Ep. 686 - 3 Cruises, 2 Ships, 0 Excursions: A Disney Cruise Line "Triple Header"

[00:00:00] Speaker A: And while we were sitting there, Thor and Dr. Strange are like walking around on deck four, like meeting people. And then we're like, hey, do you guys want to go be on our trivia team? And they're like, yeah, let's go. So the four of us adults go with Thor and Dr. Strange to O Gills to do trivia. [00:00:33] Speaker B: Welcome back everybody, to this week's episode of the DCL Duo podcast, brought to you by WeDoTravel. Right. And Sam, it's time for your jingle. [00:00:42] Speaker C: Woo hoo. I love it. Simply the best. Better than all the rest. [00:00:49] Speaker B: All right, this week's listen review comes from It's M O M M E G W. So I'm gonna go with mom Meg W. Who writes, hands down, all caps. The absolute best Disney cruise podcast out there. Sam and Brian provide an insightful and entertaining podcast on all things Disney Cruising. A wealth of information is always shared, regardless if you are a Disney novice or a Disney enthusiast. Once you begin listening, you will be hooked. Full of tips and tricks. Never boring, honest, and always cheerful. Be sure to check them out. Our family is always excited to take a listen to their latest episode. Well, thank you so much for that review. I'm going to call you Meg. Meg, thank you so much for that review. We appreciate it. I'm wearing my Brian hat from Family Guy, so if your name is Meg, we've been watching a little Family Guy around this house and honest and always [00:01:37] Speaker C: cheerful is funny because I think that Brian hits very heavy on the honesty and I am probably the cheerful one. I don't think people generally describe you as cheerful, Brian. [00:01:48] Speaker B: Let's just call a spade a spade. I'm the wet blanket on the show, but that's fine. All right, I asked the penetrating question. Sam keeps the show moving. All right, with that, I just want to remind everyone out there a little psa. 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We've got kind of a complicated Dance Dance Revolution style crew setup today. So I know you're memorizing it pre show. [00:02:53] Speaker C: So, yes, we're going to be talking about a side to side to back cruise. That's what I'm going to call this. So it's actually. Or just a triple header. That's another. Another way to describe this. [00:03:06] Speaker B: To the side, to the side, to [00:03:08] Speaker C: the back, to the back, to the back, to the front, to the front. Slide, baby. Sorry. Okay, sorry. Everything's a song in. In our household. [00:03:16] Speaker B: Maybe we should call this kind of a setup a slide to slide cruise. [00:03:21] Speaker C: I like that. I like that. [00:03:22] Speaker D: Well, there you go. [00:03:23] Speaker C: Well, I'm. I'm super excited. Uh, our guests. We have two guests today with us, but Todd reached out to us about this tripleheader, wanting to, you know, talk about he and Erica's cruises. You guys have, like, a great. We have a great itinerary on tap for today, basically. But before we talk about exactly which cruises you guys did, I gotta introduce you guys and welcome you to the show. Welcome, Todd and Erica. [00:03:48] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you for having us. [00:03:50] Speaker C: Yeah, we're super excited to have you both. Let's start with Disney background. Disney cruising background. Like, which one of you started your Disney journey, like, first? Are, like, both of you like Disney kids to adult, or did one of you start later than the other? [00:04:06] Speaker A: I blame it all on Todd. I never went to Disney World until I was 28 years old. And no one believes that because now we're so far full on Disney. Everything but full on Disney adult. Yeah, it's Todd's fault, so I'll let him tell his little story. [00:04:26] Speaker C: All right, Todd. [00:04:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:27] Speaker D: So I did go to Disney World once when I was a kid in 1988. I was 7 years old and went. But that did not start our obsession. Instead, I used to work in college athletics, and I was traveling with our school softball team down to the Orlando area, Central Florida. And there was an off day and I was like, let me. Let me see what's going on. Like, I know Disney World's around here. Let me. Let me go check it out. But I didn't know anything about it. And so this one year, I went over towards. I was actually the Boardwalk area and to Epcot. And they said it was like $67 to get in, which I was. And I was like, no way. No chance. I'm doing that now. We jump at that. [00:05:07] Speaker B: Right. [00:05:09] Speaker C: I would get $67. Yeah. I'd be like, sign me up. How do I go fly there? [00:05:14] Speaker A: Just to go. [00:05:15] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. [00:05:17] Speaker D: So I did a little bit of research in the ensuing year and went back the next year and had learned about Animal Kingdom Lodge and went over to Animal Kingdom Lodge again on a kind of an off day and walked in the lobby. And the moment I walked in the lobby, like, it's. It's all kind of short. And then you walk in and it just comes up like that. And at that moment, I was like, oh, we have to go on vacation here. So ironically, we've never stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge. [00:05:43] Speaker C: That lobby is really beautiful. [00:05:45] Speaker D: Yeah, exactly. But we've gone to Animal Kingdom Lodge. Yeah, exactly. Every time we go, we're at Animal Kingdom Lodge at some point. So we started off as parks people, obviously, given this story, the following year, 2007, is our first trip, and we went to Disney World for a week. We stayed at Coronado Springs, and that started an obsession that's almost 20 years now. And we started off as parks people. Our first Cruise was in 2013 on the Dream. And we've cruised a lot more recently. Like we did 2013, we did the Magic in 2015, the Fantasy in 2018, and now we're up to our three cruises, up to 15 now. So. So we've kind of shifted a little bit where we're not going to parks, but we're going on. On more cruises. For us, that's just where the value and the enjoyment is currently. But, yeah, that's kind of how. How we got started. Animal Kingdom Lodge is what. What got us into Disney. [00:06:46] Speaker A: Interestingly, on our first cruise, I always wanted to go on a cruise. So then we were like, well, Disney cruise and. Or Disney and a cruise. And back then I was getting into running and I said, well, if I can run the Disney Half Marathon, we should go on a cruise. And Todd said, okay, because he probably didn't think I was going to do it. And then when I was training, the first day, I ran 10 miles. He saw. He booked the cruise the next day. It was awesome. [00:07:14] Speaker C: Yeah, because if you can run. So the PSA, if you can run 10 miles, you can run 13.1. That's just 100. Yeah, yeah, 100. [00:07:23] Speaker A: And we both got back from the cruise and we're like, that was kind of fun. I could do it again. But, you know, we like the parks, and we kind of went back to parks, and about three, four months after the cruise, independently, we both came home one day and we're like, you know, that was pretty fun. We should do that again. And now we haven't actually been in the parks for a parks trip since 2020, since before COVID And we've just been full on cruising. [00:07:50] Speaker C: Yeah. Now, are you guys still doing, like, the races? I know in the background, Todd's got a bunch of his, you know, rundisney races and rundisney, like, medals. And the ears, of course, that are from the marathon, which those ears you get if you are actually complete a full marathon. I do not own a pair of those. I have the ears that I have bought, like Mickey ears with my name on the back, but not those ears. Not the marathon ears. Ryan does have from 2020. He has a pair of marathon ears as well. [00:08:21] Speaker A: I think this is also kind of interesting because I'm the one who started the rundisney, because I said, well, if I do this Disney half marathon, we'll go on a Disney cruise. So I blame that on me. And Todd was a runner at the time and would just go run every single day because he can. And he's like, sure, I'll do it. Didn't train at all. And he got done and said, that was awful. I don't know how they get anyone to do a full marathon. It was the worst thing ever. I'm never doing that again. And then fast forward, he had knee surgery. And as he was recovering from knee surgery in 2015, he said, oh. He was watching the finish of the marathon online, and he said, well, if all these people can do it, I could probably do it. But he doesn't do anything part way because he said, well, if I could do the marathon. And then I was like, well, I'll do the half marathon. He's like, okay, I'll do that with you. And he's like, well, if I'm going do both of those, then you know what's coming. [00:09:15] Speaker C: I might as well do the dopey. You might as well do that. If you're doing. Once you're doing a Goofy, you might as well do the dopey. I mean, oh, my God, you're so. [00:09:23] Speaker A: He did his dopey and he got done with the marathon. And he walked up to me and he said. I said, how was it? And he's like, I don't know. And I was like, we're doing this again, aren't we? So I have not run in several years for Run Disney. I don't really. My body is not good at that anymore. But Todd now is obsessed, so. [00:09:43] Speaker D: So I've done dopey every even year since 2018. And I'm signed up this coming January since. Even though it's an odd January because this past year I had had an injury and couldn't finish the half or the full, so. Or didn't even start them. So I need to some redemption there. [00:10:04] Speaker C: Okay, so you're a crazy person. I just want to put that out there. But you're also really similar to another crazy person I know. Br. Brian. Like, Todd doesn't do anything halfway. It's like he's like, it's all or nothing. So, like full on when he was doing a lot of running. He was like full on with running when he. When we started the podcast. Full on with the podcast when we started just doing Disney. Full on with Disney. Like, he's the reason. I mean, I am more of like childhood Disney fan and throughout, but like, he's the reason we bought dvc. He's. Yeah, it's. So it's all. And the reason we started this podcast, it's all. It's. It's all on him. I. And that's for good or bad. [00:10:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:48] Speaker D: So if you're gonna like something, go all out on it. [00:10:51] Speaker C: I know. So let's. [00:10:53] Speaker A: You guys have Disney when he runs. [00:10:55] Speaker C: Right? Exactly. So I'm. I'm with you, Erica. I'm. I'm fine with that. Now you. You have sailed now 15 times these last three sailings that we're gonna talk about. Three sailings is kind of crazy. You did, as I mentioned, at the top, you did a side to side to back. And what I mean by that is you were on the Destiny, then you switched ports and ships and got on the Fantasy, and then you did another on the Fantasy. A second. So you did a back to back on the Fantasy. So that's what I'm calling a side to side to back triple header. Brian wants to call it a slide to slide. Whatever. Slide to slide to slide. I don't know. I. Anyway, what gave you the crazy idea to do this? You guys, like, who. Which one of you decided on this? And what, like, what was. Why did you choose this? Doing it this way? Like, if you're going to do like a side to side, why are you. Why are you switching ports? Why are you doing two different ships? [00:11:54] Speaker A: And interestingly, it's not the first time we've switched ports here. So I think a couple of things. One is, I think we're both collectors, so getting each ship as they come out has become a thing. So we knew we needed to go on the Destiny. May is a good time of year for us to travel. We get pretty good rates still because the schools aren't out, but we're done. We teach work at a university so that timing works out. So we had the Destiny booked for a while and then we had last year gone on the Treasure in May and we started thinking, you know, but we really love the Fantasy. And if we just keep going on the new ships, then what about the old ships? We don't want them to forget us. [00:12:37] Speaker C: So I, I, you know, I often think like, you know, is the Disney Destiny thinking about me as much as I'm thinking about it? Is Disney Wonder thinking about me? [00:12:49] Speaker A: All those cast members, which I'm sure we'll get into, we love cast members, so. And also we're coming from Pennsylvania, so going down to Florida for just a, just a, for a five night cruise is kind of. We're looking for something else to do. And I think as Todd mentioned, the cruises seem to be where the value is for us right now. The parks are just so expensive. Everything's expensive. But so we started looking and the fantasy was the next day. So we're like, well, that works out. I have an aunt and uncle who live near Port Everglades, so that's very convenient for lodging and transportation and food. So. So that happened. And then I don't know exactly how the second fantasy happened. [00:13:39] Speaker C: It just happened. Somehow you ended up doing that. [00:13:42] Speaker A: It just kind of happened. Yeah, it just kind of happened. And we were like, why? Well, we haven't done back to back. So again, back to that collecting. We hadn't had that experience yet, so now we can check it off the list. [00:13:54] Speaker D: And I think with that too, I think it somewhat happened because we were like, we can do a four night. It was a five on the Destiny, five night on the Fantasy, and then four night on the Fantasy. [00:14:02] Speaker C: Oh, wow. So you total. [00:14:04] Speaker D: Yeah. And the, and the adding the extra fortnite on the Fantasy. It only added two more vacation days from work. So it was kind of like, well, as long as we're already there and it's only two more days off, like we might as well make it happen. [00:14:18] Speaker C: That's amazing. Now when you did you, you booked the Destiny first and then you booked Fantasy. Now when you booked the Fantasy, were you Able to book the same room so that you wouldn't have to change rooms in between? [00:14:31] Speaker A: No, unfortunately no because we didn't book them at the same. [00:14:36] Speaker C: Yeah, I wasn't sure about that. Yeah. [00:14:38] Speaker A: So we are something you'll learn through this conversation. We are inside room people. We are not spending money usually on excursions. We're happy with the ship. But there's a little secret on the Fantasy and Dream, maybe on other ships, but there's an inside room on deck two that used to be an accessible room and is no longer, I don't know, classified. [00:15:02] Speaker C: Yeah. So yeah, it probably meets certain accessibility standards but doesn't meet all of them or something like that now. [00:15:10] Speaker A: So it's this little hidden gem because there's a ton of space and the bathroom is big and the, you know, walk in shower. I, you know, I think a shower where it's just in the room would be my dream I think after this. So we really wanted that room. When it came around to booking the second cruise it wasn't available. So we could have probably switched the first cruise to match the second but we didn't want those five nights not in that room. So we ended up switching rooms. We tried to put in a request ahead of time and we tried while we were on the first cruise to see like is there anything that can be done so we could stay. So we did have to move and I have to say we've always been fine with inside rooms in our second room was great. But after that first one with all the extra space I was like, oh this is terrible. [00:15:59] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I mean it's a, you got to kind of look at the trade offs. Right. Like if you really love a particular room but and you've got it for one cruise you've got to decide what's more worth it to you. Right. Having to switch rooms versus staying in that preferred room. And so I think it's, it's going to be a different call for different people or some people are going to be like, well I'd rather like to be perfectly honest. I would be okay with a slightly less desirable room if I don't have to put repack and move. Like I just love not having to move on a back to back cruise. But on the other hand I understand the extra space and having that, you know that really the accessible showers are awesome. I mean that's just like it's. Even if you don't need it, it's a really nice thing to have. [00:16:46] Speaker A: So yeah, I was concerned about the packing. I Wasn't sure how that was going to go, but it ended up working out fine. Mostly because the amount of cabinets and drawers were the same. So throwing everything in the bags and having the room hosts move them. Once I unpacked, it took 10 minutes because I was like, oh, I already know how I want to organize all of it, to me is the hardest part. So that part wasn't so bad. I guess I'll just add to the list of things to check off. Next time we'll do a back to back in the same room. So now we have to do it again. [00:17:25] Speaker C: Now you have to do it again. It's just another, this is how we get in trouble. [00:17:28] Speaker A: This is how we get in trouble. [00:17:30] Speaker C: We're just adding things to the bucket list for future completion. I Absolutely. Exactly. I want to back up and talk about some of the logistics of. Of all of this. Like, because there is some travel involved, obviously. I mean, you guys were coming down from. From Pennsylvania. You're first going to be going out of Port Canaveral and then second going to be going out of Port Everglades. Todd, walk me through. Oh, the other way around. That's right, sorry. Oh, right. Because you're going on the fantasy last. Right, sorry. Port Everglades is the Destiny and then Port Canaveral and Fantasy. Todd, walk me through the logistics of, like, when do you get to Florida and where do you stay? And then I want to talk about the transport situation as well. [00:18:15] Speaker D: Yeah. So for us, we actually left Pennsylvania and drove up to Rochester, New York, where my parents live, so they could watch our dog for us. So that was our first leg of the journey. And then we flew out of Rochester down to Fort Lauderdale, and the Destiny left on Saturday. We got to Fort Lauderdale on Friday evening. As Erica mentioned, her aunt and uncle live in the Fort Lauderdale area. So they picked us up from the airport. They took us out to dinner. Actually, I think we might have actually. They might have actually allowed us to pay for dinner that night. Yeah. Which never happens. And then the next morning, they took us to the port, so. So that was kind of. That was that beginning of logistics. Super easy. They live maybe 30, 35 minutes from the port, I think. So we got there probably about 10:45, 11:00'. Clock. They dropped us off, and we were on our way to boarding. [00:19:10] Speaker C: I love that. All right. That's like. That's the most seamless. It could all be. You don't even have to worry about parking yourself. Okay, I want to know. [00:19:19] Speaker A: Finish cruise one. [00:19:20] Speaker C: Yeah, finish cruise one. Erica, you take us through getting from Port Everglades after you finish cruise one to getting to Port Canaveral for cruise two. [00:19:30] Speaker A: So we got off the cruise. My uncle came and picked us up. We spent the day with them because we got off the ship on the Destiny on Thursday and if I'm correct, the Fantasy was leaving on Friday. So we spent the day with them again, went out to dinner. This time they did not let us by, but we had really good Indian food. And then we rented a car. So they have an Enterprise rental that was right near them. So we rented a car that we picked up Thursday afternoon. Friday morning we got up, drove up to the port, and then that was it. I think we got. We. We left a little bit later. Our port arrival time was maybe 12:15, a little bit on the late side, which is just happening now that there's so many people using Disney transportation. And we left a little bit later than we probably would have, figuring we least stay and have breakfast with them, hang out a little bit before we book out of town. So Todd dropped me off then at the port with the luggage. We got that all done. He went over to return the car and then came back and then it was time to board the Fantasy. [00:20:35] Speaker C: I love that. All right, so you end up just having to have the car one night, then not even a full 24 hours. I mean, you're paying for like a 24 hour rental, but you don't actually even have it for a 24 hour period of time. That makes it super easy. And then Todd, did you take the shut back from the rental car agency to the port? [00:20:56] Speaker D: I did. I took the shuttle. And it was actually kind of funny because the driver, he was complaining because there was three different parties on the shuttle, all to three different ships. And so he's kind of grumbling about that and he's like, oh, gee, the fantasy, that's always the worst one. Like right at this time it was like 12, right around 12:30 or so. And he's like, this is the time it gets so backed up. So he dropped someone off. The Wish was in port. So he dropped someone off at the Wish, and then I think he had someone else for a Royal Caribbean ship. And he started heading over that way past the Fantasy. And I'm like, ah, darn, I'm gonna be last. But, oh, well. And then all of a sudden he pulls into one of the lots that are right next to the parking garage and is like, okay, you can get out. So then he, he avoided the drop off. Line and just had me get out there and I just, I just crossed the road and I was right there. [00:21:45] Speaker C: Yeah. And that actually makes it easier because you didn't have the luggage because you had already dropped off Erica with the luggage. So it, you weren't having to like schle the luggage from one end to the other. You're just being dropped off. You're with, you know, maybe you have like your passport or whatever. That's, that's awesome, actually. [00:22:01] Speaker A: Yeah. So I went from getting a text of Todd saying, we're just approaching the ports, there's a lot of traffic, to him walking up behind me and startling me and he's like, that was the best shuttle driver ever. And then we were headed into the port. [00:22:15] Speaker C: Yeah. Because he figured out the shortcut. I love that. Okay, well, let's talk about the. I, I'm going to jump ahead to after cruise number two. To cruise number two. To two to three. I, I just think the logistics part is helpful for people to know like what, how a, you know, a side to side and how a back to back can work for your back to back part. So you're on the fantasy five nights. You're about to get on the fantasy for another four nights. Like where were what, what instructions did you receive from Disney Cruise Line, assuming you did the night before your debark embark day? [00:22:48] Speaker D: We received a letter that just came to our room in an envelope and that had all the instructions. It said to meet by the Vista Cafe in the fantasy between 9 and 9:15. They said we'd be escorted off the ship by 9:45 things. They said, leave your luggage. We talked with our room host just to make sure that if we needed to put our luggage tags on, she had put a Tinkerbell ones you would do if you're getting off. And I was like, should we put those on? She's like, yeah, put those on. Just, just write your room number. [00:23:21] Speaker A: Just leave it inside. [00:23:22] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:23:23] Speaker C: So, yeah, leaving it inside your room is key because if you put it in the hallway with those Tinkerbell tags or any of the character tags, then it's going out to the port because then they think that you're getting off the ship and somebody else might grab your bag. So, yeah, and that's what I would have worried about. Yeah. Like you guys, I would have, I would have thought, okay, I should put my new luggage tags on because it's obvious I'm staying on. But whatever they tell you, as long as you're writing just your room number and not like all the other information. [00:23:52] Speaker A: Yeah. And I just think, you know, if you talk to the room host and explain and you know, I. I felt like that part was very smooth. [00:23:59] Speaker B: I want to back up for a second because, Sam, I don't think you asked about this, which was how was the booking pre booking experience across these three cruises? Did you get the stuff that you were hoping for? [00:24:09] Speaker C: Yeah, I was going to cover that after Brian, but I was just covering the logistics part of like the back to back part. [00:24:16] Speaker A: Well, I mean, it's a quick answer. We don't really book things, so it wasn't a problem for us. [00:24:22] Speaker D: Just the two Paolo's that we did. [00:24:24] Speaker A: We did do Paolo, but we can come back. It wasn't so much of a problem because we don't book very much, but we can come back and talk about that. [00:24:32] Speaker C: Yeah. Because you booked the second fantasy cruise later than the other two cruises. I mean, you booked all three of them at different times. Yeah, yeah. [00:24:41] Speaker A: But all of them were booked way before the booking window, so that didn't end up playing a factor. Where'd you leave off, Todd? We were at Vista Cafe. We got off. Oh. You have to bring your passports. You also need to have your key to the world cards because they collect them. So some people that were doing back to back did not have them because they were using their magic band and they couldn't. So people were under the assumption they could just check off the ship with their magic band, but they were actually collecting the cards. So people had to kind of pull over. I think we had about 20 people that were doing back to back with us and so they collected the cards. They did tell people they could come to guest services and get them back. We didn't do that. But just so people are aware, if you're doing back to back when you go to, you need your passport and your actual key to the world cards to get off. [00:25:31] Speaker C: Interesting. We had heard there's some issue where if you. Well, the reason they don't want you keeping the key to the world card, it's not that they don't want you keeping it as a souvenir, but there's some issue where it can kind of screw up. If you end up using the wrong card on your door, it like can screw up their system and so that they're. They're basically trying to mitigate against that. They want to like fully cancel out that card. I think. Something like that. [00:25:59] Speaker A: Yeah. So then we went into a little. We went through the customs, they took our picture with the Passport thing. Then we went to a little area, and then I think we were only there about half an hour, 45 minutes. During that time, they brought us over to the old counters at Port Canaveral that you used to check in and you don't do anymore. And we went over there and checked in, and I felt like it was no time we were getting back on the ship. [00:26:24] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, it ended up probably being about an hour or so, but. And it was fun because we just talked with all the other people doing back to back, which is kind of a fun thing because everyone has a story behind why they're doing it and things like that. So for us, that was fun to talk with others. [00:26:39] Speaker A: I think this is a good time to interject, speaking of stories, because one of the things we love about Disney Cruise Line is cast members. Cast members at the ports, cast members on the ships. And we had the fortunate opportunity of being family of the day back in last summer when we were on the Magic. [00:26:59] Speaker C: Oh, that's awesome. [00:27:01] Speaker A: It was so fun and unexpected. And then we got on the ship and they're like, you have the whole ship to yourself for three and a half minutes, except for the back to backers get on before the family of the day. So that. That was what, you know, we got to add that to the list. But the cast member who helped us, her name was Addie. Shout out to Addie. She was there, and she was actually doing the family of the day for our second fantasy cruise. And we saw her, we're like, let's go say hi to Addie. So we walk over and we're about 10, 15ft away from her, and she's, you were one of my families of the day. And we're like, yeah, how do you remember that? So we chatted for a few minutes, mentioned our town and some different things, never said our names. And she's like, oh, you're the Merritt family. And I was like, how do you know that? And also, this is why we love Disney cast members. Then we were on the ship and she brought the family of the day on. So then when she was leaving, we were yelling to her from the balcony, and it was fun. [00:28:00] Speaker C: That's awesome. I gotta ask. I will tell you. I. I have been mostly under the impression that they only choose families with children as family of the day. I don't know that I've ever seen. I've seen with teens. Like, I've seen families with teens and I've seen multi generational families, but I don't think I've ever seen a couple get chosen, but I love that you [00:28:22] Speaker A: guys, I think I have either. And I love it too. And we, it just had happened where we, we're getting off topic, but we had gotten to the port early because that's how our transportation had worked out. And we were very patiently waiting off to the side. But we're friendly with cast members, so we say, hello, how is your day going? And they chatted with us and, and Addie kept going around to different groups and I said to Todd, I said, I think she's looking for the family of the day because it was, was pretty early. And I said, but they're not going to pick us because, you know, I, I'd pick people with kids. And she came back and she's like, so would you be interested in being the family of the. I was like, yes. [00:29:05] Speaker C: I love that. I love that. And for those listening, if you haven't heard us talk about what family of the day means, it's. You get chosen by a cast member and it happens on every cruise that a family is chosen. And when I say a family, it will, you know, any, any, any size party can be a family. It's not necessarily have to be a larger party or a smaller party and you get to go on the ship first after back to back cruisers. But you, you get sort of a special usually character opportunity. So usually a picture with like Mickey or Minnie typically in the atrium and it's just. And you're like presented essentially as the family of the day. And then, you know, so it's kind of a, it's kind of a magical thing that can happen. It's completely random. Like you, I mean, maybe the only way you can make yourself more likely to get picked is just we got to be there early because they pick it like at the very beginning of sort of, of course boarding because you have to be there early. Maybe if you're wearing like Disney shirts or bounding or something. [00:30:10] Speaker A: I was wearing that shirt. [00:30:11] Speaker C: There you go. Yeah, so that can like help you but get noticed. But it's not like there's no formula. I have no, you know, it's just who, who decides and, and which cast member is picking changes. I think from day to day. It's usually, it's usually a, a port, port side Disney employee that's choosing. But yeah, that's, that's just, that's what that is. All right, well, let's, let's back up. Sorry. We, we jam. We jumped ahead to all of the logistics and I Know, Brian asked a great question, which is like the book mentioned, you guys aren't real excursion people and you're not booking a lot of onboard activities, but you are, of course, booking Paulo. Let's, let's back up to the Destiny because I want to start there. We're going to have to go topic by topic, but we're going to probably miss some stuff. Now, sailing adult only on the Disney Destiny, I think is. Is great because there's so much to do and lots of like, adult specific activities on the Disney Destiny. But I got to start with what did you guys think when you entered the GR hall of the Destiny? Because I believe this was your first time on that ship. [00:31:22] Speaker D: It was. It was our first time on the Destiny. I obviously we've watched countless videos of people on the Destiny. We've. We've seen everything and. But I think, at least for me, the grand hall, like when we walked in, it was better than I expected. And in a lot of the photos and videos, I feel like it looks a little bit plain, especially maybe compared to the Treasure, but it does have a little bit more pop to it than I think I thought that it would. So I think Eric and I have done a lot of ranking of the Wish class ships in different categories and things, and I think the Treasure is probably still our favorite of those. But the Destiny slots right in there, right behind the Treasure with the Wish third. Not to. I mean, obviously the worst Disney ship's still going to be a good one, but I think that was kind of at least my first impression of the Destiny in the Grand Hall. [00:32:14] Speaker C: Now, what did you guys prioritize in terms of you're on for five days, so you're going to be able to get a lot done, but what were your sort of priorities going into the cruise of things? I. I definitely need to see this. I definitely need to do this. I'm wearing an Avengers shirt today in honor of talking about the Destiny because it is such an Avengers heavy themed ship and also villains themed. I know heroes and villains, but it's really. I think it leans much more into the villain side of things. [00:32:41] Speaker A: I think so too. [00:32:42] Speaker C: I agree now, but what, what were your, like, priorities, Erica, going into the Destiny? You listened to our show, you watched YouTube videos. Like, what were the things you're like? I have to do that. I have to see that. [00:32:53] Speaker A: Well, it's kind of interesting because I think we were so focused on this idea of this triple header, whatever we're calling it, that I kind of forgot that Destiny was New and that I didn't know what was going to be on it. And it sounds awful, but it's like the week before and I'm like. Like I don't even know what. What's going to be different. Like, I knew Pride Lands was going to be different. We were looking forward to that. But I think one thing going for the Destiny, but also just the Wish Class ships, is the shows kind of the smaller shows. So they have the troublemaking with Cruella de Vil, and they have the doctor Facilier parlor thing and of course the storytellers, which are. Are amazing. So I think my. Without any specific thing being a priority, I wanted to make sure we did the things that were specific to the Destiny. So we are big trivia people. We like to do all those things. But if it came down to let's go to a trivia versus let's wait in line, which I hate waiting in line, but let's wait in line for Cruella. We waited for Cruella, so we made sure to really focus on those things that were only going to happen on the Destiny. [00:34:07] Speaker C: And that's really smart because you did have those two fantasy cruises booked, and you're not going to have Cruella on the fantasy and you're not going to have Dr. Facilier on the fantasy, and you're not going to have with great power the Marvel show on the fantasy. So you could do like, all the trivia you want on the fantasy and prioritize the things on the Destiny. Yeah. So, Todd, what were you like I must do or these are the things I am looking too kind of a [00:34:34] Speaker D: thing, I think similar to Erica's answer, that those things are specific to the Destiny and kind of looking back now, I'm glad we did wait. We waited in line a little while for Dr. Facilier. And that's not an experience I need to do every time I'm on the Destiny, or I don't need to do it multiple times on a cruise or anything like that. But I'm glad we were able to experience that same thing with the Cruella. I could probably do that a few times on even a single crew. [00:35:01] Speaker C: Same [00:35:03] Speaker D: and things. But, but, but typically we won't wait in line, but we made sure to. To. To do so just because it was something different. Also, in a interesting twist on the Destiny, we had a couple friends we've sailed with in the past on and they were sailing concierge and we were tablemates with them. So Erica mentioned the Pride Land. So they had put In a request that we. So we could go to Pride Lands twice. Just since that was a new restaurant for us. [00:35:29] Speaker A: Us. [00:35:29] Speaker D: So we had that on the first night and got it another night as well. [00:35:32] Speaker C: Oh, so you had the second menu on in Pride Lands too? Yeah. So you're only sailing on the. On a four night sailing, you're not going to get that second menu, but you're going to have the pirate menu. But if you're on a five night sailing and you happen to dine in Lion King Pride Lands restaurant twice, you're going to get the two different Lion King menus, which is. Is awesome. [00:35:55] Speaker A: My opinion, the second menu is way better. [00:35:58] Speaker C: Oh, my God. Okay. Well, that's. Erica, you are like. I am. I. I can't wait to get back on the ship. Unfortunately, we don't sail again on the cruise line until December. It's. It's May 31st. Says when we're recording this episode. But we will be on the Destiny back to back in December and we will be on two five night sailing. So we're very excited. We. We'll have two opportunities at. [00:36:21] Speaker B: that. [00:36:22] Speaker C: At that Pride Lands menu. If we make it. We have to make a request quest to dine at Pridelands twice. [00:36:28] Speaker A: Yeah. There is. I don't know if you're meat eaters, honestly, but there's like the, There's. I think it's in Coco. There's like a short rib that was so, so good. And they have something very similar to that in the second menu on the line at the Pride Lands. And it was. I almost missed it because when it's a brand new menu, even if you look ahead, like, you don't. I don't know, like on the older ships, on older menus. I know the things I love. This was like, I almost missed it. And then as I was eating it, I think I said multiple times. I can't believe I almost didn't see this because I would have been so sad. [00:37:07] Speaker C: That's the dish that Brian's been looking forward to the most. Honestly, that. So short ribs of beef is. Is Brian's meat territory. I am a steak girl, but I do not like braised meats. I know that that's. People think that's weird. Brian thinks I'm weird because of it, but I just don't like braised meats. [00:37:25] Speaker A: That's fair. It's fair. [00:37:27] Speaker B: I'm just. I'm actually excited to try like the night two menu. [00:37:30] Speaker C: Yeah. In general. [00:37:31] Speaker D: Period. [00:37:31] Speaker B: Like, I don't know if that's going [00:37:32] Speaker D: to be the dish I order. [00:37:33] Speaker B: But, like, we didn't get a chance to experience it across the three sailings we've done on the Destiny. [00:37:37] Speaker A: So, yeah, I think. Yeah, I think it was. I think it was better, but I honestly, I feel like I can't remember the first one right now. [00:37:45] Speaker C: So that shrimp curry, it. That shrimp curry haunts my dreams. In a good way. Like, I love. [00:37:51] Speaker A: I don't love shrimp, but I love curry. And our table mate had it, and I was like, that does look really good. [00:37:56] Speaker C: It's really good. [00:37:57] Speaker A: I'm not allergic to shrimp. I could try it. [00:37:59] Speaker C: Yeah, you'll. Next time you go on, you'll have to try it, like, even if you order two dishes, because I really think that that shrimp curry is so, so, so good. I. But I like. I like shrimp and I like curry, so it works for me. What did you guys think of, like, the. Since we're talking about food, what did you guys think about the show in Pride Lands? Of course that there's only one show, so the first night that you're in Pride Lands, is that typically the. The show night? Guys, think of it. You would have had good seats, too, because we had. [00:38:29] Speaker A: We were sitting. Literally, I could reach out and touch the drums. Like, that's where we were. [00:38:33] Speaker C: Although concierge cruisers there, you're typically going to be in sort of. I'll call it a concierge section, but, like, closer to the stage is typically what. [00:38:43] Speaker A: I will say. It was a great seat, but it was very loud. [00:38:45] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:38:46] Speaker A: We did not talk. [00:38:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:38:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:50] Speaker D: So I. I was going to say, personally, I like the show. I think the music is great. I like the fact it's. It's less of a show, maybe, than, like, maybe Coco is on the. On the Treasure. To me, it just. Especially, I think if you're in a further table, you wouldn't. You don't get to pick up on the show quite as much. So I think just having the music and they're performing some while they're there on stage, but it's not. It's not like Timon and Pumbaa are out there or Simba is or anything like that. [00:39:17] Speaker A: They're not telling as much of a story directly. [00:39:20] Speaker D: Also, I thought the musicians looked like they were having a great time. They were just so happy. And I think that made me like it even more, the fact that they look like they're having a great time. [00:39:31] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Totally agree. If you're listening to us right now, chances are pretty good that you love Disney Vacations. As much as we do. But even seasoned travelers know there's a ton to keep up with when it comes to Disney Cruise Line. From cruise itineraries to the perfect stateroom for your family, shore excursions, and on onboard experiences. And if you're planning to visit the Disney parks before or after your cruise, then there's even more to plan. From the perfect resort to lightning lane strategies, dining reservations, park tickets, special offers, and much, much more. [00:40:02] Speaker E: That's where WeDoTravel Right comes in. Their team of experienced travel advisors specializes in Disney Cruise Line, Disney parks, and other exciting places all around the world. They take the time to understand what matters most to your family, providing personalized recommendations and helping you navigate all the details so you can spend less time stressing and more time looking forward to your vacation. Whether it's your first Disney cruise or your tenth, having an expert in your corner can make all the difference. [00:40:28] Speaker C: Life is short. Take the trip. Visit wedotravelright.com dclduo to connect with a travel advisor and start planning your next unforgettable adventure. [00:40:38] Speaker E: We do travel, right, the crew that handles the planning so you can focus on relaxing. [00:40:45] Speaker C: Now, you guys have already experienced Worlds at Marvel on the Treasure and on the Wish. So you had and you've. Which means you've seen both shows because they're both on the Treasure. Anything stand out to you in terms of, you know, Worlds of Marvel on the Destiny? I mean, it's really the same except you've got the Night two Night one menu with the Night two show. That's the only difference. Difference. [00:41:07] Speaker A: I like the Night two show. I like both shows at Marvel. I know some people don't. I like both. I like the Groot and the trivia and the music a little bit better. It's a little less invasive and in your face. So if I only had one, that's the one I would pick. So I like that that's the one that they go with. I don't remember the Night 2 menu at Marvel, so I can't remember if I miss it or not. [00:41:35] Speaker C: Yeah, no worries. I want to ask about Marvel more generally. Todd, I'll throw this one to you. Of course you've got more Marvel theming on this ship on the Destiny. Are you guys Marvel fans? Did you lean into that? Did you go see the. What's it called? Celebration of the King or the Legend of Loki? And did you go see the With Great Power Adult Only show? [00:42:03] Speaker D: Yeah. So we are Marvel fans. We got into it a little bit late. It was around When Covid was in 2020 or so, we started to catch up on everything and since then we've been big Marvel fans. So I think that was good with the shipping we did. We saw all the different shows. We saw the Black Panther one, we saw the great moments in saga and things and they were all great. [00:42:28] Speaker A: We also saw the Wakanda music. [00:42:31] Speaker C: Oh yeah. [00:42:32] Speaker D: Yes, the drummer. Yeah, the drummers with the drummers from Pride Lands. So they were able to do both. But yeah, I was a big fan of all of it. And even some of those, like we said, maybe we waited a little bit more than we would have if they were available somewhere else or something like that. But it was all worthwhile things like even the, the one with Black Panther. I'm drawing a blank on the celebration. [00:43:01] Speaker C: Well, there's the legend of Loki that Black Panther shows up at, but then there's also celebration of a king. That is. [00:43:08] Speaker A: Yes, we did both. [00:43:10] Speaker D: Yeah, we did. And I think so. Me on a cruise, I'm not good at sitting still. I want to go and see stuff and things like that. Erica every now and then needs a little bit of a, a break. So I think Erica sat in the grand hall for a little while while I was like, I'm just going to go walk around. But I kept on timing it well where I'd be like, okay, I will be back by 4 o' clock or whatever time that that starts. [00:43:31] Speaker A: But then I got to watch Donald and Goofy playing rock paper scissors. So I mean you don't miss, you know, you don't miss out by just sitting still too. [00:43:40] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a great, that's honestly a great point, Erica. Like you can run around and hit every activity that's that you've hearted in the app, but you can also experience a lot by just sitting and seeing what comes by. Especially like near that atrium area. If you're sitting either on one of the little sort of couches, couch looking things either in the sort of on deck three in the atrium or if you're sitting on the chairs up on Deck 4 or Deck 5, you'll see characters come by for their meet and greets. You'll see characters heading from different activities. You'll see cast members heading to their various activities that they're running. So you can actually experience a lot just sitting in, people watching, which is really fun to do. [00:44:24] Speaker A: We love people watching. [00:44:26] Speaker D: Yeah. We spend a lot of our cruises like either on Deck 12 or Deck 10 if you're on the magic or wonder like looking over or on like, deck four of the atrium, looking over and just watching things. And it's fun whenever all of a sudden, Donald comes up behind you or. Or Mickey does or whoever does. [00:44:45] Speaker A: I. I need to interject a past cruise story here. Just real quick. We were sitting with some friends on. We were on the Fantasy. We were on deck four just sitting in those chairs, and we were discussing, like, oh, let's go to Marvel Trivia. We weren't sure. And so it was the two of us, and then this other couple about our age and their daughter, who is 17, and she got up. The daughter got up and went back to the room for something. And while we were sitting there, Thor and Dr. Strange are, like, walking around on deck four, like, meeting people. And then we're like, hey, do you guys want to go be on our trivia team? And they're like, yeah, let's go. So the four of us adults go with Thor and Dr. Strange to Ogils to do trivia. And, like, right before we got there, they went outside so they could go in the back way, and we went in, and then they came in and they walked through trivia, and then they just said hi to everybody and they left. And we ended up leaving, and we went back, and their daughter is like, where the heck did you guys go? I came back and you were gone, and I was like, well, if Thor and Dr. Strange want to be on your Marvel trivia team, you go. [00:45:51] Speaker C: You go. Exactly. Absolutely. I love that. [00:45:55] Speaker A: That was. That was so fun. So, like, yeah, I think those character interactions that you can have by just kind of hanging out sometimes end up being really awesome. [00:46:04] Speaker C: Totally. Absolutely. I want to pivot to shows because, of course, you. We've got new stuff. We always like to talk about what's new. Right. We got. We've got Hercules to talk about on the Disney Destiny. Are you guys show people? Do you go to the Walt Disney Theater? Okay, you're nodding. Yes. Okay. What did you think of the shows? I mean, what did you think of all three shows on the Disney Destiny? Assuming you went to them? [00:46:28] Speaker D: We went to all of them. Just kind of in order, almost seize the adventure. I wish it was longer, but I'm a big fan of it. I think all the songs knock it out of the park. I like the storyline, bringing them all together and everything. So that was as expected. Hercules, I thought, was. I thought was great. I think I'd probably still rank maybe Beauty and the Beast ahead of it in terms of my favorite show across. Across the fleet, but it was. It was outstanding. And Frozen, we actually saw that on all three of our ship. So we saw it three times in our. In our two weeks. And every time it was. It was good. It was interesting to notice a couple differences maybe between the Destiny and the. And the Fantasy of Frozen. There's not a lot that I really remembered that was different. But yeah, Hercules and I don't know if they were supposed to or not, but our concierge friends had us come with them, so we got seating with them if they weren't supposed to. We'll keep that quiet. [00:47:35] Speaker C: Nobody listening. Nobody. It never happened. [00:47:37] Speaker D: Exactly. [00:47:38] Speaker C: I will say technically they're not supposed to. But I will also say, though, if they had saved you two seats, nobody would have thought anything of it either. Right. Because it's very common. Well, as long as you're not saving like an entire entire row. I feel like most people are pretty considerate, like if you're saving one or two seats, because typically that means like your party, half your party's going to get popcorn or in the bathroom or so. So it's. It's neither here nor there, really. [00:48:04] Speaker A: Yeah. We felt in the grand scheme of things, for as much stuff as our friend wanted us to do with them, we were like, we're not doing. We're not going there, we're not doing this. But okay, yes, we will get into that. And really the only one we cared about was Hercules in terms of getting in with them and not having to wait in the hour long line. Because Disney people are Disney people and if there's a queue, they're going to start it. [00:48:27] Speaker C: That's true. And to let folks know, for concierge, you still have to be there early because they do let you enter ahead of the rest of the crowd. But it's usually about 35 to 40 minutes early for the show, rather than an hour or more. If you are somebody who is not sailing concierge, but you really like, you're really particular about your seat. I want to be for Orthrow center. Right. Or something like that. Then you are going to have to wait for. For Hercules on the Destiny and for Moana on the Treasure. That's really the. And anything on. On the Adventure right now. That's a very, very lineup culture over there. But so, yeah, for those two shows, which are still the newest in the fleet, people are tending to wait longer. And even some of the other shows, people will wait. It won't be waiting over an hour, but they'll probably wait a half hour or more. [00:49:20] Speaker A: And I think especially that's true of newer cruisers because they don't realize that I would say, especially once we got to the Fantasy, we were. We didn't need to go to every show because we were going to be on a back to back. We ended up going to all three shows on the first leg and then two out of the three on the second leg. But I mean, we literally decided five minutes before and we're like, well, wherever we end up is where we end up. And there. There aren't really bad things. Seats. [00:49:48] Speaker C: Exactly. Exactly. If you're not particular about where you sit, you don't have to go super early. Except for, as I mentioned, except for on, for Hercules and Moana, you have to even get. If you get there like five minutes before, there might not be a seat left in the house. So that's one of the. Yeah, so that's one of the issues for sure, because it's just higher demand for the newest of the shows versus on, you know, a lot of people who've been on the Fantasy before. So let's, let's actually dive into the Fantasy. Was it jarring when you went into the atrium on the Fantasy having wa. You know, I know it's five days later. [00:50:27] Speaker D: Right. [00:50:28] Speaker A: Like, I think it's an excellent question. [00:50:30] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:50:30] Speaker A: So we always joke about how tiny the atrium is on the magic and wonder compared to the Fantasy. And I mean, it is. It feels like you're in a shoebox. But going from the wish class, the Destiny, and we got on the Fantasy and we're like, this is it. Like, it's so. It feels so small that we were like, this is really jarring. It was. Jarring is a great word for it. [00:50:55] Speaker D: And I think the Fantasy, I think both Eric and I have said that that's our favorite ship over the course of time. But it was interesting because once we got on the Fantasy, after being on the Destiny, I think that gap between the Fantasy and whatever wish class you want to say shrunk a little bit because we were noticing so many things. Even if it's something like that, with the atrium or grand hall being smaller, I noticed stairwell, the stairways are smaller left to right on the Fantasy. And while I like the kind of the ship theme of the fantasy, I could see someone who maybe was on a wish class or that's all they're familiar with, coming to the Fantasy and feeling like that's a little bit more dated or things darker and. Yeah, like, I don't feel that way, but I could see someone feeling that way. So it Was interesting because I think especially our first 24 hours on the Fantasy, we were just kind of making a mental list of oh, this is better on the Destiny or oh, this is. No, this is definitely better on the Fantasy and things. So we're doing a lot of comparing with them. With them. So close. [00:52:01] Speaker C: Yeah, that's. I think that's inevitable if you're sailing side to side and you're going from one class to another, or even if even within the same class, you're going to do a lot of compare. But more so in class, different classes, because there are much bigger differences. I mean, the Fantasy is a beautiful ship. It leans much more into classic ocean liner nautical theming and also classic Disney theming than the newer ships. The newer ships lean more into whatever IP sort of or you know, and. And theming that they've sort of set for that particular ship. So it's just. Yeah, it's a. It's a difference in like from. From stern to hull. Right. Like, it's just. They're certain to bow. Right. Like, it's just all look the same from the outside or very, very similar from the outside. Once you get on the ship. They have a big. Yeah, big difference. I'd say the first four ships are all kind of. Even though they're two different classes, really similar in sort of the theming and the vibe of them. And then once you hit the Wish class, you have a much bigger differentiation that starts to happen. So what were you. What were you guys, you know, doing on the Fantasy? You have nine days on the Fantasy. I mean, did you do every trivia on that darn sh. [00:53:20] Speaker A: But I mean, we always do a lot of trivia. Actually. You can kind of see on the top of the bookshelf behind Todd there is our pile of trivia medallions. So many. There's so. I mean, and everyone's like, oh, do you still need this one? These? I'm like, no, we. We don't. Like, we ended up the ones we did win, which were several. We ended up putting in people's fish extenders on the last day because we're like, we don't need to take these home. We did a lot of fish. [00:53:48] Speaker C: I love that. I love that you did that though, Erica, because people, there are people. Those medals and there are people who are always like looking to get like, we just fin. Finally finished our set. Now I have all of the. The different ones. One of each. I have actually a couple of extras, but people like really covet those medals and certain trivias. They don't even give them out. [00:54:11] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think we were a little lucky. I think when they first changed to these medallions, I think we were on a cruise fairly soon after they changed, and. And we do a lot of trivia, but I think that cast members were really itching to give them out, so we ended up with a complete set the first time that we were on a cruise that had them. But not everyone is that lucky. So, like I said, we have them at home. We gave them away. So we did do a lot of trivia. One of the things. [00:54:42] Speaker C: What are your best topics? I need to know, because I think we need a sale with you guys so that we can win topics that we can't possibly win on our own. Own. [00:54:50] Speaker A: I'm going to be honest. If we don't get a 20 out of 20 on Disney Cruise Line trivia, it's a fail. [00:54:56] Speaker D: The one thing that I think we were a little bit concerned about going into the cruises, though, is we wanted to be careful not to repeat trivias and things, because it's not like, I don't want to go get a 20 out of 20 and beat someone for a cruise for a trivia I just did two days ago and things like that. But they actually switched. They've been switching the questions a lot more than they used to. And, like, there was one frozen trivia we did that was. Was essentially the same, and we stayed at it, but we didn't raise our hand whenever. Whenever they asked for numbers and things like that, because we're like, that's not fair. But we like the way that they were changing. [00:55:31] Speaker A: The first time we got a 16. And so I said, I want to see if we learned the questions we got. [00:55:37] Speaker C: If we now remember the answers. [00:55:38] Speaker A: The cast member could tell, like, she had seen us a lot, and we, you know, had talked to her a lot, and she's like, I know that you guys have, like, a good score. And I. And she kind of looked, and I'm like, no, it's good. And then there was a tiebreaker, and she walked by and she looked at our paper, and she's like, figures. But so the Disney Cruise Line and the tunes trivia are our two best ones. We love the Disney tunes live when they play the piano. We never missed those. And I was nervous those were going to be the same. And each time they were different. On both within the sailing and from sailing to sailing, they switched up the questions and how they did it. Like, on the first sailing, one of them was, you had to name the song the movie and answer a bonus question. And then that same piano player on the second cruise, it only was the question and maybe the song or something. And it was 20 completely different songs. I don't think any of them repeated from the first week. [00:56:37] Speaker C: I like when they change it up, I will say the Nose More system that they're using for trivia automatically jumps. Fumbles them up now. And so you typically, let's say you're doing brain teasers, for example, and they'll do brain teasers two or three times across a cruise. You are not going to have the same. I mean, you might have like one random question that gets repeated because it's pulling from, let's say, a hundred questions, right? And you're going to get 20. So you might have randomly one or two that could repeat. But generally speaking, you're not going to have as much repetition as it used to be. It used to be they were operating from like a super script. And now with the Nose More system that randomly selects the questions for them. [00:57:19] Speaker A: So we asked the cast members. They said that there's about. For some of the topics, there's at least 60 to 80 questions. And they randomize them. And then each cruise they randomize them again. So. And then they have. Within a cruise, they have so many sets that they can pick, and they'll. They'll pick a different number every time. So. So that you get a different variety. And we tend to mark them and say, okay, we just had these questions, and if it's too many, we just don't raise our hand. Even if we're not going to win, we did accidentally win Movie Quotes trivia. [00:57:55] Speaker D: When we're bad, we're bad at quotes and villains. Somehow we won the quotes. We don't know how. [00:58:02] Speaker A: I was only raising my hand because I thought for sure we were going to get knocked out. And then I was like, oh, oops, [00:58:09] Speaker C: I want to ask a couple of compare questions. Cause obviously we're not gonna be able to talk about everything you did on the fantasy. Cause we spent a lot of time talking about logistics and of course, talking about the Destiny, since that one was a new ship for you all. But I'm curious, on activities, did you feel like you had enough to do on the fantasy, given that you had just come from the Destiny, where there's a lot of new stuff that you wanted to do? [00:58:36] Speaker D: I think we did. As a matter of fact, Erica and I, we commented. I think on the first day on the fantasy, we were like, there's so much more. [00:58:41] Speaker A: More. [00:58:42] Speaker D: There's so many more activities on the Fantasy than maybe on some of the Wish class ships. In terms of on the Destiny, there's kind of those big ticket things like the Cruella and stuff like that, but there's not as many, it seems like to us at least trivias or arts and crafts or stuff like that. So we got on the Fantasy and we're going through the Navigator and we're like, oh, this is nice. Look at this. There's three things we have to decide from at this time which one we want to do. So at least for us, there was enough to do. And really kind of our day usually ends up being I get up and run, Erica continues to sleep, I come back, wake her up, we go to breakfast. And then kind of during that daytime we're going to different activities and things like that. And then sometime late afternoon into the early evening, we change clothes and kind of go into the evening mode and go to the show and dinner and whatever activities in whether it's saga, the tube or anything like that. So that's kind of the way our day works out. And I think on the Fantasy, I know I had plenty to do. I think Erica did too. [00:59:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I would say it also helped having the back to back because we were like, well, if we do have to choose between these two activities, we could do that next time. But we also were talking to cast members, like they did color spin dance party on the first the five night, but they did not have color spin on the four night. So we're like, okay, if we want to do that, we have to do that. But on the second cruise, we ended up, I think, spending a little more pool time. We're not huge go to the pool all day, people, but we'll go to the pool. Go to the hot tub a little bit. I think we did that a little bit more. We did skip Aladdin the second cruise because we just feel like we've seen it a lot of times. So we didn't go to that, but I don't remember. Maybe we went to the pool during that time, which was interesting because no one was there. [01:00:36] Speaker C: Yeah, it's always a nice and cool, quiet pool deck. [01:00:39] Speaker A: And then we weren't going to go to Frozen. Yeah, we weren't going to go to Frozen for the second slash third time. But we were packing and then we got done packing and it was like five or 10 minutes before the show. So we're like, well, we're not doing anything else. And there's no activities we want to go to. So let's go again. We sat in the balcony with a bunch of families. That. That was interesting, [01:01:02] Speaker C: I imagine. [01:01:04] Speaker D: And one of the things that we enjoy is we enjoy interacting with other guests and with the cast members leading things. So I think on the Fantasy, especially being there for nine nights and doing the back to back, especially, I think the cast members end up seeing you again and they're like, wait a second here. You're still here at things, but then all of a sudden you have at least one little connection there. And that kind of kept us busy as well, kind of having those interactions and making those friends. [01:01:33] Speaker C: I'm curious what you thought about sort service level and food quality and sort of. I want to compare, you know, fantasy and Destiny and get your feedback. Did you feel like you were getting as maybe better service, worse service, comparable service, and then same as in terms of food. Erica, I'll throw this question to you first. [01:01:54] Speaker A: So I think food wise, I would say the food quality was about the same for me across both ships. I always enjoy the Disney Cruise Line food. I know, you know, some people don't. Everybody has their opinions. I like that. I'm not planning it, I'm not cooking it. It's more fancy than what I eat most of the time. I could have steak every night. Like, it's good stuff. Service wise, I think this trip was very interesting. We had on the Destiny our servers for dinner, our main server and assistant server were, I think, the best out of all the cruises we've done. They were fantastic. I often wonder when people talk about, oh, our servers were the best. I can't wait to see them again. And I'm like, they were good, but I don't know. These people. I would go back to a million times. They were so great. And I think we had gotten to the point where our first few cruises, the service was really high and then it kind of went down a little bit. And we were like, maybe this is just the new norm. And the servers we had on the Destiny proved that that is not true. The expectation can still be there. They were great. Then our first set of servers on the Fantasy, not so great. It was. [01:03:08] Speaker C: And you had just come from the Destiny. I know. Even worse of a contrast. Yeah. [01:03:15] Speaker E: Yeah. [01:03:15] Speaker A: I feel like maybe I want to say that it wasn't marred by that, but it might have been a little. But it was almost just the comical stuff. Like the first two nights I had pie type of cheesecake and pie and they brought me spicy spoons. And then the third night, I had a Sunday, and they brought me a fork, and I was like, what? [01:03:34] Speaker C: They say happy Anniversary. [01:03:37] Speaker A: They sang Happy Anniversary to one of our table mates when it was her birthday, even though the day before they asked her about her birthday. It was such little nitpicky things. Like, none of it was terrible. It wasn't bad, but it was not as good. And so then we were in this conundrum because we knew they were going to ask us, do you want to stay? Stay with these servers? And my answer was, no, I do not want to stay. But I don't know how to say it. So we just kind of were like, well, maybe a different part of the dining room, a different experience. It'll be fine. And they. They were fine with it, but I know they had questions because we ended up requesting a server that we had had for breakfast one morning just because she was nice, and she brought us churro waffles in the main dining room. And. And so we requested her. And the first night, she's like, what happened? Why did you want to switch? And I'm like, oh, we just wanted. We just want to see you. And then the last night, she was like, you were just wondering what happened? I don't. And I'm like, oh, we just wanted a different experience. And I know people say, like, you should let them know when there's stuff to fix. And I agree 100%. When it was these tiny little things, and it was a different thing every night, I didn't know how to tell them to fix it. Like, one night, he forgot Todd's entree. We had ordered each our own entree and then one to share, and he had forgotten Todd's. He said, oh, I'll. I'll bring your fish in one minute, and then proceeded to run. Run across Enchanted Garden to the kitchen. And I was like, he. He doesn't have it. He did not remember. [01:05:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:05:12] Speaker A: So it's just little things. But after having had the awesome experience on the desk, Destiny, that was a little lacking, but they were. They were super nice. Like, they were fine. [01:05:22] Speaker E: Yeah. [01:05:22] Speaker A: But it was kind of a comedy. [01:05:25] Speaker C: It's hard because you also know if you give them a bad rating, like, it can really hurt their careers. Right. So it's like this balance. I totally get where you're coming from, Erica. You, like. You're like, they weren't, like, horrible. Like, they didn't, like, bring me something I'm allergic to, but didn't ruin my [01:05:41] Speaker A: cruise by any means. In fact, it added entertainment but yeah, yeah. [01:05:47] Speaker D: And we'll be booking again. [01:05:50] Speaker B: So I'm just curious, like having gone through this experience of side to side, back to back, like, would you do something like this again or did you find it to be, you know, a little bit more complex from a planning standpoint or an execution standpoint than you might just opt for straight up back to back or maybe two seven night sailings or just a week on the Treasure. [01:06:12] Speaker C: Sure. [01:06:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:06:13] Speaker D: I think for us, first of all, Erica said as we were getting off the last day, she was like, you want to know something that's better than one Disney cruise? Three Disney cruises. So I think that's a little bit of our answer. I think for us, planning is part of the fun. So I don't think planning three different cruises is much of a burden. I think also that helps us, just the two of us, we don't have additional person, people, luggage, anything like that other than, than just the two of us. So I think we're maybe a little bit more nimble than maybe a family of three, four, five, however many people. So personally I would do it again. I think sometimes it might depend on just kind of what our schedule is, what, what ship we want to be on and things. I mean, obviously, or we've done the seven night Eastern Caribbean cruise the last three mays, so like in 23, 24 and so we kind of had done at least a seven night cruise. So starting this one with, with just the five night, that is kind of what spurred us to want to do a little bit more initially. And then we kind of kept adding on. So I think we would do it again as long if the circumstances work out and budget works out and things. Obviously we can't always do 14 nights at once all the time with budgets and vacation and stuff like that. But this time it worked out. [01:07:37] Speaker A: I have a lot of trouble picking, you know, I'm like, oh, now okay. So we went on the Destiny and the Fantasy and now I'm like, oh, but we haven't been on the Magic and the Wonder in a while and now we're gonna have to go on the believe. So when are we gonna fit that in? Like it's my job. [01:07:51] Speaker C: And so I mean, you could do like magic in a dream, right? Like, you gotta figure that. Yeah. Or something. [01:07:58] Speaker A: Yeah. So. And we had done a side by side previously in 24 Todd. We did the magic from San Juan to Port Everglades, spent the night with my aunt and uncle, and then went up to Port Canaveral to do a Week on the fantasies. So we had had that experience of fitting in the two different ships. And I think there's things I would like about longer back to backs. Like two, seven nights would be great because I don't have to, you know, move and I'd be in a nice fairly long, you know, long cruise without trying to find a 14 night cruise that I can't find. But I kind of like getting a taste of the different classes of ships in the same trip. [01:08:41] Speaker B: Sam, I think we've reached that point in the show where I need to hand it off to you for some arbitrary questions, some arbitrary rules and a dash of judgment or the round we know as a rapid fire. So, Sam, take it away. [01:08:52] Speaker C: All right, I'm going to keep it short. We're going to keep it quick. Just the answers. Todd, when I ask you a question, your favorite. Erica, when I ask you your question, your favorite, don't tell me each other's favorite or your collective favorite. Your favorites don't have to be the same. Just because you're a couple doesn't mean you have to match. Brian and I often don't match. All right, so we'll start with your favorite Disney character. Todd. [01:09:19] Speaker D: Dopey. [01:09:19] Speaker C: Erica. [01:09:20] Speaker A: Rapunzel. [01:09:21] Speaker C: Love it. Favorite Disney movie, Eric. Erica. [01:09:24] Speaker A: Sword in the stone. [01:09:25] Speaker C: Todd. [01:09:26] Speaker D: I'm gonna go Big Hero 6. [01:09:28] Speaker C: Ah, yes. Erica, Favorite Disney song, whatever the name [01:09:32] Speaker A: of that one with mother Gothel is. [01:09:34] Speaker C: Oh, Mother knows best. [01:09:35] Speaker D: Mother knows Best. [01:09:36] Speaker E: Todd. [01:09:38] Speaker D: I'm gonna go with music from the paint the night parade. [01:09:40] Speaker C: Ooh, that's good. [01:09:41] Speaker D: If that counts. I don't know if that counts. [01:09:43] Speaker C: It all counts. It all counts. I love that. All right, switching over to Disney Cruise Line. Favorite show on the Walt Disney theater staged. Todd. [01:09:51] Speaker D: Beauty and the beast, as I mentioned before. [01:09:53] Speaker C: Yes, Erica. [01:09:54] Speaker A: Beauty and the beast. [01:09:56] Speaker C: Yes. Look at that, matching answers. All right, we're going to talk rotational dining. Erica, which restaurant across the fleet? It doesn't have to be on, you know, the. Either of the ships you were just on. Favorite rotational dining restaurant. And I don't care if it's because the theming you love, the food you love, the show you love, like just your overall favorite. [01:10:15] Speaker A: Erica, Animators palette on the magic class. [01:10:19] Speaker C: Yeah. Todd. [01:10:21] Speaker D: I'm gonna go with cocoa on the treasure. [01:10:23] Speaker C: Oh, I love that. Nice. Okay, Favorite savory and sweet food. We're gonna start with sweets. Actually, I'm gonna have you give me both at the same time. Sweet and then a savory. Todd. [01:10:35] Speaker D: I'm gonna go with cranberry slices from The COVID Cafe for that. That's a sweet one. Erica's gonna laugh at me here because I need help with the savory one from her because I'm not good at defining what's different. [01:10:50] Speaker A: Savory means not sweet. [01:10:52] Speaker C: Not sweet. [01:10:52] Speaker D: Right. So I'm trying to. I'm trying to think of what that is. [01:10:55] Speaker A: Salty or, like, a main course. [01:10:57] Speaker C: Like a pasta. [01:10:58] Speaker D: I'll let Erica answer first. I'm gonna come back on the savory. [01:11:01] Speaker C: Erica. Sweet and then savory. [01:11:04] Speaker A: Well, my favorite savory was deep fried brie, but for those that haven't heard, it's gone. So that's a really hard question. Now, I'm gonna say probably the beef in Royal Court, like, they also changed it, but the tenderloin, like, whatever that meal is with the beef In Royal Court, 1923, whatever the steak is. That's. I'm good. And for sweet, I'm gonna go with simple ice cream. [01:11:33] Speaker C: Yeah. The pool deck ice cream or a scooped ice cream. Pool deck ice cream. Love it. [01:11:37] Speaker A: Although I have had both at the same time, which was a little embarrassing. [01:11:41] Speaker C: How good are we? Excessive. But, you know, it's all right. It's your cruising cruise. Calories don't count. [01:11:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:11:46] Speaker D: I'm going to go back to the savory. And I don't know if this counts as savory or not, but every night at the main dining room, I get both soups. So I'm going to count that as my answer. This was our cruise. This was our cruise of 28 soups. [01:11:57] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [01:11:59] Speaker C: I cannot eat that many soups. All right, that is a very strange answer, Todd, but I love it. All right, well, we're going to talk. Favorite activity on board. Is the answer Trivia? Taste, Todd? [01:12:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:12:14] Speaker D: Yes, I think it is. [01:12:15] Speaker C: Trivia, Erica. [01:12:17] Speaker A: Yeah, trivia. [01:12:18] Speaker C: I love that. All right, okay. Really important question. Which one is your favorite ship? Is it the fantasy, or does the treasure eek it out? Erica, let's start with you. [01:12:29] Speaker A: Oh, that's so hard. I have such a special place for everything. I think it's still the fantasy. I think it's still a fantasy, but, man, the treasure is really close. And then I. Then I feel bad, and I want to say the magic. So I think probably those three at any given moment are going to win the race. [01:12:48] Speaker C: Wow. All right, Todd. And they're all just so different. Yeah, they're so different. [01:12:52] Speaker D: I think for me. I think for me, the fantasy is my favorite. [01:12:55] Speaker C: All right, fairly confident there. All right, well, the last Question of rapid fire. Your bucket list cruise again. You do not have to have matching answers. If you could go anywhere in the world on a Disney Cruise Line ship, it doesn't have to be someplace that Disney Cruise Line currently sails. Just has to be someplace accessible by water and someplace you have not been on cruise, too. Todd, let's start with you. Where would you go? [01:13:19] Speaker D: That's tough to, to kind of make something. I'm so routine that I just want to just say one. I've already gone on, like, I love the eastern. I love the Eastern Caribbean seven night sailing. So I know that's kind of a cop out, but that's what I'm going to go with. [01:13:32] Speaker C: All right, all right. You fail. Erica, what about you? [01:13:36] Speaker A: I'm. I'm going to pick one that they already do, which has always been my dream is the Panama can Canal, but I want to go through the old locks. [01:13:44] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, I love that. That's a great. Yeah, that's a great answer, Erica. Yeah. Okay. Well, Erica, you win, which means, Todd, you lose. We. We. [01:13:56] Speaker D: We both won because we just got. We got off a cruise a week ago. [01:13:59] Speaker C: You guys, thank you guys so much. This was really. It was really fun. I love, I love your answers. I love the paint the night answer, Todd. That was. That was a great, great one. Yeah. [01:14:08] Speaker D: I remember I spent one day at work just listening to Only that just on repeat shortly after it came out. So that's why it sticks in my head. [01:14:17] Speaker B: Well, Todd, Erica, I always like to ask, what's next? What do you have booked out there? [01:14:24] Speaker D: That's a good question. We have two other cruises booked. We have one on the Treasure booked for January, but we booked that before I signed up for Marathon Weekend, and it conflicts, so that'll be changing in some capacity. And we have one for next May booked on the Wonder that we might combine with Disneyland. But we keep on wondering if that's what we want to do or not. So TBA on what's next? Erica's trying to push for a Treasure in August and things, but we'll see. [01:14:57] Speaker A: It's guaranteed. I mean, why not we leave on your birthday? [01:15:04] Speaker C: I mean, a birthday cruise. You could even get the birthday decoration package. And then you could wear one of those funny ties or big buttons or, you know, and have people wish you happy birthday all day. It's. It's fun. [01:15:14] Speaker D: So we don't have a concrete answer for you, Brian, unfortunately. But there will be a. There will be something else next. [01:15:21] Speaker A: We will be back. We will be back. [01:15:23] Speaker B: All right. Well, we super appreciate you taking time out of your day to come on and share this, this fabulous experience that you had with everyone out there listening in our audience and just, just want to say thanks and appreciate you taking the time. [01:15:35] Speaker A: All right. Thanks for having us. For having us. This was. [01:15:43] Speaker E: All right. 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