[00:00:00] Speaker A: And by the time I got to the main barbecue portion, I looked down at my plate, I had no room left. And there was chicken, there was the ribs, there was the made to order steak. And I was like, I don't want this burger anymore. I don't know.
Severely made a mistake.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: Welcome back everybody to this week's episode of the DCL Duo Podcast, brought to you by my Path Unwinding Travel and Sam Listener Review Time. As always, this week's review comes from a year ago. Seems like every time we catch up we get back to a year. So a year ago from WRD Inc. Which I believe might be Wesley Ryan Davenport, who we have had, I think we've had on the show a couple times, or maybe at least once. I think we just recorded with him and he writes the quintessential Disney Cruise Line Podcast. The breadth and depth of knowledge and insights put forth by Ryan and Sam on all things Disney Cruise Line consistently ensure this podcast series is a pre embarkation must Listen Whether you're an experienced cruiser or a novice thinking of dipping your toes into the waters of sailing for the first time, you will find each episode elegantly constructed with relevant subject matter topics, stories and how to's, along with pro tips and tricks, all expertly shared with the participation of guests whose background and exposure help parse the nuanced subtleties of planning and enjoying your life at.
In short, there is no way to better prepare or educate for a Disney Cruise and spending time immersed in the facts and anecdotes of the DCL Duo Podcast. Oh my God, Wesley, if that is you, which I am pretty sure it is, I gotta give you the award for most eloquent review left for this show. Like I was gonna say, what a review.
[00:01:49] Speaker C: I was gonna say that I was like wow, that's like super beautifully written. Like what a. Yeah, I mean the sentiment is great, but it's also just like written really, really well. So yeah, yes.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: But thank you for that review. For all of you out, if you want to help support the show, one of the easiest ways to do it is head over to Apple Podcasts, hit those five stars in the app, and if you leave us a written review, we will read it on the air at the top of one of our main episodes when we put them out each week.
[00:02:15] Speaker C: So with that, and don't forget, we're also over on YouTube so don't forget to subscribe over on YouTube and like all the episodes you can.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: Yeah, we do actually now we were trying to put all of our episodes out on YouTube. So if you want to really connect with our guests and see the behind the scenes of us grubby on Saturday mornings recording podcasts, you can head over there and check those out. But Sam, we got a fun guest tonight and a fun topic because it. Look, I just want to say it feels like it has been Disney treasure all the time around here for the past like several months. Like all Disney treasure all the time. And we haven't had as many first time cruisers. We've had a lot of people who've experienced a Disney treasure for the first time. But today I'm just going to take over. Today I want to introduce Kyle, who is a first time cruiser Disney Cruiser and also experienced his first time Marvel day at sea, which is something even Sam and I still haven't been able to experience. So I want to welcome Kyle to the show.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: Welcome Kyle. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
[00:03:14] Speaker C: We're so excited to have you, Kyle. Now we know as Brian gave in this spoiler, this is a first time cruiser show, but we want to know about your love of Disney, where that comes from. Have you always been a Disney fan and tell us a little bit about you and you know, why you decided to even book a Disney cruise?
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah. So for Disney background. I've been going to Disney since, you know, I was a young child, I guess you could say. And I guess it was, I think maybe it was five years old, like my first trip to the parks and I guess it was really memorable for me because back in the day, Hollywood Studios was called MGM Studios.
[00:03:52] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:03:52] Speaker A: And back in the day in MGM Studios there was a Power Rangers meet and greet. And I loved the Power Rangers and I was a like super young. So I guess that's why it's a very memorable trip for me.
[00:04:03] Speaker C: This must have been. This must have been like the what, like the early or mid-90s that if it was Power Rangers.
[00:04:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
All right. I was early 2000s, but yeah.
[00:04:13] Speaker C: Oh, gosh. Oh, you're a baby. You're a baby, Kyle.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: Not that old.
[00:04:17] Speaker C: Not that old, but yeah.
[00:04:21] Speaker A: So yeah, so that was like my, you know, my first trip. And then about 10 years after that, we did our first Disney bubble vacation. So we stayed on property at Disney World, we did the dining plan. And then ever since then, my family got hooked. We did Disney almost every other year. And then once Covid hit with all that revenge travel, we've been doing it every year.
And ever since then we've been to Walt Disney World stayed at multiple resorts. That's another thing that I hope to do one time, eventually get to every resort in Walt Disney World. We've been to Disneyland Resort in California. We've been to Aulani. We stayed at Vero beach in Florida. And then we've also been to Tokyo Disneyland. So lots of.
[00:05:02] Speaker C: Oh, you're. You're all in. Yeah. You're like, all in now, are you.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: Let me ask, let me ask.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: How.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: Where are you coming to us from? Are you on the west coast or are you on the East Coast?
[00:05:12] Speaker A: I'm on the east coast, so I'm in New Jersey.
[00:05:14] Speaker B: New Jersey, okay. All right.
[00:05:15] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:05:15] Speaker B: Like, we get a lot of people from the east coast who never make it as far out as Aulani or Disneyland. So it's great to hear that you've experienced those because they are, I think some really. I mean, Disneyland's our favorite park, hands down, and A is one of the best Disney resorts I've ever seen. So.
[00:05:28] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Are you guys DVC owners as well?
[00:05:32] Speaker A: Yeah. So, yeah, my parents are DVC owners. It's actually funny because I think when we did our first Disney bubble vacation, it was in 2013, and I remember vividly a year before, when I was like 12 years old, I saw one of those ads on TV and I was trying to get my dad to do dvc and then he said no. And then a year after, when we did our Disney bubble vacation, he was like, okay, I can see why.
[00:05:54] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously we're all in on DVC ourselves. And, you know, this isn't a DVC show, but I would say for people who are frequent parksgoers, meaning if you're going to the parks, even every other year, if you're going less than that, then probably DVC isn't for you. But if you're going consistently every other year, and certainly if you're going consistently every year, it is actually a good investment.
If you like, if you're. If you're an on property person, obviously there are folks who love to stay at places off property, but if you're a Disney bubble person, like we are, then, yeah, DVC is definitely a good benefit. Well, let's talk about why you decided to try a Disney cruise for the first time, because obviously it's a different vacation than a parks vacation. And if you're a parks goer, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be a cruise person. So what made you. Did you ever. Had you ever been on cruise? On a different cruise line?
[00:06:50] Speaker A: So no, actually, so, like, growing up, like, I have motion sickness, my parents have motion sickness. It's really my brothers that really don't. But because of that, there was never really, like a oh, we need to do a cruise type mentality in my family.
But. And even up till now, I guess you could say I never really thought of, you know, me enjoying a cruise as much as I ended up doing, which we'll talk about, obviously. But, yeah, and that's also just a thing going into this cruise. Like, there was such a big fear of motion sickness that we'll talk. I guess we can talk about later. But basically, why I ended up with this sailing and why I ended up choosing Disney Cruise Line was because back in 2023, I was going to take my first Disney World trip with friends, without family. And then doing research for that trip was in the 2022. I was watching a bunch of vloggers on YouTube preparing for that trip. But then in 2022, Disney Cruise Line had, like, a big thing, which was the Wish came out. New. First new ship in a very long time. And then these same vloggers that I was watching started making stuff about the Wish. And then I just got absolutely captivated by it. Like the atrium, the restaurant, specifically the Marvel restaurant. I just.
I was like, wow, this is really, really cool. Maybe I should try it, see if it'll be okay, because I do like Disney. Might as well put another Disney thing under my belt. But ye. And then tried to get my family to go on a Disney cruise. But then there was still a lot of hesitation with that. But then eventually it came to the point where I was like, if I'm going to do this, I want to go all out. So I wanted to do something that doesn't happen as often. And that's how I landed on doing a Marvel Day at Sea cruise. So that's how I ended up doing research between the ships and then finding out Disney Dream has the Marvel Day at Sea. Also spoiled myself a little bit by watching Marvel Day at Sea vlogs. And that just got me absolutely hooked that I had to do a Marvel Day at Sea cruise.
[00:08:55] Speaker B: Were you a big Marvel fan coming into this? I mean, you watched all the shows and movies and stuff, or just we.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: Can talk about my failure doing one of the trivia things. But.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: Marvel, yeah, that Marvel trivia is no joke. Yeah, that is some of the toughest trivia I've ever seen. So. Yeah, because it's not just geared toward, like, the Disney content. It's geared toward the Comic books, too. And so, like, I love all the Marvel movies and TV shows, but I have never, like, I've toyed around with going back and reading some of the comic books because I do find them really interesting. But like, it. I. Yeah, if you haven't been following it since the beginning, it's tough.
[00:09:31] Speaker C: Yeah, well, and you have to. I feel like some of the shows, in particular, some of the TV shows, there's just so much out there right between, especially with like all those new series that were on Netflix that are now coming over to Disney. And so you got to watch a ton of stuff and probably watch all that stuff multiple times to like really know all the character names and all that stuff. But definitely think it makes sense that you booked a Marvel Day at Sea if you're, you know, if you're a Marvel fan. I would say probably Marvel Day at Sea if you, if you can get one, that's what, you know, what you should book. And then second to that is going to be obviously the Disney Destiny for Marvel fans.
Not to say that Marvel fans won't enjoy being on the Wish or the Treasure because they have at least the dining room worlds of Marvel. And on all the ships, you might get some Marvel character meet and greets, but not like you'll get on a Marvel Day at Sea. And probably not like we're going to see on the Destiny. At least that's my prediction, given the theming of the ship is there's going to be more Marvel characters out and about than there are on the other ships. But let's dive in then. Kyle, I want to talk about this motion sickness thing because as someone, myself who has always suffered from motion sickness, particularly car sickness, I still, even today, if I'm sitting in a car for more than like five or ten minutes, I cannot be like scrolling on my phone. I can't be reading while I'm in the car. I get super motion sick. And so I tell people all the time, yeah, I cruise. Yes, I suffer from motion sickness and I don't typically have issues on the ship. That's not to say I haven't ever. I have when we've had rough seas. And there have been times where I have at least one time where I needed to use patch, the prescription patch, because it was really rough seas in the Bahamas. What, what did you, who went with you on this cruise? Did your whole family come, including all the, you know, motion fellow motion sickies like you and, you know, what kinds of things did you think about or plan for knowing you were going on a sailing and knowing that you have or get motion sick.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: Yeah. So for this sailing, I was actually with one of my friends. He's the one that sailed with me because I was trying to, you know, push my family to go, and they're, you know, really resistant still. So I was like, okay, I'm just going to do this myself and I'm going to be able to just experience this.
[00:11:51] Speaker C: That's the way to go, right? You, you test it and then you. You explain to them how great it is and they'll come around, you know, tell you, get them to start watching the vlogs or listening to our show or, you know, the. Plenty of content out there to convince people to get on a Disney cruise.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: Nothing sells a Disney cruise like going on a Disney.
[00:12:09] Speaker C: Yeah, that's true. That's true. But then I think. I think being like a family member or close friend, you are the sort of actually the best salesperson to your own family and friends.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: Yeah, no, definitely. I've heard people say, like, yeah, it's not bad.
Yes, I have motion sickness, but I didn't have any problems on this cruise. And at the end of the day, it's still like, okay, but unless I do it myself.
But yeah. So my friend also has motion sickness and he was also worried. So we were talking about it and we were like, okay, what are we going to do to prepare for this? So I brought almost everything that I could think of. Like, I brought sea bands, I brought motion sickness medicine. I brought like a bunch of like, mints and then like mint gum. Because, like, you know, in Disney World, whenever I ride a ride and I can feel it a little bit, I usually just, you know, have some mint gum and then usually it'll just go away. So I brought all these things for the cruise out of fear of motion sickness, and I ended up not using any of them until after the cruise. It was more of after where I ended up having, like, you know, those sea legs.
[00:13:12] Speaker C: And.
[00:13:12] Speaker A: But other than that, it was like I was perfectly fine.
[00:13:16] Speaker C: That's great. I mean, first of all, smart to over prep, right? Like, it's better to have more stuff and then not need hits than to be, like, on the ship and then really need something. And it's easier if you can head off the motion sickness like, before it happens. So if, you know, for example, you know there's going to be rough seas, take that bonine or put on that patch ahead of time. Carry around that gum with you. Ginger sucking candies are also great. For motion sickness. But I, and I totally understand sometimes because for rides like Guardians Cosmic Rewind, that ride, I am okay, like on the ride. As soon as I get off, I'm like super nauseous. And so that's why I always like, I tell people, like Brian and Nathan can literally do that ride twice, back to back. I'm a one and done. I can do that ride once and then I need to like walk around, like maybe get a coffee. Like I. Yeah, so totally, totally understand that situation. I'd love to know how many nights was this cruise and where was it headed to? I mean, obviously it was a dream, so it's out of Fort Lauderdale, but tell us what the itinerary was.
[00:14:23] Speaker A: Yeah, so it was a five night sailing, so embarkation day. Then the first sea day was the Marvel Day at Sea. And then after that was Cozumel and then also Pirate Night and then Day at Sea. And then in the last day was Castaway.
[00:14:39] Speaker C: Nice. All right, well, I think we should talk about the ports first and then talk about Marvel Day at Sea because Marvel Day at Sea is obviously a huge highlight. And I want to save that best part not for last, but for sort of the middle of the show, the meat of the show. So let's talk about.
Actually, you know what? We didn't talk about embarking. I totally skipped that. All right, so you are traveling from New Jersey down to Florida for your cruise out of Port Everglades to tell us, like, when did you get into Port Everglades? I assume you flew far enough.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: So we flew in the day before, but we actually flew into West Palm beach the day before because you just wanted to meet up with people, spend the evening there, spend the morning there, and then drive down. It's only about like 45 to 15 minute drive. So it wasn't that bad. And there's also no traffic at all. So that was just perfect. But it was just really interesting because we encountered something that I've never encountered before where we like boarded the plane without a captain, which was strange.
[00:15:43] Speaker C: That's great.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: On the plane. And then they made an announcement that the captain has to come from another terminal. So we were like, oh. Then we ended up delayed an hour. I've.
[00:15:51] Speaker B: I've had that happen before because if they want to get like the. They're trying to get the plane fully ready so the pilot can just walk on, do the checks and get out. And so if they wait to board until the captain's there, then getting like.
[00:16:01] Speaker C: Then you're even more hours like, yeah.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I've had that. I've had that happen before. It is a bit strange when you walk on a plane, the cockpit's empty, but yeah, yeah.
[00:16:08] Speaker C: That is weird. That is weird. Well, at least you. I mean, it's only an hour late. That's not too bad. So did you guys stay in Palm beach or did you stay then down in Fort Lauderdale?
[00:16:18] Speaker A: Yeah, so we stayed. So we left on Saturday, like the ship left on Saturday, so we flew on Friday night and then we stayed in the West Palm beach area that night. And then Saturday morning is when we drove down.
Our port arrival was 12:30, I think. Yeah, it was like 12:30 and then we left the West Palm beach area area around like 11:15. Just so, you know, have like a little leeway and then. Yeah, and then we got to the parking garage exactly at 12:30, so.
[00:16:49] Speaker C: Oh, perfect.
Yeah. Now I feel like the Port Everglades terminal is really, especially now that Disney has its own terminal there. Like a well oiled machine. Like as, as good as Port Canaveral. I wonder, did you have any impression of how things were running? Was, did it seem organized and, and was it quick once, you know, once you got all parked? Like, was it quick to go through the security and the check in process?
[00:17:15] Speaker A: Yeah, no, if I could like sum it up in one word, I would say it was really fast, like very fast. And it was very unexpected because, you know, since we're first time cruisers, you know, I expected us to, you know, have to go through check in for a while and then security and then actually have to wait for our boarding group to be called and all that stuff. But when I was like reviewing my pictures, I think we were in the deck like 12:30 and then we were on the ship by 1. So it was incredibly quick and surprisingly quick too.
[00:17:46] Speaker C: Yeah, if they're, you know, if, if customs clears the ship quickly from, you know, obviously from the previous cruise, then it really can be at both Port Canaveral and Port Everglade. It's just such a well oiled machine and getting people checked in and especially when people come at their port arrival times and don't come earlier. Right. Like if you come earlier, you. Not always, but you may have a longer wait time because obviously you might not be able to get sort of checked in early. So it just depends who's sort of running operations that day. I will say. All right, well, tell us about boarding the ship. Obviously you are someone who watches vlogs and listens to our podcast, Right. So you knew what was coming. When you boarded the ship, you knew you were going to be announced into the beautiful atrium of the Disney Dream. What was that like?
[00:18:37] Speaker A: Yeah, so I was like, the way I explained it, I was like, no pun intended, but it was like living a fever dream, because I've been looking forward to this Marvel deity and going on a Disney cruise for so long. And we get there, they announce our names. We just did our first names. And then we get through, and then the Donald statue is there. The Donald statue that they've seen in so many pictures, so many vlogs all over social media. And then I see the Marvel Day at Sea backdrop for the first time, and I'm like, okay, this is. This is actually happening. This is, you know, we're here. This is happening. And then, you know, I just look up and there's like, Pluto's meeting on, like, Deck 5, and then there's another character on Deck 4. And I'm just like, what is going? Like, I don't know what to do. Like, I, you know, I've heard so many things of, like, what to do on your first day. You know, if you need to change something, you can go change something. If, you know, you want to do dining, then you got to go to, I think it's Royal palace. Does the sit down lunch on that day on, you know, embarkation day. And I'm like, okay, what do we do? What do we do? Like, I felt so, like, overwhelmed because I was like, I don't. I don't know what to do. And then I definitely remember telling my friend, I was like, okay, let's just go to cabanas. Let's get lunch. Because it was already one o' clock and we're kind of hungry, so we get up there and I said cabanas, because I wanted it to be quick so that we could, like, you know, go do stuff. But then when we sat down, we sat down in, like, the little outdoor area. We sit down and I was kind of just like, I just sat down and was like, I'm really overwhelmed right now. Like, I just needed to sit down and just take it all in. So we ended up, like, at cabanas for, like an hour.
[00:20:12] Speaker C: Ish.
[00:20:13] Speaker A: Because I just needed to compose what was happening.
[00:20:16] Speaker C: Oh, you're like. You're making me smile from ear to ear right now, Kyle. And I wish people could see the smile on your face. If you're not watching this on YouTube, like, seeing your reaction, it's like a kid in the candy store kind of reaction, right? And it can be like overwhelming. And it's also a little bit chaotic that first day. I know for us, like Brian always feels like even though he's of course happy to walk onto a Disney ship.
[00:20:41] Speaker B: You keep saying this and I don't feel overwhelmed.
[00:20:45] Speaker C: Not overwhelmed.
[00:20:46] Speaker B: I do feel more comfortable once we've unpacked.
[00:20:48] Speaker C: Right. I'm not saying overwhelmed. I was about to say that you always feel like you're not in vacation mode until you're unpacked and things are settled. Right. And that first day is very chaotic.
And so yeah, that's. And I will say that's why we often opt for the sit down lunch. Even though it does mean it's going to take longer and you're not going to necessarily get started on the round.
[00:21:13] Speaker B: I'm going to give a tip to first time cruisers because the thing that hooked me on Disney Cruise Line beyond sort of when people clapped when I came in was that we had a friend who just basically like for our first time at Disney Cruise, I think we did, we did get lunch at cabanas. I can't remember if it was before or after. I think it was after when things had calmed down. But he basically took us up to the top deck and started like walking us all over the ship and just like showing us highlights. And I don't think you need an experienced cruiser to do that so much as I would just say like just go up to the top deck, just start walking around, like go down a deck, walk around, like just see where everything is and get a sense for all the things that you can explore and do and then head up to cabanas, grab your chicken fingers and start making lists of stuff that you want to do. So yeah, I think, I think it's great if you're a first time cruiser, just get the lay of the land, understand the ship and you know, how, you know how it feels and where things are and all that sort of stuff. I think it's a great way to spend your kind of first couple hours on a, on your first Disney cruise.
[00:22:09] Speaker C: So yeah, anyway, yeah, well, and like I said, it can be overwhelming because there's a lot of stuff going on and there's a lot of chaos because a lot of people don't know like where they're going and where you know. And obviously rooms aren't ready so you're still carrying around like your backpack, you know, at least, at least for, you know, if you're getting on at one o' clock, at least for another half hour until rooms or rooms are typically ready for those who haven't heard us talk about this before, typically ready around 1:30. But that can, you know, that can be a little bit later if they're a little bit behind schedule. All right, well, Kyle, you guys, you hang out a little bit at cabanas. You get some food in you.
I want to kind of. I want to jump to sail away. Did you go to the sail away party?
[00:22:52] Speaker A: Yes, of course. We went to the sailor party. You know, something that I've also seen spoiled myself. But, like, yeah, no. So, like, at the mustard drill, you know, I was telling my friend, I was like, we have to book it up to deck 12. Like, we have. We're going to go up. Like, I think. Where was our. I think our muster was on deck four.
So, like, trying to do math right now in my head, like, eight.
[00:23:14] Speaker C: Eight.
[00:23:15] Speaker A: Eight decks, right?
[00:23:16] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:23:16] Speaker A: So I was like, we're going to have to book it out eight flights of steps because we got to get there. And he was like, all right, I'll just follow you. So then, you know, immediately after the must drill ends, we book it up there. I was like, we got to get a good spot. So we got a pretty good spot, I thought. I think we had a pretty good spot. And then, you know, we get up there, and then that song starts playing, and I just had, like. Like, I could feel it that. I just had the biggest uncontrollable smile on my face because I've been. You know, I've heard this so many times on blogs and stuff like that. And then even, like, my friend, he was like. Because I told him, I was like, oh, yeah, I got to go up and hear the horns. Like, we have to go hear the horns. And he was like, why? What's. What' what's up with the horns? I was like, okay, you'll see.
[00:23:56] Speaker C: They're special.
[00:23:57] Speaker A: And then I think, yeah, but I don't know, I was just making a little countdown for your vacation to start, and then you hear, like, the dream horn. It just. It makes you just feel like.
I don't know how to explain it. It's just really just a feeling that.
Gosh, you know, like I said, it's just like. It was like living a fever dream, basically, because I just. It was so exciting.
[00:24:21] Speaker C: Oh, I love that. And it is for those who haven't done a sail Away, they do usually do a countdown, like, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And then you hear just the. When you wish upon a star horn. Right. And that's on all of the ships. There's the. When you wish upon a star, that's the sort of the kickoff. I mean, you'll hear that horn other times, usually when you're leaving port or at noon, you know, but those are. There's a. Some of the ships have multiple different songs. The dream is one of those ships. The magic and the wonder only have the sort of. The original, but it is really like a nice. I don't know, something special about hearing the horn for the first time and it being as a part of your sail away party. Well, sorry, go ahead.
[00:25:07] Speaker A: I was joking with my friend how I was like, don't judge me if I shed a tear when I hear the horn, because I've been looking forward to this moment.
[00:25:15] Speaker C: Oh, I love that. For me, that's when I feel like the cruise has really begun.
All the excitement, all the buildup, and you're like, my vacation has started. I love that. Well, let's. So let's jump to talking about the ports, and then we'll jump, of course, back onto the ship to talk about all the things. Marvel Day at sea and all the other things you guys got up to. You said you went to Cozumel and Castaway. I'm curious whether you booked any excursions for Cozumel. We'll start there.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: Yeah. So in Cozumel, we did book an excursion, but then we ended up canceling it. And that was only because it was the chocolate and, like, Mayan excursion, Beach one. But then because it was, like, really, really, like, long, I was like, I kind of want more freedom to just explore the port and explore the island, you know, ourselves, which is what we ended up doing. And at the end of the day, like, if I was going to Mexico for the first time, the only things that I wanted to do was get tacos and then get some, like, guac. So that's all I wanted to do. That's what we ended up doing. So I, you know, felt fulfilled.
[00:26:21] Speaker C: You're speaking Brian's love language. Brian's love language is street tac.
And I will say both of our love languages. Guacamole. You know, chips and guacamole. Chips and salsa, yeah. Nathan's a salsa person. We, Brian and I are both salsa and guacamole. People love it.
I think that's a great way of doing it, especially if you're adults only and you don't need to sort of worry so much about transportation. And, you know, it's easy to explore some of these ports on your own, at least. The ones where there is something sort of close by and you just want to kind of walk around.
Well, let's talk about Castaway, because obviously, Castaway is always a huge highlight for people, whether you've been there a million times or it's your very first time. And we always tell people, you don't have to book anything at Castaway. You can just have, like, a wonderful, relaxing day. But there are some things that people do often like to book. We like to book parasailing. Other people love to do the stingray adventure, the snorkel. You can book. Book ahead of time. You could also just book it when you're there. And same with, like, bike rentals and tube rentals, although it's cheaper if you book it as a package ahead of time. Did you. Did you guys book anything in advance for Castaway? And if so, what.
[00:27:39] Speaker A: So Castaway day? We didn't really book anything advanced. We were just, you know, really looking forward to, you know, going to Serenity Bay and just enjoying the beach and the water.
And, yeah, our castaway day was, like, perfect. I was making the joke, like, perfect day. Coco came. More like, perfect day of Castaway came because our. Our castaway day was, like, you know, perfect. Like, I've heard so many things about, like, you know, like, if it's too windy, you're not docking a castaway. If the weather's not perfect, you're not docking a castaway. And, you know, I went into the cruise with that mindset. Like, I don't. I'm not gonna let. Not going to Castaway ruin the vacation, basically.
But when we woke up that day, we had a veranda and on the starboard side, too, which was completely not planned at all. I didn't know that was a thing that people do so that they can see pulling into Castaway. But we woke up that morning, and I was like, oh, wow, it's really, really nice outside. To the point where I think when we were in Serenity Bay, I've heard so many things of people are on the beach, and you can see the impending storm cloud that's about to make you run back to the ship. We were there, and the cloud, like, the skies were clear, and we're like, that's like. It was just perfect.
[00:28:49] Speaker C: Wow. Yeah.
[00:28:50] Speaker B: I will say, the one thing you never want to hear on Castaway Cay is the ship's horn, because that means they're closing the island down. But, yeah, it sounds like you had an awesome day.
How'd you find the food on Castaway?
[00:29:00] Speaker A: All the food on Castaway was so good, especially that's like, Serenity Bay.
I was just like. I guess I was just so excited. I just like grabbing, like, things like, you know, like the potato salad. And I don't know why I got excited that they pre, like, put stuff on the buns for burgers. Like, you know, they already put, like, the lettuce, tomato, and onions and all stuff. I was like, I got so excited. I was like, oh, I'm gonna get one of these and I'm gonna get a burger. And by the time, like, you know, I got to like, the main barbecue portion, I looked down on my plate, I had no room left, and I chicken. There was the ribs. There was like the made to order steak. And I was like, I don't want this burger anymore. Like, I don't know.
[00:29:41] Speaker C: Severely made up a server on board. Yeah, yeah.
It's so funny though, actually usually get a burger at Castaway, but I also save room for ribs because I do like, I like the Castaway ribs and I like, I just am a burger person. I can eat a burger, like, anytime. But what did you think of. What did you think of the beach? Now, I will tell you, it's been a while since Brian and I have been to Serenity Bay beach because with Nathan, obviously we can't spend our time at Serenity Bay, you know, and we've heard from a lot of folks that still, since I think it was like Hurricane Irma, it's still pretty shallow, I guess is the way I want to use it. Meaning it's like this. There's like a steep incline of the beach, and the beach is not very long. Meaning you're like, right, there's sand, and then the water's like, right there. Did you. One, is that how you found it? And two, did that bother you?
[00:30:34] Speaker A: If so, yeah, that's how it was.
I didn't really think much of it, to be honest. I didn't know it was any different than how I guess it used to be. But yeah, the chairs were on a really steep incline, but you were supposed to take them out and pull them out so that you can. But unfortunately, the way the shade was, the shade was on that inclined portion.
But besides that, the water was really shallow and it was surprisingly shallow. And the way there's no waves or anything, I was okay. Aulani has wave breakers, but there were still waves. So I'm really confused how they got it that way.
[00:31:16] Speaker C: It was like, yeah, it's so calm at Castaway. And I mean, and That's a, it's a good thing and a bad thing. Right. At the same time. Right. You're not gonna have to worry at Castaway about being a strong swimmer or being like taken out to sea. You know, typically it's, it's just really, really calm, but sometimes you get really, really low tide and you have like no water. So it's, it can be APPL plus, you know, and a minus. And sometimes it's nice to have a little bit of a wave going on. So yeah, it can be. It's sort of a double edged sword. But it sounds like you had such a calm day too, without really any wind.
I will say, you know, we're recording this the, the end of March 2025 in case that's not obvious.
And the last we've heard from the both the sailing that is literally docking this morning or just docked this morning at Port Canaveral and the sailing prior. We had friends on both of those sailings and both of it to Castaway, but it took them multiple attempts to actually dock at Castaway because there were such heavy, heavy winds and all of the excursions, all of the sort of boating excursions got canceled even before they docked at Castaway because the winds were so, were so strong. So it is something to think about for folks like, you know, we warn people or we try to remember, remind people that if your cruise is going to Castaway or any port, frankly, there's not a guarantee that you dock because, you know, weather is out of control of or at least, I mean, Disney might control almost everything, but weather is one of the rare things they don't control in the universe. So.
But let's jump back onto the ship to talk about what you guys got up to on board. I'd love to hear from you, Kyle, what the offerings were at Marvel Day at Sea and what kinds of, you know, which ones you got to actually do because obviously there's so much packed into really one crazy day.
[00:33:16] Speaker A: Yeah. So that is true.
I knew the Marvel deity was going to be one day, but it was so crazy and jam packed.
I was like, wow, this is a lot. I think one of your previous guests called it a super Marvel marathon. And I was like, yeah, that's what it felt like. It felt like just a Marvel marathon and at the point and then we'll talk about the deck show, but it just felt like I was in a Marvel movie. But yeah, there was a lot of stuff that happened that day. I guess I could just run through that entire day.
[00:33:51] Speaker C: Yeah, I Would love that. Yeah, yeah.
[00:33:53] Speaker A: So like the day we woke up. Okay, I'm just going to add this little caveat. So because of me fearing that this cruise might be a one and done because of motion sickness, I kind of wanted to go all out and then book Apollo brunch, which we ended up getting, but it was only offered on the Marvel D at sea, unfortunately.
[00:34:10] Speaker C: Oh my gosh.
[00:34:11] Speaker A: Yeah, so there's like a little break in the Marvel stuff for Paulo brunch.
[00:34:16] Speaker C: I mean, listen, I mean, that's never a mistake. Going to Paulo brunch is never going to be a mistake. But obviously that does take up a big chunk of your Marvel Day at Sea. And you've got, as you mentioned, it's a marathon kind of a day. So. Yeah, tell us how the day started.
[00:34:34] Speaker A: Yeah, so when I woke up, I heard so many things about the music that they play on board. So I woke up and I had to go outside and listen to what was happening. And yeah, you go outside in the hallways and they're just blasting Marvel music.
From the get go. They're blasting Marvel music, whether it be from the Iron man movies, the Avengers movies, whatever. They're just blasting Marvel music, which is really, really cool.
Throughout the day they were playing all kinds of Marvel. I guess during the day when the kids are mainly out on the pool deck, they were playing those kid Marvel shows on the Funnel Vision.
They had mar Marvel movies playing on the Funnel Vision. They had Marvel movies playing in the theaters all day.
There were Marvel decorations everywhere. There was like a Thanos poster near the pool deck, which was just cool. And I was like, is Thanos gonna be here later? But that was, you know. Yeah, that was pretty cool.
And then just like meet and greets in general, they had your standard meet and greets where like, you know, it's on the app, you had to go wait in line. Then there was like the pre booked meet and greets which we did have to book beforehand. So we had the book. There were like three different ones. There was like Marvel HQ Asgardians and then the Guardians. The Guardians of the Galaxy.
[00:35:45] Speaker C: Oh, nice.
[00:35:46] Speaker A: Yeah, so like I think those come out the same time Royal Gathering comes out.
[00:35:54] Speaker C: Yeah. So 30 days before.
Yeah, so it's for Royal Gathering and for those character meet and greets for special cruises like Marvel Day at Sea or Pixar Day at Sea or what they used to do with Star Wars Day at sea. It's at 30 days at midnight. So 30 days before your cruise, everyone gets access at the same time.
This Is not a situation where, if you're pearl or concierge, where you get sort of early access, although concierge might be able to request it through Shoreside. So that may be the one exception. But everybody gets access on the app at the same time. So at 30 days at midnight. And it's usually when first time cruisers are also trying to check in for the cruise to get their port arrival time.
So yeah, you can book those through the app. They are free, but they are ticketed events so you have to have essentially a reservation.
It is possible that additional spots open up on board, but not guaranteed. I would say for the royal gathering for Princess meet and greets, it's pretty typical that you can be able to get a spot on board.
But I don't think for Marvel Day at sea that's true because it really is one day versus royal gathering will probably happen multiple times across a cruise.
So now were you able to book these?
How many were you. You said there were three different ones or three variety of these. Were you able to book all of them at that 30 day mark?
[00:37:16] Speaker A: Yeah, so I did book all three of them and actually I guess I can give this little tip. You actually don't have to do them all on Marvel Day at se. They actually do offer it on the other days, which I found out later. So I booked all three on Marvel Day Etsy. And then we have such a packed schedule because with Paulo jumping from out there in the middle it was like so much.
But then I found out they do offer it on other day. So I was like, okay, what if I just cancel it here and then move it to this day? Which, you know, help alleviate, alleviate a lot of the tightness in the schedule. But yeah, we ended up getting all three of them. So like that morning we had the HQ one and then the Guardians one. So the HQ was Spider man and Iron man. And that was really, really cool. I mean, I, I don't think I've ever done an Ironman meet and greet before. Like I've been to Disneyland. I know he meet and greets there, but I don't think I've ever seen him. So that was really, really cool.
[00:38:10] Speaker C: Well, and the ones at Disneyland, the meet and greets. So Spider man, those are on the, in the app. But the other meet and greets over by the.
What is it, the twin, twin jet thing, those ones, they don't necessarily advertise what time which character is going to be there. So it's kind of more random. And so you can, you can't plan. Yes, we've seen Iron man there, but we also have not ever done a meet and greet with him because it's like, there's usually a really long line by the time we see that somebody's there that we might want to meet.
Okay, so you see the two of them together. Then what was the next one you got?
[00:38:45] Speaker A: So the next one was the Guardians of the Galaxy. So this one, I've heard it could be a combination between Star Lord, Gamora, or Groot. And I just really wanted to meet Groot, and now it's just a dude in a costume. But I just thought it was really, really cool to see, like, a big.
You know, just a really big tree. And of course, all he says is, I am Groot. And the fact that, you know, you get to shake Groot's hand, which is just. I was beside myself. It was really, really cool.
[00:39:10] Speaker C: Yeah. His branch. You mean he doesn't have any. He's a branch.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: I know we've told this story on the show before, but this reminds me of Star wars day at sea and our son meeting Chewbacca for the first time. And he was just like. He fully believed that Both Chewbacca and R2D2 were, like, real. Like, were real, because there was no way that anyone could fit into a costume of R2D2. And no one is as tall as Chewbacca. And his eyes were blinking, you know, and it was. It was immersive. It was. It felt like, you know, it was. It was really cool to see. We have somewhere a picture of Chewbacca hugging him, and it's. He's just engulfed in fur, and you can barely see him.
[00:39:49] Speaker C: I love that picture of Nathan. It just makes me smile. Yeah, I have that one on my phone, for sure.
All right, so who did you get? Did you get Groot?
[00:39:58] Speaker A: Yes. So we did get. And then we got Gamora.
So that was. You know, Gamora is really, really serious, which was fine. I just was hoping, you know, if he gets Star Lord, he's going to, you know, make a lot of jokes and stuff.
[00:40:08] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:40:08] Speaker A: Gamora was cool, too.
[00:40:09] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and the good thing about getting Gamora is with the makeup and stuff, I feel like they. The character looks more like Gamora. With Star Lord, you can get a little bit hit and miss. It's like, with some of the, you know, some of the face characters are really good, and some of them just don't match as well as the others. So I tend to think that the ones that are more Sort of costumed or more makeup kind of. You tend to get a better match in that sense.
[00:40:39] Speaker B: 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 place planner, which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, adventured with Disney, relaxed at Aulani, and so much more. Whether it's a Disney cruise, a theme park, vacation, or adventures by Disney, or if you are looking to expand beyond the mouse, 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 DCLDUOYpathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks MyPath Unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:41:37] Speaker C: Okay, so great. Two great meet and greets. What was your next thing that you guys did? Did you have to then break to go to Palo? And I gotta ask you, what were you wearing on Marvel Day at Sea?
[00:41:48] Speaker A: Yeah, so I started off so I had like two different outfits that I ended up wearing. I started off with a Deadpool shirt because I was kind of hoping Deadpool would be on the ship since, you know, the new movie just came out and I was like, okay, maybe you know, he'll be there. Unfortunately, he wasn't. So that's whatever, I guess. But it's. It was so, you know, I was hoping.
And then in my afternoon I just had a bunch of Avengers campus gear that I was wearing, like from a sweater to a shirt. And I. I kind of regret not dressing up. I thought about it like cosplaying and I guess I can also talk about this little costume event that they had later.
But yeah, it was a little bit of regret not dressing up fully dressing up. But yeah. So I guess things that we also did, I guess I could also include. There was so much character roaming that it was a little overwhelming because being a Disney World person, we don't really get character roaming that much. Disneyland, there is more character roaming.
But this was like Character roaming on, like, a whole other level.
You know, I think at one point, I always. I like to tell this story where I think I was on deck four, near shutters, and, like, Ms. Marvel and Captain America, Sam Wilson were there and drawing, like, a gigantic crowd. And then I was like, oh, I cannot get through here. And then out of nowhere, Kate Bishop, around the corner, looks in my direction and goes, yeah, I'm not getting involved with that. And then walks out onto the promenade and leaves. And I'm just like, should I have taken a picture? Like, what? What just happened?
[00:43:18] Speaker C: What just happened?
[00:43:19] Speaker A: Yeah, I was just so, like, shocked that I couldn't, like, you know, get my phone out in time to get a picture. Yeah, that was really, really cool. And then I think my favorite, like, character roaming story was like, during the baby race. So they had the baby race. It was like a Marvel themed baby race. So, like, the map.
[00:43:36] Speaker C: Oh, so it wasn't Marvel.
[00:43:38] Speaker A: Yeah. It wasn't Jack. Jack. It was.
It had, like, who was there? I think it was like, Black Panther, Iron Man, Spider Man, Hulk. Like, you know, that's what was lined up on the lanes, and it was supposed to be. And then it's really, really funny too, where, like, I think two members of the tracksuit mafia come in and they're like, I would like to, you know, enter my baby. And it's like a grown man.
And then they're like, no.
And then I was kind of like, is this superhero gonna come in and stop them? Like, what's happening right now?
[00:44:08] Speaker C: That's awesome.
[00:44:08] Speaker A: But, yeah, that was. Was really cool. But, like, during the baby race, the character of Shang Chi was just there. Like, he was just watching the baby race, too, and clapping along with the people. And I was watching from deck five, four or five, like, looking down at it, and I was, like, telling my friend, I was like, is that Shang Chi? Is he just there watching? Like, no one.
Everyone was so focused on the baby race, they didn't notice that there's a character meet and greet right behind them right there. Yeah. And then eventually two kids did notice he was there, and then they took pictures of him. But, yeah, no, that was just really, really cool to see. And the fact that he also was clapping at the end, too.
[00:44:47] Speaker C: Yeah, that's amazing. All right, now, you said you had a break for Apollo brunch. I imagine you had to go back and change.
So you have multiple outfit changes this day, it sounds like.
[00:45:01] Speaker A: Yeah. So that was. The morning was Deadpool. And then we had the gold chain for Paulo and then we went.
Actually, what's really weird is when we were at Paulo, I saw someone with like a Disneyland Black Panther spirit jersey looking thing. And I was like, oh, could we have not. Like, I was like, I dressed up for this. Like, I thought, you know, I don't know what was going on. But anyway, yeah, so we had to run to our room change, and then we went to Palo brunch. And then after Palo brunch. After Palo brunch, my friend was like, you want to just go to, like, you know, the next event already? Because, you know, there's so much to do. I was like, yeah, but I don't really want to walk around in these shoes. Shoes, because more nicer shoes too. I want to be comfortable. So then we went back to the room, changed again to get more comfortable, and then we saw.
Oh, the Doctor Strange magic show. Well, not really magic show, but like a Doctor Strange show, which was really, really cool. It was in the Walt Disney Theater.
[00:45:58] Speaker C: I was going to ask if they did it in the theater. Yeah. So it was some kind of like, demonstration show thing with Dr. Strange. Were there other characters a part of it? And was it, like, interactive with the audience?
[00:46:09] Speaker A: Yeah, so it was like the story of it was like, it's like the Kamar Taj graduation of, like, new sorcerers or whatever.
And then, you know, then these like four kids, quotation marks, basically, who are graduating, you know, have to learn to become heroes and all that stuff. And then.
[00:46:29] Speaker C: Oh, fun.
[00:46:30] Speaker A: At one point there's a villain and then they have to stop the villain. But it wasn't really a villain. But I don't want to really spoil it, but yeah, that's basically what happened. And it was really cool and the effects were really, really cool.
[00:46:42] Speaker C: Oh, that sounds awesome.
And I take it, did they just pluck some kids out of the audience right there or did it seem like they had picked them ahead of time or something?
[00:46:52] Speaker A: Oh, no. So the kids quotation marks were actors. So they're actually. Yeah, yeah. They were supposed to be like. Yeah, they're part of the cast. They were supposed to be. They were supposed to fight the villain that shows up.
[00:47:03] Speaker C: Okay, awesome. Love that.
What was the next thing you guys got up to?
[00:47:09] Speaker A: Yeah, so that one after that is when we did the Marvel Super Fan Face Off.
[00:47:13] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. This is a big trivia. This is like a game show. It's not a regular trivia, but it's a game show and it is, like, super hardcore. Yeah, tell us about.
[00:47:24] Speaker A: Yeah, it was very super hardcore. Yeah. So like the first round is like, they give you letters, so it's multiple choice and you just have to raise up the letter you get. You only get one chance, by the way. So if you get wrong once, you're out.
So we were like, I was doing really, really well for a while and then there was a comic book question about the first Spider man title. And I don't know why I fumbled the ball on it because I knew two of them were not it. And then one of them was one of those throwaway answers that they give. One throwaway wrong answers that they give. But I still don't know. I made a mistake and I was like, man, I fumbled the ball on this and ended up out on first round. And then the second round was like whiteboards. And then the third round was basically when they whittled it down to two people. You have to just, you know, name a bunch of characters, as many characters as they can with a limited amount of time. And I definitely would not have one because the guy that won was.
Yeah, he was. He was really, really good.
[00:48:24] Speaker C: Yeah. Was it where they were showing him like a picture of the characters and he had to name the characters or was he just having to name as many as he knew?
[00:48:31] Speaker A: Yeah. So they just flashed the picture of the character and then he had to just name them as they were going and see how many he could do within a certain amount of time. And there was also comic book characters too, so that was a tough one.
[00:48:44] Speaker C: Oh yeah, we've seen them do that on non Marvel Day at Sea cruises occasionally.
But what they'll do is they'll sort of whittle people down from the prior Marvel trivias and bring those people to do that kind of head to head Marvel competition.
But even just the regular Marvel trivias, from my perspective, are super, super hardcore. Like a lot of the trivias on board, let's be honest, at Disney Cruise, they are hardcore. And the people who know the answers are.
They know everything. It's kind of incredible.
[00:49:18] Speaker A: The guy who won the Superfan face off, we also did Marvel trivia later on that day and then he was there too. And I was like, oh, I think, I guess we lost. I guess we're not.
[00:49:26] Speaker C: We're like, no chance.
Yeah, this guy's the expert. Yeah, of course. And he's probably not just a fan of the movies, but obvious, big into the comic books. What was the next or what were the other events that you guys got to go to on Marvel Day at Sea?
[00:49:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, actually My favorite one was this costume event with a surprise at the end.
So basically, they had this little costume show where everyone that was dressed up, they grouped them by either character. So obviously, if there's a lot of spider mans and they're just going to have one group of spider mans, if not, then they're going to group them by the Guardians, group them by Loki, you know, basically like that. So then they did that, and then at the end. And then they did one group picture at the end. And this is, I guess, where it got really, really cool, because so then they had, like, everyone leave, and then they brought up a bunch of kids who are dressed up. They're like, you know, we have to celebrate the heroes of tomorrow. You know, all that stuff. And then surprise, Mickey and his friends come out in their Marvel Day at Sea outfits. And it was also a goal of mine for this cruise to get a picture with Captain America, Mickey. Because it was. When I've seen pictures of it, I was like, I have to get a picture with him with that, because it's really cute.
[00:50:40] Speaker C: He's got, like, a Captain America T shirt, right? And, like, a vest.
[00:50:43] Speaker A: Yeah, he's got a Captain America shirt, and he also has a Captain America hat. And I was like, I think it has, like, the A on the hat or something like that. Yeah. But it was. I was like, I have to get a picture with him. So they come out, they go down, you know, the atrium, into the atrium, take a picture with all the kids. They stand behind the kids, so they get one big group picture, and then they do a meeting, greet with whoever wants to be there. And where we were standing, we were watching it from Deck 4. So where we were standing, we were basically right next to where the line started for Mickey and Minnie.
And I was like, I mean, we're here. Might as well.
[00:51:20] Speaker C: Might as well.
[00:51:22] Speaker A: So, yeah, that was really, really cool to be. You know, be able to get a picture with Mickey and Minnie in their Marvel dancing.
[00:51:29] Speaker C: Yeah. And you have to, I will say, like, if those characters are on your list, right? Like, those specific costumes are on your list of things you want to sort of check off, like, take the opportunity when it presents itself, because they don't come out throughout the entire cruise, you know, in those outfits, they might come out more than once, but there's no guarantee sometimes, even if they're scheduled to come out more than once, you know, things can happen. People can. Can get sick and, you know, that things can get canceled. And so if that's on your list of Things like take that opportunity right when it comes out. Well, of course, you had one other character meet and greet, which was. What was the last one that you had said?
[00:52:11] Speaker A: It was the Asgardians. So we actually didn't have that on this day. It got moved to.
We moved it to our second C Day, which was really, really good for us. And then for that one, I believe it's C Day, either Thor, Mighty Thor, so Jane Foster Thor, or Loki. And then we ended up with both Thors. And that was really, really cool.
[00:52:29] Speaker C: Oh, that's so fun. Yeah. Thor and Mrs. Thor, basically.
[00:52:33] Speaker B: Wait, did you say which Captain America was on board?
[00:52:36] Speaker A: I guess I could say both. Both Captain Americas were on board. Yeah. So Sam Wilson, Captain America was on board. And then another thing that we did was the USO show, because that was another thing that I've heard you have to do. And then that one had.
I almost said Chris Evans, Captain America, but Steve Rogers, Captain America.
[00:52:53] Speaker C: Yeah, love that, Love that. And then you also had the Deck Party. So the USO show, I'm assuming, did they do that in Delunge or did they do that on the Walt Disney Stage?
[00:53:04] Speaker A: They did that in Evolution. So it was a really small space.
[00:53:08] Speaker C: Yeah. And super crowded, I imagine. Yeah. Yeah.
Tell us.
You obviously went to the deck party.
What did you think of the Heroes Unite deck party?
[00:53:19] Speaker A: Yeah, so there was actually two deck parties. It's like Marvel or it's like Pirate Night, kind of. So they have the Mickey and Friends one first without the fireworks, and then they had the Heroes Unite one. The Mickey and Friends one.
It was just, you know, them in their costumes and then the same thing. They were, like, doing different pieces.
[00:53:35] Speaker C: Cute. Yeah.
[00:53:36] Speaker A: And then. But I will say, like, all of them posing with Avengers music playing in the background was just like, I had to get that. But, yeah, I love it. And then I do want to add that before Heroes Unite and before dinner, there was a, like, just a character blitz happening in the atrium before we went to dinner. Like, there was.
Yeah, it was like there was just characters everywhere. Like, literally everywhere. Like everywhere you turn, there was a character. I was like, what is going on right now? I'm like, what is happening? But anyway, yeah, and then. Then after dinner was Heroes Unite and same thing. I was like, I have to go get a good spot for Heroes Unite. And then when we got there, we also made friends with our table mates. So they actually got up there first and they were like, I was not expecting there to be this many people because we got up there 30 to 45 minutes before the show started and it was packed. Like, we were on deck 12 and it was really, really hard to get a spot. And because, like, how I watched vlogs and stuff, I knew it was a good spot to be on the port side. I know they shoot off the fireworks on the starboard side, but they like, like incorporate the fireworks into the show so well, which was really, really cool.
But, you know, Heroes Unite was just. It felt like I was in a Marvel movie. Like, it felt like I was. Yeah, basically felt like I was in a Marvel movie.
I don't really want to spoil this story, but basically it is a multiverse story. Yeah, yeah, I don't really want to spoil.
[00:55:07] Speaker C: We haven't seen it ourselves, but we have heard like, we. We've heard tidbits about it. And I. I will say I have actually refrained from watching it on YouTube because I know there are people who have put, you know, posted videos of it on YouTube and I've refrained because I'm hoping that someday we're going to get on a ship that either has the deck party or is a Marvel Day at Sea sailing that has the deck, you know, so I'm still hoping I. I'm still crossing my fingers that the Destiny is going to have the Heroes Unite deck party, you know, either in addition to. Or probably not instead of Pirate Night, but I'm hoping in addition to Pirate Night because really, really, really, really want to see it.
And on the schedule right now, I don't think. I think we had looked. I don't think there are any Marvel Day at Sea Cruises announced for 2026 as of now, if I'm remembering correctly, Brian, you probably remember better than I do.
[00:56:02] Speaker B: I don't think so. But maybe while you're talking here, I'll tool over to the cruise line website and just see what's happening.
[00:56:10] Speaker C: I think.
[00:56:10] Speaker B: I think when they've announced them yet.
[00:56:11] Speaker C: Yeah, I think when they did the release least through summer of 2026, there wasn't anything on there that was labeled a Marvel Day at Sea. That doesn't mean they won't add it later.
[00:56:20] Speaker B: They all tend to happen at the same time of year. They all tend to happen on the shorter cruises as a way to get people all in on going off season, Fort Lauderdale, off season, cruising, that sort of stuff.
[00:56:29] Speaker C: January, February, March. It's kind of the same as what they have done for Pixar Day at Sea on the Fantasy. Right? They've done Marvel Day at Sea on either the Dream or on the Magic. Yeah.
[00:56:40] Speaker B: Well, but they usually do wait to designate them, so. Yeah, but I'll take a quick gander.
[00:56:47] Speaker C: Now, Kyle, one thing I have heard that's really nice about, at least used to be nice about Marvel Day at Sea was you got a paper navigator that looked like a comic book.
And I know now obviously Disney's using the app. Did you see, was there any literature in your stateroom that looked like any kind of comic book type of a thing?
[00:57:09] Speaker A: So, no, they didn't really have that, but they did like the men, like the.
The dinner menu was like a comic book, so that was cool. And they also put like a little. They put that Marvel Day at Sea like, sticker thing on, like the veranda door, and that was really, really cool. And they also let you take it home, which I did not know. So. Yeah, that's in my room.
[00:57:33] Speaker C: Oh, nice. Nice. Yeah. Okay, so it's like one of those window cling things, right? Yes. Yeah. So it's like, it look a sticker, but it's a. It's a kind of a plastic window cling. And they. They have those. Sometimes if you buy one of the room decoration packages, you might get a window cling, like a, like a birthday package or, you know, one of the holiday packages. Sometimes it includes. Not always. It just depends which package, but sometimes it includes a cling. All right. Well, Kyle, sounds like Marvel Day at Sea was awesome. I. It's just hearing about it as we. As we have a couple of other times with other guests makes me want to. To do one.
Particularly as someone who is a. I would say a decent Marvel fan. I wouldn't call myself.
I'm not a deep dive Marvel fan because I haven't watched all of the TV shows, but I am a bigger fan of the movies than I would say some of the your average Disney people.
But I'd love to know what kinds of other activities you guys enjoy outside of Marvel Day at Sea.
I gotta hear. Did you go to the shows?
[00:58:41] Speaker A: Yes. So since it was our first cruise, I was like, we had to go see all the shows. So the first one was Golden Mickey's, and then there was Marvel and the Pirate Night, and then the second show was Beauty and the Beast, and then the last one was Believe and. And for Beauty and the Beast because of everything that I've heard about, I was like, I have to go see Beauty and the Beast. That is a must.
[00:59:09] Speaker C: That's a must.
[00:59:10] Speaker A: We saw Beauty and the Beast. I will say I did like Believe because our genie was just hilarious.
He was gut wrenching hilarious. But the only problem with Believe was there were two technical difficulties that happened during it. So one hour show turned into an hour and a half. And because I was also the last night night, I needed a pack. So it was like. It was a lot of, like, craziness, but I still wanted to see the whole thing.
[00:59:35] Speaker C: Yeah, no, it's cute. It's cute. Listen, I don't. I don't judge people who like those shows who like Believe or Dreams. I only judge them if they like those shows more than Beauty and the Beast or Frozen or Moana. Right. So, you know, so no judgment for enjoying those shows. They are good. They're very well done.
And if you. I've always. I've said this time and time again, if you have Aladdin or if you have Believe, it is so dependent upon how good the genie is. If you have a really good genie, you're going to have a really good show. All right, what about some other activities on board? And then we got to talk a little bit about food at least.
[01:00:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
So I would say we think we went to Evolution after dinner almost every night.
Almost every night.
So after the Marvel Dead Sea deck show, there was a Ravagers dance party that happened. Evolution, that was 18.
So that was really cool. With like Star Lord, the first night was they did. They played majority rules and then they also did match your mate, which was another thing. I was like, okay, I've heard about that. I gotta go watch it. Because it's hilarious, I think with Majority rules because like, the. Everyone, like, you know how it works, right? Like, it's whatever the majority says. And I think there was one of the questions was like, who does one of the, you know, crew members, like, look like their celebrity look alike? And my immediate was like, oh, Olivia Rodrigo. She looks immediate like Olivia Rodrigo. But then my friend was like, dude, look around. I don't think anyone else here is going to say Olivia Rodrigo old.
And I was like, yeah, okay, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking.
[01:01:14] Speaker C: That's hilarious. That's really funny. Yeah, you have to look at the. For majority rules, you got to look at the demographic who's in your. In your. In the room. And if it skews older, they're probably not going to even. I mean, I know who Olivia Rodrigo is, but I bet you Brian doesn't. So, yeah, he's shaking his head. He doesn't know. I know. But you know why I know?
[01:01:33] Speaker B: Don't know actors by their names.
[01:01:35] Speaker C: I know. Well, she's more. She's an actress and pop singer too. She's actually more popular now for her pop. For her music career. But as an actress, I know her from high school. The. The series, which was on Disney plus and Brian's.
[01:01:52] Speaker B: That just sounds like something I'd definitely be watching in my story.
[01:01:56] Speaker C: Yeah. So that's why Brian doesn't know who she is. And that' why I know that I know her from that more than. Which was, by the way, not a very good TV show. But I did watch it because I liked.
[01:02:07] Speaker B: You're really selling it now.
[01:02:08] Speaker C: Yeah, no, it's not. It's not a good TV show. But I liked the. I liked the, you know, I liked high school musicals. So I was like, I gotta at least give the TV show a chance.
That's really funny though, Kyle. Definitely. Those adult activities are really fun to do if you're. If you can make them, either because you're somebody who's willing to stay up later or because you're not sailing with kids or some combination thereof. Would love to know what your thoughts were about food because obviously this is your first time on board a Disney cruise, so everything is new when it comes to food. What did you think of the quality of main dining? And of course, cabanas. And then of course. We'll talk, Paulo, in a second.
[01:02:48] Speaker A: Yeah, so like cabanas food was really, really good. Especially those Mickey churro waffles. Like on that last day, I was like, oh, wait, it's the last day. And then my friend was like, don't, you know, remind me. I know it's the last day. And I was like, no, no, no, it's the last day.
I'm pretty sure they should have churro Mickey waffles out. And at this point, I've already grabbed like a regular waffle. And I was like, I don't know if I want this if the churro Mickey waffles are out. And they were. And I had a lot of them. They're really, really good.
[01:03:16] Speaker C: They are really good. It's good, you know, it's good to compare though, right? I mean, you can have them side by side and like taste the difference and then you can like eat, you know, you just eat one ear of the regular and then. And then you just eat the whole thing of the churro waffles so you can taste, you know, you have to do compare and contrast. What about main dining? What'd you think about the food quality there?
[01:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah, the food was really, really good. Like we Always like to say in my family that, like, there's a Disney standard when it comes to food.
And yeah, it was really, really good. Especially at Royal palace. The deep fried brie. I was like, this has got to be like one of the best appetizers that I probably ever had on Disney property before.
[01:03:55] Speaker C: That whole menu is, I think the best menu at the Chateaubriand and the Escargot Go. I think the Royal Court, Royal Palace, Lumiere, Triton. It's all the same.
That menu, the night, one rotation, one menu in that restaurant is, I think, the best on the classic ships as far as menus goes. Yeah.
Any other highlights from the food or the experience in dining? I mean, you had obviously Animators palette, which I'm sure was fun. I'm guessing you had the Crush show, am I right?
[01:04:30] Speaker A: Yeah. So it was Crush. We went to Animators twice. So once was Pirate Night and then the second was the regular show with Crush. And that was really, really cool. We weren't near a tv, so we really didn't interact with Crush. And the show was kind of just like a side thing. I will say our dining team was really, really good. Like, he.
I don't know if he just was like, you know, these guys are young adults. They just want to go out and enjoy the ship. Like, he was really, really, really, really quick with our food and taking our orders and just getting our stuff, which was really, really cool of him.
[01:05:04] Speaker C: That's nice. That's always a good thing when that happens. Now, you mentioned you got seated with some. You made some new friends on board, is that right?
[01:05:13] Speaker A: Yeah. So, you know, we knew that was a possibility since we were a group of two. But at first we were like, oh, we're going to be with random people.
But then by the end of the cruise, we actually hung out with them a lot and now we have a group chat. So I don't know how Disney does it because we're mid-20s. They were mid-20s. One of them was also their first cruise too. So it was like, I don't know how they do it, but it was really, really cool how we ended up with them.
[01:05:39] Speaker C: Yeah. I think they must have an algorithm that tries to pair up people who have similar, you know, demographic characteristics, like age, gender, and then sort of if it's like friends or couples or, you know, multi generational families. Right. Like, I. I feel like they now, it's not perfect. It doesn't always happen. But I do think oftentimes if you're like a mother, daughter combination they usually try and seat you with other mother daughter combinations or at least other single parent child combinations. So like that. I think generally they do a good job and at that.
Now the, the other thing about food you got to experience was Paulo brunch, right?
Tell us what you thought. I know, obviously it was. It interrupted your Marvel day. So that was one negative about Palo brunch. But tell us, did. What did you think of the food quality and the food offerings in Palo? We always try and tell people like, Paulo is fantastic. It is not necessarily a must do for your first cruise, but it is like a must do at some point in your cruising career. I'll.
Yeah. What did you and your friend think of Paolo?
[01:06:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Apollo was. It was amazing. It was everything everyone talks about. And I was joking how, like, there's only two of us, but I do kind of want to try everything because everyone talks about Paolo and how good it is. And then I did end up. I know. I think you guys recommend not trying the breakfast stuff, but I was like, I want to try everything. So I got a little bit of everything.
The things you tried was like, like one of my favorite. Like the favorite things that I tried, like, the almond croissant was really, really good. But we also like to joke that I think that was like, probably where we went wrong because that was one of the first things we ate. And then it, you know, kind of killed us for the rest of the meal.
The eggs Benedict was like, surprisingly really good. Like, they cooked the egg perfectly and like, I don't know how they do it, but the English muffin was not like, soggy at all. Like, it was still like, perfect. And then same thing with the pizza crust too.
And then of course, the chicken parm, which was really, really good.
[01:07:46] Speaker B: But yeah, nice.
[01:07:48] Speaker C: I love that chicken parm. I will, I, I mean, I will go to the ends of the earth for that chicken parm. And I've had lots of chicken parms. And I'm, I, I have had many really good ones and it is.
But the Disney Cruise Line 1 Impalo is, is definitely in that top grouping. I'm not sure I could say it's number one because I've had so many really good ones, like in New York.
But it is like, definitely in that top tier of chicken parms in my world at least.
Well, sounds like an amazing cruise.
[01:08:18] Speaker A: Yes. It was everything that I dreamed about.
Basically. I kept making that joke that it was everything I dreamed about, but it was.
[01:08:30] Speaker B: Well, I think we have reached that point in the show. Sam where it's time for a little rapid fire. What do you think?
[01:08:36] Speaker C: I think it's the perfect time for rapid fire. I mean, I think any time is the perfect time for rapid fire to be perfect.
[01:08:40] Speaker B: I'm a living example of that. Yeah. So, Kyle, before I hand you off to Sam, though, is there anything that we missed that you want to be sure to cover with our audience about your cruise?
[01:08:50] Speaker A: I don't think so. Oh, there's one more thing that I'll add. The howl animal on Marvel Day was actually Mjolnir.
You know, like Thor's hammer.
[01:09:01] Speaker C: Thor's hammer, yeah.
[01:09:02] Speaker A: Yeah. So, you know, I was expecting an animal, right? And going into the room, and I was like, what is.
And then my friend was like, it's Thor's hammer. And I was like, how did they. What? Like, how did they do it? But it was really, really cool.
[01:09:15] Speaker C: That's amazing.
I would, like, take that thing and go around with it. Like, that would be like. I mean, that would be ridiculous, but I would totally do that. Yeah. I love that. That's awesome.
[01:09:25] Speaker B: Well, Kyle, we can wait no longer. It is time. That time in our show where I need to hand you back to Sam for some arbitrary questions, some arbitrary rules, and a dash of judgment are the round we know as rapid fire. So, Sam, take it away.
[01:09:37] Speaker C: All right, Kyle, I'm going to ask you some Disney favorites and some Disney cruise line favorites.
Obviously, your favorite ship is now the Disney Dream, so we'll just skip that one entirely. But let's start. Who is your favorite Disney character?
[01:09:50] Speaker A: So my favorite Disney character is probably going to have to be Stitch.
[01:09:53] Speaker C: I love Stitch.
[01:09:54] Speaker A: Nil and Stitch.
[01:09:56] Speaker C: Nice. So I bet you're going to enjoy the new movie. All right, what's your favorite Disney movie?
[01:10:02] Speaker A: So my favorite Disney movie, that's going to be a little bit of a deep cut, but it's going to be Leroy and Stitch. Like, it's a movie that came out only on DVD, like, in the 2000s. But it was just a really cool, like, it's like the culmination of, like, the TV show. So they had, like, all the cousins there. It was really, really. It's a really cool movie. If you haven't seen it, I recommend go seeing it.
[01:10:24] Speaker C: Okay, I haven't seen it, but I'm going to have to find it on Disney. Is it on Disney?
[01:10:29] Speaker A: I honestly have no idea if it's on Disney.
[01:10:31] Speaker C: Okay, well, I'm going to look for. For Leroy and Stitch. I love it. All right. Favorite Disney song.
[01:10:37] Speaker A: Favorite Disney song. Is not going to be from Lilo and Stitch. It's going to have to be Go the Distance from Hercules.
[01:10:42] Speaker C: Yes. Such a good song. Oh, my goodness. Okay, well, you're going to need to get on either the Treasure or the Wish or the Destiny, because Go the Distance is in the Seize the Adventure show. So. Yeah, it's a really great. And it's a really. Yeah. Hercules. Just singing.
Okay, Favorite Disney Cruise Line stage show. It's obviously got to be one of the three that were on the Disney Dream. The deck parties don't count. We're talking about Walt Disney theater shows.
Tell us which one was your favorite.
[01:11:15] Speaker A: Yeah, it's gonna have to be in the Beast.
[01:11:18] Speaker C: All right. There you go. You just checked that box right off. Love it. Okay, what was your favorite onboard activity?
[01:11:26] Speaker A: Definitely trivias, I think. Yeah, definitely trivia. We did so many trivias.
[01:11:31] Speaker C: Awesome. What was your favorite Rotational dining?
[01:11:34] Speaker A: I'm gonna have to go with Royal palace for that one.
[01:11:37] Speaker C: Yeah. The food is so good. All right. Favorite space to relax on the ship. Sounds like you didn't do too much relaxing. To be perfectly honest, though.
[01:11:47] Speaker A: I'm gonna have to go, like, in the adult area where the hot tub are. We use those hot tubs pretty frequently, so. Yeah.
[01:11:57] Speaker C: Quiet Cove. Love it. All right. All right, Now, I already got your favorite ship is the Disney Dream. But my last question of Rapid Fire is Bucket list Cruise. Kyle, if you could go on any place in the world on a Disney cruise, it doesn't even have to be some place that Disney Cruise Line currently goes to. Where would you go?
[01:12:16] Speaker A: So I'm going to have to go with, like, the generic answer of a cruise that can take me to every single park in the world.
[01:12:22] Speaker C: I love it. It's. Listen, that's always a great answer. I will. I will be on that cruise with you, Kyle, if they ever do that. I think that would be amazing. Thank you for playing. You have passed with flying colors. Really. You know, you clinched it with Beauty and the Beast, so, you know, I'm. I'm very predictable in that way, but, yeah, thank you so much, Kyle. I know Brian's going to want to ask you his favorite question.
[01:12:45] Speaker B: Yeah, Kyle, what is next?
[01:12:48] Speaker A: Yeah, so I actually was able to convince my family to go on a cruise.
[01:12:53] Speaker C: I was wondering if that was going to be it. I was hoping that was going to be the answer, Kyle. I love that.
[01:12:58] Speaker A: Yeah. So next year, we're actually booked to go on the Disney Destiny in January, so I'm telling you.
[01:13:06] Speaker C: And the Marvel Ship and you're going to have, not only going to have all the Marvel stuff, but you're also going to be able to experience worlds of Marvel World with, you know, the dinner show. Oh my God. I think, I mean, obviously we haven't been on the Destiny yet. We will be starting right before Thanksgiving for the maiden voyage. But I think this is going to be your ship. It sounds like the Marvel Day at Sea was perfect. And I think, I think the Destiny is going to be your ship. And we already know Haunted Mansion is just a winner on all fronts, so you're going to get to see the Haunted Mansion parlor as well.
But Kyle, thank you so much for coming on the show. We really appreciate folks like you reaching out to us and being willing to come on to share their experiences. As we've said, like, without our wonderful guests, it would just be us two weirdos with mics talking about Disney Cruising, which probably wouldn't be as interesting as the show that I think we have now created.
And we especially love talking to first time cruisers. It's always really fun because we get to relive the experience of getting on board a Disney Cruise line ship for the very first time. And we hope that you'll come back and see us. I do want to point out you have your own.
You are a content creator yourself. You said you're kind of just starting out with YouTube and with Instagram. Why don't you share with folks if they want to follow you and your adventures at Disney and wherever else you may go where they can. Where they can follow you.
[01:14:33] Speaker A: Yeah. So Instagram and YouTube, it's just kcal vibes. So k c a l vibes on all social medias.
[01:14:41] Speaker C: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing, Kyle.
[01:14:44] Speaker B: And wait, wait. Before you do the final wrap up, Sam, I just want to say it's been a while since we've done one of these first time Cruiser episodes and so I do want to put the call out to our community and the folks listening out there preparing for their first Disney cruise. We love, love, love talking to first time cruisers and we also just love having folks on who've listened to the show for a little while now and just want to contribute some knowledge back into the community. So, so please, please, please reach out. You can email us dclduo mail.com that's dclduo mail.com and if you want to skip all the pleasantries back and forth, if you just put the subject line I want to talk with the duo, exclamation point. That's I want to talk with the duo, exclamation point duo capitalize. You will immediately get some instructions on how you can set up some time with us and we will take a look at your submissions and you know, go from there and get some time scheduled with you. So yeah, anyway, reach out to us. We'd love to have you on with that. Kyle. I will reiterate what Sam getting ready to say, which is we super appreciate you being on the show, taking some time out of your day to share your experiences with our audience out there. Thank you so very much and hope to have you back in the future.
[01:15:47] Speaker A: Thank you you guys also.
[01:15:53] Speaker B: 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
[email protected] or reach out to us on our voicemail line at 402-413-5590. That's 402-413-5590. The DCL duo Podcast is not affiliated with Disney Cruise Line, the Disney Company or the Disney Family of theme parks. The views expressed on the show are solely those of the individuals on the podcast and in no way reflective views the Disney Company or Disney Cruise Line. If you have questions about a Disney Cruise or Disney Vacation, please contact the great folks over at MyPath, unwind finding travel or Disney directly or your own travel agent. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time for another fabulous adventure with the DCL Duo. Good night.
