[00:00:00] Speaker A: I think I put that in my first vlog. I was like, Sam and Brian, one of you guys recommended it. And mine just tasted like a Bath and Body Works candle. But again, if that's what they're going for, great.
I'll get the short rib next time or the grain fed sirloin or whatever the 12 year olds get, you know.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: Welcome back, everybody. Welcome, everybody, to this week's live episode of the DCL Duo podcast, brought to you by WeDoTravel. Right? Remember, life is short. Take the trip. Let the good folks over at WeDoTravel, right, handle the planning so you can focus on the relaxing. And I gotta start off tonight's show. You may notice we have a different step and repeat sort of behind us on the screen. You'll notice it even more on the next View when we bring in Stephen and Brian. But I gotta send a special shout out to Wesley version 5571 online. If you are not following, Wes, give him a follow because he reached out and just gave us this new step and repeat with all of our sponsor logos on it. And I was like that. I mean, it would have taken me at least, you know, 20, 30 minutes to do this and there it is in my inbox, just out of the kindness of his heart. So, Wes, we adore you, we appreciate you. And I just wanted to let folks know that you gave us this wonderful little new background here. And so again, version 5571 on all the socials. Find him, follow him. He's fantastic. And he has World Series rings or something. Like he had a picture of his series rings because he works for the Dodgers, I think.
[00:01:38] Speaker C: Yeah, for the Dodgers. Yeah.
[00:01:40] Speaker B: Anyway, the other thing I wanted to put out there for the show is that. So the Horizons panel is coming up. D23 is, I guess, kind of underway. Yeah. And the big panel is this weekend, Saturday night, 7pm Pacific, 10pm Eastern. Which that's. That's rough, but 7pm Pacific for us.
[00:01:59] Speaker C: But for those of you.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: I'll have a martini or whatever. But yeah, sorry, that's a reference to a TV show most of you will not have watched. But we are going to do something on Saturday evening. Now, I know last time we did a live show with Wes and ct, we, we just don't have the time to organize that shout out to. To different West. The West. The DCL dude would love to have him back on sometime, but we just, that was a long, long evening for, for him and for CT and for us. So what we're going to do instead is we have a Discord channel that has been inactive. I think I shut it down. I'm going to reactivate our Discord and we're going to post a link on our socials to our Discord channel. If you want to come over and watch the show with us, we're going to do like a little virtual watch party. We can all watch it together and comment on it. You can ask us questions, ask each other questions. Just a little community building exercise. Sam and I will probably be mic'd up watching that. We'll try to like put that little episode out as everyone keeps asking for us to do another Mystery Science 3000 Theater 3000 episode. So this will be our opportunity. So we'll try to push that out as well. But if you want to come watch it in real time with us, we'll put the link out to our Discord Come join the Discord community that we have and let's, let's just all chat together. At 7pm on Saturday.
[00:03:18] Speaker C: We'll watch Doogie Howser host altogether.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Oh yeah, that's right. It's brought to you by Neil Patrick Harris, which I'm in. I'm always in. If MPH is around, I'm in. All right, so it's a legend.
[00:03:28] Speaker C: Wait for it.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: Oh, and I am totally spacing. One last thing. If you have not already, head over to dcl-magazine.com dcl magazine. We want to thank them for sponsoring our live and bonus episodes.
Head over there DCL Duo subscribe.
If you use code DCLDUO ALL CAPS DCLDUO, you'll get 10% off everything in the store, including all of their magazines and everything. So big thank you to DCL magazine.
[00:03:56] Speaker C: And Brian has a new article in the most recent edition of the magazine. I'm not sure if the magazine is out yet or if it's the one that's coming very shortly, but Ryan's got an article all about his tour of the engine room and basically the guts of the Disney destiny when we were on that preview.
So that's in the DCL magazine, the next edition.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: Yes. So head over there, check it out. But now I gotta bring our guests in. Sam, we're gonna cover some news.
Welcome Stephen and Brian back to the show. So excited to have you.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: We're so glad to be back.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:04:33] Speaker C: We just adore you guys. For those who don't know, the whole gates are on YouTube as the whole Gate family and they have an amazing YouTube vlog. They vlog their everyday Life.
But they're, in my opinion, their funniest and best vlogs are when they're sailing on Disney Cruise Line, of course, and they just put out four vlogs. So every day has its own vlog from your most recent trip that we're going to be talking about today on the Disney Destiny. And four of the five are out. I have already watched all of them, of course, because I'm obsessed and I love them so much.
But we're so happy to have you guys back. But we got to talk some news before we dive into what you guys thought of the Destiny.
So of course, Brian mentioned on Saturday is the Horizons panel.
There are more deals that came out on DCL in the last couple of
[00:05:29] Speaker B: weeks, $1,500 off on some of the cruises I think I saw.
[00:05:33] Speaker C: So there's a, there's a bunch of different deals. We're not going to go through them right now, but of course, contact your, you know, travel advisor, contact our show sponsor, we do travelrite to find out more about those different deals and what's available on the different ships.
Another piece of news, federal grant funding was awarded for the Bright Line to the city of Cocoa. So for sure now Brightline will be going not quite to the port, but close to the port. So you'll be able to take Brightline all the way from Orlando down to Port Canaveral eventually when they, when they finish building all the tracks and whatnot. Another piece of news that I heard from our friend Alan, who is spending most of the Alaska season on Disney Cruise Line between, between both the Magic and the Wonder. He's on the Magic right now and he reported to me that they are serving dinner in cabanas occasionally. So you know how they used to serve dinner in cabanas?
You could go and have like sit down dinner and you'd get a menu that basically was like a kind of a mishmash of from the different rotational dining restaurants. Well, they're testing that again on the Magic, but they're only doing it occasionally and they're only doing it on those, like long port days. So the real, the real issue is, is that when people who are on first dining, sit down, you know, dinner, are at these long port days, they're missing their dining time and then they're coming back hungry and not all the pool deck food is open and they don't have a dining time available because they've missed it. And so they're kind of testing right now, I think, bringing back cabanas being open for sit down dinner on those long port days.
No word as to this being like any kind of permanent change. Like I said, it's just testing right now. And it's only right now the magic, as far as I know.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: Sam, did you say is it buffet or is it sit down dining?
[00:07:25] Speaker C: No, it's sit down like they used to do, which was the way it used to be pre Covid was you actually could get have sit down dinner inside cabanas.
This was pre wish class. Really? So it was even before the Wish debuted.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: Sorry, I have to pause. Stephen, I love that mug. Sorry, I was like, what is. Oh my God, that's fantastic.
[00:07:46] Speaker C: It's the mug that pain and panic have in this show. It's the best. The other thing that we're hearing is, you know, rumors about itinerary release. The last the rumor we heard is that itinerary release could be coming next week. And typically Disney Cruise Line does a Tuesday release, although at times they've done a Wednesday or a Thursday release.
So stay tuned and keep an eye on our socials because if there and keep an eye on our show next Monday because if there is an itinerary release that drops, we will do our very best to scramble and plan a live show immediately thereafter. So stay tuned. And I don't know, I want to be able to book some more cruises.
[00:08:28] Speaker B: So there's one other news item that we have glossed over here that I know is stale, but I don't think we really brought it up on the show before. And I'd love to get Stephen and Brian's thoughts on this too.
Is the whole ship release schedule shifted?
[00:08:40] Speaker C: Oh yeah.
[00:08:42] Speaker B: So now the OLC, they're launching one wish class and two Meridian class ships all in 2029. I know that's a little fuzzy with the OLC ship because it's based on their, their business year, their fiscal year, not the calendar year.
[00:08:58] Speaker C: It's going to be released in fiscal year 2028, but the calendar year 2029 for the Earl. So early 2029 for the OLC ship. And then at some point in 2029 we're going to get two new US based Disney Cruise Line ships.
[00:09:13] Speaker B: Two new US based Disney Cruise Line ships of a new class being launched in the same year.
I, I'm just curious, like I want to get everyone's thoughts on this. I'll reserve my thoughts until the end. But you know what, the ships are apparently ahead of schedule, so they're pulling them forward.
But yeah, I, I, I don't Know
[00:09:31] Speaker A: what to make of this until 2030, wasn't it?
[00:09:35] Speaker C: Wow. Yeah. One was. Yeah. It was supposed to be 20.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: Is that the smaller one?
[00:09:40] Speaker B: Y. Yeah. So one was supposed to be coming in 29. 30 and 31 I think was the original schedule. And now two are coming in 29. I don't think that they adjusted the 30. Do they adjust the 31 to 30, Sam, or did they keep it?
[00:09:54] Speaker C: I can't remember. It might still at 31. I have to look at the graphic.
[00:09:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I. Here's the questions that I have. I'll toss them out there and let you guys noodle on them for a second. But like, you know, one launching two new ships in the U.S. well, we don't know if they're coming to the U.S. i should. I should say that, but two new ships of a new ship class in the same year, that feels like a big effort.
[00:10:19] Speaker C: The other one is 2030, Brian, according to the graphic.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Okay, so. So that, that seems like a lot to do in a year in addition to launching this OLC show.
Yeah, I.
I suspect that part of the equation here is they're going to retire the magic.
And I'm a little. I'm a little.
I'm a little wondering if they might say something. Maybe not at this year's D23, but next year. But I, I really think that they're trying to. To fast forward, retiring the magic because I think she's been having a lot of mechanical problems these past few years. Nothing fatal to her propulsion or anything like that. But just onboard, you know, what do you call it?
Plumbing, air conditioning problems, keeping the temperature reg.
I'm wondering if this is like we're going to accelerate forward here, get these ships online, retire the magic, then the Wonder. Sam, didn't you spot something in a filing or something that they had trademarked? They re up their trademarks to Magic and Wonder.
[00:11:23] Speaker C: Yeah, they re upped their trademarks for the names Magic and Wonder. So I mean, we've always said.
We've always said if they retire, right, the Magic and Wonder, they should just bring on a new magic and a new wonder. Right? Like that should like. And they've like, they've done that for Queen Elizabeth, right? Like, yeah, you don't even have to call it the two could just call it the Right. As long as they don't have them in the commission at the same time. They could just call it like the Magic. Right?
[00:11:48] Speaker A: That's what, you know, that's what I.
Yeah, that's.
But I'm So I've got on the magic, you know, six or seven times. So it's kind of like an onboard experience to have your bathroom float. So I'm so used to it that I'm like, why isn't the bathroom float. I missed that I know or something feeling. It's like nostalgic at this point. You know what I mean? When you've sailed it like nine times,
[00:12:11] Speaker D: wait for it, here it comes.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: It's like, the bathroom smells good.
[00:12:13] Speaker E: Why?
[00:12:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I have a feeling they're going to retire these two ships. The comment in the chat about, but then they won't have 13.
I hear you, but they have another G23 to say and we're building two more Meridian class or two more Wish class like to replace them. I really do think this could be magic to wonder 2 getting released. I actually think Disney, it will breathe this Disney, it will breathe a sigh of relief if it's just the magic and the wonder can. Cause they don't have to adjust the website.
[00:12:46] Speaker D: But yeah, yeah, like just never use the names again and say we're going on the magic or the wonder, you know, and they just don't exist anymore.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: So I just hope if they do retire them, that they repurpose a lot of the stuff from the ships, like the aerial statue, the, you know, helmsman Mickey, things from the restaurants.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: But yeah, yeah, I. I told Sam this. I told Sam this weekend. I thought it would just be amazing if they tried to recreate almost the atrium of the ship and then, yes, to your point, pull some things off and put them on. But it feels like I was like, imagine like you're stepping on a new ship, but your first impression of it is, I feel like I'm coming home. I've sailed on the magic so much. Right. And there's lots of new stuff to do around the ship and all that sort of fun stuff. But you still get that connection back to the original ship. I think that would just be so cool.
[00:13:37] Speaker A: And there's so many repeat cruisers there, you know, that have been with Disney Cruise Line since the 90s, have such deep appreciation for those ships that I feel like, you know, moving some of that stuff over would benefit them. And those cruisers that, like me, we prefer the smaller ships. And so to not have them has always been a stressful thought to me. So when they announced them, I was like, whew.
[00:14:01] Speaker B: Totally. Totally.
[00:14:03] Speaker D: All right, well, ships which have these enormous kids spaces where edge on the magic and wonder is, you know, literally like the size of this office, it's so small and there's nothing in there. And so the kids, you know, I think kids can. And the. The adult area, there's a lot of comparisons. So if certain things could be changed and repurposed and, you know.
[00:14:28] Speaker C: Yeah, well, speaking of that, I mean, we got to start with, like, some expectations for this trip that you took on the Destiny. I know you'd been on the Wish before, but this was your first time on the Destiny, and you have not been on the Treasure yet, if I'm remembering correctly. And, like, your last, like, seven or eight cruises have been on the Magic, I feel like.
[00:14:48] Speaker A: So, yeah, we've had a lot of.
That's all I'm going to say.
Conclusions.
[00:14:57] Speaker C: All right, well, let's start with this then. Brian, did you have any expectations of what this new ship was going to be like? Anything you were sort of either concerned or excited about because you had been on the Magic more times recently, and obviously that's kind of home. Stephen mentioned you both really love the smaller ships. What kinds of expectations do you. Did you have going into this cruise?
[00:15:22] Speaker D: So being a food person, my expectations were really high because, you know, the restaurants are new, we've done the Wish, So we've done 1923 and. And we've done Marvel, and.
But my expectations for the food were really high. And for just the ambiance of the ship I like. The Wish is beautiful in its own. In a whole different category. Not a higher category, just a different category than the original four ships.
And so with the nautical theming, and then these new ships are just.
They're just like walking into a palace. I mean, they're just beautiful. But so that expectation was really high. I was worried about the size, the space, the amount of people, because that's my favorite thing about the small ships is the intimacy and the way that if you've been to Disneyland versus Disney World, that's kind of my comparison make is like the. The character experiences, the length of time you wait in a line for something, the amount of anything that's available.
And in that same topic on both topics, food with that many guests is a lot harder to maintain at a higher standard than the smaller ships. And I will say that I. My expectations were kind of what I expected. I think that the food quality was not.
Paolo was great. I was amazing.
But the food quality in most of our eating situations was not up to par. I was kind of disappointed.
[00:17:03] Speaker A: Spoiler.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: In what way? Was it service or it was the actual food or both?
[00:17:10] Speaker D: I think that the concept of A lot of the food was really, really well done. But the. I think just the amount of food that has to be made on the larger ships, it's hard to. I can't imagine preparing for that many people, you know, fresh ravioli, that's. That's like a huge undertaking. And they have to do it round the clock, 24 hours for room service. Like, so things like that. I was. And it was fine. After day two, I was like, okay, well, I'll just look at other things for my. You know, looking forward to this. And. And the food's good enough for. And that's. You know, I have high standards when it comes to the food, so
[00:17:48] Speaker C: I know. Well, listen, Brian is the cook in. In your family. I know from. From your videos. And you. You make some fancy stuff, so I am not surprised that you had that level of expectations.
Stephen, what were like, your must do is of things. I'm like, I must do this on this ship. Like, because there's so many new experiences, experiences on the Destiny that are different from what's offered on especially the older ships.
[00:18:16] Speaker A: My must do was troublemaking with Cruella, and I listened to. I literally listened to one of your guys's podcasts on the Destiny, and I took notes, and then I sent them to our friend Lindsay that we cruised with, and we made a to do list of what we wanted to do. And my must do was troublemaking, and I didn't do it.
We kept punting it, like, oh, we'll do it tomorrow. And we never got around to doing it.
[00:18:40] Speaker B: So next.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: Next Destiny cruise, we're gonna have to do it, because I heard so many great things, but we waited in a lot of lines, and.
And that one was just. That was the only one that was just like a mile long always. So we just kept being like, oh, at the end of the cruise, people will give up on it. They didn't give up on that one. So we. We missed out on that one. But aside from that, we really do. The Pride Land, from everything I've heard from everybody about how good the Night 2 menu was. So we. We enjoyed that. We got to do that. And then Hercules. We wanted to see Hercules. Those were kind of like the three things that we kind of wanted to, like, schedule into our. We have to get these things done. But sadly, Ruel, it was the only thing.
[00:19:24] Speaker B: So I. I want to. I want to take us back to food since you just mentioned Pride Lands, because what I'd love to understand. So first, let me dig into Pride Lands for a Second, did you think that we are sadly discovering that we may not be able to experience the Night 2 menu in Pridelands because our cruises are over the holidays and so we're trying to figure out whether that screws up the menu rotation. So we still haven't tried night two. Did you like night two food better than night one? And like, did you have any favorite dishes out of Pride Lands that you, you enjoyed that met the quality bar? I guess.
[00:19:57] Speaker D: Night two. Let's see. Night one was the. Night two was the pumpkin inspired food correct? Night one, sure.
[00:20:05] Speaker C: Night one, you had the, you had the 4th of July menu and you had like the Berber chicken and you had that pumpkin vegetarian thing. I don't know why you ordered the non vegetarian.
[00:20:18] Speaker D: I'm very grateful for the fourth of July menu. The, the short ribs were thing. They were so good. One of the best things I had.
Yeah, the food that night was. It was. I was really say the food is really, really good that night and that it. Anybody would like it, regardless of your palate. And I like to eat things that are, you know, different.
And I think it was not the, the taste and the flavors and the, but it was the quality again, that was just kind of like, oh, like maybe if it was 10 degrees warmer or you know, not soggy, things like that.
[00:21:00] Speaker A: The pumpkin ravioli was good. It was just. My portion was very firm, so I don't know if someone else out there has had like a non firm one, but if the firmness is what they're going for, then I'll pass. But the flavor on the inside was, was good, but I, I liked it much more the heirloom tomato and the, the donut and that. I think they had short rib on that menu as well.
[00:21:24] Speaker D: They did have a short rib option on that menu, which was also really,
[00:21:27] Speaker A: really good, but it was good.
[00:21:30] Speaker C: So the answer is always short ribs. I take it then that seems to be.
[00:21:37] Speaker B: Did either of you try the Berber chicken or the. Was it the Peri. Peri shrimp? Yeah. And what. And how was that experience?
[00:21:47] Speaker A: It tasted like Christmas and I didn't understand why. And so I just kind of was like it reminded me of a Bath and Body Works candle. So I only tried it because of you, Sam. And so I, I think I put that in my first vlog. I was like.
And Brian, one of you guys recommended it and mine just tasted like a Bath and Body Works candle. But again, if that's what they're going for, great short. I'll get the short rib next time or the Grain fed sirloin or whatever that 12 year olds get.
[00:22:17] Speaker D: You know, I can see how chicken would have been really good, but I think that it was, it was so dry.
[00:22:22] Speaker A: That's what it was.
[00:22:22] Speaker D: It was very, very, almost to the point of like jerky. It was really intense.
The shrimp was very good. The peri Peri shrimp was so good that I ordered that and I had to share it. And I was sad that I felt like I had to share it. It was so good.
[00:22:38] Speaker A: Why you gotta say that?
[00:22:38] Speaker D: I'm sorry.
[00:22:41] Speaker C: Yeah. So I will say we, we I think must have gotten lucky with the burger chicken being not as dry and that ended up being Nathan's favorite dish. But my dish is actually the shrimp curry dish on that night one menu. Although I do like the peri Peri shrimp appetizer. I also like that chicken skewer appetizer. But regardless, we had. It sounds like a better experience in terms of quality and it is hit and miss. I think that's one of the issues that they're facing, I think across all of the fleet. But of course, the bigger the ship, the more that issue I think sort of pops up.
[00:23:17] Speaker B: Yeah, it's what worries me about them pulling other ships forward is like the brand dilution. The, the, the quality bar gets lower because they've just got to take the people who can get it done right. And so, yeah, it worries me a bit.
[00:23:31] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:23:31] Speaker A: And for gave the dishes that we were like, ooh, is because I've been on. This was my 19th and so I like y', all, I've been on so many where it's like I've had an amazing 1923 or an amazing, you know, an amazing animators night, two on the magic. And then I've had some that were like disgusting. And so it's like, you know that it's just, it can just be hit or miss. But yeah, so I can imagine that the Burber chicken is so good and I'm gonna hold onto that till my next cruise.
[00:23:59] Speaker D: Well, and unless you're ordering, you know, if you order anything, the only thing you can order to your liking is
[00:24:04] Speaker A: a steak or chicken tenders.
[00:24:06] Speaker D: So, yeah, so with steak, I learned very quickly that like, oh, anything you order, if you want a medium rare, you should be ordering a rare and you'll get a medium rare. So by the end, when we had 1923 and it was the peppered filet that they serve, I said, can I. Everybody ordered and I said, I would like mine very rare. And it came out so Perfect. That Kenzie ended up stealing mine because hers was cooked. And, you know, I need to start being more. I guess. No, you can't touch my food.
[00:24:42] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm not sharing. That's what you need to say.
[00:24:45] Speaker B: Here's the fix for all of this. Just order two of them up.
[00:24:47] Speaker C: Up front.
[00:24:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:50] Speaker C: Well. And I will say, I know on night two in Pride Lands, you. I think, Brian, I think you did order like four entrees. If I'm.
I think it's a great solution if you're not sure what's. What sort of the quality is going to be. Like if you order, you know, a bunch of stuff and then you, of course, can either share or not share, depending upon your preference, and it can make your experience even better. I want to talk about embarcation day for a minute, though.
Steven, I got this feeling from watching your vlog about, especially the end of day one, that you were very overwhelmed by the Destiny on day one and you weren't sure that you liked it. Like, you. I think that changed. So. Spoiler. Like, I think you ended up loving the ship, but I think on day one, I think you were like, I don't know that this ship is for me. You were.
You kind of had a bit of a. I don't want to. You know, you were. You're whelmed. Let's put it that way. Yeah.
[00:25:53] Speaker A: I was so not myself day one because we. We had been. Since we went on the wish in 2023, we had only been on the magic like, five or six times. So I. The magic is, you know, I. My first Cruise was in 2011, and so I sailed when it was just dream magic or wonder. And so I was just used to that theming. The way that the vibe felt and getting on the Destiny felt, it was so overwhelming because everywhere you look, there is something super fabulous to take in. And there's. I mean, just so many lounges and bars and experiences that I. I was telling him, I'm like, my brain is getting overwhelmed with the thought of, like, we should rush and do everything today, you know, and so. And I also accidentally had six shots of espresso. So it was like my brain turned on, but it also turned off in a way. And so we were trying to have fun and we were. And I was, like, just completely mute and so, so overwhelmed. And then we had the incident with our friend's son hitting his head, and everything just went, like, complete bonkers that day. But then we woke up completely refreshed on day two, and Now I can. Spoiler alert. Say, the Destiny is my favorite chip.
[00:27:06] Speaker C: Oh, I love that.
So far. So far, you haven't been on the Treasure yet.
[00:27:11] Speaker A: Yeah. With talking about the food and everything, I'm like, we're taking turns whacking the Destiny left and right. I'm like, wait, we do have a lot of good things to say.
[00:27:19] Speaker C: Yeah, let's dive into some of those good things.
So setting aside, of course, the visit to the health center for Lindsey's son, Bronx, poor kid who had a large.
Yeah. On his head. For anyone who watches the vlogs, this is like a significant head injury and for sure, concussion.
Tell us, what were the things that you really loved about the ship?
Like, well, actually, I want to ask about the layout first. Like, do you like the decor and the layout of the Destiny?
[00:27:56] Speaker D: I love the layout. And our stateroom was at the very, very back of the ship. We were above Spider man, like, right next to where the flag, the Bermuda Fl Flag is there. Like, it was. It was so beautiful. And. And that was. And then our friend's stateroom was very much and much farther and with only two sets of elevators. You know, it's a walk, but we walk every day. And so I was like, it's okay. We're not going to complain. This is our. This is our walk every day. It's fine. But I love the layout. I think it makes a lot of sense. I think they've had a lot of years of experience to fine tune a lot of different things.
So we really enjoyed that. And then I really liked our choice of our stateroom. The art throughout the ship and the villains and the heroes sides was so special for me. For us, it was so enjoyable to see it all, and I was so overwhelmed with, like, look at how many people they commissioned to work on. The art alone for this ship is just remarkable.
The restaurants, I love the pool deck, food area. Like, it's. There's just so much everywhere that you can't do it all. But there's never nothing to do. There's always something. Somewhere to go, somewhere to eat. It's just. I think it's very well done and the decor is beautiful. Everywhere.
[00:29:29] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm gonna give a plug. For those who haven't watched the whole gates on YouTube, you need to go over and watch because I feel like one of the things you did this, these vlogs in particular, is you highlight. And not to say you don't do it in all of your vlogs, but this one, I think you were. You Guys were so, I think, enamored with the artwork and the decor. You covered a ton of it. And so your videos show just a ton of the different artwork, carpets, the elevators even. Right. There's just so much to see, and you can't possibly see it all. I remember on your fourth blog, you stumbled across some of these, I'll call them, like. Like, 3D kind of painting things or artwork that you hadn't even seen before day four. Right. Because there's just so much to see that you. You might miss some of it across,
[00:30:18] Speaker D: you know, kind of like paper. It was like paper cutout of, like, they had frozen and encanto and things. Yeah. And like, you said, the carpet. If you've. You know, we've watched anything about the Disney cruise ships, anything that Disney puts out there, the documentaries, the hand cut and the carpet, like, there's just detail in every little corner of every Disney ship, but especially these bigger ships. It is.
[00:30:44] Speaker A: And everything on this cruise, he taught me because I'm kind of like, like, oh, take a picture. It's so beautiful. Let's go. And he's like, grandma, no, we're gonna stop and we're gonna look and appreciate it. So I really learned to stop and smell the roses of the ark. And so we were so surprised when we came around from Marvel by the restaurant, and we saw those things, and we were like, what a lot of your guests have said is that you just can't see it all in one cruise. And so.
[00:31:12] Speaker D: Oh, and one of our favorite things to do is when 1923 is not functioning, sometimes they leave a door open and you are allowed to go inside. And we asked, and they said, yes, please come in. And we walked through it like it's a museum. And that was one of my favorite things that we did. Because when you're seated, you know, when you're being taken to your seat, that's all the way in the back of the restaurant. You're seeing, like, that's Peter Pan's hat.
[00:31:38] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
[00:31:38] Speaker D: There's Baymax's. You know, whatever. But when you get to go in there, when. And there was nobody in there at all, the servers are kind of setting up tables and things, and they welcome you in. And it was so exciting and fun to just. And it's like. Like I said, it's like a museum. It's quiet, and you can appreciate every single thing in that restaurant. It's beautiful on both sides.
[00:31:58] Speaker B: It's.
[00:31:59] Speaker D: So do it. It's amazing. It's so wonderful.
[00:32:02] Speaker B: That is a great.
I love this tip because I never would have thought to have done this on the off time. And you're right that those restaurants are so jam packed with just little touches that. Yeah. Like as you're walking in and out, you're like, oh, I want to spend some time here. But you can't. You got to get to dinner. So.
[00:32:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:18] Speaker C: Plus you don't want to be like leaning over someone's dinner table in order to like see, you know, the Baymax display or whatnot. And you might even get a little peek inside the kitchen if you're luck like somebody
[00:32:34] Speaker D: and that actually we did our mustard drill. We were in Marvel restaurant and we exited through the rest. Through the restaurant through. It was kind of the drink area, it seemed like. And so that was cool to see. Just behind anything behind the scenes of in a Disney cruise ship is just like things you, you know when they have where they're bringing the bags out into the room and you get a look down the hallway and it's like, like it's a whole other world inside the ship that you don't get to see. They keep it so like, you know, it's like Disney World and Disneyland. There's just a whole area that's not for the guests to see. That's how it all functions. And it's so fascinating.
[00:33:14] Speaker C: Yeah. Behind that curtain. Right. To see.
To see Oz, the great Oz pulling the strings.
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[00:34:33] Speaker C: Steven, I want to talk about some of the experiences you guys did get up to on board. Of course we have to talk about shows. I know you saw Marvel with Great Power. You also saw Hercules. You also saw the Maleficent show.
And I think you caught pieces of some of the. Well, I'll call them Zaya shows, because you didn't have a gamble on your sailing. But in some of those atrium experiences, what were some of the highlights for you all on board in terms of entertainment?
[00:35:07] Speaker A: So Hercules was by far, like, knocked it out of the park. Loved Hercules. I get why everybody says that. It's one of their new favorite shows. Some of the shows, like, the. I think they call them, like, jukebox shows. You kind of. You've seen them 100 times, and you sit there and you're like, there's still four more songs left. I want to go get a drink, you know? But Hercules went by in, like, five minutes. Like, we were very impressed with Hercules. And then the Maleficent show. Okay. So what I kept saying the whole cruise behind the scenes was I was like, they are making this cruise. Like, it's like, we are rich. Like, it's like on the small ships, it's like they provide. I feel like they provide so little entertainment on the small ships, but on these ships, I'm like, like, there is so much to do. It's like, did we pay enough for all of this stuff? And so every day.
[00:35:55] Speaker D: Yes, we did.
[00:35:56] Speaker A: To see. We did. Yes, you did.
[00:35:58] Speaker C: You did.
[00:35:59] Speaker D: Wait, I was gonna say.
[00:36:01] Speaker B: Don't. Don't say that too loudly. Disney does listen to this show occasionally.
[00:36:07] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:36:08] Speaker A: Yes. But I'm like, I was so impressed. Like, the Maleficent show. The.
What are those?
[00:36:15] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: Lights and stuff?
[00:36:17] Speaker D: Just the. The.
The.
He called them the pyrotechnics. The lighting effects in the room just totally transforms the room into her dungeon. And this.
This cast member's acting skills, I mean, I told Stephen, I was like, that they have to be not only in character, but they also have to be an improv actor as they interact with the audience.
[00:36:42] Speaker A: It was.
[00:36:43] Speaker D: She was frightening.
[00:36:44] Speaker A: And they pulled him up on stage.
[00:36:46] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:36:47] Speaker D: She selected me as one of the people, and it was. I wanted to be terrifying in the moment, and so I just allowed myself to feel, like, intimidated by her. And she's as tall as me in heels. I'm six one. And so I'M just, like, looking her in the eye, and she is like, the makeup and everything. I was like this. I am Sleeping Beauty, and she's gonna kill me. This is terrifying.
[00:37:12] Speaker A: And the villain. Spoiler alert for day five. The villains love him for some reason. We went to Dr. Facilier's parlor, and out of all the people in there, he was selected again.
[00:37:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:23] Speaker A: So the princesses always pick me, and the villains choose him.
Draw your own conclusions, I suppose. I don't know what. I don't know what that says about the two of us.
[00:37:32] Speaker D: What are you saying?
[00:37:34] Speaker C: I love that. I love that.
[00:37:35] Speaker A: The angel and then we left the lobby atrium. Shows, like, the way that they include people that are just sitting on the carpet.
We saw the Tiana. Let's cook up a story. And then we saw the. What was the other one called?
With the Sleeping Beauty one?
[00:37:53] Speaker D: They did the Sleeping Beauty.
Oh.
[00:37:56] Speaker A: And that was super fun.
[00:37:58] Speaker C: Yeah. It's what they call it, like a mostly.
Mostly true tale or almost the accurate tale. Something like that. Yeah. Yes.
[00:38:05] Speaker A: Yeah, those are.
[00:38:06] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:38:06] Speaker D: The entertainment is stellar, and the ability of these cast members to perform as characters is beyond anything I have ever seen in Parks, cruises anywhere.
[00:38:18] Speaker A: Yeah. The difference is, I feel like with. Even though the Wonder has my heart, the Destiny felt like we actually got enough stuff to do what we paid for. It felt like, whoa. They really kept us busy, and they kept us wanting to come back. Whereas on the Wonder, you can get. Or the magic, you can get everything done in 48 hours. You know what I mean? But this one, this ship, I was, like, hooked. And, like, the colors everywhere, the lobby atrium, how it's constantly changing. I think that they did a really good job with that. So we're really excited to do the Treasure. We're gonna do that with our friends next summer.
[00:38:52] Speaker B: I'll say that the one thing you. So the. The. The Destiny is, like, over the top, and you can really see how they started to bring some of what they learned from the star cruiser into the ship with, like, all the character interactions and. Yeah. The improv, all that sort.
[00:39:07] Speaker C: Stuff.
[00:39:07] Speaker B: Of stuff. The Treasure has, like, a little less entertainment on it because.
Because they don't have the meet and play opportunities with the various villain characters. So, you know, no doctor facilities, parlor, no troublemaking, all that sort of stuff.
So I'll be interested to see if you still feel like there was enough entertainment to kind of keep you busy on that ship. I want to go back to a second. So someone was asking in the chat, and I was curious more Broadly like, so you. You did Dr. Facilier's parlor, and you mentioned earlier in the show that you. You had to wait in lines quite a bit like experience.
Did you think that Dr. Facilier meet and greet was worth the wait? Did you think some of the other experiences you wait in line for were worth it?
[00:39:46] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:39:47] Speaker B: Talk us through that.
[00:39:48] Speaker D: Yeah, I think everything that we waited for was worth it. Dr. Facilier, the cast member who performed as him, was terrifying. I mean, he was, like, relentlessly Dr. Facilier. It was overwhelming how in character he was. And same as Maleficent. And Cruella was also hysterical and, you know, like, her of people. I'm like, how does she come up with enough things to say?
It's just amazing to me.
[00:40:16] Speaker A: Yeah. When Dr. Facilier and Maleficent were, like, mean to us, we were like, you're doing your job. That's good. Because they were so believable at first. Like, we got dirty looks from them and we were like. And then we were like, oh, you're supposed to.
[00:40:30] Speaker D: You're supposed to do that. Yeah, yeah. It was interesting. And so, yeah, I think that waiting in line. I think we were the second group to go into Dr. Facilier. And it's not a long experience.
We had a. There was. I was selected, and then I think, was it two other people? And there was a sweet younger guy, and he was really struggling with playing the card game. And so it was constantly having to be like, reshuffle the cards, reshuffle the cards. But it was very funny. And he just totally took charge of the show, and it was totally worth the wait. And then Maleficent, waiting in line for Maleficent was.
We got in line early. I think we were the second or third party to go. So we sat right up front that. And I will say, these things are worth the wait. The experience was so immersive, like I said, beyond anything I've ever experienced in its position.
[00:41:26] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:41:27] Speaker A: And when I listened to all the destiny ones of your episodes before the cruise, even though I had already listened to them knowing we were going to go on it, I re. Listened to take notes, and I learned so much about the rope drop cult culture. And I'm like, 90s Californian who. We didn't have the rope drop culture at Disneyland back then. Waits were 20 minutes. Even when I first went on the Disney Cruise Line it was, you know, 15 years ago. It wasn't the way it is now with Disney being so much more popular. And so when I listen, I'm like, oh, I'm not going to be waiting in those lines. That's silly. I'll just do this or that. And we ended up waiting for everything. And I will say the. The wait was worth it for everything we tried.
[00:42:06] Speaker D: So, yeah, yeah. One thing I think that the do compared to the small ships, it's less gas. So they can. You can spend a little more time with a cast member, but the larger ships kind of move people along. They keep it going and Which I can understand how they need to do it. And so I appreciate it in its own way. But I do love that the smaller ships kind of create an intimate experience that. That is not. It's not possible on the bigger ships
[00:42:36] Speaker A: and the smaller ships. Those are my people, the big ships. It feels kind of like we're in Orlando. That's the only thing. It's like, on the small ships, Those are the OGs. They give you that amazing service you're never going to get on any other ship. Whereas on the Destiny, I don't even remember our server's name anymore. So
[00:42:56] Speaker B: how early. So you mentioned for facility. You're like the second group in for.
Not Cruella.
Sorry. You were the third group. Like, how early are you lining up to get that second or third slot?
[00:43:11] Speaker A: Like, 35 minutes?
[00:43:13] Speaker B: Yeah, it's not terrible, but not long.
[00:43:15] Speaker D: Like, if you. At the parks, 30 minutes is like, let's get there quick. That's nothing, you know, so.
[00:43:21] Speaker C: Yeah, you wait for guardians for that easily. Right. Like, of course you would. Right. So I think, you know, I think 35 to 45 minutes is not bad. It's when you have to wait two hours for something that that's kind of like. Because it eats up a lot of your time.
Speaking of time, I want to.
[00:43:39] Speaker B: I want to ask one question from the chat, which is just really fast. There's a thread running through the chat right now kind of about the Destiny. The spaces always feel, or felt busier than any other ship that people have been on it.
As I'm thinking about that, I'm like, I think that's right. Like, I did feel like all the spaces were constantly full of people and activity. I don't know where that is on. You haven't been on the treasury, but I'm like, I don't know where that goes on the Wish or the Treasure, but it felt like the spaces were always packed. Did you feel that way on day one?
[00:44:10] Speaker A: I felt like. I felt like that. I felt like it was really busy on, like, the lounges because we, like, we, we ruined those lounges. We were there so much. We did so much in those lounges. And so.
Oh, our friend.
And so the first night, it was crazy. But then the next few nights, I would say by 9, 30, 10, there was maybe 10 to 12 people in Devilles. And we always had a good seat. We never had to wait for a space to sit.
[00:44:38] Speaker D: Yeah, we never waited longer than this day. Yeah. And that's what I've said to Steve. And my tip that I would give to anybody who's never sailed with Disney before is if you're, you know, if you're on a three night cruise, you need to kind of like do the things and get it done. But if you're on a five or longer night, day one and two are people. You can sense the tension and the anxiety that's throughout the ship and excitement. It's a good anxiety, but it's anxiety. And then by day three things, people mellow out. People have slept in, they feel like, oh, I've done some stuff. And so yes, with the crowds, I did feel like there was some spaces, the atrium, when there was, you know, shows and things, there's always a spot to find. You can get a, you know, get a good standing spotter. But there was one night, oh, we were, we were on the sailing during the World cup and so what's the, what's the pirate bar called?
[00:45:39] Speaker A: Kask and Cannon.
[00:45:40] Speaker D: Cask and Canon was like, there was not even standing space, which freed up a lot of space in other places. So that was good. But, but then we went to Kask and Cannon once the games were done and there was, I think there was maybe six people in the entire lounge. So I think our sailing was different because there was a lot of the World cup was going on and so that like pulled a lot of crowd in different places.
[00:46:06] Speaker A: But yes, and I do, Sam, because you have watched my vlogs, I do have to give you a secret on the mocktail joke if you want it.
[00:46:15] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:46:16] Speaker A: Okay. So obviously we are, we enjoy an adult beverage and that's fine.
[00:46:23] Speaker C: And coffee or two.
[00:46:27] Speaker A: But our friend, she is new to all of that because, Mike, can I say this?
She doesn't care.
[00:46:35] Speaker D: She says okay to everything. Go for it.
[00:46:38] Speaker A: She is a new drinker and so she's like nervous and finding her pet path. And so she, I, I told her, I was like, I'm just going to say that everything we're having is a mocktail. And so that's where a lot of people were commenting on my videos. And they're like, it's okay. You can enjoy your beverages. I'm like, we. I know, but that's what the. That's where the joke of the mocktail comes from. Because she wanted to experiment with some things on the Destiny, with all those fun drinks that they have, and. And I just turned it into a joke.
[00:47:12] Speaker C: So I wanted to tell you that I loved it. I thought it was hilarious. I mean, I knew you were not drinking mocktails, and I think that anyone would. I think anyone who has watched your vlogs would probably figure that out pretty quickly. And probably people who haven't watched your vlogs would figure that out pretty quickly, especially because of some of the hilarity that ensues, like climbing through places where not supposed to climb through. Let's just put it that way. So I'm. My Brian has not watched the vlogs, but we don't need to talk about that. But there's some really funny.
[00:47:47] Speaker B: I for sure am now
[00:47:52] Speaker D: to say during the time we were not willing to wait on the aquamouse line.
But when closure. There's no line. No, no.
Half true.
[00:48:06] Speaker C: Yeah, half true, half true.
I want to ask the question about relaxation because I feel like on, for example, on the Magic or on the Wonder ships, you've been on quite a bit. I know you guys get to spend a lot of time relaxing.
You like to order room service. You did order plenty of room. I was amazed at how much room service you guys ordered because. Only because.
[00:48:30] Speaker B: Can I just say, one of our friends that we're on a text thread with, like, watched all your vlogs and then was like, I don't know, they ate so much. They were like twice a day and had all the meals. So vacation.
[00:48:43] Speaker C: Late Nightingale. Exactly. Late Nightingale. And you're sharing and you're sharing things, but I'm just curious, do you. Do you feel like you got enough relaxation time? Because, you know, Disney cruise is supposed to be a vacation. It's not like traveling around Europe where you're going to see 8 million things, right? Like, did you still feel like this was relaxing and that you got got that sort of quality relaxation time in.
[00:49:09] Speaker A: On the count of three, let's say it at the same time.
[00:49:11] Speaker D: One, two, three.
[00:49:12] Speaker A: No.
[00:49:13] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:49:13] Speaker B: Oh,
[00:49:16] Speaker C: that was amazing, by the way. That was amazing.
[00:49:19] Speaker A: I could feel and say yes. And I'm like, girl, we didn't relax. We were like,
[00:49:25] Speaker D: well, my. Some of my favorite moments are. What stick out to me is when you're on. In the adult.
[00:49:30] Speaker C: In the adult.
[00:49:31] Speaker D: Pool area. If you just keep walking, keep going all the way around, it's a dead end. And so why go back there? And there was a couple times where we went back there and we were the only people in this entire. The first time we went to the adult, we kind of. You go up the stairs and there's like, along the side of the ship, there's loungers. And so we just sat down and made myself minutes. There was talking and talking and people. And I was like, this is not relaxing.
[00:49:59] Speaker A: And I was very much on like my dot from MADtv Energy. I was like, we gotta go here and I wanna go there and we gotta go do this. And oh, this is in five minutes. And so our friend Lindsay, she was very willing. She's like a rope drop woman. And so she was very willing to go get in all the lines. And she's very much like a completionist. And so I credit her as to why we were able to get Hercules and everything done. Because also, spoiler alert, Hercules was the only show we saw on this ship because we prioritized a lot of the other things we've already seen frozen, you know, five or six times, and then what is the other one on the deck? Oh, seize the adventure. We've seen that, you know, so we
[00:50:35] Speaker D: did want to see that. But that was the night that her son hit his head. And I mean, what do you say? Like, okay, we'll have fun taking care of your kid.
[00:50:44] Speaker E: Bye.
[00:50:44] Speaker B: Like, yeah, no, you.
[00:50:47] Speaker C: Yeah, you did the right thing. Like, there are times where you have to pivot, right? That's the one thing that I think we try to tell people. Like there's, you know, you have your list of must dos. Everything beyond your list of must dos is like a nice to. Nice to do, not a must do. Right? And your must do list needs to be kind of short because. And then even if something on your must do list gets canceled because of, you know, something happens, you got, you got to be willing to pivot. And that's the same as, you know, if you. Let's say the ship doesn't go to Castaway and you want it to go to Castaway, right? Like, there's some things that are kind of beyond your control. And yeah, that first night was kind of crazy.
Not, I think, withstanding the fact that there was. I think you were. You were overwhelmed and had too much coffee, Steven. But also Bronx getting that, that bonk on the noggin, that was, yeah, pretty, pretty rough, but interesting. Your take that, you know, Steven, I, I Noticed you there were a couple times where you had like an hour where you like sat outside.
But that, I take it that wasn't like enough of relaxation. Sorry, Brian, I interrupted you.
[00:51:53] Speaker B: No, I was just gonna say that, you know, Tracy's agreeing like the Destiny was the least relaxing of all the ships. And K8.
[00:52:02] Speaker C: K8 cater girl.
[00:52:04] Speaker B: I'm not sure how to pronounce it. I'm sorry.
Girl.
So crazy all the time on the Treasure. And that was a seven night. Not relaxing for us. A lot of fun, but not relaxing. I mean, so even on the Treasure, folks are saying there's so much to do, I can't do it all. So, I mean, I think it does require like a deliberate mindset of. I'm going to pick one or two things to correct. Yeah, yeah.
[00:52:26] Speaker A: Because our first time I very much was like, I have to do everything. And so whereas on the Magic, it's like we walk on and it's like, you know, I'll get there when I get there.
[00:52:37] Speaker D: Well, maybe that's because the Destiny, like we said, there's always something and it's not like trivia. It's like there is. Maleficent is performing in the atrium. Like it is like a huge situation is always going to on like Gamble and what's. What are their names? Ziya, Ziya and Gamble. Like there's always something that's so huge to go and participate in that you feel like you need to do that or you're going to miss out. And so if you can turn off the FOMO and just say, like I said, walking. I don't know what was going on when we walked through 1923 and looked at everything that was so relaxing to
[00:53:17] Speaker A: do that know also we had teenagers in our room and so that cut into a lot of the relaxation because those fools come in the room at one in the morning and they steal all your hair products and then they wake, they don't want to get out of bed until 11am so it was like a lot of my favorite relaxation on a Disney cruise is when we wake up at like 8:30 and we relax till like 9:30 or 10, go to, you know, cabanas. Marcel Porcelain. But we couldn't make any noise without getting like.
[00:53:47] Speaker D: It's so hard to carry the room service tray with coffee mugs that you know how they like do the coffee mugs. All weird.
[00:53:53] Speaker A: We do get.
[00:53:54] Speaker D: And you have to like quietly get out the door like carrying. Oh my gosh. With children, sleeping is very difficult.
[00:54:00] Speaker A: But yeah, sailing with teens is a whole nother experience.
[00:54:05] Speaker C: Yeah. I. I love though that you make a point to always go out on the balcony and have your room service coffee in the morning. Like I think that that's like a lovely tradition.
It's funny cause we never do that. Cause I always go to get the specialty coffee. Cause we can't drink. We just can't drink Joffrey's. Neither of us can do it.
But. So we go get the specialty coffee. And then I'm usually drinking mine as I'm walking back from the coffee shop. And Brian gets to drink his in bed because I bring it back to him. Cause I'm the early riser and he's the late riser.
[00:54:37] Speaker B: But you don't want to see me under caffeinated.
[00:54:40] Speaker C: Yeah, you don't want to be in the.
[00:54:41] Speaker A: It is not good.
[00:54:43] Speaker C: It's not good. But I love that that's like become a tradition for you guys. But I gotta ask about Kenzie and her friend.
Did you guys like ever see them or spend time with them on the cruise other than dinner? Did they want to hang out with.
[00:54:59] Speaker D: We spot them around the ship and they found some, you know, friends of the other gender that they were kind of.
[00:55:07] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:55:07] Speaker D: Off guard.
[00:55:08] Speaker A: They hadn't seen each other in six months. So we both. Lindsay and then Brian and I, we gave them permission to just do whatever you want. It's just five days. We've been on a million Disney cruises. It's not a big deal. And they took advantage of that. They never wanted to be. I don't even know. I think we only took two group photos the entire cruise. And. But there were big tears on the last day. So it, you know, the, the.
The bonding and the togetherness, you know, because they were. They grew up being best friends and then they moved in October this past year. And so we're like family with their family. And so when they moved, it was like a devastating blow to the girl's relationship and ours. And so that they. We gave them the permission and then they. I don't. I didn't even know who these kids were. But it's some big influencer family and they have boys that are our girl's age. And so when I posted my videos, I'm not even knowing anything. And all these people are flooding my comments like those are the boys from. And I'm like.
So I guess that's who they spent their time with for the whole cruise. But they had a ball and. And I would say it was a success for them.
[00:56:17] Speaker D: Very. Yeah. Yeah, they had a great time, and we had a great time because we always. We spend all of our time together, and we. Having Lindsay, our friend, is. She's our best friend together at the same time. So it just kind of worked out perfect.
[00:56:31] Speaker A: It was so fun.
[00:56:32] Speaker B: We had. We had a question way up in the chat that I think is appropriate to ask now, which is, did Kinsey share anything about, like, her favorites on board? Did she have any favorites on board?
[00:56:47] Speaker A: No, I'm just kidding.
[00:56:49] Speaker C: Just hanging with her.
[00:56:50] Speaker B: It's an answer.
[00:56:53] Speaker D: She loved the pool deck food.
She did love the amount of pool space that there was so much. Just the pools, the options for pools that by the end of the sailing, she was like, wait, there was a whole pool back here I didn't even know about.
And so she loved that aspect of it.
And then again, having something to do at all times. And they.
[00:57:15] Speaker A: I don't. Oh, I have one.
[00:57:17] Speaker D: Kenzie says that a lot of the teens don't utilize the teen spaces as much as you would expect them to. I feel like if they switched the amount of space that they give teens on the new ships with the adult space space, it would benefit the adults more than the kids.
[00:57:35] Speaker A: I've got one unfiltered.
She said, why do we go on the magic so much? It's like a granny ship. We need to just keep going on this ship because there's so many kids and the ship is so full of life.
And so, you know, she's. I guess we're elder millennials or whatever. And so she was like, I get that y' all love that one, but can we please never go on those again?
[00:57:58] Speaker D: I'm like, there was a lot more families with children. Yes. Of all ages. There were so many underage minors on this sailing that it was. It was overwhelming how many there were. Which is great for the kids because it gives them options of, you know, because just like anywhere with kids, there's, you know, sometimes you want to be able to say, I want to hang out with somebody different. And so it gives them the option to find people. People.
[00:58:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:58:26] Speaker C: But she.
[00:58:26] Speaker A: Yeah, she.
It was. It was such a successful cruise. Very.
[00:58:31] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, and this was a celebration, too. She's finished middle school. She's starting high school, like, in the coming weeks, which is crazy.
Oh, my God. Today they started school start in, like, two and a half weeks.
[00:58:46] Speaker A: Lucky years.
[00:58:47] Speaker C: Yeah. So, in fact, Nathan just came home from sleepaway camp this morning. We picked him up. And so, yeah, it's.
It's just crazy. It's crazy to think. I mean, and it's funny because Nathan and Kenzie are exactly two years apart in age.
And so it's always fun to kind of watch. It's fun to watch the kids grow up over the years through, you know, watching Kenzie grow up over the years through your videos. I gotta ask you guys, what's next? Like, what do you have booked? Or what are you eyeing if you don't have something on the.
[00:59:22] Speaker B: On the.
[00:59:23] Speaker C: On the. On the books yet?
[00:59:25] Speaker D: We want to go Treasure, like we said. We love the layout of the Wish and the Destiny. I think that the ambiance of the treasure speaks more to, like, what I think is beautiful.
Love the Marvel stuff, but I.
[00:59:39] Speaker A: He's much more Agrabah than Wakanda, than novel for Wakanda.
[00:59:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:59:45] Speaker D: I think it looks really beautiful. And if people think that it's more.
You said, Brian, that it's. People find it to be less. Not as much entertainment as the Destiny has. And so maybe finding more relaxing, quieter times, I think speaks to me more.
[01:00:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:00:04] Speaker A: And then we might.
We're trying to decide. We've. The only time we've ever gone on a Disney cruise alone together because we're both obsessed is our honeymoon. And that was, you know, almost 13 years ago. And so we've always been like, we love being together as a family. So we're like, no, just bring her along. And so we're. We're toying around with the idea of doing an adults only on for our anniversary. I know I'm scared.
And so, yeah, I have that fear of leaving and being, you know, so far away on the water and all that stuff. But I think we're. We might be doing that at the beginning of October.
[01:00:43] Speaker C: Oh, fun. That will be awesome. Honestly, I think it's wonderful. Sorry, say that again.
[01:00:50] Speaker A: No, I was gonna say, if we have one more minute, we have to talk about fish extender gifts.
[01:00:54] Speaker C: Oh, my God. Yes, we do. We absolutely do. I'm so glad you brought that up. So you played a little prank on Ms. Lindsay.
Steven, why don't you. Yeah, why don't you tell people what you did?
Cause this is my favorite part of the vlogs of this series of vlogs.
[01:01:14] Speaker A: Okay. And it's inspired a movement. I've had so many people message me on all social platforms saying, I'm gonna do this to my mom. It's her birthday. We're going on a cruise for her birthday. I'm gonna do this for my daughter's 16th birthday. I've had so many people say, this is such a brilliant idea. So our relationship, I'm sure, Sam, as you've seen in our vlogs with Lindsay, is very much based in humor, being silly. We're very. We joke with each other 99% of the time we speak.
So before the cruise, we had come. We, Me and Lindsay had been talking on the phone how we're. We were both in our Facebook group.
And, you know, and if you've sailed a lot of Disney cruises and you've been in a lot of Facebook groups, you know that there's a collection of personalities in those groups. And so I thought I could capitalize on that by punking her by playing a practical joke, because she had said, did you see the post from that woman who was saying, I'm like, who says that online? And I was like, I've been seeing that for years. So it doesn't shock me, but I get it. So me and Brian were laying out one day, and I. We. I said we should deliver fake fish extender groups, fake fish extender gifts to Lindsay's fish extender every day throughout the ship. But we'll make it super believable. We'll make some of the gifts be normal and some of them be so crazy, like, press on nails and a McDonald's gift card. And the. It went on for days. And she had no clue it was us. No clue. So we would be like, you're. You're pranking us? Like, are you joking me? And what do you have to say?
[01:02:43] Speaker D: Say, yeah, it was like, let's take the concept of a personality that you would come across in a Facebook group and just create, like, okay, what would they do? What would they give to? Because. And we've done fish extenders many times, and sometimes, like, we. We were given. This is the destiny. Jenny Dyer sent us this to our stateroom.
[01:03:06] Speaker C: Very sweet. Yes.
[01:03:08] Speaker A: Yeah, she's here tonight. She's cute.
[01:03:10] Speaker D: Commenting.
[01:03:11] Speaker E: She.
[01:03:11] Speaker D: Somebody gave us the. Was it the wonder of the mask magic delivered just right outside our stateroom door once. And those are like a $70 figurine. And so you can receive things like that, but you can also receive things that are not like that. And so we were like, okay, let's
[01:03:26] Speaker C: like, Barbie doll loofah.
[01:03:28] Speaker D: So we walked through the dollar store, and we just grabbed anything that was like, how could we make this funnier? Or like. And so we just started, you know, what would you need on a Disney cruise ship? And how can you make that really weird?
[01:03:43] Speaker A: And so it was just. It ended up Reveal. When we sit her down, we did it like traders esque style, you know, from the traders. And she was genuinely, like, flabbergasted, shocked. She couldn't believe it because we use different stickers, different packaging, different handwriting. I printed out some things. I hand wrote some things. And who would fly that kind of stuff to Miami and get in an Uber and go up to Fort Lauderdale. Was just in their bag.
[01:04:07] Speaker D: What kind of sicko.
[01:04:08] Speaker C: And so she said, and put lipstick on and kiss. A book of blubber.
[01:04:15] Speaker A: So now she saved everything. She's like, these are, like, monuments of our friendship. And so it ended up being a full circle funny joke, but it made the. It made the trip a little extra funny.
[01:04:26] Speaker C: Yeah, it was. It was hilarious. I also love that you. You were sensitive to the fact that, you know, poor Bronxy got hit in the head a bunch of times. And so you were, like, trying to gauge, like, when was the appropriate time to leave these funny gifts. Was not the appropriate time, but it was. Was it? It was. It's hilarious. I. I love the idea.
I know. I bet. I know Tracy's watching. She's, you know, my friend that we sail with, like, all the time. And. And Tracy, you're not pranking me with the fish extender gifts. I'll know it was you. I'll know. I'll know who sent you.
[01:05:03] Speaker A: And our daughters don't know that we did this to Lindsay. So the next cruise, when we go on the Treasure next summer, we are going to do it to the girls. They want won't hear, but we'll be safe.
[01:05:13] Speaker C: I love it. I love it. That's fantastic, you guys. All right, so the review of the Destiny is you. Well, you love it, Steven, it's number one. Brian, where. Where does it rank for you? Does it edge out the older ships?
[01:05:28] Speaker D: Yeah, I would say in its own way. It is my favorite in its own way. And so I do love the nostalgia. I love the classic, the look and everything, but this ship was. Was stunning. Every. Every inch of this ship is just beautiful. And the quality of. Even the food, the quality was great. But when you're trying to prepare for 4,000 people, that's tricky. So I can understand.
[01:05:53] Speaker A: I have an idea. We need to get all the magic and wonder people onto the Destiny, and then we will have the perfect ship.
[01:06:01] Speaker D: Ship.
[01:06:02] Speaker C: Yes. Yes. And. And let's make sure we'll limit it to only 2,500 people can go on the ship. Let's do that.
[01:06:08] Speaker E: Why not?
[01:06:08] Speaker D: Yes.
[01:06:09] Speaker C: Not even.
All right, well. And Stephen will Book that for us. Since you're a travel advisor, Stephen, why don't you tell folks if they want to reach out to you to book their next Disney vacation or other vacation, or if they want to follow along on your adventures on YouTube, how can they find you?
[01:06:28] Speaker A: Yeah, you can email me if you want to book a vacation with me at the holgate fammail.com and then our YouTube channel is YouTube.com theholegates or you can just search the whole gate family. And then we're also on Instagram under the whole gate family.
[01:06:42] Speaker C: Yeah. And you guys, Stephen and Brian and Kenzie are the best, so make sure to follow them.
[01:06:48] Speaker A: I have a big shout out to you, Sam. I realized something about you the other day. This is my final story. I remember when I called you at work.
[01:06:56] Speaker D: Yeah.
[01:06:56] Speaker A: So I was driving, and I'm a Californian, so we have a little bit of road rage. That's the only time that I ever really get into a bad mood is in the car.
[01:07:04] Speaker C: Are.
[01:07:04] Speaker A: And I told Brian, I said, oh, this Brian, too. So I said.
I said, you know, I realized something. I get these comments all the time from people ever since I started a YouTube channel that say when I'm having a bad day or stressed or I have a family member who's sick. When I watch your videos, I feel a little bit happier, and it makes me forget about what is causing me to feel unhappy. And I realized, Sam, you're my. That. Because when I'm driving and I'm in the car, that's when I listen to y'. All, I get so frustrated. And then I'll be like this, and I'll, you know, say all the things, and then you'll. You just have a positive way of being, and I feel it. And you, too, Brian, and.
And yeah, so you are my.
Make me feel better when I'm in a bad mood.
[01:07:50] Speaker C: It's so sweet.
[01:07:53] Speaker B: So, Stephen, we have the exact opposite reactions to listening to her in the car, so.
[01:07:58] Speaker A: Oh, my.
[01:08:03] Speaker C: But he's not listening to me over the.
[01:08:05] Speaker B: No, not listening on the podcast.
[01:08:07] Speaker C: He's listening to me next. Next to him.
[01:08:10] Speaker A: Behind the scene.
[01:08:11] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly.
[01:08:15] Speaker C: All right, well. All right, well, I thought. Brian, you. Do you want to close out the show and tell people what we've got on tap for next week, or would you like me to?
[01:08:23] Speaker B: I think you should, because I. I don't remember who's coming on next Monday.
[01:08:27] Speaker C: It.
[01:08:27] Speaker B: I might. We. We had full disclosure, everyone out there. I think we said on the show that we were going to go to Iceland this past weekend.
A topic for another day. Maybe we'll talk about it a bit next Monday. But four hours into our plane flight into Iceland, our plane was turned around and went back to Seattle and we ended up canceling our trip and are now working with travel insurance and waiting for everything to settle out because I would like to.
[01:08:50] Speaker C: Let's look for travel insurance. Have good problem insurance.
[01:08:53] Speaker B: Not yet because they haven't actually accepted.
But I do, I do want to cover for folks on the show at some point. Kind of, you know, where things shook out in terms of what we were able to get back from the providers versus the travel insurance, how the process went. But anyway, we had. What would you call it, Sam? I hadn't heard that term before. Couch rot. We had a couch rot weekend.
[01:09:09] Speaker C: Couch rot weekend.
[01:09:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:09:10] Speaker C: Meaning we did not leave our couches.
[01:09:12] Speaker A: Yeah. I was curious to know if y' all ended up going anywhere while Nathan was away.
[01:09:16] Speaker C: We did not.
[01:09:17] Speaker B: Every year we try to and this year we just got thwarted.
[01:09:20] Speaker C: So yeah, the, the issue is it was we could have flown out the next day, but it was going to be such a short trip to start with and we were already going to be jet lagged from one flight so we didn't want to like jet lag us from two because we were, we were on the airplane for like eight or nine hours. And so it just didn't make sense. Yeah, it didn't make sense to like redo everything, go a day later because we needed to still come back on the same day in order to pick up Nathan from camp this morning. And so that's why we were just like, okay, well, shortening, it's not really a good option so we just need to cancel. And so we'll take a different trip next year here.
It's a bummer. We're sad we didn't get to go to Iceland, but it is what it is. But next week we will be back. Well, we will be on Discord this Saturday night at, well, probably 15 minutes before 7pm so probably 6:45pm Pacific, which would be 9:45pm Eastern. So we'll be on Discord for a live watch Party of the Horizons presentation brought to you by Neil Patrick Harris.
And then we will be back on Monday at our normal time. That's 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern. We will be talking with repeat guest Sarah Reiner, who's sailing, I believe this week or last week on Norwegian Cruise Line.
So we're going to be talking and with kids and so we're going to be talking compare and contrast between Norwegian and Disney Cruise Line. Tell you what's different, tell you what kind of dining is available, what kind of entertainment is available, what kind of activities believe she's doing Caribbean or Bahamian sailing. So it'll be a good kind of of side by side comparison between Disney Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line. So join us next week if we have an itinerary release. As I mentioned, we will try to scramble and put together a live episode on short notice. So keep watch our socials, our Facebook, our Instagram for all that good stuff and we will see everybody next Monday if we don't see you on Discord on Saturday. So thank you so much to the whole Gate family. Steven, Brian, Brian, we adore you guys so much.
Yeah. And Stephen and Brian, you hang on for a second and we'll say goodbye and good night to everybody else.
[01:11:30] Speaker B: See you.
[01:11:31] Speaker D: Bye. Thank you.
[01:11:41] Speaker E: All right, that's our show for tonight, but thank you so much for listening. If you're not subscribed yet, please fix that right now. Head over to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts, hit that subscribe button. We're dropping at least two episodes a week plus we're live each and every week over on our YouTube channel, YouTube.comdclduo come hang out with us for a live. It's a blast. You can ask your questions in the chat and really join the conversation with us and our guests. If you're enjoying our show, one of the easiest ways to support the show, head over to Apple Podcast hit. Hit those five stars and while you're at it, leave us a written review with your 5 star review and we will read it on the air at the top of one of our main episodes. If you're listening to us on another platform, Spotify, YouTube, Castos. There's so many third party podcast apps and players out there. Whatever form of reviewer rating they have, give it all to us. Show the show some love it keeps us going, keeps us putting out great content week to week. Are you ready to set sail? Book your next Disney Cruise Line vacation with our show sponsor WeDoTravel. Right the crew that handles the planning so you can focus on relaxing. Head to wedotravelright.com DCLDUO today to get started. Or you can reach out to them directly. Just let them know the DCL Duo sent you subscribe today to DCL Magazine. They put out a great product head over there. It's your go to guide for DCL tips and and tricks, just browse to dcl-magazine.com that's dcl-magazine.com and use code DCLDUO all caps DCL Duo today for 10 off everything in the WDW Magazine Store. And if you want to directly support the show, join us on
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[01:14:07] Speaker B: Good night.
