Have you ever wondered if a three-day whirlwind on a Disney cruise can truly capture the magic of the ocean and Disney combined? Join us, as we recount the enchanting and sometimes chaotic escapades we experienced while sailing the high seas with Disney. We'll take you through the mad rush of day one, trying to cram our belongings into those adorable yet challenging state rooms and tackling the ever-important dining schedules. Plus, we'll share the inside scoop on balancing family time and the unexpected joys and independence our young adventurers found on board.
Imagine indulging in the culinary masterpieces of a Michelin chef at Enchanté and then switching gears to a fairytale in Arendelle. We compare notes on the whole dining scene from the themed extravaganzas with Worlds of Marvel to strategic planning for the much-anticipated Pirate Night. We also dish out on the exclusivity of the Concierge service, giving you our candid thoughts on whether the splurge elevates the cruise experience. Our reflections on every delicious detail will leave you either hungry for your next gourmet meal or reaching for your sea legs.
Lastly, we'll steer you through the decision-making process of choosing the ideal family cruise. While sharing anecdotes from our own Disney and Alaskan journeys, we weigh the worth of a Disney cruise for your little ones against the breathtaking natural beauty offered by other cruise lines like Celebrity. We consider everything from onboard kids' clubs, shore excursions, to that perfect balance sought by every family at sea. Whether you're planning your first voyage or you're a seasoned cruiser, let our stories guide you toward crafting your ultimate high seas adventure.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Good morning.
Good morning sunshine how areyou, I'm good, welcome to the
Tiki Room podcast.
I'm Elizabeth, welcome I'mSarah.
And today we are going to talkabout our Disney cruise.
Oh, the Disney cruise.
We're still.
I'm literally wrapped up in ablanket right now, barely
(00:28):
functioning, I know I haven'teven got on my pajamas and it's
1130.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
It's 1130.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I didn't want it to know.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I still can't see straight.
Yeah, I still feel like I'mleaning on everything.
Every time I stand still, I'mlike am I still?
Am I moving?
I can't.
It's been two days since I'venot been on a cruise ship and I
still feel like this.
So yeah, Bless you, we're goingto do it.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
She's got it.
So this was my first cruisesince I was.
I think 18 was my last cruise,maybe it was 17.
I can't remember.
My husband has never been on acruise.
My children have never been ona cruise.
Sarah, what was your rundownfor your family?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
So we have been on cruises before when, when I was
in college, lawton and I did acruise like with our friends
during our senior year.
It's like a carnival kind ofcruise.
It's exactly what you canexpect it to be for a bunch of
college students to be on acruise ship.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
It's so funny because when we parked next to the
carnival cruise I told Scott Iwas like that's college.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
That's college.
Yeah, 100%, yeah.
And so we did that.
And then I did one similar tothat when I was in high school
with a friend on like a similarspring break kind of thing, and
then for our family we have donea Disney cruise on the Disney
dream.
I believe it was the four nightone.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And where did that go ?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
That went to Nassau, Castaway Key, maybe one other
place I'm not remembering so theCaribbean.
Yes, but I believe I'll have togo back and look.
It was the three night or itwas the four night, I believe,
and it was with Lawton's family,their extended family.
(02:20):
And then we did a celebritycruise to Alaska last year.
That was a seven day or sevennight cruise.
That was celebrity last summer.
So this was our third familysecond.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Disney and y'all have been both pre-COVID and
post-COVID.
Yes, Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, disney dream was pre-COVID Okay, and then
Alaska and this one post-COVIDOkay.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So our trip was on paper four days, three nights.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
But in Realt, sarah and I were just sitting here
talking about this and I saidthe main thing that I want to
take away is that it was notlong enough.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
No.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Not because like oh my gosh, I don't want this
vacation to end, but like truly,you didn't have enough time.
You was like whiplash, yes.
So and Sarah brought up a pointand said this was really a two
day, three night cruise.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yes, it's a two day, three night cruise, yeah, and so
it's a little.
I kind of I knew that and Ican't remember if I knew that,
just because that's what we didfor the.
Disney Dream, or it's what Iresearched and we tried not to
do that.
I do need to go back andremember this a little bit
better, but I remember feelinglike this is not going,
(03:36):
remembering that this is notgoing to be long enough, yeah,
that this is going to be veryquick, and truly the first day
you're on there is really not aday.
It's like a wash.
It's a wash.
You're trying to get into yourstate room, you're trying to
figure out where you're going,you're unpacking.
Really you're just there fordinner, you go on for lunch and
(03:57):
kind of find your bearings alittle bit, but you're trying to
figure out where you're evensleeping and staying first, and
then you're going to dinner andto your point about unpacking
you have to unpack because youcannot just live out of your
suitcases, because you're in 200square feet, so you don't have
enough room.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Yes, and so to your point.
You're just figuring out thelogistics of the ship.
You're figuring out how yourroom functions If you have
children.
You're figuring out like, okay,how are we going to organize
this?
And then you're figuring outregistering your kids for this,
making sure that you know whenthe showtimes are, because a lot
of that stuff is not publicizedto you until you have access to
(04:36):
the ship's web or whatever.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
There's the normal terminology Web.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
The web Site.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Interweb, the worldwide web, so that is.
So you don't have access to anyof that information until that
day.
Correct?
For the most part, yes, and soyou're figuring this out, Like
where am I going to dinnertonight?
You don't know where you'reeating dinner until you get your
itinerary, which is when youget to Port Canaveral, Right.
(05:07):
So you're figuring that out,and then you know for us, and
I'm I don't know if this is thesame way for you.
So our dinner reservations wereat 5.45 every night, which was
nice because it kind of fit withour normal dining time.
The next dining time, I think,was 8.15.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Does that sound right to you?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yes, yeah, like if we had 8.15, our kids would have
died.
So we had the 5.45 eating time,but I felt like we had to by
five o'clock.
Okay, now we've got to go getready for dinner.
Now we've got to get fourpeople ready for dinner and then
Scott and I actually ate atEnchanté.
(05:46):
Enchanté, enchanté, yes, thatfirst night.
So in our originally we hadscheduled for the reservation to
be at 8.15.
Okay so we had plenty of.
The thought was we would havehad plenty of time to do dinner
with the kids and then go.
Well, they moved us to 7.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Oh, that's quick then that's a really quick
turnaround we did not find thatout until I don't know five.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
So we were like we'll just go to dinner, order the
kids dinner, let the kids eatwith my dad and Ms Val, and then
we turned around and went andgot ready for enchanté, anyway.
So that's your first day.
Your first day is very quick,and then your second day is
(06:30):
you're truly getting your feetin the water, and then your
third day, anyway.
So I would say that the I thinkagain on paper four day, three
night cruise is not long enough,right?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
It's, it's um, for the price you are paying for a
cruise, it really is not longenough.
Yeah, because you are alreadypaying, like making a huge
investment into going in on thisDisney cruise Right.
Um, once you get on, especially,I felt like I had a little bit
(07:06):
of a leg up with information,just because I remember that, um
, people either did like thenighttime show and then they
went to dinner, or they diddinner and then the nighttime
show.
So I just knew that I knew whatour evenings would look like at
least.
Right, I had no idea what ourdaytime would really look like.
Um, when we were on the ship,because we were already planning
(07:27):
to be, you know, in Nassau, um,stay on the ship in Nassau, but
, um, and Castaway Key, I hadkind of made a decision about
that too.
But when it came to actualthings on the ship, it was.
It's frustrating that you can'tplan ahead, right, um, you can
plan ahead with some things.
(07:47):
Like we made reservations forthe Royal Gathering and you know
you can do Bippity BoppityBoutique and there are some
things that are extra.
You know the Royal Gatheringwasn't, but some things that you
pay for extra, so you canschedule those, but it's kind of
hard to schedule them.
We don't know what else isoffered, right, so that is such
a good point.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
So Scott had a massage that first Saturday and
I think that that was scheduledfor like one o'clock and to your
point.
And now let me pause for asecond.
Nicole did both Sarah and myDisney planning.
Yes, I would have been lost, Imean.
I would have been lost withouther 1000%.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I would have had to do a deep, deep dive into
planning.
She took all of the stress outof it.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
And I, nicole, if you're listening to this, I, we
owe you so many drinks, so manyin souvenir cups.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yes, All of the Disney cruise line here.
All of it, all of it, all of it.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
But so Scott had that massage appointment, which was
nice, but to your point, wedidn't know.
We didn't know what else theday was going to hold.
I think that we also had a fourPM mixology that day and by the
time four PM came, all aroundwe were like we're tired and we
have dinner and 45 minutes whenthis thing ends and we're tired.
(09:07):
So that was just.
I mean, we didn't know goinginto it that that was going to
be the case.
So to your point it does.
Disney does kind of hold youwith your hands behind your back
with that.
I, that was fine.
What were you just saying,sarah?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Well, just in terms of the schedule and how, we
didn't know really what was whatwas offered at what times.
Yeah, I let's.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe ship itself.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
It is massive.
It is massive, it is beautiful,so well done, beautiful.
When I ask chambers, myyoungest is eight.
What is her?
What was her favorite part ofthe cruise?
She said just the fact that itwas Disney.
Oh, I love her, like that waslegitimately.
Her favorite thing was justthat it was Disney and I totally
(09:57):
understand that.
Every where you look there wasa touch of Disney not in your
face, mickey, everywhere, but itwas the Disney.
Touches everywhere on that shipare so well done, especially
for kids.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
It's very Grand Floridian.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Yes, yes, it was beautiful, and especially during
, you know, the holiday time,the tree, everything it was
really really pretty it wasreally pretty.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I agree with you on that.
It is and it's it's very clean.
They had, like the hand cleaningstations like every corner of
the ship or every hallway of theship was fascinating and I, the
hand cleaning things that theyhad in the kids, kids club area.
I was like, can we get that atschool?
(10:46):
Yes, because they just stucktheir hands in these water
things and it shot out water andhand soap and so you didn't
have to.
I don't know if you have thisproblem with your children, but
I do with mine.
Like please wash your hands theright way.
Like you're not thoroughly, youare gross.
So it does that for them, whichwas so nice.
(11:06):
They had to do it before andafter.
Or like going into cups corneror kids corner and then leaving
or ocean your club.
So, yes, the ship itself ismassive and it was they did on
the app have a very great mapwhere you could click the floors
and it showed you a picture ofwhere everything was.
(11:29):
I wish that it was a littlemore interactive.
Like could I click mockingbirdsor whatever the name of that,
nightingales Right?
Like could I click on the bar?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
and get information about it.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Like send me more, give me more.
They did not.
But you know, here I amcomplaining about the interface
of their app, when I can barelyremember my password.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
So Well, and I don't think that you can access any of
that.
You can't Before hand.
You can't, which I understand.
Everyone is going to say youcan just look up on the website
and it will give you a deck plan.
I get that, but I want tonavigate the app before I get on
the ship.
I want to look at the deckplans and see where I am versus
(12:13):
where my room is and whereeverything else is right above
me, right below me.
I want to navigate that in inreal time, before hand yeah,
beforehand and then, in realtime, be familiar with it and
know what I'm doing.
Yes, yes, especially on thatshort of a cruise, right?
Well, I think of so.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
So, when we got on the boat.
So my dad and Ms Val wereconcierge level, which is, you
know, level which we can talkabout.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
They got on the boat first thing.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yeah, so our boarding time.
I know shocker, Shocker.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Honestly again I'll have commentary on that in just
a minute we did not board theship until 1245, which or that
was our boarding time, but weactually were able to start the
boarding process at 1215.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Which was nice.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
So we started, we were able to get on, get
situated, whatever, okay, cool.
So we were sitting at a bar andI hear them yeah, I mean
introduce Sarah's family.
And I'm like they're here.
And then they come up thestairs, yes, and there they are,
they're standing right there,Sarah's whole family is standing
(13:24):
right there.
And I obviously ran over tothem and gave them a hug and
then I'm like do you know how towork the messaging system on
this?
Speaker 2 (13:31):
app.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
It took us 15 minutes to figure that out.
Yes, because you can't justtype in someone's name, you have
to have their conversationnumber or whatever.
Yes, and that was pulling, soyou had to be right next to the
people in order to find it, butI would like for everyone to
know that I was able to explainthat to Sarah.
It was amazing.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It was truly amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I have really come.
You have come so far.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I've grown up so much in front of everyone and yes,
right before us, you areteaching technology to the
masses.
I am, it's impressive, so proudof myself, but it was.
It was if I had not seen you.
Here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
This is terrifying.
If you're going to finish thatthought the way that I think
you're going to finish, thatthought keep going.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
If I had not run into you the Wi-Fi was not great I
could have called, but at theport we weren't even getting
good cell service because mysister was trying to look up her
arrival form to be able to scanin and it was hard just to even
get to the point.
I could get through that and geton the internet through her
phone, because at the port theinternet was just really slow,
(14:42):
right, if I had not run into you, I think I would have had to
just naturally run into you inorder to even figure out how to
contact you.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Right, oh, yes.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I didn't even think about that.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
I thought you were going to say you couldn't figure
out messaging and it was on me.
That was what I thought youwere going to say.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I wouldn't have been able to figure it out unless I
went, but you definitely wouldhave not been able to find my
person on the app.
The thing is that I wouldn't.
I would have hoped that I couldjust look you up, message you,
or at least create a message,and then you get to choose if
you open it or not, right, right.
But I could have tried, likecontinually calling you or
(15:23):
something like that, but it wasjust very much the Lord,
obviously, that had us run intoeach other.
But I wouldn't.
I would have had a hard timefiguring out the messaging thing
, even though I did it on thelast one, but I really don't
remember it being exactly likethat.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yeah, Even so, for our whole party of I think there
were nine of us, I don't know Ithink I had like eight group
chats because you can't add likeI couldn't we already had one
set up with my dad and my sister, and then to add my brother, we
(16:02):
just had to start a whole newone.
So, anyway, that is my.
Not that it matters, but justbe aware of that.
If you're going on a Disneycruise, you have to understand
that you cannot access the appand the functions of the app
until you are pulling into poorCanaveral and are there in,
honestly, the waiting line.
Sorry, right, or?
Speaker 2 (16:22):
even like on board.
Yeah, yeah, really like.
Once you get on board, youreally can't fully access it.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
So I will also say we watched a YouTube video.
I think it was Disney food blogdid it.
It was an hour long and it wason all of the food and beverage
options on the cruise ship.
I'm glad that we watched thatahead of time.
If you are going on the Disneywish, I do feel like you have to
watch multiple videos to getwrap your head around what you
(16:53):
are about to experience,especially if you're going for
the four day three night paidcruise.
Yes, because it is such.
I mean, scott and I were likethank goodness we watched that,
because we had no idea rightwhere anything was, specifically
where to get good coffee in themorning, I know, anyway, I.
So I do think that the four daythree night was too short.
(17:17):
I do think that if you aremaking the investment, the five
day four night is worth it, andI think what it is is NASA all
cast away and then a day at seaand basically the ship just
slows down driving around.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yes, I do think that that's what our family did with
Lawton's family Cause I was likegosh, I can't remember another
stop, but I do think it was aday at sea and so I remember
telling his mom, who you know,his parents took us on that
cruise and telling her you knoweverything I've read and every
(17:49):
YouTube video I've watched.
They all say the three nightone is not that it's not worth
it.
It's just it could disappointyou because it's so short.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Yeah, and I don't.
I don't, when she saysdisappoint, she doesn't mean
that you're.
It doesn't mean that you're notgoing to be satisfied with the
presentation it is.
It is simply that it's likegoing to a dinner really hungry
and you're, you eat really goodfood and then, but you're still
hungry at the end.
Right, that's, that is.
That is what we're talkingabout.
(18:21):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I mean, it's a beautiful ship.
There's lots of things to do.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Almost too many things to do.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Like that was one of the things.
So our first full day the kidswanted to go to the kids corner.
They did kids corner for likean hour.
It was nice.
They were able to text us tosay they want to get picked up.
So Scott and I were over at theadult only pool and we had just
gotten situated and then we gotto go pick up our kids.
If you, our children, mychildren are eight and nine and
(18:53):
we could not just let them freeroam the ship Right.
So keep in mind that, if you'rehonestly, I think that Westland
, who's in sixth grade, was theperfect age If she had a friend
to go on the ship, walk aroundthe ship, and if you have
children younger than sixthgrade, please keep in mind that
you are not just gonna be ableto ship your kids off and go,
(19:16):
just do whatever you want,because your kids are gonna have
opinions and if they want toleave kids corner, they're gonna
leave kids corner Right, and ifthey're at the pool, you're
gonna need to be nearby.
So Well and which is fine.
Yes, but I do know that thereare people who come in and
they're like oh, disney Cruise,drop your kids, be gone, like
it's the best of both worlds.
I think it's the best of bothworlds If your kids are old
(19:37):
enough.
Scott and I talked about thatBecause my mom preferred the
Disney Cruise, but we didn't goon the Disney Cruise until I was
in sixth grade, right?
So my brother and I were inmiddle school and she did.
She was able to enjoy hervacation because we were off
doing our own thing, right right.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
So, Well, and so let's talk about that a little
bit.
The Ocean Years Club.
Ocean Years Club is forchildren who are ages, I believe
, three to 12.
The Edge is ages 11 to 14, Ithink, and then the Vibe Vibe is
(20:14):
like 14 and up, so it's Maybe13 and up or something you know,
cause they have someoverlapping of ages.
Right For that purpose.
Your kids, what was theirreview?
Do you want to wait for them totalk about?
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, but I'll do a brief summary here.
I think that they got bored.
It's a big space and it was fun.
But then it was like, okay,I've done it, what can I do next
?
Yes, you told us about that.
I think it was called the HeroRoom, where one day it had the
inflatable obstacle course,which was fun, and it basically
(20:50):
was a half court basketballcourt.
Yes, and they, you know, for somany hours they have an
inflatable obstacle course,which was nice, but then they
have ping pong, air hockey,shuffleboard, which my kids love
, that stuff.
So when we saw you in there, wehad been in there for like two
hours.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Yeah, it was annoying , but we went back the next day.
Like both of them wanted to goback the next day because they
wanted to play basketball, andso Scott and I played cornhole.
There was there were somemiddle schoolers playing
basketball, so my kids didn't,but they played air hockey and
then they played ping anyway.
So, yes, the kids, the OceaneerClub I think the review was it
(21:34):
was.
They were on the cusp ofoutgrowing it, especially Laura
Ann, but it was good if I neededthem to be in there for like an
hour, two and a half, right,right.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
So so when we went on the Disney Dream, the kids club
there is not as big.
Okay so, but the ship capacityis still 4,000.
So the capacity of the DisneyWish is 4,000 guests, and so is
the Disney Dream, but the kidsclub I don't know if it's half
the size, I don't know if it'sthree fourths the size of the
(22:08):
one on the Wish, but it's not asbig.
And so our kids were reallyoverwhelmed.
They were younger, but theywere really overwhelmed in the
Oceaneer's Club on the DisneyWish, because there were so many
kids and it was like being atDisney World but your parents
weren't with you.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Oh, that's you know you're.
I'm overwhelmed thinking aboutthat.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yes, like you're waiting in lines to do things.
Yes, it was just, it wasprobably.
They lasted maybe 30 minutes inthere and before we were called
to come and get them, sometimesmaybe 45, but you know, they
lost interest pretty quick andwere with us most of the time on
(22:47):
the Dream, which was finebecause it's a family vacation
and it's Disney, and so we had alot of fun.
This one, I will say they had alot more fun.
They really enjoyed it.
Now, they weren't and they'renot kids that are like this,
anyway, they're not going to bein there all day long, but they
(23:09):
were more than happy to be inthere for, you know, an hour or
two, right, and no one everreally called me until it was
reaching that almost two hourmark when they were like ready
to come out, right, and we'd bechecking in on them because
Westland, we did give her shedoesn't have a cell phone or
anything, but we had an oldphone that we let her use just
(23:32):
for using that app to be able totext us, and so she would give
us kind of some updates, rightokay, you know she was in there
too.
So she would say, you know,Sydney seems fine, Chamber seems
fine, you know things like that.
She was on the older end.
They did have a program in theevening on that first night that
(23:52):
she did like, and it was justfor 11 and 12 year olds.
Oh, that's nice and so I thinkyou have to be there later in
the evening for that, okay.
And so she did enjoy that.
She thought that was fun, butshe, you know, she went into
Edge and my nephew, who was 13,he went into Edge and he loved
it, but he loves video games andso they had a lot of those in
(24:15):
there.
And I think when Westland wentand tried it, there were girls
in there, but they were all likekind of on their phones and
maybe playing some games, but itwasn't quite.
As you know, westland, I reallytry to like keep my kids as
young as they will be, because Ijust feel like they're gonna
have to grow up eventually and Ijust don't wanna take their
(24:38):
innocence away.
And so she preferred the OceanYears Club versus the older kids
area.
She was like I'd much rather dothis.
This is way more fun than likesit in here on like devices you
know the whole time.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah, now do you feel like if Westland had one of her
girlfriends there with her invibe, she would have had a
better experience in vibe?
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Okay, so Vibe is the older kids, which edge?
Yes, so there is an area formuch older kids also, which is
basically just when we did theopen house.
Ethan, my nephew, was lookingat Edge and Vibe and he was like
this just looks like a kid'sversion of an airport lounge.
Like what is this?
He was very annoyed.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
It's like this is the skyline.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yeah, he's like this is not fun.
But once he got in there andeverything was on, he was having
fun because they did somescavenger hunt kind of things
with them and they got to leaveand everything on their own and
so he enjoyed that.
I think she probably would have.
If she would have gone in therelike with a friend and had a
buddy, she would have kind offound her way a little bit
(25:48):
better, but she still, you know,she went into the Ocean Years
Club and saw all the Marvelstuff.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
And she'd wanted to do that, she wanted to
experience it.
She knew that she was gonna be.
This was gonna be her lastopportunity to do that.
Because Ethan, he was 13 and wethought for sure they would let
him come and be in the OceanYears Club with his siblings and
cousins.
And they were like, no, theywould not.
They were like your age.
You have to be in this space ifyou're gonna be in a space.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
I guess I can appreciate that, me too, because
if he was an unruly one RightWith, like, some four year olds,
yeah, that's a lot.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
So we were thinking from his perspective of like, oh
, like he wants to be with hiscousins and his siblings, but
really like you're absolutelyright If there's just like a 15
year old kid in there who wantsto just you know, take over all
the stuff.
The little kids would have ahard time, right, but you know
he had a good time in his area.
And then the Ocean Years Club.
My kids did have a good time.
(26:49):
They did like it because it wasa lot bigger and it was not as
much waiting around for stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Chambers is really into Star Wars and they have a
Star Wars area so she reallyliked that.
Sydney and Wesselin liked theMarvel stuff so they enjoyed
those spaces, but for not forlike a all day long Right.
It was like an hour or two andthen they were good, then they
were good yeah.
I will say, because you saidearlier about your kids, like
roaming around the ages theygave me the option.
(27:18):
They said you know Wesselin,I've checked Wesselin in first,
kind of getting her registeredSaid, oh, she can check herself
out.
Do you want her to have thatoption?
I said yes, because I knew thatshe would, you know, message us
if she was going to leave andtry to find us.
Then they go ahead and registerSydney.
She's like she's also oldenough to check herself out,
she's 10.
(27:38):
I was like no, she may not, butmaybe.
And then I was like, well, dowe want her to have that access
so she can leave with Wesselin?
And I said okay, yes, let's lether have that.
And then they get to Chambers,who's eight, and they also said
she could check herself out.
That an eight year old couldcheck themselves out.
They are old enough.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Can you imagine like Reed Brannick being like yo.
I'm out of here, right, I waslike yes, I was like.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
no, I don't think so, and I don't want her to know
that she could.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
And then Lottin was like let's do this, let's not
tell her that she can, let's lether have the ability so
Wesselin can check her out if wesay yes, but she's not going to
try to check herself out unlessshe knows.
So we did say yes to that soshe could leave with Wesselin.
But I was flabbergasted, yeah,and like just thinking about
(28:28):
eight year olds checkingthemselves out, just to like,
well, it's funny.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Just to go.
There were a few.
We got on an elevator one timeand there was I mean the kid had
to have been eight or nineyears old just wandering around
the ship, I mean us.
There was another couple in theelevator with us and they were
like huh, he's just like, he'sjust living, he's just living
his life.
Yeah, now I do want to go backonto the topic of being on the
(28:56):
cruise ship with people that youknow.
It was a very big blessing tohave the graves on the boat with
us, because Laura Ann is alittle more anxious in social
situations where she doesn'tknow anyone, whereas my son just
walks in and owns the place.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Right, so it was nice Like the party is here.
You're welcome, yes.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Yes, yeah, you are welcome.
Right, that kid.
I have no words to describe him.
He is meant to be a cruisedirector, I think.
Oh my gosh.
Or a camp counselor one of thetwo, but my daughter having
Sydney was huge for her just tobe able to enjoy something.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Yes, it was Sydney was way more willing to go into
the Kids Club if Florian wasgoing to be there.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yes, I mean it was night and day, and so if you do
have children with thatpersonality who like going into
school on the first day if theydon't know anybody in their
class, you know that they'regoing to be anxious Maybe find
another family to go on thecruise ship with you, just so
that the kids have thatexperience together.
I mean Sarah and I, the thing Imean we were, scott and I were
(30:08):
talking about it.
We really didn't see y'all Notvery much, and it wasn't.
I mean we didn't have dinnerstogether.
We saw y'all at the pool onCastaway Day, is that it?
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Yeah.
And then we saw each other atCastaway Key yeah, and our kids
played together in the water atCastaway Key, where my son went
to hand feed a fish and then thefish bit him.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Yeah, and he was like this is the coolest thing.
I'm actually a pirate, I meanit was very cool.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
I mean the fish were really friendly with all the
kids just swimming around in theocean and they thought they
were for sure going to catchthis fish with their bare hands.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Well, reed Brannock lights into me as we get in
there and he sees the fish.
He's like why didn't you bringmy cast net?
And I'm like well, bro, theysaid no, I'm not bringing your
cast net, your four foot castnet on a cruise ship.
And he's like why not?
Is it right here?
He also asked why we couldn'tfish off the cruise ship.
I was like gosh, can you pleasego back to the Redneck Riviera
(31:07):
that you came out of?
I mean, it was so fun.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
It was so fun, like I enjoyed that aspect of it, that
we did run into each other afew times when it was like kind
of it just happened, especiallywith the pool, and we did talk
about that.
We were like, ok, my plan wasto try to do the Aqua Mouse
first and then do castaway keyin the afternoon, because I felt
(31:37):
like everybody's going to rushoff the ship to get a good space
at the beach and I knew, funfact, it's going to be almost
impossible to do that Because4,000 people are getting off the
ship and the beach is only sobig.
And so good luck everybody,unless you are a concierge or
you are adult only and you'regoing to that area, or if
(32:00):
they're offering that 5K thatyou can get off the ship early.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
So those were real things that happened.
Did you do?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
that.
I don't know if they offered iton this one OK.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
I did see people running and I was like what is
happening with you?
I mean it was.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
that's the way that some people get off the ship
early is they'll do the 5K andthen they get off first and they
can get a spot.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Like mid run, like go , put your blanket down.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Like I think that they'll run and then, right
after that, get off.
You know like, be done with therun.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
L.
I'm like I don't know ifrunning three miles is worth
getting a good spot at the beach, but you know I get it.
I do enjoy a run, but not toget up that early on my vacation
to do that, yes, but I knewthat in the afternoon people
would leave and so we could findchairs that were in a good spot
(32:54):
.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Which we did, by the way, which we did.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Both of our families found good spots under umbrellas
.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Plenty of space.
Plenty of space and right nearwhere the kids were all playing,
but castaway key itself.
If you've been, it's wonderful.
I don't want to say that it's.
I feel like we're doing a lotof bad mouthing of the crews.
I just want to be honest withwhat the drawbacks were versus
(33:22):
what you got in two days andthree nights.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Yeah, yes, I do agree , yes, yes, but you have to also
keep in mind, before she givesthis review on castaway key we
are from Florida.
We live in Florida, we've beenwe have a 15 minute drive to the
beach, right.
We have access to boats, yes,we and if I mean like, all of
(33:45):
these things are things that wehave access to on a daily basis,
right?
So I do think that you need tokeep that in mind.
Yes, before she gives herreview on it, because it's going
to be a similar.
I mean, this is literally whatScott and I talked about.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Yes, so go ahead.
Sorry, I mean it was beautiful,the beach was beautiful, the
beach was clean, there were notmassive waves.
You had to like worry aboutyour kids, there were lifeguards
, there were life jackets.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
And the lifeguards were.
They had lifeguards in themiddle of the ocean, right,
which was nice.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
So it was the best beach, ocean experience with
your kids that you could expectplaying like on the shore, like
that.
Going and swimming, snorkeling,playing the water.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
You don't have to worry about a whip tide.
You don't have to worry aboutthe currents.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
It is a real it's.
You're in a lagoon, right, soyou're kind of safe.
You don't in, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
And so it is the best experience of that you could
possibly imagine For my familyand probably Elizabeth's,
because we have we do that often.
My kids usually just don't wantto do that all day, right,
because we have we do thatpretty frequently.
So I knew we only needed two orthree hours at the beach to do
(34:55):
that.
So I wasn't willing to rush offthe ship with everybody else in
the morning to find a perfectspot on the beach so I could be
there all day long and camp out.
If you are like, I met a coupleand their older kids from South
Dakota.
I guarantee you they werepeople that were getting out
(35:16):
there so they could be in thesun at the beach all day long.
I totally understand that, likethat's part of what they're
paying for, so they can be atthe beach and they wanna soak up
as much of that as they can,and so I kind of felt like I'm
happy to give that to the peoplefrom South Dakota, you know
like I, only yes.
I'm like I need two hours ofthis max.
Do you get paid?
Speaker 1 (35:36):
to live in.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
South Dakota.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
I don't know.
I bet the taxes are much lower.
I bet that there's like no,they're like, please just come
here, be here.
I mean, there's like a 1% taxrate.
Yeah, that was one of thethings that Scott said.
So Scott, who you know, he'salready going into Disney with a
sour taste in his mouth and hesaid he's like, he's total
(36:01):
scrooge, like none other.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
To be honest, I mean, we do give Scott a hard time.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Yeah, it's the only time to give him.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Honestly, he was so delightful Every time I saw him.
He was not sassy.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
He was in total vacation mode, scott, and it was
the best version of Scottraining it was like hey, sarah,
and I was like hey, Scott, andlike Mickey would be walking by
and he was not even upset aboutthat.
No eye rolls, nothing.
That was really great.
He really did.
He was like this he enjoyed thecleanliness of the boat.
He enjoyed the drinks on theboat.
He was like these are, this isreally good.
(36:35):
He was like the food is waybetter than what I thought it
was gonna be.
Yes and so, and I do think thathaving en j'en dé that first
night, that was a I mean, it wasa Victorian-Oberts experience.
So he was our waitress, deborah.
She was unbelievable at her job, but she also has per talking
(36:57):
to her, she's worked at twoother Michelin star restaurants
in France, so she was reallygood.
But Scott said he was like youknow, elizabeth, a Caribbean
cruise being in Florida, I don'tknow if I would ever have to do
this again, but he said he'slike I can get behind an Alaska
cruise or a river cruise throughEurope but like something that
(37:18):
is just this.
I mean, I told Sarah when wewere in Nassau Scott was in the
Bahamas in April maybe May.
Scott literally was likethere's the house that we stayed
at, and so like anyway.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
So this is the same when you have access, when you
live in Florida and people inFlorida.
Often I don't wanna say likeyou can't go on a cruise if
you're from Florida.
Right, no like.
But it's just that people fromFlorida, because they live in
Florida and the access to goingto the keys or to the Bahamas,
it's a lot more cost effectivefor us to do those kinds of
(37:55):
vacations because it's closerand it's not as expensive.
And when you grow up in Florida, you like to fish, you like the
beach.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
And I think for Scott he's like okay, if I'm gonna do
a four day vacation and I wantit to be tropical, I wanna go
somewhere where I'm notrestricted, right.
But again to the point of thecruising concept, he was here
for it if it was in a scenic, asReid said, not in the middle of
(38:24):
nowhere, we're just in themiddle of nowhere right now.
Right In the middle of nowhere,right, yes, reid, for a brain
space.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
I will say, though, the other end of that thought
for me is I was talking to afriend who's trying to plan a
cruise for next year and sheasked like what the opinion was
of like doing a Disney cruisefor Alaska versus a non Disney
cruise.
And I know friends who havedone a Disney cruise for Alaska
(38:54):
several times and they love it,absolutely love it, and I
totally can see why the price ofa Disney cruise in Alaska is at
least twice as much as some ofthe nicest cruises in Alaska on
other cruise ships.
So we cruised Celebrity lastyear.
It was beautiful.
Our kids loved it.
They got one-on-one likeattention in the Kids Club.
(39:17):
The Kids Club was basically likea YMCA, but because they had
counselors in there that weregiving them all this attention
because there were not a ton ofkids, they loved it.
They stayed in there for two orthree hours.
They were fine with it.
I am a very big and I'm surethe Disney cruise in Alaska is
absolutely amazing and stunning.
I can't even imagine the levelof like customer service and
(39:41):
attention and it must bewonderful that is out of our
like price range with like goingwith 12 people to Alaska for a
Disney cruise.
So I always tell people listen,if that's like more than you
wanna spend for Alaska, a Disneycruise in the middle of nowhere
(40:02):
is great, because you're justdoing it for the ship.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Yeah and I do think that that is if you have a
Disney cruise on your bucketlist.
I think that you need to do it.
I think that you need to.
I was talking to a little oneof the little girls in Reed's
class.
Her mom asked me they havethree kids and the youngest is,
(40:27):
I think, two, and even ChristyHilligas, who has three girls
and the youngest, I mean Logan'sthree.
Now I said to both of them Isaid you need to wait until that
baby is a little bit older andthe big kids are a little bit
older, because I think that youwill be able to enjoy the price
that you're paying, because youare paying a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
You're paying a lot of money and so to do that for
Alaska, when you're getting offthe ship every single day to do
an excursion I don't know if,obviously, if you have endless
amounts of those budgets, are aproblem for you.
Yeah, do Disney.
But if you're trying to weighthe cost of like, okay, if I
want to enjoy the ship, what amI gonna do?
(41:12):
I need to pay a Disney priceand do Disney for Alaska or a
really big cruise that has lotsof port stops that I really
wanna get off the ship for mostof the day to see.
Do a really nice cruise, do acruise line that's really great
and has really good reviews andgood food, great customer
service.
But it may not have to beDisney, because you're gonna get
(41:35):
off that ship every single dayfor a lot of the day to do an
excursion, to see things andsight see versus doing the
Caribbean.
I mean, we didn't even get offthe ship in.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Nessau yeah, we did not and honestly, if we did it
again, I don't think that mykids would get off the ship to
cast to AK, and I'm not upsetabout it.
And I don't mean that in anegative about cast, but I think
that it goes back to Sarah, andI have talked about this.
You can go to Disney and stayat a resort and never leave the
resort, and that's what you haveto keep in mind with some of
(42:06):
these cruise.
With the Disney cruise, theybuild that cruise ship the way
that they build your resortswhere you if you don't wanna get
off that ship.
you are enjoying every singlesecond of the ship and the
experience of the ship, and so Ithink that that is something to
keep in mind.
Now I also wanna touch base onthe concierge.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
Yes, please, let's talk about that, and I want your
like star rating for Anshantand Palo.
Well, I'm gonna do that rightnow.
Yeah, I need those.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
Anshant was a Victoria Roberts experience and
I would give that a five starreview.
Oh my gosh, sarah was amazing.
I mean just Scott and I talkedabout this.
Her vocabulary I mean theFrench are so beautiful with
their words just her vocabularyand what if Kate Middleton was
French?
Speaker 2 (42:58):
Would you die?
I would.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
She is so perfect I have the biggest girl crush on
her, I know.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
I just Elizabeth just turned red.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
She was like I think I fell in love with her.
I think I just fell in lovewith her.
Oh my gosh, I think I wouldfall in love with her.
I it was.
So we did the preset menu andwe did the full one, so it was a
nine course meal and I thinkthat I had to be rolled out of
there.
If I recall correctly, theywere she was.
(43:31):
So the whole experience wasgreat.
It was a Victoria Robertsexperience.
If that is your forte, Iabsolutely recommend it.
Scott Brannick loved it.
Palo's, I mean, it was nice, Iknew that.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
listen, I know you all well enough to know that.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
That's what I was saying, to know.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
I said they are going to be so impressed by Anchante.
I haven't been to these places,okay, but I've just read enough
reviews and seen some likevideos of people going.
I was like they are going tolove Anchante Palo.
They're gonna be like it's fine.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
But it wasn't.
I mean, the food was great, itwas good and it was good it
wasn't.
It was our Arendelle night,right?
I'm not upset about the factthat we missed Arendelle food,
right, it shouldn't be.
Yeah, lotten picked well onthat night with his food.
Scott told me about that.
I did not.
Speaker 2 (44:23):
Yeah, I did not pick, well yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
So I think that.
So I would say Pat, so Anchantewas definitely five star review
.
I would give Palo's a 3.5.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
So what are the main differences?
Is the quality of food, theservice?
Speaker 1 (44:41):
So well, they also have a prefix menu.
We did not do that.
It is a different.
Anchante is truly a, that's a.
He is a three star Michelinchef, Chef, and he created the
menu.
Okay, and so you are dealingwith different concepts of food.
(45:01):
You're dealing with, like youknow, little trinket food, Like
I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Very small.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Well, that, and I mean they portioned it out
correctly for a nine course meal, but it's just food that you
wouldn't try, Like pigeon pie.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
pigeon pie, which did not, did not, it was Was not
good for Scott, he said.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Yeah, it was.
That is the French version of aquail.
I already do not love quail.
Whenever Scott bring some quail, I'm like we really have to eat
that tonight.
Just that Cool.
You want to wrap in bacon?
Just leave the bacon on theside for me.
So I don't love, but that isthe front.
It is, as Deborah said, this isnot pigeon from New York.
(45:42):
Amazing, that's what I was like.
Amazing, it's amazing.
But just like we had I don'teven, I don't even know the
foods that we had, but likethere was scallops and then with
the scallops there was likethis on it and just stuff that
you wouldn't normally eat orthat you would.
You definitely wouldn't get itas a dish anywhere else.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
So that, I think, is worth the price.
When you were eating food thatyou could not, truly could not,
get anywhere else.
Like I don't want to taste theFrench version of fried chicken
or the French version of fetisheating.
Like, whatever, I don't wantany of that stuff.
I want something that iscompletely different.
(46:20):
I cannot make it.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
It cannot be replicated, except having it
here.
One was a lobster and there wasa piece of lobster, and then
there was a.
They basically took a potatolike shaved it like you would a
potato chip, so they took thatand then they almost seared it.
So it was soft but it cooked.
And then they made it into ataco and then they put like a
(46:44):
lobster puree type I don't knowthe word, right, okay, in it.
So we had the piece of lobster,we had this lobster taco we're
going to call it.
And then they had thisdelicious bisque sauce that they
poured over top of it.
Like where the heck are yougoing to get that?
And also, if that's on the menu, I'm not ordering that because
(47:04):
that's a lot of rich foods toeat in a full portion, right,
but you get two bites of it andit's delicious, yes and it's
enough.
So, whereas Palo's was a steakrestaurant and I think that it
was I mean, there were a lot of,there were, I guess, italian
side of it we of course gotsteak Right.
(47:25):
So there's that, and I knowthat this is going to sound.
I'm going to sound like apsychopath, but it is hard for
me to be a scum.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
I know what you're going to say.
I know, yes, I can't yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
I mean, I think that even if that steak was at on
Chantet I would have been like Ilike scat steak better.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
And I'm not just saying that because he's my
husband.
I mean, chris Doyle says thesame thing.
Yeah, he's like well.
Speaker 2 (47:51):
I could just have scat steak.
Speaker 1 (47:53):
Yeah, it's just very good, and so, anyway, that's my,
and we have Kline.
Like Kline's meat is the samequality of meat that they were
using, right?
So, anyway, that is that's myreview on that.
So what's the next thing thatwe said?
Speaker 2 (48:09):
Well, before you jump to concierge.
While we're talking about food,I want to say a few things
about the rotational dining.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
Oh yes.
Speaker 2 (48:15):
So when you get on the ship for the wish you're
going to have 1923, which iskind of a node to when Disney
was first created.
1923 was that's why it's 100years Disney this year, so it's
a lot of kind of classic food.
Speaker 1 (48:35):
Look at that math she just did.
I know I can do math.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
I know Public school education right here, so it's a
lot of classic food but there'snot a lot of intellectual
property or anything going on atthat restaurant.
Then you've got Arundel andthen Worlds of Marvel.
Arundel and Worlds of Marvel.
(48:59):
It's for the kids, it's fun,it's an experience.
It's an experience.
It's for the kid at heart.
The food is not that great ateither place.
Arundel is better than Worldsof Marvel.
I just did not pick well atArundel because I had a lot of
things kind of going on at thetable.
Speaker 1 (49:17):
But was it the woman singing?
Because she was absolutelyunbelievable and I was literally
like I think that I also have agirl crush on you because you
are so good.
Speaker 2 (49:27):
Yes, the entertainment for Arundel is
great.
Speaker 1 (49:31):
Very good it's wonderful Top notch.
Speaker 2 (49:32):
Yes, I would have just gotten a grilled cheese and
fries and watched that and beenhappy to let go and do that for
one of the dining nights.
This is my one thing that I wasfrustrated about with the whole
rotational dining thing.
They also have Pirate Night onthe second night.
Oh yeah, you don't know whenPirate Night is going to be.
Speaker 1 (49:53):
No, you know when Pirate Night is going to be.
You don't know where you'redining.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
You don't know where your dining is.
That's right.
You know it's on the secondnight, so it's all kinds of
layers mixed into it, because wewere also on the Maritime
Cruise, so there was alsoMinnie's Holiday Party instead
of like the Pirate Parley kindof early party that's for the
kids, because they have a PirateParty at night where they do
(50:16):
the fireworks at 10 o'clock atnight but then they also earlier
in the evening before yourdinner.
Usually you have this otherkind of pirate party that they
can do on the deck and they havesomething in the atrium, I
think as well.
Well, for our cruise they hadMinnie's Holiday Party, so they
had Holiday Pirate and then alsowhatever dining experience
you're doing, and if you areunlucky like us and you have
(50:39):
Arendelle that night and youhave a child who was
specifically brought an Annadress to wear to the, you are
conflicted and I knew this wouldhappen.
She's talking about herself.
She brought the Anna dress.
Me, yes, me, I did.
Chambers brought the Anna dress.
She knew that Anna at Arendellewas wearing the same exact
dress, so she wanted to bring itshe wanted to wear it, she
(51:00):
brought it.
But she, the worst thing thatcould happen, she said, is that
Pirate Night is the same nightand Pirate Night was the same
night.
So I said, listen, I told youthat this could happen.
You just need to be flexibleand we'll bring your pirate
stuff like to the restaurant andchange, or we'll go back
upstairs, whatever.
So that's the only thing thatwas like a little bit like.
(51:21):
I was kind of like make up yourmind, disney.
Like yeah, it was too much.
Like do do something.
They did try to do.
Speaker 1 (51:26):
They did try to do too much.
And even the Pirate Party samebreed I was like so we did the
Minnie's Christmas Party andthen I think the Pirate Party
was at 1030.
And, to be clear, we told ourkids that it was the Minnie
Party, was the Pirate Party, andBreed was content with that
because he did the Macarena, yes, and it was fine.
(51:47):
But he was like where thefireworks?
And I was like you don't seehim, they're right there.
Speaker 2 (51:51):
They're right there.
Speaker 1 (51:53):
That's dumb, it was.
That was too much for Disney todo.
Yes, concierge, concierge.
So let me start by saying if wewere on a longer cruise, we
would have done Concierge, noquestion about it.
So their rooms were pretty muchthe same that ours were.
(52:13):
I think that they had aking-size bed, which, in my
opinion, is worth whatever cost.
They had a king-size bed, butother than that, the rooms were
the same size, maybe a littlebit bigger.
They had a Concierge lounge, soin the morning they served
breakfast there, and it's acondensed amount of people.
(52:34):
So, whereas we went toMarcelino's Market or whatever,
it was called.
They just had this nice spacewhere they went and had
breakfast, and then they had awhole pool area, they had a bar,
they had whatever we had accessto outside of the Concierge
(52:55):
Club.
They had it there in thecondensed space and then they
could go get whatever theywanted.
If you wanted a hot dog fromGoofy's Grill, they would go get
it for you.
And so it was nice for my dadand Ms Val to have that space
right there by their room,because I think that the
Marcelino's Market experiencewould have been very
(53:17):
overwhelming for them in themorning time and, like I said,
it's right there and they werethere to.
You are paying for it and Disneyknows it, and Disney is there
to accommodate any andeverything that you need.
But, like I said, if we weregoing on a longer cruise we
(53:41):
would have paid for thatexperience.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
I totally understand.
There are people that are likeif they're going to do something
like that, if you're alreadygoing to pay the Disney price.
They're like we're just goingto save longer and wait so we
can do this at this levelbecause to pay the Disney price
and some people they don't mindit.
The Marcelino's Market we lovedthe food.
(54:07):
We thought it was fun.
It is harder to link up with ifyou have a big party like we
had 12 people so it was notsuper easy to always find each
other in the morning.
Speaker 1 (54:19):
But that was OK.
It can be overwhelming.
Speaker 2 (54:21):
There's a lot of people all there at 8.30 in the
morning, but I totallyunderstand why people would say
you know what?
We're going to wait two yearsextra so we can save up to do
the concierge, because theexperience is that much
different.
Speaker 1 (54:37):
And that is what I did, say that and if you have
people in your party like ScottBrannick or my dad who prefer,
like, if we're going on a trip,they want a very nice experience
Like whereas I would have beenfine, honestly, just like eating
at Marcelino's Market the wholetime.
(54:58):
Scott wants a differentexperience when he travels and
I'm OK with that.
It would have been worth it forme for him to have that if we
would have gone.
I told Christie that the samething, because David would have
wanted that same experience.
And I said if you all go, youneed to do the five day and you
all need to do concierge.
Yeah it just if that is whatyou, if that is what you desire
(55:23):
when you travel, it is worth it.
Speaker 2 (55:25):
If you don't like the hustle and bustle.
That's why people don't likeDisney a lot of times.
Speaker 1 (55:29):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (55:30):
Because, like Lawton loves to not have a bunch of
people and so his preferred tripis not Disney.
Like we are gonna go to themountains, we are gonna like, if
he could do Alaska every otheryear, that same cruise we did,
that's what he would do.
It was nice, the food wasreally good, it was very exotic,
(55:54):
I guess, seeing something new.
But the hustle and bustle ofDisney does not do it for him,
and so he'll do it, because Ireally love Disney and I really
like to do it.
Speaker 1 (56:07):
But that's a good way to put it the hustle and bustle
.
Speaker 2 (56:10):
Yeah, you have to like he would much rather have
like a slower pace, somethingreally fun to do, active, but
not have the rush, I guess, andthe peopely experience.
That's what I feel like you'repaying for.
Speaker 1 (56:26):
It's like paying for a VIP experience at Disney.
If you have gone to DisneyWorld and you've utilized the
VIP services, it's take thatconcept and apply it over four
day cruise.
Speaker 2 (56:37):
That's what you're doing, yes, you don't have the
peopely aspect and you are goingto have better access to
getting the things that you'rewanting to eat.
Speaker 1 (56:46):
wanting to do so that I totally understand and it
limits your to your point, itlimits your crowd and it limits
the quality of the crowd, right?
So if, like for my dad and MsVal, if they don't want to be
around a bunch of screamingchildren, they're probably not
going to be a lot of screamingchildren at the concierge pool.
Speaker 2 (57:03):
And that's okay.
Yes, yes, I did run into yourdad after he got off the Aqua
Mouse.
Speaker 1 (57:08):
He's all, this guy.
Speaker 2 (57:10):
And I was like so what's the deal?
Do they have a lightning laneor what?
Oh my gosh, he said the wholetime he's like.
He was like how do I want totalk about it?
Speaker 1 (57:21):
He kept making comments about anytime he'd pass
a cabin that had a DVC likeDisney Vacation Club, whatever,
and that the cruise lineobviously put on it.
Yes, he's like oh, we're justgoing to point them out, we're
just going to point these peopleout.
Oh, my word, what's wrong withyou?
So funny?
He's such a grumpy.
All right, this was great.
Speaker 2 (57:44):
I know.
Speaker 1 (57:45):
I really again, again , again, again.
This would have not been anenjoyable experience without
Nicole oh my gosh I do not want.
And this I was a travel agent.
Yes, now Wish was being builtwhen I was still a travel agent
but, Nicole just gave us thatupper hand of just silly
questions, right, like I thoughtthat our reservation was at
(58:07):
this time, it's now saying thistime.
And then her explaining it to usand not having to deal with
customer service.
Right, just a 10 out of 10recommend If you're not going to
use Nicole, use someone.
Speaker 2 (58:19):
Yes, Use someone, use a travel agent.
We planned our cruise kind oflast minute and so we got that
8.15 dining.
Oh you did.
Yes, we got seated for that,but Nicole put us in.
That's why you did the privatemeeting.
Well, no, so we got that.
Speaker 1 (58:36):
that was what we initially had oh, that's right,
and then you got bumped down.
Speaker 2 (58:40):
They bumped us down because the customer, the guest
services was so great.
I told them that my stepdadbasically wouldn't be awake at
8.15 for a dinner.
We would just have to only eatat Marceline Market for dinner
every day for him because hegoes to bed early, he's
handicapped, he has diabetes,there's a lot going on and so I
(59:01):
know it's 12 people.
I mean Simone from Italy.
He was the matriot D for ourkind of shift in our area.
He put tables together and madeit happen for us to be at the
5.45.
It was wonderful and there werea lot of people who couldn't get
that 5.45.
They had little kids and theydidn't want to do 8.15, and they
(59:25):
really prioritized our familybecause of my stepdad, not
because of having little kids,which I totally understand, it
being very inconvenient forlittle kids to eat at 8.15.
I totally get that.
But he prioritized my dadbecause of medical purposes,
which was amazing that they didthat.
But when you have customerservice like that guest services
(59:50):
and then you have travel agentsworking with them, it really
does do everything for you tojust allow for a much better
experience much better.
Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
Yeah, I was not stressed going into it and I was
not stressed coming home.
Speaker 2 (01:00:04):
No, and let us stress that stress, let us say
abundantly clear that there areonly complaints with the things
that we're talking about, otherthan the food.
I do have complaints about thefood.
It's just that it was so funand so amazing that it wasn't
long enough.
Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
Again, it's like going to dinner and it's a great
meal, but you're not full, youleave still hungry.
That was it, and I think thatif we had done the five day or
had the day at sea, I think thatwe would have left content.
Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
Yes, very much, Very much so.
Wesleyan and I walked around onthat last night and stayed up
to 11 or 11.30 just because wewere so like we don't want to
leave.
Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
So Sarah can do that.
Meanwhile I was like prying tokeep my eyes open.
I just can't.
Neither can my kids.
We were struggling.
When we picked them up afterdinner I was like, ok, I got to
go to bed.
Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
I know we were.
The other kids were very tired,but Wesleyan, I could just see
it in her eyes.
She's just that almostindependent kind of kid but
really just wanted to walkaround a little longer and just
soak it in, and so.
Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
I love that about her in the moment.
Speaker 2 (01:01:16):
I know.
So that is just.
It was wonderful.
It just needed to be longer,yeah, so all right.
All right.
Well, our next episode is goingto be with the kids.
They're going to have somereviews for everybody.
God bless America and it isgoing to be our last episode.
Wait for real.
Yeah, it's going to be our lastepisode.
Speaker 1 (01:01:36):
Wait, is that what you were texting me when Ashley
was saying?
Yeah, I did not pay attentionto that.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
It's going to be our last one, guys.
We're busy, ladies.
Speaker 1 (01:01:45):
We may like do one or two.
Speaker 2 (01:01:46):
Maybe one or two every once in a while, just
don't be used to like a regs.
Yeah, so we're just calling itmore like this is probably our
last, one of our last ones.
Speaker 1 (01:01:55):
Unless I run a marathon.
Unless you run a marathon.
Speaker 2 (01:01:58):
And unless somehow people start like telling us we
have to do it, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:02:03):
Even though I don't tell anyone what to do.
And not Taylor Day, taylor Day,we're not listening to you, I
love.
Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
Taylor, I love her.
All right, guys, we'll see youon next episode with the kids.
Thanks, bye, bye, ok.
Good morning.
Good morning sunshine how areyou, I'm good, welcome to the
Tiki Room podcast.
I'm Elizabeth, welcome I'mSarah.
And today we are going to talkabout our Disney cruise.
Oh, the Disney cruise.
We're still.
I'm literally wrapped up in ablanket right now, barely
(00:28):
functioning, I know I haven'teven got on my pajamas and it's
1130.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
It's 1130.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I didn't want it to know.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I still can't see straight.
Yeah, I still feel like I'mleaning on everything.
Every time I stand still, I'mlike am I still?
Am I moving?
I can't.
It's been two days since I'venot been on a cruise ship and I
still feel like this.
So yeah, Bless you, we're goingto do it.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
She's got it.
So this was my first cruisesince I was.
I think 18 was my last cruise,maybe it was 17.
I can't remember.
My husband has never been on acruise.
My children have never been ona cruise.
Sarah, what was your rundownfor your family?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
So we have been on cruises before when, when I was
in college, lawton and I did acruise like with our friends
during our senior year.
It's like a carnival kind ofcruise.
It's exactly what you canexpect it to be for a bunch of
college students to be on acruise ship.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
It's so funny because when we parked next to the
carnival cruise I told Scott Iwas like that's college.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
That's college.
Yeah, 100%, yeah.
And so we did that.
And then I did one similar tothat when I was in high school
with a friend on like a similarspring break kind of thing, and
then for our family we have donea Disney cruise on the Disney
dream.
I believe it was the four nightone.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And where did that go ?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
That went to Nassau, Castaway Key, maybe one other
place I'm not remembering so theCaribbean.
Yes, but I believe I'll have togo back and look.
It was the three night or itwas the four night, I believe,
and it was with Lawton's family,their extended family.
(02:20):
And then we did a celebritycruise to Alaska last year.
That was a seven day or sevennight cruise.
That was celebrity last summer.
So this was our third familysecond.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Disney and y'all have been both pre-COVID and
post-COVID.
Yes, Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, disney dream was pre-COVID Okay, and then
Alaska and this one post-COVIDOkay.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So our trip was on paper four days, three nights.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
But in Realt, sarah and I were just sitting here
talking about this and I saidthe main thing that I want to
take away is that it was notlong enough.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
No.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Not because like oh my gosh, I don't want this
vacation to end, but like truly,you didn't have enough time.
You was like whiplash, yes.
So and Sarah brought up a pointand said this was really a two
day, three night cruise.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yes, it's a two day, three night cruise, yeah, and so
it's a little.
I kind of I knew that and Ican't remember if I knew that,
just because that's what we didfor the.
Disney Dream, or it's what Iresearched and we tried not to
do that.
I do need to go back andremember this a little bit
better, but I remember feelinglike this is not going,
(03:36):
remembering that this is notgoing to be long enough, yeah,
that this is going to be veryquick, and truly the first day
you're on there is really not aday.
It's like a wash.
It's a wash.
You're trying to get into yourstate room, you're trying to
figure out where you're going,you're unpacking.
Really you're just there fordinner, you go on for lunch and
(03:57):
kind of find your bearings alittle bit, but you're trying to
figure out where you're evensleeping and staying first, and
then you're going to dinner andto your point about unpacking
you have to unpack because youcannot just live out of your
suitcases, because you're in 200square feet, so you don't have
enough room.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Yes, and so to your point.
You're just figuring out thelogistics of the ship.
You're figuring out how yourroom functions If you have
children.
You're figuring out like, okay,how are we going to organize
this?
And then you're figuring outregistering your kids for this,
making sure that you know whenthe showtimes are, because a lot
of that stuff is not publicizedto you until you have access to
(04:36):
the ship's web or whatever.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
There's the normal terminology Web.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
The web Site.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Interweb, the worldwide web, so that is.
So you don't have access to anyof that information until that
day.
Correct?
For the most part, yes, and soyou're figuring this out, Like
where am I going to dinnertonight?
You don't know where you'reeating dinner until you get your
itinerary, which is when youget to Port Canaveral, Right.
(05:07):
So you're figuring that out,and then you know for us, and
I'm I don't know if this is thesame way for you.
So our dinner reservations wereat 5.45 every night, which was
nice because it kind of fit withour normal dining time.
The next dining time, I think,was 8.15.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Does that sound right to you?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yes, yeah, like if we had 8.15, our kids would have
died.
So we had the 5.45 eating time,but I felt like we had to by
five o'clock.
Okay, now we've got to go getready for dinner.
Now we've got to get fourpeople ready for dinner and then
Scott and I actually ate atEnchanté.
(05:46):
Enchanté, enchanté, yes, thatfirst night.
So in our originally we hadscheduled for the reservation to
be at 8.15.
Okay so we had plenty of.
The thought was we would havehad plenty of time to do dinner
with the kids and then go.
Well, they moved us to 7.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Oh, that's quick then that's a really quick
turnaround we did not find thatout until I don't know five.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
So we were like we'll just go to dinner, order the
kids dinner, let the kids eatwith my dad and Ms Val, and then
we turned around and went andgot ready for enchanté, anyway.
So that's your first day.
Your first day is very quick,and then your second day is
(06:30):
you're truly getting your feetin the water, and then your
third day, anyway.
So I would say that the I thinkagain on paper four day, three
night cruise is not long enough,right?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
It's, it's um, for the price you are paying for a
cruise, it really is not longenough.
Yeah, because you are alreadypaying, like making a huge
investment into going in on thisDisney cruise Right.
Um, once you get on, especially,I felt like I had a little bit
(07:06):
of a leg up with information,just because I remember that, um
, people either did like thenighttime show and then they
went to dinner, or they diddinner and then the nighttime
show.
So I just knew that I knew whatour evenings would look like at
least.
Right, I had no idea what ourdaytime would really look like.
Um, when we were on the ship,because we were already planning
(07:27):
to be, you know, in Nassau, um,stay on the ship in Nassau, but
, um, and Castaway Key, I hadkind of made a decision about
that too.
But when it came to actualthings on the ship, it was.
It's frustrating that you can'tplan ahead, right, um, you can
plan ahead with some things.
(07:47):
Like we made reservations forthe Royal Gathering and you know
you can do Bippity BoppityBoutique and there are some
things that are extra.
You know the Royal Gatheringwasn't, but some things that you
pay for extra, so you canschedule those, but it's kind of
hard to schedule them.
We don't know what else isoffered, right, so that is such
a good point.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
So Scott had a massage that first Saturday and
I think that that was scheduledfor like one o'clock and to your
point.
And now let me pause for asecond.
Nicole did both Sarah and myDisney planning.
Yes, I would have been lost, Imean.
I would have been lost withouther 1000%.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I would have had to do a deep, deep dive into
planning.
She took all of the stress outof it.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
And I, nicole, if you're listening to this, I, we
owe you so many drinks, so manyin souvenir cups.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yes, All of the Disney cruise line here.
All of it, all of it, all of it.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
But so Scott had that massage appointment, which was
nice, but to your point, wedidn't know.
We didn't know what else theday was going to hold.
I think that we also had a fourPM mixology that day and by the
time four PM came, all aroundwe were like we're tired and we
have dinner and 45 minutes whenthis thing ends and we're tired.
(09:07):
So that was just.
I mean, we didn't know goinginto it that that was going to
be the case.
So to your point it does.
Disney does kind of hold youwith your hands behind your back
with that.
I, that was fine.
What were you just saying,sarah?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Well, just in terms of the schedule and how, we
didn't know really what was whatwas offered at what times.
Yeah, I let's.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe ship itself.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
It is massive.
It is massive, it is beautiful,so well done, beautiful.
When I ask chambers, myyoungest is eight.
What is her?
What was her favorite part ofthe cruise?
She said just the fact that itwas Disney.
Oh, I love her, like that waslegitimately.
Her favorite thing was justthat it was Disney and I totally
(09:57):
understand that.
Every where you look there wasa touch of Disney not in your
face, mickey, everywhere, but itwas the Disney.
Touches everywhere on that shipare so well done, especially
for kids.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
It's very Grand Floridian.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Yes, yes, it was beautiful, and especially during
, you know, the holiday time,the tree, everything it was
really really pretty it wasreally pretty.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I agree with you on that.
It is and it's it's very clean.
They had, like the hand cleaningstations like every corner of
the ship or every hallway of theship was fascinating and I, the
hand cleaning things that theyhad in the kids, kids club area.
I was like, can we get that atschool?
(10:46):
Yes, because they just stucktheir hands in these water
things and it shot out water andhand soap and so you didn't
have to.
I don't know if you have thisproblem with your children, but
I do with mine.
Like please wash your hands theright way.
Like you're not thoroughly, youare gross.
So it does that for them, whichwas so nice.
(11:06):
They had to do it before andafter.
Or like going into cups corneror kids corner and then leaving
or ocean your club.
So, yes, the ship itself ismassive and it was they did on
the app have a very great mapwhere you could click the floors
and it showed you a picture ofwhere everything was.
(11:29):
I wish that it was a littlemore interactive.
Like could I click mockingbirdsor whatever the name of that,
nightingales Right?
Like could I click on the bar?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
and get information about it.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Like send me more, give me more.
They did not.
But you know, here I amcomplaining about the interface
of their app, when I can barelyremember my password.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
So Well, and I don't think that you can access any of
that.
You can't Before hand.
You can't, which I understand.
Everyone is going to say youcan just look up on the website
and it will give you a deck plan.
I get that, but I want tonavigate the app before I get on
the ship.
I want to look at the deckplans and see where I am versus
(12:13):
where my room is and whereeverything else is right above
me, right below me.
I want to navigate that in inreal time, before hand yeah,
beforehand and then, in realtime, be familiar with it and
know what I'm doing.
Yes, yes, especially on thatshort of a cruise, right?
Well, I think of so.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
So, when we got on the boat.
So my dad and Ms Val wereconcierge level, which is, you
know, level which we can talkabout.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
They got on the boat first thing.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yeah, so our boarding time.
I know shocker, Shocker.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Honestly again I'll have commentary on that in just
a minute we did not board theship until 1245, which or that
was our boarding time, but weactually were able to start the
boarding process at 1215.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Which was nice.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
So we started, we were able to get on, get
situated, whatever, okay, cool.
So we were sitting at a bar andI hear them yeah, I mean
introduce Sarah's family.
And I'm like they're here.
And then they come up thestairs, yes, and there they are,
they're standing right there,Sarah's whole family is standing
(13:24):
right there.
And I obviously ran over tothem and gave them a hug and
then I'm like do you know how towork the messaging system on
this?
Speaker 2 (13:31):
app.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
It took us 15 minutes to figure that out.
Yes, because you can't justtype in someone's name, you have
to have their conversationnumber or whatever.
Yes, and that was pulling, soyou had to be right next to the
people in order to find it, butI would like for everyone to
know that I was able to explainthat to Sarah.
It was amazing.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It was truly amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I have really come.
You have come so far.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I've grown up so much in front of everyone and yes,
right before us, you areteaching technology to the
masses.
I am, it's impressive, so proudof myself, but it was.
It was if I had not seen you.
Here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
This is terrifying.
If you're going to finish thatthought the way that I think
you're going to finish, thatthought keep going.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
If I had not run into you the Wi-Fi was not great I
could have called, but at theport we weren't even getting
good cell service because mysister was trying to look up her
arrival form to be able to scanin and it was hard just to even
get to the point.
I could get through that and geton the internet through her
phone, because at the port theinternet was just really slow,
(14:42):
right, if I had not run into you, I think I would have had to
just naturally run into you inorder to even figure out how to
contact you.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Right, oh, yes.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I didn't even think about that.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
I thought you were going to say you couldn't figure
out messaging and it was on me.
That was what I thought youwere going to say.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I wouldn't have been able to figure it out unless I
went, but you definitely wouldhave not been able to find my
person on the app.
The thing is that I wouldn't.
I would have hoped that I couldjust look you up, message you,
or at least create a message,and then you get to choose if
you open it or not, right, right.
But I could have tried, likecontinually calling you or
(15:23):
something like that, but it wasjust very much the Lord,
obviously, that had us run intoeach other.
But I wouldn't.
I would have had a hard timefiguring out the messaging thing
, even though I did it on thelast one, but I really don't
remember it being exactly likethat.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yeah, Even so, for our whole party of I think there
were nine of us, I don't know Ithink I had like eight group
chats because you can't add likeI couldn't we already had one
set up with my dad and my sister, and then to add my brother, we
(16:02):
just had to start a whole newone.
So, anyway, that is my.
Not that it matters, but justbe aware of that.
If you're going on a Disneycruise, you have to understand
that you cannot access the appand the functions of the app
until you are pulling into poorCanaveral and are there in,
honestly, the waiting line.
Sorry, right, or?
Speaker 2 (16:22):
even like on board.
Yeah, yeah, really like.
Once you get on board, youreally can't fully access it.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
So I will also say we watched a YouTube video.
I think it was Disney food blogdid it.
It was an hour long and it wason all of the food and beverage
options on the cruise ship.
I'm glad that we watched thatahead of time.
If you are going on the Disneywish, I do feel like you have to
watch multiple videos to getwrap your head around what you
(16:53):
are about to experience,especially if you're going for
the four day three night paidcruise.
Yes, because it is such.
I mean, scott and I were likethank goodness we watched that,
because we had no idea rightwhere anything was, specifically
where to get good coffee in themorning, I know, anyway, I.
So I do think that the four daythree night was too short.
(17:17):
I do think that if you aremaking the investment, the five
day four night is worth it, andI think what it is is NASA all
cast away and then a day at seaand basically the ship just
slows down driving around.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yes, I do think that that's what our family did with
Lawton's family Cause I was likegosh, I can't remember another
stop, but I do think it was aday at sea and so I remember
telling his mom, who you know,his parents took us on that
cruise and telling her you knoweverything I've read and every
(17:49):
YouTube video I've watched.
They all say the three nightone is not that it's not worth
it.
It's just it could disappointyou because it's so short.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Yeah, and I don't.
I don't, when she saysdisappoint, she doesn't mean
that you're.
It doesn't mean that you're notgoing to be satisfied with the
presentation it is.
It is simply that it's likegoing to a dinner really hungry
and you're, you eat really goodfood and then, but you're still
hungry at the end.
Right, that's, that is.
That is what we're talkingabout.
(18:21):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I mean, it's a beautiful ship.
There's lots of things to do.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Almost too many things to do.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Like that was one of the things.
So our first full day the kidswanted to go to the kids corner.
They did kids corner for likean hour.
It was nice.
They were able to text us tosay they want to get picked up.
So Scott and I were over at theadult only pool and we had just
gotten situated and then we gotto go pick up our kids.
If you, our children, mychildren are eight and nine and
(18:53):
we could not just let them freeroam the ship Right.
So keep in mind that, if you'rehonestly, I think that Westland
, who's in sixth grade, was theperfect age If she had a friend
to go on the ship, walk aroundthe ship, and if you have
children younger than sixthgrade, please keep in mind that
you are not just gonna be ableto ship your kids off and go,
(19:16):
just do whatever you want,because your kids are gonna have
opinions and if they want toleave kids corner, they're gonna
leave kids corner Right, and ifthey're at the pool, you're
gonna need to be nearby.
So Well and which is fine.
Yes, but I do know that thereare people who come in and
they're like oh, disney Cruise,drop your kids, be gone, like
it's the best of both worlds.
I think it's the best of bothworlds If your kids are old
(19:37):
enough.
Scott and I talked about thatBecause my mom preferred the
Disney Cruise, but we didn't goon the Disney Cruise until I was
in sixth grade, right?
So my brother and I were inmiddle school and she did.
She was able to enjoy hervacation because we were off
doing our own thing, right right.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
So, Well, and so let's talk about that a little
bit.
The Ocean Years Club.
Ocean Years Club is forchildren who are ages, I believe
, three to 12.
The Edge is ages 11 to 14, Ithink, and then the Vibe Vibe is
(20:14):
like 14 and up, so it's Maybe13 and up or something you know,
cause they have someoverlapping of ages.
Right For that purpose.
Your kids, what was theirreview?
Do you want to wait for them totalk about?
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, but I'll do a brief summary here.
I think that they got bored.
It's a big space and it was fun.
But then it was like, okay,I've done it, what can I do next
?
Yes, you told us about that.
I think it was called the HeroRoom, where one day it had the
inflatable obstacle course,which was fun, and it basically
(20:50):
was a half court basketballcourt.
Yes, and they, you know, for somany hours they have an
inflatable obstacle course,which was nice, but then they
have ping pong, air hockey,shuffleboard, which my kids love
, that stuff.
So when we saw you in there, wehad been in there for like two
hours.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Yeah, it was annoying , but we went back the next day.
Like both of them wanted to goback the next day because they
wanted to play basketball, andso Scott and I played cornhole.
There was there were somemiddle schoolers playing
basketball, so my kids didn't,but they played air hockey and
then they played ping anyway.
So, yes, the kids, the OceaneerClub I think the review was it
(21:34):
was.
They were on the cusp ofoutgrowing it, especially Laura
Ann, but it was good if I neededthem to be in there for like an
hour, two and a half, right,right.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
So so when we went on the Disney Dream, the kids club
there is not as big.
Okay so, but the ship capacityis still 4,000.
So the capacity of the DisneyWish is 4,000 guests, and so is
the Disney Dream, but the kidsclub I don't know if it's half
the size, I don't know if it'sthree fourths the size of the
(22:08):
one on the Wish, but it's not asbig.
And so our kids were reallyoverwhelmed.
They were younger, but theywere really overwhelmed in the
Oceaneer's Club on the DisneyWish, because there were so many
kids and it was like being atDisney World but your parents
weren't with you.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Oh, that's you know you're.
I'm overwhelmed thinking aboutthat.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yes, like you're waiting in lines to do things.
Yes, it was just, it wasprobably.
They lasted maybe 30 minutes inthere and before we were called
to come and get them, sometimesmaybe 45, but you know, they
lost interest pretty quick andwere with us most of the time on
(22:47):
the Dream, which was finebecause it's a family vacation
and it's Disney, and so we had alot of fun.
This one, I will say they had alot more fun.
They really enjoyed it.
Now, they weren't and they'renot kids that are like this,
anyway, they're not going to bein there all day long, but they
(23:09):
were more than happy to be inthere for, you know, an hour or
two, right, and no one everreally called me until it was
reaching that almost two hourmark when they were like ready
to come out, right, and we'd bechecking in on them because
Westland, we did give her shedoesn't have a cell phone or
anything, but we had an oldphone that we let her use just
(23:32):
for using that app to be able totext us, and so she would give
us kind of some updates, rightokay, you know she was in there
too.
So she would say, you know,Sydney seems fine, Chamber seems
fine, you know things like that.
She was on the older end.
They did have a program in theevening on that first night that
(23:52):
she did like, and it was justfor 11 and 12 year olds.
Oh, that's nice and so I thinkyou have to be there later in
the evening for that, okay.
And so she did enjoy that.
She thought that was fun, butshe, you know, she went into
Edge and my nephew, who was 13,he went into Edge and he loved
it, but he loves video games andso they had a lot of those in
(24:15):
there.
And I think when Westland wentand tried it, there were girls
in there, but they were all likekind of on their phones and
maybe playing some games, but itwasn't quite.
As you know, westland, I reallytry to like keep my kids as
young as they will be, because Ijust feel like they're gonna
have to grow up eventually and Ijust don't wanna take their
(24:38):
innocence away.
And so she preferred the OceanYears Club versus the older kids
area.
She was like I'd much rather dothis.
This is way more fun than likesit in here on like devices you
know the whole time.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah, now do you feel like if Westland had one of her
girlfriends there with her invibe, she would have had a
better experience in vibe?
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Okay, so Vibe is the older kids, which edge?
Yes, so there is an area formuch older kids also, which is
basically just when we did theopen house.
Ethan, my nephew, was lookingat Edge and Vibe and he was like
this just looks like a kid'sversion of an airport lounge.
Like what is this?
He was very annoyed.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
It's like this is the skyline.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yeah, he's like this is not fun.
But once he got in there andeverything was on, he was having
fun because they did somescavenger hunt kind of things
with them and they got to leaveand everything on their own and
so he enjoyed that.
I think she probably would have.
If she would have gone in therelike with a friend and had a
buddy, she would have kind offound her way a little bit
(25:48):
better, but she still, you know,she went into the Ocean Years
Club and saw all the Marvelstuff.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
And she'd wanted to do that, she wanted to
experience it.
She knew that she was gonna be.
This was gonna be her lastopportunity to do that.
Because Ethan, he was 13 and wethought for sure they would let
him come and be in the OceanYears Club with his siblings and
cousins.
And they were like, no, theywould not.
They were like your age.
You have to be in this space ifyou're gonna be in a space.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
I guess I can appreciate that, me too, because
if he was an unruly one RightWith, like, some four year olds,
yeah, that's a lot.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
So we were thinking from his perspective of like, oh
, like he wants to be with hiscousins and his siblings, but
really like you're absolutelyright If there's just like a 15
year old kid in there who wantsto just you know, take over all
the stuff.
The little kids would have ahard time, right, but you know
he had a good time in his area.
And then the Ocean Years Club.
My kids did have a good time.
(26:49):
They did like it because it wasa lot bigger and it was not as
much waiting around for stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Chambers is really into Star Wars and they have a
Star Wars area so she reallyliked that.
Sydney and Wesselin liked theMarvel stuff so they enjoyed
those spaces, but for not forlike a all day long Right.
It was like an hour or two andthen they were good, then they
were good yeah.
I will say, because you saidearlier about your kids, like
roaming around the ages theygave me the option.
(27:18):
They said you know Wesselin,I've checked Wesselin in first,
kind of getting her registeredSaid, oh, she can check herself
out.
Do you want her to have thatoption?
I said yes, because I knew thatshe would, you know, message us
if she was going to leave andtry to find us.
Then they go ahead and registerSydney.
She's like she's also oldenough to check herself out,
she's 10.
(27:38):
I was like no, she may not, butmaybe.
And then I was like, well, dowe want her to have that access
so she can leave with Wesselin?
And I said okay, yes, let's lether have that.
And then they get to Chambers,who's eight, and they also said
she could check herself out.
That an eight year old couldcheck themselves out.
They are old enough.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Can you imagine like Reed Brannick being like yo.
I'm out of here, right, I waslike yes, I was like.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
no, I don't think so, and I don't want her to know
that she could.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
And then Lottin was like let's do this, let's not
tell her that she can, let's lether have the ability so
Wesselin can check her out if wesay yes, but she's not going to
try to check herself out unlessshe knows.
So we did say yes to that soshe could leave with Wesselin.
But I was flabbergasted, yeah,and like just thinking about
(28:28):
eight year olds checkingthemselves out, just to like,
well, it's funny.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Just to go.
There were a few.
We got on an elevator one timeand there was I mean the kid had
to have been eight or nineyears old just wandering around
the ship, I mean us.
There was another couple in theelevator with us and they were
like huh, he's just like, he'sjust living, he's just living
his life.
Yeah, now I do want to go backonto the topic of being on the
(28:56):
cruise ship with people that youknow.
It was a very big blessing tohave the graves on the boat with
us, because Laura Ann is alittle more anxious in social
situations where she doesn'tknow anyone, whereas my son just
walks in and owns the place.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Right, so it was nice Like the party is here.
You're welcome, yes.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Yes, yeah, you are welcome.
Right, that kid.
I have no words to describe him.
He is meant to be a cruisedirector, I think.
Oh my gosh.
Or a camp counselor one of thetwo, but my daughter having
Sydney was huge for her just tobe able to enjoy something.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Yes, it was Sydney was way more willing to go into
the Kids Club if Florian wasgoing to be there.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yes, I mean it was night and day, and so if you do
have children with thatpersonality who like going into
school on the first day if theydon't know anybody in their
class, you know that they'regoing to be anxious Maybe find
another family to go on thecruise ship with you, just so
that the kids have thatexperience together.
I mean Sarah and I, the thing Imean we were, scott and I were
(30:08):
talking about it.
We really didn't see y'all Notvery much, and it wasn't.
I mean we didn't have dinnerstogether.
We saw y'all at the pool onCastaway Day, is that it?
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Yeah.
And then we saw each other atCastaway Key yeah, and our kids
played together in the water atCastaway Key, where my son went
to hand feed a fish and then thefish bit him.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Yeah, and he was like this is the coolest thing.
I'm actually a pirate, I meanit was very cool.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
I mean the fish were really friendly with all the
kids just swimming around in theocean and they thought they
were for sure going to catchthis fish with their bare hands.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Well, reed Brannock lights into me as we get in
there and he sees the fish.
He's like why didn't you bringmy cast net?
And I'm like well, bro, theysaid no, I'm not bringing your
cast net, your four foot castnet on a cruise ship.
And he's like why not?
Is it right here?
He also asked why we couldn'tfish off the cruise ship.
I was like gosh, can you pleasego back to the Redneck Riviera
(31:07):
that you came out of?
I mean, it was so fun.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
It was so fun, like I enjoyed that aspect of it, that
we did run into each other afew times when it was like kind
of it just happened, especiallywith the pool, and we did talk
about that.
We were like, ok, my plan wasto try to do the Aqua Mouse
first and then do castaway keyin the afternoon, because I felt
(31:37):
like everybody's going to rushoff the ship to get a good space
at the beach and I knew, funfact, it's going to be almost
impossible to do that Because4,000 people are getting off the
ship and the beach is only sobig.
And so good luck everybody,unless you are a concierge or
you are adult only and you'regoing to that area, or if
(32:00):
they're offering that 5K thatyou can get off the ship early.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
So those were real things that happened.
Did you do?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
that.
I don't know if they offered iton this one OK.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
I did see people running and I was like what is
happening with you?
I mean it was.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
that's the way that some people get off the ship
early is they'll do the 5K andthen they get off first and they
can get a spot.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Like mid run, like go , put your blanket down.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Like I think that they'll run and then, right
after that, get off.
You know like, be done with therun.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
L.
I'm like I don't know ifrunning three miles is worth
getting a good spot at the beach, but you know I get it.
I do enjoy a run, but not toget up that early on my vacation
to do that, yes, but I knewthat in the afternoon people
would leave and so we could findchairs that were in a good spot
(32:54):
.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Which we did, by the way, which we did.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Both of our families found good spots under umbrellas
.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Plenty of space.
Plenty of space and right nearwhere the kids were all playing,
but castaway key itself.
If you've been, it's wonderful.
I don't want to say that it's.
I feel like we're doing a lotof bad mouthing of the crews.
I just want to be honest withwhat the drawbacks were versus
(33:22):
what you got in two days andthree nights.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Yeah, yes, I do agree , yes, yes, but you have to also
keep in mind, before she givesthis review on castaway key we
are from Florida.
We live in Florida, we've beenwe have a 15 minute drive to the
beach, right.
We have access to boats, yes,we and if I mean like, all of
(33:45):
these things are things that wehave access to on a daily basis,
right?
So I do think that you need tokeep that in mind.
Yes, before she gives herreview on it, because it's going
to be a similar.
I mean, this is literally whatScott and I talked about.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Yes, so go ahead.
Sorry, I mean it was beautiful,the beach was beautiful, the
beach was clean, there were notmassive waves.
You had to like worry aboutyour kids, there were lifeguards
, there were life jackets.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
And the lifeguards were.
They had lifeguards in themiddle of the ocean, right,
which was nice.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
So it was the best beach, ocean experience with
your kids that you could expectplaying like on the shore, like
that.
Going and swimming, snorkeling,playing the water.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
You don't have to worry about a whip tide.
You don't have to worry aboutthe currents.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
It is a real it's.
You're in a lagoon, right, soyou're kind of safe.
You don't in, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
And so it is the best experience of that you could
possibly imagine For my familyand probably Elizabeth's,
because we have we do that often.
My kids usually just don't wantto do that all day, right,
because we have we do thatpretty frequently.
So I knew we only needed two orthree hours at the beach to do
(34:55):
that.
So I wasn't willing to rush offthe ship with everybody else in
the morning to find a perfectspot on the beach so I could be
there all day long and camp out.
If you are like, I met a coupleand their older kids from South
Dakota.
I guarantee you they werepeople that were getting out
(35:16):
there so they could be in thesun at the beach all day long.
I totally understand that, likethat's part of what they're
paying for, so they can be atthe beach and they wanna soak up
as much of that as they can,and so I kind of felt like I'm
happy to give that to the peoplefrom South Dakota, you know
like I, only yes.
I'm like I need two hours ofthis max.
Do you get paid?
Speaker 1 (35:36):
to live in.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
South Dakota.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
I don't know.
I bet the taxes are much lower.
I bet that there's like no,they're like, please just come
here, be here.
I mean, there's like a 1% taxrate.
Yeah, that was one of thethings that Scott said.
So Scott, who you know, he'salready going into Disney with a
sour taste in his mouth and hesaid he's like, he's total
(36:01):
scrooge, like none other.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
To be honest, I mean, we do give Scott a hard time.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Yeah, it's the only time to give him.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Honestly, he was so delightful Every time I saw him.
He was not sassy.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
He was in total vacation mode, scott, and it was
the best version of Scottraining it was like hey, sarah,
and I was like hey, Scott, andlike Mickey would be walking by
and he was not even upset aboutthat.
No eye rolls, nothing.
That was really great.
He really did.
He was like this he enjoyed thecleanliness of the boat.
He enjoyed the drinks on theboat.
He was like these are, this isreally good.
(36:35):
He was like the food is waybetter than what I thought it
was gonna be.
Yes and so, and I do think thathaving en j'en dé that first
night, that was a I mean, it wasa Victorian-Oberts experience.
So he was our waitress, deborah.
She was unbelievable at her job, but she also has per talking
(36:57):
to her, she's worked at twoother Michelin star restaurants
in France, so she was reallygood.
But Scott said he was like youknow, elizabeth, a Caribbean
cruise being in Florida, I don'tknow if I would ever have to do
this again, but he said he'slike I can get behind an Alaska
cruise or a river cruise throughEurope but like something that
(37:18):
is just this.
I mean, I told Sarah when wewere in Nassau Scott was in the
Bahamas in April maybe May.
Scott literally was likethere's the house that we stayed
at, and so like anyway.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
So this is the same when you have access, when you
live in Florida and people inFlorida.
Often I don't wanna say likeyou can't go on a cruise if
you're from Florida.
Right, no like.
But it's just that people fromFlorida, because they live in
Florida and the access to goingto the keys or to the Bahamas,
it's a lot more cost effectivefor us to do those kinds of
(37:55):
vacations because it's closerand it's not as expensive.
And when you grow up in Florida, you like to fish, you like the
beach.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
And I think for Scott he's like okay, if I'm gonna do
a four day vacation and I wantit to be tropical, I wanna go
somewhere where I'm notrestricted, right.
But again to the point of thecruising concept, he was here
for it if it was in a scenic, asReid said, not in the middle of
(38:24):
nowhere, we're just in themiddle of nowhere right now.
Right In the middle of nowhere,right, yes, reid, for a brain
space.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
I will say, though, the other end of that thought
for me is I was talking to afriend who's trying to plan a
cruise for next year and sheasked like what the opinion was
of like doing a Disney cruisefor Alaska versus a non Disney
cruise.
And I know friends who havedone a Disney cruise for Alaska
(38:54):
several times and they love it,absolutely love it, and I
totally can see why the price ofa Disney cruise in Alaska is at
least twice as much as some ofthe nicest cruises in Alaska on
other cruise ships.
So we cruised Celebrity lastyear.
It was beautiful.
Our kids loved it.
They got one-on-one likeattention in the Kids Club.
(39:17):
The Kids Club was basically likea YMCA, but because they had
counselors in there that weregiving them all this attention
because there were not a ton ofkids, they loved it.
They stayed in there for two orthree hours.
They were fine with it.
I am a very big and I'm surethe Disney cruise in Alaska is
absolutely amazing and stunning.
I can't even imagine the levelof like customer service and
(39:41):
attention and it must bewonderful that is out of our
like price range with like goingwith 12 people to Alaska for a
Disney cruise.
So I always tell people listen,if that's like more than you
wanna spend for Alaska, a Disneycruise in the middle of nowhere
(40:02):
is great, because you're justdoing it for the ship.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Yeah and I do think that that is if you have a
Disney cruise on your bucketlist.
I think that you need to do it.
I think that you need to.
I was talking to a little oneof the little girls in Reed's
class.
Her mom asked me they havethree kids and the youngest is,
(40:27):
I think, two, and even ChristyHilligas, who has three girls
and the youngest, I mean Logan'sthree.
Now I said to both of them Isaid you need to wait until that
baby is a little bit older andthe big kids are a little bit
older, because I think that youwill be able to enjoy the price
that you're paying, because youare paying a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
You're paying a lot of money and so to do that for
Alaska, when you're getting offthe ship every single day to do
an excursion I don't know if,obviously, if you have endless
amounts of those budgets, are aproblem for you.
Yeah, do Disney.
But if you're trying to weighthe cost of like, okay, if I
want to enjoy the ship, what amI gonna do?
(41:12):
I need to pay a Disney priceand do Disney for Alaska or a
really big cruise that has lotsof port stops that I really
wanna get off the ship for mostof the day to see.
Do a really nice cruise, do acruise line that's really great
and has really good reviews andgood food, great customer
service.
But it may not have to beDisney, because you're gonna get
(41:35):
off that ship every single dayfor a lot of the day to do an
excursion, to see things andsight see versus doing the
Caribbean.
I mean, we didn't even get offthe ship in.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Nessau yeah, we did not and honestly, if we did it
again, I don't think that mykids would get off the ship to
cast to AK, and I'm not upsetabout it.
And I don't mean that in anegative about cast, but I think
that it goes back to Sarah, andI have talked about this.
You can go to Disney and stayat a resort and never leave the
resort, and that's what you haveto keep in mind with some of
(42:06):
these cruise.
With the Disney cruise, theybuild that cruise ship the way
that they build your resortswhere you if you don't wanna get
off that ship.
you are enjoying every singlesecond of the ship and the
experience of the ship, and so Ithink that that is something to
keep in mind.
Now I also wanna touch base onthe concierge.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
Yes, please, let's talk about that, and I want your
like star rating for Anshantand Palo.
Well, I'm gonna do that rightnow.
Yeah, I need those.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
Anshant was a Victoria Roberts experience and
I would give that a five starreview.
Oh my gosh, sarah was amazing.
I mean just Scott and I talkedabout this.
Her vocabulary I mean theFrench are so beautiful with
their words just her vocabularyand what if Kate Middleton was
French?
Speaker 2 (42:58):
Would you die?
I would.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
She is so perfect I have the biggest girl crush on
her, I know.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
I just Elizabeth just turned red.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
She was like I think I fell in love with her.
I think I just fell in lovewith her.
Oh my gosh, I think I wouldfall in love with her.
I it was.
So we did the preset menu andwe did the full one, so it was a
nine course meal and I thinkthat I had to be rolled out of
there.
If I recall correctly, theywere she was.
(43:31):
So the whole experience wasgreat.
It was a Victoria Robertsexperience.
If that is your forte, Iabsolutely recommend it.
Scott Brannick loved it.
Palo's, I mean, it was nice, Iknew that.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
listen, I know you all well enough to know that.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
That's what I was saying, to know.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
I said they are going to be so impressed by Anchante.
I haven't been to these places,okay, but I've just read enough
reviews and seen some likevideos of people going.
I was like they are going tolove Anchante Palo.
They're gonna be like it's fine.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
But it wasn't.
I mean, the food was great, itwas good and it was good it
wasn't.
It was our Arendelle night,right?
I'm not upset about the factthat we missed Arendelle food,
right, it shouldn't be.
Yeah, lotten picked well onthat night with his food.
Scott told me about that.
I did not.
Speaker 2 (44:23):
Yeah, I did not pick, well yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
So I think that.
So I would say Pat, so Anchantewas definitely five star review
.
I would give Palo's a 3.5.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
So what are the main differences?
Is the quality of food, theservice?
Speaker 1 (44:41):
So well, they also have a prefix menu.
We did not do that.
It is a different.
Anchante is truly a, that's a.
He is a three star Michelinchef, Chef, and he created the
menu.
Okay, and so you are dealingwith different concepts of food.
(45:01):
You're dealing with, like youknow, little trinket food, Like
I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Very small.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Well, that, and I mean they portioned it out
correctly for a nine course meal, but it's just food that you
wouldn't try, Like pigeon pie.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
pigeon pie, which did not, did not, it was Was not
good for Scott, he said.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Yeah, it was.
That is the French version of aquail.
I already do not love quail.
Whenever Scott bring some quail, I'm like we really have to eat
that tonight.
Just that Cool.
You want to wrap in bacon?
Just leave the bacon on theside for me.
So I don't love, but that isthe front.
It is, as Deborah said, this isnot pigeon from New York.
(45:42):
Amazing, that's what I was like.
Amazing, it's amazing.
But just like we had I don'teven, I don't even know the
foods that we had, but likethere was scallops and then with
the scallops there was likethis on it and just stuff that
you wouldn't normally eat orthat you would.
You definitely wouldn't get itas a dish anywhere else.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
So that, I think, is worth the price.
When you were eating food thatyou could not, truly could not,
get anywhere else.
Like I don't want to taste theFrench version of fried chicken
or the French version of fetisheating.
Like, whatever, I don't wantany of that stuff.
I want something that iscompletely different.
(46:20):
I cannot make it.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
It cannot be replicated, except having it
here.
One was a lobster and there wasa piece of lobster, and then
there was a.
They basically took a potatolike shaved it like you would a
potato chip, so they took thatand then they almost seared it.
So it was soft but it cooked.
And then they made it into ataco and then they put like a
(46:44):
lobster puree type I don't knowthe word, right, okay, in it.
So we had the piece of lobster,we had this lobster taco we're
going to call it.
And then they had thisdelicious bisque sauce that they
poured over top of it.
Like where the heck are yougoing to get that?
And also, if that's on the menu, I'm not ordering that because
(47:04):
that's a lot of rich foods toeat in a full portion, right,
but you get two bites of it andit's delicious, yes and it's
enough.
So, whereas Palo's was a steakrestaurant and I think that it
was I mean, there were a lot of,there were, I guess, italian
side of it we of course gotsteak Right.
(47:25):
So there's that, and I knowthat this is going to sound.
I'm going to sound like apsychopath, but it is hard for
me to be a scum.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
I know what you're going to say.
I know, yes, I can't yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
I mean, I think that even if that steak was at on
Chantet I would have been like Ilike scat steak better.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
And I'm not just saying that because he's my
husband.
I mean, chris Doyle says thesame thing.
Yeah, he's like well.
Speaker 2 (47:51):
I could just have scat steak.
Speaker 1 (47:53):
Yeah, it's just very good, and so, anyway, that's my,
and we have Kline.
Like Kline's meat is the samequality of meat that they were
using, right?
So, anyway, that is that's myreview on that.
So what's the next thing thatwe said?
Speaker 2 (48:09):
Well, before you jump to concierge.
While we're talking about food,I want to say a few things
about the rotational dining.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
Oh yes.
Speaker 2 (48:15):
So when you get on the ship for the wish you're
going to have 1923, which iskind of a node to when Disney
was first created.
1923 was that's why it's 100years Disney this year, so it's
a lot of kind of classic food.
Speaker 1 (48:35):
Look at that math she just did.
I know I can do math.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
I know Public school education right here, so it's a
lot of classic food but there'snot a lot of intellectual
property or anything going on atthat restaurant.
Then you've got Arundel andthen Worlds of Marvel.
Arundel and Worlds of Marvel.
(48:59):
It's for the kids, it's fun,it's an experience.
It's an experience.
It's for the kid at heart.
The food is not that great ateither place.
Arundel is better than Worldsof Marvel.
I just did not pick well atArundel because I had a lot of
things kind of going on at thetable.
Speaker 1 (49:17):
But was it the woman singing?
Because she was absolutelyunbelievable and I was literally
like I think that I also have agirl crush on you because you
are so good.
Speaker 2 (49:27):
Yes, the entertainment for Arundel is
great.
Speaker 1 (49:31):
Very good it's wonderful Top notch.
Speaker 2 (49:32):
Yes, I would have just gotten a grilled cheese and
fries and watched that and beenhappy to let go and do that for
one of the dining nights.
This is my one thing that I wasfrustrated about with the whole
rotational dining thing.
They also have Pirate Night onthe second night.
Oh yeah, you don't know whenPirate Night is going to be.
Speaker 1 (49:53):
No, you know when Pirate Night is going to be.
You don't know where you'redining.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
You don't know where your dining is.
That's right.
You know it's on the secondnight, so it's all kinds of
layers mixed into it, because wewere also on the Maritime
Cruise, so there was alsoMinnie's Holiday Party instead
of like the Pirate Parley kindof early party that's for the
kids, because they have a PirateParty at night where they do
(50:16):
the fireworks at 10 o'clock atnight but then they also earlier
in the evening before yourdinner.
Usually you have this otherkind of pirate party that they
can do on the deck and they havesomething in the atrium, I
think as well.
Well, for our cruise they hadMinnie's Holiday Party, so they
had Holiday Pirate and then alsowhatever dining experience
you're doing, and if you areunlucky like us and you have
(50:39):
Arendelle that night and youhave a child who was
specifically brought an Annadress to wear to the, you are
conflicted and I knew this wouldhappen.
She's talking about herself.
She brought the Anna dress.
Me, yes, me, I did.
Chambers brought the Anna dress.
She knew that Anna at Arendellewas wearing the same exact
dress, so she wanted to bring itshe wanted to wear it, she
(51:00):
brought it.
But she, the worst thing thatcould happen, she said, is that
Pirate Night is the same nightand Pirate Night was the same
night.
So I said, listen, I told youthat this could happen.
You just need to be flexibleand we'll bring your pirate
stuff like to the restaurant andchange, or we'll go back
upstairs, whatever.
So that's the only thing thatwas like a little bit like.
(51:21):
I was kind of like make up yourmind, disney.
Like yeah, it was too much.
Like do do something.
They did try to do.
Speaker 1 (51:26):
They did try to do too much.
And even the Pirate Party samebreed I was like so we did the
Minnie's Christmas Party andthen I think the Pirate Party
was at 1030.
And, to be clear, we told ourkids that it was the Minnie
Party, was the Pirate Party, andBreed was content with that
because he did the Macarena, yes, and it was fine.
(51:47):
But he was like where thefireworks?
And I was like you don't seehim, they're right there.
Speaker 2 (51:51):
They're right there.
Speaker 1 (51:53):
That's dumb, it was.
That was too much for Disney todo.
Yes, concierge, concierge.
So let me start by saying if wewere on a longer cruise, we
would have done Concierge, noquestion about it.
So their rooms were pretty muchthe same that ours were.
(52:13):
I think that they had aking-size bed, which, in my
opinion, is worth whatever cost.
They had a king-size bed, butother than that, the rooms were
the same size, maybe a littlebit bigger.
They had a Concierge lounge, soin the morning they served
breakfast there, and it's acondensed amount of people.
(52:34):
So, whereas we went toMarcelino's Market or whatever,
it was called.
They just had this nice spacewhere they went and had
breakfast, and then they had awhole pool area, they had a bar,
they had whatever we had accessto outside of the Concierge
(52:55):
Club.
They had it there in thecondensed space and then they
could go get whatever theywanted.
If you wanted a hot dog fromGoofy's Grill, they would go get
it for you.
And so it was nice for my dadand Ms Val to have that space
right there by their room,because I think that the
Marcelino's Market experiencewould have been very
(53:17):
overwhelming for them in themorning time and, like I said,
it's right there and they werethere to.
You are paying for it and Disneyknows it, and Disney is there
to accommodate any andeverything that you need.
But, like I said, if we weregoing on a longer cruise we
(53:41):
would have paid for thatexperience.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
I totally understand.
There are people that are likeif they're going to do something
like that, if you're alreadygoing to pay the Disney price.
They're like we're just goingto save longer and wait so we
can do this at this levelbecause to pay the Disney price
and some people they don't mindit.
The Marcelino's Market we lovedthe food.
(54:07):
We thought it was fun.
It is harder to link up with ifyou have a big party like we
had 12 people so it was notsuper easy to always find each
other in the morning.
Speaker 1 (54:19):
But that was OK.
It can be overwhelming.
Speaker 2 (54:21):
There's a lot of people all there at 8.30 in the
morning, but I totallyunderstand why people would say
you know what?
We're going to wait two yearsextra so we can save up to do
the concierge, because theexperience is that much
different.
Speaker 1 (54:37):
And that is what I did, say that and if you have
people in your party like ScottBrannick or my dad who prefer,
like, if we're going on a trip,they want a very nice experience
Like whereas I would have beenfine, honestly, just like eating
at Marcelino's Market the wholetime.
(54:58):
Scott wants a differentexperience when he travels and
I'm OK with that.
It would have been worth it forme for him to have that if we
would have gone.
I told Christie that the samething, because David would have
wanted that same experience.
And I said if you all go, youneed to do the five day and you
all need to do concierge.
Yeah it just if that is whatyou, if that is what you desire
(55:23):
when you travel, it is worth it.
Speaker 2 (55:25):
If you don't like the hustle and bustle.
That's why people don't likeDisney a lot of times.
Speaker 1 (55:29):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (55:30):
Because, like Lawton loves to not have a bunch of
people and so his preferred tripis not Disney.
Like we are gonna go to themountains, we are gonna like, if
he could do Alaska every otheryear, that same cruise we did,
that's what he would do.
It was nice, the food wasreally good, it was very exotic,
(55:54):
I guess, seeing something new.
But the hustle and bustle ofDisney does not do it for him,
and so he'll do it, because Ireally love Disney and I really
like to do it.
Speaker 1 (56:07):
But that's a good way to put it the hustle and bustle
.
Speaker 2 (56:10):
Yeah, you have to like he would much rather have
like a slower pace, somethingreally fun to do, active, but
not have the rush, I guess, andthe peopely experience.
That's what I feel like you'repaying for.
Speaker 1 (56:26):
It's like paying for a VIP experience at Disney.
If you have gone to DisneyWorld and you've utilized the
VIP services, it's take thatconcept and apply it over four
day cruise.
Speaker 2 (56:37):
That's what you're doing, yes, you don't have the
peopely aspect and you are goingto have better access to
getting the things that you'rewanting to eat.
Speaker 1 (56:46):
wanting to do so that I totally understand and it
limits your to your point, itlimits your crowd and it limits
the quality of the crowd, right?
So if, like for my dad and MsVal, if they don't want to be
around a bunch of screamingchildren, they're probably not
going to be a lot of screamingchildren at the concierge pool.
Speaker 2 (57:03):
And that's okay.
Yes, yes, I did run into yourdad after he got off the Aqua
Mouse.
Speaker 1 (57:08):
He's all, this guy.
Speaker 2 (57:10):
And I was like so what's the deal?
Do they have a lightning laneor what?
Oh my gosh, he said the wholetime he's like.
He was like how do I want totalk about it?
Speaker 1 (57:21):
He kept making comments about anytime he'd pass
a cabin that had a DVC likeDisney Vacation Club, whatever,
and that the cruise lineobviously put on it.
Yes, he's like oh, we're justgoing to point them out, we're
just going to point these peopleout.
Oh, my word, what's wrong withyou?
So funny?
He's such a grumpy.
All right, this was great.
Speaker 2 (57:44):
I know.
Speaker 1 (57:45):
I really again, again , again, again.
This would have not been anenjoyable experience without
Nicole oh my gosh I do not want.
And this I was a travel agent.
Yes, now Wish was being builtwhen I was still a travel agent
but, Nicole just gave us thatupper hand of just silly
questions, right, like I thoughtthat our reservation was at
(58:07):
this time, it's now saying thistime.
And then her explaining it to usand not having to deal with
customer service.
Right, just a 10 out of 10recommend If you're not going to
use Nicole, use someone.
Speaker 2 (58:19):
Yes, Use someone, use a travel agent.
We planned our cruise kind oflast minute and so we got that
8.15 dining.
Oh you did.
Yes, we got seated for that,but Nicole put us in.
That's why you did the privatemeeting.
Well, no, so we got that.
Speaker 1 (58:36):
that was what we initially had oh, that's right,
and then you got bumped down.
Speaker 2 (58:40):
They bumped us down because the customer, the guest
services was so great.
I told them that my stepdadbasically wouldn't be awake at
8.15 for a dinner.
We would just have to only eatat Marceline Market for dinner
every day for him because hegoes to bed early, he's
handicapped, he has diabetes,there's a lot going on and so I
(59:01):
know it's 12 people.
I mean Simone from Italy.
He was the matriot D for ourkind of shift in our area.
He put tables together and madeit happen for us to be at the
5.45.
It was wonderful and there werea lot of people who couldn't get
that 5.45.
They had little kids and theydidn't want to do 8.15, and they
(59:25):
really prioritized our familybecause of my stepdad, not
because of having little kids,which I totally understand, it
being very inconvenient forlittle kids to eat at 8.15.
I totally get that.
But he prioritized my dadbecause of medical purposes,
which was amazing that they didthat.
But when you have customerservice like that guest services
(59:50):
and then you have travel agentsworking with them, it really
does do everything for you tojust allow for a much better
experience much better.
Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
Yeah, I was not stressed going into it and I was
not stressed coming home.
Speaker 2 (01:00:04):
No, and let us stress that stress, let us say
abundantly clear that there areonly complaints with the things
that we're talking about, otherthan the food.
I do have complaints about thefood.
It's just that it was so funand so amazing that it wasn't
long enough.
Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
Again, it's like going to dinner and it's a great
meal, but you're not full, youleave still hungry.
That was it, and I think thatif we had done the five day or
had the day at sea, I think thatwe would have left content.
Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
Yes, very much, Very much so.
Wesleyan and I walked around onthat last night and stayed up
to 11 or 11.30 just because wewere so like we don't want to
leave.
Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
So Sarah can do that.
Meanwhile I was like prying tokeep my eyes open.
I just can't.
Neither can my kids.
We were struggling.
When we picked them up afterdinner I was like, ok, I got to
go to bed.
Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
I know we were.
The other kids were very tired,but Wesleyan, I could just see
it in her eyes.
She's just that almostindependent kind of kid but
really just wanted to walkaround a little longer and just
soak it in, and so.
Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
I love that about her in the moment.
Speaker 2 (01:01:16):
I know.
So that is just.
It was wonderful.
It just needed to be longer,yeah, so all right.
All right.
Well, our next episode is goingto be with the kids.
They're going to have somereviews for everybody.
God bless America and it isgoing to be our last episode.
Wait for real.
Yeah, it's going to be our lastepisode.
Speaker 1 (01:01:36):
Wait, is that what you were texting me when Ashley
was saying?
Yeah, I did not pay attentionto that.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
It's going to be our last one, guys.
We're busy, ladies.
Speaker 1 (01:01:45):
We may like do one or two.
Speaker 2 (01:01:46):
Maybe one or two every once in a while, just
don't be used to like a regs.
Yeah, so we're just calling itmore like this is probably our
last, one of our last ones.
Speaker 1 (01:01:55):
Unless I run a marathon.
Unless you run a marathon.
Speaker 2 (01:01:58):
And unless somehow people start like telling us we
have to do it, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:02:03):
Even though I don't tell anyone what to do.
And not Taylor Day, taylor Day,we're not listening to you, I
love.
Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
Taylor, I love her.
All right, guys, we'll see youon next episode with the kids.
Thanks, bye, bye, ok.
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