Absolutely love Disney cruises and as a DVC member since 2003 I feel it is the best use of points. I love the parks and have stayed at many of the resorts but the cruise is extra special. We have been on the first ever Mediterranean Cruise. We have also done the Caribbean, Alaska and the British Isles. On one of our cruises we got very close to our serving team. My son was young and all he would eat was chicken nuggets and hated vegetables. Jean our server knew and would bring him “chicken nuggets no veggies” with a Mickey on the plate made from ketchup. Kendall our assistant server was excellent too. It was that sailing when my daughter learned she could order more than one meal. Ever since then she orders anything that looks interesting so she can try new things. About 5 years later, we booked the Mediterranean Cruise which sailed from Barcelona. We flew out early and spent 3 days exploring Barcelona. When it came time to go to the port, we took a taxi to the bus stop for the buses to the ships. We were talking and my daughter said “Mom, isn’t that Jean” sure enough it looked like him. We were trying to decide if it was him so I just called out “Jean” loud enough for him to hear. He looked over and almost immediately walked over. He looked and my son and said, “ chicken nuggets, no veggies” lol. He called my daughter by her name. After 5 years, he remembered my children and thru them my husband and I. It was so amazing. Both servers had been promoted in that time. I saw Jean several times because he was acting as a head server at Cabanas. (At least on that cruise, they were trying something new at dinner time in Cabanas. My daughter found Kendall when she ate dinner with a friend she made on the boat. It made this special trip even more special getting to meet old friends. I’ve only ever been on a Disney Cruise. My daughter as been on several lines but still loves Disney. When we started my kids were 3 and 10. Now at 30 and 24, we continue to cruise at least once a year.
I would like to do a Disney cruise as I am an avid cruiser on other lines but the lack of different itineraries and the more focus on 3 or 4 day cruises by Disney and the insane cost puts me off at the moment, it isn’t just the ship for me but the destinations as well and I think Disney needs a lot more ships and to go to way more places
I agree with you, although we do only cruise Disney. I’ve been telling my husband, I tired of the same places. Disney needs more ships to cruise more ports, especially in the Caribbean
Alaska is absolutely amazing! It is well worth the trip. If you love nature, you can’t beat it. Having said that, the excursions can be pretty pricey but well worth the cost. We did sled dog racing, a breakfast where they cooked for us and we were able to pan for gold and we took a helicopter to a glacier where we walked on the glacier with guides who told us everything about glaciers plus we walked about some of the towns. Having said that, the boat was built for the Carribean. It is cold in all the passage ways. I wore a sweater all the time. Cabins are fine. We never used our formal attire because it was just to cold. We went in September at the end of the season. If we did it again I would go a few weeks earlier but mid summer is very busy which is why we went later in the season. But it’s a once in a lifetime trip and was well worth the cost. As a matter of fact we wouldn’t have ever gone unless we were DVC members because the cost of the cabins plus the shore excursions was pretty high. Not having to pay for the cabin made the trip within reason for what we were getting. Our last cruise was the British Isles Cruise. We loved it but found the shore excursions were booked within hours of being able to book and we were Castaway Gold so we had an early booking window. Having said that, there were some excursions we couldn’t book. We decided to book local tours and those worked out great. They also tended to be less expensive than the Disney excursions. But it comes with the risk of you missing the all aboard time. Having learned from that we will look at excursions more closely next time. If you do book with local tours be very aware of tour length and time of return. Ic Cork, we actually got a hired driver who took us where we wanted. In Belfast, we rented a car. We were able to do more in the same time than those who booked a Disney excursion but we were always watching time.
I’m a dvc member since 1993. I have been on 13 Disney cruises. All using points, several times as a solo traveler. I always had a wonderful time and felt a good use of my points. I want to do the treasure next, the only ship I haven’t been on. But I’m retiring soon so I will start traveling on other cruise lines.
Hi! I want to join the DVC peeps but I was wondering if you being a member for so long, have you felt that the hotels have gone up in price leading to you having to use much more points than when you first started using them in 1993?
Team Crispy Bacon all the way!!! And, Riviera is one of our home resorts so I’ll be sure to ask for “3 button bacon” next time we’re at Topolino’s lol. GREAT episode today gang. As you mentioned, we too are now addicted to Disney cruising. We’ve used DVC rental just for cash once, and now I’ll be looking into doing the swap for a future cruise. Very helpful. Thanks for all you do and Happy 2024!
We went on the Big Red Boat on the Oceanic when Disney owned it. We later followed it up my taking the Celebrity Horizon to Bermuda which was excellent. The food on Celebrity was excellent.
Team crispy 🥓! Been on several Disney and Royal Caribbean cruises. I still prefer Disney cruises because of the service, rotational dining and the magic!
I think Disney cruise is absolutely worth doing. In most ways, they are the best line out there. If you want to do a member cruise that requires you to use points, it would likely be a great time. However, for the value of the points, it’s not a great investment. In probably every case, the amount you spend on dues alone for that number of points would be more than the cash price.
The first Wave sailing on the Treasure was going to be 641 points for one person when W e called. And you had to use points for person. We agree with Derrick. The Alaska cruise is amazing. All our Disney cruises have been the next level of service vs other lines.
Did a Disney cruise in 2001, probably won't ever do one again to be honest because when it comes to Disney vacationing, I feel like I get more value on land. And I feel like I'm a hostage in some way on a cruise between small accommodations and an extremely scheduled itinerary lol. Aulani gives me cruise vibes while also giving me an exotic locale when I am not at WDW. If we do cruises, which is rare, we do Celebrity Cruises and have enjoyed them immensely.
Great episode! I’ve been on 9 DCLs (including the Med, Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska - agree Alaska is AMAZING but really wanted to try out the new Hawaii to Australia/NZ trip!!!) and am a huge fan. We’ve never booked on DVC points (agree that it’s not the best use of points) but really appreciated your breakdown of how it works and the pros and cons and also how it would work to do a rental/swap. Awesome! And that was a terrific horn rendition, Derek (which doesn’t surprise me from someone who has been on 80 DCLs - holey moley!)! I never purchased DVC on a cruise but would sometimes stop by the desk or member event - I wonder if we’ve met? I was on the inaugural Alaska year out of Seattle (in August 2012). Agree that if you’re going to do Alaska, do it soon! I’ve seen recent photos of Mendenhall that look very different from our photos… 😢. Great info as always - thanks!
I didn't care about Nassau until I took a private walking food tour on Viator . It was eye opening and amazing . Stay away from cruise excursions and look elsewhere.
Thanks for the info and the laughs, as always! Any chance DVC Rental Store could ever offer trade ins for resale only members to trade in for points/stays at Villas at Disneyland Hotel, Riviera, or in future, the Cabins at Fort Wilderness??? I got my DVC contract through DVC Resale Market and not being able to use points at Disneyland Hotel is really the only downside to me for resale ownership. Everything else is completely worth doing resale!
I would appreciate a show on the logistics of the point swap. Specifically, we’d like to know if it would be feasible to swap our DVC points for a stay at a universal hotel.
Bacon has to be Cajune'd for me to be interested. There is nothing worse than floppy greasy bacon. 😆 I remember the Love Boat. I used to always say; one day, I will sail on a cruise ship. I have now made that dream come true about 20 times. (For the record, I have socks older than Amy and Paul but they are still great.)
Great episode - good info as we have been considering RC as an option....good to go in with eyes wide open - and Jeff, your comment of "the show just got weird" was freaking hilarious....
Has anyone done a Disney cruise as a solo traveler? I’m considering for next year (my husband hates cruises and we have no kids and all my friends are poor lol) but am nervous I’ll feel weird. I do fly down to Orlando and stay at the resorts and go to the parks often as a solo traveler and have no issues.
I watched to see when it would be a good time to use points as mentioned at the start of the podcast but the only mention of points was the point swap. It's a good idea but this was more of a cruise show than a show about using points on a cruise.
Alaska was my first an only cruise when I was 24 back in 2003-ish. As an outdoorsy guy, the scenery and excursions (inlcuding kayaking and a 3-hour heli-hike on a glacier) were great but nothing to gush over. My 2nd cruise was in 2023 to Antarctica. Antarctica makes Alaska look quaint and adorable for trying. Judging from everyone's comments in this episode, I have nothing but disappointment to look forward to if I ever cruise again.
Our shows are recorded in batches weeks in advanced. Because of the holidays, these current shows were recorded before the holidays. Don’t worry though. We are recording a show on the trust tomorrow! It should be out soon.
I use to like the Disney cruises but now I’m a royal carribean cruiser. Not enough things to do for adults on Disney cruises. Also too many screaming kids on Disney cruises. I do think the food is a bit better on Disney cruises when you compare dinning room to dining room. However the royal carribean restaurants are way better than Disney.
I like Jeff, in fact this is a great group. Love that Panda is here, always liked him so happy you got him back.
Absolutely love Disney cruises and as a DVC member since 2003 I feel it is the best use of points. I love the parks and have stayed at many of the resorts but the cruise is extra special. We have been on the first ever Mediterranean Cruise. We have also done the Caribbean, Alaska and the British Isles.
On one of our cruises we got very close to our serving team. My son was young and all he would eat was chicken nuggets and hated vegetables. Jean our server knew and would bring him “chicken nuggets no veggies” with a Mickey on the plate made from ketchup. Kendall our assistant server was excellent too. It was that sailing when my daughter learned she could order more than one meal. Ever since then she orders anything that looks interesting so she can try new things.
About 5 years later, we booked the Mediterranean Cruise which sailed from Barcelona. We flew out early and spent 3 days exploring Barcelona. When it came time to go to the port, we took a taxi to the bus stop for the buses to the ships. We were talking and my daughter said “Mom, isn’t that Jean” sure enough it looked like him. We were trying to decide if it was him so I just called out “Jean” loud enough for him to hear. He looked over and almost immediately walked over. He looked and my son and said, “ chicken nuggets, no veggies” lol. He called my daughter by her name.
After 5 years, he remembered my children and thru them my husband and I. It was so amazing. Both servers had been promoted in that time. I saw Jean several times because he was acting as a head server at Cabanas. (At least on that cruise, they were trying something new at dinner time in Cabanas. My daughter found Kendall when she ate dinner with a friend she made on the boat.
It made this special trip even more special getting to meet old friends.
I’ve only ever been on a Disney Cruise. My daughter as been on several lines but still loves Disney.
When we started my kids were 3 and 10. Now at 30 and 24, we continue to cruise at least once a year.
Panda is 100% correct. Crispy bacon all the way.
This was perfect timing! My wife and I were just talking about this topic. Thanks for the video!
I would like to do a Disney cruise as I am an avid cruiser on other lines but the lack of different itineraries and the more focus on 3 or 4 day cruises by Disney and the insane cost puts me off at the moment, it isn’t just the ship for me but the destinations as well and I think Disney needs a lot more ships and to go to way more places
I agree with you, although we do only cruise Disney. I’ve been telling my husband, I tired of the same places. Disney needs more ships to cruise more ports, especially in the Caribbean
Alaska is absolutely amazing! It is well worth the trip. If you love nature, you can’t beat it.
Having said that, the excursions can be pretty pricey but well worth the cost.
We did sled dog racing, a breakfast where they cooked for us and we were able to pan for gold and we took a helicopter to a glacier where we walked on the glacier with guides who told us everything about glaciers plus we walked about some of the towns.
Having said that, the boat was built for the Carribean. It is cold in all the passage ways. I wore a sweater all the time. Cabins are fine. We never used our formal attire because it was just to cold. We went in September at the end of the season. If we did it again I would go a few weeks earlier but mid summer is very busy which is why we went later in the season.
But it’s a once in a lifetime trip and was well worth the cost.
As a matter of fact we wouldn’t have ever gone unless we were DVC members because the cost of the cabins plus the shore excursions was pretty high. Not having to pay for the cabin made the trip within reason for what we were getting.
Our last cruise was the British Isles Cruise. We loved it but found the shore excursions were booked within hours of being able to book and we were Castaway Gold so we had an early booking window. Having said that, there were some excursions we couldn’t book. We decided to book local tours and those worked out great. They also tended to be less expensive than the Disney excursions. But it comes with the risk of you missing the all aboard time.
Having learned from that we will look at excursions more closely next time. If you do book with local tours be very aware of tour length and time of return. Ic Cork, we actually got a hired driver who took us where we wanted. In Belfast, we rented a car. We were able to do more in the same time than those who booked a Disney excursion but we were always watching time.
I’m a dvc member since 1993. I have been on 13 Disney cruises. All using points, several times as a solo traveler. I always had a wonderful time and felt a good use of my points. I want to do the treasure next, the only ship I haven’t been on. But I’m retiring soon so I will start traveling on other cruise lines.
Hi! I want to join the DVC peeps but I was wondering if you being a member for so long, have you felt that the hotels have gone up in price leading to you having to use much more points than when you first started using them in 1993?
Bacon chips are the best. When the bacon breaks upon touching it…. Perfection ! ❤
Team Crispy Bacon all the way!!! And, Riviera is one of our home resorts so I’ll be sure to ask for “3 button bacon” next time we’re at Topolino’s lol. GREAT episode today gang. As you mentioned, we too are now addicted to Disney cruising. We’ve used DVC rental just for cash once, and now I’ll be looking into doing the swap for a future cruise. Very helpful. Thanks for all you do and Happy 2024!
Thanks for this show
Was looking for this content for a long time
What a way to start the new year
Happy new year everyone!
I’m team crispy bacon. Disney has the best bacon
We went on the Big Red Boat on the Oceanic when Disney owned it. We later followed it up my taking the Celebrity Horizon to Bermuda which was excellent. The food on Celebrity was excellent.
Team crispy 🥓! Been on several Disney and Royal Caribbean cruises. I still prefer Disney cruises because of the service, rotational dining and the magic!
I think Disney cruise is absolutely worth doing. In most ways, they are the best line out there. If you want to do a member cruise that requires you to use points, it would likely be a great time. However, for the value of the points, it’s not a great investment. In probably every case, the amount you spend on dues alone for that number of points would be more than the cash price.
The first Wave sailing on the Treasure was going to be 641 points for one person when W e called. And you had to use points for person.
We agree with Derrick. The Alaska cruise is amazing.
All our Disney cruises have been the next level of service vs other lines.
Did a Disney cruise in 2001, probably won't ever do one again to be honest because when it comes to Disney vacationing, I feel like I get more value on land. And I feel like I'm a hostage in some way on a cruise between small accommodations and an extremely scheduled itinerary lol. Aulani gives me cruise vibes while also giving me an exotic locale when I am not at WDW. If we do cruises, which is rare, we do Celebrity Cruises and have enjoyed them immensely.
"Love Boat" now playing on P+! See every popular tv star of the 1970's on that show... 🤣🤣🤣
Great episode! I’ve been on 9 DCLs (including the Med, Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska - agree Alaska is AMAZING but really wanted to try out the new Hawaii to Australia/NZ trip!!!) and am a huge fan. We’ve never booked on DVC points (agree that it’s not the best use of points) but really appreciated your breakdown of how it works and the pros and cons and also how it would work to do a rental/swap. Awesome! And that was a terrific horn rendition, Derek (which doesn’t surprise me from someone who has been on 80 DCLs - holey moley!)! I never purchased DVC on a cruise but would sometimes stop by the desk or member event - I wonder if we’ve met? I was on the inaugural Alaska year out of Seattle (in August 2012). Agree that if you’re going to do Alaska, do it soon! I’ve seen recent photos of Mendenhall that look very different from our photos… 😢. Great info as always - thanks!
Chewy bacon is cooked just right. More flavor than crispy ❤
I didn't care about Nassau until I took a private walking food tour on Viator . It was eye opening and amazing . Stay away from cruise excursions and look elsewhere.
Thanks for the info and the laughs, as always!
Any chance DVC Rental Store could ever offer trade ins for resale only members to trade in for points/stays at Villas at Disneyland Hotel, Riviera, or in future, the Cabins at Fort Wilderness???
I got my DVC contract through DVC Resale Market and not being able to use points at Disneyland Hotel is really the only downside to me for resale ownership. Everything else is completely worth doing resale!
I would appreciate a show on the logistics of the point swap. Specifically, we’d like to know if it would be feasible to swap our DVC points for a stay at a universal hotel.
Bacon has to be Cajune'd for me to be interested. There is nothing worse than floppy greasy bacon. 😆 I remember the Love Boat. I used to always say; one day, I will sail on a cruise ship. I have now made that dream come true about 20 times. (For the record, I have socks older than Amy and Paul but they are still great.)
Crispy Bacon 🥓 is a must! ❤
Great episode - good info as we have been considering RC as an option....good to go in with eyes wide open - and Jeff, your comment of "the show just got weird" was freaking hilarious....
Has anyone done a Disney cruise as a solo traveler? I’m considering for next year (my husband hates cruises and we have no kids and all my friends are poor lol) but am nervous I’ll feel weird. I do fly down to Orlando and stay at the resorts and go to the parks often as a solo traveler and have no issues.
I watched to see when it would be a good time to use points as mentioned at the start of the podcast but the only mention of points was the point swap. It's a good idea but this was more of a cruise show than a show about using points on a cruise.
We’re on a cruise in November ‘24 going to Nassau. What’s the deal? Why shouldn’t we get off the boat? 😳
Panda, I’m from the ham capital of the world (Smithfield, Virginia) so I take my bacon very seriously too! Crispy all the way!!!!
Crispy bacon all the way, Panda! I always look forward to bacon every day on a Disney Cruise.
Team Crispy Bacon!!
Alaska was my first an only cruise when I was 24 back in 2003-ish. As an outdoorsy guy, the scenery and excursions (inlcuding kayaking and a 3-hour heli-hike on a glacier) were great but nothing to gush over.
My 2nd cruise was in 2023 to Antarctica. Antarctica makes Alaska look quaint and adorable for trying.
Judging from everyone's comments in this episode, I have nothing but disappointment to look forward to if I ever cruise again.
Never been on a cruise but when I do, sure will be Disney! 🚢 ⚓️ Thx always. 🎉 ❤
Crispy Bacon here!!!!!
Very fun to watch this episode.
"Size does matter" - Josh
lol - loved that line up on Sat nights! Mr. Rork! Gen-X is it he best!
Crispy Bacon for sure !!!!
Disney special are the CM and the children programs.
Extra crispy bacon!!!
Panda is right! Only crispy bacon! I refuse bacon that’s still alive(wiggly)!
are y'all not going to talk about the Trust rumor that came up late last month?
Our shows are recorded in batches weeks in advanced. Because of the holidays, these current shows were recorded before the holidays.
Don’t worry though. We are recording a show on the trust tomorrow! It should be out soon.
I use to like the Disney cruises but now I’m a royal carribean cruiser. Not enough things to do for adults on Disney cruises. Also too many screaming kids on Disney cruises. I do think the food is a bit better on Disney cruises when you compare dinning room to dining room. However the royal carribean restaurants are way better than Disney.
And Disney has a larger percent of employees, helping the people on the boat than any other cruise line.
Crispy bacon 💯
Only crispy bacon for me!
I am team crispy bacon
Happy 2024🎉
13:31 Chug, chug, CHUG!!!
Omg my eldest son was born in 1986😮
Too crispy sometimes burns the brown sugar.
Happy New Year's people 🎉
Extra crispy bacon is nasty!!! What a waste of bacon!!