Ep. 669 - Live Bonus Show - Disney Destiny Through a 9-Year-Old's Eyes: Is the Destiny Fun for Kids?

Brian 01:25 Welcome back, everybody, to this week's live episode of the DCL Duo podcast brought to you by my Path Unwinding Travel. And without further ado, also our good friends over at the DCL Magazine. Welcome to Stephanie and Danny. Stephanie + Danny 01:38 ECL Magazine? Brian 01:39 There they are. Samantha 01:40 Look at that. Look at that beautiful, shiny. Stephanie + Danny 01:41 Product placement. Brian 01:44 So excited to have you both join us this evening. And for everyone out there listening or watching, DCL Magazine, fantastic, fantastic publication. We pay for a subscription ourselves because we only, only, only advertise Stephanie + Danny 01:56 Thank you, Brian. Brian 01:56 things that we use ourselves and that we enjoy ourselves and we think are quality additions to our community. So super excited to have Stephanie and Danny join us. Oh my God. You keep bringing Samantha 02:03 I mean, I just buy it for Brian's articles. I'm just going to be honest. I'm just kidding. Brian 02:07 up my articles. There's a lot of good articles. If we do, we do, we do. Stephanie + Danny 02:08 You should all buy it for Brian's articles. I'm pretty sure we have a code for DCL Duo listeners too. Not to just like hit you with the sales pitch right off the jump, but DCL Magazine and use code DCL Duo to save. Brian 02:24 that's right all caps dcl duo head to dcl-magazine.com and uh use that code get a subscription today it's a great great magazine if you like disney cruise line you will love this magazine uh but absolutely absolutely uh love having you guys on so uh we're gonna be talking Stephanie + Danny 02:37 Ryan. Thanks for having us on, guys. We love chatting Disney Cruise with you. Brian 02:45 about a cruise that you recently took i mean you guys are fresh off the ship uh with with you with Stephanie + Danny 02:50 correct yeah we got back thursday Brian 02:52 your nephew and we sort of build this as like seeing the destiny through fresh eyes because you brought your nephew on board and we've been so curious to have guests on to talk about what the experience is like with kids uh especially for the destiny and so excited to have you on Stephanie + Danny 03:04 yeah Brian 03:08 uh before we dive right in up sam's got our finger up we've got news i forgot we forgot the news segment do the news sam Samantha 03:16 yeah okay so the news is actually merch news specifically so first of all reports from friends the morals who just got on board the disney destiny today evie is back on board the disney destiny. So that cute dog towel animal back on the destiny as of today. Um, I don't know if she was on last week for you guys, Stephanie and Danny. I love that. Okay. The other merch news, Stephanie + Danny 03:42 I didn't see her in the shop. I looked, but I was pixie dusted a little magnet of her. And I love it so much. Samantha 03:52 which you probably did see on board is there are now build your own ears. So I'm wearing just a regular Chip and Dale build your own ears on my headphones for those watching on the video live or watching on video later. Um, but they have Disney cruise line characters now. Um, and so Stephanie + Danny 04:08 Okay. Samantha 04:11 those are make your own band. There's a band. So the band is just like this band. This one is just Stephanie + Danny 04:15 Gracias. Samantha 04:17 the regular one. The parks once is a black one, but the Disney cruise line one is this color blue, like the inside of this. And it says Disney cruise line on the side in embroidery and like a white embroidery with the Disney cruise line logo. And then they've got, it's basically the fab five plus Daisy and chip and Dale. So it's Mickey, Minnie, Donald, goofy, Pluto, Daisy, chip, Dale. And then there's a funnel also. They're really cute. Um, my friends, uh, are on board right now and they got me, I'll see if I can show this up close. They got me these. So the funnel and Stephanie + Danny 04:52 Oh my goodness. Samantha 04:56 And essentially I got the four of the Fab Five. And then right below that, if you can see in the picture, Stephanie + Danny 05:03 Yeah. Samantha 05:03 they're Disney Cruise Line croc charms. So there are now the gibbets. So Disney Cruise Line gibbets, the croc charms, are now on board as well. Brian 05:12 Do you own Crocs, Sam? Samantha 05:13 So the... Stephanie + Danny 05:16 yes we well okay so we both proudly we proudly wear our crocs they are comfortable they are Samantha 05:17 I mean, I will... Stephanie + Danny 05:24 functional we don't we have multiple pairs i don't decorate them i don't go in for the the accessories i just got stitch and angel gibbets for mine that's true one of my pairs has mickey shaped holes and it's rose gold sparkle like but you're going to Brian 05:39 love it Samantha 05:39 I mean, I don't own a pair of Crocs right now, but I'm going to buy a pair of Crocs. Brian 05:43 So now there's a new expense coming to our future, which is Sam's new croc obsession. Yes. Stephanie + Danny 05:49 no you know what like one pair it'll last you for a long long time they really do last forever Brian 05:50 Fantastic. I think... I think... Stephanie + Danny 05:55 they're also they're actually practical especially at disney they like they're comfortable for long days you know it doesn't matter if they get wet wear them to the pool wear them back to your room like fun on the airplane yeah they're easy on the airplane you kick them on you kick them off i know people like to make fun of crocs they're like but whatever they're like have some whimsy in your life get a bright color get one of the cool pattern ones they just came out with gibbets yeah they just came out with some awesome like for for toy story 5 they have a bunch of like great new woody and Samantha 06:22 full of timbits. Stephanie + Danny 06:28 jesse and buzz and like your crocs yes please yeah oh yes and someone someone in the comments Brian 06:31 I told Sam I've entered... Samantha 06:33 I mean, Brian 06:34 I told... Stephanie + Danny 06:36 is pointing out that uh there are now croc mickey ears and they beach bags that are like the bog Samantha 06:39 years, I've seen them. Stephanie + Danny 06:43 beach bags but they have the holes so you can decorate with your gibbets yeah brian don't worry I'm going to find all the different Crocs merch and send it to Sam so you can get one big bill. It's a whole ecosystem. Brian 06:56 that sounds I told Sam I told Sam as I was going through my closet I was like I feel like I've Samantha 06:57 I love it. I'm so excited. Brian 07:01 reach my understated Disney phase where I want it to be, you know, nice evoke Disney, but not be in your face. So like, that was my justification to be fair. She could buy five pairs of Crocs for what it cost me to buy my Gucci Donald duck sneakers used on Mercari. So, so yeah, so yeah, fair enough. Stephanie + Danny 07:17 exactly Brian 07:21 see ya Samantha 07:21 and and as you can tell from my um aesthetic i am not the understated disney I'm full on. This is a Disney Cruise Line rainbow shirt, a pride shirt, and then of course my Stephanie + Danny 07:30 that's what we love Samantha 07:36 Chip and Dale ears. Yeah. I love it. Thank you. See, Danny and Stephanie. Stephanie + Danny 07:38 you know what though so brian i tend to i tend to go Samantha 07:44 I was going to say, Danny and Stephanie are helping my cause here, so I really appreciate this, guys. Stephanie + Danny 07:50 i'm always gonna be a yes and kind of person you know that's a great idea you should get those crocs and the matching ear band but brian i'm with you with when it comes to understated when it comes to simple says the king of hawaiian no no but like that's like a but the first of all they're not hawaiian shirts it's aloha wear this is like this is real no no no this is and one time Brian 08:11 Yes. Stephanie + Danny 08:16 you'll have me on the podcast and i'll explain to you the cultural origins of aloha wear but like Samantha 08:17 please Stephanie + Danny 08:20 this is proper made in hawaii like nice quality you know resort casual stuff but here's the thing Samantha 08:27 Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 08:27 there are so many people out there and i have the utmost respect for the disney bounders and the people who do dapper day and like you know there are people who come to the parks and they are serving looks, you know, and they're going all out 10 out of 10 outfits, 20 out of 10 outfits. I don't even want to try and compete in that realm. So I have my Disney fandom in my heart Samantha 08:46 I feel it. Stephanie + Danny 08:50 and all, you know, I'll have a theme t-shirt here. I got a, you know, my Apple watch is always on a Mickey watch face. I've got, you know, a bag or whatever, but like, because there are people, that's their fandom, that's their persona. And I want them to enjoy that. And I think that's great, but it's not me we sat next to a lovely woman at DeVille's and she was like decked out like Tinkerbell oh yeah she was amazing so gorgeous I'm like I'm Brian 09:13 Oh, nice. Stephanie + Danny 09:16 just I'm gonna put on a Mickey t-shirt I can't compete Brian 09:19 So Danny, my pro tip for you is if you haven't already, check out Kahala, which is one of the original. Yep. Yep. We went there when we were in Oahu. Stephanie + Danny 09:29 yeah my heart is with rain spooner shirts according to them according to the Brian 09:30 Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 09:36 they invented the Aloha shirt and the concept of casual Friday at work. I don't know that claim is, you know, how do you back that up? But according to them, they imported from Hawaii to Southern California, the concept of casual Fridays and the Aloha shirt and the rest is history. Brian 09:58 nice well it's funny because as you say that i'm thinking Samantha 09:58 I love it. I love it. Brian 10:00 as websites claims that they're the original manufacturer of the uh Stephanie + Danny 10:03 I'm sure it's like how everybody says they invented the Mai Tai, right? Brian 10:05 it's like it's like the cheeseburger in the u.s yeah Samantha 10:07 It's like, which one's the, which one's the raised pizza? It's the one, everyone knows it's the one on 11th Avenue in New York. Right. So anyway, we can talk about what's original for days. Stephanie + Danny 10:12 Yeah. Yeah. Samantha 10:18 but let's let's talk about the disney destiny now you guys sailed you guys sailed this time well Stephanie + Danny 10:21 Let's talk about the destiny. Samantha 10:24 first i'm going to start with the background i'll do the quick background you guys got to well Stephanie + Danny 10:26 Yeah. Samantha 10:29 stephanie got to go to construction in germany like to where they build the ships meyerwerft Stephanie + Danny 10:33 Ja. Samantha 10:36 um danny got to go to toronto where they do all the rehearsal spaces for disney cruise on where They rehearsed all of the shows for the ships and got a preview showcase of, you know, Hercules. You guys were invited to a media event that was in Orlando in October before the ship came out that previewed some of the different character meet and play activities. Then you all got invited on the christening cruise, where we got to obviously meet in person for the first time as well. And so we got to sail together. So you have a ton of experience with the Disney Destiny. But you all sail adult only. And this sailing was with Stephanie, your brother and his wife and child. Brian 11:20 ご視聴ありがとうございました Stephanie + Danny 11:22 So it's a super modern family situation and perfect for Pride Month. Samantha 11:25 Oh. Stephanie + Danny 11:27 actually so this was our ninth disney cruise we've never been with a child at all as we do not have Samantha 11:28 I love it. Stephanie + Danny 11:34 a child easily accessible to us so we call jacob our nephew because he calls us uncle danny and and and steph in our hearts he is our nephew um jacob's parents zach and dan are longtime friends of mine zach and i used to be camp counselors together we've been friends for i don't know 20 something years, 30 years at this point. So Zach's a school teacher and he wasn't able to get the time off to come on this particular sailing. Canada doesn't let out school till the end of the month. So we went with Dan and Jacob and then Dan invited his childhood friend Kate who was Jacob's surrogate. So we were Samantha 12:18 Oh! Stephanie + Danny 12:19 this very cool, modern blended family on the cruise ship. And at the end of the sailing, Dan actually admitted to me that he was nervous that people were going to be like, what's the deal with all these adults who are not all together? And then they're with a child and what's going, nobody asked us a single question. I was like, it doesn't matter. You're on Disney cruise line. You just say I'm with my family. Yeah. And that's all they care. And that's all they care about. And this is the thing, you know, I talked to my friends, you know, who are parents and stuff. And I say, you know, my nephew, but not really my nephew. And they go, no, no, no, you're a real, he's your nephew. Samantha 12:48 He's your nephew. Brian 12:50 ご視聴ありがとうございました Stephanie + Danny 12:50 you know when we got on the ship though instead of saying like it's the schuster shapiro michael burke paul family we just called it the jacobs family and he thought that was just the bees knees yeah so jacob just turned nine this cruise was in celebration of his ninth birthday Samantha 13:02 Oh. Stephanie + Danny 13:08 and we more or less let him run the show because you know who doesn't want to be king for a day for your whole cruise yeah uh he has a little bit of disney experience so steph and i went with uh and his dads to Disneyland one time a few years back when he was a bit younger and then without Samantha 13:24 Mm-hmm. Stephanie + Danny 13:27 us but with our with my leadership stellar planning and spreadsheets they went to Disneyland Paris with a very comprehensive guide that Steph put together last summer uh and that's all the Disney experience they had other than like watching every Disney movie and he was Olaf in his school's production like they love the Disney yeah it's a Disney family but they haven't spent a lot of time in the park Samantha 13:48 Yeah. Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 13:50 and they've never been on a Disney cruise before. Samantha 13:53 Oh, my goodness. Stephanie + Danny 13:53 So that's our background. Samantha 13:54 Now, what made you guys choose to sail on the Destiny in particular with this group? Like, was that it just fit in the schedule or was there a particular reason why you wanted to sail on the Destiny specifically? Stephanie + Danny 14:11 We had been talking for like a couple years with Zach and Dan about that we should all do a Disney cruise together when Jacob was the right age. And we were thinking about different itineraries and things like that, different ships. But when I got to Germany and I saw Spider-Man on the back, Samantha 14:23 Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 14:26 Jacob's a huge Spider-Man fan. He loves all the Marvel. But seeing Spider-Man in person on the back of the ship, I texted them from Germany saying, it's the destiny. That's when it is. That's where we're going. It's the only place to be. So we went really for the Marvel of it all. They were also very enchanted by the fact that we had had this firsthand peek at the ship. you know, not that we actually had anything to do with it, but the Destiny feels like our feels like our ship. Do you know what I mean? Like, I feel Samantha 14:57 totally Stephanie + Danny 14:58 more connected to this ship than any other ship in the fleet. And I think the family... Samantha 15:02 and that is good because you had these connections at different stages of her construction and her Stephanie + Danny 15:08 Yeah. Samantha 15:09 launch right so it is different and not to say that other ships haven't had like media previews Stephanie + Danny 15:10 Yeah. Samantha 15:14 but this is the first time anyone was invited to go to the shipyard is the first time anyone was Stephanie + Danny 15:15 I don't know. Samantha 15:20 invited to Toronto for a sneak peek at the shows, right? So this ship has like, I feel like it makes Stephanie + Danny 15:23 Yeah. Samantha 15:26 sense. It has a greater connection personally, Dan, as you were saying. Yeah. Yeah. Now, which Stephanie + Danny 15:29 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so I think. Samantha 15:32 itinerary did you guys choose for this? Stephanie + Danny 15:35 We did the Five Night that was from, well, obviously they're all from Port Everglades, It went to a C-Day, then Cozumel, then a C-Day, then Castaway Cay. The itinerary was really just based on when we could go. We could go that week, so it was either the five-day or the four-day that I think was right after it. And they were the same price, so why wouldn't we go? Girl math, one free day. Samantha 16:00 I love that. Stephanie + Danny 16:00 Cruise math. Samantha 16:01 I love that. Bruce Matt. now Stephanie + Danny 16:04 For us, the destinations really weren't important. We knew we wanted to take them to Castaway. Yeah, I did want to make sure their first Disney cruise goes to Castaway, because I don't think you've Disney cruised until you've Castaway. No, but we definitely like we pick these dates based on people's availabilities, based on the price of the cruise fare and just what fit into our schedule. Samantha 16:27 Absolutely. Now, when did you guys, you guys are up in Canada on the East, on the East coast. Um, when did you guys go down to Florida? Um, and where did you all stay? Like you're going to, at a Fort Lauderdale, not out of, uh, Port Canaveral. So did you pair it with the Disney world trip or not? Stephanie + Danny 16:44 yeah yeah we all just no we didn't pair it we just all flew down we got on the ship on saturday we Samantha 16:48 Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 16:51 all flew down on Friday and we stayed at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, which I hadn't stayed at before, but I know it's really popular with families. So I wanted to check it out for our blogs and it was a great experience. And what I really liked was that they offered the Disney transportation. I think there's only two or maybe three hotels in Fort Lauderdale that you can pay for the Disney transportation. We could have easily Ubered. We could have cheaper Ubered, but that Disney transportation got us on the ship before everybody else. We were boarding group four. Samantha 17:15 Thank you. Stephanie + Danny 17:19 So, well worth it. If you take the Disney transportation at your hotel, they give you your Cinderella bus or your Chippendale bus or whatever. And then when you're at Port Everglades, there's the family of the day. Then there's concierge guests and stuff. And then they bring on the Disney transportation people. So we weren't the first groups on, but we were among the first groups on. And that was really important. Samantha 17:45 Yeah, we heard from our friends who boarded today they're calling the Disney buses after group two because so group two is typically the pearl cruiser Brian 17:54 ご視聴ありがとうございました Samantha 17:55 group so that's why concierge and pearl and then they're calling as you mentioned like Cinderella Sebastian whatever right like whatever your bus group is before even group three so you're getting on the ship as one of the first cruisers on which is really nice because if you're if you're not a pearl cruiser or you're not sailing concierge you're not getting on earlier than that unless Stephanie + Danny 18:14 happened. Samantha 18:15 your back-to-back or happen to be chosen family. Yeah, absolutely. Love that. All right. Well, Stephanie + Danny 18:16 yeah now steph steph was a trooper and stayed up till midnight on our check-in day and did manage Brian 18:20 ご視聴ありがとうございました Stephanie + Danny 18:24 to get us group four which is a very respectable early boarding group but then we were even earlier than that thanks to this Disney transfer. Samantha 18:36 what kind of staterooms did you guys book? And then we'll talk about embarking onto the ship. Stephanie + Danny 18:43 So we booked, we have only ever stayed actually in veranda cabins and either because we've been hosted and that's what we've been given or that's what we've selected for ourselves. But this time after seeing all the different cabins on the Destiny during the media sailing, We were like, maybe we should try one of the other kinds so that we can have more firsthand experience to talk about it. So we actually sailed in an inside cabin for the first time ever. They picked an ocean view cabin and Jacob was obsessed with the porthole. He was like, he called it his room. He was just like, I'm going to live in here forever. So that was very cute. We have great pictures of it. But we got a really weird inside. well got I kept tetrassing our room around as people dropped off close to the paid in full day Samantha 19:29 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 19:32 but we got cabin 8583 which is on all of the wish class ships um but it's in a weird place where the hallway bends and we actually had like a tiny hallway vestibule area before like you open the door into like a tiny area that we used for storage and then another doorway into our room it was like a little entry hall it has a table for like we put stuff you know we left our shoes there we put our luggage there water bottles our hats like it was we had a little entryway it was honestly it was lovely so it was a little extra space yes exactly exactly exactly uh it does not Samantha 20:03 a little foyer as they call it in I love that Stephanie + Danny 20:10 have the split bathroom and that was okay for two of us for two people it was totally manageable it was a significant savings over a cabin with a split bathroom and i do think it was worth the Samantha 20:27 Yeah, that makes sense. I will say as a family of three, the split bath is kind of a, has become a must for us. And so it's, it's a must do for us now, but I understand, uh, that it's not a must for everyone. And that save, that cost savings is huge between, and we, that's why we do the ocean view. Typically we don't, we often don't, when we're booking for ourselves, unless we, you know, Stephanie + Danny 20:48 yeah Samantha 20:53 of course, if we've sailed, when we sail concierge, you get a veranda with very few exceptions, but when we sail regular, which is more often than sailing concierge, um, we tend to book the ocean view because we really like the big porthole window, but we don't find that we use the veranda that much. And so, and there is a savings between those two categories typically. Stephanie + Danny 21:13 when when it's really hot outside in the summer i find i don't use the veranda at all because it's just too hot to be out there and in this case we were like we're never going to be in the room we're entertaining three other people the entire time we're not on our own schedule so we thought it was a great time to test out a different kind of cabin Samantha 21:30 Totally. Brian 21:30 I, how did it, how did the, the, the lead up to the cruise go both from the standpoint of when did your nephew learn that he was going to be joining you on the destiny was that a surprise uh but also then you know just kind of the routine check-in stuff it you know blunders that can happen in those moments like how was it getting up to the point of the cruise Stephanie + Danny 21:49 Yeah. So, so like I said, for about two years, we've been playing around with this idea with Zach and Dan, right? And then back in February, we said, okay, let's just do it. Let's do it. Let's do it in June. And so we booked it and they said, we're not going to tell Jacob until much closer to, they weren't going to wait till the night before, but they were like a week, maybe two weeks before we'll tell him because he has so many other things with school and whatever we Samantha 22:17 Thank you. Stephanie + Danny 22:17 don't want him like fixating on that we have other trips that are coming up in the meantime etc but they just they didn't last they couldn't hold on about about five maybe six weeks before I get a text and it's like do you want to tell Jacob with us and I was like yeah but not until yeah I want to be a part of that but not until you're ready and he's like we're gonna be ready in 20 minutes. We'll call you then. So Danny and I got our Zoom call all set up and, you know. Samantha 22:39 now they live near they live oh okay do they live they live near you guys or Stephanie + Danny 22:45 No, we actually live in Ottawa. So that's about a six hour drive away. So we don't get to see them. Samantha 22:47 oh okay Stephanie + Danny 22:49 They used to live in Toronto about an hour away and then they moved a few years ago. So we get together with them several times a year. And we have a couple other couples that we're close with and we do a lot of traveling as a group as well. We're all camp friends. We all used to go to summer No, but like it's all of the, those of us who were camp friends. And now all your spouses. And now all the spouses. Samantha 23:10 I love that. Stephanie + Danny 23:10 Yeah, it's a good group of people. Samantha 23:11 Listen, listen, I grew up with camp culture also, Danny. so i i totally understand you know growing up in the northeast like that that's a thing like camp Stephanie + Danny 23:16 You get it. Samantha 23:21 is a thing it's not so much a thing here in the northwest although we're trying to Stephanie + Danny 23:21 Yeah. Samantha 23:25 instill it in nathan because he does go to a jewishly boy camp Brian 23:27 yeah it is it is not a thing in the bluegrass state where i was born so yeah Stephanie + Danny 23:29 So. No. uh so the the plan the the reveal was great so excited we were all on zoom he didn't believe us Samantha 23:34 all right well okay so how would the reveal go Stephanie + Danny 23:41 at first he was like he thought we were joking or he didn't know he didn't realize how soon it would be and then he was very excited and then he was really worried that he would miss his birthday and not be with both his dads on his birthday and we're like no no it's two days after two days after um so it was really really sweet um but when we went to disneyland and when they went to disney Paris, I prepared like a YouTube playlist so that they could watch the things that they might want to do. So he could be a part of that active decision making because that's the kind of kid he is. And so I had already done that with like 50 videos. And so I sent that so they watched every single video. So he knew exactly what he wanted to do, what he didn't want to do. And honestly, I shared all the deck, the deck tours that we put up on our YouTube channel. He navigated his way around the ship. He had that ship memorized. We got on the boat on the first day and we were Samantha 24:27 you Stephanie + Danny 24:32 saying like, oh, you know, we're going to go check in at this thing and go to the, and he goes, that's on deck four. That's on deck 11. Now, as far as technical blunders, there were none because I just took everybody's credit cards and passports and did it all myself. And honestly, if you're organizing a group trip, if you're going to be staying in separate state route, like just have a point person. And Steph is obviously an expert when it comes to these planning matters. And, you know, everyone was informed and we told them what was happening. Yeah. But then it was like, give me all your details. Give me, you know, your travel info. Samantha 25:06 I'll take care of it. Stephanie + Danny 25:06 Give me your credit card info. I did her full check-in at midnight in eight minutes. Yeah. Brian 25:11 Wow. Samantha 25:11 Wow. Stephanie + Danny 25:11 Like, it would have taken them an hour. You know, she's been through it before. Samantha 25:13 Right. Stephanie + Danny 25:15 She knows how it works. We know how to, you know, link up the two different state rooms. Just have a travel expert, whether it's somebody. Samantha 25:20 Right. Stephanie + Danny 25:23 If you have a travel expert. If you have a travel expert. In your group. Samantha 25:28 Right. Or if you have a travel advisor that is being paid to do it, they can do it for you as well. Stephanie + Danny 25:32 Exactly. Exactly. Samantha 25:35 If you're type A like us, we do it ourselves. Brian 25:35 what about what about i want to skip ahead now to the port experience uh for just a second because we've heard lots of feedback from different places about the new system that disney changed over or two on the back end and it's been causing delays did that smooth out for you was it was Stephanie + Danny 25:53 Exactly. Brian 25:54 it a quick and easy port experience oh yeah disney changed its back end system uh probably about a Stephanie + Danny 25:56 I don't even know what you're talking about because it was so normal. What happened? Yeah. Brian 26:05 month or maybe two months ago now for the check-in system at the port and so like we had Samantha 26:07 for like a system, basically. Good. Yeah, it seems like the issues have been intermittent, so it seems like Stephanie + Danny 26:10 Everything was exactly like it's always been for us. Brian 26:14 yeah we had we had a we had to lose our documentation twice and like all of this stuff and we had to yeah good good i'm glad they've ironed that out Stephanie + Danny 26:18 No, we were issue free, nothing to report. So I hope that's true for everybody. Yeah. Samantha 26:30 it's not a problem every sailing, but we've heard from sort of inconsistent reports, and so that's Stephanie + Danny 26:34 Sure. Samantha 26:35 why we try and check in. All right. Well, tell us about boarding. I want to know what Jacob's, you know, he saw the videos, but like seeing it in person and having the Jacob family welcomed on board is an experience. Stephanie + Danny 26:50 he was very excited you know when you come in and they're announcing the family names and people are clapping and cheering right away up at the top of the grand hall black panther was out when we were there that's a character that he knows and likes so that was a thrill he was a little like we had to like kind of get him by the shoulders and turn him and be like look he's he's there he's there because he's taking it all in there's so much stuff right yeah he's little yeah i mean he's tall for a nine-year-old but he's little still like um so i would say it was a mix of overwhelmed and Samantha 27:19 Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 27:24 excited yeah and then because there were so few people on board we just went straight up to the Samantha 27:24 I love. Stephanie + Danny 27:29 buffet and had some lunch. And then after that, we got him all like checked in for the kids club and did the, did the family open house. Cause we didn't know if he was going to want to go to the kids club or not, but we figured he might want to, but not unless we had all kind of experienced it together. And we explained like, you have to go on your own from now on if you want to go. Brian 27:46 Grazie. Samantha 27:48 Right. Stephanie + Danny 27:49 So we did that. And that was really fun. I mean, I'd go to the kids club if they would let me, but they won't let you. The beard gives it away. They don't, Samantha 27:54 same they won't let you when when i know i know when they're insecure so for those listening or Brian 27:57 Preach. Preach. Samantha 28:01 watching who haven't been on a cruise before or you don't have kids they have what's called open houses and so most of the first day on board up until like 5 or 5 30 um they have open houses happening where anyone can go into the kids club and kind of tour it and play with the things that are inside it. Now they'll have occasional times during the cruise that we'll have, you know, an Stephanie + Danny 28:20 Yeah. Samantha 28:25 hour of open house time, but the rest of the time the kids club is in what's called secure programming mode. That means kids and counselors only. It's kind of a lockdown system. You have to have a magic band to enter. You have to be registered. Right. And the kids ages are strict as far as, um, if Stephanie + Danny 28:38 Yeah. Samantha 28:42 you're older than whatever the age group is, you cannot go. It does not matter if you have a Stephanie + Danny 28:46 Yeah. Samantha 28:49 disability. It does not matter if you, yeah. So there's no budging if you're older than the age. Stephanie + Danny 28:49 Yeah. Samantha 28:55 There is, you can sort of age up with some limitations, but you can't age down. So zero to Stephanie + Danny 28:59 Yeah. Samantha 29:03 three is nursery, three to 10, both of those are inclusive for three-year-olds. Three to 10 is the kids club and then the tween club which is called edge is uh 11 to 14 and then the uh teen club is 14 through 17 so under 18 is essentially uh what that means and then there's an 18 20 society that doesn't have its own club but it does meetups on board so for those uh yeah tracy's saying in the Stephanie + Danny 29:29 yeah Samantha 29:32 chat. Our kids clubs are the bar spaces on, uh, on board. And that's true. Stephanie + Danny 29:37 i would pay a lot of money to have one of those sublight lounge cocktails from star cruiser in the cargo bay though at like 1am when the kids are in bed yeah oh man that would be such a fun right like an adult takeover late night adults takeover oceaneer that would be amazing Samantha 29:48 Absolutely. I would, that would be amazing. They do, they do let the tweens and the teens take it Stephanie + Danny 29:54 do me if you're listening Samantha 29:58 over on particular nights, usually around 11:00 PM or midnight, something like that, Stephanie + Danny 30:02 yeah sure yeah Samantha 30:03 because Nathan's done that as a part of the activities. Well, let's let's dive in and talk about some of these activities. Stephanie + Danny 30:07 yeah Samantha 30:10 I'm curious as to whether Jacob liked the Kids Club, and then I'm curious as to what activities you all got up to as a family, as a group, like what were the activities Stephanie + Danny 30:16 yeah Samantha 30:20 that you all enjoyed? Stephanie + Danny 30:21 so when we dropped him off at the kids club his dad said i give this excuse me he said i give this a 10% chance that we don't have to come back immediately and pick him up. And he lasted about an hour. He went three times for about an hour. And he had a good time every time. And for this family, that was a huge win. You know, they were like, I was 90% sure he wasn't going to last Brian 30:43 Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 30:47 five minutes. So an hour is great. He rated it 20 out of 10. So that's awesome. We dropped him and Brian 30:52 Nice. Stephanie + Danny 30:55 we were like, if it's 20 out of 10, do you want to go back? He's like, oh no, I'm done my time for today we'll see tomorrow i don't but i don't i don't think that's because he wasn't having fun Brian 31:00 I'm on parole Stephanie + Danny 31:04 i think he was concerned that the grown-ups were having fun without him and he wanted to be reading our books yeah well we went to we went to quiet cove one time like we dropped him off at the kids Samantha 31:11 He was having FOMO. Stephanie + Danny 31:16 club and then we went to quiet cove and he was very uh you know distraught that he wasn't even allowed and he made us promise that we weren't going to go to quiet cove again because there Brian 31:21 I'm on parole Stephanie + Danny 31:25 was no way he could join us you are not gonna like quiet cove yeah yeah Brian 31:30 what what was his so after you get through the boarding you get onto the grand atrium i just need to know like through his through his eyes what was that like that boarding experience like Samantha 31:40 I will. Stephanie + Danny 31:42 i think because he had watched the videos like he knew exactly what to expect but that you know he's overwhelmed by everything but he just started pointing out stuff immediately he's like oh down that hallway is haunted mansion parlor and if you go off to here that's where you're gonna find saga And I was like, okay, little tour guide, little photographic memory. He was very, and this is something, so we've known Jacob his whole life, and he's always been fascinated by elevators. And anytime you go to a resort or a hotel, he always wants to know, is there a rooftop access? And can we take the elevator? And how many floors up to the top? So as much as he was enchanted by all the spectacle in the Grand Hall, And as much as we were like, we're going to get you registered for the kids club and we're going to, you know, take care of some things. He was very concerned about getting to the villains' elevators. Brian 32:33 Well, so this is what I want to ask about is, so did he have much understanding of, I mean, Stephanie + Danny 32:33 Yes. Samantha 32:39 Продолжение следует... Brian 32:40 you sent him the video. So you must have understood villains and heroes was kind of a theme of the Stephanie + Danny 32:43 Yeah. Brian 32:44 ship, but was he like into Marvel? Did he have a favorite superhero? Like, was he excited? Stephanie + Danny 32:49 So Spider-Man's his guy, right? Spider-Man's his guy. Brian 32:51 Ah, Stephanie + Danny 32:51 And that's why we picked the Destiny. Brian 32:52 okay. Stephanie + Danny 32:54 he does very much enjoy the villains he thinks it's funny, the mischief and the being bad not in a malicious way in a funny he loved the show on the last day celebration of a king Samantha 33:09 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 33:10 when Black Panther and Loki are there fighting over who's the rightful king of the ship or we did the sleeping beauty the mostly true retelling I think they call it Brian 33:21 Okay. Stephanie + Danny 33:21 Yeah, a mostly accurate tale. A mostly accurate tale. Samantha 33:23 I'm just saying. Stephanie + Danny 33:23 Like all that stuff, he really enjoyed that. Yeah. He loved Pirate Night. And like, even though, like he didn't actually, his bedtime is like 8, 8.30 usually. And so he did not make it up for all the nighttime stuff. Like he stayed up through shows and dinner and then he was out. He was talking a big game. So he didn't actually make it to like the fireworks, but the like getting dressed up as pirates. We did a Pirate's Life for me and Saga. He had a lot of, so we had a dilemma. He had a lot of costumes on the sailing and Pirate Night on our sailing was also our world's Marvel night. Brian 33:55 아 Stephanie + Danny 33:55 And he was very, it was a dilemma because he had a Spider-Man costume Samantha 33:55 Oh. Stephanie + Danny 33:59 and he also had a pirate costume. And he didn't know, I think we did half and half, I think he did dinner in the Spider-Man costume and then did a change for the deck party. Samantha 34:08 And then change. That's what you have to do. You have to do. So you had early dinner, I take it, then. Stephanie + Danny 34:14 No, we actually, no, so you were first. Samantha 34:15 Oh. So then the other... Stephanie + Danny 34:17 I got it backwards. And that was actually like a bit of a sticking point. Samantha 34:18 Okay. Stephanie + Danny 34:22 Because we reserved so late, we got late. I mean, I prefer late dining when it's me and Danny, but I don't care when we go with other people. Samantha 34:28 Right. Stephanie + Danny 34:30 But it was a concern for the family being like, well, he's usually in bed by the time dinner starts. So we tried really hard to like get into it. He wouldn't take a nap, but we tried to get him to have like a rest time in the afternoon. And then we gave him like a slice of pizza or a taco on the pool deck, like 5 p.m. to kind of tide him over. did become very enamored with the concept of first dinner and then like yeah so we had first yeah Samantha 34:52 He's a hobbit now. Yes. Stephanie + Danny 34:54 exactly hobbit eating so we'd have like first dinner a slice of pizza or a taco or something at like five o'clock go see the show go do a deck party whatever and then sit down to dinner at 8 15. yeah he does really like the classic characters though so like he was so excited to see goofy and Donald and Chippendale also. And so he actually really loved the color spin dance party, Mickey's Samantha 35:18 Oh, nice. Stephanie + Danny 35:18 color spin dance party, which we hadn't seen before because it's only on some salings. I liked it too. He loved that one. He also liked Mickey and Minnie's Pirates in the Caribbean, but he much preferred the color spin. He ranked color spin above. Above. Samantha 35:30 Wow. I mean, color spin is fun because it's like nineties music. And then each character Brian 35:31 what what did he Samantha 35:36 has their own color and their own like song to dance to. Stephanie + Danny 35:39 Yeah, yeah. Brian 35:39 what did he what did he think about the worlds of marvel dinner specifically we got this question in the chat so what do you think about and sam correct me or dne7 like you don't get the night Stephanie + Danny 35:45 Yeah. Brian 35:49 one Marvel on the Destiny, you get night two. So no Spider-Man at the end then. Stephanie + Danny 35:51 You get the night one menu, but you get the night two show. Samantha 35:54 right Stephanie + Danny 35:55 So it was the Groot trivia. Samantha 35:57 right no spider-man Stephanie + Danny 35:59 No Spider-Man at the end. No. Brian 36:01 Man, that would have been killer for him. Stephanie + Danny 36:04 I mean, he didn't know that he was missing out on Spider-Man at the end. Yeah. Samantha 36:09 okay Stephanie + Danny 36:09 So, I mean, he loved that restaurant. He dressed up in his costume. He loved pushing the buttons. He was very engaged with the screens and the trivia. Some of the trivia, like he hasn't seen the whole MCU. He's only nine. So, like, you know, some of the, he didn't recognize all the characters when they do those, like, pixelated, guess who the character is. But he had a ringer with Danny. That's true. I happen to be something of an expert. Brian 36:33 Some of those are hard. Some of those are hard because they're comic book. Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 36:35 Some of those are hard. Samantha 36:35 they are really hard and some of them are characters i'm curious speaking of spider-man Stephanie + Danny 36:37 Yeah. Samantha 36:42 spider-man does a really fun um we'll call it like hero posing and yeah and then there ends up into like a dance party and this happens in the grand hall and it's only on the disney destiny and i think it's a really cool event to get to go Stephanie + Danny 36:59 So we sent him to the Oceaneer Club and we did it another time in the Oceaneer Club. Samantha 37:04 oh Stephanie + Danny 37:09 and then we said how was it he said oh there's too many kids i built a roller coaster instead 20 out of 10. we went on the ship for all these marvel characters and honestly he met more princesses Samantha 37:14 I love it Stephanie + Danny 37:20 and like goofy and mickey and stuff um and he didn't really we stood in line for goofy but he didn't want to stand in line for any of the other characters which is fine but we were lucky to kind Samantha 37:28 Mm-hmm. Stephanie + Danny 37:30 of bump into a few uh walking around had a nice chat with bell yeah we had a great interaction with Belle, so he didn't want to take naps in the afternoon, but we convinced him, you know, it's hot, it's, you know, you gotta come inside, you gotta get some air conditioning and chill out a bit. And we were playing, there's a card game called Exploding Kittens that you can hear about. Samantha 37:48 Oh, we know the game. Stephanie + Danny 37:49 Sure, so we were on deck five on the couches in the Grand Hall playing Exploding Kittens, and Belle came around, oh, hello, your family, what are you guys up to? And I was like, oh, this is not appropriate for a princess, I don't think I can say it. Brian 38:04 Nice. Samantha 38:04 I love it. I love it. Stephanie + Danny 38:05 yeah Brian 38:05 Nice. Samantha 38:06 We got a question in the chat I want to answer. Ed is asking about Spider-Man. Spider-Man is on the Destiny. Stephanie + Danny 38:10 mm-hmm Samantha 38:12 He does character. he does meet and greets with pictures around the atrium at different points in time during the Stephanie + Danny 38:17 yep Samantha 38:21 cruise. And then he does the hero poses or hero, what is it called? Hero poses? Hero moves with Stephanie + Danny 38:25 hero moves with spider-man Samantha 38:27 Spider-Man. So he does that also in the grand hall. And then, but he does not appear at dinner Stephanie + Danny 38:28 yeah Samantha 38:34 in worlds of Marvel is that's what we were saying because when the treasurer. Brian 38:35 guys. Stephanie + Danny 38:37 unless you're on a six or seven night sailing and you get both of the marvel shows Samantha 38:43 Right. But you would typically have that on the treasure or on the wish. If you want the night one show for the for Marvel, you need to be on the wish or the treasure or as Stephanie and Danny pointed out. Yeah, there are going to be two sailings, I believe, on the destiny in July that are both going to be seven night sailings. And those we expect to hear that they will have both shows. And so you should have Spider-Man at dinner if you're there for that night. Stephanie + Danny 39:03 yeah yeah Samantha 39:10 So, yeah, so he's there. He's just not at dinner in Worlds of Mark. Stephanie + Danny 39:10 yeah I'm surprised how little spider-man appearances Brian 39:17 ご視聴ありがとうございました Stephanie + Danny 39:18 there are on the destiny given that he's the stern character so I don't know Samantha 39:23 Yeah, but they had a lot of T'Challa, Black Panther and Loki and stuff. Stephanie + Danny 39:28 yeah Loki. We saw Black Panther and Loki constantly and I don't know if this was just something special Samantha 39:30 So, yeah. Stephanie + Danny 39:36 when we were there on the maiden voyage but I ran into Spider-Man one time just like chilling in the hallway and I had a whole wonderful you know moment we talked about the spider bots and I feel like that that we had those moments with some of the princesses or we ran into Minnie Mouse Brian 39:50 ご視聴ありがとうございました Stephanie + Danny 39:51 and that kind of thing so I think you just the spider-man is around on the ship so here's the thing right so we know that sometimes the spider-man appearances are limited and so we'd be like okay we're gonna make sure we drop you off at the kids club because spider-man's gonna be here and we know you're excited to meet him and then when he was in the kids club it was too crowded there were too many people but the roller coaster simulator ride was totally open so that's what he did instead and Brian 40:17 ご視聴ありがとうございました Stephanie + Danny 40:17 the point is that he wasn't sad like the next day or later that night he wasn't like oh man i didn't Samantha 40:17 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 40:23 get my chance with Spider-Man. He was like, it's so awesome. I built 10 roller coasters. Yeah. So we had fun. So I feel like I've had the true parenting experience because everything I prepared for, like everything, knowing everything about the kids club offerings, talking to all my friends with kids being like, okay, well, what do all these things mean? Which are the ones where the characters are going to be there rather than being led by the entertainment team, et cetera. Right. At figuring out there's four adults, we can each stand in different lines for characters and he could just bounce between them and get the most whatever did all this stuff kid just wanted to be in the pool it's fine yeah they just want to be in the pool yeah Samantha 40:56 so so that is like parenting 101 stephanie and you you yeah they either just want to be in the pool Brian 40:59 So... Samantha 41:05 or they just want to do something else that you didn't plan right so like you can come up with like you know best laid plans but it doesn't matter whatever the kid wants to do in the moment is Stephanie + Danny 41:13 and Samantha 41:15 what's going to happen Stephanie + Danny 41:16 all i cared about was that he had a good time and he did so and i i win exactly like you know the number of times when we asked him you know what did you do did you have fun and he would give us ratings you know that was 20 out of 10 that was a hundred out of 10 i only want to do this all day long great like that made my heart grow three sizes you know um it doesn't matter that we thought the Brian 41:38 how Stephanie + Danny 41:39 thing he was going to want to do most was spider-man hero moves the point was is that he told me about the roller coaster he built for 10 minutes and that it was the greatest game he ever played like Samantha 41:45 Thank you. Stephanie + Danny 41:49 that's you know he loved one villain game night yeah he wanted he like bolted to the stage made Brian 41:50 how did he do with the villains we talked a lot about the heroes okay Stephanie + Danny 41:59 best friends with shout out to oliver in the entertainment cap yeah made best friends with oliver and then i sat up there first one the game one villains game night one very confident every very upset that it wasn't on every day but we were like we can go to other things we'll go to incanto we'll go to we'll go to pirates life for me yeah Samantha 42:16 I love that. And that's like a Hollywood Squares. For those who remember the old show, Hollywood Squares, it's using screens so the characters aren't there in person, but it's different villains and it's a tic-tac-toe game. It's really fun. Brian 42:32 did you do any of the meet and play well i guess the only one you could really do is dr facilier and then some of the stuff in the atrium but yeah but i'm curious i'm curious if you did Samantha 42:39 And Maleficent. Stephanie + Danny 42:41 yeah we Brian 42:43 any of those and how he liked them and also how are the lines because you know the lines were yeah Stephanie + Danny 42:47 so we didn't do facilier because the lines were outrageous uh and honestly like okay so i've done that facility experience and i think it is phenomenal i think it's one of the best things disney has done i think the the the the setting the atmosphere the whole thing i think it's incredible But the logistics of, it's like six people at a time in this tiny, like, and the people line, it's only on the Navigator a few times a sailing. The line must have been, you know, so they do it sort of near Saga. I think they call it the Disney Studio. On our ship, the line went down the hall around Saga. Samantha 43:27 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 43:28 All day, every day. Like, and so he just, his patience for that, because it's not like that movie is his number one favorite movie. Brian 43:35 Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 43:36 I think technically the Encanto experience and the Encanto celebration and Sleeping Beauty and Mostly Accurate Tale and Celebration of a King, I think those are considered play and greets, even though there's not a lot of, Encanto has a lot of play, but the other ones kind of just have a little bit of audience participation, right? Brian 43:48 Mm-hmm. Stephanie + Danny 43:55 So he did like those. Samantha 43:57 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 44:00 He, yeah, he just, guys, he just wanted to be in the pool. He wanted to be in the pool. really boring for a show, but that's what he wanted to do. But I see Tracy's asking if we had different views and emotions seen through the nine world. So Brian 44:10 Oh, yeah. I was going to ask this question. Yeah. Yeah. So just for everyone out there, the question from Tracy is sort of did it change your perception of the destiny seeing it now through your nephew's eyes and his feedback Stephanie + Danny 44:24 it absolutely did because there were like at dinner one night, he was like, you guys, Samantha 44:27 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 44:29 I just have the perfect life. And we were all like that. It really. Yes. Unprompted. Unprompted. He just dropped that out of nowhere. And we like, yeah. And we played, I don't know if you go know the game, roses, rose, bud and thorn. And so we did that every night at the dinner table so that you share a rose, the best thing Samantha 44:50 A high and a low. Stephanie + Danny 44:50 of your day, you share a thorn if you even have one and you share a bud, something you're excited for the next day. And so like that was a really nice time to kind of like all group together. And it was just surprising things that he would say every single night. He's super musical theater kid. So he loved all the shows so much. And like we love shows. We're theater people, right? But when so the Broadway Star Series was on and Susan Egan and James Monroe Iglehart were both there. I couldn't believe it. But we didn't even think he'd want to go. And so we kind of told him the night before, like, this is what's going to happen. it's not a full like there's not characters it's not a full like I guess it is kind of a song and dance but it's not like it's not Hercules it's not Seize the Adventure um do you still want to go Samantha 45:37 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 45:38 and he said oh yeah and then he ranked it number two of his experiences with the shows on board um he loved it so much Samantha 45:45 I mean, it is Belle and the Genie or Megara and the Genie, however you want to look at Stephanie + Danny 45:49 I know Samantha 45:52 Susan, right? Like, yeah, you, you had the two biggest stars of the Broadway stars series Stephanie + Danny 45:56 yep Absolutely. I just thought without Lumiere dancing around in the background, why would Samantha 45:59 on board. You were on the maiden voyage of the destiny. Stephanie + Danny 46:04 he care? But he cared very much. Yeah. Samantha 46:07 Yeah. Yeah. I, I'm so, I got to just like stop here for one second because I am so mad that I did not go on this cruise with you because I would have been, I would have been in line for the theater like two or three hours before if they'd let me to go back, see James and Susan perform on the Walt Disney theater stage. And then you also got to see them in Saga, by the way, for the adult only show. Yeah. Brian 46:08 I... Stephanie + Danny 46:24 Yeah. Yeah. In Saga at the Cabaret. Yeah. Sam, do you know what was crazy to me? And I was too nervous to actually go up and talk to them and ask for a photo. But after the show, Susan and James, after the Saga Cabaret, they were just hanging out in the hallway. Chatting with people. Just like taking selfies with people, talking. When we got off the ship in Cozumel, James and his mom walked past us and they were taking a selfie. And I was like, go take their photo. And he was like, no, I can't. I was like, I can't either. Samantha 47:03 guys next time ask for the photo i i did Brian 47:06 So... Samantha 47:07 get a couple of selfies with Susan Egan in the bar, even though we had also gotten pictures with her when I got to interview her at the christening. So she didn't, Stephanie, she didn't, she didn't Stephanie + Danny 47:13 Yeah. You had an end, Sam. She already knew you. We're just random strangers walking up. Yeah, they don't know. They don't know who we are. Samantha 47:22 remember me. Let me, this was like a week later. So she didn't remember me anyway. Brian 47:26 so i i we've been talking a lot about your nephew i'm gonna step back and i take this Stephanie + Danny 47:27 sure yeah yeah Brian 47:31 from a different perspective for a second because we've also talked about how it changed you his his parents that were on with you like his dad Samantha 47:39 or his dad it was his dad and his and and friend Stephanie + Danny 47:39 sure yeah yeah and his his auntie Kate yeah auntie Kate um so auntie Kate's not a Brian 47:43 sure dead yeah sure his immediate his immediate sailing party Samantha 47:45 auntie Stephanie + Danny 47:49 Disney person, but I think she might be now. Yeah. Brian 47:53 yeah what was their feedback about the cruise because a lot of times you hear like well they bring the kids on and then they hook the parents because the kids are Stephanie + Danny 48:00 They thought the food was phenomenal. Brian 48:00 you know off Stephanie + Danny 48:04 And they were like, we can't believe how good all the food is. And consistently at every single thing. Castaway, they were both like, we have never seen a beach like this. Kate lived in Hawaii for years. She was like, I've never seen anything like this. They were very impressed with the service team. Brian 48:18 yeah Stephanie + Danny 48:20 They thought everyone was very personable and very charming. They thought the ship was beautiful. They kept remarking about the caliber of the food. They couldn't believe the quality of the Broadway shows. They've both done cruises before, not with Disney. So they kind of know the cruising format, right? But then they're comparing it to, I know Kate has cruised with NCL. I don't know who Dan had cruised with. one thing that they remarked to me as outsiders if you will uh is you know like they were amazed at the efficiency of things like debarkation uh or embarkation or you know how the schedule is set up with the alternating early and late dinners and early and late shows like they were constantly being like oh yeah disney's clearly done this and as soon as they thought of you know how is this going to work or where do we and then all of a sudden the answer was there because disney's thought all of these steps, they were like, wow, this is really like a finely tuned machine. Brian 49:22 so the real question is did they leave the ship with a placeholder because that's the biggest vote of confidence that disney can offer is Stephanie + Danny 49:29 I left the ship with a placeholder, as do I always. I don't know. We didn't talk about, well, I know that they didn't because they didn't bring it up with me. I don't think they found it in the app, but I think that they are both very, like Kate was talking about possibly taking she has three other kids who are older than jacob um but she was like maybe my youngest would really like to come do this which surprised me because again not like disney people right um and then i think that dan will now be trying to convince uh zach that we should and i'll help i mean jacob is 100 on board he was asking us he was asking us lots of questions uh you know which ship is your ship and is this space the same on you know the other one and we somehow has landed on the fantasy. He really would like to go on the fantasy. It's because he wants to go on the aqueduct because he doesn't think Brian 50:16 Mm. Mm-hmm. Stephanie + Danny 50:17 Aquamouse is a long enough slide, which he's not wrong about because most of the slide is just the slow Samantha 50:21 Thank you. Stephanie + Danny 50:24 ascent through the cartoons, Brian 50:25 Mm-hmm. Stephanie + Danny 50:25 right? The Aquamouse was a big hit. So like, for example, on Cozumel Day, we didn't do any excursions, but so many of the people on the boat get off to either do excursions or go shopping or do whatever. I think he wrote Aquamouse like six times in a row that day. Like, you know? Yeah. And he was super happy. Brian 50:46 ... Stephanie + Danny 50:48 He loved those rules so much. Samantha 50:49 Yeah, it's always funny how the things that you don't know, necessarily expect to be a hit are the biggest hits right like like you mentioned danny and the Brian 50:55 ... Samantha 50:59 kids club between the spider-man versus the roller coaster creation right and then with the pool deck like you don't know if like they're gonna love the pool or if they're gonna be wanting to do character things or if they're gonna love the water slide right and then so some things that you don't necessarily expect and so that's why i always try to tell people like yeah you can have some priority priorities as to what you want to do but your kid is going to take you off track of those Stephanie + Danny 51:20 yeah Samantha 51:23 if they decide they want to do something. Stephanie + Danny 51:24 well and we did so many things that we wouldn't usually do like we rarely go to the game show format style things we're more like crafting trivia we spent so much time in saga like more Samantha 51:32 Mm-hmm. Stephanie + Danny 51:36 time in saga than i've spent on any other like probably on every other sailing combined in Samantha 51:42 Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 51:42 whatever the multi-purpose venue yeah because any time there was a game show like on pirates night there was they called a pirate's life for me kind of like wheel of fortune yeah the villains hollywood squares they like any game show he wanted to go and he would try really hard to be picked as the participant yeah yeah Brian 52:00 so i've there's a question in the chat that i want to put we we it is so fun when we have like disney people on who are deep into these topics and you two are experts across a lot of the disney stuff that we don't even begin to try and cover here but there's a question in the chat with all the lines on the destiny do you foresee a world where disney cruise line starts to i mean they they have the model for it with the adventure where they start to do some sort of paid for lightning lane kind of opportunity you want to do facilities parlor you just sign up and Samantha 52:30 Продолжение следует... Brian 52:34 pay for a time and come back at your return window Stephanie + Danny 52:35 I could see that, but I would say a precursor to that, I think that they would try it out for free. Like something like the ship tours that you have to sign up in the app, but they're free You can't sign up for them until you're on board. And then it's confusing because they're not in the like area with all the crafts and everything. They're in the area with the paid bourbon tastings and stuff. Brian 52:54 hmm Stephanie + Danny 52:55 Stuff like that they're already doing. We already have royal gathering with all the princesses. Samantha 53:00 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 53:00 I don't know why we don't have the same thing with all the Marvel characters, with the Fab Five, etc. That would take so much stress off of parents and kids showing up at a designated time, knock out four or five characters all at once. And then you could be like, well, I got into a royal gathering and Marvel gathering, but now I really need to stake out Chip and Dale because I didn't get to meet them. Right. I think like I have no idea why it's only princesses. Samantha 53:26 yeah Stephanie + Danny 53:26 I'm grateful because I'm a princess girly, but like I need it for the other characters, too. Samantha 53:30 yeah and they only do that on like pixar day at sea and marvel day at sea cruises they do Stephanie + Danny 53:31 Yeah. Samantha 53:37 do some of those reservation only ones and they used to do it on star wars day at sea cruises back Stephanie + Danny 53:39 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Samantha 53:42 in the day when they had those, but they don't do them. I agree with you. It's interesting. We've seen that on the adventure, but they are now like, well, character meet and greets mostly on the adventure are now reservation only. They have dropped the reservation system for the rides, Stephanie + Danny 53:56 yeah Samantha 54:00 but I do think we might see that. I agree with you, Stephanie. I'm not sure they'll do a pay-to-play Stephanie + Danny 54:00 Mm-hmm. Samantha 54:05 system for like character meet and greets, but I think depending upon how things go over the next several years, depending on demand, they might start implementing more reservation only. Stephanie + Danny 54:11 Yeah. And eventually I could see them charging, but I don't think they'll go straight to a charged model. Brian 54:20 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I do wonder if it actually reduces the pressure or if it just front loads the pressure because like staying up to book those royal gatherings and stuff, they're limited space. Stephanie + Danny 54:29 I'm not... Brian 54:30 Not everyone knows about them, especially first timers like it's it. Stephanie + Danny 54:33 yeah sure also is this going to be a situation where pearl and concierge guests get to book all the reservations up before everyone else like no shade to pearl and concierge guests like you paid your dues that's fine but it was really frustrating for us we were like almost the first people like the first 30 people in line for the theater every single night and we couldn't get under the balcony so Jacob could never get the bubbles or the confetti falling right under him. Like they Brian 55:00 Hmm. Stephanie + Danny 55:01 were all the seats were just already taken, right? So that's unfortunate. And that might not be true Brian 55:04 Oh. Samantha 55:04 Yeah. Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 55:09 on every sailing if people are like, "Oh, I'm on the fantasy. I've seen these shows 26 times." Samantha 55:14 right i think the newer shows are are kind of hard and right now the only people who get priority for the shows are concierge and people who need disability accommodation so typically wheelchair Stephanie + Danny 55:25 yes Samantha 55:26 users so right now but that still could be a larger group especially for popular shows and people are lining up early royal gathering concierge does get priority in booking because you can send a request with your concierge emails, but everybody else is on the same playing field for Royal gathering at that 30 day mark, which I think if they're going to implement any kind of character reservation system, they'll probably do it like that too. Stephanie + Danny 55:51 and let's say for each ship what if they had three groups like on destiny it makes sense to have a marvel group but it might not make sense on some of the other ships right like on adventure they could have an adventure friends group with like aladdin and jasmine and mirabelle and bruno right Brian 56:02 Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 56:03 um but if they did that on each ship maybe you could only put pick one of the three maybe you may like maybe then there's a cooling period and then you see if there's any more availability but i do think that having they obviously princesses need their beauty sleep they can't just be in the atrium for non-stop royal gathering all day every day to meet 4,000 guests, right? So I understand the logistics of that, but I don't think that there are enough spaces for the amount of demand, which is why opening it up with some other characters would be great. Brian 56:38 Well, go ahead, Sam. Samantha 56:39 yeah i i want to jump back to one question about the destiny because we didn't talk about lion king Stephanie + Danny 56:43 Yeah, please. Samantha 56:46 uh pride lands feast of the lion king the i mean in my opinion the best new restaurant to come Stephanie + Danny 56:52 Yeah. Samantha 56:52 to disney cruise line to rotational dining i'm curious um what jacob thought of it he you said he's a musical theater kid he likes it it is quite loud in there the drumming's quite loud um but did Stephanie + Danny 57:00 Yeah. He loved the drumming. Samantha 57:04 he all right Stephanie + Danny 57:05 Yeah. He loved the show. But you know what? He loved the food. And you would expect like kids Lion King to maybe be their least favorite. Well, he was ordering off the adult menu everywhere. He's a little foodie. His dad, Zach, is an amazing cook. and so he's been eating like we would go over and he's like a year old and he's eating paneer right so he he knows his way around stuff so he actually complained that some of the other food was a little bit too bland or boring other than in 1923 when he ordered lobster and venison for the first time and he did not like that uh then he got risotto and pasta but he was being adventurous and that's but he loved like the shrimp curry and everything like that at the lion king and we had lion king night two menu which is also amazing just stellar so good probably better than night one Samantha 57:52 we're so jealous we're jealous that's the one we haven't had but everybody keeps saying how awesome it is Stephanie + Danny 57:57 so it's so oh man i had this like short rib that was incredible and the dessert is a banana trifle pudding that is like outrageous out of this world uh but so like night one with the show it was a Samantha 58:06 oh oh Stephanie + Danny 58:11 hit for our table we were a little bit farther back uh like that actually might have helped that might have helped so loud but you know like as you come down that ramp and then like so we were like one of the first tables right when you get to the bottom of that ramp we could still see what was happening but we were a little bit farther removed our server was amazing he's such a good dancer joseu joseu from uh from brazil uh he was doing his oh like he would deliver our plates and then they They were doing their dance number. And he goes, no, no, no, no, no. Samantha 58:42 E aí Stephanie + Danny 58:43 Joe Sue will show you the dance number. And he was dancing at the back of the restaurant. And he was giving 110%. He was amazing. Samantha 58:50 I love that. You know, I want to answer another question in the chat because there's, I think, two different people have asked us about Mr. Smee and whether he's on the Destiny. He, I believe, is on the Destiny during only Pirate Night, Stephanie + Danny 59:03 I saw him during Pirate Night. Samantha 59:04 but he only appears with Captain Hook from my memory. I don't think I've ever seen him appear separately. Stephanie + Danny 59:08 Yes. no but they did have a meet and greet for them yeah we saw him during the stage show the rockin Samantha 59:14 Yes. yes Stephanie + Danny 59:18 pirate parlay is that what it's called rockin parlay pirates rockin parlay party there you go Samantha 59:22 yes there you go good job stephanie tm by the way Stephanie + Danny 59:23 thank you yeah yeah we saw him on stage during that and then we saw him with hook for like photos in the atrium. Yeah. Samantha 59:36 perfect awesome Brian 59:36 yep awesome all right so we're hitting time here sam so unless there's anything else you think we have to cover i have one last question for stephanie and danny we're good all right what's next what is next for this dynamic duo of disney folks here where are you going next and more specifically like when are you going to get back on the cruise line what do you what do you where do you see Samantha 59:56 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 59:58 Well, we booked a placeholder and we've actually been, we kind of have, I don't know it will end up being one of these four, but we haven't been on the wonder and we haven't been on Brian 01:00:07 Yeah. Stephanie + Danny 01:00:07 the treasure. So we're really looking towards maybe, um, maybe a treasure sailing Western Caribbean. Cause we've done the Eastern Caribbean on the fantasy, maybe an Alaska sailing on the wonder, maybe a San Diego sailing. Cause Danny really wants to go to Catalina. We've never been Brian 01:00:24 Hmm. Stephanie + Danny 01:00:24 to Catalina or possibly even a repositioning cruise between Vancouver and San Diego. My parents Samantha 01:00:26 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 01:00:31 are in Vancouver so it's like a kill two birds with one stone kind of thing somebody Brian 01:00:35 I'm going to say that I was going to say you two are going to I feel like the treasure has to be the ship for you because with your parks Stephanie + Danny 01:00:42 I know my problem with the treasure and I mean I love a seven night cruise who doesn't want to be on vacation for that long but we're very busy and we have a lot of things going on and I do want to experience that boat I wish I had the option for maybe a four night sailing I you know also that particular itinerary. We've already done the Eastern Caribbean sailing. And I got so sick, guys. I've got very motion sick Brian 01:01:05 oh Stephanie + Danny 01:01:05 on that one. And I know it's always Samantha 01:01:06 So, Stephanie + Danny 01:01:07 you can never tell what the ocean's gonna But like a lot of consistent sea days I'm trying to stay away from. But the Western Caribbean, you stop a lot more. Yeah. But, you know, with so many spaces doubling up on the treasure and the destiny I don't Do I need seven nights to get the full experience? Brian 01:01:28 here's the Samantha 01:01:28 I mean, yes, always, always more days. Brian 01:01:29 but here Stephanie + Danny 01:01:30 I wouldn't say no Brian 01:01:31 here's the real question do you like the I'm trying to remember the with great power show and are you a fan of indiana jones because when those two things marry up it hilarity ensues Stephanie + Danny 01:01:37 yeah yes absolutely Brian 01:01:42 so uh Stephanie + Danny 01:01:42 I love that show so much and I love Indiana Jones I might have been like the third or fourth person in line at Saga to get my seat for the Marvel with Great Power comedy show Brian 01:01:55 well And it... Stephanie + Danny 01:01:56 yeah We have a placeholder we would like to complete. It doesn't feel right that we have not yet been on all of the ships. Catalina, I'm very interested in going. I know someone who just did Catalina and did a really cool bison, like a wildlife excursion that looks really fascinating to me. I didn't know that's why we were going to Catalina. Well, you can do whatever you want. Samantha 01:02:21 it's only a it's only a partial day stephanie don't worry the bison excursion is only partial Stephanie + Danny 01:02:21 I'm going to do a wildlife excursion. Okay. Samantha 01:02:26 day it's basically on a natural like preserve because you can't and you can't go there unless you do the bison excursion like you can't go to that part of the island yeah they were brought on Stephanie + Danny 01:02:34 I do like wildlife. We were looking at an Alaska. Samantha 01:02:37 for a movie they were brought on to catalina for a movie and now there's a wild herd of bison on the Stephanie + Danny 01:02:40 Yeah. I love that. We were looking at an Alaska itinerary, and at first we were like, okay, this is in our budget. And then we started looking at all the excursions we would want to book. then all of a sudden it's creeping up and i'm not going to alaska and not doing excursions you know Samantha 01:02:58 islands no you honestly it's when you when you budget for alaska you've got a budget for the Stephanie + Danny 01:02:59 yeah um Brian 01:02:59 Oh, yeah. Samantha 01:03:04 cruise plus the excursions which basically can double your price depending upon what excursions Stephanie + Danny 01:03:08 yeah absolutely i also it could triple it depending on what excursions you do yeah i got a budget for Samantha 01:03:10 you do so like it's it's one of those where you don't do alaska unless you're right like Stephanie + Danny 01:03:17 that new telephoto lens for my camera also wife and boss approval for that Samantha 01:03:23 exactly exactly well you know i want to ask um anything fun coming up with the dcl magazine i Brian 01:03:24 Yeah. Samantha 01:03:30 I mean, you've got always fun stuff coming up with WDW Magazine, DLR Magazine, Stephanie + Danny 01:03:31 yeah sure Samantha 01:03:33 but our audience, of course, Disney Cruise Line fans. Stephanie + Danny 01:03:36 dcl so our next issue mails out in september so uh like or it goes to the printer in september Samantha 01:03:37 So anything fun coming up with DCL Magazine? Stephanie + Danny 01:03:47 so it will mail in October. I'm fairly certain I have all those dates, right? It's either September or October. Ask our editor, Tim. Issue two of DCL Magazine is around the corner. It's around the corner. There are some really great stories. I'm trying to think about what stories are actually in it. We have a wonderful story from Brian who got to do a super exclusive backstage tour on the Destiny. Samantha 01:04:09 screen. Stephanie + Danny 01:04:10 Yeah. There's a great article from Tim about the Moana show on The Treasure. You wrote something. I wrote about Enchanted Garden, which I think is one of the overlooked dining gems on the cruise fleet. Brian 01:04:21 Thank you. Stephanie + Danny 01:04:26 There's lots of great stuff coming. I don't know what I wrote. It was months ago. Tim's deadlines are no joke. So yeah, DCL issue two is over the horizon. Steph and I are going to be visiting Walt Disney World in July to check out some happenings at Fort Wilderness that we're very excited about. And I know many of our DCL Magazine subscribers and DCL Duo listeners have already bought our annual subscription to DCL Magazine. You can also do the semi-annual, which was just one issue at a time you're basically Samantha 01:04:57 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 01:04:59 paying for. So twice a year you get charged, twice a year you get a magazine. But our annual subscriptions memberships come with the DCL Magazine calendar. So we are this weekend working on laying out the DCL Magazine calendar. Brian 01:05:13 Nice. Stephanie + Danny 01:05:13 And if you just want the calendar, not the magazine, it's not on sale yet, but it will be in August. It's going to be beautiful. And I actually haven't even announced this on our channel yet, on our own channels. So here's a scoop for the DCL people. Samantha 01:05:27 Продолжение следует... Stephanie + Danny 01:05:27 I didn't plan to talk about this tonight, but we've been talking about the DCL calendar. Brian 01:05:27 Thank you. Stephanie + Danny 01:05:31 And we weren't sure if we were going to do the stickers that come with our WDW magazine calendar, if we were going to be able, if we had sold enough people. but we sold enough people on the subscriptions that it's okay. Boss Steph and wife Steph says yes. Danny doesn't even know this yet. No, this is news to me too. We're doing not the same stickers that come with the WW Magazine calendar. We're doing special cruise stickers. So you get a sheet of 35 special cruise stickers for your planning and celebrations and birthday and whatever purposes that will come with that calendar too. Brian 01:06:05 nice Stephanie + Danny 01:06:06 So I'm excited about that. Samantha 01:06:07 I am unreasonably excited about this. I have to tell you, this is what I've been waiting for. I've been waiting for the DCL calendar. I am so excited about the stickers. I know that sounds crazy, but I, yeah, I, I mean, I love it. Stephanie + Danny 01:06:20 I'm excited about the stickers. Our customer survey regularly ranks the planning stickers as one of their favorite parts of our wall calendar, and we listen to the audience. Samantha 01:06:31 I love it. Stephanie + Danny 01:06:31 So here we go. I know what I wrote for issue two. It's a very big article about maritime traditions like steel cutting and christening ceremonies and that sort of stuff. So some real ship nerd stuff for you. Brian 01:06:42 well if we did get someone in the chat asking like what was it like going behind the scenes for and i i I will just say for everyone out there, Stephanie + Danny 01:06:51 We did an episode. Brian 01:06:53 yeah, Stephanie did an episode with us all about her behind the scenes tour at the shipyard of the Destiny when it was under construction. So if you want to hear, Stephanie + Danny 01:07:01 Yeah. Brian 01:07:02 A, read the article. It sounds fantastic. I'm going to nerd out on that. But also you can head to our back catalog and hear what that whole experience was like. Stephanie + Danny 01:07:09 absolutely Samantha 01:07:09 and and danny came on to talk about the uh the preview in toronto as well to talk about the all Brian 01:07:15 Yes. Yes. Samantha 01:07:16 of the the theater stuff so exactly so that's in the back catalog as well if you're interested in Stephanie + Danny 01:07:17 how they rehearsed for hercules um yeah yeah really special experiences that we got to have so grateful Samantha 01:07:24 checking out that episode Brian 01:07:25 yeah well it it has been a blast catching up with both of you it is always fun to have you on i can't Samantha 01:07:31 so Brian 01:07:36 wait to have you back at some point in the future. Stephanie + Danny 01:07:38 thanks guys we're gonna have to find a time to get you we have a newly launched podcast parks and pages and it's we've been on dcl duo enough times it's high time we had you on parks Brian 01:07:45 Yes. Stephanie + Danny 01:07:50 and pages well you're the scheduler for that no i know i will figure that out but my co-host of that podcast CJ he hasn't been on a cruise and I think we might have time to convince him I think Brian and Sam might have to come on Parks and Pages and sell CJ on yeah yeah I love that Samantha 01:08:06 to convince him we could absolutely we do like listen i i sell it like it's my job even though it's not my job so Brian 01:08:14 Yes. from Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross, but it's always be cruising. Always be cruising. Samantha 01:08:20 i'll always be cruising that's right always Brian 01:08:21 Always be cruising. Well, again, thanks so much for coming on and spending some time with us and our listeners on this Monday evening. For everyone out there watching, listening, we will be back next Monday, 5.30 p.m. Pacific, 8.30 p.m. Eastern. And joining us is Rich, who's going to be talking about his Alaska cruise, I believe is what's scheduled. So it is Alaska season. So we got a lot of Alaska content coming out. If you want to see what some of the excursions are looking like, Sam has been helpfully going back to our cruise last year and all of the B-roll we took of bears and glaciers and sled dogs and helicopters and trying to put them all together into some reels so you can see what those excursions look like. Stephanie + Danny 01:08:49 E aí Samantha 01:08:57 Oh my. Stephanie + Danny 01:08:59 Salmon. Brian 01:09:03 But we will be talking about that live next Monday. Samantha 01:09:06 We will also have a show live next Wednesday with our good friend CT over at tinfoil mouse ears to talk about his adventures by Disney River Cruise that he will be getting off or is maybe just got off the last couple of days. So, um, yeah, so we will actually have two live shows next week. I, I think that one starts at, uh, is it 5. PM Pacific, 8. PM Eastern on Wednesday. Yeah. Brian 01:09:33 I think that's right. Samantha 01:09:34 So we're off by a half hour. So on Monday will be our regular time. 5 30 Pacific, 8 30 Eastern Wednesday. We will be a half hour earlier at 5. PM Pacific eight Eastern. Brian 01:09:45 and i want to put out one quick call if you're watching this on youtube we're going to start asking this for the next few videos if you're watching this on youtube we're going to have to switch our live show night uh coming up in the fall because of our sun schedules shifting and so if you could let us know like a preferred night that you have we're going to call it kind of call through those and figure out what the preferred evening might be for us to do this, if we can make it work with our schedule. But yeah, let us know what you think would be a good night for us to do this show. We can't move it any earlier for our East Coast fans. I apologize, but I'm already leaving work a half hour early to get home to do this one. But let us know what day you might prefer and we'll see what we can do to accommodate that. Yeah. Sam. Samantha 01:10:28 and don't forget to like and subscribe on youtube don't forget to check out the parks and pages podcast brought to you by wdw magazine and all of their the conglomerates i should say of wdw magazine it's a great show um and we will see you next week so thanks everybody for watching Stephanie + Danny 01:10:46 Thanks, everyone. Brian 01:10:46 See ya. Samantha 01:10:55 Thank you.