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my Disney Cruise had cost me nearly
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three times more than a similar cruise
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on a resort family line like Royal
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Caribbean Carnival Norwegian it was even
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costing me 40 more than a pretty
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expensive line like celebrity which
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Disney is probably more like so as I
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said off on my recent Disney Magic
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fjords cruise I was wondering what on
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Earth all that extra that I paid for was
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going to give me I'm Gary behridge and
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here's what I found out well first of
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all I wondered if most of that fare was
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basically going to be going on then
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delivering the Disney Experience
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well the minute I stepped on board I was
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absolutely plunged headlong into a
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Disney kingdom I was greeted by
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characters they were constantly Disney
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characters to pose with they popped up
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at the sail away party the end of the
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cruise party and many other events the
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shows and entertainment were of course
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the theater production shows were big
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Disney Productions we had a frozen deck
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show at one port Sail Out so on my
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cruise for example in the theater they
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had Tangled the story of Rapunzel Disney
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dreams a kind of compilation of the kind
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of greatest hits of Disney films twice
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Charmed a reimagining of the Cinderella
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story and Once Upon a Song a concert
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with lesser known to me but not to most
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of the guests Disney songs all the
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movies shown in the Buena Vista Cinema
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were all Disney properties so for
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example I actually got to see some
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really recent Marvel films that had not
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yet caught at my local Cinema because of
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course Marvel and Star Wars are now
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within the whole Disney World trivia was
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almost always Disney link the decor in
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the design of the ship had Disney woven
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in all over even on the exterior goofy
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is hanging at the rear of the ship the
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funnel had big Mickey ears on and it
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played When You Wish Upon a Star when we
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were sailing out at Port inside many
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venues were Disney themed or named like
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the goofy pool when I was not avert
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there would still be hidden Disney
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features woven in so for example Disney
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characters are around the atrium trim
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there's Hidden Mickey ears on the
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Elevator Shaft glass exterior and even
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in the roof of the adult only special
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agent Restaurant Palo there's some
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Hidden Mickey ears the three main dining
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room restaurants that are rotated around
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each night were heavily Disney themed I
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had Rapunzel's Royal table which is
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linked to the story of Tangled animators
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palette which features Disney animation
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and lumiers which is linked to Beauty
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and the Beast there was of course
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there's the artwork all around the ship
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it's really clear to me that a lot of
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the premium that I was paid in my fare
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was going into all of this it's of
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course really well done and it takes
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many crew or cast members as they call
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them to deliver it but was that the only
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place that this premium had gone I
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another really obvious place the fair
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premium showed up I thought is in the
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kids clubs now which of course for me I
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was traveling without kids meant I was
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getting no direct benefit although you
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could argue there was an indirect
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benefit because it meant kids kept
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disappearing into them for long periods
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because they are so remarkable but
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anyway Disney have four key clubs they
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have It's a Small World nursery the
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Oceania club for ages 3 to 11 Edge for
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the 11 to 14 year olds and Vibe for
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teens 15 to 17. these are unlike
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anything I have ever seen on other lines
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The Ocean Club for example it's a vast
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area it's splits into two areas one is
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for play and divided into things like
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Toy Story Andy's room Disney Fairies
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Superhero Center Disney Club junior the
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other which they describe more as the
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Oceania lab is designed for activities
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like animation drawing and craft
3:54
activities Edge is focused on kind of
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gaming Vibe is kind of a cooler more
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more funky space to hang out for with
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movies and game stations and so on so
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clearly a big slug of that Premiere I
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was paying was going into those kids
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clubs which as I said had no direct
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benefit to me but were there then areas
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that my fair premium was benefiting me
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yes I think they probably were because
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some of the premium does go into having
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and spending money on having dedicated
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and included adult only areas these
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areas are probably more expansive than
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any other cruise line that I've been on
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you know dedicating areas to guests over
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18. there was an adult only pool deck it
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had the signals bar and the Cove Cafe
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the gym and the spa were also adult only
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they then had this area called after
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dark which after 9 00 pm at night was
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adult only three venues in there fathoms
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a Cabaret style lounge with various
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events like sun disco Bingo jungling
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lessons a nightclub adult comedy show
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and so on Keys a piano cocktail bar and
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then a girl's a really popular Irish
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themed pub with adult only trivia and an
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Irish band performing there is no casino
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on Disney Magic by the way they also had
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Paulo which is an Italian specialty
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dining adults only restaurant amazing
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food amazing service on other ships they
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have Remy more French orientated and
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some of the new ships they actually have
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both of those so while I felt some of my
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fair premium was going there there were
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some areas that actually made that fair
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premium look much less attractive
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for me one thing that diminished the
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value and the premium is the ships can
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get really busy more so I found then on
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other premium ships of the same size
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that they operate in now cruise ship
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capacity is advertised normally as an
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industry standard based on what is kind
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of called fixed lower bursts which
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pretty much means double occupancy of
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cabins because regular beds in cabins
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the normal beds are usually double or
6:04
twin per cabin now Disney appears to
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have many many more cabins that can
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accommodate entire families of course
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than any other line so for example my
6:14
family Deluxe around a cabin wire from a
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declared capacity level would really be
6:19
counted as holding two people because
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that was the amount of fixed bed space
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it could actually take three more two on
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the sofa bed and another sleeping in a
6:28
bunk bed that you could pull out from
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the ceiling so discovered and realize
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that at Peak vacation times Disney ships
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can be selling between 150 25 and 160
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capacity because there's just so many
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more people per cabin so am I selling we
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had roughly about 100 people above the
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double occupancy level of about 1750 and
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it did feel really crowded finally into
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the dinners in the atrium between the
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shows and the dining when there were
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many character appearances and at events
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like the sail away and Frozen deck
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parties it just felt really really busy
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but it could have been sailing with
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2713 guests so 960 more than I had it
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would absolutely have felt really really
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cramped other premium lines with similar
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side ships like celebrity for example I
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just come back from they are much less
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capable of selling at such intensity
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because they generally have fewer
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multiple occupancy cabins and by
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definition attract many fewer Travelers
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and families who do so that is something
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to consider when assessing value I felt
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it did diminish the value
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but is Disney Great Value though because
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of the food as many many fans have
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suggested to me is why it's worth that
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big premium Now comparing doesn't need
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to other lines in the premium category
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that they compete with closely I thought
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the menus were often larger but I did
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think the food on Disney was good but it
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wasn't as good as some recent cruises
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I've been on say like celebrity and
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virgin which are also kind of Premium
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priced ships it did definitely match
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Cunard and Holland America being on
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recently and definitely was better than
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princess and piano cruises that I've
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been on recently so I thought it was
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kind of middle range so I'm not sure
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wasn't convinced that the value the
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premium I was paying in the fair was
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really going into the food as much as I
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thought it would do of course the main
8:15
dining rooms have more theming they have
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the shows around the meals so of course
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that does I guess swamp up some of the
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premium and the value
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another thing that I had wondered
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because a lot of people talk about it is
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did that larger Fair premium translate
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into better service well I felt that
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service was good and it was very
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friendly but it was not in my opinion
8:39
that different to other premium lines it
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became clear that they reward the crew
8:44
on their guest rating surveys because
8:47
they kept lobbying me to do the survey
8:49
and give them good scores plus they have
8:51
this very unique gratuity system which I
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felt encourages behavior from the crew
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to encourage you and kind of almost
8:57
Lobby you to give you extra tips I was
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given a printout towards the end of the
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cruise which told me how much Auto
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gratuities have been charged to my
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account then it split out by each of the
9:07
key people like the cabins to the server
9:09
what share they would get and now I was
9:12
supposed to tear the slips with that
9:14
amount off put them in the envelopes
9:16
they supplied and hand it to each person
9:18
now I felt like I was being manipulated
9:20
almost required to give extra gratuities
9:23
rather than on other Cruise Lines where
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I'm left to tip my cab Institute tip my
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regular service above the auto gratuity
9:30
really based on service and without any
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kind of explicit pressure I felt this
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really uncomfortable and despite the
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high Fair premium I thought it didn't
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necessarily show up in better service
9:41
but I felt the gratuity system was
9:44
saying to you we expect you to tip above
9:47
that already premium fare more by the
9:52
talking of add-ons to that already
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premium fare what are the other add-ons
9:57
the actual explicit add-ons like now I
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found some great inclusions so it is
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juices coffee tea hot chocolate they
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were all included and within the fair
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the shows the films too of course were
10:10
included as I've already mentioned now
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one great thing from a value aspect is
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although they take the official
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which there are many I can use my own
10:19
camera I could ask the cast members to
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take pictures of me with the characters
10:22
they're not forcing me or you to buy the
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photos so that's that's really good
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there were many add-ons though I had a
10:30
pretty big onboard Bill coming off
10:32
Disney they don't have a drinks package
10:34
so if you're drinking I found the cost
10:36
kind of ramp up Wi-Fi is really costly
10:38
it cost me 210 dollars for the premium
10:40
service for the week it was a pretty
10:42
good service though excursions though
10:44
did seem to be much more expensive than
10:47
on other lines but it did sound like
10:50
they've got added requirement events
10:52
which maybe push up the cost so for
10:54
example I went on a fantastic helicopter
10:56
Excursion in no fjordite and the pilots
11:00
had told some people on the next round
11:01
of helicopters that Disney had a higher
11:04
requirement on the hours that the pilots
11:06
had to have flown before they could be
11:08
used on a Disney Excursion so things
11:10
like that may push up the costs of
11:11
Excursion if you are a Disney fan or
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want a Disney Experience then the value
11:16
is probably worth it for all those
11:18
things that I mentioned about because
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this is where I feel most of the money
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goes on other areas like food service
11:23
and the add-ons I think they match
11:25
pretty much similar Cruise Lines if you
11:28
want to do a Disney cruise watch this
11:29
video with 13 things that I wish I'd
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known and done before and on the cruise
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to make the most of it starting with the
11:36
biggest thing that I would tell everyone
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they must do before they go or they will
11:41
miss out when they're on board big time
