[00:00:00] Speaker A: In the mornings when I am bleary eyed before I get my coffee, I can stumble into the lounge and someone is well, if I can't do it myself they will push the button for cappuccino on the machine. I don't have to go into cabanas and or marceline and fight for that.
I don't have to go pay extra and cove. I can have a really nice quality coffee. And then they have these breakfast sandwiches in the concierge sandwich. Oh my gosh, these breakfast sandwiches, they're like gouda and bacon and tomatoes, tomato and egg and they're just, they're, they're so.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: Welcome back everyone to this week's live episode of the DCL Duo podcast. Brought to you by My Path Unwinding Travel and also our good friends over at the DCL Magazine. I just want to give them a quick plug as we like to do and say if you have not subscribed Already to the DCL Magazine, head over to dcl-magazine.com to subscribe today to their inaugural edition of the full DCL magazine.
Remember, showing our sponsors some love shows us love. So head over to dcl-magazine.com today to subscribe and use code DCLDUO. That's all caps DCLDUO to get 10% off everything in the WDW magazine store, including the DCL magazine itself and a host of other products.
[00:01:44] Speaker C: And the first edition or first issue of the magazine I believe is going to be out in April. So super exciting. It's going to be a twice a year print magazine. So very exciting.
We're very excited to see it and see Brian's words again in print in that magazine. So fantastic.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: They're not that exciting but I am pretty excited about it myself. So anyway, with that we've got one of our other fabulous show sponsors with us. It's Karen from my Path Unwinding Travel. Welcome back, Karen. It's always good to see you.
[00:02:17] Speaker D: Good evening everybody.
[00:02:20] Speaker C: It's so lovely to see you, Karen. Karen, you know we're talking about concierge cruising tonight so we had to of course invite you on because you are the expert in all things concierge cruising both on Disney and elsewhere.
But before we dive into the show topic, we'll obviously we're going to chat with you for a few minutes before we bring our guest on. But I wanted to talk a little bit of Disney news first. Two pieces of news coming out of the Disney Adventure.
First piece of news is the Iron Cycle roller coaster on the Disney Adventure. Apparently Was not operating on either the masonry maiden voyage or the second voyage. I believe the third voyage maybe just started today.
And I haven't heard anything about whether it's up.
I did hear that there were engineers working on the roller coaster on board the ship, but I think some passengers were pretty disappointed, especially because on the preview sailings, there were quite a few influencers who did get to, of course, ride on the coaster. And so then. And then, of course, paid guests have not gotten to ride on the coaster. So it's a little bit of unhappiness there.
[00:03:31] Speaker B: Hard to be a theme park at sea when the rides aren't working. So.
[00:03:34] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the other. The other two rides are. Are working and have been working, but they are. The other two rides are more. Let's call them kiddie rides, right? Like, one of them is kind of like a dumbo flying dumbo. And then the other one is just literally a go kart where you go around, like, a very small track and they look really cute, but, like, the theming is great, but it's not like a thrill ride. The other piece of news is also off the Adventure.
The Adventure has introduced something called Selfie at Sea.
And it is. We were talking, chatting about it pre show, and it basically sounds like what was happening during the pandemic reopening, where you can take a picture of yourself with a character behind you, usually on a stage or on some kind of platform.
And the reason they have added this on the adventure is because all of the character meet and greets are reservation only. So, like, if you want to go and meet them, take your picture, get an autograph, all of that.
And so there was limited capacity for that, with obviously a large number of passengers being unhappy that they weren't getting to meet the characters. And then when there were characters that were roaming around, as you see on the other Disney ships, they were getting just mobbed with people, and they really weren't able to. It just wasn't working operationally. So they introduced this new thing called Selfie at Sea. And it's only on the Adventure. I.
I mean, it's possible they could bring it to the other ships. I'm not sure it's something that's necessary on the other ships, but it was including, like, Duffy and Friends, the Fab Five characters, Jack Sparrow, princesses, right? They would be up on the stage, or Moana was on her, like, pool stage, and then people would take a, you know, picture of themselves or their camera in front of the character.
Anyway, I just thought it was kind of. It's kind of funny because it's a throwback to the pandemic era, but it is a way to increase probably guest satisfaction with people being able to get at least a picture with a character that they wouldn't otherwise be able to get. Karen, what do you think about this new offering?
[00:05:39] Speaker D: I think that it might be a reason to consider concierge on the Disney Adventure.
[00:05:47] Speaker C: You know, I don't know, though, that concierge guests are having any kind of advantage in those character meet and greets. Now, they may do a meet and greet in the lounge, but I don't know about that.
[00:05:55] Speaker D: They're able to have some reservations, though. I believe. I believe we've made advanced reservations for concierge guests sailing on the adventure.
So we'll see how that evolves.
I think that we need to give it time. This is a massive new endeavor for Disney Cruise Line, and there's bound to be, you know, bumps in the road and we need to. And they're already adjusting and trying to pivot and see what works. So I think we need to give it time and know that any, you know, maiden voyage inaugural season has, you know, things that might not work and might need evolving. So we'll see how it. How it changes over time and what they're able to accomplish on board.
[00:06:41] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. I think you're right. And especially the first of its class, any kind of first of its class maiden voyage we saw with the wish. Right. Operational challenges, construction challenges, all the like. And then we're seeing that again with the adventure. I'm sure that the dream and the magic had those issues back when they launched many, many years ago. And, you know, the second ship of its class tends to be obviously a lot smoother. So, yeah, it is one of those things where I think you're right, they're going to make operational adjustments. Now, the third thing I think is kind of the most exciting thing, the third piece of news, which is Disney Cruise Line yesterday released a brand new advertisement that we're gonna play.
We might talk over, over the ad,
[00:07:24] Speaker B: but, yeah, we should talk over it. I'm going to. I'm going to bring the ad volume down a bit. But if you have not seen this ad, it is up on YouTube and it is fantastic.
Yep, I'm working on it. There you go.
So there you go. Yes.
[00:07:43] Speaker C: So it's the family sailing. They're actually sailing on the treasure, which is funny because this treasure is only a year half old.
Not even. Right.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, it progresses through Time as this baby ages, then suddenly it's an adult. But like, yeah, the ship's only been around for a year. I think somebody commented it would have been interesting if they had maybe started on the magic or the, the wonder for this ad. But yeah, it is a hard tugging ad.
[00:08:12] Speaker D: I have to say that for any parents out there who know the story. Love you forever.
This ad is ripped from that book.
Love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living my baby, you'll be. And just that whole, you know, those caring moments. I love this ad and I grabbed my yvie because I think this ad exceeds the Evie ad.
[00:08:44] Speaker C: Wow. And that's, that's high praise. Right? Like this is. Both of these ads are so incredible. Here's of course the, the next generation where, where the dad is now the grandpa, the son is now a dad with his new, with his young child. And then the three of them go for this dice. So I like that they even showed that teenage stage where the kid didn't want to like hang out with the parent but then still went out with him in the middle of the night to walk the deck. So anyway, fantastic ad.
[00:09:15] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:09:16] Speaker C: Now, Karen, and it really captured.
[00:09:18] Speaker D: You can take your baby on a Disney cruise and start those memories super early.
But you know, one of the things when Sam and I were chatting earlier about what should I talk about today? The first thing I said is I want to talk about the ad.
And part of the reason that I thought it's relevant for sharing about the My Path Unwinding travel team is that our team was talking about the ad today because we all have a heart for Disney Cruise Line and it touches us just the way it touches you all, hopefully. And you know, I always like to say that we are, you know, full service travel agency, but Disney and especially Disney Cruise Line is at the heart of our team. And this ad just kind of spoke to, spoke to all of us.
So I was. Besides the fact that I'm like a magnet to anything concierge related, so I'm on today.
But I thought I would give just some quick thoughts about our team and concierge planning. And first of all, I want to say that we work with all Disney cruisers. Whether you're on the inside cabin, I call it the get me on the ship at any price. Just let's find the best price and get me on the ship because you know that you can have an incredible time to that person that wants to be in the royal suite and will only sell Concierge, we work with everyone. Sometimes we get that question, can we still work with you? The answer is yes. But we do have a strong affinity towards concierge cruising and we feel that it's a strong expertise for us. We've been running the Disney Cruise Line Concierge Guests Facebook group and maybe Brian can share that in the show notes at some point in case any of you are not members.
That is a group that is open to everybody, whether or not you're our client, whether you're working with another travel advisor, we're there to share information and knowledge about what it means to sail in Disney Cruise Line concierge level.
A lot of people think that it's just a room, that maybe it's a larger room or it's a suite. But as you, you're going to hear with your guests coming up too. It's so much more than that and I love to talk about it for new cruisers, because if you're a new cruiser, there's a lot of things that you might hear about, hear hyped up on the duo or on other forms of social media that you think, hey, I really want to be sure I can do like hollow brunch or the Royal Gathering, for example, or certain port adventures. If you're in Alaska, if you're a new cruiser, you will be at the very last group to be able to access those, those cruise activities. But if you're concierge guest, you go to the very top of the list. And part of our job as travel advisors is to guide you through all of that, to make sure that you're getting the best value out of your concierge cruise. So that when somebody asks you, is Disney Cruise Line concierge worth it? The million dollar question, we hope that our clients that have experienced it come back saying 100% yes, we want to do it again.
So we want to guide you through that whole process to make sure that you're getting the most out of it.
[00:12:51] Speaker C: Awesome. Yeah. And I would highly recommend that if you are booking concierge and you haven't booked concierge before, that even if you don't decide to work with Karen or My Path Unwinding Travel, make sure you're working with a travel advisor that is familiar with the concierge product on Disney Cruise Line, it is different than on other cruise lines and it is unique even within the Disney portfolio. So I highly recommend, don't just book with whatever, you know, travel agent that happens to be out there. Do your research. Make sure the person that you're working with knows the product that you're looking to book. So, Karen, thank you so much. Tell folks where they can reach out to you and the team at My Path Unwinding.
[00:13:31] Speaker D: We are at mypathunwinding.com DCLDUO we have your own landing page so that we know that you're a DCL duo listener. You can also just find us on Facebook and Instagram My Path Unwinding in that DCL concierge guests Facebook group.
Or you can reach out to dclduomypathunwinding.com
[00:14:00] Speaker B: you gotta and we have reach out
[00:14:02] Speaker D: to any of us and we will get you to the right people.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: We have the link scrolling across the screen for anyone who didn't catch that and we will also we put it in all of our show notes so you can always find Karen and her fabulous team. So thank you, Karen, for joining us.
[00:14:16] Speaker D: Looking forward to listening to the rest of the conversation tonight. Thanks for having me.
[00:14:20] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:14:20] Speaker C: Thanks, Karen.
[00:14:21] Speaker B: See ya.
[00:14:21] Speaker C: We're going to bring on Whitney now, our guest for tonight's episode. Hey, Whitney.
[00:14:26] Speaker B: Hi, Whitney.
Oh, I think you're muted. I think you're still muted. There we go.
[00:14:32] Speaker C: We asked you to mute while you're off camera, but we forgot you guys.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: So excited to be here. Off mute.
[00:14:40] Speaker C: Thank you so much for being with us, Whitney. Now we're going to talk about your Disney Disney cruise line sailing on the Disney Destiny. Your first time on the Disney Destiny, not your first time sailing concierge. We actually have an episode that we recorded with you on your first time sailing concierge, which was on the Disney Treasure not too long ago. But we wanted to invite you back. We had such a great time chatting with you the last time. But we got to start with talking about your cruise line history because you actually have quite a bit of cruise line experience on other lines and then a little bit of course, on Disney as well.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: Yeah. So we started cruising actually right when we got married, which is about 13 years ago now. My husband and I cruise without kids and so we started cruising on NCL and have done about five cruises on Norwegian and about half of those have been in what's called the Haven class, which is their concierge equivalent. We've also sailed in Celebrity and their kind of concierge equivalent once to Alaska.
We have one Royal Sailing under our belt, but it was a super old ship. It does not compare to the kind of crazy Oasis class ships, all of that that they're doing now.
And then we've Also sailed Virgin Voyages in their mega rock star class, which was just coming out of COVID Kind of managed to get an amazing deal there and that was an amazing experience. So happy to talk about those, how they can.
[00:16:12] Speaker B: Mega Rockstar is our favorite way to sail on Virgin Voyage.
[00:16:17] Speaker C: I mean, it's pretty sweet.
You also have experience sailing on the Disney Magic, not in concierge. So we're gonna, we're gonna of course focus this, this conversation on sailing concierge on the Disney Destiny. So we'll talk about some things Destiny and some things concierge. But I want to start with why did you book the Destiny and why did you book it in concierge in particular?
[00:16:40] Speaker A: Yeah. So we sailed Disney for the first time on the Treasure a year ago in April. So it was still in the inaugural season of the Treasure. And it was such an amazing experience, start to finish. You can go watch the older episode to hear all about my gushing over the Treasure. And I got addicted to Disney real quick.
So coming out of that, I booked not one, not two, but three other cruises in fact with Disney and the Destiny had just been announced around that time. And so we knew it was coming. And so as soon as bookings kind of opened up, wanted to, to get on that ship and experience that. One of my big motivations actually in when we booked this cruise for our Treasure cruise, we had missed the inaugural cast by like three cruises.
[00:17:36] Speaker C: Oh my God.
[00:17:37] Speaker A: Tried to back date in my head and figure out like, how can I nail the inaugural cast.
[00:17:43] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: And we were the first cruise with the non inaugural cast on this cruise. So I wonder.
But we still had a great time.
[00:17:53] Speaker C: Well, you know, that's helpful though because I'm re. I've been really curious. I feel like everyone that we've talked to about the Destiny saw Destiny cast number one. And so I'm going to put a pin in that. But I want to ask you about Ziya and Gamble and the rest of Destiny cast number two because I always like, say, you know, the OGs are usually the best, but that doesn't mean that the next class isn't amazing too. So. But let's, let's dive into why concierge again. Did you consider booking the Destiny you had experienced the concierge lounge, it's pretty much the same. And the benefits on the Treasure with slightly different theming. We got Some Avengers theming vs Star wars theming in the lounge. Very, very light, tasteful theming. Let me just put that note out there, but did you consider booking outside of concierge, you had booked the Magic and non concierge. So I'm curious, what was the sort of the decision point for you?
[00:18:46] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, for me, I don't feel like I'm one of those like I've gone concierge so I can never go back type of people. I think it really depends on the ship and the itinerary for me personally as to whether it's worth it on the wish class ship because they offer so many more concierge perks. You have the hot tubs on the sun deck, you have the hot breakfast and meals in the lounge.
And those itineraries for the wish class ships are often going to Castaway or Lookout where you have the cabanas. That to me really makes concierge on the wish class ships much more desirable. Plus just as many people are on those ships, having concierge access really helps.
Whereas on the Magic, you know, we, we sailed at very merry time. It was a full ship. We didn't need to. The itinerary didn't have Castaway so there was no need for a cabana. Those shows are not so popular that you need the early access to the theater.
There's not a hot tub, there's not hot food in the lounge. So it just didn't seem like as, as necessary of an element. I will say. My husband is six foot foot six and he thinks that the showers in the older ships, non concierge, are not the best experience. So if you're tall, perhaps you might want to invest in concierge to get a better shower.
[00:20:13] Speaker C: Yeah, you gotta start at the spa. That's. I think the key is if you're really tall, you go shower at the spa. Yeah.
[00:20:18] Speaker B: So I totally agree with you, Whitney, that it's, it's, it's ship and itinerary dependent. I would say that one other thing I think you touched on this that I tend to pay attention to is like, like, like for us, concierge in Alaska made a huge difference in terms of the shore excursions we could book even though we weren't going to one of the private islands. So I think, and we did it in Norway too where some of the shore excursions are much more limited. So like if you're on one of these sailings, it's going to have these very special and unique shore excursions. Concierge is not a bad way to go. Or you know, with us for the DVC cruise, having friends sailing in concierge is also a bad way to go.
[00:20:51] Speaker C: Yeah, we're both. But we did not book concierge. But we do have friends. I don't know if they're in the chat. I haven't seen them in the chat yet. But we have friends sailing with us that they are sailing concierge. So really nice. Yeah, let's, let's talk a little bit about the booking process.
Now did you send your email in at 130days to tell Shoreside concierge I want A, B, C, D and E to be booked for me and I want these waters or Sprite or whatever in your room. Like what did you. What kind of.
[00:21:25] Speaker B: I would say we did. We did get an update today from our friends who are on the.
[00:21:29] Speaker E: Where are they?
[00:21:30] Speaker B: They Wish. Are they on the Wish?
[00:21:31] Speaker C: No, they're on the Treasure.
[00:21:32] Speaker B: The Treasure and concierge and I have learned something new today which is that concierge can no longer bring on board the non standard drinks if they're in plastic bottles.
Oh, interesting because Disney has eliminated all the single use plastics. So just to the point of did you request special stuff that has been diminished now?
[00:21:52] Speaker C: Maybe aluminum, but if it comes in
[00:21:54] Speaker B: aluminum, no more vitamin water for me on board. But yes.
[00:21:57] Speaker C: Oh, all right. Yeah. So Whitney, what did you request? I think people are always what can you request? And then you know there is a limit to what you can request. But I think different people sort of request different stuff.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: Yeah, it was interesting because the email window actually fell during our magic cruise and so we had to get the Internet package on the magic cruise in order to send in our booking email.
But worked out great.
So our requests were first of all we wanted a cabana on Lookout.
It was our first time at Lookout and I burn really easily and I had heard there wasn't a ton of shade on that island. So I wanted the cabana in order to be able to have shade. We'd never done a cabana before so that was the top of our list.
And we got it, which was exciting because we had done a cabana request for Castaway on the Treasure and was were unsuccessful at that. But that was before they built the Mickey and Minnie cabanas.
[00:22:57] Speaker C: Right?
[00:22:57] Speaker A: Right. Yeah.
Second, we actually to your point, Brian, about great shore excursions, we actually did the, the fishing three in one fishing expedition at Castaway. And that's a really amazing excursion because only four guests can do it. And so if, you know, if a concierge guest wants that excursion, nobody else on the ship is going to get it basically. So yeah, it was then one other family, a father and a son on a boat with a guide and a boat driver, essentially.
And we went all. All around Castaway and did different types of fishing, like trawling and then, like, casting and different things. And we managed to catch a lot of fish.
[00:23:43] Speaker C: So I saw the pic. I mean, we posted the picture on our socials of you with the fish on the. On the. On the hook. It was awesome. I didn't realize that was at Castaway. That's really fun because, you know, you hear about people doing that fish excursion, but because it's so limited, you don't hear about it very often.
[00:24:00] Speaker B: Well, if. If they ever brought back. What was it called? BR Chef, was that the thing that was in. Yeah, Sam would put concierge in a heartbeat just to get the BR Chef experience.
[00:24:09] Speaker C: But, yeah, yes, they haven't brought it back. It was pre Pandemic. They did this experience where it was like small group, like, cooking class, and you got, like, you got even a chef coat. And it was, you know, I think it took place at Remy, not at Paulo. I think it was only on. I can't remember if it was on all the classes or if it was just on the dream class. But, yeah, they haven't brought it back. But, yeah, there are certain experiences, while they're not exclusive to concierge, they basically are exclusive to concierge because. Or maybe. Maybe a pearl guest might get it. And so if you want that activity, that's something to definitely request in that email. Now, did you request a specific dining rotation or any adult dining? Because it's just your husband and you, so you're sailing. You obviously can do, you know, Enchante or Paulo, really, any night. But did you have specific requests you put in as well?
[00:25:03] Speaker A: We did. We requested Enchante on Pirate Night, and then we requested Paulo on our Marvel night. We're not a huge fan of the Marvel menu and had seen the show already and so wanted to experience.
We'd done Paulo brunch and dinner before, but wanted to do Palo dinner and then Enchante, which was. Was amazing. I mean, we're big foodies, and that was just an incredible experience.
So we did those. But then we also had put in the request just to have our table when we were in the rotational dining to ourselves.
And I. I have a hunch because both times we've done concierge, we've gotten amazing tables, but this was like the extra amazing. So when you're in Pride Lands at the Lion King, they have the stage in the round and the way it's set up. There's like one table that's literally up against the stage for two people. And we were that table.
And so whereas, you know, depending on where you are, I've heard this experience is still great regardless. But we were, I mean, right there could like, you know, feel the breeze as the performers walked by. And I think that that is. Is a table that they probably reserve for concierge.
[00:26:25] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. You definitely, if you're in any of the restaurants that have like a show on any of the ships, if you are staying in concierge, you are going to get the more premium seating. That doesn't mean that there won't be some.
[00:26:40] Speaker B: I have heard of people saying concierge who have not gotten the best. They've gotten decent seats but not the best seats. But like.
[00:26:46] Speaker C: Well, yeah, decent seats is what I mean. You're not going to be all the way in the back of the restaurant unless you request that. If you request you want to be all the way far from the stage because you have noise sensitive or light sensitive or something like that, you can make those requests, but the default is you will be. You will typically get a better location table. Yeah.
[00:27:05] Speaker B: What is your favorite, Whitney, what is your favorite benefit of concierge? Is it the early booking? Is it the access to the lounge? Is it.
You've got the concierge host so you never have to set foot in front of a, you know, a guest services
[00:27:17] Speaker C: early access to the shows, Brian, don't forget.
[00:27:20] Speaker B: I won't. Early access to the shows. What, what is, what is it that makes the sort of recipe for you that says, you know, concierge might be worth it this time?
[00:27:29] Speaker A: Yeah. I think two things both connected to the lounge. Right. Which is in the mornings when I am bleary eyed before I get my coffee, I can stumble into the lounge and someone is, well, if I can't do it myself, they will push the button for cappuccino on the machine. I don't have to go into cabanas and, or Marceline and fight for that.
I don't have to go pay extra in Coke.
I can have a really nice quality coffee. And then they have these breakfast sandwiches in the concierge sandwich. Oh my gosh, these breakfast sandwiches, they're like gouda and bacon and tomato and egg and they're just, they're. They're so good. I literally dream about the sandwich. I've tried to recreate it. It's not the same when I make it at home.
[00:28:17] Speaker C: I dream about that same Sandwich, Whitney, I think it's hilarious you say so it's only on the wish class because as Whitney was talking about earlier, you don't have hot food items on the other ships, only in the wish class because they have their a dedicated kitchen space. But I also dream of that breakfast sandwich. You can also get Mickey waffles and Mickey churro waffle. Mickey churro waffles are more limited, but you can get Mickey waffles in there every day. You just have to, you have to order and wait for them. They're not like at a buffet. But all of that stuff is made fresh in that kitchen. Oh, I dream of that. I'm dreaming of the sandwich right now as we speak.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: Yeah, so that's amazing. And then the second piece is the, the happy hour that they do in the evening for guests is also from 5 to 10 you get free drinks. Pretty decent quality too, I would say.
You know, the wines, they vary based on the ceiling, but you're usually looking at a wine that probably retails in like the, the 20 to $40 region or per bottle or they have a lot of different kind of bourbons, tequilas, rums, things like that if you like mixed drinks. And so that's really nice too to be able to grab a drink before the show and take it in with you or grab a drink before dinner. And then you don't feel like you need to order additional drinks at dinner because you kind of already have your drink that you can enjoy with your meal.
So those two benefits, really, that's what makes the concierge experience for me. But certainly the rest of the perks are great too.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: Just just to pause us for a second because you have sailed in the Haven, you have sailed Mega Rockstar, you have sailed celebrities. I forget what it's called, but sweet class.
How do you. So you know Disney's price for concierge can, can I will just say from, from my viewpoint got a little out of control over the last couple years.
You know, Mega Rockstar and Virgin for a week long cruise is sometimes far less than what Disney's charging for concierge for a comparable cruise.
When you look across these offerings and the price points and the various benefits, like where do you see Disney fitting in? Do you think they have opportunity to do something a little bit different or better? Or do you think that the product is kind of perfect as is? Like how do you make that comparison?
[00:30:34] Speaker A: You know, I find it really interesting, Brian, that I've gotten on the last two concierge cruises the post survey that specifically asked about drink packages. Right. And so it's curious to me if maybe that something that they're exploring, because when you do Sail Haven on NCL or Mega Rockstar on. On Virgin, all of your alcoholic drinks are included. Right. And so it's not just this kind of limited 5 to 10 window.
And what's nice about that, because I do really appreciate that benefit, but on a. Especially a new ship, it kind of makes you feel tethered to the concierge lounge, where perhaps you would prefer to go out and explore one of the themed lounges and try the drinks there.
And maybe, you know, you're kind of skipping that experience to go back to what you feel like you've already paid for. And so, you know, I think that the way that some of the other lines have incorporated drinks for the concierge level guests is. Is better. But for me, it's really the service that's sets Disney apart.
The service of the concierge staff, the service of others. When you're concierge and they, like, recognize even the port staff, they know that you're the ones that are getting there early and are in the special boarding zone.
Everyone is just so lovely throughout. And that is really the Disney difference, I would say. Compared to some of these other lines, I will say the one that I thought was equal in service to Disney was Virgin on the Mega Rockstar. Because you have that, you know, they call them your roadie or whatever, but essentially your agent. Yeah, whatever it is.
And they're setting up these special magical experiences for you. When we were on Virgin, our.
Our agent actually heard, oh, you guys like drinks, you like cocktails, you like mixology? Let me bring the director of beverage for the entire ship to your suite to give you a private xology class. Right.
[00:32:49] Speaker C: That is the kind of stuff that Virgin does that Disney probably won't ever do. But that's amazing. Yeah.
[00:32:55] Speaker B: To the point you made, Whitney, what I liked about the Virgin experience. So royals is comparable to what Disney's doing. I think the price point is much less, but kind of comparable. What I liked about Virgin was I didn't have to go to Richard's rooftop or some lounge in order to access my host, my agent.
They would find us half the time, or I could just text with them. And they were dedicated to us in, like, you know, two other rooms, I think. And so to your point, there was just like a.
There's something about, like, having to go to the lounge. It's like, okay, well, I've got my Own dedicated, you know, customer service desk in the lounge.
It's a little different when it's like I've got my own person assigned to me and they're like, either finding me on board throughout the day to make sure that everything's going well, you know, those sorts of things.
[00:33:42] Speaker C: So, yeah, they have that. They have that on Royal, but it's the highest level on Royal, which we didn't stay. We've stayed in the suite class. But in star class, not.
[00:33:51] Speaker B: No, we stayed in sky class.
[00:33:53] Speaker C: We stayed in sky class. That's right. Yeah. Sorry, I mix up the names because it's Sea, Sky, Star.
Anyway, I really like your point, Whitney, though, about being tethered to the lounge. That's one of the things why I hesitate when I'm on a newer ship to actually stay concierge for the first time because I want to be exploring the rest of the spaces.
But what I would love is if Disney would allow you to. Maybe it's drink credits, right? Like, even on. Even on Virgin, you get. You can get up to like a 20 drink or something over that. You actually have to pay for the drinks. But, you know, if they let you
[00:34:31] Speaker B: tab, you get a bar tab too. Yeah.
[00:34:33] Speaker C: Yes. But I'm saying is if they included X number of drinks that were $20 and below or $25 and below. Right. Like, then. Because I think one of the comments from Blue Skies and Sunshine Guaranteed says that he's intrigued by it, but he fears this, like, culture of, like, the Epcot drinking around the world. Right. You don't want. We don't want sort of drunk cruiser culture on Disney. That's one of the things we don't have on Disney and you do have on some of the other lines. And so they. I think it could be nice if they did some sort of, like, limited even offering for, you know, whether that's for concierge guests or everyone.
I mean, I don't really necessarily care, but it would be nice to have that. And. And we've got a C.
Gala is also saying running back and forth to the lounge to get your money's worth and drinks can be annoying, which I
[00:35:24] Speaker B: would say you're never going to get your money's worth in drinks. So, yeah, you can't.
[00:35:29] Speaker C: Don't try to. Yeah, don't try to drink your money's worth. Not a good idea.
[00:35:35] Speaker E: Are you listening to our show because you want to make the most out of your next vacation. Great news. The fabulous team over at MyPath Unwinding Travel can help Guide you so you don't miss a thing. Their team of professional travel advisors are caring, knowledgeable and experienced. It's why we use them to book our own travel. My Path Unwinding Travel is an authorized Disney vacation planner, which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, adventured with Disney, Relaxed at Aulani, and so much, much more. Whether it's a Disney cruise, a theme park, vacation or adventures by Disney, or if you are looking to expand beyond the mouse, My Path Unwinding Travel will elevate your next vacation planning experience. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your vacation even more magical. Ready to talk to the experts? Head over to mypathunwinding.com DCLDUO or email DCLDUOMYPATHunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks My Path Path Unwinding for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:36:33] Speaker C: Well, what about, let's talk about some of the other benefits.
Early boarding for or really boarding anytime. Right. Like I personally think that that's a great benefit because I want as, I mean I'm paying for that day. I want as much time on the ship as possible. I don't know what you guys think of that.
[00:36:52] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I would agree Sam. And I think that especially that becomes very important if there's anything that you need to tweak about your, your plans. Right. When you board on concierge, they're going to very much try to shuttle you into the concierge lunch which they, they offer in one of the rotational dining rooms. It's a very nice lunch. It's a standard menu but with a few extra options usually and beer and wine is included but you don't have to go directly into the lunch. They serve the lunch until like 2, 2:30 something.
And so on the Treasure Cruise we actually, you know, we wanted to change our dining time and so we booked it instead to the lounge and we're able to get that taken care of immediately. You know, instead of having to kind of wait and, and, and deal with that later. So that's a really nice perk too I would say though even more than getting on the ship on these wish class ships, especially if they're sold out, getting off can be a pain.
[00:37:55] Speaker C: That's a really good point.
[00:37:56] Speaker A: Ye, yeah. And so having the concierge staff they, you, you have a nice calm breakfast in the lounge and then they Walk you down on a private elevator to go down to debark whenever you're ready. You skip all of the lines. You don't have to wait for a specific luggage tag to be called. So I would say that's actually even nicer than being able to board early.
[00:38:20] Speaker B: That. Yes. I mean, as sad as it is to get off the ship, when it's time to get off the ship, you don't want to wait to end your vacation.
[00:38:27] Speaker C: Yeah. You don't want to spend the daytime. Now they do make you get off by like 8:30 if you're doing that versus if you want to, if you want to stay on till nine, then you got to wait with everybody else in the, in the line. But it is, yeah, it is a pain to, to wait in the long line as you're. As you're probably carrying, you know, at least your carry on luggage with you.
Well, I want to talk about the theater access because that's one of my favorite benefits. Whitney. I know other cruise lines offer some of that as well, but what think of that benefit and why don't you tell folks what that benefit looks like?
[00:39:01] Speaker A: Yeah. So the theater benefit is that 30 to 45, it depends kind of on the staff and the shows, but a certain amount of time early, you meet your concierge staff down to go in the ADA entrance to the theater before they open the theater to the. The rest of the guests on board. And then as you walk in, they offer you free popcorn, free waters, and you get your first choice of seats in the theater before kind of they open the doors. That to me is incredibly valuable Again, on an inaugural or new ship where there is a lot of hype over the shows.
And we did see on our ship, they, they did offer Hercules as a matinee as well. And so there were three showings of it. But I, it was definitely full in the 6 o' clock sailing or the 6 o' clock showing that we did. And I heard it was full on all of the them. And so being able to not have to queue up in a line, waste that time on your vacation ahead of time is certainly nice. We got great seats as well. And, and so just taking that, you know, a little bit of stress or friction out of your cruise experience is, is, is fantastic. I will say, like, I was a little surprised and this was, you know, I did not get the inaugural cast I was hoping for, but, you know, the Hercules show was kind of a letdown for me and so I was a little bit bummed on that One especially coming off of the Treasure, where I thought both Beauty and the Beast and Moana were such, such strong shows, I thought maybe they could use a little more rehearsal on the Hercules Bailey's performance. I saw.
[00:40:54] Speaker C: Oh, all right. Well, you saw Cast two on their first week of performances. Well, I mean, they had done rehearsals on the ship while cast one was finishing up their contract because they always have like a two week changeover period. So cast two can watch Cast one and then also cast two can rehearse during off time. So they will always have that happening when the two casts are on together. But once Cast one leaves, Cast two fully takes over. So you were on that first week. I've got to ask you, you know, Hercules being a bit of a letdown, was that because of the performers? Was it because they didn't know what they were doing? Exactly. And then I got to ask more relatedly about the other shows and other sort of performances across the ship.
[00:41:41] Speaker A: Yeah, it felt kind of.
And this is mainly for the main theater shows, right.
That cast maybe just needed a little bit more performance in the space. I honestly wonder if where they had been perform or practicing was a smaller stage perhaps, because what kept happening, they have these huge puppets, not to ruin anything for anyone that hasn't seen it yet. And you know, Hercules is fighting these monsters and he would be like five, six feet away from them and like, hi.
[00:42:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:42:13] Speaker C: And then they would be like.
[00:42:16] Speaker A: It was just kind of like you couldn't suspend disbelief quite that much on a lot of.
Didn't quite work.
[00:42:26] Speaker E: I can tell you.
[00:42:27] Speaker B: It can be very worse because we had, we talked to someone recently. The puppets were broken and so they just had Hercules and then some sort of projection mapping of oh, this was the Hydra puppet.
[00:42:39] Speaker C: The Hydra puppet.
[00:42:40] Speaker B: And I was like, that's gotta be so terrifying.
[00:42:43] Speaker C: So disappointed. Yeah, so disappointed. It. Yeah. Somebody's asking, where do the inaugural cast go after the inaugural sailing? They go home.
When there is actually technically still the inaugural sailings. There's an inaugural season is not just that first few months of, of it's technically inaugural means the first year. Although they tend to run out of the castaway club gifts that say inaugural sailing before the year is up. But the cast has been rehearsed. They were rehearsing always in Toronto for months before they get on board.
Then they're on board for about. What did we figure, about four months and then they go home. And the next. That next cast has actually been in rehearsals for at least a month before they go before they come on the ship usually a little bit. Even more than that, I'm not sure the exact timeline.
[00:43:33] Speaker B: I mean, I know the first cast
[00:43:34] Speaker C: rehearse is the most, though the first casket has like three months of rehearsals before they. They start. Sorry, Brian, I interrupted you.
[00:43:41] Speaker B: I was just. I just. I know that the. The Treasure has gone through multiple iterations of cast at this point, but say, I am a little nervous to get on board now. I'm forgetting the names of the storytellers on the Treasure because Zion, Gambler on
[00:43:52] Speaker C: the Destiny, Sage and Cor.
[00:43:55] Speaker B: Thank you. I'm a little nervous to meet Sage and Coriander on the Treasure because I have a very clear image in my mind of who Sage and Coriander are from the first sailings that we did on the Treasure.
[00:44:06] Speaker C: But we did see it. Second cast, Brian. We have seen two different casts of Sage and Coriander.
[00:44:11] Speaker B: Although, remember, that just puts into perspective how memorable that second cast was for me. So. Yeah, yeah, no knock to them. It's just. Just like when you're on the inaugural. The maiden voyage. Yeah, yeah.
[00:44:23] Speaker C: When I picture Sage and Coriander and when I picture Ziya and Gamble, I have specific people that I picture them as, and they are cast number one of both the Treasure and the Destiny. Whitney, I got to ask about Ziya and Gamble because obviously these are new storytellers to you. You had seen the Sage and Coriander on the Treasure, so you. You had an idea of what to expect. You also listened to our show, so you had an idea of what to expect in that respect as well. What did you think of Destiny Cast two? Ziya and Gamble?
[00:44:54] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, I thought they were really fun.
I didn't notice any performance issues there. They really played off each other really well. I loved the Marvel kind of adult comedy show.
That was a great moment.
Really enjoyed them. And I thought actually some of the other entertainment staff that they had on that ran things like match your mate and things like that were also really, really strong, this cast.
So there were definite, some. Some high points out there as well.
[00:45:25] Speaker C: Yeah, I did see a clip on, I think it was on Instagram of the Cruella troublemaking of the new cast. And I gotta say, they were great. I mean, they weren't. They weren't our originals who I picture in my head, but like, they. They were really quite entertaining and they were doing all the moves and it seemed like it was really flowing. I gotta ask about those experiences because of course, one the of. Of the things that you don't get as A benefit in concierge is you don't get priority to things like meet and greets with Cruella or Dr. Facilier or Maleficent or the Cruella show or any of that kind of stuff. And so that's one place. If Disney wanted to add in benefits or additional perks for concierge sailors, they could, but they would probably have riots from the rest of the cruisers because it's already long lines and it would only increase the lines for the rest of the guests. It would be more of lightning Ling culture brought onto, you know, the ship. But I gotta ask, despite having to wait for some of those experiences, of course, like, what did you think of them? And which, which ones were your, like two or three favorites?
[00:46:34] Speaker A: Well, I will say so you're right that there isn't like a specific concierge fast pass or anything for those. But especially for the Dr. Facilier parlor, they offer one of the shows at like one o' clock on embarkation day. And so again, that early boarding that you've already done from concierge years, that allowed us to get there, be able to have already put our bags in our room before rooms were ready for regular guests and then get in line for that so that we could knock that out before most guests were even on board.
And so we did do Dr. Facilier's parlor.
We watched the Cruella fashion show from one of the upper decks. We did not participate in the fashion show ourselves and we, we did not do troublemaking.
We had seen it. My husband is like very averse to karaoke. And so he was like, it's too close to karaoke. No,
[00:47:36] Speaker C: it's a group sing along. It's not karaoke. I always want to put that out there. There's an element that is a group sing along. But even Brian would participated in it because it doesn't require anybody. It doesn't require him standing up and singing in front of people he doesn't know.
[00:47:51] Speaker B: So one, one good question. Chat here. Ed's asking, do concierge get early access to the rooms? The answer is yes.
Concierge rooms are. Are ready and available, usually close to boarding, if not very shortly after. And so you'll see people in concierge, they'll go up and just go under the rope because their rooms are ready ahead of the rest of the rooms on board. Which does it. It makes. Actually, it's usually like right after the concierge lunch. Everything is kind of ready to go. Is my.
[00:48:20] Speaker C: Yeah, I want to say it's like 12:30 instead of 1:30 as I think somet you'll get to board at like, like 11:15, 11:30. I mean that's on the early side. But occasionally you'll get to board that early because you know customs cleared the ship quickly and all of that. And so if you get to board let's say at 11:30, you'll typically go to that lunch and then as soon as you're done with lunch your room will be ready as opposed to regular guests. It's usually 1:30, so it's an hour early which does make a difference for carrying around that bag and as Whitney mentioned mentioned dropping off your bag and then you can run in for a Dr. F parlor instead of carrying your bag and the entire.
[00:49:01] Speaker B: And the lounge is open. So even if your room wasn't ready you can just go to the lounge and it has got plenty of space and like you know, cabanas or Marceline Market depending on the ship. On embarkation day everyone's not trying to crowd around the the open space so makes a huge difference in boarding day. Just be able to like get your luggage luggage put away and not have to worry about it.
[00:49:22] Speaker A: And I mean I think also even if you, especially if you have kids, we don't but if you have kids that are really into the slides that embarkation day is a great day to do that without many lines in place. So pack some swimwear in your carry on bag. You can be changed if you're concierge in swimwear by you know, no later than one o' clock again able to, you know, they had Aquamouse for running with no line people just allowed to continue and do it multiple times on
[00:49:54] Speaker C: emergency sometimes that's awesome. They don't so that your mileage may vary there only because there are times where they don't open that the Aquamas until later but that's oftentimes because of weather conditions like if it's too windy they won't, you know, they won't have it running but. Or if just staff issues or whatnot. But it's. Yeah it's. That's a really big benefit for sure if you want to get on the water slot.
[00:50:18] Speaker B: CT is asking in the chat our friend Tinfoil Mouse years what itineraries are most advantageous to book as concierge. And we, we touched on this briefly at the top of the show but I, I mean I think any itinerary that's going to look out or cast away if you want a cabana like
[00:50:34] Speaker C: or, or an excursion that's more difficult.
[00:50:37] Speaker B: I do want to ask, I do want to ask you, Whitney, about that excursion for a second. But, but if you want a cabana, it's changing a little now at Castaway with the addition of more cabanas, we are finding people, people kind of not on their booking window day, but maybe later into the booking, you know, or closer in time to the cruise, people drop cabanas, you can kind of pick them up. And so we're hearing more and more about people even at like you know, gold castaway or silver grabbing for. We had a first time cruiser. I think we talked to grabbed a cabana.
So I think any itinerary to the private islands, I think any itinerary where the, you know, the, there's a very unique shore excursion involved. Involved Alaska, Norway for us.
I can't comment on many of the other European itineraries. We just haven't done as many.
I think, you know, sailing the Wonder out of San Diego, going to Catalina island and Ensenada, far less important. There's just far less, you know, sort of concierge special opportunity there.
So I think yeah, you just kind of got to look at like what you want to do and if you're looking at your ceiling and you're looking at your shore excursions before you book and you're like, oh, I really want to go on a helicopter tour, guess what that's going to, that's going to sell out almost always to concierge.
So.
[00:51:52] Speaker C: And one thing that CT is noting is unique high pearl sailings. That's a great point. So those sailings that go from Vancouver to Hawaii and Hawaii back to Vancouver, right. Those sort of repositioning ones that are more unique ports, those tend to sell very heavily to pearl and platinum cruisers. And if you happen to be be no castaway club status, silver or gold, but you want to sort of bump your status because you want to, you want to get ahead of the line. That's one, one, one thing I would
[00:52:23] Speaker B: say on those kinds of sailings like Panama Canal, Vancouver, those are things there are longer sailings. So you don't need to be in concierge to get Palo Brunch to do everything right. Yeah. And so because they're longer, the crowds spread out. Panama Canal traditionally is like one was a little under undersold. So like there's more stuff you can get into on the ship if they bring it, you know, when they bring it back or I guess they have it on the itineraries again. But, but it will Sell out. Like, if it, it's. I agree. If it's unique, yes.
If it's just longer, like a transatlantic cruise, I'm just not sure there's a ton of value in concierge to be had because you got a ton of sea days to get everything done you want to do on the ship. There's, there's.
[00:53:06] Speaker C: I agree with you.
[00:53:07] Speaker B: There was one other perk I was just going to mention about concierge, which is you typically get a character in the lounge on one day of the sailing, which is nice if you wanted to get a picture with a character and you something like the Treasure or the. Sorry, the Destiny, where you got long lines. You know, he does get you a character opportunity with a pretty short line. How, How, Whitney, let me ask you, how were the lines on the Destiny? Because our experience. Experience has been long, very long lines.
Were they still.
[00:53:36] Speaker C: You got a great picture with Loki, so we know there was.
[00:53:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I did, but I was also dressed up as Sylvie, so that helped a little bit. That was not an official character meet and greet moment.
[00:53:49] Speaker C: He was doing his.
[00:53:50] Speaker A: He was roaming after the Return to the King or whatever that kind of show he does early in the cruise was.
And because I was wearing the Sylvie crown, he was like, you know, we had a bit of banter, so it was fun. But yeah, no, the lines were. They were real.
They were long across the board. And that was true for merchandise the first day. Apparently people started lining up at embarkation skipped sail away party entirely to try and line up to get the Evie animal, which they only had four of on our sailing.
And so it was limited to like one per room. That got it. So that was a whole thing.
The show lines were long, the character meet and greet lines were long, the photo lines were long. So. So that was definitely still a problem on the Destiny and I. My sense is that that crew, as compared to the Treasure and the Magic, there's so many new crew members still that they just haven't figured out how to do that volume throughput the way that the other ships have. And then we also new noticed there were a lot of things that that kind of weren't up to maybe Disney standards. So for example, I was really looking Forward to the Dr. Strange Lounge and the many of the drinks that they had shown in the previews, like the one that levitates, they said that was broken. It had been broken for the last three cruises. So you didn't get that.
They did not have the one that lights up with the kind of magnetic lightning thing either.
So, you know, and I sounded like they're having similar issues now on the adventure. So I think Disney has to really be careful when they're inviting all these creators on for previews for things that they're able to give regular guests that same experience because it, you know, there's so much competition in Cruising right now that like it would be very easy to, to put money elsewhere.
[00:55:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Add to your, to your question. How are things breaking on a brand new ship? These are like, these drinks are sitting on special coasters and they have to be charged. And, and actually the levitating one, they wouldn't even make a drink in it if you weren't sitting at the bar. Even when we were on the Maiden because they, they didn't want have to carry the thing around the, the, the, the lounge platform. But they also had this problem with the wish at Nightingales. They had these beautiful glasses that they serve the signature drink it and like by the time they made voyage rolls around, there were two left in the entire lounge because everyone else had walked off the ship with them. So influencers. I totally agree with you, Whitney. Like, don't because like they make especially with the Destiny. They made such a big deal about the presentation of food and beverage in these lounges. And if you can't maintain the presentation, then just focus on the drink and the food quality itself, not these like crazy presentations of it. So.
[00:56:53] Speaker C: And you can have a cool sipper like you've got with the Eye of Agamotto or the Haunted Mansion, you know, guy in that lounge. Or you can do the cool tiki mugs, like those things like as long as you keep them in stock. They don't. It's not the issue of like, you know, having this call cool, like showcase presentation. Right. There's no technology involved. It's just keeping them in stock. Those like are always like very well sold for Disney.
[00:57:21] Speaker B: Honestly, what I am deeply intrigued about on the Adventure is the concierge offering. But because they have really made it a much more ship within a ship experience. So concierge has their own gym, their own spa, their own shop. Right. And to your point about people lining up to get Evie, I mean, imagine if you had a concierge shop on these ships that they could keep stocked with a high volume, high demand merch for their concierge crew cruisers. Instead, you know, they have a little display in each lounge with some stuff that has concierge logos on it which we're discovering half the time has sold out anyway or out of stock. So. So it's, it's very interesting to me. Like I. Whitney, I wanted to pose this question to you, which is, what's the benefit that you don't have in concierge today? I know you talked about the drink package. Let me set that aside for a second. What's the benefit you don't have in concierge today that you're like. Feels like a no brainer Disney, that you would offer this to your concierge guests. Like the eevee thing. I just, just think like, how do you not have enough evs on board for each concierge guest stateroom to get one? If that's what they want, Right.
[00:58:26] Speaker C: You don't have to give it to them for free. You could just offer them to buy one, right?
[00:58:30] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. You know, I think it would. They do have the one character meet and greet that happens in the lounge. It seems like there's opportunity to do more of that. Especially when we were on the Treasure, there were a lot more just roaming characters. Right. And like you could have characters roam the lounge periodically, especially in the areas not make it an advertised meet.
I just, I think that would be such a nice touch to do something like that and it would be, you know, 30 minutes out of a character's day, but could really result in that magical moment for somebody.
[00:59:03] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.
[00:59:04] Speaker C: I would love that. I would love if like somebody brought Pluto in for a walk to the lounge and then like let me take him for a walk on the sun deck or something. Right. Like, I feel like that would be like the perfect like character interaction.
There is a question in the chat I want to answer Brian about pop up merch for sale in the lounge. Our concierge only meet and greets. The only concierge only meet and greet is the one that Whitney's referenced. But it is only a Fab 5 character. So it's not going to be a Marvel character on the Destiny or any kind of specialty character like villain. It's always going to be a fab Five.
Well, plus Daisy. So it's always going to be one of those characters. I've never even seen Chip or Dale in the lounge.
But in terms of merch, yes, there is merch for. It's that you actually don't buy it in the lounge. You actually buy it in the store. Store. But it's on display usually in the lounge.
[00:59:56] Speaker B: The hosts won't go get it for you from the store. If you say I want that bag, they'll be like, I'll Go get it for you. Right.
[01:00:01] Speaker C: They don't always actually. Sometimes they send you to get it. I've had mixed experience with that.
[01:00:05] Speaker B: But some actually in some of the merch, they do stock in the lounge on the wish class ships. So.
[01:00:11] Speaker C: Yes. But it's typically most of the items are jewelry items. There are several, like different jewelry items. They're quite expensive and you can purchase them in the fancy, you know, one of the fancy jewelry stores on board.
And then the other things that they often have, but they often don't have them in stock are there's like an, an ornament. There is a concierge baseball hat. There is a lug purse, but it's been out of stock for a while now.
I want the purse too. Yeah. And then there's. There's a towel now that our friends who are on board the Treasure right now told us. They said it's like a very large towel. So almost like a blanket, but not quite a pen.
[01:00:55] Speaker A: And there's also, Sam, that for people that do back to back on concierge, they also get the exclusive back to back concierge pin, which is free. You don't have to buy it.
But that is considered like an ultimate bucket list by a lot of folks that do concierge.
[01:01:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:01:12] Speaker C: Yeah. And that is only brought. That was only in charge. Introduced maybe a year and a few months ago. It. That's because it's all.
[01:01:20] Speaker B: It's all. I should say this too. Like this, this merch is all concierge logoed. And to your point about the jewelry, Sam, it's concierge specific jewelry and care. Karen makes a good point in the chat, which is negotiate the price.
I remember, I remember someone was trying to sell Karen. I think it was a concierge necklace across key necklace. And actually if I remember right, they were like, just wear it around the ship. See how you feel, you know, kind of thing. And like they were willing to like go on a steep discount for it. So. So yeah, negotiate on them. Always negotiate on the jewelry on cruises for sure. Whitney, I wanted to ask you as we wrap up here because we're over time. I did want to ask you about this shore excursion that you did on Castaway because I think a lot of people get to Castaway and they're like, why would I do a shore excursion? I think if you've been there a ton, you start to sort of think like what of kind I do. That's different how? Like talk to people about this fishing excursion that you did. And I think we had some questions early on about, like, what kind of fish were you catching and what did they do with it after? Was this catching?
[01:02:22] Speaker C: Yeah, what they do with the fish? Yeah, yeah.
[01:02:25] Speaker A: So this was a three hour fishing excursion. They do three different types of fishing. So there's trawling, which is, I guess, kind of like dragging lines across the bottom. Right. It's less active. Would you do kind of on your way, moving away from the sh.
And then as you move back, you do kind of like traditional, like, lure fishing where you like, cast it out and then they have some that are more like heavy lines and some that are lighter lines.
We caught. The guides told us it was a terrible day for fishing, but we still caught a lot of stuff.
The number one fish we caught was called a grunt, because if you squeeze it, it goes.
[01:03:08] Speaker C: Goes. Oh.
[01:03:09] Speaker A: Like, it makes a little.
But so we caught a lot of those.
We caught red grouper and strawberry grouper.
We caught something called a trigger fish. That was probably the largest fish that we caught.
But there were other things. So my husband actually at one point got a shark on his line.
And they do not allow sharks in the boat, by the way. So if you do get a shark, they'll let you kind of get it close enough to the water to like, be like, you got a shark and
[01:03:45] Speaker C: then they cut the line.
[01:03:45] Speaker D: Yeah.
[01:03:46] Speaker A: And similarly, we had. He had caught what we think was probably another grunt and then a barracuda came and like, bit it off of his lure.
And like, we. Then for a minute the barracuda was on the line and then it broke the line. But the barracuda we saw and was huge.
All of the fish that you catch, it's catch and release.
I will say that the, the. The guides did say, like, if it's a really tasty fish, sometimes they'll take it home, but you're not allowed to bring it with you back on the ship or anything like that. And they won't. They won't cook it up with you. But only four guests max, and just a really, really cool excursion. If you've already kind of experienced castaway and you're looking for something new.
[01:04:29] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Well. And I want to tell people, if you are on a Disney Cruise Line ship and you go to Alaska and you go fishing, you can't bring the fish onto the ship with you either. You can have it shipped directly home, all with dry ice. You have it all packaged and all that. But whatever company you're going fishing with, but you cannot take it on the ship. Disney does not let you bring food like that on the ship. While you can bring, you know, like, if you bought like a small amount of smoked salmon or something like that, like that kind of stuff. You can, but you can't. They won't, like, keep it in a fridge for you.
[01:05:02] Speaker B: I mean, so.
[01:05:03] Speaker C: So it would go bad even if they let you bring it on. Yeah.
[01:05:06] Speaker B: So, Sam, I want to wrap up with a few questions here. And then I think that there was one question that we should just go around the. Go around the horn to speak for all of us.
[01:05:14] Speaker C: But I gotta say that Wes.
Ooh, barracuda. I just had to read that.
Sorry I had to do that.
[01:05:23] Speaker B: So Ed was saying he didn't know he can negotiate on the jewelry. You can negotiate on all the jewelry and all the stores. Believe me, I've. I was looking to get Sam a bracelet and the guy was like, what are you looking to spend? Like, he put the price out of the table. I was like. And he was like, what are you looking to spend? So, like, they walk away, talk to them, come back in a couple times. Like, they will negotiate on the jewelry and the watches and all the high end stuff.
Chris is saying that he thinks it stinks that you can't use your placeholder and concierge. Karen is helpfully pointing out that there are sailings now where you can apply your placeholder to concierge.
I do think as a general rule, it stinks that if you're sailing in concierge and you buy a placeholder holder, that you can't then apply that to a future concierge sailing with Disney Cruise Line. In much the same way, if something goes wrong on the ship and they give you a discount of some sort, if you're in concierge, that discount can apply to concierge. If you're not, it doesn't.
[01:06:20] Speaker A: We were able to though, Brian, and so I think that's a great tip to reach out to your travel pro on that one. Because we have an upcoming cruise on the wonder in 27 booked and we. We were able to apply our placeholder. We just had to be in a one bedroom or higher.
That was the category. You could use the placeholder and get that discount. So talk to your travel pro on that one because there definitely are some dates.
[01:06:43] Speaker B: And then Beth is asking about differences in payment for concierge. There used to be a requirement that you be paid in full to book your activities.
When Disney changed all of the pay in full dates, I think standardized around 90 days, I think was when they standardized around, that fell away. So you can still, still book things ahead of the pay in full sort.
[01:07:08] Speaker C: Yes. But you still can't do it in the app. You have to, you still have to send your concierge email and you won't be able to add things in the app until you're paid in full, I believe. So you, so you can do it,
[01:07:20] Speaker B: but you may not see it. You may not even be able to see it in the app.
[01:07:23] Speaker C: I think you can see it in the app at 123 days when Pearl gets to start booking. But you can't. You'll have to work through Shoreside Concierge rather than booking you. And you can't at 130 days book stuff in the app anyway.
Nothing becomes available to book anyone in the app until 123 days.
[01:07:40] Speaker B: Rule of thumb, when sailing concierge, we always pay in full before the booking window opens for concierge. Because I actually remember Sam someone telling me that they booked with the Shoreside Concierge, then they couldn't see what they had booked. Or they, maybe they, I don't think they could see what they had booked because it's like a, there's a paywall there. It's like if you paid in full, then you can get into this section of the site. So I would just say it's. My rule of thumb is pay in full before you're 130 days out. Yes. That is, you know, early. 45 days more, whatever it is, before, you know, before you normally would.
But it just, it makes life a little easier, I think, on the front end of it.
[01:08:17] Speaker C: All right.
[01:08:17] Speaker B: The one question I wanted to do kind of around the Horn here was favorite ship for sailing concierge with Disney Cruise Line.
Who wants to go go first?
I'm not.
[01:08:29] Speaker A: Well, I'll Ben, go for it.
I'm gonna say the Treasure because I've only experienced the Treasure and the, the Destiny now. But for me, the Treasure, because it has seven night sailings and you have that wish class layout for concierge. That's, that's just absolutely the best value.
[01:08:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
Okay, I will jump in next. I, I, I think that the Destiny and the Treasure are great options, but I have to go with the Wonder because the Wonder has that sun deck that's just fantastic. You've got less people sailing in concierge. It's got the best concierge lounge of the classic ships, even though it doesn't have a water feature. And because, of course, the Wonder goes to Alaska. And to me the ultimate concierge experience is our sailing in Alaska.
So that's why I picked the Wonder. But I would like the I would say that the Wonder and the Wish class are the best options for concierge in general. I don't necessarily think it's as worth it on the magic or on the dream or fantasy.
[01:09:39] Speaker B: So I'm going to give the off the wall answer here, which is to say, even though we haven't been on her yet, from what I can tell, concierge on the Adventure adventure may maybe a new winner here and for a bunch of different reasons. One, the price point of concierge on the adventure true is it borders on what concierge used to cost in the main fleet here in the US before all of the price hikes. And the second thing is they have dedicated lounge, dedicated gym, dedicated spa, dedicated store, all eight. There's more benefit. It feels like being packaged into that product over in Asia, which is not surprising because the folks in Asia who want to sail in that category expect and demand a lot more from it. So if we ever see on the Adventure, I will sail in concierge just because I am so interested to see how that offering works. The only downside I think on the Adventure is the number of concierge, the sheer number of concierge staterooms, passengers.
[01:10:43] Speaker C: The number of passengers is a downside in general.
[01:10:46] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well Whitney, we super appreciate you coming on and sharing your experience with sailing concierge and especially on the Destiny because not very many people have had that opportunity yet.
Sam, we should I want to highlight two things as we wrap out the show here. One is folks, we are sitting sitting at 549 reviews on Apple Podcasts. If you are the 550th five star written review, I'm going to give you a one time opportunity here. We will read a review. We will read that review on the air at the top of our next episode which is a. Or top of our next live show which is a big one. It is a. This is a big live show coming up. We are super excited. Next week, Monday we have Jeremiah from Laughing Place coming back to discuss the maiden voyage of the Disney adventure. And boy do I expect that show to be a doozy because we are seeing feedback that is all over the map about this ship.
Before that show. If you have not listened, go back in the catalog a couple of episodes we did a sort of a preview with Jeremiah because he was on a cast member only repositioning Sailing from Tokyo down to, to Singapore.
[01:12:04] Speaker C: Yes, Tokyo to Singapore.
[01:12:06] Speaker B: And so he was on that ship. He was not, he's not a cast member himself, but he had a cast member friend. And so he had some, he had some pretty strong reactions to the adventure from that sailing, which was a very extended sailing. And so we were very curious to hear what it was like when he got back on board as a paying passenger. So very looking forward to having. Very much looking forward to having him back on the the show that is Monday night, the 23rd.
We'll have Jeremiah on normal time, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern.
[01:12:37] Speaker C: And he's also our kickoff Brian for season seven.
[01:12:42] Speaker B: Your review could be featured on season seven kickoff of a live episode about the Disney adventure. Come on, one more review. It's one more five star review. It's what we need.
[01:12:54] Speaker C: Season seven means we are starting our seventh year of the podcast next week. So we have been doing this for a full six years now, people. That is what that means. And it's kind of crazy that we're here. We're excited to celebrate with all of you next week and with Jeremiah when we hear more about the Disney des. Sorry, Disney adventure. And remember, he gave a little teaser. He was not looking forward to the food. I gotta hear his review of the food. We gotta talk all things food. We're gonna talk about the shows in more depth. We're gonna talk about all the experiences on board. We also have some other episodes coming up. The following week we're gon to have a live episode with Luciana who is on the first three sailings of the Disney Adventure. So.
[01:13:39] Speaker B: No, no, no, no. I don't think it's the first. I think she's on the first four sailings of Disneyland.
[01:13:44] Speaker C: It's either the first three or the first four. I'm not sure.
[01:13:46] Speaker B: She better get one heck of a special pin.
[01:13:51] Speaker C: But anyway, we're gonna. I also think she's doing. She also sailing concierge. So we will get some insight into those concierge benefits on the Disney adventure when we talk with her her. So stay tuned. Lots of great stuff coming.
As Brian said, don't forget to subscribe on all the things whether that's on a podcast channel or on YouTube. We very much appreciate it and we will see you next week live again.
[01:14:17] Speaker B: Bye everyone.
[01:14:23] Speaker E: Well, thanks everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate it. Be sure to subscribe. Subscribe to the podcast. You can keep getting great content from us every week. In fact, twice a week we publish shows so Be sure to hit the subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us alive, we have a live show now every week Monday nights 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out. If you want help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts. And if you leave us a written review, a five star written review review, we will read it at the top of one of our main episodes. So please head over there and hit those five stars. Of course you can also help support the show by supporting our fabulous show sponsor My Path Unwinding Travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation? Head over to mypathunwinding.com DCLDUO or email them at DCLDUO mypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. If you've got questions or you'd like to connect with us, the best way to do that is to head over to dclduo. It's got links to all of our things, full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast links off to our vlog, a link to our Etsy store. We sell some fun fan inspired magnets link to our Patreon. If you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO also has a way for you to sign up for our substack newsletter
[01:15:39] Speaker B: that we're hoping to start really pumping
[01:15:41] Speaker E: out monthly here, at least on a
[01:15:42] Speaker B: few blog articles that we that we've written.
[01:15:44] Speaker E: So DCLDUO.com is the best way to connect with us. You can also of course email
[email protected] or reach out to us on our voicemail line at 402-413-5590. That's 402-413-5590. The DCL Duo podcast is not affiliated with Disney Cruise Line, the Disney Company or the Disney family of theme parks. The views expressed on the show are solely those of the individuals on the podcast and in no way reflect the views that Disney Company will Disney Cruise Line if you have questions about a Disney Cruise or Disney vacation, please contact the great folks over at My Path Unwinding Travel or Disney Directly or your own travel agent. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time for another fabulous adventure with the DCL Duo.
[01:16:33] Speaker C: New york sam.
