Ep. 711 - Live Bonus Show - Disney Dream Back-to-Back in Europe + Responding to a Listener Review About AI

DCL Duo Podcast: A Disney Cruise Line Fan Podcast

The DCL Duo podcast hosts Sam and Brian welcome back guest Cindy to compare her recent back-to-back Disney Cruise Line sailings in Europe: a three-night

Key takeaways

• Cindy swapped a pricey Adventures by Disney London Short Escape for a cheaper three-night DCL sailing to Bruges due to itinerary overlap and cost savings.
• The Southampton-to-Bruges cruise featured an almost entirely UK passenger demographic, resulting in massive character lines but near-empty Match Your Mate events.

Main topics

• Back-to-back European DCL sailings
• AI usage transparency & podcast production

Notable quotes

"We do not put out AI audio ever. Every show that we produce, real humans."

Conclusion

The episode provides valuable firsthand accounts of European DCL itinerari

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) The tour guide was telling us that the myth or the legend is if you get wet from the waterfall, it will keep you young. So a lot of us were standing out on the deck and I'm thinking I'm going to get misted by it. I was glad I had purchased a Disney Cruise Line Heli Henson raincoat because when we got close to it, it was whoosh of water, not just a little mist. Oh Speaker 1 (0:24) my gosh. Speaker 1 (0:38) back everybody to this week's live episode of the dcl duo podcast brought to you by we do travel right remember life is short take the trip let the folks over we do travel right do the planning so you can focus on the relaxing We've got a fun show lined up tonight. I want to do a spot of business for the podcast here at the top of the show. We got a... Speaker 3 (1:00) Don't forget the DCL Magazine, Brian. Speaker 1 (1:02) Oh, yes. I am so sorry, Stephanie and Danny. We're also brought to you by the good folks over at the DCL Magazine. If you have not subscribed already, please head to dcl-magazine.com. That's dcl-magazine.com today to subscribe and use code DCLDUO. That's all caps, DCL DUO, and you get 10 % off anything in their store over there. So remember, showing our sponsors some love shows the show a little love. So please, please, please, if you are interested, check out our sponsors. They are great people, good people and good businesses. So as I was saying, we got a review over the weekend accusing us of putting out some AI slop in the form of... Our recently released episode 707. And I just wanted to be transparent with our community about AI. It's a big topic right now. I work for a big company here in the Pacific Northwest. It is one of the frontier AI companies. And I will just say one, to keep this brief, one, we do not put out AI audio ever. Every show that we produce, real humans. Human editing. We actually pay an editor. We don't use AI editing tools for this show. So every episode we put out is human made, human conceived, and human produced. We do use... Yeah, that's Speaker 3 (2:32) my laugh, by the way. That's not a computer. That's my laugh. Speaker 1 (2:35) We do use AI to assist us with some of the administrative stuff behind the scenes of the show. So we do use AI to help us put together... uh show notes we occasionally use ai to help us put together uh presentations uh slideware kind of things like or the app that we created for the live show a few weeks back uh for um for the itinerary releases uh but we don't put we don't we have used ai to put out some magnets in the past but we don't sell those we give them away and they were just fun and frankly we wouldn't have paid someone to make them We don't have that kind of money. Our commitment is we don't make money off this show. We donate our proceeds to charity. But this show is fully produced really by the two of us. And a lot of the production work goes on me. And so anything I can do to sort of leverage AI to help me in the background with the show work, I will do except for any editing, any audio. anything of that nature so uh that is the commitment that we have made and it's the one that we stand by and we we don't put out ai uh stuff uh i will say it is also just sort of deeply offensive to me to be accused of putting out ai slop when we have produced 700 over 700 episodes of content we're putting out multiple shows a week now uh with dcl we're doing that in our spare time on weekends around our son, around our full-time jobs. And so I just wanted everyone out there to know that this, I think people Speaker 3 (4:09) - Speaker 1 (4:09) And Speaker 3 (4:09) by Speaker 1 (4:09) the Speaker 3 (4:10) way, the content is free to listen to. I Speaker 2 (4:12) think Speaker 3 (4:12) people Speaker 1 (4:14) don't understand the amount of work that goes into content creation and it's a lot of work. And so again, anything we can do to sort of ease the load on the administrative side of things, running what has effectively become a small business with AI, we look at doing, but we don't do the production work. uh with ai uh uh for Speaker 2 (4:32) the show so uh Speaker 1 (4:33) with that said uh you know in future if you are wondering uh if something was ai you can ask us like the amount of time someone posts something where it's just like hey let us know in an email we respond to like every listener email that we get yeah and folks Speaker 3 (4:52) did ask us when we put when we use showed that tool that you created, Brian, back for our itinerary release show, people asked when we sort of posted some screenshots of it online, you know, did you use an AI tool? What tool did you use? And we were completely transparent about the use of AI in that tool, as well as when we did our live show and telling people this was created with the assistance of AI, I would say it's a tool, AI is a tool that was that created it with Brian, right? Like it wasn't all AI. It wasn't all Brian. It's a cooperative effort, right? So, but as far as our voices, the things we say, that is all human produced. And as Brian mentioned, he does all of the, we pay an editor to do our regular episodes. When it comes to these special episodes, like episode 707. Brian did all of that editing. I actually did all of Speaker 1 (5:45) that editing. It took weeks and weeks of work to put together the script and everything. Speaker 3 (5:50) And Speaker 1 (5:50) the narration Speaker 3 (5:50) was all his voice. So you don't hear my voice on that episode. It's all Brian's voice. We have not trained AI in our voices, nor will we do so. I actually... That kind of creeps me out. I did one time Speaker 1 (6:04) in Descript where I thought, oh, it can insert little word changes for me as I need to, but it was garbage, and so I didn't use that. So anyway. Speaker 3 (6:14) The whole idea of AI mimicking my voice creeps me out, so I don't use it for that purpose. I actually don't like it when people make pictures of me using AI either. I find that really creepy, so just putting that out there. Speaker 1 (6:27) That's all we'll say on that topic, but our commitment remains the same. If it changes, we're pretty transparent on this show about what we're up to, and we will let you know. That said, Sam, I'm going to bring in our guest so we can talk a little Disney Cruise Line news. Speaker 3 (6:41) So Speaker 1 (6:41) I actually want to welcome back one of our favorite folks that we've gotten to meet through the show. She was actually featured in episode 707. 707. So I want to welcome Cindy to the show. Welcome back, Cindy. Speaker 2 (6:57) Hello, everybody. Speaker 3 (6:59) It's so great to have you back, Cindy. It's great to be back. Speaker 1 (7:03) Yeah, Speaker 3 (7:04) let's talk a little news before we dive into talking about your back-to-back cruises, of course, over in Europe, out of Southampton. But we're going to talk first about news item number one, reusable cups being introduced fleet-wide. Now, I want to say... They're not on all the ships yet. They are only on the Disney Fantasy, I believe. It's possible they're on another ship. But as far as I know for sure, they are on the Disney Fantasy. I don't believe they're on the Wish Class yet. But I have confirmed that reusable cups are coming eventually fleet-wide. It's just a matter of... Probably they're doing some testing as to which cups they want to use and what the setup looks like and kind of see how it's going before they introduce it across the fleet. In general, I think that sustainability is an important thing for Disney Cruise Line to be thinking about working on. It's one of the things that Brian learned about during the tour of the engine room on the Disney Destiny preview. They were very focused on getting rid of single-use products in favor of reusable products, for example. And so this is one of those ways in which they are trying to transition to a reusable product. I totally understand there are drawbacks with using reusable cups. You might have some cups that look dirty. All the cups are being sanitized. That doesn't mean they won't have little caked in bits of food that might get stuck in them. Overall, I think it's a good... but I understand not everybody's going to be happy about it, but it is what it is. Just letting people know it's coming and it's already on the fantasy. It's coming eventually. I can't tell you what the timeline is. Disney Cruise Line has not announced it yet, but it's obviously coming across the cruise line. And like I've said, I've confirmed with insiders, this is happening. I just do not know the timing. And Speaker 1 (8:59) just a little PSA here on... when Disney changes something on the cruise line like this, they test on one ship and they adjust, just like they do with rides. Test and adjust. And then they take what the learnings were from the one ship and they apply it fleet-wide. So there have been times when Disney's tested something and it has not worked and they have decided not to proceed. True. That could happen here, but I don't think it will because they're really focused on the sustainability commitment. So, yeah. Speaker 3 (9:26) And they may change which cups they use, for example, right? Like right now they're using these kind of what people are saying is they're kind of bulky. They're these white plastic cups. They don't stack on top of one another very easily. Like it might not be that these are the cups that they introduce fleet wide, but these are the cups they are currently testing on the fantasy. And if you want. To see what I'm talking about, go to our Instagram account. I've got video and picture up there taken by our friend of the show, Sean Connor, who sailed on the Destiny a few weeks ago. So thanks to Sean for sharing that. If you see anything new on board, make sure to share with us. It's super helpful for us to share in the broader community. Speaker 1 (10:06) Cindy, what do you think? Reusable cups? Yay or nay? Speaker 2 (10:11) I go to Trailblazer Games and they've been using them there for two or three years. They seem to work okay. When I was on the Dream this summer, there seemed to be a different type of cup at Cabana's, but they still had the paper cups on the pool deck. Speaker 1 (10:28) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 3 (10:30) So coming soon, coming soon. Oh, we got Tracy watching from, from. Her ship from the from Virgin Voyage is Brilliant Lady. Hey, Tracy and Michael. Glad to see you're watching live even from the West Coast. They're sailing. I'm not glad. Speaker 1 (10:47) I'm not glad. Tracy, I appreciate you popping in, but go enjoy your cruise. Get a drink. This show will be out on the audio channel tomorrow. You can listen to it by the point. They were supposed Speaker 3 (10:55) to be sailing down from California, then south, further south into Mexico. Instead, they sailed. They were just in San Francisco because their itinerary got changed due to the hurricane. So just a note that can happen even on the West Coast. We can have hurricanes. Okay, next piece of news. This one is a TBD in terms of is this going to come to fruition or not? So Mayor Wirft, specifically Poppenberg and Rostock, those are the specific, what do they call them? Shipyards. Shipyards, thank you. The specific shipyards. Speaker 3 (11:38) In negotiations with MSC Cruises, about an 80 % controlling share of Mayerwerth, Poppenburg, and Rostock. Those are the shipyards that produced all of the Disney ships since The Magic and the Wonder, save for The Adventure, which was actually built in the Vismar shipyard, which is technically a separate entity, even though it's part of Mayerwerth. But anyway, there are negotiations because right now the government of Germany and Lower Saxony own that 80 % share. And it sounds like they kind of want out. They basically bought it to keep it out of bankruptcy proceedings, essentially, or something, whatever Germany has that's similar to bankruptcy. And so... We don't know what this will mean for Disney Cruise Line. Obviously, Disney Cruise Line already has current orders for the Meridian-class ships. They're currently building the Believe. They're currently building the OLC ship. And then, of course, those three Meridian-class ships they have orders for. And they also build for other cruise lines, not just Disney and MSC. The Speaker 1 (12:42) concern here is having a major cruise line that is competing with Disney in its own backyard in Port Canaveral. control the shipyard uh because not many shipyards can build these kinds of cruise ships and most of them are fully booked out until the 2030s um and so you know the question is If MSC controls the shipyard, will there be sufficient protections in place to make sure that one, you know, IP leakage isn't happening between, you know, Disney or confidential, you know, ship design plans aren't leaking between Disney and its competitor. You know, we just saw with, you know, the iPhone, the folding iPhone, there's all these accusations back and forth, who took what from who, and because, you know, Apple gets its displays from Samsung. And so, you know, that's the kind of concern that that is cropping up right now is just what happens with that. And then also, does Mayor Wirth get priority for build slots and, you know, other services at the shipyard such that if Disney wants to build more ships at Mayor Wirth, maybe they can't get a slot for five years because MSC is building ships there now. Right. So that's the concern. Whether it happens or not is a big question mark. Whether this deal happens or not is a big question mark. The German. uh government yes is interested in getting out of the ownership stake but they're also more interested in keeping the jobs at the shipyard frankly right because they're major employers so yeah and Speaker 3 (14:06) getting full compensation they don't want to they're not looking to sort of take a loss on their investment in Mayerwerth. They're looking to leave with at least the money they put into the shipyard in order to save it. So absolutely. I think it'll be interesting to see what happens. I wouldn't worry so much about the short term in terms of the current bills or even the contracts they currently have for the Meridian class, because those contracts, once they're in place, they're in place. Well, except, Speaker 1 (14:33) except, except it. a change in control of the shipyard, depending on how the Disney... We don't know what the Disney contracts say, but it's not Speaker 3 (14:42) uncommon Speaker 1 (14:42) for if there's a change in control, we're terminating our agreement, especially if Disney doesn't like what's happening. Or Speaker 2 (14:48) we have the option. Speaker 1 (14:48) Or Disney's putting a lot of rooms on sale these days. They may say, maybe we committed too much. Maybe we should cancel one of these ships and we have that option. So I don't think that will happen. I'm not even sure that the sale will actually happen in this moment because I don't know how interested... the German government isn't getting out immediately, but it's exploratory right now. So it's just something to keep an eye on. Speaker 3 (15:11) Something to watch. Okay. The other piece of news we've got to mention is, of course, the Disney Believe reveal is happening next Wednesday, October 7th. Disney Cruise Line finally announced when that's going to be happening. So it's going to be streamed on the Disney Parks blog. It's going to be at 4.30 p.m. Eastern, which is 1.30 p.m. Pacific, next Wednesday, October 7th. I'm sure we'll be watching live. You all may be watching live as well. I will note that our friends from the DCL Magazine and our friends from Laughing Place will be on board the Wish sailing. I know that we have some other friends who will be on board as well sailing as passengers, but our friends with Laughing Place and DCL Magazine will be on as media invites and they will be doing scavenger hunts throughout the week. So starting on Monday, October 5th through Friday. And so starting on Monday and Tuesday, even before Wednesday, I would not be surprised if we start to see on social media pieces of information, at least hints as to what the theming will be, even though the full reveal will be obviously from Disney Cruise Line on Wednesday. So if you're not following the DCL Magazine on Instagram, if you're not following Laughing Place on Instagram, go ahead and do that right now. Hopefully they'll be also collaborating some of their posts with us since we will not be on board. But I would... be watching your social media across Monday and Tuesday. And of course, Wednesday leading up into the actual reveal stream. So we'll be watching. I hope you will. And, you know, we can start. taking, oh, Wesley's saying we should sort of go fund me for the DCL Duo Shipyard. I think we should Speaker 1 (16:57) - Wesley, Speaker 3 (16:57) I barely have Speaker 1 (16:58) enough time to run this podcast. How am I supposed to go run a shipyard? Speaker 3 (17:01) Yeah, exactly. But maybe Wesley wants to start taking bets on theming. So we'll see. Anyway, I'm sure Polymarket probably has Speaker 2 (17:09) a- Speaker 3 (17:09) We should check out the- Speaker 1 (17:10) We should check out the predictive markets and see what's on there. Yeah. Speaker 3 (17:15) Was it Polymarket? And what's the other one? Calci. Calci. Not that we are Speaker 1 (17:20) advertising or suggesting that you should visit those sites, P.S. You Speaker 3 (17:23) should not be betting. I'm joking. You should not be betting on what the theming of the Disney Cruise Line ship is, except maybe amongst your own family. Maybe like bet like a hug or I'll cook you dinner or something like that. Speaker 1 (17:36) I will say the one thing that we've been hearing atmospherically over the course of the week is there's some uncertainty around how this announcement might land with DCL fans. So it may be another case of us dusting off our new favorite word, whelmed. But I'm hopeful. I've got my fingers crossed. I'm excited. I hope they deliver. But yeah, we will all find out next week together. All right. Let's shift over. Actually, As a good segue here, Cindy, anything you're really hoping to see on the Believe next week? Speaker 2 (18:11) I know they can't change some of the structural things that we don't like about the larger ships. I really don't know. Yeah. Speaker 1 (18:24) I Speaker 2 (18:25) hope they keep the Haunted Mansion. I really like that space. I'm not sure. Speaker 1 (18:32) Yeah. All right. Speaker 3 (18:33) Any thoughts about what you'd like to see in terms of a dining venue or a stage show? If you could have your like perfect dining room or your perfect stage show. Speaker 2 (18:47) I'm... I think I'd like to see a re-imagining of Tangled. Yeah. I'd love that. Speaker 1 (18:55) All right. I'm Speaker 3 (18:55) hoping for something Tangled themed. I think there's a good chance we'll see Tangled on the stage again, like we already have on the Magic. I don't think they'll re-imagine it. I would love if they would do some kind of re-imagining, but I think we'll see, I definitely think we'll see Tangled on the Walt Disney Theater stage. Speaker 1 (19:15) I'm all in for Encanto. I was just going to say, Speaker 3 (19:19) maybe an Encanto dining room. Speaker 1 (19:21)