[00:00:00] Speaker A: But what did you think about, you know, the, the overall experience on Lookout as compared to Castaway?
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I think if, if you're comparing both places without a cabana, we preferred Lookout.
[00:00:24] Speaker C: Welcome back everybody to this week's episode of the DCL Duo podcast, brought to you by my Path Unwinding Travel. And Sam, I'm going to do something different at the top of this show. We are going to read a listener review. But you know, the only reviews we can see on Apple podcasts ourselves come from our US based listeners, but we get reviews from folks outside the U.S. we have about a dozen reviews. And so I thought I have gone over to our review aggregation platform and pulled up our reviews for Canada and the uk And I want to lead off, the reason that we discovered this, this issue is because we get alerts when new reviews are posted for the show and we had new review roll in recently from someone from Canada and it was such a fun review. I wanted to read it on the air. And I think we're going to spend the next few episodes kind of working through the backlog of these international listeners and their reviews. Thank you so much to all of you out there who listen to this show who are not in the US it boggles our minds that we are being listened to on at least two continents, although our data suggests more than that. Unreal. Folks, thank you for your support of the show by listening. Let's get on to this review that comes from MC from Quebec. And so it starts off as any good Quebecer should, with a little Quebecois.
[00:01:37] Speaker A: Quebecois, Ryan. Quebecois.
[00:01:39] Speaker C: It reads best DCL podcast. Podcast. I'm going to butcher the French here, even though I took 12 years of it. Le mer podcast sur le croissier grasse, eh, Brian et Sam CE une pooquam partier on the croissier. A chaque a mission avec l'. Heure Inventez ou. Oh, so I'm actually going to see if I can get a translation here.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: That was great, Brian.
[00:02:02] Speaker C: Bear with me.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: You butchered some of your pronunciation.
[00:02:04] Speaker C: Oh, I am sure I butchered way more than some.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: I took middle school and high school French myself as well. So less years than Brian did of French. But neither of us speak French really at this point, other than maybe reading a menu.
[00:02:19] Speaker C: For those of you who know French, then you know the first line of this review. But I'm going to read it to you in English now for, for everyone else out there listening, it reads the best podcast about crazy cruises. Thanks to Brian and Sam. It's a bit like going on a cruise with every episode, whether with their guests or just the two of them, they're up to date on the latest news and know the best kept secrets of the cruise community. Always looking forward to the next episode. I am so happy that you will read my review in French on the air. Oh, you can use Google Translate. I use a little chat GPT Translate. But yes, thank you so much for that review, MC from Quebec. We greatly appreciate you. And I have actually visited Quebec before. No, I visited Montreal.
[00:02:56] Speaker A: I have visited Quebec.
[00:02:58] Speaker C: Yeah, I've so I've been to Montreal. And we love, we love all things Canada. Vancouver being so close to our home. We love to visit Vancouver, British Columbia as well. But thank you for that.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: Listen, and we love your poutine, you guys, so thank you for bringing that to the world.
[00:03:11] Speaker C: I mean, who doesn't, who doesn't like cheese curds and gravy on top of some, some good French fries? So with that, I will just remind everyone out there listening, as always, we were so close to, we were trying to hit a milestone of 550 reviews by the end of last year. Got, we got pretty close but didn't hit it. So there's still time to help us. Just, just keep leaving those reviews. It's one of the easiest ways to support the podcast. Head over to Apple Podcasts, hit those five stars and if you re leave us a written review, we will read it on the air at the top of one of our main episodes.
[00:03:41] Speaker A: And if you leave it in another language, apparently Brian will try to read it in your native language. I guess if you use the same Alphabet. If you don't use the same Alphabet, neither Brian nor I are going to be able to try and read your.
[00:03:54] Speaker C: So if you're Chinese, no. Cyrillic.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: Yeah. If you. Yeah, if you. Yeah, yeah. If, if you write it in an Alphabet that either Brian or I can read, then we will attempt to read it.
[00:04:04] Speaker C: Let's not start a trend of people trying to stump Brian with their languages because it will get pretty bad pretty fast. So. All right, Sam, do you want to introduce our fabulous guest and topic for today?
[00:04:14] Speaker A: Yes. I'm so excited to welcome back a returning guest. She shares her name with me. We get to basically outnumber Brian today, two to one. Sam to Brian, always outnumbered.
[00:04:26] Speaker C: I'm always outnumbered two to one by Samantha's. Sure.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: Yeah. You're outnumbered two to one by Samantha's on the show today.
Welcome to the show. Samantha Dart. Welcome back.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be back. And I was just wondering if you know, because I'm originally from Brazil, so if I leave a review in Portuguese, can I keep adding the reviews, one in each language?
[00:04:53] Speaker A: I love it.
[00:04:54] Speaker C: Unfortunately for those who have tried this, you can leave one review and one review only. You can update that review, but it does not add to our total.
We do know a few folks have gamed the system and opened another account and left a second review.
We don't encourage that. We like to.
Yes.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: So yeah, but I think that would be hilarious to have Brian try to read Portuguese. I really, I kind of, I enjoy that.
[00:05:19] Speaker C: We'll fire up the duolingo.
There we go. There we go.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, Samantha, you were on a previous show with us and we are going to talk here about your, what is it, seventh and eighth cruise or sixth and seventh cruises. You did a side by side on the Dream and the Destiny over Christmas time we'll call it because obviously your, your dream cruise was actually on Christmas. Your Destiny cruise was just following Christmas just prior to New Year's. And of course this was your first time on the Destiny. Also your first time going to Lookout Key, right?
[00:05:53] Speaker B: That's right. Yeah. It was the, the sixth and seventh cruise and I was so excited and, and when I booked it I, I mentioned last time on the show that we've been become sort of, or at least I have become sort of a completionist. And so when I was searching dates, I was looking specifically treasure or Destiny. And. And then the treasure was of course a seven nighter and the Destiny four nights. And the thing is I had just come off a four night on the Magic with my daughter. This was earlier last year and I had such a wonderful time that I thought maybe I don't need a seven night or maybe I'm okay with a four night and it's not as expensive. And you know, I felt all adult and responsible thinking, yeah, I can, I can be happy with a four night. And what happened was we booked it and I was excited and then I got my brother to join and I thought oh, but friend is too short with my brother and my niece and I need to do something. What was I thinking? I should have gone for the longer one. So we ended up looking at options and then the Dream Maritime over Christmas was sitting right there, same port. And we thought okay, we've never done a back to back but we've never done a side to side either. So it just felt really exciting to do that.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: That's awesome. And both of these are out of Fort Lauderdale. So you didn't have to travel like between Port Canaveral and Port Everglades. You're at the same port. And now did you have any day in between your cruises or were you really getting off one and getting on the other the same day?
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Same day, getting off and on. And it was interesting because we got conflicting information from DCL on how that was going to happen.
I had done some research online and people said, oh, there'll be somebody to escort you and you will be taken care of. But then when I called DCL to ask, the first person I spoke to said, well actually no, the ports are really next to each other. So you get off, you walk over, you get on on your boarding group. But once we got on the Dream, we, on the first day I think we received a letter saying, okay, we can see that you're on a side to side and here's the procedure. And you're gonna pick up your luggage. Yes, you have to go through customs, but then yes, you're gonna meet with somebody from DCL and you're gonna be put on, on boarding group number two for the second cruise. So that was pretty cool.
[00:08:27] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome. So slightly different than the back to back procedure obviously because you do have to change ports and so. And of course you can't leave your luggage on because you're changing ships, right? You're going from one ship to another. So you got to pack everything up and all your luggage as you said, has to go through customs. So it is different. But that's really cool that they essentially expedite your boarding onto the second ship because even though you're not getting on like before the family of the day or with the back to back cruisers, you're still getting on early and that way you're having less time that you're just kind of sitting around waiting at the port. That's. That's pretty awesome. Now you sailed this time. Well, tell us, actually tell us who you sailed with on this occasion. Because you mentioned your brother and nephew or niece coming with you on this one. They were not on you with you on the last cruise?
[00:09:18] Speaker B: No, they had never done a Disney cruise before. So we had our family of four, Pedro and I, we have a 15 year old boy and an 11 year old girl.
She'll be 12 in March. I think Nathan has already has he turned 12?
[00:09:32] Speaker A: Yep, he just turned 12.
[00:09:34] Speaker B: Very similar age. And my brother was supposed to come with my sister in law and my 8 year old niece, but my sister in law got sick just before the cruise, so she had to cancel last minute. And she was so heartbroken. And we were heartbroken, but my niece still got to come and it was the first time she went to the beach, which is crazy because I know they live in Brazil, so it's like, what?
[00:10:01] Speaker A: Wait, what? How old is she?
[00:10:03] Speaker B: 8. And the thing is, my brother and my sister in law, they're just not big, you know, on beaches. So she hadn't gone. And it was magical for me to just play with her, watch her on the sand in the sea. And I love that. I absolutely loved it. So it was the six of us and it just felt especially because so in Brazil, Christmas is huge. It is the biggest holiday of the year. Even if you're not religious, it really means just family together. Right. So it's all about being together. So spending Christmas with my brother and my niece, I still missed my sister in law, but I was so happy with what we could do together and it just felt really magical.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: Oh, I love that. That's so lovely. Well, I gotta ask now, does your brother speak English fluently like you do? And does your niece, who's only 8, does she speak English? Because most of the cast members don't speak Portuguese on board. We know that.
[00:11:06] Speaker B: That's right. So my brother is actually an English teacher. Yes. And in fact, my sister in law as well. That's where they met at an English course in Brazil. And he actually, he's raising my niece, speaking English to her so that she would be bilingual from the beginning. So she's bilingual and they, they could enjoy everything.
[00:11:29] Speaker A: That's awesome. That's fantastic. So at school and everything and out in society she's speaking Portuguese, but at home they're speaking English to her so that she's fully bilingual. That, that's, that's really cool. I wish that we had that in our household.
[00:11:43] Speaker C: I'm so jealous of people who are bilingual.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:45] Speaker C: So jealous.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
Say Nathan is using duolingo to teach himself Hebrew right now. So he does go to like religious school. And so he learned some Hebrew and religious school, but it's not really conversational Hebrew. That's sort of, we'll call it prayer Hebrew, but he's actually using duolingo in order to learn conversational Hebrew, which I think is awesome. But it's not the same as speaking it in your everyday life. Of course it's, you know, and neither Brian nor I unfortunately speak any other language except, you know, like we said, we both took French as kids.
[00:12:19] Speaker C: And, and retained none of it.
[00:12:21] Speaker A: None of it? Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much.
[00:12:23] Speaker C: I mean, it's not a language we get to use very often. No.
[00:12:25] Speaker A: I mean, yeah, here in the States, it would have been better if either, if we had taken Spanish at least, but. No. Yeah. Not, not, not a great use of our, of our education system to teach us French, unfortunately, unless we want to work for the Olympics, I guess. Well, anyway. Well, let's, let's start with talking about your cruise on the the Dream, because that was your first of the cruises. That was your maritime cruise.
Now, Sam, tell us, is that the one that went to Lookout or what. What were your port stops on that Dream cruise?
[00:12:54] Speaker B: No, it was just Nassau and Castaway. And Castaway was on Christmas Day.
So it just felt perfect. And we had. So the weather was fantastic throughout the cruise. It was really summer weather. Well, not for the summer, let's call it beach weather. It was just perfect.
And the day I cast away was blue skies. It was really, really nice. And then on the Destiny was when we got to go to Lookout.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: Nice. Now, you had mentioned in the show notes, when you reached out to us to book the show, to book the recording, that you actually had decided to get off at Nassau on both of your cruises. Cause both of your cruises stopped at Nassau. And I think that's super interesting because we have a lot of guests and ourselves who often don't get off at NASA. They often use that as a, as a. I'm not going to call a sea day a ship day. Right. So in order to enjoy some of the amenities of the ship when the ship is a little bit less crowded, and also because they've been to Nassau a lot of times and it's not, sadly enough, it's not everybody's favorite port. But tell us what, what did you guys decide to do in Nassau on. Actually, let's talk about. For both cruises, since we're on the topic, what did you guys decide to do in Nassau on both of your cruises?
[00:14:11] Speaker B: I was surprised at making that decision myself because I usually look at it as an opportunity to spend more time on the ship, having been off at Nassau before going to Atlantis and so on. But my brother, everything was new to him. It was their first Disney cruise and he wanted to experience every part of it, including every port.
So we decided to do the sip and paint on the first one where you just go to this place where adults and kids all have to paint and the adults can sip on a drink if they wish to, and the kids can have ice Cream and things like that. It was very easy. They have transportation from the port there and back.
And it was fun, it was cute. But I went more to kind of spend time with my brother than to do the activity itself. And Julia, my daughter, she loves painting, so I knew she was going to be into it. Needless to say, my 15 year old stayed on the ship and had fun at Vibe. He was really into Vibe. And then on the second cruise on the Destiny, the thing is, because I had spent time researching what people do at Nassau beyond what I had done in the past, I saw really good reviews about this chocolate factory because you get to make your own chocolate. You don't just visit and watch. You make your own.
And I thought, oh, maybe the four of us can do that experience. While my brother took my niece to do some dolphin encounter, which I had done with my son way back when.
And that one I recommend, that was a lot of fun. And so we did the chocolate factory, just the four of us, and everybody enjoyed it. I'd say there is a little bit more waiting around than what I would have liked. So maybe it's not the most efficient use of your time, but it was nice to be together, the four of us, because frankly, I barely saw my son on this cruise. He was, he was on the Vibe the whole time. And we saw him for dinner. That's what I would ask him every night. I said, I just want you showered and on time for dinner every night. And that's all I got. I didn't get that. And even Julia, I didn't see much of her either. There were times when I was on some music trivia with. With my husband and we're like, oh, she would be really good at this. And we would text her, oh, can you come and join us? And she's like, actually, mom, you know, I'm grabbing an ice cream right now or I'm meeting friends. I'm busy. I can't. I'm sorry. So we. We didn't see much of them. And I think having an activity, the four of us even being an I saw ended up being a lot of fun.
[00:16:53] Speaker A: Yeah, it's so funny you say that, Sam, because we have the same experience with Nathan. Like, we require him to show up, like, dressed for dinner every night. And, you know, he's actually more on time for dinner often than we are. He's. He often beats us to dinner and then he, like, as soon as he's done eating, he's like, can I go back to Edge? And we're like, yeah, okay. Because he's, he, he prefers the soft serve on deck to most of the desserts in the dining room. So he doesn't even stick around typically for dessert. But we have the same experience. We, if we book an excursion, he's on the excursion with us. Right. So that's like, like on, you know, on a boat or at a beach or making chocolate or whatever.
[00:17:35] Speaker B: Right?
[00:17:35] Speaker A: Doing something as a family. And he has dinner with us. But other than that. And we have had the exact same thing where we have texted him, hey, can you, like, we really would love you to help us with this trivia. Or we, you know, or what about, how about come meet us and do this activity? Nah, I'm busy. Like I'm, I'm doing a scavenger hunt or I'm eating ice cream or I'm doing, you know, playing a video. I'm about to beat, you know, Smash Brothers in on the Wii or the Switch or whatever in the, in the club. So yeah, no interest in, in hanging out with us. And that's okay. It's their, you know, it's their vacation too. Right. Your, your 11 year old and 15 year old is their vacation too. But it's nice to get some family time in as well. I, I want to ask you briefly about the, the dolphin encounter because I think the, some of those dolphin encounters are really, really good.
What did your brother and niece think about the dolphin encounter that they, they did? We did one in I think Cabo years and years ago. I feel like we should do another one at some point because that was before Nathan was really a swimmer. So we couldn't do the one where you like, where the dolphin like pulls you kind of like. Or, you know, we did the one where you just kind of like pet the dolphin and took a couple pictures. And Nathan was kind of scared. That was like his like first cruise. So he was pretty little.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Exactly. And my niece can't swim either. And they felt more comfortable doing the dolphin encounter. They did the one, I think Atlantis might offer this one as well, but they did the one at Blue Lagoon, which is the same I had done with my son years and years ago.
And you have to take a boat to get there. So you get off the ship and you get on a boat and it's a good half hour to get there, maybe 20 minutes, half hour.
So be prepared for it. And when I did it, I felt it was long. My brother said they love the boat ride, that everything was new for them. And on the way back she fell Asleep, so she didn't mind it. And once you get to the island, everything is so. Is so pretty and the sand is so fun. So they had a blast. The dolphin encounter itself was really fun. They. They don't let you take photographs, right? It's that usual thing where they take.
[00:19:50] Speaker A: Your picture and then you pay for it. Yes, exactly.
[00:19:53] Speaker B: And you pay a lot for it.
[00:19:55] Speaker A: Yes. And it's not included in the excursion price. So for those listening, like, if you do, and this is true for like all of the dolphin places and whether you do Dolphin Encounter or Dolphin Swimming, and these usually have different titles. But exactly what Sam and I are talking about is encounter usually means you. You're getting in the water with the dolphin, but you're not doing the thing where the dolphin swims with you. Right. You're just going to like, maybe pet the dolphin, do some tricks with the dolphin. But it's a little bit of the, I don't want to call it lesser experience, but it's perfect for kids who are not like great swimmers or adults who are not great swimmers because you're, you're just in a shallow area. You're not like out in, you know, swimming with the dolphin. But yeah, they don't include pictures and video in your excursion and they don't let you bring your own phone to take pictures or camera to take pictures or video. They take pictures and video and then if you want those pictures and video, you are paying like sometimes well over a hundred dollars for, for those things.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: If I remember correctly, I think he mentioned something like 130 for the photos. I don't remember how much I paid because it was a long time ago, but I do remember that the quality of the photos was pretty good. So I was happy with that. I did not regret buying the package.
[00:21:10] Speaker A: Yeah, same. We, we still have those photos and I don't regret paying for them. Like, I don'. Regret doing that excursion. It's just a matter of like, kind of know what you're getting yourself into. But that's awesome that they had such a good experience. We've heard really good things about Blue Lagoon. We haven't been there ourselves, but that does seem to be one of the, you know, sort of better places to that we have multiple different excursions. Whether you're just going for like a kind of a water park, beach day type of excursion or you're going to do one of the sort of their wildlife excursions. Well, let, let's talk about your castaway day on Christmas Day. I mean, imagine a better Place to be on Christmas Day, other than maybe, I don't know, Alani. But how. Yeah, how was Christmas Day?
Well, actually, let's talk about Christmas Day on the ship first, because this was a maritime cruise. Were there special things in the atrium in the morning, like cookies and hot chocolate and opportunities to take Santa pictures?
[00:22:11] Speaker B: You know, I didn't look because.
So. So the one maritime activity that I was really looking forward to was the tree lighting ceremony. I love a good, big Christmas tree, and to me, that's so festive. So that one I was, like, right there. And I didn't even know they had two ceremonies. They have one earlier in the day, they have one later. I went to the earlier one, and they have a little show. So that one, I was all over it. And then Santa came at the end, and. Oh, and by the way, I kept looking around like, is that Santa? Like, at cabanas, I would see a guy, you know, with the cheeks. I'm like, is that. I think that's Santa, and he's in his plain clothes. So I kept kind of spotting a lot of Santas around the ship. Never knew whether it was him or not, but that was a lot of fun. On the day of Castaway, I was just focused on getting off as soon as I could because I wanted to do the 5k before hanging out in the sun, right? And we. We happened to get a cabana for Castaway, which was a complete fluke. It's one of those lucky things. I. I, of course, had been checking the app. People recommend check the app every day. And I was checking twice a day, every single day. No luck. I did see Serenity. Serenity Bay cabanas come up two or three times just on the app randomly. But for us, of course, that didn't work because we had three kids and.
But in our Facebook group, and maybe this is happening more often now, our Facebook group created a WhatsApp group because WhatsApp works on the ship quite seamlessly. And on the WhatsApp group, there was one night when this. This lady posted, oh, if I find an extra cabana, is anyone interested? And I'm like, yes, I happen to be online. When she asked. This was 10pm One day, like, yes, unequivocally.
And then the next morning, she texts me directly, and she's like, we got an extra cabana, and our family is not gonna need the second one. We're just gonna use one.
Do you want it?
So I could not believe it. So I ran to my desktop, and she was like, okay. I'm gonna drop it now. Be ready to pick it up.
We picked it up, and it was one of the new Mickey and Minnie cabanas with. We had known before.
So I couldn't believe it. She made my day. We even, like, we got her gifts for her family, made this little basket, and gave it to her on the cruise because I was just so happy, and I could not believe it. It was really, really lucky.
[00:24:52] Speaker A: Oh, I love that. I love stories like that because it's like, it shows the power of community.
And it's just so lovely when cruisers. If somebody's going to drop a cabana, it's really lovely if they check the Facebook group and see maybe there's somebody who really. Who wants one. And if they happen to time it right, you can actually influence who's going to get the cabana that you're dropping. Yeah. And it's just. Yeah, it's a little bit of a Disney magic and pixie dust. And I love that you did something to show your appreciation also, because I think that's a wonderful part of that community as well. I love it.
[00:25:30] Speaker B: It was wonderful. And there was more pixie dust that day. So a few doors down from our cabana, we saw, you know how they have the little sign saying, welcome Dart family, in our case, welcome this family, that family.
So there was another sign saying, welcome Dart family on a different cabana. And my brother spotted it and everything. Like, the doors were closed. And I'm like, oh, did they make a mistake? Did they think we were gonna go there? But we're here.
But then one cast member walked by and he said, no, no, no, they're on the beach. And I'm like, wait a minute. So they have our name, and it's not such a common name, Dart. So I'm like, I have to go talk to them. And everybody looked at each other like, are you sure you're gonna go there? Look, Yes, I have to.
So I walked over there on the beach. Lovely, lovely family. And we found out. So we have common ancestors, like way back when, coming from Ireland, which is where the name came from. And the thing is, the. The husband, who is the one with the name Dart, he had seen our sign. So he had told his wife, I have to go talk to them.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: But you guys weren't there yet, right?
[00:26:44] Speaker B: Yes. So she had been a bit unsure, like, oh, we're gonna bother them or not. So in the end, we all got together and they had two kids. One was the same age as my daughter, so they played in the sand and they couldn't be nicer. It was, it felt, felt like a. A Christmas miracle. It was just so, so fun. So since then, we now exchanged information. We're in contact and I'm just so happy.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: It's like your long lost cousins.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: Yes. It was crazy.
[00:27:14] Speaker A: Oh, my God. That is Disney magic. I don't know if there, you know, if there's anything.
If Disney magic is real, that's evidence of it. Right? Like right there. Oh, my God. I love that. I love that. Well, let's.
As we're talking about ports and we're talking about away, of course, we had a beautiful day at Castaway. You ran the 5K. You relaxed in a new Mickey and Minnie cabana. Now, had you guys had a cabana before either at Cast?
Once at Castaway, one of the regular ones.
[00:27:44] Speaker B: Once when we were on the Wish because we were concierge, they were still doing that. We didn't get it at midnight, but they were still doing the wait list back then. I don't think. I think they stopped doing the wait list.
[00:27:55] Speaker A: Right. That's what we've. That's what Disney's. The official word from Disney Shoreside concierge is that they have stopped doing the wait list.
I will say on board, if somebody cancels a cabana, if you are sailing concierge and you tell the concierge staff because they're the ones who manage it on board, like the bookings, you still have a. Not the. I would say you still have a decent chance of getting a cabana if you're not sailing concierge. If you didn't happen to get one, you know, randomly through the app, that is probably a very low chance of getting one on board. But if you're sailing concierge, because those cancellations go through the concierge folks, you have a decent chance if you let the hosts know right away when you first get on board. Hey, if somebody drops a cabana, I'd really like to get one. So there is some kind of wait list, but it's really just on board now, not sort of pre cruise wait list. Yeah. Well, what did you think of the Mickey and mini cabanas as compared to. We haven't been to them yet. We've seen pictures and video of them. Of course, we had, you know, seen the construction from afar when you couldn't actually go to them, but you could kind of see it. You know, we've been hearing whispers from folks that they're quite close to Serenity Bay and that maybe some Folks at Serenity Bay, meaning adults only, are not real happy about the fact that they now hear the noise of children playing just on the other side of a rope, because it's really right next to each other. I wanted to, you know, hear your perspective. What did you think of the cabanas? Were they nicer than the original ones? The same.
And also about the location.
Did you enjoy the location and the beach over there?
[00:29:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I thought they were very similar. The one difference I noticed is that the original cabanas, they have.
So you have the covered area, and then outside, you have a lighter cover that lets the sunlight come through with chairs and stretchers so you can lie down in the sun right there. You don't need to go in the sun if you don't want to.
And this cabana didn't have the stretchers. They had chairs in that outside area, but not the stretchers. So I enjoy having that longer, you know, space to just lie down in the sun without getting sand all over. But, I mean, I. I didn't mind it. I. I had a cabana castaway. Right. So I was.
I was very, very happy. I also saw that we had a shower right next door. I don't remember a shower at the previous cabana. Maybe there are, and I just didn't notice.
[00:30:31] Speaker A: There are there, but they're down the steps. So at the. The regular. The cabanas at Castaway, if you go down the steps and then there's just an outdoor shower so that you can rinse off the sand before coming into the cabana if you want.
[00:30:43] Speaker B: We all have it. I had never noticed that the kids definitely use this, so it was helpful, but they are very, very similar. Not a. Not a big difference. When I saw the location, I had been a little bit worried. Oh, are we gonna have to, like, walk all the way around to get food to maybe get a bike or. Or do something else? But no, they built. Just next door, they built another bike place and another food place, so you don't have to go far at all. And the beach was lovely. It was. It just felt perfect. And the kids had so much fun. It felt. It felt like a private beach. Right. Not a lot of people around, and I don't have any. Any complaints whatsoever. It felt pretty magical.
[00:31:30] Speaker A: Yeah. Now, were you able to see, like, from where you guys were, were you able to see, like, Serenity Bay beach and the. Like, the adult beach? Or is it, like, enough around the corner that you aren't really right next to it?
[00:31:44] Speaker B: For me, it was enough around the corner that I could barely see it. But then again, I wasn't too focused on it. I was focused on the kids.
And the water was a little bit on the chilly side, but not too bad, so we could all go in the water and enjoy.
And that's what I was looking at mostly.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: Love it. Love it. Well, you went to Lookout Key on your Destiny cruise, so I feel like this is the place where I've got to ask you about Lookout Key because you got to do the direct comparison, of course, between Castaway and Lookout. What did you think of Lookout impressions of obviously the beach. But of course we have to ask, you know, how. What you thought of the walk from the pier. I mean, we are marked safe from the Lookout Key pier. But. Yeah. How did, how did all of that, that day go?
[00:32:34] Speaker B: Yeah, the walk was fine. I didn't mind it at all. Of course, having heard about it again and again. I wasn't shocked by it or anything. And I. I enjoy a good walk. I was out first thing, you know, as soon as they open and they open kind of late, right? I think 8:30 is kind of late if you think of how strong the sun can be already at that time. But I. Because I wanted to try to run at Lookout. They don't have an organized 5k yet, but I thought, well, there must be someplace to run, so I'll go as early as I can so that it's not too hot.
And by the time I got to the island and got. I went straight to a chair, like a beach chair, first to drop my stuff because nobody was out yet. So I just wanted to secure a chair and then go for a run. There were already people running on the path, but really it's not there yet. Meaning there are no water stations, there's no shade, there's no signage for the 5K path. You don't know how, how much longer between here and. And that. That place where I started.
So you're kind of lost maybe, you know, with your phone or your watch, you can measure things. But. But it wasn't really well structured yet. I hope they do that soon because I really feel like the 5k earns me the desserts and other stuff that we.
So I feel like I need to do that. So I'm hoping for that. But for now they don't have the infrastructure. And I like that. I got the chair early because right in front of the water, it does get crowded relatively soon.
So because I had that chair then when the rest of the family came again, my son Went to look for Vibes. So he didn't stay with us. And the girls were in the water most of the time. So if you just have a couple of stretchers and maybe a chair, that's plenty for everybody. Like, you don't need one chair for each person. I think you guys mentioned this as well in the past, right?
[00:34:37] Speaker A: Yes. I love that you're saying this, Sam, like, we are.
We try to evangelize this. You do not need. If you are a family of four, you do not need four lounge chairs and four seated chairs. Like, you probably need, like, two lounge chairs, maybe three. If you've got a kid who doesn't go in the water at all, okay, you take that extra lounge chair for your kiddo. But most of the time, most of the kids are playing in the water or on the sand, and they are not using those lounge chairs. So, like, don't take. If you're a party of nine, don't take nine lounge chairs because you're not using them. They'll sit empty. And then other people are looking for chairs.
[00:35:16] Speaker B: And.
[00:35:17] Speaker A: And there are enough chairs at Lookout, really, for, you know, the vast majority of people. Like I said, there's probably not enough for, like, every baby to have their own lounge chair. But they're. But the ones down at the beach are sort of the prime location. Cause there's some more up on the. Kind of up on the berms. And a lot of people want to be down by the beach, especially if they're watching their kids in the water. Well, if your kids in the water, they're not on a lounge chair, you don't need a lounge chair.
[00:35:41] Speaker C: Like, we always have Nathan just sit at the. Like, when he does come up for lunch, he sits at the end of the chair, he eats his lunch, and then he's back down to the water. So, like, I have grown increasingly frustrated in my old age. Old man yells at Cloud, like, no, not everyone needs a chair all the time. And then half the time, too, they'll take a lounge chair and then grab one of those, like, seated chairs and take it down by the water. And then the lounge chair is just sitting empty the whole time. So, you know.
[00:36:06] Speaker A: Yeah, so, like, yeah, if you're a family of three, like, Brian and I take two lounge chairs. If you're, you know, if you're a family of four, take two or three lounge chairs. You do not need four chairs.
[00:36:16] Speaker B: Exactly. So Luke was gone at Vibe.
So we were. Five of us left. We had two lounge chairs and one regular chair. And that was fun. That was all we needed and it was a lot of fun. We were right next to Rush out the Shout and I thought that place was incredible. I wanted to go and play as well. It was fantastic. My niece loved it. Julia, my 11 year old, loved it as well. We had some really great pictures of them just splashing around and having fun. Such a great place. I was really impressed with the infrastructure.
[00:36:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. I think that's like a way better water park than what you have at Castaway where, you know, you have Pelican Plunge kind of in the water. And by the way, adults can go down those water slides. They are small water slides, but you, they're, you're not going to get stuck. They're not that small. They're just, I just mean they're. When I say small, I mean they're not like real intense, right? Like there's no big drops or anything like that. But you, they're fun. I, you can play. Sam, you can play in the splash pad. It's okay. I love it. Yeah, I think it's a great, I think that that was a great addition.
And it's also great for maybe kids who aren't the best swimmers who are maybe a little bit afraid of the ocean, or parents who are a little bit nervous because their kid's not a good swimmer. And you know, you know, I don't want them going out into the ocean, but they can do, you know, they can, they can go in a water slide that ends in just one of those little shoot things just like the ones on the ship. So it's really nice. I think it's a really good option for.
[00:37:52] Speaker D: Are you listening to our show because you want to make the most out of your next vacation.
[00:37:55] Speaker C: Great news.
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[00:38:50] Speaker A: What did you think about Lookout as compared to Castaway? I think you're right about the infrastructure issue and the shade issues. Of course, there really, the infrastructure isn't quite there yet for the 5K. There's not a lot of shade on the paths and not that much shade at the beach either. You know, there's.
It does take time for, of course, foliage and stuff to grow. But what did you think about, you know, the. The overall experience on Lookout as compared to Castaway?
[00:39:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I think if. If you're comparing both places without a cabana, we preferred lookout.
It felt just so organized. Meaning when you have little ones, you have to think, where's the restroom? Where's the next restroom? If you're here and you had restrooms everywhere and they were quite nicely built and you had showers to take your sand off everywhere. So it just felt perfect organ. Like you could be in the sand and splashing around, or you could be on the path, no sand around you.
[00:39:50] Speaker A: You could.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: You have a shower, you have a restroom, you could eat. I feel like I need more time there. I definitely want to go back and explore more of the island. I didn't get to see everything I wanted to see. I didn't see the parade this time, but it just felt wonderful. The. The beach itself, the sand is as soft as flower. Right. So just incredibly soft. And who doesn't love that? And you have a little bit more waves. I enjoyed that. I remember asking my niece which one she enjoyed best. And initially she kept saying, I like the safe island better, which was the sort of lagoon that Castaway offers.
But by the end of the day, she got more used to the waves. And then she said that even she preferred lookout as well. But I would say everyone in our party preferred lookout. We had just a wonderful time and it's great, right? Because we already loved Castaway. I think Castaway is just.
It has a very special place in. In everybody's heart. So to have something that you might like even better, like, how great is that? So. But I definitely, definitely want to go back. I feel like there is a lot more I'd like to explore. You see photos online of, oh, if you keep walking along the beach, you're going to see this cave and you're going to see this thing. And I didn't see any of that in this first visit. I didn't have time. But I had just a great time on the island. The kids did as well. It was gorgeous. And I want to go back.
[00:41:18] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. I agree with everything you said. I think they planned Lookout really beautifully with. With just the. Where the food places are, where the bathrooms are, where the showers are. I mean, I know things are. Folks complain about it being kind of spread out and it is, but if you think about it, if there's plenty of space for everyone, right, and there's plenty of facilities for everyone, and that's what's really wonderful. Whereas Castaway feels, when you're on one of the bigger ships, a bit more crowded and a bit less smartly planned, even though things are a little bit more compact over there. So, yeah, I absolutely agree. And there's nothing better than that sand. I mean, that sand at Lookout is. Is so soft and so fine and frankly, much nicer than the sand at Castaway. You know, and I love that you said when I'm comparing no cabana to no cabana, because of course, if you have a cabana either, you know, at any private island experience, that's going to be an amazing, wonderful, lovely, quiet beach experience.
But that's cabana to no cabana is not a fair comparison. No cabana to no compare cabana is the fair comparison, of course. So I love that you had a wonderful, wonderful experience at Lookout. Well, let's jump back on board to the ships because we need to do some compare and contrast between the Dream and the Destiny, because this was your first time on the Destiny. Now, Destiny was not a maritime sailing because none of the Destiny sailings in the inaugural season, even though they were around Christmas time, were designated as maritime sailing. So if you were on the Destiny in November or December of 2025, you were not going to get any of the maritime activities, with one exception, which is if you were sailing over Christmas, I think they did do some of, but not all of the maritime activities and think you could, you know, take pictures with Santa and that sort of a thing. But I'm. I'm curious, decoration wise. I know we talked about this pre show, but I'd love for you to tell our audience, like, what, what, if any, decorations you got onto the Destiny right after Christmas on the 26th, were decorations up and what kind of decorations were up on the Destiny?
[00:43:31] Speaker B: Yeah, only the Christmas tree, which was gorgeous, no question, massive, more or less in the same location. That it was on the Dream. So it looked kind of similar, but the dream had just Christmas decorations everywhere in the grand hall, in the, in the atrium. And it does create a special atmosphere. Especially like if you're a Christmas person, like I am, you. You feel it. The other thing too, and this is, it's funny how these things are. So the Destiny is a newer, more modern, just super exciting ship, fantastic ship. But the, the people who went on the Christmas cruise on the, on the Dream, they were all so excited to be there for Christmas specifically. You can't beat that atmosphere. It was, it really felt different. Even people who did the back to back on the Dream, so on Christmas and then the one after they said that it felt different. So the people you go with, I think can have an impact as well, including how, you know, the energy in the air and the atmosphere. So the maritime one on the Dream was very, very Christmassy. You saw lots of pajama sets on the evening of the 24th, lots of dressed up people for dinner on the 25th. It just felt really, really fun. And the Destiny was a completely different vibe. It was like, yeah, yeah, it was Christmas. But let's focus on Marvel. Let's focus on just having some fun here.
[00:45:01] Speaker A: Yeah, you got that Heroes, yeah, that heroes and villains and marvel theming on the Destiny is really, really strong.
This is the perfect transition, Sam. So you get off the Dream, you're in the terminal, you walk across to the other terminal to board the Destiny.
You, you know, you guys got on group two, so not too much time, you know, probably waiting around. But when you boarded the Destiny, I gotta hear what your first impressions were. Cause I know you love the Wish, so you're a Wish class fan, but I'm, you know, very interested to know you. You just left the beautiful, you know, sort of classic feel of the Dream with all of its Christmas decorations, and you enter into this very different, like you said, very modern grand hall on the Destiny. What was, yeah, what was your first reaction? I mean, saw pictures and renderings, but it's different than being in person.
[00:45:56] Speaker B: Very. I was really impressed. I thought it was gorgeous.
Everything about it, the paintings on the wall, the colors they used, they were vibrant. They were speaking to you. And even when you go to your stateroom, the walls were not, you know, boring cream color. It was, you know, either this deep green or blue. Like everything was alive around you. It just felt vibrant. I was really struck by was probably the most beautiful Disney ship I had ever seen.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: Wow, that's really some strong words. I have to say, the artwork choices, and this is particularly true, I think, of both the Treasure and the Destiny are just incredible. In every stairwell, in every hallway, there is huge, massive pieces of artwork that are, you know, of course, Disney and Star wars and Marvel and all of that, but they are just, like, very interesting. Like, they're not all, like. I feel like on the older ships, you have lots of classic Disney artwork, and I love all of that, like, Mickey and, you know, Fab Five type stuff and. And some of the older movies and all of that. But I think on the newer ships, they've done some really cool, modern takes on the artwork. Right. And just. I'm so impressed. I feel like in every hallway and every stairwell on both Destiny and the Treasure, and to some degree on the Wish, but more so on the Treasure and the Destiny, I think they took it up a notch. You just see, like, really cool artwork everywhere you go. It's like a museum, basically. Yeah.
[00:47:40] Speaker B: And I can't remember if it was on deck three or four that you go along the hallway and there are maybe six really large paintings, and you have. One is Moana, one is Woody. I can't remember all of them, but I remember the first time my daughter walked by those and she had to stop and look, and she was like, oh, my gosh, what is this?
[00:48:06] Speaker C: This?
[00:48:06] Speaker B: And, you know, I. I, as a mom, you know, watching my daughter just mesmerized by it, I was so happy to see it. And I remember my reaction when I first saw those same paintings, and I had to stop myself just to admire them for a little bit. So it was gorgeous. I absolutely loved it. But I have the same, you know, the same thing I said about lookout, that I have to go back. I feel like I have to go back to the Destiny because four nights are not enough to really get to know the. The ship. Well, experiences. In fact, you know, on. On day one, I kept checking the navigator and all the experiences list, and you put the hearts on what you want to do and so on and so forth. And I very quickly realized that I might not be able to do everything, and I need to accept it. The quicker I accept it, the happier I'm going to be, because it's just not enough time. This ship has a lot of entertainment and activities and options, and. And I thought, I can't just, oh, I need to stop having fun now, because I'm going to have fun over there and then fun over there. No, that.
[00:49:14] Speaker A: Drive yourself crazy.
[00:49:16] Speaker B: That kills the fun. Right. So I told myself on Day one, I just have to relax and go with the flow and do what I can do in this first trip. And I know I'm going to be back at some point.
I have to, so.
So I'm just gonna do what I can and enjoy it.
[00:49:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. That's what Crush says. Go with the flow, right? You have to.
[00:49:38] Speaker C: That may be some of the worst singing you've done on this show, but.
[00:49:42] Speaker A: No, you really have to. You really. If you do exactly what you're talking about, which is sort of jump from activity to activity, because you're like, oh, I need to stop having fun wherever I'm doing right now and go have fun over there. Like, you will drive yourself. Yourself batty, and you will not end up having fun. And you're exactly right. There is so much entertainment on the Destiny that it is not possible to do it all, at least not happily. I don't know. I mean, maybe you could do it all and just be miserable, but, like, yeah, I don't think it's really possible to do it all in, like, four days, even in five days, to be perfectly honest. I'm curious, Sam. Which of the entertainment stuff did you get to do? Like, did you get to meet some of those villains or see some of their, you know, sort of entertainment? I know that we have got. There's a Cruella show in, you know, in the.
In the bar space, there is a Maleficent show in Saga, there is Dr. Facilier's parlor, but there's also, like, meet and greet opportunities with all three of those villains. And then, of course, there's all, like, the Grand Hall Atrium shows that are Marvel themed. I mean, there's just so much. And of course, then the. The Marvel show that's adult only in Saga. I'm curious if you got to do. I imagine not all of those experiences, but some of those experiences.
[00:51:01] Speaker B: That's right. We did some of those.
Well, actually, our whole family were big Marvel fans, so that was right up our alley. And I love Loki in particular, so I was so happy to see. I saw that show that he does, what with Zion Gamble. So that was fun to see. And then he does the meet and greets with people, and I'm like, oh, I want to. I want to take a picture with him, but I don't know what to say to him. So I ended up not going take a picture with him. Like, if I had my kids with me, that could help me, but they were gone. So I'm like, it's just me And. And I just. I didn't go up to him to. To talk to him, but I did the. The show, the adult show.
What is it called? With great power. Although I felt maybe that didn't have to be an adult show. I mean, there are a couple moments in there that they could very easily tweak and make it more accessible to. To everyone. So that was a fun show. I thought the music that came before that show was also really, really good. So we enjoyed that. What else? Oh, so we didn't get to do the.
The Cruella show at the lounge, but there was this Cruella fashion show on the atrium, and I didn't know about that, and it was so much fun. We laughed a lot, we clapped a lot. Everybody was down there for it. So it was just. It was great fun. We did the doctor Facilier interaction, and I was the one interacting with.
[00:52:34] Speaker A: Oh, you got picked. I love that. Yes.
[00:52:37] Speaker B: Yeah, so that was fun.
[00:52:38] Speaker A: Do you have the power of intuition, Sam?
[00:52:41] Speaker B: Apparently.
[00:52:43] Speaker A: All right.
[00:52:44] Speaker B: Gotta trust the man.
So it was great. We did the show, of course, Hercules, and by the way, that one as well. I feel like I need to watch it again because Hercules is not my favorite movie. Never was. So I enjoyed it. But after the show, when I kept hearing some songs again, I'm like, oh, this song is really good. I got. I got to watch it again. I got to, you know, pay attention to the details. So I enjoyed it, but I wasn't gaga for it. I still love Beauty and the Beast, you know, the most. That was amazing. By the way, having a chance to watch Beauty and the Beast again on the Dream felt like a gift. I was. I was so impressed with the singing was just. Just amazing. So we enjoyed a lot that the ship had to offer. But the Cruella thing at the lounge, we missed it. We did go to the lounge.
We ordered. Oh, my gosh, that Fashionista drink. I'm a tequila person. I don't drink much, believe it or not, I don't drink much, but tequila I like.
The drink was just perfect, so I really enjoyed that one. I wish the lounge was a little bit bigger, so it was very crowded. We had to wait a little bit for seating. But I enjoyed it. I actually enjoyed it more than the Haunted Mansion one, I have to say, also because we were never, you know, Haunted Mansion enthusiasts, so I didn't have that emotional connection to the lounge that so many park goers have.
So I enjoyed the Cruella one a lot more. I thought it was really a cool vibe.
[00:54:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I think It's a fantastic bar. I agree. I wish it was a little bit bigger. I feel that way especially because of the show aspect in there. Like it would be really nice, nice for more people to be able to experience it. I know they repeat it multiple times across the cruises, but it's still. People line up and people sort of park themselves in that space for hours because it is such a great space and because the troublemaking show is a really fun interactive experience with Cruella and with Ziya and Gamble, who you mentioned the storytellers on the ship. So yeah, it's really, I mean there's, there's so much great entertainment though. You know, it's. It's not like I said, not possible to do all of it on a single sailing.
I think I did, I think I did everything except for I still missed the Sounds of Wakanda. Now we were on three different sailings, like across three different sailings. A three night preview that also had of course some special stuff going on like the christening, which took a huge chunk of time. And then we did two, four night back to back sailings. And I still know that I missed that. And I didn't do all the character meet and greets, but I did get to do all of the, what I'll call it, new entertainment aspects apart from character meet and greets. Like I didn't wait in line to meet Maleficent or wait in line to meet Cruella, but I did do the all of their shows, let's put it that way.
[00:55:47] Speaker B: The Sounds of Wakanda. Is that supposed to be the good night kiss or is that supposed to be during the day?
[00:55:53] Speaker A: So the Sounds of Wakanda is actually where they come out and do drumming and stuff in the atrium. It's the folks, it's the guys who do, I believe, believe it's. I believe it's the same drummers who do the show in the Lion King restaurant. They actually come and do like a Sounds of Wakanda musical demonstration. So it's like African music in the Grand Hall. It's not the light show with the chandelier. So the light show with the chandelier. There are at least three. There might be more. But there is one that is a Wakanda themed one, right? Because it is vibranium, that chandelier. There is also one that I saw that was a pirate themed one. So on Pirates night, I believe it was at like 7:30. I think the, the chandelier started making lights and sound and whatnot. And then I also Saw another one that was Sleeping Beauty, maleficent themed, that had sort of sleeping. You know, it had the. I know you. But it was kind of a creepy version of it and had lighting effects and so. So there might be more. Those are the three that I am aware of and I actually have videos I've reels on Instagram of all three or portions of all three, because I. I believe for the Pirates one, I didn't know it was coming, so I probably missed the beginning section of it. And same with the Wakanda one, I caught it, you know, maybe a few seconds, you know, maybe 20 seconds into it. So it's not actually the entirety of the show. Each one is maybe two minutes long. I'm approximating. I don't know exactly, but it's lighting effects and music being played in the atrium. And so it is sort of the. I'll call it replacement for the goodnight kiss on the Wish, which the goodnight kiss on the Wish actually happens at. You know, I think it's like 10 and midnight, maybe something like that. On.
[00:57:43] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, on the Wish, it's timed. On the Treasure. Sorry, the Destiny, it seemed to be a little.
[00:57:47] Speaker A: Yeah, on the Destiny, it seemed much more like random or at least not announced.
If you ask a cast member, they're like, I don't know. And so the only one I could, like, I can say, like, I think had a specific time, and this is just my guessing, is because it was 7:30 on pirate night, the pirate one happened. So if folks are interested in seeing the one, the pirate one, I think you got a pretty good chance of seeing it at 7:30. If you're in the Grand hall on pirate night, 7:30pm Sorry, not AM. And then the Wakanda one was at like 5:00 clock at night one night.
And the Maleficent one was. I don't even know, it was like a random time yet during the day or something.
[00:58:28] Speaker B: I didn't know that there were three and I missed all of them. I just. I was hoping to catch one of them, but I couldn't find out what time and I was doing other things, so I missed all of them. But I remember being on the queue for guest services once, which is on Deck 4, right. And then I heard the drums and I'm like, is something happening? And I walked over the rail to look at it, but. But there wasn't anything I could see.
So just the sound. So I'm like, it sounds like something should be happening here. This sounds pretty exciting. But I looked around, I didn't see anything. So I don't know what that was. So that why I was wondering.
[00:59:07] Speaker A: That might have been the Wakanda themed chandelier show. Now, when I say show, it's. We're just talking about some lighting effects. It's not like. It's not like it's anything really big and crazy, but you'd have to look. Look up to notice it.
[00:59:20] Speaker B: The middle of the day.
[00:59:22] Speaker A: Yes, but it was.
[00:59:23] Speaker B: Yeah, okay. Yes, it was. And I didn't look up.
[00:59:26] Speaker A: Yeah. It might just be that you. If you look down and didn't see anything, next time, look up. Yeah. So. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why I said it's not. And I only sort of ran this is over the course of three sailings that I figured these three out. So I can't say for sure that there aren't even more. There might be more and I. They might actually have some kind of timing to them. I just. If they do. I couldn't figure it out. And when I asked the cast members, they couldn't tell me. So it's definitely different than on the Wish. That has a very regimented kiss good night. Like I said, I think at like 10 and midnight. So, yeah, very, very different experience. I've got to ask Sam, what was your favorite thing on the Destiny? Be that a show and a piece of entertainment and activity, because obviously we can't talk about everything you did on the Destiny in four days or everything you did on the Dream in four days, but, yeah, what was your favorite activity or entertainment?
[01:00:26] Speaker B: Gosh. So, okay, maybe this is certainly not exclusive to the Destiny because if I'm just speaking about the Destiny itself, the theme of heroes and villains is a lot of fun. So I love that. And what comes. Comes with it. Seeing the characters and feeling the way they use light in the atrium to create a different atmosphere. I thought that was something I had never seen before in terms of our favorite, or at least my favorite activity on the ship. But it's not exclusive to the Destiny. It was the 80s music challenge. I had never done it before.
I had only done 80s music trivia.
And in fact, when we went to that, I thought that's what it was. I didn't even click to the fact that the name was slightly different to challenge. And then they said on stage that the challenge that was the first time it was happening on the Destiny, that it used to happen on other ships and I was on the Destiny. And it pairs a little bit of trivia with tasks that the teams have to do. And it was on the last night of the cruise. So I was just, me and my husband, we were just so excited and we were like volunteering on everything and participating really. So it was so funny and we just let go and just had the best time. So on the ship.
[01:01:48] Speaker A: I don't think we've done that before. We've definitely done the 80s music trivia, but we've never done one that's called 80s Music Challenge. Sam. Oh my God.
[01:01:57] Speaker B: You have to, because they really get you out there.
[01:02:01] Speaker A: I love that. I love that. Well, I've got to ask your perspective on, you know, you just introduced your, your brother and your new niece to two ships, I mean, back, you know, side to side sailings, their first and their second cruise, one after another on two different ships. Do you think that one of the ships is, is in particular better for, let's say a first time cruiser as opposed to the other? Like, do you feel like the order you did this in was sort of the right order, meaning dream first, Destiny second for them or do you have any other thoughts about, like, if you were going to, gonna, if you were gonna have sent a first time cruiser on their first ship, which ship that would be?
[01:02:40] Speaker B: So it depends on, I think it depends a lot on the ages of the kids you have with you and I'll give an example. So I, I love all Disney ships, so you put me on one, any one of them, I'll be happy. But for my niece, she thought the Ocean Years Club on the Destiny was far better than on the Dream. It was larger, it was more modern, the activities were more engaging for her.
She also said that the, the cast members on the Destiny paid more attention to her. I, maybe that was, you know, something of the day, I mean, who knows? But she absolutely loved it on the Destiny and she wasn't quite as excited on, on the Dream to go there.
[01:03:23] Speaker A: Oh, interesting.
[01:03:24] Speaker B: Yeah. For my kids.
So I think Julia enjoyed both.
She said that the Destiny space was a little bit better.
My son mentioned that the vibe on the Destiny had a little bit of a better space, but he made more friends on the Dream.
So the group he was running around with on the Dream, he was so, so happy. The group he was running around with on the Destiny was smaller. He still had a great time and he met great people, but just it was a little bit different. And he kept saying, I think he's right, you know, oh, the people on the ship, they really make or break the experience. So I think there is a little bit of that as well. And people say this even about the 1820 Club, that sometimes you click with the people that you meet and you have a wonderful time and sometimes you don't.
And the funny thing is if we go back to okay, what is the best last ship and, and, and I did have a wonderful experience on the Wish as we talked about before, but the Destiny is a step further. So, so the Destiny is amazing and it's a lot more modern than the Dream. But my Christmas cruise on the Dream was nothing short of magical. So if I'm comparing both cruises, my Dream cruise was better because it was Christmas and because my niece was there and there was castaway with a. You know what I mean? So the experiences will vary so much depending on so many factors. And I think if you like Disney, you're gonna be happy on pretty much any ship. But yes, the distant, the Destiny is a more modern, you know, a lot more spaces and activities to choose from if that's what you need.
[01:05:12] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I think that's a really, really good assessment. I think, you know, if you're looking for a maritime Christmas experience, agree. I'm not sure I'd recommend one of the newer ships. I think that one of the classic original 4 like is probably a bit more of that classic Christmas experience and you can lean more into the Christmas activities.
[01:05:36] Speaker C: I think the Treasure would present a good opportunity on some of the newer ships for sure because it's seven night cruises. I feel like the, like there's a richness of the atrium like they have on the, the, the older ships. I, I agree the Destiny and the Wish are a little more difficult for me to envision the Christmas time vibes either on like a Marvel Christmas sailing essentially.
You know, and, and I just, I'm not a big fan. I know some people love the Wish decked out with like the all white Christmas tree and that kind of stuff. But I'm not that guy. Like I, I want wider so I want, I want traditional Christmas decorate. I want greens and reds and you know. Yeah, all that sort of stuff. So it's, it's like it wouldn't be the ship I'd choose for very merry time, but the Treasure is one I would look at.
[01:06:22] Speaker A: Yeah. But I will say I think you're absolutely, I think your, your niece is actually correct. I mean Nathan would agree with your niece in saying that the Wish class has the best oceaneers club. That's what he thinks. I'm so, I don't know that every child will agree. I'm sure there are some Kids who love Andy's room on, you know, the Wonder and the Magic, which is such a cute room with the slide, you know, inside the club. But I do think that, you know, slightly older kids at the sort of older end of Oceaneers Club probably are going to enjoy the Oceaneers Club on the Wish class because it is more modern and there's lots of different rooms and different activities on board. Well, Sam, we're not going to do a full rapid fire because we did that last time. But I do have to ask you now, because you proclaimed the Wish as your favorite ship on the last show and you mentioned this hilariously in our communication pre show that when you remember when you said that to us on the last show during Rapid Fire, you got kind of silence from Brian and I and how telling that silence was because we were like, oh, okay, your favorite ship is the Wish. But I was, we were joking before the show. Like I want to say out there, if your favorite ship is the Wish, there's no, there's nothing wrong with you. It's a beautiful ship. I think part of why Brian and I, I rank the Wish lower in our standings is because of two things.
One is the itinerary. Three and four night itineraries are too short for us. We don't like that itinerary that only goes to, you know, Nassau and Castaway. We want a longer itinerary in general. But also we have this kind of skewed view of the Wish, in part because we went on the maiden voyage of the Wish and then we went on the maiden voyage of the Treasure and the maiden voyage of the Destiny. And so when we compare the those experiences, like the Wish really wasn't at the level of ready that Treasure and Destiny were like. It's kind of night and day when you think about when we look back on it. And so that skews our vision of the Wish. And so even though the Wish is a beautiful ship with wonderful princess theming and some really great stuff on board, it still is going because of that view and because of those experiences, we're going to rank her her lower. Now when once she changes itineraries, that might change, right? Like once she starts doing longer itineraries, like after she sells Europe in 2027, perhaps you know, that that might change. But I gotta ask you now, now that you have been, you were on the Dream for Christmas, you were on the Destiny in her inaugural season.
Now which one, I forget, have you been on all of the ships now.
[01:09:08] Speaker B: Sam, And I'm missing the Treasure.
[01:09:10] Speaker A: Okay, that's what I thought. Okay, so setting aside the treasure, that can't be your favorite because you haven't been.
Of the other ships. Of the other. What is that, seven, no, six ships. Which one is your favorite?
[01:09:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I think now I have to say the Destiny.
I really want to go back. I want to spend more time and explore everything. Gosh, it was so beautiful. It was striking.
I really want to go back to it. The Dream will always have a special place in my heart because it was our first ship, and having it be my brother's first ship also is kind of cute. So I love the Dream, but, man, the Destiny really has something going on, and I want to go back.
[01:09:56] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. I think for anyone who's a Marvel fan or a Villains fan, I think the Destiny has so much to offer and anyone who's really leans into the entertainment side of things. Right. If you're somebody who like, likes to sit on at an adult pool, you're probably not going to like the Destiny if that's what you do. But if you're somebody who likes to go to a lot of different entertainment activities, cities, you know, the Destiny is going to be a really, a really, really good option.
[01:10:22] Speaker C: I enjoyed my time by the adult pool.
[01:10:24] Speaker A: Well, okay, fair, but you, you. But you know when to go, Brian. You have good strategy that when you can go and stake out your spot.
[01:10:31] Speaker C: I also, I mean, maybe it was the sailings we were on, but I found that the adult pool was not as oversubscribed when we were on the Destiny. And I wonder if a part of that is there's so much entertainment that it's like spreading the crowds around a bit. But people aren't just sitting by the pool all day. They're trying to go catch a certain way.
[01:10:46] Speaker A: Not, yes, it's more hidden away, but it's the same as on the Wish and the Treasure, where it's in the back of the ship, but it's too small.
The only complaint I have about it, it's that the pool is too small and there's only the one hot tub. And I don't mind that it's actually tucked out of the way. It's just the.
I think most people would agree it's too small compared to the size of the ship and the number of adults sailing. And so if you happen to be on a sailing that is heavily adult, you're going to have trouble finding, you know, finding a spot to sit or finding space even in the pool, because the pool's really, really Quite small. All right, well, I know Brian wants to ask the next question.
[01:11:28] Speaker C: What's next? What have you got planned?
[01:11:30] Speaker B: Right. So we came home and the kids were desolated and thinking, oh, I wish I could just imagine what Marceline Market will serve for breakfast and the activities on Vibe and Edge. So. So we ended up booking a New Year's cruise on the Treasure for this year. So later this year.
And we're very excited about that. And that's the one that is missing. Right. So get.
[01:11:57] Speaker A: Yes, you're complete.
[01:11:59] Speaker B: We're complete. And we still have our booking on the adventure for late July, so we have that to look forward to as well.
[01:12:08] Speaker A: Awesome. Amazing. You have two. I mean, you're going to complete.
Listen, Sam, you're going to complete the Elite 8, if that's what we're calling it, before Brian and I, because we are not scheduled on the adventure at this point.
We have completed, of course, the current seven dwarfs, but we will not have the adventure. We don't have it on our itinerary for 2026, so we don't have anything booked. We don't have it booked for 2027 yet either. So you may beat us in being a completionist, Sam. So congratulations on that.
[01:12:41] Speaker C: Almost assuredly. Almost assuredly. We just don't have. It's tough with a 12 year old in school to get over the adventure.
[01:12:49] Speaker D: And it's.
[01:12:50] Speaker C: It's a hefty proposition too, by far.
[01:12:52] Speaker B: It requires a lot of planning, even for us to do it. Well, number one, we need to extend it a little bit because it's a long way to go for just four nights. So we are doing an adventures by Disney in Japan after that. But also it's a lot of jet lag. So what we decided to do is try to stop in Europe along the way and marrying that with work. So because my work has offices in a lot of places, so I will work from London, work from Paris, work from Singapore, and then take more days when we go to Japan. So that's how we found a way to make this work for us. But it requires a lot of planning.
[01:13:34] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. All right, well, Sam, you know you have to come back on the show to talk about all of these things.
For sure. You've got to come to talk about the adventure and the adventures by Disney in Japan.
So mark your calendar for whenever you're back, whether it's July or August, you are coming on the show to talk about those two things. And then of course, you gotta come back to talk in the new year about your New Year's Eve cruise on the Disney Treasure because there's, you know, nothing more special than spending a holiday on Disney Cruise Line. So we'd love to have you back. Thank you so much for joining us today to talk about this amazing side to side cruising out of Port Everglades. And yeah, we, we just love having you on.
[01:14:19] Speaker B: Thank you guys so much. I'll be happy to come back.
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