks vacations are just cruises. That's the standard.
[00:05:25] Speaker C: Well, let, let's dive in and talk about, you know, the two cruise lines that you guys have chosen obviously to sail on Norwegian and Disney. And you know how, how did you, you, you took a three night cruise, you said on Norwegian. Is that what sort of led you into cruising on Norwegian as opposed to some other cruise line?
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Yeah, we did Norwegian because it has the specialty dining is you can get basically when you do a cruise they give you throw in some nights. Special dining has changed over the years. I don't remember when it was when I first started, but it was all included and so that the food was the draw there. And then they also have a thermal suite that's really nice. And so that was also another awesome. And then of course with no kids, we didn't have to worry about the kids. Clothes.
[00:06:14] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And then you decided to get married on a Norwegian cruise ship. How did that kind of come about? Like did you consider a land based wedding? Like there's not, you know, not a ton of people who have sailed on or have gotten married on cruise ships. It's not the most common but. Curious. Yeah, curious how that came about.
[00:06:37] Speaker B: Yeah. So we briefly considered land based and then I got overwhelmed with all the choices and both my family's in Massachusetts and my husband's family's from Florida. So we were going to have to fly people to places anyways. So then we decided cruise ship. I also my friend got married on the beach and I wanted something near the water, but I didn't want to replicate that. So the cruise was just like the perfect in between.
And then Norwegian was one of the few cruises that actually lets you get legally married on the cruise ship. And so I looked at a lot of them and I think even Disney and there, I think there were like two choices to get legally married on a cruise ship.
[00:07:16] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I think Disney's is you're actually, you're not Actually legally married by like the captain or whoever. It's a.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: You get to say you have to get on with a marriage license. Yeah. And then they. And like yeah, I've got been married. And then the captain's just sort of. It's like a vow renewal, it seems basically.
[00:07:33] Speaker C: Yeah. But that means like your wedding, the official or the legal date and your ceremonial date are two different dates. If you're doing on a lot of cruise lines that kind of a wedding. But that's pretty cool on NCL that it was an illegal wedding. So does that mean you got married by the captain?
[00:07:51] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:07:53] Speaker C: That's cool.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: Very cool.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: And it has a location is the middle of the water for where I got married. So it's pretty awesome.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: I want to make sure we talk about. Because you have a. You've experienced it. How many cruises have your kids been on?
[00:08:07] Speaker C: Just one kid, Brian. And she's been on now you said I think six.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: And how many between Disney and Norwegian? Like how many with.
[00:08:17] Speaker B: So three. She's been on all three the Disney cruises and then she's been on the three of the Norwegian cruises.
[00:08:24] Speaker A: Okay. And so since you're first. Your first cruise with her was on Norwegian. Like what did. How old was she for that first cruise?
[00:08:32] Speaker B: Seven months.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: Seven months. Okay. When does she get to kids club age? Has she been on like a Norwegian cruise and had to do like a kids club kind of situation?
[00:08:40] Speaker B: Yeah. So we've done two cruises where she's been in the kids club last year or I guess it'll be the year before. So that was 2023 December.
We waited a five day to Bermuda and then that was the contrast between the kids club during that trip and the last one we just did in December was very different because for some reason the kids club was mobbed. And so we never. We had trouble getting her into the kids club last the one before. But this past time was actually we had no problems.
[00:09:12] Speaker A: Right.
[00:09:12] Speaker C: Oh, so they like reached capacity. Like at Norwegian.
Were there certain times of day that were more difficult or easier?
[00:09:21] Speaker B: Yeah, well, the one that was difficult was because we were stuck at sea. We were supposed to go to Bermuda, but then it was too nasty weather and we weren't able to dock. And so we were five days circling the Atlantic. And I think people were desperate to do things with their kids. So they equated a little bit of backup in the kids club.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Let me back up to when she was seven months old and you went on Norwegian. Did they have. So Disney has the nursery. Did Norwegian have something similar. And what was that setup like?
[00:09:52] Speaker B: Yeah, so when she was seven months, they did have a nursery. It was only on one ship, which is a ship that we went on and we did do drop off a couple times around dinner time. And it was. It was great. They don't think they. There were certain things that they couldn't do. It might have been diaper changing, but I've heard that it's no longer being offered. So that's an unfortunate thing. And so you have to be three, I think, on your weekend to get to the kids clubs.
[00:10:16] Speaker C: Oh, like. So there is no nursery anymore at all?
[00:10:19] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay.
[00:10:20] Speaker A: Wow. Okay.
[00:10:21] Speaker C: Do they have any kind of babysitting or anything? Any offering for anybody under age three or is it just you're. If you're under age three, you're with your parents?
[00:10:29] Speaker B: Yeah, not that I'm aware of. Maybe others can correct me, but as far as I know, they. They got rid of that service during COVID and then they didn't bring it back.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: Wow, that's kind of crazy. Okay, so now she's been. Now she's at age three. Done. Kids Club. Tell us what that experience is like on Norweg specifically.
[00:10:52] Speaker B: Yeah. So the Kids Clubs, they do a lot of activities. There's face painting at least three times during our cruise.
I think she also liked to. There's Mario Kart and Nintendo games. So I think she spent a lot of time doing that. The actual Kids Club is just like big open spaces. So I think it's a lot more activities or the gaming rather than Disney, which is a lot of. I think there's a lot more variety.
[00:11:19] Speaker C: Yeah. Now how does the sort of registration process work? Let's do like an apples to apples comparison. Right. So with Disney Cruise Line, you do some. You can do some pre registration, but then when you go on the ship, you actually go to the Kids Club and make sure they've got all the information. Right. You get your kid the Kids Club band so that you can check them in and out. And of course you let you know, the cast members know of any sort of special requests or issues that your kid might have. How does it work on. On Norwegian?
[00:11:53] Speaker B: Yes, it's pretty similar.
They. They have tables set up inside the kids Club and then they take all the parents too and talk to them individually as they sign them up. But they're asking the same kind of things. They don't get a magic band, obviously, but they get a.
It's kind of like just a plastic wristband type thing. And then they're supposed to wear, they supposed to wear that the entire cruise. So you just have to get it the first time you go into the kids club.
[00:12:20] Speaker C: Gotcha. And then what about like drop off and pick up like times like what are their, what are their hours similar to what we see on Disney Cruise Line which is, I mean typically open till midnight and of course they open pretty early in the morning. I want to say maybe like 7am for Disney kids clubs, although they often have open house hours, you know, sort of at times in the middle of the day in particular on port days in the morning. What's sort of the offering? I know from at least with Royal Caribbean like they kind of shut down during meal times. And so I'm curious about on ncl what the sort of availability is as far as you know, throughout the day.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: Yeah, it's pretty similar to Royal. That's where Disney really hits it out of the park with the basically being open all day. But yes, 9 to 12, 2 to 5 I think and am I getting that right?
And then I think it opens back up at 7 and then I think it's like 7 to 10 and then you pay extra for 10 to 12.
[00:13:22] Speaker C: Oh wow. It's like identical to Royal then because the hours seem either identical or almost identical and then the paying after 10 from 10 to midnight basically. We had the same thing with Royal because we did let Nathan go to the kids club, you know, and stay there past 10 and you had to pay. I can't remember if it was like $10 an hour maybe but like you could pay by the half hour if they only stayed. If let's say he stayed till like 10:25, you only paid for a half hour. You didn't pay, you know, from 10 to 11 it was that similar.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: So we didn't use the after hours because.
Yeah, yeah, we tried, we tried to keep her on schedule. It wasn't always successful but tried to figure out by nine but yeah, I think it was a similar price if I remember correctly.
[00:14:10] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:14:10] Speaker A: So and just, just to go back for a second. So I'm looking at Norwegian site and can, I can confirm they don't mention anything. Obviously if you do a search there's the mention of the encore had it or the entourage. One of the, one of the Norwegian ships did have a guppies nursery but to your point it, it now is just Guppies Open Play and it says for the littlest cruisers, Guppies Open Play offers a play space for parents to interact with their infants. Babies Toddlers 6 months to 3 years old or children in diapers. It does. Interestingly enough, though, I think this is a little bit different from Disney. It does appear like you can have kids in the youth programs at age 3 who still require, like, diaper changes, which is a big difference from.
From dcl. I'm gonna read that a little bit more closely here as we keep talking, but that's. That's different. And I suspect the parent has to come back and make the.
[00:15:03] Speaker C: Well, so here's the thing. This is something people should know on dcl, because I think a lot of people don't know this or. And I want to put this out there and say the caveat is you might get different answers from different cast members on this. But I have heard for people who have children that are three and older, often, you know, children who are even like five or six with, like, developmental disabilities who are still diapering, they will often make exceptions to the policy to let those kids come into the kids club. But what they will require. And I'm talking about on dcl, but what they will require is that a parent come and check on the child every 45 minutes, every hour, something like that, to check on whether or not they need a diaper change so that they're not walking around in a soiled diaper for, you know, a longer period of time. And of course, then you have to check them out and check them back in for that.
[00:15:59] Speaker A: Well, that. That's because, I mean, Norwegian says it on their website, Disney says it on theirs. They can't help the kids in the. The bath like that. Just. That just poses way too many risks for adults interacting with children in that way that aren't their parents. So. Yeah, I mean, it's totally understandable why.
[00:16:13] Speaker B: They have that rule. So. Yeah.
[00:16:15] Speaker A: But interesting that Norwegian has no nursery offering. How did your daughter find the kids club? Like, so on Royal, it's like, basically maybe mildly themed daycare spaces with a bunch of activities that are pretty structured that the kids kind of do. Was it that way on Norwegian?
[00:16:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's probably very similar. We're gonna go on Royal in June, so I'll be able to directly compare.
[00:16:40] Speaker A: But what was the report back from. From going. I mean, did. Did she enjoy going to the kids club? Did she want to go to the kids club or, you know.
[00:16:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:49] Speaker A: What was the report back off of those initial sailings on Norwegian?
[00:16:52] Speaker B: Yeah, so she loved going to the kids club, and she pretty much asked to go all the time. She didn't she doesn't like to make it through the entire dinner. So sometimes we would start dinner and then when this kids club opened, we had someone bring her up and she was like, yeah, bye.
And she's really easy to make friends. She'll just go up to people and ask them to be her friend. So we've been very lucky in that sense. But I think she really liked to play Mario Kart. I think that was really what the draw was.
Yeah.
[00:17:24] Speaker C: Sounds not too dissimilar from a kid. We know she's not alone.
[00:17:28] Speaker A: She's not alone. What other kinds of services did they have for kids on board, if any? You know, if you think about Disney, you think about kind of that whole experience end to end for kids. You know, everything from the servers, like cutting up their steak for them and making little Mickey ketchups on their plates and, you know, that kind of stuff. But like, there's kind of an end to end offering on Disney for kids. Like what. What did you find on Norwegian beyond, kind of the club spaces?
[00:17:53] Speaker B: Yeah, there wasn't too much more besides the standard. So there was a splash pad. There were slides. They had two pools back there and the kind of family spaces. So there's a lot of pool space. And she just.
[00:18:07] Speaker C: We.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: She spent like hours in the splash pad. And it was placed so you could. There was like some chairs that. To the side. So we just like sat there while she played for two over two hours. And it was really nice.
[00:18:19] Speaker C: That is really nice. That's a nice way to relax. Just kind of sitting on the pool deck. What about. Do they have like a mini golf or any of the other sort of deck activities for kids?
[00:18:32] Speaker B: I'm not sure if they still have the mini golf they did at one point. They have a.
Each of the ships have different things. Um, this one had a rope kind of a ropes course, but we didn't do. Because it was. She wasn't quite the right age, I think for it.
[00:18:47] Speaker C: Yeah, she might probably not tall enough for it, frankly. They probably have a. They probably have an age and height requirement for a lot of those kinds of things.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: Yeah, we didn't actually look into it, so can't. I don't remember what if that. If there was actual requirement.
I just didn't want to go up in the ropes course.
[00:19:05] Speaker C: What about, like, onboard activities? Obviously, when we think about Disney Cruise Line, we think about, you know, family karaoke and family trivia and towel folding and, you know, things that are. And crafts. Right. All these things that are open, you know, some of which are actually geared towards younger kids. Not the trivia, but the. Some of the other ones. But a lot of family game shows are a good example.
But, you know, there are obviously, you know, ones that are not game. Not geared towards kids. But I'm curious on ncl, what kinds of offerings they had for, you know, for families to participate, particularly with young kids?
[00:19:46] Speaker B: Yeah, they have some trivia and they do do crafts. They tend to be not, well, as well organized.
They have like, the box below the craft supplies, and you just go up and get it and you kind of go off and do it by yourself. So it's not as structured.
[00:20:02] Speaker C: Gotcha. Yeah, yeah. On dcl, you would normally everybody will sort of do the craft in the same space to your point, you know, they'll be in the, like, the French Quarter Lounge is a great example on the Wonder. They'll. You hand out all the materials. They might talk you through what you're supposed to do in order to create the thing, and then you're kind of on your own. You don't have to stay in the space to complete the project. But all the supplies are still there. And so if you need more, you know, tape or glue or whatever, like, it's all still right there. And so people tend to sort of stay around. What about shows? Like, obviously on Disney Cruise Line, all the shows are family friendly. You know, you can bring your toddler into the Walt Disney Theater. You have your toddler sitting there, and they can make noise. And generally people won't give you dirty looks because that's just kind of the way it works on Disney Cruise Line.
How did that go on Norwegian?
[00:21:02] Speaker B: So I think the shows themselves are not targeted to kids as much as Disney does. So that's the main issue. I mean, I saw people bringing their kids into the shows.
The main show was Million Dollar Court Quartet. Yeah, Million Dollar Quartet was the name. It was great. It's been like, did a fantastic job.
But, yeah, it was not for kids. We put. Yeah, Sabrina Winston, the kids club during that show. Although she can't sit through a Disney show either. We started not taking her actually in the last one because she makes it maybe halfway through, and then she complains.
[00:21:37] Speaker C: Yeah, well, I mean, Nathan, at age 11, doesn't want to sit through the only one I dragged him down to on our. Our Christmas sailings. Two weeks of cruising. I took him to the Main Stage Theater exactly one time, and I. It was to go see Moana. And I will be honest and tell you, as much as I love that show, And Brian loved that show. Nathan, I could see, like, was just kind of being a trooper. He would have.
[00:22:09] Speaker A: Did you ask, did you ask him about it after? Because I thought. I asked him about it and he like said he really liked it.
[00:22:13] Speaker C: I asked him about it. But like, I'll tell you, he asked me. I can't tell you how many times in the middle of the show he asked me, like, what time is it? How much time is left? Right. Like he is constantly. But he's one, he's not like a theater. There are some kids who just love theater. Right. Nathan is not one of those kids, which it breaks my heart that he is not, but he's just not.
And two, for him it is kind of a longer period of time and there's no, you know, movement breaks and things like that. And so it's, it's harder. He can, he could sit through, sees the adventure probably easier. Which is, you know, about a half hour long show on Disney Cruise Line versus Moana, which is about an hour long show.
But you know, he can sit through like a two hour movie. It's just got to be like his interest. And I don't know that. I don't know that musicals are a. I mean, I know some people with kids and Becky, you probably know people like this too. And you'll see it on Disney Cruise Line.
You'll see people with 2 and 3 year olds who will sit through an hour show. It's just very individual. Yeah, yeah.
[00:23:25] Speaker B: She also is the snake in Aladdin. She was scared of that. So there's little parts that she also gets tense with.
[00:23:34] Speaker C: Yes. Well, we know a nine year old who gets afraid of all this stuff on the stage as well with his friends of ours who sail with us quite often. If they're listening, they'll know who I'm talking about.
[00:23:48] Speaker B: Frozen movie, but did not really make it all the way through. It's a Frozen show.
[00:23:51] Speaker C: Oh, interesting. Yeah. You know, some kids it's. Live theater is not like, I don't know, some kids, the animation, something about it makes them be able to hold their attention more than live theater. So it's, it's definitely an interesting proposition. Let's talk about food though, because I feel like that's always an important thing to think about when you're cruising with your young kids.
You know, we talk about Mickey's Mac and Cheese all the time. We talk about the pool deck, burgers and fries. There's frankly everywhere you. I mean in any of the dining rooms you can almost always order well, you can always order burger and fries or pizza or chicken fingers. Right. Those are, like, staples.
How was it on Norwegian with, you know, food options for Sabrina?
[00:24:41] Speaker B: Yeah, so they have, I think it's about six, maybe six options. They're pretty much the same every night that you can pick pizza, burgers.
Those are peanut butter and jelly with potato chips was one of them.
Trying to think what else she ordered, but the other, basically, the standard Mac and cheese was another one, which she's also a big fan of. Mac and cheese. She basically, she alternates, I think, Mac and cheese and then pizza, typically.
[00:25:07] Speaker C: Nice.
And. And how's the. The service as far as, like, getting the food out on the quicker side? Do they do that? I mean, we see that on Disney, where adults will order everything at once. We'll order our appetizers, our mains, our desserts. The kids will often not order an appetizer, and we'll just jump right to their main. And the crew, they try to bring the kids food, their main dishes, either before or with our appetizers. How did that work on Norwegian?
[00:25:42] Speaker B: Typically showed up around the appetizers. So the same time they were bringing the appetizers for the rest of the table. I think there's, like, one night where she kept asking where food was. But, yeah, for the most part, it was pretty good.
[00:25:53] Speaker C: Yeah, that's great. Well, let's talk about stateroom and what kind of stuff you can get on board. Now, you started sailing with Sabrina when she was seven months old. So what? But did you have any communication with the cruise line prior to sailing about what you might need in your stateroom?
[00:26:15] Speaker B: Yeah, so they offer the pack and play option, the stateroom, and we were sailing in the Haven, which is Disney's Norwegian version of the concierge, which we decided to do because she's a baby, and we thought it would just make it easier on ourselves.
So I think that was pretty easy to do. I don't think they'd offer anything like the Genie, the Diaper Genie, or anything like that. I think we just. I think we just did a regular, like, tied them in bags and put them in the trash.
[00:26:46] Speaker C: Oh, wow. That would be annoying, to be perfectly honest. Just because, I mean, diapers smell. Let's, like, not that the Diaper Genie, like, is perfect, but it's at least, like, a little bit, I think better of a solution than just. Just tying in individual bags. I mean, I. You. We do that. Like, I. I remember when Nathan was little, I would carry along those. Those bags. They're like dog poop bags. You can poop bags. Yeah, yeah. And you wrap the, the dirty diaper in it and. And then they're usually scented to, to kind of mask the, the gross poopy smell of the diapers. But yeah, I mean, I guess, I guess if they're emptying your trash quite regularly, then it's probably not too bad. But that's a little bit of a bummer, I'll be honest, that they don't offer the diaper genie.
[00:27:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I can't remember that being a thing. And then when I saw it on the Disney website, I was like, wow, that's pretty. Wish I had done that.
[00:27:41] Speaker C: Yeah. Now, what was her youngest age sailing on Disney?
[00:27:47] Speaker B: She was just turned four.
[00:27:50] Speaker C: Okay. So she was a little bit older. Probably out of diapers at that point. Yeah. Okay.
[00:27:56] Speaker B: I have some potty training issues, so leading up to the cruise I was very stressful trying to get her to a spot where she could go to the kids club and I didn't have to worry about her.
[00:28:05] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Just like incentivizing her that if she was potty trained then she could go to the kids club. I do see that a lot.
[00:28:13] Speaker B: Yeah. And also use the pool. The pool, I think was the big motivator.
[00:28:16] Speaker A: Can I rewind for one second? I just want to ask the stateroom. So what were the sleeping arrangements like.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: In the stateroom for when she was seven months? So the Haven, we got a. It was a two room.
So there was a king size bed in one room and a pullout couch in the other room. And we put the pack and play out there. But my daughter, I had trouble getting her to sleep in any kind of crib at that age. So she was sharing the bed with us.
[00:28:41] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:28:43] Speaker B: But in theory she would have been in another room.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Have you done any Norwegian sailings outside of the Haven with her?
[00:28:51] Speaker B: Yeah. So the most recent two were outside the Haven.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: And what are those rooms like that you stayed in and what were the sort of the sleeping arrangements like?
[00:28:59] Speaker B: Yeah, so one of them was just a standard balcony. And then the one we were just on is.
It's called mini. I think it's a mini suite. It's mini clubs or something like that. Mini club suite. And it's basically the same size as a standard balcony, but the bathroom is bigger and it has a tub, which is why we went up to that one, because she's hit or miss sometimes with showers.
[00:29:20] Speaker A: And was that one a pull out couch or was that one like. Did they have like a, A Bunk. Kind of like Disney does. Yeah, yeah.
[00:29:27] Speaker B: So they have a bunk, but I didn't tell her they had a bunk. So she slept on the couch. Part of it.
[00:29:32] Speaker A: All right, there you go. And was she comfortable? Did she sleep okay?
[00:29:37] Speaker B: Yep. She's no complaints. At least. I just realized I don't think we put any of the bars on the sides this last time. Oh, like, no.
[00:29:45] Speaker C: Bed rail.
[00:29:45] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, bed rail. Thank you. Yeah.
[00:29:47] Speaker C: Well, now she's bigger. I mean, at like, not to say there aren't. There are some, you know, four and five year olds who still use a bed rail, but you, I mean, if they're a restless sleeper and they roll out of the bed, they're not rolling far. It's not. If it was a bunk bed, it has to have a rail. But if it's the couch bed, it's. Yeah, it's is low to the ground. We're not, we're not worried about any injury if, if they roll things away from the. Exactly, exactly, exactly.
And okay, so we gotta. I gotta ask, like, does she have a preference now? She has sailed a little, you know, on Disney.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: Well, hold on, wait, before we go there, before we get to her preference, you're skipping to the dessert. Sorry, we still got to get through the main course here. I'm curious, what made you decide to jump from Norwegian to Disney? Was it just, you know, because it's Disney and you have a kid or what drove that decision?
[00:30:41] Speaker B: So it was a little bit of it's Disney because we have a kid. But I also, I love Disney. And so we've always wanted to try Disney. This just gives us the excuse to do so because it is more expensive. It was a bit of a price jump.
So I think that was the motivating factor. Then of course, we did it in September 2023 and then we did it again in January 2024 and then again in August 2024. So we kind of fucked a bit onto dust. Disney.
[00:31:08] Speaker A: Which ships for Disney?
[00:31:09] Speaker B: Have you been on Fantasy Twice and the Magic Once.
[00:31:13] Speaker A: Okay. All right. And so obviously she's old enough at that point. She's in kids clubs. You didn't have to worry about the nursery on Disney Cruise Line.
[00:31:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Although she loves going in there for the open play, the toys they have in there.
[00:31:29] Speaker A: We know that people trust Disney for their vacations and it can sometimes be a little nerve wracking to think about trying something new. Right, Sam?
[00:31:36] Speaker C: Yeah. Whether you're considering branching out to a new cruise line, an all inclusive resort, or exploring Europe the team at MyPath Unwinding Travel has the expertise and connections across the globe to plan almost any vacation. They can even help with the Universal parks. They've helped us plan our vacations beyond Disney, including Royal Caribbean Princess Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages.
[00:31:54] Speaker A: Their team of travel professionals all understand the needs of a Disney traveler, can help you decide if another option is right for you, and then guide you through every step of your new vacation experience. Whether you are dreaming of a fun getaway to an all inclusive resort, a river cruise in Europe, or an adventure in Costa Rica, the folks at MyPath Unwinding are ready to help. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your next vacation even more amazing.
[00:32:15] Speaker C: If you want to learn more and take advantage of the amazing team at MyPathUnwind Travel, then head over to MyPathUnwinding.com DCLDUO or email DCLDUoyPathUnwinding.com to let them know we sent you their way. Thanks MyPath Unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:32:35] Speaker A: What does she think of the kids club on Disney? I mean, it's a totally different thing in some ways.
[00:32:41] Speaker B: Yeah. So her favorite place is Andy's room on Disney. She will basically spend most of her time in there. The one in the Magic, she really likes the slide, so that was probably her favorite thing and that was part of the reason we actually went on Magic because she's a big slide fan so I thought she would enjoy it.
[00:32:57] Speaker A: Is she going in and staying for like, what's the routine like on Disney Cruise Line for her with the kids clubs? Like our, you know, our son, as he got older it would be like, I'm gone. Peace out, see you later. No, actually at the kids club he liked to get in and out of there as he got older because he wanted to be like, like he didn't want to confine himself in there. And then as he's gotten into Edge now he like goes and just. It's, it's video, it's all video games all the time. But what was, what's the routine like with her and the kids clubs in terms of, you know, does she sounds like she likes to go but does she like to stay and you know, what's that been like for you?
[00:33:31] Speaker B: So I think when she started she would only stay for like a little bit. She definitely liked to go after dinner and so that was the point where we would be. She'd stay there as long as till we came and picked her up. But there was a couple times where she was calling to ask to be picked up, but she hasn't done that in Norwegian.
[00:33:50] Speaker A: I'm curious. Let me back up and just say is between the two. Well, she's in the kids club. Have you gotten to do any kind of like. Sounds like she loves to go after dinner. So are you getting to do any, like, adult dining or adult activities on board, either Norwegian or Disney? I don't know how the offering works on Norwegian. It seems like on Disney, it's like Kids club's open. Kids are going to the kids Club, Parents are headed to the tube or whatever venue they're headed to. What's your experience like with that?
[00:34:16] Speaker B: That's actually a good thing to talk about because the. Especially dining on Norwegian, you can take kids too, and they'll offer the same kids menu. So it's basically like eating in the regular. Regular dining room. But yeah, like I said, she'll eat our food and then she will get bored. And then we take her to the kids club on Norwegian. And then we did.
I was nervous the first time we on when she was 4 going on Disney that she wouldn't say while we were at Paolo. And we went to Remy as well. And she did. She stayed the entire time. I don't know if they.
[00:34:45] Speaker C: Oh, wow. And Remy is a long meal.
[00:34:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So that was when I was really. I'm nervous. But it worked out great and we had a great time.
[00:34:53] Speaker C: That's awesome. Yeah, that's. Listen, that's a big accomplishment. I don't think people always realize, like, we. We love going to Remy, but we. The first couple times we sailed were without Nathan. And so we were able to go to Remy. And then it was years that we could not go to R.E.M. um, because the meal is a lot longer.
[00:35:18] Speaker B: Right.
[00:35:18] Speaker C: We could do Paulo because you could do Paulo quicker, either for dinner or brunch. Brunch was always easier. He was a little bit more willing to go to the kids Club actually during the day. But yeah, Remy was just not in the cards. And it is now again, because now he. I mean, now he. Even last year when he was still in the kids club, he. He would go for a long enough time that it was fine. But now for sure. Cause now that he's an edge kid and has all this sort of independence and freedom, he's perfectly happ to roam the ship and go get ice cream from the pool deck.
All the things.
[00:35:54] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. It was like halfway during the meal. It was a little stressful because I was kept waiting for the shoe to drop, for her to call or for us to have to stop. But, yeah, it worked out. It was great.
[00:36:04] Speaker A: All right, so going back to Disney for a second, Sam, I almost feel like we need to get into verses here. So I don't want to steal your thunder for the end of the show, but I kind of want to start to ask some questions around that we.
[00:36:14] Speaker C: Can do a verses and then I'll do a regular rapid fire if you want, Brian.
[00:36:19] Speaker A: All right, so whose kids? Well, yeah, let's not do cruise line just yet, because I'll just give it away. But who's. Whose kids clubs does she seem to like better? Disney or Norwegian?
[00:36:30] Speaker B: I think it's the last ship she's been on because I asked her what was her favorite cruise ship, and she said it was the last one. But I also know she really likes the Disney cruise ship, so I really think it's just whatever one she's been on the most recent.
[00:36:44] Speaker A: That's fair.
[00:36:45] Speaker C: Love the one you're with. We like to say, you know, I.
[00:36:47] Speaker B: Mean, she's always happy.
[00:36:49] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:36:49] Speaker A: We've taken Nathan on Royal. He's like, oh, I love the kids clubs. With the other. We take him to Disney's. Like, I love these kids clubs. So.
[00:36:54] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:36:56] Speaker C: Kids pickle. Yeah.
[00:36:58] Speaker A: What about in terms of, like, the pool area and the slides and stuff? I mean, I don't know. Is she done, like the. Well, you wouldn't. Magic wouldn't have had magic. Would have a slide, but the fantasy would have had the aqua duck. Has she done any of that kind of stuff? And what'd she think of the pool area and, like, the slides and stuff is between the two.
[00:37:16] Speaker B: Yeah. So her favorite thing to do is to get into the pool with her life jacket and just watch tv.
So that's her absolute favorite thing. But she also loves the splash pads, and I think.
I think it was Nemo themed on the fantasy splash pad. And then she, like I said, she spent like two hours on the splash pad and on the Norwegian ship. So as long as there are those things. I think the slides were better on Disney, though, for the. I think it was like the yellow Mickey Mouse slide. She really liked that one. That one was her speed. The ones on the Norwegian were a little bit steeper, but there was a slide that you could do. Do. And so she went on that a couple times.
[00:37:54] Speaker C: Well, that's a good point, because the magic, you have the yellow Mickey slide and then you have the Aqua Dunk and the Yellow Mickey Slide is perfect for kids of like all ages pretty much. I mean, there have to be under a certain height, I believe, to go on that one, but that one's tame. Aqua Dunk is not for. I mean, I don't like it. It's intense.
[00:38:15] Speaker B: None of us did that one.
[00:38:16] Speaker C: Yeah, so that's not. It's not going to be for most 5 year olds. I don't even know if they have. They probably have a. They do have a he limit, but I don't know. Or height minimum, I should say. But I don't know what it is or what the age, what that would sort of, you know, equate to. But yeah, that's a. That's a good question.
[00:38:35] Speaker B: Yeah, for the Aqua Duct, we. She did do that one, but I think that one's a. Was a little intense for. At the time. She's four, so I don't know if she would like it better now.
[00:38:44] Speaker C: I bet give it like a year or two years and she'll be a big fan of the AquaDuck. And then if you go on the Wish or the Treasure, the Aqua Mouse as well, they're. I mean, not to say they are certainly more intense than the Yellow Mickey Slide, but they are not like the Aqua Dunk level of intensity. Yeah.
[00:39:04] Speaker A: Okay, so stepping aside from pool deck, what about like activities on board? Is she into the family activities on Disney? Does she like. Is that something that like, does Disney win out there? Because it has maybe perhaps a little bit more to do on board?
[00:39:18] Speaker B: I think so because she loves doing the pictures with the characters. She loves princesses. She's like obsessed with princesses. So. So I think that really pushes it for her. In addition, I don't think we did too many activities beyond just the character meet and greets in the kids clubs and the pool deck.
[00:39:37] Speaker A: How'd she do with the characters?
[00:39:39] Speaker B: Great. She walks up. She's good at posing. She loves taking her picture.
I'm a bit concerned, actually.
[00:39:49] Speaker C: I'm a bit concerned.
[00:39:51] Speaker A: It's funny. Have you tried Bibbidi Boppity Boutique with her on Disney?
[00:39:54] Speaker B: Yeah. So we did that on our first cruise and we did the whole thing where she bought that. She got a dress. She got Tiana's dress and she got the whole.
[00:40:02] Speaker C: And your wallet was empty.
[00:40:03] Speaker B: And my wallet was empty.
She loved it. She was. She's been wearing that dress. She was wearing it this morning, actually. She's. She does a lot of costume changes throughout the day.
[00:40:15] Speaker C: I know. I understand why you're concerned.
You've got a little princess on your hands.
[00:40:22] Speaker B: Yeah, she's very dramatic too. So.
[00:40:27] Speaker A: What about food?
So it's between like Norwegian and Disney. Does she seem to have a preference around food at dining times or just generally food across the ships?
[00:40:37] Speaker B: I don't think she seemed to. Didn't seem to have any kind of preference like for the Disney Mac and cheese over the Norwegian Mac and cheese. But she's pretty easy to please. So she's not as picky, I guess, as some kids may be. We went one time on Disney we. You know how they give you vegetables for the Disney. So that. That's nice. I don't think there was any vegetables in the Norwegian kids meals, but she. She'll dip them in ketchup and she'll eat them. So that's good.
[00:41:06] Speaker C: It's like three vegetables, by the way. It's like literally when I say three vegetables, I mean like three pieces. There's like one piece of broccoli, one piece of cauliflower and one piece of carrot on every single plate.
[00:41:18] Speaker B: Yeah, but she was trading with. We went with a friend and her. Their son was trading, giving him. Her. All her. About his. Yeah, all her. His vegetables. And so she ended up with six pieces.
[00:41:28] Speaker C: Oh, wow. Yeah. Well, I will tell you, Nathan practically accrue Sam. Nathan will also. He's. He. He will eat all three of the vegetables and then if somebody else is giving up their broccoli, he will eat somebody else's broccoli as well because he is also a vegetable. I mean, not all vegetables, but like the three vegetables that they give you are not like the. They're probably the three easiest vegetables, I feel like. So.
[00:41:56] Speaker B: But it is nice to have at least that option.
[00:41:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:42:01] Speaker A: Okay, so we've covered food. What about. Let me just back up and start asking you some questions like which cruise line do you prefer from a kids and family standpoint?
[00:42:12] Speaker B: So it's definitely Disney. Disney just makes it a little bit easier to travel, I think, with the family and with kids, the Norwegian. So I was a bit worried when we went last in 2023, December 2023, when we had that whole kids club just run on the kids club where there was no room. There was. Because there was nothing to do. Everything was inside. The weather was so terrible outside. And so that was terrible. So I would not recommend a cold weather cruise on Norwegian with kids. But then our last cruise in December out of New Orleans, that was fantastic. It was warm weather. She was able to go on the pool deck. Kids clubs was available. So that Was. It was. It was perfectly fine. But Disney has all the meet and greets with the characters that she loves and the just like the theming we went on the magic and she loved the Rapunzel themed restaurant, just things like that. And of course, the kids clubs are very well themed.
[00:43:09] Speaker A: What about state rooms for you between the two cruise lines? I mean, Disney is kind of known as, like, this is a family setup for our staterooms. It's. Did you find any daylight between the two cruise lines on the staterooms in terms of their usability as a family?
[00:43:21] Speaker B: Yeah, I think because they have a standard bath bathtub that is really helpful for young kids. And then the curtain that separates the bed from the couch or the bunk bed that is also very helpful because then you can still. They can put them to bed. It can be dark over there and you can also be getting ready for bed and not disturb her. So that was great.
[00:43:45] Speaker C: Yeah. And I mean, the curtain doesn't prevent noise from, you know, obviously, so it's not like the perfect solution. But I think I totally agree with you. As far as I know, particularly when Nathan was younger, we would, you know, put him to bed. At least he would be in the dark side of the room. And we could still, like you said, be getting ready for bed. We could be reading in bed. We probably couldn't be watching TV because the, you know, obviously the noise from the tv, but we could be watching something on our phone or we could reading or just getting ourselves ready for bed without kind of disturbing him by having some lights on. Yeah, yeah. Which is a really nice feature. And then with the bathtub, I just want to put the caveat out there. Most, not all Disney staterooms, but most Disney staterooms have bathtubs. You know, there are, like I said, there are a couple of exceptions. And of course, accessible rooms do not have bathtubs at all. They always have, you know, the showers that a wheelchair could roll in. But I think there are some others, a handful of other staterooms that do not have bathtubs, but the vast majority of them do. It is the. Is the exception to the rule when one does not. And the split bath, I think, is also really nice. Now, again, not every state, not all. What is it? Not all the inside staterooms have split baths on Disney, but most of the rooms on Disney have the split bath. And for those who have not been on a Disney cruise and are listening for the first time, a split bath is one where the shower bathtub is in one little room with a sink and a Vanity and then the toilet and a sink and vanity are in another little room. So you have. Instead of having two sinks. Two. Only one sink. You have two sinks. And so while somebody is pooping, somebody else can be getting ready. Or when somebody is showering, somebody else can be getting ready so that you. You have a little. But I think it helps, particularly with families. It also helps, frankly, for. Even when it's just a couple sailing.
[00:45:49] Speaker B: Yeah. If only they can have two bathrooms.
[00:45:51] Speaker C: Baths.
[00:45:52] Speaker B: I'm sorry, the toilets. Because she always decides that she needs it when someone else is using it.
[00:45:59] Speaker C: That's such a kid thing to do. Nathan does the same.
[00:46:02] Speaker A: Now you've tried Norwegian, I want to step back. You've tried Norwegian? You sailed Norwegian's Haven? We were supposed to sail Norwegian to Alaska, and I had booked us in the Haven. And then I started reading online, just lots of back and forth from. From people about whether kids should be in the Haven or not. Did you. Did. Did you find anyone, like, resistant to, you know, you having your daughter there in the Haven with you or did you feel out of place or anything like that?
[00:46:26] Speaker B: No, we weren't the only ones with the baby, actually, because. So there's a. Haven has a restaurant that you can eat at, and we do basically a lot of the meals there. And there was just. There was another couple with a kid or baby who was about the same age, so we didn't feel like it was weird at all. And then they have the private pool. We were on the escape and they have. The Haven has this private pool area. And so we bring her there. We had little jumper thing, portable jumper thing that we put her in. We just hang out there and no one ever said anything, but she couldn't.
[00:47:02] Speaker C: Go in the pool because she was in diapers. Yeah.
[00:47:04] Speaker B: Yeah. So she was pool adjacent.
[00:47:06] Speaker C: Yeah, pool adjacent. I like that. I like.
[00:47:10] Speaker A: Now, what about. Have you sailed concierge at all on Disney?
[00:47:13] Speaker B: I have not. The price has been.
[00:47:15] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's totally fair. It's. I mean, like, put it in perspective. Norwegian Haven is a lot less expensive than Disney Cruise Lines concierge product. And to be fair, I don't. I'm not sure there's a huge amount of daylight between the two offerings. In some ways, Norwegian may have a better offering, but that's good to know. What other tips would you give for folks is if. If they're balancing out, you know, because, look, if you want to go to a la Alaska, Norwegian Sails out of Seattle instead of Vancouver. I think they might also sell at Vancouver, they tend to be maybe a little less expensive than Disney, maybe not. Alaska's not always a fair comparison, but I think they're less expensive than Disney going to Alaska. They're certainly less expensive than Disney on many, many other itineraries. And we've heard good things about Norwegian. So how would you sort of think through the decision if someone came to you and said, look, I'm going to go sand my family, we've got young kids, you know, help them think through that decision. What are the key points that you would think through as between booking Norwegian or Disney? Is it just price or is there other, other, other factors?
[00:48:17] Speaker B: I think price and then also the itineraries, they're a lot more diverse than Disney. That's like the one thing I would change for Disney is have a little bit more variety in where they go. But yeah, so I think price in that area would be the top things. And you can have a perfectly fun trip on Norwegian. It just won't have that little extra bit.
[00:48:38] Speaker C: The extra magic.
[00:48:39] Speaker B: Extra magic, yes.
[00:48:40] Speaker C: That's, that's, yeah, that pixie dust there's. So that's the thing is, like, I think we try to tell people because, you know, we've been obviously on Royal and even before we had Nathan many years ago, we had went on Celebrity. We have had a really nice time and we of course recently went on Virgin. We've had a really nice time on all of the lines. I honestly can't think of any of the cruises like, as being bad. Like we've, we've had actually. I, I am sure that there are bad cruise experiences out there. We've had a few people on our show to talk about them even. But I, I don't think that, you know, I wouldn't say, oh, if you go on a different cruise line, you're just not going to have a good time. I think that would be an incorrect statement.
But I do think there's still something about the service level, the magic, the pixie that you get on Disney, like you spoke about with the characters, with your daughter. Right. Like, that doesn't exist on other cruise lines. And so it's okay for the trade off on price to say, okay, on this cruise, I'm going to sail on a different cruise line and I'm okay without that extra bit of pixie dust and I'm still going to have a great vacation. And then there are times where you may sort of make a different decision and decide to splurge because you really want to feel all that mess Magic.
[00:49:59] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. We had. It was a family cruise, this last one. So we had everybody from my husband's mom, dad, stepmom, his brother, sister. So it was great to be able to do a cruise with the entire family, and everyone could afford it because it was a little bit cheaper, which I don't think would have been the case with the Disney cruise.
[00:50:20] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a really good point. Another consideration. Yeah, absolutely. For sure.
[00:50:24] Speaker A: Sure. Well, Becky, is there anything we've missed that you want to be sure to highlight from your time out there cruising on Norwegian or Disney?
[00:50:34] Speaker B: So I'll say that Sabrina did, my daughter did take a little bit of Disney magic with her on it. When we got to the ship, there's a mermaid on the side of the ship that we want on the getaway, and the first thing she said when she saw it was that, oh, that's Ariel. And so she kept putting Disney onto the Norwegian experience.
[00:50:51] Speaker C: That's really cute. You know, kids will create pixie dust and magic out of in their own imaginations, and I love that. Good for her.
[00:50:59] Speaker A: Amazing. Amazing. Well, Becky, I think we've reached that point in the show where even though I've subjected my own little kind of rapid fire here at the end, it's time to hand you back over to Sam for some arbitrary questions. Some arbitrary rules with dash of judgment are the round we know as rapid fire. So, Sam, take it away.
[00:51:14] Speaker C: All right, Becky, I'm going to ask you a couple of Disney favorites, and then, of course, your Disney cruise line favorites. And of course, you can pick from the fantasy and the Magic, the two ships that you have been on. You cannot pick from the wonder, the treasure, the wish, the dream. We got to stick to the ships that you've been on. But let's start with who is your favorite Disney character?
[00:51:35] Speaker B: Mulan.
[00:51:36] Speaker C: Love it. What is your favorite Disney movie?
[00:51:39] Speaker B: It might be Mulan as well. Yeah, I mean, the animated version.
[00:51:43] Speaker C: Yeah. If you're going to pick Mulan, you got to pick Mulan as the movie, too.
[00:51:48] Speaker B: Empress. New groove is good. Like, there's a lot of.
[00:51:50] Speaker C: Yeah, there's a lot of good ones.
[00:51:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:51] Speaker C: Yeah. All right. Favorite song. Disney song.
[00:51:55] Speaker B: Yeah, I was thinking about this. I don't know what my favorite song is, because I like different ones depending on my mood.
[00:52:01] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:52:03] Speaker B: Yes, I can decide.
[00:52:04] Speaker C: Okay, fair enough. We'll move on to the next question. Favorite Disney cruise line stage show. And I'm remembering you've been on the Magic and the Fantasy, so you have a couple of good options.
[00:52:17] Speaker B: So it's going to be controversial, but I think it's the show that's on the Fantasy, not Aladdin. It's the. The.
[00:52:27] Speaker C: Not Frozen, not Aladdin. You're gonna pick. You're gonna pick Believe. Oh, my God.
Sorry. You're gonna face some judgment there, Becky.
[00:52:36] Speaker B: I knew. I knew. It's quite too.
But we haven't seen some of the other ones, so.
[00:52:41] Speaker C: Okay, well, you do. You had Tangled as a choice on the magic, and you have Frozen as a choice on the fantasy, Becky. Okay, you can pick Believe. All right, I'm gonna sit here and judge you a little bit. All right, well, let's talk onboard activity.
[00:52:57] Speaker B: So I think maybe trivia.
[00:53:02] Speaker C: Yeah. Nice. Any particular trivia?
[00:53:05] Speaker B: I just like. I like all of them.
I think the best one I was at was some of the music trivia.
[00:53:10] Speaker C: Nice. Yeah. All right. Favorite rotational dining.
[00:53:15] Speaker B: Sorry, I have to think about it. I think the Rapunzel's table. Is that what it's called?
[00:53:20] Speaker C: Yeah, Rapunzel's royal table. That's a great one. Favorite space to relax on a Disney ship.
[00:53:27] Speaker B: I really like Soul cat Lounge on the Magic.
[00:53:30] Speaker C: Ooh, yeah, That's a good one. All right, have you done Paulo or just Remy now?
[00:53:35] Speaker B: Yes, we did both. We've done both. And we've also done the brunch for both as well.
[00:53:40] Speaker C: Awesome. Okay, then, Remy versus Paulo. Which one?
[00:53:43] Speaker B: Remy.
[00:53:44] Speaker C: Wow. Love that. And dinner versus brunch.
[00:53:47] Speaker B: Brunch, actually.
[00:53:48] Speaker C: Oh, interesting. That's a little controversial, I think. It's.
[00:53:52] Speaker B: So I like. I don't really like strong cheeses, and there's certain things in the dinner that I don't like as much. And so it was paying extra for some courses that I wasn't as big a fan of. I will say that I had the best thing of. One of the best things I've ever had, ever eaten, was in Remy for dinner. It was a tomato cord, like, appetizer course.
[00:54:15] Speaker C: Yes. With the tomato water. And I know exactly what you're talking about. If it's that one. Yeah. Comes with, like, it's like a tomato pie and tomato water, and it's like. Yeah.
[00:54:26] Speaker B: Like a bunch of tomato. Yeah, it was. So.
[00:54:27] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. That is a really fantastic dish. All right, which one is your favorite ship between the magic and the fantasy.
[00:54:37] Speaker B: The fantasy.
[00:54:38] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:54:39] Speaker B: Yeah. I forgot that she. My daughter, also really liked the detective game on the Fantasy.
[00:54:45] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Midship Detective Agency is. Yeah, Is. If that's a. It's a fantastic offering. You know, it's hard to pick. I think between The, I mean, among between the Dream class and the Magic class, there's, there's so many good things about both. So you have no judgment from me on that answer. Okay, my last question. Bucket list Cruise. You can go anywhere in the world and it's going to be on a Disney ship. It doesn't even have to be someplace that Disney Cruise Line currently goes. Becky, where are you going?
[00:55:16] Speaker B: I'm going to cheat because it's going to be a world cruise on Disney.
[00:55:19] Speaker C: I love it. I love it.
[00:55:20] Speaker B: Aside from that, Norway.
[00:55:22] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay, perfect. Yeah. No, you can cheat though. The world cruise is a great answer. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Becky, for joining us and chatting with us and giving us sort of compare contrast between Disney Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line with a particular focus on kids and family cruising. What do you have booked next? Where are you sailing to next?
[00:55:44] Speaker B: So what is going to be the Celebrity Ascent in April? So trying another ship to see how it goes, but we've did a spur of the moment booking for the Wish.
[00:55:52] Speaker C: In March, so that would be fantastic. Yeah. Oh, that'll be. You know what? I have a prediction that the Wish is going to be Sabrina's favorite ship because it is the perfect ship for any little princess.
[00:56:07] Speaker B: That's part of the reason we were like, we need to get on that ship before she gets too old.
[00:56:10] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
[00:56:13] Speaker A: Well, as Sam said, Becky, thank you so much for taking some time to spend some time with us and our audience and for sharing your experience sailing with with little ones out there on Norwegian and Disney. And we just really, really appreciate it. So thank you.
[00:56:26] Speaker B: Thank you for having me.
[00:56:31] Speaker A: Well, thanks to everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast. You can keep getting great content from us every week. In fact, twice a week we publish shows. So be sure to hit the subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us alive, we have a live show now every week, Monday nights, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out. If you want help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple podcasts. And if you leave us a written review, a five star written review, we will read it at the top of one of our main episodes. So please head over there and hit those five stars. Of course you can also help support the show by supporting our fabulous show sponsor, My Path Unwinding Travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation. Head over to mypathunwinding.com dclduo or email them at dclduomypathunwinding.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 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
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