Well, hello and welcome once again to the DCL Podcast where we're inviting you to sit back, relax, and we'll be on our way Well, welcome back to the DCL Podcast, your podcast to cruise a little smarter.

I'm your host, Lake, and I'm joined by my co host, Christy.

Christy, how are you today?

I am well, Lake.

How are you doing?

Pretty good.

Pretty excited.

We will be on a cruise together again very soon.

Very soon.

Like four days or something.

More than likely we'll have already been on the cruise by the time this comes out.

But it is exciting.

It is.

It's always exciting.

And a preview cruise is even more exciting.

Absolutely.

But we are not here to discuss that.

We are here to talk about one of our other favorite topics, First Time cruisers.

Yes.

And it's with a friend of mine, which makes it even more special.

So, Kristen, welcome to the show.

Thank you.

Well, Kristen, why don't you start by giving our listeners a little bit of your Disney and cruising background.

Okay.

So I don't have much of a cruising background.

I've only been on one cruise.

I was in my early 20s.

I don't remember what cruise line, but I can tell you the bar was very low after that one.

The food was not good, the ship was not nice.

So I had never really been interested in going on another cruise after that.

And then I had kids and they wanted to go on a Disney cruise.

We had been to Disney World when they were really little and we went to Disneyland last year and they talked me into it.

And I know that Christy is the expert, so I asked her how I do this wisely.

And here we are.

Awesome.

Well, then how did you land on this sailing on the Dream out of Fort Lauderdale?

Part.

Part of it was timing what I was, what was going to work with my schedule.

I didn't want to go with the Christmas theme because I don't want to mix Christmas and warm weather.

I feel like I'd be cheated out of that experience of fun in the sun.

I am living in Michigan, so it's very cold here and I wanted it to be cold enough that I had warmer weather on my trip and it would be warm enough to swim and do all the things.

So.

So we discussed timing mostly.

That was pretty much timing and this one worked.

We wanted to get it done this year.

We didn't want to wait till.

Till next year.

We discussed the destiny so that that was an option.

But we ended up on the Dream.

Love it.

Well, let's discuss how you got down to Fort Lauderdale.

Then we decided to fly in the day before, which I'm really glad.

Although it was very easy to get on that boat.

It was so easy.

But I just worried if there was a delay with a plane or anything like that.

If I missed a plane, I didn't want to miss a cruise.

So we flew into Fort Lauderdale.

We, we came in pretty early because we thought we'd spend the day there since we're already going to be there.

We stayed at the, I want to say that Hilton Marina, which was nice.

They had a nice pool.

What was very fun about it though was it was during the international boat or yacht show.

So our, out of our balcony was a $25 million yacht.

So that was our view and just tons of them.

And it was really fun to walk around and look at the yachts and we saw all the yachties and I'm a fan of below deck, so I was hoping to see, you know, Captain Lee or someone.

That didn't happen.

But it was, it was really, really cool because we could see right inside, we could see the galley.

So we had a lot of fun just hanging out.

The weather was gorgeous.

The airport in Fort Lauderdale is the easiest to get in and out.

I just, it, it's so small.

We walked in and walked out.

It was a very easy trip.

We spent the night in the hotel.

We went and had some local food and, and it was, it was a fun time.

And the, the hotel was close enough to walk to the port, but the, the walk there was a little treacherous because there's these huge roads and so we just took the, the valet from the hotel and I know one of the questions we had because you had a port

arrival time of around 1:30, we was what to do after you checked out of your hotel the day of the cruise until you were able to head over to the ship.

What did you guys end up doing?

Well, what they told me what, what it turned out is I'm a Hilton Rewards member so I could check out an hour late.

So 12 o' clock.

And then our

port was 1:30 so we gave them our luggage.

They said they'd hold on to it as long as we wanted.

And then we walked to lunch.

And then when we got back it was just perfect timing so we didn't have to have our luggage with us for lunch.

It worked out perfectly.

What was your experience heading over to the port?

What was your first impression of the port area?

Well, it's very large and it appears overwhelming, but it's a well oiled machine.

It was a seamless process.

We had our luggage, we gave it to someone right off of our bus or whatever, our shuttle, and they took our luggage.

We walked through, we checked our ID, did all that.

I think it took 20 minutes to get on to the boat.

It was so fast.

And then our.

We got on right at 1:30 and we went to our room.

Our room was ready and our.

All of our luggage except for one piece was already there.

Love it.

Well, stepping back real quick, what was it like boarding your first Disney cruise ship for the first time?

Well, it's pretty exciting because they announce you as you walk in, which I didn't know.

I watched a couple YouTube videos and I talked to Christy.

I didn't really know too much what to expect.

And I'm not really a Disney person.

I know probably everyone listening is, but I, I could take it or leave it.

I like the Disney shows.

I've gone to Disney with the kids.

We have fun.

But I'm not really obsessed with Disney.

Like, I know I have many friends who are.

But walking onto the boat was, yeah, it was awe inspiring.

You know, just like looking around.

It's beautiful.

You feel like you're walking into a beautiful hotel.

You do not feel like you're on a boat.

And it was just so much to look at.

I was expecting more like crowds and feeling like cattle.

And I did not have that experience.

So I was really happy about that.

Like I said, they know how to get the people on.

I didn't feel rushed.

I didn't feel like I was waiting.

I was able to absorb everything.

And the kids were just like going nuts.

They were so happy.

Love it.

Well, then you said you headed up to your state room right away.

What kind of state room did you book and how did that work for your family?

We had the one with the veranda and the room was better than I was expecting.

It's really well organized.

They have a lot of places to put things in a small space.

And they have two bathrooms.

So one bathroom with a toilet and sink and then another one with a full bath, which was amazing.

And shower.

The shower pressure is better than the one that I have at home.

It felt like a regular bathroom.

And my recollection of the ship that I was on 20 years ago did not have that feel at all.

I was very happy.

It was very clean.

It was beautiful.

And the bed was like the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in.

It was luxurious.

I could not feel my husband moving on the bed.

It was like I was had all the space and it was so comfortable.

Now I'm changing my bedding at home.

So yeah, the fret sheets are no joke and they are so comfortable.

And it's I think the thing, one of the things I love the most about Disney cruise, shockingly enough.

Oh my gosh, they're amazing.

And it was so nice because you have the same housekeeper who gets to know you a little bit and you have the housekeeping in the morning and then you have the turndown service.

They turned the couch into a bunk bed.

So I mean just, they utilize the space really well and there's a curtain between the bunk beds and the parents and that's nice.

And it was wonderful.

It was so clean.

It was well organized.

I was very happy.

Have we mentioned yet who sailed with you?

I sailed with my husband and our two kids who are 9 and 11.

I have a girl who's 11 and a boy who's 9.

How did the bunk bed situation work?

Did they switch off?

No, they.

My son took the top the whole time and they, they arranged that amongst themselves.

Love that.

Yeah.

Well, you check out your room.

Where did you head next on your embarkation day?

We walked around a little bit.

They had the intent of the very first thing we had to do is get the ice cream that you can serve yourself.

They had been talking about that non stop that you can get your own ice cream.

So that was on the 11th floor.

We were on the 7th.

It was really easy to get to because we just took the stairs.

The stairs aren't very big stairs, so they're really easy to run up and down.

And they never complained.

We didn't take elevators.

So I think that's another reason we never felt crowded because it was just easy to get around.

And so we got the ice cream and then we did the.

The sail away party.

That was really, really fun.

It was a really great vibe.

And they have the camera going everywhere so that you're on the big Jumbotron or the big screen.

So.

So the kids were dancing, my husband was dancing on the screen and they just loved it.

We had so much fun.

It really set a good tone.

It was my, my son was getting very antsy though because

we were on at 1:30 and nothing really

happened until that time which was 4:30 so like three hours for him.

He wanted to be off the dock.

He wanted to, you know, being doing all the things and we had to do the safety drill which was, you know, took up some time and was annoying.

But so once we finally were able to get There, like he was letting loose.

It was super fun.

Did you eat lunch somewhere on the ship?

I think we did.

We went.

We went to the buffet where I had many crab claws and that thing is huge.

There's so much food.

I could not believe it.

It's just.

It's like three rooms worth of buffets and.

And the food was really good.

I was really impressed by the food and it had nice ocean views and so we did so.

But then we

had dinner.

We early dinner at 5:45.

But that was fine.

I'm really glad we picked that time.

That worked out perfectly for us instead of the evening one.

And we.

We had dinner at the Enchanted Garden the first night and that was really fun and it was really pretty in there.

And yeah, my daughter's pescatarian, so she's pretty limited on meat and things.

And they had a ton of options for her.

Did she mostly order off the adult menu then?

That is something I did not even know we could do until after.

So I was kind of disappointed that I didn't know that.

But they were happy.

They ate so much food.

I don't know how much you would have ordered off the adult menu because even on the kids menu they had salmon and then, you know, she just wanted Mac and cheese.

She's not a fancy pescatarian.

She's happy.

It's perfect.

Yeah.

We always joke that my son will go through a stage and we'll see what he does, you know, on our next cruise, but he just orders something the first day and he almost always eats that exact same thing for the whole entire rest of the cruise.

Well, why don't we go ahead and stick with dining then and discuss the other two rotational restaurants and what were some highlights from those meals.

So the Animation palace, that was the one the kids like the most.

It's like entertainment while you're eating dinner.

So they were really into that.

That was really fun.

The food.

All the restaurants had great food.

I really liked that they had a lot of fresh things.

I had this one quinoa, fennel, mandarin pomegranate salad that I'm going to try to recreate.

It was so delicious.

I just love that they have so many fresh salads and just like it feels like you can eat pretty clean on a cruise.

But it was just constant food, you know, Like, I felt like we were eating all the time, so I wouldn't always get dessert or have the full meal because you wake up, there's breakfast, then there's the buffet lunch or I know you can Go to a restaurant.

We did the restaurant our last morning of the cruise, which worked out really nicely.

And then we went to the.

I think it's palace.

That one I like the least.

But it was because of where we were seated.

I was seated in a really crowded, loud area, like where they're busing the dishes and stuff.

But the food was.

Was great, but I just didn't like where I was sitting.

And you sit there every time.

And that was the restaurant we went to twice of the rotational dining menus.

Was there a night or a meal that was your favorite?

We had a filet that was delicious.

That was my favorite.

And it had some sort of potato that was so good.

I mean, it was just like a meat and potato thing.

Even though I like the fancy quinoa and stuff like that.

I had a really good asparagus soup that had like lump crab in it.

I loved that.

So I like a lot of the seafood and like just like a medium rare steak.

And they, they cook it really well.

Everything, everything we ordered was cooked according to what we requested.

Like, we never got anything overcooked or it didn't feel like mass food.

So I was really impressed by the food.

I love that.

Love it.

Where did you find yourself eating like, your lunches throughout the cruise?

We did the lunches at the buffet.

I found, like in the back area.

They do have little stands that have pizza all day.

The pizza was actually really good.

And you're just like, can I have four pieces?

Can I have a whole pizza like here?

Yes.

And then I had like tacos.

They had like a taco bar.

So I had that one day.

But mostly it would be the buffet, which was super, super easy to do.

And the food was really good.

I never really ate the same thing twice, except the crab claws, because I had to have those at every meal.

Did they have them every meal?

Well, every lunch, yes, they had them every time.

That's great.

They had a Korean pulled pork that was so good.

Also at the buffet.

That was really delicious.

And then what about breakfast?

Did you guys eat breakfast?

We did the buffet, but we did the sit down breakfast our last day.

I didn't love my breakfast because I ordered like this hash and it wasn't what I consider a hash.

So my expectations were different.

It was just okay.

But doing it on the last day was perfect because our server, who comes with you everywhere, told us it'll be a lot easier to come here than go to the buffet and try, try to fight the crowds.

And it was.

We just left like our stuff right at the front.

We gave our luggage the night before, but we kept a couple of backpacks, which they let us just leave at the front door.

And that was really easy.

And it was nice to see our servers for the last time because you get to know them.

And our particular server, our waitress, I felt really bad for her because we did have a hurricane going through.

We had to go around the hurricane.

So we had a couple of wavy nights, but we had one rainfall.

And that was like the weather.

It was actually really hot every day.

But her, she was from Jamaica.

And the hurricane hit Jamaica.

And I felt so bad for her because I didn't want to talk to her about it because it's personal and everything.

So I just told her, I'm praying for you and your family.

And she said she hadn't heard from her family.

So I was really worried about her.

She was so nice.

And I still don't know what happened, but hopefully everyone is okay.

But with the hurricane, we had a pretty funny incident where.

And I've heard this about Disney, like, nothing can go wrong.

So if something's going wrong, they.

Some they'll spin it.

So it was.

They.

So we had a Halloween theme, and it was the trick or treating night.

And we were on the deck and they were doing.

The characters were all dressing up in costumes, and so they were all dancing.

And then they were each going to go out and do their own dance.

And so they started with Goofy.

I mean, we were like five minutes into it.

We're waiting for like a half hour.

The kids did a little bit like, trick or treating, they called it, but they just handed out some candy.

But we're sitting on the deck waiting for about a half hour, but you still have fun.

And so they start it and five minutes in, the skies opened up like torrential rain, and it was every man, woman and child running for themselves.

It was hilarious.

And you hear the.

The emcee say, well, thank you, Goofy.

That concludes our night.

And it was hilarious.

Everyone's, like, laughing because, like, this show was canceled.

But, you know, they didn't say it was canceled, but they actually came on about 20 minutes later and said they were gonna do it in the.

The atrium.

Atrium, yeah.

But by then it was like 10 o' clock at night.

The kids took the crims off, so we were done.

But that was the only bad weather we hit.

And it was.

It rained for like 10 minutes.

And did you guys participate in Pirate Night?

Not really.

Kind of, because they give you the bandanas.

We Already brought costumes because it was Halloween.

So we really didn't get into Pirate Night.

And I didn't know that it was such a big thing.

It was huge.

People were dressed up everywhere all day.

So I didn't really.

I didn't know that that's something.

And honestly, it's.

I mean, I knew about it, but I didn't know the extent that people committed to that.

And, I mean, you can or not, like everybody.

It's Cruising is so great.

It's a.

Choose your own adventure.

You can participate or not.

But, yeah, it's definitely.

Some people get really into it.

So for Halloween on the high seas, for your sailing on the dream, they had the kids go up to the different stations to get candy.

I didn't go with them, so I don't know.

I know that they just went to a couple places and got candy.

They didn't spend a lot of time doing that.

I held the spot and they walked around.

What other activities did you do around the ship?

So the first day.

Well, the first full day we were there, I did the Bippity Boppity Boutique with my daughter and I.

I had.

Well, Christy told me you have to wake up at midnight and book it.

And I did.

And it's a good thing because the next day it was already sold out, like, when I woke up.

That though, I felt our timing was a little off, because I did it the first day because I knew my daughter really wanted to do it, and if she'd just be, like, anticipating it the whole time.

So I wanted to do it right away so she got the experience and she could move on.

But we did it early, like

at 10:30, and she wanted to swim.

But after she was all dressed up, she didn't want to take her princess costume off.

So fortunately, we got up and we got to the pool right away, and she got to do the Aqueduct, which was super fun.

I did that too, like three or four times.

It was very fun.

So she was dressed up in that experience.

She loved it.

That was her favorite part of the trip, she said, and they treat you like royalty after that.

So all the staff would say, hi, princess.

Can I get you anything, princess?

And it was really cute.

And they gave her a lot of things.

A backpack, a wand, a crown, jewelry, makeup, a lot of things.

And the pixie dust and the hair.

So she just was over the moon.

It was really cute.

We also did the virtual sports, which that has, like, a small fee, maybe 15 bucks.

That wasn't their thing.

I probably wouldn't book that again, it just.

My kids really aren't into that type of thing.

They had fun.

But did you book it before the cruise or did you book it on board?

I booked it before when I did the Bipity Bopidy Boutique, which by the way, they told me that they keep some spots open and the first few hours of the first day you can go there and book it.

Which then I realized maybe I could try other things.

And I went to Guest Services and asked them if I could get in for the Royal Court where you meet all the princesses at once.

And they said, we'll put you on the right wait list and we're in the next day.

Oh, that's wonderful.

That's great.

That worked out.

Were you able to see any of the shows on board?

Yes, we went to all of them.

And that was my favorite part.

The shows were amazing.

They were so good, like top quality.

I just went to a play in Detroit, which is at a nice place, the Fisher Theater, if anyone knows.

And I felt that they could have used some tips from Disney.

I'm like, where's the set changes?

Where's the costume changes?

Like, where's all the pomp and circumstance?

The.

The shows were so good and our personal experience was we had no problems getting good seats or anything like that.

It was really, really good.

I love.

That was my favorite part.

Did you get to take advantage of any of like the adult only spaces as well?

Unfortunately, no.

Because my daughter wanted to do everything as a family, everything.

So she wouldn't let me go.

And I figure because she's 11, this probably will never happen again.

So I did run off to the adults only for like a half hour once to read my book.

And I got to walk around and I went and it got a latte at the bar there.

But it looked fun.

When I tell you it was hot.

It was so hot that unless you were like in the water, like sitting out even on our.

We couldn't even sit on our balcony.

It was like hot air.

The wind was even hot.

And that's actually one of my.

The things I would have done differently.

I'd have brought more clothes because I was either really hot if I was outside or really cold inside because they keep it very cold inside.

And I'm sensitive to weather shift.

So I was either freezing or hot.

And I needed.

I needed to bring more clothes and I needed to bring more dress up clothes because people really dressed up for dinner and I had like sundresses, but I didn't have a cardigan like, I didn't have it because I didn't bring something to match it.

So that is a tip that I would give people.

Like, bring, like, a whole thing with layers that go together, because I would have liked.

I.

I felt under underdressed or cold at dinner.

Well, same question towards the kids then.

Did they utilize the kids clubs at all then?

They were in two different kids clubs because of their ages.

And my son wanted to go to my daughter's, and my daughter wanted to go to my son.

So they never went on their own.

They went during the open houses.

So twice a day for an hour, you could go to each other's.

And so they would do that.

They would go to, like, my daughters in the morning and then my son's in the afternoon, and they had fun doing that.

And did you guys do any of the crafts or family game shows or anything like that?

No, we didn't get into any of that.

We were so busy.

I was surprised.

It really.

Your whole day is booked, and there was not much downtime.

I wore my apple watch, and I had 15,000 steps every day.

And we're on a ship, and that's without, like, going for a walk on the fourth deck, where they do have the little walking area.

So we're busy.

Like, we're in and out.

Okay, you go here for a half hour, then we're gonna go do this.

And so because it was our first cruise, you know, we were still trying to figure out what everyone's favorite thing to do was.

We always had to go back to the ice cream.

Was there a specific place on board that you would say was, like, your family's favorite space?

Well, one thing I would say for people who are new to this is pick.

If you're going to a buffet, pick a table.

Because the.

The buffet area is so big and it's in several rooms, and for a little kid, they all look the same.

So we picked, like, this table, and it just had a really nice view.

So that's kind of like our meeting spot.

And that was after trial and error, after losing our son for a little while in the buffet land.

But so we liked being there, and we just loved being on the deck.

Like, the kids enjoy the pool.

Even though it's small, they still loved it.

They wanted to be on the aqueduct, and they, you know, they run the movie, so we just loved being there.

They'd run and get ice cream, they swim, they go on the aqueduct.

And, you know, it's just.

You're outside, and it's beautiful.

Out.

So that was our favorite place to be.

Awesome.

Well, we do have two port stops to discuss.

First up is Cozumel.

What did your family get up to there?

We went to an all inclusive resort that you can get a day pass.

I actually have my coffee cup right now from there.

Bureau Star.

So we took a taxi there.

I found it on YouTube or, or TikTok.

I was just looking at excursions and I, I went through them with the kids and Christy gave me some tips and I just asked the kids what they wanted to do most and they wanted to do a Bureau Star because they had animals.

They had like birds and flamingos and different things like that.

So we did that.

That was like a 20 minute cab ride, I'd say about that.

And it was nice.

It was nice.

I.

The food was good, the place was nice, but it was so hot there.

Here.

Here I am again that I couldn't even cool off in the ocean or in the pool.

I was still hot, the water was warm, but there was a lot of fish.

So like, like they were like doing their own snorkeling with their goggles.

We could see a lot of different fish and, and they, they had a blast.

And they had a swim up bar.

So the kids were swimming up and getting, you know, their cherry Coke and my son just thought he was the coolest person ever having a drink in the pool.

He loved.

They have floaties and everything like that and they have a little kids club.

Our kids did not go to it, but we had a lot of fun that day.

It was nice to get off the boat and do something different.

I'd never been there before.

We didn't really get to experience the city, but it was perfect for us that day.

But one thing another family told me when we were talking to other families, they went to the Best Western and they said that instead of paying for the day, it was cheaper for them to book overnight and be able to just go for the day.

So they booked a night at the Best Western and got to do all the stuff and then had a room for the day.

So that was.

I thought that was a really good idea.

Yeah, it's a good way to do it.

The issue might be like when the room would be ready and if they let you have the room ready early and then.

Or do you get it just for the morning and like check in the night before?

Yeah, I don't know.

It worked for them.

Well then your next stop is Disney's private island.

Castaway.

What were your expectations for Castaway?

So this is going to be an unpopular opinion.

It wasn't for me.

But this is also.

When I did my Cruise in my 20s, they had their own island, too, and I didn't like that one either because it just feels too produced.

It doesn't feel like an authentic place.

Unpopular opinion.

I really don't like those type of places.

I like to feel like I'm in a real community, a real place.

It felt.

It felt like not authentic.

You know, that's just my take.

The food was okay.

It was pretty limited.

My son didn't like it.

He's very picky.

But even the food wasn't as good as, like, the ship food.

So in the snorkeling, there was very little to see.

We didn't see many fish.

They have shipwrecks, planted, things like that.

Now that's just me.

The kids loved it.

They really enjoyed seeing, like, the Mickey underwater, swimming around.

But the snorkeling, I will say, was really easy with the gear they give you.

It was much easier than I thought it would be.

So it was very comfortable.

The water was perfect.

I will say this.

The water there was better than Mexico, was perfect.

It was so nice.

We did rent the bikes, but we didn't end up using them because my daughter actually got sick.

And I was really worried because it was like the day after Mexico and she got a fever, so I was kind of freaking out.

So she was kind of just like lounging around.

So we weren't as active there.

So I actually went back to the ship early and.

Which was kind of nice because not a lot of people were on it.

So I still was able to really enjoy myself.

Was there anything unexpected on your cruise?

I can't say anything was unexpected.

I will say it.

It lived up to all the hype.

It was fantastic.

And now I want to watch the Disney movies, and now I want to go back.

It exceeded my expectations.

Everything was just done so well.

Everyone who worked there was so nice.

And it didn't feel fake.

It felt genuine.

They were so friendly.

They were so helpful.

The ship, I didn't see a piece of litter anywhere.

It was just the.

It's just going to be hard to do anything else ever again because they just meet and anticipate every need you have.

And even the kids, they both said it was their favorite vacation.

We've gone on some great vacations and they never fought.

I think they had one fight.

Like, it's not stressful, you know, it was just very easy.

It was so easy to do.

Everything was fun.

I wasn't disappointed in anything.

It was fantastic.

I loved it.

Talking about the cast, did you have any other notable cast interactions you wanted to highlight?

We had a really cute one with Stitch.

My daughter bought the Stitch baby.

It's, like, swaddled.

So when we got up to meet Stitch, Stitch was going, shh.

Would.

Wouldn't let anyone talk because it would wake up the baby.

And he really went with that.

He went with that shtick for several minutes.

It was very cute.

They were really.

They.

They made you feel.

Even though we waited in line for probably a half hour, Stitch is always the longest line.

It is crazy.

Yeah.

I didn't expect it, but it wasn't a big deal because it was.

It's right by all the stores.

So the kids just ran in.

They bought a couple things.

We met people that went to high school with my husband's parents, like, you know, the small world.

So waiting wasn't even a problem.

So that was really cute that all the characters are so wonderful.

Everyone was wonderful.

Did you guys do a photo package?

We did not.

We took a lot of pictures and they took them with us for us.

Like, even with stitch.

I have 10 pictures that they took for me, and they're great.

What was one more thing you wish you had known before the sailing?

No cash on board.

We did not have enough cash for tips and things like that.

It was.

I.

I don't doubt that.

But.

But for.

No, there was.

There was nowhere for us to get.

And did you ask Kick ass services?

There was.

We did not.

I didn't ask.

I left that with my husband, and there's a good chance that he didn't follow up appropriately.

But we didn't have cash.

And then we didn't even have enough cash when we're in Mexico.

So we tried an atm and then I got like, the ATM right off the thing was like, the fee was like.

We tried to get a hundred dollars out and the fee was $97.

So we didn't.

Then my credit card got flagged.

But a lot of places will take credit cards, but in Mexico, and a lot of places will not.

So if you are getting a taxi, you have to ask them if they take your credit card.

If you do not have cash, that was my fault.

But there was so much to know.

Like, I felt nervous because I felt like there was so much to know.

Like, I got the lanyards for the cards, which was great.

I.

I did so many things.

I brought my own water bottle.

You know, that's one of the tips.

So I did a lot of those things, but I missed some things and cash was a big one.

I think that that was like the biggest one.

Well then sadly, all cruises have to come to an end.

What was your disembarkation process like and how did you get back home?

We disembarked at 8am

we were to the airport by 8:45.

It was amazing.

It was so fast.

So again we did the sit down breakfast, which I thought was perfect.

It was just like a perfect way to end it.

Not dealing with a buffet, getting to see our two servers again.

And then you kind of get to know also the people around you because you're seated by them.

So it's kind of fun.

It gets you.

You feel like you get to know some people and then there's some people that just turn up over and over that you see.

So we lined up, they gave us a tinkerbell and some people were someone else.

And when they called tinkerbell, we, we got off the ship, we got our luggage, we hopped into the first taxi we saw, which I think was 15 bucks.

Like they weren't gouging us to take us to the airport.

We were literally

at the airport at 8:45.

It was wonderful.

And then getting through Fort Lauderdale Airport took all of 10 minutes.

And so we just sat around for a couple hours.

We did, but we did initially have our.

This was something I was a little nervous about the timing of our plane leaving.

We initially had a 2 o' clock flight and we're like, what are we going to do all this with all this time?

And we went on Delta and they moved us up to 1130 without charging us or anything like that.

And that took five, a five minute phone call.

So it was perfect.

Like 11:30 was perfect.

We, I mean, we sat around for a good hour and a half.

We could have probably even done earlier, but I wouldn't want to rush.

I think 11:30 is what for, is what Disney Cruise Line says is a safe flight time.

So that worked.

Yeah, it was perfect.

Yeah.

And especially with what's going on with the airports now, with all the delays.

And so the timing was perfect.

Everything was so easy.

I, I keep saying it, but it, it was hard to get back to reality.

I was used to someone cooking for me, cleaning for me, entertaining my children, enjoying the sun.

It was so relaxing too.

I can't wait to go back.

We're gonna go again.

Well then what is next for you?

I don't know.

I'm waiting for Christy to like, tell me when we've got some sort of deal rolling out.

But I would like to go with another family because I think it.

I, I've seen the rooms joined up with the balcony and things like that.

I know my kids would love to have another family.

I really wanted them to run around the boat more, but my daughter didn't feel comfortable.

I did.

I actually felt comfortable.

I said, if you guys want to run around the ship, go ahead.

I felt like they knew their way around and it was very safe feeling and there's just staff everywhere.

I, I felt, it felt very safe.

That was another thing.

Like, I, I was a little nervous about being on a cruise with like the idea of being trapped on a ship.

So I was a little nervous and I never felt unsafe at all.

Even.

Oh my gosh, the bathrooms are gorgeous.

Like the, the community bathrooms are stunning.

So I, I would like to go with another family.

We're, we're going to, we're just going to try to recruit people and see who will go with us.

Love it.

Well, Kristen, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your family's first sailing on the dream.

Thank you.

And I did listen to one of the dream podcasts that you did, and that was really helpful for me too.

So thank you.

We love it.

Thank you so much for listening.

Well, Christie, where can our listeners follow you?

You can find me all over the Internet at Pack your pixie dust and like, where can we find you?

You can find me on YouTube and Instagram at Mouse Jen and you can always follow the podcast on Facebook or Instagram @dcl pod or find more information@dclpodcast.com but that is gonna wrap up this episode.

Thank you all so much for listening and we will see you next time on the DCL Podcast.

Bye, guys.

Bye, everyone.

Bye.

Well, it's gonna wrap up the show.

Once again, we want to thank Kristin for coming on and sharing her family's adventure on the Disney Dream.

If you're enjoying the show, we greatly appreciate you leaving us a five star review on Apple Podcasts.

We would also like to thank our Patreons who helped make the show happen each and every week for us.

You too can help support the show by visiting us@patreon.com DCLpodcast whether you're boarding a cruise, enjoying a trip to the parks, or adventuring outside of Disney, on behalf of myself, Christy and Steve, we want to wish you smooth sailing and safe travels.

We'll see you next time on the DCL Podcast.

The DCL Podcast is not affiliated with the Disney Cruise line, Walt Disney Co.

Adventures by Disney or Rundisney.

All of the opinions expressed on our shows are those of the hosts and the guests who appear on the show.

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