The Lido Loop: Let's Go on a Cruise: Embarkation and What to Expect Once On Board

Set sail with Jack and Jesse on another episode of Lido Loop, where cruise news, theme park updates and travel tips collide!

This week, the duo dives into some wild April Fools’ Day antics from the cruise industry—like rumors of a secret speakeasy hidden inside Carnival ship funnels and MSC’s over-the-top new ocean-run obstacle course. Plus, they break down Royal Caribbean’s latest ship announcement, Hero of the Sea, and react to a jaw-dropping story about an engagement gone wrong aboard a Carnival cruise.

Over in the theme park world, there’s plenty to unpack: Disney rolls out new half-day ticket options, while Disneyland continues to rack up ride closures—now totaling 12 attractions down—with more construction walls popping up across the park. Meanwhile, Universal is making moves of its own, with plans to redevelop the Lost Continent into something entirely new.

To wrap things up, Jack and Jesse return with Part 3 of their “Let’s Go on a Cruise” series, guiding you step-by-step through the embarkation process and what to expect once you finally board the ship.

Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or a theme park fanatic, this episode is packed with news, laughs, and helpful insights you won’t want to miss!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to this week's episode of the Leto Loop. I am your host, Jack McCraw. With me as always, my good friend, Jesse Barboza. How are we doing today? I'm doing great. How are you doing? Doing well, doing well. Want to wish everyone out there happy Easter, happy April Fool's Day. We're kind of recorded over both days, so hope you had a good Easter weekend. But tell us, Jesse, what's the latest and greatest in the cruise news today?

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Yeah, so Jack, um, so apparently a couple cruise lines decided that would be funny to uh do some April Fool's Day pranks on us. Uh and Royal Caribbean introduces their newest ship. And there was a ruined gate engagement on a carnival ship, and there was also a Reddit story that's kind of crazy.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Can't wait to hear that Reddit story. In the theme park side of things, Disney announces half day tickets, where Disneyland has now have a lot more close attractions than they had last week. That, and we break down the latest construction update for the Lost Continent at Islands of Adventure. And of course, this is part three of our series Let's Go on a Cruise, where Jesse and I break down everything you can expect on embarkation day of your cruise. That and much more on this week's episode of the Leto Loop. So kicking off the show today, we like to always break down the latest and greatest in the cruise news. And because it was recently April Fool's Day, Jesse, I hear you have some fun April Fool's Day stories that certain cruise lines pulled on their passengers.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Yeah, so Jack, so Carnival leading up to April Fool's Day, probably about two or three days, they s they first started releasing these small short clips of uh cruise directors saying that there is a speakeasy quotation marks in the funnel of the Carnival cruise ships. And apparently the secret word to get in is mustard, not mustard like mustard and ketchup, mustard, like you got it. Like the mustard station. Exactly. So uh apparently, yeah, secret word mustard, and apparently they got fun ship Freddy in there slinging drinks to everybody. Um I definitely think it was funny because you know you got two cruise directors saying it, which is one of them was Kindle Fire, which is we're we'll be seeing her on the next Jubilee. And um I yeah, I think definitely think it was funny. What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 2:27

First off, I didn't know Carnival had a mascot, Fun Ship Freddy. I when I think of Carnival's mascot, I think of like the elephant that's this you know made into towels that people could take a picture of because there's never a line for him. Poor guy. So bringing that monstrosity out of retirement for this was pretty funny. Also, isn't the tailpipe that's doesn't that didn't that catch on fire one time? So yeah, that's what makes it funny.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

I don't know if they purposely did that because they did have some uh definitely issues. I was I know Freedom caught on fire twice, which they're just now about to get a new funnel. But getting back on topic here, uh yeah, so that was definitely funny. Uh and then the uh the next one was MSC. So MSC apparently they did a obstacle course. They're saying that there's an ocean run obstacle course on their newest ships. They didn't really go in depth on it, they just kind of leased a video and it was kind of basic. It was kind of like the worst AI video you've seen. Uh, but what do you think?

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Yeah, when I first saw it, I was like, yeah, okay, that I'm sure that's real. I mean, all they had missing was a shark jumping out trying to eat you while you're crossing over, you know, the ocean water. I I thought it was a fun little prank, but you know, it's AI. We can tell difference between AI and not now at in this point of society.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

So did you uh see any April Fool's Day pranks on the Think Park side?

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Yeah, Fiesta, Texas was one that got me the most because they tease that there's gonna be a giant shade structure over a good port part of the park, and obviously it was fake, but don't play with our emotions like that. It's hot in San Antonio, as you know. Any amount of shade is like luxury real estate at Fiesta, Texas, so they actually need these shade structures. So I'm hoping they're gonna actually add shade structures and not just tease us like on April Fool's Day, but it was pretty funny though. It means making fun of Texas Heat. But I think both Carnival and MSc had some pretty good April Fool's Day jokes. I'm glad that they're engaging with the fans and you know making jokes about it. Uh definitely Carnival was more funny because of that really obscure mascot, and of course, you know, having a bar and a tailpipe. I mean, what could go wrong? But what won't go wrong is that Royal Caribbean has announced a new ship, Jesse. You want to tell us a little bit more about that?

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Yeah, so Royal Caribbean has now released the name of their fourth icon class ship, which is gonna be Hero of the Seas. I kind of knew that it was gonna be Hero of the Seas before they actually released the title of it, because if you went on the website and you went, you selected cruises, they had little thing that said like H of the Seas or something. I forgot if it said Hero of the Seas, it said something. So I kind of knew it was gonna be Hero of the Seas leading up to them releasing it. Uh but anyways, yeah. So this is expected to launch August of 2027. Uh this is gonna be home port in Miami, which um the reason I'm glad it's home port in Miami is because they're gonna be moving the icon to Galveston at the same time period. So that means Galveston's finally gonna get an icon class ship. Um this is a 250 gross tons vessel. Uh of course it's gonna have twelve twenty decks. Uh guest is up to 7,600 people, which is crazy. That's a lot of people, and with additional crew of 2,350 people. Uh the crazy thing is they're gonna have nine pools on this ship. They got the Cat 6 water park, which has like six slides on it. I think it I think it's six, maybe even more than that. Uh they have a new family raft and they have new funnel slides, which are first at sea. Uh they have two large swim up bars at sea. Uh they have adult open areas, multi-pool beach club zones. They're of course gonna have the normal, the full theater productions, they're still gonna have the aqua show and the high diving performances you would expect on any rural Caribbean ship. Uh of course they still have the family activities with cooking classes. Uh, but the craziest, and I think this is the biggest news on this one, is the new suite that they're gonna have. So, Jack, this is a question for you. How much would you expect to pay for a suite on a ship per person, do you think?

SPEAKER_01 6:57

I mean, are we just talking Royal Caribbean, or are we just talking the in any kind of suite in general? Oh, Royal Caribbean, I guess. Okay, um because I know Carnival, their suites can start, they start at like $1,500 a person. So I'm with an icon class, I'm gonna say how about a little over $4,000? So am I way under? Yeah, yeah, you're way yeah, you're way under.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Let's let's bump up to $10,000. Yeah, so this is is an ultimate family tree house, and this is a three-deck tree house that's gonna be on on the ship, and it's starting at $24,884 per person. So, and this holds up to 12 people in it.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

I mean, I guess if you divide it by 12, but I'm assuming if you're gonna bring 12 people on a ship, all in one room, I would hope it's number one, I would hope that they're separate bedrooms, which I'm assuming it is since it's multi-leveled. Two, twenty-four thousand dollars is a pretty steep cost to get a suite on a Royal Caribbean ship.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

And the thing about that's just per person, too. So if you if you have four people, you're talking two hundred thousand dollars for a uh seven night cruise. That is crazy. So, but let let me tell you more about this, Jack. So, of course, it's three levels. They got a living room, a dining area, floor to ceiling, windows. They're very modern. They got lots of light, so you would you expect that. You have direct direct access to the rest of the ship. You better for that price tag. Uh they got bunk beds plus themed sleeping areas. Uh they got gaming space, they have like little shuffle boards you can play. I think they might even have a pool table on board. They got hangout areas. Uh the top level, they got the private hot tub, lounge seating, possible a slide or play feature. Uh of course it's made for big six to ten people. It says six to ten people, but I I do remember reading that it did say up to twelve people. Uh of course it's made for multiple generation trips, the kids, parents, maybe even your grandparents, or lots of people. Uh like your family. Yeah, exactly. But there are some perks. You get a royal genie, which is like the butler service. Um, you have kind of like your own butler, which, like I said, if you're paying that much, you better. Uh you got prior priority boarding and reservations, private dining options, VIP access to shows and activities. You basically you're gonna skip every line there is possible you can skip in. Um does it come with any casino credits?

SPEAKER_01 9:40

I doubt it. Uh, if anything, they're gonna charge you more. I was gonna say, yeah, you they they're charging you for being out of the room, so they're gonna say add that to your bill. I I would hope it comes at least with a drink package.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Yeah, so I don't know who did purchase it, but they it was sold out on the the inaugural selling of the Hero of the Seas, so I'm sure it's gonna be some high-end royal executive or something like that. But this is definitely not met for us peasants, yeah, as I would say, I guess. I don't know. What do you think of that?

SPEAKER_01 10:10

I mean, that's definitely living up to the luxury of Icon of the Seas, if you will. I mean, if someone's going to pay for it, why not offer it? I mean, it kind of goes back to the Vegas model where you do have these nice suites at MGM Grand, a separate hotel, or you know, suites at the top of Mandalay Bay, where the ultra luxury will pay for it, and they just have that as an offering. Of course, you and I would probably never do this in our lifetime, but if somebody will pay it, Royal Caribbean is more than happy to take their money.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Yeah, so I mean, I I 100% agree with you on that. But uh overall, this the good thing about this new ship that's gonna be coming out is that they are gonna be changing it up. It's not gonna be the same as the icon and the star of the seas, they're changing it up a little bit. I guess the the what didn't work on those two ships are kind of making make it better on the hero of the seas, and I guess we'll see how it goes from there.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Yeah, I'm excited to hear more about it, and especially, you know, what you said earlier, the icon ship is now gonna be going to Houston, and that's something that you know definitely you and I have talked about going on. We could definitely review one of these days. Uh, another thing that we need should talk about though is uh not an April Fool's Day prank where someone actually ruined an engagement on a carnival ship, Jesse. You want to break that down a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Yeah, so you know, if you ever go to main dining room, you've heard Jack, yeah, I know you've heard many multiple times whenever they sing happy birthday to somebody, the the crew will go and they sing happy birthday when it's a birthday. But I guess I didn't know they even did this, but on carnival ships, they can actually sing like happy engagement to you. So apparently they started singing happy engagement, and you can see the the shock and like the the I guess the would-be engaged the lady and then the guy, they're both shocked, like you were supposed to wait. That's what in the guy's face is kind of seemed like you're supposed to wait until after engagement, but they kept singing it and all that. Then like during it, it looked like that he proposed, like right during they started doing it.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

I mean, he kind of had to at that point. It's like, why are they even mentioning engagement? Well, here's my time. It's like, it's like you were they they told him, Hey, we're gonna do the engagement thing now, so you might as well get down on one knee. That's what a bad lack of communication is. And we've seen engagements happen at the dining room, it's romantic and whatnot, but usually they'll bring the ring out in a tray and they open it and then they cheer for you. But no, this guy completely had a false start and just started singing Happy Engagement before the engagement happened. I definitely recommend checking out the video, it's definitely fun to watch. And speaking of viral cruise, you know, happenings, won't you tell us about that Reddit post that you saw that you teased earlier in the show?

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Yeah, so everyone knows that if you when you book a cruise, you always go into on Facebook and you enter that group group on that Facebook so you can see what's happening, like what types of nights, what type of events they're having on board, and you know what you kind of meet new friends too while you're on board. So on Reddit, they took a screenshot of this, and Jack, this is uh I purposely read this on air to get your full opinion. So this is as I quote, this is the the story. This is live radio, guys. Let's hear it. It says, Hello, fellow cruisers, just a heads up about day three of the cruise. It's my granddaughter's wedding day, and it's scheduled as white night theme for dinner. We're worried that it might take away from the special day, so if you're planning on rocking the white outfit, maybe save it for another night. Let's make this wedding celebration unforgivable. So Royal Caribbean is now aware of this conflict and will consider it for future cruises. Uh okay, I have some questions. First thing, is the daughter's wedding on the ship? Yes, is it's gonna be on the ship because you can get married on the ship, and I ain't gonna lie, I probably would have if I was into cruising at that time. But uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

I mean, that is such a big ass that this, you know, grandparent is asking, hey, nobody wear white on my daughter's wedding day on the cruise ship. I mean, I think it's silly because you mean you really can't control what everyone else wears around you. And then even if you put signs up there and says, Hey, please don't wear white because this person is getting married, what makes that person so special? The fact that they paid thousands of dollars to get married on the cruise ship.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

Yeah, and I actually did hear an update to the story about the bride being so embarrassed that her grandmother posted that and was saying like she didn't care. I think the I think it's more of the grandmother's sake. You know how some uh people can be over controlling of weddings and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Yeah, the little bridezillas that aren't actually the brides. I think that that's worse than the actual bridezilla itself.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Yeah, absolutely. But I don't know. I definitely think that this is uh definitely sounds like a bunch of entitlement for me.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Uh yes, this is definitely, you know, person on Facebook thinks that they're super self-entitled, they want everything to go right for their granddaughter's, you know, wedding, no one else wears white. I mean, I mean, at least Royal Caribbean is aware of this situation, and I I'm pray for the PR team that says, how do we handle this without actually m offending anybody? But uh I'm sure people are gonna wear white regardless.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Yeah, so that's pretty much covers all of the uh cruise news. So on theme park news, Jack. So what's up with these uh new Disney half-day tickets?

SPEAKER_01 15:41

So yes, Disney is now offering half-day admission tickets to their theme parks in Florida, where you can either purchase a two-day ticket to be used within four days of your chosen start date, or a three-day ticket to use within five days of your start date. So and the two-day ticket starts at $118 per day, and the three-day ticket starts at $116 per day. So what the perk is with this is you would enter the park after 2 p.m. So you can stay from 2 p.m. until park closes, which most nights is 9, 10, just depending on the day, and you avoid the morning traffic, and you can spend the rest of the day in the park when see the fireworks at the end of the night. Now, personally, I don't know if this is a good value because for about $50 more, you could essentially spend the whole day there. But I think this is made for people, you know, with kids who let's just say they're not early risers, or you know, one day you want to go to the park, have a full day, and next day have a half day. And I think this would only be really valuable on a half day park like Animal Kingdom and kind of Epcot, especially if you're all you're doing is just you know wanting to go to World Showcase. Jesse, what are your thoughts on the half-day tickets at Disney World?

SPEAKER_00 17:00

So I actually have two questions that uh that you may or may not know, but it's not really questions, they're more of statements and and like your opinion on it. So I feel like that first off, it would make the mornings a lot more balanced, I guess, because a lot instead of people all rushing in the morning, it might help with like dispersing the the amount of people throughout the day to make it more even instead of you know how we're you of course me and you are rope drop people, we get there right when they open, but I don't know, what do you think?

SPEAKER_01 17:32

So yeah, I think that there is an attempt to alleviate some of that morning traffic. People are gonna be there at rope drop regardless if they have the half day announce the half day tickets or not, but there are people that just don't go to the parks in the mornings and don't utilize that time to ride everything, especially if you know you have younger kids, you want to you do what they want to do instead of running all around the park. So I think this is more made for the casual Disney goer than the people that want to experience everything all at once. So, yes, I do agree with your statement that it is a way to mitigate traffic in the mornings, but I still think that there are going to be true hearted people that will pay the full price to say open to close, like I would.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

And it it would also seem like that they would have to have more workers at 2 p.m. to accept the tickets of the everyone coming in the park.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Yeah, I think that certainly could be a staffing thing as well, because there are more people throughout the day than there are first thing in the morning. So it's any kind of job, really. You know, go to a grocery store, there's more people in the afternoon than there are in the mornings. So, you know, having to divvy up the shift that way could be a reason why they did this as well. But I think they're also just giving people another option because they know Disney is getting more and more expensive. So this is a way to kind of give the customer a quote discount, even though they're still not getting the full Disney experience.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

All right, so talking about Disney, uh, so Disneyland, they're apparently closing three more rides.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

So in last week's episode, we talked about how Disneyland is going to be closing Pirates of the Caribbean on May 4th for an extended refurbishment, and they had about six attractions closed at that time. Well, since that last episode, they have now announced the closures of Toy Story Midway Mania and Silly Symphony Swings. So in addition to Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind already being closed for refurbishment at Hollywood Studios. So, Jesse, there are a total of 68 attractions at Disneyland and California Adventure. With the new rock um with the new rides announced, this brings the total attractions down to 10 clothes, which includes Jungle Cruise, Roger Ebbett's Cartoon Spin, the Monorail, yes, that counts as a ride, the Sailing Ship Columbia, Buzz Lightyear, Astro Blasters, Pirates of the Caribbean, Inside Out, Toy Story Midway Mania, Silly Symphony Swings, and then of course Phantasmic. So that's 10 attractions down, and that the numbers, that's 14.6%. So if you already booked a trip to Disneyland during these days, would you reconsider if this many attractions were going to be closed?

SPEAKER_00 20:28

Yeah, I definitely would. I mean, because if you're going to Disneyland, especially if you're traveling far away to go to Disneyland, you want the whole Disneyland experience, I feel like. And it them closing even smaller rides that aren't that big of a deal, it's just gonna make the other rides a lot more busier and a lot more people are gonna be flocking to those rides for sure.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Yeah, like two years ago when I went to California Adventure, the most popular ride there and still is is the cars ride. And we waited three hours to ride it, only well, because it broke down twice, but it normally has a two-hour wait, and just because it's just so popular and has such low capacity, and you know, even closing rides like Inside Out Emotional World, which is essentially a swinging ride, same with Silly Symphony Swings, and Toy Story Midway Mania, that's three people-eater rides that you know would flock to cars and make it a three or four hour wait. So, yes, with all these attractions closing, it would make me not want to go to Disneyland for a while. And these dates come into play all throughout April, with Pirates of the Caribbean being the last attraction to close on May 4th. So definitely, if you're planning a trip to Disneyland, check the Disneyland you know ride refurbishment calendar because seeing this many ride clothes would make me seriously reconsider going to Disneyland.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

So, what you may want to go is Universal. So apparently there's redevelopment at the lost continent.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Yes. So we talked about this also in a previous episode, but there There have been permits for deconstruction of the Lost Continent. So the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad, which is a theater that has not been open since 2018, is gonna be the first one to go. And then they're gonna tear down Poseidon's Fury, which hasn't been open since 2023. But thank goodness, Jesse, the Mystic Fountain is still alive and well. You remember doing that with the last time you went to Universal?

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Oh yeah, that was definitely fun. I know they were making fun of you because you were, whoa, you were mad, or what shirt were you wearing? I forgot.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

I think I was wearing a Raider shirt for some reason. He was like, How are you wearing a Raider shirt and a Rockets hat? I was all kind of confused. But the Mystic Fountain is definitely an underrated experience when it comes to Universal. I mean, you can ask it literally any question and it'll have an answer. Like I asked him who's better, LeBron James or Michael Jordan. And he actually had a pretty sizable debate as to why Michael Jordan was better. If the all-knowing fountain says Jordan's better, then Jordan's better. But getting back on track, the they are going to remove the set attractions of Sinbad and Poseidon's Fury, and then potentially they're gonna be putting a Pokemon land. Now that's still just a rumor, but I think adding Pokemon to the park would be a perfect addition. What do you think, Jesse?

SPEAKER_00 23:17

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, who doesn't love Pokemon nowadays? It seems like when we were kids, of course, everyone loved Pokemon, and I thought it was uh one of those fads that were gonna go away, but it's a lot of the kick, it's probably bigger nowadays, if anything.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

What do you think? I mean, have you seen the Card Scalpers? Yes, Pokemon is still very much alive and well, but earlier this year, Nintendo and Pokemon entered into an exclusive agreement where Pokemon can be used in their theme parks worldwide. And there has already been some Pokemon in the Japan theme parks, whether it be in the parades or certain meet and greets. So it's certainly a possibility that within the next year or two we could see some Pokemon presence in Universal Studios, but also have a full-on Pokemon LAN in Islands of Adventure to replace the Lost Continent. As long as they keep the Mythos restaurant, which is the best restaurant in the park, I'll be happy. And keep the Mystic Fountain or just move it into Port of Adventure. And that'll do it for the theme park news. But now Jesse and I will continue our series, Let's Go on a Cruise, where Jesse and I will help you break down everything you need to expect when it comes to the embarkation process and what to expect when you're on the ship. So, Jesse, why don't you go ahead and get us started?

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah, so Jack, you probably know by now Christmas isn't my favorite day of the year, Halloween isn't my favorite day of the year, my birthday isn't. What do you think is my favorite day of the year? Embarkation day. Yeah, absolutely. So, first off, the night before I cannot sleep usually when getting on a ship. I'm up first off trying to make sure I have everything because there's always one thing you're gonna miss. It doesn't matter if you have a chit checklist or anything, you're always gonna miss it. So, anyways, so when I wake up in the morning, you get all your bags packed. Me personally, make sure you have all your documents that you have all your travel documents, all your boarding passes, make sure everything's printed out, and make sure it's in your carry-on bag, it's not in in in your main luggage at all. Because if you once you give it to the porters, you'll never see it again, and you won't be able to get get it back from the porters that easy. Um so traveling to the cruise, I me personally, I like to get there really early. Um like if I I usually try to get like a 10 30, 11 a.m. boarding time. I'll be in if we're going to Galveston, I'll be there by like 7-8 in the morning. Yeah, so I have this tradition of like we go to this little place right by the pier in Galveston called, I think it's called an All-American Diner. And they got really good breakfast. So every single time we we go there, eat breakfast before we get on the ship. And then we always stop by either like a Walmart Academy to pick up all the stuff that we did forget because you know it's bound to happen. Absolutely, yeah. It's definitely bound to happen. So, anyways, we get there early, we eat, we relax, and just take usually take a few pictures of the ships that are in the dock, because usually we like to see all the different Disney ships, the MSC ships, or and the Royal Caribbean ships there. Um then we start heading to the port. So Galveston's a little different than like Miami and um Port Canaval. You have to like prepay for the parking. You're not you can't just expect to get on the ship. Uh so in Miami you just go and pay for the parking, and same with uh Port Canaval, you just go and pay the day of. But Galveston, you got prepays, that's why definitely look into it ahead of time so that before it sells out the prepaid parking. I think they do still offer pay there, but I mean those are the more expensive ones. Yeah, absolutely. And you're probably not gonna get the spot where you want it, might be some shady uh parking lot that you don't really trust leaving your car there.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

Yeah, like I said in last week's episode where we parked our car in someone's garage, but luckily the car was still there when it was all said and done. So yeah, parking can definitely be an issue here at Galveston, but what about getting to the port at a designated time, Jesse? What are your recommendations for that?

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Yeah, so I know Carnival and Royal Caribbean, they're very strict on the time that you're a lot you're supposed to be entering the port at, uh, because everyone can't just rush in at the same time and try to expect to get on the ship. I know MSc, whenever I went on an MScrit ship, it was a lot different. Nobody there was no one there checking the time that you were supposed to get on, none of that. So there was like half the people just going at the earliest time, which like 10:30, which we were one of them. I'm not gonna lie, we did go an hour earlier than we were supposed to go, but there was no one checking it, so it made the lines really long, and that day it was actually really cold and it kind of sucked. But it's really important that if you're going to Carnival or Royal Caribbean, that you actually go the time that it says or they will turn you away, or you gotta wait in the um uh early arrival line and on Carnival. So, anyways, once you go there, you want to drop your bags off. Usually there's porters, these porters they do not work for the actual cruise line. A lot of people think that they do, but they don't. They actually work for the ports that you're working in, either port of Miami, port of uh Port Canaval or Port of Galliston or whatever cruise port you're you're coming out of. And it's very customary to like tip them one to two dollars per bag. I usually do two dollars or my whole family, I do like 20 bucks and not to worry about trying to actually give them one or two dollars per bag. But definitely you definitely want to tip them because you want to make sure your luggage gets safe and sound on the cruise ship. I doubt they're gonna do anything bad with it, but I have heard some stories. What do they throw in the ocean beforehand? I did I've heard them falling in the ocean. I'm not sure if it was an accident, but you never know nowadays.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

Yeah, that guy didn't tip me, so you know that Louis Vuitton bag is going right overboard. Uh, what about the security process, Jesse?

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Yeah, so of course, leaving any type of country, you can expect some type of security. Um, usually first time you go in then they'll check and make sure you have all your boarding your travel documents, which is either your passport, passport card, or if you're American citizen, you're and it's a closed loop cruise, which it starts and ends in the same cruise port, um you can use your birth certificate and a state ID for that. They make sure that it's all good. If you're good there, they usually send you over to another line to make sure that um you can get board the ship and then you go to a waiting area. Oh, I did forget to mention that a lot of times they'll take your picture there. That picture is is definitely useful. They have to take the picture. A lot of times, like when they scan your sell-in sign card, which is what you pay for stuff on the cruise ship, um it a picture will pop up. So a lot of times they won't ask for your ID if you're under 21 or anything like that, because they have a picture right there that they give in. And it's also made for uh facial recognition. So when go going on and off the ship, a lot of ports will have a facial recognition, so you can easily get off the ship a lot easier. Yeah, I know everyone's security is a little bit different.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

I remember when we were in Galveston, you know, I it took us a little bit longer to get from point A to point B in security just to even be in, you know, the waiting area before you get onto the ship. But I know some ports are a little nicer. You've been to Miami and then you know, we went to Port Canaveral, we were in and out maybe in five minutes. So it just depends on the port that you go to. Uh, you know, what about going to the waiting room? Uh, what do you have any strategies for that or tips for that?

SPEAKER_00 31:09

There's no real strategy, but you can expect uh if you especially if you arrive there at 10:30 or 11 o'clock, usually the people are still getting off the ship or they're still trying to get it ready for you to embark onto the ship. So, because there's usually about a 30-minute to hour delay from the last people getting off to you getting on it. So there's a lot of times they have to do headcounts and make sure everyone's there. Then they usually make sure it's ready for you. So there's there are people out there getting drinks ready. You know, all the stuff you can expect when embarkation is embarkating the ship. So, anyways, so if you get there early, you're gonna be sitting in the waiting room, and typically they're gonna start calling first. They're gonna be calling like wedding parties if you're about to get married on the ship, they'll call those first. Then they start with like your diamond or the the whatever the highest level is on the cruise line that you're in.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

Similar to that if you have certain flight status or if you're in a certain boarding group, they're gonna start calling you up by the status first and then your group number, correct?

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Yeah, and then they'll get to like military babies next. Thank you for your service. And actually go ahead. No, but then they will uh go to then they'll usually go to like course they go down the loyalty line usually, and then they'll have uh like on Carnival, you can actually buy Faster to the Fun, which is like it's where you're exactly what it sounds. It means when you get faster fun, you can either you can get on the ship early or you can get to your room earlier, and you can also get if this is like a tender port, you have like a special line, you get off the boat the fastest. So to me, I don't think it's worth the money um to pay for that, but that's just an option that you can do if you want to.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

Well, but once you're done going through security and then once they finally call your boarding group, I know what your actual favorite part is is walking through the jetway sky bridge. Because I feel like at that point you know you're actually on vacation, all the hassle is gone, and then you're just walking to the boat. Am I correct?

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Yeah, I I mean I guess the hassle of getting onto the ship is gone, but we'll talk more of the hassle once you get on the ship too. But anyways, yeah, going through that the the jetway or sky bridge, just depends on whatever you want to call it. Um is always good. You see it you're going up and down it. Sometimes it's like three or four levels, and then finally once you step right on the ship, it's just like a that little threshold going through it, you know, from the jetway to the actual ship itself is like, man, I'm gonna be on the ship for what however many days. It's look forward to it.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

And then, of course, you always go into the atrium, which in my opinion is always the best looking part of the ship. That's the first your first look at the interior, and like, oh man, this is really nice. They have some have like a nice like light fixture chandelier there, the glass elevators that go up and down, the nice, you know, furniture around. And it almost feels like you're on this little state of luxury. So that's is one of my favorite parts is seeing the atrium for the first time as well.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

Yeah, exactly. Most of the time you're going to atrium, there's a couple few ships that they do not bring you into atrium, but most cruise ships will bring you into atrium because that's kind of like their showcase, I guess you can say that's what stands out. As soon as you get on board, you can kind of expect it, whatever cruise line it is. They're going what what do you think they're gonna do, Jack? As soon as you get it, they're gonna offer you drinks. They're gonna offer you drinks, of course. They're offer you drinks, they're offer you to buy stuff, and stuff like that. I usually just say no, no, no, no, because they always try for some reason the first day only, they always offer the souvenir cup, and but it doesn't work with your drink package, so don't fall for that.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

By the way, real quick, you actually saved me from that on my first cruise because I thought everything was all inclusive, and like, hey, you want a drink? I'm like, Yeah, I'll take it. And you're like, no, no, don't don't grab that. So you save me from spending what $20 to $30 on the souvenir cup. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

So usually what I do, the first thing I do is as soon as I get on ship, I get I start, it's it's gonna be a little clustered. The first day is probably the most heck hectic you're gonna have on any your whole vacation because it's first off, it's gonna be crowded, and then you're gonna be running around trying to find everything. The first thing you gotta find is the muster station. So the muster station is typically like where you're gonna be going, it's gonna be near your state room, typically, and maybe one or two levels up or down, depending on where your your state level is. That's where you're gonna be going to if there's any type of emergencies. You know, 99% of the time you'll never have ever even go to it after you go to it. But typically you go there. When I first started cruising, they had a full drill where we actually had to go outside and put put on our vest, and they had to tell us everything there was. It was like 30 minutes and the sun beating down on you on the deck. It kind of sucked. But now they kind of gotta sometimes I don't even hear them say anything. They just like all right, they scan your ID and so you're good to go. And and honestly, if I was a new cruiser, I would be like, Okay, I don't know what this means. No one even tells you, no one even tells you, like, all right, hey, meet here if there's any emergency, make sure you have your life vest. They don't say that anymore, they just like scan it, you're good to go.

SPEAKER_01 36:11

I think they're hoping that they'll just have the instructions over the intercom or something. But I mean, yeah, you're not gonna remember your muster drill. If all you do is just like scan your ID, and there you go. The last cruise we went on, the Carnival Glory, that's exactly what we did. And then I think beforehand, the Carnival Breeze, we went to the auditorium, and I think they had a brief presentation-ish, but it was more so hey, meet here if there's any issues, and then you're free to go. Uh, yeah, and you are right. Like, I remember back in my earlier days cruising, you you had the life jackets and you had to listen to them talk, and you know, I like that it's sim simpler now, but also yeah, these people don't have the full information, which pray to God that that doesn't actually happen. But I think there might be a pamphlet in your room or something now that tells you what would happen. And you know, another thing that happens whenever you get on the ship is you know, linking your credit card to your account. Now, Jesse, do you do this personally or do you have it separate?

SPEAKER_00 37:12

Yeah, so typically whenever you do the 30-day boarding, like before 30 days before you embark on a ship, they open up check-in. And I usually put my I just put my credit card on there and I don't have to worry about and you can set l typically you can set limits on there too, like hey, if my kids I mean what I do with my kids, I set it to like five or ten dollars just enough so it pays for the taxes, which we'll talk more about that while you're import. Um but I just use like five, ten dollars just to so in case they lose to card, someone's not going trying to spend money on that card on their selling sign card. Um, but anyways, I link my credit card up to that, and then I don't have to worry about so all expenses will go to your selling sign card, which is your what you're paying for everything on the ship. Uh and usually you have that selling sign card around your like a lanyard or I know uh rural Caribbean MSc, you can actually get like in Princess 2, you get a medallion you can actually like put on your wrist so that you can just scan stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

And you also for those listening, you can use a debit or credit card as well, in addition to having it on there, but it's just easier if you have it linked there.

SPEAKER_00 38:20

Yeah, absolutely. So there is another option you can do. A lot of people don't know this, but you can have a cash account. So, which means as soon as you go on board, you're not gonna be able to spend any money until you go to a little key, there's a little kiosk there that you could just put cash in, like two or a hundred dollars, what however much you got, if it's twenty dollars or whatever it is, and you deposit it on there, and then it's kind of like just depositing money on like a your own debit or credit card that you can spend on the ship. So whenever you go to pay for a drink and all that, it will take it off your account. And I I me personally, I also like if I have any cash left over and I have a balance on my cruise, I usually just pay it off. So it doesn't they don't need to charge anything in my credit card, typically what I do. You can do the same thing like that as well.

SPEAKER_01 39:03

Yeah, and just be sure you have that extra cash for the casino as well. But after you get everything linked, what are some of the expectations for the first day when you're after you're done boarding, you're on the ship, what are you expected to do then, Jesse?

SPEAKER_00 39:18

So typically your state rooms aren't gonna be open until usually 1.30. I remember on MSC, it was it was like 3 30, and it it still was like an hour later than it should have been. So but MSc was nicer that we were able to go to a room and drop our stuff off as soon as we got on board. It wasn't like Carnival, you had to wait until 1.30 to drop off your carry-on bags. And MSc, you can get your your uh selling sign card like immediately as soon as you get on board, so you can start uh buying drinks and all that immediately. Um with Carnival, you can't get your selling sign card until that 1.30 time when you actually get on board. So if you want to buy a drink and all that, you just have to have your boarding pass handy, so then they'll just type your number in. You just show it to the bar, and then they see your picture, and then that's how you pay for our stuff. So don't be afraid to just go to a bar with your boarding pass, and then it has all your information on there.

SPEAKER_01 40:13

And I shouldn't mention that it's the same with sodas, they just have to charge you, I think, a tax because they're still import. Because I had to learn that when the last time, even though I bought the soda package, they still charge me a few cents tax or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 40:26

Yeah, and and speaking of that, like that's one thing that we made a mistake on one cruise is we put our our kids' selling limit, spending limit to zero because we're afraid of them losing their card and someone spending money on it. So, and we made that mistake, and then the first day when they bought, yeah, they had the drink package, but while you're in port, you still have to buy you get to pay the taxes on like the sodas while you're in port. So they had no money on the account technically because they had you know they it was it set at zero the spending limit. So we they weren't able to get drinks, so I had to go up there and change it so that it changes, I think I changed it to like ten dollars so that they could have money to buy as many drinks as while they're in port. So before your stateroom actually opens up well, it's really good to just like especially if you're in a group of people, it's really good to just like find somewhere like either in the buffet area or the Lido deck. I usually try to stay away from the Lido deck because that's where everyone like goes to, especially on carnival ships, because that's where a lot of the guys burgers are, and everyone knows you gotta get your guys' burger.

SPEAKER_01 41:33

Because it's immediately open as soon as you walk on the ship, so a lot of people flock to that area. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 41:39

So I would recommend I the best if they have like rooms and like away from the Leo deck, like on Jubilee, they got a big like area by it's actually by Dr. Inks that we usually go to and sit there. But on the normal class ship, it's either usually the buffet area. We don't I never eat at the buffet unless I absolutely have to, but I will sit there and we kind of put over bags there, and usually I always have like one person just like watching our bags while everyone else grabs food and then comes back and we'll just I mean my guy my go-to is Guy's burgers. What is yours?

SPEAKER_01 42:12

It's Guys Burgers as well. Yeah, I always want to try the guy's chicken and waffles. We missed it on the last screw ship that we were on, but yeah, Guys Burgers is you can't go wrong.

SPEAKER_00 42:22

So my favorite burger there is a straight-up burger, but there's different ones. A lot of people like the pig patty, they like uh the ringer too. Those are the probably the most popular ones, those three. Uh and a little tip I know is you can ask for whatever you want. If you want five patties on on your burger, you can they'll give you five patties, and they the fries are really good with it. So don't be afraid to say, hey, I don't want this, I want this, this, this, and they'll they'll specially make it exactly how you want.

SPEAKER_01 42:47

If you want extra fries, they'll give you extra fries. Yeah, exactly. I mean, Guys Burgers is definitely a go-to, and even though the line does seem long, it goes by pretty fast. I mean, haven't you seen like a line nearly wrapped around the tide bars at pizza, you know, at midnight? And they're popping out pizza left and right. So there's definitely a lot of good places to eat on the cruise ship. But Jesse, what about once you get to your stateroom?

SPEAKER_00 43:14

Yeah, yeah. So once you get to your state room, so the first thing I do is I want to be on vacation, so I pack immediately. It's a lot better to get all your stuff out of your luggage and put it where it goes so you can hide your uh luggage underneath the bed. That's where I usually hide the luggage.

SPEAKER_01 43:32

So you're not a person that lives out of their suitcase. You want to unpack your suitcase completely and then put it everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 43:38

I am when I'm actually having my suitcase with me. So if I'm like just like backpacking it, which you typically we backpack it whenever we go to a cruise port outside of our normal Galveston port, we backpack it. So a lot of times I'm we just will uh just work outside of it, but it's a lot better getting everything out of it in the start putting your like your soap up and like all the stuff you brought your razors your toothbrush um and we always get these little magnetic hooks and we we put them by the front door everyone can hang their hang their lanyard with their selling sign card once they get it and that to for me that's the best way of like holding your selling sign card is on a lanyard what do you think Jack do you like using a lanyard do you just like put in your pocket or we oh no I definitely use a lanyard I know they do I think they give you a free like wired one that it's I don't know it's not as comfortable as just wearing a lanyard around your neck uh I'm prone to losing things so having it on me at all times it's like if I just wear it around my neck it won't go anywhere and I usually keep it with my keys and wallet my wallet my phone keys as well once I put it on a nightstand I make sure that those are my big three that I leave with my phone wallet and lanyard yeah yeah absolutely and plus I I that's like the one souvenir I keep with every ship I still have my first selling sign card for my first carnival uh cruise which was on Carnival Freedom.

SPEAKER_01 45:07

So what about once you get on the ship do you like to go to the sail away party or is that a little bit too chaotic for you?

SPEAKER_00 45:13

For me personally that's a little too chaotic. Uh I do like I am like watching the people there. Uh I don't know what do you think what do you think Jack?

SPEAKER_01 45:22

I they definitely party like especially if you're on a carnival ship you know you see people dancing and singing and it's it's definitely a sight to behold because you're just seeing this big group of people get together and they're just having a great time. So I think the sail away party that's one of my favorite things to do on the first day because you know what happens as soon as you're done with the sail away party as second you just get out of the port just a little bit that casino opens and then we take a mad dash over there.

SPEAKER_00 45:49

Absolutely I know Maddie is there waiting for us at the casino but we are definitely will be going to casino.

SPEAKER_01 45:58

You're right she's already at the Huffin'Puff machine ready to go she skipped the sailway party entirely uh but what about uh looking up things on the app so I know you know they used to have I think they still do have like a paper you know foldable that has a list of all the events every single day but now it's also like we mentioned previously on the Carnival Hub app or you know MSC's app like do you make sure that you have these apps downloaded before you get on board and then do you utilize the apps to you know go about your day that way as well.

SPEAKER_00 46:29

Yeah so so typically at least with Carnival and MSc um the you definitely want to download the app for ever all of them before you get on board but both the apps are kind of useless until you actually get on board. Once you get on board and their Wi-Fi then they're like changes the app completely them than what you're used to before you get on board. Uh yeah so I know Carnival they don't really have a like a check-in and out for uh shows and stuff like that. I know MSE does and for some reason MSE they make you go to a little kiosk to like sign up for shows and they actually will scan your card to make sure that you're on that list whenever you go to it. And unfortunately they seem like they do sell out or they do sell out a lot faster. Which I don't really like because when you check in because half the people don't even show up. You know they just think they want to then they decide oh no I'm too busy so then there's a bunch of empty people empty seats that they're trying to fill right at the last second. But definitely yeah it's definitely good to download that. They do you do still have the paper you can look at all the shows but you definitely want to get on board and make sure that um you look at all the shows and if there's anything entice you you can another thing that you you can do in the first day is first go it go see what your set dining time is. So if you have a a set dining time you can see your tables there's a little hint that Jack I'm just now telling Jack right now what I do is I will go to the restaurant beforehand and make sure I like my table location. So if I did like think if I I me personally I like to have my table by the ocean which we always have our table don't we? Yeah is so that's how you do it you just make sure that it's by the ocean if not do you request it? Yeah you could tech you can request it getting it by the ocean uh ahead of time and then they'll nine out of ten times they'll make that accommodation with you to change it for you. So or if you wanted to I want it in the middle in a circular table you could also have that if you really wanted to exactly if you request it a lot of times sometimes they'll say we'll see how the first night goes and see if everyone shows up because you get a lot of people will set their dining time and then they'll be like uh they'll never go to the dining room there's some people who will set it and never go and that table be empty the whole entire cruise.

SPEAKER_01 48:46

And I feel like that's the biggest missed opportunity on a cruise ship is the dining. You know we've talked about in previous shows but dining is one of my favorite parts of it because you are given essentially five star meals for free.

SPEAKER_00 49:00

Yeah exactly and I me personally I didn't I don't know who would go to the buffet. I guess you know I know what I know Carnival just recently rolled out that express dine which would help you know trying to go to shows and all that but your set dining time is just like a little time you set aside that you your your whole group will sit together and you'll talk and talk about your day and I don't know to me that's that's probably if not the the number one thing I like about cruises is that's it's definitely in the top two or three.

SPEAKER_01 49:30

And then another thing we can talk about here is excursions. So you know you can book your excursions you know prior to getting on board but they do you do also have the opportunity to book excursions on board. I'm sure they're more expensive but you know tell us a little bit about excursions and how that works Jesse.

SPEAKER_00 49:46

Yeah of course we did recommend I think last episode we did talk about trying to get your excursions before you get on board because it's cheaper and but once you get on board there's always a little excursion desk you can go up to and if you forgot to book or you having you need additional people on that excursion you book through the cruise line you can go to the excursion desk and they can we'll help you out there with whatever you need. But a lot of people don't realize that what ends up happening is a lot of people like the day before they're like how do I get to the excursion? How am I gonna know where to go? A lot of times what happens is the night before they'll drop the tickets off or whatever uh wristbands or whatever it is so you can get onto your excursion they'll have a meeting like a muster point I guess off the ship where you all go to and that's where you meet up and then go on your excursion.

SPEAKER_01 50:34

And kind of one thing we brought up briefly and I want to go over again is you know the entertainment on board. So we mentioned Carnival does have shows they do have you know of course casinos. What type of shows does you know cruises normally offer and which ones do you think are worth seeing and not seeing?

SPEAKER_00 50:52

Uh it honestly it depends on what you are I've I really like like the tribute shows like if it's like tribute to like a lady I know a lot of them will have like a Fleetwood Mac tribute or I mean personally I'm not a big musical guy so I will try to stay and unfortunately I feel like most of the shows are musicals so um I don't know what you like.

SPEAKER_01 51:12

You like musicals or what yeah I was actually pretty impressed by the Carnival Breeze musical lineup versus the Carnival Glory because Carnival Glory didn't really have that many shows. There was like name that tune where there was a lot of audience participation and you know we did some trivia as well I felt like the breeze definitely was superior in that aspect you know there was like there was a musical and there was you know some with them to Disney some was themed to you know the 80s I think 80s is definitely a very big time frame that a lot of carnival ships use. Of course they have comedy shows uh I don't know if you were went to the one we went to but the comedy shows always always pack out first they're in the smaller theater and sometimes they are in the main theater as well but if they're in the smaller theater I mean it's best to get there as soon as possible to book yourself a seat otherwise you're standing in the back corner. And then of course there's always a live piano bar which that's always one of my favorite parts of the ship as well.

SPEAKER_00 52:11

Oh yeah that's definitely that's definitely my favorite I you've got to go to piano bar. The best night honestly is the first night too that's when the the they're going to get the the biggest song requests the most popular song requests and the it's definitely seems like the rowdiest crowd the first night I don't know what it is with people on board the first night maybe they're just all drinking a little too much and they're getting a little rowdy but I love the first night going piano bar because if you keep going every night a lot of times you the uh the guy would be like I don't want to play a song again I don't you know they're gonna play Sweet Caroline like 20 times if you by the time the cruise ends.

SPEAKER_01 52:44

I I can't imagine that poor you know piano man just hearing bum bum bum for the umpteenth time because you know some you know tourist bought put $20 on their piano so he could play it. You know in addition to shows or other forms of entertainment you can bring so do you ever bring any kind of board games or card games as well?

SPEAKER_00 53:05

Yeah I don't know what it is but when you got a group of people like that it's definitely um it's definitely good to like have stuff to interact when there's nothing really going on like so we always play like Yahtzee we play skip bow. There's it's always good to have like a deck of cards you can play different uh different games with uh you play poker or whatever but I know on carnival they're real strict on you can't gamble outside the casino they want the money in the casino yeah they don't want you throwing dice you know by the stairs like you do other places you want to throw the dice on the craps table exactly the some other entertainment that we didn't talk about was they do have shows they have like bingo which I know my brother I don't know if where you were part of it I was sadly a part of that bingo night.

SPEAKER_01 53:48

And what tell us tell us about your experience of that uh it was thirty dollars per person I think there was maybe three or four games so there's only a board of like three and it's I think it's an additional five dollars for a dauber so it we spent thirty five dollars just for the bingo to end after they called like five balls I'm not joking they called five balls one time someone won and it's so I felt like that was a big ripoff and the win well what was the win it was only like $100 or something was a it was it wasn't much I remember one person they got a free Wi-Fi package they didn't want it and then another person got a free drink package and they didn't want it. So it's like there's not even winning cash I think the top prize was five hundred dollars but you know I I wouldn't say that bingo is worth it unless you're just an absolute I want to play bingo on a cruise ship.

SPEAKER_00 54:36

Yeah um there are definitely I know like Jack did talk about this trivia and the yeah it the trivia nights are fun especially you find something that that you know a lot about um those are fun to go to um but they also do have uh deal or no deal a lot of times on the ship those are those are definitely fun to go to uh and they got different classes you can go to there's one like onboard excursions like to see I think y'all didn't y'all do that one time uh Jack like you tour the ship itself yeah when I went on the Carnival Freedom you know a long time ago we did a tour of the ship you know it took takes you down to the maintenance area it takes you to the coolers where they have all the food it takes you and it ends up where you're in the captain's room where you actually can meet the captains and then you see like how they actually back the ship up and how you know he can see direct directly below beneath him so it's not like he's just driving straight forward and there's so many different camera angles.

SPEAKER_01 55:31

So it's definitely worth a one time visit to just go around the ship and see how it works, how it operates and how each level of course and everyone will say that they're the heart and soul of the ship. But yes I think that's definitely a recommended thing to do. And you forgot about one show the most popular show on the ship the Love and Marriage show.

SPEAKER_00 55:52

Oh yeah absolutely or carnival at least yes that is definitely the most popular show and we we try to go to it every time but for some reason they always have it right during something that we want to go to I don't know usually casino I guess.

SPEAKER_01 56:05

Yeah that darn casino is always getting the way of everything.

SPEAKER_00 56:08

Yeah but um but yeah um there's many things you can do there's shopping there's many places you can get like duty free prices and uh tax-free prices on like a lot of liquor and all that but a lot of times I know with Carnival every time you buy any alcohol like that they will deliver it to you the last day or you gotta go to like a like a a room where you pick it up the morning of of uh the cruise uh same thing I know MSC MSCs was weird because they were weird like when you buy stuff off the ship like alcohol and stuff like that and you bring it back on the ship they were they didn't they they let you bring it directly to the room and you just had to like promise you weren't going to open it up with yeah I promise this bottle of champagne is not going to be open.

SPEAKER_01 56:55

No I would never drink champagne in my room like that.

SPEAKER_00 56:58

Yeah so I mean typically we don't really buy a lot it is it I I do recommend if you're in Mexico it's a lot cheaper buying the alcohol there. But however I'm not saying do this but if you do go to the port you're supposed to pay taxes on the alcohol that does come in. So you're supposed to pay I know it's only a couple dollars but it doesn't make it necessarily a lot cheaper if you haven't to pay for the duty and the tax price prices once you get off the ship and Galveston.

SPEAKER_01 57:28

Well yeah now that they're also cracking down on you know you can't pour alcohol in a mouthwash bottle anymore. Yeah you got you got to find a little bit more creative ways you actually have to start paying the taxes to bring that you know alcohol onto the ship. Or you can just pay for the drink packers like I do. I mean I think that is the simplest way. I was like why sneak a drink in your room and you just get in the bar and then bring it to your room you know completely legal on any kind of cruise ship. But that'll do it for this week's episode of the Leto Loop. As always you can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon wherever you get your podcast and also check out our YouTube channel. We are the Lito Loop. I'm Jack that's Jesse and we will see you on the Leto deck or at one of the shows at Carnival not the Love and Marriage show because the casino's in the way