Fangirls of a Certain Age
Fangirls of a Certain Age
Summer Series Part 2
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Set sail with Becky and Amber as they dive into the magic of Disney Cruise Line, sharing their favorite experiences, insider tips, and fascinating facts about Disney's fleet. From the origins of Disney Cruise Line in the 1980s to its expanding future destinations, this episode explores what makes Disney cruises a beloved vacation choice for families, Disney fans, and cruise enthusiasts alike.
The hosts break down the different classes of Disney ships, highlighting their unique designs, layouts, and signature features. They discuss everything from the engineering marvels behind cruise ship construction to Disney's distinctive touches, including fireworks at sea, immersive themed spaces, and exceptional guest service.
Food lovers will enjoy hearing about favorite meals, restaurants, and dining experiences across the fleet, while entertainment fans get an inside look at Disney's Broadway-caliber productions. Special attention is given to the acclaimed Hercules stage show—described as a performance that "took us to church"—along with other standout onboard entertainment.
Throughout the episode, the hosts share personal stories from their cruises, discussing memorable crew interactions, family-friendly activities, accommodations for special needs guests, and the magic of Disney's dedicated kids' spaces. They also compare favorite ships, debate the strengths of the Wish and Dream classes, and imagine enhancements they'd love to see on future sailings.
Whether you're planning your first Disney cruise or you're a seasoned cruiser looking for your next adventure, this episode offers practical tips, fun facts, and plenty of inspiration for your next voyage—including future dreams of exploring Alaska and beyond aboard Disney's growing fleet.
Ahoy, everyone, and welcome. Welcome back to your new favorite podcast, Fangirls of a Certain Age. It's me, your captain Amber, here with my first mate, Becky. Hi, Becky.
SPEAKER_01Hello. I wonder what adventures we'll be getting up to tonight.
SPEAKER_02Becky is correct. Tonight we are going down another journey into our summer series, and we are going to talk about one of our favorite things to do. But before we go down that path, of course, we have to start the episode the same way we start every episode, and that is with our fangirl 50. If you are brand new to the podcast, hi, welcome. We're so glad that you're here. Uh, and you don't know what a fangirl 50 is, don't worry, I'll tell you. Fangirl 50 is we're gonna talk to you for quote approximately 50 seconds. It's never 50 seconds, it's usually a lot more. Uh, but we're gonna go on and on about our most recent obsession that we are really locked into. And so I am going to hand it off to Becky to start. Becky, what are you fangirl 50ing this week?
SPEAKER_01Alright, y'all. In true BTS fashion, I'm gonna tell you that I assume that this one's gonna come out after the fervor has died down. If you are like me, you have taken on a new personality. And that personality is that of a Briar University puck bunny. Yeah, I said that puck bunny, which by the way, I do not actually like that term. But yes, y'all, I have become an off-campus junkie. It's happened the whole time I was watching it. I'm like, I'm not gonna do it. It's not happening. You will not get me. I'm on book two. I have watched it I don't know how many times. I am bl I have learned about these people. Like, you you're you're your girl's nothing if she ain't a fangirl. Sorry. It's just it's in my DNA. If you do not know what I'm talking about and you're going, what the hell is she talking about? Off campus is a set of books that actually came out in the teens of the 2000s, have been have been adapted to be the newest YA show uh on Amazon Prime. And it follows some students at Briar University, namely some gentlemen from the hockey team. Hockey's making it big this year. Hockey is making a very big fashion this year. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I did see a funny TikTok where a woman was like, if anyone in the entertainment industry has another hockey-based show, I can't take it. You're gonna have to wait till next year. I said, I feel you. So, yes, I have made it my whole personality. I am in love with all the characters. I think that Mika Abdallah, who plays uh Ali, is one of the hottest women I've ever seen in my life. Amber has listened to me say that. Um I I think that Garrett Graham, which is the name of not the actor but the character, is so good. So, y'all, I'm gonna stop because in my dreams I'm gonna get Amber to A, watch this show and B, read one book so that we can have a whole G D episode about it. Uh, and I will be so excited. The second season has already started filming or was starts filming this week. In Vancouver, I might add. Oh, in Vancouver. In Vancouver. Anyone else know what films in the summer? Usually, by the way. Now let's go there for a second.
SPEAKER_02Oh god, here we go. Here we go. You know, I thought that you were gonna just be like, and I'm fangirl 50ing this one thing, and you're like, but actually, since we're talking about it, let's bring up Milo Manheim, shall we?
SPEAKER_01No, I I was not gonna bring up Milo Manheim, I was gonna bring up school spirits. How dare you? How dare you? Who's in school spirits, Becky? A lot of people that we care about. That we care about, it's true.
SPEAKER_02Namely Chiara Petardo.
SPEAKER_01Our friends. Our friends are in school spirits now. That's true. Um uh, but uh in all seriousness, we have not received a we're starting to film from anybody, which is interesting. Yeah, but last last year they didn't start until the end of July. Well, we'll see. They just haven't announced it. That's all I'm saying. None of this is important. None of it is important except to me. And the one lady on TikTok who is my new spirit animal, because it was just a picture of her with text on the screen saying, I apologize deeply to Wally Clark for my excursion into Garrett Graham, and I will be back for you. And I sent it to Amber and said, I don't know who this person is, but they are my entire personality. It's a kindred spirit for sure.
SPEAKER_02So I was like, wow, somebody else is going through the same thing that you're going through. So that is beautiful.
SPEAKER_01So that's it for me. I will stop, but uh shouts out fangirl Kelly, because she's honest with me. She's on the shit with me. In fact, she was on the shit first, as per usual. Fangirl Kelly rides this wave before we do.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. I can attest to it. I'd say 90% of Becky's voice memos over the past couple days have just been about this show, these books. I feel bad because I can't really weigh in, and I feel worse because I don't really want to. Like I just don't think that's that I'll like it. I will do it. I I will watch the show and I will read one book just so we can have a conversation. I'm I am willing to commit to that. That I will do for the sake of pop culture and for fangirls everywhere. I will give it a shot.
SPEAKER_01And that's how you know she's a true fangirl. I mean, that's that's really how you know. But I told her, I said, let me give it to you in your parlance. When you go to escape rooms, when you go to one that you don't really care for, or you didn't like the storyline, or maybe it was too easy, but yet you're still like, but I still went to an escape room. It was still fun. Got to do stuff. Yeah. That's what it's gonna be like. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I can't believe that's because I I mean we've talked about it too before. I don't read just like straight romance. It's usually like if there's romance, it's the B plot or romanticy or like mystery with a romantic plot or whatever. But when I do read romance, I still enjoy it. I still like it. I'm not a monster, I'm not like made of stone. I still like it, so I probably still enjoy it at the very least. Just probably won't be like my favorite thing I've ever seen.
SPEAKER_01And as our audience knows, this is a show about a bunch of jocks and a love story. They know what they're they're doing. I have a type, as my girl likes to tell me all the time.
SPEAKER_02She does. She has a type. Absolutely.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02I own it. And I own it. And I have never uh ventured into the sports romance trope that has become very popular, as we mentioned. I feel like at least it's come to the forefront more uh in the past like year or so. And I just it just a sports trope doesn't appeal to me just in general because I don't give a shit about sports. Like I'm just not a sports person. Um, but I mean, who knows? I am willing to try it. Okay, why don't you tell us your fangirl? I look, I don't even know. I have so many things that I am like You kind of do right now. I have a lot going on. I just finished Fury Bound, which is the follow-up to the Dire Bound series that is by Sable Sorensen, and I thought it was so good if you are a romanticy person. If you are a fourth wing person, I think that you should give Dyer Bound a try. Dire Bound has a lot of parallels with fourth wing, but instead of dragons, it's wolves. And in my opinion, I think Dyer Bound does it better. I just I loved the characters and I thought Fury Bound was so well done. So that's like one. I'm doing multiple, I don't even care. So that's like one thing I'm fangirling. Um, I have started watching Fargo, but only season five because my boy Joe Kiri is in season five, and Fargo is a lot of fun, you guys. It is absolutely up my alley. So thank you, fangirl community, for telling me exactly what to expect and that I was able to watch that season. I am really enjoying it, and Joe Kiri is killing it. Also, didn't realize that that season was so stacked. Like the cast is stacked. John Ham is in it. Cute. Yeah, not cute. John Ham is, and I love John Ham, but he plays a pretty despicable person. Um still hot? Uh no. I mean, I mean it's John Ham. He's he's a good looking guy. He's gonna like that. 100% regardless, but um, pretty despicable. Juno Temple is like the main character, and I love Juno Temple. She's from Ted Lasso. Um Dave Foley is in it. Oh, and um Lamorne Morris from New Girl is in it as well. It's just I was very surprised. I did not expect all these people, so it was a very stacked cast. And then also, I'm just gonna say another thing. The most important thing that happened today. Today. Today, so when this comes out, this will be a few weeks old. But we had to activate. We had to. I I was I was actually channeling some fangirl Becky today. I really think I was.
SPEAKER_01I'm so proud. I'm so impressed.
SPEAKER_02It was announced that Joe Keary is making his Broadway debut this fall. And I have already tapped Fangirl Dana. I have already tapped Kelly to let them know I don't care how we do this. Come hell or high water. I will see Joe Keary on stage in New York during his run.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you will. I mean, she told me this. She's like, what does this mean? I'm on it. We're gonna figure this out. Don't worry. Oh, like that's how the fangirls work.
SPEAKER_02We're gonna make it hard happen. We will figure it out. I'm fangirling a lot, fangirling a lot right now. And that's me. Those are my fangirl 50s, because I have multiple. I have a lot. 50s with an S. But to be fair, two of my all-centered arrives are Joe Kiri. And to be fair, er, the one that I have not yet talked about is also Joe Kiri adjacent.
SPEAKER_01So listen, we love what we love. Mr. Curie is a fixture in our household. That's how it goes.
SPEAKER_02You sure?
SPEAKER_01The house that Milo and Mr. Kirie built. We need a Steve Harrington doll, so you can have a Zed and a Steve Harry.
SPEAKER_02If you think I haven't looked up a Steve Harrington doll, I have looked it up. They don't sell them. They've got like a little pop vinyl and stuff like that. But I want to say. So we'll do what we gotta do, okay? We make do.
SPEAKER_01Alright, so would you like to know what we're gonna get into this evening? I mean, I know, but tell everybody else. Alright, so here we go, folks. We are gonna talk about the one, the only Disney cruise line. It is near and dear to both of our hearts. So, Amber, let's start with the fangirl scale.
SPEAKER_02For a fangirl scale, for a cruise line, um, I would love to be higher, but I just haven't gone on as many ships as I would like to. I would say I'm probably like a at least a seven. I live in kind of that world where I love the experiences that I've had, but I want to do more so that I can love even more and be higher. So I'm gonna go with seven. Would you like to know my fangirl scale?
SPEAKER_01Yes. I am a five nine eight nine. Five nine. So that's five thousand nine hundred eighty-nine.
SPEAKER_02Is that is that a measurement? It's not a measurement. Is that a capacity? Nope.
SPEAKER_01What is five nine eight nine? So every cruise ship has one, and it is the whole number. So it is the number of the block that it is started from and made from at the shipyard, most of which are made in Germany. So every single ship ever made, including non-Disney ships, has this number, and that's what it's known as till it takes um a certain shape.
SPEAKER_02So then what's 5989? Like that's the Disney class, or is that a specific ship?
SPEAKER_01That's the Disney Magic, which is the very first ship. Oh, okay. That was made at the Fincantieri shipyard.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Wow. I always find it just fascinating how cruise ships come to be in general. You're like you see this big, huge, amazing ship, and then to know that it's literally made just like brick by brick by human people. I mean, not bricks apparently, but you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_01So, as mentioned, most ships are made in Germany um under the Meyerweft, and I can't really say that right, so apologies. Shipyard, but the FinCantieri shipyards is where it all began for Disney. Um, and the number is officially registered with maritime authorities and serves as the vessel's primary identifier for construction and classification purposes. And that is in Italy. Okay, so that should tell you everything you need to know about where I am on the fangirl scale uh for Disney Cruise Line. I love Disney Cruise Line. For me, it is the best vacation out of any of the Disney entities. I personally like it the best. I'm speaking only for myself, which should go to remind everybody that our thoughts and opinions are that of our thoughts and opinions. They do not represent the Walt Disney Company or any other company person entity, just ours.
SPEAKER_02Correct. I agree and I support that statement. My opinions only.
SPEAKER_01Okay, now that that's out of the way, would you like some Disney Cruise Line history? So more. Okay, the Disney Cruise Line footprint dates back even further than many know. Back to 1985. Uh, we love an 80s moment. This is when Disney had a partnership with Premier Cruise Line, where guests could book combined Walt Disney World and Bahamas vacations on the Big Red Boat. So it was called the Big Red Boat. It actually was aesthetically a big red boat. Um, but it was their first foray into figuring out basically if they wanted to take on a cruise line. Um, and so they were able to sort of package together a Disney World vacation with this cruise three and four land and sea, much like they do now, only it was with a different cruise company. They tried out some things that continue to be staples today, like rotational dining and dedicated kid spaces. They tried out on this big red boat. And after this experiment, they decided they were ready to undertake their own cruise ship, and so 1998. So 1985 is when they began, and then 1998 is when we saw our very first Disney cruise line ship, the Disney Magic. You know, Walt Disney and his wife liked cruising, actually. Right. Um, and there's some a very famous photo actually of them on a ship deck. Lily and Disney and and Walt Disney really enjoyed cruising, and a lot of people talk in all kinds of ways in all kinds of places about what would Walt think of this or that? I don't really like to do that. I don't know about you, but I really don't like to say those things. But I will say we just do know factually that they enjoy cruising and had taken cruises in their past. So they were fans, yeah. They were fans. Maybe they were fangirls, you never know. Um so Disney now has eight operating ships with more on the horizon, and they operate all over the world. Um, almost every continent has seen a Disney cruise line. Um so that's kind of it for the actual history of Disney cruise line. I do have some fun facts, um, and I'm gonna give you a couple, but then I'm gonna sprinkle a few throughout as they come up. Does that sound good?
SPEAKER_02Love that idea.
SPEAKER_01All right, the Disney cruise ships fall into different classes. So, much like many other cruise lines, when they decide to make sort of new classifications of boats, they put them into what we call classes. So the Disney cruise ships that started it all, the Magic and the Wonder, are considered the classic class. Um, they're smaller in size. Their size is why we see them on the West Coast because you have to be panamatic to get over here, which means you have to have a boat that fits through the Panama Canal to be able to bring it over here. And so many of the newer classes of ships for every cruise line, you've seen them, I'm sure, on the television, are huge. So they um often have the Disney Wonder and the Disney Magic on the West Coast over here with me. Uh, and you get the the next classes that I'm about to talk about. Um, and that is because if they were to come, they would have to come around the tip of South America, and that is some of the roughest waters in the world. So if you've ever seen those TikToks of the Drake Passage, which is actually between South America and Antarctica, and like the craziness of that, that is kind of around the tip of South America. So, no, we don't want to ruin our cruise ships by doing that.
SPEAKER_02And that would be not fun to be on a ship going through that. That would be awful.
SPEAKER_01No. Um, so so yeah, the dream class, which you know, we'll get into it, but is arguably most people's favorite, I might say, actually. I have heard that. Um you you want to pick up this out of this one and put that one over there from this one. Um, but the dream class consists of the dream and the fantasy. They are a wee bit bigger. Um, again, not panamatic, so they're over there on the east coast and beyond. So they'll go transatlantic um and all of those fun places. Uh, and then the wish class, which is where we're living right now. So that's the wish, the treasure, and the destiny. Those are the three newest boats. And the believe has just been announced, and that will join us in 2027. Haven't really heard much about the theming for that one, but I'm excited. I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm always excited. I like the idea just of like something like a new story to be told, because I feel like that's that's happening a lot with the wish class ships.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, and there actually is one other class that they've named the global class, um, and that is the Disney Adventure. So the Disney Adventure has a bit of a different story. Um, it began sailing this year and differs greatly from the other ships, as it was started for an entirely different company. That poor company went bankrupt during uh COVID, so Disney then acquired the ship, uh, which is a massive discount for any company to be able to acquire a ship that's already been started. Um, and so they sprinkled their pixie dust on it and made it more Disney fied, I guess, if you will. Yeah. Um, and uh the global class was born, and the Disney Adventure exclusively currently sails out of Asia, so Singapore specifically. So here's a couple of fun facts for you. Disney was the first cruise line granted special permission to use the color yellow on their lifeboats to evoke Mickey in the ship's aesthetic. So when you look at a Disney cruise line, it is, you know, your traditional white, red, yellow, and black. You wanna say it?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, sure. Here's your trivia. Here comes your first trivia question for your first trivia question. So uh ships being black is bad luck in the nautical culture. Um, and so they try not to put the color black on ships or boats or vessels in general. Also, it can represent piracy. Um, so that's also a bad thing. But the Disney Cruise line wanted to, just like Becky said, symbolize Mickey. So if you looked at a ship, you were like, oh, that's the same colors as as Mickey Mouse, so obviously you would have to have black, but it's not black. As Disney lore goes, because I've heard different variations of this story, but it all is the same overall story. Um, when they were trying to figure out exactly what they were going to do, a an imagineer, an executive, I've heard all sorts of different things, but a cast member nonetheless came in and was part of this conversation about what they were going to do to get just the right color. Um, and they were kind of toggling with the idea of doing a really, really, really dark navy that was in the room, was wearing, I've heard a pantsuit, I've heard a blazer, I've heard a skirt, I've heard all the types of things. But the end of the story is that the fabric was the exact shade of blue that they wanted. And so story goes that they took a swatch of that fabric of that outfit, and they used that as a reference to create the color and thus named that color after the cast member who was named Monica. And so this color is known as Monica Blue, is the color of the quote black, but it's actually a very, very deep navy, but Monica Blue is the name.
SPEAKER_01We love a fun fact collab. Yes, it is true. Isn't that interesting, everybody?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, Disney is the only cruise line to have fireworks at sea still, which is so interesting to me that nobody else is still doing that, right? Like, don't you think that's strange? It started immediately, like with the magic.
SPEAKER_02In 98.
SPEAKER_01In 19 yeah, in 1998.
SPEAKER_02As far as I can understand, it it has got to be a huge feat. You've got to jump through a lot of hoops, you have to have, you have to have fireworks trained cast on board at all times. You have to have ways to store that, you have to have ways to set it off if it doesn't get set off for whatever reason. So I think that there's just so much red tape that other cruise lines are like, eh, it doesn't really fit our our theme or our vibe, and they don't do it. But also, I don't know about you, but the cruises I've been on, the amount of times that I've seen like other ships like parked nearby to watch the fireworks when they're going on. 100%.
SPEAKER_01Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they're like, why do we need to have our own? We'll just park next to Disney and watch theirs.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right. Uh, but a very, very cool thing is that um they came up with a way to do this all environmentally friendly. The fireworks actually go off with compressed air as opposed to uh typical gunpowder. When they go off, they actually uh fall into the ocean and they become biodegradable. They actually just turn into fish food and the fishies eat them.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Which is pretty cool. So that's the other thing that uh that I wanted to say because I do appreciate that they take care with that. There is more than one, but one specific documentary on Disney Plus about the making of the wish that is absolutely fabulous. If you are just curious in general how a cruise ship works, not even just Disney, if you're curious how Disney did a lot of the things that they do for the cruise line and the care and the storytelling, technical sides of things, check it out. It is the making of the wish, and it is it is fascinating how a cruise ship comes to be. Fascinating. So I will give that that fact for opening up more fun. How about that?
SPEAKER_02Oh, that rolled right off the tongue there. Wow.
SPEAKER_01And lastly, Disney also has something very special that no other cruise ship or cruise lines have. Do you know what that is? The horns? That's right, baby. Those horns. And the the first time the horn went off, it made me cry. I will tell you that. Um, it plays When You Wish Upon a Star, and then of course, in the larger class ships now we have more technology since 1998. Uh, and they can play over a dozen Disney melodies, and they will often do so. And I don't know about you, this is a toxic trait of mine, but I just feel so good when I'm standing on deck and there's another cruise ship in port, and I'm like, oh, that's us, yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, when you're on the cool one. I don't remember where we were, but we passed another Disney ship. I had heard this, but I had I had never been on a I had never been on a ship that did it, and they did a horn war where like one played one song and then the other played another song, and they just went back and forth, and I was like, this is so great. Like I just I loved it. And like on The Destiny, I've heard I heard Grim Grinning Ghosts, I heard we don't talk about Bruno, and I heard going the distance, just to name a few that I remember, but they played so many, it was awesome.
SPEAKER_01It truly, it's truly one of those things where you're like, Flex, I'm on this boat.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Alright, so we are gonna do our superlatives as we're one to do about the Disney cruise line, and hope that you'll come along with us and uh let us know what you like about the Disney Cruise line. I love it, I love it so much. I was just I was just telling Amber the other day uh that I feel so at peace on the water, and there's something about just the calmness uh of being on the water in the open ocean. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02It very much calms me. I agree. I I know a lot of people they go on the cruise ships and they like they have to do like the rainforest room and the spa. And I listen, I'm all down for that. But for me, the thing I love the most, give me a veranda, give me a book, give me just like music, and I'm just like sitting on the veranda with the ocean, and oh my gosh, there's just something about it that I'm like, I can't be bothered. I just can't be bothered. It's so wonderful.
SPEAKER_01It is so wonderful, and um, I'm I'm laughing because I did go on a uh a girls' trip once with uh a very good friend of mine, and we both love reading books, but she is like you and she likes to be on the veranda. And back me up out there, people who have ever stayed on a Disney cruise line. That bed is absolutely the best thing that has ever happened in my life. So literally, we would go an entire afternoon, and I'm saying hours of her reading her book on the balcony and me reading my book in the bed simultaneously, and I can't tell you. I'm sure people are out there going, well, that sounds lame. Uh-uh. That was the best one of the best trips I've ever had.
SPEAKER_02That's the best part about cruising, is that you can do whatever the hell you want. You can do whatever you want. You wake up, you show up if you want to. That's my mantra on a cruise ship. You wake up, you show up wherever you want to.
SPEAKER_01Yep. And you leave if you don't want to you don't want to watch something through. You just walk out.
SPEAKER_02Not really for me. You show up to trivia or you don't. You go get a drink or you don't. You hang out in your room or you don't. There's no like, where do I have to be and when is the monorail coming and how many buses do I have to take to do this? Like, it's no stress. It's wake up and do whatever you want. I that's my favorite part about a cruise is there's no stress at all.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. If you want to go have ice cream and then turn your ass back around and go have another ice cream, fucking do it. Yeah, fucking do it. It's the best. Alright, so are you ready to jump in, my friend? Yes, let's go. I'm gonna start out with a place that I like to live, and that is what is your favorite food/slash restaurant? So it's kind of a two-parter. Um, but uh, what's your favorite food on board? Any of the cruise ships for that matter, and of course, the favorite restaurant. And we should say one of the things the things that both of us enjoy immensely is rotational dining. Um, and do you want to tell the people what rotational dining is if they're unfamiliar?
SPEAKER_02I have never been on any other cruise line, so I learned recently that the rotational dining isn't standard. So, rotational dining means that you are on a multi-day cruise and each night you are uh dining at a different location and you're on a rotation. I think its minimum is three. So you're gonna minimum you're gonna visit three different restaurants that have different themes, different menus. And what's great about it as well is it is all the same ship. They do share kitchens and things like that. So if you are at night one at one restaurant and you really loved this dish and you loved this menu or whatever, and you go to night two and you're not really feeling anything on that menu, but you really can't stop thinking about that dish from the menu before, they can get that for you. They're like, Oh, that's fine, we'll just get that thing for you, which I think is awesome. So you can make it as unique and different as you want, or you can stay as comfy, cozy as you want, which I think is great.
SPEAKER_01And the other thing about that too, which is awesome, is that your weight staff moves with you. So you get to learn and know your weight staff, and guess what? They get to learn and know you as well. I've actually been super blessed uh because I actually got to go on the Panama Canal cruise, uh, which was 14 nights, and some people right now are probably going, Oh my god, I could never, I could never, um, which is understandable. But let me tell you, by like night four, they had my son's order and he was three. They had his order every time, sat down right there in front of him when we got to the restaurant, and they knew exactly what he wanted. Um, and that same experience just happened uh last year when we went with my younger son, who is now 13. Yeah, holy smokes. Okay, sorry. It's like how is time flying? Um and um he uh as mentioned before, he has autism, and so uh structure and sameness is huge, and you know, totally different people, obviously, from 13 years ago, but they would have him a grilled cheese, which is not on any menu, I might add. They would have him a grilled cheese and French fries, and they would have it out before the rest of us even got our orders taken. So, you know, we'll talk about service in the in a little bit. But yeah, so okay, what is your favorite restaurant and or food? I'm gonna give you both.
SPEAKER_02Okay, um, so it's interesting because I have been on, I think, four ships. I've been on the wonder, I've been on the dream, I've been on the wish, and I've been on the destiny. Um, and while I prefer the wish class to the classics or dream class, my most memorable food experiences, I won't necessarily say staff experiences, but food, like specifically, like if that's what we're talking about, um, it was on the classic ships. Um, my very first cruise ever, I was on the Disney Wonder, and I had never had salmon, and I had never had escarg. And so it was my first night ever, like on the on a cruise ship, and I was at Triton's, and they uh they had on the menu, they were like salmon, and then you could get escargot. And I was like, you know what? It's all inclusive. I can get whatever I want, so I'm gonna try something different, and if I don't like it, I'll just order something else. And so I ordered the salmon and I ordered the escargot, and that began my love affair with both salmon and escargot. I could not get enough. The salmon was so juicy and buttery, and the best to this day, like I'm telling you, it's the best salmon I've ever had, and I consider myself a salmon connoisseur. Like, I go to Disney World, and every single buffet has a salmon, and every single time I'm like, it's good, but it's not Tritons on the Wonder back in like 2008. Good. I still think about that salmon, and the escargot was so buttery and so garlicky. It was so delicious and not what I anticipated it to be. That the next night I went to a different restaurant, couldn't tell you what it was, and I looked at the menu and I was like, I just can't stop thinking about that escargot and salmon. And they brought me escargot and salmon, and they brought it to me the third night, too. So I had three nights in a row, salmon and escargot, and I was happy. It was so, so delicious. And as a restaurant though, I love animators palette. I think it is such a unique design and experience where if you're not familiar, the whole theme is animation, and you walk in and everything is it's like you're at an animator studio and they have screens of you know people drawing and things like that, but everything is black and white, and then as the night progresses, things start to become color. The servers at the beginning of the night have these uh vests that are black and white that have sketches of Mickey, and then by the end of it, the vests are turned another way and they're all full color, and it's just it's a very simple change, very simple thing to do, but it's just it's very effective, and I think it's it's it's whimsical, it's fun, it's very Disney. I do love Animator's palette, and I know that the on the adventure they've really enhanced that experience incredibly. Where now, like you design your own little cartoon and it comes to life, and it it's crazy. I think that's mine is the is the salmon and the escargot I still think about. I love that.
SPEAKER_01Um, I would say here comes the difference between Becky and Amber again. Uh hands down, my favorite meal on the Disney cruise line. But it's two different things. And one I didn't discover until like two cruises ago, so here you are. Um I love chicken tenders.
SPEAKER_02Oh my god, I was gonna tease you. I was gonna say chicken tenders and french fries. I was so good at teasing.
SPEAKER_01If you no, I'm not gonna let you make fun of me because the chicken tenders are so good that it makes it into the Marvel dining show. It's it's actually, you know, mentioned. I forget which Marvel person uh wants to get on deck to get chicken tenders. Which hero? I don't know how do you say them as a collective.
SPEAKER_02Marvel person is fine.
SPEAKER_00Sorry.
SPEAKER_01Uh it might have been Ant-Man. Maybe no, somebody says something about the chicken. I think it's um New Cap.
SPEAKER_02Falcon or Captain America? He's flying, so Falcon? Falcon. Okay, Falcon, yeah. This depends on when it takes place. It's Sam Wilson, either way.
SPEAKER_01Guys, the Marvel episode's coming and it's gonna be rip-roaring fun, I'm gonna tell you that.
SPEAKER_02Oh, it's gonna be a great time.
SPEAKER_01Um, okay, so I love the chicken tenders and fries, period. Must-have all the time. Um, but a few years ago, I was at what I would consider my favorite restaurant. And I will say honorable mention to the fact that I don't know why it took them a minute to get there, but they're now doing, let's call them character dining, you know what I mean? Uh, which is a staple of all Disney uh parks and whatnot. Uh, and they didn't do that on the cruise ship really until just now. And what they're doing basically is a dinner show. So you have um Frozen on the Wish, you have Rapunzel, um, on I think it's the Magic is Rapunzel. I cannot remember. Uh and it's one of the classics. Yeah, and then Tiana is the other one. Yes, and then Coco uh is on one of them. You you just went to to Lion King. The Pride Lands with the Lion King. Yeah. Um so I don't know what took them so long to figure out, duh, but they did, and and I love them because you know me, I love music, so I'm all in.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, and I will put a plug-in to your point, like you can get anything you want from you know a different uh place, whatever you want. But also, if you're like me and you're a picky eater, I also order from the kids' menu. They don't care. They do not care. Um, but my favorite restaurant is Palo. Bougie! Yeah, so Palo, Palo is on every single Disney cruise ship, and it has a different variation and a different sort of theme in the different classes. It's like it's a steakhouse in the new Wish class, as opposed to just being like Italian forward in the older ships. But it is adults only, so you have to be 18 or over. You do have to get a little dressed up, nothing crazy, but you have to get a little dressed up to go there. Uh, and as mentioned, I am not an adventurous eater, I will not try things. So it's definitely not a characteristic of myself that I like, but it just is what it is at 48 years old. We're not gonna change that probably. Uh, and one of the servers said you must try this Angolati pasta. Now, if you've never had that, I dream about it to this day. I dream about it. Um, and it's a butternut squash pasta.
SPEAKER_02That sounds amazing.
SPEAKER_01It's a butternut squash ravioli to be uh to be specific.
SPEAKER_02That sounds so good.
SPEAKER_01And that in and of itself, I would never. But the server was like, I'm telling you, and so you know, you get wrapped up, and and and again, we're gonna get a through line here. The service, anytime someone on the Disney Cruise tells you something, you believe it and you do it, right? Because they the service is second to none. But I tried it, and when I tell you, I have no idea how they get something to be salty, sweet, buttery, crunchy, soft. I have no idea, but it is all of those things. And it is it is sorcery. It is sorcery. So I will not get on a boat without having that.
SPEAKER_03It is to die for.
SPEAKER_02Well, you know, I've never heard of that, and I've gone to Palo every ship I've been on. I've been I've been to Palo. Uh honorable mention to Palo Brunch.
SPEAKER_01I didn't know don't even get us started.
SPEAKER_02We did that on the wish. It was people had been telling us about that, and that was amazing. Oh, it was so delicious. So many different things that are only available during the brunch menu. So if you ever get that opportunity, definitely snag a reservation for the brunch because if I if I have my option between the brunch or the dinner, I will pick brunch. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Angolati pasta is not at brunch, so it's like it's definitely a Sophie's toy. It's hard. Ugh, it's hard. Okay. So I think we have eaten ourselves silly now. Right? Yes. Uh, and so let's go to favorite entertainment. You have a favorite entertainment on the boat.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, I do. So, in general, hey, I would love the deck shows and things like that, but I don't like having to excuse me, pardon me, like around like crowds and stuff like that. That's not your vibe. I don't like that. I need to have a designated seat, a designated view. I need low stress. Uh, so I am a very big proponent of the stage shows. I do, I love, love, love the stage shows. There are some that I'm like, I've I've seen it. I've I seen it, I don't need to see it anymore. Um, there are certain ones that I'm just like, I don't know that there's another way that they can retell this story that would interest me. I have seen every version of Frozen that you can imagine because my son is obsessed with frozen. So any type of frozen piece of entertainment that exists, I've seen it. And so, like, they're like, oh, it's a frozen show, I'm like, could it be anything else? Like, I would love to see a different story. Um, just because I've seen Frozen a million different versions. But I will say the frozen show on The Destiny was spectacular. That being said, as great as the frozen show was on The Destiny, there has not been a single show that I have seen across any of the four ships that I have been on that held a candle to the Hercules stage show. Oh well, duh. I lost my damn mind. I was crying. Hercules was he was a god. Like, truly, I was like, he's real. Like, I this is not an actor, this is a man sent down from the heavens. He was amazing. And like honorable mention also went to Pegasus. I loved the way that they imagined Pegasus because they were like, well, he's a flying horse, and we can do puppet, I guess, but you know, are we gonna have him actually fly? So they did like a breakdancing acrobatic kind of guy with hooves and wings, and he killed it. He was so good. And I was like, this is oh, who am I even talking about? They were fine. They were fine in comparison to the muses. They took us to church, they took everyone to church, they were so incredible. I had goosebumps the entire time. I was like crying, and I was like, why am I crying? I don't know why I'm crying. Like, Hercules was such an amazing show. They described the shows on the ships as like these are Broadway style shows. This was a Broadway show. Period. End of statement. Yeah. It was a Broadway show. The other ones are like, you know, they're elevated stage shows, things like that. They're great. But this was like the truest definition I've seen of like, yeah, that this could be on Broadway tomorrow. That's how incredible it was. I will give this one one little uh qualifier. The night that I watched Hercules, it was a very rough night at sea, and so they had to adjust a couple of things. And I had been told, hey, if they have to do what they call the B show for the finale with the Titans, it's gonna be a little cheesy. Like, just be aware of that. And I was like, okay. So I had seen, like, you know, the things that Disney had shared that the Titans were these like big, uh, oversized puppets, really complicated, really beautiful puppets uh that they were making for the Titans. I did not see these puppets on my cruise because I had the B show, which was basically a screen of the Titans and then Hercules like panamiming fighting the Titans on the screen. And I'm your imagination. Right. It wasn't great, it wasn't a great like climax in comparison to the production value of the rest of the show. But I will give them that pass because it was B. It was B show and they needed to be safe. So, like, so I understood it. So I was glad that I was given that heads up that that was what B looked like, so that I was like, okay, so it didn't ruin the show for me, because I was like, no, I understand, you know. So I want to put that out there too for anyone that might have that same experience to give them a little bit of grace on the sake of safety. So that's my answer.
SPEAKER_01Fun fact personal fun fact uh I did see um the uh muses saying it was in a compilation show, obviously, way back when. Uh, and I did see Jennifer Hudson, who famously was a muse on the Disney. That's right. Now, did I know she was Jennifer Hudson at the time? Sure did not, because she didn't know she was Jennifer Hudson at the time, if you will. So but um I do love that she still will reference that every once in a while.
SPEAKER_02She's a fairy godmother of the case. That is correct.
SPEAKER_01She is the godmother of the Disney dream. If you're unfamiliar, every ship has a godmother. It's a maritime tradition. Um, it's usually a famous person, it can be an entity of people in homage to something, as the Disney Wish is actually an homage to all the Make-a-Wish children, are the honorary godmothers, but they made her uh a godmother, which I think is really cool.
SPEAKER_02And a godmother of the Disney Destiny is the voice of Megara from Hercules, Susan Egan. Susan Egan.
SPEAKER_01Yep. I saw her sing on one of the cruise lines actually. It was very cool. So chill. That's very cool.
SPEAKER_02Everyone knows I love Susan Egan.
SPEAKER_01That's actually one of the I I do often talk about that's one of the coolest things I've seen because they turned all the lights off and just the animation was on, and then she sang, I won't say anymore, while the animation was on. It was it was way cool. You know how I feel about Hercules. I think it was on the Panama Canal cruise, if my memory serves. I can't remember. But they often will get guest performers to come on because they can just arrive at a port, get on, and do a thing, and then get off at the next port. And it's a low commitment type of thing. Um, in fact, you and I just saw something about a Broadway situation that is possibly coming. So that's headed by Susan Egan. Fangirl Dana, watch out. Let's go. Um, alright, so uh I'm gonna go backwards just one quick second before I mention mine because I did have this fun fact for you because I knew you were gonna make fun of me and my chicken fingers. Never never you literally said rewind the tape, people. Disney Cruise Line consumes approximately 3,500 chicken fingers a day and 5,000 self-serve ice creams. Because you can walk up and get yourself one ice cream anytime you want. Wow a day. That's crazy. A day. And I'm only responsible for like two or three. I just want you to know. Yeah. Twice a day. Just kidding. So my favorite entertainment, I'm gonna be brief. Um, I of course love the Broadway style shows. Period, end of story. That is the best entertainment. Although, honorable mention to the little random pockets of uh entertainers that are kind of around the ship in different lounges and stuff with some absolutely amazing talent. Um, whether they be playing, dancing, singing, I mean, there's there's all sorts of things going on. Um, very cool. Um, and that is, I love the compilation stage shows. I love them so much. Um, there's Golden Mickeys, there's Seas the Adventure, um, Believe, I think is one because I just love seeing like snippets of each thing, and I think it captures the attention of the audience a lot too. Um, I will put a plug also because you know I love introducing children to the arts. It's a really great way to see if your kid is going to like this or not. Even my child, as mentioned, has autism. He cannot sit still for literally longer than like 10 or 15 minutes. He eats that grilled cheese, and one of us has to get up and go. 45 whole minutes of a show, he sat there and watched mesmerized, um, which was shocking. And he asked to go again and asked to go again. I'm like, yeah, let's go.
SPEAKER_00That's so good.
SPEAKER_01I know it really is. But my whole point, I'm getting goosebumps because there's so many magical moments like that that you will find in your own way. Um, but my whole point is that's what's so great, is that if your kiddo isn't gro isn't doing so hot with it, up and out you go. And it's yeah, you didn't pay, you did pay, obviously, we know, but you didn't pay for that particular performance and drove all the way into a city to go see and all this stuff. Yeah, yeah. Even a three-year-old might, you know, love Frozen to your point, and get 10 minutes out of it and still talk about it when they get home, but it's 10 minutes, you know what I mean, that they loved, so who knows? But yeah, so the compilation ones are my favorite. They usually will do one of my very favorite Broadway style tropes, which is when people are all singing their own song in this way, it would be their own song, but in a Broadway show would be like their own feelings, if you will, and all of those melodies and whatnot, they have arranged them to all kind of come together and they're uh and mesh together well, so a lot of times you'll see the princesses do it. Um, so those are my favorite. I never miss them, even if I've seen them already, because there's always new uh new talent and whatnot in them. And honestly, to your point, I'm not a big fan of the sail away show and and those kinds of things that are on deck because again, it's crowded, it's a little too much. So even before the fireworks, the pirate party and the pirate show is even a little much for me. Um so I'm cool, you know, like just watching from my balcony the fireworks.
SPEAKER_02Love to give an honorable mention to seize the adventure on destiny. They had a um Princess and the Frog down in New Orleans, Tiana. Oh my god, I'm almost there, like medley, like whatever. That alone, just that scene, I could like oh my god, the dancers and the singing and the choreography and the costumes and the set, like again, that was a Broadway number. Me and my husband were like, Are you serious? Are you serious with this? Like, it was so captivating. I mean, amazing to watch.
SPEAKER_01If if you need any, you know, understanding of the level of talent, Jennifer Freaking Hudson, who is an Oscar wheeler, was on the boat. So next we kind of saved sort of the best for last, if you will, in our superlatives, and that is what is your favorite boat slash favorite experience um that you've had on a boat? Um, I know you kind of talked about the Disney Destiny not too long ago with your parents, which was um so special and meaningful. But have you had any other experience on a boat that really spoke to you? Like what stands out?
SPEAKER_02So I'm gonna do a honorable mention blanket statement that I know that you will totally grasp onto. In general, what completely makes these vacations and these ships and these experiences so special? Yes, the spaces are great, yes, they're beautiful, the drinks and the food, blah blah blah, whatever. It is the crew. They are just incredible from top to bottom, start to finish, inside and out. They care so much. They are happy to see you, they're so genuine and sincere, and like just those little interactions, those moments that might be just another day at work for them come off so sincere and so real. It just that's what makes it. That is truly what makes it. Like, I live in Florida, I live at Disney World, I'm at Disneyland all the time, and while the cast members are fantastic here and there as well, it is just a completely different level when you are on a cruise ship. So, in general, I don't even care what ship I'm on because I know I'm gonna be taken care of.
SPEAKER_01That is that that's the I always say it's the best service of any Disney entity, period. Hands down, far and away. There's really no comparison, the level of service that you get. It's not hospitality, it's genuine, authentic care. Yes, I agree.
SPEAKER_02That's a great way to put it. It goes it goes so much more above hospitality. You literally feel like these people genuinely care about your experience, your feelings, your memories, all of those things. You get to know them.
SPEAKER_01You say hello to people, and they say hello to you. Your stateroom host knows your kids. Like, even if you're on a three-night cruise, I don't know how they do it, but they infuse this connection so immediately.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and sincerely too. It's not put upon, you know? Not at all. I talked about it in one of the other episodes. The destiny, I will say, was like the best overall experience for me, just because we got to experience such special moments with my mom and dad, with my kids, and all being at there at the same time, getting to see my parents kind of revert to their inner child was just so cool for me to see because I've never seen that, and getting to see them just kind of play and let go and not have to worry about you know, work or job or finances or babysitting or childcare or whatever, they were just themselves, and I rarely got to see that growing up, and so that was super special, something I can't get anywhere. Um, but I will say my favorite ship as of this moment is the Wish. I love The Wish so much. I think the classic ships and the dream class are fantastic, they're beautiful, but to me, they are nautical ships with um with Mickey heads on them, which is not a bad thing. A lot of people like that classic look, but I like the immersive Disney story. That's what I want. I like being in a place and being like, ah, this is Disney. I'm the person that will bypass like the Grand Floridian and stay at like all-star movies because I want to see, you know, the oversized characters. I want to see the Disney stuff, you know? So the wish is the first time I ever felt when I stepped on the ship, I was stepping into a storybook. It was a theme park, like at sea, but in a classy, elegant way, where you really were stepping into these stories, into this vibe. It's very fantasyland, very um fairy tale, very princess. I love it. Now, The Destiny is the other one in the in the class that I've done, and I enjoyed it, but I didn't really care for the theme as much. I loved the Haunted Mansion parlor. That was my favorite thing on The Destiny, that's my favorite space. But I know that when I get on the treasure, when that happens, I know that's gonna be my favorite ship. That is my vibe. It has like that mysterious aura, like and totally different.
SPEAKER_01The color story is so different.
SPEAKER_02Yep. The Cocoa stage show, plus they have the haunted mansion bar and the jungle cruise bar. Like, I feel like the treasure will be my ship. So at this moment, it is the wish, but I know that once I get on the treasure, that will change. So those are my answers.
SPEAKER_01Alright. So I'm gonna run real fast. I do have uh three best experiences. Number one, my husband and I got to take uh a non-kid, just the two of us, seven-night cruise uh last year, uh, and we stayed in concierge. So that was amazing. And I do want to bring this up for a couple reasons. Hit me up on the socials if you want to know if I think concierge is better or not. But um, people often say, but it's not for kids. Y'all, any age will find something on these boats. And the thing I like the most is, and it's the same, you know, as you mentioned about cruising, it's adjacent to that, which is every single individual in the family is catered to. There is something for children, there is something for adults, there is something for solo moments, there is something for couple moments, there is something for family moments. Like any time of day, anything you want to do, you can do. If you are an adult with an adult-only cruise going on, there are spaces in the ship where you will rarely even see children because of the fact that the way they have made the boat and the and the venues they have put together are adults-only venues, so there's no reason for kids to be there and they don't even have to pass through there to go someplace else. They've thought of everything. Okay. My second um, my second favorite experience, uh, I got one for each of my kids when my oldest uh was on the for the first time. We haven't even talked about it, but you guys, the kids' spaces, as you might imagine on Disney Cruise, the kids' spaces are beyond. If I could have been in those spaces when I was a kid, I would have died. Um, they are so rich in storytelling. Characters come there without you even knowing. They'll hand you a picture at dinner and be like, Oh, look, this is what happened. Or your kids will regale you of how they're gonna do it. My kids wanted nothing to do with stories with a soldier.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, my kids wanted nothing to do with us. We would pull them out and take them to dinner, they would scarf their food and they'd be like, Can we go back to kids club? Off we go. Like, it was amazing. Oh, and they're so great with the kids.
SPEAKER_01Yep, and that is my oldest one. He was probably, I don't know, probably like four at the time. And I remember going to pick him up out of kids' club. We were done with dinner. My husband and I wanted to go to bed, and it was 10 o'clock at night, and he was like, Please can I stay for longer? Because I forget whatever the heck was going on. So I had to go back downstairs. I fell asleep and didn't even get go up and get him until midnight. And he four, four years old. He was like, Yep, yep, I'm in. And I can't.
SPEAKER_02And they did that on the wish. That's so crazy.
SPEAKER_01I'm like, what are you doing right now? And I'm like geezer central over here, like going to bed. Like, what is happening? Um, and lastly, this speaks to the service as well. So I want to put this disclaimer out there so people understand. If you have a special needs child or special needs situation, the Disney cruise line will absolutely connect with you on anything you want to know about what they can provide for you. But they cannot provide any one-to-one service either medically or babysitting intellectually, that kind of thing. So I when I say this, I want you to know that specifically. Um, and that was told to us, it's very clear as well that, like, you know, they would be happy to accommodate as much as they possibly can, but they cannot accommodate any one-to-one service. Um, when I got to the cruise with my special needs kiddo um when he was little, I was, as you might imagine, very apprehensive of how this was gonna go down because he has special needs and so he has things that, you know, need to be attended to. Uh, cast members there again made sure I understood that they could not provide one-to-one service, then he would have to be in kids' club and be able to navigate that on his own. So, of course, we were like, we will, you know, do our best to try to see if you know this will work. We'll go for like 15 minutes at a time and see. Um, and they spent at least 45 minutes with me on the side at intake, let's call it, learning exactly about him, learning what his needs were, learning how he asks for certain things, what um types of you know, in the autism community would know, like what are his triggers, what are his stims, what are things that he does or does not do, um, what are things that he will like to do, possibly or not like to do. And then um, okay, I've got goosebumps. Every day he went, every single time he had fun, every single time they gave me a full report of what it was he was up to, and I'm gonna cry. Um, it was that that goes back to the care. That's the care and the magic, the magic, all of it. So those are my favorite experiences. As far as a boat is concerned, you and I might differ on this. I do enjoy the wish. I do think out of the class, again, I've not been on the Destiny or the Treasure yet. I've been on every other boat in the fleet. And I do like, I want, I want the wish and the dream to have a baby, is what I want. Okay. Because there are things that I um that I don't like about both of them and things that I love about both of them. But if I had to choose, I would probably stay in the dream fantasy class, and I would like for them to get a little bit of a a juj, I guess I would say. But I do like their layout better, and I do like um a couple of their spaces better than the uh wish class.
SPEAKER_02That's so interesting. So I feel like that's the biggest argument about the those two classes is the the dream class, the wish class is the layout, and like a hundred to get from pointy to pointy. 100%. I don't like the dream class's layout. So funny. And I and I'm I think I'm in the minority. I feel like most people prefer the layout to the dream, but I find the wish class so intuitive. And apparently, again, apparently I am in the minority of that. I keep hearing because like when I go on those ships, I listen. People are like, I hate how this ship is laid out. And I'm like, really? I think it's so much easier to navigate. But I think a big part of that is that there's so many obvious landmarks in the wish class because everything is so specifically detailed, that I feel like it's easier to get your bearings. And then when you're on like the dream and the fantasy, I feel like so much looks so similar that you have to like really pay attention and be like, oh, the carpet here is is red versus navy. If you don't notice that, then it's harder to get oriented. That's how I feel. I understand that. It's yeah, it's very interesting that that that's a big thing. And when we're that's a big point of contention.
SPEAKER_01What's most interesting to me is that you said you feel like you know, there's just Mickey ears on the dream and the fantasy and the wish and all of that, the storytelling and it all. Uh, I feel the exact opposite. I feel colder on on the wish class. Really? Not not like in totally, you know, but I do. Um Wow, you know, here's my hear me out. Uh, I don't like that they have so many high-end places to shop. I just think that's a little like bearish.
SPEAKER_00I agree with you. Um, I don't like that.
SPEAKER_01So we're not gonna play a game, y'all. We're gonna do something that I'm calling three wishes. We're going to each say these three things. And again, we're gonna also kind of connect this to Blessed Manifest because we've talked about a bunch of blessed things as we have gone on through this. Um also blessed because we've gone on so many, and we truly believe, and I want to put this out there, we know that these are an exorbitant amount of money and it is maybe out of people's reach, whether it's financially, geographically, whatnot. I personally believe it's well worth it, especially if you have any sort of inkling to liking Disney, you would love it. Um, but I, you know, would be remiss if we didn't honor the fact that it is a very expensive and privileged vacation to have. So that is why we are going to sort of not sit in blessed because we are definitely blessed. Um, and so this one's sort of more of a manifest. Uh uh, and of course, the the largest manifest that we will make good on is that the two of us will go together on a cruise. The fun we will have. The fun we will have. Also, just in case anybody cares, we've both won trivia medals on the Disney cruise line. That's a big big deal. They have Disney trivia of all manner of kind. What did you win for?
SPEAKER_02Uh most recently I won uh for Destiny. I won for animated films level two. Okay. Um I did get a perfect score on Hercules Trivia by myself. I was alone. I was alone. I got a perfect score, but then I lost the tiebreaker.
SPEAKER_01Well, I uh won mine for music.
SPEAKER_02Of course, you're not gonna tracks too.
SPEAKER_01Not surprising. Um, okay, so here's how it's gonna work. Three wishes. We need to know from both of us, we will know. What do we want to go away? What do we want to enhance, and what do we want to see in the future? You ready? Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you're gonna go first.
SPEAKER_01What do I want to go away? I would like the pool deck on the wish glass to go away. I think it's absurd. I think there's barely any pool space. I think that that's very hard. I think it's very hard to watch your children in that area, and I think the other boats are very good at making spaces for the whole family to be swimming. Um, and while the Aqua Mouse is amazing, that Vicky Head pool inside and all that, I think is much better than you know what they have currently. That is what I would like to go away.
SPEAKER_02I do not disagree with you. I feel bad when my kids want to go to the pool deck because I'm like, mm, there's only like eight people allowed in a time, so there's not a lot of room. I do agree with you on that. What I would like to go away is when I was on the Destiny, yes, uh part of the adult area was under construction. I understand that. I get that, but like change it. It's boring. There's nothing to do up there. Talk about like the pool up there. They were like, here's your pool. Like, and again, I understand it was under construction, but with it under construction, there was still so little space and so little to do. And I was like, I thought this was supposed to be like the adult area. I thought there'd be like a big pool, a swim up bar, like a kind. No. I was like, get this out of here, start from scratch. I was very disappointed with that.
SPEAKER_01The uh adults-only pool deck on the Dream Fantasy is usually classified as the best part of the it was much better on those ships. Um, all right. What do you want to see enhanced? I have an interesting one.
SPEAKER_02Go ahead. Okay, again, I loved the Haunted Mansion parlor. I loved the story, I loved the design, I loved everything about it. Get the drinks better. They I'm she said what she said. I did, I did. They look super cool. Some of them glow in the dark, some of them like smoke, ooh, very cool, whatever. They're not delicious though. And I don't think that that's like the like a bartender's uh problem. I think that because of like the effects that they want them to do, only certain types of liquors do that, I'm assuming. And so they're kind of like stuck in a certain like window of types of liquors they can use. I'm assuming I really don't know if that's the reason. But I feel like when I looked at the menu, everything had the same flavor palette, and I was like, I don't like any of these drinks. They were cool and they made good pictures, but I would love them to elevate that. And then also make the parlor bigger, make it a whole thing. That's what I wanted. Because I was like, you are on to something here because that whole story was really, really well done. And the theming was incredible. I loved the Haunted Mansion parlor.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, for me, it's also sort of food related. And I will say this: what I would like to see enhanced is the number of food options. But after a certain time on the Disney cruise, there's no food to really be found. Um at night, there's really not much going on. Um, yes, I think they keep like the pizza maybe open till like 10 or 11, but even then, like there's no midnight buffet. So that that part, and then this is, you know, this is just a personal thing. Um I would like the buffet to be open for dinner. Uh, I will say that was the one thing I liked better about um the other cruise lines that I have been on, and that is just because, again, with the special needs kiddos, sometimes going and sitting down to dinner is is tough. So being able to have a fast casual type of thing, and I know people are gonna say, yeah, well that's what the Festival of Foods are for. But it all of the deck options are having more of the variety, they're not open at dinner time. It's you might only have to get a burger, and there's not really anywhere to sit, but on the deck, and maybe that's you still want to have sort of a dinner experience. So that's what my enhancement would be was that the uh they would have the uh buffet open for dinner.
SPEAKER_02I like that. I and you're right, especially if you're on a longer cruise and you're doubling your restaurant, you're like, I don't really need to go back to this restaurant again. So maybe we just grab a snack and then we go, you know, do trivia or we go do this thing or whatever.
SPEAKER_01I will say though, just for anybody who wants pro tip, the pub, you do have an upcharge for the food that gets served in the pub, but damn, it's good. It's like bar food. Oh, really? Loaded, loaded tater tots, you better stop it. I ate a ton of it.
SPEAKER_02They also they also do room service too, which you know is is nice. That's quote unquote free.
SPEAKER_01And it's quote unquote free or included, which is not typical of other cruise lines. There is no casino. That's another thing that's different, just so in case that's important to you, there is no casino. And the last thing that's very different, um, especially from its largest competitor, Royal Caribbean, is the only upcharge restaurant is Palo, and um in the wish class there is another uh restaurant that is fancy called Remy's uh or Enchanted. I wish I had been to those. And if you like fancy food, they're cool. If you don't like fancy food, it was a waste of money. So there's that. But I did do I to be fair, I did do the dessert flight. Oh, very nice. That was pretty cool. Um, but in any event, I'll I want to say that because a lot of times you're going on one of these other boats and they have many, many, many, many restaurants to choose from, and 90% of them cost extra money, even like the Johnny Rockets on the corner. So I want people to know that too. That's so when we say uh it's included the room service, that's actually a big deal because it's not typically. Um, what do we want to see in the future? I have a big one for this, and I have been thinking about this, and I want them to listen to me. And this is not this is not a silly Becky one. Here it is. Okay. The Alaska Cruise, I have no desire to go on. First of all, I don't want to be cold. Second of all, everyone I know in the whole wide world is like, you're dumb. You need to go on the Alaska Cruise. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in the whole wide world. What I would really like for them to do is I would like for one of these boats they are building to be obviously panamatic so it can get over here. But their Alaska Cruises is one of the largest money makers they have in their entire fleet. Um and it's very hard to get into and it's very expensive. Um, and so it would be a ROI, return on investment. They need to build a boat that's specific for Alaska. It needs to have indoor pools, it needs to have um observatories that are glass so that you can stay inside. So agree with you. And look at things. Um, and other cruise lines have it. Other cruise lines have it. That is what they need is a boat that's specifically made for that because that boat could still go other places and still do other things, but that's specifically made so that you can see all those sights and sounds and whatnot from the comfort of not being cold on the deck, that you can swim still, because the kids want to go and they want to swim, but you can't be doing that in the snow, sleet, sun, you know, rain 40 degrees, because it can be that. So that is that's what I would like to see in the future. And I don't know what it would be called, but that's what I'd like to see in the future.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna I I'm just I'm jumping on that. That I will agree. I 100% co-sign this. That is what I would like to see as well. Because unlike you, the Alaskan cruise is my number one bucket list. That is my number one thing that I want to do. I I have asked, I know that you don't see the northern lights super often, and if you do, it's just like a little bit. I am that, but seeing the northern lights is also on my bucket list. I feel like I lived in Alaska in a past life or something. I have this weird attachment to Alaska, and I always have since I was a kid. I really, really want to go. That's my number one bucket list. So if they had a specific ship that was designed for that itinerary, it would be a cash cow. People would be clamoring to go onto. I mean, they already are, and then you know, throw in a ship that's designed for that specific itinerary. Oh, it would sell. It would sell constantly. I think that's a great idea. So I co-sign.
SPEAKER_01I don't not want to go to Alaska. I just do not want to be cold. I want to be tropical, I want to still swim, I want to do those kinds of things when I'm on vacation. And you know, if you've ever seen anybody on that boat, they're buttoned up. It's very rare that it's that it's warm. Uh, and you are going in the summer months, by the way.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, and I still want to experience the the Alaska part of it, right? Like, I don't mind being buttoned up. I want to go see glaciers, I want to do the hikes and stuff. But to your point, at the end of the day, I would love to be in an indoor heated pool. That sounds like you know what I'm saying? So, like, I give you the best of both worlds.
SPEAKER_01Like, well, and and again, like the front of the boat maybe is made uh as you know, like a conservatory, right? So it's got a big glass dome on it or whatever that everybody can see. Um, because that's you know, to be fair, it also makes it accessible to everybody who wants to be able to see that and can't afford maybe a veranda to stand out on their veranda and take a look at all the beautiful sights and sounds and whatnot. Okay, Pop that we actually agree on something. I agree. I agree on a lot, but I think that would be cool. All right, my dear. We have come to the end of our Disney Cruise Line uh summer series spectacular. As always, we hope that you are having a really good time with us and hope that you are a fangirl of any age and you want to come along for this journey. If by the way, if you ever have anything you want us to do, if you're like, you guys, I need your take on this, let us know. We might actually jump in. You know us, we have FOMO. We are fangirl FOMO for sure. That is a virus we get. So we will jump on someone's bandwagon quickly if there's something that you think that we should be up to that we haven't been up to. So, you know, leave a comment for us and and and let us know what is it that we haven't talked about yet that you would like us to talk about. I mean, obviously we've got some faves coming back soon, like dancing with the stars and school spirits and stuff like that. But if there's something new on the horizon that we need to know about, let us know. We are supporters of all fandoms.
SPEAKER_02We're supporters of what we're we want a fangirl and hype you up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. All right, my dear. As always, I love you and I love Milo Manheim, who I miss because we have not seen him in a long time. Yeah. She says she tells me that a lot.
SPEAKER_02I said what I said almost every day. Where's Milo? I miss him. So I love you and I love Milo wherever you are out there.
SPEAKER_01Hello, bye.
SPEAKER_02Bye.