Welcome Aboard And Big Expectations

Intro 0:03

Please stand clear of the doors. Please stand clear of the doors. Because this hear's the wildest ride in the wilderness.

Alicea 0:24

Hello everyone, I'm Alicea.

Nathan 0:26

I'm Nathan.

Amy 0:27

And I'm Amy.

Alicea 0:28

Welcome to episode 227 of Adventures and Mouse Capades.

Nathan 0:33

This week we're sailing headfirst into Amy's Destiny. And no, that's not a rom com, it's our guest's cruise on the newest Disney Cruise Line ship during the absolute chaos that is spring break. We're talking villains with main character energy, brand new restaurants, deck parties, fireworks, and what it's really like to navigate a shiny new ship when everyone else had the same idea. So grab a drink, prepare your judgment, and let's find out whether the Disney Destiny is pixied or just really crowded magic. And with that, welcome, Amy.

Amy 1:10

Thank you guys. I'm excited to be back.

Nathan 1:13

Yeah, it's great to have you back.

Meet Amy And Her Cruise Crew

Alicea 1:14

All right. Before we start projecting ourselves onto your vacation, uh, who was in your sailing party?

Amy 1:21

It was uh myself, my husband Matt, and our son Charles.

Nathan 1:25

Awesome. How old is your son?

Amy 1:27

He's five now.

Nathan 1:28

Oh, perfect. Oh, it's starting to get the real magic to happen on a Disney trip.

Amy 1:34

Yes, it's so much fun. And he's like the perfect Marvel superhero. Like he's really into all of that. So that was a big part of why we chose the boat, and it was the perfect fit.

Nathan 1:45

This is the right ship for for him for sure, then.

Alicea 1:49

All right, so let's remind people are you a first-time cruiser or Disney cruise line vet?

Amy 1:54

I am a proud Disney cruise line vet. I believe this was our fourth sailing. And you know, my I'm quickly like trying to make my way through the rest of the fleet. That's as much as my husband will allow our credit card to uh to charge it out. Um yeah, so we were happy to be back on a Disney ship for spring break.

Nathan 2:15

Awesome. Yeah, we have the we have the same problem. It's uh it's an addiction. And uh hi, I'm Nathan, and I have a problem.

Alicea 2:23

It's not a problem.

Nathan 2:24

It's not a problem. Thank you.

Amy 2:25

It's not a problem.

Nathan 2:26

Yeah, my problem is my wife is an enabler.

Alicea 2:28

Yeah, whoops. What uh what other ships have you been on?

Amy 2:35

So we were on the Magic last spring break, and we were on the Wonder to Alaska last summer. And then our first ship was the Wish. That was, I guess, a little over a year and a half, two years ago now.

Itinerary Picks: Cozumel And Castaway

Nathan 2:48

Nice, nice. So, what was the itinerary that you were on? How long was the sailing and where did you go?

Amy 2:55

So we did a five-night sailing this time, and we stopped in, I believe it was Cozumel. Uh, we did not get off the boat, but um we stopped in Cozumel and then Castaway Cay. And that was um Castaway Cay, excuse me. Always do that. Um and uh that was really like the the reason that we had booked this itinerary was because we wanted to go back to Castaway, and that was such a great memory from the first trip that we took on Disney Cruise Line.

Nathan 3:25

Yeah, Castaway is it is many people's happy place for sure.

Amy 3:30

Oh yes, it was and it did not disappoint. Um, even though we had a bad weather day, it was still this shining star of our vacations.

Nathan 3:39

Excellent.

Alicea 3:40

All right, on a scale of pixie dust to I need a nap, how excited were you boarding?

Amy 3:47

Oh my gosh. Uh pixie dust for sure. Excited for the boarding. Um, we had a early port arrival time. We, you know, were able to get on the ship pretty early, and I was so excited to be back on a wish class ship and see everything, you know, all especially all of the Marvel stuff. We were, you know, we're not like Marvel people necessarily, like we're not deep into it, but given that my son is so into you know the superhero thing, like we were we were all like beaming glitter to get on this boat. So really excited.

Veranda Stateroom Wins And Fireworks

Nathan 4:24

All right, let's do a little stateroom snooping because you know this matters. Tell about your floating home for those five nights. What uh what room did you book? Or what kind of room?

Amy 4:36

We booked a family veranda, I believe is what it's called, a veranda state room.

Nathan 4:41

Okay.

Amy 4:41

Um, and uh, so we were really happy after being on an inside state room the summer. We were back in a balcony this time and really happy that we made that choice, especially on the newer ship. It was super spacious. You know, it's hard to beat having a double bathroom. And it was um, there was so much storage space, I feel like more than I remembered being on some of the other ships. Um, so we have plenty of space for the three of us, and it was just beautiful. I think our room was Hercules themed, if I remember correctly, which was I was kind of hoping for big Hercules fan. And yeah, it was just beautiful.

Nathan 5:23

Awesome. Would you do that again? Would you upgrade maybe sometime in the future?

Amy 5:28

Oh, I would love to upgrade. I mean, twists my arm, right? Like I think one day if we could sell concierge, that would certainly be goals, um, hashtag goals. But uh, we really love a veranda stateroom. And you know, in fact, we've we've booked that again for an upcoming sailing. And so we we love being able to just step out on the balcony, right, and um watch the fireworks. We actually had a perfect view from our stateroom this time, which was a fun little surprise. I've never had that happen before. Um, where we weren't out on the deck, my son was already passed out, but we were in the room and we heard everything going off. And I'm like, oh my god, I think that's the fireworks. So we stepped out and we just had like the front row seat. It was magical. It was so great.

Nathan 6:14

That's awesome. Yeah, those uh those those special little pieces of pixie dust and magic are are pretty pretty amazing, especially when you don't uh don't expect it. And so you were on the starboard side of the ship, because that's that's where

Amy 6:27

must have been yes. We were on deck seven.

Nathan 6:30

Okay.

Amy 6:31

Um, and surprisingly close to the elevators, but didn't we didn't hear anything? It didn't really bother us. In fact, it was kind of a benefit because we were able to get up and down to wherever we needed to get to pretty quickly.

Nathan 6:45

Yeah, we we ended up doing this is years ago now, we ended up doing an in port upgrade to uh concierge one bedroom on the Disney Wonder. Now, this was back in 2013 before they had the concierge lounge and everything. So it was a very different experience from concierge back then. But the room that we got was literally right at the elevator lobby, like the the door opens up into the elevator lobby right there.

Alicea 7:13

We were worried about that.

Nathan 7:14

Yeah, we were worried about it, and it was uh 8080 for those of you who are wondering on the on the Disney Wonder pun intended. Um and we never heard a peek the whole cruise. Uh it was fantastic. The those rooms do a very good job of insulating you from uh from what could potentially be a rather loud experience there in the elevator lobby.

Alicea 7:40

From elevator noise. Now uh kids can be rather loud and adults can be sometimes too when they're walking by. So sometimes you hear still hear that.

Nathan 7:48

Very true But if you're on whatever deck on whatever ship that's right below the main deck, you're going to hear more noise from deck chairs being moved around than you will from the hallways. Yep.

Sea Days And Uncharted Adventure

Amy 8:03

Absolutely. I totally believe that.

Alicea 8:05

All right. You you mentioned that you hit Cosumel and Castaway. Did um I'm assuming there were a couple of Sea Days as well in there, too.

Amy 8:14

Yes. We had several sea Days kind of built in, which we love a sea Day. So that was that was an appeal for me.

Nathan 8:23

So well, especially on the newer ships, because there's lots to do on the wish class ships.

Amy 8:29

Yes.

Alicea 8:30

Did you feel that Destiny felt more like a ship that you enjoy while you're at sea rather than needing to go to ports?

Amy 8:37

I would agree, yes. I I think that there was so much to do that you really could have been entertained like without ever stepping foot off of the boat and um between all the things there were to do on the pool deck, and there was a lot of um, you know, they had a lot of the interactive picture frames. I'm not sure what to call them, but they were the ones with the Disney band that interact with you. And

Nathan 9:04

yeah.

Alicea 9:04

It was was it the game? I forget what it's called.

Amy 9:07

The Yes, it what hold on. What is this called?

Alicea 9:10

Something to do with adventure, isn't it? Uncharted Adventure.

Amy 9:12

Uncharted Adventure. Yes, yes, that's right. It was Uncharted Adventure.

Nathan 9:17

Disney really needs to pick some new words to describe things on the ships.

Amy 9:21

Adventure, adventure, adventure.

Nathan 9:22

Adventure. Adventure is the word de jour right now. Yes. Um, I believe that they are just using adventure way too much. I wonder if they could find some new magic by creating and using something else. I really wish they would. That would really be a treasure.

Alicea 9:37

It's just a fantasy at this point.

Amy 9:38

I see what you did there. It's a fantasy. I love it.

Nathan 9:42

You telling me to stop dreaming, Alicea.

Amy 9:46

You guys are good.

Alicea 9:47

That was so funny. It was bad.

Nathan 9:50

Yep. Yep.

Amy 9:51

I see what you did there.

Nathan 9:54

So what was your well, you I think I know the answer to this question because I was we were gonna ask what uh, you know, what was your favorite stop, or was there some I wish I would have stayed on the ship time? It sounds like your favorite stop was Castaway, and you did stay on the ship there in Cozumel.

Amy 10:10

We did, yes. Um, given uh the unrest and things going on right now, we opted to stay on the ship, and that was probably the right decision for us uh as a family, right? Like we our table mates got off in Cozumel and they were, you know, they had a great time, good for them, right? But we, you know, we part of the reason we spend more on a Disney vacation is we want to enjoy the ship and the Disney stuff when we're there, and so you know, we felt like that was perfect for us and we got to do that. And so but yes, Cozumel, um not Cozumel, I'm sorry, Castaway was most definitely like our our shining star and what we were looking forward to the most.

Nathan 10:49

Have you been to Cozumel before?

Amy 10:52

Yes, many times. Uh living in Texas, it's you know, our family neighbor to the south. And so I, you know, I kind of felt like been there done that.

Nathan 11:02

Yeah. No, that's

Amy 11:03

given that we left from Florida, though. I know a lot of people haven't probably been. And so, you know, I was like, I'm all set. Yeah, no, y'all go enjoy the señor frogs and all that you want.

Alicea 11:17

We've never been to a señor frog's.

Nathan 11:20

No.

Amy 11:20

Oh my gosh.

Alicea 11:22

Nope.

Nathan 11:22

Uh we have been to Welcome to Miami in Cozumel, though, and not the one that they've recently built that's there in the middle of downtown. I'm talking the one on the far side of the island, like down by the the the southern end.

Alicea 11:33

It's a locals bar. It is a it's a dive. It's a hole in the wall. Well, it's not even a hole in the wall, it's just in the middle of nothing. So just beautiful ocean right around you.

Nathan 11:44

It was the perfect lead-in to the pandemic because this was our cruise in March of 2020. Yeah, and it was pretty much the last stop we had. We did hit uh Grand Cayman, um, but the literally the dump was on fire. And so it was a it was an interesting experience there. Uh, most people didn't get off the ship, but um yeah because the dump was on fire and literally the dump was on fire.

Amy 12:12

Oh my god.

Nathan 12:13

Yeah, yeah. That was that was a sign right there.

Amy 12:16

Yeah, that that it was a literal dumpster fire. Yeah.

Alicea 12:20

Yes. Very apropos state of the world dumpster fire. Yes. Yeah. So um, Castaway, what did you guys do? Did you just did you just stake a spot out at the family beach or what happened there?

Amy 12:34

We did. We did. We uh got off as early as we could and headed to the beach to enjoy the day. We were very lucky that it didn't rain for the majority of the day because it was supposed to, and so it was overcast, but it was still very nice. Um nobody got burned, which was lovely.

Alicea 12:54

Always a plus

Amy 12:56

benefit there for sure. And we just made a family beach day of it. We um, you know, bought our one and only souvenir from the shop at Castaway Key, which was our sand toys, and um, you know, we spent the day making sand castles and collecting shells and doing all the beach things, which was great. And then we had a beautiful lunch at cookies, and man, the food was just very consistent. It's you know, never disappoints, always really, really good. Yeah, they also had the banana soft serve, which is my personal favorite because I like to mix it with the chocolate soft serve. Yes, to get a little chocolate and banana uber delicious treat. Um, and so yeah, that was it's so silly to see me like my beach day highlight was my chocolate and banana ice cream on the beach, but you know, to each their own. You you know, it's the little things, guys.

Alicea 13:52

Yes.

Nathan 13:53

Banana soft serve would get me to go have a soft serve. I love soft serve ice cream. I just ended up I end up never having it on the ships because I I just don't because usually I go to a bar and grab an old-fashioned, it's just different.

Alicea 14:07

Yeah, they had it, they had it on the magic last time we were on the magic. I know, and I I doubled it up with the chocolate because the banana and chocolate combo is just one of one of my favorites.

Nathan 14:17

All right. My ask to you, Alicea, is next time you see banana soft serve, let me know. And I I need to go get one. Okay. All right.

Amy 14:24

You must. Keep an eye out right in June.

Nathan 14:27

Yes.

Shows Spotlight: Hercules Hype Check

Amy 14:28

Uh Chef's Kiss. It is the best.

Nathan 14:32

All right. Let's move on. Let's talk entertainment because this is where the Disney Destiny really came to flex. You've got Seas the Adventure and Hercules, which is a brand new show.

Alicea 14:45

There's one more, and I, for the life of me, I couldn't remember what it was. What's the third show that they had?

Amy 14:50

We had Frozen. Frozen hailing. I don't know if that's normally what's on or not.

Nathan 14:55

It is. It is. Okay, so Seize the Adventure. What did you think? Uh, this is kind of one of those standard Disney jukebox shows where or a montage show. Had you seen it before?

Alicea 15:07

I don't have you seen this one, Nathan.

Nathan 15:09

It's I have. Has it been recent? No.

Alicea 15:13

Okay.

Nathan 15:13

It has lots of characters and lots of songs. It's a potpourri. Okay.

Alicea 15:17

But it has a story.

Nathan 15:18

Yes, it's a story.

Amy 15:19

Potpourri of Disney characters, if you will. Yes, I love it. Um, it was we saw it on The Wish the very first time we sailed. And so it's it's a crowd favorite, you know, it hits it checks all the boxes and a really fun way to start the cruise, I think, personally.

Nathan 15:38

Yeah.

Amy 15:38

Um, because you know, you have all those traditional Disney favorites, and the, like you said, the jukebox musical of it all, and it kind of gets you in the mood. And yeah, that was wonderful. And then the really big hit though for us was Hercules.

Nathan 15:53

Yeah.

Spring Break Crowds And Service Strain

Amy 15:54

And it did not disappoint. I was so excited to see the show just because of all the hype and kind of seeing some of the the content before going into the ship. I will say though, oh my god, a spring break sailing, you guys is like I'll come back. I'll come back to Hercules in just a second because it really deserves its own like little, you know, moment. But oh my god. I don't know what I was thinking booking um a spring break sailing. I was thinking what every other mom in America was thinking on a brand new ship, no doubt, you know, and everybody forgot to pack their patient pants in their luggage, and so um it was like rope drop culture everywhere you went, which was a little bit frustrating because you know, we were there to enjoy and kind of I think that's one of the wonderful things about a Disney ship is you can walk around and you have these like organic moments and you run into things and you can kind of discover, and every little thing was obnoxious with the line waiting. Dr. Facilier I mean, every single time that was open, the line was an hour and 45 minutes. Wow. I mean, easily. Okay. We waited, so I really wanted to see Hercules, and we had had an experience a couple days before in this in the ship where we um they actually were showing hoppers on our ship, and we wanted to go and see it, and we were not able to go because people were saving seats with produce and jackets, and I mean, I kid you not, it was creative the way that people got you know into their say seat-saving um, you know, era or whatever you want to call it, but we were not able to go and do a lot of different things because people were saving so many seats and kind of that I feel like the the cast was not doing a very good job of kind of policing that. And to be fair, the boat was completely full.

Nathan 18:10

Yeah.

Amy 18:11

And I don't think they had planned for that either. And so we and I also think there was a new cast, so like okay, we uh or you know, whole new uh whole new staff on this boat because when we went to I guess it was Alaska, we had this really amazing. Sorry, I'm I'm hopping around a little bit here. We had this amazing waiter, and he was like, I'm going to the destiny. And we said, Okay, great, we'll be there in March. We hope we'll see you, we'll request you. And he said, Well, actually, I'm transitioning, like my contract ends right before you guys get on the ship. And you could tell that everybody on this boat was like in a panic. There, the look of panic on these poor people's faces were like, Oh my god, this boat is full. What are we gonna do? Like, this is more full than Christmas and their inaugural sailings. We had heard that from multiple people.

Nathan 19:04

Well, they often limit those first, you know, a month or so uh for capacity just to accommodate for everybody to ramp up. And those fo you know, a typical contract for a lot of the crew, entertainment, I think, is usually around like five or six months. But you got to remember their five or six months started before the ship, you know, even had passengers on it. They were helping to install the show and do runs and you know iron out all of those uh issues that that may come up from a brand new space. And so and the same thing goes with you know the housekeeping and uh the the servers and the the cook staff. So um yeah, like the the maiden voyage crew really only has maybe three months, maybe four, depending on contract length, of of being with you know the ship. So it is interesting. Now they do a decent job of not making sure the whole ship turns over at the same time. Things are staggered,

Alicea 20:15

supposedly,

Nathan 20:16

in theory, but you could have a hundred or uh maybe maybe a couple hundred churn out of thousand or twelve hundred staff in a given sailing. So it it

Amy 20:28

I believe it.

Nathan 20:29

And a lot of those folks maybe hadn't been there on Christmas and again limited capacity, and they're going, oh no, we we actually have 4,000 people this time in Rutrow.

Amy 20:41

Yes, Rut Row, indeed. Um, there was probably a third of the cast members that we saw that had like their um earning my mouse ears kind of like tags and everything too, which I had not really seen before. And and I will tell you guys, like I it was disappointing because we've had such an amazing, consistent, like over-the-top experience on every Disney ship. And this this is a hot take, but like it felt like Royal Caribbean service on a Disney ship, and it was very disappointing for what we paid.

Nathan 21:20

This is DCL's problem right now in going from four ships to 13. Yeah. And you and we just had you're in the middle of the adventure launching at the same time. And so they've they've pulled some people over uh to Singapore to and and that's a big crew. That's like I wanna say 2,000 versus you know, like 1200 or something like that.

Alicea 21:46

I think it may even be more than that.

Nathan 21:48

Maybe that yeah. So this is the biggest thing that I was concerned about when Disney said that they were gonna expand. I was like, oh man, we're gonna we saw this when the Wish launched and At the same time as they were coming, you know, trying to ramp back up from uh from uh the COVID. The COVID, yeah. And it it will unfortunately it's going to take a year or so for training to happen, for people to feel comfortable, and for the hiring pipeline to catch up with the need and finding the right talent.

Alicea 22:26

And yeah, and it it is difficult with when you have that many crew cast members still earning their ears because they're still feeling out the waters. They don't know the routine of everything. I don't know how I don't know how long cast members earn their ears for.

Nathan 22:44

I'm not sure on the cruises. Yeah.

Alicea 22:46

Yeah. Um, but yeah, that that makes a big big difference. That it really does. Yeah.

Amy 22:54

It it does. And and so to go back to the Hercules of it all, yes, that cast I also anticipate were new. Because so anyway, we lined up an hour before, so we made sure we got a good seat. That was fine.

Nathan 23:12

I hate rope drop culture. I hate rope drop culture. I hate what rope drop culture. Okay, go on.

Amy 23:17

Yeah, mind you, I was there rope dropping with everybody else. So you know, I can't complain, but I was like, listen, if you're getting a seat, I'm getting a seat. Dang it.

Nathan 23:25

Yeah, I I I mean, if game's being played, you kind of have to play the game, but it's just uh I wish that wasn't the game. Anyhow, I'm sorry to interrupt.

Amy 23:35

I know, but yeah, I fully come fully um co-signed that perspective. Um, so anyway, we're there. The show starts. It was everything I I had hoped and expected it to be. The muses were the true stars of the show, like the muses and Megara were really, I mean, the most spectacular performers I've probably seen, even and I would put that up against a Broadway show. They were just unbelievable.

Nathan 24:04

That's awesome.

Amy 24:05

Where I could tell they were new is that the timing, from what I understand in a show, the timing with the lights is very coordinated on a ship with the cast. And the poor cast spent about half of the show in the dark. Oh, because they had not figured out the light timing just yet or whatever. And they were just going with the flow and they were, you know, singing their hearts out, and you know, huncules, hercules, you know, it was wonderful. And I was just, you know, jamming out with them, enjoying my enjoying my whole experience. But it was sad because I knew what it was supposed to be.

Nathan 24:46

Yeah.

Amy 24:46

And that they just couldn't, they didn't have it together. And I'm sure the people who are not hardcore Disney nerds like me about DCL stuff probably didn't even notice. They're like, oh, that's weird. The lights aren't fully synced, but you know.

Nathan 25:00

That makes me feel like it was either a new operator on the desk, or they were having issues with the pre-programmed light queues, and they were having to manually run the show. And we're just struggling to keep up with the pace of the show. Um, yeah.

Amy 25:21

It could be. The singers seemed like they were having, you know, at least Hercules seemed like he was having a hard time staying on the beat. And my husband is a musician, so we're like, uh, you know, sitting there like on the beat, bro.

Alicea 25:36

You notice, you notice, you do.

Amy 25:37

You notice, exactly, exactly. So, you know, like I said, every to everyone else, it was probably like, whatever, this is the most amazing show. And it was. But they were working out the kinks.

Alicea 25:50

When we were on the wish, I think the second time, um, when we were at the Little Mermaid show, we sat right next to um the I forget what it's called, the control panel. Yeah, the board, the soundboard, and all that stuff. And that was just uh really interesting to watch because there's so many things that they have to do on that board to make everything line up. Yeah. And it's actually that's a really good spot to sit to because you get a great view of everything.

Nathan 26:19

Well, you get a great view, and if you want to hear the best audio mix of a show that's right next to the guy where there's actually mixing it, because the there's there's the perfect spot to be.

Alicea 26:31

Uh, did you see frozen as well?

Amy 26:33

Uh we skipped frozen just because we did have a chance to see it on the last ship. And I wanted to give my seats to somebody who, you know, was waiting in line like me the day before. So we opted to let someone take that.

Nathan 26:48

Amy, you decided to let it go. That's good job.

Amy 26:53

I did.

Nathan 26:56

Oh, I pre-ap. No, I'm not gonna apologize. I'm gonna own that way.

Amy 27:00

Yes, I can't. That seat never bothered me anyway.

Pirate Night From The Periphery

Nathan 27:03

Um well played. All right. Deck parties, nighttime stuff. Did you dance? Did you watch from a distance with a beverage? What's what's your go-to mode?

Amy 27:15

We watched from a distance with a beverage. And that was great for us. So we are more like the pirate on the periphery people.

Nathan 27:24

Yeah. Which deck parties were you able to uh make it to?

Amy 27:29

Uh just the pirate party. Okay. Yeah, just on and like I said, we're on the periphery.

Nathan 27:33

So got it. Was it the character uh uh party, the kind of like early evening one that's more kids friendly? Okay, got it. Yeah. Oh, that's right, because you were in the in your room for the the fireworks. So that's right. That makes sense. And that makes sense with the five-year-old.

Alicea 27:46

Yes, yeah. Yes, when when he gets a little older, next time you're on a wish class ship, I highly recommend the later show, the rockin' the pirates rockin' parlay party. Yes, it's really fun. It's really fun.

Nathan 28:00

It's very good. And uh for your musician husband, Alicea and I are musicians as well. The it's a live band doing like covers of stuff. And the live band is playing the soundtrack for the fireworks. And from a technical talking about like making sure things are coordinated, like every time I see that show, I'm like, okay, this is a like there is a click track, these guys are on it, and it just it's so well done.

Alicea 28:29

It's very well done.

Nathan 28:30

It's very, very cool.

Amy 28:32

Oh, I can't wait. I'll have to watch for that. That's exciting. Yeah.

Nathan 28:35

Yeah. The more live music, the more live entertainment, the better. Yeah. Just agreed. No matter where. No matter where.

Villains And Organic Character Moments

Alicea 28:43

On to character chaos, the the villains mostly right here, because that's what we're here for.

Amy 28:49

Yeah.

Alicea 28:50

Um, now you did mention that the line for Dr. Facilier was like ridiculous. Did you did you get to see him at all? Or was it just like, mm-hmm, I'm not waiting in that line?

Amy 29:00

Well, I got to see him step out of his parlor and take a picture because we were just hanging out in the hallway. And I'm like, hey, this was good enough for me. I mean, I'll take it.

Nathan 29:10

Yeah.

Amy 29:11

That counts, right? Yeah. And so uh we did not get to visit with him in the parlor, but we had plenty of other character experiences that we did get to go to. And so one of uh the coolest, well, I thought what was really cool in general is how they would have these organic experiences in the grand hall just randomly throughout each day, yeah, where the lights and the big chandelier would start going off, and the whole um grand entrance would turn a different color, and then somebody would show up, and then that was that, right? And that was pretty cool of like, ooh, who's it gonna be? And so we got to see that at least once with Maleficent. That was pretty cool. We got to see at least once with Loki. We also took my son, I forget what it's called, but it was basically like a superhero experience where they get to alongside, I think Zaya and Gamble had a little bit of interaction with this, but Spider-Man was basically teaching the kids how to be, you know, Spider-Man.

Nathan 30:16

Yeah.

Amy 30:17

And to do the pose and the superhero pose, and everybody really loved that. And my son was no exception. And I felt like that was light on the Zaya and Gamble, heavier on the superhero, and that was perfect for the kids.

Nathan 30:30

Yeah.

Amy 30:31

He also had uh an interaction with Loki where Loki came down the big stairs, and you know, they kind of faced off a little bit, and they got really close. And, you know, I mean, they were right in there with all of us and all of the kids, and I was shocked at how close we were able to get and have that interaction with the characters, which I thought was different than some of the other ships that we've been on, and that was pretty cool.

Nathan 30:55

Yeah. I I that I think that is all about Disney leaning into a more intentional and engaging experience that does feel more organic. I think you nailed it on the head. You know, they're they are taking what they learned uh from the um uh Galactic Star Cruiser, rest in peace, um, that everybody loved, that kind of interactive entertainment where you feel like you're getting engaged uh in the story and what's going on. And they're just leaning into that and and letting it just naturally happen. I think the best thing they can do is not schedule those things because you it you just you just let it happen. Now, on the back end, it's absolutely scheduled, but we don't need to know that, and that's that's fine. I I you know you're talking about just like randomly meeting uh uh Dr. Facilier in the hall. Like those are the my most favorite memories of character engagements, is just uh hey, all of a sudden, you know, Captain Mickey hops into the elevator with you as the door closes and ditches his handler. Like that is like the most special things happen in just that organic way. And it's almost like the best kind of anti-rope drop culture medicine that DCL can dole out. It's just like, yeah, you you go ahead, try to plan for this because we're not gonna let you. I like it.

Amy 32:24

I agree that yes, it makes it that anti-rope drop culture is you know, that's what it makes it exciting, and that's what keeps you coming back. Those experiences that you can't plan for, but you know are gonna happen because based on your experience, they have always happened organically at every other vacation that we've had with them. So that's been great. And I, you know, honestly, I thought the Zion and Gamble integration was cool. I've not experienced the Sage and Coriander stuff on the treasure, which I've heard is just like I've I've heard that that has been one of like those kind of mind-blowingly great things in additions. I will say I was a little bit underwhelmed comparatively. I think the hype didn't, you know, the hype was maybe more than what we experienced. The first choose your adventure, I they didn't call it choose your adventure, but like you know what I'm talking about. That whatever it was, choose your your superhero story um engagement with them, had them telling the story of Loki and Thor and all of that, and that was great. And it ended in a surprise visit from Loki, but then the rest we we went to a couple of other things that they did on the ship with adults, and I will say the best part of those were the opener singers, yeah. Which I've also heard is like that's really what you go to see.

Nathan 33:50

Yeah,

Amy 33:51

and I have to say, like that checked out because the opening singer, the host for the evening, so to speak, I think is what they call it, they were all spectacular, the rest of it kind of fell a little bit flat, and that could be because I'm maybe not a Marvel person, but I you know I

Nathan 34:08

I think you gotta remember, Zaya and Gamble are uh part of the entertainment staff, um, just like the main stage performers, and you were likely in the middle of a changeover and they are trying to find their feet. And

Amy 34:24

that's right,

Nathan 34:25

and where things are a little bit more uh they may be more comfortable, or at least on your sailing, they were a little more comfortable with some types of shows than they were with with other types of shows. And I I guarantee you, if you gave it a couple weeks, then that same kind of magic that you had in um that one storytelling interaction with them probably was happening in those adult uh shows as well. They just have to find their feet. Yeah, yeah. I mean they are totally right. Well, and and doing crowd work is hard.

Amy 35:06

Like oh my gosh. Well, and the so many kids too. I mean, think about the audience that you're catering to. It's like, is it the kid or is it the adult? And I they're not, you know, we're all there for our kids. Let's be real. Exactly.

Nathan 35:20

But even at the adult stuff, like we had um uh a magician, Jon Armstrong, on a couple years ago now. Um, he does a lot of Disney cruises, he's absolutely fantastic.

Alicea 35:31

Yeah.

Nathan 35:32

And he was mentioning how it's really tough for Disney to find, not tough, but like Disney has to work hard to find the right kind of entertainers that can do both, you know, uh, a set that's geared on content that's geared towards the kids, and then content that's geared towards a mixed audience, and then content that's mixed towards adults, because that is almost like three different disciplines from an entertainment perspective that they're trying to juggle. And it will just take time for some of those folks to uh to adjust. And you know, I'm sure they're there now.

Alicea 36:07

Yeah,

Amy 36:08

I'm sure that they are, and I, you know, I guess I hate to be critical because

Alicea 36:15

it doesn't make it any less frustrating from your perspective though. It definitely doesn't, like, yeah,

Amy 36:19

yeah. And I I mean, I know I'm sounding very critical, but it's you know, when you you have perfection four times, three times in a row, you're expecting perfection the fourth time, and yeah, and honestly, uh more than anything, I felt bad for these the staff.

Nathan 36:36

Yeah,

Amy 36:36

bad because I'm like, these poor, they were probably so wiped, and then they've got nothing but spring breakers right after us, and then after that, and then after that. But you know, what other way to break you in? I guess that's that's one way to do it. You know, you find your feet like that, but

Nathan 36:51

baptism by fire.

Amy 36:53

Baptism indeed.

Alicea 36:54

It just gives Disney a chance to make it all up to you next time you go.

Amy 36:58

That's right, which it, you know, it's they are forgiven. It's it is fine, you know. I it was still an amazing trip, I think. So much uh still exceeded our expectations, right? And there was so many cool things we got to do.

Alicea 37:13

Did you get to meet Cruella at all?

Amy 37:16

We did, and we saw the the fashion show.

Nathan 37:18

Oh no, cool,

Amy 37:20

which was super cool. Didn't expect, I mean, I saw it on the the schedule, but we were coming, I think it was during our dinner or something, and so when we were coming out of dinner, it was happening, and that was super fun because so many of the guests got really into it. Like they brought their stuff, and and Cruella plus the fashion show. That was a really neat way to see people like Disney bounding, I think is what they call it. And uh you know, having a little bit of fun with it, certainly more geared towards the adult crowd there, but that was pretty cool.

Alicea 37:58

Awesome. Well, let's let's move on to the rotational dining , basically.

Rotational Dining: Pride Lands To Marvel

Nathan 38:04

Since you mentioned dinner, yes.

Alicea 38:06

Um, I'm assuming you survived all three restaurants.

Amy 38:10

We did, yes. And we had Pride Lands was our first rotation, so we did that twice. Uh yeah, the only restaurant we did not do twice was Marvel.

Nathan 38:23

Okay. Yes. Yeah, that's

Amy 38:26

you both are like.

Alicea 38:28

I no, I like I like the Marvel restaurant. Nathan does not, but he's only been in in it for the first rotation. He hasn't been in the second rotation, and I thought the second rotation was better than the first.

Nathan 38:38

Nope. I had dinner in the pub last night that night.

Alicea 38:40

Yes, you did.

Nathan 38:41

Yeah.

Alicea 38:42

But for for Pride Lands, um, so you've done Arendelle on The Wish before.

Amy 38:47

Yes.

Alicea 38:48

Um, how did how did those two differ? I mean, obviously the music's different, but

Amy 38:53

Oh yes.

Nathan 38:53

It's a different style, Alicea. What are we talking about? Very much so.

Amy 38:57

I thought that the ambiance and the decor was really beautifully done. It was neat how they did the lighting on the walls, and it really you did feel like you were, you know, in the savannah, so to speak. And the music being piped in was also very um, I mean, it felt like the background track of the Broadway musical of Lion King. Yeah. And a lot of it, I think, actually was the second night. That was kind of what was playing in the background. And so there was familiar tones, but it you felt like you were kind of immersed in the experience.

Nathan 39:31

Yeah.

Amy 39:32

And uh, you know, the show itself was beautiful, it was great. It was very similar to the Broadway experience. Um if anybody's seen the Lion King.

Nathan 39:43

So the show you had the second time you hit that restaurant, um, from what you're describing?

Amy 39:49

No, actually, we had no show the second time we hit the restaurant, which I don't know if that's typical.

Alicea 39:56

So you had it the first, the first night?

Amy 39:58

We had yeah, so we did Pride Lands the very first night, and that's when they did the whole the whole shebang with you know, the circle of life and the singers, and uh, you know, a band and some dancers and stuff in the middle of the restaurant. And that was beautiful, exactly what I expected. And like I said, if you've ever seen the Broadway show, yeah, it's very similar to that. Um, it was exceptionally loud. Okay, and so the there were a lot of families with really small children that that I found that that was kind of a common, you know, complaints is a strong word, but you know, it was like, okay, this is a little bit overstimulating for my kid. And it was a two and a half hour dinner, so it was

Nathan 40:44

whoa,

Amy 40:44

yeah. I mean, the service, I'm telling you guys, the service was pretty terrible. And so, um, you know, my five-year-old is not gonna sit through a two-hour dinner. Um and so it did, you know, there was and there was a lot going on around us, right? And so um we were enjoying the show, and then we left to take him to the kids' club and come back and finish our dinner. But um, yeah.

Nathan 41:14

Were you first seating the the 545 seating?

Amy 41:17

We were, believe it or not.

Nathan 41:18

Goodness, so two two and a half hours that's pushing into the seating for second dinner.

Amy 41:24

It did, yeah. I mean, it was it was

Nathan 41:26

wow

Amy 41:27

significantly long. Now, that was just the first night after that. It got a little bit better, but I mean, it was it was like a two-hour dinner almost every single night. And for us, that was tough.

Nathan 41:42

No, I mean, if I'm gonna have a two-hour dinner, it's gonna be in maybe Palo, definitely Remy. Yeah, um, I don't know if I could do two hours in a main dining room.

Alicea 41:56

That's yeah. How how was the food at Pride Lands?

Amy 42:00

Better than expected.

Nathan 42:01

Okay.

Amy 42:02

And the menu was weird, I'm not gonna lie. Um the second night at Pride Lands, much more uh mainstream, I guess. I felt like there were more options that were not unusual to my palate.

Nathan 42:16

Yeah,

Amy 42:17

so uh, but both nights were very good, better than expected, some unique options in there, probably one of the best red fish I've ever had.

Nathan 42:27

Nice.

Amy 42:27

I had in Pride Lands. That was on the second night menu, and some pretty epic uh ice cream sundaes. You know, if I do say so myself.

Nathan 42:37

Excellent, excellent.

Amy 42:38

That was pretty great. And yeah, so the food was good. I know that that has gotten some feedback online about being outside of the normal palette.

Nathan 42:48

It's it's not an American palette. It is if you go and eat at the restaurants at Animal Kingdom Lodge, there you go. Like that is their launching point. Yeah, and they've added a few other twists on there, like some some stuff uh that is more leaning towards like an Indian cuisine. And yes, like there's a it is it is not American. It's just not American.

Amy 43:12

It's not. I we didn't expect that.

Nathan 43:15

Yeah, I I love that they did it. I I just think people need to go in with uh uh uh hopefully a little bit more of an open mind and like it's okay to try some of these things. Yes, you're not used to it, but it doesn't mean it's bad.

Alicea 43:28

It's okay to try, and I will also note you can order menu items from any of the other restaurants. Right. If there's nothing on there, if there's like if it personally offends you anything, you can always like look up what 1923 or the Marvel restaurant is serving that evening and get that.

Nathan 43:47

Or all or or off the kids menu.

Alicea 43:49

Or off the kids menu, because that's there you go. There's your chicken tendies and your macaroni and cheese.

Nathan 43:54

Hey, don't knock the grilled cheese. Yeah.

Amy 43:57

Well, and I will tell you there there was Some and my son is a very simple palate.

Nathan 44:03

Yeah.

Amy 44:03

You know, it's we're pretty much at cheese pizza and chicken nuggets, and that's about what he eats.

Nathan 44:08

He's five. Like that's that tracks.

Amy 44:10

I mean, he's he's five, yeah, exactly. This this is on brand. And many times the kids' menu did not have anything that he wanted to eat, and they were very, very accommodating to go and get him a cheese pizza or a hamburger. I think my son ate a cheeseburger almost every single night that we were on the cruise, that it became a joke at one point where our sweet server came over and he's like, Let me guess, cheeseburger and lemonade. And I'm like, mm-hmm. Yes. Well, you you know that

Nathan 44:41

at least they learned.

Amy 44:42

He earned his ears. Okay. Like he remembered.

Alicea 44:45

That's good. That's good.

Amy 44:48

So he, you know, I was very impressed with his ability to, you know, roll with it with the kids.

Nathan 44:54

So how did the little Marvel fan uh like the the Marvel restaurant?

Amy 44:59

Oh, loved it. And I have to say that was probably one of our favorites because we hit it on the night, I guess, that Groot was doing the remix, and he's a big fan of Groot.

Nathan 45:12

Awesome.

Amy 45:13

And Rocket. And the fact that he had his playlist going, I really enjoyed it as an adult because I thought this is a fabulous playlist, and I need to go find it on Spotify because this is great. And my son loved it because of all the normal interaction, you know, with not only Rocket and Groot, but they had some fun trivia going on on the screens around us. And, you know, the quantum core on the table did not get used in the night that we were there. I wasn't sure if they would figure out some way to incorporate that on, you know, on the second, I guess, iteration of Marvel. They didn't, but we still thought it was cool, and everybody at our table loved playing with it. And that was it was still a neat way to keep it fresh and interesting in that restaurant. Cool.

Nathan 45:59

How about 1923? Any highlights there?

Amy 46:02

1923 was uh, you know, consistent. Yeah. The food was excellent, the animation and the paraphernalia kind of all around the restaurant was really cool. We were near a ratatouille table, and that was neat, and so it never disappoints. It's always, you know, eye candy for the taking and really, really neat.

Bars Ranked: Haunted Mansion Parlor

Alicea 46:22

Awesome. Well, what surprised you the most about the Disney Destiny?

Amy 46:28

I think the Haunted Mansion bar surprised me the most, and I thought that I would like it the most, and I did. You know, that that met expectations for sure. But I was it surprised me how just how incredible the imagineering is woven into every little corner, nook and cranny of that bar.

Nathan 46:51

Yeah.

Amy 46:51

From the pictures on the walls to, you know, the fish tank is is cool, and that's like, you know, the standout thing in the bar. But the black lights on the drinks and just having the ghosts in the windows, and then you're leaving the bar, and you know, um, her name is escaping me right now. And you know, it's like hurry back in the little hallway, and that was so cool. Um yeah. I think that might have been my son's favorite thing on the whole trip. It's like the lady in the hallway, look, and I'm like, yeah, okay. That was probably the most surprising and delightful, I would say, new element to the destiny.

Nathan 47:36

That's right, because you haven't been on the treasure yet, so you hadn't seen that before. What did you think? Did you have any of the drinks there in Haunted Mansion parlor?

Amy 47:43

We did, we had a couple, okay, and I didn't order, I I did see the guy next to me though, ordered the one in the box where you know you get the death certificate and it's got like the black light picture on the top of it and everything, and that was super cool. Um, I ordered something purple.

Nathan 48:01

Okay.

Amy 48:02

The name is escaping me. It was delicious, and then they were pitching the smoke-filled globes at me, and I had to catch them in my cup. And that was that was also fun. That's awesome.

Nathan 48:14

That's awesome.

Amy 48:15

Ghost orbs, if you will. Little baby Madame Leotas, you know, you just gotta catch them in your cup.

Alicea 48:21

Um, what about other bars? Did you get to visit any of the other ones?

Amy 48:25

We went to Cask and Cannon.

Nathan 48:27

Okay.

Amy 48:28

Not impressed. I felt like there was a missed opportunity there. Okay. You know, I I was like, man, and again, it could be because I'm coming off of like the fully immersive experience at Haunted Mansion.

Nathan 48:41

Yeah.

Amy 48:42

And Cask and Cannon is supposed to be like Pirates of the Caribbean, right?

Alicea 48:46

Like I think, yeah, it's well lightly themed towards it, I believe. Yeah.

Amy 48:52

Okay. Well, then that was on brand then, because it was light, lightly themed. And I think I wanted more. I was like, man, I want the full, you know, Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Like I think there was a missed opportunity there, but and that probably would have been overkill because then you've got all these things going on, and it's you know, probably almost too much. But um, that was okay. The sanctum we went to, that was great. Lots of neat, different experiences going on there, and it was a very open space, and so I think that created a lot of opportunities for families to also kind of come in and out and enjoy that space. And then Cruella de Villes was cool, it was beautiful, it was tiny, yeah, and it was almost always closed, like the entire length of our of our cruise. It was almost always closed. And same for Cask and Cannon. There were a couple different times where it was closed where we were, it was like a sea Day and we wanted to go in and have a drink, and it was just closed. And so I was like, okay, this is random.

Nathan 49:59

Were they doing drink tastings?

Amy 50:01

They might have been. Okay. Um, they might have been. Some of it, you know, for DeVils, it was mainly just closed. Interesting. Like we're not open right now, we'll be open after dinner.

Alicea 50:12

I wonder if they didn't have staffing.

Amy 50:14

Yeah, could have been a staffing issue? Yeah.

Alicea 50:16

Oh, that is very interesting.

Nathan 50:19

I think they use DeVils for the for the drink tastings.

Alicea 50:23

That's one of them. Not I mean, not all of them, but yeah, I mean, but they usually have a sign out there saying private event.

Nathan 50:30

Right.

Amy 50:31

Right.

Alicea 50:31

Like, but you said it was closed. Like

Amy 50:34

it was closed.

Alicea 50:34

Can you can you look in when you walk by a DeVils?

Nathan 50:38

There's a door.

Alicea 50:39

Well, I know there's a door. But I know you can see through it. Yeah, I know like Nightingales and Scat Cat, there's a door, but you can see through if there's like people in there.

Amy 50:50

Oh no, it was fully like frosted over, and they had a sign kind of out front that was blocking entrance and stuff. And you know, like I said, a lot of our experiences on this ship we felt were probably an anomaly, and given the fact that we had new staff and a very, very full boat, and it was spring break and all the things, and you know, everybody wants to partake in all of the wonder that is the Disney Destiny.

Alicea 51:21

So you're paying a premium to be on that boat, on that ship. And yeah, that's unfortunate that a lot of stuff was not up to par.

Nathan 51:30

Yeah.

Amy 51:30

But you know what? We still had a great time. That's good. My son absolutely loved the kids' club. He was sliding down that wreck it Ralph slide every chance he could, and he was basically living as another member of the Avengers and Marvel Academy, and he has decided that he is Ant-Man incarnate, and that's his jam. And so, you know, what did it check all the boxes? It absolutely did. And we were so happy to go on a new Disney ship and have that kind of boomerang experience because that's where we started, and that was cool. And now we're, you know, we'd like to go on the treasure eventually, but now that the believe has come out, I'm like, I'm just dying to see what that's gonna be about. Yeah, maybe we'll do that instead. I don't know.

Nathan 52:19

The treasure's amazing, though. I is it yeah, it's it's really, really good.

Alicea 52:25

It's my favorite that we've been on so far. Uh but we haven't been on the destiny.

Nathan 52:30

No, we haven't been on the destiny yet. That's in June. We haven't been on the adventure yet. That's in sometime in the future.

Alicea 52:38

I can probably tell you right now that would not be my favorite ship anyway, just seeing the stuff that we've seen. Yeah.

Amy 52:44

Yeah, I know. It's I feel like that will be a disappointment because it's for a different audience.

Alicea 52:48

It's so big.

Nathan 52:49

Yeah.

Amy 52:50

Yeah.

Nathan 52:50

I I think it depends it's a different audience, and I just think you need to reset expectations on what they're going for. It is not a traditional DCL experience. It is a Disney Parks light experience for a population that often doesn't have that opportunity. And uh go in accordingly. Yeah. Yeah.

Amy 53:18

Set expectations accordingly.

Rainforest Room Bliss And Kids Club

Nathan 53:19

Yep. Yep.

Alicea 53:21

Did you book any tastings or adult dining or anything?

Amy 53:25

We did book Palo, but we ended up canceling at the last minute. Um, I'm trying to remember something happened that we were like, oh, this is not gonna work. It had something to do with our son. So we ended up, which was so disappointing because I think last time I spoke to you guys, I was like, we're booking polo, and I actually got it, and it was like amazing. But we're gonna try for that again this summer when we go.

Nathan 53:47

Excellent. Excellent.

Amy 53:49

But outside of that, we didn't really drink, we didn't do any drink tastings or or anything outside of that. We did book the rainforest room Length of Cruise Pass, which oh that alone.

Alicea 54:00

It's so nice

Amy 54:01

I mean, I mean, I might oh my god, like that alone. I was like, take my money, it made it worth it. All the annoyances of you know, a spring break packed ship were all forgotten when she got me in those heated loungers and the ice room, and they just have I mean triple the amenities on the other ships. And I thought the ice room was so cool having its own deck, sun deck with loungers and hot tubs and all that. It was well worth the price, yeah, in my opinion.

Nathan 54:38

That is the rainforest room that I love being in the most. I wish you could see outside, but it's fine. Yeah, it will survive somehow.

Amy 54:49

Trade-offs, right? I mean, meh.

Alicea 54:52

Is there anything that you change immediately about the destiny, if you could?

Amy 54:58

You know, I I don't know that I would change anything because I do think that it's got such a cool, consistent theming, you know, story throughout the ship. And I love that they've woven that into absolutely every nook and cranny in the way that only Disney can do. And so that I you know, I really wouldn't change a thing. And I think for somebody who's a true Marvel lover, true Marvel fan, man, this is the ship for them.

Nathan 55:29

Yeah. Would you sail, yeah. Go ahead. Would you sail the Destiny again?

Amy 55:35

Probably not. Um only because I would like to do something new and different. You know, we've sort of been there, done that. I would love to see everything that DCL has to offer. And so the curious person in me is just wanting to see, you know, what's the treasure like? And I've never been on the fantasy or the dream. And so I'd love to just experience those. And yeah, you know, uh, and again, like I think comparing myself, like the the destiny versus the wish, the wish was more of my girl. And but you know, in terms of my personal preferences, now my son and my husband will probably tell you something different. I'm outnumbered, so I'm going where they're going.

Nathan 56:22

Well, the good news is is you get on the treasure, and then everybody could just like cohesively aligns and like, yes, it's this. Yep, it's amazing.

Alicea 56:30

Great mix.

Nathan 56:31

If only on the wish class, you could like somehow transport like the adults-only pool area and put that on the new ship, it would be perfect.

Alicea 56:43

But yeah, adult-only pool area from like uh the wonder or magic.

Nathan 56:48

Anything not wish class where you have to go out to the back of the boat and they're like, I don't want to go there.

Amy 56:55

Yeah, the kid's soup situation on the wish class ships is interesting.

Nathan 57:03

Especially on uh spring break.

Alicea 57:05

Oh yeah, I bet that was fun.

Amy 57:07

You know, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Alicea 57:09

That's good.

Amy 57:11

It was everything else that was crazy. The pools were manageable, um, you know, so what I'll take that.

Nathan 57:18

Anything we haven't covered that you'd want to throw out there?

Alicea 57:22

Did you get on the aquamouse at all?

Amy 57:24

Um, my husband and my son did.

Nathan 57:26

Okay, cool.

Amy 57:27

And loved it. I I did that when we were on the wish. And so I, you know, as a three-person family, we was like, you know, you can't you gotta take turns or whatever. They they liked the new story, they felt like it was too short. I'm like, okay, well, you know, you can't win them all. Yeah, exactly.

Nathan 57:44

Ship's only so big.

Amy 57:46

Yeah, but I thought it was cool uh that they were still offering that. Yeah, I can't, yeah, I can't think of anything else that we really missed. Oh, wait, yes, one more thing. Yeah, you mentioned John Armstrong, yeah, and you spoke about him last time we talked, and he was on our ship. I didn't want to forget to tell you that we saw him and he was as wonderful as you said, yeah. And we were able to make it to his show, and in fact, he did several uh over I think two or three days while we were on the ship and he did a family show and an adult show. And wow, I mean, this guy is so talented.

Nathan 58:23

He's amazing, absolutely amazing.

Amy 58:26

Mind blowing, pretty cool, and I wish we could have seen that 14 times.

Nathan 58:31

That was well, uh, get stuck on a ship where entertainment is uh not able to

Amy 58:38

forgot y'all did that

Nathan 58:38

we have seen him 14 times because that was the only thing to do. No, it wasn't the only thing to do, but uh yeah, he was he did such amazing and such an amazing job on our Panama Canal COVID cruise. That was that was just a magical cruise.

Would She Sail Again And What’s Next

Alicea 58:53

Yeah. Well, it sounded like just just from something you said that you already have another cruise booked. Disney wise, what's next?

Amy 59:02

We have booked another Alaska Disney cruise for the summer.

Alicea 59:07

Oh, wow.

Amy 59:08

We were going to do Disneyland, and then I got really overwhelmed by the planning and thought, you know, my husband said, let's just go back to Alaska. And I'm like, hey, if you'll pay for another Alaskan Disney cruise, honey, you just swipe that credit card. Let's go. And so we are gonna do that again this summer. And we got a veranda stateroom this time. So we're gonna have a slightly different experience, and I'm excited about that. So this will be our third time in Alaska, uh, together in total, um, second time as a family. And so I'm excited to see what else we can get up to. Yeah. It's a slightly different itinerary, and so yeah, I'm excited about that. And then I uh outside of that, I think I'm gonna be chaperoning my husband taking his orchestra to Disney World sometime early next year.

Alicea 1:00:02

Very cool, that's awesome.

Amy 1:00:03

And I haven't been to the parks in probably 15 years, it's been a while.

Nathan 1:00:12

They've changed ever so slightly.

Amy 1:00:15

Just a little bit. I see, this is what I'm saying. I got so overwhelmed by the process that I'm like, you have to have a Disney degree to book a trip these days, and so we're excited to dip our toe in the parks pond eventually. And who knows, that maybe that'll be my segue from DCL into this the next park obsession. But yeah, we're always want to cruise on the horizon.

Nathan 1:00:40

You don't have to. Cruising's great too.

Amy 1:00:43

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it can't be beat. I mean, I'm a big fan, so clearly I'm a big fan.

Nathan 1:00:50

Well, uh, we need to have you back on this summer after you're back from uh your Alaska trip because I want to hear all of what's new, new itinerary, how it went, because you're going from an inside room to a veranda and like that that just sounds magical. Mostly because I want to relive doing an Alaska cruise again, and I'm gonna live vicariously.

Alicea 1:01:11

Are you on the magic or the wonder?

Amy 1:01:13

We are on the magic this time. We did the wonder last summer, and so it the magic was doing a slightly different itinerary, and we loved our experience on the magic.

Nathan 1:01:24

So that's fantastic. It's going in for a dry dock here in a few weeks after it does its transit. So you will you'll have to tell us all that what's new.

Amy 1:01:33

Yeah. Oh, good. I didn't realize that. Okay, that's exciting.

Nathan 1:01:37

Yeah, yeah. She's doing really well. She needs she needs some rugs and some carpets kind of replaced. And her hull needs a paint job, but she's doing really she's doing fantastic. She looks great. 20, how 28-year-old ship.

Amy 1:01:52

Oh my gosh. And isn't that unbelievable? I mean, honestly, she looks great. Like it was in amazing shape.

Nathan 1:01:59

Yeah, she looks better than a four-year-old Norwegian cruise line ship that I've been on. So it's kudos to DCL.

Amy 1:02:08

They're doing something right here, okay? Like, yes.

Nathan 1:02:11

Exactly, exactly. They just gotta, you know, iron out some of their staffing stuff, and then we'll be fine. We'll be fine.

Amy 1:02:17

Exactly. Yes. They'll they'll work that out.

Nathan 1:02:20

You know, absolutely.

Amy 1:02:21

I'm sure all of us uh, you know, annoying Americans on spring break were they met their match with us, so I think it's more of an us problem than them, maybe, but yeah.

Alicea 1:02:32

Oh, one last question for you. Will you do a spring break cruise again?

Amy 1:02:37

Not out of Florida. I probably won't do it out of Florida again. I'm not gonna lie. Um it was uh yeah. We we did a spring break out of Galveston last year, and the experience was night and day. Okay.

Nathan 1:02:54

Yeah.

Amy 1:02:54

And so, you know, it's Galveston.

Nathan 1:02:57

Yeah.

Amy 1:02:58

And it was also on a 28-year-old ship, as you mentioned. So that wasn't quite as, you know, I'm sure the appeal. But no, I would do a spring break trip again, yeah, but I I probably wouldn't do it out of Florida.

Nathan 1:03:10

Yeah. And maybe don't go to the parks during spring break.

Amy 1:03:13

Uh no.

Nathan 1:03:14

Just a thought.

Amy 1:03:16

No, that's a hell no for me. Yeah.

Alicea 1:03:19

As we leave for Disneyland on Thursday for spring break.

Nathan 1:03:24

Hey, we're going for a competition.

Alicea 1:03:26

We are.

Nathan 1:03:26

We are sterling's down there for a theater competition, and then it's performing on stage and and DCA. So we we have a cover story. Okay.

Amy 1:03:35

That's all right. And I I feel like March is worse. It's gotta be right in terms of spring break.

Nathan 1:03:42

Yeah, because we're kind of late.

Alicea 1:03:44

The end of it, yeah.

Nathan 1:03:45

Yeah, I think so. It could be it could be worse.

Amy 1:03:49

We're gonna manifest short lines for you guys.

Nathan 1:03:52

And hey, if the lines are long, you know, Sterling's old enough, he'll be hanging out with all of his friends and rampaging everywhere, and we'll find a spot in a lounge somewhere and enjoy a beverage

Alicea 1:04:05

or just honestly, one of my favorite things to do is just go over to Galaxy's Edge and just sit down and read. And occasionally I will get um the stormtroopers will come bother me. Like, what is she doing? Just sitting over here. I'm enjoying my book, leave me alone. I love it.

Nathan 1:04:24

Well, Amy, thank you so much for coming on again. Uh, it's always a pleasure to talk to you and very, very much looking forward to uh hearing all about Alaska in a few months.

Amy 1:04:34

Uh thank you guys for having me on again. It's always so wonderful to catch up with you.

Nathan 1:04:39

Uh it was so great to have Amy back on. And we were remiss. We didn't look ahead at when this is scheduled to come out. Alicea, may the fourth be with you.

Alicea 1:04:49

Uh and also with you.

Nathan 1:04:55

Only a few weeks do we get to see baby Grogu.

Alicea 1:04:58

Yeah.

Nathan 1:04:58

I guess he's growing up now because he definitely looks in the trailers like he's kicking more butt.

Alicea 1:05:03

Yeah, he's yeah.

Nathan 1:05:05

Still has his uh the same blue macarons, though. So of course. Yeah.

Alicea 1:05:10

On that note. Remember, we are not affiliated with Disney or their subsidiaries. These are personal opinions and suggestions based on our own and our guest experiences. But we are affiliated with fun, uh snacks, uh cruising, and questionable decisions.

Nathan 1:05:28

Indeed. We recommend working with a travel agent or contacting Disney directly to plan your perfect vacation. And like Amy if you have any questions or suggestions or would like to be interviewed on our show. You can reach out to us at podcast at our mousecapades.com.

Alicea 1:05:48

We'd love to hear from you.

Nathan 1:05:49

Absolutely.

Alicea 1:05:50

And if you enjoyed this episode, please give us a rating and review. It helps other Disney fans find us. Uh you can follow us at our mousecapades. We are on Instagram. Instagram, Facebook Threads, and YouTube. And please share us with your friends, your family, and that one coworker who still thinks FastPass is a thing.

Nathan 1:06:08

Come on, coworker. Get with it. It's been a while now.

Alicea 1:06:12

Do people actually have coworkers who think FastPass is still a thing?

Nathan 1:06:15

I guarantee you they're out there.

Alicea 1:06:17

Yeah, share us with them then.

Nathan 1:06:19

Yeah, exactly. I mean, it they're not our coworkers because we've thoroughly beat into everybody that we know that it's lightning lanes now, but it's fine.

Alicea 1:06:28

Yeah. Uh huh.

Nathan 1:06:30

Anyway, on that note, thanks for listening. We'll be in your ears next week.

Intro 1:06:36

Thank you for flying Star Tours. Bye bye.