[00:00:00] Speaker A: He came over and hugged me and
[00:00:02] Speaker B: gave me the biggest hug. Yeah, he was, he was just floored by Tale of Moana. He told me it was the best thing he'd ever seen and couldn't believe it. I was really, I was really touched and surprised by his reaction. I was like, okay, okay, Disney, take my money. Let's get that placeholder.
[00:00:19] Speaker A: Let's go.
[00:00:19] Speaker C: Let's.
[00:00:20] Speaker A: Here you go.
[00:00:21] Speaker C: Making all my money. Here you go. Oh my God.
[00:00:32] Speaker D: Foreign.
Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episode of the DCL Duo podcast. Brought to you by My Path Unwinding, Travel. And Sam, it's jingle time. Do you jingle?
[00:00:46] Speaker C: Woohoo.
Simply the best.
Better than all the rest.
[00:00:52] Speaker D: All right, this week's listener review comes from Rachel Herrera, 11, who writes very fun and informative. I love the whole concept behind this podcast. I've been dying to take a Disney cruise and now I know where to go to get all the pertinent information. I listened to the Touch of Disney episode and it also had a lot of great information. Brian and Samantha are my go to podcasters for everything. Disney cruises, they give the good, the bad, and everything in between. I value their opinion. Well, thank you for that review, Rachel. We really, really appreciate it.
[00:01:24] Speaker C: I think that's Rachel, who we had on our show very early on in the podcast, who's actually a former cast member who maybe was friends with a Disney princess or two and now is actually like a makeup artist in la. She's awesome.
[00:01:37] Speaker D: Yes. Well, I hope you're still out there listening, Rachel, and you can hear this, your review right on the air. For all of you out there listening, just a quick reminder, I give every week 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 five star review, we will read it on the air at the top of one of our main episodes. And as I've taken to saying more recently, we know people are listening to us on Spotify, you're watching us on YouTube. So many different places you can listen to or watch podcasts these days.
So if, if you're on a different platform than Apple Podcast, they all have rating systems. If it's popcorn buckets, if it's thumbs up, if it's hearts, if it's, I don't know, teddy bears, like give them all to us. We give them all to us. Yes, yes.
[00:02:21] Speaker C: And we will help us reach more people because the higher rated we are, when somebody searches for something dis.
Of course, if they Search Disney cruise related, we should pop up immediately. But if they are sort of more general cruise focused or just more general Disney focus, if you give us those five stars, then we're more likely to show up in someone's search.
[00:02:44] Speaker D: All right, Sam, I'm going to throw it back to you to introduce our guests and our fun topic for today. So take it away.
[00:02:50] Speaker C: All right. I'm super excited because this is one of our favorite guests but he's brought his sister with him as well. Today, all the way from Amsterdam, we are welcoming back to the show Jason. Welcome back, Jason.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: Hey, Sam. Hey, Brian. So nice to be back with you guys.
[00:03:07] Speaker C: So nice to have you back. And he's brought his sister all the way from Oregon. Welcome to the show, Paris.
[00:03:13] Speaker A: Hi. Thanks for inviting me.
[00:03:15] Speaker C: Yeah, we're super excited to have you both on. For those who don't remember, we've had Jason on two or three times. I think at this point we, I know we've covered concierge with him.
His first time sailing in concierge. We've covered a couple different ships. But today we're going to be covering the Disney Treasure, a seven night cruise. I think this was your first seven night cruise, Jason, is that right?
[00:03:39] Speaker B: Yes, that's right.
[00:03:41] Speaker C: Everything else has been on the shorter side of things. And finally dipping your toe into longer cruise Jason, why don't you remind folks of what your cruising creds and Disney background are and then we'll throw it over to Paris to talk to her about that too.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Yeah, sounds good.
So this was my third cruise ever and third Disney cruise. Two years ago we sailed concierge on the Wish. Then a year ago did three nights on the Wonder out of San Diego.
My Disney background is we're from Oregon. So we grew up going to Disneyland probably every year or two years more or less growing up. And then I started going down to Orlando when I was living in New York in 2012 and I've also been now that I live in Amsterdam, I've been to Disneyland Paris multiple times.
I don't know how many. And I've also made it once out to Tokyo in 2008. It's been a long time. I definitely want to go back.
[00:04:38] Speaker C: Awesome.
All right, Paris, what is your. Well, I imagine your Disney background is similar to Jason's growing up together.
How many Disney cruises have you been on or.
[00:04:49] Speaker A: I have been a spot. I've been on all the same cruises with Jason and my sister in law and n niece and nephew and then our mom.
They're great I've been looking at all the pictures in my phone, and I'm like, oh, it's over.
[00:05:04] Speaker C: I know.
Well, let's dive into planning for this cruise. You all have cruised as a. As a family. Did mom come this time as well?
[00:05:13] Speaker B: Yeah, our mother came too, as well. It was the same. Same.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: She and I are packaged from our last cruise.
[00:05:20] Speaker C: I love it. I love it. Well, you know, you gotta have a roomie. You don't want to pay for an empty space. You gotta pay for at least cruisers in every stateroom. On Disney Cruise Line, it's, you know, one. Most of the cruise lines are based on double occupancy. There are a couple of cruise lines where you can get a single occupancy rate, but Disney Cruise Line, unfortunately, or fortunately, depending upon your point of view, requires you to pay for two cruisers in every stateroom. And so, obviously, if you are sailing, it's nice to have somebody to split that cost with.
[00:05:53] Speaker D: I gotta know, who's the bigger Disney fan here?
[00:05:55] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, my brother, probably me.
[00:05:58] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:05:59] Speaker C: I mean, probably.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: He's always the one who's like, okay, so we're gonna go on a Disney trip. And then Vera and my mom and I are like, okay, how much is this going to cost?
[00:06:16] Speaker B: I'm definitely the instigator and the spender.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: Yeah, we're very like, you know, we'd be happy to go on a different vacation and do something different together, but this is also great.
So it's him. He's the big one. And then I think mom, too.
[00:06:34] Speaker C: Oh, is she? Yeah. Is it because she wants to go to Disney, or is it because she wants to see the grandkids at Disney?
[00:06:41] Speaker A: So she grew up in Eugene, Oregon, and went to Disney with her family as well. And she always talks about how much cheaper it was and how when they had the tick, they had tickets and their mom would make them save their tickets, but they would always end up with leftover tickets at the end of the day and be like, we didn't go in.
So I think she always liked it, but, you know, now that it's something we all get to do together, that's been really special.
[00:07:06] Speaker B: Well, especially now that we live nine time zones apart. You know, going on vacation together, a Disney vacation together, whether it's a cruise or parks, is a really nice opportunity and dynamic. And, you know, my kids are not great at other types of vacations, so Disney really kind of ticks a lot of boxes for us. It's a really nice time for the whole family.
[00:07:30] Speaker D: Well, Paris, it sounds like you're, it sounds like you're outnumbered in the vote. But I'm curious, I mean, you mentioned, you know, other vacations. Have you, have you thought about cruising? Not with Disney, no.
[00:07:44] Speaker A: And not without my family. I'm not, I'm not interested in either of those things.
I, I, you know, I think maybe if the kids are get older and I'm reaching a retirement stage in my life and they don't want to go on the cruise or something, maybe investigating, but definitely none of us are interested in trying to find like a budget cruise option just so that we can go on a cruise. Right. Like, I think I like read some like YouTube comments, different people talking about they've sailed on different lines and they're like, you do pay a little bit more for Disney, but you also get what you pay for.
[00:08:17] Speaker C: Now, Jason, how did you convince them all this time to take a seven night cruise as opposed to one of those shorter cruises that you've had been able to convince them on before?
[00:08:27] Speaker B: Well, honestly, it wasn't that difficult. After two years ago, we did four nights concierge on the Wish and we all agreed that it was way too short, that none of us were ready to get off the ship, none of us wanted to leave. So that really planted the seed. You know, at that point the Treasure was under construction. We knew it was on the horizon. It was launching at the end of 24, I think.
So that's really, this trip was two years in the making. We said, okay, we want concierge again, there's a new ship, let's do the new ship and let's do definitely much longer than four nights.
[00:09:00] Speaker C: Now, on the planning side of things, Jason, do you take on the bulk of the planning or, or does somebody else jump in at that stage once the cruise has been chosen?
[00:09:11] Speaker B: I do all the planning, more or less. I involve, I involve in consult, I provide options. But as I provide the options, I also say, by the way, this is the one that I think we should do.
[00:09:23] Speaker C: I love that, I love that. Paris, is this accurate for the most part?
[00:09:29] Speaker A: Well, mom is the Disney Vacation club title owner. It's this great dynamic. I love this dynamic. Jason, blue skies that he's like, this is what we can and should do. And then the rest of us go, okay, well, we only have so much time and there's budget. We got to make this work. We can't just because I would love to spend all the money like I think money is to be spent and spending it on vacations. Is great. But yeah, it's very much. He's. He's our blue sky whiteboard. And then we come in and we're like, okay, well, what about you?
[00:10:06] Speaker C: Value engineer.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So mom in Paris, value engineer. Probably very.
[00:10:13] Speaker A: As well.
[00:10:14] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Jason's like, money is no object.
[00:10:19] Speaker A: It's good. We need, we need him though, because otherwise we probably would all just like vacation in the backyard or whatever. Like, we would do these things.
[00:10:27] Speaker C: Yeah, you wouldn't book it otherwise. Yeah, no, I get that. Like you need. You need the person, the dreamer, and then you need the, the realists to kind of. And you come together somewhere. Somewhere in the middle. I love that. All right, well, you guys booked concierge. What kinds of staterooms did you book for this trip in? Concierge?
[00:10:46] Speaker B: So we had two adjoining or connecting family staterooms. Family veranda staterooms.
[00:10:53] Speaker C: Perfect. So your family of four in one and Paris and Mom in the other.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: That's right. Yeah. And it works out really great because we open that connecting door and then my son Casper, who turned 12 on this cruise, he sleeps in one of the bunks over there and we open up the veranda between the rooms and it kind of just becomes a more or less big ensuite kind of thing for all six of us.
[00:11:15] Speaker C: Yeah. Then there's no fighting over that bunk bed. Right. Because then each kid, if they want it, can have a bunk bed. I love that. That's. That's perfect. All right, well, for the planning side of things, were. Were there certain things you wanted to book in terms of, I don't know, excursions, adult. I know you booked adult dining, drink tastings and any of that sort of stuff you want. And maybe a cabana because you were going to Castaway for a seven night cruise. Yeah. So what were the things you were looking to book? I imagine you didn't have any difficulty booking because you're sending that email to shoreside concierge at 100. What is it, 130 days or is it. Yeah, something like that.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: Yeah. So this, because of the seven night cruise, this also allowed us to do our first short port adventures other than Castaway Key.
So this was the first cruise of the three we've done that. We got off the ship at each of the port stops and did things.
So that's a first.
And I did book those through concierge. And then we also got a cabana, a Mickey Minnie cabana, which we should talk about.
[00:12:20] Speaker C: We should definitely talk about that.
We'll get there other Stuff that you booked in advance?
[00:12:27] Speaker B: My wife and I did. Enchante. Also, for the first time, I booked a royal gathering just in case. We do it every time, so I book it just in case. You never know. What else? Oh, we also did. We booked lots of things. We did the pirate makeovers for the kids.
[00:12:43] Speaker C: Oh, fun.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Which you'd never done before.
[00:12:45] Speaker C: Those are always. I love the makeup jobs that they do on the kids. And they have this, like, beard, and it's just kind of hilarious.
[00:12:54] Speaker B: It's super cute.
[00:12:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: Honestly, it was like movie magic makeup. It was so good.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: Yeah, they did. And the photos turned out awesome.
Also, on top of the activities, excursions. So we didn't do any tastings. You know, we decided. We talked about it, and we've done them on the past cruises, but we're paying for happy hour in the concierge bar. Like, the best tasting is right there, and we have it every day for five hours. So we. We knew. We feel like pros at this point. We're getting close.
We knew better than to spend more, to drink more in another bar at an inconvenient time of the day. So, yeah, so we did a lot. A lot of drinking in the concierge bar and spending a lot of time in the concierge lounge.
But I'd also sent ahead of time a long list of requests to concierge Shoreside. So it was also.
We had two birthdays on this cruise, and I think. I think it's the and a half. Yeah.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: So my nephews and my birthday are all at the end of April.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: Exactly. So Casper and Paris both had their birthdays on the ship. And then our mom's birthday. Grandma's birthday was the week before we got on the ship.
Yeah. So I had some special requests for that. You know, I informed the team, like, their birthdays, and so they gave us. They gave us birthday cake towels in the rooms, which was super nice each of those days. And then also, of course, birthday buttons. And concierge team knew it was her birthday, knew it was Castor's birthday, and wished to have a birthday all day.
[00:14:28] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:14:28] Speaker B: So that. Fun things like that. And then also in this long list of requests, you know, I requested, I think, these. I had done a lot of listening to your episodes and watching a lot of things on YouTube, so I knew to request the sodas and drinks that we wanted. Of course. But also I requested robes for the kids.
That was a new one that I know, so that was a big hit. Both the kids really enjoyed the Kids robes.
[00:14:52] Speaker C: Yeah, they're adorable. And it's like, just kind of fun to see your kids, like, lounging around the room in their Disney Cruise Line robes.
[00:14:59] Speaker A: It's so one of those, like, it's.
[00:15:02] Speaker C: It's just an experience.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: It's super cute. I really think every time Casper went back to the room, he threw on the rope. I'm pretty sure it was. It was used daily, which was really cute.
And then also I.
I submitted a request ahead of time for a meal accommodation, so.
So my son Casper is on the autism spectrum. And one thing that he really struggles with is making decisions, especially at dinner time if he's hungry or tired. Decision making is overwhelming. Can be overwhelming.
So I thought for this cruise, okay, I just would. Would really like it.
We're also vegetarian, our family. The art my family for is vegetarian. So I requested for them to always have an impossible burger, which he likes and enjoys, just to always have it as a choice at dinner. So no matter what, if he doesn't like the menu or can't decide what's on the menu, he'll know ahead of time that he can always fall back on that.
And what I learned from the concierge short side team is that they bumped me over to a special request services team, which was interesting. And I had to send the special request services team. First of all, I couldn't do it too far in advance, had to be within 30 days, and then I had to also send them a photo of the food item that I wanted them to purchase, to have on board.
I couldn't just tell them buy impossible burgers. I had to send them a picture of the product from, like, a grocery store website so that they would know. And this is, this is great care. It was also a bit weird, but it shows Disney taking great care to provide service of providing, giving you what you want.
So it was all done through email and. And it worked. They were ready when we got on board. They knew that he needed his impossible burger option every night at dinner, and they were able to accommodate that.
[00:16:48] Speaker C: That's awesome. You know, I haven't heard like, the sort of the technical way of how that's worked before. And I think that's great. I mean, it does sound a little weird that you need to send a picture. On the other hand, better that they ask you to send a picture than they get the wrong thing, right? Like, that's the whole point of sending the picture is so that they actually get the product that you're requesting.
[00:17:08] Speaker D: What they're doing is, is is putting it like they're putting into their ordering queue, right. So like they're probably provisioning 30 days out and they want to make sure if that thing is available, they get the exact thing you want. And if not, then they're probably going to respond back with well, here's what we can get to. Any of these work, right?
[00:17:24] Speaker C: So yeah, that's great. And that's super smart. I think anyone who has a child or a family member who has any kind of like food issues, I'm going to just call them food issues. Whether that be allergies, food preferences, particularities. Right. Like you can make those requests through special services and they will do their best to meet them. And so if your child like needs to have like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich sandwich for dinner every night, they will have that available for you every night. It's just a matter of you may have to make that request and some requests you can just make on board. If it's something that they normally provision, you can just make that request with your serving team on that first night or go and talk to the dining folks that first day before dinner. That's the best way to do it is to make sure they sort of done it at some point in advance, even if it's on board. But if it's a item that you're not sure if they actually stop, then you've got to do that ahead of time through special services. That's super, super smart.
[00:18:20] Speaker D: My guess is they do place some limits on the preferencing piece of that Sam, though.
[00:18:24] Speaker C: Yeah, of course, of course. Yeah, yeah. It's not just a oh, I only like this kind of cheese provision, this cheese. It's generally, it's a generally disability related, whether that be an allergy or, you know, autism or what have you. So.
[00:18:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:41] Speaker C: All right, well, let's, let's dive in. You travel, you're traveling from afar, Both of you technically traveling from afar to Orlando.
I know you're smart cruisers. You're not traveling the day of your cruise. How far in advance did you travel to Orlando. And where did you all stay pre cruise Paris. I'll throw this one to you.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: Yeah, we did this one very different on our past two cruises. I think we did like one night in a hotel, then we would go on the cruise and then we would come back and then the next day we would go and hit the park. So. And after our last cruise in California on the Wonder, kind of twofold, my mom and I got sick on the Wonder. So the parks we Were sick the whole time,
[00:19:27] Speaker C: had a cold.
[00:19:28] Speaker A: And then it also was just like, the cruise can be really leisurely and relaxing. And then to come back and be like, all right, now we're gonna do all day and all night at Disneyland. So we decided to do the parks first.
So what we did a week, and we did Universal Studios this time. And in order to take advantage of some of the perks of the luxury hotel, but also not break the bank, we hopped hotels three times. Oh, two times.
[00:19:57] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:19:57] Speaker A: Yeah, we stayed in three different hotels, so.
[00:19:59] Speaker C: Three different hotels. Yeah. Well, I mean, I get it there. You know, there are some benefits, but that's a lot of. Yeah, that's a lot of hotel moving, especially with two kids, you know, in town.
[00:20:11] Speaker A: An old lady.
[00:20:11] Speaker C: Yeah, that and an old lady.
But I do think you've learned your lesson, so I'm going to congratulate you all. You've learned your lesson. Parks. We always tell people, parks first, then cruise, not cruise, then parks. It's a combination of factors. One being that the parks are not relaxing and the cruise can be relaxing if you want to do it that way. But also, that sticker shock on the food is there's just nothing worse than after being on a cruise and all the food's included, and then you get to the parks and you're like, oh, my God, Like. Like, that soda cost me, like, $7, and that, you know, burger is going to cost me, like, $40. Like, it's. It's just horrific. So, yeah, well done. And learning the lesson after a couple of. A couple of previous trips. Okay, so when did you. I take it you head down to the port that morning from. From your hotels, or did you go and stay a night in the Cocoa beach area?
[00:21:08] Speaker B: No, we were staying.
So while we ended after the parks, we transferred over to Disney and stayed at Copper Creek and Wilderness Lodge, and then we Ubered from there to the port.
This is the first time that we didn't use Disney. Well, yeah, that we didn't use Disney transportation to get to Port Canaveral. And it was great. I loved Debbie Ubered because we actually got there earlier. And as concierge guests, we got there on time to board. Whereas two years ago on the Wish, you had the. The bus transportation from Disney got us there, like, a few minutes after they had already started boarding concierge. And it felt very rushed and busy, so this was nice to get there earlier.
[00:21:47] Speaker C: Yeah. I think if you are sailing concierge, I think private transportation is generally the better option because you can get there as early as you want to be there. Right.
I think that the Disney transportation is great, but for people who have lower castaway club status or no castaway club status, because you'll actually get an earlier port arrival time than if you were to use private transportation. So it's kind of that balance. And then, of course, you got to figure out, you know, what's the most cost effective. And generally, the larger your party is, the more cost effective private transportation is. You know, a small party, you're only paying for, like, two people.
Disney transportation might be actually the more cost effective way. So. All right, so you get there, you get through the. How did the boarding process go? This is your second time sailing out of Port Canaveral. And of course, you get to go into the concierge sort of lounge space at the port terminal. But how did the boarding process go?
[00:22:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it went pretty smoothly. The only hiccups were our mother could not find her boarding. What is it called? The boarding pass.
[00:22:59] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, like the qr.
[00:23:00] Speaker B: Yeah, the QR code and all that for herself and for Paris. This happened two years ago in the Wish as well.
We're all. We're all on iOS. She's on Android. A septuagenarian trying to find something on her Android phone that none of us know how to use. Their helper. It was messy, and I just couldn't believe it that it happened. The same thing happened two years ago that we were there trying to get onto the board and she couldn't find it.
And we couldn't find it in her email either. But luckily it was fine. You know, they checked her and it was fine. She didn't need it.
[00:23:32] Speaker A: Yeah, they told us they just needed the stateroom number.
[00:23:35] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is where I always say, like, this is the one I still print out. So I get the. I get the pass on my phone. But then I always print out the port arrival form because you just don't like some of these ports, too. The cell service is terrible. Or the. You know, you're not on the wifi yet, you're hassling with it. So I just print out the form and I just hand it to them. But, yes, they can always just look you up by your stateroom, too.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: Yeah, well, Brian, you and my mother have a lot in common because she likes to print out everything as well.
But we looked. Both Paris and I looked in her email. We did searches. We couldn't find it. Whereas I had mine in my inbox, like, within seconds after my, you know, Check in.
Digital check in.
Yeah, we couldn't find it and she, she would have printed it if she had it. Yeah, I don't know.
[00:24:21] Speaker C: Next time have it sent to Paris.
[00:24:23] Speaker A: Yeah, well, and I didn't get one and we. Yeah. Wasn't it spam?
[00:24:30] Speaker B: That's one for room.
[00:24:31] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I will say whenever anybody. We are iPhone users as well. And so when somebody else has like an Android phone and they're trying to do something and like, it doesn't, I can't help them. I have no idea. I don't even know what buttons to press to like navigate a menu on an Android. It's just, it's completely different ecosystem. So if you're used to one, it's really hard to help someone with the other. All right, so. Okay, well, so a little hiccup at the boarding process, but nothing big. I gotta ask you about that boarding into the beautiful Disney Treasure Atrium or Grand Hall. Of course, you'd been on the Wish, so you knew what to expect in terms of the grandeur, the size, the space. But it's very different atrium than the one on the Wish.
Paris, what was that moment like and what did you think of that decorated Aladdin grand hall vibe?
[00:25:26] Speaker A: I think all the ships are beautiful. I think it was absolutely gorgeous and it's shiny and new. I also feel like nothing will ever compare to that first time that I stepped on board the Disney Cruise ship and saw that glittering ballroom. And I like the sparkles that the Cinderella Ballroom has or atrium, but I feel like there's that just that moment of stepping into this other world that I feel like nobody's. No other ship is going to be able to compete with because I'm always going to be comparing it to that.
[00:25:58] Speaker C: So true. I think your first time on a Disney cruise and you guys got to, I mean, really going on to the Wish class, I think for the first time, regardless of which ship it is, is kind of the most breathtaking. And this is no, you know, shade to the older Disney ships. They all are beautiful in their own right, but they're not. They don't have the grandness of the Grand Hall. Right. They're much smaller and more compact and they have these beautiful chandeliers, but they're just more classic ocean liner looking versus the sort of grandeur and the theming that you get on the Wish class, whether that's on the Wish, the Treasure, or the Destiny. Jason, what did you think of that grand haul on the Treasure?
[00:26:40] Speaker B: I thought it was beautiful. It felt like you Know, it's interesting, this being our third cruise, the first two kind of felt like you could really feel the learning curve. They felt like kind of experiments, you know, the first. The first one on the Witch was like, okay, are we cruise people? And is this a good vacation experience? Yes or no? And then four nights and you're out. And then last year on the Wonder, we're like, do we like the old ships as much as the. As the Witchcraft ships? Let's see and find out. And it was three nights and then you're out. There was a lot of anxiety. This, for me, felt like coming home.
I felt like, ah, I'm back.
[00:27:15] Speaker C: I'm.
[00:27:16] Speaker B: I'm back. And this is exactly how I wanted to feel and what I wanted to be. And I felt like just relaxed instantly. Relaxed. Walking to the Treasure. It felt like walking to the Wish. I will say, it felt smaller than I remembered. I don't know why. I know it's the same size, but it was smaller than I expected. But I. I got over that it after a couple days. It felt the same size as the Wish, the Grand Hall.
[00:27:37] Speaker C: It's probably just that memory of the grandeur, right? Like, because that was your first time on a ship also. And so it's. It's probably sort of outsized in your memory, right, Because. And then, of course, in comparison to the Wonder, very different sizes as well. All right, well, I'm guessing you went to the concierge. Sit down. Lunch, sailing. Yeah, that's the way to go. I mean, it's a. It's a lovely way to start. You can get a little bubbly or a beer with your lunch included. Super nice. All right, did you guys have anything to sort of manage on board? Anything. Any special requests to check up on? I don't know if you. If you wanted to check up on the special services request or make any dining changes or anything once you got on board?
[00:28:21] Speaker B: Honestly, no. I was all really. I had confirmation from Shoreside that the concierge team had received all the requests. And I wasn't going to really fuss about any of it until after the lunch. We went to the concierge lounge and then. Then I would. Would check and see if things are. But I. You know what? I just kind of like, just let it all go and say, okay, let's just see what happens. Let's see what gets delivered against my punch list.
[00:28:45] Speaker C: I love it. I love it. I have to say, the one thing that is really nice is when you do have any kind of special request and you Happen to be saying concierge, you're just dealing with the concierge team. You don't have to deal with guest services. You don't have to deal with any other department. They are your liaison to every other department, which is just a really nice perk, because if you are sailing, you know, regular, you're kind of running around and having to manage that yourself and figure out who you need to talk to versus, you know, the team doing it for you. And it is really nice to kind of just relax and enjoy the vacation. All right, well, let's. Let's start with. I kind of want to get right to the ports because I. You mentioned you got the cabana castaway. You mentioned you all actually did port excursions this time. You know, I don't even think I asked. Were you on the Eastern or the Western Caribbean itinerary?
[00:29:38] Speaker B: Eastern. We went to St. Thomas in Tortola.
[00:29:40] Speaker C: Right, so you were. You were exactly two weeks after us then. That makes perfect sense because we were on the eastern, and then the week in between was the western, and then you were on the Eastern. All right, Paris. Why don't you tell me what you guys got up to in St. Thomas and Tortola.
[00:29:54] Speaker A: In St. Thomas, we took a catamaran to St. John's Beach, I believe. And it was. There was snorkel.
It hit me.
[00:30:08] Speaker B: Yeah, St. Thomas was the champagne and snorkel. Do you remember?
[00:30:11] Speaker C: Oh, champagne and snorkel.
[00:30:12] Speaker A: Ooh, champagne and snorkeling.
So we. They took us to a little beach and we did some snorkeling, and then they came and retrieved us, and there was champagne and rum punch and snacks on the boat. The weather was a little overcast, so it was nice that we weren't hot, but it would have been. It wasn't the sunny beach day we had hoped for. And then in Tortola, we took a catamaran to Jost Van Dijk and.
Beautiful weather. Beautiful beach. I mean, me too. We were all in the water all day. They've got that bar right there.
And I loved the catamaran ride, too. We got some splashed quite a bit. It was like Splash Mountain, but it was just.
It was gorgeous. That was definitely one of my favorite days. And then we all got sunburned, of course.
[00:30:59] Speaker C: This is, like, classic, right? You just don't. You. You do that first layer of sunscreen, and you're all good. But you forget to reapply, or you forget to reapply enough, or you have a couple spots you just miss on your body. And that's where you get sunburn. Now, did you guys go to. Was it Ivan's Stress Free bar that they took you to? Okay, so over on Joe's Van Dyke? Yeah.
Yeah, we did that. What did you think of, what did you think of the food there? We did not have a great experience with the food there. I'll be honest.
[00:31:26] Speaker B: I loved it. I'll be the meat. So let me tell you. I mean, they gave me extra portions of Mac and cheese, beans and rice.
I can't remember what else. Maybe there was some potato salad. I kept not quite sure.
I was really happy.
[00:31:41] Speaker C: Okay, maybe that was our mistake.
[00:31:43] Speaker B: What did you think?
[00:31:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I had the jerk chicken and it was spicy.
I, like, I remember that I, I ate like mild to medium spice. I mean, it definitely. I wouldn't call it, like, it wasn't too hot to eat. I still ate it, but it was. I was like. Took one bite and I was like, I, you know, I thought it was all right. It was pretty good. I, I finished my lunch. There were also. One of the highlights for me was that there were a bunch of kittens running around begging for scraps. I don't know if you saw that when you were there. It was really cute.
[00:32:16] Speaker D: The one thing, we had a really rough time on that excursion. I wonder if Disney got some feedback and fixed some things, made it better. We had a really rough time. We pulled the. When they pulled the boat up, we were like, counting the number of. This is like, you know, 30 of us on this. 30 of us on this boat. But there's only like 10 chairs out there. Do they have more seating available on the beach? Oh, good. Okay, good.
[00:32:34] Speaker B: Maybe 40 chairs. They were chairs for everybody.
[00:32:37] Speaker C: Okay, good.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: Not all of them had shade, but there are more than enough chairs.
[00:32:41] Speaker C: Okay, that's great to hear because that's. That was our biggest problem was just like. I mean, we. We ended up just like getting two, like, Adirondack chairs for the three of us because they. All the loungers were like, gone very, very quickly. And so. Yeah, but our, Our problem, our biggest problem with that excursion was was that now did you. Did you get the. Go to the morning version or the afternoon version?
Like, did you leave at like.
Yeah, it was.
[00:33:08] Speaker B: We were the morning. We were the. 9am Yeah, 9am yeah.
[00:33:11] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that's great. Great. Because then you get back to the ship. Like, not super late in the day.
Of course, you might get sunnier weather if you do the afternoon version because sometimes the morning can be a little over like the year, your catamaran ride to the beach can be a little bit overcast before sort of that fog has burned out. But I personally like a morning excursion and then you have some time in the afternoon.
[00:33:36] Speaker B: For our torch holiday, our all aboard time was 2:00pm oh, wow.
[00:33:40] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:33:41] Speaker D: So, yeah, that's odd actually, because just on two.
[00:33:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:45] Speaker D: Oh, I guess. Is Tortola. Was Tortola your first stop or your second stop?
[00:33:48] Speaker B: Second.
[00:33:49] Speaker D: Okay, so they needed the extra time to get you back up to Cassoway. Ours was flipped around. So Saint. St. Thomas Day or. Sorry, Tortola was the first day St. Thomas. We had a, an earlier all aboard. I don't remember being as early as. As to something.
[00:34:02] Speaker C: I don't think it was. I think it was like 3:30 or 3. 45.
[00:34:05] Speaker D: 45. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:34:07] Speaker B: I found it odd too. I, I remember asking Shoreside ahead of time, ahead of the cruise, like really? Like, is that true? And they said yes. Sometimes that's the way it is.
[00:34:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:19] Speaker B: Like, oh, okay.
[00:34:20] Speaker D: And it's like they need enough time to. Yeah, they need enough time to haul you back up to Castle and usually they go to St. Thomas or Tortola. Is it Tortola? Yeah, Tortola first because it's the furthest south. And so then when they make their way to St. Thomas, we moved a little north and it cuts some of the time off.
[00:34:36] Speaker C: Well, those are, those are pretty close together. St. Thomas. They are Ola. They're, they're quite.
[00:34:40] Speaker D: They could cut the lines and just float over if they had to.
[00:34:43] Speaker E: But.
[00:34:43] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:34:45] Speaker B: No, we saw on, like the WhatsApp chat, a lot of people, I think it was speculation or they talked to cast members, but there was discussion of having to get a lot of supplies, bring extra supplies to cast away. And this had something to do with needing to like get their Astro or something. I don't know.
[00:35:01] Speaker D: Had to haul a new, brand new plank of 50 plus sailors off the ship, you know, so. Yeah, to the wall.
[00:35:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:10] Speaker C: All right, well, let's talk about castaway. You mentioned getting the Mickey and Minnie Cove cabanas. I know you guys had gotten a cabana before, but it was one of the older now now called sandcastle cabanas. And so this time you chose. You opted for Mickey and Minnie cabana. You would have had pretty much your pick of the litter at that point being, you know, doing that concierge sailing. What did you think of those cabanas in comparison to the Sandcastle? And of course the location and, you know, do. I guess the real question is, you know, you heard our review. We, we felt like it wasn't quite worth it, just given the amount of time we had at the cabana and how far away it was. But I'm curious what you guys felt about it.
[00:35:55] Speaker B: I'll.
[00:35:55] Speaker C: I'll start with Paris for this one.
[00:35:57] Speaker A: I will say I did. I told my mom about your criticism about that it wasn't enough time. And considering how much you're paying for it, you didn't get as much. And she goes, so you're, you're, you're not alone in that. I thought it was beautiful. I, you know, we didn't spend as much time in the cabana when we went on the Wish because we did a parasailing excursion that day.
So definitely have more memories from this cabana because we did this all day. But one thing that came up was we were all sunburned and I wanted to get like a rash guard or something.
But I didn't do it at the beginning of the day because I wanted to get to the cabana. So in order to get back to the shops, I had to take two trams. And then, you know, but if we had been in those older cabanas, I would have been a lot closer and had time to go to the shops.
I think that's. Personally, my only criticism is, is just that how isolated it is from being able to do any of the other things.
[00:36:58] Speaker C: Yeah. And there isn't. One of the things that's a negative about Serenity Bay is there isn't a shop at Serenity Bay. I'm not sure why it seems like it would be smart for them to have. They don't have to have as big of a shop. Right. Because you wouldn't have to have all the sand toys and any of the kids stuff. Right. You could have just adult. Some adult only stuff. If they had a small shop at Serenity Bay. But yeah, they have. You know, if you're doing one of the cabanas or one of the Sandcastle cabanas, you've got. By the seashore is the shop that's closest to you because that's at Family Beach 2. At Family Beach 1, you have. She sells seashells. And so, you know, you, you have those two options that are closer and one of them that's easily walkable. But, yeah, there is no shop. I didn't even think about that. Paris. That's a, That's a good point. Jason. What was it, what was your take? I still think A cabana is lovely. So I don't want to, like, I'm not trying to tell people not to book a cabana. It's just a matter of, like. No, just.
[00:37:51] Speaker D: Yeah, we're just trying to let you know out there, you're spending a lot. This is the experience. So you make decisions that are right for you and your family. Right. So, yeah, yeah. But, yeah. Jason, what was your reaction to the Mickey, Manic Mickey. Mickey and Minnie Cabanas?
[00:38:07] Speaker B: Well, first I would rewind to when I sent the request for the cabanas because I didn't know about the Mickey Minnie cabanas when I sent the request 130 days ahead. And so then when I got it and I got the number, I looked it up and I was like, what. What is this? No, I want the other ones.
I want the old ones. That's near all the things.
So I wrote and requested Sandcastle Cabanas, and I thought they maybe could just put me on a waiting list, but they wouldn't. They said, no, we're not doing waiting lists anymore.
So that was surprising. They told me I would need to check with the concierge team when I got on board to see if they're kind of managing it manually. But there is no waiting list for, I think, either specifically to get a Sandcastle or a Mickey and Mini. It's not operating that way. So I did request that on board with concierge, and I was surprised because I. Brian, a couple years ago, you left a tip to, like, send the program, the email through Google to go at, like, one minute past. One minute past the deadline. Right. Like 1201am, let's say.
So I did that, and I still didn't get the Sandcastle cabanas. They were all booked within that minute before. Before my request was received, apparently.
[00:39:15] Speaker D: I will revise my tip. I set my email for the exact time, so if it. Yeah, if it goes to. If it's supposed to be in at midnight, I set it to send at midnight because then it sends it 12, 000 and then. Yeah, because I think everyone's. They take them in the order they come in. So. Yeah.
[00:39:32] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I was. I was scared of it coming in a minute too early, especially since, you know, hey, I'm in Europe.
Maybe it needs a little extra time or it'll be too fast. Who knows?
[00:39:44] Speaker D: I feel like with the digital age, we're all operating on the same exact clock all the time, so. So, yeah, I queue mine up. Usually I do it like a week before and I just set it to delay send for the specific time. The one tip I will give is I have been traveling before and I've had to think about, like, what time zone is this email coming from? Or I need to go in and adjust the time zone in the email software so it's like send it at 12 o', clock, you're 9pm Pacific Time or 12am Eastern Time. Right. So, yeah.
[00:40:13] Speaker C: Right. Double check. Right. Don't. Don't remember when you are putting this on your phone or your computer. Your phone or computer is currently set to whatever your local time is, whether and if you're traveling, it's not your normal local time, it's whatever local time you're sending from. So when you set that email, you know to send. Right. Delayed send, make sure you're selecting midnight Eastern time for whatever that day is so that you don't get screwy with the time zones. It can be very confusing when I'm doing that count back of 130 days or 123 days or whatever, depending upon our booking window. It's always. I'm. I literally like triple check it because I, I know I don't want to. You know, we're on Pacific time and so it's the day before, but at 9pm, not midnight on the day of. Right. So very confusing. Yeah. No more wait list.
Yeah, no more. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much they were doing, to be perfectly candid. I'm not sure how that they were really doing them effectively before on board. They. They do.
[00:41:22] Speaker D: I think they may have been doing them pretty effectively before, Sam, because I think the, the no wait list thing may be their way where we now see more and more people going on. Oh, I snagged a cabana or a cabana became available. It's like someone from concierge can't canceling.
[00:41:34] Speaker C: But there have been times where people have been able to do that before, though. That's why I'm saying no. Yeah. I just.
[00:41:41] Speaker D: Far fewer than what I've heard recently, so.
[00:41:43] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. But I do think on board is your bet. If you're a sailing concierge, your best bet is on board for either making a change or snagging a cabana if you weren't able to get one. And your mileage is just going to vary by how full your sailing is and your sailing being, you know, still in April, so still spring break sort of time, although later in the sort in that. But if concierge was full, then you're going to have more of those cabanas full and of course, you know, the other other levels of cruisers will grab them as well. All right, well, so it sounds like a great day on Castaway, but dealing with some sunburn, so maybe, maybe actually taking the benefit of that cabana more so in the sense that you have extra shade.
[00:42:31] Speaker E: Are you listening to our show because you want to make the most out of your next vacation? Great news. The fabulous team over at MyPath Unwinding Travel can help guide you so you don't miss a thing. Their team of professional travel advisors are caring, knowledgeable and experienced. It's why we use them to book our own travel. Mypath Unwinding Travel is an authorized Disney vacation planner, which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, adventured with Disney, relaxed at Aulani, and so much more. Whether it's a Disney cruise, a theme park vacation, or adventures by Disney, or if you are looking to expand beyond the mouse, My Path Unwinding Travel will elevate your next vacation planning experience. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your vacation even more magical. Ready to talk to the experts? Head over to mypathunwinding.com dc 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.
[00:43:30] Speaker C: Let's move back onto the ship and talk about some of those experiences on board. Jason, I, I think you mentioned, you mentioned early on one of the things you did take advantage of was the concierge lounge and not paying for those drink tastings.
I gotta ask now, you got this your first time getting to experience all of the food in the, in the concierge lounge because of course you have those offerings on the Wish, but on three nights, you don't really get to experience all that much of it. You got, you know, hot breakfast, you got lunch items, you've got dinner items and then everything else in the case. Did you guys take advantage of that lounge and the food and drink offerings there more on this cruise than on your previous sailings?
[00:44:14] Speaker B: I think so. We definitely ate breakfast every morning in the lounge that it was our go to. We didn't go, we didn't have breakfast anywhere else. We only had breakfast lounge. I actually, I didn't have any hot lunch or dinner items this cruise and I repair said you did lunch or dinner.
[00:44:32] Speaker A: No, I didn't Lots of snacks. We ran all the time, just ended up somewhere else.
[00:44:37] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Lots of good items.
I gotta give a hard recommendation if you're. Well, I mean, if you're sailing concierge, it's one of the benefits, of course, but there's a million places to eat on board now, regardless, you can. You know, of course, all that pool deck food is amazing on the Wish class, but some of those items. There's. Even the palo lasagna is one of the. I mean, that has meat, so you can.
[00:45:00] Speaker D: Sam's just still sad she didn't get her spaghetti and meatball tacos.
[00:45:03] Speaker E: That's.
[00:45:03] Speaker C: Yeah, there is a spaghetti and meatball taco that I didn't get to try.
[00:45:05] Speaker D: It's on the kids menu.
[00:45:06] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there are some. I mean, there are some really good, like, very. Some of them strange, some of them not strange, but some. Some really good items I gotta. I gotta give a plug for. If you're paying that. That upcharge for concierge, take advantage. Whether that's with food or with drinks or snacks or whatever. It's just a really nice option. All right. I want to talk entertainment, because, of course you got some great entertainment on.
On all the Wish class ships.
Did you guys get to experience some of those, like, Sage and Coriander storyteller performances?
You're both nodding. Okay. All right. What did you guys get to see Jason?
[00:45:46] Speaker B: So together, Paris and I, we saw the Aladdin show in the grand Hall. Right.
And then. Paris, were you with me when they did the Encanto retelling?
No, I can't remember.
[00:45:57] Speaker A: Yes, I think so. That one was much shorter. Right. And we went with. With you and Vera and the kids. And Noelle came with us, too.
[00:46:04] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Noelle is a friend that my daughter made and spent all of her time with on the cruise. So that was great.
So for me, Sage and Coriander were a priority for this cruise. I was like, all over it. And Paris was helping me gauge in the app, like, tracking when they are up. And she'd, like, send me messages saying, oh, they're coming up. They're going to be here now in this place. So I also saw.
Let's see here. Oh, we did the jungle cruise boat thing, and Vera, Casper, and I were in the boat. We were in Coriander's boat. And we won. Of course.
[00:46:36] Speaker C: Of course. I love it.
[00:46:39] Speaker B: Casper got to be the scorekeeper, and I got to go on a quest on a mission off the boat. I had to hop on hippos.
And tell a joke to the other cast member the stage.
And if I got him to laugh, then he would give me the key for something. I don't know. I lost track.
[00:46:58] Speaker C: Oh, my goodness.
[00:46:59] Speaker B: 10:00 clock at night.
[00:47:00] Speaker D: But it was super fun.
[00:47:01] Speaker B: It was in the grand hall at like 10 o' clock at night, one of the nights. I don't know what this would have been like as a show because, to be honest, it's very loud and chaotic. It's much more like a game. It's much. And it was really fun, but there wasn't much of a story to follow. It was just fun, funny chaos.
[00:47:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:18] Speaker C: You've got to be a participant. That's one of those ones that like being the participant. So you get there like 10 minutes early for the jungle cruise thing and volunteer to be a participant. So you're going to be in one of the boats in this competition between these two teams. And that's the way to enjoy that. This experience. It is not.
I mean, you can watch, but you're not going to. You're going to miss a lot of what's going on because they only use the mics for parts of the game.
And it is really just weird chaos, the kind of game going on. It's really fun to participate. I've participated, I think twice in that.
It's wacky. It's hilarious. The kids who participate always get to do, you know, fun things and have a good time. I take it Casper enjoyed that experience.
[00:48:08] Speaker B: He did. He did. It was super fun. Yeah, it was great. I was really glad we did that. And then on one of the other nights, Vera and I caught choose wisely, the 10:30pm show of Choose Wisely. We were there in Sarabi, front row center. Got there 30 minutes before.
Like, it was priority, like number one numero uno for me. And it. It was worth it. It was awesome. I loved it.
[00:48:31] Speaker C: Oh, awesome. Yeah, it's hilarious.
Yeah. There is a 7:30 version. Paris. It's. It's. The 10:30 version is better because it's like the audience is more lively and more into it, typically because they've had a couple drinks since end of later in the night. But if you can't. If you have. If you're one of those people who just can't stay up till 10:30 for the show, I would highly recommend hitting that 7:30 show. It's a retelling. We've talked about it on the show before, but it's a retelling of all the Indiana Jones movies by basically Two people. It's just a two person stage show and using very funny props. And it's just hilarity ensues. It's wacky. Yeah.
[00:49:16] Speaker B: We'll have to go back on the Treasure. Paris.
[00:49:18] Speaker C: Yeah, you'll have to go back. It's an adult only experience. For just to be clear, this is one of the only.
I think it's the only show that Sage and Coriander do that is adult only. On the Treasure.
[00:49:31] Speaker B: It was the same night that Vera and I went to Enchantee. So Paris was on cool aunt duty minding the kids. So that kind of got in the way of her being able to go to the show.
[00:49:41] Speaker A: So was that the day we did Jos Van Dyke? I think it was.
[00:49:48] Speaker B: Yes. That was tort. It was Tortola day. Yeah. So it was a very long day.
[00:49:52] Speaker A: It was. And I willa went to have dinner with her friend.
And so it was just Casper and my mom and I went to dinner, but my mom's hearing aids broke. And so I was kind of doing some shepherding. And by the time we got done with dinner, I was like, I'm done by. Yeah,
[00:50:12] Speaker C: I'm tired.
That totally makes sense. What about the stage shows? Parasol? Let's cover those with you. Did you guys go to.
You've got Seize the Adventure, Beauty and the Beast and A Tale of Moana is probably. I've jotten the order wrong. It was probably Seize the Adventure, then A Tale of Moana, and then Beauty and the Beast is my guess. That's how they typically do it. But did you go to all the shows? And if so, what did you think of them?
[00:50:37] Speaker A: We did. I didn't go to Beauty and the Beast. We had just gotten back from Castaway Kay. And we had to pack all of our suitcases. And it was. I just. I couldn't sit still in a show when I knew there were suitcases that needed to be packed.
And I heard your. That it was on the TV. I didn't even know it was on the TV, so I didn't see that one. But we did CC's the Adventure.
And I'm sure Jason told you in the past that we both cry. So it was like by the end
[00:51:06] Speaker B: of that first number, we're criers for theater and movies.
[00:51:09] Speaker A: Yeah. And the rest of our family just looks at us like. I'm like, there's something wrong with you guys. But yeah. By the end of that first number, was it with Merida, Elsa, and is it. Who's the third? That's in that. Is that Moana? Anyway, by the end of that first number, we were just, like.
[00:51:23] Speaker B: It was Moana. Yeah.
[00:51:24] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:51:25] Speaker A: Yeah, that was. That was really moving.
[00:51:27] Speaker B: I think Casper loved that number.
[00:51:28] Speaker A: I liked it more than I did on the Wish, and I don't. I couldn't tell you why. And then we saw Moana, and when they transformed that puppet, it was just like. And you could hear the crowd go, whoa.
Magical. Casper was hooting and hollering, jumping out of his seat. When it. When it was time to applaud, he instantly stood up and, like, gave. I have never seen him enjoy anything as much as he enjoyed this show. It, like, was, like, the best thing he'd ever seen.
He came over and hugged me.
[00:52:06] Speaker B: The biggest hug. Yeah, he was. He was just floored by Tale of Moana. He told me it was the best thing he'd ever seen and couldn't believe it. I was really. I was really touched and surprised by his reaction. I was like, okay, okay, Disney, take my money. Let's get that placeholder. Let's go.
[00:52:23] Speaker C: Let's.
[00:52:24] Speaker A: Here you go.
[00:52:25] Speaker C: Making all my money. Here you go. Oh, my God. I love that. I love that. Casper loved it, too, because I love it. So, like, I. I mean, that moment is for those who don't know. There's this big puppet, and it transforms from Taka to Te Fiti. And that's all I'll say, because I don't even. It's Disney magic. The way that they do it, it's just, like, brilliant.
And it is. Of course, it's at the end of the show, and it's this incredible moment, and everybody is clapping and excited, but it's beautiful. It's really gorgeous and visually stunning and just amazing. It's a marvel.
Yeah. I love that. Fantastic. All right, well, Jason, I know you went to see Beauty and the Beast, young Padawan Jason follows all my advice, running around after Sage and Coriander, going to see all the shows.
He is a dutiful student of the DCL Duo podcast. So tell me, what did you think of Beauty and the Beauty Beast?
[00:53:27] Speaker B: I thought it was fantastic. It was really. It was great.
I have seen Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, so it wasn't quite that, but it was wonderful. Definitely better than all the Beauty and the Beast stage shows I've seen in the parks over the years.
And the, like, the. Be our guest number was outstanding. Like, I didn't want it to stop. And they make it extra long. Of course.
[00:53:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:53:50] Speaker B: But even. Even so, like, I was like, keep it going. Keep it going like that. Definitely got the biggest applause.
And the actor playing Gaston.
Holy cow, the pipes on this guy. And he's also, like, super fit and super cut.
I wanted to tell you, Sam, I actually worked out with him in the gym, and I didn't even know it.
[00:54:09] Speaker C: No way. Oh, my God.
[00:54:12] Speaker B: So the actor, he plays Gaston, he also plays Hercules and sees the adventure. So I went to the gym one day, which.
Which this is the first time I've used the gym on the ships. And it was awesome.
And this guy, big arms, taller than me, asked to use a piece of equipment I was using. Fine. And so we're lifting, like, next to each other, and.
And I was shocked and odd. Later that night, it seized the adventure when I see him come out as Hercules.
[00:54:43] Speaker C: Like, first I was intimidated by his body, and now I'm intimidated by his voice.
[00:54:48] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly.
But he was, wow, really incredible.
[00:54:53] Speaker C: Oh, that's awesome.
[00:54:54] Speaker B: And then also, the tale of Moana was. I mean, exceptional.
[00:54:58] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Really, really well done shows. I think all three shows on the Treasure are really just incredible. If you watch the Beauty and the Beast or Moana that's on the TV in your stateroom, you're seeing cast number one. You're not seeing whatever cast cast is currently. It's not a live showing. It's a taped showing of a previous cast. But fantastic. If you can't get to the theater, I highly recommend watching it. It's not shown, like, all day. It's only shown, like, I think, like, three times, all in the evening, and it's shown the night that they're showing it in the theater. So if you. If you have a kid who can't sit still, it's actually a great place to watch a show in your. In your stateroom. All right, well. Well, I want to talk.
[00:55:45] Speaker D: I want to ask, what does your mom like the most on board? Like, what does she get up to?
[00:55:50] Speaker C: The kids? But, yeah, this is a good question, too.
[00:55:52] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:55:53] Speaker C: Steak.
[00:55:54] Speaker B: Oh, it's so interesting.
[00:55:57] Speaker A: She ate so much steak, and she loved it.
I. I tend. I'm not a vegetarian, but I tend to eat vegetarian on these cruises. And I'll tell you the reason, the main reason why.
The meat and stuff, it's too filling. The portions are too big, and I can't finish it. And the vegetarian plates, I can get through, and I enjoy them. But, yeah, she ate steak at almost every dinner, except one night she had lobster tail. I don't know beyond. I can't. That's the only thing I could think of as far as, like, what probably the thing I saw her doing the most.
[00:56:32] Speaker B: She loves the shows. She loves it all. The whole experience.
[00:56:35] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:56:38] Speaker B: Yeah. I think. I think after our cruise on the Wish, she told me it was the best vacation she'd ever had in her life. And.
And then at the. At the end of this one, I.
I asked her like, okay, you know, treasure versus the wish. And she says, oh, the treasure. I mean, the. The cruise is so much longer. It's so much. It's was everything. So I think she was just very happy with all of it. Yeah, but, yeah, she. She ate all the steaks.
[00:57:00] Speaker D: You mentioned that you booked. Did you book Enchante? Like, what did you book for adult dining? And. And who participated?
[00:57:06] Speaker B: So I booked Enchante. It was just my wife and I this time two years ago on the Wish, we did palo brunch as a group.
[00:57:12] Speaker D: Okay, What'd you think of Enchante?
[00:57:14] Speaker C: And you had the vegetarian menu?
[00:57:16] Speaker B: We did. We had the portager menu. I felt very welcomed and included by having a whole prefix vegetarian menu. The service was exceptional, but I think for us it's a one and done.
And I'll tell you why. I go to France all the time. The French are not great at vegetarian. They don't get it.
The French cuisine and vegetarian, they're just like.
[00:57:40] Speaker C: They're just not great. Perfectly compatible.
[00:57:42] Speaker B: They're not great friends. And basically you end up with everything being salt and butter. So the flavor profile is very one note. So I. I wouldn't say we didn't have anything bad. We. I think we could tell you about some really bad food we did eat on this cruise, by the way.
[00:57:55] Speaker C: Oh, really?
[00:57:56] Speaker D: Well, yes.
Let's go there.
[00:57:58] Speaker C: Wait, before. Before we get there, I want to say, I wonder if it would make more sense for you to do, like. I don't know if they still offer it, but they used this just dessert thing, right, where they did like a. Just like where you just booked like a dessert menu at Enchante. I don't know if they do it anymore, but they had. Where you would.
I think they might. Yeah, it might have gone by the wayside during COVID but you used to be able to book like a dessert only. So it was a. It was, of course, a lower price.
And then you just got the dessert courses. And I wonder if that would be a better option as a vegetarian, because at least you get. Get within dessert. You get different profile flavor profiles between, you know, different fruits and different chocolates and things like that. Because I can understand if everything is salt and butter. That's not really. I mean, it just doesn't make for like, seven courses. Right. It's fine for, like, two or three of them to be like that. But it just gets, like you said, one note after a while.
[00:58:55] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. I think it's just hard. I live in Europe and have access to wonderful food all the time.
And I travel for business a lot to Italy. So I. I have a lot of really nice business dinners in Milan. So it's just. It's hard.
But I'm. But I'm. But I, like, said I'm really grateful we did. Enchantee. It was on my bucket list. And I'm happy we went.
[00:59:16] Speaker C: I think you just have to eat meat, Jason.
[00:59:20] Speaker B: Yes, apparently, that's the answer.
[00:59:21] Speaker C: That's the answer.
[00:59:23] Speaker B: I do think if you're going to eat meat, then go enjoy it. It's really wonderful. Yeah.
[00:59:27] Speaker C: And fish, of course, is a, you know, a combination.
Okay, so we got it. Yeah. We got to ask you about. We like to ask about the good, bad, the ugly. Right? We.
We talk about good stuff, but we don't want to, you know, we don't want to gloss over. Sometimes you don't get great food or sometimes the service maybe doesn't meet certain standards.
What were the things that maybe didn't meet Disney's standards?
[00:59:50] Speaker B: I think we have to talk about second night at Marvel Restaurant.
[00:59:53] Speaker C: Oh, really?
My favorite dish is on that menu. I gotta warn you, my favorite, the salmon dish that I have there is excellent. I don't know if it. I mean, if it's overcooked, it's terrible. But, you know, so we didn't order that.
[01:00:07] Speaker B: But this was. Well, it's two things on. On World of Marvel Night 2. This is our first time doing World of Marvel Night 2.
Very quickly, I will say we are really looking forward to the new show, but our hot take is that there wasn't enough show. Like, we really expected a lot more Groot and Rocket. And there. It's very limited. You're sitting there doing mostly trivia for an hour.
[01:00:31] Speaker C: That's true. 100. You're 100% not enough fruit and Rocket. The problem is, is they went too far. The opposite direction of Night one. Right. Night one is like a little too much show, and then Night two is just too little show. It's like, there's not a great balance. They went. I think, yeah, both of them are a little bit too far. I think the Night two is better because it's a little Bit less interrupting, but. But, you know, I think they're also trying to be.
[01:00:57] Speaker D: I think they're also trying to be somewhat responsive.
[01:01:00] Speaker A: There's.
[01:01:00] Speaker D: There's plenty of guests who have sort of said, hey, can we just have a family dinner that's not overpowered by your show? So it's like, you know, it's kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. But yeah, yeah, yeah.
[01:01:11] Speaker B: Well, we're big Guardians of the Galaxy fans, the kids and even Vera. Like, we. We love Groot. We love Rocket. Rocket is like one of Casper's top tier Disney characters.
And we just. We left us wanting more. We expected, I guess, because on night one, you get so much show. We probably expected that much show of Groot Rocket, and it wasn't there, but pivoting to the food we like. So I think I ordered. There was some sort of, like, vegetarian mushroom strudel kind of thing.
A fancy Hot Pocket, if it were.
And Paris, I think you and Vera ordered the, like, the udon noodle and tofu. And then it felt like we had a great service team on this cruise, by the way. Exceptional.
Like, I think the best of the three cruises we've had easily, it felt like, I think within 30 seconds of them putting those dishes down on our table and us trying them, they were honest and said, do you want something else?
[01:02:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
So they knew. They knew these were not good dishes. Yeah, yeah. Oh, what about. Well, at least they were Johnny on the spot, right? Like, that's the thing is, like, if they. I mean, and maybe did they make other recommendations to you or.
[01:02:23] Speaker B: No, when I look at the rest of the menu, all the meat dishes, they had all these lovely sides with them. So we just said, bring all the sides of everything.
And we. And they were delicious. Delicious vegetables. I can't remember what they were, but all the things that they normally put meat on top of were really good, actually.
It just wasn't. Wasn't a meal. We kind of missed the protein on that one.
[01:02:44] Speaker C: Yeah. Paris, did you have the. The same reaction to that meal?
[01:02:48] Speaker A: Yes. So, you know, I took a few bites of the udon and was like, okay, I. I really didn't care for it, but I'd had worse things. But then Jason was like, I don't think I want this. He pushed his plate away. And then Vera goes, yeah, I don't like this either. And I said, no, this is not good.
And so I tried the strudel and I literally took a bite and spat it out on the plate.
[01:03:13] Speaker C: I was like, oh, that's really bad.
[01:03:16] Speaker A: You know, I was not expecting for it to be bad as it was. Right. Like, if it was just like kind of bad, you know, like, I, I would eat it, you know. But it was so, like, I reflexively spat it out.
Yeah. So they, they got us.
[01:03:31] Speaker C: This is good to know.
[01:03:32] Speaker A: Yeah. They brought me the ratatouille that I'd had the night before at 1923, which was good.
[01:03:39] Speaker B: But we had, we had other amazing meals.
[01:03:41] Speaker A: My biggest criticism of Marvel. So the food, yeah, that was not good. They took care of it. They brought us stuff. They were giving the kids special meals the whole time. And like, you know, we got the whole princess treatment that you expect. And our lead server, Natasha, like moved mountains to get two different.
Got him a veggie chicken burger and an impossible burger on deck for Casper.
Like, yeah, she did a lot to get whatever they wanted. Got something off the room service menu brought there. So they were fantastic. I don't care for the shows at Marvel. I don't care for the interactive nature. I would rather sit back and eat my food and watch a show.
It was just, especially with the trivia. There was so much trivia. It just really distracted from being able to spend time together that there. It just felt like there was this pressure to do the trivia. And I also have sensory issues and there's something about the noise and the setup in that room.
Just. I don't like it. And we discussed that if we go on a Wish Class ship again, we're going to skip marble altogether and just go to concierge lounge. Or I guess Vera had some dinner in front of Funnel Vision one night and really enjoyed it.
[01:04:58] Speaker B: We had an amazing pizza from the pool deck. It was fresh made with.
With veggie sausage and arugula. I mean, honestly, I, I would pay money for that to eat that pizza again. It was good.
[01:05:10] Speaker C: Yeah. Honestly. There's so many other options. Like of course at dinner time you've got to time it right for like the pizza places open during dinner time. The other places actually close right before then. Right. So the, like, not all of them, but Mickey Smokestack and Donald's Cantina both close at 6pm typically. And so if you are wanting them for dinner, you got to grab it early right before they close.
But pizza. And I forget what time the grill is open from. Both of those are. One of those at least is available sometimes. Both of those are available.
There's great stuff there. If you're saying concierge, of course. You can go to the lounge and get food there. And then the room service menu is also a good option.
The sleeper hit that Brian and I both really like is doing the pub food, of course that you have to pay for. It's not included.
But there's some really good pub food in that Periscope pub. You know, one place we didn't touch on. I want to ask you because this is the one place that's different from the Wish, which is Coco.
I gotta ask how you guys enjoyed the show and the food there. I'm particularly curious about the vegetarian food there. Jason.
[01:06:23] Speaker B: Incredible, amazing, fantastic. Especially night two at Cocoa. So I, I did request for us to have our last dinner be at Cocoa because I wanted like that just super sweet cathartic dinner moment on the, on the last night. And boy did they deliver. And the food was amazing. Guacamole, amazing. I think I had type enchiladas. I can't remember now.
It was, it was maybe the.
Well, we had a fantastic meal in 1923 one night and then the Coco night two, I think was the other standout rotation meal that we had, especially as a vegetarian. Super, super happy and the show was super touching. And being concierge, we had a table right next to the stage. So, you know, we really got the full, the full experience. It was wonderful.
[01:07:11] Speaker C: The princess treatment, as I, as I like to call it. All right, well, I want to ask about the kids.
This rounding out the. Yeah, you brought them with you, right? They came. Right. Okay. So you got.
[01:07:24] Speaker B: Well, I have to wonder why we keep bringing them sometimes.
[01:07:26] Speaker C: I know, I mean, you know, because, you know, because it's, you know, they frown on leaving children alone for multiple days. I mean, I don't know, just like set out some, some, you know, newspaper and some cereal. They'll be fine, right?
No, but I'm curious about Willa and Casper's experience.
Like food wise was very good because the. Your servers took really good care of them and making sure they were accommodated. But I'm curious about like the kids club and other experiences. You mentioned Willa making a friend.
I know she's kids club age and I know that Casper is edge age just like our son Nathan is. I'm curious as to whether or not either of them use the kids club. Use the. Use edge and sort of what they're experience on board look like. Jason.
[01:08:14] Speaker B: Yeah, so. So my kids are really not big kids club kids, much to my disappointment. I think this is the first cruise that I just fully accepted it and said it's fine. Fine. We gotta stop trying.
But they did both go for a little bit at different times.
So here's another example of where I took your advice, Sam. I had reached out on the Facebook group ahead of the cruise and solicited friends for my kids.
And I. And I got them. So Willa made a friend. Noel. We did a FaceTime before the cruise and they got to meet and they were basically inseparable the whole cruise. They did go to the kids club on the first few days. They went to the kids club a bit. But then I think after that they just kind of. We let them free roam, you know, with. With a phone. You know, they had a phone. And we had set check in times, so we saw them frequently. And they always follow through on the check in time. They're always there right on time. And we had, you know, all the parents had each other's numbers. We were whatsapping each other. It went off flawless. We had also made some other friends, actually a Dutch family. They live in the Netherlands. We met them on the Facebook group. We had them over to our house a few weeks before the cruise, got to know them.
So they had three kids and a.
A boy who was friends with Casper. They got on pretty well the first couple days, but then they kind of fell out a little bit. But it was okay. I think the friend is two years younger and was on the cusp. He could go to the kids club still. And he really enjoyed going to the kids club and Casper was not gonna do that. So. So this is why we bring grandma and cool Aunt Paris because they. Casper gets to hang out with them too.
[01:09:58] Speaker A: I got jealous with the kids with how much Willow was hanging out with Noelle. I was like, okay, I guess she doesn't like me anymore.
[01:10:05] Speaker C: You've been replaced, Paris. You've been replaced. You've been replaced by a child. It doesn't take much.
[01:10:11] Speaker A: I didn't mind having Casper hang out with. With me and. And I will say too, I told Natasha on her last night and stuff. I really feel like Casper had the best week of his entire life. Like, he seemed so moved and had such a good time. You know, not everything's perfect all the time. But he really, I think, got a lot out of this trip.
[01:10:32] Speaker B: I would agree. I think the other cruises being short and being new ships, you know, that comes with certain expectations and anxieties, even for children.
This the treasure being the same layout as the wish. So we already knew where everything was instantly. The moment we walked on and we were in concierge Again, we actually booked the same concierge rooms that we had on the Wish. They were the exact same staterooms, stateroom numbers. So it really felt, I think coming home and having the extra time, the seven nights really benefited Casper in a way that he was able to be calm and relaxed and enjoy himself, I think, the most. Even though he says he loves all the cruises, I think this one was probably the best for him.
[01:11:09] Speaker C: Yeah, he had enough time to kind of get used to it. And that was actually really smart to book the same stateroom. I mean, if you can. We like, we actually are kind of creatures of habit. We like to book either the same stateroom or in the same kind of location for every cruise, even as long as the same class of ship will book that either that same room or one off if that one's not available. So I do think that can help anyone, but especially kids with sensory issues and who might take a little bit more to get comfortable. I think that's. It's a really smart tip that I would give to anyone. Whatever you can do to get your kid more comfortable from the get go, you know, do that. If that's watching videos ahead of time, do that. If that's staying in the same stateroom or close to the same stateroom, like, or same category of stateroom, like, do that. Right. Like, these are the things that will make your vacation a lot more enjoyable. And because if your kids are relaxed and happy, it's a lot easier as an adult to be relaxed and happy. And I think it's awesome that Aunt Paris and grandma could be there because you guys live so far away. And so to be able to have, you know, that time together and be able to, you know, that way, you know, Jason, you and Vera get a little bit of date night time, but Paris and grandma get time with, with the kids. That's a really lovely thing about traveling with family as well.
Now, is there, is there anything we missed before we, you know, Paris has never been subject to a rapid fire round here on the show, so I think it's about that time. But have we missed anything that happened on the cruise or that was memorable or remarkable about this sailing?
[01:12:56] Speaker B: I think maybe we should talk about churro waffles.
[01:12:59] Speaker A: And I had them both days.
[01:13:01] Speaker B: Yes, she's a pro.
So we have. We have.
Yes, we have maybe two.
Yeah. Paris has notes. Paris, you go first, and then I'll share the other churro waffle anecdote.
[01:13:13] Speaker A: So I will say we did churro waffles in concierge were on Tuesday, and then the Marceline market were on Thursday.
And so we had them on concierge on Tuesday. And they were fresh and so good. But then I went to Marceline Market on Thursday. I was just up early. Nobody else was. I was just like, I'm just gonna. They're there. I'm gonna go get them.
And they're not made fresh, you know, and they're not cold. But just compared to having already had them, like freshly placed on a plate versus in a tray and the heat lamp was not. Was not as good.
[01:13:47] Speaker B: Good.
[01:13:47] Speaker A: They're delightful, though.
[01:13:49] Speaker B: And I will add, we. We almost didn't get to have any concierge Churro Mickey waffles. This was our St. Thomas Day, and our port adventure call time was 7:45 in the morning.
And we're not really morning people, our family. Not really, no. So we. We were up on time and trying to get everybody out the door that the. The goal was to get to the lounge by 7:15. So then we have at least 30 minutes to have breakfast. And then to get downstairs to camera, we needed to be. I think it was Worlds of Marvel actually was our gathering point that morning.
So no one was ready. I. I got to the lounge. I ran to the lounge, like 7:25, 7:30.
And you know, they're all there. It's great. The trill waffles are being set on everybody else's tables, but you have to order them.
And the concierge lounge on the Wish class has warm food, but it is not fast food. You. It. It's not. It takes time. And time is one thing I did not have. So I told the host what was going on. I said our Port Adventure call times at 7:45. We have to be downstairs. I know. It's true. Waffle day. I need to have those troll waffles.
They said, well, it's going to take 20 minutes. And I said, I've got 10.
What can we do? What can we do? So they did.
They did they shout out to Kamesha, she is amazing.
They were on their walkie talkies calling in like a 911 for churro waffles for our party. Like calling 911. Call a 911. The troll waffles.
[01:15:27] Speaker D: What's the overhead PA code for Nichura waffles?
[01:15:29] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
[01:15:31] Speaker C: Star code. Star code. Yeah, star code. Star code. Churro waffles.
[01:15:36] Speaker B: Exactly. So she ran back to the kitchen.
I could hear her voice, you know, shouting something out like, we need this right now.
Within. I think less than 60 seconds. They came out with just one big plate with about eight churro waffles sitting on top of it in the middle, sweet cream inside. Set them on the table, said, here you go.
Thank you. You made it happen.
[01:15:56] Speaker D: The one thing, the one tip I might give you if you do something like this again, Jason, is tell them the night before.
If you tell them the night before, then what they can do is as soon as they open, they're making your batch of churro waffles. You walk in and they've. They've. They've got them there for you. So, yeah, yeah, if you tell them the night before, they might be able to make it happen a little. A little faster for you.
[01:16:15] Speaker B: Yeah, that's good advice. My plan was to be on time, and I should have known better.
[01:16:19] Speaker C: Right, right. You know, you gotta know thyself and know thy family. Absolutely, Absolutely. Well, listen, it's. I have to say, absolutely, they're better when they're fresh. They're not bad in Marceline Mark, but they're even better when they've just been freshly made. But as you mentioned, it's delicious hot food. It is not fast food. Like, so, regardless of what you order in terms of that. That menu, that hot menu in the concierge lounge, it takes, you know, good food takes time. Right. That's why the French take forever to make all of their food, because it takes time and love. All right, well, I think it's about that time, Brian.
[01:16:57] Speaker D: I was gonna say, Sam, I think it is time for us to have you subject, I think. Are you gonna do both?
[01:17:02] Speaker C: I'm just gonna do it. No, I'm just gon.
Jason's already done. Actually, Jason will get the one. He'll get one question, but if you
[01:17:09] Speaker D: want to check this out after the fact, it'll be up on YouTube. You can see Jason's reactions.
But yes, we have reached that time of the show where. Paris, I need to hand you back over to Sam for some arbitrary questions, some arbitrary rules, and a dash of judgment are the round we call rapid fire. Sam, take it away.
[01:17:25] Speaker C: All right, Paris, I'm going to ask you some Disney favorites, some Disney Cruise Line favorites, and your answer does not have to be from this trip on the Treasure. It can be across either the Disney Wonder, the Disney wish, or the Disney treasure. So you're free to answer with all the ships that you have been on. We're going to start with Disney Favorites. Who is your favorite Disney character? And Disney means anything and everything that Disney owns. So you can even pick, like, Bart Simpson.
[01:17:50] Speaker A: Muppets.
All of them. Especially Gonzo.
[01:17:55] Speaker C: All of them. I love it. Perfect.
[01:17:56] Speaker A: I like Gonzo because he's a weirdo.
[01:17:58] Speaker C: Same. I love him too.
Favorite Disney movie.
[01:18:02] Speaker A: Favorite Disney movie. You know, Willow was asking me this. It's so hard to choose. But my favorite princess movie is Mulan, because I like that she proved that she can do the same things that boys can do and better.
[01:18:16] Speaker C: Love it. Perfect.
All right. Favorite Disney song.
[01:18:21] Speaker A: Surface pressure from encounter.
[01:18:23] Speaker C: Yeah. Fantastic. Love it. All right. On board. Disney Cruise Line. What is your favorite Disney Cruise Line? Main stage show in the Walt Disney Theater, Moana Austin. Perfect. Favorite rotational dining again across all three ships.
[01:18:38] Speaker A: Animator's palette. Animator's palette on the wonder. Because I know it's different on the magic. Animator's palette on the wonder.
[01:18:45] Speaker C: Favorite savory food and favorite sweet food. We start with the sweets because the savories are the best. So we save the best for last. So a favorite sweet food and then a favorite savory food.
[01:18:56] Speaker A: Probably the churro, Mickey waffle and then savory. So the best thing I had on the treasure that, like, I took a bite and went the celeriac guacamole appetizer at is it Plaza de Coco. On the second night, they ended up bringing me a second one. Honestly, I wish I hadn't ordered an entree. And I would have just ordered like five of those. It was so good.
[01:19:18] Speaker C: I love it. I love it.
[01:19:19] Speaker A: It's just guacamole and chips with some stuff, but it was great.
[01:19:22] Speaker C: Favorite activity to do on a Disney cruise.
[01:19:25] Speaker A: My favorite is to spend time with my family.
I went to Haunted Mansion like three or four times and just hung out.
[01:19:31] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a super cool space. All right, this is the most important. It's the second to last question in rapid fire, but it's actually the most important question in rapid fire. And this can get you the most judgment. What is your favorite ship of the three that you've been on?
[01:19:46] Speaker A: The treasure.
[01:19:47] Speaker C: All right, no judgment. Congratulations.
[01:19:50] Speaker A: There's things I like about all of them. I wish the animators palette was on the treasure instead of Marvel, but yeah, I'd say over all the treasure.
[01:19:58] Speaker C: All right, Jason, I have to throw this over to you because now you've bid on the treasure. What's your favorite ship?
[01:20:04] Speaker B: So the correct answer is the treasure.
[01:20:06] Speaker C: That's right.
[01:20:08] Speaker B: It is the treasure.
But I will say that we do not have agreement on this in our household. Vera has some hot takes.
[01:20:16] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
Is she gonna. I mean, The Wonder is a fantastic ship. So if she chooses the Wonder, she won't get judgment, but she will get judgment if she chooses the wish. So I gotta just put that out there. All right, well, I'm not gonna ask it because we gotta have Vera on the show so that I can ask her directly and give her my judgment in person.
Okay, so my last question, Paris, is your bucket list cruise. What I mean by that is if you could go anywhere in the world and it would be on a Disney ship, it doesn't have to even be someplace that Disney Cruise Line currently sails to. This is your, like, imaginary itinerary. And it just has to be someplace accessible by water. So where would you like to go?
[01:20:56] Speaker A: Either Australia or South America.
[01:20:58] Speaker C: Awesome. Both fantastic bucket list choices. Well, thank you for playing.
You have passed with flying colors. You did not get any judgment, really, especially with that Gonzo answer. Came right out of left field. But it's like it might be the winner of today's Rapid Fire, because I, of course, love the Muppets, and I also love Gonzo and think that he is wonderfully weird. So thank you both for playing.
Well, I mean, thank you both for coming back. Thank you for playing on the limited question, Jason.
It's just been lovely to have you both. Lovely to have you back, Jason. Lovely to meet you, Paris.
We hope that you will come back.
I know Brian wants to ask. Ask. So I'll. I'll end there.
[01:21:44] Speaker D: What's next, Jason?
[01:21:46] Speaker B: We are having a lot of discussions. It is not clear.
[01:21:49] Speaker C: Oh, what. What's the debate between. Maybe we could help solve the. The debate.
[01:21:54] Speaker B: So the. The debate is there's. It's multifaceted.
So the plan right now and. And when. This will be the kids finding out when they listen to this episode for the first time. But the plan right now is two years from now, in 20. 28. 8. We're gonna do Olani, and we're gonna try to go for two weeks. It's a really big trip from Amsterdam to go to Hawaii, and we're doing it two years out because my sister is having a milestone birthday.
What's the real reason we're going to Aulani, Paris?
[01:22:26] Speaker A: Because Mom's never been.
[01:22:28] Speaker B: Well, so the debate is Paris and I talked a lot, and we want to do more cruises, but our mother insists this. Our mother insists that she needs to go to Hawaii before she's too old to enjoy Hawaii.
[01:22:39] Speaker A: Personally, I would love to do more cruises, but there's only so much time and so many dollars, and I want to do Aulani. Because one thing when we were in St Thomas and when we would go to the destinations that I thought was like, wouldn't it be nice to just already be on the island and be able to just go to the beach?
[01:22:58] Speaker C: True.
[01:22:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:22:59] Speaker A: Not mean to get on and off of a boat. Boat.
[01:23:01] Speaker D: Yeah.
[01:23:02] Speaker C: Can't argue with that a lot.
[01:23:04] Speaker D: Look, Alani, you cannot go wrong with Alani. We own it. Alani, we love. I got my favorite vacations of of the last several months was our two weeks we spent in Hawaii at Alani on our points.
And yeah, you look, you can't. It's like we always say it's the closest you can get to a Disney cruise on land. So I think you'll have a fabulous time and you can't make the wrong decision here.
And so yeah. So Jason Paris, just one more time I'll say thank you for taking of your time to come on the show, share these experiences with our guests and we just, we just super appreciate it.
[01:23:38] Speaker B: Thank you so much guys. It was awesome to see you again and I'm really trying to get on a cruise again and I'll let you know.
[01:23:45] Speaker D: All right.
[01:23:47] Speaker B: When we figure I'm in a blue sky mode for the next DCL cruise.
[01:23:58] Speaker E: Well, thanks everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate it. 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. So be sure to hit those five stars on Apple Podcasts. And if you leave us a written review, a five 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 dclduoypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. You if you've got questions or you'd like to connect with us, the best way to do that is to head over to DCLDuo.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 where we sell some fun fan inspired magnets Link to our Patreon if you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO also has a way for you to sign up for our Substack newsletter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here at least, and a few blog articles that we've written, so DCLDuo.com is the best way to connect with us. You can also of course email
[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 the show are solely those of the individuals on the podcast and in no way reflective views 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.
[01:26:00] Speaker D: Good night.
[01:26:06] Speaker C: Sam.
