Ep. 704 - Celebrity Beyond vs. Disney Cruise Line: An Honest Comparison

[00:00:00] Speaker A: I will tell you, my daughter actually says she prefers the shows on Celebrity to Disney. [00:00:05] Speaker B: I know. [00:00:06] Speaker A: I think she like the shows don't have the plot that Disney shows have. They play a little bit more contemporary music, pop kind of music. [00:00:28] Speaker C: Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the DCL Duo podcast brought to you by WeDoTravel. Right. And as you can tell by my voice, I am solo hosting today. Brian is trying to catch up on our backlog of editing episodes. Right now we're just kind of swamped because of all the travel we've had this summer. It's. It's August 2nd as I'm recording this episode. But never fear, I have a wonderful returning guest with me today. Welcome back to the show, Lindsay. Hey, Lindsay. [00:01:00] Speaker A: Hey, Sam. Thanks for having me back. [00:01:02] Speaker C: Yeah. It's so lovely to see you. I love that you are sporting your rapid fire T shirt today. You're representing on behalf of the duo. [00:01:11] Speaker A: Gotta wear it. [00:01:12] Speaker C: I love it. And you mentioned you're actually wearing some celebrity cruise line sweatpants. [00:01:17] Speaker B: I am. [00:01:18] Speaker A: Since we're talking about Celebrity cruise line, I figured I needed to wear the celebrity merch as well. [00:01:23] Speaker C: I love it. I love it. Well, Lindsay, we're going to be talking, of course, today about Celebrity Cruise line. You just sailed on the Celebrity Beyond. And I want to start though by refreshing people on where your sort of love of Disney comes from and how many cruises. You have quite a bit of cruise line experience on dcl. And I know you have like one royal cruise from way, way, way back in the day, but this is your first foray, really, outside of Disney Cruise Line in a very long time. [00:01:51] Speaker A: Yeah. So the last time we recorded, I don't remember how many cruises we had done at that point, but we'd only sailed on the fantasy and the Wish. Now we have sailed on nine cruises, so we're very close to platinum. And so we've now added the magic, the tre, and the destiny to the ships that we've sailed on dcl. My love of Disney started when I was very little. Like all the movies, all the TV shows, all that stuff, we're not big parks, people. We've just kind of become really interested in the cruise line because my daughter is now 10 and that has just been an excellent experience for our family vacation so far. But you're right, we did one royal Caribbean cruise way back when we first finished finished graduate school and so had very little money. And so it was not even a great experience for me to even try to compare to anything that we would do now. [00:02:42] Speaker C: Yeah, that makes sense. Now this, you, you booked, you know, after nine sailings on Disney Cruise Line. I gotta ask, I know you and I chatted about this a little bit off air, but like why did you decide to book this cruise on Celebrity knowing of course how much you love Disney? Did you think, oh well I, you know, I wanna just try something outside the Disney bubble and of course, um, you can get some cruises for less expensive on some other lines. Um, did you realize want to like sort of test do I love just cruising in general versus love Disney cruising. Like what was sort of the, what was sort of the motivation for booking this cruise? [00:03:18] Speaker A: So originally the plan was to do a Greek Isles cruise with some really good friends. Ironically actually the friends we did that Royal Caribbean cruise with, plus now they're children. And so when we started looking at that, they're also gold castaway club members on Disney Cruise Line. But we started looking at it, looking at budgets and we're like a port intensive cruise like the Greek Isles. We don't know if the value is there to do a Disney cruise. Plus we all have to fly to Europe. And so originally that was the plan that we were going to sell the sail, the Celebrity Excel, the brand new ship in Celebrities fleet through the Greek Isles with you know, really good family friends. And then things happened in the world and flight prices increased significantly before we were able to book our flights. And that Greek cruise become Greek Isles cruise became out of the budget for my family at least. And so with Celebrity you have generally there's a, it's a non refundable deposit. You can pay more to do a refundable deposit but we had only done the non refundable deposit. So I had talked with my amazing travel agent and said well what can we do? Because I would rather not just be out that amount of money. And so she, she suggested that we pivot to this seven night Caribbean sailing out of Miami on the Celebrity Beyond. She herself has sailed on Celebrity many times. And what she told us was that outside of Disney Cruise Line, for the price point with you not going over a Disney Cruise Line price point, celebrity is probably as close as you're going to get service wise. And so that's why we went Celebrity both in Europe and, and decided to stick with the Celebrity beyond and try it out out of Miami. And so that's what we did. [00:05:09] Speaker C: Yeah, well I mean I think that's a great pivot. I mean Europe is an expensive cruise as you mentioned, so choosing another cruise line makes total sense, especially Port Port intensive itinerary. Completely understand that. I mean we love Disney in Alaska but understand people doing it for Alaska any place that's port intensive. I can understand pivoting away from Disney because you're just not spending as much time on the ship and it sort of makes the balance of worth it a little bit different I think. And then I'm curious did you have to pay any kind of change fee to change sailings on Celebrity? Because you mentioned it's a not. It was a non refundable deposit. You could have done a higher level deposit that would have been refundable. But yeah, I'm just curious if they made you because I know that on I think it was on Royal. I think they make you pay like a change fee and it was super annoying. We did that once. [00:06:08] Speaker A: So to my knowledge we did not pay a change fee. So I. I don't know if that was because we were before our pay in full date when we changed it or if our travel agent worked some kind of magic or I. I don't know. And so we did not pay a change fee that as far to my knowledge that. [00:06:23] Speaker C: Well that's really good because that's the. You know, I mean of course once you're sort of committed to a particular cruise line with depending upon how big you're depos is. Right. Like of course any you don't want to like eat that cost if you're still good especially if you still want to go on vacation which it sounds like you know you and your family still wanted to go on vacation. Now what was the Caribbean itinerary you mentioned seven nights. But what were your port stops that you ended up pivoting to and did you have a private island stop? [00:06:53] Speaker A: Yeah. So we sailed out of Miami. Our very next day was perfect day at Cococay and then we had a sea day and then we had. Then we docked in the afternoon in San Juan, Puerto Rico and then the next day was in Saint Kitts and then we ended the cruise with two sale the two sea days. And that was part of the reason why I was willing to make the pivot was to this particular cruise is it was destinations we've never been to. We went to Cococay many years ago on that Royal Caribbean cruise. But it. We did not really get to experience Cococay very much the same way that we would nowadays. So it basically was three new ports for us that we haven't been able that we have that either Disney doesn't sail to or we have just not been to. [00:07:35] Speaker C: And Disney only sails to St. Kitts and San Juan on, let's call them special itineraries. Right. Like, so a southern Caribbean might go there. There are a couple of. They'll call them, I think eastern Caribbean's that will go to San Juan, but it's much more rare. It's, you know, they're not part of their normal rotation of ports and they will do some sailings that sail out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, you know, oftentimes on repositioning, that sort of a thing. It's a wonderful place to visit for those who haven't been. And Saint Kitts is a wonderful place to visit as well. So. And I mean there's a lot of good to be said about CocoCay. I still prefer, I'm going to put this out there. I still prefer castaway and lookout. But I can understand the appeal of CocoCay, especially if you've got older kids and you know, are into so the whole water park thing. So let's dive in. We're going to hit this kind of topically of course, we're going to talk private island. We got to compare private islands. But let's start with like the booking process and I don't mean booking the cruise because that obviously you mentioned you did that through your travel advisor. So the online, you know, booking a cruise or calling whatever cruise line you're booking kind of looks the same in terms of they just take your money and then your book. But I'm curious in terms of like any kind of excursions, onboard experiences, did you know, what did that look like? You know, when did you book things and how did you even know what was sort of offered? Like, did you do any research about what would be available to you? [00:09:11] Speaker A: Yeah. So the way that celebrity and I'm assuming Royal Caribbean works is as soon as you have even a deposit down on the cruise, you can book anything. Because even for the Greek Isles cruise, I only had a deposit in and I had excursions booked for every port and all of that. So yeah, we had to pivot because we changed the itinerary and the. And so very different kind of excursions that we were looking at. Again, my travel agent was a good help. She's been to CocoCay multiple times and I was. And knowing, you know, I have a child that's twice exceptional and a husband who tends to not like crowds. And we were in Cococay with Star of the Seas, which was the, the [00:09:50] Speaker C: largest ship ship at the time because [00:09:53] Speaker A: legitimacies hadn't launched yet? [00:09:55] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean it's icon and star, you know, are huge. [00:09:59] Speaker A: Yeah, Yeah. I was like, what can we do to make cococay fun? But not, and, but not overwhelming. And so we, we went, we decided to go to the Cocoa Beach Club and that was fantastic. They have a pool, they have, you know, sort of the private beach access. They have upgraded food. Fantastic. And so I had done watched videos about that once. My travel agent had recommended that to me. The other port she didn't have a lot of recommendations for other than do some kind of walking tour in San Juan and then, you know, whatever you think you might be interested in saying, kids. So I actually had my 10 year old daughter help us pick out the excursions because we figured this is a change. She was looking forward to go to Greece. Let's see if we can get her on board to help plan the excursions. And so she initially picked out a Pirates and Fortresses walking tour in San Juan and then a rainforest experience in St. Kitts. Now what I will say about celebrity and Royal and I'm assuming Royal, what's different is that the price can change on anything that you book before and drastically. [00:11:00] Speaker C: Like you can they, they run these like sales all the time and so you can actually cancel and rebook but you've got to wait for the credit card because it's different from Disney. Right. They charge you at the time you book the excursion or the drink package or the whatever. [00:11:20] Speaker A: Yes. So, so you pay up front and then it, you, you don't pay at the end, which in some ways I kind of like because it spreads out the charges instead of that big bill at the end. But if you want to make sure you're getting the best price, you got to keep checking it. And so what happened to us is that that Pirates and Fortresses excursion, about two weeks before the cruise we got an email saying it was canceled by the tour operator. So then we had to go back in and find something else to do in San Juan. And by that time like very little was on sale and so the prices had obviously gone up closer to the cruise. So that's sort of the drawback of, of that sort of dynamic pricing and that if something does get canceled by a tour operator close to the cruise, then you're stuck with whatever's left. We still did a walking tour of old San Juan which was lovely. Hot but lovely. But it, it would have been nice if we could have booked that initially. The other things that we booked is we did a specialty dining package and so unlike on Disney, kids can also partake in specialty dining. And I don't know how my child has expanded her palette this well, but she loves filet mignon and shrimp and fish and all kinds of expensive kinds of foods. So we were like, we'll try specialty dining. So we did two dinners and a lunch. They have a package called a trio where you can do two dinners, a lunch. So we did that. My husband also, and I also did a mixology class that we booked initially. So I think that's all we booked. Like right when we, as soon as we put the deposit on the cruise, we booked those things. [00:12:57] Speaker C: Now did you end up booking a drink package and if so, what did that look like because there's such a variety of options? [00:13:06] Speaker A: Yes, there were so many options. And my husband and I, I don't drink a lot of non water beverages. My husband will definitely get a fancy coffee from COVID Cafe on a Disney ship or Cafe Albaccio on the celebrity cruise ships. And then we might have one or two alcoholic beverages each day. But what we found, because the room that we booked was at the concierge level, which is not the concierge level that you think of with Disney Cruise Line, but it's sort of the step up from the veranda room, so you get a few extra perks. They gave us a bottle of sparkling wine. There was a reception for celebrity or for concierge guests where they were passing out alcoholic beverages. And so we did not feel like we needed a drink package at all. And so we did not book one ahead of time. And so like looking at the price, I was like, we'd have to drink six to seven beverages of different kinds each day in order for that to count for to like make it worth your money. And we just don't drink that much. That's not water. [00:14:12] Speaker C: Yeah, I think it's. If you're a big soda drinker, then like the base beverage package on one of those sailings absolutely makes sense because of what it includes. But if you're not, I'm, I'm not really a soda drinker either. I'm actually a big iced tea drinker and so, and that's actually hard to find depending upon what cruise line you're on on Disney, it's easy to find. On some of the other cruise lines it's harder. But yeah, I mean, so I up just drinking a lot of water. So for me, although I do like a cocktail and a glass of wine. So it's only like the soda package isn't Worth it for me, unless I'm going for, like, the alcohol beverage package. [00:14:50] Speaker A: And the other thing to keep in mind is that if you buy a package for one person in the room, you have to buy it for everyone. And so it would be two adults for. If we got the one that one of the. Either the classic package or the premium package that included alcohol or the non alcoholic beverage package. And even if we bought an alcoholic beverage package for the two adults, we had to buy the non alcoholic beverage package for our daughter. And none of us drink enough other stuff for that to make it worth it. In fact, probably, I think our bill at the end of the cruise, everything all put together, including gratuities, was going to be ended up being less than what the drink package would have cost us. So. [00:15:30] Speaker C: So you actually. So you made the right call then, Lindsay? I mean. [00:15:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I think so. [00:15:34] Speaker C: Yeah. No, it's. That's very interesting. I do think, I think, you know, it's hard to know. I think if you're, if you are, if you're someone who likes to have, you know, several cocktails a day, it might add up and make sense, especially if you also drink sodas, because any of the alcohol packages always include like the soda beverage package. Right. But yeah, if you're, if you don't drink soda and you're not a big alcoholic beverage drinker. Yeah. I mean, the math probably comes out as it did for, for you. [00:16:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:05] Speaker A: And, and I understand, like, again, they were on the celebrity Excel at the same time in Greece. They just didn't want to have to worry about it. If they wanted something to drink, they wanted to be able to go get it. And I get it. If somebody wants that sort of all inclusive kind of feel, I can understand that, but we, we just don't. That's not our preference. We, we just don't see the value in that. [00:16:27] Speaker C: Yeah. No, and that makes sense. I think if, you know, there is something to be said for just not having to think about it too. Right. So, you know, but if you prepay to not have to think about it, you may end up being up. End up overpaying, but, you know, each person's got to do their own. Their own math there. All right, well, let's, let's talk about embarkation day. You, of course, head down to Miami. I know you are a avid DCL Duo listener. You know, friends don't let friends go into town on embarkation day. You're coming from out of town. When did you get to Miami and where did you Stay. [00:17:03] Speaker A: So we. We live in sort of the northern part of Florida, so we actually drove to the Orlando Airport and then took the Bright Line down to Miami. We had done that when we did our Destiny cruise out of Fort Lauderdale and enjoyed it. We took Brian's tip when y' all had your issue with the luggage coming back. And so I realized that there weren't as many cruise ships in port either, either way, on either of those trips. So I was like, I feel pretty confident that we won't have the luggage issue that you all had on the Bright Line. So we took the Bright Line down to Miami, and then we stayed in a Homewood Suites not far from the port in the Brickell area. It wasn't my favorite Homewood Suites property, but it was just for one night. It was. We went down the night before, and we have some friends that live in the Miami area, so we went out to dinner with them. And so we. Then we got up the next morning, had breakfast there in the hotel, and then went to the port via Uber. And it was. There are horror stories about getting into the Port of Miami when there's like eight cruise ships, but in the summertime there's only like, four. At least there were only four on the day we went. And so I was a little worried, but. And so we went probably a little earlier than we had to, and it was smooth sailing. We're in Terminal A, and so that's Royal Caribbean's terminal because Royal Caribbean didn't have any other ships in port that day. And so it is beautiful. It has gorgeous statues. My daughter was just like, this is so cool, Mom. Because it's not Disney decorations, it's just artwork. [00:18:29] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. It just kind of looks kind of swanky fancy. [00:18:33] Speaker A: It was just fantastic. And that's similar to the ship, which I will get to, but, yeah, well. [00:18:37] Speaker C: And so for those listening and wondering why. Why are we talking about Royal Caribbean when we're talking about celebrity? The answer is they are both under the same parent company. Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity Cruise Line. Celebrity is considered their luxury brand. So it's. It's in terms of fanciness and service, like, it should be a step up from Royal. That's, you know, hit or miss, depending upon what ship you're on and, of course, who your servers are and things like that. But generally speaking, Celebrity is known for good service, good food, and, you know, is considered in that luxury cruising category. So in terms of the. The ship, what were your first impressions of the ship? Of course, you had not been on A ship owned by anyone other than Disney in many years. And so, you know, you're sort of when you walk in to a Disney ship, you walk into the atrium or the grand hall and it has a particular style and feel and of course it makes an impression. I'm curious, did the celebrity beyond make an impression? And if so, good or bad? [00:19:48] Speaker A: Yeah. So I mean, when you board that, you board basically onto a promenade deck and then they usher you inside. And so there is no announcing the family name or anything like that. But we knew that ahead of time. And so then you're just kind of left to go wherever you want to go. And so we again, we got to the port earlier than I anticipated we would need to. And so we ended up boarding actually before our port arrival time would have been and before anything food wise was open. So I was like, well, let's do check in on our muster station because we had watched the virtual video on the app beforehand and check in there. And one of the nice things about Celebrity is that they let you drop your carry ons in your room, even though the rooms technically aren't open fully for you to stay there. But you can at least drop your what you brought onto the ship with you in the room. [00:20:40] Speaker C: Nice. [00:20:40] Speaker A: Yeah. And then you can go wherever else on the ship. So that was nice that we could drop our bags in our room and then we went out and walked around the pool deck, tried to get sort of our bearings. And then finally the buffet opened for lunch and we went and had lunch. [00:20:56] Speaker C: Yeah. Now what did you think of sort of the decor of the ship? You know, I'm sure it's. It's a pretty modern ship. Right. It's. It's not the new newest, but is a new worship. It's maybe their second or third newest ship, something like that. [00:21:10] Speaker A: I think it's their third newest, something like that. But yes, very new, very modern, very cool artwork, sculptures. Again. My daughter was like, this is so cool, like with all the artwork. She was very impressed. And so beautiful ship. Gorgeous ship. And just like. Because, Because I think the Wish class ships are beautiful. Especially the Wish. The Wish just has this, I don't know, like ethereal, magical kind of. Yeah. [00:21:37] Speaker C: It has very enchantment and romance. You know that Disney calls it, you know, enchantment is the theme of the Wish. But it has a very romantic feel. I always say, like if you want to get married on a Disney ship, that's the one you want to get married on. Right. It's just beautiful. Especially that grand hall is beautiful. [00:21:55] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah. And so Celebrity beyond is beautiful. Like, it's absolutely beautiful, but in a more modern way than any of the Disney ships. Like, much more. Like, it's hard to say. It hard for me to explain because I'm not really an art person. But sculptures and lighting and artwork, that's just more modern. [00:22:16] Speaker C: Yeah. Have you been into Enchante on the Wish or the treasure or the. Or the Destiny? [00:22:23] Speaker A: I've not. I've only been to Palo and Paulo Steakhouse. [00:22:26] Speaker C: Okay. [00:22:27] Speaker A: Oh, no, I lied. I did go to Enchante one time. I did go to Enchante one time. Yes, I have. [00:22:32] Speaker C: So the decor of Enchante, for me feels, like, a little bit too modern. A little bit too, like, a little bit. It's beautiful, but it's, like, a little sterile and a little modern. Of course, there are some touches when you walk right in at the very beginning that are very lovely, but that, to me, is sort of how I imagine the Celebrity Beyond. But I don't know if. Am I imagining correctly, incorrectly? [00:22:57] Speaker A: Sterile is not how I would describe it. I just felt it was modern. Like, it. [00:23:02] Speaker C: It. [00:23:03] Speaker A: And there were a couple of really, really cool spaces. Like, one little hallway that had, like, these sculptures you could sit on, but, like, mirrored walls, and it. It just sort of dark. It was really kind of cool. Like, my daughter and I were like, anytime we get close, we got to walk through that hallway and then. Yeah. And then, like, they. They've just got some really cool spaces on board, too, that are decorated and in a modern way. But it. It might not be quite as home feeling like on a Disney ship. I feel like it's. It feels more. Well, maybe a little bit more welcoming, a little bit more like home. Whereas this is more of a modern, maybe more clean lines kind of aesthetic. [00:23:44] Speaker C: Yeah. I think the, like, warm colors that Disney Cruise Line uses. Right. Versus sort of some of those cool tones. And I don't mean that it, like, it doesn't necessarily mean it's cold. It's just not warm, if that makes sense. [00:23:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:57] Speaker C: I'm curious about your room. Now. It sounds like you went for a room category that's not kind of their highest suite class, but you went for a room category that is in. In their suite class, maybe the bottom of their suite class. It sounds like something like that. What would. What would you. How would you describe the room for somebody who's never been on Celebrity? [00:24:17] Speaker A: Okay, so Celebrity has the retreat, which is like their ship within a ship concept. And then they have aqua class, which is sort of a step below that. Those rooms only accommodate two people, so we could not sell aqua class because we had our daughter with us. And so below that is concierge and then below that is veranda rooms and then ocean view and then inside. So concierge is basically you're paying for the best location of veranda rooms plus some additional perks. So I mentioned the bottle of sparkling wine. There is an embarkation day lunch at a sit lunch for concierge guests only. We chose not to do that because the menu didn't appeal to us and I didn't know how my. What my daughter would have eaten off the menu. So we just went to the buffet that. That day. But. And then there was a reception for concierge guests. And I'm forgetting there are a couple other small perks for being concierge. It's over and above a vera. Just a veranda room. [00:25:18] Speaker C: Did you get any boarding priority or debarking priority? [00:25:22] Speaker A: So we got embarkation priority because of the embarkation day lunch. So we got an email a few days before the cruise saying, you know, no matter what your port arrival time says, come with the earliest group. That way you can be on the ship in time for the embarkation day lunch. Because I think the lunch is only from like maybe 12 noon to 2 or something like that. So they want you on the ship to be able to eat that lunch if you choose to partake in it. [00:25:48] Speaker C: Gotcha. All right, well, that's. That sounds good. Did you like your room? Like, did you feel like it was like, how would you compare it to. So it was a veranda state room, essentially. How would you compare. [00:25:58] Speaker A: It was one of the infinite veranda state rooms, which is very controversial on. On social media. [00:26:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:26:05] Speaker A: So the infinite veranda room, it. The best way I know how to describe it is basically an ocean view room that's glass top to bottom. But you can drop the top half of the glass if you want to to sort of make a veranda. The problem is when you drop that top half of the. Of the glass, it turns off all air in the room. And so when you're sailing through the Caribbean in the summertime, it becomes very warm, very humid, very quickly. So I love sitting on my veranda on Disney Cruise Line. And I felt like I could only drop the. Make it a true veranda a few times because it just got so hot and humid in the room and was uncomfortable for everybody in the room, including me sitting on that veranda. Now what I will say is that at Bedtime. When I put my husband and my daughter to bed, I would, there's a partition where you can close the infinite veranda space and I would just sit out on that infant infinite veranda space which is still climate controlled and read or do it and plan for the next day or whatever it was. So pros and cons, I think we would do it again. I don't love it. I don't hate it. I'm somewhere in the middle. Most people, it's, it's a pretty polarizing thing if you listen to people on social media. But I'm somewhere in the middle. And quite honestly I, I think it would be ideal for a place like Alaska. That way you can see everything and then decide if you want the climate coming in. And it might be perfect also in the Caribbean, like during the winter time when it's just not. When it's not quite as hot and humid. [00:27:41] Speaker C: Yeah, that makes, that makes sense. And it is nice to still have that sort of extra space and you know, as you mentioned, use it even without it being open. Use it as sort of a little extra sitting space when others in the room are going to bed and you're not quite ready for bed yet. [00:27:58] Speaker A: Yeah. The other things that I want to point out because there might be people with two kids talking about thinking about sailing celebrity is that celebrity does have rooms that say that have four people at least. The edge classrooms that we were looking at on the beyond and the Excel, the way that they would do four person, four people is two. Like the two beds, like they're twin beds that you put together make a king. Which is different than Disney because you can't split a Disney bed. And then you have the sofa bed, but it's a trundle bed that becomes the fourth bed. And so you probably would not be able to walk. It's not a drop down bunk bed like there is on Disney. And there is. The other thing is that there is no curtain that separates the main bed from like the kid bed area. And so that makes it a little harder if the adults want to watch TV or have lights on or whatever. And also I can't speak to all staterooms, but the staterooms that we were looking at on these cruise ships did not have bathtubs. They were all showers. So that would be something that definitely if your children are at the age that they still need to be in a bathtub, you need to look into. [00:29:06] Speaker C: Yeah, really good point. Yeah. Disney's rooms are really unique in that way. Of course you don't have a split bathroom as well. Just to sort of add to the differences. Right. And that's just across the board. Other cruise lines just don't have that. And the curtain thing is something that other cruise lines tend not to have. You might get a sort of a curtain separation if you, if you're booking one of those loft style rooms on Celebrity or Royal. Again it's still open. It's just because you have a loft. You might have a curtain that surrounds the loft space or something that you can put up at night. But yeah, it's very much different than on Disney for those reasons. I would love to talk about activities and amenities on board because this is a newer ship so it definitely has some of the newer amenities in terms of things on the pool deck and gaming and things like that. I'm curious like what, what this ship had that you whether you used it or not. Because not everybody's going to use every amenity on the ship. But I'm curious what it was sort of what, what were the possibilities on this ship. [00:30:17] Speaker A: Yeah. So I'll start with the kids club and then help me remember to go to the rest of the ship. But so Celebrity does have a kids club. They call it Kids at Sea or, or something Campancy Camp at Sea is what they call it. And so it takes children from ages 3 to 12 and they're divided up into three age groups from ages 3 to 5 are together and then 6 to 9 are together and then 10 to 12 are together. Now when I say they're together, this whole Camp at Sea space is probably just the space of like the magic light up floor on the Dream Class ships in Oceaneers club. Like it is pretty small. Small. My daughter's in the was in the 10 to 12 year old age group and they had a foosball table and a ping pong table and then four screens for video games and that's it. And so having said that they, that age group in particular will go elsewhere on the ship in the evenings to do different activities. Usually more active activities. I was scrolling back through the schedule earlier and I think like there was like dodgeball and ping pong tournaments and all kinds of stuff like that. The younger age groups tend not to do that. They tend to stay in the space. Also something to note with the kids club on Celebrity is it does close at certain times of the day. So it's open from generally 9 to 12 and then 2 to 5 and then 7 to 10. You can, I think it's at least at certain times Pay extra for additional time. But those are the hours that are included in the Kids Club. [00:31:46] Speaker C: Yeah, they're essentially closing for meal times. So they expect you to come get your kid, take them and eat with them, and then if you want, bring them back to the club. But as you mentioned, you can. There are options, I think at dinner time and lunchtime, depending upon if it's a port day or sea day or whatever, to sort of pay for them to eat lunch. Like if you're, for example, if you're going off the ship and your kid isn't coming with you, I think there's an option to pay for a lunch sort of. So they stay in the club. [00:32:14] Speaker A: The other thing that I will mention is that there are family activities that they will do, do generally not in the club, somewhere else, like bingo, silent disco, all that. At those times, they shut down camp at sea. So the kids cannot be in that area. They have to. If they're going to be in kids, quote, quote Kids Club programming, they have to be with their families at these other activities. Which became an issue because one night, because my daughter didn't want to do silent disco or whatever it was that night and she couldn't be in the Kids Club. And so we went to a different sort of lounge space and took our books and found comfy chairs and there was instrumental music being played in the background. And it was a lovely evening, but we had to pivot because in our minds it. On Disney, you can go to the [00:33:02] Speaker C: Kids Club whenever and you can just. I mean, you could just play a video game by yourself if you don't like whatever the organized activity is at the kids. [00:33:11] Speaker A: Yeah, and, and that's the other thing. My daughter didn't always want to do the organized activities. And so I don't know if she negotiated this with the, the, with the counselors or, or what happened. But even when her age group would go somewhere else for their activity, she negotiated. She ended up being able to stay there and play Minecraft on a, on an Xbox. And so I, I didn't ask how that came about. I just let it be. Depending upon the age of your child and what the nature of the activity is, they may or may not be able to stay in the space if their age group is not there. That's different because Disney doesn't do that kind of thing. If the Kids Club's open, the Kids Club's open and they can do sort of whatever they want to do in that space. [00:33:54] Speaker C: 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 onboard experiences. And if you're planning to visit the Disney parks before or after your cruise 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. [00:34:21] Speaker B: 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 the less time stressing and more time looking forward to your vacation. Whether it's your first Disney Cruise or your 10th, having an expert in your corner can make all the difference. [00:34:47] 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. [00:34:56] Speaker B: We do travel, right. The crew that handles the planning so you can focus on relaxing. [00:35:03] Speaker C: I'm curious about some of the. The bar spaces, lounge spaces like one. Do they. It sounds like some of them allow kids and maybe some of them don't. I'm curious. What. Well, one. What. How many spaces or what were. And what were the spaces like from. From your. I mean, what you can remember. Of course, I'm not expecting you to remember every single space. [00:35:24] Speaker A: Right. So there is a main martini bar that's in. That's on deck four, sort of the middle of the ship. It's the hub of the activity. And they will have different entertainment, musical entertainment and then other things throughout the day there as well. So I think. And it's also the way the ship is laid out. Sometimes you have to sort of walk through the martini bar to get from one end of the ship to the other. So I think children are allowed at all, at all times for that. There are a couple other smaller spaces. There's a place called Eden on the back of the ship that is beautiful. Very. I don't know if it's. I think it's all fake greenery but very beautiful. That's where my daughter and I went the one night. And there was acoustic instrumental music playing and we found comfy chairs to sit in and just read books. And there's a sunset bar up on the pool deck. I don't think they Shut that down for to. I don't think they limited that to adults only there. And I'm forgetting there's an a world class bar. That's where we did our mixology class. And again that's right on a, a hallway. So I'm not sure if children are allowed to linger there, but there's really nothing for them to do. So they can certainly pass by because again, it's on hallway way. I feel like I'm missing a bar or two. But generally speaking I, it didn't feel like, oh, there's like the poolside bars and stuff like that. But kids are everywhere around those pools. So. Yeah. Oh, and I guess that's something we didn't talk about. Like the size of the celebrity beyond it. Like part of the reason why we were okay going with celebrity is that the ships aren't as big as some of royal ships. And so the Edge class ships I think max out somewhere around the Dream and the Wish class ship ships. On our sailing, they said There were about 3,500 passengers on the ship. And the kids club told us there were 350 kids on our sailing. And when I said that to our travel agent, she was like, that's a ton of kids on a celebrity sailing. And they said there were over a hundred in just the 10 to 12 year old age group. I don't think there were ever more than like 20 in the kids club at any given time in that age group according to my daughter. But that was a pretty significant number of kids on the ship. [00:37:29] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, and I think because it's an Edge class ship and I think because of the time of year and probably because it was a seven night itinerary as well, you know, when school is out. Because this is. You sailed the very end of June, right? Yeah. And so yeah, it makes sense to me that this would have, this would be a sailing that would be a more family friendly sailing in general. Okay. Curious about the pool deck. What did the pool situation look like? Were there things like water slides, were there waves, whatever those things are called? [00:38:01] Speaker A: Yeah, no, basically there are no slides. There are no other activities on the pool deck. There are, there's one big pool which is bigger than any, I think any of the pools on any of the Disney ships, they have a couple of plunge pools that are a deck above. So basically just, you know, 3ft deep pools that are up and then a couple of hot tubs that are a deck up off the pool deck. And so that, that's all there is on the Pool deck. It's. I will say they do the poolest day ever on the last sea day where they do all kinds of activities on the pool deck. We went and watched the officers versus guests volleyball and that was entertaining. And then we hung out sort of at the pool and they brought around fruit skewers and handed them to everybody in the pool. And I was like, we're eating in a pool. Like, Disney doesn't allow this. Like, okay, I guess I'm gonna get a fruit. Fruit skewer because we're, Because I can like that. [00:39:04] Speaker C: That is wild. That is wild. I, I thought it was the, the, the craziest thing I feel like I experienced because of going on Disney for so many, you know, so many times was on virgin voyages, you can have a drink in the pool. I was like, what? You can have a drink in the pool. Like, that's like a foreign concept. [00:39:22] Speaker A: Same thing on Celebrity. You could have drinks in the pool. And, And I'm like, this is probably why the po. Not completely clear, but we'll go with that. [00:39:32] Speaker C: We're just gonna ignore that. We're just gonna ignore that. [00:39:35] Speaker A: So, yeah, it was that. That's what the pool deck is like. There's again, no water slides, no other attractions besides the big pool. And then a couple of small pools and a couple of hot tubs. [00:39:47] Speaker C: Now is there a movie theater? Main theater? Like, tell me, what are the kind of other entertainment spaces outside of. You know, we talked about some bar spaces that have, of course, you know, musical acts. [00:39:58] Speaker A: Yeah. So the, there is a main theater. It might be called the theater now. I'm blanking, but it's a two story theater. Just like the dream in the Wish class ships because we are balcony, front row kind of people at the theater. And so they had three main productions that had singing, dancing, acrobats, that kind of thing. And then they had variety acts the other nights. I will tell you, we actually, actually really liked the variety acts on Celebrity compared to the ones we've seen on Disney. With a few exceptions. Some of the ones on Disney have been exceptional, but we really like the ones on Celebrity. So like we had a comedian. Magician. A comedian. There was a singer and then I think there was a ventriloquist. We didn't see the ventriloquist because I think we were especially dining. But I will tell you, my daughter actually says she prefers the shows on Celebrity to Disney. Oh, I think she, like the shows don't have the plot that Disney shows have. They play a little bit more contemporary Music. Pop kind of music. And I was trying to figure this out during the cruise, like, what. What's different about these performers from who's on Disney Cruise Line and because they're outstanding, but the way the shows work is they basically have singers who might dance a little bit and they have dancers who might sing a little bit. Whereas on Disney Cruise Line they do all of it. It. And so it's just. [00:41:26] Speaker C: They have to be triple threats on Disney. Yeah. They got to be somebody who can sing, dance and act. Because all of the shows involve all three of those. The leads. The leads have to sing, dance and act, and even the backups have to sing, dance and act. And that's. Yeah, it's absolutely different. Yeah, yeah. [00:41:44] Speaker A: So. But. But I will tell you, there were. There were certainly some standouts in that cast. Like there was one particular dancer, one particular singer that anytime they were on stage, like, they had my attention, like, sort of at times almost to the detriment of the performance because they're supposed to be working as a. As an ensemble. So. But they were very good. I was very pleased with the quality of the performances that we saw and just something different than what we've seen on the Disney ships. [00:42:12] Speaker C: And it sounds like you had entertainment like every night then. [00:42:15] Speaker A: Yes, yes. There was something in the theater every single night. And then there were other venues. So there would be games going on at this place called the club. And then they're the Eden space that we went to. They also would sometimes have shows if they weren't having musical acts. We didn't get to any of those shows, but because they had like an Alice in Wonderland themed one, we just didn't get there because there's only so much you can do at any given time. But yeah, just. So there's all. There's different things going on throughout the ship. It was also World cup time. So they were broadcasting the World Cup, I think, up on sort of the back of the ship, on the back of the pool deck. Sort of like funnel vision, but not really like funnel vision because there's no pool on that side. [00:42:59] Speaker C: It's just an outdoor bar space on the back of the ship. On the same deck as the pool deck. Yeah. [00:43:05] Speaker A: Oh, and there is sort of a pub. Ish bar as well that we never got into because there are so many people in there from the World Cup. [00:43:13] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, that makes sense. That that would be the space that. That most people would. I love, by the way, that your. Your cat keeps wanting to be in the show. So for anyone who's watching on video or occasionally hearing a meow sound. It's Lindsay's cat. It's adorable. [00:43:30] Speaker A: Sorry. She's quiet until I start talking in a video conference. [00:43:34] Speaker C: Like she just wants your attention because I noticed she. She quiets when you lean down and pet her. I love it. I love it. Lindsay, I. I gotta ask you about food because we. We can't talk cruising without talking about food. Now you've got, of course, lots of options. You had. You mentioned there was a buffet. Of course there's main dining, which is not like rotational dining. You go to the same dining room. And then you had specialty dining, which you guys had pre booked for. You mentioned that trio package. Let's start with the buffet. Tell me what you thought of the buffet. Did you end up eating there a lot? And how would you compare it to Disney Cruise Line cabanas or Marceline Markets? [00:44:17] Speaker A: Yeah, so we. We ate at the buffet every morning for breakfast, I believe, every day for lunch. And then the last night, last night we were on, I think one. One of the nights we were on the cruise ship. I think it was last night we decided to do the dinner because they do have a dinner buffet. And so it was pretty extensive. They have different sort of stations, and some of the stations are repeated, and it's much more open than the Disney Cruise Line buffet. And so while there were times that were. Were crazy in that buffet, it felt like the people were more spread out. There were times that I had to wait for certain things in line, like at the buffet, but generally good. The variety was better than Disney. The quality was as good, if not better than Disney. The only exception is the hash browns. I love Disney Cruise Line hash browns. And the ones on Celebrity just were not good or not as good. Anyway. [00:45:08] Speaker C: I know Mickey shaped waffles. [00:45:10] Speaker A: Even if nothing Mickey shaped on the show. I thought there was like random Disney art being sold in the art sales. And I'm like, oh, okay. That was our one Disney encounter. Yeah. So very happy with the buffet. My daughter preferred the buffet over Disney's and I probably did just because there was more variety at every single meal. [00:45:31] Speaker C: Yeah, it feels like at least on when we were on Royal, we felt like the buffet had more variety, but I didn't feel like the quality was as good as what was on Disney. But I've heard from others as well who've sailed Celebrity very, very happy with celebrities buffet options. Let's move to main dining. You, of course, ate at Main Dining for some of your dinners. And then of course, Specialty dining for a couple of your dinners. What did you. What did you think of the main dining room? [00:46:00] Speaker A: Yeah, so the Edge class ships have four main dining rooms instead of one big main dining room. If you choose a dining time, they will assign you to one of those times. I was unclear. I thought we had gotten shifted from the late dinner to the early dinner because we're early, early dinner kind of people, But I couldn't figure out if that was accurate or not. But they also have a lot of people that do anytime dining. So we basically did our own anytime dining. We made it our own rotational dining, too. And so we went. So we tried out all four of the restaurants. They all have, like, the same basic menu across all four restaurants, across all nights. And then they have a second section of the menu that is the same across all four on that particular night, and then they have a section that's specific to that restaurant. But you can order off any of the menus on any of. From any of the dining rooms. It didn't matter where you ate, really. And we didn't necessarily find, like, some people go the first night or two and find a serving team that they really, really liked. And our serving teams were good, but none. We just like, like, fell in love with that. We felt like we needed to stay with the whole rest of the cruise. So we were like, we'll just go explore all four dining rooms. The food was good. Same thing with Disney in that they will bring you basically whatever you want, however many of you want. I think the exception to that is when it's lobster night. I think once if you get more than one or two, then you have to pay extra. But, I mean, my daughter was like, I'm gonna have shrimp cocktail every night until she tried the grilled octopus. And then she's like, I want grilled octopus every night. [00:47:29] Speaker C: Oh, my God. She tried grilled octopus. That's. Aw. [00:47:33] Speaker A: Kid likes it. So. Yeah, so, yeah. So, I mean, it's a great way for kids to try different things. She also decided she likes. Oh, what's it called? Beef and kraut, which is basically a beef Wellington. So I was like, all right, we're gonna do beef Wellington bed. And she likes most seafood. So because there are so few kids, the service towards the kids is. Is excellent. They are. It's like they're excited to see kids on the ship. Multiple times. Servers are like, does she want anything else? Does she, you know, asking her, do you want anything else? And very good service. Good quality of food as good, if not Better than Disney. I think in the main dining rooms, we are very happy. [00:48:16] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, what about specialty dining? Which restaurants? What restaurants do they have available on the ship? And what did you choose in terms of your specialty dining meal? [00:48:28] Speaker A: Yeah, so what we chose was a dinner at the steakhouse and then we did a dinner at Le Petit Chef because they do like an animated, like, projection where it's basically like making your meal and then they serve that meal. And then we did the lunch at Le Grand Bistro, which is like a French bistro. They also have a raw on five, which is like sushi and that kind of stuff. They have a rooftop garden grill, which is more burgers, steaks, that kind of thing. They also have like La Voyage, which is like an, like an even higher level specialty dining, but it's supposed to be like a multi course chef menu kind of place that I knew we couldn't do with my daughter because you didn't know what you were getting ahead of time. We were very happy with specialty dining. Instead of shrimp cocktail at the steakhouse, my husband had lobster cocktail and had my daughter try the lobster and she's like, I want that. So she got lobster cocktail. [00:49:27] Speaker C: I mean, the only thing better than shrimp cocktail could possibly be lobster cocktail. [00:49:33] Speaker A: I. I guess, I guess so. Yeah, we were, we were very happy. Lots of food, very good quality. There was no Italian restaurant, specialty restaurant on board. And so we kind of missed Palo and we missed the ability to have brunch. Like, we had the lunch, but not, not brunch. So. So we kind of missed that. But we were very happy. Very, very good food. [00:49:55] Speaker C: Now I'm curious about service. You, you mentioned you didn't fall in love with a serving team and feel like you had to go back, but what, how did you feel about the service overall? And I'm not just talking about dining, but even, you know, stateroom attendant or the various activity folks. You know, just the crew on board. I mean, on Disney, people tend to say hello to you wherever you walk. How did that vibe feel on Celebrity? [00:50:21] Speaker A: Overall? The service was. Was very, very good. There was a gentleman at the buffet every morning that would be walking through the stations. Good morning, Celebrity Beyond. It's gonna be a beautiful day. And like, it was just funny. We had. Our stateroom attendant was maybe the best stateroom attendant we've had on any cruise we've been on. He was just very attentive of, again, we might have been the only room that had a kid in it. And so, like, he went over and above with like, the towel animals. And he even brought out like an astronaut projection thing that did a different space projection on the screen on the ceiling every. Every night. There is no self serve laundry on the ship. So something also for families to know. And so we needed like a couple of small things washed that were like blankets and things like that that were not on the list of laundry things. And so because blank, like for example, blankets can come at all kinds of textures, weights and all of that. Like the laundry manager said, I need to see the blanket before I can know if we're gonna, if we can do it. And so our stateroom attendant was like, I'm gonna let you know what he says as soon as he says it and I'll tell you the price. And I'm like, just do it. [00:51:34] Speaker C: If it's a comforter, it's going to be a different price than like one of these fleece like throw blankets that you might purchase on Disney Cruise Line, for example, you know. [00:51:43] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So I was blown away by our state room attendant. He was excellent. I will say that I had two small issues during the cruise and one in the casino and one regarding the kids club where the first employee, first crew member that I was interacting with either was unable or unwilling to help me with the situation. And so I had to go to a manager to get it resolved. And I don't ever have to do that on Disney. And so I think the best way that I like, again trying to put this all together in my head is that the service that we had on Celebrity was very, very good. I was overall very pleased with it. But on Disney Cruise Line, I feel like I'm taken care of. I feel like on Disney, if I have any issue, whichever employee, whichever cast member I'm talking to, they're going to make it right or they're going to go ahead and. Manager. Manager, yes, for the manager. [00:52:41] Speaker C: I, I totally agree. I knew you were going to say that, Lindsay, because it, there is a, there is a point when you're at like guest services or you're working with a crew member on Disney Cruise Line where the person really wants to help you, but they just don't have either the power in the computer system or the authority or whatever to fix whatever your issue is or to waive a charge or whatever. But what they do is they call or they go get that person who does and then that person fixes whatever you need fix for you. So yeah, that is, that's interesting. Speaking of casinos, I'm glad you brought up the casino, Lindsay. Because of course, that's not something on board a Disney cruise ever, even the Disney Adventure. I think a lot of people were surprised that the Disney Adventure, given that it's sailing in Singapore and the Asian market is very into casinos on cruise lines in particular. I'm curious what you thought of the casino. It sounds like you must have spent some time in there. [00:53:39] Speaker A: Sure, I spent a little bit of time in there. Not a ton of time, but a little bit of time. One of the other things that we liked about Celebrity is that the casino is smoke free. And so I don't have to worry about smoke being in the casino or around it. It's mo. It was mostly slot machines. There were a few tables, maybe more than a few tables. It's something that if I have some time, great, I'll go do it. But it's not going to be a draw for me. I mean, my husband ended up talking to a guy. My husband is the first person at these specialty coffee shops every single morning. And so the guy number two guy every day they were on think a four time back to back to back sailing that were all casino offer cruises. And so there are people who. That is their vacation in the, in the casino. And so I like having them on board, but I don't feel like I need to have them on board now. [00:54:26] Speaker C: What did you, what did you think in terms of like family friendliness and vibe of this cruise? Because, you know, Celebrity does tend to skew older. It sounds like this sailing, though was maybe more of the exception because it was during, you know, school break time and I itinerary that it was. And of course, the ship being one of the newer ships, I think if you're going to sail on Celebrity on a newer ship, you're likely to get more families on board than if you sail on an older ship. But yeah, what did you think in terms of the. Is this. Would you recommend this to another family? I mean, you have a 10 year old, so she's not little, little, but she's not a teenager yet. Do you think that this is a good fit for a family similar to yours? [00:55:11] Speaker A: I will say that we saw kids from very little, like infants all the way up to through teenagers. The other interesting thing about the dynamic on this cruise is that there was a pretty decent 30 to 50 age group. I think there was a pretty strong LGBTQ group. They had Pride parties a couple of times throughout it was Pride month. So it wasn't. It didn't skew as old as, as older as I thought it was going to, I was a little nervous because having a kiddo on autism spectrum, there are just times where we have some difficulties with stuff. And so I didn't know how that was going to go down. On Celebrity versus Disney. We didn't have any issues with, with people around us. If we were having an issue or having to explain something or whatever, people just walked by us. And so it, it was, I felt like it was, I felt like it was fine. I did, I didn't feel that I was un, we were unwelcome welcome. And so I, I wouldn't hesitate taking a child around my daughter's age on Celebrity to note again, the kids club only starts at age 3. So if you have a child under the age of three, there really is, are no options for them on board. And so you would have to take that into account. And I, I will say, I think every single night when I went to get my daughter from the kids club, I heard multiple kids being like, I want to go back tomorrow. So the kids leaving that kids club seem to be very happy with the kids club. There will be people on social media in celebrity cruise groups that are like, kids shouldn't go on celebrity. I, I didn't, I didn't experience that. Again, the cast member or the crew [00:56:49] Speaker C: members seem so odd to me. That's like, I mean, to me it's the only cruise line kids shouldn't go on is one that they're not allowed to go on. Like Virgin, right? Like virgin is 18 and up. And that's the rule. So yeah, of course you shouldn't have kids on it because they're not allowed on it. But on any other cruise line, I mean, that doesn't mean, you know, your mileage may vary in how, in terms of like how many activities there are that are, you know, going to be family or kid focused. But that's why, you know, researching the ship and the cruise line in general is important. I think actually the ship, when you're sailing outside of Disney Cruise Line, I actually think researching the ship is probably more important than the cruise line overall because there is a huge, I think, difference on what is offered ship to ship across the Royal and celebrity fleets, it seems. So. [00:57:41] Speaker A: I mean, and, and you know, I, I also have a kid who loves to read. And so that one night that we took our books to Eden and we were reading it was, she was happy like it. So it doesn't, doesn't take a lot. If you have a kid who needs to be active a lot that then you Might run into some issues because outside of the kids club programming where they're especially that 10 to 12 year old group that's playing dodgeball and stuff, there's not a lot to do unless they're in the pool or if they're on the, the walking running track. [00:58:12] Speaker C: And that's where Royal probably is the better fit. If you have a really active kid, you know, who's. They've got the water slides and all that kind of stuff. The wave pool thing, the, it's like the, the body surfing thing. Yeah, so those, those kinds of things. The rock climbing wall or maybe bumper cars and putt putt. That sort of thing. Yeah, those, those are options on Royal that aren't typically on celebrity ships. Okay, well, we've got it. The last category I think that we, we touched on at the beginning because you mentioned the beach club, private islands. We gotta, I gotta ask you, how would you compare, I mean you, you decided to do the beach club, which is of course an extra fee. It gets you some elevated food, it gets you smaller crowds and so you're not going to be dealing with the hustle and bustle of other parts of the island. But what was your impression of Coco? And how would you, you know, compare it to Castaway or Lookout? [00:59:13] Speaker A: It's a whole lot busier and a whole lot more crowded. [00:59:17] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I mean you get two ships as you mentioned. [00:59:19] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So two ships including Star of the Seas and us. It was a lot. And I mean with us being at the beach club, we didn't spend, we spent most of our day not around other people, except the people at the beach club. But then on the tram back we saw all the areas that were just covered up and loud and everybody having a party and fun. And I think if we went back to Cococay we would have to do the beach club. Again, that has to be a factor into, you know, cost and everything like that. That I think that just has to be a baseline cost for us. But Castaway and Lookout are both fun beach days where there, there are activities. Not as much to do, like not as many water slides and all of that. Because on Cococay you have, there is apparently a, A, an area that has some water slides but then you pay, can pay more for, for the area with even more water slides. And so I'm not opposed to going back to Cococay, but I think it has to be at the beach club. I think that is our speed where we can have some pool time, have some beach time, get Some lunch with a little bit of a quieter vibe. [01:00:31] Speaker C: Yeah. I would also say there are these sort of private over the water cabana options that are also. They're not at the beach club, they're in the regular area but they're in completely secluded from everybody else and you can order food to your cabana. So it's. That's a really nice option, particularly if you're sailing with friends. You might not want to do that as just a family of three because that would be quite expensive for just three people and they're quite big. You don't need that much space. But it's a good option if you're, if you're with a group. And those also tend to do. I mean, cabanas. There are regular cabanas in the regular pool area and beach areas as well and they do tend to run sales depending upon, you know, the, the day and. And what. As you mentioned at the front, we [01:01:18] Speaker A: had looked at beach club versus cabanas and all the cabanas were sold out by the time that we. [01:01:24] Speaker C: By the time you booked? [01:01:25] Speaker A: Yeah, by the time we booked, which was fine. I think we were very happy with the beach club and the beach club was less expensive than if we had a cabana. [01:01:31] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I said, I think it. Only the cabana would make sense if you were sailing with a group versus just the three of you. But the beach club I think makes. Makes quite a lot of sense. Well, Lindsay, is there anything I've missed in terms of. I feel like we've covered all the categories but I, I mean of course there's no characters on Celebrity Cruise Line. Is there anything that I've missed? [01:01:54] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I don't think you. But there, there's two stories that we were able to do on this sale about things we were able to do on the sailing that we have not been able to do on Disney Cruise Line or we've not experienced on Disney. The first is that my husband is a very early riser. Like he wakes up between 3 and 4am every morning. Yes. It's ridiculous. And so he goes and he works out on the cruise ship. Like he will walk the walking track or if it's on a wish class ship, since there is no full walking track, he will just walk Deck 4 inside for a while and then he will a lot of times have resistance bands that he'll do strength training. Well, for the very first time ever on the celebrity sailing, he ended up with a cheering squad while he was doing his walk because there was a group of 20 somethings who had not gone to bed yet because they had the drink package. [01:02:47] Speaker C: Oh my God. That's like embarrassing but also awesome. So. [01:02:52] Speaker A: Yes. So he, so yeah, so that, that certainly has never happened on a Disney Cruise Line ship. [01:02:58] Speaker C: I can't believe they were still awake. And he, well, so he was walking and they saw him walking and yeah, [01:03:03] Speaker A: so he was up on the walking track up above the pool deck and so they were, they were just hanging out and then after he had done like two laps, they were like, wait, are you walking? And so every time he got past them, they cheered him on. [01:03:15] Speaker C: That's, I mean, at least they were nice, right? [01:03:18] Speaker A: But yeah, yeah, absolutely. And then the other thing we were able to do on this ship that you, that is not available on Disney Cruise Line ships is we, we pay, we paid to do a, an all access tour of the ship. And so we got to see the inside a kitchen of a main dining room. We got to see provisioning, we got to see laundry. Very. I'm not gonna remember everything. We went to the engineering control room and then we went to the bridge and the captain happened to be there and he waited and answered everybody's questions and it was a master class in leadership with his answers because he, it was Captain Costas and he's been on celebrity cruise ships for well over a decade. And so it was just amazing. Like my daughter enjoyed it, but it was certainly one of the highlights for me of that cruise. [01:04:09] Speaker C: That is so cool. Those are, you know, as you mentioned, Disney doesn't do those tours. A lot of the other cruise lines do them. You, you pay for them. Occasionally if you're sailing in a suite class on like Royal, you might get invited for like a bridge tour, but it won't be that entire tour. You'd have to, you have to. If you want to do the full ship tour, you got to pay for it and book it in advance. But they are really, really cool. And it's, it's kind of similar. If you watch some of the documentaries that they have on, on various streaming providers, you know about sort of the ship operations. It's really interesting stuff. When you hear about the provisioning and you hear about the i95 corridor, which is the corridor below that, all of the, everything, all of the staff and all of the goods move down in the, in the belly of the ship. It's really just super, super interesting to learn about. [01:05:00] Speaker A: And that's why I have Celebrity Cruise Line sweatpants, because apparently I didn't read the description you have to have a long pants. So I bought Celebrity Cruise Line sweatpants pants. So I had long pants for the tour. [01:05:09] Speaker C: Oh, that's funny. Well, there you go. That make, you know, it's just a, you know, another great souvenir to have from the trip. Lindsay, I've got to ask you the ultimate question since I'm, I'm not going to do a rapid fire round with you since one, we did one in our last episode with you. But also since this is a bonus show, but I've got to ask you the ultimate question which is would you book a Celebrity cruise again? And when I asked this, I don't mean a European one because I know the reason you booked the European one in the first place is a little bit different, but would you book another, you know, Celebrity Caribbean Bahamian? Like what you would typically book in terms of a Disney cruise? [01:05:47] Speaker A: Maybe We, I, we, we did put a deposit down on a future cruise and it works, yeah, it works a little bit different on Celebrity than it does with Disney. But we're thinking about, because I like the idea of the infinite veranda and Alaska. We're thinking about maybe doing Alaska on Celebrity, but I, I would do it. It depends. So Brian, you know, usually asks the value proposition between different cruise lines and you know, the only cruise line or the only cruise ship from Disney sailing seven night Caribbean is the Treasure right now. And at the time that we booked this, this Cruise was about 50% the price of a Treasure cruise. And so, you know, did I have at least half of as good of a time on a Disney cruise? Absolutely. [01:06:33] Speaker C: I'm using more than that. [01:06:35] Speaker A: Probably more than. [01:06:35] Speaker C: Oh absolutely. [01:06:36] Speaker A: More than more than that. And so it's, Would I do it again? Yes, probably. Is it my first choice? Probably not. And so, and it keeps coming back to the service to for me, like, is it worth double the price to have that taken care of feeling versus really, really good service? And I think there are times when that answer is yes and there are times when it's no know, but I will tell you, like we have more than one Disney Cruise Line sailing booked already in the Bahamas and the Caribbean coming up in the next year. So, and we're still waiting on information about the believe and all of that. So I wouldn't hesitate to go back on Celebrity, but it would depend upon like, I would want it to be something new and different like a different celebrity ship, maybe some different ports so that it could be a little bit different. [01:07:24] Speaker C: Yeah, no, that totally makes sense. I think, I think Alaska makes a lot of sense as well. And so. Yeah, well, you'll have to keep us posted. Lindsay, it's been great having you on the show. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm sure our listeners I know I have appreciated hearing about the differences with celebrity and Disney and I'm sure our listeners have appreciated as well. So with that I'll just say thanks so much. [01:07:48] Speaker A: Thank you, Sam. [01:07:54] Speaker B: All right, that's our show for tonight, but thank you so much for 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.com DCLDuo 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 ourselves show One of the easiest ways to support the show. 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