DisLove Podcast with Vanessa and Kris

DisLove E159: Sailing the Mexican Riviera A Magical Voyage on the Disney Wonder

• Vanessa Ferguson and Kris Johns • Season 6 • Episode 159

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The Disney Wonder may be one of Disney's oldest ships, but you'd never know it from the pristine condition and timeless Art Deco styling that greets you upon boarding. Sailing from San Diego to the Mexican Riviera, this four-night adventure proves why Disney Cruise Line maintains their reputation for exceptional service and magical experiences.

What makes a Disney cruise stand out? It starts with the remarkable 1:3 crew-to-guest ratio, ensuring personalized attention that transforms ordinary moments into extraordinary memories. Our room attendant June went above and beyond, surprising our daughter with Minnie Mouse sheets and creating special birthday decorations for my mom. These thoughtful touches exemplify why Disney cruises command premium prices—and why they're worth every penny.

Catalina Island emerged as the unexpected highlight of our journey, earning the nickname "the Mackinac Island of California" with its no-cars policy and charming golf cart transportation. Despite some rain, our tour guides came prepared with blankets and ponchos, revealing stunning island views and sharing fascinating history about the bison population that remains from 1920s film productions. Meanwhile, Ensenada offered a glimpse of authentic Mexican culture, proving both safe and interesting to explore.

Onboard, Disney's legendary entertainment shines with Broadway-caliber shows like Frozen: A Musical Spectacular and Disney Dreams—an award-winning production that captivates audiences of all ages. The rotational dining system allowed us to experience Triton's, Animator's Palette, and Tiana's Place, each offering unique themes and culinary delights. Beyond scheduled dining, included room service and quick-service options like Pinocchio's pizza and Pete's Boiler Bites kept us satisfied between adventures.

For families, the Royal Court Royal Tea provides an unforgettable princess experience with Ariel, Belle, and Cinderella, complete with premium gifts and special memories. Meanwhile, the kids club offers safe, engaging activities when parents want adult time, though our daughter preferred staying with us for most of the journey.

Whether you're exploring port destinations, participating in trivia contests, enjoying character meet-and-greets, or simply relaxing in the heated pools (yes, even in 50-degree weather!), the Disney Wonder delivers magic at every turn. Ready to experience it yourself? Book while onboard your next Disney cruise for a 10% discount and $250 deposit that's fully refundable if your plans change.

What's your dream Disney cruise destination? We'd love to hear about it in a review—which also helps others discover our podcast!

Check out our other Disney cruise reviews in these past episodes:

  • DisLove E138 Special Episode Disney Wish Review of Halloween on the High Seas
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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Diz Love Podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa Ferguson.

Speaker 2:

And I'm Chris Johns.

Speaker 1:

We would like to welcome you to show number 159. And for any listeners joining us for the first time. Our show features things we love at Disney and in each episode we have a guest who creates Disney magic for our listeners at home or on their Disney vacations. From vacation planners to product producers, our guests can bring Disney magic into your life. And as a reminder to our listeners, we appreciate if you leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or any other platform where you listen. That of course, helps the show grow and we love to give shout outs to those reviewers on future episodes.

Speaker 2:

Can I interrupt you for a second? Vanessa Sure, you mentioned episode 159.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

How long have we been doing this podcast?

Speaker 1:

It will be actually seven years.

Speaker 2:

Wow, I read a stat. It was on TikTok. Well, heard a stat on TikTok that most podcasts, their average run is only four months.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that's crazy and I haven't put it out there yet, but we've had over 10,000 downloads.

Speaker 2:

Wow. So again, while we don't do this every day, we've been doing it for seven years, which I think is a testament to Vanessa's determination.

Speaker 1:

Yes. So we appreciate all of you, and especially if we have some timeframes where we don't have as many episodes, we appreciate you continuing to listen and, of course, we do have some special episodes, which today is going to be one of those. But before we get started, chris, we have a couple of messages.

Speaker 2:

Our first message is from Kevin and Amanda, and what they want you to do is have more fun in the parks. Disney is more than just riding rides, eating delicious food. It's noticing all the great things that Disney has to offer. And they have a game where in the park which really will stretch your imagination, not only your imagination, but your, your detective skills, because it they're going to have questions that are going to have you looking for specific items, whether it be a sign, a statue, other certain things in the park. We did it when we were in Anaheim. It was so much fun because, again, I'm just walking around the park I want to get these right and it's a series of cards where the goal is to really you could have. It's essentially a scavenger hunt and it's awesome and it's so much fun. And it's where in the park and it's so much fun and it's where in the park.

Speaker 1:

And one of the great things is, if you order it from our show notes, you will get 10% off your order. Just use the code DISLOVE10. So make sure to check out the show notes to get that discount code. So every once in a while we have a special episode where we review something. We just had one recently where we talked about the 90s night at Disneyland, and today we are going to be doing one of our reviews of a recent Disney cruise we went on.

Speaker 2:

Yes, a wonderful cruise.

Speaker 1:

And here's a fact you were talking about podcast stats Some of our most downloaded episodes are our cruise episodes. Of course, yeah. So of course we love all of our amazing guests, but our people love to listen to us talk about our cruise episodes. Of course, yeah, so of course we love all of our amazing guests, but our people love to listen to us talk about our cruises. So, on this episode, on this particular sailing, this was my fifth Disney cruise and Chris's fourth. And here's a little fun fact After this cruise, I am officially a gold member of castaway club what am I, what's my level?

Speaker 1:

you're still silver basic yep, the basic level.

Speaker 1:

So this was um chris is. So we sailed on the wonder and we sailed out of san diego. And here's a fun fact I've done five cruises disney cruises and three have been on the disney wonder and chris has done four, and three have been on the Disney Wonder and Chris has done four and two have been on the Wonder. So we sailed on the Wonder also when we went to Alaska in 2022. And this is going to age me. I sailed on it way back in 2003, when it was still in the Caribbean. You cannot even sail on the Wonder in the Caribbean anymore. We've also sailed on the Disney Dream and on the Wish, and we do have a review of our Alaskan cruises and also our Halloween sailing that we did on the Wish. So I'll make sure to put those links in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

So this was our first time leaving out of San Diego and the ship had actually been. The Wonder spends most of our winter in this hemisphere, our winter in Australia, and then they had a sailing along the Pacific coast before they went to San Diego, and these are considered their Mexican Riviera sailings and they run in March and April, really before the Wonder heads up to go to Alaska. We had a pretty big group. It was us and our daughter, my parents, our good friends Shane and Charlie, and then my longtime friend and her dad came along as well. So we had a group of nine of us and just one kid. So our daughters always seems to be the lone little one. We were on deck five and we did a porthole cabin. And here's a fun fact I don't know, I think you knew this that we were in the exact same room we were in when we went to.

Speaker 2:

Alaska. Yes, I remember you telling me that.

Speaker 1:

Yep, so it was just fun. We liked the room, we liked this location on the ship, so we stayed with it and we had a total of four staterooms between our group. We had three of us that were on deck five and one of the rooms was up on deck seven. And before we talk about some of our specifics, about our experience, I want to tell you a little bit about the Disney Wonder itself. This is kind of. It is one of Disney's oldest ships. It's the second ship that was launched by Disney and it entered into service in August of 1999. Chris always mentions this, but you cannot tell the age of that ship.

Speaker 2:

You really cannot. I mean, there might be some minor decorative decor in terms of overall age, but in terms of like what you see on TikTok and other boats in terms of rust and just ratty carpet and whatnot, you do not see that.

Speaker 1:

No. So Disney keeps their ships in pristine condition. So one of the things is that it is super nice because it kind of has that classic ocean liner look. It does have that art deco. There's a lot of like navy, blue and gold, and the captain of the ship is Mickey. And so a little bit about the ship itself. There are three restaurants in it which we'll talk about a little bit later, but there's Triton's, animator's, palette and Tiana's Place, and we were on a four night sailing, sailing five-day, so we were able. We did one restaurant twice.

Speaker 1:

And they have the Frozen, a musical spectacular. They have the Golden Mickeys and Disney Dreams, an enchanted classic. So here's kind of a fun fact. Frozen is always great. It's a lot of fun. If you love Frozen, I mean I consider it like Broadway level. The Golden Mickeys we did miss this time. Our daughter was tired and had actually fell asleep when we were getting ready to leave, so we missed the Golden Mickeys. But it is a great show. Our family enjoyed it and we've seen it before. Disney Dreams, the Enchanted Classic that's actually won awards for the best entertainment, like in the cruise line industry, and it really is a great show.

Speaker 2:

That's the one thing, even if you don't like disney, their shows are really great caliber I'm not a broadway guy, I'm not gonna go to a musical, but they are very well done, very entertaining and the nice thing is they're usually like just under an hour, so if you aren't really big into that, it doesn't drag on.

Speaker 1:

That's something that I like as well. Now, we didn't do it, but the Wonder is also one that does like Marvel Day at Sea. Now a couple of things about it. As I mentioned, it does Australia, and then it does the West Coast sailings as well as Alaska, and so the Mexican Riviera cruises, which to me we also just talked about, like Baja California, they happen in the spring and in the fall, so kind of they bookend the Alaskan sailings. Now, one of the things that is kind of unique is that the older Disney ships are smaller, so this only holds 2,400 passengers, and we have done the Wish, which is way bigger, and I prefer the smaller ship. How about yourself?

Speaker 2:

I agree.

Speaker 1:

Oh, let me throw in a trivia for you, Chris. So there's 2,400 passengers on the Disney Wonder. How many crew members do you think there?

Speaker 2:

are 1,500.

Speaker 1:

That's a good guess, but it's 950. But that 950 is one of the highest crew-to-guest ratios in the entire cruise industry. So essentially there's one crew member to every three guests. So that's pretty cool. Now, our itinerary, as we mentioned, was in March. We sailed from March 10th through 14th. We had one full day at sea and we had stops in Catalina Island and Ensenada, mexico. So one of the when we our first stop, like we had our at sea day. But our first stop was Catalina Island and we did do an excursion, but we booked it ourselves. I booked a golf cart tour with Catalina Tour Guides and one of the things that we did is because we had several members of our party with mobility challenges, so I went ahead and booked with them because they said that they could accommodate those needs and they were wonderful. And one of the things that is really nice about it is it was our first time experiencing Catalina Island and we really loved Catalina.

Speaker 2:

We did, it was awesome.

Speaker 1:

So, as most of you, if you've listened to our show, you know we are from Michigan, and Michigan is known for a great island called Mackinac Island, which is between our two peninsulas. And Mackinac Island does not allow cars on the island, and instead you use bicycles. And then there's carriages, so horse-drawn carriages. Catalina Island what did you refer to it as?

Speaker 2:

The Mackinac Island of California.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, so there are cars on Catalina Island, but there's a very long process and I think our guide said there's like a 40-year wait to get a permit to be able to have a car. But they use golf carts, so it was really fun. We had a great experience with our tour guides. It has a cute downtown. If you are able to take a tour, I highly recommend Catalina Tour Guide. If you are able to take a tour, I highly recommend Catalina Tour Guide.

Speaker 1:

They also are the island that is known for having bison on it, because in the 1920s there was some filming of movies. Some bison got left behind. Really fascinating history about the bison. They are dying out though, so if you want to see that, we didn't get to see the bison on this trip because we didn't go on that side of the island, but I hope that they find a way to be able to preserve them on the island. So Catalina was wonderful. We had a great lunch. We walked around at the shops after we had done the tour Really a great place. I would love to go back to Catalina Island.

Speaker 2:

Definitely.

Speaker 1:

So I think probably another one of these sailings would be in our future, and disney just signed an agreement with catalina to do even more stops there, so that tells us that they will be doing this whole itinerary and maybe some other west coast stops that will also include catalina island. Now on the cruise we had catal Catalina Island and then that night there was Pirate Night, which Pirate Night I still was. This was one thing that I was a little disappointed. I don't know why they still had Pirate Night, because in Alaska we had Frozen. I thought they could have done something different.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

I don't know what that different could have been. It could have been a Cocoa themed night, because we that was another thing there was not characters that were special for that sailing, which was different because when we went to Alaska the characters had special outfits for Alaska. Even if they would have brought out some character like Donald and the Three Cavaleros, coco, any of the characters from Coco, like Miguel or anybody that would kind of fit the theme of the location, they did have the characters in their pirate costumes. They did have the character. I'm trying to think they had the pirate characters like they had Captain Hook and Smee and things like that, but they didn't do.

Speaker 1:

They didn't lean into the itinerary, which I thought was a little bit unfortunate. Now, another thing that was nice about the itinerary is we had an at sea day, so we were able to experience a lot of different things on the boat. But thinking back to sailing out of San Diego, I should have started with this a little bit earlier. But, chris, how did you think that sailing out of San Diego compared to leaving from some of the other ports that we went out of?

Speaker 2:

Well, I just know from Cape Canaveral. It's just not as big. I mean San Diego is a large town but overall where we stayed the night really made it very beneficial because we were really within walking distance of the port and so, with my really limited experience in California, I would say San Diego was a very good choice to leave from.

Speaker 1:

Yes. So I will say, like Chris mentioned, we had a great location with our hotel. I'll put a link to the property we stayed at. They did have on-site parking so we were able to park there. The one downside with that is that we had to haul our luggage basically about two blocks down and across the street. There's not a lot. There's not really a great way to pull up, especially on departure day. We were able to pull up when we were leaving and load the cars, but we did have to haul the luggage back and forth across the street. But I do suggest stay at one of those hotels right there. It just makes it easier so you're not having to worry about driving and finding a spot that day. We were already parked from the night before and it was perfect.

Speaker 1:

Now it is a different port, like Chris mentioned, compared to. I think the worst port we left out of was Vancouver. We really had. I just didn't think it was. Maybe it was because it wasn't a US port, but it was definitely. I think the San Diego and the Port Canaveral ones were much easier to go in and out of.

Speaker 1:

Now, of course, we love talking about food and when we were on the ship we do the second dining. We like to do the show and then do dinner. It also allows us to ensure that we don't have to cut any of our days when we're on at any port short, because if you have the early dinner you're really rushing and I've seen families running to get back on the ship to be able to make sure they make it to dinner. So we always do the later dinner. We are fortunate. Our daughter is a kid that can stay up pretty late, so we do the later dinner. So we always do the later dinner. We are fortunate. Our daughter is a kid that can stay up pretty late, so we do the later dinner. We had rotations with. We had Triton's, animator's Palate and Tiana's Place. We did end up at you get two nights at one of the restaurants and we had two nights at Tiana's place, and so one of the things is that animator's palette always changes a little bit. It was nice. We had that our last night of the cruise, which was wonderful. It was really nice to be able to have that fun atmosphere and Mickey came out and all of those different things. If you're not familiar with animator's palette, when you come into the restaurant it looks like sketches on the walls and then during your meal, those drawings come to life and become animated parts of different Disney stories. And, big surprise, a guest shows up and it's Mickey, of course, and that is always a lot of great fun.

Speaker 1:

We also always take advantage of the room service, and room service is included on a Disney ship. This is not true on a lot of ships that are not Disney operated. So we always take advantage of the room service. We get the breakfast. It's just continental breakfast with the room service. You do have to tip, but that's not a big deal to us.

Speaker 1:

There's a few items I think, like if you buy candy or like pop, like canned or beverage pop, you have to pay for those, but everything else is included. So we did that and then the one night where our daughter fell asleep and we weren't able to go to the show, I was able to order some food and have it delivered while I was in the room with her. We had our friend was very sick on the cruise and she was able to get room service throughout the time that she had to stay in the room. So those are some added benefits If you have somebody who's sick or sleepy or whatever you can get room service. They also have a variety of quick service ones. They have Daisy Delights, which is a deli spot with sandwiches, salads, fruits and veggies. I didn't get a sandwich this time. Did you go to Daisy's Delights? I?

Speaker 2:

don't know the quick service? I don't think so.

Speaker 1:

No, now a couple of the other quick service that there are is. There is, of course, pinocchio's, which is pizza. I think you probably got pizza a lot, did you get Pinocchio?

Speaker 2:

I sure did. Yeah, lots of pizza and lots of gyros.

Speaker 1:

Yes, so they do have gyros. They have those over at the one that serves like hamburgers, and that's at Pete's Boiler Bites. They have burgers, hot dogs, they have chicken tenders, and then they did have gyros and shawarma, and all of these are on deck nine and a couple of them are open later. So, like Pete's Boiler Bites is usually open till 10, as well as the pizza place on some nights is open till 11. There's also the Cove Cafe, which is a coffee shop. You can get regular coffee at no cost and then you pay for those premium coffee drinks. They have some pastries. That's in the adult only area of the ship. I know my dad and our friend went there a couple of times, and so you can get some nice things. And, of course, there's a bar on that deck as well. Cabanas is the main quick service restaurant. We went there on our port day in Mexico and then for breakfast one day. It's a buffet, typical buffet, I will say, though this goes into the little bit of Disney magic that you experience that you don't see on other ships. So Chris and Karis and I were at Cabana's and I don't know why, but I was over on one side of the restaurant and Chris was on another. We did have a table, but Karis was with me. She was getting tired. We were carrying a bunch of stuff because I think we had went and saw some characters and I was trying to carry two different plates and one of the servers saw me. He came over, he immediately took her plate and I was like, oh no, it's OK. He insisted, he walked around with me, he carried her plate, filled it up with everything that she wanted and then carried it right back to our table. Those are just the little things that I don't think you would experience on another ship no way. So that's a nice little thing. So we experienced all of these restaurants. We had, of course, all the sit-downs, we did cabanas and, just like on a lot of the other sailings, there was a special menu on Pirates Night. We were in Triton's Restaurant for our second rotation when we had the Pirates Night menu.

Speaker 1:

Now, in addition to the regular shows and then I also consider this food as well they have some optional things which we didn't do. We did not do Palos this time, which we've done that when we've been with adults only, but this time my mom, our friend Charlie, and I took my daughter to the Royal Court Royal Tea and here's a note to make that, because we did have one more that wanted to join us. But you have to have a child that's under the age of 12 in your party and only three adults can be added to that reservation. So just the three of us went with her to the tea and the tea was wonderful because you have this whole storytelling experience. We did it on the at sea day and our daughter went to the Bippity Boppity Boutique on the ship and I have to, as a side note, just say those ladies were wonderful there.

Speaker 1:

Our daughter loves Mary Poppins so she brought her Mary Poppins outfit. We didn't do the princess outfit or get one of the captain mini dresses. She wanted to be Mary Poppins. So they were super sweet about that and our daughter does have some special needs and they were really great in understanding like there's kind of set hair designs, that is, hairstyles that they're supposed to do. Our daughter doesn't like all of her hair up on her head. Her hair is also very heavy. They got special permission for her to be able to have a different hairstyle than they usually do, so she had her nice she'd gotten her whole makeover at Bippity Boppity and then we went to the royalty and how it is is there's a couple of, there's a chef and a lady who kind of are the host and they bring the Disney princesses. I'm pretty sure they're standard, because we did this when we went to Alaska as well. But we had Ariel, we had Belle, we had Cinderella and again you are able to. They come around to the tables. You have, of course, all kinds of great food. You have little sandwiches and desserts and the kids get a big cupcake and you get tea and there's a good amount of food. I'm going to say you don't get stuffed, but there is a good amount of food and of course, there's a number of teas that you get to have. I don't know why, but this is really I have to tell this story. Our daughter was eating the sandwiches that have the raw salmon with her cupcake, which was such an odd combination, but she loved it. She loved the experience.

Speaker 1:

All of the kids get special gifts and the gifts do change. So what our daughter got when we did this, when we went to Alaska three years ago, was totally different than what she got this time. She got a stole, she got a bag, she got an autograph book. She got a really cute metal tea set, a crown it was just top-notch. All of the gifts are top-notch. It's expensive, but if you added up how much the cost of all of these souvenirs would be, it's well beyond the cost. So it's, I think it's, hands down, worth it for the adults, I believe, is around $59, not a huge expense. You also get the photo folio with you and all of the princesses. It really is a great experience. The adults love it, the kids love it. I would spend the money again.

Speaker 1:

We did Olaf's picnic on our last cruise. That was on the wish, and whatever cruise ship we're on until our daughter ages out, we will continue to do those things. Now it is is the so okay. The adults were 69. And kids as of right now, when we're recording this, in May of 2025, kids are $220. But she got so many different things. Really really worth it Now. So that's an additional add-on for kids.

Speaker 1:

There's also lots of things that are included for kids. There's the kids club, our daughter. We went to the open house. She loved it, but, to be honest, all of the activities we did she could go with us and because our one friend was sick, we didn't do a lot as many of the evening things that we would have typically done, where she might have wanted to go to the kids club, so our daughter hung out with us most of the time. But if you have kids that love to go and socialize, or you have some plans of things you want to do, like Apollo brunch or you want to do one of the mixology classes, there's lots of great opportunities for the kids and those things are all included. Now, thinking about all of the different activities in that, chris, what was your favorite onboard activity that you did while we were on the ship?

Speaker 2:

That's a tough one. I had to say the trivia with Shane.

Speaker 1:

I was going to say. So what kind of trivia did you and Shane do?

Speaker 2:

We did sports trivia.

Speaker 1:

And not to brag, but you want to tell what happened. What kind of trivia did you and Shane do we?

Speaker 2:

did sports trivia and not to brag, but you want to tell what happened with the sports trivia. Technically, we tied for first place. We would have won if we had another question. Some of the questions were very hard, but that said, Shane and I came in tied for first.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and they got a cute little medal, which was fun. Nothing fancy, but just a great experience to be able to do. I will say I love the tea that we did, but also just doing some of the small things. We went to the DVC thing where they do like a trivia and you get some special drinks and stuff. Also, doing the character meet and greets we always like to do those, try to get as many of those as possible and I also enjoyed some of the craft times. My mom and my friend Judy and Karis and I did a lot of the craft times and those were fun as well.

Speaker 2:

Very yes, I think everybody had a good time.

Speaker 1:

Now this was not. I guess this counts as an activity, but all of the Disney ships have really great pools and water slides and we are not big swimming people. But our daughter loves to swim and she talked me into going swimming when it was about 50 degrees out. But I will say I was pleasantly surprised. The pool was like 85 degrees, so it was much warmer than the air. When you got out of the pool you were shaking, but when you were in the pool it was warm. So if you have any little ones that want to go swimming or you like to swim, you can still do it, even when it is on a cold sailing. So that is something too. We had some friends that did the same sailing a while back. It's not going to be warm because of the time of year that you're going. It was in the 50s, I think.

Speaker 2:

It was chilly. I mean, yes, it's California, yes, it's Mexico, it's the Pacific Ocean, but it is not warm. I mean, at least to us. I mean being from the Midwest and you think, oh, you're going to California in March, is not Florida in March.

Speaker 1:

No, not at all, not at all. And that kind of goes into the fact that, as we mentioned, when we were on Catalina Island it ended up it rained some, actually both of our port days we had rain in Catalina Island. That's another shout out to our tour guides. They had blankets, they had ponchos. So it's really pays off to book with some of these guides, rather than I am all about. I think it's great if you can adventure out on your own, but when you have the peace of mind of somebody taking care of all those extras for you, it's well worth it. And when we got to Ensenada, mexico, it was pouring.

Speaker 2:

I mean it rains places. I mean we can't control that, but it was. But I will say when we did get off the boat and I think that's just part of being in that winter, you know kind of monsoon season that it's going to rain, but overall it wasn't didn't make it. We didn't go very far in Ensenada but it wasn't a deal breaker, yeah, and it did clear up once we got into town.

Speaker 1:

So for Ensenada we didn't book any excursions, we just got off the ship and we were going to kind of play it by ear. They did have set up. They had a shuttle that came right to where you came out of the ship and it was, I think, $4. We took it into town, just walked around for a little bit, did some of the shopping and then we headed back. There wasn't anything top on our list. There is like that's the home of, I believe, margaritas and some other things, and we're not big drinkers, so there just wasn't anything that jumped out to us for that particular port. But we had a good experience. I didn't.

Speaker 1:

I know sometimes people are concerned depending on the ports and safety. In that I didn't feel unsafe where we went and it was really, I mean, just a nice experience to be able to get off. And I had never been to Mexico. Chris had been to Mexico before. So we myself and our daughter got to add another country to our list and it's just. I think it's great to see a little bit of these ports, even if you're not going to spend a lot of time.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I want to go to the baseball stadium, but then you realize the baseball stadium is three miles away and it's just not. I mean there's just some pieces where I think, if you're into tequila or certain things, sure, but I will say it was clean, it was safe. I mean there was kind of what you would expect from a port side Mexican town and it was very clean. I mean I think the one side is like, when you do go into the port, it is a working port, it's an industrial port. People were saying, you know, oh, we had to park. You know we parked the, we the boat parked at the port. It is what it is.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I think it's just one of those things where there's just the reality of being in port towns In Mexico. It's not like many other Caribbean ports that I've been to where it's just the Disney boats. But that said, it was a nice time and I would encourage people. And, again, if we would have had a little better weather and maybe if there was a couple of handful of things, but overall it was a nice time.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and that's actually a great point he brings up With Ensenada, you do dock right at the port. When we were in Catalina Island you have to do the tender where you take the smaller boats over, so that's something that you have to take into consideration with your time. But I'm glad we got off the boat, I'm glad we explored Ensenada. Not everyone in our group got off that day, so I'm glad that we ventured out and were able to do it and overall it was a great time. Now I think, when you look at having so, I always like to look back and see how this compares to some of the other Disney cruises that we've done and I feel like did you think that the vibe or anything about this sailing was different than some of the other ones we've done?

Speaker 2:

No, but I'm oblivious to things. I mean it was a nice cruise. I think the weather was a bit on the chillier side, so I think that kind of maybe dampened some overall spirits, just because it wasn't a case where you would just like lounge out on any deck, but in general it was nice. I mean please correct me if I'm wrong.

Speaker 1:

No, and one of the things that I like is just, in general, it's nice to experience the new locations but still have that continuity of a Disney experience and the Disney cruise, because the Disney crew on a Disney cruise is, I think, really what makes the experience the best. And we had great servers and I will say this time really the standout was our room attendant, June. She was very sweet, she went out of her way to do little extras for our daughter and for us. And then my parents had a different room attendant and we were celebrating my mom's birthday on the sailing and he did all kinds of super cute stuff for her. Our attendant June she put on Minnie Mouse sheets for our daughter and just was very sweet. And I think really the Disney crew is what makes a Disney cruise the best.

Speaker 2:

Definitely.

Speaker 1:

And a couple more things just to add some information for any of you looking at a Disney sailing. So we were celebrating my mom's birthday. They did lots of great extras. I encourage you to pay for the photo package. Pay for it ahead of time, get the little bit of discount you get Now it is only going to be for photos of people in your stateroom.

Speaker 2:

So we did get- oh my gosh, I got to interrupt. Okay, there was a family ahead of us that was treating this like glamor shots.

Speaker 1:

Yes, that's true.

Speaker 2:

There must've been. I'm going to, I'm going to exaggerate in the low end, 10 of them. It would be mom and dad, mom dad and kid mom dad and this sister mom dad, and I'm like get like just zero tact in regards to people waiting, and again it's Disney. You're meant to wait in line at risk of going to jail in Mexico or international law, like it was just infuriating.

Speaker 1:

And that was just one night.

Speaker 2:

And that was just one night. But like these people I mean legitimately they took 30 photos.

Speaker 1:

Yes, exactly.

Speaker 2:

And we're waiting there and I would have won any sort of skirmish. I know that hands down, but that said it was just very infuriating, to say the least.

Speaker 1:

So for any of you who've never done a Disney cruise one of the great things that you can't you don't have to buy the photo package. You could just go and buy an individual picture or something, but every night of the sailing they will have different backdrops. They will coincide with whatever it is. So on the formal night because there is an optional formal night they had more elegant backdrops. On the pirate night, they had pirate ones. Depending on your port, they'll have some backdrops that go along with that. So take advantage maybe not as advantage as that one family did, but get these photos. Have great professional pictures done every night with your family with all those different backdrops. You just don't need 30 different poses.

Speaker 2:

Have 100 poses but just say we'll get back in line. I mean, there's just a certain level of social understanding.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and people are going to dinner. They're going to a show. They don't want to wait an hour, correct.

Speaker 2:

I mean you can kiki all you want, but it's just a case of read the room and even at Disney we're trained to be in line. But I have to say, if there was a negative piece and I think also it's part of the photographer of one more, one more versus come back. But that said, it was a nice time. I mean it's just until Vanessa really reminded me I forgot about it.

Speaker 1:

And if you have anyone in your group like our daughter is not the best with photos, but they always manage to get some really great ones. So for me, I don't hesitate to purchase that photo package. It's really great. A few other, and the photographers are always really wonderful.

Speaker 1:

A few other things we had a couple of people with mobility challenges in our group. We had one that was with a scooter and one with a walker. No challenges getting around the ship. If you do have a scooter or a wheelchair, it can be a ways where you have to park them, which that can be a challenge, but in terms of being able to get around the ship, it's easy with the elevators. All of that.

Speaker 1:

And then, of course, when it comes to a Disney cruise, the biggest thing is when it's coming to an end. You want to know when you're going to take your next cruise. So one advantage that you can do is, if you are on a Disney cruise, you can pay a deposit, a $250 deposit per stateroom, up to two staterooms, and you get 10% off a future sailing. Whatever that offer is can rotate. So last time we sailed they had a different one, but we usually always do this. You have two years to book a cruise and for us you can get that deposit back if you decide not to sail. But for us it's always worth it and they know they're going to get our money. Definitely a sale. But for us it's always worth it and they know they're going to get our money Definitely. So this rounded out our cruise. This time I would in my opinion, I would go out of San Diego again.

Speaker 2:

Oh, definitely, and I think, like for us we're not hot weather people, so like going to the Caribbean is not, I mean, it's not really all that interesting. I would 1 million percent go back to Catalina, and Sonata was nice, I think if you kind of catch, if there's one thing you want to do, but that's even a day, you could just stay on the boat or even just go into town a little bit. But going out of San Diego was wonderful. You know, again, I think for Midwestern folks like us there's a bit of a sticker shock of just like what California costs and just the traffic, like there's just a lot of things that we don't have, that they do. But in general the weather was mild and I think that's the other side where people think California they're thinking it's hot. It was not that and but for us it was a nice kind of fine line between like getting sun but not being sweaty hot, not Florida hot, but in general I thought San Diego was very nice.

Speaker 2:

I think the other thing too is stay in the room near the port because and I'll also say this the port workers were awesome, they had individuals and I give the gentleman really props. I gave him $25 in cash yet, because at that point I just did not want to carry bags and Vanessa went to give him more money. He's like no, I'm all set and I just want to tip him well, because he was taking care of us. But overall the process was very nice and I think I would definitely go out of San Diego again. It's just the only issue for us being in Michigan. It just it takes a lot of effort. There's no directs from Flint, michigan to San Diego.

Speaker 2:

So, that's just the one hassle.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and what Chris was talking about is when we got off the ship. It was super easy process very fast and we had several cars. We were able to run and get the cars that were parked at the hotel and pull right up and load up and head out our different directions.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

So hopefully you can be booking your next Disney or your first Disney Cruise very soon. I will put the links to all of our previous Disney Cruise reviews in the show notes as well. We'll put the links to all of our previous Disney Cruise reviews in the show notes as well. And because we didn't have a guest, we're going to go right on to our two-minute trivia and our wisdom from Walt Quoke. So, Chris, you are up with trivia.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so we're sticking with the cruise theme.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

What currently, as of May 2025, what is the longest cruise that Disney offers in terms of days, Not nights?

Speaker 1:

but days. I think it's probably one of those like transatlantic or trans-Pacific.

Speaker 2:

It is transatlantic 14. Is that your final answer?

Speaker 1:

Yes, but I feel like it might be 18, but I'm going to go with 14.

Speaker 2:

According to the internet and Disney, it is 15 days.

Speaker 1:

Oh when are you going to take me on one of those?

Speaker 2:

Whenever you book it.

Speaker 1:

There might have to be a retirement.

Speaker 2:

I don't know that you and I would personally take two weeks off. No, I don't think I would be interested, nor want to do 15 days on a boat, but again, not now, but in general I mean I cannot just recommend it high enough. I mean I enjoyed the gym, you know, I got the Euros, the one gentleman got to know me and I think our staff was wonderful, I mean again, from the restaurant to the people in the cabins, I just can't say it enough and then, if you time it right, you can get all the photos you want. And then what's also nice too is, unlike other cruise ships and maybe scenes that you would see on TikTok, I think the only real pandemonium is when Mickey comes out.

Speaker 1:

That is true, yes, oh, and I have to add this they had something that they had never done on any of our other sailings.

Speaker 2:

Tell me, what did they do.

Speaker 1:

On the last night they called it a character palooza and they had characters in the main like what do you call it? The lobby area?

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

All the characters, all the characters from the shows, everything, and you just like walked up and took photos. It's only like a 20 minute thing so you can't get everybody, but we walked right up and got Daisy, we got some of the pirates from the pirate show, some of the people from the Disney dream show in their lion King costumes, moana, like they. It was awesome and I hope that they do that on another sailing that we do.

Speaker 1:

So let's round this out. I thought this was a kind of a quote. It reminded me of how, on a Disney cruise, you get to explore lots of new, exciting places. So this is our wisdom from Walt quote landscapes of great wonder and beauty lie under our feet and all around us. They are discovered in tunnels in the ground, the heart of flowers, the hollows of trees, freshwater ponds, seaweed, jungles between tides and even drops of water. So we hope that 2025 or 2026 can take you on your first or your next Disney cruise. And again, until then, check out all of our shows with our different Disney cruise reviews and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook. So thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the Disloved Podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa.

Speaker 2:

And I'm Chris. This podcast is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company or its holdings, and it is intended for entertainment purposes only.