[00:00:00] Speaker A: So we start walking down and we're passing the second level of saga and I see on the screen Match youh Mate. And I'm like, guys, this is Match youh Mate. I was like, this is super fun. Like people, they have couples and then we do a double take and my mother in law is on stage.
[00:00:33] Speaker B: Welcome back everybody to this week's episode of the DCL Duo podcast, brought to you by WeDoTravel. Right? As they say over at we do travel, right? Life is short. Take the trip. They handle the planning so you can focus on the relaxation.
Sam, it's time for listener review time. So you finish your vocal warmups. Let's hear it.
[00:00:55] Speaker C: Yes.
Simply the best.
Better than all the rest.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: All right, this week's listener review comes from Now I've lost it here. No, I've got it back, Jen. Heidi R. Who writes, if you can't be on a Disney cruise, listen to this. When I have dcl Nostalgia or fomo, I listen to this podcast. Listening to other people's experiences makes me feel like I'm back on the ship and gets me excited for our next Disney cruise.
[00:01:23] Speaker C: Well, that's literally why we do the podcast, Brian. So that we can like basically relive every single cruise that every listener goes on or every guest goes on.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Start a castaway club based on number of episodes listened to. Although I have no way to track that by individual.
But Jen, thank you for that review as always. My PSA on the show, if you have not already, please head over to Apple Podcasts, hit those five stars. If you leave us a written review along with your five star rating, we'll read it on the air at the top of one of our main episodes. It is one of the easiest ways to help support the show. And if you're listening to us on one of the other podcasting platforms, Spotify, YouTube is now, I guess, one of the biggest podcasting platforms. All those platforms show us some love. Subscribe to the show, get the automatic downloads right in your feed and whatever rating system they use. You know, if it's five stars, give us all five. And we really appreciate it. It is what fuels our passion to keep doing this podcast is the wonderful community of listeners that we have out there. So Sam, let me toss it over to you to introduce our topic and our guest for today.
[00:02:29] Speaker C: Yeah, I am super excited. The guest that we' been chatting pre show, she's super bubbly and fun. I can already tell this is going to be a great show. We're going to be talking about Sailing on the Disney destiny. Multi generational. We're going to be talking about trying to convince your husband that they like Disney cruises when they're not sure if they like Disney cruises.
But I'm excited to welcome first time guest but not first time cruiser to the show, Rebecca. Welcome, Rebecca.
[00:02:56] Speaker A: Thank you guys so much for having me. This is very exciting.
[00:02:59] Speaker C: We are very excited to have you. I love you've got your lookout key spirit jersey. It's like that pink and red spirit jersey. I was telling you pre show. I've got the matching shorts. Although I think I need to get a new pair because the pair I have is actually too big on me right now. But I love it. It's like such a fun, bright color.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Yes. And I walked past it a couple times and I was like, am I really going to commit to something this bright? And I had to. It's a statement.
[00:03:26] Speaker C: It's a statement piece.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: It is, it is.
[00:03:30] Speaker C: As I love dis cruise line and I'm not embarrassed to show it at all. I love it.
Well, Rebecca, why don't we start with your Disney background and then we'll talk about your cruising background.
Tell us where your love from Disney originally came from and then how that translated onto the cruise line.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: Okay, so I am a Disney millennial. I was born in 1987. I grew up with the hits of Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast. You've heard it.
To be honest though, most of my Disney content was Disney Channel like Tailspin Gummy Bears, Chip and Dale. Like those are some banger TV theme songs.
[00:04:16] Speaker C: Yes, yes.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: They're some of the best.
[00:04:19] Speaker C: Gummy bears bouncing here and there and everywhere.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: Of course.
Yes.
[00:04:24] Speaker C: Ch Ch. Chip and Dale, Rescue Rangers. Yeah, yeah. What about. That was my duck, right? Like, I mean, yeah.
So life is like a hurricane in duck birds.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: Those were like. I consumed a lot of Disney Channel content. Even when I would stay home from school sick. I was watching Bear in the Big Blue House, Roly Polio.
My kids watch PB&J Otter because I have basically forced these Disney Junior shows upon them.
So that was most of my Disney content.
I did grow up in Northern California and so we would would go to Disneyland annually, maybe every other year. But when I was in middle school, my aunt and uncle and their two kids took my sister and I on a Disney Cruise.
This was 2001 on the Disney Wonder. And to be honest, I don't remember anything about the ship the room, but I remember animators palette vividly. That is a core memory of like what is happening to this room.
I remember someone cutting my steak and I was just like, what? So.
So that was a phenomenal experience.
We came home and we were like, mom, dad, cruising is amazing. We have to go on a cruise.
So they booked a Carnival cruise from San Diego.
And that was not the same. It was not the, to be fair, like they had a casino. My mom loves a good roulette table. So like, it wasn't, it wasn't all bad, but like, it, it was experience.
[00:06:16] Speaker C: It's not.
[00:06:16] Speaker A: It was a different experience.
So then, you know, years pass. High school, college. My high school best friend in college did the Disney internship in Disney World.
And so I went to Disney World for the first time as an adult and that was amazing. Epcot was like, oh my gosh. This was like, that opened up my obsession with the parks. So after that, I have tried to go to Disney World as often as I can. When I met my husband, we went together and he loves the parks. We've always been parks people. I've gone with my sister, we have two kids now. So our daughter Emma and Kiki, they have gone with us and we've always done the parks. But my sister, she's 18 months older than me. She also has two young girls.
She went on a Disney cruise post Covid took her whole family and came home and was like, this is a whole world of Disney that we have. Not like that we need to enter now.
So she went on a couple cruises and just in my ear was whispering like, you got, you gotta keep, you gotta get on a cruise. So we booked just her and I sisters trip on the Wish.
We did a three night in like June of 2024.
And that was incredible. That's when I really started consuming like Disney podcast content.
And I found some reviews of like the media tour of the Disney Wish and they were like, oh my gosh, there's no midship elevator. And I was like, I don't know what that means. Like that. Is that a problem? Am I going to notice that? And then I, on YouTube started watching like ship tours and I was like, that looks absolutely incredible and amazing. And we went on the Wish and we did like exclusively adult areas. We did Ashante for brunch, we did Paulo for dinner. We went to Marvel for one night. And then like never saw frozen, never did 1923, but just like did exclusive like adult things.
And I had some coworkers that were like, you're going on like a mom's trip on a Disney cruise without your kids. And I was like, yes, it's amazing.
[00:08:45] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: Incredible.
[00:08:46] Speaker C: Our first cruise was, was without Nathan. It was with. It was the two of us and two other adult couples also with no kids with them. And it in fact our first two cruises. Our first two cruises, yeah.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: That sounds amazing. Like it was. I mean, I get that people assume that you want to take your kids on a Disney, like I get that. But it was really fantastic. So I came home and I was like, Tyler, please, like consider this.
His.
One of his brothers also does Disney parks with his wife and two kids. His kids are a little bit older than mine and his mom also is a Disney.
She loves Disney.
My father in law doesn't openly love Disney, but he went to the parks to be with his grandkids and they have been on many Viking cruises together.
So we roped those staterooms into our booking and we committed to 2026, July we're going together. And that was more than a year and a half ago. And I remember listening to one of your podcasts. There was a gentleman who I believe was sailing through the Mediterranean and he said, I love planning cruises, but if I can use a travel agent to do the nitty gritty, like it's the best of both worlds.
So I was like, sold. This is great.
I need to contact my path unwinding. And I found Angie. And Angie was so helpful in finding three staterooms that are right next to each other on this deck and this deck. And she gave me like organized spreadsheets that we would then get on group calls and hyper analyze.
And we ended up choosing the Disney Destiny mainly because of the time of year. And at that point the Destiny was, I believe it was like still in Germany, but we were excited about like the newest ship.
[00:10:52] Speaker C: Well, and you'd been on the Wish, so you had an idea of what like the layout would be. And as you mentioned, like, do I care that there's no midship elevator? If you've, I will say if you don't remember being on the wonder in 2001, you don't care that there's no midship elevator. And if you'd never been on one of those earlier ships, you also would not care that there is no midship elevator. It's really just not an issue. You know, with one exception. If you are somebody with like mobility issues or, or you're in a wheelchair, like there, it might be a little bit of a longer distance to go to an elevator bank. So that would, that'd be my one asterisk there that like, if you have no Mobility issues.
You are not gonna care about that elevator thing.
[00:11:39] Speaker A: Yeah, right. And so we. We intentionally chose, like, a middle room.
I don't know what you call it. Midship. We. We were midship. And that was really helpful in just getting out of your room and deciding, like, I can go left, I could go right. We didn't have down a super long hallway to get to where we needed. So what started as a, like, let's just get an ocean view. Like, let's just get on the ship quickly became like, all right, let's look at a veranda. And then we ended up with deluxe verandas on deck 10.
[00:12:12] Speaker C: Love it. Love it. Fantastic.
[00:12:15] Speaker A: And now you.
[00:12:16] Speaker C: You chose rooms that were all three next to each other. Did your. Did your verandas actually open up so that you could connect the verandas as well?
[00:12:26] Speaker A: So you mean, like, did the verandas connect?
[00:12:29] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: Yes, they did. And my husband and I and our kids were in the middle with the other two rooms flanking us. And the room with Tyler's parents had a door that opened, like, flush, but in order to get to the other stateroom with his brother in law and sister, like my. My brother in law and sister in law, there was like a. Like an oval where you had to, like, crawl through.
[00:12:54] Speaker C: Oh, okay.
[00:12:54] Speaker A: So it was.
[00:12:55] Speaker C: And that wasn't a full open or it wasn't easy open. Yeah.
[00:12:59] Speaker A: Yes. And when we actually first got in the room, I was nervous that it wasn't going to open at all. But it actually worked out perfectly that, like, the grandparents were, like, didn't have to go through a hole to get to the party in the middle. Like, it just worked out really well. But, yes, we all did. And two of the rooms connected through a door inside the stateroom, but we never opened that door up because we just always hung out on the veranda.
[00:13:25] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, you are each individual sort of nuclear families. That makes sense. You probably want a little bit of privacy as well. So let's talk a little bit about on the planning side of things. Were you kind of the wrangler for the three rooms then? Yeah, get that.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: Oh, yes.
[00:13:42] Speaker C: Now, if you have to just, like, tell them what they were doing or did they want to, like, have input? Because it depends on the style of travel and the people involved as to whether or not they just want to be a passenger princess like me or if they want, like, Brian, to have input in every single decision that's being made.
[00:14:01] Speaker A: So everyone was a passenger princess, and I was the captain.
I will say, though, like, it is easier. But I also feel like I didn't want to over plan.
I just wanted them to know, like, what are the things that you can do on the ship? And like pick one must do.
Because as we know, it is impossible to do it all. So there, like, it can be really overwhelming when you open the app and you see every single activity for each day. Like I just, before we got on the ship, I just wanted them to know of like the highlights, the shows, like, what do you absolutely want to do? I was really set on doing Palo just because I really wanted my husband to go and his parents have done Viking. They love fine dining. So I was like, this would be a nice, like quiet break. So that was one thing that I really wanted to book.
Other than that, the only like event that I wanted was for my girls to do the boutique.
[00:15:07] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:07] Speaker A: Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.
[00:15:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:09] Speaker A: I love it.
[00:15:10] Speaker C: I love it. All right, well, let's, let's talk about heading down there then, you guys. When did you head down to Florida for this, for this trip? Did you go early and spend time at the parks? I know that you listen to our show, so we know that friends don't let friends fly in on embarkation day.
[00:15:28] Speaker A: No, no. And we. I would never do that. If there's one takeaway from this podcast is never fly in on embarkation day. No, we were gonna fly in the day before, but it, it left on a Monday, so that kind of left a longer weekend. And as Angie put it, we. We pregamed with a day in Disney World.
So we pregamed at Disney.
We figured, like, we're in Florida, let's just add another two days. So we flew down to Orlando and we rented a car.
We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. We did Typhoon Lagoon the day we got there. And then all day Saturday we did rope drop Magic Kingdom all day. And then Sunday we drove down to Fort Lauderdale and all parties met at the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale, which was a Disney cruise pre party.
There were so many people that had ears in all of their things like the day before. So that was super fun.
[00:16:32] Speaker C: Yeah, it's always fun to see that because you see that in Orlando. You expect that like in, you know, Disney Springs or at the parks. Right. Or obviously Typhoon Lagoon. But like, you don't necessarily expect that when you're in Fort Lauderdale. Cause there's no park there. But because the cruise terminal is there now, you do tend to see it, at least in that, in that area that's, that's near the Port all right, so you, you spend the one night then at the Embassy Suites and you guys had rented a car I take it then did you, did you drop off the car or did you park the car?
[00:17:06] Speaker A: So we dropped the car off at the airport in Fort Lauderdale and my brother in law, they drove from Chicago. So they had a car. They had a whole week in, they had a whole week in Disney World before we got there. And they are honestly still in Florida today. Like they made it a whole three week vacation.
So it was actually really helpful. We just dropped the car off at the airport and then they picked us up and drove us to Embassy Suites.
[00:17:32] Speaker C: Oh perfect. That's super easy. Now in the morning did you take like Disney Cruise Line shuttle service or did you do an Uber? Like what did you do?
[00:17:41] Speaker A: My brother in law dropped us off. Oh, it was great.
[00:17:44] Speaker C: There was room for everybody.
[00:17:46] Speaker A: There was awesome. Well okay, so I think backing up to that like pre planning check in part of this cruise that was a little bit messy.
I'm silver status so my stateroom was able to book I don't know how many days it is before and that was seamless. Like I had my pictures in JPEG form and like I was up for maybe 10, 15 minutes at midnight eastern time and it was fine. But when it was time to check the, the non castaway status staterooms, they were up for maybe an hour and a half past midnight. Does that sound normal? Is that just true for non castaway status people?
[00:18:31] Speaker C: So it depends. I mean there are just some times where the, where it's really, the system's really glitchy and it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with castaway club status. It just might be on a day that maybe multiple cruises are checking in at the same time time. And so that can like sort of overwhelm the system.
It can also take long if you don't have your documents. Like we. Ryan has literally like a folder on his phone and he just does every, he knows where every like everything's in one place. So he's like super efficient at it. But if you're, if you're not used to doing the process, it's going to take you longer than if you are like you know, completely ready. So that might be part of it too.
[00:19:10] Speaker A: Yeah, I like it was definitely a lot of website glitchiness. I was basically in charge of checking it and my mother and father in law and it was just like the spinning wheel of like this is not your reservation number. This is not your reservation number. So unfortunately, our boarding groups were totally separate. Tyler and I got boarding group 10, which was 1145, which to me was fantastic. And then they had I think one o'. Clock. So there was a little bit of time in between to like drive us first, drop us off first, and then they went and parked their car at whatever hotel and then they came after us.
[00:19:48] Speaker C: Well, and the great thing is you can start, you can drop off your luggage at any time. So they could drop off their luggage, like depending upon how much luggage fit into this car. Right, they could drop off luggage. Yeah. So even if it's not your check in time, like you can actually.
Or your port arrival time, you can actually drop off your luggage at any time. They're not checking port arrival times there. They're only checking port arrival times to get into the terminal, not to get to like that luggage drop off area.
Yeah, yeah. So pro tip, if you know, one of the things out there, if you do have multiple groups in different boarding and different port arrival times, that's something you can do. It's of course gonna like vary your mileage on that is gonna vary based on what you can fit in the car. Right. Like if you.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: Yeah, like that's a great tip. I. We like, we had so much luggage that I don't know if they would have been able to theirs but.
[00:20:39] Speaker C: Well, let's talk about the check in process at the support. Like did you have any issues there or did anybody in your, in your family have any issues with that process?
[00:20:50] Speaker A: So we, we could have.
Angie kind of saved us because I realized like a month out when you go into the website, it says you're ready to order magic bands, which I don't have a magic band. I didn't want one, but Tyler did and we wanted to get one for one of our girls.
So when I went in to to my face, my account profile, whatever had my icon, but theirs was not. So I told Angie, I was like, does it matter? Can we just link it later? And she was like, no, you should probably call the 1, 800 number. And I am glad that I did because there was a discrepancy between a birthday, some information was not identical.
So then after I was on the phone with that very helpful person from Disney Cruise Line, their accounts were linked. Then it was a seamless check in.
[00:21:49] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a really good tip. Things get really messed up with my Disney experience. If you have. What happens is you end up having more than one profile and it's because they aren't really linked to one another. And the only way to correct that is to talk to the Disney IT folks. And there is a number for the cruise line IT folks that can help you with that and they can, you know, they can fix that. Usually I will say sometimes it takes them a while to fix some of these issues.
So it's better if you can do it like in advance. Now. It doesn't mean you'll have any issue when you get to the terminal. It just means that your accounts won't be properly linked and it'll just be kind of a mess later.
You'll still be able to check in, you'll still be able to get a MagicBand coded. It just won't link back to your proper profile, which can just kind of mess up, up, you know, everything. Like sort of Disney keeping track of like, oh, you're a passholder. Oh, you're also a silver castaway. Like it can just kind of mess up that, that kind of stuff later.
[00:22:51] Speaker A: So that was like, I don't know if I need to ask Angie the question, like, maybe I'll just figure it out when we get there. But I'm, I'm glad that I did ask because it was good to get that 30 minute tech call out of the way.
[00:23:04] Speaker C: Yeah. No, I've got to ask. What, why was your husband a reluctant cruiser before we get into like what he actually experienced on the cruise? Like, why, why was there any opposition or need to convince him if he's a Disney Parks person?
[00:23:19] Speaker A: So he loves to travel. We have traveled to Europe and we've traveled around the world and he likes the idea of going to a city and staying there and truly getting to know it and waking up and getting local coffee and going to, you know, like the local places.
So he wasn't like, he just, it, he's just always been hesitant. So I think the fact that it was a Bahamian cruise, it's not necessarily about the adventure of the location of the islands. More so just the relaxation than the fun.
I'm dreaming of like Alaska fjords, Mediterranean. And he's like, let's pump the brakes.
Let's check out, let's, let's check out the Bahamas first.
So like, he loves Disney. Like, he knew that the service would be great, but like, he's just a reluctant cruiser. He would rather be on land and stay somewhere for a longer, extended period of time.
[00:24:27] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, I gotta say I don't understand why anyone would not want to like, I don't know, get their coffee at like Cafe Megara. Right?
[00:24:37] Speaker A: Like and like, to me as the like logistical planner, organizer, packer of children, I see the joy of like you unpacked one time every day. Like you don't have to move. You get to see, you get to just wake up, be somewhere new, get off the ship, explore that place and then you can see somewhere else right the next day. And you didn't have to repack and move like that. Logistical moving around, especially with kids like that, to me is why I'm so interested in the world of cruising.
[00:25:18] Speaker C: Yeah. All right, well, let's talk about boarding the ship. You've got your husband and your kids with you. How old are your girls?
[00:25:25] Speaker A: So Emma is seven and a half.
Charlotte, who we call Kiki, she is four. She is about to be five. She turns five in two weeks. And we just, we just got off the ship. So I figured that because she was four and a half, like four, almost five, that they were not going to let her kind of jump up in the Oceaners club. But it, it worked out. So yeah, I've got a seven and a four, almost five year old.
[00:25:54] Speaker C: Awesome. All right, well tell me like how did their entry onto the ship go? You get your family name gets announced. You walk into the grand hall.
Your kids have like no idea what they're getting themselves into because they have never been on a cruise ship before.
What were the first impressions?
[00:26:13] Speaker A: Their eyes. Like I was constantly just looking to their faces to see their reactions and their eyes were huge.
Spider man was waving at them. Tyler gave him some, I don't know what do you wet. He webbed them. Spider man webbed him back. Like that whole entrance was just so magical.
And honestly like listening to so many people's embarkation days.
My dream embarkation day would be to go sit down at lunch and have like a relaxing start.
But the excitement of being there was like, we cannot just sit down. Like we gotta go check this place out.
[00:26:54] Speaker C: Totally. I think that's like very, that's very typical, especially for like first time cruisers. Now I know you're, you were not a first time cruiser, but your whole family other than you were. And so it makes sense to me that you like you. I can't go right now and sit down and eat. I've got to go and see the whole ship. So did you guys head and explore, you know, the kids clubs and all of that?
[00:27:18] Speaker A: Yeah. So we went, they went straight down the slide and the line.
I.
Am I able to.
[00:27:27] Speaker C: Only an open house. Yes. At open house time when the whole club is in open house. Which meet, which is usually the beginning of embarkation day until about 5pm I've
[00:27:36] Speaker B: been down the slide. Rebecca, we've done it.
[00:27:38] Speaker C: Yeah, we've both. Brian and I have both been down the slide. It's a real.
I mean I look very awkward doing
[00:27:44] Speaker B: it, but I've done it.
[00:27:45] Speaker C: Yeah, it's safe, but it's not like it's a small slide, so it's a,
[00:27:49] Speaker A: you know, but oh man, I missed that opportunity. We did not slide down the slide.
The line to like check in was not that bad, but we decided to just skip right past it and we started to kind of explore the rooms. That Star wars area in is so cool. We made our way into the Marvel area and I noticed there was a cast member with like a little kiosk and I was like, hey, can we check in with you? And she was like, yes. And the second I walked up to her, a little line formed behind me. Like, no one. Like that was a great. We just stumbled upon it. So they got their magic bands linked and that was great.
And then we just, we just started walking. We would just go all the way down one deck, up the stairs, all the way down one deck, deck, up the stairs. And by the time we got to deck five, we could hear welcome Koss family. And we were like, oh my gosh. So we saw Tyler's parents come in, so they had a little crowd. So at that point we kind of paused and met them down there. The other stateroom, the last stateroom was like a little bit behind them. But then we took them up to Marceline for lunch.
[00:29:02] Speaker C: Oh, awesome. Fantastic. Now you, you mentioned your in laws. Maybe not so tech savvy.
So tell us, tell us about how, how did you manage. Like so the main way to find out about what's going on and to communicate with people on board is through the app. Of course, if you have iPhones, you can imessage. You can also use WhatsApp without buying, you know, the Internet package. But like were they, do they have smartphones? Were they willing to use the app? How did you, how did you end up up managing that?
[00:29:36] Speaker A: So I was the navigator after that.
[00:29:41] Speaker C: Like you the navigator?
[00:29:43] Speaker A: I was just like doing a like Marceline lunch. I was just answering a ton of questions and I loved to be that person. To be fair, Cynthia, my mother in law, she has some vision issues so she like does not want to use technology. And even when you zoom in, it's like that was a. She's not even going to pick up a phone scenario. Which was fine. We just told her, we're just going to take you places and it's going to be great. Bob, though, he has an iPhone and he uses it, he was able to get on the Navigator app. It did take a couple days for us to realize that he wasn't getting our messages.
When we would send him a message, like we got his chat ID and we did all that, but he wouldn't get the message. He ended up going to guest services and figuring that out. I'm not really sure how they did that. So, yeah, they, like, I don't think they.
I don't think they opened their app to like, look at activities.
They were just there for the ride. And we were like, hey, this is where we're gonna go. And they would follow.
[00:30:49] Speaker C: That's great. I mean, I. You don't. Listen, if you're willing to be a pass, a true passenger princess and make no decisions, that's completely fine. Or you can make a decision to opt in or out, right? And then just meet up with the family, you know, wherever. So you just tell them, hey, we' going to go to this activity at this time. Meet us there. And that, you know, it makes it kind of. Yeah, it makes it really easy. Well, all right, let's. Let's talk about. We gotta. We gotta dive into things you did on the destiny.
[00:31:19] Speaker A: I am so sorry. I have an embarkation story that I must.
[00:31:23] Speaker C: Oh, yes, absolutely.
[00:31:25] Speaker A: And it actually is perfect that we were just talking about my in laws, right? Like, they were total passenger princesses, which was so much fun. We dined in Pride Lands, we saw the show and we did late dining. So when we got out of late dining, it was like 10, 15.
And we get out and there's like a. There's a low key show happening. It's Gamble and. Who were the two people? Ziya and Gamble. And Loki comes out and it like, it's very, very busy. So our group kind of just like disperses and we're all trying to find little spots to watch the show. And Loki talks.
Loki's a talker. He rambles in monologues. And we lose Cynthia and Bob. They are.
And I'm like, you know what? They will find their way back to the room. It's fine. I'm gonna stay here right now and enjoy this. My nephew ends up talking to low key for a very long time. It's 11 o' clock and we're like, it's time to go. It's time to go to bed. This has been the longest day ever. So we start walking down and we're passing the second level of saga.
And I see on the screen Match youh Mate. And I'm like, guys, this is Match youh Mate. I was like, this is super fun. Like people, they have couples and then we do a double take and my mother in law is on stage.
How did that happen? We were like, how, how did she get. So I'm like trying to explain to them quickly what it, what they're doing.
And so our entire party goes to the second level of saga. And we're listening and this is the very beginning of Match youh Mate. So it's like question number one with Cynthia and it's very pg. It's like, what was your first date and how much money did you spend? And then a cast member so politely was like, your children can't be here. This is 18 and up. And our children are sitting in the chair. It's like, look, it's grandma.
So we shuffle them out, we give them magic bands and we're like, go hunt for ghosts. Get out of here.
[00:33:32] Speaker C: That's perfect.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: So.
[00:33:34] Speaker C: Oh my God.
[00:33:35] Speaker A: So we were also wearing matching shirts that day. So people in the audience were starting to recognize like, hey, her family is up here and it is kind of a spicy show.
[00:33:47] Speaker C: Yeah, you probably learned more about your in laws than you ever wanted to learn.
[00:33:52] Speaker A: I was crying with laughter. It was, was so hysterical.
They were there for the show before, which is like, I don't know what kind of game show it was. But then they were asking people in the audience like who's been married the longest? And they've been married for 56 years.
[00:34:11] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:34:11] Speaker A: So. So they were easily chosen.
[00:34:15] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, so that, that's like the. So the greatest thing. If you are with a couple who's been together for a really long time, like, like and you go to match your mate, they are going to get chosen as that final couple. They'll be couple number three. Couple number one is typically the newlywed couple. Couple number three is the older couple who's been married for forever. And then couple number two is like a free for all because it's, it's, there's. Everybody else falls into couple number two territory.
[00:34:41] Speaker A: Right.
[00:34:41] Speaker C: So yeah, it's the best though. Oh my God, that's hilarious.
[00:34:46] Speaker A: It was hysterical. And for the rest of the cruise they were celebrities. It was, hey, Bob. Hey. Couple number three.
It was so. It was so hysterical. So I couldn't let you pass on the embarkation day conversation until I told
[00:35:01] Speaker C: you I Love that. I honestly, I always joke that you're basically a cruise celebrity for the rest of your cruise, because typically Match youh Made is on night one, sometimes on night two, it's at the beginning of the cruise, but you will forever be a celebrity on that cruise. Yeah. And then if you go to some of the other, like, adult game shows, there might be, like, running jokes or that start at Match youh Made. Yeah. So if you. If you continue to. Yeah, they might. They might bring up, you know, something you said. Like one of the adult entertainment hosts might bring up something that was said. Oh, yeah, it's hilarious.
[00:35:38] Speaker A: There were a lot of good tidbits that they could use for future shows.
[00:35:42] Speaker C: It was. It was.
[00:35:43] Speaker A: It was really funny.
[00:35:44] Speaker C: I love it. All right, well, let's talk about some of the favorite things on the cruise line, you know. Well, you know what, let's start with. With Bibbidi Bobbidi, because I know that was one of your goals was to get the girls booked for Bibbidi Bobbidi. Did you get them booked and how did that work out? And did you end up doing, like, Royal Gathering or anything in coordination? I know a lot of people try to do that. It doesn't always work out.
[00:36:07] Speaker A: So we could not get Royal Gathering because it was the night that I was trying to get.
[00:36:12] Speaker C: Oh, the glitchy. Yeah.
[00:36:13] Speaker A: Yeah. And I did go to guest services and ask and they said, sorry, they put me on a waiting list. But I kind of figured that that was not going to play out, which it didn't, and it was fine.
[00:36:23] Speaker C: But.
[00:36:23] Speaker A: But Bibbidi Boppity was so adorable. We did the package that did not include the dress.
So we, like, looked at dresses online and, like, that was kind of our, like, exciting. It was not a surprise. Like, they very much knew that it was happening. They picked their dresses. So they showed up as Anna and Elsa. Angie was. Angie was able to get Nassau Day because we were not planning on getting off the ship, but it did work out that that was the Frozen performance day day. And my girls are quite shy. If they don't know you, like, they're not just going to engage in a long conversation.
So it was hysterical. Tyler and I sat and just listened to these godmothers have full conversations with Emma and Charlotte and they would ask questions and they'd be like, yes. And then they would continue. Right. Like, it's kind of like talking to a princess. They don't need to be engaging in conversation. Like, they have.
They've got a whole spiel to Talk about. Oh, yes, it was really cute. They.
They ended up getting the.
The ponytail with like the fake ponytail extension.
And we did it kind of early. It was like 11:30 in the morning. It took away the opportunity to swim and like, go outside and be hot. But that was okay, especially since we did the matinee for Frozen.
So it worked out. It was really wonderful.
They had an absolute blast just twirling around and looking at themselves in the mirror. And the bonus too was you get the makeup palette to take home with you. So every night it was like, let's do more eyeshadow. Let's do this. Which they do not do at home. So that was a very exciting. Every night after that was like, put on makeup again.
[00:38:18] Speaker B: Aw.
[00:38:19] Speaker C: Now, did they have different dresses for each night of the cruise? I know some people do like a, like a princess night every night.
[00:38:28] Speaker A: I.
[00:38:29] Speaker C: That would be a lot for me, but I, you know, to each his own.
[00:38:33] Speaker A: Certainly it was not a tool fluffy dress. Like, we. We over packed in general, and I had like, matching dresses for them, but they were not like themed.
Not. Certainly not in the way that, like, their fluffy frozen dresses took up space in our.
[00:38:52] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Well, let's talk about some of the other stuff you guys did on board.
You mentioned in when you reached out to us. The girls are not villains, you know, people. They're not really superhero people either.
Of course, this is a heroes and villains themed ship, but there's still a lot to do that really, you don't have to do all of the Marvel stuff or you don't have to do all of the, you know, all of the villain stuff. So what. What kinds of family activities did you guys get up to on board?
[00:39:23] Speaker A: So it's in terms of the villains. We saw Cruella, and Emma was like, she's scary. I gotta go. And Charlotte was like, I wanna meet her. Like, they were kind of. But they didn't really have any. Like, they'd never seen 101 Dalmatians, but, like, they're familiar with some of the villains.
Tyler and I are pretty well versed in Marvel characters. So, like, they were like, who's that? I was like, that's Loki. Like, I was excited for Loki. That. That just kind of went over their head. Any time that they saw like, Mickey, Minnie and friends, they didn't have to necessarily get in line and hug them to get excited about it.
What's the party the very first day party? Oh, sail away. Yeah, the sail away party. That to them, like, was a character experience, you know, like, just seeing them on stage was enough. They were excited to look down at the princesses in the royal gathering. Even though they weren't getting in line, it was just like exciting for them to see them walking around on the ship.
They were not really phased by the theming at all. Like, the villains thing was kind of over their head.
[00:40:37] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I think that makes sense. It's really not. I don't think the villains part is in your face. You actually have to go to a lot of the events in order to experience. Right. Like meeting Dr. Facilier or meeting Cruella Maleficent. You actually have to like line up and affirmatively go to those. Those events. The Marvel stuff is a little bit more in your face because a lot of it happens in the Grand Hall. But again, it's. You can, if you're not interested in it, you just walk by or you stop and you watch from, you know, a balcony or something like that.
[00:41:10] Speaker A: Right. And I, and I, I will say this was a very full cruise.
We spoke to, I think his position, he was like a sound technician and lighting technician. We saw him in the adults only area in the pool and shouted him up for a long time. He was like, hey, couple number three, I did your lighting. But he told us that the ship was almost at capacity and that there were 1800 kids on board, so the lines were long. The Dr. Facilier line was long in a way that I was like, I don't think these people are getting in the first. Like, they gotta wait a couple shows to even get in there.
So we like passing by them and just seeing them on the ship was really enough for us.
The only, like, on the last day, the mini line was there and I was like, we're getting in this line. We're gonna see Minnie. Like, that was. I was like, we're getting one picture with a character and it's gonna be Minnie Mouse. But like, for the most part, just seeing the characters on the ship in the shows was enough to be exciting for them.
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[00:43:24] Speaker C: What did you all think of the shows and did you go to all of the main stage shows?
[00:43:30] Speaker A: Yes, that was one of the must dos for everyone.
Like we definitely decided like Disney is known for their amazing productions. Like this is part of the value of a Disney cruise. So we made all of those essential.
The Disney sees the adventure I think is a must do if you have not been on a Disney cruise. The jukebox you hear all the songs.
So many characters are on stage. Like that was just really adorable and wonderful.
I will say, like maybe I was kind of teary eyed when they said like welcome cast family. The Tiana performer for Almost There brought me to literal tears. Her performance was unreal. She had an amazing voice. She was so good. Like that to me was worth all of the other songs.
It was very well done and it was great. We did the Frozen matinee and I have seen Frozen on Broadway in Chicago two separate times.
So I wasn't necessarily.
Not to say I wasn't excited because I definitely knew I was going but like it was a take it or leave. I was mostly excited for Hercules but I was floored by how much I loved Frozen.
The projections when they're going down on the sleigh and the projections that show the perspective. The wolves. Like there were so many moments where I was like this is incredible and it is not anything like the Broadway performance. That it is different than it was an absolute must do if you haven't seen it.
[00:45:17] Speaker C: Yeah, I hard agree.
I think it's the best production. I've said this on the show before.
It's better than the Broadway show in my opinion. It's also better than the production that they used to have at the Hyperion Theater in Disneyland Land. I think the Cruise Line one is the best. It's also just the Right.
[00:45:34] Speaker A: Length.
[00:45:34] Speaker C: Right. Like it's about an hour, hour and 15 minutes. Ish. And I think it's just.
You have everything that you need from the movie, but you have. You don't have everything extra that you don't really need. It's just.
[00:45:49] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:45:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:45:50] Speaker A: And my in laws had never seen Frozen and never saw Hercules. And they had like a couple clarifying questions about the plot. Frozen. But like. Like for the most part, like everything that you needed was included. Yeah.
[00:46:06] Speaker C: What about Hercules?
[00:46:08] Speaker A: I was floored.
I love Hercules the movie. I could sing the soundtrack on my own.
So I felt a very deep connection to seeing it. Like, I had very high expectations. Obviously the Muses are like the reason to get on the ship. If you miss Hercules, like, what are you doing?
It was incredible.
It was shorter than Frozen and I could feel that, like, it was very quickly paced and I just wanted it to be two hours long because it was that good.
But it was really, it was incredible. Who's the villain? Hades was so good. Hercules. Like, everyone was like perfectly cast. It was great. I did. I was really looking forward to the song that was like the addition that they didn't have in the movie. And right when she started singing, Charlotte needed to emergency use the bathroom, which was fine. I like race. I picked her up and was like, we are hustling to this bathroom as fast as we can. And we got back just in time for the end of it, so.
[00:47:22] Speaker C: So I'll have to go back, I guess. You have to go back on the Destiny.
[00:47:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I gotta go back.
But Hercules was outstanding.
I would recommend though, because again, Cynthia and Bob had not seen Hercules the Disney version. They're familiar with the story and they had trouble with some of the dialogue because there was so much music that they were kind of skipping some of the important dialogue.
But I would recommend, if you're going on the Destiny, you have not seen Hercules, don't just put it on in the background, like really sit and enjoy it because it makes the production so much better.
[00:48:03] Speaker C: Totally agree. I love it.
[00:48:05] Speaker B: Well, since we've covered Sam's favorite topic, now we have to cover mine, which is food. All things food. So, yeah, talk us through the dining experience on board.
[00:48:14] Speaker A: Okay, so I'm going to give you an example of what it is to be an over planner.
I booked Apollo brunch for the last day, which was my birthday, but I already had feelings of guilt that I was like, I'm not gonna be my family. Like, I don't know. And then when I'm going on the app every couple days to like, look at the countdown. I was like, let me pick up Apollo dinner. So I picked up Apollo dinner on Tuesday for all the adults, which was our night two. And after, after talking to Tyler for a long time, you know, hyping ourselves up for all these meals, we realized that we did not want to miss the Pridelands show and he did not want to miss Marvel.
So there was a little conundrum of like, well, shoot, if Pride Lands is on that second night, then we got to cancel Paulo. And then we realized that 1923 kind of had to be night two in order for any of this to work.
[00:49:14] Speaker C: Work out.
[00:49:15] Speaker A: Night four, we had Pirates night, which we all committed very hard to pirate costumes.
And I was like, I'm not dressing up in pirate outfit to Paula, right? Like, that was a no go. And obviously we didn't want to be not with everyone on the last night. So it was like night two or bust for Paulo. So when I had called the Disney Cruise Line to help with my magic band issue, at the very end, she was like, is there anything I can help you with? Anything else? I was like, well, is it possible to request 1923 as the second night? And she explained to me the rotation of like, okay, if you want it to be night two, then you need Pride Lands to be first because that's the rotation. So I was like, I was ready to. For it, for it not to work out. But thankfully the over planner in me was able to snag 1923 as the second night.
[00:50:11] Speaker C: That's perfect. But that honestly, it's one of those things where with a little bit of extra effort, you can find out, you know, what order of the dining you know is going to be and then you can fit in your adult dining where you want it so that you don't miss a theme that you want to, that you don't, you know, that you don't want to miss.
[00:50:31] Speaker A: And it worked out so well. Pride Lands night one, the performers are so incredible. It was, it was really fantastic. It was very loud.
It was very loud.
There are breaks in between, right, to kind of reset conversation and talk. But like it is very much a musical performance. And that first night we were able to get my mother in law a large print menu for her vision issues. And it is like a black and white menu. It is super easy to read. It was in jumbo print. And they were very accommodating and helpful. The server cam, he ended up like standing next to her for the rest of the Trip so that she could hear. But everyone loved it. Loved their food in Pride Lands. Like, everyone.
Oh, my gosh. What was it? The shrimp curry. Anyone who got the shrimp curry was very happy, but it was loud. The performers were wonderful. We are so happy that we didn't miss that show, and the food was great. So that night, though, I told Cam, our server, and we. I don't know how they paired our personalities perfectly, but Cam was the greatest server, and he said, like, I'll see you tomorrow at 1923. And I said, well, some of us are going to be at 1923. And he was like, oh, it's so sad, because you're going to be missing out on a fantastic meal. I was like, I know. Like, I would like to. And he was like, well, for Marvel, like, I'd be happy to get you anything from 1923 that you were missing. So even though I knew that that was possible, just the fact that he would, like, offer that was enough for me to be like, thanks, Cam. And I thought about.
I thought about taking him up on that offer, but the next time. So the next night was Paulo, and when we got into the Rose, Cynthia was like, do you hear that? It's so quiet in here. And I was like, yes. I was like, that's why I booked it. Like, it's a little break from reality. It is super calm and quiet and luxurious.
Every single thing that we had in Poly Low was outstanding.
There's, like, a little thing that you get before your main.
[00:52:47] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, the amuse bouche.
[00:52:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I could drink that liquid.
It was, like. It was outstanding.
We had the wagyu tenderloin.
Tyler and I both did. We each had our own. It was melt in your mouth. It was perfection. I did know, though, like, the constant worry in my mind was, which souffle am I gonna. Is it going to be the chocolate or the amaretto? And, like, the whole time, I'm like, which is it going to be? And the last time I was at Paulo, I picked the chocolate, and I immediately had amaretto Guilt.
Oh, my God. I picked the wrong one. So this time, I picked amaretto. Cynthia picked chocolate, and we could share.
[00:53:35] Speaker C: Tasted exactly.
[00:53:37] Speaker A: And it was kind of nice. We took a little chocolate. Like, we of, like, switch sauces, and, oh, my gosh, it was a really, really excellent meal.
[00:53:46] Speaker C: I love that. What did you think of Worlds of Marvel and 1920? I imagine you had. Did you have one night, actually, at 1923?
[00:53:55] Speaker A: 1923 was our last night.
[00:53:56] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:53:57] Speaker A: And it was. It was Outstanding. It was so good.
The food was really excellent. I'm trying to remember what I had.
Probably some sort of steak or beef. I mean, it was really good. I also just love the ambiance of it. It feels very. Just, like, refined, and it's a little quieter, which worked well for our family.
So that was really great. We love 1923. Marvel was not a hit. I'd say, overall, not a hit. The food was totally hit or. Or miss.
Lots of people got the bow. I'm saying that right? Bow. People either were like, this is excellent, or people were like, no, this is not for me. I got the chicken schnitzel. Mine was great.
Other people were like, this is too dry. So it was hit or miss on the food. I. Do they call it a show?
Is it considered a show?
[00:54:54] Speaker B: It's a show. I mean, it's a show, but it's
[00:54:56] Speaker C: not a big show, let's put it that way. Way.
[00:54:59] Speaker A: It is funny that at the very end of all the trivia, Tyler was like, to Cam, our server, he was like, what's our score?
And Cam was like, you might have to ask Mickey Mouse on that one. Like, they don't keep score. Like, they were trying real hard with some of those trivias.
So it was a. It was a little bit of a.
It wasn't a slam dunk. We absolutely loved pride lands in 1923.
Marvel was okay. It was. It was all right. I think you have to be. You have to be a really big Marvel fan to, like, know a lot of the trivia. And, like, I've seen a lot of Marvel, and some of the options for trivia were like, I have no idea who.
[00:55:40] Speaker C: Well, and some of them. Yeah, some of them are really from, like, the TV shows or even the comics, right? Like, they're. They go deep. That trivia does go deep into the mcu. So it's. It's not just like Iron man and Spider Man. The.
The show with, you know, with Groot and Rocket is definitely fun, but it's like, it. It may not captivate people's attention. I do think the show on. On the. The other show on Marvel. In Marvel, that's on the Wish, that's also on the Treasure that I think they're. They are doing. Well, I don't know if they're doing it on the. On the Destiny. If you have a second night on the Destiny in Marvel, but the other show is a little bit more. And you pro. Oh, you might maybe. Did you experience it on the one's More of a show, I would say.
[00:56:28] Speaker A: Yes. That was more of, like a. It is a captivating video that you are watching. And then at the end, there's a surprise visitor. Right. Like, I was kind of. I was anticipating more of that, especially considering the character on the stern of the ship. I was kind of out.
[00:56:46] Speaker C: It's interesting because there's some people who, like, don't like that show, right. But prefer the. The Groot and Rocket show. So it's just a matter of, like, how much. Much of, like, an interruption on your dinner do you want to have? Right? Like, some people prefer a meal that has less of a show, and some people prefer a meal that has more of a show. So I would say, like, your mileage is going to vary in part based on that and also based on how big of a Marvel fan you. You are. What did you think of dining in, like, Marceline Market or pool deck food? Like, did. Were there any, like, hits or misses there?
[00:57:21] Speaker A: Marceline was hit or miss. But I will say the tiki masala in Marceline, so I love. I love that whole little station. They've got, like, pot stickers.
Oh, my gosh. That area was really excellent. We really enjoyed lunch. For breakfast, I got an omelette, like, a make your own omelette. And when I approached the make your own omelette station, I was like, oh, this is genius. You get a little tag, right? And it goes off when it's ready, so you don't have to be waiting there.
And on the first morning, they lost my tag. So I waited a long time, and it was castaway day. And they were like, we'll make it right now. And I was like, I gotta go. And so then the second day, I was like, I'm gonna give it another chance.
It took, like, 20 minutes. And I was like, oh, I think there's something about this system that, like, could be tweaked. But of course, I couldn't stop. I then tried a third time and was like, I got. This is excellent.
So I would definitely say, if you're gonna do make your omelette, like, don't stand there. Like, sit and wait. If you haven't gotten it in 10 minutes, maybe toss your number to one of those people and say, like, hey, I'm waiting for 109 or something. And they will absolutely go in there and check to see where it is.
But, like, breakfast was great. They're little smoothies. My girls. My girls loved the churro Mickey waffles. Those were a hit with everybody.
Marceline overall was really nice. I will say having a party of 10 in Marceline feels impossible when you walk in. But one thing I didn't know from my last cruise was when you enter Marceline, don't go straight. Make a U turn around the wall, like against the windows. And there's a whole bigger area where there were always tables and they have larger tables on one side. There's like kind of a U shaped booth.
So we were always able to. To fit 10 people in that back area, which you might walk right past or not see that it's there.
[00:59:25] Speaker C: Absolutely. I, I think it's. It's kind of that hidden area. It's a little further away from the food, but it's. It's one of those places where you almost always can find seating, whereas the rest of Marceline, that's closer to the food tends to be really, really crowded and might be difficult. It might be even difficult to find a table even for like a family of four. All right, well, we gotta. We. We. We don't have a ton of time left. We. We are like we. I mean, this is just. It's too much fun, Rebecca. That's the problem. You're too much fun. I, I want to talk about private islands because you, you did go, you went. Did you go to Castaway and Lookout on this sailing?
[01:00:01] Speaker A: Castaway, Nassau. Lookout, Sea day.
[01:00:04] Speaker C: Perfect. Okay, well, we already spoiled Nassau. You didn't get off so easy. You went, you went to Bibbity Bobbity. But.
So let's talk Castaway and Nassau.
You're obviously, you're wearing your lookout shirt I mentioned at the beginning of the show. Like, is there a winner between them? They're both so amazing. And tell us what you did on the islands.
[01:00:26] Speaker A: So we had two different climate days.
NASA day was cloudy and very windy, which made July in the Bahamas quite comfortable and lovely.
There were a lot. There was a whole board of like, all these things are canceled, canceled due to high winds. It was that type of windy.
[01:00:47] Speaker C: Wait, you said Nassau.
[01:00:48] Speaker A: Sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. I meant Castaway.
[01:00:51] Speaker C: That's why. Okay, perfect. No, that's okay. That's why I was just confused. Okay.
[01:00:54] Speaker A: Everything was canceled for Castaway because of the high winds, but it made the day really comfortable. And spoiler is a little too comfortable because some of us got burned. But that's okay.
But I really love that Castaway is very close. Everything is close together. You don't have to walk very far. You could take the tram or you could walk right and look out that's not really possible. You gotta take the tram. But we loved Castaway because it was really easy for our girls. They're swimmers. They don't need floaties. But, like, the water was very calm and it was very safe for them.
They did not want to go down that big slide.
Pelican plunge.
Am I getting that right? That, like, shoots you in the water? Their cousins were doing that. They wanted nothing to do with that. So, like, it was. It was a really nice beach area for them.
They did not go to that kids area at all. Tyler and I did bring snorkels, so we were able to get the vest. We couldn't rent fins. Fins, I believe, are $20 if you just want the fins. But we brought our own snorkels, and my sister and I had snorkels when I was there in 2024.
And I thought that the area was just a big rectangle, but it's actually like a huge rainbow U. Like, you can start on one end of snorkeling and get to the other side. It's just that those buoys that have, you know, exciting trinkets in the water to look at are on one side. So Tyler and I started on the other side side. And there wasn't a lot to see. I wasn't sure if that was the conditions because in my previous experience there, like, we saw a ton of fish, but we didn't. We didn't see a whole lot. We wondered maybe if we had fins and could get out farther. Maybe that was the key. But, like, the act of snorkeling was super fun. We saw Minnie Mouse. We saw maybe, like, Boo's door or something. Like, it would have been more fun to check out more of those. I don't know what you call them.
[01:03:05] Speaker C: It's what the bees have sunk in. Treasures.
[01:03:08] Speaker A: Sunken treasures. Yeah, it would have been more fun to have sunken treasures, but because our
[01:03:11] Speaker C: girls, I will say I don't think that there's generally a ton of fish there at Castaway. I think you're really more doing the snorkeling to see the sunken treasures, not really to see fish. So just a warning out there. Don't expect to see, like, a wide variety of fish when you're snorkeling at casting away.
[01:03:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I think I hyped that up to Tyler a little too hard. He was. He wasn't disappointed. Like, we still had a good time, but that was really fun.
We saw our server. We made a point to go find our server and say hi to him and the food was okay. The food was fine.
We were fed. And I mean, in the heat, you're not that hungry when it's that hot. But that was great. Now lookout. I had never been to lookout before.
And just like walking the pier, the water is unreal. There were schools of fish.
Like, if you just look down in the water, it was a very hot day. There were no clouds, so we were roasting on the pier, which was fine.
Our girls were able to kind of like lock their knees in real tight to get into the wagon.
They were able to accommodate sticky together to not have to walk.
And we got one of the last wagons and I was like, oh, no. Like, what happens to the other people? And there was a whole tram of wagons come in. So they're always, they're always ready for wagons.
Not having a phone for every party. Right. Like, my in laws did not walk out with us. All the staterooms kind of walked out at their own time. So just saying, like, hey, when you get off the tram, turn to the right. That seemed to be a little more confusing.
But like, the beach is easy enough to find people. There is no hustle for chairs. Like, you're gonna find a chair. And so we took our snorkels just like into the water and the reef was right there. And we saw like finding Nemo fish. We saw like really amazing fish. And again, I don't know if that was the conditions or that like, but it was a really, really awesome snorkel experience. And it was really.
[01:05:28] Speaker C: It was really accessible.
[01:05:29] Speaker A: And that was really cool.
[01:05:30] Speaker C: Cool. I love that. I think, I think lookout is a gem. I mean, I know it's, it. It doesn't have as much shade. It is, you know, more spread out.
And so when you're talking about a day in late July, early August, this is the time we're talking about that you guys were there.
It's really hot. I mean, the Caribbean is just. And the Bahamas are just really hot that time of year. So, like, that's wherever you go is going to be that issue. But so, yeah, wear sunscreen is. I think the less to be evangelized.
[01:06:04] Speaker A: Wear sunscreen and often.
[01:06:07] Speaker C: Wear sunscreen often.
[01:06:09] Speaker A: Yes. And embrace the like SPF whatever shirts. Right? Like, that was really helpful. We did visit the, like, splash area that had some slides and that was a big hit. We did not eat lunch on the island because we had kind of a later breakfast. So my lunch was a pina cold lotta. And I highly recommend that. That was great.
[01:06:32] Speaker C: That that works. That works. Now did now your kids are younger. You mentioned your I think nephews, right, Are a little bit old or niece and nephew. Okay. They're a little bit older in like sort of the tween age. Is that right?
[01:06:46] Speaker A: Yeah. So my niece Haley, she's 14 and my nephew Landon, he's 11.
[01:06:52] Speaker C: All right, so what were their reviews overall of the experience?
Because it was their first cruise as well. I'm curious it sound your girls loved it. I'm curious, the slightly older cousins, did they also love it?
[01:07:06] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. And they visited their respective kids areas, but most of their time was with their cousins at the pool. It was the perfect ages for them to get in line for the aquamouse just with each other. Like they spent so much time in the aquamouse and the pools that like they didn't really need or care to go to their own kids club vibe edge areas. They spent a lot of time together and they loved it. They had a great time.
[01:07:39] Speaker B: Before I subject you to rapid fire here, Rebecca, I need to know, is there anything that you wanted to be sure to share about this cruise that we have missed?
[01:07:47] Speaker C: There's always so much. We never can cover everything, but we. But we want to cover whatever.
[01:07:52] Speaker A: I know it's impossible. I know it's impossible. I'm thinking of my pages of notes like what have I not written down?
Happy hunts. If you have children, you need at least one magic band because that is such a big. That was their highlight. Like when I asked my girls what was your favorite thing about the ship? It was hunting for ghosts. If nothing else, it's to see the innovative ways that they hide these projections throughout the ship.
So that was really awesome.
I highlighted how absolutely incredible Cam our server was, who's his counterpart, av.
They were so great. Lucy from the sanctum always took care of us.
Like it's just the cast members and the connections they make. You don't like you don't have to make a connection with them if you don't want to. But the second you start engaging these cast members, they are so incredible. And everyone is there just to make sure that you're having the best time. So that that was such a hint. The last thing I'll say is Haunted Mansion was really difficult to get into because there were so many people. But man, that 30 minute show is really cool. Really, really cool for people who love the parks. And then we never ever got to get into Cruella's. We tried and tried and tried, but it was just always at capacity 15, 20 minutes before. So if that is something that you absolutely must do. If that is your must do, I would tell people you gotta get in line soon, super early.
[01:09:30] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a really good point. I want to say one thing about the Happy Hunt. For those who have not heard us talk about this before, it is an interactive game that you use a MagicBand or Disney Band.
You have to have one of those and it's got to be like registered to your account on board. And then it sends you around the ship interacting with different screens. It's a great game. It is only on the Disney Destiny and the Disney Treasure. It is not on the entire fleet. There are are some other games available on some of the other ships on the Wish and you can do the Uncharted Adventure, which is also screen related, but you need to use a phone for that. And then on the Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasy, the interactive game is called the Midship Detective Agency. So that's your psa.
There are some games on board some ships, not all the ships. All right, Brian, is it that time?
[01:10:27] Speaker B: Sam?
[01:10:28] Speaker C: It's definitely that time.
[01:10:29] Speaker B: All right, well, Rebecca, I need to hand you back over to Sam for some arbitrary questions, some arbitrary rules, and a dash of judgment of the round we know as rapid fire. So Sam, take it away.
[01:10:42] Speaker C: All right, Rebecca, you knew this was coming and by your face, you're a little apprehensive.
[01:10:46] Speaker A: But I'm excited for this.
[01:10:48] Speaker C: All right, so we're going to start with your Disney favorites and then we'll talk Disney Cruise Line favorites. For Disney Cruise Line, I'm going to limit you to the Wish and the Destiny because I know you don't really remember.
[01:10:59] Speaker A: Well, actually, that's fair. That's fair.
[01:11:01] Speaker C: With one exception. Rotational dining. Because you do remember Animator's palette. You can choose that if you, if you, if you decide to. But let's start with your favorite Disney character. And Disney means anything and everything that Disney owns.
[01:11:15] Speaker A: Winnie the Pooh has always been my character. I had a hundred Winnie the Pooh stuffies when I was little. He's always my avatar when there's something to be chosen. So I love that.
[01:11:29] Speaker C: I want to tell you, I have a T shirt that's Winnie the Pooh that says zero bothers given.
And it's like one of my favorite.
[01:11:37] Speaker A: I love that. I feel like sometimes when I eat something really delicious, I'll kind of like, yeah, you feel like shimmy like him.
I embody Winnie the Pooh.
[01:11:46] Speaker C: I love it. All right, what is your favorite Disney movie?
[01:11:50] Speaker A: I'm split between Aladdin and Princess and the Frog and Eileen. Princess and the Frog. Wow.
[01:11:56] Speaker C: All right. Fantastic. All right. What is your favorite Disney song?
[01:12:00] Speaker A: All my Almost There.
[01:12:01] Speaker C: That's why. Yeah.
[01:12:03] Speaker A: And when Tiana was singing the song at Seize the Adventure, I was like, oh, my gosh. This is absolutely incredible. I'm sure that had something to do with why I was so, so excited to hear it.
[01:12:14] Speaker C: Yeah, it's such a great song. And it. And it's such a great musical number done on the stage. And it's. Yeah. If you have a great Tiana, which most of the time, you do have a great Tiana, because Disney Cruise Line is really good at casting. Like, they really are. I can't say every single one I've had has been perfect, but most of the time, yeah, really, really great.
[01:12:35] Speaker A: New Orleans culture in general has always. And New Orleans music. And, man, if you like R and B, like, the death is your ship. But, yeah, I'm gonna have to go with almost.
[01:12:46] Speaker C: Well, you're gonna have to go on the Wonder again then, because of Tiana's. Yeah, you're just gonna. We're just gonna. In the French Quarter lounge. You're gonna. You're gonna die.
[01:12:56] Speaker A: They're all on my to do list.
[01:12:58] Speaker C: All right, we're gonna. We're gonna transfer over to the cruise list.
Which one is your favorite Disney Cruise Line stage show, and it could be of any of the ones you've seen. So if you saw on the Wish and of course, on the Destiny, and if you remember from back in the day on the Wonder, I doubt, though.
[01:13:16] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it is definitely Hercules. No hesitation.
[01:13:21] Speaker C: All right, well, let's talk activities. What was your favorite onboard activity?
[01:13:27] Speaker A: So there's a name for this.
Oh, my gosh. Is someone on your past cruise in Alaska gave this a word? Gone goozling.
[01:13:37] Speaker C: Gone goozzling. Yeah.
[01:13:39] Speaker A: All I want to do is sit and look out into the sea, and I prayed for dolphins. Never saw one. But, like, the act of just sitting on the veranda with morning coffee and looking out, that is like an intoxicating, addictive feeling for me that absolutely just the quiet of the ship was really fun.
Number two is probably nightingales on the Wish.
[01:14:09] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. It's beautiful.
[01:14:10] Speaker A: Love that experience.
[01:14:11] Speaker C: I gotta say, I believe that the shout out belongs to Wesley Davenport, version 5571 for teaching us the word gongoozling. I think it was him who taught us that. That word when we. When we had him on to talk about his Alaska cruise.
[01:14:27] Speaker A: So, yeah, it was kind of recent. My My husband and I were like, oh, that is a fantastic phrase using that.
[01:14:33] Speaker C: Or you know what? It could have been Rich Wilson. Now I don't remember.
[01:14:36] Speaker A: Now.
[01:14:37] Speaker C: I have. Now I might have to correct myself. It was either Rich Wilson or it was Wesley Davenport. I can't now because I had. We had them close together just a couple weeks apart, and they both talked about.
About Alaska.
[01:14:49] Speaker A: I could be wrong. I feel like he also was a person who went to Antarctica.
[01:14:53] Speaker C: Yes. Yes. Maybe. Yes, that was. Yes, it was rich then. It was rich. Sorry, Sorry. Rich for me thinking it was Wesley. All right. Because I. I know he listens. All right, well, sorry. I lost my train of thought. We gotta talk dining. Rotational dining. What is your favorite rotational dining restaurant and why is it Pride Lands? No, I'm just kidding. Like, no. Which one is your favorite?
[01:15:17] Speaker A: Rotational dining is Pride Lands.
[01:15:20] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:15:21] Speaker A: The food was so good. The short rib on day two is not to be missed.
[01:15:27] Speaker C: It was.
[01:15:28] Speaker A: The incredible performers on night one were outstanding. We had a great time. Definitely. Definitely Pride Lands.
[01:15:36] Speaker C: Yeah. We have got to. Brian, find out the rotations for our Christmas cruise, because we are on two five night sailings on the Destiny back to back, and we have not yet been to, like, we have not had the night two menu in Lion King in Pride Lands. And so we've got to make sure that we get that menu probably twice. So we're probably gonna have to. Probably gonna have to save.
[01:15:59] Speaker B: We gotta save one night for a bad menu at one of the main dining restaurants. So we can go to the pub. That's.
[01:16:03] Speaker C: Well, sure.
[01:16:04] Speaker B: Tradition now.
[01:16:05] Speaker C: I know, I know. That's.
All right. Well, let's go.
[01:16:08] Speaker B: Gots to have me my chicken wings, Sam.
[01:16:10] Speaker C: Gots to have the chicken wings.
[01:16:12] Speaker A: That was one thing that we really wanted to do that we never even walked into Cask and Cannon. And that was like, there's too much to do. There's only so much you can do.
[01:16:20] Speaker C: Like you said, you have a must do list and then a nice to do list, and you're lucky if you get everything on that must do list. All right, well, let's talk. Let's talk food for a second here. I want to hear a favorite sweet item and a favorite savory item on a Disney cruise. We'll start with the sweet.
[01:16:37] Speaker A: My favorite sweet item is the chocolate souffle.
[01:16:40] Speaker C: And Paulo, my friend Tracy is going to agree with you.
[01:16:44] Speaker A: I. It. It's not possible to. For something to be too chocolatey. I. I learned that. And yeah, chocolate souffle.
[01:16:53] Speaker C: So now you realize, like, I guess it wasn't a mistake for you ordering that chocolate souffle the first time. Okay, fair enough.
[01:17:00] Speaker A: It, it was. The amaretto was fantastic. I just enjoyed it more when I poured the chocolate on top, which is fine. So I do, I, I, I lean chocolate souffle.
[01:17:09] Speaker C: All right. Favorite savory item.
[01:17:11] Speaker A: I don't. I mean, this isn't a dish, but the amuse bouche.
[01:17:17] Speaker C: Yes. That's. Yes.
[01:17:19] Speaker A: Was like. I'm, I'm still thinking about it, and it was maybe three spoonfuls, but it was outstanding. It was so good. It's. It's the one I still think about.
[01:17:32] Speaker C: Yeah, well, you'll have to go back because they have the same amuse bouche every single time. And if the chef. Chef happens to come by, you tell him that it's your favorite thing on the menu and how much you love it. And I bet you he will send you a second one.
[01:17:46] Speaker A: I can only hope.
[01:17:47] Speaker C: Yeah. We just have to cross our fingers and toes. You got to be there for dinner, though. It's not. It. It's not at brunch.
All right, moving on to your favorite ship. The Wish, the Destiny, or the fond memories you have from 20 from 2001 on the Wonder.
[01:18:05] Speaker A: You know, people. People hate on the Wish. People understand. People have their reasons for choosing treasure and Destiny. And my answer is the Destiny. I loved the Wish, but there is something about the lighting in the grand hall that just elevates and changes the experience when you are there.
I will also say that the haunted parlor just gets a one up on Star Wars.
Yeah. Hyperspace. It was still cool, but, like, I think that, like, every little space I feel like is just one or two notches up. I will say when I compare ships that the fact that they opened up Cruella's to have a bar that you can order at the bar when you're in the grand Hall. That was a genius change.
We utilize that bar a lot.
So, yeah, it's gotta be the Destiny.
[01:19:07] Speaker C: Yeah. Everything from the, from the Wish to the Treasure, like, everything's sort of a plus.
[01:19:13] Speaker A: Right? And they.
[01:19:13] Speaker C: And that we really think that the Wish was impacted by the COVID related, related delays and whatnot. And so it's a great ship. No, no. Like, don't get me wrong, but it's the Treasure and the Destiny just. Just up level it in every way. All right, last question. Your bucket list cruise. Rebecca, if you could go anywhere in the world. You mentioned a couple of places at the beginning of the show, but, like, if you go Anywhere. Anywhere in the world.
[01:19:39] Speaker A: I don't know.
[01:19:40] Speaker C: Let's say tomorrow on a Disney Cruise Line ship. Like, where are you going?
[01:19:43] Speaker A: I want a river cruise.
I would love to go on a river cruise. And I know that you guys were just on a river cruise and that is, that is my bucket list. I think that Tyler's need or hope for like adventure in different cities around the world and really having like, like really close access, I think that would be the perfect pairing. But I would love going to river cruise.
[01:20:11] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean Adventures by Disney has. Has a lot of options.
Or you could of course choose to go outside of Adventures by Disney. You'd be kind of limited just based on ages of the. The kids. But cannot, cannot recommend abd river cruising enough. Maybe when your girls are just a smidge older. Not they don't have to be like 10 or anything, but just a little bit. The tour I think is well one. It is too young, I think for their age limit for most of their adventures. But I would say like just the stamina of being able to keep up with the. All the tours and stuff. I'd say like, you know, that's harder.
[01:20:49] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm really crossing my fingers that the new ship class, if I'm using vocabulary correctly, is like a smaller ship that can do like smaller ports.
[01:21:00] Speaker C: It is smaller, but not, not much. But it's still bigger than the Wonder and the Magic. So it's about.
[01:21:06] Speaker A: Oh, okay, they already know that, but they already non stop.
[01:21:08] Speaker B: Yes, it's smaller than the fantasy or the dream class. It is bigger than the magic class. But it is the size of the wish class.
[01:21:18] Speaker C: Yes, exactly. So they will be. They'll do like Alaska and stuff like that potentially, but not. We're not going to be talking about like real tiny ports, but still the smaller ports are definitely a possibility.
Well, Rebecca, thank you so much for playing.
You passed with flying colors. A see? No reason to be apprehensive. Yeah, no reason to be worried.
[01:21:40] Speaker B: That will be etched in the DCL Duo Rapid Fire hall of Fame. I don't know where that is, but
[01:21:48] Speaker A: what an honor.
[01:21:51] Speaker C: I know. Brian, you always like to ask, yeah, what's next?
[01:21:56] Speaker B: But I feel like we kind of talked through that a little bit. But what's next?
[01:22:00] Speaker A: Okay, so we're going back in the Destiny for spring break, but now with my sister and her family.
[01:22:08] Speaker C: Oh, nice.
[01:22:10] Speaker A: And my mom. So of course when we started planning this with Tyler's family, my sister is like, you're kidding. I've been begging you to go on cruises like we need to go. So. And it'll also be perfect because all of our kids will be between 5 and 9, so they'll all just take over the Oceaneers Club together. We are very, very excited.
[01:22:31] Speaker C: Oh awesome. I'm sure it'll be a fabulous trip. You'll have to come back and tell us all about it and tell us version two of the Destiny and how it went.
But with that I'll just say thank you so much for joining us, Rebecca. It's been a pleasure having you.
[01:22:46] Speaker A: Thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun. I appreciate it.
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[01:25:29] Speaker A: Sam.
