[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is the way we indoctrinate people, Karsh. Right. This, you know, it's like I said, one family at a time, one family at a time. We're converting them one at a time to being Disney Cruise Line devotees, as I like to call us. Right?
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Definitely.
[00:00:25] Speaker A: Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the DCL Duo Podcast brought to you by my Path Unwinding Travel. And as you can tell when you're hearing my voice, I am solo hosting. Brian is unable to join me today, but I am super excited because I have a wonderful repeat guest with me. Karsh has been on this show before, previously with his wife to talk about a seven night Disney fantasy sailing. And we're actually going to talk again tonight a little bit about a different seven night Disney fantasy sailing. But we're going to do it in a compare and contrast way to another cruise. So, Karsh, welcome back to the show. It's lovely to have you.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Thank you so much. It's great to be here.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: Yeah, it's so nice to like have people back who we've had on before. We develop a great rapport. It was, gosh, it was more than a year ago that you were on.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: It's been more than a year. Yeah. September 23rd.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: Yeah, sounds about right.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: So it was episode 367, I believe, if folks want to go back and listen to this wonderful episode we did with Karsha and his wife Haral about their first Disney cruise. And now you just sailed your third Disney cruise in the fall, is that right?
[00:01:40] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:01:40] Speaker A: That's awesome. And you also just, just like came back from a run Disney weekend. We were talking offline about that. But you are going to have a perfect year in 2025, meaning you are running all of the Disney races coast to coast.
[00:01:56] Speaker B: All the races. And I'm going to try. And every summer they have their virtual series. I'm going to try and get those as well. And I'm going to try and push a castaway 5k in there some sometime this year hopefully. So I get everything.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: Everything. Oh, my God. You're. You're a little nutty. I don't know if anyone's told you this, Karis.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: This is my midlife crisis.
This is it. This is it. It's a healthy thing.
[00:02:19] Speaker A: It's a health. Right. It's a Disney habit and a Disney running habit all in one. And I kind of love that for you. But yeah, let's just be saf. Easy. I told, we talked offline. I know you're going to Princess next weekend. I told you, you know, either walk or jog. Walk. No, no running for you, Carson.
Well let's, let's dive right in. Since I of course mentioned we're going to talk about we're actually going to talk about your second and your third cruise on Disney Cruise Line because they were real close together meaning only like one month apart. But before we dive into talking about those two itineraries tell remind our listeners again, I know who you sail with but remind our listene centers again who you tip who you are sailing with on these cruises.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: So for the October cruise we sail it was a four of us, myself, my wife and also my at the time 9 year old and then 3 year old.
We also sailed with our friends. They have two daughters of their own, nine year old and a five year old. And then in November again it was the four of us and then we had taken our neighbors, they have three kids, that's three, three girls. So one 10 year old, nine year old and a four year old. So it was a. Yeah, it was a big party.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: Yeah. You're introducing like all of your friends now to Disney Cruise Line and they're looking at you like you guys are the pros, right?
[00:03:44] Speaker B: Getting them hooked one family at a time.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: One family at a time. I hope you're getting them also hooked on the DCL Duo podcast as well.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: Yes, yes, yes.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: All right, fair enough.
[00:03:55] Speaker B: After. Yes, definitely.
[00:03:57] Speaker A: Well you took a four night wish cruise I think was your second cruise and then another seven night fantasy as your third cruise, is that right? And all of these out of Port Canaveral.
And remind me where you guys live again.
[00:04:11] Speaker B: We live in Maryland.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: Okay. So you have your eastern seaboard but you still have a flight down to Florida.
Let's, let's, we're going to do a little compare and contrast episode here between a four night sailing and a seven night sailing. Of course there are two different classes of ships so there's going to be differences based on the class of ships. So we'll focus, but we'll focus on, on both those differences and the differences of obviously the itineraries and you know, obviously why a seven night is better than a four night because that's going to be the conclusion. I'm, I'm pro, I'm prophesizing here a little bit.
But why, why these itineraries? Let's start with the four night wish cruise in October. Why did you choose a four night wish itinerary?
[00:04:54] Speaker B: So we did not want to choose a Four night. We had to choose Fortnite because we wanted the family that was going with us. We wanted them to sail with us. They have been die hard Disney fans for decades now. They've been to Disneyland and Disney World, the DBC members, everything. But they had not dipped their, their toes in dcl. So since we had come back from our first cruise and our mind was, our minds were blown. So we were telling everyone, we said, hey, this is Disney World. Ish, but better. And you don't. There's not that much walking. You get all access to all the characters, everything. So you should come with us. And so our friend Percy, he had been in the Navy before and he just wasn't willing to get back in the water. And I said, percy, just. It's okay, just. You like Disney, Just come with us. He said, well, how about a three night? I said, no, I am not doing a three night. Are you kidding me? And he said, okay, what about a fortnight? I'm like, okay, okay, Fortnite is the minimum. I will go. Okay. So he said, well, we love Halloween. I'm like, okay, well let's, let's look up a Halloween crew. So the first one we saw was October. I think it was like October 12th or something, or 14, October 14th or something. It started on a Monday.
It was a fortnight.
And you know, Fortnite wish Halloween. And.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: And was that also the Columbus Day holiday or Indigenous Peoples Day, depending upon what state you live in?
[00:06:28] Speaker B: And yes, yes, it was. So that. So we had the Monday off.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:32] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, that's. Yeah, so. So that's what, that's what we, we had. We had to choose that one because that's the only one they were willing to do.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Yeah, well, in that way, you know, obviously you have to take your oldest out of school. Your youngest is, is. Is preschool age, not school age yet. But they're going to miss four days of school as opposed to missing five days of school. And of you have to take off. I mean, those cruises are one. They're hard to find or they're not. There's not that many of them that fall like that with the wish. Obviously if you're doing a four night, they're always a Monday to Friday. So it's always a midweek cruise. If you're doing a three night, it's always a Friday to Monday. So it's always a weekend cruise, which of course is easier, I think for folks in particular who live like in Florida. But also, you know, like you said, it's three Night cruise is just, was just too, too short.
[00:07:20] Speaker B: It's too short.
Way, way too short.
[00:07:24] Speaker A: Now for the, the seven night cruise you chose in November, tell us about that decision making.
What itinerary you chose for that? Because obviously the wish cruise is going to be a Bahamas, you know, castaway Nassau cruise. But which itinerary did you choose for the fantasy? And why that one in particular?
[00:07:42] Speaker B: So that one, the decision came. I was at my neighbors about a week after we had signed up for the October 1st and I was just telling them how great our cruise was and I'm looking forward to the one next year, October. And my, my, my buddy says to me, like, why, why do you tell me? And I said, I what? And he said, we love cruising. And I said, okay, well when do you want to go? And I said, well, at first I said, well, we're going in the one in October. Why do you come with us? And they don't celebrate Halloween. It's against their religion. So I said, well, here's the thing. That's a Halloween one. Do you want to do a Christmas one? And they said, yeah, sure. And that's. And they said that's what? That's what the month after. I said, okay, okay, let me look that up. And it was too close. It was just too close. But it was a great deal. We went throughout travel agent and she booked all of us. In fact, the party was going to be even bigger, but then people kind of dropped off. It was going to be like 19 people.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:08:47] Speaker B: Yeah. So, but so did you end up.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: Did you sail over Thanksgiving or did you sail over our Veterans Day? Or did you just sail Just a random week in November.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: That was a Thanksgiving cruise. That was, that was, that was that Thanksgiving cruise. Yeah.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: So that was, That's a fantastic itinerary because it's just like it per. You know, you already have at least part of it was some places you have the whole week off. For us here we only had get Thursday and Friday off and we usually pull Nathan out of school for the whole week because there's really nothing that gets done that you know, Thanksgiving week. But, but there are, I know lots of school districts that give the, the entire week off. So I think that's always a great week to sail. And then was this an eastern or a western?
[00:09:28] Speaker B: So this was Eastern. We had done eastern previously, so we were not concerned. But we, we didn't want to do Eastern again. But that was the only one that was during Thanksgiving week. And we thought, you know what we had Such great time last time out now and we learned from it. So this time, you know, it'll be perfect. Like we'll know what to do, what not to do and just make the most of it. And it worked out really well, actually.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's a great point. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing the same itinerary twice. I mean, Our first and second cruises were the Fantasy 7 Night Eastern Caribbean itinerary. We loved it the first time and we loved it probably even more the second time because as you say, you sort of learn like, oh, I didn't love this excursion, I'll do that one. Or I don't really need an excursion, I'll do something on my own. Or you know what, I feel like I could use another day on the boat and not even get off at this stop. Or, you know, so I don't, I don't think there's anything. I understand that people's, you know, tendency is to want to do different excursions just like people want to do the different ships. Right. But I honestly think there's, there's nothing wrong with doing a wonderful seven night Eastern cruise.
[00:10:40] Speaker B: Nothing wrong. Of course, anytime you're on a Disney ship, it's a great time.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: Right?
[00:10:44] Speaker B: Just want to do Western Caribbean. But it, it's so, it's so weird. Like every time we have time off, the fantasy was doing Eastern Caribbean every single time. Even in spring break. How, Even when. Even this spring break. The treasure. Yeah, our spring break is doing Eastern Caribbean.
[00:11:04] Speaker A: Yeah, ours too.
It's funny because we still haven't done, we haven't, we have done some Western Caribbean shorter sailings like four night and five night. Mostly the post pandemic or like right after the restart that went to Costa Maya and Cozumel. But that's not the seven night itinerary for Western Caribbean. So I still haven't done Grand Cayman or Jamaica because those are on the regular Western Caribbean. But same with us it seems like, I mean, I'll be honest, I love the Eastern Caribbean so I'm never sad that, that if it works out that way. But our spring break again this year we're going on the Treasure Eastern Caribbean.
[00:11:47] Speaker B: It's just stuck in this rut. It's just, I don't know what it is. We want to do Western Caribbean.
[00:11:51] Speaker A: And I'm telling you it's the universe. It's the universe telling you that you're not supposed to, at least not right now.
[00:11:58] Speaker B: It's fine, it's fine.
[00:12:00] Speaker A: Well, I think that's an interesting point you brought up though, about Halloween on the high seas. I hadn't really thought about it in terms of someone's religion if they don't celebrate Halloween. Well, I. Halloween on the high seas is a great itinerary. It's a, you know, it's really fun if you like to see the characters dress up in their costumes and you get, you know, some fun Halloween activities and a lot of guests dress up. But if you are somebody who does not celebrate Halloween for religious reasons, you're probably right. It's probably not the right sailing for that family because even though it's like one night is sort of the Halloween night that everybody dresses up, there's still like Halloween atmosphere throughout the whole ship and decorations and the tree lighting and all that kind of stuff. And so it would be a little awkward, especially with a family with kids, if they really want to keep their children away from Halloween celebrations. It's probably not possible on a Halloween on the high seas cruise. So I think that was probably a good.
[00:12:59] Speaker B: But they're definitely happy about the Christmas one.
[00:13:02] Speaker A: The Christmas. Yeah, the Christmas theming. Yeah. Well, and that's always like fun. So this. I'm trying to remember your first fantasy sailing. Did that have any theming attached to it or not?
[00:13:13] Speaker B: No, it was early summer. It was early summer.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: Okay.
Yeah. So this is cool. So you got to experience two different theming in the course of one month. Really? Or about one month apart.
That's super fun. Well, let's talk about some of the differences between.
Well, of course we're gonna have theming differences. So setting aside the main. And maybe we'll. If we have time. Well, maybe we'll touch on those at the end of the show. But like setting aside the theming differences, let's talk about the differences between a four night sailing and a seven night sailing. Let's start with planning. In both places you're going to be going to Castaway or both of these itineraries, you're going to go to Castaway. But were there any sort of major differences in your planning as far as like what you were going to do or what you were going to pack or sort of how busy you wanted to sort of make each cruise?
[00:14:07] Speaker B: So for the wish, it was gonna be our first time on the wish, so we wanted to. And it was only a four night. So I always believe in maximizing my time.
So I did end up getting. So we always. But it's been the third time, so we tried to get Remy first Night because. Or anshante first night in the wish because it's always open. I don't know what it is.
[00:14:30] Speaker A: People don't, people don't want to miss first night rotational dining. Especially new cruisers are like new cruisers for sure don't want often new cruisers don't want to miss rotational dining. And I think that's a really good tip for first time cruiser.
[00:14:44] Speaker B: Right.
[00:14:45] Speaker A: But I think you're right in general, people want to be at rotational dining to meet their staff. Their dining staff the first night.
[00:14:50] Speaker B: Right?
[00:14:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:51] Speaker B: So we got anchante first night. We got Paulo the third morning.
Second or third morning, which was great.
[00:14:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Was that NASA day or sea day?
[00:15:01] Speaker B: That was a sea day. That was a sea day. So we got, we got lucky with that definitely. But other than that. Oh, I did end up getting or idea signing up for parasailing at Castaway. I was so excited about that. But then when we got to Castaway it was as windy. It was too windy.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: Of course it gets canceled. Like, like we try to always tell people like especially in the, the fall and winter, like it is very likely to be canceled. You have a little bit of a better chance in the summer because the. Of the weather. But yeah, it's really, yeah, it's really quite, quite windy. Conditions are not, not optimal.
[00:15:37] Speaker B: But besides that, we ended up getting everything we wanted. We got the Bibli Bopi boutique for Pirate Night for the two girls. And yet it felt like I think because we were sober, we, we got everything we wanted. Which was good. Which, which was great.
Wasn't the same case for the Christmas cruise. It booked out too quickly. Too quickly.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: Oh yeah. Well, because you're talking about a Thanksgiving. So both of these had holidays mixed in in the sense of like you have Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples Day in the October cruise and then you've got Thanksgiving in the November cruise. But that's a really good point. For November you're talking Thanksgiving week and it's a Christmas maritime sailing. You're going to have probably a fuller ship and you're going to have higher status castaway club members on that sailing most likely. So it's going to be more pearls and platinums. You know, you got concierge on both, so that's kind of a wash as far as I mean cabana if you're not concierge or almost impossible we've realized now in general.
But yeah, but on both of those. Yeah, on the Thanksgiving one you're definitely going to have a higher number, but you have a seven Night sailing. So you're a little bit more spread out. Were you able to book adult dining or anything like that on the fantasy.
[00:16:56] Speaker B: For the Christmas one, we were able to get Remy first night, but Paula was booked out. The thing is also because it was our neighbor's first time.
[00:17:05] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:17:06] Speaker B: Were regular people. So when my window opened up, everything was open.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:12] Speaker B: But I couldn't book it because I had to book everyone together.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: I had to wait until their window opened.
[00:17:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: And by the time the window opened, a lot of stuff was gone.
[00:17:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: So that's why we did not end up getting Paulo at all. Like even when the first day on the ship we went down to second floor, there was a tables right there. And I stood in. I was a first person, I was a second person in line.
[00:17:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:35] Speaker B: And I put down my name and the cast member said, yeah, you're, you're, you're number one in line. And you know, we have seven days. So you know, it's pretty sure thing. You will get it. Yeah, you didn't get it.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: You didn't get it.
[00:17:49] Speaker B: Yeah, you didn't get it. Which is fine. We had just done Paolo like three weeks before, so.
[00:17:53] Speaker A: Right, right. So it wasn't like you. Yeah, it wasn't, it wasn't a huge disappointment. Although maybe your friends who hadn't done it yet. So I'm going to give a tip. I'm going to give it. My tip would be the next time this happens, book at least yourself and your wife for Paulo for brunch. Even if you can't book your friends who have no status or lower status than you. Because I do think it might be easier to move from a two top to a four top than to move from no top to a four top. Okay, so that's gonna be, that's my tip for next time. I can't guarantee it works, but I do think being already in, they actually have more four person tables, I think than two person tables anyway. But I think that might help. But it's. Again, it's not a guarantee. But I also will warn folks, just give a little piece of information. Even though you were number one, you were probably not actually number one because as soon as those concierge people request Paulo, they jump in front of you in line. So that's. So that's the only thing, I mean, onboard, onboard the. So it's, you know, pre booking status matters because of when you can book things. Once you're on board status, castaway club status doesn't matter. Right. Like Somebody who's pearl and somebody who's silver or no status, they make the same request. Whoever makes the request first is higher up on the list.
But not concierge because concierge has basically, it's, it's like, like in the Wedding Singer when Billy Idol says they let people in first class do whatever the heck they want. It's, it's, it's that, oh man, that's horrible. Yeah.
So, you know, it's, it's that, that's one scenario where, you know, Paul and I think it's really just a. If you're sailing Thanksgiving, if you're sailing Christmas, those big holidays, they're going to have sort of the most demand and also very unique itineraries. You're going to have sort of the most demand from those like Pearl and Platinum cruisers. That's going to make it more difficult for lower castaway status. But soon enough, Karsh, I have no doubt that you will be gold. And then soon enough after that you'll be platinum. So we just got to keep racking up that status.
[00:20:13] Speaker B: I think next year, next year we should be gold. We should be gold next year.
[00:20:16] Speaker A: Yes. Yes. Awesome. Well, let's talk about the onboard experience a little bit. Let's talk about activities in a four night cruise. I'm imagining you're doing quite a bit, especially on a new ship, doing quite a bit of running around to different activities in different spaces to experience it all on a seven night cruise, especially on a ship you've already been on, you can take it a little bit more leisurely. Describe to me, am I thinking of this in the right terms, that your four night cruise was a little bit busy?
[00:20:48] Speaker B: It was extremely busy. We didn't get, we didn't get to see the lighting of the Halloween tree that we, it was, we're going from one point to another. By the time we got used to the ship we were getting off. That's what it felt like. Yeah, that's what it felt like. We, we had no time to. I mean, it's a beautiful ship. It's a beautiful ship. I, I wish we had more time to just absorb it all, but having two young kids and one is kind of getting to that point where she's not that fond of kids clubs anymore. She wants to, you know, hang out with us more. Just do like adult stuff, you know.
[00:21:26] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: Yeah. She, she had just turned, she was, she was nine at the time on the Wish.
[00:21:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:32] Speaker B: And. But she looks like she's 16, you know, she's, she she has the brain of a 16.
[00:21:37] Speaker A: Yeah, she's nine going on 16. Oh my God.
[00:21:40] Speaker B: So the kids clubs, initially on the Wish, you know, you know, because they're bigger, they're more elaborate, she had a good time the first day, but then the second day she said, do I have to go to Kids club? I said yes, you do. You do. Because the little one wants you there as well. She likes, she likes seeing you there. Right.
[00:22:00] Speaker A: Even though they're in different cohorts. Right. Because the three year old is with the, with the younger kid group that sort of is a little bit separate, although they can see each other. But the three and four year olds in the kids club are in a specific sort of group.
[00:22:12] Speaker B: Yeah. And our three year old is a runner, so, and she is so fast. So anytime she would see our nine year old, she would run past everyone and go to her.
So the older one needed to be there, needed to be there, the little one calm.
We felt kind of bad, but our friends had two of their own daughters and they kept them busy, so it was fine.
[00:22:37] Speaker A: Well, and that's the good thing about sailing with another family that has similar age kids. Right. Because then your children have sort of built in friends in the kids, not just in the kids club. I mean it makes your life easier even on the pool deck or even at dinner and things like that. But especially in the kids club where some kids might be a little bit hesitant to go in or to go in for when you're wanting to have, you know, Remy or Enchante or Paulo, dinner, brunch, whatever. Yeah, it's, that, that definitely is an issue. So did you guys do a lot of the, I mean there's so many activities of course going on, on, on the Wish especially. I mean it's, it's, it's sort of crazy when you think about even a three night or four night cruise. On the Wish they're trying to pack in, you know, seven days of activities into four days.
[00:23:24] Speaker B: There's so much, there's so much to do. Um, we didn't get to do anything adult other than the, the dining. I, I, I really wanted to go to the spa. Didn't have time for that.
But we did see a lot of characters, a lot of pool time. We did pool time. We decorated the doors. We, we went, we had a lot of trick or treating to do or not trick or treating, but we didn't sign up for the fish extender this time. These ass two times. But we had a lot of stuff.
[00:23:55] Speaker A: Oh, so you did A lot of pixie dusting.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: Then we did. We did that. There was quite a bit of it. And then we got pixie dusted as well. We got the fish extenders made for our friends, surprised them with it.
[00:24:08] Speaker A: Oh, fun.
[00:24:09] Speaker B: So both tasks, both cruises. So they're very excited about that. They're very happy and grateful for that.
[00:24:14] Speaker A: Oh, that's a great idea. So I want to. I want to back up and just give people a little bit of explanation. And for those who have listened to us or have cruised before, I apologize. This might be repetitive, but I want to talk, tell people what fish extenders are. So fish extenders are essentially these, like, things you hang right outside your room, and it's a place for people to leave gifts. And fish extender exchanges are sort of the more formal things that happen in Facebook groups. They are cruiser led, meaning not cruise line led, meaning the US Customers are the ones who organize these. These crazy things. And they're gift exchanges. And you put the hangar outside your door, and it hangs off a fish. On most of the ships, on the wish and on the treasure, they're not fish. These the things that are outside your room. But, you know, you can sign up for these exchanges. But a lot of people do what's called pixie dusting, which is just random acts of gifting, right? So where you bring a bunch of stuff with you, and you go around and you, you know, drop it in people's fish extenders. And some people do it anonymously, and some people will leave a little, you know, a tag saying, you know, from room, you know, 25, 56. And oftentimes that will lead to somebody pixie dusting you back. And so. And just even having a fish extender hanging outside of your room, it is fairly common that you will get pixie dusted with something. It doesn't mean, like, you'll get something really, you know, expensive, but maybe you'll get a duck in your fish extender or some stickers or some temporary tattoos or some candy for, you know, and so it's a. It's a fun way of sort of getting involved in your cruise without a lot of pressure. Pixie dusting. I mean, I think there's a little bit more pressure for the formal exchanges because you are having to plan, and there's usually information exchanged ahead of time so that you can plan more personalized gifts. But it's really fun when you introduce new cruisers to the concept of fish extenders and pixie dusting, because they're not expecting any gifts. They don't.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: They had no idea.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: We just asked them. We asked them who the favorite characters were and what their favorite colors were, and that's it. And then we just had them made on Etsy or something.
[00:26:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:29] Speaker B: And it's such a. We were so nervous because they were. I think there was some storm or something. And the ones that we had made for both cruises, they were. They were delayed, and they came the day before sailing out.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: Oh, gosh. So right before you're, like, flying to Florida.
[00:26:45] Speaker B: We were flying out to Florida. That's. That's when they came and.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:26:48] Speaker B: So nervous.
[00:26:49] Speaker A: Yeah, that is.
[00:26:50] Speaker B: Yeah. But we got them and then we didn't say anything until. Oh, we had magnets made for them as well. Door magnets as well, with their names or they're customized as well with their names. Everything.
One was a Halloween theme, one was Christmas themed. We had all we had. We had a package ready for both families once we got to our rooms. And we just said, hey, here. Here you go. You know, happy Halloween or Merry Christmas, and here you go. And they're like, what is this? And we said, open it up.
[00:27:18] Speaker A: Let's.
[00:27:18] Speaker B: Let's see. And they were just.
The minds were blown. Like, whoa, this is amazing.
[00:27:25] Speaker A: This is the way we indoctrinate people, Karsh. Right.
[00:27:29] Speaker B: Like I said, one family at a time.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: One family at a time. We're converting them one at a time to being Disney Cruise Line devotees, as I like to call us.
[00:27:38] Speaker B: Right, Definitely.
[00:27:40] Speaker A: I love that. Well, let's talk about the sort of level of activities that you guys did on the Fantasy, because obviously, seven night, four night. Right. What was sort of the pace like on the Fantasy? And what kinds of things were you able to participate in? Or what. Or what did you, you know, were you. What did you miss also?
[00:27:58] Speaker B: So our focus for the Fantasy was it was twofold. We wanted to get our neighbors into Disney Cruising, so we wanted to introduce them to everything and why we. We prefer to do just Disney cruising.
We. We had options to do Royal Caribbean. And since I'm a veteran, Margaritaville at Sea has free sailings.
[00:28:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I actually, I just saw on social media a couple of friends of ours, actually, one of whom went to high school with Brian. She and her husband are both veterans. And shout out to all the veterans, thank you for your service and to you, Karsh, especially.
But they just went on Margaritaville for free.
And they also had lots of, like, veterans activities. Activities, even, like, meetups and things like that. And. And of course, like so yeah, you have to, you have to tell explain to people, right. Why Disney Cruise Line when you got to pay this big price tag versus you could sail for free or reduce on other cruise lines.
[00:29:02] Speaker B: So we had convinced them like hey this is, you know, we first, you know, we want to indoctrinate them into, into this because they had been a royal caravan before and they had enjoyed it and they have been on it twice.
Maybe celebrity one time, they love cruising but they had never gone. They had gone to Disney World one time and are not Disney fanatics. But by the end of the seven nights they were just enamored with Disney cruising.
[00:29:29] Speaker A: Oh, interesting.
[00:29:30] Speaker B: Love with it.
[00:29:31] Speaker A: So they're Disney curious as we like to say. I feel like Disney Cruise Line, it is for Disney fanatics who like to cruise but it is also for the Disney curious who like to cruise.
I feel like if you're anti Disney, probably Disney Cruise Line, it wouldn't work for you. Yeah, yeah.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: And then the second thing we want to do was relax because we had, we had some, we had some tough time at work and I, we, I wouldn't say our wish crews left a bad taste in our mouth but we didn't enjoy it as much as we wanted to so we wanted to make up for that. So we all four of us had signed up for the Rainforest Room. And I know you're not a fan, I know Brian's a fan.
[00:30:10] Speaker A: I love this for you though. I think, listen, I think if you're gonna, if you, if you like the Rainforest Room it worth it to do it on a seven night cruise. I'm just not sure the value is there on a shorter cruise and I'm personally just not that into it. But it's like I have no, no hate on others who love it. Like it's, I just don't know that like I said, I don't know for a shorter cruise that the values there. Because you're, for me I'm trying to pack in all the things. Right. And just like you did on, on your wish cruise, like I'm, I'm running from activity to activity. I'm not going to have any time. You know, I might maybe I'll go to the rainforest for an hour and then of course it's not worth it if you only spend. Yeah.
[00:30:50] Speaker B: We went every, every day, sometimes twice a day and we did all the baths, we did all the steam rooms, the dry sauna and we made one mistake and the cast members are so forgiving. So we had gotten the algae package so you just, you know, wire in a sauna, you get the algae scrub and then you rub it all over you. And then after a while, after being in the steam sauna for some time, you go in shower and so we had bought one one each. But we didn't know that it was a one time thing. So every time we went for it and they gave it to us and then on the last day.
[00:31:32] Speaker A: And then they charge you for it.
[00:31:33] Speaker B: No, they didn't.
So on the sixth day, the cast member said, you know, you signed up for this one time and oh, funny, we weren't supposed to give it to you but. But I mean, no one else is getting it. So if that's what we've been giving it to.
[00:31:48] Speaker A: Oh, that's funny. I didn't.
[00:31:49] Speaker B: But you're not supposed to have it, you know, six, seven times. And we had no idea. We thought it came every time.
[00:31:57] Speaker A: You just thought it came with the package. Right, right, right.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: But no, it was, it was a one time thing. Just one.
[00:32:01] Speaker A: Okay, well that's good to know because I, I'll be honest, I never, I think I've gotten a scrub there like one time, but I don't, but I don't really remember. It was. That was years and years ago. Cause I really don't do the rainforest room and haven't in years.
But yeah, I wouldn't have known that detail either, I don't think. Unless they specifically tell you.
[00:32:22] Speaker B: Definitely ask. Definitely ask.
[00:32:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:25] 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 and 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. Mypath Unwinding Travel will elevate your next vacation planning experience. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your vacation even more magical. Ready to talk to the experts? Head over to mypathunwinding.com dclduo or email. Email dclduomypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks. My path unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:33:23] Speaker A: Well, how did the. How did the kids do with the kids club on. On the Fantasy? I'm curious. You know, obviously it was a longer cruise and because you were doing the rainforest room, the kids have to, you know, go. Go there at least a three year old. I mean the nine year old you could probably leave in the room for a couple hours and then they'd be fine. But like, well, depending upon how mature your nine year old is. But you said she's like nine going on 16.
[00:33:45] Speaker B: Oh, definitely. Yeah.
[00:33:47] Speaker A: So she could hang out in the room by herself. But yeah. Yeah. So how did, how did that go on the Fantasy?
[00:33:52] Speaker B: So our neighbors have the two older girls and then one younger. So the younger one hung out with our young one. So she was fine. They. They had a great time together and she didn't ever. She didn't feel like coming back really in the October one. She was kind of done with it on day two. But we just dropped her off and we said okay, it's just for a little bit. And then she gets distracted easily. So it was fine. The seven night one. The two girls are our older ones best friends.
So she was okay. She was completely okay. They go to school together, you know, so they were again, it's all about.
[00:34:32] Speaker A: Getting them to sail with friends and you get a better, you get more compliance with the kids club if they've got their friend built in.
[00:34:39] Speaker B: Yeah, we. I know a funny story, but I'm not sure where you want it. It's.
[00:34:44] Speaker A: It's okay.
[00:34:46] Speaker B: So because the three were at the time 10, 10 and 9 years old the first night we had Remy, first night. Right. So we first, we had thought, okay, let's, let's get the girls full on pool deck food and then we'll drop them off at the kids club or you know, even room service and.
But we got the two young ones full. The older ones didn't want to eat yet because they had a snack before we ate at cabanas earlier that day. So they weren't hungry. So we thought, you know what? Okay, they're old enough. We're gonna send them to rotational dining on their own.
[00:35:21] Speaker A: I love it. I love it so much.
[00:35:23] Speaker B: It was their first time ever. Like we, we came to. I think it was the royal. Royal Palace.
[00:35:30] Speaker A: Yeah. Royal court or Royal Court?
[00:35:32] Speaker B: Yeah, Royal Court. The Royal Court. We came down the elevators and all, all with all six of us, we dropped the two off at the kids club already. And we're walking towards the restaurant, and.
And then the adults stopped, and the girls were like, what's going on? And we said, go. Yeah, this is our table number. Go. And they said, what? What do you mean? We're like, we're not coming with you.
[00:35:54] Speaker A: Yeah, you just go tell them, right? Yeah, we're dressed up.
[00:35:57] Speaker B: You're not. So you can't come with us anyway, so that's not fair. And we said, look, we're going to adult dining. You girls are old enough. We trust you, and they'll take care of you. This is a Disney cruise, right? Safe. You're safe. Everyone's safe. Just go tell them.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: Right, but they've never been to a restaurant by themselves on land, right?
Mind blown.
[00:36:23] Speaker B: Yeah, they had a mind blown. They didn't know what to do. They went in. We saw them just go in, and then they're taken to the table. The next day when we went to our vocational dining and we finally met our servers, and then they said, oh, okay, these are the parents.
We were so confused yesterday that we didn't know how to react. But then, these three are very mature. They knew what they wanted, and they order everything. And they were very well behaved. And we said, thank you very much. But the girls were just this flabbergasted. They're like, what do you mean you're not coming with us? It was. It was their first time, so there was. But even. Even when we. We came back to vocational dining, they would still ask us, like, hey, what do we. What do we order? What do we order? So this was the first time, but they had a good time. They had a good time.
[00:37:17] Speaker A: I love that. You know, I actually think it's such a wonderful thing for kids to kind of get that level of independence to, like, go to. You know, obviously on land, we wouldn't send them to a restaurant by themselves. I mean, unless it was maybe if you lived next door to a restauran restaurant or it was a family restaurant or something like that. Right. But it's so wonderful. I mean, we've done this with Nathan, with friends, where we've said, all right, you guys go to dinner. We're going to Paulo or. Or Remy or Enchante. Like, have. You know, have a great dinner. And we've also done the, you know, pool deck food or whatnot. It just kind of depends on what. What they're in the mood for. But I think it's really. It's. I think it's great because when I'm in the restaurant with Nathan. Like, I feel like I get. I just can't help myself but get involved in whatever his food order is going to be. I mean, it's going to be Mickey's Mac and Cheese. But I still, like, I'll answer for him. And Brian always just has to remind me like, no, no, like the kid is 11. Like, he can order for himself. Like, you don't need to order for him any longer. But when I'm not there, then it's like he has to do it, right? He has to like. And it's so good because there's going to be a time and, and it's coming sooner than later, right, where he's going to have to go into a store by himself or he's going to have to go into a restaurant by himself and order for himself or do a transaction by himself. And he's not going to be able to lean on mommy or daddy or grandma or somebody, right, to help him through it. He's going to have to problem solve, like, oh, I got to interact with this stranger who is, you know, a retail worker or a waiter, waitress or somebody, you know. And so it's, it's such a good lesson. I just, I love that for them and I, and I feel like on, on Disney Cruise Line you can do it at a younger age than you could ever do.
[00:39:03] Speaker B: We felt very safe. We felt very safe in that.
[00:39:06] Speaker A: I love that.
[00:39:06] Speaker B: Because we knew that the cast members would take complete care, you know, for them, see to their needs. And sure enough, like the next day when we get. We went in whatever drinks dad ordered the night before, they were waiting.
[00:39:21] Speaker A: I love it.
[00:39:22] Speaker B: It was great.
[00:39:23] Speaker A: I love it. Like they're, they're like, you know, Sprite or whatever is like there. And then you're your drink for the first time. It's actually, it's hilarious. I love that. Well, let's talk about shows.
You had obviously on the Wish only four nights, but of course three main stage shows and on the Fantasy seven nights, but again, three main stage shows. You get more variety acts and often a movie night and things like that on these longer sailings. But how was that? Like one, did you go see all the shows on these cruises? And two, how was it as far as know with a shorter sailing versus a longer sailing?
[00:40:01] Speaker B: So we did try. We did do all the shows. I believe it was Aladdin and Little Mermaid. I believe on the Wish we enjoyed them. We, we always enjoy these Broadway. Broadway shows.
[00:40:13] Speaker A: Did you do CZ Adventure too?
[00:40:14] Speaker B: No, we don't no, we. I think that's the last day.
[00:40:16] Speaker A: Oh, it's either. Well, it was usually the first night. Oh, it's probably the first night you were at. You were at Enchante.
[00:40:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:24] Speaker A: Yeah. You would have.
[00:40:24] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:40:26] Speaker A: Because it's a shorter show than the other. It's. Well, not every itinerary do they do it the way. But usually sees the adventure is on the first night. It's on both the Wish and the Treasure, and it will be on the. The Destiny as well. It's a great little show. I actually think it's a really good one for younger kids because it's shorter and it's a really, you know, it's a fun one. So you went to both of those shows. What did. What did you think? Because they were. Well, Aladdin wasn't new for you because Aladdin.
[00:40:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I seen Aladdin before Fantasy.
[00:40:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:56] Speaker B: Yeah. I feel like take. And nothing on the cast members. I felt like the. The. The actors were better on the Fantasy. That's. That. That's just what I thought. I. I actually fell asleep.
[00:41:09] Speaker A: I mean, during which one?
[00:41:11] Speaker B: During.
I think the second one was. Was the Aladdin show. Yeah, that's when I fell asleep.
[00:41:16] Speaker A: Oh, funny.
[00:41:17] Speaker B: Yeah. And I don't know why. Basically. I love the story. I love the story. I love the way they do everything. And I was awake for the one in November.
[00:41:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:25] Speaker B: I don't know. Maybe I was just tired. Yeah.
[00:41:28] Speaker A: Oh, that's funny.
[00:41:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. But.
[00:41:30] Speaker A: Well, and then did you go on the Fantasy? Did you go to all the shows which would have been Frozen, Aladdin and Believe?
[00:41:39] Speaker B: So we didn't see Believe? I think so. To Believe was cast away day night. And we try not to do anything like that, do any shows, especially because.
[00:41:49] Speaker A: We have the last night of the cruise. Right.
[00:41:51] Speaker B: Yeah. And we basically. I remember the last time or on our first cruise, we did go see. We tried to do something that day. And after Castaway and. Or after coming back from Castaway, I was. After dinner, we tried to do something. And I remember we had to get the bags out by 10:30, and it was such a rush, so we thought, okay, this time we're not gonna do anything after dinner. We're just gonna come back and pack. Once we're done packing, then if anything's open, anything's available, we'll do it. So that's what we ended up doing. We had adjoining rooms, and we left the girls in the rooms. The two young ones were asleep anyway. The three older ones were hanging out and the adults went back to the Rainforest Room and then after that we went on a walk. That's one of the things I love about the Fantasy is Deck 4. It's all connected and can just keep on walking. And I was, you know, preparing for my Run Disney walk. Run walks. Anyway, so it was good. We got the walks in. We got a lot of walks in. So we didn't do anything that night.
[00:43:03] Speaker A: Well, and I'll be honest, I do think it is hard to go see the show on whatever the last night of the cruise is, whether it ends up being castaway day or even a sea day. It's just hard because you want to get your stuff. I mean, I don't want to walk off with my belongings because I'm an overpacker chronically. And so I need time to like organize and pack everything to be out by, you know, to have it out of the room by 10:30, as you mentioned. And so that it is hard. If it's a sea day, you can, you can do your packing a little bit earlier. But if it's a castaway day, you want to take advantage of castaway. So it's certainly, certainly hard things to do. I'm curious how you, how you felt about rotational dining, you know, on a four night cruise versus on a seven night cruise. Because obviously on a seven night cruise you go every restaurant you go to twice. And at least on the Fantasy you have two different sort of experiences in Animator's palette you don't have a show in the other two restaurants on the Dream Class ship. So on the Fantasy and the Dream, whereas of course on the Wish you've got shows in two of the restaurants but you only go to each restaurant one time and then you get to go to a second restaurant or one restaurant twice. But for Pirate Night, so it doesn't have its own show or theming or anything like that. But yeah. I'm curious how you felt about the fact that you only go to a restaurant really once on the Wish versus on the, you know, on a seven night cruise you, you go twice.
[00:44:35] Speaker B: That was one of our biggest crimes about the Fortnite cruise. We in the previous seven night one and the, the second seven night one, we really got to know our, our, our servers. Right. For the Fortnite one, obviously we weren't there for the first night we did Anshante, so we only had them for, for like two, three nights. And first night we had the Marvel restaurant.
[00:45:01] Speaker A: Oh, so you missed the Marvel show.
[00:45:03] Speaker B: We missed that one.
[00:45:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:04] Speaker B: So we had the Arendelle one twice. Because the night three was pirate night. So we had that. And then we were in 1923 one time. And I know the cast members were trying. I would never blame the cast members, but they just don't have the time to get to know you at all. And I really feel bad for the three night ones because they. It's just.
[00:45:26] Speaker A: Especially with Arendelle.
[00:45:27] Speaker B: Right. It's just a blur for them. And Arendelle on. It was a normal night. It was so loud, we couldn't hear anything.
[00:45:35] Speaker A: Right. So you can't really, like, chat and get to. And if your first night meeting your servers is in Arendelle.
[00:45:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:40] Speaker A: Like, because. Because obviously you skipped Marvel.
You don't. I mean, the show is going on most of dinner with obviously some pauses, but, like, it's. You really can't get to know your serving team. That's at. At all. Yeah.
[00:45:53] Speaker B: And they were trying. They were trying, but I. I remember one of their names, and that's it. It was Ms. Precious from South Africa, and that's it. I. I don't know. I don't remember any of their names at all. Like, they. I know they tried, but they. They didn't leave an impression on us because I know they were trying, but it was just so much going on. It's so chaotic.
[00:46:12] Speaker A: Yeah. It's such a whirlwind. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:46:15] Speaker B: We didn't get. Get to know them at all. That was a number one gripe about it. And we enjoyed the food at Arendelle. It was good. 1923. We enjoyed that as well. We wish we had tried the Marvel one, but it is what it is.
[00:46:29] Speaker A: Well, if you're gonna get on the Treasure, you'll get the same. You'll get the Marvel. Don't tell me yet, but you'll get the Marvel show. Both Marvel shows on the Treasure and the first Marvel show is the same as the one on the Wish, so nothing that you will have missed if you decide. If you're deciding to go on the Treasure sometimes soon, I will give another tip out there for people sailing on the Wish, whatever your first. And I hope not everybody takes my tip, because then it'll kind of screw people up. But whatever your first night on the Wishes, if you request 1923, you'll have a little bit of a quieter experience and be able to get to know your servers a little bit more. I especially recommend that for folks with any kind of, like, food intolerances or food allergies, I think requesting a rotation that starts at 1920, this wouldn't have worked for you anyway because you did enchantee the first night. But in general, I think whatever your first night, that you're gonna have your servers, your main dining servers, having 1923, like I said, especially if you have any food allergies or food intolerances is probably the best course of action because you will have a little bit more time to kind of talk to them and. Cause you don't have a show that's gonna ensure interrupt that experience.
[00:47:43] Speaker B: So for us it would have been better as well if it was 1923 the first night because like I said, it was just so loud in Arendelle. We were trying to listen to the music, we're trying to listen to our kids just you know, going on and on. And then the servers were trying to talk to us and it was, we couldn't focus on any one thing right these, you know, I can't. So I know my wife, you know, she's multitasker, she can do everything.
But for myself, I couldn't focus on, you know, had to do one thing at a time. And, and for me my main goal was is my 3 year old eating food because I, I, I want her fed. Because if she's not fed, she turns into a demon.
I need her fed.
[00:48:28] Speaker A: I love it. Listen, so all of us, well a lot of us turn into demons if we're not fed. I'll be, I'll be, you know, I'll be perfectly honest, I can, I can get pretty demonic if I, if I'm not, I'm not fed either. Well Karsha, I, you know, I feel like we could go on and on comp contrasting of a four night cruise and why of course a seven night cruise is better. But I'm curious to ask whether you like, would you book a four night cruise again now having gone on one, having gone on two seven night cruises, having gone on one four night cruise on an admittedly beautiful class of ship. Right.
But would you book a four night cruise again?
[00:49:08] Speaker B: No.
[00:49:09] Speaker A: Interesting.
[00:49:10] Speaker B: Because I feel like maybe five nights would have been better. Like I said like one. By the time we really got to know the ship we were leaving. So just in the seven nights, you know, so seven night one, our first time there, first time on the Fantasy in, in 2023, we really got to know the ship on like day three and then we had four more days on it. So we really enjoyed it. And the second time around we knew the ship and we knew where to go and what not to do so it was way, way. But I feel like if we had five nights would have been better. We would have been able to enjoy this ship more and just like just, just look at things. Just you know that the art on the ship.
[00:49:54] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a great point. There's so much numbers.
[00:49:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:49:57] Speaker A: So much beautiful stuff to see.
[00:49:58] Speaker B: Right. And just, just connect with the cast members.
And I and even the cast members had told us that we, on three nights and four nights we don't really get to know the, the, the guest that much much. Which is sad. Which is sad because these, these guys are on these ships for six months, you know, four, six months at a time.
And on the seven night cruise, you know, they really get to know these families and we, we have a great time with them, we connect with them. They make core memories for the kids. They really do. But I feel like on the wish the cast members don't get the chance to do that. That, that's, that's what we saw. It might not be the same for everyone else, but this is our experience.
[00:50:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Now do you think there is a place for a four night cruise like or a person for whom a four night cruise is though maybe the right choice? I mean it's not, you know, obviously I think you've concluded it's not the right choice for your family. That minimum probably needs to be five nights with obviously a preference for seven.
[00:50:59] Speaker B: Seven and above.
[00:51:00] Speaker A: Yes, and above. Right. I mean the longer the cruise the better. Right. But do you think there is a cruiser for who this is the right.
[00:51:09] Speaker B: Length of cruise perhaps for the Disney curious who know Disney who or just who are dcl curious who have been to Disney World a lot know Disney have grown up with it like we have and they're just curious that they've never been on a cruise before or they, or they did when they were young and now they have families or they're just, you know, Disney adults and, and just want to do something different. That's like a, it feels like a concentration traded version experience of Disney. It is as chaotic as you want to make it.
[00:51:42] Speaker A: That's a good point. I feel like for a Parks person a four night cruise might not actually feel that chaotic. I mean it'll. Because it's still less probable, still less chaotic than a park stay. That's how sort of on the range of chaos I would put like Parks is, you know, still ahead of even a four night or a three night cruise. Not a lot ahead of a three night cruise, but still ahead of a three Night.
[00:52:03] Speaker B: Yeah, our friends that were with us on the, on the wish, they're the parks people, the hardcore Parks people. They go six, five, six times a year. Right.
So they're hardcore Parks people and they enjoyed the wish and then they told us it wouldn't go into wish again like not until.
[00:52:21] Speaker A: Well see that's perfect though. I think you're right. It's the first time cruisers, hardcore parks, people who are, who are cruise curious or people who are dcl curious but you know, not and haven't, you know, aren't sure if a cruise is going to be the right vacation for them. I think, I do think the wish tends to cater the best to first time cruisers. I, you know, and people who are worried about seasickness and all of those kinds of things.
Do you think that you would consider a, you know, a back to back type cruise that maybe was a four night cruise as, as opposed to like for example we're obviously going on the Destiny over, over Thanksgiving and, and it's actually the maiden voyage and then Thanksgiving back to back and it's two four night cruises. Of course our preference is like yours, the longer the better.
And so if it's a four night cruise, of course you know back to back is the solution but for us. But do you think that that might be a solution or, or is that not quite good enough? And I say that only because back to back cruises you're still kind of missing part of a good chunk of that middle day, that disembarkation embarkation day that's in the middle middle.
[00:53:32] Speaker B: I think if it went to different destinations, for example, if we did an eastern and then western back to back I, we can do that because we love getting off the ship and seeing places that we haven't been to before.
And so we, we did. So we, we love getting off at St. Thomas to and Tortola. And of course cast away.
If it was the three night and the fortnite for the wish it would be, I mean it'll be cast away in Nassau like again we didn't get off of Nassau this the time we, that was our pool day. We did the Aquamaus few times. So not for us. Not for us definitely.
I think if it was, if it went to a different location like three nights was in one direction, four nights was a different direction then maybe. But not the same one. No.
[00:54:24] Speaker A: Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. All right, well I'm not going to do a rapid fire because I know we did a rapid far with you and Haral on our last episode. And I've asked you obviously some questions, some follow up questions at the end here about what, you know, what is your, you know, ideal cruise and whether or not obviously Fortnite is in your future. And I understand it's probably not, at least not right now. But I'm curious to ask you what is in your future? Karsh, I am sure you've got a placeholder or something booked.
[00:54:55] Speaker B: We did. We got two placeholders on both ships.
[00:54:59] Speaker A: Wow, that's a lot of placeholders.
[00:55:01] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, we are looking at Alaska next year. Early, early next year.
[00:55:07] Speaker A: Oh, awesome.
[00:55:08] Speaker B: Yeah, we thought everything's melting so we need to go there.
[00:55:12] Speaker A: Yeah, we need to get in to get there soon. I know. Well, it's funny, you know, people keep asking. We actually had a question and I think our Facebook group just this week about, you know, a family trying to choose between Caribbean and Alaska. And they have young kids and I actually recommended Caribbean. It's their first, I think, first cruise. And so I recommended Caribbean because I think they're, or maybe it wasn't first cruise, I can't remember. But I recommend the Caribbean because their kids are on the young side. Obviously you're, you're, well, your youngest is on the young side. I'd say your, your oldest is kind of, I think, great age for Alaska. But. Yeah, what, what, what made, what makes you want to, you know, pull that trigger on Alaska?
[00:55:51] Speaker B: It's a thing. So we've done Caribbean three times now. Yeah, a few times now. And we were waiting, we were thinking, waiting for a little bit until a younger one got, you know, until like she was like 6, 7 to really enjoy Alaska. But our neighbors who got hooked, yeah, they asked after one cruise, one cruise, they said, okay, where, where are we going next? And we said, well, we wanted to do Western Caribbean and the treasure will is going to be doing that. And they saw the videos of the treasure and they were just enamored, like, this is, this would be gorgeous. And I said, yes, yes, it's, it is. We do this. So they said, okay, well, we have, we can either do that or early summer next year or Alaska. So we said, okay, let's, let's leave it. Let's see when the next itineraries come out. Which they came out, which they just.
[00:56:43] Speaker A: Came out this past week. Yeah.
[00:56:44] Speaker B: And.
[00:56:45] Speaker A: Or two weeks ago.
[00:56:46] Speaker B: Now maybe we're looking at them and we're just thinking, you know, Caribbean is not going to go anywhere, anywhere. But we think everything's melting, so maybe let's do Alaska and get that out of the way. And then the one after that will be the Treasure. Because we, what we've, what we've read and I feel like it's, it's accurate at least for us that if there's a new ship, maybe give it six months to six to nine months at least to work out all the kinks. Stuff happens, you know, it's, it's fine this, that stuff happens. Let them work it out and then we'll go and then it'll be like a well oiled machine. Everything will be running really well.
[00:57:25] Speaker A: Yeah. Although I will say the Treasure was pretty well oiled on its maiden voyage. I have, I, I mean it was kind of shocking like how well that thing was running just immediately on the preview cruise I was on. So, so I, I generally agree with you. I think it's a, that's a good rule of thumb. I mean, obviously we're going to get on as soon as possible because we want to tell our community all about it and, and we've got to, you know, we've got to stay current and make sure we are, we're, you know, make sure we're on everything early and that. But then we got to go on it again because we got to see it when it's well oiled machine.
But I will say the Treasure. Yeah. So I think I listen, neither is a mistake. I think both options are fantastic. I think you're gonna, you're gonna love whichever one you end up pulling the trigger and booking.
[00:58:11] Speaker B: Oh, now it's gonna be wonder and magic going to Alaska. But so, so we, we saw that and because of, you know, listening to you guys and everything, we, we want to go on the Wonder and so we're looking at that. We haven't made the decision yet, but it's going to be soon. It's very soon. Yeah.
[00:58:30] Speaker A: Awesome. Well, I can't wait to hear all about it. You'll obviously have to come back on the show to talk about it. Karsha, it's so lovely to have you again. Thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate it. And I think the verdict here for those who maybe don't realize, but the verdict here is the longer the cruise, the better. Better.
[00:58:49] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:58:49] Speaker A: Period. The end.
[00:58:50] Speaker B: Overall, Overall. Overall, the whole overall experience just was. It's just better. Just better.
[00:58:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Karsh.
[00:58:58] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
[00:59:03] Speaker C: Well, thanks 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 subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us live, we have a live show now every week Monday nights, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out. If you want to help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts. And if you leave us a written review, a five star written review, we will read it at the top of one of our main episodes. So please head over there and hit those five stars. Of course you can also help support the show by supporting our fabulous show sponsor My Path Unwinding Travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation? Head over to mypathunwinding.com 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 where we sell some fun fan inspired magnets. Link to our Patreon if you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO Also, as a way for you to sign up for our substack newsletter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here, at least on a few blog articles that we've written. So DCLDUO.com is the best way to connect with us. You can also of course email
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[01:01:05] Speaker B: Good night.
