[00:00:00] Speaker A: I would like to go on New Year's Eve again, and there's certainly a premium on those cruises, but I thought that was a really fun way. I'm usually like at home watching a movie on New Year's Eve, but that was one of my favorites.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Yeah, we celebrate New Year's Eve on the West Coast. We celebrate it at 9pm because we celebrate East Coast New Year's Eve.
Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the DCL Duo podcast brought to you by my Path Unwinding Travel. And as you can tell from hearing my voice in the show intro instead of Brian's, it is me, Sam. I am solo hosting today.
Brian's not feeling well today, so I am going to not do the show on my own, but host on my own because I am lucky enough to have a wonderful guest who has been on the show a couple of times before.
I think the last time that you were on Kelly, we talked about maybe the Adriatic sailing that you did on Adventurous by Disney. Yeah. But welcome back to the show, Kelly.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: Thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to talk about the Treasure and relive my dream.
[00:01:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I love it. You know, we're obsessed with the Treasure, so I always want to talk about the Treasure. It's like talking about the Treasure all the time. As I, as I mentioned pre show when we were chatting, we're about to head back on the Treasure in just a few days. Myself, Brian and Nathan and of course, it's always exciting to do that. But before we dive in and talk about your Treasure sailing, which we're going to talk about, you were on the New Year's Eve sailing, which is the second sailing for the Treasure, and of course want to get your impressions as a seasoned Disney cruiser.
But I want, I want folks to know a little bit about your background. I know we've talked about this before. I know. I know your background. But I want to remind our listeners, because you have a ton of experience on cruising. You have some ABD experience. You're a travel agent yourself. Tell folks a little bit about you, Kelly.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: So I've been cruising on Disney for a while, if you count the Big Red Boat, because I'm pretty old. So my first Disney cruise was on the Big Red boat when I was a teenager. And then we started cruising with our family back in about 2014, and we're not quite up to pearl like you are, but we're platinum cruisers now and we've been on all of the ships.
The Treasure is my new favorite. We go to Disney World a lot. We're Disney Vacation club members, so we usually go at least once a year. I've been going to Disneyland a little more lately. I really like it. I might like it better than Florida.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: I'm telling you, Kelly, there's really nothing better. I honestly think, I think people don't realize, yes, Walt Disney World is bigger and it has more parks and it has water parks and more resorts and so if you want like a week long vacation, no, shame on Walt Disney World. But you can do everything in like two or three days at Disney. Well, everything you want to do, obviously you could probably.
And yeah, two or three days at land and everything is walking distance. There's no busing. You just like you can say on property, off property, and you could be just as close, except maybe Grand California. And that's probably like the, I mean, that's obviously the closest. But yeah, Disneyland's way better and it's Walt's original park, so you can't, you know, classic.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: It's really convenient. I, I really enjoy going there.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: Yeah, love it. Well, I do want to dive in and talk about the treasure. I know that you got, you were invited on for one of the three night preview cruises that I was on and obviously we got to experience a, a huge amount in such a short time, but it was really condensed and it was certainly not like a regular seven night sailing because everything was condensed into those three nights. So I definitely want to focus on your seven night sailing, but I also want to bring up the fact that you yourself just started a podcast and why don't you tell our audience a little bit about that podcast and what your focus on. Because I, because I think your focus is really unique and interesting. I know it has to do with your, your day job in addition to your, your travel agency job. So. Yeah, why don't you tell folks about that?
[00:04:11] Speaker A: So I'm one of three co hosts of the Food Allergy Magic podcast. So we're in our infancy. We're nothing like D Duo, but our travel agency, Platinum Mouse was founded for people who have food allergies. The owner's daughter has severe food allergy.
That's how I ended up being recruited. I'm an allergist and I hate when food allergies impact my patients. Beyond the kitchen table. There's a lot of fear and anxiety associated with food allergies. So some people don't go to restaurants. They're scared to travel. So it's really empowering to help these families. And Disney does such a good job so our founder, Lizzy, after she went to Disney World for the first time with her daughter, she was so happy that they could have fun safely that she quit her job as a teacher and started a travel agency that's been around for a long time. Pixie Lizzie, she's known as on social media and then my daughter used to have food allergy. But I think it's so important to empower people and I love helping families. We don't only do food allergy. Lots of our patients are normal. Not patients, excuse me. Lots of our clients are just regular travelers who don't have any medical problems. Problems. My other co host, Charity, she's a physician assistant and all of her children have severe food allergy, have had anaphylaxis multiple times, sometimes even on vacation.
So we talk about different destinations and how people with food allergies can travel there safely. We have some other health professionals, nurses who are in our agency and some of them focus on other special needs stuff. Autism travel, traveling with epilepsy.
So if you have a medical condition that might make it tricky to travel, because some of us are health professionals, we can kind of help you guide through that. So we're having trip reports and talking about how people successfully navigated their food allergies when traveling.
[00:06:03] Speaker B: Awesome. You know, I think it's something that people are talking about more and more because obviously food allergies are, I think, more prevalent than they used to be in our society. And I think there's just a little bit. There's a more awareness about it as well. Right. And I love that on Disney Cruise Line in particular, they always ask the first time you sit down with any new serving team, they're going to ask, does anybody have any food allergies? That's before they ask for your drink order. They want to know because they want to be able to prepare. And of course, you know, you submit all that information ahead of time also, but they are verifying it right then and there as well to make sure that, you know, nothing, nothing is going to be a problem or a safety issue.
I'm sure that's much more difficult outside of the Disney bubble from a lot of folks that we've talked to and talking about all kinds of food allergies, but how the Disney bubble tends to take care of that better. We did actually a great episode though, with our friend Ashley, who did the Adventures by Disney in Southern California and actually had a really hard time at Disneyland with food allergy issues. And so I'm really where they. They were it was sort of a comedy of errors, honestly. It was like they, you know, they were short staffed at Disneyland, so there was not, there were not enough food professionals. And so, and they didn't have certain ingredients. And so it was, yeah, it was kind of frankly a mess. But I would say that's the exception, not the rule. But even at Disney it can be, it can be a big issue.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: So that's something that, you know, guests with food allergies face all the time.
[00:07:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:45] Speaker A: One thing I like about Disney Cruise Line though, is not just that they keep you safe, but they make you happy. Right. You're not just having like some boring bowl of plain white rice, you know, like delicious foods for you. And the chefs really try to accommodate, especially in Disney World, they do as well. So it's really nice that the kids can, you know, enjoy really fun foods. I know Charity, my co host, her kids, they love going on Disney Cruise Line because they get to have really fancy desserts that they don't usually get to have at restaurants, you know, at home.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: Yeah, that's so hard. I can, honestly, I can. As someone who doesn't have food allergies or any really dietary restrictions at all, I have some sensitivity to milk. But, you know, that's pretty easy one to work around. You either pop some lactate or just avoid it. It's, you know, that's not, not a. And it's not in small doses. I'm fine. I don't have any problems with that. It's just some, you know, mild lactose intolerance that a lot of us have.
But yeah, I mean, I, we have to eat in order to live. And so it's not something that you can like avoid completely. Right. Like if you have an allergy to, I don't know, alcohol, for example, like you can just avoid it completely. Right. But if you have an allergy to food, you can't avoid all food. Right. You have to live. Well, I'd love to, you know, dive into talking about your, your seven night Treasure cruise. Of course you did the New Year's Eve itinerary, which is always fun to be on board a Disney ship for New Year's Eve. Yours was even more special since it was the second, you know, official sailing or second revenue sailing for the Disney Treasure. Why did you, why did you all choose that sailing and tell us who was in your sailing party? Because I think you told me you had quite a big group.
[00:09:30] Speaker A: We had a very big group. So we were interested in the inaugural sailing, but we like to Be home on Christmas, so we didn't want to do that. So the second sailing was great. We've never been on a cruise on New Year's Eve, so we really wanted to experience that as well. And everyone had off from school, so it kind of worked out. There are 18 of us and I think five different staterooms, so three families. We all have a bunch of kids. We range from age 4 to in their mid-70s. Most of them are teens and tweens. We have lots of teens and tweens, so they really had a lot of. A lot of fun hanging out together.
[00:10:08] Speaker B: Yeah. And remind me the ages of your kids. I think they're teens, am I right?
[00:10:13] Speaker A: Yeah, my kids are 14, 16, and 18, definitely.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: All in the sweet spot of teenagerhood. Well, I guess technically they are vibe and 1820 society now. Wow. That's kind of amazing.
[00:10:28] Speaker A: My son brought his girlfriend, too, so they were able to go to Palo for the first time. That was really, you know, I think they had fun together. We all went to Palo, but all the adults. And we had a private brunch, which was really nice, but the two of them had a. Went to dinner together as a date. And that was because he's always known about Palo, but this was the first time he could enjoy it.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: I love that. It's like a rite of passage. We've been talking to Nathan about Palo for, you know, ever since we started cruising. And I can't wait. I mean, he's only 11, so he's got time. Time to wait. But I can't wait for, like, the first time we can take him to Palo, maybe for his, like, 18th birthday or something like that. I think that will be just a really, really fun, fun thing to do. Well, let's talk about for. For planning this cruise you have with that many people.
How. I'll be honest, I don't even know how one would plan for a group that size, because I've never had to plan for a group that size. Yeah. What? Like, how is that wrangling everybody together? Did everybody book their own sort of excursions or. And do their own onboard bookings, or did you kind of coordinate everybody? How did that all work?
[00:11:37] Speaker A: Coordinated everything.
Nice. Because it was a lot of kids and we all live in different states, but they all had off that week, so that made the dates for the cruise easy. And then after that, I just tried to find, you know, they're all places we've been to before, so we found things that we knew would work well with groups, and we just all did everything together. We did all our excursions together.
[00:11:58] Speaker B: Wow, that's amazing. Now did you book the excursions through DCL or did you book them privately?
[00:12:04] Speaker A: No, we did it all private, you know, except on Castaway. We did parasailing and banana boat and things like that.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: Oh, fun, fun. Yeah. Well, I think, and I think with a larger group, especially if you have different like castaway club status in different rooms, like it would be quite difficult to coordinate and all book the same excursion. And when you have a large group, you can probably book private excursions.
In fact, you're big enough, you could probably fill like two private groups depending upon if like half the people want to do one thing and half the people want to do something else. But of course, you know, the Treasure is the star. Right? I mean you had been on, but I imagine the rest of the group probably hadn't been on. Right.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: Everybody else, it was their first time.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. What, what were, what were your kids looking forward to? I'm always curious for the teens, like what were they looking forward to on the treasure?
[00:12:56] Speaker A: Well, my 18 year old just wanted to get back to the burritos at Mickey's Cantina because that was his favorite thing about the wish and he couldn't stop thinking about it.
But I think really for most of them it's. Well, for both boys, it's food. All the restaurants and all the food. My daughter, she always wants to go to the spa and see like areas to relax. They're her favorite things.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Oh, I like that. Yeah, I wish that I relaxed more, but I definitely enjoy the spa. But I wish that I would like slow down and relax more. I'm hoping maybe I'll do that next week when we're on the Treasure.
[00:13:29] Speaker A: You had a chance to check a lot of stuff out already, so maybe you'll have some time to.
[00:13:33] Speaker B: Yes, yes. But I, I have such bad fomo, Kelly. I am such, I am like I am my own worst enemy in that way though. I like just want to do and see everything and I want to video things and yeah, I'm like I said, I just need to, I need to tell myself, relax, go to the spa, go to the Rainforest Room. Something like that. Yeah. Nice. And what were you looking forward to the most? Having of course been on the preview, you had gotten to see the shows and experience dinner at each of the restaurants one night, but not obviously the full array of what was on board. But what were you looking forward to the most about getting on for a full seven night sailing?
[00:14:13] Speaker A: The thing I wanted to do most was to see the Tale of Moana again because I just loved it. But a lot of it was just to enjoy the atmosphere of the Treasure. I think it's so beautiful and full of detail.
I just wanted to go to every lounge again and see things that I probably missed on the more rushed kind of three day cruise. So I just love the atmosphere of the Treasure. So it wasn't one particular thing. I just wanted to get back and see all the details and check all the spaces out again.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: Awesome. Well, let's talk about some of those spaces and which ones are perhaps your favorite or why. But I'm not questioning you having favorites. Clearly, as you've heard me say, Treasure is now my favorite. I know Treasure is now your favorite in the Disney fleet. I'm just always curious which venue speaks to each person the most. With so many great venues, so many great bar spaces. For example, on board the Treasure, which is the one that speaks to you, Kelly.
[00:15:11] Speaker A: I like the Soul Cat Lounge best of the lounge spaces. I thought the design was beautiful. I like the little window bar out into the atrium so you could kind of people watch and see what's going on the piano in there. I like always live music. So I thought that was a great place to listen to live music and it was just pretty. We got that cat glass. That was fun.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Oh you did? Yeah.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Nice. The place we spent the most time at I think was the Rose. The adult in our group. The guys in our group really like this special old fashioned at the Rose. So we would go there a lot of evenings to hang out before dinner.
[00:15:46] Speaker B: Yeah, the Rose is such a great venue. I think a lot of people because it's kind of off the beaten path. Right. Because it's over by Palo and Enchante and you wouldn't walk past it. Like if you were just walking the ship, you probably wouldn't walk by it or at least not even know that you're walking by it. I think it. It gets actually quite under subscribed. Meaning it's like the venue that you know when Scat Cat is really busy and may Haunted Mansion is busy and maybe Skipper Society is busy. The Rose might have just like a few handful of people in there. So it's like a perfect quiet spot to go and have that before after dinner, cocktail.
[00:16:21] Speaker A: Yeah, it was definitely easy because there was a lot of us. So that was the easiest place too for us to all sit together at those busy times.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.
[00:16:31] Speaker A: I think it's similar to like the Meridian on the Dream and Fantasy. I think some people don't even realize they can go there if they don't have reservations at an adult dining venue.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's a great point for those listening. If you are an adult, you can go to the Rose whenever it's open. It is not just for people going to Palo or Enchantee.
They have lovely drinks. It's a beautiful space.
There are people who are sort of having a cocktail before going into Enchantee or Palo, but it's not exclusive to that whatsoever. And they have really wonderful bartenders. And of course, you can always ask them what's in the bin, and they will tell you what bottles have been opened. And you can get sometimes really good glasses of wine for a lot less expensive than what they might otherwise be.
[00:17:17] Speaker A: Yeah, that's my favorite thing there is the wine bin, for sure.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: Absolutely.
I'd love to know what you thought of the dining experiences on board the Treasure, because I think that's where the Treasure gets to differentiate herself so much from the Wish, because even though she has two of the same restaurants, she's got. You got a second night in 1923. You got a second night in Marvel, and then you have a whole different restaurant in Coco as compared to Arendelle on. On the Wish. Yeah. What do you think of the. Let's. Let's start with Coco and sort of vis a vis Arendale.
You know, which one is the winner between those two?
[00:18:00] Speaker A: For me, it's Coco. I thought, like, as soon as you walk in that beautiful ofrenda, the details on it are amazing. I took so many pictures and videos of it.
The performers, the dancers, the singers, the musicians, they were fabulous. The show was such high quality, and I just thought that it was such a beautiful setting. I like that the windows look like real windows instead of portholes. You really felt like, you know, you were in a restaurant on land and the colors of the show and the woman was dancing with her skirt. It was just beautiful. And the food was really good and unique for Disney Cruise Line, so I really enjoyed that. I liked it better than Arendelle.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. I think they did a really nice job with. Well, I think they did a nice job with the food. Not all of the food is perfect, but I think most of it is very good. We, of course, have raved about the feel. Like all of the starters are all fans. Fantastic. All the appetizers are better than most of the mains. Not that they're bad. They're just. It's just sort of maybe A little bit of an uneven menu there, but I think they've done a. Just a better job with the integration between the show and dinner. I feel like that's where there's such a. It's so hard on.
I actually love Arendelle on the Wish, but I still feel like it just really interrupts your dinner. And dinner is like the food is not at all the focus. The show is completely the focus. And it's even louder in Arendelle than in Coco. I don't know if you agree there.
[00:19:35] Speaker A: I felt like Arendelle was louder too. I don't really. I have haven't been on the Wish for a while, so I don't remember what the timing of the show, but I did feel like it was. It's kind of loud now. I don't know if they've adjusted that since I've. I've sailed on the Wish, but I thought it was more relaxing at Coco than it is at Arendelle.
[00:19:52] Speaker B: Yeah. And of course you get chips and salsa, so I mean, that's already a plus, right?
What about that, Marvel? Because obviously on the Wish we've got the same. That Marvel Night 1 is the same between the Wish and the Treasure. But then you've got this second night with different food and a different show on night two.
I'm curious what you think of that.
Is that a hit? Is that a miss? Should they have done something different?
[00:20:19] Speaker A: I wish it was more different than it is. It's like so similar to the Wish. It's my least favorite restaurant on the Treasure. I felt like the food was my least favorite. My kids also felt the same. The show on the second night was short, but I kind of like that. I think sometimes people want a quiet dinner and not like a loud show every evening. So I like that the show on the second night was kind of less intrusive in the meal than the first night show.
[00:20:46] Speaker B: Totally agree. I think Night two is way better.
The show is better. The food.
Yeah, I'd say probably. I. It's probably the week. Well, I liked the second night menu. Actually liked a couple of dishes on the second night menu. But I'd say the. The food isn't like amazing in there either.
But yeah, it's definitely, I think a step up. But I agree. I wish they would have. I'll be honest, I like the theming of Marvel and I like the restaurant. I just wish they had done two brand new shows instead of doing one show that was a repeat from the Wish. If they had done two shows Very similar, you know, to the night two. Like in, in sort of the way that it like intermittently interrupts but not completely interrupts dinner. Like I think that yeah, like that just model is better. Right. They just, they. They figured out a better balance on that that night too. I'd love to hear what you think about 1923. It's of course similar but not exactly the same. Some of the decor is different in the restaurant. But yeah, I'd love to hear what you think about 1923 on the treasure as well.
[00:21:49] Speaker A: I really like 1923. I like. It's elegant and quiet. I feel like it's a nice relaxing place for dinner. I love. It's almost like a little museum with all of the different things from different movies and cartoons.
So I enjoyed that. And we got dressed up in 1920s clothes.
[00:22:07] Speaker B: You did, I love that.
[00:22:09] Speaker A: And we did that on the preview cruise and then also for our seven night cruise we asked to be in that restaurant on New Year's Eve and our wish was granted. So that way we were all dressed up and on New Year's Eve. So I really like it. I like the decor in there and I also enjoy breakfast there. On one of our sea days we went there for breakfast and it's really just such a nice like it's a beautiful spot with really good food and so I like that over cabanas for breakfast for sure. On a sea day if you have time.
[00:22:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's a great tip. You know we don't really talk too much about where to eat breakfast because it's such a. I feel like most people just go to cabanas or Marceline. Right. That's the kind of the typical. But we, we do occasionally go to a sit down breakfast. Usually only on a, you know, sea day because obviously if we're going to port we don't want to spend that time because we're getting ready. We want to eat something quick and you know, get some coffee in us and then go. But yeah, I think breakfast is a great option at a sit down restaurant. I mean I love sit down lunch at embarkation day and, and I don't tend to eat sit down lunch though the rest of the cruise. But I am more of a sucker for that sit down breakfast. So yeah, actually excellent pro tip. I love it.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: It.
[00:23:22] Speaker B: I'd love to turn and talk about some of the entertainment on board the Treasure because obviously I think that's one area where she really shines. I'm curious about, you know, obviously you and I Got to see the same Coriander and Sage. I can't stop talking about them.
Yeah, I know right now there's a new. There's a new Coriander and Sage, a new stage cast that I'm excited to see coming up here.
But I'm curious what you thought of the new offerings on board the Treasure, including Coriander and Sage.
[00:23:52] Speaker A: Yeah, Coriander and Sage were fantastic. One night I saw them do Match or Matey on Pirates Night and they were really funny. They were great. And then I like that they used that. They utilized this stage in the grand hall for. I saw when they retold the story of Aladdin that I really liked. And then I also saw the Indiana Jones one. It's at the Sarabi Supper Club, but I can't remember what's it called? Choose Wisely. Choosing Wisely.
[00:24:19] Speaker B: Choose Wisely.
[00:24:20] Speaker A: Yeah, that one. I felt like it was. They were really good. Sometimes it was a little hard to follow. Maybe I don't know enough Indiana Jones background to follow, but all the other things they did, they were so engaging and, like, charismatic, both of them. They were a lot of fun. I think they added a lot of value to the cruise.
[00:24:39] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Yes. I do think you have to be somewhat familiar with Indiana Jones.
You don't have to necessarily. I mean, if you. If you don't know all of the films, it will still be fun and entertaining. But if you know all of the films, like, really pretty well, then it'll be even more entertaining because it is a re. A retelling of the Indiana Jones. Like all of the Indiana Jones movies. So that's. That's an excellent point.
Now, do you guys do. Are you guys big trivia buffs? Do you like to go to the family game shows? Like, what's it. What's a day. What's a C day on board look like for you, Kelly, and your group?
[00:25:16] Speaker A: I usually go on sea days. I do like to go to the spa, either the rainforest or to get a massage or a facial.
I like to relax and read by the pool a lot. But then we do go to Trivia. I go to all of the main shows, whatever it is, that evening. I enjoy that. I don't go to the movies very much when I'm on board. I feel like I can do that at home. And then I like to just explore the ship and sit and read in different areas. I love the reading notes, like the seating nooks up above the grand hall and the treasure. I hung out there some.
So we do A variety of things. I didn't go to trivia that much though. This time we only went once, I think the whole week.
[00:25:55] Speaker B: Yeah, well, there's just, there's so much to do. It's hard to like, hit, you know, everything. Right. I mean, that's, I'm, I'm like you. There's so many things I want to do and obviously I want to go see all of the shows. And so, you know, all of those things take up time. And I also tend to avoid the movies. Not because they don't like movies. I love movies and I like, you know, really enjoy Disney movies, but I also feel like I can watch that in, you know, the comfort of my own home on the big screen tv. And I don't have to take three hours of my cruise to do that. Although I am seriously debating seeing the new. It's not so new anymore, but the Captain America, you know, Falcon is Captain America, the new movie. I don't even remember the name of it because I still haven't seen it in the movie theater, even though it's. It's not on Disney plus yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'll be honest. I tend to wait for things to come on Disney before I see them. Nowadays. I used to go to the movie theater when things come out, be it big Marvel movies or Harry Potter movies or big Disney movies. And now I tend to just wait for it to be on demand and watch it in my own home.
[00:26:59] Speaker A: Yeah, we do that usually. My husband loves Marvel, though, so we saw the new Captain America in the theater.
We used to go to the family game shows, and I think they're really awesome. But as my kids got older and especially on this cruise, they had a lot of friends. If they had to hang out with me, we probably would have gone to game shows. But since they had each other, we didn't go to any of the family game shows this time. And I always try to go to Palo brunch on sea days as well.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: Oh, yes, the best.
I'd love to hear.
What do your kids get up to nowadays? I mean, they're teenagers and really an adult. I mean a young adult. But what do they like to do on their time on the ship and in particular on the Treasure?
[00:27:42] Speaker A: I don't even always know what they do because if I ask, they'll be like, oh, we just did stuff.
They, they, when they're by themselves, they might go to the kids clubs more often, but when they're with their group of friends, they kind of just, you know, sit by the pool.
[00:27:58] Speaker B: Are they just roaming packs like I see?
[00:28:01] Speaker A: Not in big packs, but just their little group. Yeah, they just kind of hang out and whenever we ask them what they did, they just say like, like they're hanging out or doing stuff. So I think it's a lot of like pool ice cream.
That kind of stuff.
[00:28:13] Speaker B: Yeah, that soft serve ice cream, you know, it's. It's like a contest of how much you can eat on board on any given cruise.
[00:28:20] Speaker A: There's so many flavors.
[00:28:23] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I know. I love. My favorite is the banana. I love the banana flavored soft serve when they have that.
[00:28:30] Speaker A: I like banana. Blueberry was good too. I was surprised. Was really good.
[00:28:34] Speaker B: Oh, is it? Yeah. The mango is also good. I haven't seen that as quite as often, but when they have the mango, it's. Yeah, that's super good as well. Well, I'd love to hear about some of your excursions because you mentioned you, you booked them privately and I think we, we always are curious to hear. You know, we kind of tend to stick to the Disney offerings ourselves. Not all the time, but most of the time. And that's. Most of our guests, I think are just more like apprehensive about venturing outside of Disney to book their excursions. I'm curious, like, do you have a particular site that you like to use? Like, I know some people like shore excursions.com or there are other sort of trusted resources that they use. Are there certain resources that you like to use in particular for different excursions in the Caribbean?
[00:29:22] Speaker A: I just look through, I look at TripAdvisor, Viator Shore Excursion Group and read a lot of reviews, look at Facebook groups and see what people have to say.
So I don't have like, I'm not loyal to just one, but, you know, we've done a lot of Disney cruises and we very rarely do Disney excursions. And we're always really happy with it. And I think they're kind of more flexible. I've never been worried about being late.
I know that's what a lot of people are concerned about.
So, you know, I think I probably said this before. They would be destroyed online if they ever got you there late. A lot of them have back to the ship on time guarantees as well.
So that's never been a concern for us. So getting back late.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I think as long as you plan well. Right. Like if you plan, you're making sure your excursion doesn't end right at, you know, all aboard time. Right. Which is of course not recommended. And I Think if you go with the, you know, with the tour operators that do give you that back to ship guarantee, to me, that's where the peace of mind really comes in to make sure, okay, I'm going to get back to the ship or they're going to get me back to the ship. Right.
So which, which ports of call was this? You know, I didn't even ask you at the beginning was this a western or an eastern?
[00:30:34] Speaker A: It was Western. So we went to Cozumel, Jamaica and Grand Cayman, plus Castaway.
[00:30:39] Speaker B: Awesome. Yeah. So you've got four ports of call. So the eastern itinerary has only three ports of call. The western itinerary always has four ports of call. Let's talk about each of them. I'd love to hear what you guys got up to. And we'll start with. We'll just go in order. So let's start with Cozumel.
[00:30:55] Speaker A: So in Cozumel we went to, I might mispronounce it Chankanab National Park. It's C H A N K. It starts with.
We often do excursions there. So we booked a scuba diving, a beginner scuba diving thing through Viator. But I actually know the name of the company now, their private name.
This is our second time doing it with them. It's a great, it's a short taxi ride from the port and when you get there, it's basically a private beach. And when you get in, your admission includes umbrellas and chairs. They do have an animal show with like sea lions, but we've never done any of that.
So as I told you, we had a wide range of ages, like 4 to mid-70s. So everybody didn't scuba dive, but a lot of us did. So we took about a 30 minute class and then we did about a 35, 40 minute dive. And the instructors were wonderful. One of the adults who was on the tour got really nervous and wasn't going to do it. But one of the instructors held her hand the entire time and swam with her. And then afterwards she was so happy that she did it. And in the pictures I sent you, I sent a couple group underwater shots of us with that. But in addition to that, when we were done, it included our umbrellas and chairs, free drinks, and then there was a restaurant right there and they served us a beautiful picnic on these platters of fresh Mexican food. And it included all of our snorkel equipment for the day.
[00:32:14] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:32:15] Speaker A: Yeah, it was a really good deal. And those of us who didn't scuba dive, I think they had to pay about $15 a person if you weren't scuba diving to get into the national park. But then after that, it included all the chairs and everything.
Now, the beach was beautiful, but for little ones, it could be a little bit hard. It wasn't like the regular beach. It's kind of rocky, so you had to take steps into the water and then they had little rafts floating out and you could swim out and sit on rafts. A lot of the teenagers did that and they enjoy tropical drinks on the beach.
So it was a really, really fun day. And it was not. It was very affordable.
[00:32:47] Speaker B: Wow. What was the name of the company that you.
[00:32:49] Speaker A: So it's Black Marlin Divers, but they spell it M A, R, L, Y, N. And on Facebook you can look up Black Marlin Divers spelled that way. They gave us their card in case we come back because I prefer to book directly with them instead of having, you know, Viator get a cut.
[00:33:05] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly. Then you know the tour well, one, your price is probably lower and you know, the tour operator themselves are actually getting, you know, amount and you know, of. Of whatever the the price was versus like you said, buy it or taking a cut.
[00:33:21] Speaker C: Are you listening to our show because you want to make the most out of your next vacation. Great news. The fabulous team over at My Path 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. My Path Unwinding Travel is an authorized Disney vacation planner, which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, adventured with Disney, Relaxed at Aulani, and so much more. Whether it's a Disney cruise, a theme park vacation, or adventures by Disney, or if you are looking to expand beyond the mouse, My Path Unwinding Travel will elevate your next vacation planning experience. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your vacation even more magical. Ready to talk to the experts? Head over to mypathunwinding.com dcldu or email dclduomypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks My Path Unwinding, for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:34:20] Speaker B: Well, your next port of call.
Remind me, was it Jamaica?
[00:34:25] Speaker A: I think so, yes. So in Jamaica, we got a day pass to Hilton Rose hall and we really loved it. They picked us up right at the port representative have met us and there were other people from our ship. It wasn't just private. And they took us on about a 15 minute bus ride, dropped us right off at the port. They told us what time they would pick us up. And it's a really large resort. There's multiple swimming pools, a lazy river, water slides, several restaurants.
They even had a mechanical bull that all the teenagers rode. So we enjoyed that. And it was really close because before when we went to Jamaica, we've done the Blue Hole and then the, that waterfall everybody climbs. The name's flipping my mind but they're about a 90 minute van ride each way and with all those kids we didn't think that would be fun. So this was really close and I enjoyed it. Sometimes on Jamaica we've thought about just staying on the ship, but I think we would definitely do this again. It was affordable, it was safe, included all your food and drinks for the day and all your activities and everyone had fun. The teenagers said they want to go back there.
[00:35:27] Speaker B: Oh, that's awesome. Now did you book this directly through Hilton then?
[00:35:31] Speaker A: No, I did it through a company called Jital. It's J A I T A L and they do a lot of resorts day passes. Sometimes it's available on that resort for a day but they didn't have it available. That was January 1st. So some of the companies weren't booking on January 1st. But that more local company, they're a Jamaican based company, they, they did book it and it was great.
[00:35:51] Speaker B: That's awesome. Yeah, I mean we're always, listen, we're always looking for great excursions to recommend to people. People are constantly asking us like what's a great place to go on your own, Whether it's a resort or you know, scuba diving, snorkeling, whatever. Right. Like these are, it's, it's always fun to, to hear what, what else is out there beyond what Disney's offering because there's frankly there's more out there than what Disney's offering and usually at a better, a better price point.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: And Disney did offer a non inclusive resort day pass as well, like booking straight through them, but this was a lot less expensive and it, you know, it's still really safe. I know some people have safety concerns in Jamaica but they picked us up right within the port and then dropped us off right there.
[00:36:31] Speaker B: So I have found sometimes the all inclusives though even that you book through Disney are not, not all that nice, to be perfectly honest. It just, I mean it depends. There are some that are really Nice. And others that are just not. Not so much. So, you know, it's of course, like, try and give feedback when you can because that's what helps them, you know, either find better tour operators and take those not so good ones off the list. But it's, you know, you have. You don't really even know. That's the other part that always drives me crazy is that Disney doesn't usually tell you the name of the resort you're going to because they don't want you to book it on your own. Because obviously then you. You'll. You. They won't get their cut of the money. Exactly. Exactly. All right, well, your third port of call was.
Remind me. Oh, Grand Cayman.
Yeah. What did you guys do there?
[00:37:20] Speaker A: So we booked a private catamaran for the 18 of us.
[00:37:24] Speaker B: Oh, fantastic.
[00:37:26] Speaker A: It was really fun. It was big. You can book up to 50 people on it. And it was just the 18 list. And we stopped at Stingray City. And you go and feed the stingrays. That was really fun. They brought food. We had a lot of time there. And then we snorkeled at Coral Gardens for a while. We made one other snorkel stop. I'm not sure where it was. I think it might have been near Rum Point. And then at the end, we ended up on Starfish Beach. And we walked around that little island for a while and then went back, and it was great. And that company I also booked originally through Viator or Viator, but they are called Aquarius C Tours. They also spell their name funny because it's a C, Q, U, A, R, I, S. So there's an extra C in there.
[00:38:08] Speaker B: What's with all these strange tour companies not know how to spell their own names?
[00:38:13] Speaker A: Maybe, like, they had to change it because someone else had the same name. I don't know.
But that was called the Buccaneer. And it wasn't like a super fancy catamaran. But. But for what we did, it was really fun. And it included, like, beer and soda and cold water and stuff. We bought some snacks at the port.
[00:38:30] Speaker B: Right.
[00:38:31] Speaker A: When you get off the ship at Grand Cayman, there's a liquor store, but you can buy, like, potato chips and pretzels and candy and stuff. So we brought some snacks because we were going to be gone for about five hours.
And then they provided the drinks.
[00:38:43] Speaker B: Nice. That sounds awesome. Now, I have to ask, did you get to see any starfish at Starfish Beach? Because we've heard mixed.
[00:38:50] Speaker A: Okay, yeah, we saw, I don't know, 10, 12 starfish not a ton, but we saw some. The kids took pictures. They were very careful to keep them underwater and not, like, hold them up and, you know, injure the starfish.
[00:39:02] Speaker B: Right, right. Oh, well, good. I like to hear that. You know, like I said, I've heard for folks paying for, like, the Disney excursion that goes to Starfish beach and then not seeing any starfish, and that would be a really big disappointment. I feel like that's the draw. Right. And then you don't see any.
[00:39:17] Speaker A: Otherwise, it's a cute beach, but there's nothing, like, remarkable about the beach, so it would be disappoint if you didn't see any. And we found a bunch of empty conch shells, too, on that beach.
[00:39:27] Speaker B: Oh, lovely. That's awesome. All right. Well, of course, I have to ask you about Castaway, the best port of all.
Although maybe not if you compare it to Lookout, because that's amazing, too. But.
Yeah, but I'd love to. Love to hear what you. You mentioned parasailing. Did parasailing happen? I always loved it. Yes.
[00:39:47] Speaker A: Yay. Yeah. It's only the second time we successfully parasailed. We book it every time, and usually it's too windy, but they got to go. We didn't get. You know, they're all. Most of them are silver cruisers, so we could only book six spots with our platinum spots. So everyone didn't get to go power sailing, but six of them did.
We also did jet skis. They brought them back. They had been gone for a while.
[00:40:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:40:12] Speaker A: And so in two people, the price that Disney list is for two people on one jet ski, which makes the price a little bit better.
There aren't enough spots for me to go, but everyone who went loved it. And then they took them to a sandbar, and they could relax for a little while in the water. And they said it was, like, beautiful turquoise water. And then they went back, and they let them go pretty fast. My oldest was worried that they would make them go slow because Disney's safe, but he said they were going really fast. We also did the banana boat in the morning. Everybody did the banana boat.
[00:40:42] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. So you guys did a ton of excursions. I mean, most people. It's so funny. Most people, I feel like they go to Castaway, and then we don't. Don't do any excursions. You guys, like, across your group. Three different excursions. We did a lot that day. Yeah. That's awesome. How was the banana boat?
[00:40:58] Speaker A: It was really fun, and it was neat to see all, like, they Go around the perimeter of the island. So we got to see a lot of the island that I don't usually get to see. So it was fun. But definitely pro tip. Bring goggles.
[00:41:09] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:41:10] Speaker A: Because the water is like splashing in your face. So some people didn't have goggles and they said that they had to close their eyes a lot.
[00:41:17] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, Yeah. I mean, it's that salt water that can be really irritating on your eyes if it's, you know, constantly.
[00:41:23] Speaker A: And even like with sunglasses on, some people still get it in their eyes. So the people, the operators had a few pairs of goggles to wear if you want to wear public goggles. But that's. It's important to have some.
[00:41:35] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Okay, good tip. I love that. All right, well, we got to jump back on board. I got to hear about New Year's Eve on the Treasure because this had to be pretty special. I mean, she had just started sailing and it's a holiday and it's New Year's Eve of all holidays. It's a party holiday. I love that you chose to eat it or asked to eat at 1923 for that rotation.
I think that's a really smart, you know, really smart move because as you mentioned, you get to.
Most people on Disney Cruise Line actually do dress up for, for New Year's Eve. We had the, we were on the fan fantasy when you were on the Treasure. And, and lots of sparkly, right? Like lots of gold, lots of silver, lots of sequins. Like it is. It's funny because I feel like Disney Cruise Line is not super formal, right? Like people don't. In general, people aren't necessarily dressing up super formal for formal night. Even when you are and you don't, you don't need to have a formal night unless you're a seven night or longer cruise.
But even when you have a seven night cruise or longer, I would say like, you know, you see some people dressed in like suits and gowns, but mostly people are in like sundresses, maybe a few cocktail dresses. And then men are in maybe like polo shirts and then some of the men are in T shirts. Right. So it's such a huge range. But New Year's Eve is kind of special. How was it on the Treasure? I mean, were people really dressed to the nines for, for New Year's?
[00:43:00] Speaker A: It was a combination like, of people in like sequin gowns and then some people like. In short, it's so funny. It was really nice too because there were two nights in a row of fireworks. I can't remember if Pirates Night was the night before or after New Year's Eve. So we had two nights of fireworks. And the deck party was so nice. And then you probably experienced it as well. They gave everybody. They're kind of like the corksicle wine glasses that said, you know, New Year's Eve, Happy New Year. On the Disney. It didn't say Disney Treasure. I think it just a Disney cruise line and the date. And then they're giving out champagne to the adults. And then I think Cloud and Blue did that to the kids in those little tumblers. They had hors d' oeuvres before the fireworks and then afterwards they had really cute desserts, like macaroons. The live music was really great. It was a really fun evening. I would like to go on New Year's Eve again. And there's certainly a premium on those cruises, but I thought that was a really fun way. I'm usually like at home watching a movie on New Year's Eve.
[00:43:56] Speaker B: Yeah, we celebrate New Year's Eve on the West Coast. We celebrate it at 9pm cause we celebrate East Coast New Year's Eve. Cause, you know, Brian and I were both born on the East Coast. So of course we should celebrate New Year's Eve on the East Coast. And just that way we can be in bed and go to be asleep by 10. We don't watch. We can watch the ball drop in New York City and then go to sleep. But. Yeah, but on the ship we stayed up till midnight too. We were the same. We did.
[00:44:22] Speaker A: I probably went to bed at like 1:30, but it was really a fun night. So I was really happy that we were there for that holiday.
[00:44:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Now do you know, did they do a countdown in the atrium at.
At like 8 or 9pm Also?
In addition to doing the countdown on the deck.
[00:44:39] Speaker A: I think I saw that. And then Navigator, I didn't go to it, but I'm pretty sure they did have an earlier countdown.
[00:44:44] Speaker B: Yeah, that's what they. So they did for our cruise. I think I want to say it was like a. It was kind of like a dance party in the atrium. And this was on the Fantasy, so it's a little bit different. But it was like kind of like a character dance party starting at. I want to say it was like 7:30 and then they did a countdown right at 8pm which of course didn't align to any like specific. You know, didn't align to a time zone. That would make sense. It actually would align to like a time Zone in the middle of the ocean.
But it was. But it was really fun. It was nice to do that for, I think, you know, for the younger kids that weren't going to be able to stay up till midnight. And then, you know, they did like, you know, confetti cannon thing instead of having, of course, fireworks. Because the fireworks weren't going to be until. Until midnight. But I did. I really enjoyed the corksicle cups that they gave. It was like those little. We had. Ours were. I'm guessing yours were the same. They were r.
With kind of a little fireworks design and Disney Cruise Line logo on them.
[00:45:40] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:45:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:41] Speaker A: And they're kind of thin, like champagne flutes.
[00:45:43] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:45:43] Speaker A: Yeah. It's such a nice souvenir.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I think we. I know we brought home three. We might have brought home four of them, but yeah, we grabbed. I don't remember if the kids drink was the cloud em. Or was like the Martinelli cider, but it was one or the other. It was obviously a non. Non alcoholic. And they had. Yeah, the kids one had a straw in it and the adult one had no straw. And that's how you knew which one to take. That's what they. At least that's what the waiter said. I don't know what they g.
What they gave each other, but. Curious. Of course, we. We haven't talked about Haunted Mansion Parlor, and I feel like I. I would be remiss if I didn't ask you. And then of course, I want to ask you about the shows. I know you. You mentioned the. Be at the top of the show. You were looking forward to. To going back and seeing Tale of Moana again, but I got it. Yeah. I gotta ask you about Haunted Mansion Parlor.
Obviously you've been in there, but did you spend a lot of time in there? And what did you think overall?
[00:46:36] Speaker A: I think it is like such a cool, immersive space. You don't feel like you're on the ship again. I really love it. I love Disney park, so I think it's great. I think you have to be careful what time you go because sometimes it's just mobbed and then you can't really appreciate the details or notice the little shows and effects that are happening. You're just kind of smashed in there. So we went one day, we went right on embarkation day as soon as we got on. And that was really nice. We got to sit in those little sofas by the aquarium. And then another day, I think maybe on a sea day, we went, you know, early, like 12:30 or 1. And that was when we could really enjoy it most. But I didn't feel like it was a good evening hangout because it was. It was so crowded at that time. But it's fun. I like their menu with, like, the secret message on it. All the drinks have such a nice presentation, so I think that's a big hit. I understand why they're putting the same one on the Destiny.
[00:47:30] Speaker B: Totally, totally agree. I mean, as much as I would like them to do something different on the Destiny, and it's such a. Like, they hit it out of the park so well.
And I'm sure they, like, overspent on that space, if that makes it, like, overspent on the imagineering side and the design side. Right. And so it makes sense to me that they would save some design money and just replicate on the Destiny because. And it is such a hit, and, of course, they want to attract people to the newer ships. Now we got to talk shows. Seize the Adventure, Beauty and the Beast, Tale of Moana.
You know what I think, but I want to know what you think, Kelly.
[00:48:09] Speaker A: So the Tale of Moana. I love shows. I like musicals, so I knew I would like it, but I was, like, I was blown away with the quality of it. It is so good, and I expect good shows on Disney Cruise Line, but this was, like, they hit it out of the park. It was so much better than I had even expected. It's definitely my new favorite. And when we went on our second cruise, this may have been your case, too. We got in line really early, like, 45 minutes before the show so that we could get good seats. And I'm glad we did, because it's. Everyone knows how good it is. I know they've added a matinee show to help with that problem on subsequent sailings, but I really loved it, and I was so happy I got to see it twice. I have to book another cruise on the Treasure now, so I can.
[00:48:52] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly. Well, and I. But I do think that's a really good pro tip, because even with the matinee being added, and it just depends on the itinerary I've seen. I've actually seen it a couple of itineraries where they're doing Tale of Moana two nights in a row, both the early and the. And the late, you know, so they're doing four shows over the course of two days and not doing a matinee. And then I've seen other itineraries where they were done three shows in one day, doing a matinee and then, you know, the early show and then the late show. So I don't, I don't know if they're still just sort of tinkering operations wise and trying to figure out what's the. The best way to get everyone to be able to see that show. I mean, I would go see it twice on a sailing if it fit in my schedule well enough. Like, I'm not. I'm probably not going to skip dinner because I really enjoy the, you know, sort of. Well, I enjoy the family time at dinner and the time with our, you know, with friends, when we're sailing with friends.
But I just love that show so, so much. And I think, of course, as I've said before on the show, I think the having all three of those shows on one ship, which to me are, Are some of the best. I mean, seize the adventure, I think is, to me, it's the best of the string it together and create a plot show. Now, I don't think those shows are the best in the entire fleet, but I think of that type, I think seas the adventure is the best.
[00:50:16] Speaker A: I agree.
[00:50:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:50:17] Speaker A: I love the Princess and the frog section in that.
[00:50:20] Speaker B: It's so good. So good. And I love Hercules Go the Distance.
So many good musical numbers. And I know, I know it's. Other people probably will laugh at me, but I love the Go with the Flow, the Crush song, which is just like the Finding Nemo show at Animal Kingdom. It's that song and that scene.
And I think they do just a great job with the puppetry in that scene. So. Yeah. And then, of course, I've raved about Beauty and the Beast being now only the second best show in the Disneyland.
Yeah. Yeah. So. But it's. Yeah. So you've got three amazing shows on one ship. I mean, what could be better than that?
Well, Kelly, have we missed anything? I feel like we. We've hit, like, lots of different categories, but I don't know that I. Of course, you know, we can't go day by day and go through every single thing that you or your family did on, on this cruise. But I want to know if we've missed anything, either highlights or lowlights, because I always think, you know, we always say there's room for improvement at times, especially on a sailing as early on in the season for the treasure, you know, we were lucky. We got, I think, overall good service. We had some hiccups in our. With our dining team, though. I'm just, you know, curious. Any highlights or low lights that we haven't covered.
[00:51:36] Speaker A: So highlights. We did a private brunch at Palo, so we got to be in that private room and we had our own like balcony.
That was just wonderful. I mean, Palo is always wonderful, but in that room it was really special. I also really liked the Imagineering tour tour. It's called the Art of the Theme Tour on the other ships, but I can't remember what it's called exactly. On the treasure you have to sign up for it. You can find it under Onboard Fun on the DCL Navigator, but not until you get to the port.
[00:52:04] Speaker B: And you gotta sign up that first day because it books up. And you're right.
It's called Imagineering the Treasure or Imagineering the Wish because it's got the same name on the treasure and on the Wish, but it is a different name than the Art of the Themeship tour on the other four ships. Ships. But yes, you have to sign up through the app and you got to really sign up on day. It won't, it won't necessarily happen on day one, but you have, you'll sign up for a specific spot sometime later in the cruise. You can't just show up for that. Yeah.
[00:52:33] Speaker A: And I thought that was outstanding. I really enjoyed that. And you know, that's very repeatable because there's a different person doing it every time. So they all have their own little pearls that they like to share. So I think you could do that probably every time you go on the cruise and enjoy the.
[00:52:46] Speaker B: That absolutely.
[00:52:48] Speaker A: Hiccups. You know, I still wish they had a walking track that's so nice to have that would go around the full circumference of the ship, especially for cast members. You know, like that that's a spot where they get exercise as well.
And then we had a, you know, we had a large party so I think that always makes it challenging at dinner. And one of the people in our party had a food allergy, so I think that may have slowed down as well. But we had very long dinners and we even had a four year old with us. So sometimes it took a really long time. I think our assistant server was. I know she was brand new, so I think that was a challenge.
All the food was great and I love the restaurants, they were lovely. But dinners took a lot longer than we were used to. And I don't know if that's because the ship was just getting started and stuff.
[00:53:36] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm going to guess that it was twofold. That it was the ship just sort of getting started. Well, threefold. The Ship getting started, your assistant server being new and also having a large party. That in general food allergy. Right. And a food. Right. All of those factors together like sort of compound. Right. You're going to, I feel like on the newer, the newer the ship, the more slow dinner is going to sort of start out and they just, they don't have everything working operationally because even the preview cruises, like they're not, the preview cruises are not full. I think people don't maybe don't know this but like the preview cruises might have like 1500 people for like a 4000 person ship. And it seems crowded still because it's all adult to those pre or almost all adults for the previews. Right. So like certain things are still quite crowded, but for the dining experiences, no, they're like not even at full, you know, not even at like half capacity when they're feeding people. And so when they have like a full ship for the maiden voyage or the second voyage, for even the first, like six months. Right. Like they're, they're still working out those operational kinks. And as much as it is a replicating of what's on the wish, it's still like a lot of new people. And there's probably still things they're just kind of adjusting back there in the kitchen and frankly the waiters are still learning where to pick up all the food and all of that.
[00:54:58] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
[00:54:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:54:59] Speaker A: But my only complaints.
[00:55:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Now you guys, did you do one big table then for all 18 of you?
[00:55:07] Speaker A: So we had two tables, like two long tables that parallel to each other.
[00:55:10] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I, I didn't think that they would do a table with 18 people, but I, I honestly didn't know. Like, I mean, I think the biggest they us is maybe like 12.
[00:55:20] Speaker A: I think so because one time we did, we were a party of 24 when we did our Iceland cruise and we were two tables of 12 then.
[00:55:26] Speaker B: Yes, that. And that's, I mean that's still 12 is a lot, right? So, yeah, 10, eight, those are, that's a large table. You know, six is kind of typical. Six or under is more, you know, typical and certainly easier for them to kind of move things more quickly. Well, Kelly, at the top of the show you gave us the spoiler that the Treasure is now your favorite ship. But I gotta, but I've got to ask, like, what, what do you have planned next? Like, what are you, what have you booked for, you know, yourself.
And then what are you eyeing and thinking you, you maybe need to book for the Future. You got any ABDs planned?
[00:56:02] Speaker A: I don't have any ABDs planned right now. Um, one of my kids is starting college soon, and then I have another one the next summer, so it's kind of hard to plan too far out in advance. Um, we are going on the concierge sailing aboard the Magic in August that stops at both Lookout and Castaway. So I'm very excited for that. That, and I just found out we got cabanas at both of them.
[00:56:21] Speaker B: Oh, amazing.
[00:56:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm really excited.
[00:56:23] Speaker B: That's the jackpot. Yeah.
[00:56:25] Speaker A: We're going to go on the Destiny in April, so a little bit less than a year from now. And then we're going to go to Alaska next summer in 2026.
[00:56:34] Speaker B: Oh, amazing. So you guys have a ton of stuff planned. Okay. Well, you know, you're always welcome to come back, Kelly. We love having you on. You're such a valuable resource, both from the food allergy standpoint, but also just a great resource because obviously you love CRU and you have such a. Such a passion for it and so much experience with it, so. And of course, you're welcome to come back anytime.
But thanks so much for coming. If you. Why can't. Why don't you let folks know if they want to follow along with you in your travels on the Interwebs or if they want to book their travel with you, how they can get in touch with you?
[00:57:09] Speaker A: Yeah, you can go to platinummouse.com Kelly. You can email me at kellyatinomouse. On Facebook, I have a group called After All Travel, and we have a lot of little smaller groups for the people listening today. I have one called Disney Treasure Cruise Planning, and it's all about the Treasure. So it's a great place to go if you want to relive your trip on the Treasure or if you're planning one.
[00:57:31] Speaker B: Awesome. Awesome. Well, thanks so much again, Kelly, for coming on. I so appreciate it. And as I said, you're welcome back anytime.
[00:57:38] Speaker A: Thanks for having me. This was fun.
[00:57:44] Speaker C: Well, thanks everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate, appreciate it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast. You can keep getting great content from us every week. In fact, twice a week we publish shows. So be sure to hit the subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us alive, we have a live show now every week, Monday nights, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern, over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out if you want help support the show. Be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts and if you leave us a written review review a 5 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 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 DC cl duo.com it's got links to all of our things. Full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast links off to our vlog a link to our Etsy store. We sell some fun fan inspired magnets Link to our Patreon if you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO also 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 reflect a Use 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 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.
[00:59:55] Speaker B: Sam.