[00:00:00] Speaker A: And I had actually had a client who had suggested to me, have you ever heard of Disney Cruise? And I was like, disney does Cruising. What? And so then that led me to you guys, and that's when I started listening to your show. And I was like, this sounds incredible. It's like, you know, I don't have to worry about parks and lines and all of these things. And they just.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episode
[00:00:31] Speaker C: of the DC El Duo podcast, brought
[00:00:33] Speaker B: to you by My Path Unwinding Travel and Sam, Jingle time. Do the jingle.
[00:00:38] Speaker D: Yes. All right. Simply the best.
Better than all the rest.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: All right, so we are rounding out our reviews from Australia before we head over to our good friends in New Zealand. But our final review from Australia comes from. And these are actually recent. 2023, 2024. I feel pretty well, I guess they're not.
[00:00:58] Speaker D: That's recent. Funny.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: This review comes from Dom0086, who writes. Great show for learning about Disney Cruising. I love listening to the DCL Duo. I'm going on my first cruise next February on the Wonder Down Under. Listening to everyone's stories has given me insight and perspective I couldn't otherwise have achieved. All right, well, thank you for that review. I'm glad that the shows were helpful. I'm sad that the Wonder will not be revisiting Australia in the near term.
[00:01:28] Speaker D: I wonder if our listenership down under, both in Australia and New Zealand, if it'll, like, dip down because. Well, although arguably, maybe not, because some of them are going all the way to Singapore to sail. I mean, it's. It's closer. Singapore for them is closer than the States.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: You know, people do fly to the United States to take Disney Cruise.
[00:01:45] Speaker D: That's true. They do. Absolutely.
[00:01:47] Speaker B: They do. Yes. I hope that folks out there in Australia, New Zealand, continue to listen. We love to bring you that content. We love to hear from you when you come to the States and sailboard Disney Cruise Line. Certainly, if you're headed up to Singapore, give us a shout.
So, yeah. But thank you for that review. Domino0086 the license to kill there, I guess.
And we really appreciate it. As always, I will give a gentle reminder that one of the easiest ways to help support the show, head over to Apple Podcasts, hit those five stars, and if you leave us a written review along with those five stars, we will read it on the air at the top of one of our main episodes. Also, just a good reminder that wherever you listen to us, if they got stars, they got thumbs up, they got hearts, they've got, I don't know, puppy dog ratings. Popcorn.
[00:02:31] Speaker D: Popcorn, you know, yeah, give us tomatoes. But we don't want rotten tomatoes.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Help us maintain our 100%. Help us maintain our fresh rating.
Just, just hit that, hit those buttons on your podcast player so that they help make the show a little bit more visible to everyone else out there. We really want more people to be able to hear all of this great content we're putting out. So you, our listeners, are our best marketing. So when you're on a cruise, when you see something you like, like, tell people, hey, I learned a lot from the DCL book. So there you go. All right, Sam, show topic. Guest, go.
[00:03:02] Speaker D: Yes, I am super excited. Welcoming to our show. A first time guest but a longtime listener and we've actually been like communicating for several years on social media. So I kind of feel like I know her already. She of course feels like she knows us because she's been listening to us for years already. But welcome to the show, Stephen.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: Of course I have the mute button on. I am so sorry.
[00:03:27] Speaker D: That's okay.
[00:03:28] Speaker A: Technical difficulties right out of the gate.
This is like very crazy and wild to me, like just being able to interact with you guys, listening for so long and just finally actually getting on here to chat with you guys.
[00:03:42] Speaker D: Yeah. Well, we're excited to have you, Steph. Now you are a travel advisor as a part time gig in addition to a full time job that you have.
But I want to rewind to before you even became a travele advisor, like where, where did your love of Disney come from? And when did you get started with Disney cruising or other cruising?
[00:04:03] Speaker A: Sure. So as a kiddo, we didn't actually have a whole lot of Disney in our household. I do remember very like vividly loving Lion King when it came out. I think it was around kindergarten year. Aladdin was another big one that I absolutely loved. But we weren't like huge Disney people back then. I also feel like maybe Disney comes out with a lot more stuff now than they did back then. But the one big trip that we took was when I was seven and we went to Disney World.
And it was incredible. Right? Like such an amazing trip. And I like so vividly remember like the honey I shrunk the kids area.
[00:04:37] Speaker D: Yes, I remember that play area. Plus you see the 3D movie. Yeah.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: And Tower of Terror was a thing back then. I think it was MGM studios though, if I remember correctly, and not Hollywood studios. So. However, I was too short to ride Tower of Terror and I was the kid that had the Mega meltdown in the middle of the park. And my mom was like, please, please. You know, so, yeah, that's like a core memory of mine. And then kind of growing up, like I said, we didn't have a whole lot of Disney, but as I had my own kids, we did have a lot of like, Disney movies that they really loved. And so that kind of like got me into thinking about, ooh, I want to take them on a Disney vacation. And previously I owned a salon and I did spray tans within that salon. And I had actually had a client who had suggested to me, have you ever heard of Disney Cruise? And I was like, disney does cruising. What? And so then that led me to you guys, and that's when I started listening to your show. And I was like, this sounds incredible. It's like, you know, I don't have to worry about parks and lines and all of these things. And they just feed me.
[00:05:41] Speaker D: All day long. Yeah. All day long.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:43] Speaker D: The feeding never stops.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And so I really started looking into Disney Cruising.
Um, but kind of as a side note, I doing spray tans, it's very popular. So I'm in Montana and doing spray tans. It's very popular in the spring and summertime, but when fall and winter come, it really slows down. Like you're completely covered up. Cause there's inches and inches of snow here. And so like, you're not like showing off any, any skin. You don't need any color. Sometimes people like bronze their face a little bit. But wintertime primarily, I would have clients coming for vacation, so they're headed to Cozumel and want to have a good tan before, before they leave. And inevitably I would have a lot of information that I wanted to give them because I am perpetually addicted to travel. So I was giving them all of these suggestions about restaurants and where to stay and like, what's the best way to get there and all of these things because they had already done the research or had already experienced that. And it kind of dawned on me, like, I should probably be getting paid for all of this information that I'm, that I'm giving out to these people.
[00:06:48] Speaker D: And so that's giving it for free. In addition, it's like a bonus with their spray tan. They're getting this bonus information.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly. So then I started doing travel agency stuff and primarily Disney. I became very obsessed with Disney Cruise Line.
And so the majority of my clients that I book are Disney Cruise based clients.
I've since sold the beauty business and work another full Time job while still doing the travel agency thing. Part time. So yeah. Oh and then I guess I should tell you my Disney Cruise Line background. Right. So first one we took where it was myself, my two girls, Quinn and Maddie. They're ages now they're ages 8 and 10 but at the time was 6 and 8 and my husband was unable to come on this one. He had work stuff going on. So we brought my mom and stepdad and then we also brought four other families with us. So there was like 22. 22 of us at the table. It was a great time.
[00:07:44] Speaker D: Wait, 22 at your table at main dining. Oh, that's a. Bless those servers, right? Yeah, bless those servers. Absolutely Great.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: They did great.
We ended up with the flu and so it was not like the perfect first Disney experience. So I will tell you that we've tried everything on the Fantasies room service menu.
[00:08:07] Speaker D: Great.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: Love it all. It's lots of really good choices there. And we've visited the Onshape medical area. They're lovely. And the prices that they charge compared to us doctor's visits are very affordable.
So we were super thankful for that. But we did have travel insurance which I do recommend for everyone so that our travel insurance did cover all of that and some of like the missed excursions in that. So that being said, while it was still a great trip because there is not a bad DCL trip, we needed to repeat it.
[00:08:40] Speaker D: Yeah, you needed a do over.
[00:08:42] Speaker A: Yeah. So that was February in 2024 and then February 2025 I was actually hosted by Disney on the for a travel agent education program there. So I got to experience that but without, without any family.
And then this leads us to our recent trip on the Treasure. So a seven night Western Caribbean on the Treasure.
[00:09:04] Speaker D: Awesome. Now your first cruise that you did was that also then a seven night on the Fantasy before the Treasure came out. Cause she was doing the seven night itinerary. Good. So you have like a very. You have a good comparison. One in which of course you had the flu and another which hopefully everybody stayed healthy. This.
[00:09:22] Speaker A: Oh, I was a psych and I brought like, I brought the biggest medicine kit to like ward off anything that might come along the way. It was crazy.
[00:09:29] Speaker D: Yeah. Well I. The best advice you can give, like you can't listen. We can't prevent getting you know, all sicknesses on a ship. You are in more confined quarters than at home. You're around lots of people. So it's not possible to like a hundred percent protect you. But my best recommendation is wash your hands Wash your hands. Wash your hands. And when you're at the buffet, if you do go to the, you know, either cabanas merch wrestling market, wash your hands before you get your food and then wash your hands again before you eat your food because you've just touched all of those like tongs and counters and surfaces that everybody else has touched. So I'm not a doctor, but that's my best advice.
I'm a lawyer. I don't play doctor on tv. I'm not a doctor, but I. Yeah, all right, well, let's. Okay, so let's talk about this cruise. Who was with you for this seven night cruise on the Treasure then?
[00:10:27] Speaker A: So it was my family of four. So my husband, myself, my oldest, Quinn, who is 10 and Maddie who is 8. And then we invited Quinn's friend's family. So it was mom and dad and Quinn's friend Malia, and she is 10. And then Maddie had a friend join us as well. So it was Hazel, who is 8 and her mom and dad, which was a surprise. Hazel was a big surprise right before we boarded the ship. So that was like a really a very cool experience. Experience for Maddie. So with Quinn and Malia and Maddie, we had done like, I shouldn't say we. Ian, who is Malia's dad, did an incredible treasure hunt that was like Disney themed. That was like, it's truly one of the coolest things ever. He had like black light paint on things. They had puzzles they had to solve. At the end there was like the Mentos in the coke thing which had to like spray up to like. It was wild. It was the coolest thing ever. Anyways, that being said, Quinn had a friend, right?
[00:11:28] Speaker D: Announcement that they were going on where
[00:11:31] Speaker A: they got these shirts at the very end that said like crew squad. And it was like, guess what we're doing? Do you guys have any idea? And they were like, we're going on
[00:11:38] Speaker D: a Disney cruise and it's Dante from Coco for those who can't see or are watching. Yeah, well we can see it. It's just for those who are listening and not watching on YouTube. If you're listening, you can go over to YouTube and see us see our chat. So anyway, yeah, so okay, so. So the three of them knew they're going, right? So the two 10 year olds and the one 8 year old. But your 8 year old did not know her friend was coming, right?
[00:12:06] Speaker A: So. So Maddie had was really bummed because for a long time we didn't like this was very much a last minute ad. For them to come.
And so Maddie knew that, like, Quinn was going to have a friend and she was not going to have a friend. And you could tell she was, like, super bummed about that. And ha.
Like, bestie forever. Like, they've known each other since they were super tiny, but she moved from Montana down to Idaho. And so we really tried to make an effort to, like, visit them and keep this friendship going between the two of them. They facetime constantly. But it was, like, a very known fact from the beginning that Hazel would not be joining us. And she was super bummed about that, but had such a, like, positive attitude on it and was like, no, it's okay. Like, Quinn and Quinn and Malia can do their own thing and it'll be. It'll be fine. Like, I'll hang out with you guys and I'll find a friend on the ship. And, like. Which just, like, made the whole thing so much better when we found out, like, Hazel could come. And so we had only. They booked, like, a month before we left. And so.
[00:13:05] Speaker D: So did you decide to keep it a secret then from Maddie?
[00:13:08] Speaker A: I was like, yeah, let's. Let's try and keep this as much of a secret as we can.
[00:13:12] Speaker D: Did Hazel know she was going?
[00:13:14] Speaker A: No.
[00:13:14] Speaker D: Or did her parents kept it from her? Okay. Because otherwise. Because if Hazel and Maddie are talking to one another, you're never going to be able to keep Hazel from telling daddy.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: Yeah. And Hazel was, like, onto it, though. She was like, mama, why'd you download this Disney Cruise Line app? And her mom's like, I don't know what you're talking about.
[00:13:30] Speaker D: She's like, oh, no, she's on to me.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: So we really had to, like, improvise a few times. And then my husband almost, like, spilled the beans with Maddie once and was like, like, get it back. Turn it up. I didn't mean that. Like, so. And then when they saw each other, it was so funny. So we set it up at Disney Springs where they would both kind of, like, run into each other. We did another scavenger hun. Hazel's doing a scavenger hunt here. Maddie's doing a scavenger hunt here. And they're both going to meet up near Polite Pig at, like, that water fountain area.
And so they, like, go up and they're both kind of like, what? What are you doing here?
[00:14:06] Speaker D: By the way? Polite. Big excellent place to go eat, by the way.
[00:14:12] Speaker A: And she. So they kind of saw each other and were like, wait a minute. What are. What are you doing here? And then it, like. And then it, like, kind of like dawned on them, like, oh, we get to hang out for a day.
And I was like, hazel, open this gift we got you. And so she opens it up and she gets her Disney cruise shirt.
And so then she's like, wait, does this mean. Yeah, does this mean we're going on a Disney cruise? And then both of them were kind of like, oh, yeah, this is awesome.
So, yeah, it was really, really great. So. And the two of them were, like, attached to each other the entire trip. Like, they couldn't get enough of each other. So.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: When are you going to surprise me with my best friend on a Disney trip?
[00:14:51] Speaker D: I don't. I am your best friend, aren't I?
[00:14:55] Speaker B: Yeah,
[00:14:57] Speaker D: I know, right?
Like, one of my top
[00:15:03] Speaker C: friend that
[00:15:04] Speaker B: I don't sleep in the same bed with. When are you going to do that?
[00:15:08] Speaker D: Don't tell people we sleep in the same bed, Brian.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: Hey, my 50th birthday is coming up in a couple of years. You know, maybe I could step on board a Disney cruise ship and look longingly across at the ice cream machine and see a friend, you know?
[00:15:18] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:15:19] Speaker D: Okay. And now lots of pressure now. Oh, my God, I love this surprise. I feel like I wish we could do something like this. For Nathan, it would really have to be. There's like, his best. Best friend that, like, that would be an amazing surprise. I don't think we'll ever be able to do it because we'd have to convince their family to go on a Disney cruise. And I'm not sure that they're.
I don't think they're Disney people, to be perfectly honest, which is such a.
[00:15:49] Speaker A: When you run into non Disney people. Come on, get on.
[00:15:52] Speaker D: Get with the program.
Get with the program. It's like, I have my Disney friends and I have my non Disney friends, and never the twain shall meet.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: I have my Disney friends and my acquaintances. That's how I get.
[00:16:03] Speaker D: That's right, that's right, that's right. Well, let's rewind just a little bit. Steph. I want to hear a little bit about the planning process, why you chose the Treasure in particular and seven night itinerary. Did you consider any other itinerary, itineraries or consider sailing on one of the other ships?
[00:16:19] Speaker A: Yeah, so not really.
I. As soon as they had dropped, I was like, okay, this is. This is the one we want to do. Just kind of listening as the information is coming out when the. When the ship's being built. I'm like, this Thing's going to be awesome. And then to hear the first reviews kind of come out and, like, Moana's amazing, and, like, you've got Beauty and the Beast and, like, all of these things. I'm also a huge Cocoa fan, and so to know that Cocoa was going to be a restaurant there was a huge selling point for us as well.
The reason I picked this particular itinerary, though, is it is the week before President's Day holiday. And so what that does. I've done that three times now, like, unintentionally on the wish one, obviously, but works out really well to. As far as, like, taking the time. And then when you get back, you've got like a full. A holiday before. It's to, like, get everybody kind of adjusted back to normal schedule before you're sending them off to school and going back to work. And then typically in February here, it's like, in the negatives and not just like, little negatives. We're talking, like, negative 30.
And so it's miserable. Like, you just don't want to be here. Nobody's leaving their house. Like, it's. Everybody's grumpy. It's dark.
So February, early February is like a prime time for us to travel. So that was. That's the reason I picked that one.
[00:17:40] Speaker D: Yeah. Now I totally understand now. We don't have the negative temperatures that you guys have, nor the snow that you guys have, but we have the same darkness as you have in Montana, here in Seattle. And so we. We feel your pain. That's, you know, we want. We. It's depressing. We try and get out of here, at least for the weekend around President's Day because it's just. We need to get someplace where there's a little bit more sunshine, get out of that darkness. Yeah. All right. So you knew the. The Treasure was the ship you wanted to go on. You pick a seven night, it ends up being a Western. And that probably is just the luck of the draw of that week in particular, I'm guessing. Right? Yeah.
[00:18:16] Speaker A: Right. And you guys have talked about this on the show before, but for me, it's very much more the ship is the destination rather than, like, yes, there are great, great ports and everything. Like, nothing's going to match up to Castaway to me. Like, and. And there's so much to do on these ships that I. I still don't feel like we have enough time. I could go on them multiple times and still be, like, finding new things, so.
[00:18:38] Speaker D: Totally. Absolutely. And it's one of Those things where you've got, you know, on the Western Caribbean itinerary, you actually have four ports. But that doesn't mean you have to get off at all four ports. One, of course, is Castaway, so you're going to get off at Castaway. But the other three, you could choose, like, okay, I'm only going to get off at two in particular. One of them is a tender port, so you might decide to stay on the ship for that one, you know, so you don't have to get off if you. If there's not something that you really want to do at that particular port. So I don't think you can really go wrong.
You know, obviously we've. We talk about the Eastern Caribbean itinerary just because we love it so much and it seems the last three years has worked out. Our spring break is always the Eastern Caribbean. But, you know, it's not that we would do the Western. It's not that. Because we also, like, if we didn't want to go to a particular port, we just, you know, plan on staying on the ship. All right, well, let's, let's talk about the other side of planning, which is planning excursions, planning onboard activities.
You know, you're selling three families, all with kids. Like, were you guys planning on doing any adult only stuff? And if so, like, what were you trying to book?
[00:19:42] Speaker A: Yeah. So being that we had castaway club status and the others did not, and obviously, like, Hazel's family wasn't coming on till way later, I knew that when my booking window opened up, I needed to get, like, as much as I possibly could, because it's likely that when their booking windows open up, they're not going to be able to snag some of the stuff that I can.
So number one, when the booking windows opened up, I was like, I wonder if there's any way with these new cabanas, if I could maybe possibly snag one.
And I was like. So I had mapped out everything that. What's number one, what's number two, what's number three? And I had a whole list of like, I think there was like 20 things on there that I was like, I got all of them, but number one was to try and snag a cabana. And so it opened up. I was like, refreshing. The second it opened up, I was like, down to the cabanas. There was a one left. It was Mickey and Minnie's number 20.
And so I, I was like. It was like I'd won the lottery.
[00:20:43] Speaker D: I was like, wow, well, and for.
Yeah, well for Silver Castaway Club, like that is huge. Huge.
[00:20:51] Speaker A: And. And at your.
[00:20:52] Speaker D: And not at a random time but at your booking window. That's crazy. Like that never happens. Like you, you're more likely to get one just randomly at some other time when somebody happens to cancel than when your booking window opens at midnight. Well, at 9pm for us on the US and in us in Pacific time it's 9pm but midnight Eastern. Yeah, it's. It's unlikely if you are not in the Pearl or at least platinum category to be able to snag one. That's amazing.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: I was stoked, like so excited.
So the next thing for me was like all the adult dining and so I. First thing I went and did was Paulo brunch and then I did Paulo dinner and then I did Enchante brunch and then I did Enchante dinner and I. Yeah, I got all of them. All the adult dining you can think of. I got them knowing full well that I was going to cancel most of it.
And then the adventure tea, that was another one that I really wanted to get. I didn't know a whole lot about it but like knew that it like it was a cool experience for kids and thought that my girls might enjoy it.
[00:21:59] Speaker D: Did you book it for all four of you or did you just.
[00:22:02] Speaker A: I couldn't. I could only book it for the two of us. They wouldn't let me book it for anybody else that was like attached to our thing and so I was only able to get it for my girls and then unable to get it for the other girls.
[00:22:15] Speaker D: No, I, I meant for your family. Did you book it for all four of your like including your husband or did you just. Because you don't. You only have to have one adult with the kids, you don't have to book it for both adults. And it's actually a. I would give it as like a money saving tip. If you are like a two parent household and one, two, however many kids, if you want to save the cost of the one adult, you can book it with just one of the adults and you're not missing something that's like really amazing. If you're the adult that doesn't get to go. Let me just put it out like that. We'll talk about it when we like more.
But it's. I have been with some friends. I actually glommed on to their reservation. I was basically my friend's husband so because. And I knew Nathan would not be interested but I personally Steph really wanted to see what the tea was about.
[00:23:07] Speaker A: Yeah. I did book it for just the girls and myself.
I figured Steve would really not care to.
Yeah. And he was fine with that. What's funny though is he did come in and, like, peek in on us several times. Was like, you guys good? Like, you want me to come? And I'm like, nah, get out of here.
[00:23:25] Speaker D: Get out of here. You won't.
[00:23:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So I think. I do think he was kind of feeling a little left out where he was like, you guys did this without me?
[00:23:32] Speaker D: Like, yeah, Brian would just be like, I'm gonna go get a shave. I'm gonna go sit by the pool. Like, I'm gonna go get an old Fashioned. Like, I, he, he would. I, I. Brian has never been to the Adventure Tea, and I don't think he has any FOMO about it, so. Right, Brian. Nope.
[00:23:48] Speaker B: They don't even serve tea or tea sandwiches.
[00:23:50] Speaker D: They don't even. They do serve tea sandwiches. They don't. They don't serve tea there, but yes. Okay, well, what, what other things did you, did you book any, like, drink tastings or anything? I mean, there's a lot that you were booking already,
[00:24:03] Speaker A: so. I did. I booked Census Rainforest week pass, and then I did the unlimited photo pass. We did not do. So I have two allergies, one being to pork and the other being to alcohol. So I'm like, no fun. No fun when it comes to drink tastings. I do love a mocktail, but yeah, I avoid alcohol, so I didn't, I didn't book any of those. I did. I. That's actually a lie. I booked a few so that the other parents. Yes. So I did. Eventually we transferred those over to them.
[00:24:35] Speaker D: And then later on, you can always book something for yourself, like in your name. Because if you've got the Friends who have no Castaway club status and you had Silver Castaway Club status, so you could book something in your name and then they could go in your place and you just transfer the name on board.
[00:24:51] Speaker A: Yeah, correct. Yep. And that's what we did for the adult dining as well. Cause I was like, I don't, you know, I don't need four different adult dinings. Right. So. But I kept them knowing full well that, like, the chances of.
Of them getting some of these adult dinings later on was, Was less. It was slim.
So we did transfer those over and some of the drink tastings over. And then later on I was able to get the royal gathering when that became available, and I got that for all, all, four girls and the moms. None of the moms like went in and took pictures. We just were there.
[00:25:22] Speaker D: We were just there as the escort.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:23] Speaker D: You're just holding the autograph book or whatever. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. For those who don't know, the royal gathering is the princess meet and greet where you meet like three or four princesses kind of in a row. And it is a ticketed event that you have to reserve at 30 days in advance through the app. But it's what it doesn't cost you anything. But it is like the adventure tea is an add on cost. The royal gathering is free but ticketed. So limited number of people can, can do it. You can book it on board usually, but your best bet is at 30 days in advance of the cruise.
All right, well, let's talk about. You get. You obviously fly to Florida more than a day in advance because you were at Disney Springs for a day. So tell us like where did you stay before the cruise? What were sort of the logistics of that?
[00:26:13] Speaker A: Sure. So we decided to try and make this like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Me knowing that we're gonna do it again.
[00:26:22] Speaker D: Spoiler alert. I know, right?
[00:26:24] Speaker A: So anyways, we woke up at 3:30 in the morning to get on our flight to Orlando. So we end up landing at 3:30pm which is actually 1:30 Montana time. And before, before I had booked this, it was clear that the weather was not going to cooperate in Florida. So it was very cold in Florida. At times it was actually colder than it was here.
[00:26:49] Speaker D: You had the windy week when you were there. Yeah.
[00:26:52] Speaker A: And so that, that led me to packing a lot heavier than I normally would. So we had, we ended up with. Because we were going to be at Disney for five days before the trip. And so we had four large luggage bags and then one small and then three backpacks. So a lot, a lot of luggage. So prior to us going, I had actually booked a Suburban through Orlando Magical Rides.
It was like 125 bucks to get us from the MCO airport. So Orlando Airport to Animal Kingdom Lodge. And I did let him know ahead of time, the driver ahead of time let him know that this is a surprise. The girls don't know that we're going to Animal Kingdom Lodge. They know a lot about Animal Kingdom Lodge. But I want it to kind of be a surprise. Like as we pull up they realize that we're going to be there. They're both very into animals and so I knew I wanted to do a savannah view for them.
And so I did let the guy know, like, hey, keep this as a surprise. And as we got closer, he was like, can I do some hints? And so he started playing music like Lion King music. Lion Music. And asking trivia questions about animals and the history of Animal Kingdom Lodge and Animal Kingdom Park.
And so while they were like, you know, nailing some of these questions, they did not get the clues. Like it was not. And then we pulled up and they were like, oh, cool.
So that was super fun.
I will say I know that this is what I'll try to stick to, just Disney cruise stuff. But if you are doing a pre stay at the parks beforehand and you want to get the biggest bang for your buck, get on the most rides the quickest. I really recommend the after hours events. Like we were able to. We did both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. All of the rides were walk on. Like not all of them are open, but like a, a huge chunk of them are open.
When we were at Magic Kingdom, it was only 20 degrees there. So none of the characters were out. I think they were. It was too cold. Too cold for Mickey and Minnie.
[00:28:53] Speaker D: Mickey and Minnie, Yeah. We don't have their parkas. They need their Alaska outfit.
[00:28:56] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. So we didn't see any characters that night or maybe we just missed them. But they weren't there that night.
But we were handing out the hand warmers. We were like pixie dusting hand warmers to cast members. We were like, you poor people.
And it's humid there, so it's like a different kind of cold. Like it's, you guys know it's cold.
[00:29:15] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:29:15] Speaker A: Yes. But yeah, it was great to be able to do that. So anyways, fast forwarding. We had a great time at Disney World. It was really chilly the whole time. Fine. We just had winter attire like mittens and hats and all of that. I will say though, the sailing, that was happening the week before us. So while we were in Disney, they actually only got to do one port stop.
[00:29:36] Speaker D: And I want to say they stop at Tortola. That was it. They missed St. Thomas and they missed Castaway.
[00:29:41] Speaker A: Yeah, that was be such a bummer.
[00:29:43] Speaker D: It was.
[00:29:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:44] Speaker D: I, we have, we had a. We have a couple of friends who are on board that sailing and I, you know, they said the cast really rallied for them though and put on lots of activities and all of that. I feel, I feel worse for the cast than I do for the guests only because it means the cast really don't get the time off that they usually get at the port stops and so I'm not saying I don't feel bad for the guests, of course I feel bad for the guests. But they did get like an onboard credit and they did get a future cruise credit. So Disney like took care of them even though it was weather related. Ye. It was weather related. So it was out of Disney's control. But they still wanted to, you know, make sure people had a positive experience.
But yeah, I think the, the people who have it the worst are the cast. But yeah, you had some cold weather down there. Now your transfer to the port, did you use Disney transportation to get down there from Animal Kingdom Lodge or did you use some other transportation?
[00:30:35] Speaker A: Yeah, we did. So we had everybody, we had everybody show up, like the whole group of 10 show up at Animal Kingdom Lodge at 8 o'. Clock. They did call our room at, I want to say it was like 7, 7:30 to see if they could come pick up our bags. And we told them that we weren't ready yet. So they did. They came back later and picked up our bags from there. And then everybody met wearing our Cruise Squad shirts. And they all have our favorite characters on them. These are just something we picked up on Etsy for like, like 17 bucks a piece. And then we registered with the DCL cast member about 8:15 and she let us know it was going to be a minute before they were going to load up. So we actually ran and got some breakfast and then came back to the lobby at 9:20.
By 9:30 we were on the buses and then we arrived at the terminal at 11 o'. Clock. This is the first time though that I've arrived at the terminal using DCL transfers and them not being like, like head right on into the ship. And I think it's exactly what you had said is like this crew was working their tails off from that previous one. And I'm assuming when you have more people, more time on the ship, there's more that you got to flip over, right? And so we did hang out in the terminal for a while. We took a bunch of pictures, went to the viewing area and kind of took some videos of the ship before we got on. We were able to board the ship at 11:55. I looked that one up and we, you know, we went into the atrium and they're doing like announcing our names and I'm just like, so.
And my girls knew what to expect and I knew what to expect, but the rest of the families didn't really. And they thought that was like a really cool experience. And immediately like, look up and see Aladdin and Jasmine waving down at them. And so I think that was super special.
[00:32:22] Speaker D: What did you think of the atrium in the Treasure? You'd been on the wish. Your girls had only been though on the Fantasy. So they had only seen a small atrium. Small comparatively atrium. And then you walk into the beautiful, you know, large, spacious grand hall and the Treasure. Like what did they think and what did you think of it?
[00:32:41] Speaker A: It was definitely like a wow moment for them. And it's beautiful, right? Like, it's very open and airy and like has these really like rich colors that, that I just think are like stunning. And then you've got the grand staircase, right? That's like so pretty. But that was like very short lived for my kids, right? Like, it was like, like, wow, kids club. Like they see the slide and they like beeline for it. And so that was our first stop. We went to the kids club, got them registered. The kids club had like just opened. So we were some of the first to get them registered, took a tour and then we headed down to Coco for the sit down lunch.
[00:33:18] Speaker D: Oh, awesome. Now had you done the sit down lunch before or were you just like, let's try this out. Like I. You obviously were really wanting to see the Coco restaurant because it's your fa. One of your favorites obviously.
But like, were you, did you sort of plan that? Was it like random or you know, sort of. How did that come to be?
[00:33:37] Speaker A: I like guess a little bit of both. So Dilcia, who is Hazel's mom, is from Mexico. And so I knew that this would be kind of like a special, a special thing for her. And so I was kind of anxious to get, get her there. That and then I just like, I know the chaos of that pool deck and knowing how many like they had held so many people back that it was like this like swarm of people going in. Oh yeah.
[00:34:01] Speaker D: So Marceline and the pool deck were going to be really, really probably crazy.
[00:34:05] Speaker A: So what we had actually found out slightly after it was like a few days in, but like this was a very adult heavy cruise. And so they had given us warnings like multiple different ways, like it's an adult heavy cruise. Like just, just know that some of these areas are going to be oversubscribed, which you can go off, go on a little bit more later. But yeah, so I think like those areas were just like really packed. Not so much like the pool deck, but like where food was at was, was really packed. So yeah, I definitely wanted to do the sit down and kind of Kind of like, I don't know, get to go see Coco.
[00:34:37] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're like, I gotta see this space. I gotta. And then you wanna show. I mean, it's the beautiful offrenda and then you see the stage. And of course, there's no show there during lunch. It's just the restaurant is, you know, big, but. And it's all lit up. And so you can really, like. You can really like, like explore because it's usually not packed at lunch as well. So that's one of the. I think one of the nice things. All right, well, I. I want to talk about some of the stuff you guys got up to on this cruise. I'm not surprised that this was an adult heavy sailing because it's not during your any typical school break. Right. It's the week before President's Day, so most of the kids are not out of. Out of school yet. We, you know, we sort of all kind of just returned from the winter break, and so a lot of people are hesitant to take their kids out of school for a vacation at that time. But yeah, I want to. I want to hear about what you thought about the spaces. I want to hear about some activities you guys did. So let's start with the spaces. Like, you obviously wanted to see Coco. What did you think of the space? And then also what did you think of, like, the other. Of course, a lot of them are bar spaces, but the other themed spaces on board.
[00:35:44] Speaker A: Yeah. So one big bummer for us was Quinn, my oldest, is very much like, she thinks Haunted Mansion. The ride is great. And so we really wanted to see Haunted Mansion Parlor. We tried that thing at least a dozen times, and you open the door and it's so packed that you can't even walk in. So we didn't get to experience that at all.
[00:36:08] Speaker D: Oh, that's a bummer. That's because it was an adult heavy cruise. That's such a bummer.
[00:36:13] Speaker A: And I think that's like. Like all of the bar spaces felt very much like that.
We did get to go. My husband and I go to Periscope Pub one day, and that was like, super quiet. There was absolutely no one in there. But I want to say it was the day that we were at port and one of our excursions got canceled, so it was empty then. But yeah, overall hard to get into some of those bar spaces. I'm sure it was a grand time for those that didn't have kids with them because it's like an adult party. But for us, in having kind of Quinn wanting to go in and see what that one looked like. It was one of those where we're like, oh, we'll skip it for now. But, yeah, I thought Coco was beautiful. Worlds of Marvel I've experienced before, but I think if you are a Marvel fan, I think it's very cool. And seeing kind of Ant man and the Wasp was a neat experience. And I love the ambiance of 1923. Gorgeous space. Very cool to see, you know, like, the drawings and like, the little clay figurines. My daughter is obsessed with raccoons. They are like her spirit animal. And so there was, like, a drawing of Mikko and, like, a little clay figure. I love Miko and the figurine. And so when she went in there, she was like, it's Miko.
So excited about it.
But, yeah, like, overall, I just thought, like, it was such a pretty ship and, like, so clean and I don't know, I can't. Can't say enough good things about it.
[00:37:36] Speaker D: Absolutely. Well, let's talk about some of the onboard activities that you guys got up to. Which. Which activities were of interest to your girls and their friends? And then on the other hand, which activities were of interest to you and your husband?
[00:37:50] Speaker A: Yeah. So number. Number one thing was we got done with sit down lunch, and we were, you know, you do the mustard drill, all that stuff. And then they. We did the Sail away party, which was great, and everybody's dancing and loving it. But they. The second the sail away party was done, the girls were like, mickey's main sale. We're getting the towel puppies.
[00:38:09] Speaker D: We're like, you're booking it? Yeah, yeah.
[00:38:12] Speaker A: And. And we get there and there's. I want to say there's like 20 people in line ahead of us. And there's signs all over the windows that are like, towel animals are two per person. And so we're standing there long enough, and the girls are, like, getting anxious and, like, are we going to be able to get in? Like, are we going to get one?
[00:38:29] Speaker D: Are they going to sell out? Right, yeah.
[00:38:31] Speaker A: So then they're like, you stand here, we're going to go look in each window and see where they're located at within here. And so then they're making a game plan. Like, okay, Maddie, you take a right. I'm going to take a left. Mom, you need to go this way.
[00:38:44] Speaker D: And then.
[00:38:45] Speaker A: And then they're counting. They're like, okay, there's 20 some people in front of us, and there's two towel puppies per person.
And and like, they're in, they're counting, like, oh my gosh, are we going to be able to get one? And so it was like this really high stakes feeling.
And.
And then. And everybody in line's talking about these towel puppies. So the girls are like, it's not just other stuff. They're here for the towel puppies.
[00:39:08] Speaker D: They are. They're not.
[00:39:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:09] Speaker D: I mean, I'm not saying that there aren't people who want other stuff. Of course there are people who want other stuff too. But they're lining up for Evie, the towel puppy. Yeah.
[00:39:19] Speaker A: So. And then there are people that were walking by and they'd be like, what are you guys standing in line for? And they were like, oh, the towel puppies.
They're like, oh, well, I need a towel puppy.
[00:39:27] Speaker D: I need to get in line now too.
[00:39:29] Speaker A: The line just keeps growing as people hear that. Like, is it from the commercial? And we were on one of like the first sailings where they had like released them. Right. And so I've heard, like, you know, when they come out with something, it might. And it sells out. It might not restock. And so, yeah, it was like a very high pressure situation. And they open the doors, everybody is polite. There's nobody that's like pushing or shoving. This is not like a Black Friday situation. So it was nice, it wasn't chaotic. But it turns out they have an endless number of towel puppies.
Grab our two towel puppies and go to check out. And Quinn and Maddie were like, we could get six. There's three of us here. And I'm like, well, that's. No, we're not going to do that. Other people want these two. You get one and you get one and everybody's fine.
And as we're going to check out, this cast member comes out with a garbage bag that's just huge filled garbage bag and is like already restocking on day seven when we are leaving. EV is very stocked and available. So just. Just know that that's good.
[00:40:32] Speaker D: That's good. I will say that's not been the case across the whole fleet. Like some of the. Yeah. So some of the ships have had more difficulty stocking than others.
And some of the ships have actually limited it to either one per family or two per, like two per stateroom. One per stateroom, or sometimes one per person.
[00:40:51] Speaker B: I was gonn not. It's not even per person on.
[00:40:53] Speaker D: Yeah, it's been. Well, it's. Yeah, it's so it's been. It sounds like you're sailing Be probably because they had decent stock, they made it the two per person. Right. But on other ships where they know they have low stock, they have been, you know, limiting it further than that. So it very much depends where. Which ship you're sailing and at what time.
Yeah. So that. That's always a. A question mark. But I'm glad you got separate in as we're on video. I see you have. Your two are behind you.
You're picking up one of them right now.
[00:41:26] Speaker A: Look, these girls, my. My girls were really excited to, like, set this up for you guys to. To check out.
[00:41:32] Speaker D: So it's like, enough.
It's like an off friend of all the.
[00:41:38] Speaker A: If for those of you who are listening, if you haven't. If you haven't seen the commercial of the towel puppet, you absolutely have to look it up. It's like, like, truly, there's the most adorable commercial I've ever seen.
[00:41:49] Speaker D: It is the most adorable. And it was one of those things where as soon as we saw it, we're like, why did they not release this guy at the same time as the commercial? Right? Like, it would have been like, I mean, it's still brilliant, right? Yeah, it's still brilliant because they'll still make tons of money off that towel animal. But when they brought out the first two towel animals a couple of years ago, which were the elephant and the monkey, which I have on my shelf next to me, those, like, were selling, like, hotcakes too. I mean, those you can find now on all the ships regularly with. And they aren't, you know, they aren't selling out. But that's because they've been around for a couple of years. We knew Evie was gonna sell out like that. I also kind of love that they gave her a name. They made her a girl. Like, when we saw the commercial, we. I just. We kept calling it a he.
We did. The puppy didn't have a name. It was just the towel puppy. Right. Like, so I kind of like that they've given her an identity, and it's just cute.
[00:42:44] Speaker A: Cute.
[00:42:44] Speaker D: All right, well, what. What other stuff did you guys get up to on board? I love that the girls were so focused on the towel animal, but I'm sure they wanted to do other things.
[00:42:54] Speaker A: Yes, yes. So kids club was obviously, like, a big hit for them.
And making slime in the kids club was. Was also a big hit. They did the. I think it was called Stitches space.
[00:43:07] Speaker D: Yeah. Now, do you think that they had a great time in the kids club because they had a built in friend or do you think they would have had a great time in the K regardless of having friends with them?
[00:43:18] Speaker A: I think that's kid dependent.
[00:43:20] Speaker D: Okay, well, that's. No, that's, that's a great, That's. Tell us more about that.
[00:43:24] Speaker A: Yeah, so Quinn, my oldest, is very much like an outgoing, like make friends with anyone. Like, she, she'll, she'll. She's like a social butterfly, right? Like she can interact with anybody. Maddie's very more, very much more like an introvert and is like a little more shy and less likely to kind of like go and introduce herself to another kid.
And so Quinn has really thrived in the kids clubs the couple times that we've gone.
Maddie doesn't always love them and like, even with having Hazel there, she's like, like, I, I think I would rather like go in your stateroom and play with our stuffies under your bed.
And so she, and she also like really hates loud noises. She's just, she's not a neurotypical kid. And so like a lot of things can kind of just. So, yeah, different.
[00:44:10] Speaker D: It's a, it's a different way. And I mean that. It's a sensory overload in those kids clubs. So if you have a sensory sensitive kid in any way, shape or form, like, they, the kids club environment may be harder for them. You know, Nathan, when he was younger, didn't do great in the kids club and then as he got to be older, he did great in the Oceaneers club and he ended up sort of running around like a crazy person on the Wish class. Loved it. And now as a tween, he is. Seems to be thriving in the tween club environment. But he's like a video gamer. He's not like necessarily doing some of these like, icebreaker social things. He's like, you know, he's finding other kids who want to play the same video games and that's. He's doing that like all day and then maybe he'll get roped into a scavenger hunt or something like that. But that's if he kind of warms up to some other kids.
[00:45:02] Speaker A: So, yeah, I will say so. Quinn being 10, Quinn and Malia both being 10, they, we gave them permission to go into the Edge and so they were like, oh, it's, you know, it's all these older kids and it's going to be so cool. You know, they were like really excited to hang out with older kids and they went up there and like all they do is, is watch screens the whole time. Like nobody wants to play. And I'm like, well, so what do you think of the Oceaneer Club? It's great. Oceaneer Club's great. Like nobody's on screens. Like you could watch a movie. But mostly we've got like things that
[00:45:31] Speaker D: we're, we're doing games, play and all that. Yeah, it's a very, they are really like different and I, I do think There are some 10 year olds who the Tween club is perfect for and there's some 10 year olds that the kids club is perfect for and you know, and it, it's just depends on the kid. Right. So it's a good, it's good to try out both when you have a kid that can, when they can still do both. It's, it's just a nice thing because then they can figure out which is the better, which is the better fit.
[00:46:00] Speaker C: Are you listening to our show because you want to make the most out of your next vacation. Great news. The fabulous team over at Mypath Unwinding Travel can help guide, guide you so you don't miss a thing. Their team of professional travel advisors are caring, knowledgeable and experienced. It's why we use them to book our own travel. My Path Unwinding Travel is an authorized Disney vacation planner, which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, Adventured with Disney, Relaxed at Aulani, and so much more. Whether it's a Disney cruise, a theme park vacation or adventures by Disney, or if you are looking to expand, 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 Unwinding, for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:46:58] Speaker D: All right, well, I gotta ask. What, what did the adults get up to? I mean you, you mentioned the adult spaces being like very oversubscribed. So I imagine you weren't able to probably spend a ton of time in the bars. And of course you have the kids with you. It's family vacation. But curious, what were your some of your favorite things? Did you like the rainforest Room? You mentioned getting the pass.
[00:47:20] Speaker A: Oh, Sam, the Rainforest Room.
[00:47:22] Speaker D: Okay, so I have a feeling you feel the Way about the Rainforest Room that I feel about it, but let me. I want to hear.
[00:47:28] Speaker A: It's beautiful. It's so pretty. And, like, I love the idea of me sitting down and not moving in.
[00:47:38] Speaker D: Yeah, I love that idea, too.
Did it actually happen?
[00:47:42] Speaker A: It doesn't happen.
[00:47:43] Speaker D: No, it doesn't happen.
[00:47:44] Speaker A: This is the second time I've bought this, and it's not cheap. It's like 340 bucks a person.
Steve and I used it one time once, and we both laid on the, like, little lounger swing things, and we, you know, tried to relax. It's like 20 minutes. He was like, do you want to go? Like, what are we. What are we doing? Like, I'm like, let's get in the hot. Let's get in the hot tub. It'll make it worth it. We'll get in the hot tub. I will say the one thing that I did like about it is when we would come back from. Like, when we came back from Castaway.
The showers are being used by everyone, right? So then I'm like, I'm gonna run up to. I'm gonna run up to the Rainforest Room and I'm gonna shower up there. And their showers are way better than the ones that are in the stateroom. So, like, that was lovely.
But to me, a pro tip.
[00:48:28] Speaker D: You can use that shower even if you don't have a Rainforest Room pass.
Yeah, you can use the. So the locker room at the. The locker room at the spa is available to anyone. Even if you don't have a spa appointment.
You can go and use that locker room so you don't have to have a Rainforest Pass.
[00:48:46] Speaker A: You can use it less learned.
I'm not doing it again. I'm not going to buy it again.
[00:48:52] Speaker D: I got to tell you, like, there are people, and Brian is one of them, who love that Rainforest Room and get the pass all the time. I will say Brian never uses it enough to make it worth it, in my opinion, but we can agree to disagree on that.
But I am not a Rainforest Room person. I can't. I'm like you. I'd be there for. I'm, like, there for 20 minutes, and then I'm like, okay. Like, I feel like I get fomo. I'm missing out on something else on the ship. Like, I can't relax. Like, I. If I'm relaxing, it's because somebody is massaging my back and I'm on a table, right? Like, that's relaxing. But I can't just, like, sit and relax in the Rainforest Room space. It's. It's completely worthless to me. It's a waste of money. I'm not saying there are. Like I said, there are people who love it. And more power to you. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from doing it if they love it.
[00:49:40] Speaker E: It.
[00:49:40] Speaker D: But I personally, it's not for me. I. Yeah, it's a waste for me. I knew as soon as you. As soon as you mentioned it, I could tell that I. I knew this is going to be your reaction. It's kind of funny. I read it off your face, Steph. All right, well, let's talk about adult dining, because you mentioned you booked a bunch of adult dining, and you obviously farmed some of that out to your friends, but what did you and Steve do in terms of adult dining?
[00:50:07] Speaker A: Exciting. Yeah. So it was. We did it on Grand Cayman Day. So there was this rumor going around that the weather in Grand Cayman wasn't ideal and so that there were excursions being canceled. And so one of the people in our group, their excursion had been canceled.
And then I actually had a client on the ship at the same time, and her excursion had been canceled. And they were both starfish or not surf fish.
Why can I not remember it?
Stingray City. There we go.
So also, I'd just like to say Tender Ports. The worst hard.
[00:50:45] Speaker D: Agree. I hate getting on a tender.
[00:50:48] Speaker A: So Stingray City was getting canceled for them. And we had booked Stingray City and Starfish Beach. And so prior to going to Palo, Steve had gone up to the guest services area to the excursion desk and had asked them, is our excursion canceled?
And I just trying to figure out what we're doing. We're headed to Palo, but there's a tight timeline here. And truly in my head, I was like, I don't want to book anything the same time that we have Paulo. I don't want to be rushed, but we had two hours before we had the meeting time from when we entered Palo to when we needed to meet. And so it was like, okay, if we just tell our server, it should be fine. We'll kind of have them speed up stuff.
And the excursion desk said, like, nope, we haven't heard anything being canceled. So you're good to go.
So we do the royal gathering. We pass the girls on to their friends and the friend's family. And it is like a known thing, like, don't bother mom and dad while we're at Palo having this beautiful lunch.
And so we get there, and first, Steve is wearing a nice shirt, but not a collared shirt.
So which I know better. And we had like an entire. Our formal night. Everybody got like fully gussied up. Like, everybody looked great. He could have worn that outfit, but I don't know. He. He just. I don't know. And I know better. Like, I know better, but I was just like, we're off the Apollo. This is gonna be great. I'm gonna have. I'm gonna have the best food ever. That's all my head was thinking. So we get there and the lady like, who that's at the front desk, who was so sweet, but was just like, so you're not dressed properly to enter the restaurant.
But I do have.
Whips out a shirt. And he's like, I do have this shirt for you. Would you like to try it on? And Steve's like, you guys provide shirts and meals. Okay.
[00:52:40] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. They'll provide pants too. Yeah.
[00:52:43] Speaker A: What? And shoes.
[00:52:44] Speaker D: Yeah, and shoes. Even now, I think, because they've relaxed the shoe thing. I'm not sure if they have a. Like a. They used to have, like. Yeah, shoes they would lend you, but now because you don't.
[00:52:55] Speaker A: You.
[00:52:56] Speaker D: You have to wear like kind of nice. Ish, like shoes, but not like dress shoes. You can wear sneakers, but they have to be like the. What do they call them? Lifestyle shoes or something like. That is the word, the weird word they use. I thought you could wear a sweater though, if you're a man. Am I wrong on that? I. I thought you could wear a sweater to polish.
[00:53:15] Speaker B: I feel like I've worn a sweater with a T shirt on under it.
[00:53:18] Speaker D: Yeah. Not. And you don't have to wear a collar. Well, what kind of. What kind of shirt was he wearing?
[00:53:23] Speaker A: It was like a button has buttons here and like three quarter. Three quarter.
[00:53:29] Speaker D: Oh, like a Henley. Yes.
[00:53:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:53:31] Speaker D: Yeah, that's probably not.
[00:53:32] Speaker A: They were not having it.
[00:53:34] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:53:35] Speaker A: Which was fine. They gave him a shirt. And we entered and had this great server.
And while we were there, we had.
They gave us the Bellinis, like the non alcoholic Bellinis, which were delightful. And then I got a cappuccino while I was there. I love cappuccinos from Paulo. I'm sure they probably same stuff you could get at KK Cafe. But maybe it's ambiance wise. I think they're awesome. I got the seafood antipasta. And then Steve got like the. The meat one. And he was very jealous of that was like, oh, man, I picked the wrong one.
But I don't eat pork.
[00:54:07] Speaker D: They're both good, right? I was gonna Say you can't. The antipasta one is like, basically all. I mean, it's all cheese and pork, but, like, you know, different cured porks, like prosciutto and cappy. What's that word? Capiola. Something like that. Anyway, I'm saying it wrong, but, you know. Yeah, it's all the cured porks, basically.
Basically have to choose the seafood or you're only getting cheese. Yeah.
[00:54:28] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:54:28] Speaker D: Which isn't a bad thing.
[00:54:29] Speaker A: Yeah. So whenever we're on vacation or anywhere that we're, like, at a restaurant, pork is usually his number one choice because he never gets it at home.
And so he did that one. We ended up skipping the soup dishes because I was like, I don't want to fill up on too much stuff. Of course, we got the grape and gorgonzola pizza, and then I got chicken parm, which was a delight, as always.
And then we got the wild mushroom ravioli, which, like, it was okay. Like, it wasn't. It wasn't one that I think I would order again.
[00:55:01] Speaker D: It's not my favorite. I think it's a. Like, somebody was asking in our Facebook group maybe a month or two ago for dishes, though, that don't have a red sauce. And I think that if. If you're looking for a dish that doesn't have a red sauce, I think that's a great dish. But do I think it's, like, the top dish on the menu? Of course not. But all the top dishes on the menu, in my opinion, have a red sauce, so. Because I feel like Paulo's tomato sauce is literally, like, the best tomato sauce in the world. Sorry. Rao's in New York City, like, Paulo's. Paula's tomato sauce is better than yours.
[00:55:37] Speaker A: Steve got the lasagna he liked that obviously has pork in it, so that was not an option for me. And then we went to, like, get our desserts, and things had, like, really slowed down. And he had known at the beginning, like, hey, we need to get out of here. And he kind of like, I don't know if he got more tables, but they were, like, way further away from ours. And it was one of those where you're like, hey, hey. And we had pre ordered the dessert, like, you know, like, hey, this is what we're going to want you to come out with. Well, it got to the point where, like, we got to be down there in, like, three minutes. Like, we're not. This is not happening. And we, like, couldn't get ahold of them, so we actually just got up and, like, tried to leave. And they're like, no, no, you need to go back in and sign. And I was like, at this point, you guys could just put a tip on it. And, like, we gotta go.
So I did run in there and which. And kind of let him know. And then I think he was like, oh, no. It's like, he was, like, really upset that, like. Yes.
So we were a little bummed that we didn't get to experience the dessert piece of things.
And so then we head down to Worlds of Marvel where the meeting place is, and we get there, and they're like, hey, everyone, the excursion's been canceled. And we're like, we could have stayed
[00:56:47] Speaker D: at Palo and eaten our dessert and enjoyed it leisurely.
Did you go back to Palo? Please tell me you went back to Paulo.
[00:56:55] Speaker A: So I said that to Steve, like, we should just go back to Palo and get the dessert. But Quinn was kind of, like, really upset about this. Like, she wanted so bad to interact with stingrays and starfish. And so they actually did offer.
They said, we can take you to Starfish beach and we'll give you a 30% discount, and then you have more time at Starfish Beach.
But for me, that didn't, like, that math wasn't. It's not worth the price that we were going to pay. Yeah.
And so she was really bummed about that. And I'm like, you know what? Let's just treat this as, like, a day at sea, and we're going to find really fun stuff to do on the ship.
[00:57:32] Speaker D: And so are those kids cramping your style, though, Steph? My goodness.
[00:57:38] Speaker A: As we left there, we had a wedding that was happening in the atrium. So the girls just thought that was the coolest thing ever, where they're like, you can get married on Disney Crows. And then they're, like, watching. It's like, it was such a beautiful ceremony, and they. They just, like, you could just see. It was like fairy tale for them. Just like, this is what Disney movies are made of. Deal. So which later on our. Our main server, she was. She's dating a crew member on there. And so the girls were very interested in this relationship, which later led them to being like, whitney, you are getting married on the Wish. We need to know. You need to follow you. My mom and you need to follow each other on Instagram so that we can. We can follow this love along. And whenever he proposes to you, which should be soon because you guys have been dating for enough time.
[00:58:30] Speaker D: Right? Right.
[00:58:32] Speaker A: And when you get married on The. On the wish. Like, they haven't even seen the wish, right?
[00:58:35] Speaker D: They've seen, like, they've planned. Right? They planned. They're going on the wish. Yeah. Yeah. Of course.
[00:58:39] Speaker A: They're like. Like, we're gonna.
[00:58:40] Speaker D: At least they chose the right ship. I mean, that is, in my opinion, that's the ship. If you're going to get married, you get married on the wish. It's beautiful. It looks like a wedding. Like, I feel the grand hall looks like a place where a wedding is supposed to happen. It just has that princess feel. Yeah.
[00:58:56] Speaker A: Yes. So bless our server, because the rest of the trip after this wedding, after they witnessed the wedding.
[00:59:00] Speaker D: Right. Like, poor Whitney.
[00:59:01] Speaker A: Game on.
Yeah, we.
So. So back to adult stuff. We didn't do a whole lot of adult stuff. However, we did. The moms all went to Enchante, which was such an experience for me. I thought that I was an adventurous
[00:59:22] Speaker D: eater, and apparently you're not.
[00:59:26] Speaker A: There were certain things on that menu that were delightful. There were other things that I was like, what is this?
What am I eating?
What is a tartar?
[00:59:38] Speaker D: Means raw. Raw.
[00:59:40] Speaker A: And you know what's not good? Raw scallops.
Throw it out there.
It was one of those where I
[00:59:46] Speaker D: was like, yeah, I probably wouldn't do raw scallops either. I gotta be honest with you. That's one of those textural things I'm not sure I could do. Yes.
[00:59:53] Speaker A: Yes. It's funny. So I. It was really funny because I, like. Dilsey and I were trying our best to, like, keep a straight face and act like we were. Act like we were, you know, supposed
[01:00:06] Speaker D: to be there, not proper.
[01:00:08] Speaker A: Not from Montana.
And Cher, who was with us as well, she was great. She was the one, like, explaining the menu to us. She's eaten all this, like, crazy stuff, and so both of us were, like, so good at this price. It's great.
So, yeah, it was such an experience, but such a memorable thing for me.
That will be a core memory for me. It was really, really cool, and we got a lot of laughs out of that whole thing.
[01:00:40] Speaker D: I love that, honestly. It doesn't have to be like, this is my best meal experience ever. It can be this kind of funny, awkward story.
Not every meal has to be the perfect delicious meal for me, for me to enjoy something about it.
I think it's actually, like, kind of awesome that you did this. And I also like that all the moms did it. Just, you know, just the three moms did it. That's really fun. That's awesome.
All right, well, What. What would you say were, like, the. I don't know, like, the favorite things for the girls. I'm curious what. What their favorite things on board were.
[01:01:18] Speaker A: Okay, so anything that has to do with dancing. Okay, so dance party, Silent disco, which was a blast.
And we were there for. For the whole time. And, like, I was sweating by the end of this thing. Like, it was. And, like, it was just so fun.
And there was, like, this older. This older couple there, and I got. I got a kick out of them and, like, how, like, truly in their, like, I want to say, like, late 70s and they were killing it.
Just like these guys have dance moves, and they were like. It was awesome.
And then another one too on. So we did. We are all about, like, dressing up to the nines. Like, there's. If there's a theme for the night, like this. This family is getting in on it.
And so Pirate night was a big one. Is always. It's kind of a big one for us. So let me show you these little guys.
So this is Bunny Bunny, and she also has her own Bunny.
[01:02:15] Speaker D: Bunny has a pirate outfit with a. With a parrot and a telescope. Is it a telescope?
[01:02:22] Speaker A: It is a telescope, yeah. So she's like.
And she has a map as well. Maddie would be really mad if I didn't show the map, which she has attached here.
Yeah. So her map. And then we've got Foxy Fox, which I know sounds really silly. He's a raccoon. But turns out my mom's really bad at identifying animals when my kid's really little. And so his name stuck. This is Foxy Fox the raccoon. He also has his own pirate attire wear.
These two, in fact, have their own formal wear.
So, yeah, it's. It's. It's a thing.
So I have.
[01:03:04] Speaker D: I have dressed up Nathan's bear, in fact, for the destiny. He. He came. He entered as Spider Man. A spider bear, actually. So I feel your. I feel your theming on the. The stuffies getting. Getting into. Into the spirit of the cruise as well. I love that.
[01:03:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, we did some trivia, which was like, Disney Basic Disney Trivia 101. And I really thought we were going to win this thing we had. I want to say it was like 16 correct answers out of 21. 22.
No, no. There are other people that are significantly more educated on basic Disney trivia. I can't even imagine some of these other harder ones where I'm like, y' all are good. So that was a fun one. The girls loved going to Jumbo sweets was another one that they kind of like. Obviously, soft serve is great, but, like, jumbo sweets, where you can kind of add all of the things to it, too. They. They absolutely loved that pro tip.
[01:04:07] Speaker D: You can actually just buy toppings from Jumbos and go get soft serve and put the toppings on the soft serve. And it's a cheaper version if you prefer soft serve.
[01:04:17] Speaker A: Interesting. All right, good to know.
What was another one? The Incredicorese. So they did the Incredicore a couple different times. The last time, though, we had a really magical experience with the cast member. So we got there pretty late, and so she. Maddie was like, at the very end of the line, and Hazel did not. Was not interested in doing the incredicores with her. And so I was going to race her, but I didn't have socks, and so. Which is a. A requirement for the incredic worse. And so we. I. I didn't. And I didn't have time to run down to the room and grab them before they were closing it. And Maddie was, like, super bummed and immediately, like, got out of line.
And, you know, a cast member could see her disappointment and came over to her and said, hey, why'd you get out of line? And she's like, well, I don't have anybody to race me. And she was like, well, I'll race you. Would that be okay if I raced you? And Maddie was like. Like, are you sure? Like, yes. Yeah, for sure. So she. So she did. She raced her, and of course, Maddie won, which made her feel incredible. Like, I beat a Disney cast member at this. And so it was just really special. And then afterwards, she was like, would you mind if I take my picture with you? And so that was, like, a good memory.
[01:05:26] Speaker B: I would love to hear a bit more about your main dining experience since we talked about the specialty dining. How did that go?
[01:05:35] Speaker A: Yeah, sure. So we want to be mean.
[01:05:40] Speaker D: That's okay. You don't. You be honest, Steph. We got to be honest. That's what we pride in this show, being honest.
[01:05:45] Speaker A: Our dining team did not mesh.
In fact, by the end of our cruise, they. They had a breakup. They.
[01:05:53] Speaker D: Oh, like, the two of them. It wasn't like, they weren't good with you guys. They just. The two of them did not get along.
[01:05:58] Speaker A: Correct. We. We like them individually. Right. Like, they individually had positives to do. So, like, the girls thought our assistant server was great because he brought them two massive bowls of maraschino cherries every night, which just crazy.
And then this fantastic little guy here was another.
So this is a cocoa drink mug that you can get when you're at cocoa and it comes with a really yummy non alcoholic beverage in it which was super tasty. And so he had recommended that and the girls thought that was just the coolest thing ever.
But he wasn't around a lot so it would take a really long time to get drinks to include water.
And then we would drink the water and then they would stay empty. And it got to the point where we were like, hey, we're big on water. And we would to love, love to have. Just. Could you just bring a pitcher over?
And he didn't. And so then our main server was trying to come over and fill and redo stuff. And then it got to the point where the head server was then kind of doing some of these jobs. And then at Worlds of Marvel, the drinks got brought over at one point, but one got spilled on Quinn and.
And then he was just gone. Just like never showed up the rest of the night. So we didn't end up with bread service. Our water glasses were empty the whole time.
It was such a bizarre. And you know how when they order something they'll come over and normally cut it up for the kids or immediately put ketchup in a mickey shape for them.
None of that was something that happened quickly.
And you could tell Whitney would see these things. Whitney was our main server would see these things and she'd be like, I gotta get this fixed. And so she's kind of having to do like double, double duty on it.
[01:07:57] Speaker D: She's having to do his job in addition to her job, which doesn't work because she's got to get all the. She's in charge of the food and the assistant server is in charge of the drinks and like condiments basically. I mean that's sort of, that's like a very basic description of their division of responsibilities, but that's kind of what it is, right?
[01:08:15] Speaker A: And we're not the only table too. Right. Like there's multiple, multiple tables that she's, she's. So she was, you could tell she had a great attitude, but she was very stressed the whole time.
And so we did find out on the last day that they were no longer going to be a team together.
But overall, food wise, aside from the serving kind of hiccups that we experienced, I really loved 1923. I thought the food there was incredible and I didn't have any bad food there.
Worlds of Marvel, we had lots of things that we thought were positive. Cocoa was a big letdown for us. And I think that's probably because I wanted more of an authentic Mexican experience. And I think that maybe they've toned it down a lot. The salsa to me was like, ragu.
[01:09:06] Speaker D: Yeah. It was like tomato sauce. It's not enough.
[01:09:09] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was like a real surprise. And I think also like. Like Dilcia being from Mexico and we kind of had this, like, you know, we'll have, I don't know, something more than Tabasco for like a hot sauce, you know, so that was like a little bit of a disappointment. But ambiance wise, I like, just killed it, you know, they did a great job with the ambiance and the performers there were incredible. They even had done a mariachi band later, like in the evening. I want to say it was like at 11 o' clock at night.
Had a. Had a great experience with that as well. So, yeah, food wise, at the main dining, I would say overall pretty good. But there were some, like, hiccups within there too.
[01:09:50] Speaker D: Yeah, that's a bummer.
[01:09:52] Speaker A: That's a bummer.
[01:09:53] Speaker B: We've experienced that.
[01:09:54] Speaker C: Actually.
[01:09:55] Speaker B: We had. Remember we had that one serving crew that kind of broke up on us in the middle of the cruise.
[01:09:59] Speaker D: Yes, they absolutely did. Yes, absolutely.
[01:10:01] Speaker C: That's not great.
[01:10:03] Speaker D: Yeah. And unfortunately, it sounds like your situation was similar to ours. It was the assistant server was there.
[01:10:10] Speaker E: The.
[01:10:10] Speaker D: The problem. I hate saying problem, but they weren't very good. And so they. In fact, we had one where, like, the person was, as we understood, fired and like, left the ship, like, during our sailing, like, at one of the ports. Yeah. So we got a different. A different assistant server who also was brand new, but had like, at least like the. Was it like more eager beaver. So even though they weren't great, they were at least, like, trying harder. Right. So.
[01:10:37] Speaker A: And that which you can recognize.
[01:10:38] Speaker D: Exactly.
[01:10:39] Speaker A: He also, like, we caught him in Marceline market working one day and he was like, rolling his eyes at other cast members and, like, being very, like, huffy. And so I'm like, this was his first.
Was his first contract and he had come from Norwegian and he had made a comment like, Disney is a lot busier than Norwegian and like, he. I think he just was not having the experience that he had hoped. Yeah.
[01:11:05] Speaker D: So it's a different culture for sure. Like, they. Across the different cruise lines. And I think most cast members actually. Actually prefer Disney over a lot of the other lines. But that's not true for everyone. Right. And so, yeah, not Everybody, not everybody, is a Disney fit, let's put it that way.
You know, we didn't talk about stage shows. We got to hit that briefly before. Before I subject you to some rapid fire questions, I gotta ask you what you thought of the. The shows. This is your third ship in the fleet. You probably missed some stuff on the fantasy in terms of shows because of BFS having the flu. But I'm curious, you know, know, did Moana live up to your expectations?
[01:11:42] Speaker A: Moana's puppetry was awesome. I think we were expecting this really crazy show because of the hype that had been built up by it. The girls loved it, but for me, I think I was a little bit more judgmental.
I do know that some of the cast members had, I think, recently switched over. And so obviously that that changes some of the dynamics there.
So while Moana was amazing, I think I liked Beauty and the Beast better.
[01:12:09] Speaker D: Fair, that's fine.
[01:12:11] Speaker A: And the ending, which I won't like, surprise anybody or ruin the surprise, but at the very end, when somebody kind of comes out, I was like, oh, that's the cutest thing I've ever seen.
[01:12:21] Speaker D: It is the cutest thing you've ever seen. It is. I know exactly what you're talking about. Beauty and the Beast is what you're talking about. And I know it's really adorable. Yeah, they do a very. It's a very, very smartly done as well.
[01:12:33] Speaker A: Yeah, Seize the Adventure was great as well. It was such a cute little show.
So, yeah, I have no real complaints there.
But I'm always a huge fan of live theater. So the talent that they can put into a ship and these people are doing acrobatics and stuff on a moving stage is just mind blowing to me. So bravo to everybody that can do that.
[01:12:57] Speaker D: All right, well, have we missed anything?
Is there any topic or thing we haven't covered that you wanted to be short, let folks know about?
[01:13:06] Speaker A: Yeah, let me. Can I go over, like a few excursions that we did real quick? I don't. I know I didn't mention those. So for Cozumel, we booked one outside of Disney. It is, I'm going to say it wrong. Chenacab Park.
And so we did swimming with dolphins there.
It's C H A K A N A A B park, so it means little ocean in Mayan. So we did swimming with dolphins there. So.
And it felt a little, when I was booking online, felt a little sketchy, like it didn't. When you look up reviews and stuff, it didn't seem like it might be legitimate. It was. So it'
[email protected] and it was 1:59 for adults to swim, and then 1:24.
And once we got there, though, they did end up charging, like, an extra $19 for they. It was animal protection measures.
And there was also, like, all these little things that they kind of added on a little bit. But the dolphin interaction was incredible. We got to touch their fins. We did, like, touch their heart area, and then, like, kind of have your hand underneath their chin and, like, behind their blowhole. And they took a bunch of pictures, which they tried at the very beginning to sell the pictures for $80 per person, and you had to pay it up front for the entire group.
So that adds up to be a huge chunk of change. Right?
[01:14:30] Speaker E: Right.
[01:14:30] Speaker A: So we said no. And then while you're in there, they have the. The dolphins do, like, chirping, and there's tiny little fish kind of swimming around, which Maddie was freaked out by. But after that, they have where you can do a manatee excursion, which was included in the price. You don't. It's like, you just go up and say, hey, I want to go visit the manatees. And that was super cool, because these manatees, you, like, hold the lettuce out for them, and they, like, reach their little things, and it, like, grab you and pull you into them. And it was like. Like, it was so funny. And, like, I was like, this is really cool.
Maybe not for, like, little kids, but, like, as, you know, if you have an older kid or adults, like, it was a really cool experience. They also had lunch included. And then you got to go to, like, a beach area. It had beach access where you could make, you know, sandcastles and snorkel and play in the water. They had beach chairs, and then, like, this giant green iguana that they had brought around that you could take your picture with. So we really enjoyed that. I will say, though, like, the pictures, this is just what all of them do, right? Is they say, hey, it's some ungodly amount of money for these pictures.
And I kept going back and being like, hey, would you guys do it for this price? Would you guys do it for this price? And they kept. They kept being like, oh, no. And so I went right before we left and had said, hey, I'm leaving. Like, I'm headed into this taxi here, and you can either sell me these pictures for $200, and I want all of them for our Entire Group for 200 bucks, or I'm Leaving. And they were like, okay, we can do it. So just something for like guests to know. If you do go to that park, maybe wait till the end and let them know, like, last chance, you want to sell me something, now's your chance. And they did have taxis there. So we got the taxi from the port there. It was $80 to get it there. It was a 20 minute taxi ride. And then they have taxis lined up kind of at the end of the day and they'll give you a little voucher that will pay for your taxi ride back.
[01:16:22] Speaker E: Back.
[01:16:23] Speaker A: But when they give you the voucher, make sure you say that we're headed to the DCL port because apparently there's another port that's closer. And so if it doesn't have that distinction on it, then they charge you an extra $12 on your way back. So just something to note. And then the excursions at Castaway. So obviously we had the cabana, which was the most lovely experience of my life. And like, I will try to get it every single time. The new cabanas are gorgeous. They've got like cups and waters and fresh fruit and sunscreen and chips and floats, like the little, like yoga mat kind of floaty ones and like the tubes, just a lot of stuff. Towels, loungers, hammock. The girls loved, loved, loved, like picking up seashells, looking at the tiny little crabs that were out there, the teeny little fish. And then the other part too, that I was going to mention, you guys, is it's all the concierge and Paulo staff working that area area.
So the, the hangar, the new hangar eatery right there was all manned by like the Palo and concierge staff. But the girls, their all time favorite thing was parasailing. And I can thank the two of you for that, by the way, as you guys are always like trying to go parasailing. And they were both pretty nervous about it. And when we got on there, like, Quinn was like ready to, ready to bail. Like, she was like, I can't, I can't do it.
[01:17:42] Speaker D: I almost failed the first time we did it. I didn't, but I did. And I. But I almost did. Yeah.
[01:17:47] Speaker A: Yeah. Got back down. And she was like, that was the coolest thing I've ever done and has asked no less than a hundred times since we've gotten back that like, we're going to parasail again. Right? Like, that's going to be something that we do on our next, our next trip. So.
[01:17:59] Speaker D: Oh, I love that. That's amazing. Yeah, parasailing is awesome.
For those who don't know, if you did not buy the the WWE magazine float test, Brian wrote an article about Nathan's first time parasailing, and it's an incredible article, but we've. We have talked about it a lot on the show Brian used to go solo parasailing with because Nathan and I were too scared to do it. And then eventually we came around, and now we love it. We don't book it every time we go to Castaway, but for a while we were, because it would get canceled half the time. So we'd be like, well, 50% of the time, maybe we'll get to go, and 50% of the time, maybe we won't get to go. So. Yeah, love that. Awesome. Well, sounds like you had a great.
A great trip, Ryan. When do we think it's that time, if you're ready?
[01:18:49] Speaker B: Well, I'm ready because I don't really have to do anything, so I guess it is that time.
Steph, we have reached that point in the show where I need to hand you back over to Sam for some arbitrary questions, some arbitrary rules, and more than a dash of judgment or the round we know as Rapid Fire Sam. Take it away.
[01:19:04] Speaker D: All right, we're gonna.
[01:19:05] Speaker A: I'm gonna pause you for one sec. Would you mind if I brought the girls in to do their favorites as well?
[01:19:10] Speaker D: Oh, that would be awesome. Can we. We're gonna have to. I'm gonna have to limit it to just DCL favorites, I think, because we don't have. We won't have enough time otherwise. Okay, perfect.
[01:19:20] Speaker A: Yeah, let me. Let me go. Go grab them real quick if that's awesome.
[01:19:24] Speaker D: Yeah.
Okay, well, we have some special guests joining us for my rapid Fire round today. We've got Quinn and Maddie joining us with, of course, Steph. So, you guys, I'm going to ask you some Disney Cruise Line favorites, and of course, you can only answer with one of the ships that you have been on. So it's either the FANT to see or the treasure. And any of the spaces or activities on board is what I'm going to be asking you about. So I got to ask you my starting question, which is my favorite question.
Which show was your favorite? So which stage show in the Walt Disney Theater was your favorite?
We're going to start with the oldest, so we're going to start with Steph, and then we'll go Quinn, and then we'll go Maddie, and then we'll reverse the order. Steph, which one's your favorite favorite?
[01:20:11] Speaker A: I think out of all of them. So this is Fantasy, Wish and Treasure. I'm gonna lose Rapid fire right now.
Is Aladdin on the fantasy in February 2024. So I've seen Aladdin twice. The one on the fantasy was the best.
The genie on there was like.
[01:20:33] Speaker D: Okay, Seth.
Okay, Steph. Yeah, Steph, you're getting a lot of judgment here. Okay. All right, Quinn, what is your favorite stage show?
[01:20:42] Speaker E: Probably Moana.
[01:20:44] Speaker D: That is a great answer. I love that. All right, Maddie, what is your favorite stage show?
[01:20:49] Speaker E: Either Moana or Aladdin.
[01:20:53] Speaker D: Okay, you share the judgment with mom. All right. None of you answered with Beauty and the Beast. Okay. All right.
Okay.
[01:21:01] Speaker A: It was a good show.
[01:21:02] Speaker D: Great show. Okay, well, let's move on to dining. We're going to talk rotational dining. I want to know which restaurant is your favorite restaurant. So you can choose from the. You can choose from animators palette. You can choose from. What is it? Royal Court, I think, or Royal Palace. I can't remember which name. What else we have? Enchanted Garden is also on the fantasy. Or you can choose, of course, from Coco 1923 or Worlds of Marvel. So those are your. Your choices. You have six choices. Mom has a couple of extra choices. So, Maddie, let's start with you. Which one is your favorite restaurant?
[01:21:36] Speaker E: Animator, pilot.
[01:21:37] Speaker D: That's a great answer. Quinn.
[01:21:39] Speaker E: Animators, pilot.
[01:21:41] Speaker D: That's a great answer. All right, and Steph, 1923 for me. All right, fair enough. Okay. Your kids win. Sorry.
Okay.
All right. I wanna. I wanna ask what your favorite onboard activity. So this is favorite thing to do on board a Disney cruise. It could be on the pool deck. It could be in the kids club. It could be anywhere on the ship. Quinn, we're going to start with you
[01:22:05] Speaker A: this time for a loop. We did just what was on the cruise when we were preparing.
She wants to know what your favorite
[01:22:15] Speaker E: thing on the ship to do was on the ship.
Probably, like, going to the kids club or just wandering. I liked both.
[01:22:23] Speaker D: Awesome. All right.
All right, Maddie. Favorite thing to do on the ship.
[01:22:30] Speaker E: My favorite thing to do on the ship would either be hanging out with my friends or, like, running up and down the stairs.
[01:22:40] Speaker D: Yeah, running up and down the stairs.
That is a favorite kid activity, I think, on Disney cruise ships in general. All right, Steph, what about you?
[01:22:49] Speaker A: I think it would have to be, like, the dancing.
So we did a lot of that on formal night and pirate night and at the silent disc.
[01:23:01] Speaker E: Go. That was fun.
[01:23:03] Speaker D: Awesome. All right, well, did you guys all get to go on the water slides on both the Fantasy and on the. On the treasure. Okay, I gotta ask you, which one is your favorite then? Quinn, do you like the Aqua Duck, which is the slide on the fantasy, or the Aqua Mouse, which is the slide on the treasure?
[01:23:22] Speaker E: Probably the Aqua Duck.
[01:23:24] Speaker D: Okay, how come A third party, A splash.
[01:23:27] Speaker E: Do more. And there's a lot. It was like, longer. It felt.
[01:23:33] Speaker D: Oh, it is a longer slide for sure. Okay. All right, we're gonna talk food. I want to know just a. Your. A favorite food item that you had on your Disney cruise. Okay, we're gonna start with Maddie this time. Maddie, what was your favorite food on the cruise?
[01:23:49] Speaker E: Cheeseburger patties.
[01:23:52] Speaker D: I like it.
[01:23:53] Speaker A: Patties Every. She's never eaten a cheeseburger in her life.
[01:23:55] Speaker E: Life.
[01:23:55] Speaker A: And we get on the cruise and she eats two cheeseburger patties, no bun every night.
[01:23:59] Speaker D: Oh, not even a bun. Okay. All right, well, you know, it. It's your vacation. You eat what you want on vacation because. Because vacation calories don't count at all. All right, Quinn, what about you? What was your favorite food on the cruise?
[01:24:14] Speaker E: Probably Mickey's Mac and cheese.
[01:24:16] Speaker D: Ah, you and Nathan both. Mickey's Mac and cheese is his favorite as well. Steph, what about you? Favorite food.
[01:24:23] Speaker A: Okay, so this one's a little. A little wild, but I really loved the white onion soup in 1923.
[01:24:30] Speaker D: That is a little of all the things.
[01:24:32] Speaker A: It was. I don't know, it just like, blew my mind. I got the recipe for it too. Okay, you guys can give me that.
[01:24:37] Speaker D: Nice. All right, really important question is coming next. Which is which one is your favorite ship? Mom can. Can choose from three. Mom can choose from the fantasy, the wish, or the treasure. And then the two of you can choose from either the fantasy or the treas.
Steph, we're going to start with you this time. Which one is your favorite ship?
[01:24:58] Speaker A: Treasure all the way, for sure.
[01:25:00] Speaker D: Love it. That's right. All right, Quinn, what about you?
[01:25:03] Speaker E: Probably the treasure.
[01:25:05] Speaker D: All right, what about you, Maddie?
[01:25:07] Speaker E: Treasure. We didn't get to do a lot on the other one, though.
[01:25:10] Speaker D: Yeah, you all had the flu. Mom told me. Yeah, well, you all won because the treasure is the right answer. Absolutely. I gotta ask the one last question I always ask at rapid fire, which is if you could go anywhere in the world on a Disney ship, it has to be someplace you haven't been before.
Where would you go?
Let's start with Maddie for this one. Maddie, where do you want to go on a Disney cruise?
Hawaii. Fantastic. I love it. That would a great, great destination. And you can hit up Alani while you're there. All right, Quinn, what about you?
[01:25:46] Speaker E: Hawaii.
[01:25:47] Speaker D: Hawaii. All right, Steph, now you're. They're live last.
[01:25:50] Speaker A: I'm gonna go the exact opposite of, like, tropical hot weather. I would love to check out Antarctica.
[01:25:57] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, absolutely. You can do it on an expedition cruise. Currently quite costly. Yes, they're very, very expensive. Well, you guys, thanks for playing, you all.
Well, Maddie and Quinn, you guys passed a flying colors mom. Sorry you failed for answering Aladdin, but thank you all for playing.
Fantastic.
[01:26:20] Speaker B: Well, I need to know what's next, though, Sam, before you wrap up here. So anything that you've got planned ahead that you want to share in front of the kiddos, or should we.
[01:26:29] Speaker D: Or should we kick them out again?
[01:26:31] Speaker A: I actually have two placeholders right now.
We have not booked it yet, but we've been talking a little bit about doing an Alaska cruise and really kind of like getting in some of those animals.
Animal things. So, yeah, I think that maybe. I don't know. I do love tropical places, though.
Nothing set in stone yet.
[01:26:54] Speaker D: Well, both. I mean, they're all great options. By the way, I love all the shirts. I love Quinn. I love your Miko shirt. I. Oh, yeah. I love your Captain Jack Sparrow shirt. Maddie, that's fantastic. You all had. I know it's hard to see because Maddie's a little. A little bit shorter than. Than the rest of you, but, yeah, we love your cruise squad shirt or something.
So glad you guys had such a great cruise. Steph, thank you so much for joining us today to talk about this amazing adventure on the Disney treasure.
[01:27:25] Speaker B: And we have to give her a moment. Yes, I. Steph is a travel agent herself, and so we always love to let our travel agent friends who come on the show as guests let people know where they can find them in case they want to book their next fabulous Disney adventure.
[01:27:38] Speaker A: Yeah, sure. So I am on Instagram person apricitytravel. So apricity means the warmth of the sun in the middle of the winter. So feel free and find me there.
[01:27:50] Speaker D: Awesome. Thanks so much. And thanks so much for joining us. Thank you, Quinn and Maddie, for joining us for Rapid Fire as well. We really appreciate you guys.
[01:27:58] Speaker A: Thank you so much.
[01:27:59] Speaker D: Bye.
[01:28:05] Speaker C: Well, thanks everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast. You can keep getting great content from us every week. In fact, twice a week, we publish shows, so be sure to hit the subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us alive, we have a live show now every week Monday nights 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out. If you want help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts and if you leave us a written review review a 5 star written review. We will read it at the top of one of our main episodes. So please head over there and hit those five stars. Of course you can also help support the show by supporting our fabulous show sponsor My Path Unwinding Travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation? Head over to mypathunwinding.com forward/dclduo or email them at DCLDUO mypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. If you've got questions or you'd like to connect with us, the best way to do that is to head over to DC clduo.com it's got links to all of our things. Full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast links off to our vlog a link to our Etsy store. We sell some fun fan inspired magnets link to our Patreon. If you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO also has a way for you to sign up for our substack newsletter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here at least and course of few blog articles that we've written, so DCLDuo.com is the best way to connect with us. You can also of course email
[email protected] or reach out to us on our voicemail line at 402-413-5590. That's 402-413-5590. The DCL Duo podcast is not affiliated with Disney Cruise Line, the Disney Company or the Disney family of theme parks. The views expressed on the show are solely those of the individuals on the podcast and in no way reflective. Use the Disney Company or Disney Cruise Line. If you have questions about a Disney Cruise or Disney vacation, please contact the great folks over at My Path Unwinding Travel or Disney directly or your own travel agent. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time for another fabulous adventure with the DCL Duo.
[01:30:16] Speaker E: Sam.
