[00:00:00] Speaker A: I want to talk about my favorite line on this entire slide. Kids love buttons. So let's talk about.
Let's talk about elevators because I got elf playing in my mind of him in the Empire State Building just making the lovely Christmas tree.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: You know what I'm going to say.
[00:00:28] Speaker A: Welcome back, everybody, to this week's live episode of the DCL Duo Podcast, brought to you by my path Unwinding travel and also our good friends over at WDW magazine, the DCL magazine, the float test issue that you may have heard us talk so much about.
I don't know if you can still get a float test issue, but I'm pretty confident that they're going to have another issue coming out very soon that is dedicated to Disney Cruise Line. So if you want to help support our show, one of the easiest ways is support our sponsors. So head over to wdw-magazine.com that's wgw-magazine.com you can subscribe to all of their wonderful publications over there from the WWDW magazine, the DLR magazine. Get your special float test edition of the DCL magazine if supplies are still available.
And if not, you can sign up for the next one at some point here, I'm sure they're going to open that up.
And while you're over there, use code DCLDUOALL CAPS. That's DCLDUO ALL CAPS. I'll have that scrolling across the screen here in a second to get 10% off everything in the store. The calendars are out, which are a big hit. Danny over at WW magazine takes some fantastic photos and I swear we are going to have him on sometime soon so we can talk about how to get the best photos on your cruise vacations with Danny.
[00:01:40] Speaker C: And not just of your food. And not just of your food. Although we know, we all know the camera eats first.
[00:01:45] Speaker A: Only, only only when you're insane like us. But head over there wdw-magazine.com use code DCL DUO all caps in the store. 10% off everything. And thank you to WDW magazine, the fabulous folks over there. We can't wait to meet Stephanie on board our preview sailing for the Destiny, which is now less than 30 days away.
Well, of course we want to meet Danny.
[00:02:06] Speaker C: And I've got some breaking news. Brian, breaking news.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: Oh, good. The Mariners have won game too. We had to pull ourselves away from the Mariners game in order to do this live broadcast because that's the dedication we have to you, our community. So super excited for the Mariners. They are coming home and we are sure hoping they go to the World Series. But anyway, let me round out by saying thank you to WTW magazine for sponsoring our live and bonus episodes. We really appreciate them. And with that, Sam, oh my gosh, what an amazing guest we have. I'm going to. I'm going to go ahead and bring her up.
[00:02:39] Speaker C: We have the best guest. Amy, we are so excited to have you. For those who don't know Amy, we have gotten the pleasure of not just meeting Amy on board, but also doing a presentation about Disney vacations with Amy.
Amy is a former plandisney panelist from a couple of years ago and she is an avid Disney Cruiser and Disney Parks fan. And we're so excited to have you on the show. Welcome, Amy.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Hey, thank you so much. Really appreciate being here. What a fun topic.
[00:03:10] Speaker C: Yeah, seriously, we thought of no one better than you, Amy, to talk about this amazing topic tonight to talk about etiquette on Disney, on Disney Cruising.
But I want to bring up one piece of news before we jump into tonight's topic, which is the Destiny. Because the Destiny is over in Emshavan, Netherlands, right now because she, of course, traverse the river.
[00:03:37] Speaker A: The Ems. The Ems River. The Ems River.
[00:03:39] Speaker C: Exactly. Ems river to get to Emshaven. And so she is, I believe, going to be handed over, meaning delivered officially to Disney Cruise Line. It's either tomorrow or it might be Wednesday. I think it's tomorrow, but it might be Wednesday.
[00:03:55] Speaker A: It might be tomorrow our time. And then Wednesday.
There's time zones at play here, Sam.
[00:04:01] Speaker C: There's time zones at play. Exactly. And then she's going to be shortly thereafter after she's going to be leaving Europe. So later this week, she's going to be leaving Europe and heading across the pond and making her way towards Florida. So, yeah, it's a big, big milestone. Big news. And when she gets to the U.S. of course, she'll be doing.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: We have not heard officially what her first port of call in the US Will be. Remember the.
The Disney treasure stopped in New York City for a brief stint.
Our rumor mill is telling us that's not gonna be the case for the Destiny, that we should not expect a New York port stop, which I find interesting just because Good Morning America is in New York. So I think they'd probably stop there and bring them on. But we're hearing that that's not happening this time around. So we're sort of curious to learn more about the christening of the ship.
[00:04:56] Speaker C: Right. I mean, she might stop in Castaway a lot of the ships before they even hit Florida. Will stop in the Bahamas, will stop at Castaw, stop at Nassau, and then she might go to Port Canaveral before she goes to Fort Lauderdale. So we don't know her exact itinerary, but she's coming.
[00:05:15] Speaker A: Stay tuned. We're hoping to hear something about the christening soon.
Yeah. So more to come, More to come. But we got an exciting topic tonight. We got a lot of ground to cover and I'm going to switch us over to our fabulous presentation mode to give a bit of a disclaimer.
And that is I've got my old man yells at Cloud Graphic here. We want to set the tone. We want to set the tone.
We're talking about etiquette. Onboard cruises.
Want to be very clear about a couple of things. One is, look, we're going to try to stick to the facts and just the facts tonight. The things that, like, you know, rules that Disney enforces, some things that we've seen, you know, things to be careful about on cruises and, you know, maybe just hopefully some common sense and courtesy. All of that is to say if you are one of the people who does not follow these rules of etiquette, you know, we hope this might inspire you. But we also understand that every situation is unique out there. For some people, a Disney cruise is truly a once in a lifetime experience. Although I'd love to run the numbers on that of people who say this is once in a lifetime and then they get on and suddenly they're like platinum castaway club members.
But for some people, it's once in a lifetime and they may do some things out of the norm for them. So we're not judging you, we're just trying to give you some tips to make your perhaps fellow cruisers love you even more than they already are.
[00:06:38] Speaker C: And the cast members. And the cast members love you because.
[00:06:42] Speaker A: That'S really keeping those cast members happy is what leads to little, sometimes a little special pixie dust from the cast. So. So, yeah, so all of that's to set this up by saying, we're not judging you, we're just, we're just giving tips.
[00:06:56] Speaker C: And, and one more disclaimer where there is a Disney Cruise Line rule. We will try and flag that for you what the rule is. But we'll also try and talk a little bit about enforcement of the rules because that's where we sometimes see some inconsistencies across the different crew members across different ships. Right. And even from cruise to cruise. So we just put that out there. We'll give you, you know, we've. You've got experiences from three very experienced cruisers, from Amy, who knows what the official line is, because she had to answer those questions through the plandisney panel all the time.
Like about ducks, for example. We'll even talk about that later on.
But yeah, so we're going to. As Brian said, we're not trying, even though I do. I reserve my judgment for rapid fire, but we don't do rapid fire on the. On the live shows.
[00:07:49] Speaker A: So I want to be very clear, Sam does not reserve her judgment for rapid fire. She reserves her judgment for the podcast of rapid fire. She's always judging me. So there you go.
[00:07:57] Speaker C: Always judging. I even. I actually have a T shirt that says silently judging your grammar. And it's true.
[00:08:04] Speaker A: Yes, yes, we have an Oxford comma debate in our household. But hey, before we dive in, Amy has very helpfully prepared a slide deck, which we absolutely love when our guests do that. But, Amy, before we do, tell folks how many cruises you've been on the plandisney panel, which is all the street cred you really need around here. But how many cruises have you been on?
[00:08:25] Speaker B: Maybe eight. I think we're coming up on nine. Yeah.
[00:08:27] Speaker C: All right. Yeah.
[00:08:28] Speaker A: All right. That makes you an experienced cruiser for sure.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: That's right. Yeah. We've been on all the ships except the Wish, and we got the Destiny ahead, too, so I'm looking forward to that.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:08:37] Speaker B: Absolutely nice.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: All right, let's do a team. I'm going to start advancing the slides here. We're going to get into it. Let's talk about why etiquette and cruise courtesy. I think we talked a bit about the intent of the topic, but, Amy, you want to offer some thoughts here on some of these other points?
[00:08:55] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. Thank you. I think, really, I know that you have a lot of experienced cruisers. Right. But we also have first timers who might been tuning in or checking this out later. So I think really the intent here is to make you comfortable. You don't know what you don't know or you don't know if what you're observing other guests do is right. And let's face it, there's a lot of social media stuff out there where people are saying tips, and are they good tips? Are they aligned with what Disney really wants you to do, or, you know, the rules that they've made for everyone's safety and courtesy. So I think it's just important to understand kind of why we're doing this. Right.
As you shared, we're not here to really Overly judge or point fingers, but really just have a great conversation.
And I wanted to share, too. Cruising is so different from other vacations, Right. I mean, I felt like on our Alaska cruise, especially with the way people dressed, it was like a slumber party at times, in the best way. Right. I mean, we have this unique shared space, and you somehow run into the same people over and over again. So it feels more like a community experience than I would say, a regular hotel stay does, and certainly not in the parks. You know, the way people come and go. And with that, there's a lot of structured schedules and protocols that you might not even be aware of that Disney puts in place so that all guests have an amazing experience.
So, again, I think leaning into some of this guidance really shows that you're respecting the cast and crew and frankly, supporting everyone else in having an amazing vacation.
I was looking into some of the history of cruising, right? And we have the golden age of cruising. And, you know, you can picture the Titanic without the disaster. You know, it really has always been perceived as a heightened experience.
So, again, when we say etiquette and cruise, it's not really to intimidate you, but it's certainly just to make you have a better time.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: I was just gonna say you make a really good point about the crew, which is, you know, when you don't follow the rules the way Disney hopes, you put the crew in a really awkward position to have to do the thing they don't want to do, which was just interfere with a guest's vacation. And so if you sort of follow the rules a bit, then you're keeping the crew doing what they're really supposed to be doing, which is making sure everyone's vacation is fantastic. So.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Yes, yes, 100%. And I think that on cruises, you might be exposed to more international guests, right, both the guests and the crew, than you are in your typical vacations in the US So I think it's important to, you know, have a more open mind and different kind of perspective on those different etiquette things as well.
[00:11:29] Speaker A: This is. I got to put this on. This is such a great comment. The. On the point of you don't know what you don't know. I'll never forget on my first cruise, the porters taking luggage and being so confused and wondering, why is a stranger trying to take my luggage? And where are they trying to take it? So thank you, Sarah, for that comment.
[00:11:42] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, great point. Absolutely.
[00:11:45] Speaker C: They're putting it on the ship, FYI.
[00:11:47] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
All right. So let's head on to our first topic, which is we're going to break this up into pieces kind of along the career's life cycle here. So before you sail. So, yeah, Amy, why don't you walk us through some of your thoughts here?
[00:12:03] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. So I think common courtesy and some of these etiquette things start when you're booking. You know, your cabin selection is super important to how you want to travel. Some locations are noisier than others. If you're a noisy crew, book there. And if you don't know, ask.
Right. And I think being proactive about your special requests, that's another common theme. The crew and the cast, they don't know how to best serve you or other guests if you don't tell them. So get used to the app, get used to the website, proactively share those special requests. I'll say my family much prefers a private table at dinner. No judgment. And I can put that in the app now. Right. So I can proactively share. That's what I would like to do.
And I think leaning into your research, right, I mean, everyone has a better experience. You have a much less stressful experience if you research and know some of this stuff ahead of time.
[00:12:54] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. I think a couple of thoughts I had here. One is picking up on the prohibited items list. Like, just always, always check that list on occasion because, you know, Disney does occasionally change it. I think the very first cruise we went on, I had a friend who was with us who loves to play the guitar and brought his guitar, and his guitar was promptly confiscated at the port for the entirety of the sailing because they don't allow musical instruments on board. And he was a little taken back aback about that. And, like, you know, I mean, he had to bring it with him all the way to Florida and all this stuff. So checking that list is. Is really, I think, a good idea. So, you know, what you can and can't bring on board, it will sometimes delay your luggage from getting there. Sam and I had the horrific experience on a cruise one time we'd gone to when we did the Galactic Star Cruiser, we had bought a bunch of souvenirs, and we had a piece of luggage that had all these souvenirs packed in them, and they look weird on the scan. And so when we went to tap onto the ship, they pulled us aside, and two security people came over and were like, we need your family to accompany us downstairs. And our one piece, our suitcase was sitting on this table there. And they're like, can you Unlock and open the suit. And I'm like, what is going on?
[00:14:03] Speaker C: Did somebody put something in our suitcase? We packed it ourselves. It was all our souvenirs.
[00:14:08] Speaker A: They're looking at this iPad that has a scan of it, and they're like. What they saw were the Sabacc chips, which were solid.
They looked like solid. Just, you know, tubes in there.
[00:14:18] Speaker B: Metal.
[00:14:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: And once we opened it up and showed it to them, I think the. The Osceola police, or whoever it was, were a little. A little displeased with Disney Cruise Line security because they didn't know their own souvenirs, I suppose. But, yeah. So knowing what's on that prohibited items list is really helpful, I think. I also want to say a plug on cabin selection, which is, we know there's lots of people traveling with young adults to, you know, young teens to older teens, and sometimes, you know, like to mix the cabins up and like, let the, you know, we'll let the teens have their own cabin across from us or whatever. Like, make sure, you know, that your teenagers are responsible enough to be in a room on their own. And I would actually say, Amy, let me put this. I think Disney actually frowns on not having an adult over the age of 18 in a stateroom with those kids.
[00:15:06] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:15:09] Speaker A: Yeah. So, yeah, yeah.
[00:15:11] Speaker C: The way you book. Yeah, you have to book with an adult in every stateroom now where you sleep. They don't necessarily aren't checking beds. Right. But.
But technically speaking, you need to have an adult that is booked in. In all of the. The staterooms. Now, one of these things you put on here is Facebook groups and fish extender signups. I. I think Facebook groups are a great place to get to know fellow cruisers to ask questions, particularly if you're having trouble finding the answers to your question on Disney's website or on the plandisney website. But I want to put one thing out there and one caveat, which is to say, check Disney's website first before you ask a Facebook group full of strangers a question about what's prohibited and what's not prohibited and things like that, because you're not always getting correct information. You may get correct information in a Facebook group, but you're not. You can't rely on that information.
And especially if you're asking questions about what travel documentation you need, you should be talking to Disney about that. You'd be talking to fellow cruisers about what you need. Because it may be the same, like, between Brian and Amy and I, we may need all the same documentation because we all happen to to be traveling on U.S. passports. But if we were, let's say, traveling on a Canadian citizenship, we might need different documentation. Or if we're traveling on a Bahamian citizenship, we might need different documentation. So those kinds of things, I would say make sure that you're talking to Disney rather than just crowdsourcing Facebook groups.
[00:16:48] Speaker B: And to be clear, like, these bullets are not meant to be the tip. This is really kind of to prompt our conversation. It wasn't really meant to leave behind. So I totally agree. I think in the Facebook groups is where you can start to build that etiquette and courtesy with your other guests. Right.
Certainly not derailing the conversation, sharing unofficial information. Totally feel that one. I wanted to call out fish extenders. My family doesn't do them. But I wanted to say first, you don't have to. There's no pressure in courtesy and etiquette department.
Don't feel as a new cruiser that you have to do this stuff. Right. I love that. Other people love it. It's not my thing. I'm not interested. But if you do, I would please ask that you commit. Right. I think it's really bad form if you sign up on these fish extenders and then you bail on people.
Follow the rules is kind of what I wanted to go there. Be kind to your guests. If you're going to play, play, but don't feel like you have to. No pressure for sure.
[00:17:46] Speaker C: And a lot of them don't have specific guidelines of what you're supposed to spend, and some do. So pay attention to whatever rules that group has said because to your point, you don't want to be buying, you know, something at the dollar store for $3 and somebody else has, you know, spent, you know, $50 per cabin. Now, I hope they're not spending $50 per cabin, but I'm sure that there are probably fish extender groups where they are, you know, setting sort of a higher limit or higher amount.
So I will typically say if I'm running a Facebook group and I'm doing fish extenders, I always say there, there's no rules for how much you'. Spending. It's whatever you feel comfortable with. But you got to commit and actually follow through and get gifts for the cabins that you have promised to get gifts for.
[00:18:34] Speaker B: Yes, yes. And real quick, the other notes here is, you know, be mindful of the amount and weight of your luggage. We always got that question a lot. And hey, you know, you can have two checked bags for guests, a carry on and a personal item. The Weight is up to your airline. If you're not flying, be kind to the guests and the. The crew. Like, don't load them up. Right. Be mindful. Don't blame them when your tech get squished because you packed incorrectly. Right.
So be mindful of all that stuff. Yeah.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: All right, well, moving on to embarkation day.
[00:19:07] Speaker B: Oh, man, there's so much here.
[00:19:09] Speaker C: There's so much.
[00:19:11] Speaker A: Start us off, Amy. Start us off.
[00:19:13] Speaker B: This is a big one. Oh, my goodness. All right, so you're gonna get your. Your port arrival time, right? And Disney will tell you a few times, don't show up early. But come on, guys, do not show up early. They're not gonna let you. And all you're doing is messing up the process for everybody else. So this is a great time to just lean in, understand where you fall in cue. We're all going to have an amazing time. It's fine, right?
Do your research. How many times have we seen questions, whether it's in the Facebook groups or online, like, where do I stay? Disney gives you clear guidance again on their website where they recommend, where they have partnerships, but you don't have to. How far is this from the port?
Map it out. Right? See what works for you.
But I think especially with those arrival times. Absolutely. Honor your time. If you're driving, make sure you understand. Can I drop people off at the curb? Right. Don't be messing up the flow of everyone's traffic.
And be patient while you're waiting to board. We are all anxious to get on. Disney has amazing processes to ensure that we all get on safely and stay on their schedule. Right. So don't try and cut the laughing. Don't sneak your little boarding group. Oh, I have this number.
Just don't do it.
[00:20:21] Speaker C: Well, and this is embarkation day is a. Is a stressful day. And it is. The one rule for embarcation day is pack your patient's pants because there's a lot of queuing, there's a lot of waiting, there's a lot of hurry up and wait. There's, you know, making sure you've got all your documents and things like that. So it's one of those kind of stressful days. You're not the only one who's stressed. The thousand or five thousand people standing around you are also really stressed and also spending a lot of time with their family. And that might not always be fun. So, like, just be, you know, just be patient. One thing I want to say about luggage drop off is tip your porters. This is expected in the United States, it's expected. Frankly, I think any of the ports where Disney sails out of that, you do tip the porters who take the luggage. That that's the main source of their income, is those tips. And, you know, what you want to tip is up to you. There are a lot of hotels will say three to five dollars per bag is kind of the standard. I'd say if you're sending big bags of cruise luggage, you should be tipping at least $20 for your family's bags. We'd probably tip more than that, but I'd say at least $20 is what you should be giving a porter if you're giving them a whole family of luggage.
[00:21:41] Speaker A: I tip generously and I know I tip gener every time I give the tip. Then the guy stops and goes, all right, let me give you my tips for the ship. Here's the restaurant sheet to eat at all sort of stuff. And I'm like, guy, I got it covered.
I love.
In the chat here, Sarah added, don't show up to the port early, but definitely get to the general port area early. And that is exactly what I was going to say to point number one on here about airports. I mean, one of the questions I get asked or we see a lot in Facebook groups is like, I think more on the back end, but even on the front end, like, how early do I need to get in for my cruise? Or how early can I book my flight home?
Disney has great guidance around this. But if you ask any experienced cruiser when you should arrive at your destination for a cruise, they will always tell you at least one day in advance. And that is simply because if you have a flight a day in advance, if something goes wrong with the flight, you might have other options to get there.
And if something happens with your luggage on the flight that you're on, you've at least got some time on the ground for that airline's next flight to get in and hopefully get your luggage before you get on the ship if you have to check back. So always going to recommend get in the day before, stay one night ahead of your cruise before you board. We will even pull Nathan out of school to do that if we have to for like a Saturday embarkation, because we do not want to be that just completely crazed traveler who's showing up to the port last minute trying to get on a ship that that is ready to go.
[00:23:12] Speaker C: And for us, the backup flight is always the red eye flight. Right? So we're taking a flight early in the day. The day before our cruise sales. Because if all else fails, we can hop on a red eye. It's not the ideal.
[00:23:27] Speaker A: I'd almost use that as the rule of thumb. When you book your flight, check and see if there's a flight after your flight. If there is, you're good. If there isn't, you might want to rethink your strategy. Because if there's no flight after that can get you there on time and you miss your flight or something happens to your flight, you are stuck. And these days, it's even harder with, like, cancellations and delays and things like that. It can be even harder. The other thing I wanted to say was about showing up to the port and the port arrival times. If you're parking a car at the port, especially at Port Canaveral right now, they are very strict about when that garage opens up. There used to be some wiggle room, and I can't remember if it's 10 or 10:30 now, but they are not opening it a minute earlier. And they will spin you around the loop as many times as it takes for you to get to 10:30. And all you're doing is sort of adding to the traffic lineup over time. So if you're driving to the port, if you can get there bang on 10:30, you'll be able to drop luggage, park, walk across, and be ready to get on the ship with your port arrival time. So don't show up early and expect to be able to park. Because they have been very, very strict about opening that garage.
[00:24:30] Speaker C: Right. Because they're trying to get the people from the previous cruise out of the garage.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Exactly. Yeah. And I think here to knowing your goals. Right. I love to have a little checklist in my phone of, okay, on this day, like, what is important to me. And to me, this falls under courtesy and etiquette because you're making the best use of that embarkation day for your family, for other guests. Maybe you didn't get the dining time that you wanted. Look, in the app, there's a specific place to go and talk with the cast members. They're going to do their best. Maybe you didn't get Palo. Right. There's a lot of great ways to try and make that happen for you the day you board.
But it's, I would say, poor etiquette to try and push for it later in the cruise. Right. They have a process for this. Learn it, live it, love it. Right. That sort of thing. And I come in here about connected at sea. I know it's a Personal choice whether you need or want to be connected at sea. Right. I would say for me, I love to unplug on cruises. I personally do not connect. That's really important to me. But I have had a situation where, whether it was for plandisney questions or for the particular work I was doing, I had to.
So pro tip on the cr. On the cruise etiquette. Don't comment if someone is working. I am there in Cove Cafe with my computer. You don't know what kind of work I do. You don't know why I'm doing this. I don't need your snarky. You know, aren't you on a cruise? Why are you working?
Right. It's very personal as to whether they're connected or not. You know, they could be saving the world there from their computer for all you know. So they could be like, respect.
[00:25:59] Speaker A: They could be like, me in the concierge lounge. I was producing a podcast and some guy walked over and was like, what's so important that you can't be engaged with your cruise? And I'm like, my listeners.
[00:26:13] Speaker C: Yeah. The answer is always. Nunya Nya business. All right.
[00:26:17] Speaker B: Had to share that. And a quick one with the welcome aboard. You know, I know it's not a spoiler at this point, but your family will be welcomed aboard.
Celebrate that. Enjoy that moment, but then move on because they gotta celebrate the next family. Right. Hoot and holler, but don't do it for three minutes. Don't block that area. Right. Have your moment, take it in and move on and let the next person. Don't hover.
[00:26:40] Speaker A: I'd add there. Know that Disney won't just say anything into the microphone for your family. They want your family name.
Like, we actually don't do this, but they would not, for instance, welcome us on board as the DCL duo. That's not something that they're gonna do. So. So, you know, if you've got like a fun family name or a fun nickname for your family, that's great, but just, you know, they're not going to, like, broadcast your company name or whatever it is when you show up. So it helps keep the line moving if you kind of do things in the. In the right order.
I also just. I wanted to take a minute to step back and say one thing about cast, because I've seen over our cruising experience, just tons of things have gone right, some things have gone wrong. The cast is always trying to do their best.
I want to put a plug in, I guess maybe in the vein of Old MAN yells at CLUB but there should never be a moment where you are yelling at cast members, ever.
They are there trying to do their jobs, trying to do the best they can. I have seen people screaming at cast members.
Just, there's a way to ask for things politely and nicely. There's a way to be firm in moments where things aren't going well and to make your needs known. There's ways to politely ask to speak to someone, Hire an authority if that's what you. What you need. But please don't ever, ever yell at a cast member. They're just there trying to do their job to the best of their ability. And also recognize that the cast members on the ship are very limited in what they can offer at times. If the ship's full, they may not be able to give you another stateroom. If you know the dining rotation's full, there's nothing they can do. Right. And so they're going to do their best to accommodate you. But when they can't, if you want to speak to someone else, you can. If your situation is serious enough that you think, you know, you've really earned that future cruise credit discount, whatever you want to call it, they can't give you that on board.
So you can politely ask that you'd like to have a number for a Shoreside, you know, resolutions team or customer recovery team, and they will give that to you, and you can have a conversation with that team about it after you're off the ship. But the crew there on board, they have a limit to what they can do and a limit to what they can offer. And so they're doing the best they can. So please just treat them nicely and respectfully because they're trying their best. So that's my plug.
[00:28:57] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:28:59] Speaker C: I like Tracy's comment about packing snacks. I just need to highlight that if you have a later port arrival time and you've got little kids with you, you might not be able to board the ship early. You might be trying to board the ship early to get your kids fed, but if you. You may not be able to. And so the rest of the of people sitting in that waiting area don't want your kids to be cranky because they haven't eaten. So bring them snacks. There are only.
Some of the ports have vending machines. Port Canaveral does, but it's only junk food. So if you want them to have their preferred cheddar bunnies or fruit snacks or whatever, like, make sure to pack them. So I do like that tip.
[00:29:39] Speaker A: And in that vein, I'd also see.
[00:29:40] Speaker B: That'S on the next slide, Tracy.
[00:29:42] Speaker A: Oh, there you go.
[00:29:43] Speaker C: Ah, there you go.
There you go.
[00:29:45] Speaker A: I'm gonna advance us a slide then.
I did want to say one thing on that. Like, if kids are having meltdowns around the ship, like, don't be judgy. Just like people have bad days, we have bad. I have, I have meltdowns. And so like, just, just don't judge. Just give them the space they need. They're trying their best. You know, if it's snacks, they may need it. You don't know if that kid has special needs or not and may have just been overwhelmed by everything going on and needs a break and all that sort of stuff. So. So I always, I always like to remind people you don't know a family story. And so it's better to be inquisitive and helpful than it is to sort of just sit back and judge.
So sometimes I love to just like lean in and help if we can. So.
[00:30:27] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Empathetic, assume good intent, as our guest over there says.
[00:30:32] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:30:32] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. As Nathan said as well in the chat.
[00:30:34] Speaker A: Love it.
[00:30:35] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, and Tracy's saying Brian's meltdowns are epic. I love that. Tracy.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: Look, if I can't get banana soft serve ice cream, we're gonna have a problem. All.
[00:30:46] Speaker B: That'S true.
Embarkation day. You know, before we take off and really, really get around the ship, your cabin access. Here's a. A photo from one of my cruises where they said as we waited, is that going to be available to 2:30? Don't pace, don't ask, don't push. Embarkation day is the most stressful day for the crew. Right. They've got all these people leaving and you forget about them because you're boarding. But they have a crazy day, so give them a little grace.
Know that if your stateroom was ready earlier and it was a mess or dirty, you'd be complaining too. So give them the time. They tell you far in advance. Pack those essentials, like the snacks. You know, it's. It's going to be ready when it's ready and then it'll be perfect. So. And I think we could spend all day on hygiene and buffet etiquette, but we, you know, we had to say it. Wash your hands. And I know it's so silly and obvious, but how many of us have been on those cruises where. Oh, no, I just went to the bathroom and they run on by. Well, great. Wash them again. Even better. Right?
Just do It. Right. This is part of the process. It keeps us all safe. I know there's been some studies out there as to, you know, all those high touch areas and the germs that are passed on. So you can't do it enough. Don't brush people off. Wait patiently. Just do it.
I think that's huge.
[00:32:03] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. Wash your hands. Because here's the thing, and let's be honest about this.
Norovirus is a thing, and it spreads on cruise ships. I don't care how clean that everybody is. You know, the cast is doing a great job cleaning every surface as much as they can.
But norovirus spreads like wildfire. And it is passed by touching things and then touching your mouth. Right. So wash your hands. Guess what? Before, as you're entering that buffet, then get all your food and then go. Before you eat, go wash your hands again. Okay? Just do it. Trust me on this. We have not gotten norovirus yet on a cruise. And I even cracked on a cruise where there was good hygiene, even though.
[00:32:46] Speaker A: Even on a cruise where it was like a level four situation, we. There was an outbreak unscathed. Yeah. And I. I would say that ever since, like, I. I really do. I wash my hands just all the time when we're on the ship. And I. I really credit it to the last several cruises. I don't. I'm not even going to say it, but like, like, because we're coming up on crew season again and I don't. I don't want to get sick this time around, but I would say I've really liked the number of colds and things. I've come home with those posts that happen after the cruise in the Facebook group with everyone sharing their tale of woe about being sick. Like, we just. We were like, well, I feel pretty good, so wash your hands. And. And the tip about washing your hands after you use the buffet is because everyone else is touching the tongs you're using to serve. So if you touch all that, then you might as well have not washed your hands at all. So I. I always wash my hands after.
[00:33:28] Speaker C: So, yeah, I want to talk about the station cues in the buffet, because I know I get a lot of people asking about. You walk into the buffet and there' that first station there, and everybody thinks you have to queue up right there. And I'm going to tell you, no, that is not totally.
The rule is you can go to any station.
Each station will have its own queue, but you do not need to line up at that first Queue, and you will hear from other cruisers and they will tell you I'm wrong. But I will tell you the cast will tell you I'm right.
Each station can have a queue. You are not supposed to go from station to station in a line because guess what? Most of the stations have the same food at them, especially at breakfast. So just, you know, you can skip. I would always say my best piece of advice, skip the first station, because that's always going to be the one with the longest line. Because those first time cruisers, they just don't know any better and they think they're supposed to wait there. So go like three or four stations down and then queue up there. Amy, I bet you were going to say the same thing. Probably.
[00:34:38] Speaker B: That's exactly what I was going to say. I will add, with the exception of. Don't be that guy who's like, oh, I'm just going to grab one thing and. But in front of me, within a station. No, you can grab one thing behind me. Right? Oh, just my daughter needs. Okay, great. This is the cue. So absolutely you can hop, but be mindful. And I think that goes to a bigger point on board is just because there's a line, you don't have to stand in it. Like, obviously there's an order and there's process in place, but, you know, sometimes I think we get vacation brain and we're like, oh, this is where I'm supposed to stand, think and ask and look around and, you know, wait, what are we actually here for? Is this the end of the line? What are we doing? So, you know, just absolutely be mindful. We'll talk about saving seats later. But, you know, we'll. We'll just circle back. That. That applies to all of our buffet eating. Yeah, but this is huge to me is the emergency drills. Don't skip it. Don't be late, be there. Take this seriously. You know, heaven forbid the cast member you were just yelling at because they were taking away your prohibited item might be the one who asked to save your life in a few days. So truly, God help us, but be kind. Model the way for the kids. You know, I don't know about you, but when I'm at my station, I pay attention to who the last people are. I'm like, I'm.
[00:35:53] Speaker A: I'm not gonna.
I was gonna say, you wanna feel judged to be the last people to show up to an outdoor muster station on a sunny day in Florida. Yeah, Florida. And everyone's been sweating and they're calling out names and then Your family rolls in, like, just be on. Be on time.
[00:36:08] Speaker B: Time.
[00:36:08] Speaker C: Just be on time. You don't need to be 30 minutes early, but be on time. Don't be 20 minutes late, because if you're 20 minutes late, everybody else at your mustard station has been waiting for you those extra 20 minutes. I got to pull up. Brian, you got to pull up this comment from another Disney prince who is saying that we are bang on about the norovirus and the buffet cues from a former crew member. So I got it. I just have to. You know, we know what we're talking about, folks. We've been on enough cruises. Yeah.
All right, let's talk. Let's talk.
What about deck parties and sail away?
[00:36:46] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. We can talk about this with Pirate Night, too. But I think here, again, with any Disney vacation, right, There is a lot of social media pressure, whether you think you're under it or not. Oh, I saw the best view. Oh, I know exactly where to go for this deck party.
Again, don't save the space two hours in advance. You know, you're probably not the first one to film this show. You don't need to be right there. You're right. Taking up all the space.
Just enjoy it. These and all the different entertainment on board, they're meant to have different viewpoints and different experiences, and everyone can enjoy them. Right.
So just. Yeah, be kind to your fellow.
[00:37:25] Speaker C: Kids out of the way because they're shorter. They can stand in front of you. It's okay.
[00:37:30] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I was gonna say, like, let kids ahead of you, if you're adults. Like, remember, you were tiny once, too, and someone made way for you. Hopefully, I will say the worst thing I have seen on a cruise in recent memory was someone who was using towels to try and save spots at a deck party along a rail. And I was speaking of Tracy's mention of my epic tank. I was ready.
I was ready to throw down. Cause I was like, this is crazy. Like, there's kids here who want to stand at the rail, and you're blocking a rail section for, like, six to eight. Like, that's. That's not okay.
[00:38:03] Speaker C: Right?
[00:38:03] Speaker A: Like, so don't. Don't try to. Like, if you're going to save spots at the rail, send enough people to go up there and save the spots. Like, don't send one person and expect them to use towels. And for everyone around to just be okay with that.
[00:38:14] Speaker B: So I would say, you know, assuming good intent. We know people are trying to do the best for their family, but I think a Lot of that comes from all the pressure. Like, I need to have this perfect experience, and I got to watch it right here. You know, the DCL duo, my favorite influencer, said to stand right here, right. Whatever it is. So, you know, just these things seem so obvious. But then in the moment, on vacation, people go crazy.
[00:38:36] Speaker A: For sure.
[00:38:37] Speaker B: We're here to remind you, for sure.
[00:38:38] Speaker A: I just wanted to grab one more of Nathan's comments here, where he said the cast members running the muster drill aren't empowered to change DCL policy to do virtual muster drills in the Future.
That is 1000% correct.
The comment card at the end is your place to log your complaints about how the muster drill is run. If you want them to explore virtual muster drills, they will give you that opportunity to provide that feedback. So that is a great comment.
All right, let's keep going here in.
[00:39:02] Speaker B: Your stateroom or hanging out. Yeah, what am I supposed to do? Like hanging out on the ship. What are some other top tips here? So we touched on noise, but again, there might not be firm posted quiet hours. But be mindful. Don't be running up and down the halls having your obnoxious conversations.
These metal doors are not as soundproof as you think they are. So just have some courtesy there.
And certainly in your stateroom, your stateroom hosts, they are just such a blessing, and you need to treat them with respect. They're, you know, cleaning up after you every day. Of course, you're on vacation. You might want to relax some of your habits, but just, you know, be kind, be respectful to them. Same with verandas.
There, you can hear everything, guys. So be mindful of what you're talking about. You know, it's probably not the best place to yell at your kids. Now, that's my memory of my vacation is hearing you yell. Right? Don't hang your stuff off the veranda. We all know that that's also a safety thing. But just be mindful there.
[00:40:00] Speaker C: I want to jump in and say about stateroom attendance, they have breaks that they take. And so if you happen to be spending your entire morning in your room, that's okay. But just know that that may mean that they have to skip your first service of the day. Now, on Disney Cruise Line, they actually service your room twice, whereas other cruise lines only service your room once.
But that means if you've got, like, that bunk bed, that kid's bunk bed that's, you know, been open and they haven't had a chance to put it back up, it's probably gonna stay open. The whole day. So just be mindful. If you're in your room, that's okay, but that you might skip a service and don't ask them to come and do that service when they're supposed to be on their break, because they only get a couple of hours break in the middle of the day. And so it's really not fair to them because of your schedule that they need to miss their break. So just, just, you know, just be mindful and be okay with that if you are going to have, you know, a lazy morning in. In your room. Nothing wrong with that.
[00:41:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:01] Speaker C: All right, we gotta talk hallways. Oh, my God, so much here.
[00:41:05] Speaker B: I mean, again, you know, we're. We're trying to zip through a lot of content here, but wanted to kind of trigger some good thoughts.
So this was a great one. That when I was brainstorming with some other cruiser friends, that was shared. That was kind of an aha moment for me. Don't put your room service trays in the hallway. We've all seen them. Right. And I'm not saying this because it's messy or gross, but my friend who shared this tip, her son's in a wheelchair full time. She cannot navigate around your sloppy room service trays in the hallway, so now she has to move your stuff.
So the point here is, again, to be mindful to think about those, you know, that maybe aren't in your travel party that are affected by these. Your room, your stateroom host will take them for you the next time they're there or call room service again and they'll come back and get it. It Right. So this was a real good one, I thought, just for us all to be mindful of, because we see them all the time. Absolutely.
[00:41:57] Speaker C: And even if you don't have mobility issues, a lot of times little kids are walking through and they're not the best about avoiding, you know, plates full of ketchup. And nobody wants a toddler with a, you know, pants full of ketchup because they didn't see your plate and they fell on it and it. Now the whole hallway's gross house.
[00:42:16] Speaker B: Right? Exactly. Yeah. So, you know, it's these little things about our. Our communal living on the ship. Right. In our shared vacation.
And again, you know, it seems obvious, but teach your kids in advance. Hey, we're going to see awesome door decorations. Leave them alone. Don't take people's fish extender gifts. Right? Just don't touch them. Guys. Go visit sometimes. There might be a pin board that says take one or that's different. But in general, don't mess with people's stuff on the magnets. Like, it's a really cool part of cruising culture, but if it's not yours, don't touch it. Don't take their gu gifts. Right.
[00:42:48] Speaker A: I. I'd also encourage. If you think about door decorations, remember, Disney Cruise Line has some rules around what can go up on doors and stuff. And so pay attention to those. You can't adhere anything to a door.
It's got to be magnetic, you know, Also be mindful of the space you're taking around your door. There are some limitations that Disney does enforce at times around, like if you're. You want to put up all 1000 of your cruise magnets and it's extending down the hallway past your door. Like, like the steward may say something to you.
Remember, you're covering up paneling that they may need to open to fix things.
And you're also potentially, like, if you're adhering things to the door, you're doing damage to the paint on the door. And these ships don't always, they're not putting a fresh coat of paint on the doors every time they go into dry dock. So you're damaging the door and the space. So, yeah.
[00:43:38] Speaker C: And, and you are allowed to put lights on your door, but only battery powered lights. So nothing that plugs in and anything that's on the door has to be attached by a magnet.
And all the doors are magnetic. You may need to use a neodymium, if I'm saying that correctly.
Neodymium magnets, those are the real strong magnets. But let's talk about ducks, because I.
[00:44:01] Speaker A: Got to tell third rail of cruising people.
[00:44:04] Speaker C: Yeah. Buckle up. Okay, so ducks. The official Disney Cruise Line website has no official information on ducks. If you go on to Plan Disney, however, and you see some questions more recently, it has been answered that you're not allowed to hide things around the ship, including ducks. So I will say there has been various enforcement on this. Some ships, people are still hiding ducks and it's fine, meaning nobody's throwing them away. And on other ships, if you're hiding ducks and the cast members see it, they will pick them up and they will go in the trash.
I personally don't have any strong feelings about ducks, except for don't put them in stupid places, meaning dangerous places or places that are just, you know, somebody's going to trip and fall or, you know, it's going to be hazardous because it's on a light. Like, if you're going to give out ducks. That's all right. But how about put them in people's fish extenders? Or how about hand them to a little kid or put them real obvious on a rail on the stairway that somebody's going to walk down and see it immediately.
Nath, I love your comment. It's, what a load of whack. He says.
But that's my thoughts on ducks.
What are your thoughts on ducks?
[00:45:25] Speaker B: So just like fish extenders, I don't care for the ducks. I don't get it.
There's enough to do. It doesn't excite me. I feel like you're adding, frankly, trash to the ship, right. That could end up in the sea. That's kind of upsetting. And I think you're adding more work for the cast members, right? So many other ways to connect. And again, you know, Disney, like any large company, there might be some things they don't want to put in writing on their website, and that's okay. But when you're on board and you're told not to, like, follow the rules, or when you ask someone like Plandisney who has access to, you know, the official policy, like, follow it, I think it's a lot of work for people to buy these and make their little tags, only to bring them and be disappointed. So if word on the street is don't do it pivot, how can you connect in other ways? I love your idea of putting them in fish extenders. Right? Like, whatever you're getting out of this duck experience, turn it around from adding more work for the cast and, you know, again, potentially trash in the sea and all that good stuff, like, just, just roll with it.
[00:46:28] Speaker A: I would say if you're gonna bring them. The one thing that I've seen that's really like, was. Was kind of eye opening to me was someone who brought, she must have brought on board a hundred something of these ducks.
Bring five, bring six. Bring. Bring a half to bring a half dozen. Right? Like, you don't, you don't need hundreds of them.
Or if you're going to bring the hundreds and absolutely just pixie dust them to people in fish extenders.
So our son enjoys finding them around the ship. So I don't mind them. I'm not bothered by them.
But at the same time, we've heard stories about, you know, teenagers, like, standing on balconies and throwing ducks into the Christmas trees and, you know, stuff like that. Like that. That's not okay.
So, you know, I can understand why Disney has kind of a more official policy, even if not posted on the website that they have. So I want to talk about my favorite line on this entire slide. Kids love buttons. So let's talk about.
Let's talk about elevators. Because I got elf playing in my mind of him in the Empire State Building, just making the lovely Christmas tree.
[00:47:29] Speaker B: You know what I'm going to say. So, yeah, you know, there's only so many elevators on the ships. We all got to use them.
So first, you know, getting in, out, be courteous. Right. And for.
[00:47:41] Speaker C: Let people out first. Let people out first. They can't. You can't get in until they get out. So that's like always elevators. Yeah.
[00:47:50] Speaker B: Guess what? If you have to ask, can I fit? No, you cannot. You can wait. And if you are dripping wet from the pool, you definitely cannot fit right next to me. Right. Like people.
Oh, my goodness. So, yes. Getting in and out. Be kind again. Back to our friends with strollers and mobility devices. If they've been waiting there, don't cut in front of that.
You know, if you're able to take the steps, take them one or two flights. You don't have to walk the whole thing, but I think that's huge. But yes, kids and their buttons. Oh, he just wants to push. We all know what I'm going to say. We don't have to say it like, you know, if no one's in there and you want to have fun, great. But you're still slowing things down for everybody else. And you're adding more fingerprints to the buttons, right?
[00:48:29] Speaker C: Yes. More norovirus spreading too.
I like to tell if there's like a kid who I clearly wants to press a button, I've just gotten on the elevator, I'll tell the kid, okay, can you push number nine for me? And then they'll push and then they're light, they're lit up because they just have to press another button. So that's how you do.
[00:48:50] Speaker B: But yeah, with the focus.
[00:48:52] Speaker A: She's talking number nine. She's talking about me.
Brian, you can hit nine. Woo.
[00:48:56] Speaker C: Woo.
[00:48:57] Speaker A: Yeah. I want to add two things on the elevators. One is not just for, like, obviously people who have mobility needs, they should take priority in the elevator. But also be mindful if you just walked up, up, and there's five people who've clearly been waiting there for an elevator. And then the elevator closest to you is the one that lights up. Don't just all get on that elevator. Like, those people were waiting. And so let, like get on in an orderly fashion. Like, you know, if you have to wait One cycle. You have to wait one cycle. The other thing that drives me insane on board is like, oh, let me hold this elevator for my family that's still back at the state room and is like, you know, they're coming, they're coming. And it's like, yeah, but I got to get to a palo dinner or whatever it is, right?
[00:49:37] Speaker B: So.
[00:49:37] Speaker A: So if your whole party's not there and ready for the elevator, just let it go and another one will come, right? So, you know, I'm not saying that it's like if they're just walking in the door, I get it. But like, sometimes it's not that. And so just, just wait a cycle and. And it'll come.
[00:49:51] Speaker B: So anyway, there's a common theme here of like, you're not the only one on the ship, right? And again, it seems so obvious here on land. You know, people get that vacation brain. But no, this is the one.
[00:50:00] Speaker C: You and 4,000 of your best friends are on the.
[00:50:05] Speaker A: Are you listening to our show because you want to make the most out of your next vacation? Great news. The fabulous team over at MyPath Unwinding Travel can help guide you so you don't miss a thing. Their team of professional travel advisors are caring, knowledgeable and experienced. It's why we use them to book our own travel. 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, 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 DCLDUO or email DCLDUO mypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks My Path Unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
I. I do want to touch on the strollers and mobility devices. Amy, what's the so like, there are places you should park these and there are places you should not park them by my understanding. So yeah, can you talk a little bit more about that?
[00:51:15] Speaker B: I can't. Honestly, I don't know off the top of my head other than yeah, follow the guidance. My point here is really that that was with the elevators is to be courteous and mindful. I've seen so much that, that the stroller, the mobility device is waiting. And yeah, like you just said, when the elevator comes, like I'm gonna jump in front, you know.
[00:51:33] Speaker C: Yeah, there are, there are specific locations on the ship for parking strollers and, and scooters that, you know, for scooters and strollers that don't fit into the stateroom. If you've got a wheelchair, you should be in an accessible stateroom. So your, your, your wheelchair should fit in and out of your stateroom room, but you're not supposed to park them right outside your room. And the whole point of that is because then guess what? The wheelchair or other stroller or other scooter user can't get past your room. And it's just like the issue with the tray on the, on the floor.
[00:52:06] Speaker A: It's.
[00:52:07] Speaker C: That person has to then move your mobility device in order to get theirs through. So yeah, there are specific locations that you can park them if they do not fit in your stateroom room.
[00:52:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:52:19] Speaker C: All right, let's go to the next slide.
[00:52:22] Speaker B: All right. Days at sea. So again, we could talk about attire and we probably will with every different phase. But you know, I'm sure you look great in your swimsuit. You can't wear it in the dining rooms. Right. Pay attention to these things. Even though it is cruise casual during the day, you know, we're having a great time with all of our activities. Like again, just be respectful and understand, you know, what Disney is asking you today.
[00:52:45] Speaker C: And you can wear it in the buffet. You can wear your swimsuit in the buffet. And you can wear it, of course, for the pool deck food. What Amy's talking about is the sit down dining rooms.
Yeah, you're not allowed to. You can have a cover up on top of a swimsuit. That's okay.
At dinner, however, you actually have to be a little bit better than that. They don't even want you in like, you know those. Ever seen those tank tops as a real bodybuilders wear where you could basically see everything on their, of their chest, but they're wearing this like little skinny singlet type of, you know. Yeah. I've saw somebody get turned away from a main dining dining room for dinner because they tried to wear that. So there, there is a limit to. Even though it's cruise casual, as Amy mentioned, there is a limit to what you can wear in the dining rooms.
[00:53:31] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yeah. And the pool decks. Oh my goodness. This is another hot Topic. But the deck chairs, right? I mean, there are signs. It is very clear. And again, it should be obvious, but. But I fear there are some sites out there encouraging people, this is how you save your deck chairs. I personally love to get an early morning coffee on board, so I'm usually, like, up with the sunrise, tiptoeing around on an empty top deck. Except for, and I'm sorry, Brian. They're usually the husbands, the men who have been tasked to go sit up.
[00:54:03] Speaker A: Not this husband.
Not this husband. This husband is asleep in the state.
[00:54:08] Speaker C: I'm the one getting coffee like you, Amy. I'm headed to the COVID Cafe to get Brian and I coffee. He's still in bed.
[00:54:14] Speaker B: There seems to be a type. And they've got their. Their towel clips. They have a whole plan.
[00:54:19] Speaker C: Right.
[00:54:19] Speaker B: And they're reserving seven chairs with the towels, you know, at 6am before the pool opens. And again, there are a lot of chairs. Not for everyone, that's for sure. But, you know, does your toddler, who's never going to sit there, need one? Do you need to save one for six hours? Like, follow the rules, follow the guidance. Don't have the poor cast members have to clean up after you because you're not sitting there. And again, it just, it sours mine, my experience as other guests on board. You know, we're all here to enjoy.
You know, I fear, again, people have this pressure of, oh, this is what I have to do. And this is the perfect deck chair for me. And I'm going to sit here all day. Right. Like, there's so much to do on board. Like, just follow the guidance.
[00:54:59] Speaker C: So the sun and the shade, they move from part of the day to the other part of the day. So you might have a chair that is like in the perfect, perfect, either shade or sun, whatever you prefer in the morning. But by afternoon, it's going to be the exact opposite of what you want. So just. Well, and the ship moves location, too. So, you know, there's a whole bunch of stuff going on. Yeah.
[00:55:22] Speaker B: Another point here. Don't move the deck chairs. Ask the cast to do it for you. And this is not a, you know, I'm not moving my deck chair. This is a safety issue. Right. They can only go in so many places. They don't want you physically picking them up and hurting yourself. So just ask and be kind. I had a great experience on the Treasure. You know, we were with you on spring break and we couldn't find deck chairs. And that's okay. It was busy. It was A beautiful day. But I asked someone, he saw me looking say, hey, you know, we just need two. And he moved some from way over here to way over there. Like he made it happen for me. So, you know, just ask for help because someone's been saving six of them all day. And make the most of your experience there. And just a quick note, you know, defer to the lifeguards authority, right?
I think a lot of people think, oh, it says my child has to be like potty trained, no swim diapers, but we can do that. This. And then you have those accidents because they're okay most of the time and then this one minute they're not. And you got to listen to the lifeguards, you got to follow the rules, folks. So that's.
[00:56:20] Speaker A: And if you really want to be the judge, be judged, be the one whose kid had them have to shut down the entire pool for an afternoon for a deep clean. So, you know, if something happens in the pool, they shut it down, they drain it, they clean it, they refill it. So it's not a fast process.
[00:56:36] Speaker B: No, I would.
[00:56:37] Speaker A: I wanted to say two quick things. One about the, the photography and one about the adult only areas. So we start the adult only areas.
If you are adults and you have a kid, it is okay to walk through an adult area to transit from one place of the ship to another. And if you are an adult in one of those areas and you see a kid, please just stop rolling your eyes all the time. People, people are going to walk between areas. It's not okay to have your kid like come hang out with you in the adult, adult area. About as far as I've ever pushed it is if I needed to get morning coffee in the morning, the adult area was like pretty empty. And I had Nathan standing right next to me in Cove Cafe being quiet as a mouse while I got my coffee and I left and it was younger than now. I just kind of let him hang out, but, but I would just say like just people you can walk through, but your kids can't hang out in the adult area. It's not a place for the, for the kids to hang out on the photography side of things. I just wanted to put a call out like so many aspiring YouTubers out there, including us. As you think about photography and video on board, great to capture those family moments.
Please be mindful of other guests in your shots who may not want to appear on your YouTube channel or in your photos that you're going to post all over Instagram and the Internet. So I know we try to be very respectful on board, find quiet spots, even if we're just going to record audio, if we're going to do some stand up, you know, talking head stuff. We try to find a table, a corner, a couch, someplace out of the way, out of traffic so that we're not interrupting other people's vacations. About as worse as I've seen it is, you know, a pair of fairly well known influencers who had set up a massive camera on their table in Palo and were videoing everything they ate and giving their reactions and very loudly. It created problems for the crew who are trying to serve them. It was, it was disruptive to other people around them who were trying to enjoy an adult dinner or, sorry, an adult brunch.
So just, you know, look, we get it. It's. We live in the age of social media. You want to share your excitement with everybody out there. Fantastic. Just, just be mindful of who else is around you and what you're doing when you're doing it. A lot of the stuff you see on YouTube can come from things like media cruises and stuff like that where everyone's got a camera out and running around. And so it really doesn't. That's expected.
It's not as expected for I think just regular paying passenger guests on the ship.
[00:58:58] Speaker C: So yeah, can I jump in here on photography, say about actual photopass type photographers, Disney cast member photographers. Right. They are taking photos of people at all kinds of places all around the ship and there are specific stations that have, you know, magic shot shots and backdrops and whatnot. And if there's a long line of people behind you, can you just, as a party, make sure you limit how many configurations and how many pictures you're going to take? Take, because you've got other folks who are also trying to head to dinner. You're all doing pictures before dinner typically.
And if you take, I don't know, 30 photos of your family of 15, you've just taken 20 minutes of that photographer's time and then all of those other people are going to be late for dinner or not able to take their pictures. So I'm not saying if the photographer is empty, there's no line.
You take those, you know, 80 pictures with that photographer in front of that backdrop in every configuration possible. But if there's a line of people behind you, just be courteous to the people who are waiting and don't take every iteration and combination of family members and photos. Just take.
[01:00:16] Speaker B: Well, can we back up real quick? Similarly, with the photography and the item I wanted to add here I is I speak up about what I don't want. In the spirit of moving things along. I am never going to buy that prom picture with my hands on my husband's chest like this. Never.
So I tell them, hey, don't do that. No, I'm not going to buy it. Let's move on.
It's okay to speak up for yourself, you know, if again you're wasting everyone's time. And yeah, it's not for me. I really wanted to call it here, this complimentary drink station. So. So it's not explicitly stated, but they really, really want you to use those paper cups to fill up ice and the drink and pour that in your reusable cup. Bringing a reusable cup is one of my top tips. I love that. But I also bring dish soap. I wash it in my room and you gotta use those paper cups folks. Really, really, you know, back to the germs there.
[01:01:09] Speaker A: Yep.
Yeah, for Port Adventures there's gonna be a, there is a theme already that's emerged of beautiful on time.
And so I think same is true for your port Adventures. Try to be on time for, for dinner. I don't know if we have this on another slide, but for dinner I always like to tell people like be on time.
You know my party line out there. Folks, if you've listened to the show for any amount of time, which is you don't need to stand in line to get into the main dining room. You can sit at one of the bars, have a drink. When that line dissipates, walk right in.
You're not late if you're within five to ten minutes of your dining time. Okay, you're late if you're like 15 to 20 minutes past your dining time. So they expect it's going to take them 10 to 15 minutes to get that room fully seated and start the real dinner rotation. So just, you know, you don't have to stand in line but be on time.
Or if you know you're not going to be on time, talk to your servers about about it the night before. So if you've got a late port adventure that's going to come back a little later, tell your servers, hey, we've got this late port adventure. We're not sure we're going to make it to dining. You'd be surprised that they might bring the menus out and say what do you want? We'll get it all pre ordered. So when you show up we can just start show you know, serving you the food because they don't want to keep the kitchen staff behind.
You know, they don't want to be in the restaurant until, you know, all hours of the night trying to get everything cleaned up. So if you let them know in advance, there's sometimes some things they can do to help or they'll just tell you, like, yeah, we're probably not going to be able to make dining tomorrow night. And here are your other options for dining on board for the evening. So be on time.
[01:02:47] Speaker B: Yeah. And for the port adventures here, too. So if you haven't taken a formal one with Disney. So of course, yeah, be on time. You know, go to the right meeting spot, pack the right things, but they're going to give you little character stickers. And how often have we seen people who are too cool for their stuff sticker, you're not too cool for it. Like, this is a process.
[01:03:05] Speaker C: You're on a Disney cruise.
[01:03:07] Speaker A: I'm not cool enough for my sticker.
[01:03:08] Speaker B: When you're not wearing it, you know, you can't stay with the group. You're not helping the cast. So if you signed up for a group adventure, just stick with the group. Right. And definitely respect other guests experiences. We had kind of a grouchy scenario in Ketchikan, I think it was, that ended up being, you know, again, this is a vacation memory of mine, which I don't care for because. Because another person didn't realize, hey, only so many of us can fit in these small boats. And so their party wasn't going to go together on the adventure. And it very clearly said, you know, you may be separated. And they were throwing a fit over that. And really, you know, just follow the rules, understand what's expected of you, and don't sign up for it if you're not comfortable with that. And certainly if you're going to explore on your own, know the risks. Right. We talked a lot about risk mitigation up front with arriving to the port in the first place place. And we all say this, but I don't think enough people really, you know, truly act on that. So be sure you're measuring that risk. Don't be the last one on the ship and that sort of thing.
[01:04:04] Speaker C: Don't be a ship runner or the one who misses the ship.
[01:04:08] Speaker B: Yeah, yes, yes, exactly. Absolutely, Tracy. I mean, more like when you're walking with the group and they're trying to keep you together, you know that the stickers have a purpose.
[01:04:16] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Are you saying take off the sticker before you get in the water. Otherwise you end up with adhesive on your shirt.
[01:04:21] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. Yes.
[01:04:22] Speaker A: Yes. All right.
[01:04:24] Speaker B: So we touched on a lot of the dining stuff already. But again, you know, be on time.
I know we wanted to talk about attire and theme nights. I think at the end of the day, it's your vacation and you should be your authentic self and be comfortable. But respect that there are theme nights for fun and for a reason. Right. Don't be disrespectful with them. I'll say my family kind of. It depends on what we're doing and where we are in that season as to how dressy we get for formal night. Right, right. I always say if you have a tux and you want to wear it, great. Otherwise, I've been known to wear a sequin T shirt a couple times. Right. And dress that up like it packs easily. I still feel dressed up, but these days, I don't think many of us have a lot of true formal wear. But if this is super special to you and that's what you want to do, do it. But don't lack the people who are or aren't. Right. But understand that these themes are there for a reason and to have a good time.
[01:05:13] Speaker C: Yeah. Choose your own adventure. I say when it comes to attire, as long as you are at the minimum attire, meaning you're wearing your swimsuit or if you're going. Of course an adult dining. There is. There are some attire standards. Right.
So just. But do you. I mean, I, I. Sometimes I'm wearing a T shirt and shorts to dinner, and sometimes I'm wearing a dress to dinner. It just depends on how I feel that day.
[01:05:37] Speaker A: I remember wearing tuxedos to dinner on cruise ships, and I do not long for those days again. But you know what? It was fun while it lasted. So, you know. Yeah. I. You told think you do you. It's your vacation if you've got that fun family photo planned out for the Christmas card and everybody in matching T shirts on formal night.
Fantastic. I love it. I love everything about that for you.
[01:05:59] Speaker B: So, yeah, leave people alone. Let them do it, you know, whatever they want to do.
[01:06:03] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:06:03] Speaker B: And for menus here and, you know, letting people know whether you're going to make it or not. I think again, that just extends a courtesy to your dining team. Right. Like, hey, tomorrow it's pirate night. It's not my favorite. I'm not going to see you, bud. You know, that's okay. We're going to Palo. Whatever it is, tell us them. So they're not waiting for you. And especially if you're in a combined situation where you're seated with people who aren't in your travel party, you know they're waiting on you. So proactively communicating what you're doing or not doing is huge. And similarly looking at the menus ahead. Right. I mean, yes, part of the dining experience is you sit down and you look at your menu. But they're all on the app now. So if you are going to be running a little late, pre order what you're going to have. Right. I think that goes a long way with, again, keeping everyone on time and being respectful to both your dining partner party and your dining team who's serving you.
[01:06:52] Speaker A: I would take that one step further.
So some folks may know that Disney does.
They will put limits on it. Sometimes they will allow you to say, like, oh, you know what? I really don't like anything on this menu tonight. I'd really like to have that thing I had last night or that's coming tomorrow night from this other restaurant. And they will sometimes go get that. I think one of the best strategies is to tell the dining team the night before, take a look at the menu and tell the them, hey, there's nothing on the menu that's super exciting for me tomorrow. And I'd really love to have this dish that we had on this menu tonight or in this other restaurant a lot of times that enables them to kind of like front load it, like, get it without having to, like, do it in the middle of the full dining room service. Same thing if you want to, like, you know, we've talked on the show before about occasionally I order an Indian curry. I always talk to the staff the night before.
Not if you show up to the table and you're like, oh, I'd really love to have Indian curry. The answer is probably going to be no. I mean, or they're probably going to have to do something, something extraordinary to make it happen. So it's always a great idea just to check in with your dining team the night before if you're going to have some special requests or anything going on. And keeping your table mates apprised is also a great, great tip. If you're going to Palo. So they're not sitting around going, they're not here yet, they're not here yet, they're not here. You just like, we're adult dining tomorrow night, we're not going to be here. So as soon as they're there, they can start their. Start their meal. So yeah.
[01:08:07] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. That's a great to way one. Yep.
[01:08:11] Speaker A: I love the beverage tasting. Know your limits. I have definitely done a Disney cruise line beverage tasting where I was like a feeling a little bit tipsy after the beverage tasting more than I like, but also surrounded by a group that was clearly doing their second or third beverage tasting of the day. So, yes, this, this is supposed to be a more family friendly cruise line. And so I think knowing your limits is an excellent tip for tasting.
[01:08:36] Speaker B: And it's a tasting, you know, you don't have to finish the whole port.
They might even give it to you to go. Right. So don't, don't feel pressure. Know your limit. Enjoy the experience. But yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
[01:08:49] Speaker C: Love it.
[01:08:51] Speaker B: So entertainment. We skipped over something earlier that I just want to touch on real quick with onboard activities. This kind of like entertainment with trivia. Right. I mean, I could talk for an hour about trivia etiquette. I feel my family's super into it. We love it. But. But these places can get crowded, right? Don't show up late and expect to still play. Don't hover and be looking at my sheet. Right. I might not have all the answers, but you're making me uncomfortable.
That thing. I think we've all been on board with families or key people who just, you know, they need that validation of, you know, being a know it all and they want to win everything.
So if you're super, super skilled in this area, maybe let some other people win every now and then. Maybe that's a little controversial, but, you know, win a few times, but you don't have to win every time because you're making other people feel bad. Right. Or go to like a more obscure time or an adults only one. That sort of thing. You know, let the kids play too. So.
[01:09:48] Speaker C: Absolutely.
I jump in and say for adult only trivia. If you are just a twosome, find another twosome and join their team. You'll double your chances of winning and you might make a new friend and.
[01:10:04] Speaker A: You might open up some seats for someone else who wants to play. So.
[01:10:06] Speaker C: Right. You might open up another table. Exactly.
[01:10:09] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's good.
[01:10:11] Speaker C: All right, we gotta talk.
We gotta talk. This is the most important category, Amy, which is the theater, the character interactions. Like, I don't want to start. I'm gonna let you start, Amy, because I. Because I can't.
[01:10:27] Speaker A: Sam's gotta go find her soapbox and then she'll start. So go ahead, Amy.
[01:10:30] Speaker B: Yes.
There's a lot to unpack here, so Certainly I would say, again, it was my last cruise, so I'm going to keep referencing it. Back to the Treasure. We had two nights of evening entertainment that were kind of soured by people talking or on their phone or saving 100 seats. And it just, again, they're giving you guidance. They say at the start of every show what to do, what not to do. Don't put those cast members in a tough spot to go around and police you throughout the show. Right, right. Like, put your phones away. It's Broadway caliber for a reason, so keep it to that level for all of us. Right.
And Sam, I have to say that my son is here with his stormtrooper popcorn bucket, because popcorn bucket is kind of a hill I'm going to die on on the cruise ship. Okay, so this was a. Believe it or not, a common question is, can I bring my Walt Disney World popcorn bucket onto Disney Cruise Line straight up? No. No. It is for your length of stay at the parks. And when you bring, you know, your.
If I brought now my 50th from Walt Disney World from a few years ago scratched up again, you're putting the podcast member to make that call on the spot. The true policy is, no, I'm not going to refill your old nasty popcorn bucket. It's valid for the length of stay, but they might want to please you. Right. So again, what are you paying for these cruises? Like, it's a popcorn bucket and it really is a good deal and that's a great souvenir.
So I would just ask that. You're kind about that. It's not a prohibited item. Bring your old rusty bucket and go make sandcastles. Right. It's a great tool.
But I would ask, please buy a fresh popcorn bucket if this is really important to you. So that's really. That's a big one.
[01:12:09] Speaker C: You buy the one at the beginning and then they'll refill it throughout the cruise. So it's not that you're buying a new bucket every single day.
You can buy the one new. I just want to jump, jump in about seat saving, because technically, in the Walt Disney Theater, the technical rule is you are not allowed to save any seats.
I'm going to tell you Sam's rule.
If you are a person, if you're one person, you can save one seat on either side of your tush.
Beyond that, if you can't touch those seats with your hand, you don't get to save them. So if you have. If you need a party of four, then two of you need to be in the theater saving those four seats. Right. So one person, two people, you don't save a whole row of seats. Those other people need to get their tushes in those seats with you. So, you know, one person can wait for the theater to open and the rest can join, you know, 10 minutes before the doors open, rather than waiting for, you know, an hour, all of you standing outside the theater. I'm okay with that.
But once those theaters doors, those theater doors open.
Like I said, Sam's rule, you can save one seat on either side of your tush and that's it.
[01:13:30] Speaker B: No, go ahead, Brian.
[01:13:31] Speaker A: No, no, go ahead, Amy.
[01:13:32] Speaker B: Like, stop and think. Why are you doing this? Like, are you really going to have an exponentially better time because of this perfect seat in your mind? Like, they designed these theaters for everyone to have a good seat. Yeah. Some are better than others. I get it. And you might have, you know, a special needs kind of accommodation, but again, it's just. How much time are you spending saving it and irritating other guests for what the real payoff is, you know?
[01:13:56] Speaker C: Yeah.
And I'm with Leticia in the comments. It's okay if you're saving a couple of seats for kids that I'm not. I'm not going to say no. You can't save any seats. Right. It's just a matter of like, if one parent or, you know, a couple of adults from a group are there saving seats for one adult and a few kids. Kids. That's okay. I'm not. That's not what we're, you know, complaining about. It's that one person who is saving like two rows of seats. That's. That's it.
[01:14:23] Speaker A: Tracy's asking Sam, you rope drop the theater? Question mark. I just want to. I just. I'm going to pull a psych quote here. Come on, son. Of course she. Of course she rope drops the theater. Of course she stands. Of course it traces everything.
[01:14:36] Speaker B: I rope drop the post office. I mean, come on.
[01:14:39] Speaker C: I. I will. You know, it's funny. I do that too. Amy, there are some things I do rope drop. I don't rope drop dinner.
The theater is one. If I in particular about my seat, if I've seen the show 1200 times.
I'm not actually. I'm not gonna rope drop the theater for Believe or Disney Dreams. I'm gonna rope drop the theater for Hercules on the Disney Destiny. You best believe I'll be there. I'll be waiting an hour before the show starts, at least.
So that's, you know, that's the kind of thing. Oh, and there's great content.
You have special needs accommodations, use the disability entrance for the show. Absolutely. You will get taken into the areas that are available for wheelchair seating or for any kind of accommodation. And if you do not use mobility devices, don't sit in wheelchair only spaces.
And if there is a space that is roped off for an accommodation, sometimes it's because they have somebody doing American Sign Language language. Don't take those seats. Those seats are saved for a particular person for a particular reason, and they're not yours.
[01:15:50] Speaker A: I want to add one thing to this discussion because I am not really the theater goer, but I wanted to add it's more. Less of an etiquette thing, more of a tip. If you are someone who's like, I really want to have a more adult like experience with the show and dinner on board.
Late. Late dinner and the show immediately preceding it are the way to go because more kids will be in. In the early dinner and in the show. How's it. I forget I got the shows mixed up.
[01:16:19] Speaker C: No, you're right. The show, the later show. Or. Or if there is a matinee. I think the matinee is the best time. If you have younger kids that. If they have a matinee offered, that's the best time.
[01:16:28] Speaker A: That's not to say you have to. You can only take your kids to those. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying if you want. If you want less of that kid's experience in the show and at dinner than late dinner seating in the show, that. That in it are more likely to have fewer kids in those shows.
[01:16:44] Speaker C: But one thing I will say, and this is one of the. This is where I have to be not the pet peevey person who is at a Broadway theater. So at a Broadway theater, if I got kids talking behind me, I'm gonna be real unhappy about it. If I'm in the Walt Disney Theater on a Disney cruise and I got kids talking behind me, I'm gonna be much more tolerant of it because it is a Disney cruise and there are a lot of little kids and that is there is some noise and, you know, stuff to be expected.
[01:17:12] Speaker B: So just understand our experience I spoke of was, you know, grown adults with their phones and. And being rude. Sure. Another point on the kids and wiggly seats. They do have booster seats in the back. And if your kid needs it, I encourage you to seek them out because it does keep them a little less wiggly. It keeps them from you know, now you saved a seat for an hour for them, but they won't even sit in it because they can't see.
So now they're going to sit on your lap, and someone else could have sat there. Get them the booster. And one more note here for, you know, politeness. Take off your ears. You look good. I love my ears. But take them off for the movies and the theater, okay? We can't see around them, and no one's seeing you in them in the dark, so just be mindful.
[01:17:53] Speaker C: And they dig into your temple. Anyway, I always take them off in the theater because that's my one time where I get the break my temples get, you know, a break from. From the. The digging in of the headband.
[01:18:02] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[01:18:04] Speaker C: And Sarah's got a great tip. If kids can't hang, whether that's in the theater or in a line or even at dinner, the kids clubs are a great, you know, a great way for them to be entertained. Or you can watch the shows from your TV in the stateroom. I love that tip. That's a fantastic pro tip.
[01:18:22] Speaker B: There's so many ways to do all these experiences. Absolutely. Yeah.
[01:18:26] Speaker C: Yeah. I want to say one thing about character interactions, because that's one thing we haven't. We haven't talked about, which is you absolutely have your time with the characters, but don't monopolize the character. If there is a line of people behind you, take your pictures, take your quick video, and then move along so the next family can come. And that Disney hug thing is real, so they won't let go until you let go.
But let them let go.
[01:18:55] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And again, know your tech, plan ahead, do your research, Use the app to see where those favorite characters are. Right. And recognize that there are some things, like the royal gathering that people worked hard to get a reservation for. So don't cut in front, you know, understand why they're there. And maybe you missed it, you know, find other opportunities, so. Absolutely.
So our private islands. I mean, we could say this about most beaches, but I think I wanted to call out the two private ones because it's easy to think, oh, well, you know, this is still the Disney bubble and. And it's just fine and everything's just made up. But no, these are real islands. There are real people selling things there. From a cultural perspective, this is nature. Don't wreck it. Right. Don't bring things home. Don't take home the shells back to our do's. And don'ts of the prohibited items and all the Things. We'll get to disembarkation in a minute.
And I feel like on these days with the private islands is when people are going to rush again. It's so easy to say, okay, okay, take your time, be kind. But we all get in that crazy, like, castaway mindset. People just go crazy. So, you know, again, we don't want any injuries. It's a big old island. There's plenty of chairs for you. You're going to be fine. But remember, you are going to a real island, so bring those essentials.
[01:20:13] Speaker A: We have been to the private island experiences with Disney easily 20 plus times now. I have sat in every imaginable spot on these islands, and every one of those days was fun. So, yeah, I mean, there's like, there's no, like, magical set of chairs by the beach that are going to make or break your day at Castaway. And I would say it even starts on the ship.
Like, don't. Don't line up in the stairwells for the disembarkation at Castaways so you can be the first people off the ship. It's a safety issue for the crew to manage.
If it's really windy getting in and out and they're trying to dock the ship while you're in those stairways that can. That alone can create a safety challenge. So don't line up like, they will announce when the gangways are open and available for disembarkation. Just wait for that announcement and head down. It's supposed to be a vacation. It's supposed to be a vacation.
[01:21:06] Speaker B: That's right. Oh, my goodness.
And again, back to the buffet. I don't know why, but I think when people think, oh, I was in the sea and I'm outside, like, your hands are not clean.
[01:21:17] Speaker A: Do you know what fish do in the ocean? No.
[01:21:22] Speaker C: Take the wipes. If you don't want to go to the bathroom to wash your hands, they hand you the wipes. Take the wipe and wipe your hands before you everything.
[01:21:32] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. And a call out here, you know, for sun safety and the sand manners and water play again. There's people around you and, you know, especially dead of winter, you might not have been to a beach in a while, but your aerosol sunscreen is getting on me. You know, that's a real pet peeve of mine. Like, oh, I don't. I don't use that kind. Stop. Stop.
Be mindful of how your children are playing in the sand or the right. Like, we're not all here to be dumped on with that stuff that you're throwing. So just, again, it's a big old island and it's easy to forget, you know, personal space. But I think these are important things.
[01:22:04] Speaker A: I, I do want to say one thing about. Cause this, there's a theme that we haven't touched on, which is the, the unattended kids.
And, and so I am not the parent who's going to say, like, a parent needs to be there every second of every day for their kids. What I'm going to say is, you as parents, know your children, you know their level of responsibility, you know, you know how they can behave when they're accompanied unaccompanied. And so if you've got kids who are super responsible and respectful and are going to follow the rules and you want to let them kind of have a bit of freedom on the ship, totally fair.
If you're a parent out there and you see a pack of kids doing something they shouldn't, like I always like to tell people, instead of taking a photo of that and post it in the Facebook group, why don't you just wander over and tell those kids, knock it off. I've done that before with some kids. I've done it on an elevator. I just been like this. I'm. I'm a parent. Like, I, I'm an adult. I can tell these kids to knock it off. And so just do that. Like, I'm a product of being raised by a neighborhood full of parents. So you. Maybe that's a bad thing. Maybe I'm a bad PSA for that. But anyway, like, I would just say know your children and whether they're responsible enough to sort of be running around on their own on the island, on the ship.
[01:23:15] Speaker C: On the ship or not.
[01:23:17] Speaker A: If, if you have a child that you're going to give freedom to, I would highly encourage having a way to stay in communication with them, to understand where they are, what they're up to and be able to check in on them. And if your kid's just not responsible enough, it's okay.
It just means be a little bit more present so that they're not interrupting everyone else's cruise vacation.
[01:23:40] Speaker C: And if you have a kid who's going to run around the ship and take things off of people's doors and climb on the railings and throw ducks into trees and things like that, guess what? That's not a child that can't. Can be around the ship unaccompanied. That's just the reality of it. And it's okay if you have a kid like that, you just need to be with that kid. If you have a kid who can go around and only takes lollipops from the holder that says, please take one and goes around and looks at doors to admire them and is able to check themselves in and out of the kids club in a responsible way, then that's great. And then that kid can be unaccompanied while around the ship or on the private island or wherever, you know, wherever a safe place for you and your family to go. So just remember that.
[01:24:29] Speaker B: That was earlier ones that I think the cruise ships are an amazing place to learn that independence and to kind of test it. But yeah, you have to have the responsible conversations ahead of time. You know, monitor. Monitor them throughout. Like it's a great place for them to learn. As someone commented, the independence in the theaters. Right. Learning how to behave there and. Yeah, going around the ship a little, but exactly. Gotta have some guardrails. Again, mindful of their safety, but everyone else is too.
And those cruise memories that we keep talking about, that's key. And similarly, you know, if you have one of those children and, you know, oh, it's my vacation too, I'm just going to leave them in the kids club all day. Like, that's not good for anyone either. Right. That really puts a lot of pressure on the crew who are watching them in the youth club. If you're just leaving them there without, you know, being mindful of their time or their attitude. Right. You're pushing them too hard and then it backfires on everyone. Everybody. So I would also say with the youth clubs, as amazing as they are, avoid using them, you know, just to throw them in there and forget about them for a while. Right.
[01:25:30] Speaker C: Especially because they don't feed them in there anymore. You know, there was a time where, where they were, where they would feed your child, you know, during. For lunch or dinner, and now they don't. And so they don't allow any food in the kids clubs. And so, yeah, so you, if, if you're, you know, come and get your child and feed them lunch or dinner, you know, even if you're gonna feed them pool deck food. Yeah, yeah.
[01:25:56] Speaker A: And I'd say there is a different, a potential difference in throwing your kids in the kids club all day versus the kids who are like, yeah, I'm going back to the kids club if, if they want to be there and they're happy and they're engaged and they're getting fed and you know, that sort of thing. Like, if that's where they want to sleeps. That's where they want to spend their vacation.
I'm all for it. But yeah, we're talking about.
[01:26:15] Speaker B: Because you know that they're gonna be running around, so you're gonna. There is a solution. Absolutely. That's not happy for anyone or your family. Right?
[01:26:22] Speaker A: Exactly. Exactly.
All right, disembarkation.
Yeah, let's do some quick tips here because we're running way over on time.
[01:26:32] Speaker B: So this is a big day, but again, this is a great one where Disney provides lots of guidance. You know, it's on the tv, it's in the app, it's in your email.
Again, just follow the guidance. This is, you know, probably the most stressful day for the crew. It's really long day. I know. It's stressful for us too. But follow your breakfast routine. Again, if you're not going to be there in the morning, tell your dining team the night before. Thank them whether it's the night before. In the morning. Right. This is a quick breakfast. Don't expect to linger and, you know, have your four coffees. Follow the rules, follow the guidance.
Line up on time. Listen to those colored tags and the characters. Again, I know it's super sad, but there's a really, really well tested process here to get everyone off safely and efficiently. And if it doesn't suit your travel plans, you have that alternative to carry off. Right. To miss breakfast to carry off your own luggage. But again, they share how to do that. So this is a big part of, I think, leaning in and making sure the experience goes smoothly for all your guests. We all have planes to catch and places to go. And for the crew, again, to keep you safe and keep things moving on their craziest days, day of the week.
[01:27:38] Speaker A: Make sure you have your luggage outside your stateroom on time because we have seen late. I've seen a couple times recently on cruises where people set it out late and guess what? It's still there in the morning. So, yeah, so make sure.
[01:27:50] Speaker B: Absolutely follow it clearly. And I always tell my stateroom host, hey, I'm going to carry this off. Don't wait for me tonight. Like, this is my plan, you know.
[01:27:59] Speaker C: Which is super helpful because then they know, okay, I can go to bed once I've got the other rooms bags taken care of. You know, those folks, they work so hard. And as Amy mentioned, disembarkation day and embarcation day are the two hardest days. And guess what? For the crew, it's the same day.
That's when one. Right. So you're disembarking, but the next cruise is embarking or you're embarking, but the previous cruise already disembarked. So that is a very long and difficult 24 hours for that crew. And so be mindful of that. So you're having your, you know, your most stressful day at the beginning and the end of your.
And they're having their most stressful day at the beginning and the end of your cruise.
[01:28:41] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[01:28:43] Speaker A: All right, well, let's wrap up with any final thoughts here.
I want to pick up on one theme on this last slide around. Stay flexible at sea. I think flexibility for vacationing right now is just so important things happen. We just did a show with Leticia about the entire itinerary on her cruise changing. And one of the things I loved was how positive and upbeat she was about it, even even though wasn't the itinerary she was expecting. And the new itinerary is one she'd already done and she was in Europe. Right. And so travel is. Is more and more complicated these days by lots of things. And so the best thing that I think you can do, the best mindset I try to put myself in, I try to get very Zen about it, like control what you can control and let the rest go and just find the way to make the best out of it. The weather's not the greatest. It's not the greatest. Go play some troops trivia. You know, the pool's too crowded.
Book a spa appointment. Go to the rainforest Room to find that relaxing retreat if that's what you need to do. You know, don't like a food dish on board. That's okay. Tell them you don't like it. Get a different one. Right? So just, just go with the flow. Just, just get. It's a cruise. You're connected with the ocean. It's supposed to be relaxing. So yeah, I say things happen and just be prepared for that and be flexible.
[01:29:57] Speaker B: So, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And I think a lot of this was really geared to, you know, making you feel comfort and being prepared and understanding. And again, while we're mostly here, I don't think anyone's joining us from sea on land. Just kind of getting that perspective of, hey, like this is everyone's vacation. And I know there's, there can be a lot of pressure, right. These are expensive, maybe once in a lifetime trips kind of a thing. You want it to be perfect, but it can be perfect in its own way. But make sure that you're having that constant respect and grace for everyone on board because it really is a shared experience more than a lot of other vacations.
[01:30:31] Speaker C: Yeah. And guess what? If you follow all of these tips, you might actually make some new friends. Let me put, I want to put the word out there because I think one of the ways that you make new friends is by being inclusive, by being aware, by being courteous, by being friendly, by being kind, by asking somebody how their day is going. All of these things that we've been imparting to you throughout this entire show are going to teach you, you how to make a new friend. And maybe that new friend is your fellow passenger. Maybe that friend is your new dining companion. Maybe that new friend is your dining server or the counselor at the kids club who really took a shine to your child. Right. Like you. If you follow these tips, you will have a better cruise. You will make friends. You will not hate your family at the end of your trip. I mean, all of these things, things will make your, your cruise better. And as Nathan says, cruise friends are the best friends. I mean, I got my, I got my cruise bestie in the chat, Tracy, you know, jumping in all the time and you know, that happened just organically on a catamaran, chatting and, you know, enjoying a wonderful Disney cruise line excursion. So we are proof positive that this actually happens. And these tips are work.
[01:31:53] Speaker A: All right.
[01:31:53] Speaker B: And that's the magic in all of it, right? That's the connection. That's where things unfold, when everyone just leans into that kindness. Absolutely.
[01:32:01] Speaker A: Well, Amy, we got to extend a big thank you not only for coming on, but for staying a half hour past our normal ending time.
A lot of passionate discussion around this topic. A lot of great comments in the feed if you want to check it out after the fact. Of course, you're probably listening to this audio on our podcast channel, but you can always head over to YouTube as well to watch the video, see the PowerPoint presentation and the live, live chat as it was going. So. But Amy, thank you so much for spending some time with us this evening. We really appreciate it. And Sam, we will be back next week.
[01:32:34] Speaker C: We will have McKinley joining us. She is a travel advisor at My Path Unwinding Travel and she just got back from a Halloween on the high seas cruise. And so next week, because in honor of, of course, spooky season, we will be chatting all about what you can expect on a Halloween on the high seas Mickey impression right now doing his spooky Mickey impression. So we'll be on our normal time, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern. Join us live and of course we will have a great episode out coming this week with Emma from Emma Cruises. So lots of great content coming of course with our live shows.
[01:33:17] Speaker A: Two episodes this week.
[01:33:19] Speaker C: Two. Yeah, so two an extra show this week. But yeah, we will be and very soon our countdown is coming for the Destiny preview. So stay tuned, more to come and thanks for watching and listening everyone. We'll see you real soon.
[01:33:32] Speaker B: Good night. Thank you.
[01:33:38] Speaker A: Well, thanks to everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate it. Be sure to subscribe to the the podcast. You can keep getting great content from us every week. In fact, twice a week we publish shows. So be sure to hit the subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us alive, we have a live show now every week Monday nights, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out. If you want help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts. And if you leave us a written review, a five star written review, we will read it at the top of one of our main episodes. So please head over there and hit those five stars. Of course you can also help support the show by supporting our fabulous show sponsor, My Path Unwinding Travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation? Head over to mypathunwinding.com DCLDUO or email them at 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.com it's got links to all of our things, full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast, links off to our vlog, a link to our Etsy store. We sell some fun fan inspired Magnets link to our Patreon. If you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO also has a way for you to sign up for our substack newsletter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here, at least on a few blog articles that we've written. So DCLDUO.com is the best way to connect with us. You can also of course email
[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 Co. 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.
[01:35:51] Speaker B: SA.
