Disney Destiny Cruise Full Review — Is DCL’s Newest Ship the Best One Yet?

I am welcome to Mouse Chat on Lisa and joining me. I have everyone. We've got Debbie, Caitlin, Sharpie and Steve. Hello everybody. Howdy. Hi friends. Debbie, you're kidding me. Hi, Mounds. Oh, the mute button. Okay. That works. Alrighty. So here we are again. The entire gang is here. And this time we're going to be talking about Destiny. Disney Destiny cruise ship. Yeah. Someone was lucky enough to get on there.

Guilty. So Tyler's about it. I believe in fate and I also believe in destiny.

So Steve, you've been on the wish and the treasure not the destiny. Same for me. Yeah. Debbie, I have and I love it. Have you been on all three? Not the treasure. Okay. Okay. Sharpie.

No. None. I am in a cruise route. I need to get on a cruise ship ASAP. We need to get you on a cruise ship to Turks and Caicos. Tell me about it. Yeah. All right, Caitlin. Now have you done the wish or the treasure prior to the best done the wish? I've done the wish twice. Okay. Oh, so what it, so I guess the question is, was of the three wish window, like, fast, but none of us all, all of us have missed one. Right. Right. Well, if the two, then, where do you like best? Oh, goodness. Well, that's hard because I

like something. I'm like certain things from both. Yeah. Yeah. Well, go ahead and give us a rundown. Okay. So I did a four night behemian sailing on the Disney destiny. This was an adult only trip. I went with my mom and my sister, which a lot of people are probably be like, what? You went on a Disney cruise with no kids. Yes, yes we did. There's plenty of adult only stuff to do. It's not the first time I've went without kids. So it was very fun, girls

trip. You know what, Caitlin? I think honestly, even if you go on with a family, it becomes separate trips anyway because they're always in the kids center, the kids clubs, or they're doing this and you're doing that. And so depending on how old your kids are, yeah, you think a good point, Lisa. Yeah, there's something for all ages. And yeah, this was a four night, so we did one stop at Casaway key. Disney's private island into Bahamas. One stop at the new island lookout key at

lighthouse point into Bahamas. And then we had one day at sea. But yeah, the ship overall is, I mean, pretty much copy and paste of the wish except the theming. So the theming is overall heroes and villains, which Debbie's talked about on a previous episode. But all of the lounges and bars, they have different themes than on the wish and one of the rotational dining options is different. And yeah, just a few things here and there, the themeie in the state rooms and stuff are a little bit different, but the it's

the same class of ship as the wish and the treasure. And yeah, it was it was so cool. We had a Hercules themed state room. We were on deck seven. So we were more, we were mid-ship, but a little bit more aft. So the whole aft of the ship is themed like heroes, and then the whole forward of the ship is themed like villains. So that kind of helps you to know where you're at on the ship by like the artwork or the carpet and things like that. The shows were frozen and then also Hercules. I'll be curious to see what Debbie

thinks and she might have mentioned it but Hercules was probably the best show I've ever seen on Disney Cruise Line. Oh for sure. I stood up in a clap like I was at a rock concert. Oh my god, I'm still mind blown. It was so good. It was so good. Oh, this is awesome. That's a great movie too. I can look into getting us on the desk now. We're gonna get on the debt and stop talking about it. For the Hercules show alone, like the costumes, the singing, the set stage changes,

the theatrics, everything about it was so good from top to bottom. I mean cruise overall everybody's up in their game. You think it can't get any better and then The next ship comes out and they just one up the last ship with either shows or Inter all kinds of excursions or amenities and the shows on Disney Cruise Line are just yeah next level Truly yeah, they are Broadway caliber shows at sea. Yeah, there's every Disney sailing. Yeah, there's no show tunes throughout the decades night.

Yeah, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, there's none of those. So. Yeah, it's perfect. It's appeals to the adults. It appeals to the kids. Yeah. It is, yeah. And I mean, like Sharpie said, they are just amazing. On Disney Cruise Line, and I feel like Hercules was even a step above that. It was so good.

I'm trying to think what else? Oh, the rotational dining on this ship is the Pride Lands restaurant, which is the Lion King theme 1923 which is themed like Roy and Walt Disney

Like Disney history kind of the over the years the first and sharpie what's this that significance of or maybe you know of that year 1923 I don't I don't know that's why I'm asking are you kidding me? What is it it's like it's something? The founding of the Disney studios we just had the hundred year of the university well that's why it's a hundred year the brother D23 yeah Walt and Roy Disney that's when they started Disney brothers cartoon studio and there you go. So there's two sides to the restaurant. One side is Roy

and one side is Walt. Yeah then it has all the memorabilia like movie memorabilia and animation memorabilia. Right. There you go and it has that cool, I don't know what is it like retro mid-century Art Deco style. Yeah. 1920s glitz and glamour of Hollywood that you see a lot on Hollywood. Hollywood. Yeah. So that same style of art. Art Deco design. Yeah. And a lot of people will dress up for that too. So they'll wear flapper dresses and 1920s costumes.

people go all out for for the themes on the ship. You'll see it goes beyond just pirate night. I mean, people will wear line king outfits to that their restaurant um their restaurant they have for that night 1920s outfits. We saw lots of like Cruella themed outfits. We saw lots of gladiator and these costs. What is going on? These people get into it like crazy. They really do. They really do. So one thing that I learned recently and shame on me that it didn't occur to me sooner. And you guys probably know

this but you might not. But when it comes to those, the three dining rooms, the Pride Lands, Coco and Frozen, it did not occur to me. The people with the best seats are the ones in concierge and the big suites and it just didn't occur to me. And of course, you know, you start and then then you spiral outward to the interior cabins, the cheapies. Oh, so that's how this begins. The more you've paid for your room, the better your seat's gonna be. Oh, well, that makes sense.

It does make sense, but why didn't I figure this out? This is why we're always behind a pole. Yes, yes. That's interesting that you say that because on the wish, I've done the wish twice and we were booked in a Miranda state room both times And we had horrible seats. Well, I think Miranda's got big enough. Yeah, you have to be also we had Ruthie. So maybe we were stuck in a baby section or something. It makes you wonder. Yeah. But for Pride lands, we had a decent seat.

And I remember Debbie saying how loud it was in there. Yeah. So loud. It was loud. However, they must have, I think they toned it down a hair. And it was kind of like they had little breaks. So it was kind of nice to have those breaks. But then when they started back up, it was like, oh gosh, it was like startling because it is quite loud. And then the last restaurant is the world of Marvel. And so same as on the wish, except the show is a little different. So on the wish, the show is featuring Ant-Man and Wasp.

And on the destiny, the show features Groot and Guardians of the Galaxy. And there's a like trivia based. There is trivia. And then lots of music, which I actually did enjoy you know the Guardians soundtrack. Yeah. What is it on the treasure? It's it's it's probably the same. It's trivia based at music and a lot of you're just answering trivia questions to try to which is better than just randomly pushing the red button on the way I show whatever it is.

Yes there's a purpose for that little yes at least yeah but we were at a table for eight and the other four people hogged it literally took it and put it in front of them. Yeah, even a rare table of eight. Yeah. So there was not which which I'm like, yeah, go for it. But that's rude. Lisa's a trivia bug. It's fine. You know, you just get to the point where you like whatever. Have your day. There you go. But yeah, there were a couple like really neat character experiences with villains.

That's cool. One is at Davils, which is the piano bar. Yeah, definitely. I love that. Cruella actually does come in and interact with the guests, along with two other storytellers. That was really cool. And then after that, it's, you know, comes with piano playing and drinks inside a little bar and lounge. And then the other thing is the Dr. Faciliye experience. I won't share too much about it because there's no pictures and videos allowed inside the

room. But so I don't want to spoil it, but it is something where they allow 10 to 15 guests to go in and have kind of a special interaction with Dr. Faciliye. It's a very popular, so get there early if you want to wait in line because like I said, they only take 10 to 15 people in at a time and it's a 10-minute experience. So I think we waited for like maybe three groups to go in before we got in. That's cool. Yeah. And then, oh, my highlight, which I think Debbie also talked about,

but I will mention it again, the Honimansion Parler. And I know Steven Lisa loved it on the treasure too. Oh my God, that was my highlight Hercules and the Honimansion Parler were my highlights. That bar and lounge is so cool. It's just so cool. Yeah, they did it right. Yeah. The drinks are cool, the atmosphere. I mean, everything about that was awesome. Yeah, detail. Yeah. I mean, you know, the eyes on the paintings move, the just little things here and there,

that flicker and change and music, it's so neat. I loved it. I was really, really cool. Let's see what else. Do you say you went to both islands? Both islands. Yeah. So we, like I said, this was an adult's only trip. So we did Serenity Bay on both islands, which is the adult's only area. And the day that we were at Lookout Key, it was really, really windy. So that was kind of a downside. But even with that, we still had a great time. There's little different pockets and areas on the, even on the adults only side.

where you can lounge. And so you could be right down on the beach like on the strip of sand or they have a little kind of stair dock that goes back up to like an upper level where there's little different pockets of chairs and umbrellas. So it's very spread out. It's very, you know, private kind of, you don't feel like you're in top of people which is nice. The true true barbecue on the adults only side is very nice. I would say the one downside I guess of doing both islands is you kind of get the same food for lunch

two days in a row. Yeah. There was, I mean, maybe a slight slight variation, but it's pretty much the same thing. Um, I mean, so because you can compare them a lot better, I guess, come when you go from one to the other versus like, oh yeah, passed away is kind of like this. I went two years ago and like how strong is kind of like so is there any things you like better on one versus the other? You know, it's not terrible but that walk to the out key. Yeah. It's intense. I mean, the time you do the walk, the time you get on

the tram and get over there, you're like hot and in the sun and you're like, oh my gosh. Like, I was ready to just relax. I put in the work to get over here. Yeah. That walk is no joke. Yeah. Like you can't, I don't even know if you can see. I remember videoing from the top of the ship. And I like just to even see the land, the people look like ants. It's that far away that the dog. Yeah. Yeah. It is. It is a full half mile. Yeah. It's a half a mile. And then you have to walk to the tram. Yep. And then you have to take a very long tram. And

it's a tram to the other side of the island. Yeah. So there is no going back to the ship if you forgot something. I mean, once you're there, you're there. It's not so much the walk there. It's the walk back. Like when you you're tired and you've been out there all the time. It keeps getting farther away. Yep. It's been a sudden all day. And then the walk back, you are walking in the direct sun. Yeah. And yeah, the walk back is is way harder at the end of

the day for sure. All the kids tired, their parents are caring. Well, I went, I went when it first opened so there was no shade and I thought maybe they'll add like some shade sales or benches or they didn't do anything. I want to say they have been there's a couple benches I think they put in. I remember they put in a few. And you can get like if you really need a golf cart ride or a wheelchair or a wagon, they have bargains and things to take your kiddos over to. But yeah, still it is it's a

haul. Yeah, but it's not like they have like a the tram going on the half mile. It's yeah, you got to walk with that and then you get on the big tram. Correct. And then you do the whole giant tram over. Did the trees and all that grow in a little bit? Yeah, it has the vegetation has has grown in a little bit for sure. Yeah, so that's nice. So maybe it's a little more shaded. Yeah. They needed to install a people mover. There you go. The nature walk is nice there too.

But Castaway kind of, it just, I don't know if it's because it's more familiar to me. And we had beautiful weather that day. Yeah. So we, he is just like the perfect island paradise. I mean, yeah. Yeah. It really is. I really hope like I do wish that Castaway he had some of the additional benefits that Perfect Day at Cocoa have. But experience wise and like the proximity to the island, like walking right at the pier, they're both just such phenomenal islands.

Yeah, Perfect Day, you did you, it's The walk is not bad at all. You're like right there. Yeah. Yeah, I remember all the bloggers. Oh my God. That first trip everyone was like, oh my God, this walk. And you're like, oh, you're never in that Disney's like, oh, you walk a lot at the park. And I'm like, holy cow, it's like, they look like you cannot even see. But that's why you're on a cruise. You can't want to exhaust. You can almost not see where it hits land.

But most people are also wearing sandals. and you wear tennis shoes to a theme park. At least reasonable. And it's like cement in the burning hot sun. And it's a long, just hot. It's a long way. But my mom specifically wore her tennis shoes. And then she brought her sandals in her bag because she knows that she can't walk long distance in flip-flops like that. So she was really happy to have her shoes. Well, then when you get to the actual island part, everything's on a wooden boardwalk too,

because it's above the keep the animals and the vegetation from being stomped on. And those wooden boardwalks, if you don't have shoes, are like burning hot. Yeah. So yeah. The beeps there is nice. If it's not wet, it is. Got the beeps is amazing there. The beech and the water are gorgeous. And like the bathrooms are nice and fresh. You know, it cast away key, the bathrooms are a little older. You can tell the difference for sure. You know, look out key is definitely new.

Yeah. All the facilities are new and I still have to get to look out. Yeah. I mean, it's they they did all the things that were like maybe an issue. Like there's a lot more seating for eating and it's all covered. and there's a nice little play area for the kids, like a play around. Yeah, with the splash and then there's a bar for the adults right next to it that's covered and there's bathrooms right next to it. So they've learned from the other and then they improved it,

but they went with this history of the Bahamas and nature and so it's not what slides what slides and water parks and loud music. And you know, it's like, the junk a new band comes through and teaches the kids about junk a new. And it's all about the history and heritage of just a little bit of a different vibe for sure. It's definitely not drinking and shots. And the machine guns are the water guns full of vodka or whatever it, Yeah, oh, the Champinator. The Champinator. Yeah, there's none of that. Like had a roll Caribbean one. So they want the other way.

Yeah. But you can't go wrong. I mean, they're, I mean, when you're taking kids. Yeah. I have fun on a beach getaway. Yeah. And it's clean. It's safe. Yeah. It has everything you could possibly need lunch everything right there food Unlimited soft serve even on the island. Yeah, I mean it's It's really hard to beat. It's so nice. I think they did they switch the cabanas Like what do you mean switch well used to be the family? Cabanas were when you first go off the ship right there on the edge of the water. Yes, yes

and then the Which I was like this is the dumbest thing ever because all the other stuff for the families is way over on the other side of the island I know but I think I thought at one point they switched it Where those are now the adults and the family ones. I don't know. I'm to arm just making stuff up I'm not sure about the switch, but that would be smart because it's literally only complete opposite side of the island Which you have your own like designated beach area and

everything that you need there. But if you did want to go check out the other side, you'd have to train them over the other side. Yeah, you're like basically if you're in the cabanas when you first go off the ship and there's food there and there's great and everything. But yeah, there's the shops and the junk and new band and I don't know the the bigger bars and and all the activities and things are going on way over somewhere else. So anyway. Yeah.

Yeah. Overall it was amazing. One other thing I'll mention is on the wish class ships, the pirate like parlay party at night that goes along with the fireworks. I just think it's so fun. It's like an 80s style pirate rock band live music that goes along with the fireworks show. And it's just, it's so fun. It's pirate rock band. I'm hooked. Oh my God. Yeah, they do like all the classic 80s rock songs.

It's just such a good show. But do they do that on the destiny? Or is it a different like time show? No, it's the same. Okay, good. On the desk. Oh, it's the same on all of it. Yeah, good. That's right. I think I remember seeing it on the treasure as well. So that's good. Because I do be like, Oh, I missed that one. Yeah, the fireworks are the best. Yeah. Too far. See. It's like 10 o'clock or something, right? 10 15. And well, 10 15, the rock show.

Yeah. Parlany party starts and then 10 30 the firework. Firework. So it's definitely late to keep the little ones up. But it's worth it if you do. do. Yeah. And then Disney Cruise Line has some offers right now. Something we've never seen before, they're kind of doing like a little bit of a bounce back offer for guests, well, Disney World Resort guests. You can, if you book a Disney cruise within seven days of your resort, check out. If you were staying at a Disney Deluxe Resort or Deluxe Villa Resort,

you can save up to 25% off of a voyage fare. There's some important details that go along with that, but in general that's what the offer is and that includes multiple ceilings so from Florida, Texas, California and then let's see what were the other offers, other special offers that they have going on. And it is between, okay, so for the select wish and dream sailings between April and September, they have 20% off voyage plus $250 on board credit.

Yes, good, because I hardly ever do anything with Cruise Line. Yeah, that one has to be booked by March 29. So that's kind of coming up. But there are a few different offers, so it's definitely worth looking into to see how you can save on another cruise fares. Get on the ship if you can. Yeah. All right. So I'm trying to think of a cute little Sharpie, oh, who I made is. Yeah. Wrap up. I guess we're going to walk the point. It's the point. Just the gates that get on the desk.

There you go. Which is where a show before it sails away. Okay. I'll just leave it to Sharpie to do it. All right, so we're gonna go ahead and wrap up the show. I would like to thank Pixy Vacations for sponsoring our podcast. If you have any comments or questions, you can write to us at comments at mousejack.net. Thanks so much for listening, and please join us again next time on MouseCheck.