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Disney Cruise Line Popcorn Episode
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Aug 14, 2025
Welcome to the newest episode of Daps Travels! On this episode, Mr. Daps and Johnny play "popcorn" and go through some random recent stories that involve the Disney Cruise Line, and then discuss them. Stories Referenced in this Episode: • Construction Begins on Newest Disney Cruise Line Wish-Class Ship (https://dapsmagic.com/2025/08/construction-begins-on-newest-disney-cruise-line-wish-class-ship/) • Disney Cruise Line Shares Sneak Peek of The Sanctum on the Disney Destiny (https://dapsmagic.com/2025/08/disney-cruise-line-shares-sneak-peek-of-the-sanctum-on-the-disney-destiny/) • Disney Destiny Floats Out of Meyer Werft Shipyard in Milestone Step Toward Maiden Voyage (https://dapsmagic.com/2025/08/disney-destiny-floats-out-of-meyer-werft-shipyard-in-milestone-step-toward-maiden-voyage/) • Disney Cruise Line Reveals Rehearsal for ‘Zero to Hero’ for Disney Destiny’s ‘Hercules’ (https://dapsmagic.com/2025/07/disney-cruise-line-reveals-rehearsal-for-zero-to-hero-for-disney-destinys-hercules/) • Walt Disney Imagineering Provides First Look at Massive Puppets for Hercules Musical on Disney Destiny (https://dapsmagic.com/2025/07/walt-disney-imagineering-provides-first-look-at-massive-puppets-for-hercules-musical-on-disney-destiny/) • Disney Cruise Line Shares Concept Art of Titans From Disney Destiny’s ‘Hercules’ Musical (https://dapsmagic.com/2025/07/disney-cruise-line-shares-concept-art-of-titans-from-disney-destinys-hercules-musical/) • Disney Cruise Line to Depart Australia and New Zealand (https://dapsmagic.com/2025/08/disney-cruise-line-to-depart-australia-and-new-zealand/) • Disney Cruise Line Works to Inspire New Generation of Bahamian Maritime Leaders (https://dapsmagic.com/2025/08/disney-cruise-line-works-to-inspire-new-generation-of-bahamian-maritime-leaders/) • Disney Fantasy Embarks From Southampton For First Time (https://dapsmagic.com/2025/08/disney-fantasy-embarks-from-southampton-for-first-time/) • Deposit Requirements Lowered for Disney Cruise Line (https://dapsmagic.com/2025/06/deposit-requirements-lowered-for-disney-cruise-line/)
View Video Transcript
0:01
[Music]
0:16
[Music] Welcome to Daps Travels. I'm Mr. Daps and tonight I am joined by my good
0:22
friend. Go for it, Johnny. Hello everyone. Uh, we just had a fantastic meal. So,
0:28
we're both a little bit lethargic to be completely honest, which means it's going to be a fun podcast and we're
0:35
going to make this even more fun because we've already stuffed ourselves with food.
0:40
We're going to make this a popcorn episode. Do you like what I did there?
0:46
I love that, but I also hate it at the same time. I'll take it. Uh, Johnny had no clue we
0:53
were doing this. I just said, "Hey, we're just going to go in here and you roll with whatever whatever we do." And
0:58
he's like, "Sure, I can do that." And you know what? I did sign up for this. So, exactly. Here we are.
1:03
It's going to be great. We know the uh Disney Magic will be the next ship that we look in depth at at some point.
1:10
Probably the next episode, right? The Wonder. Wonder's next cuz the Magic is the first one. Oh, that's the one we already did. We've
1:16
been talking about the Wonder so much that I was like, "Oh, we already did that one." I mean, we did talk about it cuz I did sail on that to Alaska. that I just feel
1:24
like it keeps popping up everywhere lately, like on other podcasts, people
1:29
I've talked to in the media. You know why it probably keeps popping up and why it's fresh in your brain? We'll get to this later on because the
1:35
Disney Wonder was in some recent Disney Cruise Line news, per se. That is true. #foreshadowing.
1:42
That is true. There's There's We will get to that maybe cuz this is what we're doing. This is a popcorn episode. So,
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what I have done is I've gone to dapsmagic.com and opened up the Disney Cruise Line page/category.
1:56
And what we're going to do is I'm going to scroll down here and I'm just going to pick anything that jumps out at me
2:01
and then we're going to talk about it. Sound good? Sounds like a plan. You can do this. It's going to be great.
2:06
Um, so I think we're going to start with the thing that is probably most prevalent on most of our minds right
2:12
now, just because it all happened within the last week, and that's all the excitement that's been going on in
2:18
Germany with a um laser engraving, laser
2:23
cutting, whatever it is, of a new ship's um the steel cutting ceremony.
2:28
Steel cutting. Thank you. Uh so there's that. There's we got a sneak peek of the Sanctum on the Disney Destiny and
2:36
bundled all into this amazing weekend of Disney cruis. We also had the float out
2:41
of the Disney Destiny. So, let's start with the steel cutting thoughts.
2:47
Personally, I'm very excited for the steel cutting because this is the first
2:53
in the many steps towards the new class of ship that we will be getting launching in 2029. So, this is one of
3:00
the new This is Is this the last wish class? Was it the last wish class?
3:05
I think it's the last wish class, but I could be wrong. No, I think you're right cuz now that I think of it, see, this is proof just a
3:12
step towards this. It's still a step towards that. Yes. I mean, regardless, a new ship
3:17
added to the fleet is a new ship added to the fleet. Personally, I don't care what class it could be. I'm content with
3:23
a new ship being added because more Disney Cruise Line ships is the better.
3:29
I will die on that hill. And don't you think also it's exciting with the way they've been doing Disney Cruise Line ships recently that we've
3:37
had all of these different themes, I guess, is really what they are. But like what's next?
3:44
I'm really trying to think of space. What could be next? Well, Starland space, not Star Wars space.
3:50
Well, I'm trying to think of what they've been going for in regards to theming and whatnot because with the
3:56
Wish class, it kind of reinvented what Disney Cruise Line is because the four classic ships that everybody has got to
4:03
know and love have that classic art deco art nuvo theme that invoke the golden age of
4:09
cruising versus the Wish class which launched in 2022 which is more so the best way I can
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describe it would be Disney parks and Disney experiences. all the IP that we've come to know and
4:22
love at sea because you have the wish whose theme is enchantment and it's themed to all of our favorite
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princesses. You could almost say that is the fantasy land of Disney Cruise Line
4:34
ships in a way. Like if we were to pull from different lands essentially I feel like you could in
4:39
regards to overarching theme. There are some aspects of the ship that are a little different. For example, Star Wars
4:45
does it to fantasy land. But overarching overarching I definitely feel like the
4:51
Disney wish would be equivalent to Fantasy Land in Disneyland or Magic Kingdom Park. Whereas the Disney Treasure is themed after
4:58
adventure and you have that scene through the lens of not Keg and Compass
5:03
um Periscope Pub. Mhm. You have that through the lens of Skipper Society. Even the haunted
5:08
mansion parlor and even going to the grand hall, the theming of it, the
5:13
statue that you have in the atrium of Aladdin and Jasmine, definitely
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overarching theme of advent adventure, which would tie back to Adventureland. And then we have the Destiny, which for
5:26
me personally screams Avengers Campus at Sea. Yeah, I would agree with that
5:32
because the overarching theme of the Disney Destiny is heroes and villains. And what better way to represent the
5:37
heroes and villains trope than Marvel. Absolutely. And the fun part too though
5:43
is they're giving it's it's Avengers Campus at sea meet meets something that
5:48
doesn't even exist yet which is villains land at sea because you know you've got devils and like there's some fun stuff
5:56
that's going to be happening in this ship too that might hint at what we're getting in a future land at Magic
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Kingdom. Maybe we'll find out at D23. Who knows? Truth be told, the world is our oyster
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when it comes to the cruise ships because I feel like there are so many unique opportunities that they could do.
6:12
So, just brainstorm theme, too. What What can you imagine next?
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I'm really trying to think of something that we don't really have a lot of representation of. I think there's plenty in the world of
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Pixar that you could lean into. I don't know what you would take it from a big picture standpoint. Um, it's interesting
6:30
to me that they haven't leaned more into Star Wars, but at the same time, they did do that with the Houseians. So maybe
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they learned some lessons there that they're rethinking overarching where there is a large part of the fan base
6:43
overall that likes Star Wars, but there isn't enough of their base where they can create a dedicated venue overarching
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to that theme and have it based off of that, especially week after week after day after day.
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That would be very difficult to do. I mean, I have my own theories in regards to what the fourth ship will be. I
7:02
I would be willing to bet money that the name of the ship will be called the Discovery because that very much seems
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up Disney's alley. I think I even said that before in a previous episode. Uh you actually said it on Geek's Corner
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the other night in the chat, I think. See, so I it exists. I would be willing to bet that money that the next ship
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would be called the Disney Discovery because it kind of just makes sense and with the flow of what they're doing.
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I could see them adding something maybe Frontier Land themed like you could probably have a tie into Big Thunder
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Mountain somehow through one of the lounges that they have something kind of like Wild West type vibe. You could also
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do the Discovery Land Jules Vern kind of thing also. Like there's a lot of possibilities and there's an easy
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crossover. I feel like you could make an easy crossover with those. So I think
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overall I mean a fourth ship in the wish class and for me personally I will be experiencing my very first wish class
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ship in November. So I think it's going to be good no matter
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what. Oh absolutely. I know the Disney Wish in regards to the Disney Cruise Line community is revered
8:04
as the least favorite out of all the ships currently in the fleet. And while
8:10
I personally don't understand that because I have not yet been on the ship, I think it gets too much hate just from
8:16
what I've seen. But again, I'll be the judge of that. Well, and it's I have friends that have gone on all of the ships and
8:25
they may not view the Wish as their favorite ship, but they also aren't like, "Oh, I hate this ship." They're
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like, "Oh, it's Disney. It's still amazing. It's just this is my least favorite of favorites versus complete
8:37
dislike." which I do know there are people out there that are like, "Dad, totally fine. Everybody's allowed their
8:42
but with the wish specifically, it's the one thing because it was the very first ship that broke from the structure of
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what the magic wonder, dream, and fantasy were." Mhm. So, of course, the first of something that's new is going to probably get the
8:56
most backlash and the most hate in regards for it because all the images and all the things that I've seen in
9:01
regards to the ship look fantastic. I've seen so many tours of it and I'm that person that when I plan for a trip I'm
9:07
typing in my stateateroom number and getting a tour of my stateateroom and I've done that 10 times over and
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I've watched different room tours of the stateateroom that I'll be staying in and I'm thinking to myself there's no way I'm not going to like this because this
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is absolutely stunning and beautiful. It looks beautiful to me and I'm sure we'll have a stateateroom uh tour from you once you've been on the ship and
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then we'll have a review as well. I I would absolutely only imagine. Um, all right. So, we we have the new ship
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coming, whatever that's going to be. Maybe the Discovery, maybe something else. We'll see. Uh, we also got, let's
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just lump all of the Disney Destiny stuff together. We got a really good look at the outside of the ship when it
9:42
was doing its float out. We got the mini costume. So shiny and brand new,
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gorgeous. I was so surprised seeing it when she floated out of my warf over there. I was
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like, I I know it looks brand new because it is brand new and actually no guests have
10:00
been on board yet and they're still it still has that under construction, but it looks so shiny. I was just
10:06
shocked. I was like, "Oh my gosh." Like, you know, when you unpackage a new phone or a new tablet for the first time, and
10:12
it's just smug. It looked like that. And I'm just like, "That's a ship, though." Yeah. And it's massive. Like you look at
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backing out of that that dry dock and it's almost as big as the the dry. Like that was really cool.
10:25
Cruise ships in general are so weird because you look at it and you're like, "Oh, that's big." And then you're standing next to it and you're like,
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"Oh, yeah, that's big." Like there was one shot where you could see the ship and then you could see the
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people right next to it that were on the side of the the I don't know the grass there.
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They look like ants. Ants. Like I literally thought of so small.
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Yeah. Um, I said this on Geek's Corner, but I will say it again because I just
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wish they had thrown Spider-Man flying around in that also because I would have geeked out even more.
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I feel like Spider-Man might eventually make his way to flying around on the ship itself because I hope so.
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We do have Mickey and sometimes Captain Jack Sparrow that go swing from the funnels.
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So, you're saying there's a chance. I mean, that would never say never. I would.
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That would be so cool. If they really want to go in with the whole trope of heroes and villains, I feel like that would be one of the best
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ways to do so. Absolutely. And we have a new Spider-Man movie coming. Like everything points.
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See, it even goes back to the marketing that they could have for the movie. I mean, even if it didn't happen day one
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with the ship, it would be amazing if when the movie came out, they like updated their entertainment and added
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Flying Spider-Man. It wouldn't surprise me. And I think it would be really cool. Yeah, I think that'd be awesome, too.
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Um, what did you think of the sanctum? The the pictures we saw.
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The pictures of the sanctum. Now I can really envision what the idea is and I
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am much more on board with what it is now. I want it in the parks because I when I found out the original
12:01
theme of the Disney Destiny, I was very upset because I'm tired of Marvel.
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Yeah, you're not a Marvel guy. That's fine. I'm I'm not a Marvel guy, but I also just think in regards to lasting
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effect of how good it would last, I don't think Marvel a very heavily Marvel themed ship at Sea would be the best
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idea. Mhm. However, this is showing to prove me wrong because
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I might be of the mentality where I am not a fan of this IP or anything like that, but if you design a sitb base
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enough to really capture the details of it and it's very well themed and well
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thought out and it's an overall good experience, I would be happy with it regardless. Well, it's kind of like the Haunted Mansion parlor where the quality
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is so good that even if you're not a Haunted Mansion fan, you can walk into it and be wowed by it because the
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details and the quality and all of that is so amazing that it doesn't take a fan to appreciate. You just appreciate
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something that's created that's impressive. And I think that's what they do a really good job with on the Disney
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Cruise Line. And um I can remember being a kid and my dad was always like Disney
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knows how to do wow. Like when you walk in you go wow. And that's what Disney aims for. And I think sometimes they
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still they definitely do that with certain things. Like that moment you first walked into Cars Land was wow.
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Like that's one of the iconic media events that I can remember doing. The last time I can remember where I was
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wowed by a Disney theme park was actually the rededication of Disney
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California Adventure 2012. Yeah. Walking cuz like how you said Cars and for me it was actually walking down Buen
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a Vista Street. That does not surprise me for the first time and seeing Cara Circle over there and the background
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because I love the entire vibe of like 1920s 1930s Hollywood. It is immaculate.
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I love the architecture and everything about it. So, I definitely get that. Wow. And I think the first time I saw the
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Millennium Falcon was that wow moment for me. And um but you look at what
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they're doing with the Sanctum and what they've done with some other spaces on the Disney Cruise Line and I think and
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you can attest to this is you walk in whether it's a restaurant or uh entertainment
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show, Broadway show or whatever, and I've watched you talk about them. So, I I'm pretty sure I can say they were wow
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moments for you. That is very true. And for me personally,
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I know it's kind of no secret in regards to what the fandom thinks about WDI and in general the Walt Disney
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Company navigating through the pandemic and with these projects that they've been coming out with and they haven't
14:46
been meeting the standard of what we would expect. However, for me personally, like my most
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recent wow moment with Disney over the past 12 years, it was was when I stepped
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aboard the Disney Fantasy for the first time and never having been on a cruise ship, walking into this beautiful,
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ornate environment that I was truly moved. And it takes a
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lot for me to have that wow moment where I'm very taken back. And it did that.
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And the entire experience was like that. So, specifically seeing what the Cruise
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Line does and how the Cruise Line has continued to have these wow moments with their different projects that they've
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had throughout the years, I have no doubt that the Disney Destiny is going
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to be another one of these ships that while it might not be my cup of tea and it might not cater to me specifically,
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I'm still going to be able to appreciate it for the work of art that it is and see how much time and effort was putting
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into creating these well manicured, perfected spaces. is surrounding this
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IP. So that way the fans of it can enjoy it as well as me, somebody who might not
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be the biggest fan of it, but can still enjoy the space for what it is. Well, I think one of the things that Disney Destiny has done really well is
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they're capturing different stories of the heroes and villains. And in one of
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those stories, as I play popcorn on this page, is Disney Hercules.
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And I I almost didn't scroll down far enough to be honest. But I think if
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there was nothing else on this ship and that was it, that would be enough to get
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me on this ship is because that was one of my favorite movies when it came out.
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Like the music's fantastic. It's a beautifully animated film. Like it's just gorgeous.
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And we got to hear Zero to Hero. I love Hercules. And truth be told, when
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I found out that that was going to be the stage show on the ship, I got so excited. And truth be told, it is also a
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goal of mine to stay in the hero suite that they have there because the two
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the two royal suites that they have on this ship are the hero suite and the Encredit suite. And I've seen the
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concept art that they have for what the hero suite will be like, and I need to
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stay there. And in general too, that entire ship, I could be yapping about all the guest rooms there. Concier is
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just right up my alley for that specific ship because the concierge guest rooms are themed to Fantasia.
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And nothing means more to me than anything than Sorcerer Mickey. I love Sorcerer Mickey. Anything with Sorcerer
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Mickey in it, sign me up. I want it. Oh, totally. So, just seeing that, seeing how well decorated everything is, I just I need
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to be on that ship. I love that. So, were you a Fantasia? This is sidebar. Were you a F fantasia
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fan growing up or is it more of like the artwork and what it what it It's always for me I think it's been the
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artwork and imagery and I've come to appreciate the actual film itself more over time because I feel like as a four
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or 5year-old watching it you are just like wow pretty colors. Yeah. And to this day I'm still like wow
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pretty colors but I can at least understand the imagery and especially with the original one and the music. Yeah. Um, they also have some pretty
18:07
impressive puppets which I think look amazing for Hercules. The Hydra
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is insane. Uh-huh. And and also the uh what are they called? The
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police spacing what they are. You keep talking about the Hydra. I'll think about it. The Hydra is absolutely
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insane on there because if you look at the Disney treasure and see where they have Teiti and Taka,
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the Titans, it's insane how they're able to have the hydro which is even more complicated and
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there's so many moving parts to that on a moving ship. It's just it's mind-blowing to me for me
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when I saw all the stage shows cuz I've seen all the stage shows on the Disney Fantasy and all the stage shows on the
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Disney Wonder. I'm sitting there in awe at how they're able to execute all this and not get off balance or anything like
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that because there were times in Alaska where you could feel the ship moving. You could feel the pitch and the role of
19:04
the ship. So, it was really really surprising seeing how everybody was
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composed and maintaining themselves and still able to put on a Broadway caliber
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show. I was just floored with some of the best Disney music period. Like, I think it's fantastic.
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And uh all of that is going to be worth going on the cruise for. And there's devils and there's all that other stuff
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too. But uh that would be an entire podcast just on Disney Destiny, which I'm sure we'll do at some point. Catch me in the Walt Disney Theater
19:34
every every showtime. I mean piano bars are pretty good, too, though. For me, my thing though is on those
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ships, I will always be in the theater and I will always be first in line. I do not care. I will be waiting there
19:46
because I need to see that show. I love the live entertainment. is kind of how we do Disney in general.
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That is true. We're like first the rides. I don't care. Paint the night. Well, yes.
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Don't forget those fireworks. Um true. Can't miss one dress. We had a blast the other night. Uh all right. Uh let's do
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How about this one? Cuz I know we've been waiting for it. The Disney Cruise Line is departing from Down Under.
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Disney Cruise Line decided Why don't you explain what this was first just for those who didn't know
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because they've only been there a couple years. That's true. The inaugural season was if I'm not mistaken years ago. Yeah, it was
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2023 if I'm not mistaken. So 2 years ago. Yeah. So Disney Cruise Line back so far back
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in time in the year 2023 decided to embark on a journey down to Australia.
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Which is a huge deal. However, it doesn't seem like it is boating well
20:47
for them because they recently announced that they will be departing Australia at
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the conclusion of the cruise season in February of 2026. So, less than a year.
21:02
Yeah. Actually, I'm trying to think like is that eight months? Something like that. So, they're not the first cruise line that's
21:09
doing this. They aren't the first cruise line. to do that. Yeah. And it is really disheartening for me as
21:16
a Disney fan to see Disney Cruise Line pull out from down there because I know
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there's a huge fan base down there in Australia and they don't have access to a Disney park. The only media
21:28
consumption that they have would be through TV or YouTube videos and things like that. So, they could really watch
21:34
it. But the closest park to them, if I'm correct, would be Hong Kong, probably. Yeah.
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And even then that's I feel like a huge journey just to get over there. So having that little slice of Disney magic
21:46
down there makes sense. However, I can't say that I'm surprised that Disney Cruise Line is
21:52
pulling out from down there because bookings specifically for this season on the Disney Wonder have been pretty
22:00
rough. The ships are not filling up to the capacity that they would want them
22:05
to. So they're not as profitable as they would like them to be. Don't you think it's probably hard to is if you live
22:12
down in Australia or New Zealand, you've probably seen Australia and New Zealand and so why would you go on a cruise to
22:19
home kind of a thing or just to stay on the ship for a few days? Yeah. I was going to say I think that's what the biggest issue is personally
22:25
because most of the sailings are magic at sea. Yeah. And so either you're sticking on the ship or you're going to a place that
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you normally would go anyway. So it it seems to me like
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that would be kind of a oneanddone thing. I think it is very much a oneanddone
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thing. And I think another factor in it because this is the factor that always comes up when you talk Disney is price.
22:49
Yeah. Because you have Carnival Cruise Line down there and I think when people are comparing prices for pretty much
22:55
essentially the same thing, the Disney premium is probably so much more that
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it's hard to justify. is the fandom that's going to go on it. Yeah. So, it's hard to justify paying
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that premium even though you might be a big fan, but it's still overall the same experience because you're just
23:12
sailing around the ocean for a little bit. Whereas, you can bring the ship back to the West Coast or East Coast, either
23:18
one, and you have built-in supply of of cruisers that probably will end up
23:26
wanting to go on this ship. I'm just saying Disney, if you're listening to this, I would not be opposed to the
23:31
Disney Wonder being homeported in San Diego, California. We would be happy to cover the first
23:37
crew, the main from San Diego this next time. I would be happy to cover the inaugural
23:42
sailing of the Disney Wonder from Port of San Diego. Live from it. It would be fantastic. Right. In concierge, right?
23:48
Correct. That's where that Yes. Maybe even get to interview the captain like if we're dreaming big.
23:55
I feel like that's possible. I feel like be awesome. How cool would that be? I'm pretty sure I saw the captain when we were Yeah, I saw the captain when we
24:00
were on the Wonder. That'd be fun. I think it'd be great. Um, no, I think you're totally right, though. I think there's probably an
24:06
issue with demand. There's seems like all of the cruise lines went down at the same time. So then you're adding a ton
24:13
of supply of rooms on or stateaterooms. It's an oversaturation of the product
24:20
and there's simply not enough demand to meet that saturation. I will say seeing
24:26
Disney Cruise Line cruising in Sydney is gorgeous. Like those pictures are just
24:31
I've seen the pictures of the Wonder going underneath the Sydney River Bridge and sailing across the opera house and
24:38
it looks spectacular. I mean it looks they look beautiful with everything. Like they looked beautiful pulling the Destiny out of the dry dock.
24:46
Truth be told, those ships could be sailing through the murkiest water possible and you would just be like beacon of magic.
24:53
Look at that. It's Don't pay attention to the green sewage water around it. Looks beautiful.
24:59
So, here's my question. This is a photographer question, but you get to play along. If you could take a picture
25:04
of one Disney Cruise Line ship going past one icon globally, what would they
25:10
be? The Disney Fantasy Sailing Past the Statue of Liberty. Oh, I like that. Okay.
25:16
Mainly because also I know there's a huge demand for Disney Cruise Line to go back to sailing out of New York. Oh
25:22
yeah, I would think. And imagine doing that in the fall, like going up the east coast, seeing all the fall colors like
25:28
Disney Cruise Line. At this point, I'm just begging you, please give give us more ships over here in the US. I'll take I'll take anywhere, but ideally San
25:35
Diego, California. I think that'd be beautiful. Like that that would be pretty amazing. Um I would
25:43
like to see See, I actually probably go either the magic or the wonder. And this is a weird
25:50
spot for it, but I would like to see it on the east coast, northeast coast, near
25:55
one of those amazing uh lighouses, like going past the lighthouse and take it from shore with like looking up and you
26:03
see the ship out there, you see the lighthouse and then you see some of the uh the foliage. Like I think that'd be
26:08
my I mean there's so many like you could also do London like imagine if it went I
26:14
guess they're in Southampton right now, aren't they? Is that Yeah. fantasy. The fantasy right now. The dream next
26:20
year. Yeah, the fantasy is over there in Southampton. Um, look at us remembering stuff. But
26:26
like that would be cool is seeing it over in the UK. Oh, we're going past the cliffs of Dover or something like that.
26:32
I think there's lots of cool places. I mean, I'll be on it next year when it does that. Uhhuh. I'd also like to see the dream in
26:40
the fjords of Norway from the shore. Like that would be gorgeous, too. I
26:46
really want to go on a Norwegian Fjords cruise because I've heard it is more beautiful than Alaska and if that's the
26:51
case, I need to go. That was literally
26:56
I went to Japan for my birthday this year. The other option was going on a cruise to Norway and I don't regret it
27:03
at all, but I definitely have on my bucket list cruise to Norway because I just think Norway is one of the most
27:10
beautiful places on the planet. All right. Uh let's continue popcorning. You you want to keep jumping around? Um
27:16
let's do actually let's do a feelood story. So the Disney Cruise Line is sponsoring a
27:24
maritime camp for kids in the Bahamas. And it's literally one of those things
27:30
that's helping kids in the Bahamas see the possibilities of being in the
27:35
maritime industry when they grow up. And so they get to go to this camp for two weeks and they learn about different,
27:42
you know, engineering and command and navigation and all of these different things that are different parts of of a
27:49
cruise line and a cruise ship. And uh the Disney Cruise Line sponsors it. Did you know about this?
27:55
I was actually, funny enough, just reading about this. Oh, nice. Good.
28:00
And I think this is actually super amazing because as we all know all of
28:05
the ships that Disney Cruise Line has are registered to the Bahamas are registered in Nassau. So, I really do
28:12
think this is an amazing opportunity for the kids of the Bahamas, especially of Nassau, to really explore if this is
28:20
something that interests them because maritime anything maritime related, I feel like it's a big niche and it's kind
28:28
of hard to get into in my opinion from what I've seen personally in regards to
28:33
looking into it. It's just hard to kind of really get involved. So, I think this is a really
28:40
good program, especially because Disney Cruise Line is down there so often. I mean, we have, I think, a total of
28:47
normally like four ships and going anywhere in the Bahamas. So, there's almost always a ship in Nassau. So, it's
28:53
a huge opportunity for them to really teach these children about what it is to be on board, maybe even like tying the
29:00
ropes and everything like that, showing them all the different things that go into being on the ship. Quite literally expand their horizons,
29:07
too. I mean, I haven't been other than on cruises to the Bahamas, but I have spent more extended time in Jamaica and
29:15
Haiti. And so often in these places, it seems like as a kid, you kind of only
29:21
have the opportunities that are present right in front of you. And and sometimes
29:26
that's not the most exciting opportunities in the world. That's maybe it's manual labor, maybe it's it's but
29:32
it's literally you stay within a couple miles of where you were born and grow up. And I think cruise uh or uh maritime
29:42
camps like this show the the different ideas of what
29:47
possibly you could do in the world as opposed to just um being a construction worker or
29:53
something, which is nothing wrong with that, but it does give you the opportunity to use your imagination and
29:59
dream bigger. And I think the world's a better place when you dream bigger. Absolutely. Um all right, let's do one more. What do
30:06
you say? Why not? This goes back to June and I remember us talking about it, but we didn't talk it
30:11
on here. So, let's talk about it. Okay. They lowered deposit requirements. And I
30:16
think that's a big story, which is why I'm going back so far. I remember when they did this because we took advantage
30:22
of this and we were texting a lot about it, too. But go ahead. Uh, so explain what it is and explain how that's good for us as
30:30
cruisers. So, it's good for us as cruisers because who doesn't like putting less money down for something
30:36
when you purchase it? So, back in June, Disney Cruise Line reduced the amount due for deposits for
30:43
their cruises from 20% of the total price to 10% of the total price. And
30:48
when I tell you the moment this happened, I booked a cruise because well, so you're saying it worked.
30:55
It did work. And I do think this is overall good for everybody because even
31:01
though the price of the cruise didn't change or anything like that, it offers more flexibility of people who might
31:08
want to secure a specific stateateroom or secure a specific deal that might be ending soon.
31:13
And it gives them the opportunity to get that down without having to put as much money up front. And it lowers the entry, the barrier to
31:20
entry also. So you only have to come up with that 10% and then you can pay it off sporadically or whatever
31:27
as opposed to feeling that daunting, oh, you know, like I don't know, it's it's almost a psychological thing, but I mean
31:33
it really is. But um I do think it lowers the barrier to entry for people and they can um they can get that
31:42
deposit in and then they can work their way to the cruise or whatever. It definitely does. And from what I've
31:47
seen, it's definitely more in line with what the industry standard is for a lot of other companies such as Celebrity,
31:53
Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian. A lot of those other companies have been
31:59
offering a 10% deposit. So, it just seemed more in line for Disney Cruise Line to adjust their standard to reflect
32:06
that. Well, especially as you're saying this, I'm thinking of the Disney Cruise Line is also growing. Um, we're getting new
32:12
ships basically every year and as it becomes a bigger fleet, its competition
32:19
is going to change and its supply and demand is going to change. And I could see them wanting to make it easier to
32:26
get into it just to keep them full all the time as opposed to like if you do it
32:32
now then there's no like, oh, why are they doing this? It's so funny that you mentioned competition and supply and
32:38
demand because I've been looking at what a lot of other cruise lines have been doing in regards to
32:44
I think what their plans are for growing their fleet and growing their destinations and I'm very intrigued.
32:49
Personally think Disney's kind of going in the opposite direction. Interesting. Tell me. I'm I'm very intrigued by this. So, as we all know,
32:59
Royal Caribbean has been investing in these giant massive
33:04
massive mega ships. Norwegian has also MSC has also.
33:10
Carnival has also, every other cruise line is investing in these giant mega ships
33:17
that go to their own private destinations. And these companies are developing their own private
33:23
destinations. Royal Caribbean has Perfect Day Mexico coming up and Royal Beach Club in Kosamel coming up. Royal
33:30
Beach Club in the Bahamas coming up. They're creating these destinations in these
33:35
places so that way they can take their own ships there and funnel the money directly.
33:42
Yeah. They can they can control everything and essentially keep the money flowing that
33:48
would go to local tourists and local economies back to them. Sure. And what I've noticed with Disney
33:55
is that it's not like that at all. Disney might have two private
34:00
destinations, but a lot of the
34:06
adventures and excursions that you do on there are operated by locals. By locals.
34:11
Yeah. I've personally done parasailing on Castaway and that was operated by a local company. Mhm. On Lookout Key at Lighthouse Point, you
34:18
have a shop there that sells local Bahamian goods that are made by the people on the island of Alra.
34:26
And Disney isn't really investing in these large scale ships outside of the adventure, which had the pandemic not
34:34
happened, I personally opportune moment. I don't think that would have happened in the first place. Yeah.
34:40
And especially with this unknown class of ship that will be coming up that they've already announced is going to be
34:46
smaller than the dream class and the wish class and it's going to have a passenger maximum of 3,000 guests
34:53
which I love. Which I love as well. Yeah.
34:58
I think Disney is focused on the storytelling themselves of these ships, but also transporting all the guests
35:05
that they have to these different exotic destinations because they would be willing to pay the premium for the
35:12
Disney Cruise Line experience and it gives them the opportunity to go places like Norway, to Alaska and places
35:18
you couldn't go, to the Mediterranean, places that the massive ships couldn't go. Um, well, there's also a lot of ports of
35:24
call that are getting frustrated with these mega cruises. Yeah. You look at Juno, Alaska.
35:30
That's immediately popped into my head. Yeah. Even Europe. Yeah. A lot of these small port towns don't
35:37
like having these mega ships there because they don't have enough people there to support the influx of it. A
35:45
great example that I can think of for I have an upcoming sailing on the Disney Magic and I was looking at the port
35:51
schedule for Costa Mill the day we're supposed to be there. Seven ships are supposed to be in port.
35:56
Whoa. And the Disney Magic is the smallest Yeah. of them.
36:03
[Music] These port cities don't have the capacity. Yeah.
36:08
For all these Yes. There. And you see a lot of the towns, I don't want to say revoling against it,
36:14
but you see a lot of the towns speaking up saying that we don't want this and we don't want them to come here because
36:21
it's not we can't support it. Well, don't you also think Disney does a very good job of coming in and
36:27
partnering with communities, whether it's Disney Cruise Line, even the Disney parks you with their Disney volunteer.
36:32
We just had uh Disneyland volunteers go to uh one of the local schools here and
36:39
give tickets to teachers and thousands of school supplies for the teachers and really invest in the community for the
36:46
coming year for the school year so that they could be successful. And then I'm thinking of of the different ways like
36:51
Adventures by Disney when they go into a country or community, they really work
36:57
on firing finding the local experts and partnering with them and having the local experts be the experts as opposed
37:04
to I feel like some other companies kind of come in and just bulldoze over everything. I mean, thinking of of these
37:11
new places in the Bahamas that we've seen. I that's actually perfect that you
37:16
say that because a great example that I can think of is you look at Celebration Key that opened on Grand Bahama. That's
37:23
Carnival's private destination. And you look at Disney Lookout Key at Lighthouse Point.
37:28
Yeah. Carnival's destination is very muchesque
37:33
and it's not an accurate depiction of anything culturally speaking there in the Bahamas where Lookout Key at
37:39
Lighthouse Point was built in mind with the culture of the Bahamas
37:46
and it's reflected in everything from even the way that they had a half mile pier built so they wouldn't have to
37:52
drift the water and keep the coral reef there safe. Yeah. to the design of the buildings and
37:58
everything that they have over there. It's more so about appreciation. And I think Disney, to your point, does a good
38:04
job of showing appreciation for all the places that they go to because when you even look at their
38:10
catalog of movies that they have inspiration of, it's inspiration from all these different places from around
38:15
the world. Mhm. So they put in definitely more of a conscious effort
38:20
into cultural appre appreciation, not appropriation, which is appreciation
38:26
of the destinations that they go to because they want to create not only a good experience for the guests that they
38:31
have on board, but also a good experience for the vendors that they're partnering with,
38:37
which totally makes sense when you think about it because I'm, as you were saying this, then I have popping into my mind,
38:42
you know, the opening of of Shanghai Disney where they're like, what is that uh distinctly
38:48
uniquely Chinese. No, distinctly Chinese, uniquely Disney. Is that what it was? Um I think it's
38:55
I want to say it's distinctly I know I know what we're talking about and I know I know what the phrase I
39:00
can't think. I can just hear Bob Iger's voice in my head, but I can't think of what the phrase is. I'm messing it up. But they're doing the
39:05
same thing with Abu Dhabi where it's like they really want to lean into the community. You
39:10
I think it was culturally Disney distinctly Chinese. I think something like that. Or maybe it's reversed.
39:17
Something like that. But it's I know we all know what it is. Yeah. Even though we don't. Well, it's like to your point though
39:23
too. It's just like if Disney's going in somewhere, they want to be able to appreciate the culture that they have
39:28
over there and they want to be able to immerse. Yeah. They want to be able to integrate themselves with that there. So
39:35
that way they can celebrate it while also bringing in their own intellectual property and
39:40
making it this beautiful experience and really sharing the magic with that. by catering the magic
39:46
to what people of that background would like because it's not one size fits all. Absolutely. You can't go to the Middle East and go
39:54
ahead and slap a carbon copy of the Disneyland Resort out there because it's just not going to work. Correct. And um and I think that's
40:01
something that makes you know Adventures by Disney, Disney Cruise Line and even the the parks and everything else uh so
40:08
incredible and niche and and you know Carnival and Royal and Princess and all
40:15
of these each have their own niches also which have their own their own audiences and
40:21
that's perfect. Um like we've really enjoyed Princess and there's nothing wrong with that. Um, it just recognizing
40:28
that Disney Cruise Line comes at it from a very different perspective and they're pulling elements from other cruise lines
40:35
too that you know they just happen to have Disney magic and uh a different way of investing into uh what their values
40:42
and their importance are. And I think that's really exciting especially as we're getting new ships because you
40:48
think of the new possibilities and you know what about an Ireland? There might already be an Ireland cruise, but like
40:53
how cool would it be to go through around Ireland and all of that area of the world. Well, when you think of the ships that
40:59
they might be having launched soon, I don't think it would be
41:05
too wild to say that there might be a ship permanently positioned in Europe. Oh, absolutely. Because as it is already the Disney
41:13
Cruise Line ships that sail out there during the summer in Europe, those itineraries are very popular and they do
41:18
book. So, it wouldn't hurt to have them out there. Especially, I don't think it
41:23
would hurt the cruise industry out there to maybe have a little bit of competition because I know MSC pretty much dominates out there and MSC is now
41:31
getting into the market out here in the States. So, yeah. So, again, competition never hurt
41:36
anybody because it really pushes each person and each company.
41:42
And yeah, I think it's I think it's great and I love to see the fantasy this
41:47
year and the dream next year heading out to Europe. uh and and leave. Southampton is where they leave, right?
41:52
They're all over. So when they But isn't like their main place through the summer in Southampton and then they
41:57
go down to like the Mediterranean. They actually start So it starts in Barcelona. Okay. And then you sail around the
42:03
Mediterranean and then it repositions to Chivadeia. Oh wow. Which is by Rome in Italy. And then
42:10
it'll do sailings from there. And then it repositions I think back to Barcelona. Okay.
42:15
And then from Barcelona it repositions to Southampton. God, Europe, when they're in Europe, they're
42:21
all over Europe. I'm sure part of that's weather related. Um, probably. I would tend to guess there's certain
42:28
times in spring and fall you don't want to be in South. I mean, I know there's that's probably the reason why the magic isn't in
42:34
Galveastston. Yeah. All year round because as we all know, the Gulf of Mex me
42:39
can get interesting, can be wild, especially during hurricane season. And
42:45
I think February is when I cruised across it. And it was it was fun. Like I
42:50
was having a blast. A lot of people were not. And there were bags everywhere. But
42:56
um manifesting we weren't sailing is not like that. It's a month later. You should be fine. Like I'm I'm I'm going
43:02
to manifest that for you, too. All right. Well, uh we've gone longer than I thought we were going to, but I hope
43:07
you've enjoyed this first popcorn episode of Daps Travels. If you did, let us know and we will do it again cuz I
43:13
think we enjoyed it, didn't we? I definitely enjoyed it because sometimes it's just fun to yap and
43:19
ramble about different things, especially related to Disney Cruise Line because there's so many different aspects of it because you have it
43:26
at surface level just looking like, oh my gosh, fun ships and everything like that. And then each ship has its own
43:31
different unique distinct theme and it has different venues on it that cater to different people. And then you can look
43:37
into like the nitty-gritty of it where like itineraries where the ships are going and
43:43
how much is happening from now until let's say the end of December. It is kind of wild because especially
43:50
when I think 10 years ago cuz I mean 10 years ago the fantasy had been launched in 2012.
43:57
There wasn't really anything new on the horizon for Disney Cruise Line because I'm pretty sure the Disney Wish was announced in 2017. Well, and I just
44:04
think of how much news we used to be able to cover cover for Disney Cruise Line
44:10
then versus today. Like you were lucky if you got a story once a month maybe and now it's easily once a week if not
44:18
multiple times a week. Because I'm looking at this page, I feel like this is proof that the cruise line, especially being Disney's
44:25
pretty much newest industry, yeah, that's how you can describe it. Has been so up and coming and it's been
44:32
so successful because it is such a unique and distinct
44:37
experience. Mhm. As somebody who went on my very first cruise back in November of last year, I
44:44
can say that it is the premier way to experience Disney, and I know that
44:50
nowadays it can be really hard to kind of feel the Disney difference when you're going to the parks because they
44:56
don't feel like they have that same magic anymore. That spark is very much still alive on Disney Cruise Line. And I
45:04
think I think the best spark of the Disney parks is yet to come. Just looking at the leadership and where
45:10
things are going in the parks right now. Like I have a lot of excitement for what's coming in the near future. Um and
45:16
when you think of both Disneyland and Walt Disney World now are run by people
45:22
that were running the Disney Cruise Line at one point. And that to me is super exciting too because you look at the
45:28
amazing things they've done there and it's fun to see what's coming in the future. Um, but for now I think we have
45:35
run the course of this podcast out. What should people do if they'd like to support this podcast? If people really
45:41
want to support this podcast, go ahead and leave us a fivestar rating on Apple Podcasts. Five star ratings on there
45:48
really, really help our podcast get out there and be shown and it shows that what we're doing out there is good for
45:53
you guys so we can keep cranking out this content for y'all. And let us know what you'd like to hear more of. Like if
45:58
you want more popcorn episodes, let us know. If you want more ship focused episode, let us know cuz uh we enjoy it
46:04
all. So, it's not hard for us really to do any of these because we're just having fun talking about things that we
46:10
enjoy talking about. But we are going to say goodbye for now. Hope you're having a fantastic day. If you're not, make it
46:17
a fantastic week instead. But we'll say goodbye and uh keep kind
46:24
[Music]
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