[00:00:00] Speaker A: I'm like, mom level active. I'm like, I'll go to this activity with you, then I'm going to go get a cocktail and lay down. Right, like, right, right, exactly. On your own for the flow riding. Because I twisted my neck last time and I felt it for four years, so I'm not doing it. I'm doing it. I'm laying down on it. I'm not on my knees.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episod of the DCL Duo podcast, brought to you by my Path Unwinding Travel. And we're gonna skip the reviews today because we need to get straight into our guest, Sam. Intro the guest. Intro the guest.
[00:00:45] Speaker C: We have such a fabulous guest today, you guys, like, you are not gonna believe. This is a big get for us. We've got Sheri from Cruise Tips TV joining us today, and I'm, like, just fangirling out right now. I'm super excited to have you on the show, Sheri. Welcome to the show.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: Thank you so much, Brian and Sam. I was actually feeling the same way because we all know y' all are the Disney authorities. Disney cruise authorities. And I've never been on a Disney cruise, so I am so excited to be here with you. And I know that we're going to have fun. I know we're going to wing it and just go with it, and I think that always brings some special surprises.
[00:01:20] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly.
[00:01:21] Speaker C: Yeah. And we love that, too. It's just, like, it's so fun to, like, cross over content with other, like, cruise content creators like yourself, Sheri, because it's like, we're all kind of experts in different spaces, right? For us, like, really, we are deeply dived. Dove. I don't even know what the right word is into Disney Cruise Line. And we just kind of branch out. Like, we dip our toe in the water of, like, Royal Caribbean. We dip our toe in the water of, like, virgin voyages.
But we do not know, like, all there is to know out there about other cruise lines. You are big in covering, like, a lot of different cruise lines and providing tips and tricks for cruisers who are interested in sailing on a boat. Bunch of different cruise lines. And so we're, like, so amazed that people like you exist in this world. Like, because there's just so much out there.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: You know, there's so much out there. And I feel like I'm not a cruise expert, and I. I don't like to position myself as a cruise expert because the moment I think I've got something figured out, the industry Changes a cruise line will change.
And there's just so much evolution all the time with Cruising. So I, I, I like to say I'm a student and not an expert, so we're learning together.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I love having folks like you on Sheri who are well versed in other cruise lines. Because my biggest pet peeve sometimes is that we're Disney people. Sometimes we get the blinders on, and everything that Disney does is great and everything everyone else is doing is not. And I have appreciated our cruises on Royal, on Virgin, on other cruise lines. So we can see kind of what they're up to and then translate that back and say, hmm, this seems like, you know, there's a better experience over here for some. Or this cruise line really feels like they're getting it right in this area in a way that Disney's not. So I always love to help educate our audience on what else is out there and available. So they spend their, you know, their vacation dollar wisely, I guess, is the.
[00:03:12] Speaker C: Way to say it.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:03:14] Speaker C: Well, Sheri, why don't you tell our audience a little bit about yourself, how you got into doing your show where you sort of started your love of cruising in general. Like, where did that come from? And. Yeah. And how long and exactly what you do in the. Obviously, we know what you do, but I don't know that all of our audience is familiar with you.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: I know. It's kind of confusing, too, because you were saying earlier that all of us have sort of different models with content creation. And I feel like it's so true. We all do things differently. So I was born and raised in California, but two years ago, moved to Texas. And then backing up a little bit here I went on my first cruise for my high school graduation present. My mom packed up me and my little brother, who's four and a half years younger than me, and we went on, like, Carnival, Ecstasy. And back then, it was like Kathie Lee Gifford was the spokesperson, Right. And Cruising was like, I love not something I heard about. I was like, a cruise ship. What is that? And I was.
Oh, I was completely in love with it. My mom let me go scuba diving when I was, like, 17 in Grand Cayman. She let me do a resort course through Carnival. And I was like, what is this world? This world where I can go to Grand Cayman and my meals are all cooked for me and I get to dress up and. And it's wonderful.
That was in, like, okay, now y' all are gonna know how old I am here. But I think that was 1991.
[00:04:37] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:04:38] Speaker A: So, yeah, back when cruising, all the ships were small. Nobody had a balcony. Right. If you had a balcony, you were a high roller in, like, a suite. Yeah. Mahogany wood in there. Right.
So we had, like, the bunk beds. You know, my brother was on the bottom, I was on the top. And we crammed three of us into a little ocean view. But I fell in love with it in 1991. And then life happened. Went.
Went to college, started kind of getting into the two income, professional working life, and my husband and I were like, go, go, go. You know, kind of finding our way in our careers, climbing the ladder, whatever. And I would always tell him, I really. I just really want to take you on a cruise. It's this cool, romantic experience, and I think you would love wearing, like, a tie to dinner and dressing up. But alas, instead, we did other things. We're like, let's go to Paris at Christmas and let's do this. And I. I kept thinking, you know what? This is all great, but we've done our backpacking thing. We have done Paris at Christmas. My ATM card got stuck in there in a, you know, in a Parisian atm. And I was just. At that moment, I was like, I'm done. I want to go and relax on my vacation. I'm tired of, like, trudging around trying to figure out the train schedule in Europe. Let's relax. And so we booked a princess cruise to the Mexican Riviera. And I was right. My husband was like, whoa, this is great.
I am down with this. He loved going to dinner, dressing up, just as I thought, he loved the traditional elements of it. And much like I'm sure you feel when you're on a Disney cruise where it's like the ocean liner, feeling like you could actually go for a walk on that deck. And it was romantic, it was beautiful.
And so it was many, many years later. That was like 2003 ish. Probably something like that. About 10 years later, we'd had our son, and we were sitting, you know, sitting at our suburban dinner table, and my husband's like, you know, I feel like we have a lot to share about cruising. It's like, what if we made a YouTube video? And I looked at him, I was like, what? What? Like, what's YouTube? Isn't that where people, like, post videos about their cats and stuff?
[00:06:39] Speaker C: I mean, yes, it is, but also.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: But also. And so. But we. At that time, we'd started to. We'd started to get a little bit more adventurous in the way that we were handling our careers. I was still doing the corporate and he had moved into. He was staying home and taking care of our son. So all of the work that he did was going to be freelance and he had a little bit more time to think creatively, whereas I was still stuck in that.
That 8 to 5 bubble. And I was in leadership. So I never thought of doing anything else. Never would have even dreamed of it. And at that time, I didn't either. But we did make a goofy packing video where I like popped out behind a 76 inch suitcase.
It was huge, you guys. And I was like, I'm Sheri.
And had no idea. Go.
[00:07:25] Speaker C: I'm going to find this video, by the way, now that you're telling me about this, I want to find this.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: Packing video so bad, Sam. It's so bad.
And. And anyway, we did it and. And the YouTube channel started to grow and we're like, maybe we could do this once a week. This is kind of fun. And it just morphed, right? Our audience would tell us what they wanted at the time. Every video we did was a script. Like that awful packing video was. I would read a script. You should. A huge suitcase. You should make sure that you take hand sanitizing wipes like it.
But people were like, you need to vlog. Nobody's vlogging about cruises. And I was like, why would I do that? Like, this is my vacation. I don't want to turn the camera around on myself. Plus, what am I going to say? But they wore us down. People were. There really were no vloggers at the time. There are maybe one or two travel vloggers who might have gone on a cruise here and there. So we're like, all right, we'll do it. And we did. We tried it.
And then we really pushed hard into the vlogging world for probably a good three or four years. And it was fun, but it's also exhausting.
So ultimately, after Covid really had to reevaluate our channel and think, okay, is this sustainable? Because first of all, you can't. We couldn't go on a gazillion cruises a year. I have a corporate job. Couldn't do it right. It was. And, you know, maybe three, maybe four. But then what else were we doing for content? So we pivoted a little bit and went back to the basics of our channel, which was educational content for the most part, whether it's how to pack for this, what to do the moment you book your cruise, what to do seven days before your cruise, the granular details, almost like if you were to write a manual about cruising and then putting it in video form.
So that's the heart of what we do.
My passion, though, is packing. I love talking about stuff you can buy for a cruise, Amazon stuff. And so I lean very heavily into the Amazon side of things. And that's a really big part of our business, too. The Amazon Influencer program is really great for creators and. And part of that.
[00:09:34] Speaker C: Can you just pack for me for Alaska? And we're going to be going to Alaska and at the end of August, and I just need somebody else to do that for me. I'm going to. I will tell you, Sherry, I'm going to go obviously onto YouTube and find your packing for Alaska specific video content. Because I know obviously that's very different than packing for a Caribbean vacation.
Yeah, but that's where. And it's funny, we live in the Pacific Northwest, so, like, yeah, I should kind of know what I'm doing. I mean, I have all the stuff. I shouldn't have much that I need to actually buy, but I'm still like, how much do I need to bring? Exactly? What do I, you know, like. Anyway, well, let's identify real.
[00:10:11] Speaker B: Let's get real. We all overpack for cruises.
I haven't met someone yet who doesn't overpack.
[00:10:15] Speaker C: Yeah, I know. It's always overpack.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: Absolutely weird, unconventional advice for you for Alaska.
[00:10:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: And this is like this. It's not like a cover your ears thing, but your audience is gonna be like, well, that's a bit tmi. But do you know what you need a lot of in Alaska? You live in the Pacific Northwest. You're already wearing what you need. You need jeans, layers. So shirts, hoodies, a rain layer. You do need a beanie and a scarf in case it gets a little sub cold. Cause sometimes you just get a weird cold front. And then really the only other thing you need for that is waterproof. You need some kind of a waterproof shoe that's not gonna leak. Like, you know how sometimes sneakers have air vents?
[00:10:52] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: You don't want those. You want like a. A light hiking shoe, light hiking boot, or just a waterproof sneaker and binoculars.
Other than that, you're done. But the weird thing that people underpack. Are you guys doing Disney?
[00:11:05] Speaker C: Yes, of course.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: Do they have laundry on Disney? Do they have laundry?
[00:11:09] Speaker C: We do. So that's the one thing where, like, you're gonna say underwear, I bet, right?
[00:11:13] Speaker A: I'm gonna say underwear and socks and T shirts.
[00:11:16] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And that's where we're usually good because I, I don't pack for a full week, but I do laundry. Yeah.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: So if someone's going on Norwegian or Royal Caribbean, though I would have to say you're probably gonna maybe not do laundry your whole time. So you need to double up. You need two pairs of underwear, two pairs of socks, and a couple T shirts a day, and then you're fine. And everything else just falls into line and you can buy it on the ship if you forget it, like. Yeah, windbreakers and scarves.
Every cruise ship has really great apparel these days.
[00:11:45] Speaker B: Oh, I got a really cool Disney Cruise Line. Did a crossover with Helly Hansen for jackets. And so like I have this like Helly Hansen Disney Cruise Line jacket.
[00:11:54] Speaker C: That's such a nice one. Yeah.
[00:11:55] Speaker B: I'm super excited to wear on that cruise. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:11:59] Speaker A: That is so amazing. And the other thing is, it's a quality product too. So you're going to be more comfortable, you're going to be dry, you're going to be warm, and that's what you're looking for, right?
[00:12:08] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
[00:12:09] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: Sherry, I'm curious, how many cruises have you been on now?
[00:12:13] Speaker A: I think in the neighborhood of 50ish.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:12:16] Speaker A: So not, not an exorbitant amount really, if you think about it. And you know, I, I left my corporate job two years ago, but prior to that we were just doing, we were doing family cruises. It would be two to four a year. And when things were tough financially for us, you were. We went through a few rough patches with the economy.
We would do maybe one cruise a year. So it wasn't, it's picked up a little bit for me since I'm a little more full time now. But a lot of times I'll still go solo. Like I went on the VI voyages cruise by myself because my son's not old enough and, you know, he had to get through school and so sometimes I'll do them solo.
[00:12:53] Speaker C: Yeah.
Brian asked how many cruises, I'm curious, like, which, which cruise lines have you been on across those 50 cruises? And then if you can give us some idea of like which ones you've been on, sort of more like, you know, where, where have you sort of sailed the most?
[00:13:10] Speaker A: And then, yeah, it numbers wise, like days at sea. I've cruised the most on Princess and I love Princess. We're kind of old at heart in my family.
[00:13:23] Speaker C: And you like to be a little fancy. I, I get, you know, with your husband wearing the tie. Yeah.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: Kind of Traditional, right?
[00:13:29] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:30] Speaker A: I, I've noticed though that on a Royal Caribbean cruise, people are just as fancy. It's just a little bit of a different vibe. Right. I mean there's no rock climbing walls but, but the pools are enormous. You're always going to get a chair. So we've sailed the most with, with Princess quite a bit on Carnival, especially in the earlier years, you know, when our son was little and when I was younger it was like that's what you do, you go on Carnival. Also as a West coast resident, when I was living in California, we had Long Beach.
[00:13:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:56] Speaker A: For cruises. And you always had great, you know, great fun going on Carnival ships out of Long beach didn't even have to fly.
Just like you guys with saddle, you can totally go up to Alaska.
So those are the two that I've cruised with the most.
I actually sailed a lot with Holland America too. And they're one of my favorite cruise lines. They're very similar to Princess. They do have a really nice complement of smaller ships though, which are very special for places like Alaska. Probably similar to a Disney experience though, like where you have again that ocean liner feeling where you're a little closer to the sea. It's not 6,000 people and it's more of an intimate experience in a beautiful, intimate like, you know, place with all that nature. We've sailed a lot with Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, but less so than the others.
And I've sailed with MSC three times, Virgin once, Oceania once and Seabourne once.
And I, I love them all. I've never had a bad cruise. The only time I went on a cruise that I didn't really like is it was a two night cruise and it was too dang short. And I just, yeah, was like torture.
[00:15:04] Speaker C: I mean you can't even experience like the ship. You can't even, you don't even like leave knowing where like the buffet is. I feel like if you're on a two night cruise, right?
[00:15:13] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: What's the cruise line you haven't tried, Sherry, that you really want to try Disney?
[00:15:19] Speaker C: Brian?
[00:15:19] Speaker A: Well, Disney, yes, I want to try Disney. It's usually hard for me to justify the price with Disney. I know you hear that all the time. It's like, okay, could I go on three cruises or could I go. But I, I have heard so much about Disney from interesting sources. For example, I was talking with an Alaskan shore excursion provider, a big one, and they told me the standards that Disney holds their vendors to. And I was like, that actually sounds really great. So I'll do that someday.
I'm interested in river cruising as well.
Very interested in expedition types of lines. It's really just a matter of when can we do it? All right. I'd like to try Viking Ocean might do that sometime. When my. Because right now there are no kids, so I might go with my husband someday. But there's quite a few.
I also love the luxury lines. There's a few more of them that I have not tried yet. Like, I haven't tried Silver Sea. And after being on Seabourn and Oceana and getting a little taste. Oh, my. And the MSC Yacht Club. Wowza. Those are really. Those are really something.
And you feel so rejuvenated, you know, when you get home from something like that, it's like spending a week at a spa.
[00:16:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
Amazing. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:16:37] Speaker C: I'm curious across, like, the. The cruise lines that you've been on. Like, who do you sort of think they're for? Right? Like, which demographic? Because, like, obviously, like, we know, like, Disney has a couple different demographics, I would say. I think Disney is great for multi generational cruising. Disney is sort of, of course, known for hitting that sweet spot of family cruising, particularly with younger kids.
And then there are just these crazy Disney adults who go on Disney Cruise Line. It doesn't matter what age they are, they're just obsessed with Disney. And so they go on Disney Cruise Line without children.
And so I think those sort of categories are like, those are strictly, you know, those are Disney's sort of wheelhouse. But some of these other cruise lines, I think our audience maybe doesn't know as much about who these cruise lines are for. Like, Princess is a great example, since you've been on Princess a lot, you know, and then you said, what was it, Norwegian? That you've been on quite a bit as well. So, like, with those cruise lines, like, who would you, like, would you say that they would cater to that same audience or is it a different audience, you think?
[00:17:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I think there is a lot of crossover. And you'll talk to people who have done.
They've done a Virgin cruise, they've done Carnival, they've done them all, and they like to dip their foot in the water. So it's really very hard to. It's hard to give that breakdown because at the end of the day, those cruises could also feel really different from week to week. Like, for example, if you're on a spring break cruise on Princess, it's going to feel like a party cruise, like a Carnival cruise, even though it's not normally right, but it's really interesting. Yeah, yeah, it's always an interesting thing to try to break down. So here's how I like to think of it. Carnival for me is always going to be like America's cruise line.
Right. They're the value leader. They put a lot of money into marketing. They want to be kind of an all American experience and they really do provide the best prices. But MSC is playing that game.
[00:18:38] Speaker C: Yeah, they're coming for Carnival's audience right now, aren't they?
[00:18:41] Speaker A: Better believe it. Yeah, there's that. And they, they do offer some incredible pricing. Like you can get a seven night cruise in the Caribbean for very. I don't even know if I can go to the grocery store and you know, for those prices like, well, I.
[00:18:56] Speaker C: Mean you can't leave Costco for that amount at least. You know, maybe the grocery store, but not Costco at least in my opinion.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: But they're doing a great job and they're a contender. I think the thing with Carnival people have to realize is Carnival's re those sailings are really sensitive to the length of the cruise. So like a two or three nighter on Carnival out of Miami is going to feel like the biggest party you've ever been to in your life.
And then you could go on a Carnival journeys cruise and it could be 90% retirees. So you have to know that it's not super like, you know, it's not necessarily the same thing across, but they offer something for everyone. And Carnival's still fun. It's still one of the most fun cruises from the sail away party out on deck with an amazing cruise director focus. They're really focused on the cruise director being a big part of the, of the cruise. They do a good job with that.
So then if we were to talk about the other big ones, obviously Royal Caribbean is a little bit, a little easier I think of Royal Caribbean as for the most part for people who have kids of all ages, baby like infant to teen, who want to go, go, go. Right. You want to do it all. You want to be on that flow rider on that rock wall. But they're again, they have smaller ships that go into the Norwegian fjords. I mean what can I say? You can do it all with Royal Caribbean, but cutting edge, obviously we know they've got the cutting edge technology, the entertainment. They have really good dining, a lot of good specialty dining. And I think Royal Caribbean is, they're killing it right now. They're not the value leader right now though. Right. They're going to be more expensive. And that has shifted since the pandemic because of supply and demand. I think mainly, I think Norwegian is pretty similar to Royal Caribbean in the fact that their ships, their newer ships are these beautiful vessels. They're just a little smaller, they're a little more into, they might be a little better for couples and honeymooners and even retirees because there's going to be maybe a little fewer children in Norwegian than Carnival and Royal.
But we're still talking about like the big three here, like the mass market, the family lines. There's still sort of a family focus. And then we have to talk about the fact that Norwegian and MSC have their ship within a ship concepts. And those are a really big draw for people who want to go on a mass market line, but they want to sail in Norwegian's Haven or MSC's Yacht Club. And those are exceptional experiences for people who have a little more disposable income but still like the, they want to be able to go out and experience the buzz of the ship, but then retreat back to that. So that's a, that's another little genre in and of itself that is wonderful and a great option for people who maybe aren't ready to go full luxury cruise.
But they, you know, they want to go out and still socialize and see children by the pool. I've had people tell me that. And they're in the, they're in the yacht club. They're like, yeah, I can bring my kids in the yacht club, like I can bring my children in the Haven. But if you go on Seabourn or Oceana, there's going to be nothing for them to do. Right. So there's that, there's that element of it too.
Princess, Holland America and celebrity, I don't want to lump them together, but for time's sake you got to think of them as like the premiums, Right? So they're like mass market, but they're premium.
So Celebrity caters to a slightly younger demo than Princess in Holland America and kind of a working professional demographic. Sometimes some people would say that it's like you're 45 to 60 year old, still working, putting money away in that 401k kind of working professional. Ish. But this could be, you know, this could be argued with for hours. People will tell you, no, no, no, no, no. Everybody's. They seem like they're 80 years old or no, when I was on Celebrity, everybody felt like they were on their hon.
So again, there's exceptions.
Princess and Holland America are pretty similar in their demo.
Their ships are focused on having a lot of space per individual. So you'll go and you'll have a lot of nice places to lounge and sit and the food quality tends to run really high. On Celebrity, Princess in Holland America tends to be pretty good and the service is outstanding. On Princess in Holland America, I can speak to more than celebrity. I haven't done a celebrity cruise, but the service tends to feel very warm and the accommodations are just a little bit more elevated as well. With Holland America and Princess, you're going to find that you kind of sink into that bed. You know, you might, you might get a bathtub in your room. You're going to have a little more space, things are a little more elevated.
So I think for the mass markets, that's pretty much the breakdown.
And then, you know, with luxury, it's, it's, it's kind of difficult to talk about because, you know, they're all, they're all catering to that sort of same audience. You've got the high income retirees for the most part are gravitating towards the seaboards and the Oceanas. But they offer some wonderful products too, and a totally different experience and the ability to sail into smaller locales, which changes the cruise experience and makes it somewhere, you know, like almost like a cross between an expedition and a mass market at times.
[00:24:05] Speaker B: I am so curious. So you have seen cruising evolve over a number of years. You talked about, you know, go going on the ships with the formal nights where people dress really formal. I mean, I remember renting a tuxedo to wear.
[00:24:18] Speaker C: Yeah. When we went on Celebrity, you and your dad rented. This was so. Sheri. This is, this will age us. This is before we had our son. We went, the year we got married, we went 22,008 and then in 2010 we went with Brian. We went both times with Brian's folks and so they took us on Celebrity and one cruise. They were both like 14 night cruises or whatnot. One was Hawaii and one was Panama Canal. Fantastic. But Brian and his dad rented tuxes, so. Yeah, sorry, Brian.
[00:24:53] Speaker B: Actually, no, I, I think I bought that tux.
[00:24:56] Speaker C: Oh, that's right. That was the one.
[00:24:58] Speaker B: That was the tux I purchased from JCPenney just to own a tux for cruising. Yeah, yeah. It had belt loops on it and my tailor was like, yeah, this is not a tuxedo.
Let's just cut those off. But anyway, you've, you've seen the evolution of cruise. I mean, the ships are getting bigger, the activities on board. I mean, when we sailed celebrity, it was dinner, you know, maybe a variety act show, a bar, something like that. But they didn't have kind of the level of entertainment that they have today. Like, like, what do you see as like, is that a positive trend for cruising? Because you know, a lot of these ships, they don't look like ocean liners anymore, they don't feel like ocean liners anymore.
So I don't know, how do you view this trend and all the change that has happened as you've sort of watched Cruising?
[00:25:41] Speaker A: It's hard because I, you know, you know, most of it is financially motivated, right?
[00:25:46] Speaker B: Y.
[00:25:46] Speaker A: Some of it might be guest motivated. But the part that I think I'm seeing right now that is the most disturbing to me in a way is that the casinos are kind of just getting bigger and they're taking over a bit more. And that seems to be more of a focus on cruise ships. So, you know, bearing in mind, consider the source. I like the old school cruising. I do remember the tux rental thing. You could do it on the ship. It was great.
And I'd like to see the cruise companies building mid sized ships that still retain a little bit of that classic cruising. I think that's one thing that I'm, that I like about Norwegian right now. If you notice like Norwegian Aqua and Prima Viva and their new ship that's coming out, Luna, they're not massive mega ships. They're hearkening back a little bit to a big amount of outdoor space and that mid size charm. So I think there's hope. I think there's hope, but I, I don't like any of it. I, I think the biggest bugaboo for me is second to the casino thing is the, the crowd feeling, right, like they're, they're booking three and four people into a room, they're overbooking. In the case of some cruise lines who, I will not mention that, you know, did that for a wee bit there and it's just not cool. You know, you, you need to come home from your vacation feeling refreshed and I want cruising to continue to offer that for me. And if it doesn't, I'm going to start looking at lines where it does.
And I think that everyone will move towards that transition. As we age, you're starting to look for something different in your vacations. As our kids get older, you know, you start to look for different things. So I hope that it, I hope it stabilizes and I hope that some lines will keep it simple.
[00:27:33] Speaker B: It's interesting. One of the reasons we love sailing Disney is they don't have casinos on the ships, which is. It just kind of takes the air out of it a little bit. You know, it makes it feel much more welcoming. I think sometimes I'm curious mentioned, you know, as we're getting older. But it's. I was just, you know, I've been reading some news stories about the cruising industry, bro. And it seems like cruising is having a moment with the younger generation now in a way that I don't know that it ever hit for Sam. And I like, Sam and I went on Celebrity with my parents. She, you know, was kind of this, wow, this is, this is something we'll do in retirement kind of thing or when we're.
[00:28:08] Speaker C: We were in our late 20s at the time. I was in my late 20s. Brian was in his very early 30s. Like, he was like 30, I think on that. That first. That was my first cruise. I was I think 27 at the time.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: But yeah, I think we thought about as something we would do. But it seems like the younger generation is starting to really enjoy cruising. I don't know. I don't know. Siri, is that something you're seeing or that, that, that you have any thoughts about?
[00:28:31] Speaker A: You bet. I think it is something that we're seeing and I think that the cruise lines are really smart to target that generation in a different way. Right. So where the younger generation might be looking for more exploration, a little bit more discomfort in their travel exotic dest doing meaningful things on their port days. Right. We saw a few cruise lines evolve with their humanitarian type of shore excursions.
I think that that focus is one of the reasons why. Because cruising has changed and there really is a cruise line for everyone. So someone in their 20s wants to go on Virgin and party at the beach club at Bimini. They can do that. But yet they can have maybe an enriching shore excursion in the Dominican Republic. So I think a lot of it has to do with smart marketing over time. And also just the fact that.
That cruising is taking a little bit more of that market share of the whole travel enchilada. Right. Like. Right.
[00:29:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:30] Speaker A: Really only holds like 2% of this, like massive, massive beast of a market. And so I think the cruise companies will continue to do everything and anything they can. Because isn't that their future, Brian? Like, like, seriously. You're right. If they don't do that, they're in trouble. The problem with it is that sometimes it pes their. Their loyal fan base.
So you Know if you have Princess, for example, going a little too changing, let's just say changing things too much.
[00:30:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:30:05] Speaker A: Trying to put leg attractions on a top deck, maybe bringing in entertainment that's a little bit less what people are used to. The loyal fan base is going to start thinking, well, maybe I belong on a different cruise line. So they have that and still grow their up and coming customer base while they are satisfying the loyal cruiser.
[00:30:30] Speaker C: I think the hard balance I'm curious about, like, I feel like Virgin is doing that. But Virgin is a new cruise line, so they are like trying to tap into this, this sort of, I think a younger, obviously it's, it's, it's a younger market that they're targeting, but obviously without kids. Either you leave your kids at home or you don't have kids. Right. So it's a lot of the double income, no kid crowd.
But I'm, But I also think, like, you can see how they're different with, like, dress code, I think is a perfect example. I'm curious what you think of that. And I think, and I don't just mean for guests, I also mean for crew. Right. Like, it's a very different vibe when you look across like Princess and Holland and then you look at, and even Disney and then you look at Virgin. Virgin's doing something very different on dress codes for crew and passengers. I'm curious what you think about that trend and where that kind of maybe even came from.
[00:31:27] Speaker A: Remind me too, Sam, to talk a little bit about Virgin, because I did not mean to omit them when I was giving the rundown. And I think that we think it's a very valuable thing to talk to people about, but to address the, the dress code and almost like the crew vibe too. I think it's awesome because I think that it, you know, the, the vibe that you are setting up for. The whole entire guest experience starts with the, with the crew, with the officers, so to speak, with whatever staff is leading it. And Virgin doesn't even have a cruise director staff. Right. They are totally tearing down the rules of cruising and saying, nope, we're not doing that. We have a drag queen that's gonna lead you through the week and you're gonna love it. Even if you think you're not gonna love it, you're probably gonna love it. And the guy serving you pizza at the pizza joint is probably gonna have an arm cuff of tattoos and they embrace that. And I think that's the beautiful thing about the industry right now is there's still something for Everyone.
And I think the cruise lines need to lean into it. They need to lean into who, their identity, what their identity is and provide that for their employees, but then also for their guests. If this is what your guests want, lean into it. If your guests need to have the more, you know, buttoned up black tie experience, lean into that. But it's cool that there is a lot more diversity in that area, in my opinion, because that's how we're going to grow. The industry in general is bringing in new people who maybe didn't think they would like a cruise because heck, they don't want to dress up. Right.
[00:33:00] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. So Sherry, you mentioned talking about Virgin. Go ahead, tell, tell us, give us your thoughts on Virgin. Because I'll tell you, we went on our first one, it was like a four night sailing last year.
I went in, Sam went in fairly excited. I went in pretty skeptical.
We talked to a bunch of people heading into it and I think we both walked away from talking to those folks with very different sort of like, you know, theories about what the cruise is going to be like. I think we both ultimately enjoyed the cruise. I mean, we enjoyed it enough. We're going back here in like two weeks for a week long version of a cruise with Virgin.
But it was very different. It was very different. The ship was different, everything was different about it. So. Yeah. I'm curious your thoughts overall about Virgin.
[00:33:43] Speaker A: That's interesting that you say you tried a shorter one and then you're doing a longer one. I think that's smart, by the way, because it gives you, it'll give you more of a full experience.
But you guys did like it. You thought it was good.
[00:33:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean we, to be fair, we sailed Mega Rockstar. So there's not much you can't enjoy about being on Virgin when you're sailing Mega Rockstar.
[00:34:02] Speaker C: We're a little bougie. Sheri, I gotta tell you, we're both, Brian and I, we, we on Disney. We normally sail regular, but we also have sailed in their concierge. So they're ship within a ship concept as well.
[00:34:14] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:34:14] Speaker C: And, but we tend to lean towards the slightly bougie end of things. We like a luxury experience. Yeah.
[00:34:22] Speaker A: Did you guys have like a turntable in your room?
[00:34:24] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: Really?
[00:34:27] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:34:28] Speaker C: And a full bar? Yeah. Yeah, we barely touched it by the way.
[00:34:34] Speaker A: Like you don't really need to because you're. There's bars everywhere that make amazing cocktails. Why would you want to mix your own in the room? Right.
[00:34:40] Speaker C: That's what I said to Brian, I said, why would I make my own drink? I'm going to go to the bar and they're going to make me a drink.
[00:34:46] Speaker B: Our friends gave us a tip. Just have them stock it with a liquor you really like to have at home. And then every day you just take the bottle and you put it in your suitcase and then they bring another one and no one asks any question about it.
[00:34:54] Speaker A: I was like, yeah, that's what I would have done. I would have been checking that bag so fast. No carry on. Only for me. That cruise, great idea.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: We know that people trust Disney for their vacations and it can sometimes be a little nerve wracking to think about trying something new. Right, Sam?
[00:35:10] Speaker C: Yeah. Whether you're considering branching out to a new cruise line, an all inclusive resort, or exploring Europe, the team at MyPath Unwinding Travel has the expertise and connections across the globe to plan almost any vacation. They can even help with the Universal parks. They've helped us plan our vacations beyond Disney, including Royal Caribbean Princess Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages.
[00:35:28] Speaker B: Their team of travel professionals all understand the needs of a Disney traveler, can help you decide if another option is right for you, and then guide you through every step of your new vacation experience. Whether you are dreaming of a fun getaway to an all inclusive resort, a river cruise in Europe, or an adventure in Costa Rica, the folks at MyPath Unwinding are ready to help. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your next vacation even more amazing.
[00:35:50] Speaker C: If you want to learn more and take advantage of the amazing team at MyPath Unwinding Travel, then head over to MyPathUnwinding.com DCLDUO or email DCLDUOMypathunwinding.com to let them know we sent you their way. Thanks my Path unwinding, for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:36:10] Speaker A: Okay, I'm gonna have to go back and listen to your podcast about this topic, by the way, because I definitely want to hear, I want to hear more about your take. But I. I was so incredibly pleasantly surprised by Virgin. I know I just gave you the punchline before I gave you the story, but I did a five night one. I think I did. What did I do? What was it called?
Oh man, I've forgotten. I've forgotten the ports. I don't even remember. But it was a five nighter. I know it wasn't that kind of cruise.
[00:36:35] Speaker C: It was in the Caribbean.
[00:36:38] Speaker A: Thank you. Was in the Caribbean. We went to. We went to Bimini for sure. Right? We did the beach club at Bimini, and that was really fun.
Okay.
So I was like, Brian. I was skeptical. And a couple. There was a couple of reasons why I didn't. I didn't know if I would fit in. First of all, I was like, cruise a lot on Princess. And I feel like that's what Brian.
[00:37:00] Speaker C: Was worried about too.
[00:37:02] Speaker B: I'm also an introvert.
[00:37:03] Speaker A: And I was like, okay, so is my husband hardcore. And so what it we make that. We make cruise decisions based on that. And you should. You shouldn't go spend your. Your time off doing something you don't want to do.
Like, you know, how's that red party gonna feel to an introvert? My husband would have hated it. So.
[00:37:21] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:37:21] Speaker A: Yes. All right. So backing up. Sorry. This is a. This is a great conversation.
I went into it thinking I was too old. I was too uncool. That's the funny thing, too. I was like, I'm gonna be like, you know, this, like, matronly mom on there, and everybody's gonna be super hip, and I'm gonna feel like a total fuddy duddy, you know? So I went into it, I packed, like, my cloth, bought some new things, bought a red dress, and. And was like, okay, this is an adventure. Let's go. And on the first day, like, the second I walked on the ship and I saw who was really on this cruise, I was like, oh, no way. I'm gonna be fine. This is just a little sampling of humanity, right? It's.
There are traditional cruisers on there. There are a lot of people who I feel like for Virgin, the thing is, it's like they want to have this adult playground for the week.
They want to play. They don't want to. They don't want kids around, but they want to walk around kind of being the kid. Like, you know, I think of dressing up for the red party as one example of that.
You can go and you can go to, like, a stand and get, like, bedazzled like a kid. Like, when you go to a carnival and they have the lady with the face paint, you get to be that kid that week, but you're not. You get to be a grown up. But they do these playful, fun things that you would never expect. And the whole crew's sort of feels that way.
I mean, the entertainment for me was a little on the raunchy side. I don't. I just don't feel like I need an F bomb in every single show.
So I was really glad as I progressed through the cruise that there was a good variety in that. I, I just started to steer clear of some of the really late night ones where I was like, okay, this is maybe not for me, but I loved some of their entertainment. Their. The dual reality show, the one that's like the Romeo and Juliet kind of west side Story, that was phenomenal. I still believe that's one of the best shows those on a cruise ship that you can go to. It's so cool. And it's like a sensory experience.
The food, outstanding. You know, the galley, that's not a buffet. I love that they're like, it's not a buffet. Well, it's a food court, but. Okay, outstanding.
[00:39:30] Speaker C: That's a great way to describe it. It is a food court. So it's kind of like a buffet, but not quite a buffet. Not exactly a buffet.
[00:39:37] Speaker A: Yeah, but maybe a little bit.
[00:39:39] Speaker C: Yeah, it's kind of like a.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:39:43] Speaker A: But I did really love the, the food. I thought that the wake was great. I love Gun Bay.
I thought it was all really wonderful. I found that the restaurant reservation system was a little confusing for me. I was like, okay, well, you know, I'll keep, I'll keep working with this. But I love the staterooms too. And I know that the state rooms are very controversial for people where they think, well, you know, they're so sterile, it looks like I'm at ikea. I found them to be very functional, found the bed to be one of the most comfortable I've ever cruised in.
There are some weird things that look like you can't really get cozy in the room, but really they're there for a reason. And I think they've morphed where they've added a few little elements to make it more comfortable. And then lastly, I mean, who wouldn't want a hammock on their balcony? Like, to me, this is the thing about Virgin, that people think it's cool, but when you get on the ship and you sit in that balcony, on that balcony, in that hammock for the first time, you will realize, you probably could see, you could spend hours a day in it every day. And make that like a central theme of your cruise of just like, I took my Kindle and I sat in that hammock and I, I found peace again. And I think that's, there's like, that's those secret sauce moments on Virgin that, that happen where you realize, no, this ship is something. I can make my own. I can make this cruise my own. It does not have to be me out on the dance floor at Red Knight with the drag queen. It can be whatever the heck you want it to be. And it's fun and wonderful, and I cannot wait to cruise with them again. And I highly recommend it to people who want a child free experience and who are a little bit more okay, though. You gotta be a little okay with raunchy. You don't. You don't have to embrace it, but it's gonna be around you a little. So you kind of do need to be aware of that.
[00:41:27] Speaker C: Right. You just don't need to live it. Like, that's. So we. I will say, like, we in our lives are quite conservative. And I don't mean conservative politically. I mean conservative in sort of what we do in our lives. Like, we go to.
[00:41:42] Speaker B: I'm not sure I'd say that.
[00:41:44] Speaker C: We don't escape rooms, like, for fun. Okay.
[00:41:46] Speaker B: We're like, nerds.
[00:41:47] Speaker A: We're nerds.
[00:41:47] Speaker B: We're not conservative.
[00:41:49] Speaker C: That's what I mean. We're kind of nerdy. Like, we don't go out to clubs. Like, we're not going out to clubs and dancing and. And. And going out to bars at home. And, you know, we're going to escape rooms. We're going out to dinner with friends. Think we go to, you know, go to the theater. Things like that. Like, that's what our sort of nor.
[00:42:06] Speaker A: And you're probably in bed by like, 10 most nights and. Right. Like that. And you can still love Virgin and be that person.
[00:42:13] Speaker C: Exactly, exactly. Exactly. So we like. But I'm okay with other people doing things that are. Maybe I wouldn't do. And, you know, they're not forcing me to participate in any of it. And so it's like, I'm just. I might see them and pass them by on the ship. That's sort of, I think, what you mean.
[00:42:29] Speaker B: I had sort of like three. As you were talking, Sherry, I realized I had sort of three takeaways from the Virgin cruise. 1. And the introvert in me actually didn't mind Scarlet Night, but it was because we did this, like, tentacle tour thing that was like a small group where they led us around the ship to see all of the cool stuff. And so, like, that made it more like, okay, I'm part of, like, a little group, not part of this, like, massive, like, sea of people, which really helped me a lot. Your comment about the state room is just so spot on. I think I've. I have not spent more time in a state room on a ship than I think we did on Virgin. And it was because, like. Like, it's relaxing in the state room and I feel like I can just sit here and enjoy myself and, like, not feel like I'm missing out on. On something.
The one interesting thing, the only way that I think we found. Found ourselves feeling really out of place was I feel like our. Our Mega Rockstar agent, like, expected us to not be up as early as we were. Like, I felt like he felt like we weren't asking him to do enough stuff or, like, bring us things. Like, I think he expects us to be in our stateroom a lot more than even we were. It was of kind. Just. It was really weird. We'd have these interactions with him where he would be like, I stopped by and you weren't here. And it's like, well, yeah, we're out enjoying the ship. Like, isn't that what we're supposed to be doing? Breakfast?
[00:43:36] Speaker C: Right?
[00:43:37] Speaker B: Like, but I can bring you breakfast. I'm like, okay. Like, we were like.
[00:43:41] Speaker C: But we were up for breakfast at 9. I think he was like, some of your shipmates are not up until 2, right? So, like, it's just a different vibe, right? Just a different.
[00:43:50] Speaker A: You should just mess with him next time, Brian. You guys should take disguises. Like, you're like celebrities and be like, I would. I need to have an escort when I'm going to the red party. What you can really do, do for me. Forget the alcohol. I just need an escort. I'm going to be hearing my. Like, that is hilarious. They treat you. They treat you like a rock star.
[00:44:08] Speaker C: They totally treat you like a rock star.
[00:44:09] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. When you show up to the port, there's like a. You know, they send a car to pick you up, they bring you to the port. There's a red carpet when you get out of the car that you walk down and you check in with the agents and everything. And then. And then you are the first on the ship. Like, there's like, I don't know, maybe 25, 30 people who are in Mega Rocks.
[00:44:26] Speaker A: Or maybe it's not even.
[00:44:27] Speaker C: Brian. I think it's. I think there's only like 16 rooms or something.
[00:44:31] Speaker B: They walk you past everyone else as you board to let them show. Like, these people get on first, right?
[00:44:37] Speaker C: And then the rock stars get on after you. So Mega Rockstar is like one category, and then Rockstar is the next category and then the fleet.
[00:44:43] Speaker B: But Mega Rockstar, they. Mega Rockstar, they take you to your room and you're supposed to wait in your room and Your agent will come and take care of all of your needs. Whereas the rockstars, they put it like a bar together and they have people moving around and like, you know, helping them with things. And so I'm like, it's, it is an amazing ship within a ship experience if, if you've got the disposable income to do it, like, I highly recommend.
[00:45:03] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, sounds amazing. And then you have that. Richard's rooftop area that you also had access to. Right. Like with the bar and the beautiful hot tubs up there and all the cozy seating.
[00:45:14] Speaker C: Yes. It was way too hot though. So we didn't spend a ton of time up there. Like, we did like the. I wish that they had like regular, a regular pool, like our little plunge pool instead of just the hot tubs, because it was just too hot to be in the hot tub. So we would, we would like lay out. We'd find a spot in the shade and lay out on one of those. They have these beautiful loungers, these beautiful round loungers. So it's a lovely place certainly to like relax. It's just if it's really hot out, you don't really want to be in a hot tub. I feel like that ship that's going to Alaska, there's going to be a Virgin ship sailing out of Seattle to Alaska. I think that's going to be an awesome experience. I would love to.
We're going to Alaska, as I mentioned, for our first time and we're sailing with on Disney and our son's going to be with us. So obviously we can't do virgin with an 11 year old. But I do think I could see us in the future. Like, I could see a situation where, oh, it would be lovely to sail on Virgin to Alaska.
Yeah. I'm curious, like, so you know a little bit about us now. We told you we've sailed on a little bit on Royal a lot on Disney, once on Virgin, going back on Virgin a couple times on Celebrity. Like, which, like you're, you are an expert on these other lines. Like which line that we haven't sailed. Would you say, like, oh, Brian and Sam. You seem like you would fit in, I don't know, Princess or Holland or Norwegian or Seabourn. I mean, because we are a little bougie. So.
[00:46:40] Speaker B: I don't know. I don't know if we're seeing.
[00:46:42] Speaker C: I don't know for that. I don't know if we can afford that.
[00:46:45] Speaker A: I know. Yeah, I know. I'm putting y' all in the Norwegian Aqua, specifically that ship or Luna in the Haven.
[00:46:52] Speaker C: Oh, I like it.
[00:46:53] Speaker A: It's phenomenal. The food is. I can't even say it's a 10 out of 10 because it's like a 75 out of 10. It is exquisite. It's family friendly. There is a private infinity pool above that there's another deck with private hot tubs. The accommodations are outstanding. You will have a butler. The butler is slightly more hands off probably than your rock star agent.
However, it is so hard once you cruise in the Haven. It is so hard to do anything else.
I, I spent just three days in it and they had to haul me out of there kicking and screaming. I fell head over heels in love with it and I can visual size in it. And your 11 year old would also be very, very comfortable.
[00:47:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:47:43] Speaker A: Then you can take him out and let him enjoy the go kart track like boat karting at sea. So I can't. I mean without any hesitation at all. That would be my choice for you. I would recommend, I would highly recommend one of the newer ships for you though. Aqua, which is already sailing or Luna, which is coming out this fall, I believe.
I think you would love it so much. And then you also have. Disney has great entertainment. Y' all are spoiled here. Okay.
[00:48:11] Speaker C: We're so spoiled on entertainment and I'm super, I have super high bar for entertainment. I will tell you. I thought royals entertainment was meh. I mean Aqua 80s.
The Aqua 80 show on Oasis was fantastic. But other than that, everything else I.
[00:48:28] Speaker A: Was like, yeah, okay, well that's where the newer ships are going to come in with Norwegian because they bring the best in the. I mean, let's be honest, most cruise lines do this. They put the, you know, their star teams on the newer ships. I don't necessarily agree with that, but they have. Currently they have the Prince Revolution show which is outstanding.
So good you might want to see it twice. They have a Fleetwood Mac cover band that performs in the theater and they have some really killer stage shows that will probably r the quality, certainly not the theme. I mean Disney is Disney, right? Like you can't do, you can't do a Disney show. But they're going to, they're probably going to scratch that itch. But they're also family friendly for the most part and there's just so much to do on those ships.
A lot of outdoor space and there's also a lot of high end dining.
[00:49:20] Speaker C: Oh, I love all that.
[00:49:22] Speaker A: I don't even think I could get you to leave the Haven. But if you so if you so wanted to go do stay house, you could do steakhouse French. You can do. They have a food court style that your son will go crazy for because they order on an iPad and every kid loves it. My 16 year old is like, okay, mom, why are we talking to humans ever again when we order food? This is right. Like, I mean, he was so into that. The food on Norwegian, they even have. They have the biggest teppanyaki restaurant you will ever see at sea. I love.
Yes. Right. So it's a mix. It can be bougie, bougie.
It can be family. It can also be couples. It could be, you know, bachelorette party. But the decor is elevated as well all around the ship. You're gonna see that. I think for you guys, let's give Princess and Holland America another 10 years also, because I think there's certain destinations where I would go on them, especially Princess, because their kids clubs are outstanding. On Princess. It is my son's favorite kids club experience.
[00:50:25] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:50:26] Speaker A: Always has been. Yeah. So if you guys ever want to do an exotic, an example might be Japan.
I would strongly recommend that you do Princess, but get yourself a grand suite or some kind of a. Some kind of a larger accommodation and go do, go do Princess, where they do it really beautifully. And I can, I can promise you your son will just absolutely love the kids club. And he's about to go into a different age bracket in their kids club.
I think they stop at 12 for like the, the youth and then they go into team from 13 to 17. So could be, could be a fun thing to look at.
[00:51:02] Speaker C: I love that.
[00:51:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:51:03] Speaker C: I was gonna ask what, what your. What's your son's favorite cruise line? Would he say Princess because he loved that kids club, or do you think there's a there. Is there another cruise line that. That's his favorite for some other reason?
[00:51:15] Speaker A: Yeah, he's gonna say Royal Caribbean because he's a go, go, go. He wants the flow rider, the rock wall. He and my husband are. We're all very active, but they're like athletic level activists active. I'm like mom level active. I'm like, I'll go to this activity with you, then I'm gonna go get a cocktail and lay down. Right, like, right, right, exactly. On your own for the flow riding. Because I twisted my neck last time and I felt it for four years. So I'm not doing.
If I'm doing it, I'm laying down on it. I'm not on my knees.
[00:51:43] Speaker C: I couldn't even get up onto my knees. Cherry. I was. I started out on laying on that thing. I never was able to get up. Nathan got up on. Onto his knees. Ryan got like halfway up. Like it was.
[00:51:55] Speaker B: I got on my knees. I got up on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:51:58] Speaker C: I just, I just.
[00:51:59] Speaker A: It's not worth it these days.
[00:52:01] Speaker C: No, it's too hard.
[00:52:03] Speaker A: But I do love all that too. So he would say, he'd say Royal Caribbean, but. But then it's. We do this destination by destination. Right? He just, we just did back to back cruises with Princess in Alaska. He had the time of his life because Princess really does their children's programs. So it's. It's like a misnomer out there. I don't think people understand how wonderful their leaders are and how big and pretty their kids clubs are too. And so made two different groups of friends over two weeks. He typically ends up staying in touch with them after the cruise, and he loves it.
But his favorite cruise of all time and destination is it would be Diamond Princess in Japan. Like, it's just hands down, cruising Japan was life changing for us. So much so that he started taking Japanese lessons. And he's now in year four of Japanese. So, you know, that big. It's the big picture for him. He'd be like, let's go do this in Japan. But then let's also do some time on land too. Right. Because he's getting to be a little more into exploring. And I, you know, I'm worried that he's gonna, by the time he's 21, he's gonna be like, oh, my gosh. My parents were these old fuddy duddies who drag me around on all these cruises. And I'm so over it. I just want to take a backpack and go to Europe, you know, and then he'll do that. He'll take the backpack and he'll go to Europe. And then he'll be like, well, that sucked. It was fun. Yeah.
[00:53:23] Speaker C: Exhausted.
[00:53:24] Speaker A: Right, right, right.
So he's. Yeah. But he also does enjoy Norwegian and. But mostly I'd say Carnival Princess and Carnival Princess and Royal Caribbean are his favorites. But he doesn't spend time in the, in the kids clubs much on Norwegian or Royal Caribbean. He finds them overwhelming. There's too many kids and he's like, we can't even talk to anybody. So you usually back off and just hang with us on those.
[00:53:51] Speaker B: Yeah. It's funny, we have some friends who are much on the younger side and they were always like, we can't cruise the Caribbean. Why do you cruise the Caribbean all the time? We want to go see the world. And I was like, because I've seen the world, I dragged my luggage onto Trina Talia. I have done all this stuff. So I'm just ready to go relax on my vacation and read a book for a while. So yeah, yeah, we would be remiss.
Since the title of your channel is Cruise Tips tv, I kind of wanted to ask you what's the one tip you wish every new cruiser knew before they set foot on a ship? And what do you think? Like the biggest mistake that a new cruiser makes is over planning.
[00:54:37] Speaker A: It's a great one.
[00:54:38] Speaker C: Yes, yes.
[00:54:40] Speaker A: Right. Like. Cause a lot of us go into it it with there's a type A planner in the family and then there's your relaxed person who just goes along for the ride. That type A person is very likely to burn themselves out on that first cruise because they were like, okay, I gotta print the luggage tags. I'm gonna go on cruise critic and I'm gonna find the menus. I'm gonna decide what I want to eat every night, then I have to. And they freak out and they also plan a stinking shore excursion every day and they end up exhausted. It's like, you know what, leave a little room to sit on the hammock to do nothing. Give yourself some space to breathe and just to look each other in the eye and realize you're at sea. You have just discovered this magical way of travel. You don't need to over program yourself. You don't need to book 50 specialty restaurants. You need to walk on the ship with a wide eyed sense of wonder and just let yourself fall in love with it. And also if you have a bad first cruise, this is a different tip. Be careful. Don't judge cruising as a whole. Think about what decision that you made. I feel like I'm talking to a teenager. Think about the decision you made, sure that you like that you made the right decision and know that there is a cruise for every pretty much every personality, every travel style, every level of formality when it comes to like what we were saying about dress code and everything.
[00:56:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:56:04] Speaker A: So if you have a little bit of a bad one, maybe reevaluate and talk to folks who know a little bit about cruising. And that's particularly true if your first cruise was like a two or three or four nighter.
[00:56:13] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:56:13] Speaker A: There is no way to compare a three night cruise to a seven night cruise. They are totally different from the standpoint of relaxation from connecting to with Your loved ones being able to have that time. Maybe just put your phone in the safe if you can, if you can disconnect a little bit and, and go back to that classic element of what makes cruising so special.
[00:56:34] Speaker B: That's such a great tip. That's, it's funny. Sam and I swap roles. So I'm the type a planner coming into the cruise and Sam is along for the ride. But the moment we get on the ship, Sam is go, go, go, go, go, go, go, doing all this stuff. And I'm like, where is the pool and the lounger? That's all I need.
[00:56:49] Speaker C: Yes, this is true.
It is, it's. We, we do, we completely swap roles. Like he, he does all of like the pre planning books and. But then once we're on the ship, I'm like, I want to go see and do everything. Now I will skip some things in order to get some relaxation in, but I do have a bad case of fomo. And so if I, you know, if there are things that are like really big or if there's things that are new, especially on Disney, like every. Well, to be fair, part of it is when there's things that are new, everybody expects me to go see them and do them. And so I, I feel like I have to. I don't want to disappoint anyone. And so I do try and go, go, go, go.
Like when there are things that are new, I do it once and then I don't necessarily do it again. If I didn't love it, I'm not going to do it again. Right. So it's. So I do have, part of it is, you know, that FOMO situation. But also, you know, some of it is I feel like I have to try most things at least once. So I try to get some balance. But to Brian's right, I am a little bit too frenetic in that I try and do too many things. But funny enough, we give the same advice, I think that you give about, about pacing yourself. And I also like, especially to new cruisers, I like to give the advice of pick the one thing that you really want to do on that day and prioritize that over everything else and do that thing.
Because there's like, especially on Disney, there's like a million activities going on and if you don't prioritize the one thing you want to do, you're going to end up like missing it probably.
[00:58:22] Speaker B: Well, and I think they're a big part of sailing on Disney is kind of that magic and whimsy. That they bring into things. And if you're over scaling scheduled, you're just gonna miss the random opportunity where Goofy's sleepwalking at night down the hallway and like, that's a fun thing to see. Or Mickey's out on deck doing his exercises, you know, in his. In his running track. Yeah, yeah. Because you're gonna be, you know, in the D lounge doing trivia because, you know, the 15th trivia of the day or whatever it is. Right. So, yeah, yeah. Sherry, I'm curious. One other question I had. Sam has already previewed her final question off air, so I will. I will give that to her after I ask this question. Question. Private islands.
It seems like everyone is getting a private island now. It's funny enough Disney was the first and now Royal's got two. Three, actually, they have three, basically private. Not private islands per se, but private destinations. Right?
[00:59:13] Speaker A: Yeah. And some in development. Yep, yep.
[00:59:15] Speaker B: What do you think about all of these? Like, do you think it detracts from the port experience? Do you think it adds to the port experience? Like, what's your thinking on these, These sort of more private destination experiences?
[00:59:25] Speaker A: My personal opinion is I love them. I always look forward to it. I feel like it's controlled and usually they're very clean.
And if I just want to get back on the ship and not plan anything for the day, I feel like I'm going to have those basic creature comforts, like a pool that I can go hang out in. I love my favorite of all of them. In case that's coming as a question, I got to say, perfect day at Coco Key is outstanding. Royal Caribbean has just nailed it. And we, when we go there, we get the water park pass every time. And then we just go hard and try to hit as many slides as we can. It is so clean.
The food is free. The drink package works on the island. Thank you, Royal Caribbean for that. And it is, it is a dream come true destination. I've booked cruises on Royal Caribbean because they had two days there. I was like, oh, I'm doing that one. I love dip.
[01:00:16] Speaker C: Love that.
[01:00:16] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, they're great. And then you have Norwegian has great stirrup key and harvest key. I like great stirrup. And they even have bougie cabanas for you guys. So when you are on aqua and you are in the haven, you can get a cabana at Silver Cove and go live the cabana dream. But they're, they're actually villas. I'm sorry, they're not. They're. They're little houses. With showers, but they're actually like, you know, concrete structures. They're not really like straw cabanas. Yeah, I think that's genius, though. And they have like a Moet champagne bar, and it has like the Moet logo all over it. And there's like all this posh seating and you can take that experience there.
Princess has Princess Keys. White sand beaches, simple, beautiful. Just the perfect little slice of the Bahamas. And then really the most glorious of all, if we're not talking like, Royal Caribbean's perfect day, which is more of an adventurer's paradise. They have chill and they have cabana. They have couples to stuff. But just for sheer serenity, Half Moon Key is outstanding. So Holland America and Carnival both use it. They have. They're building another part of the island called Relax Away, and that's going to be more of a chill experience. But Half Moon Key has the most powdery white sand you'll ever see. And when you walk in the water, you look down, you can see every bit of your toes. It's like this turquoisey classic. You see it in the movies, water. And. And every time I go there, I'll be, you know, you'll be kind of moseying back to the tender, and you'll just see people who, they don't want to leave. They're, you know, they're picking up a shell or two and they're walking back and they'll just look at you and they maybe haven't had a vacation in a year or two or five. And they'll say, this is why this is my idea of heaven. Because it's just unit. It's really kind of unspoiled and there's no waves. It's like a. I don't know, it's not a lagoon. It just. For one reason or another, because of the. The way it's situated. It's always this, like, blissfully calm water and it's. It's fabulous. But I love them. I think they're great. I. Yeah, I think it's smart, too. Sometimes you got to contain things if you're a cruise company. Right. You know, you don't know.
Yeah. Obviously you can't help weather, but there's been all kinds of political unrest in certain areas. Like Labadee in Haiti became a place that Royal Caribbean couldn't use for a while. But generally, spe speaking, the private islands are so easy to control. And I think when you control that, you also can control the guest experience.
[01:02:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:02:46] Speaker A: I hope that they don't get carried away. With a, you know, $4,000 a day cabanas. I think Royal Caribbean has kind of gone off the deep end with what they're talking about.
[01:02:52] Speaker C: Oh, my God. That new one in Nassau. Did you see that? The new one in Nassau, there's going to be a $10,000 cabana. Now, it does include 12 people's entry to this. It's basically a new private. It's a private destination experience that you pay for access to on rural, now this, and it's in Nas Nassau. But I was like, wow, I know 12 people is a lot of people, but still, like $10,000 for a cabana. Like, you could buy a whole cruise for that. I mean, you could buy one day. So one day. That just seems. Yeah, they. Seems like they've kind of lost their mind there.
[01:03:29] Speaker B: Which private island is it? That's up from lookout, Sam, is that half moon?
[01:03:33] Speaker C: It is half moon, yeah. It's on Eleuthera. Yeah.
[01:03:37] Speaker A: See it from.
[01:03:38] Speaker B: You can see the ship. So Disney.
[01:03:39] Speaker C: From the ship.
[01:03:40] Speaker B: Disney and the other ships, they dock on the same side, but Disney's beach is on the opposite. Most of its beach is on the opposite side of the island. So, yeah, we've experienced the powdery white sand.
[01:03:49] Speaker C: It's beautiful.
[01:03:50] Speaker A: Glorious.
[01:03:51] Speaker C: Yeah. Luther is amazing. So it's the southern tip of Eleuthera that Disney now has as its second private, private destination. Yeah. It's incredible. All right, well, Sheri, Brian mentioned I previewed this question for you ahead of time. I told you, you. I was. Before we got. Before we started recording, I told you I wanted to ask you what your favorite cruise line was. And I guess. And you said you have a qualified answer, but, like, I don't know if you're gonna jump on a ship tomorrow. Like, which. Which. What. What's. Like, what does your gut tell you? Like, if you're gonna jump on a ship tomorrow, which ship do you want to be on?
[01:04:27] Speaker A: Well, I. My family and I would literally live in on a cruise ship in Japan if we could. We would tour that area. It's that impactful for us. So if you. If you held my foot to the fire, I'd say, just put me.
Let me do every season on Diamond Princess in Japan. I just want to try every season because they're all so different. And the last time I went, it was August. It was face of the sun hot. The time before that, it was December. And now I need to do the fall foliage. I need to do the spring flowers. Like, I have. I have FOMO on doing all those.
I really, truly don't have a favorite, though, because. And it isn't really like that whole I can't name my favorite child thing. It's that they all offer something really different for me. If I had to tell you some of my favorite, favorite experiences, though, like, over time, there have been some cruises that stood out to me.
Haven on Norwegian. On Norwegian Aqua. I just. I had no idea how good it was really going to be. And I didn't think the food could be that good on a cruise. I just didn't even know that was possible.
So that blew my mind. Also, MSC Yacht Club. We did Europe on MSC Yacht Club, and that was outstanding.
[01:05:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:05:33] Speaker A: And I know I'm kind of going into luxury here, but when you think. When I think about my family, Families, Those moments that were burned in Seabourn to Alaska where you're getting out on a Zodiac and you're doing things by day, and the salad bar has 42 kinds of arugula. You know, whatever. It's just outstanding.
[01:05:52] Speaker C: I'm sorry. I don't even know that there are 42 kinds of arugula.
[01:05:56] Speaker A: I'm just being funny.
You feel like you felt like that, though? It's like, if I wanted it, I could ask for it.
But at the same time, like, on Seabourn, I felt like my son. When we walked through the halls, we.
[01:06:07] Speaker C: Had to be like, oh, shh.
[01:06:08] Speaker A: You know, so there's. There's plus, pluses and minuses.
But with that said, I really. I have Cruise Princess the most.
And I. If I want to relax on a cruise, I am going to go on Princess. I'm going to go on Holland America. I'm going to go on the MSC Yacht Club. I'm going to go in the Haven on Norwegian. Like, it's going to be one of those four for Mom. Right?
My husband would just live in the. In Japan. He'd be like, I'm done. And my son would be like, give me all the action on Royal Caribbean. And then you guys can kind of drag me around everything else. If you. Yeah.
[01:06:40] Speaker B: Nice.
[01:06:41] Speaker C: That's so fun.
[01:06:42] Speaker B: Well, Sheri, we have so appreciated being able to spend some time with you. If you ever get on a Disney cruise, I mean, we really need to get you to Castaway Cay, because I'd love to hear what you think of Castaway Key.
[01:06:53] Speaker C: And Lookout Key.
[01:06:54] Speaker B: Yeah, and Lookout Key. But I. If you ever set foot on a Disney cruise ship, I hope you will. You will. You will reach out, because we would love to hear what Your thoughts were about Disney Cruise Line. But yes, just have so appreciated being able to spend some time chatting with you and you taking some time to chat with our audience. It's. It's been just fantastic. So thank you so, so much.
[01:07:12] Speaker A: Thank you so much for having me. It's been such a pleasure. I feel like we're sitting in the same room. I feel like I've known you guys forever and that we're just here having a cup of tea, talking Cruise. It's been so wonderful. So thank you for the invitation and.
[01:07:24] Speaker B: Definitely take a minute. Remind folks where they can find you. I mean, they should be able to just find you easily. But tell folks where they can find you so that they can follow along with you and your adventures and all your great content too.
[01:07:36] Speaker A: Absolutely. So you'll find us at Cruise TipsTV. Cruise, like cruise ship and TipsTV. It's really all one word when you type it in. But we also have a podcast called the Cruise Tips TV Unplugged Podcast. Long form. My husband and I, sometimes we have guests. It's kind of chatty, you know, like. Like you guys do informational, but also chatty.
We are on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. I'm on TikTok, but I'm going to tell you, I. I don't know what I'm doing on TikTok. We're the same. You'll find me there, but I'm floundering around like an old lady, much like on Virgin.
[01:08:12] Speaker B: No one wants to see me dancing that way. So y.
[01:08:16] Speaker A: Did you dance?
[01:08:17] Speaker B: We did not. We did not.
[01:08:18] Speaker C: Thank God. Well, he won't. I will dance. Brian will not dance. Really? You know what?
[01:08:22] Speaker B: You know what? Our next. Our next big charity thing, Sam, we will do. We will agree to do a dance together on Tick Tock. That's what we'll do.
[01:08:29] Speaker C: Great idea.
[01:08:31] Speaker A: You have to get a good trending simple enough one, right, that you can like learn it. For me, it has to be simple too. That is such a cute idea. You guys should do it.
I love that. But yeah. And on Instagram. One thing I will tell people from an education standpoint too is if you need something, you can also Google it. Cruise Tips TV, Alaska or Cruise TipsTV. First time cruise and something might come up that would be helpful for you. And everything's free, right? Like, we all do this because we want to give people that wow feeling when they walk on a ship. So everything is out there for you guys to search for. And. And if you ever need anything, you can DM me and say help. I don't know how many pairs of underwear I need for alask.
I do respond to my DMs even if it's underwear. And what kind of bra are you wearing with that strapless top?
Someone will sneak into my DMs and say I have questions. Really embarrassing. Is it okay if I ask and I'm like, you're gonna ask me about a bra right now?
It's really funny. But yeah, I love that.
[01:09:34] Speaker C: Oh my gosh.
As Brian said, it's been such a pleasure having you. You are just delightful. We are big fans. I'm so appreciative. I know Brian is too that willing to come on our little show in our corner this cruising world. But thank you so much for joining us. It's been so amazing.
[01:09:52] Speaker A: Thank you. And I hope I can convince you guys to come on my podcast sometimes too. I have an idea for a show and I'll tell you after.
[01:09:58] Speaker B: Sounds great.
[01:09:59] Speaker A: Okay, good.
[01:10:05] Speaker B: Well thanks everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate it. Be sure to subscribe subscribe to the podcast. You can keep getting great content from us every week. In fact, twice a week we publish shows. So be sure to hit the subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us alive, we have a live show now every week, Monday nights, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out. If you want help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts. And if you leave us a written review, a five star review. 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 DCLDUO mypathunwinding.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.
It's got links to all of our things, full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast. Links off to our vlog, a link to our Etsy store. We sell some fun fan inspired magnets Link to our Patreon if you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO also has a way for you to sign up for our substack newsletter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here at least, and 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 reflect the views that Disney Company your Disney Cruise Line. If you have questions about a Disney Cruise or Disney vacation, please contact the great folks over at My Path Unwinding Travel or Disney directly or your own travel agent. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time for another fabulous adventure with the DCL Duo. Good night.
[01:12:17] Speaker A: Radio.
