[00:00:00] Speaker A: But I also need to know if you saw the Indiana Jones. Choose wisely.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: We did.
[00:00:07] Speaker A: What'd you think of the show?
[00:00:09] Speaker B: It was bedlam.
[00:00:10] Speaker C: It was just.
[00:00:14] Speaker D: I love that bedlam.
[00:00:27] 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 from the DCL magazine.
[00:00:42] Speaker C: It's finally here. We can finally say DCL Magazine.
[00:00:46] Speaker E: I know. It's real. It's here. It's amazing.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: We could not be more excited.
[00:00:52] Speaker D: And a calendar.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: A calendar and a calendar.
[00:00:55] Speaker C: We could not have got. Honestly, you guys, we could not have got here without you and being such great cheerleaders and sharing our message with our float test issue and everything.
[00:01:03] Speaker F: Everything.
[00:01:04] Speaker C: And I do credit both of you with the idea that we should do a DCL calendar, because you put that in my mind about a year ago, and we've been, like, dropping little hints and surveying people to find out.
So, yes, there will be a calendar this year also for dcl, and I am personally designing it myself. Usually we have one of our designers do it, but I wanted. I started the WWDW magazine calendar 13, 14 years ago, and I was like, I'm doing the first DCL one, so if you don't like it, I guess.
[00:01:37] Speaker D: You can complain to me.
If I don't like it, I'll blame Danny.
[00:01:44] Speaker E: We've already been going through our short list. I mean, we have thousands of photos at this point and, you know, narrowing down what makes the best picture for a page in the calendar, what makes the best picture for a cover of the magazine, you know, and we think, you know, so it's a calendar. You need 12 stunning photos. 13 with the COVID 13 with the COVID cover. When you're trying to pick those out of a library of, I don't know, 8,000, 10,000 photos, and balance it, right?
[00:02:10] Speaker C: We want to show the different ships. We want to show both the islands different things. People love the chandeliers and the stern characters and, like, the pool deck. How do we balance all of that?
[00:02:21] Speaker D: You'll have to, right? And if. And with eight ships, I mean, you. If you just did a glamour shot of each ship from, you know, the sort of in the water or docked in port or something like that, you'd already have eight months. You'd only have five more shoes.
[00:02:36] Speaker E: And you know what, though? It's really hard sometimes to get those, like, full ship photos, because if you think about the way the ships dock at the various ports and, you know, like, if you Ever go to a port? Like, a tender port? Those are great from a photography point of view because that's a great opportunity to get, like, a big, beautiful, full ship photo. But depending on how you dock and who else is in port, like, sometimes you can't see the outside of your own cruise ship.
[00:03:03] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:03:04] Speaker A: I mean, I know why they do it, but I let. I wish they would let you bring a drone so you could, like, you could get a cool shot of the ship, but I get why they won't. Yeah.
[00:03:12] Speaker D: You know, I'm very curious.
[00:03:14] Speaker C: Oh, go ahead.
[00:03:14] Speaker D: I was gonna say you almost need, like, one of those, like, lookout spots. Like. Like in Catalina. There's a great, like, lookout spot in, like, Norway. There was a great look. Like if you have one of those where you're. Yeah. Where you're from, like up above or, you know, where you can kind of see the ship import. That's. I feel like that's the only way you can really. A great shot like that.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah. So you have a great, kind of. I think you're calling it, join the inaugural crew kind of promotion going on right now. And so, yeah. Tell folks how they can subscribe here.
[00:03:45] Speaker E: So a little bit of background info, you guys, on your podcast. You're familiar with this one. This was the float test issue. Right. And we published this one under the WDW magazine umbrella. What's special now? What this inaugural launch is all about is we are finally publishing DCL magazine as its own magazine title with a.
[00:04:05] Speaker C: Subscription, which we call memberships because we view our subscribers as members and part of our Disney family, part of our.
[00:04:13] Speaker E: Community that we're building. And then. So right now, it's at our best price we've ever offered. It's our. Our special launch.
It's your annual subscription, which includes two issues of the magazine as well as a wall calendar.
[00:04:26] Speaker C: We will be doing the magazine every six months, so twice a year at least, to start.
And those will arrive in April and Oct, October every year. And then the calendar. I know it's very early in the year, but the calendar that you're actually signing up for now is one that will come next fall. It will be for 2027.
[00:04:47] Speaker E: So that is, make sure everybody gets a full year out of their calendars. We don't want to be shipping something halfway through the year. But also, you're thinking about, you know, the release schedules of cruising itineraries. Cruisers are already talking about their 2027 plans.
[00:05:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:02] Speaker E: So getting the 2027 wall calendar to pencil in those sa I think it's.
[00:05:07] Speaker C: Perfect and it's really important for us to kind of get these early numbers so that we know how many to print. We will obviously print enough for everybody who's pre ordered them, but then we'll print some extras for people who might want to get them as Christmas gifts and things in the fall.
So it really helps us out as a small business to be able to do that. But that's basically our annual subscription package. You get both the issues and you get the calendar guaranteed. And that is on sale now until March 10th. If you order after March 10th, that first issues not going to be part of your subscription. You order on March 11, you'll start with issue two which is not going to arrive until the fall and right now until the end of January. We're actually doing $10 off of that. But you could save even more if you use your DCL Duo code, which is at the bottom of the screen here if people are watching on YouTube.
And next week on February 1st, we are releasing a different way to buy.
So you'll still be able to buy the annual bundle, but you won't $10 savings. You can still use your DCL Duo code, but we'll also be offering a semiannual subscription which basically means you pay every six months. You pay, we send you, hey, we send you an issue. Both of them are auto renewing but you know, it's easy peasy if you kind of just set it and forget it. Do the once a year charge.
[00:06:30] Speaker D: Love it, love it. And we, we've got to say Brian, co host and producer of the DCL Duo podcast, is set to have another article in the inaugural of the DCL magazine. And there's already ideas.
[00:06:48] Speaker A: Oh, it's up to you. It's up to you. I'm happy to share.
[00:06:52] Speaker E: So we had a great issue, a great article contributed by Brian in the Float Test. A lovely story about castaway key and the parasailing experience there. And so we invited Brian back to contribute more to the magazine.
I just finished layout on your port excursion to Pulpit Rock in Norway, which I think is a really one, it's a lovely story but it's a beautiful destination and a really unique port excursion available through dcl.
So for fans of the podcast, if you want to hear a little bit more insight from Brian himself about these port excursions, you can look forward to this Pulpit Rock piece in issue one of DCL magazine.
[00:07:37] Speaker A: We, we are excited. I, I, I just want to say to all of our listeners out there, so a Couple things. One is if you can't see the scrolling bar because you're not watching us on YouTube, you're listening after the fact. Head to dcl-magazine.com and if you subscribe, you can take an additional 10% off using our code, which is all caps DCLDUO. And we have a commitment here. We. We get solicited by a lot of different, like jewelry. We got solicited by some AI travel company the other day, other travel agents, you know, all kinds of stuff.
We only sponsor and advertise stuff on our show that we use ourselves. So I have already subscribed.
We're not just taking free issues from Danny and Stephanie. We subscribed to the DCL magazine. We show them some love.
So head over there today and help them out because this is truly great work. We love the magazine, love the flow test issue, and can't wait for the first edition.
[00:08:28] Speaker E: Thank you so much. We appreciate it.
We know how passionate you guys are about dcl.
Our team at the magazine, we're all big fans and we want to celebrate and share in everyone's fandom. It means a lot to have your support and I know your listeners will love our product if they try it out, because we're Disney fans, just like all of them, you know, and we're here, we want to experience the magic and the joy and talk about this thing that we all love to do so much.
[00:08:58] Speaker C: I do see a couple comments coming in from the viewers talking about photos, and I do. Can I just address that for a moment?
[00:09:05] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
[00:09:06] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:09:07] Speaker C: We have a wonderful team of photographers that we work with for all the magazines where we do all of our own original photography. There's very occasionally, like a piece of concept art or something like that from Disney that we share, something historical from archives. But almost all of the photography we do and over on our social channels is all done in house by our own team of professional photographers. And that is going to be the case also with DCL Magazine. So what? Or, sorry, yes, DCL Magazine, but the DCL magazine calendar. So if you like what you see on our socials, if you like what you see in the magazines, that is also what you can expect in the calendar itself.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: And at some point, we are going to follow through on this idea to do a show with Danny talking about how to take your best cruise photos on board, because just message him.
[00:09:57] Speaker E: He'll be happy I'm available. You know, if there's something that I like to talk about even more than Disney, it's talking about camera stuff.
But yeah, you know, those photos are really important. They're the, for some people, you know, cruising is a, a rare and very special occasion and you want to document and have those memories and we want.
[00:10:17] Speaker C: You to feel like you're kind of having that moment of escape. Right. Escape from the everyday when you're flipping through the magazine or the calendar. I see another comment that's does the magazine ship to Canada? Yes, all of our magazines and print ship worldwide and actually with DCL magazine in either of the subscription formats, it includes free shipping worldwide.
[00:10:37] Speaker B: So I was going to be surprised.
[00:10:39] Speaker A: If it didn't ship to Canada because you all are based in Canada.
[00:10:43] Speaker C: Outside of Toronto for those of you who don't know. So, yeah, we always do everything that we can for our Canadian fans.
[00:10:52] Speaker D: Listen, your aboot is showing so we know.
[00:10:58] Speaker A: Well, Stephanie, Dani, it's always a pleasure to have you on. I know we're going to have you on in the future. So thank you so much. We are so excited for this magazine. To all of our listeners out there, we really, really go over there, show them some love. Subscribe today. We cannot cannot wait. So stay warm, everybody.
[00:11:13] Speaker E: Thanks, guys. Have a great one.
[00:11:15] Speaker D: Yes, stay warm.
[00:11:17] Speaker A: Bye.
[00:11:18] Speaker D: All right, all of our guests are stuck in inches and inches of snow or centimeters for the Canadians who just left us. And of course, we're joined by the lovely and wonderful Kayleigh and Rob. Welcome back to the show, Kaylee. And welcome to the show. Rob. We're so excited to have you.
[00:11:38] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:11:38] Speaker F: We're excited to be here.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:11:41] Speaker D: Now, you guys are also kind of snowed in up in Connecticut, but we're so thankful that you were able to that you have electricity, you have Internet. So you're able to join us tonight.
[00:11:57] Speaker F: And we are very happy to also. We're also very happy to have electricity and Internet.
[00:12:02] Speaker D: Absolutely. Yes. And we're going to talk about your sailing on the Treasure, but we're also going to cover it from the concierge angle because we know you guys are regular concierge cruisers and experts in all things concierge.
[00:12:16] Speaker A: That's how we met Kaylee.
[00:12:18] Speaker D: That is how we met Kaylee in the first place.
But we do want to talk a little bit of news before we dive into that topic. And we wanted to bring you guys on for that news segment as well. Brian, remind me what is let's do.
[00:12:33] Speaker A: Quick hits so we have enough time to cover the Treasure experience. So first quick hit. Let me see if I can do the quick hits. So first quick hit is Disney Cruise Line has announced that you will now be able to not just download your photos after your cruise, you'll be able to purchase them after your cruise. So if you don't pre purchase or purchase on board, you'll be able to go to the DCL photos website and purchase packages after the fact and look at your photos and decide if you.
[00:12:58] Speaker D: Want to buy them within 45 days of sailing. And this is only for US residents, apparently. So if you're international, you may still have to purchase on board, at least for the time being. And this is effective, I believe, already. Like, I believe it went effective. It went live maybe five days ago or something. So this is live now. Okay. Another piece of news from the Disney Dream. Bingo and Bluey were supposed to arrive on board for different events and meet and greets in February, but they have already arrived. They got there early. I don't know, they must have flown from Australia.
They took maybe a Red Eye fly or like maybe they took the Concorde jet or something, but they arrived early.
[00:13:41] Speaker A: Man, I hope they didn't put them in little kennels underneath the plane. I hope they got first class seats. That would just be a travesty.
[00:13:47] Speaker D: No, first class. First class. First class all the way from Bingo and Bluey. But they are doing two events on board the Disney Dream, it appears. I mean, I can't guarantee it, but from what folks have reported, we've seen there's one event called Wakey Wakey, which is kind of a morning dance party and it is heavily subscribed.
And then they are doing an evening program called Pajama Party. Pajama spells the kind of funny way that they spell it over in Australia, which is a py jama.
But anyway, it's really. They look really cute. I haven't been able to get video quite yet, but I'm hoping from folks who are sailing very, very soon to get some video of these events.
There are some videos floating around on social media, but not as much as I want to see, I gotta say. But I'm excited to meet Bingo and Bluey. But it's gonna be a while because we're not going on the Dream or I believe. Well, I know they're on the Wonder in the Australia, New Zealand.
[00:14:42] Speaker A: I do want to. I just want to say one thing there, which is we really appreciate all the listeners who've reached out with videos of the adventure who are on board getting us videos of. Of Bluey and Bingo. You know, if you've got fun stuff happening on your cruise and you want to share it with us, you can just email it to us and we might end up posting it on our socials, especially stuff that's new that we haven't seen before.
We're happy to give you credit, but just a big shout out to all the folks who've been helping us out with getting video and photos of the treasure. Cause Obviously, we're like 2,500 miles away, so we can't get support Canaveral to get that stuff right now. But some amazing stuff has been rolling in and I just wanted to thank.
[00:15:17] Speaker D: The listeners out there.
And for people who ask, the more video you get me, the better. And if you're taking video up and down, not sideways.
So portrait, not landscape. And that's because Instagram, gram, not YouTube.
Exactly. Because that's where I'm posting those kinds of just, you know, short, short videos.
[00:15:38] Speaker A: But anyway, Nathan is reminding me of one more big piece of news. Go Seahawks. Thank you, Rob, for repping today. Although we lost like 4, 5 followers after we posted. Congratulations. So those Pats fans out there are unfollowing us. So.
[00:15:50] Speaker D: Yeah, no, not the Pats fans. It must have been the Rams fans.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: Either way. Either way. Either way. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Last big piece of news. This is gonna come under the extremely rumor. We have nothing to back this up, but we are hearing there might be a new towel animal coming. And it's one that we've wanted for like a year since. So some of you may remember that. That Disney released that fun commercial with the dog that was a towel animal running around the ship and he misses you. Well, we are hearing that could be coming to a Mickey's Mainsail near you. So we don't know when. We don't know if this is actually true, but if it happens, we expect those things to fly off the shelves. So if you see this thing on board, please let us know because we would love to get one ourselves.
And actually, I lied. There is one other additional piece of news we wanted to highlight. There are some rumors circulating as well that itinerary bookings are gonna open in mid February. We've been seeing some art and graphics. We don't know from where. So I wanna be clear. We don't have any definitive information that would track generally with the release of itineraries that we've seen in the past.
When itineraries are released last year. Yeah, when itineraries are released, you can expect a show from us to break it all down and sleuthing. Sam will go to work. But we are expecting to see some itineraries here in the next couple of weeks from Disney for a mid February bookings to open for.
I think summer and fall of 2027 is probably what we should expect.
[00:17:20] Speaker D: Well, summer, I don't think fall. I think just summer 2027.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: I thought they kind of moved to a twice a year release schedule.
[00:17:26] Speaker D: Well, that's what they said they were gonna do, but I don't know if they've actually done it. So we'll see. I mean, I don't know. We don't know. We don't know for sure what they'll release, except we know that summer has to be coming because it's getting.
[00:17:38] Speaker A: That's next.
[00:17:38] Speaker D: Yeah, it's next. Exactly. Exactly.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: All right, let's get on board the Treasure. I want to hear all about Kaylee and Rob's fabulous first experience with the Disney Treasure.
So let me start with this.
You've been on the Wish, obviously.
How did you find that your first you step on board the Treasure?
Were you like, wow, this is so much better than the Wish or it's all right. What did you think of the first impression of the show?
[00:18:08] Speaker B: Me, it was just different. It's a different design, different, different decor. I mean, we had seen some photos, so we had sort of an idea of the sort of richness and the colors that were in the Grand Hall. So some of it was expected, but to see it in real life was really amazing.
It was nice to see that it was that much different than Wish.
[00:18:29] Speaker A: Yeah. What about you, Kaylee? How was it for you?
[00:18:31] Speaker F: Yeah, I agree. I feel like when. When Wish first came out and everybody was sort of pooh poohing all the differences and there was all this sort of push about where was the classic Disney ship that everybody knows and loves and we love Wish. Wish is beautiful.
The theming of Wish really speaks to me personally. But it wasn't until Treasure, the pictures of Treasure started coming out that I appreciated Wish even more because it just, you know, it's such a contrast point. And now with Destiny as well. I feel like it gives you an opportunity to appreciate each of them for their own individual, unique.
I cried like a baby when we got on Treasure, and I hadn't really expected it, honestly. I mean, I do cry when we get on a cruise, but I cried for how different it was and how rich it was and how beautiful it was.
[00:19:20] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
[00:19:21] Speaker F: I think we decided that Wish was like the prettiest ship, but that Treasure felt richly beautiful in a different way. If that makes Sense, Yes.
[00:19:30] Speaker D: Beautiful and pretty. Two different adjectives, but perfectly describing those two ships. That's why I still feel like if you want to have a wedd or a vow renewal, you should go on the wish. Like, that's like, it's got this, like more.
Yeah, it's got these, like, just more pastel vibes, like that more princessy feel. Right. Whereas I feel like the treasure has. Yeah. This deep richness, these jewel tones, this great theming in the. In the grand hall. Right. Like, it's. It's just. It's just perfect.
Now, was this eastern or western Caribbean itinerary?
[00:20:06] Speaker F: This was eastern.
[00:20:07] Speaker D: Okay. Of course, the best itinerary, you got the, you know, seven nights in, the best itinerary. Now, you guys. You guys pretty much always book concierge, right?
[00:20:17] Speaker F: We do, yes. Guilty as charged. We made the mistake of starting off our Disney cruise line history with concierge, and there was really no looking back for that.
[00:20:27] Speaker D: So it's. It is, it is a hard.
Yeah, I mean, we like, we go back and forth because, you know, prices being what they are, sometimes it makes sense. We feel like. And the benefits are sufficient to make us enticed to concierge, and other times we feel like maybe it doesn't, you know, maybe it's not going to make that much of a difference. But I want to, I want to talk a little bit about the, the booking process for concierge because it's a little bit different. And I don't mean booking the cruise when you book the cruise, whether that. That's through an amazing travel advisor like Kaylee or someone else at my Path unwinding or somebody else elsewhere versus booking with Disney. It doesn't matter whether you're booking concierge or regular. You're essentially, you're going through the same sort of booking process, but you do get differences in booking your activities. So, Kayleigh, why don't you tell folks what that, like, sort of looks like when you're talking about booking for concierge? So, like your, you know, Palo brunch, your Remy dinner, Enchante dinner, that sort of stuff.
[00:21:28] Speaker F: Sure. So it is always my recommendation whether you book with me or someone at mypath Unwinding or another agency to work with, somebody who is versed in concierge and what's available to you as a concierge guest, because there is a lot that you don't wanna miss out on. You're certainly paying a premium, so it's nice to take advantage of that a little before 130 days, the shoreside concierge team reaches out to you and gives you some, just sort of touches base and gives you some information, lets you know that you're at 130 days. They'll start accepting your requests, which is a full week prior to pearl. So there's a real advantage there to take, you know, to get what you can booked during that window or requested, I should say.
And then at 130 days you can submit those requests. And it's for everything from port adventures, including cabanas, spa, nursery time, adult dining, really any of the things that might be going on in the ship, beverage tastings, the royal gathering, you can book as a concierge guest at that point, whereas non concierge is not until 30 days out.
So it's really the perfect time to sort of start that relationship with Shoreside concierge or through your travel advisor, to get those things put on the calendar as soon as you can.
[00:22:46] Speaker D: Yeah. Now, how do you guys balance? Like you have all the ability to book everything, but you're also on a brand new ship. So I'm curious, like, like Rob, how do you, you balance like, well, how much time am I going to spend in these add on activities or in the concierge lounge versus how much time I'm going to spend exploring all these new spaces on this new ship?
[00:23:08] Speaker B: Absolutely. No, I think this time we definitely had less things booked ahead of time. Yeah, I think we did. Did we do any beverage tastings?
[00:23:15] Speaker F: We did nothing.
This was cruise number 15 for us. So we've done all the tastings, we done all of these port adventures before we've been to these ports.
[00:23:25] Speaker B: Right.
[00:23:26] Speaker F: We really just wanted to spend the time enjoying the ship, like Rob was.
[00:23:29] Speaker B: Saying, and enjoying the lounge and spending the time on the sun deck there. Obviously we had Ruby and her friend with us, so I think we definitely wanted to leave time available to do things with them and not be like, well, we have this booked. Although we did try to find some time for ourselves, which they kept dragging us to every trivia possible.
So it was a lot of trivia.
But just touching on the concierge thing, I think that it's important for people to realize that there's advantages on the ship and then of course, before you get on the ship, because you might not realize that those things are available to you to be able to book those things ahead of time. And that's to me as big of an advantage as the things that are available once you're on board.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: Kelly, there's a good question in the chat here, because I'm always confused about this. I'm always reaching out to me like make sure we're paid in full before our request date.
But Linda in the chat is saying that she was able to submit her booking request without being paid in full. Do you have to be paid in full to submit your request?
[00:24:27] Speaker F: You do not have to be paid in full to submit requests. And actually now that they've rolled back the window, that's I think for a seven night, I think it's 90 days. Is that right? I should know this off the top of my head. But I always double check and you do not have to be paid in full until that date. However, you will not be able to access or book anything for yourself through the app or online.
[00:24:48] Speaker A: Gotcha.
[00:24:49] Speaker D: Okay. So you can tell sure site concierge to book, but you can't change stuff.
[00:24:54] Speaker F: In the app for you, but you can't do it yourself until you are fully paid.
[00:24:59] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:24:59] Speaker A: Probably you may not be, you may not be able to see the activities either to know what they can see them. Okay.
[00:25:04] Speaker F: I believe you can't interact with them. They're locked for you. They're grayed out.
[00:25:09] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. So, so with the 130 day email, I just want to give a add to what Kaylee was saying in the. That and then there's 123 days for Pearl cruisers. So for Brian and I are already pearl status. So if we've booked concierge and we sent those requests at 130 days, at 123 days, everything will show up in the app. And actually that's actually the case. Even if you're like a silver or no status, if you are sailing concierge at 123 days, everything will show up in the app. And if you're paid in full, you can then interact with those things. So you can add stuff or subtract track stuff at that time yourself.
Which is kind of nice because you may have changed your mind or you may have or sure side of me have booked you a spa appointment at a time you're like, not really.
You want to, you know, you want to switch it up.
[00:26:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And Ed's saying he thought pay in full was 120 days. But I'm with you, Kale. I think they changed that not too long ago. Yeah, yeah, not too long ago. Yeah, yeah. I mean, verify with Disney. Don't, don't go off of what we're saying, but verify with Disney.
[00:26:14] Speaker D: Yeah, well, at least these, but yeah, these dates the other part is the dates change. Disney's often changing things.
[00:26:21] Speaker F: Things like whether it's a seven night cruise or it's one to six or there's. There are some differences. So just always check Disney directly or your travel advisor.
[00:26:29] Speaker A: So what I'd like to do for a second is I want to walk through some of the unique spaces on the Treasure and just get your kind of quick takes on what you thought about these, these new spaces that they're offering on board.
Maybe I'll start with a kind of an easy one, which is the Skipper Society, which is the replacement for the. The Bayou on.
I thought it was a pretty interesting and unique theme space, kind of a fun space. What did. Kaylee, let me start with you. What did you think about Skipper Society?
[00:26:55] Speaker F: We loved it. We are big Jungle Cruise fans, big Skipper Canteen fans when we're in the parks. I thought the theming was fantastic. I thought that it felt.
We never really spent much time in the Bayou and maybe just because on Wish we were on a three and a four and we had more time to sort of relax and explore on this ship.
But I thought, I think it's fantastic. I thought the drinks were great. They had good coffees there. We were there for a number of trivias. So yeah, we liked it.
[00:27:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:26] Speaker B: Yeah, great. I mean, when I found out that Treasure was going to bring these elements of the parks into the ship, I was definitely excited about that. So obviously Haunted Mansion we're all excited about, but Skipper Society definitely. I felt like brought a little bit more than the Bayou for me because we are such fans of that area in the parks.
[00:27:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And for folks, I'm trying to remember, we speak in code. So for folks who are new to our show and have not sailed on Disney before researching these ships, Skipper Society is kind of a central bar just off the atrium.
Open bar. They do a lot of trivia there. Drinks they have.
[00:28:05] Speaker D: It's open to kids and adults. Adults, they, they do.
They do beignets on the in the Bayou version of it. They do. I believe it's waffles in the Skipper Society version of it.
[00:28:19] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:28:20] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Multi space for sure.
[00:28:22] Speaker F: They use it for bingo. There's live music there. So it's definitely.
[00:28:27] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. And it's a. And it's a book. It's kid friendly at all, all hours that it's open, even though it's.
It's a bar, but it's not a bar, if that makes sense. It's not an enclosed space. It's an Open space that's always open to all ages.
[00:28:42] Speaker A: Let's head across the hall now, because Haunted Mansion Parlor.
Yeah. Rob, what did you think of Haunted Mansion Parlor?
[00:28:50] Speaker B: Oh, it's just amazing. It's incredible. I mean, Haunted Mansion's probably my favorite ride.
So we. I mean, and we were so surprised that we were able to just walk in, like, three times. We had no issues and just sit right down. And I think the first time, we didn't stay for maybe the sort of whole experience, but then when we went back, we did, and it's just. It's incredible.
[00:29:10] Speaker F: We had seen the photos, we'd seen the videos. Nothing compares until you're actually sitting in that space. It is so immersive and so well done.
[00:29:21] Speaker A: Did you have any favorite elements out of the show?
[00:29:24] Speaker B: Oh, I think it was the fish tank.
[00:29:26] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:29:28] Speaker B: Cause we watched the pre show.
[00:29:29] Speaker F: I thought you were gonna say the bartenders with the.
[00:29:31] Speaker B: Oh, that's true.
[00:29:32] Speaker F: The tambourine's making the noises. That was so cool.
[00:29:36] Speaker B: But the fish tank was great because we had watched a little sort of documentary prior to boarding, and it talked about, you know, what went into making the fish tank and how they added. What did they add?
[00:29:46] Speaker F: The seahorse.
[00:29:47] Speaker B: The seahorse. So we kept looking for the seahorse. Eventually we saw it. It was incredible.
[00:29:51] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:29:53] Speaker D: There's lots of those little, like, Easter eggs that you kind of can find that might not sort of always be apparent. It's really fun.
I think all throughout the themed spaces, you get that both in Skipper Society and Haunted Mansion and Periscope Pub, Right. Like, you have all these sort of, like, little hidden gems that are really fun if you could have the time to really, like, immerse yourself. And the great thing about, I think, Haunted Mansion Parlor, and I wasn't a fan of putting it on the Destiny, but then when I got on the Destiny, I was like, I still really love this. And so I kind of love that it's on the Treasure and the Destiny, to be perfectly honest, because those are now my, like, two favorites.
[00:30:31] Speaker F: So I was also disappointed that they repeated it on Destiny, but I completely understand why, and I will be so excited when we do sail on Destiny to experience it there.
[00:30:40] Speaker E: So, yeah, I think the only.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: The only problem with that bar, I feel like, is the drinks are just not great. And I wonder. That's part of the reason why people can just walk right in because no one's really sitting there ordering a drink. I just don't think we did.
[00:30:52] Speaker F: We tried some drinks, both with alcohol. And without. Because we had had the girls with us and that, you know, they just sort of were like melted candy. Like they were very fun and the presentation was neat. But definitely, I think the next time we went in we brought drinks from the concierge lounge.
[00:31:09] Speaker D: See that's the, that, that's the, the super secret cheat. Right. Like if you are, you know, if you sail in concierge from 5 to 10 in the lounge drinks are included and so you're not paying for the. It's an open bar situation. They don't have like Louis Trez but they have like the kind of standard bar fare and all good labels and.
[00:31:33] Speaker A: Yeah, you can have some top shelf. They do have some top shelf liquor.
[00:31:36] Speaker D: I just mean they don't have like. Yeah, I just mean they are not going to give you something that costs you know, fifteen hundred dollars a bottle. But they do have some, some really nice stuff in there. And you can take your drink with you wherever you go on the ship. You don't have to drink it in the concierge lounge. So that is one of the, one of the benefits. And when your drinks are too sweet at the haunted mansion parlor, get a drink someplace else. Whether concierge lounge or whether it's giver society and just bring it with you.
[00:32:03] Speaker A: Yeah, let's. Let's complete the circle here on the grand atrium level or the atrium level and head to Scat Cat Lounge. So kind of a unique theme space. The Aristocats themed bar on board. The layout is a little different than what you would have experienced in Nightingale's on the wish piano bar. Still.
What did you think about Scat Cat Lounge?
[00:32:25] Speaker B: I'll go. I think it was like our favorite place to get a drink. I agree and I regret that we only did it. I think just the one time.
Somehow we found ourselves like tucked into a little corner.
Another group came and sat near us and we sort of chit chatted with them for a bit. But it really felt like the most comfortable, relaxing space to grab a drink before dinner.
I think this one we did. It was before dinner.
[00:32:50] Speaker F: Yeah, we loved and the drinks were fantastic. They're really interesting.
We had that Earl Grey drink that was so good.
[00:32:58] Speaker A: Yeah, I think they've done some really.
Even on the Destiny. Some innovative stuff with that bar in terms of the drinks and the presentations. And I love the piano. I just, I always wish it was just a little bigger because it's. The one on the desk is completely oversubscribed because of the.
[00:33:12] Speaker F: I was surprised that the.
That it had the outside seating. So that's different from Wish where there's the bar outside where you could sit and get the drink. So that helps a little with the overflow.
[00:33:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:23] Speaker F: But I do imagine on Destiny with it being Cruella's, it's tougher to find that quiet corner. Yeah.
[00:33:29] Speaker A: The additional entertainment there that they had those, those meet and play opportunities with Cruella. Yeah, it's tough. It's tough.
[00:33:36] Speaker G: 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 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 dclduomypathunwinding so they know we sent you their way. Thanks My Path Unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:34:35] Speaker A: All right, well, let's head upstairs. One last bar to cover that is brand new to the the Disney Treasure, which is the Periscope Pub.
[00:34:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it was amazing. That's why I watched the Seahawk 49er game the first time we got on.
It was incredible.
[00:34:50] Speaker D: Oh, those are the other followers that unfollowed us. Probably. Brian. It's the Niners.
[00:34:58] Speaker F: On the ship on embarkation day because he. Did you have on your Seahawks or were you just talking to everyone who had on?
[00:35:03] Speaker B: No, I saw this one. One person younger than us, but he had on a Seahawks jersey. So I was like, go Hawks. Like prior to Sail Away.
So he was like the games in Periscope Pub. So it was four Seahawks fans and 24 Niner fans.
[00:35:20] Speaker D: That's kind of amazing.
[00:35:22] Speaker B: It was amazing. It was very cool. And we were doing something in Sarabi.
[00:35:25] Speaker D: Right?
[00:35:26] Speaker B: Right. So I was sort of running back and forth checking on the game, checking on you guys There. But theming wise we did also.
[00:35:34] Speaker F: We did the.
What is the tour called? The Walking the Treasure. I can't imagining the Treasure like the Walking the Witch or the art of the theme tour. And they spent a good amount of time in Periscope Pub. And that was really fun to go in there during the day and see some of the details. And that space was really, really neat.
[00:35:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:52] Speaker F: I loved the detail that all of the footage from the water and the fish came from EP caught. It was really. I thought that was a neat detail.
[00:36:00] Speaker A: Yeah. The ceiling. The ceiling is cool.
I wish the Periscope worked. We had actually heard from somebody on board that they were planning to actually upgrade that and make it do something in the future. So that I think it'd be cool if you could look through and see the bridge cam view.
[00:36:14] Speaker F: That would be really cool.
[00:36:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
Beth, to answer your question in the chat, the pub food is only. There is no food really offered in Haunted Mansion Parlor Pub food is only in Skipper society. Sorry, not Skipper society. In Periscope Publisher Pub and in Cask and Cannon.
Did I get that right, Sam? I'm always getting wrong.
[00:36:35] Speaker D: It is Periscope Pub. On the Treasure and then on the Wish it is. Remind me. Oh my God, what is the name of that pub?
I can never.
[00:36:44] Speaker A: That's actually one of the pubs because they didn't theme it.
[00:36:49] Speaker D: I just always forget which the names. But on all of the ships the only place you can get. Get those like that pub bar food like the wings and stuff is like in the pub or in the older ships in sort of the. They have those late night snacks. You can get some fantasy things in the dream class.
[00:37:09] Speaker A: Yeah, the dream class ships have that in the near piazza. I think it's called the Carousel Bar. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Well, you mentioned Sarabi, so I gotta ask you what you thought about the Sarabi space. But I also need to know if you saw the Indiana Jones. Choose wisely.
[00:37:29] Speaker B: We did.
[00:37:31] Speaker A: What'd you think of the show?
[00:37:33] Speaker B: It was. It was bedlam. It was just.
[00:37:38] Speaker D: I love that bedlam.
[00:37:40] Speaker B: The few people that walked out, I was like, maybe you're not getting it. Maybe I'm not getting it. I'm not really sure. But it. It really was so much fun.
[00:37:48] Speaker F: Bedlam is the perfect word. It was so much fun.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: It was so much fun that we had seen them earlier as Coriander and Sage.
[00:37:55] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:37:56] Speaker B: Sort of doing their storytelling in the Grand Hall. So we loved them there and it was just. It was crazy. It was very cool. I was definitely glad that we stayed up for it.
[00:38:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:07] Speaker B: So much fun. I remember you guys mentioning it. It's, you know, it's so interesting, the Wish Treasure thing, at least for me. Like, when we got on Wish, I was like, wait, why is this here? And why is this about Luna? Yeah, about Luna and about just the whole layout compared to, like, Dream Class and, you know, where we were used to things being so. I feel like by the time I got on Treasure, I was kind of used to things being in different places, so I felt like I enjoyed the spaces more just for the fact that I. I knew what to expect going into it. So we didn't really spend this time in Luna, but we were like.
[00:38:40] Speaker F: We were in front row in Sarabi.
[00:38:42] Speaker B: The whole time, you know, I mean.
[00:38:44] Speaker D: You weren't just front row, you were actually on stage in Sarabi. If we're telling the truth about it. I have. I have the clips. I have the clips to prove it. I'm not shar. I'm on social media, but I have the clips to prove.
[00:38:56] Speaker A: I don't know what happened here.
[00:38:58] Speaker B: Did you.
[00:38:58] Speaker A: Did you do Match youh Mate or Match youh Matey or something?
[00:39:00] Speaker B: We did Match youh Matey.
[00:39:02] Speaker E: Love it.
[00:39:03] Speaker F: So Coriander and Sage were running that. I don't remember if they had a different name.
[00:39:08] Speaker B: We went to Match youh Mate and maybe were Ruby and Addy with us? I don't remember. And maybe they made a little bit of noise about us getting chosen, but they chose some other couples and that was fine. And then we went to matchmaking.
[00:39:21] Speaker D: Ruby is college age, by the way. Ruby is college age. She's not a little kid. So she. She can go.
[00:39:27] Speaker F: Yep.
[00:39:28] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:39:28] Speaker F: So they were at all the 18 plus stuff with us and they're always rooting for us to go up, but at 25 years of marriage, you're in the middle there. You know what I mean? Like, they want the newlyweds. They want the four.
[00:39:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:39:40] Speaker F: They want five years, 10 years. I thought we were safe, but apparently not.
[00:39:45] Speaker B: But at match 80, there was no one, I think, above 15 other than us. There was the same couple at 40, but they were like, we're not going to choose you again. And of course, Ruby and Addie were like, pick them, pick them. We were all the way up in the balcony too, which does bring up.
[00:40:00] Speaker F: A point with Sarabi and Luna, that when you have. When you get called downstairs, you have to go all the way out into the elevator and the stair bed. Well, and like run down.
[00:40:10] Speaker B: They Need a little spiral staircase in there just to come down. That's a design too.
So it was amazing. It was so much fun. I mean, two of them, we might have won.
[00:40:18] Speaker D: They won. Ryan. They won. We won.
[00:40:21] Speaker B: We got a perfect score which they claim they've never seen before. So. So we got extra treats for that.
But it was very cool. It was very fun.
[00:40:30] Speaker F: We also became friends with Frank and Tim who run this sort of entertainment. So Frank is the head of adult entertainment, Tim is sort of his sidekick. And Frank has a theater background and a number of connections to Stoney Creek and our area. So we sort of made all these connections and then once that happened, we saw him everywhere and we went to all the things and so he was very excited that, you know, we'd made friends and now we won with Coriander and Sage and it was all very full circle. It was very fun.
[00:40:59] Speaker A: I feel like the problem with those shows is once you're up on stage, you're celebrities for the rest of the cruise. People, especially with Match or me, people are wandering around like, oh, there's the Volkswagen bug people.
[00:41:08] Speaker B: People were asking questions that were inappropriate at times.
[00:41:15] Speaker F: Was equally mortified and also really proud like she was. It was cute.
[00:41:20] Speaker A: My best piece of advice if you're multi generational cruising is don't get Grandma and Grandpa called up on stage because you're gonna need therapy after that for a while. So.
[00:41:27] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:41:32] Speaker A: All right. Well, speaking of Coriander and Sage, did you catch any of their other sort of acts on board? And I mean like the way I look at this is like the Wish introduced the spaces. The Treasure really kind of upped the spaces and introduced the entertainment and then the Destiny really ups the entertainment then in those spaces.
Yeah. What did you think of Coriander and Sage around the ship?
[00:41:55] Speaker B: Well, we saw the storytelling in the grand hall and that was. It was, it was great. It was very cool. We regretted that we didn't end up taking a photo with them at some point because they definitely added a lot to the experience. I mean, obviously if you're on Treasure and it's a week long cruise, you're most likely making more connections than you would on a three or four night.
Not that you can't on those cruises because if you put yourself out there, you'll definitely make those connections with the crew and other.
But obviously on a seven night and you know, like we said with having Addy and Ruby, they were going to even more things than we were.
[00:42:28] Speaker F: You were going to all the things you're Making those connections with the crew, which really adds something.
[00:42:33] Speaker B: You know, we did the scavenger hunt thing at one point, and I had to grab the Seahawk fan that I had met on the first day, take him from his team to help our team. So I felt a little more comfortable doing that, knowing that we had met each other already.
[00:42:47] Speaker D: Yeah, it makes a. It makes a big difference. I do, I think, think that, you know, there's something special about those longer cruises because of those connections that you make. You're right. The three and four night cruises, I mean, you might connect really well with your serving team, but it's not the same as, like, night five, six, and seven. Right. Like, you've got. They know you more. You may have talked to them about their families. Right. Like, all of those kinds of. It's sort of exponential. Each time you get more and more comfortable with them, they get more and more comfortable with you, and that connection becomes, you know, so much, so much deeper.
[00:43:22] Speaker F: It's really special. It really is.
[00:43:25] Speaker D: Yeah. I got to pivot over to shows because obviously, that's where my heart is.
You've got Moana on the Treasure. It was brand new for the Treasure. It's not on any other ship yet. It's supposed to launch on the Adventure, but who knows?
I just say, who knows? Because Adventure hasn't launched yet, and obviously it's supposed to have a whole bunch of different shows, but, yeah. I got to ask what you guys thought of. Of Moana? Moana.
[00:43:52] Speaker B: I'll take shows, or we can both take shows. I mean, I'll go to every show that's available. I love the shows. I love the idea of being in the theater, you know, seeing a movie on board while we're there.
We saw Zootopia 2.
I love the shows. I felt like I might have taken Beauty and the Beast a little bit over Moana. Obviously, there are amazing effects in Moana, amazing things that are done, but I was as equally blown away by Beauty and the Beast.
[00:44:20] Speaker D: It's such a great. That production of Beauty and the Beast is so good. Oh, my God.
[00:44:24] Speaker F: I've seen that on Dream now. It was almost 10 years ago, but I believe it's the same version. And I remember being blown away by it on Dream, but it had been a while, and so I. You know, we had watched the making of the Treasure documentary, and it was very heavy on the Moana, so we were really excited to see some of that incredible, incredible come to life. And it was incredible. It really, really was. But I didn't I was taken aback by how much I was impressed by Beauty and the Beast.
[00:44:55] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah, it's fantastic. Sorry, I'm just looking at the chat on the Treasure. It's not called the Art of the theme show tour. That's what it's called on the original four ships. It's called Imagineering the Treasure or something like that. And it varies. And you book it. Yeah, you book it in the app. As soon as you are connected to the WI fi, you can actually add it in, like onboard experiences. It's free, but you have to make a reservation. And you can actually make a reservation for everyone in your party. But I highly recommend doing it on day one because it does. They'll offer it several times, but it does tend to book up. And I say everyone in your party. Everyone in your party who's. I think 18 plus. I believe it's an 18 plus.
[00:45:36] Speaker F: It does add to your experience to do it early in the. In the cruise, because then you can.
[00:45:41] Speaker B: Well, it helps you to navigate the ship.
[00:45:42] Speaker F: That too.
[00:45:43] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:45:43] Speaker E: For sure.
[00:45:44] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:45:44] Speaker A: And it. And I should say it also changes slightly depending on who's leading the tour. They have kind of like a compendium of facts that they can give you in places they can take you. And they. They all kind of alter it to be like, oh, these are my favorite spots on the ship. So it is a little different each time you take it.
[00:45:57] Speaker D: Yeah. And it's about an hour, I think, is a tour. About an hour. Yeah.
[00:46:01] Speaker F: And on Wish, it's called Walking the Wish. So it's available on that ship as well. I don't know if there's one on Destiny. I haven't.
[00:46:08] Speaker A: There is.
[00:46:10] Speaker D: Is. I believe it's called, like, Imagineering the Destiny or something. I mean, it's almost exactly the same title as it might be the same. It's either almost exactly or exactly the same title, but it's. It's something like. It's not. I'm. I'm not giving the exact correct name, but it's like something like imagineering and.
[00:46:27] Speaker A: They missed opportunity there. It should have been discovering your destiny. That should have been the name of it.
[00:46:32] Speaker D: But they have destiny discovered at the end of the sailing and they have treasure found at the end of that sailing. So they keep.
They confused us. I mean, remember, the treasure is adventure themed, but what is the adventure themed?
[00:46:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
All right, so we talked. Moana, let's talk dining for a second.
Yeah. I'm going to start with Worlds of Marvel before we get into the more interesting topic. Of Plaza de Coco.
You got to see the Night 2 show at Worlds of Marvel.
What'd you think? Did you. Did you like that better than the. You know, the. The Avengers kind of?
[00:47:12] Speaker B: Yeah. I was confused. I didn't realize that there actually was a second show in.
In Marvel. So I think when we had left our server was like, oh, I'll see you in such and such. And I was saying that Addison, who is a big Guardians fan. Oh, it's just pictures on the screen. I don't really think it's a show. So even as we got there, I. I was like, oh, this is cool. I'm definitely. It was great for Addie, who's a big Marvel fan and knows more than we do. So we loved it. It was very cool. It was really nice to have something else. A second night in Marvel, for sure.
[00:47:47] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah. I like that show better because I feel like it's a little less obtrusive to the dinner experience, and you can engage in the trivia or not engage in the trivia, but it feels like it's quite. It's not quite as. I feel like if you don't watch the. The other one, you completely, like, miss it, and you have no idea what's going on. When, obviously, was it Ultron takes over the ship?
Whereas in the Guardians one, it's. It's a little bit more of just like a. Oh, it's kind of like a cute. Watching a cute Mickey cartoon or something. Right? Like, it's a.
It's. It's just kind of non. Not super obtrusive, but it's really cute, and it has a little, like, heartwarming part at the end. I really like it.
[00:48:30] Speaker F: Yeah, no, it's good. He likes the food. It was nice to have another menu because we had only been there the one night previously.
[00:48:37] Speaker C: So.
[00:48:38] Speaker B: Yeah, I was about to get on Guardians of the Galaxy. The ride during that session.
[00:48:45] Speaker F: The music gives Rob a little ptsd.
[00:48:47] Speaker B: I was a little taken back by that, but it was great.
[00:48:53] Speaker D: That's funny. I love that. Okay. 1923. Obviously, the theming is the same, but of course there's different displays blaze throughout the restaurant than what you have on the Wish. You have different movies and different artwork and all of that.
But you have a second menu. So you got the night one menu, which is the. The menu with the best filet in main dining, I will say.
But then you have the Night 2 menu, which is the lobster menu. What did you guys. What did you guys think of that one?
There's Only one right answer.
[00:49:25] Speaker B: I feel like everyone.
[00:49:28] Speaker F: I mean. Yeah, I thought it was.
[00:49:31] Speaker B: I don't remember what else is on that menu, to be honest.
[00:49:35] Speaker D: Gosh, there's.
I think the. I think that there's a lamb. There might be a lamb dish on that menu.
Yeah. It's just not my Wellington.
Oh, it might be the Wellington.
[00:49:49] Speaker F: I love 1923. I'm a softie for Disney history and the history of animation, so I just wander that. That space, and I intrude in people's meals, looking at the things, and so I feel like that probably you know, factors into my saying that I liked it, but I thought it was fine. I clearly don't remember it that well, so I wasn't blown away by it, but I wasn't offended by it or taken back.
[00:50:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:50:13] Speaker D: Yeah. Okay. All right. Fair. All right. Well, I have to. Of course, the main course is Plaza de Coco, because that's the one that's new for the treasure.
Of course, we know it's Pride Lands on the Destiny. It's Eren Arendelle on the Wish. So it's the one with the most theming, the most sort of show element to it. During dinner, what did you guys think of Plaza de Coco?
[00:50:40] Speaker B: We loved it. I mean, Ruby and Addison were out of their minds. For the musicians, it was like they're both comic books.
[00:50:46] Speaker F: They both play instruments, and we had a great seat. As concierge guests, you often are seated right around the stage.
And we actually spoke with the musicians at one point, and they all made note that they could tell that the girls were really into the music and the playing of the instruments.
[00:51:02] Speaker B: I had asked our server if Ruby could possibly. Ruby and Addie could possibly meet one of them, and they arranged that. He arranged that we had to shuffle off quickly before they went backstage and they got to sort of, like, check out his instrument, and, you know, they were able to ask questions and answer questions, and it was very cool. It was a really neat interaction.
[00:51:22] Speaker F: We tried one of everything on each of the nights we were there, honestly.
[00:51:26] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:51:27] Speaker F: The food was fantastic. It was really fun to have new things to try.
I think some things we liked more than others, but overall, I thought the menu was fantastic. I thought the shows were fantastic. Coco is one of our absolute favorites. So it was loud. I think that it is a loud space in that space on all three ships, but it didn't take away from the experience for me.
[00:51:53] Speaker A: Yeah, Yeah.
[00:51:54] Speaker B: I was with them having the two menus like that. I mean, it was definitely.
Each one was equally Delicious.
[00:52:00] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's really amazing when we have these new restaurants and we get new menus, because on the four original ships, you really have the same menus across the fleet. And then once the Wish class came on board or launched, you had new restaurants that have completely new menus. And while there are some things I miss, and, yes, I'm talking about you, Truffle presets. But, like, yes, I miss that. And I do love the Chateaubriand, you know, that they have in Triton's Royal Court. Royal Palace. Right. So there are dishes that I miss from the classic ship for menus, but there's so much new stuff. And if you've been on the classic ships a number of times, you do at some point get a little bit like, what does Chef have that's new? I need something different. It gets a little. It can get a little tired. Even when the food is really good. Good.
And your truffle pursets come out hot. Right. You still. You're still like, I could. I could try something. I could try something different. I think. I think that's what's so great about the Wish class being, you know, so varied across. Across itself. Right. Even though you have two of the same restaurants, with that third one you've got, you get much more variety in the menus.
All right, well, what. What have we not hit, Brian?
[00:53:21] Speaker A: Well, I want to. I want to pivot and ask a bit about the sort of the concierge lounge for a second, because it is kind of an understated Star wars theme, if my memory serves.
We heard.
Yeah. I will say, Caeli. I'm curious your reaction.
You've sailed concierge on the Wish and now the Treasure.
We get kind of mixed reviews from people who go between kind of the older ships in the fleet and the new ships in the fleet. Feeling like the experience is a little bit different. Like, did you. How did you find the experience overall with kind of the concierge hosts and the lounge and, you know, all of that.
[00:53:56] Speaker F: So I obviously have paid a lot of attention to that chatter as the new ships have come out, and I had clients who felt that way about Wish that it wasn't as great of an experience with the crew. You're not sort of getting to know your concierge team the same way. I think we're at a little bit of an advantage that each time we sailed, wish we knew people already on the team, and so we sort of had a connection.
But I will say that I think that doing the Seven night was a game changer for that, because on a seven night, whether we. I think we sort of knew. Well, we knew two people on the team. Well, one. Well, one we had met before. And we got to know everyone on that team over the course of the seven nights. And I was incredibly impressed. And Rob and I talked about this throughout the cruise at how we. Well, that entire lounge team works together. And it's not just your hosts that are at the stand, it is everyone who works collaboratively to make that experience really special.
And we spent time with everyone from the bar servers to the, you know, the people who were sort of serving the food and clearing the tables and stocking the continental area and everyone. It was really.
We were very impressed with our experience with the team.
[00:55:16] Speaker B: But from my little bit of knowledge, I feel like they've figured that out since Wish class first came out. I feel like all of that pushback about the lounge and how it's different, it's too many guests for the number of hosts. I feel like they've brought in the support staff necessary to make it a better experience than maybe when they first launched WishClass.
[00:55:37] Speaker F: It's not just host servers the way that it sort of has been for years. It's like a collaborative team where everyone, Everybody can help you with anything you need, really.
[00:55:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:55:45] Speaker D: I mean, and they restructured, and they actually restructured how the team works within Disney. It used to be that the servers and the bar staff reported to, like, the culinary or whatever, you know, the dining. Yeah, they reported to dining. And concierge was more kind of reporting through guest services, guest relationship relations. And. And now they've actually changed it so that instead of them reporting to separate, like, entities, they are now their own collaborative team. And so all the members of that team, while some of those folks have come from those dining backgrounds or those guest relations backgrounds, when they become a part of the concierge team, they are now a part of that team as like, a standalone that I believe reports up through, like, guest relations or something, even though they liaise with diner.
And I think that that has changed it. Yeah, I think that's changed the dynamic. And that was after Wish launched, that that happened. It's, I think around. It might have even been after Treasure launched. It might be more in the last year or. Or nine months or something, but it has. I know there was that shift because I remember talking to some of the hosts about that change, and they were. The hosts were really happy about that because they felt like it made like they could lean on the serving team more and the serving team could lean on them more and there were less sort of defined roles as to who could do what and stuff like that.
[00:57:14] Speaker A: I think the biggest benefit to the lounges on the Wish class ship is that you have that private kind of. It's not a pool, but you kind of that private sun deck area with access to the hot tubs and loungers and all of that sort of stuff. You know, they kind of did that a little bit when they upgraded the one Wonder concierge area, but not with any sort of, you know, water feature. And it feels like on the fantasy class are trying to do it, but it's like an afterthought as opposed to like it being purpose built. And so I love, I mean on the crowded days on the pool deck, you can go to the concierge lounge and just kind of lay out and have a nice day. So I love that feature of those lounges on the Wish class ships.
[00:57:54] Speaker F: It's really nice. I agree with you. And the hot food menu is obviously so nice. And I mean we would always do sit down breakfast on the classic ships because we just like to sort of take that time in the mornings and. And I don't think we did it once on this cruise. I don't think we were so happy with the hot breakfast in the lounge.
I mean you can room but.
[00:58:15] Speaker D: Well, and you can get like all the great items. Like you can get the Mickey waffles or Mickey churro waffles. You can get an egg sandwich. You can get like there's all this stuff that you can get in the concierge lounge. Only on the Wish class that are, you know, at all meal times really. There's like a menu for breakfast, many.
[00:58:35] Speaker F: Of which we learned are directly from Palo, including the Palo lasagna that is on the kids menu for dinner one night.
[00:58:43] Speaker B: I think it's Wednesday.
[00:58:44] Speaker F: That's a pro tip.
[00:58:45] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:58:46] Speaker A: That's why somebody commented in the chat that the churro waffles in the lounge are better than the ones at Marceline. There you have it. They're being made in Palo, so. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:58:54] Speaker F: I don't know if but they're made to order and they made Rob gluten free ones. They didn't bat an eyelash about it.
[00:59:01] Speaker D: Yeah, that's the thing. I don't know. It's that it's being made in Paulo. It's that everything's being made to order. Right. Fresh. So it's not the same as the. The mass of what is being made in Marceline and that's not sitting out for a long period. I mean, when you think about Marceline and you think about the dining rooms, that's a huge catering operation. This is not like you're so small restaurant like Rob runs. Right. But when you're talking about the concierge lounge, you're talking about like a mom and pop restaurant that is making food for you.
[00:59:32] Speaker F: Right.
[00:59:33] Speaker D: So it's. The quality is always going to be better in that smaller amount.
[00:59:38] Speaker A: All right, Sam, I got two questions left to kind of take us out here because we're running up on time. One is Beth asked in the chat early on.
[00:59:46] Speaker D: I knew you were going to ask this question. This is a great question. I have an answer. But I think we should all answer this question.
[00:59:50] Speaker A: Can I get the question out first? Yeah.
[00:59:54] Speaker B: Oh my gosh.
[00:59:55] Speaker A: All right. I'm wondering which ship or itinerary can you get the most value out of concierge? I also have an answer. But Kaylee, do you have any thoughts about that? Is there, are there, is there any sort of value or deal to be had in concierge right now on Disney Cruise Line?
[01:00:12] Speaker F: Deal to be had?
[01:00:14] Speaker D: Deal? No, not deal. I don't think that's the question, Brian. It's like. But what I. Dinner, right. Where do you get the most for your dollar?
[01:00:22] Speaker F: I will be honest. I can argue any ship, any itinerary. I think there's value on a seven night for concierge. I think there's value on a three night when your time is more limited. I think there's value on the bigger. I think there's extraordinary value on the wish class ships because it is a bigger ship and it gives you a more intimate experience. I think that's Rob's.
[01:00:46] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[01:00:48] Speaker F: But I love it on Magic and Wonder also. I mean I truly, I will argue it in any way direction.
[01:00:56] Speaker A: I will, I will say my, my personal answer is the places where I found the most value out of it. Alaska, Norway.
And I think we're going to be, we're going to be gunning for concierge on this DBC member cruise because it's going to have some unique excursions and so like getting to jump the line on everyone else on board to be able to get on these excursions. Some of those excursions like the helicopter tourists that exclusively go to concierge. Right. So.
So I think if there's like something really you. It's a unique itinerary and there's something you really want to do that's just really going to like, seal the deal for you on that itinerary. From an excursion standpoint, I think like concierge is the way that you guarantee that you're going to get your spot.
[01:01:41] Speaker B: Just prior to cruising are just as good as being on the ship.
[01:01:45] Speaker D: Yeah, exactly. Which is why I'm going to make the argument that unless you're getting a great, great port deal for an upgrade right then booking concierge at the last minute is like your least value. I'm not saying there isn't some value. There's still value to the onboard amenities, but I would say it's a low, lower value because you didn't get that benefit of the early booking. I'm going to piggyback on what Brian said because I was going to say Alaska specifically, I think is great for getting those hard to get excursions. And I say that even as a Pearl Cruiser, I would say that as obviously as a silver cruiser or somebody with castaway club status, that would be even a larger benefit. But I also say if getting a cabana is really essential to you, really important to you, particularly whether that's castaway or lookout, I would. Obviously concierge is the way your best chance is. There's not, there's no, not a guarantee. Although I think with castaway, with the new.
[01:02:46] Speaker F: It's a, it's a game changer. We had a Mickey and Minnie cabana on, on Cast Away, and it is a game changer changer. We booked as concierge. We got. We actually were assigned two cabanas because we had two rooms. So Ruby got one and we got one, which we let go. But three days after Pearl was open, there were still Mickey and Minnie cabanas available to book.
[01:03:06] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that that changes. Yeah, that changes the equation. So. But that means if you're concierge, you're almost guaranteed a cabana castaway. You still might have to. You still might be sort of lottery in at Lookout. And of course on the smaller ships generally have a better chance. But like, if you're a lower castaway club status and that cast and cabana is really important to you, then the only way to jump the line is to, you know, is to be in concierge. The other part, I would say is if the shows are really important to you, where you sit and you don't want to wait for, for an hour or more outside of the theater, you do get that early access to the theater, which for me is, is always, you know, a very important benefit.
[01:03:51] Speaker A: Yeah, I did want, I did want to address Nicole. Your comment is, is a good one. Value is very dependent on personal choice. A thousand percent. And we will be the first people to tell you we have sailed concierge. We have sailed non concierge. And it, for us, it is very much like a personal decision. It's not something we book every time. And we always tell people you will have a fantastic time on a Disney cruise, even if you're not sailing in concierge. So, so, yeah, there's just, there's some things that Disney offers, you know, that are. They do. That they do. Just to be perfectly honest, with everybod out there, they book up to concierge folks. And that's, that's, you know, it's a pay to play system at this point.
[01:04:26] Speaker D: So it's the same at the parks.
[01:04:28] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dennis. I thousand percent agree. Our Alaska sailing, we, we would book concierge again in a heartbeat for all of the unique experiences that they offered us on that, on that sailing. So a thousand.
[01:04:40] Speaker D: But we would, but we would also book it non concierge if we couldn't book it concierge because Alaska is amazing. So highly.
[01:04:47] Speaker A: All right, Kaylee, Rob, before we wrap up, I gotta ask my, my favorite question. I gotta, I gotta ask my favorite question.
What's next? Where you guys, where are you guys headed next?
[01:04:57] Speaker B: Oh, what are we doing next?
[01:04:59] Speaker F: Our next big trip? Well, we're sailing in the retreat on Celebrity actually in April, which we're really excited about.
[01:05:08] Speaker D: Yeah. And you don't know this yet, Kaylee, but you're coming on the show with Karen to talk about it.
[01:05:13] Speaker F: Oh, that's so exciting.
[01:05:16] Speaker A: But not Rob. Rob's not invited.
[01:05:18] Speaker D: No.
[01:05:20] Speaker B: Although I'm pro celebrity.
[01:05:22] Speaker D: That's true.
[01:05:22] Speaker F: We sailed Celebrity. It's been a long time, though.
[01:05:24] Speaker D: And then our next with Disney is.
[01:05:26] Speaker F: We have an Adventures by Disney Ryan River Cruise. We're doing the food and wine this fall, so we're really excited about that.
[01:05:32] Speaker D: That's going to be fantastic.
[01:05:34] Speaker A: I'll say. We'll get the ship warmed up for you. Kaylee, we're so disappointed that we can't.
[01:05:38] Speaker F: Do the cruise with you guys, but the summer is just impossible with our restaurants in a heartbeat. It's going to be so much fun.
[01:05:46] Speaker A: We will miss you. But we completely understand, so. Yeah, yeah. Well.
[01:05:50] Speaker D: And listen, you can rep the hat on abd even if you're not sailing with us.
[01:05:57] Speaker A: Well, Kaylee, Rob, as always, it has been so much fun to catch up with you.
[01:06:03] Speaker D: You gotta ask One question. Which is, which is your favorite ship now? Because now you haven't been on the Destiny, but you've been on all the others, so you have to tell me which one's your favorite ship. Now.
[01:06:12] Speaker B: I'm still gonna go fantasy just because it's sentimental.
[01:06:15] Speaker F: All I think it's fantasy for me as well. Fantasy with wonder as a close second.
I love the Witchcraft, but I. My heart is with those two classics.
[01:06:26] Speaker D: All right, fair enough. Our first ship.
[01:06:30] Speaker B: Our first ship.
[01:06:32] Speaker A: A big thank you to Kayleigh and Rob for coming on and it's always fun to catch up with you.
We will be back next week at our regularly scheduled time, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern. And we will be joined by Sam.
[01:06:50] Speaker D: Oh, gosh, I love.
[01:06:50] Speaker A: It's Blair.
[01:06:52] Speaker D: Yeah. So FabiVF Mama on Instagram. She is amazing. She went on her first Disney cruise in December and she had reached out and tagged us in some Instagram stories that she prepared for her cruise by listening to our show. And I was like, well, you gotta come on and tell us how you know how it went and tell us where we got what you learned and where. Yeah, what we did didn't prepare you for what you did prepare what we did prepare you for. So we're gonna. Yeah, we're gonna hear from Blair next, next Monday. Super excited to have her on the show. She has. She. We've been interacting on. On Instagram for a while now and she's just fabulous. So, yeah, I'm super excited.
[01:07:33] Speaker A: So with that, we will just thank everyone out there for. For listening, for watching again. I'll plug.
Yeah, stay warm. Again, I'll plug. If you are listening to us after the fact, you can always head over to YouTube, watch the fabulous video that we put out. Join us live each week and you can ask your questions and we will answer them in the chat as we did this evening with the live chat and with that, Kayleigh, Rob, thank you so much for joining us. And to everyone on Facebook.
[01:07:58] Speaker D: Socials, Kayleigh at MyPath unwinding.
[01:08:01] Speaker A: All right, thanks, everybody. We'll see you next time.
[01:08:09] Speaker G: Well, thanks everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate it. Be sure to to subscribe to the podcast. You can keep getting great content from us every week. In fact, twice a week we publish shows. So be sure to hit the subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us alive, we have a live show now every week, Monday nights, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out. If you want help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts and if you leave us a written review, a five star 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 forward/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 duo.com it's got links to all of our things, full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast links off to our vlog a link to our Etsy store. We sell some fun fan inspired magnets link to our Patreon. If you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO also has a way for you to sign up for our substack newsletter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here at least, and a few blog articles that we've written, so DCLDuo.com is the best way to connect with us. You can also of course email
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[01:10:20] Speaker D: Sam.
