Ep. 721 - Never Seen a Marvel Movie: Can You Still Love the Disney Destiny?

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Had an amazing time. It was a great cruise with my mother. She was all tears at the end with just how much of a nice time. It was really special for her to. She lives kind of far from us, so it's really special for her to spend time with Alice in that way. And yeah, just memories, lifetime memories. So really happy with it all. [00:00:35] Speaker B: Welcome back everybody to this week's episode of the DCL Duo podcast brought to you by WeDoTravel. Right. Remember, life is short. Take the trip. Let the folks at WeDoTravel, right, handle the planning so you can handle the relaxing or I guess, focus on the relaxing. Sam, it is time for your review jingle. Go for it. [00:00:52] Speaker C: All right. Simply the best. Better than all the rest. [00:00:58] Speaker B: All right, this week's listener review comes from Dave R. Hart, who writes the duo delivers a great podcast that both informs and entertains two down to earth hosts that bring on real people to discuss the good and bad about Cruising Disney. It's especially great to hear parent perspectives given the family nature of DCLs. [00:01:16] Speaker A: There you go, Sam. [00:01:17] Speaker C: Oh, I love that. I think we're pretty down to earth. I hope that we're pretty down to earth. [00:01:21] Speaker B: We are absolutely. What you see or what you hear is what you get. [00:01:24] Speaker C: So yeah, that's true. That is 100% the bickering that you hear. Yeah, that's real between Brian and I. [00:01:32] Speaker B: We love each other so much. [00:01:33] Speaker C: Yes. [00:01:34] Speaker B: Forgetting my psa. For all of you out there listening, remember, one of the easiest ways to help support the show, head over Apple Podcasts. Hit those five stars. If you leave us a written review with your 5 star rating, we will read it on the air at the top of one of our main episodes. And if you are listening to us on any other platform and they offer you the ability to rate us, please, please give us the the full max amount of whatever you can. It really helps surface the show. To other people who are looking to learn more about Disney Cruise Line from the fan perspective. So Sam, now over to you to introduce our guests and our topic for today. [00:02:06] Speaker C: Yeah, we are going to be talking to a repeat guest today. We're so happy to welcome back to the show. Rob. Welcome back, Rob. [00:02:14] Speaker A: Thanks so much. Really happy to be here. [00:02:16] Speaker C: Yeah. And we're going to be talking about your sailing on the Disney Destiny. Your first time on the Disney Destiny, not your first cross cruise. As, as I mentioned, you are a repeat guest. But before we dive into talking about your five night cruise on the Destiny, let's give people a reminder of your Disney background. And your Disney cruising background. [00:02:36] Speaker A: Yeah, certainly. This is my family's fourth Disney cruise. We had gone to the parks a lot growing up, I would say my wife and I, you know, as you'd expect. And since our daughter was born, we've taken her a bunch of times a week long trip at one point to we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We did a week and a half at Aulan. We've gone down for cheerleading competitions and we've been tacking on stays to like at various resorts, various hotels around Disney World for each cruise that we've had. That's left out of Port Canaveral. I know this one's Port Everglade, so a little different. But yeah, we've been going a ton recently especially it's been great. It was Dream was the first fantasy. I was on the show last for the Treasure, which was awesome. That was a seven day. And then we booked this one for August 26th for the five day of the Destiny was great. [00:03:30] Speaker C: Yeah. Now let's start with exactly that. Why did you choose the Destiny this time around? You had a great time on the Treasure. Of course. That's a seven night itinerary on the Treasure. Destiny only has four or five night itineraries. Why the Destiny? [00:03:45] Speaker A: It was a mix of things around like just wanting to experience the new ship, timing, like a new love of Marvel. Honestly with my daughter never thought that she would really get into Marvel. We tried to show her Iron man and she's nine and we tried to show her Iron man about a year and a half, maybe two years ago. And maybe it was just at that moment where it was a little too intense at the time. So we took a break. She heard about the new ship. She said, can we go on the new ship when it comes out? And of course I'm, you know, I'm a sucker for always saying yes for anything that Alice, my daughter, is asking for. So we said, yeah, absolutely, we can go on it. She's been watching. She has been just ripping through every single Marvel movie on Disney. And so we just started watching Wandavision her and I. So she's all in. She absolutely loves it. So she wanted to experience the ship and the Marvel characters there. And then my wife and I were talking about doing vacations over this past summer with the grandparents. So a vacation with her parents and a vacation with my parents as well. And we thought we'd bring my mother on the Disney Destiny. It was her first time on a Disney cruise ship. It's been her first cruise since 1994. So the timing of it all just worked out too with the five day window at the beginning of August. So yeah, we just got everyone down there and just had a great time. [00:05:12] Speaker C: Awesome. So this was your mom's first. Sorry, you say your mom or your mother in law? [00:05:17] Speaker A: This is my mother. [00:05:18] Speaker C: Your mother. Okay. And this was her first cruise since 1994. What line did she sail on back then? I'm curious. [00:05:25] Speaker A: It was Carnival Cruise and it was, she is and was a salesperson and it was part of like a president's club type of reward. Right. And so her and a whole bunch of her colleagues went on this cruise. I forget everywhere it went, but it was like the, like the last time she'd even been out of the country. So I had to get her like a passport and everything and had to find like her naturalization number and stuff like that so that she could put everything in to get her passport. So it was, it was an ordeal, but it was, it was totally worth it. It was great. [00:05:56] Speaker C: Wow, that's, that's. I mean that's really fun. You know, it's, it's funny to think about those sort of reward based cruises. I mean they still exist. There are still companies that will send employees on a cruise as sort of a bonus a reward is particularly in the sales community. But I don't think you hear about it quite as often as it used to be. I think it used to be pretty, pretty common, especially with Carnival. So that's, that's kind of a fun and unique thing. [00:06:22] Speaker B: As, as an HR lawyer, I can tell you why that has been on the decline. [00:06:26] Speaker D: That. [00:06:27] Speaker B: For our alternative podcast. [00:06:28] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, we'll say save that for a different kind of podcast. Yeah. Tales that are not safe for work. I'm now I'm curious with your daughter, was the ship the thing that got her to like go back to like start with the MCU and sort of start from the beginning or like was it sort of knowing that she was going to be going on the Destiny or what was it? Because you said you tried it, you know, previously starting with Iron man at, you know, when she was like seven and that was a little too young. Yeah. So how did that kind of start? [00:07:00] Speaker A: She always would see a lot of the Marvel stuff, you know, just logging into like Disney with us. So she's expressed an interest in like, I forget the name, it's like it was an Avengers cartoon but for little kids, like toddlers. She watched that Spidey and Friends. [00:07:13] Speaker C: Right? I think that one. [00:07:14] Speaker A: Something like that. Yeah. Yeah. So she's aware of them, and she always loved that stuff. And then when the ship was announced and she saw the christening and she watched all the specials and she saw that Black Panther was going to be the statue, you know, she's like, we have to go. We have to see the ship. Like, anytime there's a new. Like, she keeps asking about the adventure, [00:07:36] Speaker C: and, you know, that's a little far away, honey. [00:07:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Long flight. So it's, you know, started with the ship, but then I think realizing that there was going to be a large, like, heroes and villains, and because of that, a large Marvel focus, you know, she wanted to watch more. And so at one point, I just said, do you want to watch Black Panther? And just. Let's just jump right into Black Panther. Do you want to watch it, get accustomed and acquainted to the character? She said, yeah. And we watched it, and she absolutely loved it. And since we last spoke, we actually went out to Disneyland, and she was running around at California Adventure and got to meet some characters there, got to meet Black Panther there. So especially since then, and that was like, April of this year, it's been just a heavy dose of Marvel on a regular basis. [00:08:25] Speaker C: Wow. So she's like, all in binging the MCU now, I've got to ask. Well, first of all, I have to say I think Black Panther is a great place to start. It's like this great themes in that movie and great lessons, and it's a. It's a wonderful movie. And it also is a standalone in the sense of, like, you don't have to, like, you can't watch, like, Infinity wars without having seen a whole bunch of movies before then. But you can watch Black Panther without having seen any other Marvel movie or TV show. You don't have to know anybody. It's all sort of, you know, the new. The. It's all about Wakanda and that universe. And so it's. You can start kind of cold. But, yeah, I love. I love that. I love that way to start. So now I do have to ask, did you start with, like, all the way back with, like, what is it, Agent Carter? Or did you just start with, like, movies? Okay, so you're not going. [00:09:19] Speaker A: Try to go movies. And then now she's like, we're two episodes into WandaVision, and we're certainly doing things out of order. You know, it's. It's all coming together for. It's gelling for. I think we even watched, like, Multiverse of Madness the day before we got on the ship. And Like, I'm incredibly impressed by, like, what she really enjoys from the MCU and, like, what she finds to not really be as intense. Where before she, like, wouldn't be able to watch anything and she's just all in. And, yeah, it's watched so much now, it's crazy. And, like, this is also the same kid. Like, I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan, like, books and movies, everything. And she's actually been watching those with me longer than probably, I should admit, like, longer than she probably should have been watching. [00:10:07] Speaker C: But, like, scary, a little intense. [00:10:09] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, but she doesn't find that scary. But there was just something about some of the sequences in Iron man right near the beginning, like, when he's getting out of the cave. It was just too much for her. And like, even now, like, I'll fast forward through things that she finds to be a little too intense, like medical stuff. Like, so the Doctor Strange movies, especially the first, had to fast forward a bit. But yeah, she's all in. She loves them. She's really psyched about seeing Doomsday, so she's doing sort of like extra prerequisite work by filling in the blanks with some of the stuff we missed. [00:10:44] Speaker C: Wow. Wow, that's amazing. Okay, well, I mean, that totally makes sense then. The correlation, of course, between the Destiny and now. I want to be clear. You don't have to go deep dive into the MCU to enjoy the Disney Destiny. I think we've talked about that all on many shows with folks who are. Who have not seen most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and who have not seen, like, any of the TV shows and maybe only seen one or two of the movies. So you really. If you want an introduction, there's probably, like, I could recommend, like five movies and that would be it. But you don't have to go in knowing really anything. It's just more enjoyable. [00:11:21] Speaker B: Don't give a teaser, Sam. Give your five movies so that people [00:11:24] Speaker A: are like, all right, I've never watched Marvel. [00:11:25] Speaker B: I want to see the Destiny. What are the five movies Sam says I should watch? [00:11:28] Speaker C: Okay, the five movies I think you should watch are Iron Man, Captain America, the Avengers, Black Panther. I think you could probably get away with those four, actually. I mean, you might want to watch the first Spider Man. I guess that would be. [00:11:46] Speaker B: I think Spider Man's a good one to have. [00:11:48] Speaker C: Yeah, that would probably. But like, I think the first Avengers movie is probably actually the most important of that group because it's got all of the. Those folks except for Black Panther and Spider Man. [00:11:59] Speaker B: I don't know, Rob, would you add any to the list? [00:12:01] Speaker A: Just Dr. Strange. Only because of the. [00:12:03] Speaker C: Oh, Dr. Strange. [00:12:04] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a good one. And I'll be honest, like, my mother hasn't I suggested to her, maybe you want to watch some of these things ahead of time. Didn't watch any of it. I mean, you know, but had a tremendous time. Thought it was an absolutely beautiful ship. She loved, you know, we all the restaurants, everything, like, even going into the worlds of Marvel. She has no context for anything happening on those screens, like, none whatsoever. But absolutely loved it based on just, you know, the experience alone, the service, you know, the quality of the food that she had. So, yeah, you absolutely don't need it. It's just my daughter, when she got focused on something and she. I want to know more about Marvel. Like, it's okay, you know, get ready, we're going to go all in. So. Yeah, I agree. Like, those are great movies to go with and just understanding the Sanctum Bar, which no spoilers or anything, but it's probably one of my favorite spots. And it's funny, I keep looking over on my desk. I know it's audio medium largely, but one of the cool things in the Sanctum, especially that like grabbed my mother's eye and like everyone's is just like how unique all the drinks were and like the glassware. And when we got home, you know, I found where to buy some of the glasses. So like I got a rocks glass. It's like one of the same ones that you'll get like an old. If you get an Old Fashioned at the Sanctum, you know, the same glass, like, it's just everything about it, you know, with how the ship was put together was so amazing. So even if you go in with like, like my mother, with zero context whatsoever, like, it. It's just an amazing. It was an amazing experience. [00:13:32] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Oh, wait, I'm gonna sub out actually Spider man and put in Dr. Strange because I don't actually think you need. I don't think anybody needs to see the Spider man movies in order to enjoy anything about the ship. Everyone has it. As long as you have an understanding of who Spider man is and what his powers are. [00:13:47] Speaker B: I might add two more. One for the adults, which is. Is Deadpool for the show. That's the evening show that's on board. And then for the adult only show, and then I had one other that I was. Oh, I would, I would add Guardians of the Galaxy. [00:14:04] Speaker C: Oh, Guardians of the Galaxy. [00:14:05] Speaker B: Because. [00:14:06] Speaker A: Because of the Guardianship do and the Worlds of Marvel. [00:14:10] Speaker C: Yeah, fair, fair. All right, well, okay, so. So we're talking, like, anywhere between four and eight movies. [00:14:19] Speaker B: Come on. Everyone's binging, like, YouTube content and all this stuff for the ships. Like, this is just. [00:14:23] Speaker A: Just. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:14:24] Speaker C: Yeah, but you don't need to. Let's put this out there. That's just. If you want to understand who these characters are. Like, you don't. You could still enjoy the ship without knowing or understanding who the characters are. All right, well, let's. We're gonna dial it back for a second to the planning side of things now, Rob, this, your family of three, plus your mom sailing with you, were you all in one room? Were you. Did you book two rooms? Like, how did you do that? [00:14:49] Speaker A: Yeah, so we booked two rooms, and side by side, we couldn't find a connecting room, but it worked out really well. We got the family deluxe ocean view veranda on one side, and then my mother's room right next to us was just the standard veranda room. And we. We actually got some assistance from my. One of my friends who's a travel agent actually, for. We do travel. Right. And helped us with all of it, with just making sure we were in the right spot altogether. And, you know, my mother is in her. In her 70s, and she's. She's in good health, but, you know, dealing with a bit of a mobility issue and so even got some assistance in getting a scooter to the. To the ship. We had some other issues with the scooter once on the ship, but it was. It was relatively easy, you know, from the planning perspective. So it was great. [00:15:46] Speaker C: Just for tips for the audience, I assume you booked your daughter in the room with your mom so that you're paying double occupancy for two rooms rather than double occupancy for five people instead of four people. [00:15:59] Speaker A: Yeah. So we did split it up. Yeah, I should have mentioned that. We did split it up so that we had two and two. That helped differentiate the costs quite a bit. And then, you know, it was. It was just incredibly easy. Even once we were there, like, just talking to the stateroom attendant saying, I know this is how it's booked, but this is what the setup's going to be each night. No problem. It was all sort of taken care of there. [00:16:19] Speaker B: Yeah. What were the issues you had with [00:16:20] Speaker A: the scooter when she got on board? I've heard conflicting things about this, so my experience is likely not. It's likely not going to be shared by everyone. People may have run into this at times. I think it might be stateroom attendant based. We'll see. But I was told when we booked it that the scooter itself would arrive in and be in the room for my mother. And they had asked, are you staying in an accessible room? We were not. And we were told it not going to be an issue. It'll still be there. And never having done this before, I didn't really think to question that any further. So I went. When we got to the ship that day and the rooms were ready, I spoke with the stateroom attendant and they said the scooter wasn't there. And the scooter could not be brought into the room and it couldn't be left outside of the room like I've seen in the past. Not that we were looking to do that and that it had to stay on deck three, sort of like right next to the entrance to 1923, which made it incredibly inconvenient and we couldn't find it for two days. [00:17:28] Speaker C: Oh my God. [00:17:29] Speaker A: Yeah. We were looking around, could not locate where it was. And I called the scooter rental company on day of embarkation saying, you know, it's not in the room, we can't find it. And they just told us to go to guest services. Then, you know, by the second day we did find where it was. My mother used it like once, honestly. But then I would have to bring it back down to. [00:17:57] Speaker C: You had to take it. [00:17:59] Speaker A: Yeah. And so she just smiled through it, so to speak, and was able to get, get around just fine. We got some really great service, especially on Castaway, so she didn't have to walk a ton. And then otherwise, like we were staying kind of close to the elevators. So her walks were short. But the whole idea was we wanted the scooter in the event she really needed it because sometimes like the back pain can be so bad that she needs to be able to sit down to sort of on for the day. And it just wasn't an option because of that. But it, it worked out in the end. And in talking to other people, in talking with my friend who's the travel advisor, it's the first time a lot of them have heard about this issue. In particular with being told it has to stay on deck three. It can't come into the room, it can't be nearby the room somehow, especially with the size of the scooter we got which it, you know, if I had it, it was in my room, I could easily pick it up and fold it down to bring it in. So, you know, but we didn't. I didn't want to press it any further. I didn't want to create an issue, make it difficult for the stateroom attendant. It was our first time on the Destiny. I don't know if rules are changing, so we just sort of went with the flow. And because it wasn't really an issue for my mother, it was, you know, we just felt we would deal with it later if we needed to. [00:19:13] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, I mean, it's good to know people should be aware that there might be sort of differences in how, you know, where you can store those scooters, because that seem like a real problem if you. I mean, I guess the solution would be that you got to have an accessible room, because obviously you can bring. You can definitely bring mobility devices in and out of those accessible rooms. I'm not sure. I don't. I just didn't know. I honestly haven't thought about what the width is of those scooters. Some of them, I'm. I'm concerned, might not be able to fit through some of those doorways or be able to sort of make the turns around the bed, depending upon what stateroom you have. But, yeah, I. I've never thought about that issue, Rob. So I. I think it's good for people to be aware. Like, hey, if you've. If you're renting a scooter, your mileage may vary as to how convenient. [00:19:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:58] Speaker C: It may be for you. All right, well, let's. Let's dive into talking about your sailing. We'll start with when did you head down to Fort Lauderdale? I know you usually stay at the parks or near the parks, and this time you're sailing out of Fort Lauderdale. This was your. Your first time sailing out of Fort Lauderdale, I think. Tell us, like, when did you show up and where did you stay? That sort of thing. [00:20:24] Speaker A: Yeah. So we flew into. And, you know, we live in Charlotte, which is a huge American Airlines hub, and there was just a lot more availability of flights to fly down into Miami. So we flew into Miami. I know most people like to fly into Fort Lauderdale because the airport is right there. [00:20:43] Speaker B: And. [00:20:43] Speaker A: But it also allowed us to meet up with my mother in Miami, who flew down from Washington, D.C. and got her. And then we got a car over to the Hilton that's right there near the port. It's a Hilton marina, I think, is what it is. And we had Disney transportation booked for the next day to bring us right to the ship. There was One issue that we ran into, though, not with the hotel or anything like that, but on the morning that we were going to be getting onto the ship, I got a call from my mother and she had forgotten one of her prescriptions back in dc. [00:21:20] Speaker C: Oh, no. [00:21:21] Speaker A: It said, oh, but maybe I can get it when we're on the ship. It's not a big deal. And I think like most parents in this situation, like, she didn't want to make it a problem and. But I started getting really concerned and worried and that, you know, I had to do some poking and prodding to figure out what type of medicine it was. And it was one of those things where they certainly weren't going to have it on the ship and she certainly couldn't skip it for five days. It was really good luck, I guess. And also just with all the facilities there, places like CVS are accustomed to people running into these problems. But we got in touch with her doctor's office pretty quickly. They called in like a five day emergency prescription we got at the CVS that was like a mile north of where the hotel was in Fort Lauderdale. I think about 20 minutes total of travel, pick it up, come back and then we got back with something like 10 minutes to spare before they were loading the buses to bring us over to the port. So bit of excitement, extra excitement that morning. But it worked out. I'm glad that it did and that CVS was an absolute lifesaver. So remember your prescriptions but don't freak out if you may have forgotten something, I guess. [00:22:34] Speaker C: Yeah, no, it's a really good tip. I like you would not wait to get on the ship because there, if it's a necessary prescription, it's not something you really can skip. They do have great medical facilities on board and they do have quite a bit of prescription medications available, but they don't have everything and they're not going to have, let's say, like a medication that might be a regular need for an older person. Right. And so that's not necessarily like most of the things they have are sort of in response to a medical emergency or of course, like they have your regular over the counter stuff and antibiotics and things like that. So yeah, I would just not count on that. Like if you're still on land when you discover this, get to a pharmacy, get that prescription. Yeah. Get that prescription filled and for most prescriptions, you know, doctors can send them across state lines. So. All right, well, a little bit of excitement in the morning in terms of your, I guess your port arrival time didn't really matter what. What time was your bus transportation from the Hilton Marina to the port? [00:23:47] Speaker A: It was really early. I want to say it was. It was around 11 o'. Clock. May have been a little bit before that, but it changed. I know we were expecting, like group four, like when we got there, and I think, which is pretty common. And it was like group two that we got moved to. So, like, we were like, once we were there, we were almost immediately on the ship and it was going super fast. So again, not that I know that it's not everyone's experience and that it can vary, but it's like the earliest, I think, that we've ever walked onto that ship. It felt. It almost felt empty in spots when we were going on there. So a really cool experience, especially for my mother, just walking onto it and just sort of being able to take it all in after, like, they announced the name and everything. And yeah, it was really cool and really seamless. And it was actually our second time at Port Everglades. The first was our very first cruise on the Dream. And I remember it was. Still worked well when we did that first cruise and we arrived, we spent a lot more time waiting outside. I think that first time around this time, we went right through. Right through security. All very efficient. Sat down for a few. For a few moments, they made the announcement for the family of the day or the. Was it not the family of the day? It is the family of the day. [00:25:02] Speaker C: Yeah, you got it. [00:25:04] Speaker A: And then getting everyone on, I mean, it was incredibly seamless and it was just, yeah, a great experience. [00:25:10] Speaker C: Oh, awesome. Well, and we've been hearing that consistently from folks sailing out of Port Everglades that if you are taking Disney transportation, they're giving you like a character designation instead of a boarding group. And then after group two boards, which are typically the Pearl Cruiser group, then their board, you by sort of character. So by Snow White or, you know, Black Panther or whatever. Yeah. And. And folks are getting on quite early. As long as. As long as boarding is starting early. It seems like folks taking transportation, Disney transportation from one of the hotels that Disney partners with are getting on super early. I gotta ask what Alice's reaction to the grand hall was. She had been, of course, on the. The Treasure Grand Hall. But you get that, you know, you've got the oh, my God vibr chandelier above you. And oftentimes you see either Black Panther or Spider man up on the balcony. I'm curious who was up there? [00:26:12] Speaker A: So when we walked in, it was Hero Minnie greeting everyone. [00:26:16] Speaker C: Love it. [00:26:16] Speaker A: And Alice freaked out for that. And as far as what you were also just saying, like, with the groups, the boarding groups, we actually got the Alice group. So she was already jazzed about that Alice group. [00:26:26] Speaker C: Well, awesome. [00:26:27] Speaker A: So we were on super fast, and then she ran right over to the statue to take a picture with Black Panther. And then when the characters rotated out, Spider man came out, like, right when we were trying to figure out what we were going to do for lunch. And so Alice was waving the Spider man and wanting to just. She wanted to run off and start exploring the ship immediately. But it was one of those things like, hey, we got Grandma here this time. Let's slow down. Just slow down a few beats and make sure we've got lunch for everyone. And then, yeah, let's run off and do all the things. But, yeah, it was really cool getting right in there and absolutely amazing as far as, like, the grand hall was concerned. And, like, all the lighting and all the effects, like, just throughout the ship, throughout the cruise, I should say. And, like, each day is really neat. And I think that was something that looked like the last ship being that we were on, being the Treasure, and with it being so, like, ornate and just the design being quite different, we were worried that, oh, is it going to feel as special and as magical? And it absolutely does, because they really do just amazing things with the lighting effects and the sound and everything in there. So it was really cool. And again, for my mother, not having been on a cruise ship in, like, 30 years, absolutely blew her mind as to what it is that cruising is nowadays and what it is that Disney is doing. So very cool experience. [00:27:56] Speaker C: Oh, I love that. Yeah, I agree with you in terms of, like, the. The grand hall, between the Treasure and the Destiny, they're very, very different. And the Treasure is definitely more ornate. But the technology and the way that they use the space on the Destiny is really unique and it gives it such a. Like, there's just something really special about it because of the way they use it and the technology integration into that space. That's just different than on any other ship. And I gotta put a plug in here for those who haven't sailed on the Wish. There's a balcony in the grand hall, and when you board the ship, one of three characters typically is up on that balcony, and that is typically either Hero, Minnie, Spider man, or Black Panther. Those are not always, but those are typically the characters on the Treasure. For example, you're more likely to have Genie or Aladdin and or Jasmine, Sometimes both of them. You might have, you know, you might have a different character in each ship kind of has certain characters that are more prominent than others. Well, speaking of lunch, I always love to ask, like embarkation day traditions and where did you go once you decided it was time to eat? [00:29:15] Speaker A: I know that we shouldn't. I feel like at this point, because it's now our fourth cruise, we're going on our fifth and we should probably tone it down a little bit. But we always go to the buffet for lunch. It's always been sort of easy, I guess, for us. And the first time we went, we didn't know of another option of being able to go to like a sit down lunch. Also with my mother being with us, we figured it was just a good opportunity because we were also there relatively early to go in and see the buffet before it got overly crowded and be able to experience what, you know, what would be there if she didn't want what was out the pool deck or another lunch spot on board. So she went in. She was again shocked. Like, that's going to be like the theme throughout, like, just pretty much amazed by like everything that was being offered there and the quality again being 30 years removed from the last cruise. So generally what we like to do is go have lunch and then from there maybe swim if we have time, go down, slide if we can, or explore the ship. I think this time just with it being a really brand new ship for, for all of us, but especially my mother, we just took some time to explore a little bit. Went back down to like deck three to look at the hall and see people come in. Just looked at some of the artwork, honestly, in a lot of the stairwells and like elevator bays and just got ready for, for the muster drill, which again, I've got to thank you. Like the travel advisor we were working with, who's, like I said, a good friend of mine from college, was able to also help us identify the likely best room for us to get for the mustard drill. Because again, with my mother being with us, we didn't want to be standing up outside for a long period of time. So we were in 1923, which was great. She got to sit down, be in air conditioning, be relaxed, and it was, yeah, smooth sailing. [00:31:11] Speaker C: Your Travel Advisor at WeDoTravel, right? We got to give them a shout out. [00:31:15] Speaker A: Yeah, her name is Alyssa DeSalvo. I call her Lys. No one else I feel like calls her list other than, I think, like her husband and like close family. Now it's something it's just a holdover from school days. But she, she's not far from us in the Carolinas and she has helped us with like, everything from like the, the tack on trips that we'll do to, like, Aulani and everything. And so, yeah, she's been tremendous throughout. And as much traveling as I've done throughout life, you know, I always feel like I can, like, get it done on my own. But like, she just, she really does take things like, you know, off the plate that I would find probably very annoying and has like, that inside track on some of that information to make life easier once we're there. So, yeah, she was awesome. [00:32:03] Speaker C: Absolutely. And, you know, sometimes they'll spot a discount after the fact apply. That's been happening a lot lately on Disney. And if you're not watching those, you know, deals yourself that we think having that travel advisor benefit is really helpful in that arena especially and we can [00:32:21] Speaker A: get to it later. But she helped us with our next booking and find the best one to get us a good discount and just like an amazing sailing. So, yeah, it's been awesome working with her. [00:32:32] 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 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, 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. [00:32:59] Speaker D: That's where we do travel right comes in. Their team of experienced travel advisers specializes in Disney Cruise Line, Disney Parks, and other exciting places all around the world. They take the time to understand what matters most to your family, providing personalized recommendations and helping you navigate all the details so you can spend less time stressing and more time looking forward to your vacation. Whether it's your first Disney cruise or your tenth, having an expert in your corner can make all the difference. [00:33:25] Speaker C: Life is short. Take the trip. Visit wedotravelright.com dclduo to connect with a travel advisor and and start planning your next unforgettable adventure. [00:33:34] Speaker D: We do travel right. The crew that handles the planning so you can focus on relaxing. [00:33:41] Speaker C: All right, well, let's talk about some of your highlights from your sailing. There, of course, are some unique things available on the Disney Destiny that are not available on other trips. Or other ships. I'm curious if you guys got to experience or if those were on your sort of to do list. So. [00:34:00] Speaker A: Yes, they were. And like, you know, we didn't get to do the experience with Dr. Facilier just because it was. It was jammed every time. But there were other things that we really loved. One was, you know, my daughter loves doing trivia and loves doing the game shows. So we did Villains game night over in, I guess it's saga on the ship. And that was really cute. It was a lot of fun. We really enjoy doing that. Just getting to meet the villains, especially at the designated times, because they're not out, as I would say, as frequently as the Fab Five and all the other standard characters. There are specific times to go meet Maleficent, which makes sense. There's a lot more that goes into meeting Maleficent and getting the character ready. But I have probably some of the best pictures of my wife and daughter getting to meet Maleficent in the grand hall and everything. So really cool experience. Again, getting to meet, like, even like Loki, which, you know, Alice, again, loves Loki as a villain. So just doing that was a tremendous amount of fun. We had, I think, thought that we would be able to squeeze in Dr. Facilier somehow. But, like, lesson learned, like, if that's what you want to do, you really do have to prioritize it and drop everything else to get in the lines at times, at least right now or the sailing you're on, because if you snooze, you lose. Like, it was. It was tough, but I know people absolutely loved it. I hate that we missed out on it. [00:35:35] Speaker C: You know, I will say it's. It's a. The parlor experience is great, but it's really short. And so it's a lot of time to wait for a really short experience. Like, you're talking. You might wait an hour or more to wait for like a five minute experience. So I can understand. Gotta prioritize, right? Like, what's the most important. If meeting Maleficent is more important than meeting Than doing the. The parlor, then you do that, right? Like, but if you're like a doctor Facilier, Stan, then you gotta go and wait in line for the parlor. So it's. It's just, you know, choosing what's. What's the priority and putting that at the. If you have that at the top of your list, do that first and check that off your list before you, you know, wait in line for other things. And so, yeah, I'm curious if. Well, this is the one thing Alice would not get to do. But I'm curious if you got to do the Marvel with Great Power show. We think it's fabulous, but I understand it's hard, especially if your kid is really into Marvel. They might actually be mad at you if you go do that without them. [00:36:40] Speaker A: Yeah. We honestly haven't gotten to do a lot of the activities that are 18 plus, Laura and I, because we're always with Alice, and. Which is great. Pardon me. I. We. I love spending the entirety of the vacation with her. She is an only child, and she doesn't love going into the kids clubs, so she's always with us, which is. I mean, we haven't even done Palo or Remy or Enchante or any of the adult dining. With it even being our fourth cruise, I'm not sure when we're going to, but we didn't get the chance. I was able to drop into some more adult experiences later in the evening. Like, I did some tastings. I went over to deville's at one point just to grab a drink. The other thing, though, Alice also got to. She really loved the Cruella de Vil, like, fashion show in the grand hall and got to, again, meet her. I think she met her on the day that she did Bibbidi Boppity Boutique, and, like, the interactions were really cool. Alice loves that. She told her that she needed a splash of red in some fur with her outfit. She was dressed as Belle, so it didn't really fit the motif. [00:37:44] Speaker C: Right, right. Cruella's like, you're in the wrong color scheme. We need black, white, and red and fur. [00:37:50] Speaker A: Said she looked marvelous, but she needed those items to make her look even more marvelous. It was great. [00:37:57] Speaker C: I have to say, I think they've done such a great job with the face characters on the ship, the Maleficent, both of them, both from the first and the second cast. And I know the third cast just entered onto the Destiny, I believe. And so all of that, they've done a really good job just with casting and the makeup and all of that, and it's there. Yeah, these. These actors are phenomenal. Like, really getting into the character and really. And also keeping it creepy, but not scary, you know, because they are interacting with kids on board, and they can these. You know, with these villains, it's that balance. Right. Like, you got to sort of know your audience. You can be a little bit more like, you know, evil with the adults. You can't be quite as evil with the. With the young children. Yeah, yeah. [00:38:46] Speaker A: And like, you totally see it. Like the pictures that like Alice is taking with like Maleficent and like the actor getting her to, you know, to. To essentially do the same motions she was doing and, you know, just asking her very direct, like, quiet questions, like, she's very serious, but not being like, mean or anything is a very cute way to approach it. And it was a lot of fun seeing her and like all the other kids just really light up seeing the characters. Like, no, none of the, none of the kids were scared. They all were sort of like maybe nervous, you know, just to meet a character and then they get up there and you can just see them all smiling and having a great time. Like a great sort of. Of low threat interaction with a villain. And also, I will say I just. The cast in general are tremendous. And because I think there are a number of characters that people want to see who adults want to see that they might also get excited for. There are a couple of times that some people didn't notice a line or maybe got too excited and maybe edged their way up a bit. And everyone being really considerate and polite about redirecting people and getting them in the right spot of the line and letting the kids really enjoy those interactions, like with Loki and with Cruella and the villains and the like. So it was, it was a really great experience, like just meeting the characters. I think it's very unique to the ship, you know, as clearly as well with it being heroes and villains themed. So really awesome. And my wife is a huge fan of Disney villains, so it was a great opportunity for her. So she got some great pictures too. [00:40:27] Speaker C: I love that. I think that the whole Disney adults get a bad rep and sometimes it's deservedly so and sometimes it's not deservedly so. I'm putting that out there, right? Like there. There is a balance, right? Like if you are. I mean, we're just. The three of us are Disney adults, let's be honest. So, I mean, I love a good character interaction. At the same time, I'm not going to monopolize the care. I'm going to wait in line just like everybody else. And even if my kid is not with me because he's not interested in meeting the characters, even if I am, but I'm not going to monopolize that character's time because I know that there's a line of people behind me, both kids and adults, right? So it's that balance of like being considerate of everybody else and especially considerate of the kids. Right. Like to Me, the kids should have the more access than I do. And they do because they get characters in the kids club and they're, you know, there are certain activities that are very much, you know, kid focused. The Royal Tea being one of them. You know, where there's a bunch of princesses that come through and, and you can't go to that event as an adult only. You have to be actually, you have to be booked with a kid. I'm curious actually, did you guys book the, the, the, the. What is it called? [00:41:39] Speaker A: The Adventure Tea. [00:41:41] Speaker C: Adventure Tea with Royalty. Sorry, not, not the Royal Gathering, but Adventure Tea with Royalty. [00:41:47] Speaker A: So initially we did. So we had a spot for it, but because it was only a five day cruise, we decided to cancel it at the last minute. We also had the Royal Gathering as well, which was different. [00:41:59] Speaker C: Yeah, I'll say. [00:41:59] Speaker A: On the Destiny than we'd be experienced elsewhere. I think if there was somewhere that didn't meet the expectations of prior sailings, it may have been the Royal Gathering, but it was still great. I mean. [00:42:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:10] Speaker C: Tell us what was different because I haven't, I have not experienced the Royal Gathering on the Destiny. [00:42:15] Speaker A: Yeah. So there were only three characters to me, which. Yeah. And like we've gone times and it's been like four or five characters. It'll be like mini sometimes. I swear it's been like Minnie and four or five princesses. It's been just a ton on like the Fantasy previously and I think it was maybe four princesses on the Treasure. This time it was Belle Tiana and Princess Minnie and that was it. And it was nice, you know, the really great picture that my wife and my mother and Alice took with Minnie and her princess outfit. But you know, I don't know that it was necessarily worth it in hindsight to come away from some of the other activities that they were all interested in doing. Even just sitting on the pool deck and watching Funnel Vision. Maybe there were different offerings throughout that had like different characters. Maybe we just hit them on a day where people were sick or unavailable for some reason. But it was certainly the fewest number that we've seen during that experience. But it's also the fourth time my daughter's done it, so she wasn't too fussed about it in the end. We've been very fortunate that way. And also just I want to mention the vast majority of the adults and the Disney adults. Everyone's really amazing. And for all of the moments where someone may have been inconsiderate or would cut in line, there were all These other times where, you know, Alice loves trading pins, I think that was like her favorite thing on the ship. And there were some really great adults that were pin trading with her where she could complete sets. And the sail away party had to be moved inside because there was a huge thunderstorm that broke right when we were pulling away. And there was nowhere for my daughter to stand. And no fewer than four people sort of made way for her and I to, like, come forward so she could see better. So always a great vibe on the ship and everyone's is generally tremendous. So. But yeah, you know, for Royal Gathering, I would say if you haven't done it before, I'm never gonna say to not do it. [00:44:17] Speaker C: Yeah, of course. [00:44:18] Speaker A: Totally do it. Enjoy it. But when compared to how it's done elsewhere, if that is like the routine on the Destiny, I would say it doesn't really measure up. Even though what we had on the Treasure, it was, I think on the Treasure it was like Pocahontas, Mulan, Jasmine, and like Tiana or Belle like, rotated in. So, yeah, just different. It would be cool if it was changed somehow to actually start including, like Loki or Thor or Black Panther, like, bring in, like, the royal members of the mcu, so to speak. [00:44:49] Speaker C: It's kind of like on a Marvel Day at Sea cruise, they do those kinds of things, right? They don't do them on the regular sailings. They only do the princess one. Right. The Royal Gathering. But I agree with you. I would enjoy more to have like a Marvel themed or some other category themed gathering. But I think it's good for people to know what's out there. I do think that the Royal Gathering does tend to, like, span anywhere from 3 to 5 characters. I think most of the time I've seen it done with four, but I have seen it done with three before. And I think you're right, it can sometimes be impacted by what else is going on on the ship in terms of other entertainment. And then also it can be impacted by, like, if somebody's sick or injured right at the last minute, somebody can be not available and then they're down a character, a face character. Certain people can of course be those face characters based on their casting. So, yeah, I think that's. But I think it's great to know for Royal Gathering, for those who haven't been on a Disney cruise before, this is a free activity and you get to book it when you do your onboard booking or not onboard booking, sorry, when you do your check in. So 30 days before you're Sailing at midnight. You can do your online check in and you can also register for the royal gathering at the same time. It's a ticketed event, but it is free. You can also try and get it through the app once you are on the ship's WI fi. So either at the port or on board, there's usually some limited number of spots that are available then. But it gets booked up super, super fast. So it's one of those things that may be gone within a minute when it opens for booking. It's that fast. All right, well, we gotta talk dining. [00:46:35] Speaker B: I'm especially curious about the dining topic here, Rob, because you had a good cross section. You had kids, you had yourself, you had, you know, an older adult with you. So, like, how did dining go kind of across the board for the family? [00:46:47] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it was. It went really well. We had, and I'm struggling to remember some of the names, we had a tremendous dining team that made it, you know, that much better. I don't think there was anything that was a problem, really, from a dining perspective because there were just so many options and so many choices throughout. Like, the trend, I guess, that started with the treasure. We actually went to Marceline Market less for lunch than we have for, like, cabanas in the past, just because the pool deck food has been so great and so many options there. And for dinners, I think, you know, we've got some of the new menus as well. Like, there's no lobster night, it seems like, anymore at 1923, which is great because that was relatively weak, you know, for the one time that we did experience it previously, I think everyone loved everything and just. I think the only disappointment was kind of for me where I didn't have the best dinner at Pride Lands Feast of the Pride Lands. And it for no other reason other than I just wasn't feeling anything on the menu that night. There was nothing that I really wanted or felt like I was going to enjoy. And, you know, again, like, I. I love food from everywhere. I love all types of different kinds of food, different spice levels. Just nothing there really sat with me. So it was kind of funny. I went up to the pool deck. I apologize. I asked permission ahead of time. Like, if I were to get upset if I did it from the serving team, they said, no, no, don't worry about it. It's fine. And I grabbed the burger and fries for myself and brought it back down so I could continue to enjoy the show because it was just a lot of fun to enjoy, to sit and enjoy that show there. It was very different from some of the others, and I certainly didn't want to miss it. But, you know, other than that, I mean, I. We always have. I always have a great dinner over at Marvel. 1923 has been good. I think of any complaints I've ever had in eating at the restaurants before were that I don't know if this is everyone's experience, but the roles always would come out, like, really hard and like, almost like bricks that seemed to have been fixed or maybe we just got a really fresh batch each dinner. So, yeah, everything was great as far as dinner was concerned and at all meals, honestly. [00:49:00] Speaker B: Nice, Nice. [00:49:01] Speaker A: That's good to hear. [00:49:02] Speaker B: That's. That's actually really good to hear. Let's. Let's talk ports for a second. Remind me where this cruise. What was your cruise itinerary? I guess. [00:49:11] Speaker A: Yeah. So it was only two ports of call, Cozumel and Castaway Key. [00:49:17] Speaker B: Okay. [00:49:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:49:18] Speaker B: Did you book in Cozumel? [00:49:21] Speaker A: No, a couple of things. One, I think we wanted, like, my mother was really interested in the ship and wanted to explore, experience the ship as much as she could. And then I was also concerned from a walking perspective, even with the scooter. I just know for excursions that we've done in Cozumel before, there is a fair bit of walking or there has been for us to be able to get, you know, from the pier or the dock all the way over to wherever the bus might be. And sometimes you'll have to walk through, like a shopping center over, like a bridge or anything else. So just knowing that could be the case, I. I figured we would stay on the ship for that. So we didn't. We didn't leave. We had gave ourselves another sort of, like, day at sea, so to speak, on the ship, which was great. My mom got to enjoy, like, being in the pools with Alice, My daughter also did a number of different trivia that my mother joined in on. We did pin trading. There was a pin trading group that we had joined on WhatsApp ahead of time. So there's a lot more that we were able to fill the time with that I think was at the right speed for the kind of vacation we were having. And then we also knew we had a lot lined up for Castaway, so that would be some time off the ship, on a beach and the like for my mother to enjoy. [00:50:37] Speaker B: Nice, nice. And. And so did. Did she enjoy Castaway? I'm assuming the kids. Oh, yeah. [00:50:42] Speaker A: You did, yeah. Love Castaway. So I was fortunate enough to get Cabana 10 in the sandcastle cabanas, which was great for so many different reasons. One, like we got right off the [00:50:56] Speaker C: ship and wait as a silver you were able to get. Wow. Rob, tell us your. Tell us your tips and tricks. [00:51:04] Speaker A: Yes. This is actually the second time that we've got in cabana. And I check a fair bit, but I'll check like three different times during the day. Like, I'll check during my lunch break and I'll figure people on the east coast are probably making changes around the same time. And I'll check around like meal time, like in the evening and then I'll check before I go to bed. Just quickly on the app. And we've just been lucky enough and I don't know if it's because they've increased the volume of the, like the cabanas that are available. Just the. The quantity is larger than it has been in the past with like the Mickey and Minnie cabanas that are new or if it was maybe because it was early August and some other schools already sort of back in session, but there was nothing there. When we initially went to go book on. When that all opened up for us, we got everything else we wanted. Bippity Boppity Boutique, the Adventure T slots were available at that point, but none of the. All the cabanas were booked at that point. And I booked this one, I guess about a month before we left. We had it open. We saw that it was open and we just grabbed it. So a great experience. Certainly expensive. I wouldn't. It's not something I would do every single time. We did it once. Our first time was on the Treasure and it was great this time. I figured because my mother was going to be with us just having that area to come back to and eat at if we wanted to, or easily for her to go into the shade. Quick walks back to and from the shore, the beach just made it very easy. And then also, like, the accessibility of it all. Like, we got off of the ship and I just had asked, you know, is there an easy way for us to get over to. I was thinking just the tram stop, but a cast member pulled up in like a golf cart and loaded us on and drove us all the way over directly to the cabana from the ship, which was just amazing. It was great. So, yeah, we did had a full day there. My mother didn't snorkel with us, but Alice and I went to go snorkeling. Other than that, like my. My wife Alice and I went To Pelican Plunge. Spent a lot of time just swimming in the water. My daughter made, as she does each cruise, made some friends nearby. So they were building sandcastles and finding hermit crabs and just had a blast. So a really great beach day. Really amazing weather. It started to storm later in the afternoon, but we expected that. I mean again, it's similar weather to like central Florida kind of or much of Florida with storms in the summer. So we knew it was likely we were going to get a storm later in the day. But it really didn't put a damper on anything. It was very late and by the time that really started, we were ready to get back on the ship. [00:53:53] Speaker B: Sam's definitely going to want to talk to you about shows. [00:53:55] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Did you go to all three of the shows and if so, what did you think? Of course. Let's save Hercules for last. Even though. Well, I guess usually it is played last on the itinerary. On the destiny itinerary. Whichever. Destiny itinerary. Although I did hear that they, they just, they're doing a three night right now as we're recording. It's August 30th and they actually put Hercules on the second day instead of on the third day. But of course you've got Seize the Adventure and Frozen and Hercules you would have had the opportunity to see Sees the Adventure and Frozen before based on your other. The other ships you've been on. But I'm curious what you did this time around. [00:54:38] Speaker A: Yeah, so we didn't. We. We did go see CZ Adventure and it was again, it was like a great first night type of. It's a great first night type of tradition to go see the show. I think for us, we really enjoy doing it. I may have continued my tradition of buying over sized and unnecessary like sippers and popcorn buckets. [00:54:58] Speaker C: Yeah. You then have to schlep home, Rob. [00:55:03] Speaker A: Yeah. And we planned thankfully ahead of time where we had one, one suitcase that was kind of like half empty because I knew if there was going to be like the eevee towel animal stuffy that we were going to bring that home. Of course I said for Alice, but I have it in my office here. And other things like that. [00:55:23] Speaker C: Like, you know, I love that admission, Rob. I love it mine. [00:55:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean I have it. [00:55:27] Speaker C: My towel animals are right up here. [00:55:28] Speaker A: So I've got it right here. Like it's same thing. I think with a lot of that stuff. I always justify it as something for Alice and she'll take it at some point. But so we went to see the adventure, had an enjoyable time there. My mother loved it. She didn't know what to expect again from the kinds of entertainment that would be on board. So she was all in at that point. And we did skip Frozen. I don't know if it was the only time available for Frozen or the only time that we had noticed that it was showing or playing where they were going to be performing. It was the last night or the second to last night and the last night. So we just were busy at that time with other things. And I think especially the last night, we, you know, we're. We want to make sure that we're all packed up and we're ready to go and we have our bags outside to. To take down for disembarkation the following day. So we missed that one. But in. In all reality, I think my family enjoyed, like my. My daughter finished the scavenger hunt that night, so she loved doing that, the happy hunt. You know, my mother just wanted to go around and look at the shops more and, you know, go out on her veranda and go up to the pool deck and experience, like, you know, the evening and everything. So it was. It was nice. And we did see Hercules. We were going to pass that up. Had a great time. I thought it was great. It's. I think Hercules might. I think it might be my wife's Lauren's favorite Disney movie. She absolutely loves the Muses. So that was. It was a great experience all around for that. And what was really cool, what I had noticed, you know, in my last job, I was actually going up to Toronto a lot. My office was essentially like, just down the street from where all of DCL does like their rehearsals on, getting ready for. [00:57:30] Speaker D: For. [00:57:30] Speaker A: For these. These cruises. So it was really cool to sort of have at least that connection by some proximity and be able to see what looked to be some familiar faces on the ship. And the. The show itself was really great. I think we loved it. I would say we didn't love it as much as we love Moana. So I would probably put Moana ahead of it for our own personal rating and, and maybe a few others. And. But again, we skipped Frozen. There was no good reason to skip Frozen other than we had other things to do. Great show. We've loved it in the past. And I think, though, as far as my favorite is concerned, I think it's still Moana. That show was amazing. But again, the puppetry and everything that's done in both shows in Moana and in Hercules is Just amazing. So it was really cool. [00:58:21] Speaker B: Wind us down. [00:58:22] Speaker C: No, listen, I mean, I think both shows, Moana and Hercules are incredible. I could see why somebody would be wrong. But like, Moana better. But. But no but I mean, there's like. And also I can understand. I mean, I. I have skipped Frozen as well. Not because I don't love that show, but just because there's so many things to do. It's not possible to do everything you want to do. And when you've seen Frozen on another ship, it's. And you're on the Destiny for the first time, you're. Yeah. Prioritizing other things just because makes. Makes sense. So I, I totally get that. [00:58:59] Speaker B: So, Rob, anything we missed, anything you wanted to be sure to share that we haven't, we haven't caught in our conversation here. [00:59:05] Speaker A: I think one of the things is we, we were lucky enough to run into a group of folks in like the planning and the run up to the cruise, like, that we just met through like the Facebook group that were really into pin trading and my daughter really got into pin trading. And again, this is something that's going to change from one cruise to the next. Some people have great experiences with these groups, some people don't. And of course, like the standard disclaimer that it's not run by Disney thing, but my daughter really loves pin trading and has really gotten into it and was, you know, was able to trade pins in like a really sort of comfortable environment with people that wanted her to also enjoy it as much as they do. And then, you know, we were going through the application and unexpectedly found just a pin trading event that was organized for the cruise and we had never done it before. It was really neat. It was sort of like across the grand hall from like Mickey's main sale. And they had rolled out cases where if you wanted to buy additional pins, you could do that and then you could just trade with the cast members. And my daughter was able to trade for like this one set of pins that you could only get from cast members. And it just made her day. She absolutely loved it. One of the things that happened and I've noticed not seen this previously on Ships. So Alice did Bippity Boppity Boutique. Had a great time, had a great fairy godmother in training. And she had gotten a certificate sent back to the room, like a magical moment certificate. And then along with that was a. A bottle of champagne that was sent to my mother's room and like a bottle of Cloudum and a plush that was sent to our stateroom for my daughter. And we were just completely shocked by it. And her fairy godmother in training, this young woman from France, Manon, was just tremendous. And she was leaving one night, I think it was the night before disembarkation. And I saw her and all of the other cast members from Bibbidi Boppy Boutique walking by, and I stopped her and said, thank you so much. It really meant a lot. And she just was so happy to have, you know, done something that made someone smile. And there were other cast members around her that were like, sort of like giving her, like, a hug as well, just, like, supportive. It was just really nice to see how much people really care about the job, but also about their co workers, to see them doing well. And then, like, later that night, I was walking by Hook's Barberry and I had gone to a few different tastings and really enjoyed my time there. The bartender there had come out. She was in the middle of, like, another seminar, saw me walking by and said, wait, wait, wait right there. And then she gave me another one of those certificates for, like, magical moment. Just thanking us, I guess, for, you know, just. I don't know, I. I don't know, just participating. And we would tip, you know, I would tip. Nothing crazy, but, like, you know, I, I'm. I feel strongly that if you go to one of those classes, you should bring a little bit extra money to tips the person who's leading it, because there's a lot that goes into it. And it was, yeah, just very surprising. And again, I'm not surprised by the level of service from Disney. It's why we continue to go back. I just, I had never run into that previously where that had happened. And especially, like with the one that was sent from Bibbidi Boppity Boutique to Alice. Yeah, that really meant a lot. And like, you know, my mother came in with us for that whole experience and sort of sat down and just. I, you know, I have no, no other explanation as to why they would have done that because we had already. We continued to come back. We had already paid, you know, it was, it was just very. It was very nice and really appreciate just the, again, the standard that we continue to see with Disney. But that's the only things I'd add. [01:02:59] Speaker C: I love, I love hearing these stories. Rob. I will say these magical moment certificates are just a lovely sort of note of appreciation from a cast member that you. That you made their moment right, that you gave them a happy moment at some point on your cruise. Nathan Got one one time from. From Edge. And we got one one time from our stateroom attendant, actually, who we had just this lovely, like, you know, I mean, you can. Depends on, you know, each cruise is different as to, like, who we sort of make the biggest connection with. But on a couple of our cruises, we actually had the same stateroom attendant on the Disney Wonder, I believe. Oh, no, it was on the Magic, and we had had her twice, and she gave us a magical moment certificate, and we didn't. There was no, like, present along with it. Sometimes there is, sometimes there's not. But it was just like a. It was just like, a lovely thing to get this, like, certificate of appreciation from a cast member, because I feel like we're, like. We're usually the ones complimenting them. And so the fact that they were, like, complimenting us or our son, Brian and I were just, like, beaming with pride when we got the one from. For Nathan, it was just like. But, yeah, it's a lovely. It's a lovely touch. Not every, you know, it doesn't happen, you know, to every person or in every cruise. And I don't know what criteria the cast members necessarily use or how often they can do this, but it's a really. Yeah, it's a really lovely thing. [01:04:25] Speaker A: Yeah. And, like, the bottle of wine they sent my mother and, like, the cloud, Em, and like, the plushie, it was all very nice, but again, like, just, like, just walking by. [01:04:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:36] Speaker C: The bartender coming out and just. Thank you. Yeah. [01:04:39] Speaker A: With this. This woman, Bonita, who's the bartender that was there just running out and giving it to me. I was just like, oh, this is so nice. Like, I. You know, I don't know. I felt like a little kid getting a certificate in school. Yeah, look at my certificate, you know, [01:04:51] Speaker C: look at my gold star. Yeah. [01:04:53] Speaker A: I really. I kind of ran back to my wife. I said, look at what I got, you know? So it was just a nice experience. It was really cool. Again, I know Disney cruises can be more expensive than a bunch of the competition out there, but it was just. Again, the standard of service has just been tremendous. And I mean, like, even little things, like, Alice was in the sanctum with me a fair bit because we were playing. We were playing trivia since, like, the moment that we got on and I had gotten one of the drinks there, and it was like this cocktail that's, like, made with tea, I guess, you know, and very interesting, very cool. And there's like, a rock candy type of stirrer or like a hard honey kind of Stirrer that's in there. And she wanted it. I was like, you can't really have this kid. And the bartender heard it and just without saying anything, pulls a lollipop from under the bar and slides it over to her. And it was just really cute and sweet and. Yeah, so it's that kind of stuff that really makes it so. Had an amazing time. It was a great cruise with my mother. She was all tears at the end with just how much of a nice time. It was really special for her to. She lives kind of far from us, so it's really special for her to spend time with Alice in that way. And. Yeah, just memories, lifetime memories. So really happy with it all. [01:06:15] Speaker C: I love that. All right, now we're not gonna do a full rapid fire Rob, because we did that last time, but I do have to ask them the most important question, which is which one is your favorite ship now? Because you now have been on the Treasure and the Destiny. And so, I mean, I don't think that I got to put this out there. I don't think there's a wrong answer to this question. So you're not going to get any judgment from me if you pick from one of those two ships. But of course you can pick. Pick one of the other two ships you've been on also. [01:06:52] Speaker A: So I. I will again, I'll give the disclaimer up front. Similarly, like, there is. Every single ship is amazing that we've been on. You could come up to me tomorrow and say, we're going on X ship, and I'll be ready to go and we'll have a great time. My favorite is the Treasure. And I, you know, mentioned the last time I was on my movie, like, my favorite animated movie growing up was Aladdin. So it was really special to be on that ship. I had a great time. This was amazing. I hate to even rank them because it's going to make it sound like I didn't love my time. And we did. I had an amazing time. I would probably put this. I would go treasure and then dream. And people are. I know people look at me sideways when I say that, because everyone loves the fantasy. Dream was the first one we went on. And so I sort of been reevaluating. I think it goes dream I've been on in a while, maybe see that again fantasy. And then. And then we'll put the Wish, or pardon me, the. The Destiny. But it doesn't mean that it's a bad ship. We had. We had an amazing time. And again, if we had another opportunity to go on there tomorrow or next week or next month, we would jump at it. I would say if you're really into Marvel, then it was. It's a great place to jump in and start at or to just continue on and enjoy. If you're less into Marvel and maybe more into some of the other, like, you know, the Princesses and the Fab Five, maybe one of the other ships. But again, you still get all of that. I mean, Alice is. I have so many pictures of her, like with Chip and Dale and Donald and just. She's got Pirate Minnie and Hero Mini and Princess Minnie. So, you know, there's again, no wrong answer. But I think Treasure is still my number one. [01:08:38] Speaker B: Well, and I don't think I could fault you for the Dream. There are lots of Dream fans out there. [01:08:42] Speaker C: So. [01:08:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, there are plenty of people who like the Dream. It's one of their favorite ships. So there's no reason not to have it in your number two slot at all. [01:08:49] Speaker C: We just got to ask, what's next? I mean, Rob, you previewed that. Alyssa's already got you booked on something else, but you haven't said what it is. So what have you got on tap next? [01:09:02] Speaker A: So we had previously been looking at something for next summer. We were thinking of going to Norway or doing a Mediterranean cruise, and that's. We're still going back and forth trying to figure out what we're going to do. We might end up on Royal for a Mediterranean cruise, and I'm just not sure yet. But what we do have on the books is a cruise for spring break on the Fantasy. That's going to Castaway, Lookout, and then back to Castaway, and it's gonna be [01:09:33] Speaker C: the Duo double dip. [01:09:35] Speaker B: Yes. [01:09:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And we can't wait. It's gonna be a ton of fun. We love Lookout. We've only been there once. Tremendous beach day, I think that was. You know, of all the times we've been on the beach during a cruise, that was probably the best, like, sort of beach experience that we had. And Fantasy was a tremendous ship. We can't wait to get back on it. We know it's been in dry dock since we were on to see some of the. What the updates may have been. And then it's all about, are we doing DCL for the Mediterranean or a Norwegian cruise or are we doing Royal Caribbean? It's a tough call. [01:10:14] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:10:14] Speaker A: Tough choice right now. It is, But I know this is going to help us. [01:10:19] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, it's a tough call. You know you are in port a lot more. And so the port short days are like, where the ship is going is a more important consideration, for example, and the timing than some of the amenities and entertainment on the ship. I can't, I wouldn't tell somebody it's a mistake to go on Disney in Europe by any means. We loved our sailing Norway on Disney and those are fantastic cruises, the Med cruises as well. But there is a, you know, the price differential can, can be a big factor there, especially when and when you're spending so much time off sh. I definitely see value in some of the competitors, you know, so. Yeah, let us know what you decide. Rob, we'd love to. We'd love to have you come back on the, on the show to talk about any one of these awesome cruises, but yeah, thank you so much for joining us again. This seems like the Magical moments cruise, I gotta, I gotta say. But it's been. But it's so wonderful to hear about some of these experiences and the magic moments made by both casts and also other passengers. So we'll just say thank you for joining us again. [01:11:34] Speaker A: No, thank you all so much. We love the show. My daughter's at cheerleading practice right now, but really wanted to come in and say hi and beyond. She loves listening to it with me. And it's been such a help for us from before we got on that first cruise to now. It's been, you know, you guys have been our primary source for everything, for all that planning and things that we should be on the lookout for and all the news and everything. So thank you for everything that you've done and just creating all, all these great shows for us to have enjoyed along the way. So thank you. Really love it. [01:12:08] Speaker B: Next time, next time we'll schedule in a way so your daughter can pop in and say hello. [01:12:11] Speaker C: Yeah, perfect. [01:12:12] Speaker A: Yeah, I'll figure it out. [01:12:20] Speaker D: All right. That's our show for tonight, but thank you so much for listening. If you're not subscribed yet, please fix that right now. Head over to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hit that subscribe button. We're dropping at least two episodes a week. 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The views expressed in this podcast are our own and do not reflect the views the Walt Disney Company, Disney Cruise Line or any other travel provider discussed or mentioned. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time for another fabulous adventure with the DCL Duo. [01:14:46] Speaker B: Good night. [01:14:59] Speaker C: One.