4/24/2010 Med cruise: Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your Ears [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

skoi

10-17-2008, 09:16 AM

Hey! We have a snappy title. Friends, Romans and Countrymen, lend me your ears thanks to AuntLynne!

Three of us (out of six) are currently booked on this cruise. It'll be oldest dd (14 now), oldest ds (10 now), and myself. We're looking forward to the ports: especially Tunisia and Malta.

Anyone else with us yet?

Julie
Here's a good link with some info from the last set of Med cruises:

http://www.worldofmouse.com/disney-mediterranean-cruise-2010.html

okay, someone else has taken the roll call off my hands, so maybe we can post it elsewhere.

ROLL CALL

Originally Posted by auntlynne View Post
Here's a recent ROLL CALL (alphabetical):

alltheparks Lara, Chris, and Aiden (6) Late dining Gty 12
auntlynne Lynne (48), DN Karen (16) Huntsville, Alabama GTY Late +EB
auntshell auntshell, dh, ds (12), dd (7)
BecxNGav Becky and Gavin, Northhampton , UK, GTY 12, Late
Brooklyn Stephanie Craig (DH) - GTY Brooklyn (DD 8) - 7542 Madison (DD 4) - 7542
Linda (Grandma) - 7542 dining - Late
Cam71099 Alyson and Chris, New York
carpenta Joseph, Mary, dd 9
Dicecatt dicecatt and husband and two other couples
DISNEY_DEPRIVED Sherry, DD (11), DS (10) Italy
DisneyCruiser83 Tess (26), DH David (33) 8600 (may have switched to WB)
dolphingirl 47 Corinna and Graham
friend of tinkrbelle Michaela (41), DH Lester (51), DS Noah (10) Overland Park, Kansas 5520 Main
goofprincess Sandy and Tony, Late, GTY
grlzmom Jeanne, dh - Eric, dd18 Kayti, dd15 Kelsey, dd13 Emliy, dd8 Chloe, dd7 Bella and ds7 Nick GTY 12 +EB
guynwdm Rob, DDad Richard, West Des Moines, Iowa Late
haddybaby Emily, Zack, Hayden (8), Matthew (6), Kellan (1)
Happy Goofy John, Charlotte 7618 Main +EB
Irish9697 self (35), DS (10), DD (9) Memphis, Tennessee
KathyFP Kathy, Pennsylvania 1030
linkandclover Debby (41), Kevin (42), Ryan (13) and Jared (10) 7005, late
mehaul Chicago, Illinois
LHagerty LuAnne (40), DH Tim (51), DS Connor (12) GTY, Late
lynnemcb Lynne and husband Ivor, Emily (8) and Jonathan (6)
merrybee Bee, Gwynn, Gwynn (6)
Michelle2 Michelle, ds 17 +EB
mrosen self, other, (11), (10) GTY
NC_Tink Lubi, DH Brian, DS Connor (12) DS Kieran (10) North Carolina 8514 Late
Postman Chris & Robin, Nebraska Gty 12 Early
RichC17 aka "Team McNeese" Rich, Teresa, ds 6,dd 4, 7064
shushh Belinda, DH Malcolm, Elliot (7), Lara (5), Jonah (18 mo) Sydney, Australia 7088/7090 Main
shushh (2) Jenny (Mum), Kian (Dad)
skoi Julie, DD Sadie (15), DS Sigurd (11) Late
TheCruisers Eleasa, my DH Jim and our DS Raine (will be 8) Cat 12 gty Main dinning
venny two adults

007 Med Dinners: location - attire - menu theme - nighttime entertainment

Day 1 Barcelona Cruise Casual Let the Magic Begin Welcome Aboard! let the Magic Begin
Day 2 Sea Day Formal The Golden Mickeys The Golden Mickeys
Day 3 Palermo Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner Comedy & Ventriloquism
Day 4 Naples Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner On the Nose Game Show
Day 5 Olbia Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner The Art of the Story
Day 6 Civitavecchia Cruise Casual Master Chef Movie Night: Pirates of the Caribbean
Day 7 Sea Day Semi-Formal Prince & Princess Twice Charmed
Day 8 La Spezia Cruise Casual Flavours of the Mediterranean Crew Talent Show
Day 9 Marseilles Pirates/Cruise Casual Pirates IN the Caribbean When Mickey Dreams
Day 10 Villefranche Semi-Formal Captain’s Gala Disney Dreams
Day 11 Sea Day Cruise Casual Till We Meet Again Remember the Magic: A Final Farewell

PLANNED ACTIVITIES and EVENTS

dis meet onboard: Promenade Lounge 3:00 PM embarkation day
dis meet Barcelona: Friday April 23, Montjuic Fountains for the 7:00 PM show

friend of tinkerbell

02-17-2009, 07:37 PM

Hello Julie!
we just booked today!
:cool1:
good to hear from someone else going on the april med. cruise
we're looking forward to counting down the days.
Michaela 39
DH 49
DS 8:dance3:
Stateroom 5020
ED
Overland Park, KS.:yay:

skoi

02-18-2009, 06:40 AM

FINALLY!

We were thinking we'd be all alone.

Oldest ds and I are learning Arabic- so hope to practice in Tunisia.

The cruise is a reward for our two oldest kids for helping so much during dh's current deployment to Afghanistan. He gets to stay home with the two little ones for two weeks.

Hopefully we'll get more people, but if not we'll still have fun. On our last cruise we did T-shirts, lanyards, etc. Not sure how creative I am, but we'll have to come up with a logo like everyone else.

If you have any ideas- please share them.

Julie

DisneyCruiser83

03-04-2009, 03:51 PM

Hello everyone! I am so glad there are other people going on this voyage! My name is Tess (26 at time of sailing) princess: and my husband's name is David :wizard: (33 at time of sailing). We are in room 8600. This will be our fifth Disney cruise, third on the Magic and we are really looking forward to it. I love the idea of t-shirts/lanyards, maybe even hats? We are almost a year out, time for the countdown to begin! :cloud9:

skoi

03-04-2009, 06:54 PM

Welcome Tess!:welcome:

So far it's just three of us, but I'm sure more people will come aboard.

This will be our 6th cruise, first in a cabin without a window or verandah, but since it'll just be the big kids and me, we can deal with it.

We have time to plan for shirts, etc, and honestly, if anyone is more artistic than I am, feel free. I've been trying to find distressed looking Med maps and charts for a logo design with a little luck. I'll try to get something together in the near future.

As you can see from my sig, we're anxiously awaiting dh's return from a deployment (Afghanistan) so we're pretty focused on that. Plus, youngest ds has two surgeries coming up, so it's crazy here.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone.
Julie

DisneyCruiser83

03-04-2009, 08:26 PM

DisneyCruiser83

03-05-2009, 07:07 PM

okay...I don't know how my post was copied (sorry)

Nice to meet you Julie and Michaela!

I like the idea of old world maps, I really like classical themes. I am trying to find something that incorporates our ports... I will keep you posted.

Hope to see you both (and more cruisers) around here soon!

Tess

friend of tinkerbell

03-05-2009, 08:30 PM

Hello Julie and Tess,

it might be early to start the countdown....but,

415 days!!!:cool1:

this will be our second disney cruise. wish we had as much cruise experience
as you all!!! we're hooked now, so maybe we'll catch up.

Michaela :cheer2:

skoi

03-06-2009, 05:51 AM

Okay- here's one I've found, still looking. It's from an ancient maps site. Not quite what I wanted.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j108/skoi13/map2.jpg

I'm still looking, and if anyone else has anything, feel free to post it. Someone sent me links to some nice looking distressed-type pirate maps, but they're either world maps or Caribbean maps.

Glad to see there are more people joining in. I was worried we'd be the only ones.

Julie

DisneyCruiser83

03-07-2009, 12:27 PM

I have not found any suitable maps yet. Nothing seems right and a lot are images that have price tags with them. :sad2: But, we have plenty of time and I will continue to search.
What kind of party do you guys think we will have? Will it still be a Pirates party eventhough we will not be in the Caribbean? Any ideas on what it would be if it is not a Pirates party?
If my count is right I think we only have 410 days left now! WHOO! :cool1:

skoi

03-07-2009, 01:00 PM

Maybe we can have a Barbary pirates party, but I doubt it.

I've heard from people who did the first Med cruise they had a nice sail away party with fireworks at Barcelona. Someone on the board has a picture in his signature- Derek I think.

I'd love to see menus from the last Med cruises, but haven't been able to find any. I'm wondering if they're more Italian/ French than usual. Also- since we'll be heading to Tunisia, maybe something more Tunisian/Moroccan one night. The kids really Moroccan food.

Julie

DisneyCruiser83

03-09-2009, 10:17 PM

I would also love to see a menu - a theme night would be really fun! Are any of you doing Disney excursions or private tours? I have heard mixed reviews for both. We are leaning towards Disney for the convenience and security of getting back to the ship on time.

skoi

03-10-2009, 07:25 AM

Unless one of the kids see an excursion that really catches their interest, we're most likely going to tour on our own everywhere except Tunisia, where we'll have a local guide. A man my husband works with in his civilian job spent three weeks in Tunisia a few years ago, so we'll use whoever he used. Ds is doing a paper about visiting Tunisia for school, so he has a list of places he'd like to see. He's also learning Arabic (not much, since I haven't had the chance to get to a class yet) so he wants to practice.

Their list of places to see outside of Tunisia so far are:

Malta- Cathedral of St John
Corsica- Napoleon's birthplace
Naples- Pompeii
Rome- Vatican/ Vatican Museum, St.Paul Outside the Walls (where St. Apostle Paul is buried)
Spezia/Florence- the Duomo, the Ufffizi
Villefranche- not sure yet- maybe one of the little medieval towns

We're planning to arrive in Barcelona a day early to go out to Montserrat. Of course we'll probably change everythng a million times before we leave.

Dd wants to arrive even earlier and stop over in England to meet some friends and see a few historical sites related to the Tudor monarchy (we're all history fiends in this family), but we'll have to see how the finances are, and how long dh thinks he can handle the two littlest ones on his own.

So I have enough planning to keep me busy for the next year.

Julie

DisneyCruiser83

03-15-2009, 02:28 AM

Hey Julie!
It seems as if you know a bit about the port of Tunisia. I was thinking of going to Carthage and the Bardo Museum, maybe shopping at the Bazaar. Is there anything else I am missing? Would you skip any of the other places? Thanks in advance! :worship:

DisneyCruiser83

03-15-2009, 02:41 AM

Actually, looking at your list of stops, ours are very similar. We are (as of now) going to see:

Malta: tour of famous movie locations, St. John's Co. Cathedral and the Blue Lagoon (maybe Mdina if we have enough time).
Naples: Pompeii
Rome: Trevi fountain, the Vatican/Sistine Chapel, the Coliseum
La Spezia: Statue of David, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Tuscany (a whirlwind tour)
Corsica: Napoleon birthplace
Villafrance: Eze and Nice

So far in Barcelona all I have planned is a great tapas restaurant and flamenco dancing. If you have any suggestions, I am open to them as I think we may have similar interests. If you have any questions of me, feel free to ask. I am having so much fun planning this trip, I feel as if it will never come!

I hope you all are doing well!

skoi

03-15-2009, 08:41 AM

Tess-
My husband works with someone who is an avid rug collector, and apparently has the money to pursue his interest and travel the world to buy rugs. He goes to all sorts of exotic places- spent close to three weeks in Tunisia about seven years ago so we're going to use the company he hired for a guide. That said- we'll probably end up doing the Bardo and Carthage (the kids are fighting about that because ds says it's not "real" Carthage, it's Roman Carthage), and then go shopping. Since ds is learning Arabic and loves to bargain he wants to go to the souk and buy things. I made him do all the bargaining in China and he's pretty good at it.

A friend of ours was stationed in Italy when he was in the Air Force so we were there about ten years ago visiting. Didn't get to Florence so that's on the list. But we did get to Rome. The kids are interested in the religious sites more than the Roman sites, though I'm hoping to squeeze in the Forum because they do want to see Caesar's temple. I figured we'd do Rome on our own, take the subway and buses.

Now- they're thinking they want to go to Paris on the way there. :scared: I think they both need to get jobs.

Julie

DisneyCruiser83

03-17-2009, 12:02 PM

I know what your kids mean about "real Carthage" my husband feels the same way. I want to at least do the Bardo Museum and the like because I would love to see the sights and say "I have been to Africa" even just barely. This is our first international trip together (my husband did a semester in England in business school). It will probably be the last for a while, as we will probably sail on the Dream when it comes out and then start a family. I don't see us coming back to Europe for about 10 - 15 years (yikes! :eek: ) so I want to get as much out of it as I can.
I would love to do Paris, but I don't really see room in the schedule. We are going to Ireland for two days post cruise, and there just will not be time for Paris. :sad2:
Is your husband definitely staying home with your little ones, or is there a chance they will come along? Are your kids still trying to talk you into England and Paris, or have they just moved onto France? How is your son's Arabic coming along?
I hope you all are doing well and getting everything ready to take over the Med next April! Have a great week!

skoi

03-17-2009, 12:31 PM

"Been to Africa"- that's what oldest dd is saying. She's happy to say she'll have been on four out of seven continents. We were considering at one point adopting from Ethiopia and she was very excited about going there, we ended up going back to China.

Only the big kids and I are going. It's their reward for helping so much during their father's deployment. Besides, six plane tickets to Europe, two hotel rooms, etc. Way out of our budget. Three is bad enough.

Julie

Michelle2

04-13-2009, 09:21 AM

Just wanted to pop in and say hi! We will probably be going on this cruise with you guys. My 3 oldest kids will not be able to go, but DH and I will be taking our youngest who will be 7. Who knows, this may change, but since our 3 oldest will be in 8th, 10th and 11th grades, it will probably not be possible. :(

We were on the Transatlantic over to Spain in 2007, but so wanted to stay on the boat and go on the first Med as well, so this time, we will be taking the repo over in April, and will hopefully just turn around and either stay on the boat, or get right back on.

This will be our 10th Disney cruise, and 3rd repo.

We have been to Rome before, but I am SO excited to go back! And cannot wait to see Tunisia!

skoi

04-13-2009, 09:38 AM

:welcome: Michelle! Glad to see the ship is filling up!

I used to teach, and it made me crazy when parents took their kids out of school, but this can be a very educational trip. We home school, so no issues with taking the big kids. They're both studying World Cultures next year (on very different levels of course) so it'll be a good trip for them.

We're also looking forward to Tunisia. It's the main reason ds wanted to do this cruise. He's learning Arabic and thinks he'll be a pro by the time we get there.

Julie

friend of tinkerbell

04-23-2009, 10:08 PM

One year from tomorrow!!!!!
yippee:banana::yay:

friend of tinkerbell

04-24-2009, 06:23 AM

One year from today!!!!!
:dance3::cool1::yay::banana::banana:

skoi

04-24-2009, 06:47 AM

Wow, only a year. I better start seriously planning.

Oldest son broke his foot almost two weeks, just in time for our Easter (we're Orthodox so our Easter is usually later than Western-standard Easter). So he got to clump around in a boot cast for Easter procession. I told him no broken bones on the cruise.

If we ever get enough people together, I'd be willing to head up a group to reserve the private room at Palo for brunch on a sea day. We'd need 11 people or so. I've done it before so you'd think I'd remember.

Oldest dd showed me a site she uses to make avatars, banners, etc, so I'll get to work on something soon. It's near the end of our school year-since we home school we start in early August and work through to about mid-May, and I have to get the tons of paperwork together for the school district.

I'm going to put something on page one re: activities we'd like to plan for on board. That way it'll be all on one place.

Have a great weekend.
Julie

skoi

04-29-2009, 07:40 PM

So we've started researching for the trip. In a way, it might have been a bad thing because now some of my original plans are completely scrapped. I did look at private tours, but they're very expensive.

Ds is still stuck on Tunis. He's working on his Arabic little by little, and hopefully he'll be able to use it a little bit.

I even started gathering images for a banner, but haven't done anything with them.

Julie

guynwdm

06-01-2009, 04:25 PM

I am booked on this cruise as well. I am going with my 76 yo Father. I was just on the podcast cruise and rebooked this while on the ship. I got a much better deal and got to get one of the cat 10 porthole rooms. Way excited to be going. Hopefully there will be more disboarders joining us on the ship. I did the panama canal cruise and there were almost 200 of us on the westbound cruise last year.

Rob

skoi

06-01-2009, 09:30 PM

:welcome:

Glad to have more people on board. Your room deal sounds great. I might look into rebooking onboard in Sept.

I did gather some images for the banner, but haven't done anything with them. I started an Arabic class a couple weeks ago and it's making me crazy. The script is so hard, it makes me dizzy.

Anyone have any plans for shore excursions? I'm still looking at doing most ports on our own. We have a good company lined up for a private guide in Tunisia, so if anyone's interested maybe we can do a little larger group. Also, I'd like to do Pompeii and go down the Amalfi coast, so I'm not sure what to do. We've been in Italy, and I'm definitely NOT driving there, over those twisty roads. :scared1:

Also- any ideas for Villefranche? It's the one port I'm drawing a complete zero on...

Julie

skoi

07-09-2009, 09:45 AM

Anybody still out there?

I've been taking an Arabic course, and plan to ask the instructor if he's been to Tunis, and if so, what to see. He's Moroccan, but I have no idea how much travel he's done in his own region.

Anyone else have plans yet?
I did download a bunch of images but haven't done anything with them yet.

Also- I was thinking if we get enough people of organizing a private group brunch at Palo. If people are interested, let me know.

Julie

friend of tinkerbell

07-16-2009, 09:03 PM

NC_Tink

08-01-2009, 08:56 PM

Hi Everyone! We're jumping on board!:cheer2: We were originally going to go on the May 5th cruise, but decided that we really want that extra day at sea :cool1:. My family (DH, me, and 2 DSs (12 & 10 at time of cruise)) are completely excited!! We can't wait to see Rome and Pompeii. We're not certain of our plans in other ports right now -- but I'm going to have a great time planning over the next several months!

Lubi

skoi

08-01-2009, 10:02 PM

:welcome::welcome:

NCTink. Glad to have you with us. Hopefully we'll be able to get this thread going!

Off to bed now, have to get up early tomorrow.

Julie

guynwdm

08-02-2009, 11:02 AM

Hey everybody, good news!!!!!:banana::banana:

Just went to the Disney Cruise site, and noticed our cruise rates were reduced. When I called the Disney Cruise Line at 1-800-951-3532, they credited my account the diference! The price for the three of us, My husband, 9 year old son, and I had dropped $1030.40. We had originally booked a catagory 10 for the three of us for $7758.40. Our new price is $6728.00!
They credited us $1030.40!!!!!:yay:

So....If you have not done so, Call them! They will do the same for you.

:yay::banana::cool1:

Thanks for the post. I contacted my travel agent and my costs went down as well. I had rebooked on the podcast cruise and got the price reduced and got the disney onboard booking credit and now the price went down again. I was even able to get a hidden porthole room on this one as well.

Is anyone thinking about doing Fish Extenders?

mehaul

08-18-2009, 01:30 AM

skoi

08-18-2009, 07:48 AM

:welcome: mehaul and others who I might have missed.

I'll go check out your site. I've been trying to find menus from the previous Med cruises because I was curious to see if they were different. The kids are hoping to see more Italian and some North African/Middle Eastern type foods, but our kids are a little strange.

I actually worked up a banner, but have to edit it on the desktop because I can't download fonts onto my laptop.

Off to school for now. It's our second day, and oldest ds has an Arabic lesson in the city at three, so it's going to be crazy today.

Julie

KathyFP

08-18-2009, 09:05 AM

We are also going to be on the cruise. We booked while on our Disney Cruise at Christmas. This will be our second cruise.

We will be in 1030. We loved that room.

skoi

08-18-2009, 09:39 AM

:welcome: KathyFP

Glad to see the ship is filling up.

I guess we're getting big enough for a roll call on the front page, so whoever is interested pm me your name, dis name, whose going, and late/early dining, and any other info you want me to include. I'll list it all on the first page.

Also, someone mentioned fish extenders? If anyone's interested in that, let me know as well.

My hope is to get together a brunch group. We'd need twelve adults to get the private room at Palo for brunch.

Julie

Okay- I've been working on a banner, it's not very good, and somehow it's really small, down in my signature. Feel free to come up with something better, please.

mehaul

08-18-2009, 03:44 PM

I was able to find some old menus, I also posted all the excursions with the prices Disney offered on the Med cruise in 2007.

All the info is available on my web site

http://www.worldofmouse.com/index.html

just click the Med Cruise 2010 link

On that cruise Disney went to Sicily, Sardinia and Marseille instead of Tunis, Malta and Corsica

skoi

08-18-2009, 06:17 PM

NC_Tink

08-18-2009, 07:57 PM

Julie - sent you a PM with our info. Thanks for keeping the roll call! Welcome to everyone - glad to see others joining. We just booked a couple of weeks ago when they released the kids sail free offer - it was too good a deal to pass up :cool1:. Can't wait for Spring!

I think I would be interested in doing a fish extender -- but can someone tell me the logistics of doing this overseas? Can we mail our stuff ahead like we can here? With luggage restrictions the way they are ... I guess I'm wondering how do you get the stuff there? TIA

shushh

08-18-2009, 08:06 PM

G'day everyone! We are so excited to be on this cruise. This is our very first Disney cruise and we're so glad we found this site. It's phenomenal!!! I am busy gathering info as it will be a BIG trip for us flying all the way from Sydney with 3 children aged 7,5 and 18 months. My parents are coming along as well!

Belinda

mehaul

08-18-2009, 10:42 PM

Thanks for posting all that information. I was really interested in seeing some of the excursions. We never do excursions, but might do the Pompeii half day if they offer it again. Dd wants to go to catacombs in Naples since we won't make them in Rome since we have the Vatican, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and the Forum/Coliseum (time permitting) on tap.

We're thinking of doing Tunis with a private guide, but we're not sure yet. Any advice?

Julie

The Disney excursions are helpful if you have alot of distance to cover, in particular if the city (i.e. Florence) is far away from the port (La Spezia)

Rome is extremely easy to navigate from the port. It is a single train ride from the train station very near the port. The city was very easy to navigate on your own.

Florence on the other hand is a 2 hour train ride with a transfer from the port. If you don't want to do a Disney excursion I would at least do the "Florence on Your Own" Disney Excursion. In 2007 it was nominally more expensive than the train, but you're guaranteed to make it back to the Disney Magic before it sails away.

In Naples we did the Mt Vesuvius Hike and Pompeii excursion. I mapped it out with a do it yourself plan, wasn't worth the hassle factor to save a few $. The Disney excurison was very nicely planned.

Villefranche was very easy to do on your own. Train station was close to port. Very simple to take the train to Nice.

skoi

08-20-2009, 10:52 AM

Thanks mehaul. We're definitely doing Rome on our own. We were in Italy back in 1999 and spent four days in Rome, but the kids were so little, they don't remember. They both have agreed on Rome on what to see, more or less. It's just a matter of organization

We'll definitely consider the Florence on your own with Disney. They want to see the Duomo and the Uffizi. They're not interested so much in seeing David.

They're really not interested in Pompeii, they want to see the catacombs, the Archaeological museum, eat pizza, and buy soccer shirts in Naples.

Tunis is the port they're most interested in. I'm thinking maybe I should just take them there, or to Morocco, but they're set on the cruise.

Julie

friend of tinkerbell

08-20-2009, 10:27 PM

Hey all!

Just checked the Disney Cruise Line website and noticed a SPH room is available this evening. Room 5520, is a catagory 10 stateroom. However, it's actually an old catagory 8 that became a 10 due to a slight obstruction of the window. Thus, a room with a window for $1000.00 less than the surrounding rooms. So, if your in a room without a window, you might want to check it out!:cool1:

friend of tinkerbell

08-20-2009, 10:30 PM

Sorry!!! It's secret porthole room #5020 that is available for the April 24 cruise, not 5520.

shushh

08-21-2009, 06:18 PM

skoi

08-21-2009, 06:41 PM

Belinda-
We'll be there one day prior. What about you?

We have no idea where we'll be staying, what we'll be doing, just that we'll be there. I would be too worried about arriving the morning of the cruise. As it is, I'm worried about arriving the morning before.

Julie

mehaul

08-21-2009, 06:48 PM

[Hi Michelle2 and mehaul, was wondering if you could let me know how disembarkation went in Barcelona? We have very limited flight options as we have to catch the interconnecting long haul flight back home to Sydney. We're trying to avoid staying in Barcelona for an extra night as it is so expensive. And the hotels in Europe are not like those in America or Australia where getting a triple or a quad is not such a big deal!

Mehaul, by the way, your site is fantastic! Very helpful!

Is anyone staying at Barcelona pre-cruise?

Belinda

Thanks - glad you found the site helpful
we have 2 nights booked in Barcelona prior to the cruise.
In 2007 we flew out of BCN to Heathrow
and took a 11:30 flight. We used the Disney transfers.
I'm not sure why they are telling people they have to leave in the PM
Barcelona is a moderate sized airport. It was fairly easy to
checkin and go through security.

shushh

08-21-2009, 06:57 PM

Julie,

At the moment, we are planning on arriving 3 days before. I too was worried about arriving too close to sailing date. With 3 littlies, 2 LONG flights and extra interconnecting flight and jet lag, I hope I'll cope! Having to travel such a long way, we wanted to see some of Barcelona. Currently, we have reservations at a 3 bedroom apartment near the port and Ramblas. Flights home are giving me headache. Disney have been so unhelpful about disembarkation info. What has been like for you on other cruises? I know Florida isn't quite the same...but some sort of vague idea on what actually happens would be helpful!

Belinda

shushh

08-21-2009, 07:40 PM

In 2007 we flew out of BCN to Heathrow
and took a 11:30 flight. We used the Disney transfers.
I'm not sure why they are telling people they have to leave in the PM
Barcelona is a moderate sized airport. It was fairly easy to
checkin and go through security.

Mehaul, out of interest, what time did the ship arrive in Barcelona and what time did you get to the airport? Our flight is at 1050. Am I being hopelessly unrealistic here?!?!??!

Belinda

skoi

08-21-2009, 08:51 PM

Belinda-
When we had early dinner (and therefore early breakfast) we were always off the ship very early-- among the first people because when they clear the ship, you just walk off. When we had late dinner (and breakfast) we were still off pretty early.

You can also skip breakfast and leave whenever they clear the ship. I don't know how customs/immigration work in Spain. All I know is that in the US all non-citizens have to clear immigration before the debarkation begins. On our last cruise (not Disney) several people didn't show up and the ship was held.

I found Disney's debarkation to be the best of the three lines we've cruised.

Julie

friend of tinkerbell

08-21-2009, 09:31 PM

Hey all,

Just called DCL. They are running a special for our cruise! Kids sail free with 2 adults. We called disney, and they dropped our cruise price by $1190.00
With this reduction, our cruise has dropped $2200.00 in the last 6 weeks!
If you haven't done so yet, call them!!! They will re-book your trip with the discount.:banana:

guynwdm

08-21-2009, 09:56 PM

The Med cruises are not booking up like they did the last time for Disney. I am wondering if there are going to be more price cuts to come. Not traveling with kids (unless you count me and I am over 40 lol)

I think I have a way to get more time off of work by doing some work on Saturdays. I am wanting to fly in at least a day ahead of the cruise to get my body on their time zone. (and to give my 76 yr old father a chance to get the kinks out from the flight) It will also give us a chance if for some reason the luggage does not make it with us that we can get something to wear on the ship until the luggage is found. It would be easy to recognize me if I wore the same shirt for 12 days. Actually you would smell me coming would be my guess. :lmao: LOL That way we can get a chance to do a day tour of Barcelona. After the cruise I am thinking we will fly to Paris and go to Disneyland and see some of Paris. The main draw for me is the parks there, I did the site seeing things in college. We will be there a couple of days and then fly back home.

shushh

08-21-2009, 10:15 PM

Nice to hear that a few of us will be there a few days beforehand. We will probably bump into each in and around town. It seems as like Barcelona is a very "walkable" city.

If the ship isn't filling up...then I will eagerly look for the price cuts! Do you simply look up the official Disney site?

friend of tinkerbell

08-22-2009, 09:39 PM

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/special-offers/kids-sail-med-free/

Kids sail free with 2 paid adults in same stateroom. The Disney Cruise website says this is only for new bookings. However, if you call them, they will cancel your existing cruise, and immediatly re-book the identical cruise and stateroom at the reduced rate! We did it yesterday afternoon.

NC_Tink

08-28-2009, 06:21 PM

Just thought I'd pop in and wish everyone a happy weekend! :goodvibes

shushh

08-31-2009, 05:08 AM

Is it always this quiet? Or is it just that it's still a few months away from sail sate? or is that they cruise isn't filling up?!?!?

Finally made the international call to Disney and insisted on speaking to one of the supervisors who confrimed that the first disney shuttle is scheduled to leave at 0700. This means that we should be ok to catch our 1050 flight. I am so relieved!!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

skoi

08-31-2009, 06:44 AM

It's been a quiet thread. I think for months there was just us. :confused3 I was starting to think we'd have the entire ship to ourselves.

Glad to hear your return flight schedule was worked out. I haven't even looked. After seeing how inexpensive last minute flight were from the US to Europe this summer, I decided to wait until after Christmas to book ours.

Next week this time, we'll be somewhere in Florida. :dance3: Our vacation to welcome dh back officially from Afghanistan (even though he's been home for months) starts next week when we get on the autotrain to go Disney World. So we have to get through one more week of school, Tae Kwon Do, and Arabic lessons before we go on Sunday morning.

Julie

shushh

08-31-2009, 11:42 PM

Ahhh...Florida. Lucky you! Although I suppose it must be difficult to be at home while your husband is in service, so a very well deserved welcome home holiday! We have been wanting to go to Disney world for a LONG time. Been to Disneyland many many times but never WDW. We will save that for 2011 when my youngest is a bit older.

I think in the states, you have the luxury of choice in terms of flights. It is so expensive to fly to Europe, the cheapest at the moment is around AU$2100 return. That's around US$1765. There is supposed to be a "drop" in prices because of some new deregulation laws. So I am waiting for that to happen! But with 3 little ones and flying so far, I wanted to make sure that I know which flights are available out there.

Does anyone know if the kids sail free on the med cruise deal is over? I couldn't see it on the Disney site anymore. We have friends who are interested.

Belinda

NC_Tink

09-01-2009, 09:34 AM

Good morning everyone!

Julie - enjoy your trip! What a great way to celebrate your husbands homecoming!! :cool1:

Belinda - great news on your debarkation travel. I was looking at hotel prices in Barcelona and wow are they pricey! I don't think we're going to be as lucky with travel back to the states, most flights leave way too early -- we'll probably end up spending one more night after the cruise (my DH cringes every time I try to "warn" him about the prices).

Just think ladies -- we'll be cruising the Mediterranean in 235 days!!

shushh

09-01-2009, 06:54 PM

I was looking at hotel prices in Barcelona and wow are they pricey!

When I was first given the quote by Disney for their pre-cruise hotels, I nearly had a heart attack! They seem to have added "extra" to already expensive rates for tiny rooms and tiny beds :mad: The cost was ridiculous when you are trying to find accommodation for 7.

Have you tried looking at apartments? There is such a wide range and it is MUCH cheaper.

skoi

09-01-2009, 06:56 PM

Thanks all. We're really looking forward to the trip.

The kids still think we're going on a different cruise line (I think, we almost slipped up a few times and the older ones are pretty smart, they might have caught it). Hopefully our surprise will hold until we pull up to the Magic!

Roll call is updated. We're really moving now.:cheer2:

shushh

09-01-2009, 11:20 PM

I've been reading threads on this forum until my eyes water everynight. Was wondering if those who have cruised Disney before could help without me having to trawl through another 50 pages...

1) Tipping - We don't tip in Australia so please bear with me. We were told when we booked that we can pay the $50 per day (roughly) as a lumpsum at the beginning or end of the cruise. This is obviously easier for us as it avoids having to change into US dollars. I have read many recommendations of carrying $1 bills.
Who are these for?

Is this rather than paying as a lump sum?

If we do this, do some "behind the scenes" people miss out?

What about room service? I know its free (for certain things on the menu) but do we have to tip the person bringing us the food everytime we order? My husband nearly went berserk when I suggested that we may have to do this.

2) Fish extenders - I know what they are! But what is it used for other than for exchange of gifts? Do you only put it up at the beginning? Do you need a pocket for every single person in the room or will 1 "big" pocket do? Is there gift "etiquette" so to speak? ie rules for gifts, who gets them etc or do each group of people make their own rules?

3) What is Tea for Alice?!?!?!

Thanks all!

Belinda

NC_Tink

09-02-2009, 09:43 AM

Let's see if I can answer at least some of your questions:

I've been reading threads on this forum until my eyes water everynight. Was wondering if those who have cruised Disney before could help without me having to trawl through another 50 pages...

1) Tipping - We don't tip in Australia so please bear with me. We were told when we booked that we can pay the $50 per day (roughly) as a lumpsum at the beginning or end of the cruise. This is obviously easier for us as it avoids having to change into US dollars. I have read many recommendations of carrying $1 bills.

Who are these for? Tips are for stateroom attendants, head waiter, waiter and assistant waiter. You can give them a tip in cash, charge to your room at the end of the cruise or pre-pay prior to or at the beginning of your cruise. There is a recommended amount posted in several places, but here's a Cruise tip calculator that is posted in the FAQs of Disboards: http://cruisetip.tpkeller.com/ And, remember this is only a recommended amount -- if you feel that someone did an exemplary job - you can always give more.:goodvibes The $1 bills can be used to tip porters at the pier and to give to CMs who deliver room service. Hopefully this answers your next two questions?

Is this rather than paying as a lump sum?

If we do this, do some "behind the scenes" people miss out?

What about room service? I know its free (for certain things on the menu) but do we have to tip the person bringing us the food everytime we order? My husband nearly went berserk when I suggested that we may have to do this. I'm not 100% sure if you hae to tip every time you order -- I think most folks would say "yes". I figure we probably won't order room service that much, so it won't be that huge of a deal for us. I plan on putting together small "thank you bags". It seems many from the DISboards do this -- put a couple of dollars in a small plastic bag along with a "thank you note" and some candy. Anytime we order room service - whom ever delivers will receive a "thank you bag". It's my understanding that the CMs really appreciate candy :thumbsup2

2) Fish extenders - I know what they are! But what is it used for other than for exchange of gifts? Do you only put it up at the beginning? Do you need a pocket for every single person in the room or will 1 "big" pocket do? Is there gift "etiquette" so to speak? ie rules for gifts, who gets them etc or do each group of people make their own rules? I haven't participated in FEs yet -- but if you go to the FAQ sticky at the top of the board -- there's a link under there about Fish Extenders. I know that it's a gift exchange. I believe that a Fish Extender has a separate pocket for each member of your family. You can either make your own FE or I know that someone also sells them on Ebay. I believe you can spend as little or as much as you want putting together the "gifts". I've heard of some people basically putting together small gifties of candy and stickers and others making much more elaborate gifts such as mini scrapbooks. I believe most folks like to give gifts that are age and gender appropriate when participating -- but again I think it is what you want it to be.

3) What is Tea for Alice?!?!?! Well, being the Mom of two boys -- I think the boys would laugh at me for an entire day if I dared to suggest this having tea with Alice :lmao:But, here's a description I found: "Tea with Alice & the Mad Hatter is a posh-yet-casual afternoon snack just for families. Alice & the Mad Hatter host a fun tea party for guests on sea days during an afternoon service of iced tea and cookies." I believe you need to go to guest services on embarkation day as this is a first-come first-served event.

Okay - I hope some of this information helps and hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I will add to this. You might also like to post your questions out on the main thread - I bet you'll get a ton of answers :goodvibes

Hope you have a great night!

Thanks all!

Belinda

skoi

09-02-2009, 12:44 PM

Belinda- NCTink answered the tipping questions pretty well.

We never did Tea with Alice, but have gone to grown up tea at Palo on sea days. I don't know whether they do that on the Med cruises, but I can't imagine they wouldn't. I personally prefer Palo brunch.

Tipping can get very expensive, and it seems on Disney tipping guidelines are higher than some of the other mass market ships (Carnival, Royal Caribbean), but in my experience the service is much better.

We didn't order room service a lot, but when we did, we just tipped a few dollars, depending on the amount of food we ordered. The thank you bag is a good idea.

I wasn't planning on doing the fish extender thing, because with the weight limit on baggage, and having to pack for two weeks, I didn't think we'd be able to haul a lot of extra gear. We've never done one, though some of the cruise meet group we've been in have.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Julie

shushh

09-02-2009, 06:32 PM

Thank you both and especially Lubi for such a detailed answer! It's really hard for us with regard to tipping because we are so used to paying the price that we see. So when you have to pay extra (I know it's only a few dollars) here and there, it gives the impression that things are expensive. My husband still doesn't understand why we have to give the person who delivers room service any extra. I might put the questions up on the main to see what other people think.

I asked about FE because I though it might be nice for the kids to get a gift from Mickey or something along those lines. Do people do that? Put one up to put your own gifts in for the kids. Or will it look silly if no one else on the ship has any up?

mehaul

09-02-2009, 06:44 PM

friend of tinkerbell

09-02-2009, 09:20 PM

Just a note to say that Disney will announce 2011 cruise destinations at noon pacific, September 11th.

friend of tinkerbell

09-02-2009, 09:23 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be9VjryeIF0

friend of tinkerbell

09-11-2009, 08:47 PM

Disney will begin booking the Wonder for Alaska September 28th!

We're going to be broke, but we're going! :scared1:

NC_Tink

09-11-2009, 10:25 PM

Alaska sounds fantastic! I would love to do the Panama Canal crossing - take the Wonder on her voyage west -- but I don't think it's in our future. Unless DHs plan to win the lottery ever works out :lmao::lmao:I may just have to talk him into one of those "fact-finding" missions next week when we're on the Magic. "Oh look honey -- there's the desk where you can book another cruise -- let's just stop by and see what "specials" they might be offering":rolleyes1 Although my boys are really pushing to cruise Freedom of the Seas -- they want to ice skate on a ship and ride the flow rider. So, I will probably be completely outnumbered when it comes to vacation plans for 2011 (unless of course that lottery comes through!):rotfl2:

shushh

09-12-2009, 06:37 AM

Michaela, I am very excited for you! An Alaskan cruise is definitely on our to do list. We would LOVE to cruise the Panama Canal with Disney as this will fit into our plan to go to WDW in Jan 2011. It'll save us having to fly back to LA to go home to Australia. However, seeing as we are only general pleb...I think our chances of getting on are quite remote. If I read correctly, the ones a few years back sold in hours/days?!?! The prices will probably be too exorbitant anyway (so I keep telling myself!)

Lubi, I think we will start buying lottery tickets as well!

I am amazed at how passionate people are about Disney. I didn't expect to see so much emotion around the various subjects (eg disappointment with the new itinerary, upset/anger/frustration with the new CC tiered benefits, people sniping at each other about who was right/wrong about new itinerary). I have no problems with it! But I didn't realise that the feelings run so deep for some people.

It also appears to me that our cruise in particular seem to not be filling up? I keep reading how previous med cruises sold out quickly and cruises need to be booked a year one advance in general. Other than cat 12 which are now gty, the other cats seem to have plenty of cabins left to choose from. THe other med cruises have a couple sold out I think and the baltics even more so.

Julie, I hope you had a great vacation!

NC_Tink

09-12-2009, 07:19 AM

I am amazed at how passionate people are about Disney. I didn't expect to see so much emotion around the various subjects (eg disappointment with the new itinerary, upset/anger/frustration with the new CC tiered benefits, people sniping at each other about who was right/wrong about new itinerary). I have no problems with it! But I didn't realise that the feelings run so deep for some people.

Belinda, I totally understand your amazement. I love the Disboards because it's a great source of information and a wonderful support group for various things - it can be a bit high-strung at times. But, I guess whenever you get a large group of people together - you'll have varying personalities and they don't always play nice together :scared1:

I can understand peoples' frustrations with some of the new tiered benefits, new itineraries, etc. But, at the same time, I know that no matter what Disney does they won't make everyone happy. I think that whenever there's change - emotions will run high and eventually I think folks will calm down once these changes are in place and it's not all so new. I, like you, don't have any issues with the new system -- although I did get concerned about Palo reservations for the Med. cruise since three groups (gold, platinum and I guess concierge) get to book before I do instead of just the concierge folks. But, it is what it is and I can't change it. I'll do my best to get what I want - but in the end - I'm on a great cruise, with my family, in a great location and to me that's all that really matters.:thumbsup2

KathyFP

09-12-2009, 03:53 PM

NC_Tink

09-12-2009, 08:18 PM

Hi KathyFP! I know how you feel in terms of being anxious - please don't feel embarrassed - I'm sure you're not the only one that doesn't know a lot about these countries. I've never been to any of these cities/countries -- so this is all new to me as well and I must admit that the language barrier, if nothing else, intimidates me somewhat.

My sister-in-law just came back from a cruise on the Mediterranean (different line) and said that it was absolutely wonderful! They did several excursions thru their cruise line, but also did a few ports on their own. I'm currently doing my research -- looking at the posts from the 2007 trip reports - searching cruise critic, etc. I'm just about soaking up as much information as I can - but then I'm big on research for any trip that we do. Currently, our thinking is that we will probably go with Disney excursions in Tunis. Not sure what we'll do in Malta, Corsica or Villefranche. And then, probably, hire a driver/guide in Naples, Rome and La Spezia. I want to be able to get in certain things in those cities and don't want to necessarily be slowed down by a large tour group. But, nothing's set in stone at this point and we're still researching.:cool1: I think the researching is almost as fun as the trip itself:surfweb:. Okay, not quite, but I still like to do the research and dream about what we'll do and see :thumbsup2

NC_Tink

09-12-2009, 08:23 PM

Hey Julie! Are you back from vacation? If so - hope you had a FABULOUS time! Would love to hear about your trip when you get a chance!popcorn::

KathyFP

09-13-2009, 01:07 AM

I look forward to you sharing your research. I too love to research before a trip, but between work and school, I barely have time to breathe. Hopefully things will slow down a little before then.

shushh

09-13-2009, 06:36 AM

I, like you, don't have any issues with the new system -- although I did get concerned about Palo reservations for the Med. cruise since three groups (gold, platinum and I guess concierge) get to book before I do instead of just the concierge folks. But, it is what it is and I can't change it. I'll do my best to get what I want - but in the end - I'm on a great cruise, with my family, in a great location and to me that's all that really matters

Amen to that!

With regard to CC benefits, I guess the only thing that Disney could have done is to introduce the changes at a time n the future so that no current bookings are affected. I am sure that they have spent time and money on the research to make the tier benefits the way they have.

KathyFP, no need for embarrassment! I can assure you that you aren't the only one who doesn't know alot about the countries. I am currently using my ignorance as a blessing. THe less I know, the less I will worry about what I WON'T see on our short 1 day visit to each port! Like NC_Tink mentioned, the research is half the fun.

NC_Tink, you'll have to let us know if you decide to go on any private tours. We are considering this as well for La Spezia as timing seems so tight (and we have 3 young children), it might be easier/quicker with a smaller group.

Have a good week everyone!

mehaul

09-15-2009, 01:17 PM

I am a little anxious about planning for the cruise. I am embarrassed to admit that I do not know anything about the countries and really have no idea about excursions and what we should. This is my reason for doing the Disney cruise.

I am waiting to see the precruise specials and try to determine when we will fly into Barcelona.

I look forward to learning a lot for my fellow DIS members.

We did the Med cruise in 2007. 4 of the 7 ports are the same. I set up a website to help me (and others) plan for our return trip to the Med.
www.worldofmouse.com
If you have any specific questions about ports/excursions - fire away.

skoi

09-20-2009, 03:58 PM

Howdy, we're back. Had a great time, especially on the ship. Both of our little ones cried when it was time to leave. We had our great head server, Zan, and excellent server and assistant server. Hopefully they'll all be together in April when we sail again.

I have a lot of to catch up on, especially this tiered CC benefits thing. I have to go through the boards.

We won't be doing Alaska, just not interested. PC might be interesting, but we're far more into European/Middle Eastern/Far Asian travel. We'd love to see one of the Disney ships going to Asia. We did hear a rumor, and the Magic's schedule seems to back it up, that the new ship will be doing the Bahamas three and four nights. I know people are upset about that possibility.

We're probably doing all of the ports on our own. I have a new Arabic tutor who is fantastic, and along with my class, I think between French and Arabic we'll even be able to do Tunis on our own.

We did decide we're going to try and upgrade our stateroom. The kids had a cat 11 and it was tight for a seven day cruise. I can't imagine it won't be worse for 11 nights.

Julie

Michelle2

09-21-2009, 07:13 PM

We recently booked this cruise with the kids free incentive. We did the Med Cruise in June 2007 with Disney. I recently created a planning site to help organize for the trip. I saved all our menus, navigators and will try to upload them in the next few days.

www.worldofmouse.com/disney-mediterranean-cruise-2010.html

I hope this link is helpful.

Wow! Love the website. I love informative sites that I can research and help me plan! Even though I have been to Rome and Florence and a little Pisa, it was way back in Dec 2001, so I have forgotten alot. LOL

[Hi Michelle2 and mehaul, was wondering if you could let me know how disembarkation went in Barcelona? We have very limited flight options as we have to catch the interconnecting long haul flight back home to Sydney. We're trying to avoid staying in Barcelona for an extra night as it is so expensive. And the hotels in Europe are not like those in America or Australia where getting a triple or a quad is not such a big deal!

Mehaul, by the way, your site is fantastic! Very helpful!

Is anyone staying at Barcelona pre-cruise?

Belinda

I know that Mehaul already answered, but for us on the TA cruise it was a little different since we arrived into Barcelona the day before. There were even some people leaving the night before...crazies! I know that the ship was available for people to leave as early as they wanted to in the morning, so catching a flight no matter how early wasn't an option. That won't be the case on this cruise because we will be arriving into port on disembarkation day, so it's a whole new ball of wax for me too....
I remember cabs being VERY limited. Those that had more than 2 or 3 people and/or needed a larger cab (like the minivan ones) due to luggage amounts, had at LEAST an hour wait. But we probably exited off of the boat at the peak time. It seemed like with luggage, everyone needed the larger cabs. There were only 3 of us, 2 adults and a 5 year old, so we just hopped in a sedan sized cab and left. There were also alot of people mad about feeling that the cabs had jipped them off...alot of angry people double checking with each other at the airport hotel because they were charging these stupid baggage fees. Just some words of warning...

I was debating this cruise thinking that I was not going to go because I wanted to go on the Baltic, but in June, we went on it through another cruiseline (just my DD15 and I) and had a BLAST! Now I can focus on this one.
Put me on the roll call, it will definitely be me and DD13 (homeschooling her this year, and she is taking an eastern geography class, so it will be perfect!) and we will see if my DH and DS7 will go on this one or the TA over.

skoi

09-21-2009, 08:25 PM

:welcome:

Welcome Michelle.

We have you added to the roll call. We homeschool all of our kids, and the two oldest are both doing World History this year- ancient world through the Middle Ages, so this trip is great for us.

I really have to get some research going.

Julie

skoi

09-21-2009, 08:35 PM

Sorry if I've missed welcoming anyone. I'm a pretty incompetent thread starter since it's only six pages and I think I've missed at least one new shipmate, possibly two.

So if I've missed you, welcome aboard. I've been really scattered and busy lately trying to teach the four kids at home, plan for vacation, and keep up with my Arabic tutor who is amazing and really thinks I'm much smarter than I am.

Julie

Happy Goofy

09-22-2009, 02:51 PM

My husband and I are retired and will be taking our 4th Disney cruise. We are going over on the transatlantic one and continuing on the April 24 Med. Anyone have any suggestions for us. Any retirees going? We will be on deck 2 catagory 9.

skoi

09-22-2009, 06:18 PM

:welcome:

Welcome Happy Goofy. I'm overwhelmed by everyone doing both the TA and the Med. I don't know if I could do that. I'd get too used to level of service and be so unhappy when I got home. I'd have to turn the kids into dining room staff and hire a chef.:lmao:

Anyone coming from the US book flights yet? We still haven't, but we did upgrade our cabin from an 11 to a 7. It was pricey, but after seeing the 11 the kids were in last week, I decided to go for it. It was nice, but a little dark for us.
However, the price on it wasn't much more than we originally were going to pay for the 11, so that's okay.

I heard the hotels in Barcelona were very expensive. I feel sorry for you Belinda, with your large group.We were going to do the TA repo last time because the prices were so low, but for five to stay in Barcelona and then fly back to the US was way more than the cruise. So we didn't go.

Julie

skoi

09-26-2009, 06:38 PM

Hope everyone's having a great weekend.

We're almost back to normal after our trip, but youngest dd is still moping about how she misses the Disney cruise. She's going to be really mad when she realizes we're going on one without her. :scared1:

If everyone could check in at some point, we'll know who's still aboard. I know we lost one family, so I'm curious if anyone else has gone.

Thanks,
Julie

skoi

09-26-2009, 08:34 PM

Anyone know how early you can board the ship?

Still looking for a decent, not too expensive hotel that sleeps three.

Julie

shushh

09-27-2009, 04:29 AM

Welcome back Julie! Glad to hear that you had a great time.

Been busy of late as I started working again last week. Surprisingly still hard to leave my baby "behind" even though its my third. Just a quick note to say that we are still on booard!

shushh

09-27-2009, 04:45 AM

Anyone know how early you can board the ship?

Still looking for a decent, not too expensive hotel that sleeps three.

Julie
Wouldn't mind knowing boarding time as well!

Before I ditched the whole hotel idea, I looked into alot of hotels. The AC Diplomatic seems quite well located and nice. THey have triple rooms (I asked specifically) and were more reasonably priced than others.

NC_Tink

09-27-2009, 08:32 PM

Hey everyone! We're still on board too! Just got off the Magic this past Saturday -- absolutely fantastic trip! We had great weather, really fun excursions, our serving team was awesome, our kids' counselors in Lab and Quest were fantastic. We absolutely loved our cruse and can't wait to be able to feel some Magic again in April! :woohoo:

Haven't booked my flights yet -- read somewhere in my "research" that a good time to book airfare is about 4 months in advance of your trip. Of course, if the airline you're booking has the ability to "show seats" via its website and you notice that the flight you want is looking like it's starting to get full - then you might want to purchase earlier. I figure it's a gamble no matter what - but my DSis-in-law went to Italy this past summer and informed me that she booked her airfare about 6 -7 months in advance and noticed that the airfare dropped significantly a couple of months later (yes, she was bummed).

Has anyone booked hotels yet? I was out on the main forum and there's a thread titled "Barcelona Hotels". It looks like several people have already booked their hotels for next spring and summer. :scared1: I guess I'll get into "hunt" mode this week and at least put a reservation down somewhere. On my internet perusal this evening - I noticed that some hotels don't even show any information regarding vacancies past December. But, I guess I can make a ressie and always cancel if I find something better (AKA - cheaper :lmao:)

Okay - off to take some benadryl or bonine or something to make me feel a little less like my house is swaying on the ocean. Good night all!http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Sleepy/asleep-045.gif

mehaul

09-27-2009, 09:55 PM

Hey everyone! We're still on board too! Just got off the Magic this past Saturday -- absolutely fantastic trip! We had great weather, really fun excursions, our serving team was awesome, our kids' counselors in Lab and Quest were fantastic. We absolutely loved our cruse and can't wait to be able to feel some Magic again in April! :woohoo:

Haven't booked my flights yet -- read somewhere in my "research" that a good time to book airfare is about 4 months in advance of your trip. Of course, if the airline you're booking has the ability to "show seats" via its website and you notice that the flight you want is looking like it's starting to get full - then you might want to purchase earlier. I figure it's a gamble no matter what - but my DSis-in-law went to Italy this past summer and informed me that she booked her airfare about 6 -7 months in advance and noticed that the airfare dropped significantly a couple of months later (yes, she was bummed).

Has anyone booked hotels yet? I was out on the main forum and there's a thread titled "Barcelona Hotels". It looks like several people have already booked their hotels for next spring and summer. :scared1: I guess I'll get into "hunt" mode this week and at least put a reservation down somewhere. On my internet perusal this evening - I noticed that some hotels don't even show any information regarding vacancies past December. But, I guess I can make a ressie and always cancel if I find something better (AKA - cheaper :lmao:)

]

I haven't booked flights yet either, but I have booked the hotel in Barcelona. I booked the hotel 2 nights before the cruise and 1 night afterwards. This will give me more flexibility when it comes time to purchase airfare.

Happy Goofy

09-28-2009, 09:24 AM

I am new to this site and enjoy it very much. My husband and I are retired and are trying to get as much information as possible for this trip. What are fish extenders ? When we did the Panama Cruise I was into the door decorations ( being a retired elementary teacher helped ) and I already am planning themes for my door. We will be on Deck 2 Cat. 9 same area we had for Pamama. We love the big porthole window and we got a good rate because we booked it on board.

Happy Goofy

09-28-2009, 10:04 AM

mehaul

09-29-2009, 12:45 AM

I can't seem to enlarge the pictures on the World of Mouse web site. Do you know if anyone on that cruise booked the continuing one? We have the same stateroom for both and was wondering if we have to pack up between cruises.

I spot checked a bunch of the links and they all seem to be working. If you have a problem with a specific picture I can check it.

NC_Tink

09-29-2009, 09:04 AM

Good morning all! I spent almost all day yesterday on these boards trying to catch up on everything that I missed in the week I was gone. Things move way to fast on some of these boards! I'm almost thankful that things are still a bit slower over here ;)

Julie - I just made ressies for 3 nights before the cruise in a 2 bedroom apartment - MH Apartments Sagrada Familia. I thought the prices were reasonable considering what I saw out there for hotel rooms, etc. I booked through venere.com (hopefully I'm allowed to post the website here :)) I'm still looking for a place to stay for one night after the cruise. I'm trying to find somewhere reasonable that's closer to the airport - figuring our flight will be early on the 6th - don't want to travel far.

I am new to this site and enjoy it very much. My husband and I are retired and are trying to get as much information as possible for this trip. What are fish extenders ? When we did the Panama Cruise I was into the door decorations ( being a retired elementary teacher helped ) and I already am planning themes for my door. We will be on Deck 2 Cat. 9 same area we had for Pamama. We love the big porthole window and we got a good rate because we booked it on board.

:welcome: Happy Goofy! How awesome that you get to do the transatlantic and follow it up with the Mediterranean. I would love to do that, but with 4 of us - just not in the budget :sad2: As for questions regarding how it works for two B2B cruises - I believe that you will be able to leave your luggage in the room - if you have the same room on both cruises. Only you will have to disembark for a short time and then reboard with the rest of us.

The best way to give you information on Fish Extenders is to direct you to the experts :) You can find everything you need to know here: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33184281&postcount=2 and more information here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1219607 and lastly, how to make a no sew version is here: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30302583&postcount=609 Basically they are a fun way to do a gift exchange which incorporate the fish hooks that are outside of each stateroom.

mehaul - I can't seem to link to your website? I keep getting broken connection or server errors. It's probably my computer - and I'm going to try to reboot my connection now to see if that works.

Have a happy Tuesday everyone! Only 207 more days to go!!

mrosen

09-29-2009, 09:51 PM

Wouldn't mind knowing boarding time as well!

Before I ditched the whole hotel idea, I looked into alot of hotels. The AC Diplomatic seems quite well located and nice. THey have triple rooms (I asked specifically) and were more reasonably priced than others.

what does triple room mean? sleeps 3 or something else? we are now booked on the 4/24 cruise and we have 4 people (2 adults, 2 children - 11 and 10 at time of sail). we will be flying in early and need to pick a hotel. looks like we have to book 2 hotel rooms so interested in advice on options where we can get a room that fits 4 of us at a more economical rate than 2 rooms. also looks to me like booking outside of disney for these hotels is cheaper as i checked prices of a few of the hotels directly to compare to disney rate.

shushh

09-30-2009, 04:46 AM

Welcom to everyone new!

Lubi, we were so close to booking the MH sagrada familia!!! DH ended up choosing another apartment closer to the port near Placa Reial. At the moment, we too are planning to arrive on the Wednesday.

mrosen, by triple. I do mean a room for 3. Some hotels only have rooms for 2. I think its because of room size and fire regulations?!?!?!? someone please correct me if I'm wrong. We nearly died when DCL gave us the quotes for their hotel package. It was better when we got quotes direct from the hotels but not much better! So we ended up going the apartment option. I have found that in April most will let you rent for 2-3 days minimum. There's a large variety available.

I was able to access mehaul's website (and excellent site if you haven't already been!).

NC_Tink

09-30-2009, 04:23 PM

I too was able to access mehaul's website last night - must have been a glitch with my computer :badpc: Thanks for creating the website mehaul - great source of information!

NC_Tink

10-02-2009, 07:05 PM

Does anyone know what it means by "sailing only" on the DCL website when you look at the itinerary for the 4/24 cruise? I probably should have found this out before I booked - but I'm never one for asking questions first. I jump and then figure things out :lmao:

shushh

10-03-2009, 03:55 AM

NC_Tink

10-03-2009, 07:19 AM

Yes, our sailing is the only one where the extra sea day is in a different order. I think in between Rome and Corsica rather than Rome and La Spezia.

Hope your weekends are going well. It is a long weekend here and it is cold (15 degrees) and raining. This after a 30 degree sunny day a couple of days ago!!! Go figure.

Thanks Belinda! I figured it was nothing that would change my mind about this trip.

Is that Celsius? Because if it's fahrenheit - brrr :eek:- that's cold! Here, in North Carolina, we don't typically see those kind of temperatures until maybe January and February. Today we're waking up to a very nice and sunny 63 degrees (fahrenheit) and warming up to about 83. Gotta love autumn in NC!

Hope your weather clears up and gets warmer. Enjoy your 3 day weekend!

skoi

10-03-2009, 08:12 PM

Okay, I'm not getting notifications. :confused3 Glad the thread isn't dead.

We decided to stay at (don't laugh) a Holiday Inn Express because it had the best rate for a triple. The apartments were very steep when we looked at the extra fees (like cleaning, etc). We'll also be in three days before, so maybe we can look at a pre-cruise meet up? But maybe not, as we'll all be jet-lagged and the kids have a list of things they want to see already.

Maybe we'll even have enough adults for a Palo brunch group. Since dh is staying home, and the kids are too young, I'd hate to have to go and eat alone, but I will.

Julie

skoi

10-03-2009, 08:17 PM

:welcome: mrosen and anyone else I might have missed.

I've been really busy with the kids' school and trying to catch up in my Arabic class. The second class was canceled, so now I'm in the beginner three class and it's :scared1: Students are only allowed to speak Arabic and I barely know how to figure out the script.

We're getting quite a group here. We've only lost one person that I know of. Pretty good.

Anyone looking at airfare yet, besides Belinda?

Julie

Michelle2

10-03-2009, 10:36 PM

Haven't booked my flights yet -- read somewhere in my "research" that a good time to book airfare is about 4 months in advance of your trip. Of course, if the airline you're booking has the ability to "show seats" via its website and you notice that the flight you want is looking like it's starting to get full - then you might want to purchase earlier. I figure it's a gamble no matter what - but my DSis-in-law went to Italy this past summer and informed me that she booked her airfare about 6 -7 months in advance and noticed that the airfare dropped significantly a couple of months later (yes, she was bummed).

I hope that the fares go down...still looks a little pricey to me. I remember looking for one way fares back from Spain in 2007 after the TA and the prices were much better at 2 and a half months before sailing than they are now at 6. I will be keeping an eye out, and fingers crossed. I don't think I will get too serious for a few months though...good to know others' experiences too!

As for questions regarding how it works for two B2B cruises - I believe that you will be able to leave your luggage in the room - if you have the same room on both cruises. Only you will have to disembark for a short time and then reboard with the rest of us.

I wish that they would do in Spain like they do in Florida, and have everyone get off (who will be staying on the ship for the next cruise) and re-check in, but get back onboard before everyone else. Usually at Port Canaveral, they are already checked in and back on the ship before the next cruisers are even allowed in the terminal. But, with it being a foreign country, you never know. I was hoping that we would not have to disembark and sit around and wait around for too long though....

I can't believe it is coming up so close. We were going to sneak away on a Magic cruise beginning of December, but I do not want to risk it cost wise, since these two are so important to me. I am just happy we do not have to have a hotel room before or after the cruise!
We stayed at the one that was close to the airport...started with an R...Radisson, or Renaissance. Very nice, and very close to the airport for a quick getaway the next day.

skoi

10-04-2009, 02:11 PM

I'm glad we're not the only ones who haven't booked airfare. I'm hoping it will go down significantly. I just got an email from Lufthansa (we flew them a few years ago to Kazakhstan and weren't overly impressed), with great fares for October through Christmas. So hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

Julie

shushh

10-07-2009, 04:55 AM

OK, not getting notifications either! Was wondering where everyone was. SHould have just checked!!!!

Weekend was lousy unfortunately, we were all sick! And yes temps are in celcius. I can't convert to fahrenheit...so had to look it up. 15 celcius is 59F, and 30C is 86F. We are currently in Spring and usually the weather is lovely, but its been abysmal the whole weekend.

Julie, I am glad you found a hotel! I would be happy to get any place that is clean with a reasonable rate. A meet would be nice but I agree that jetlag may be a problem. I am watching airfares too and desperately hoping that it will go down.

Anyone worked out what they are doing at the various ports? We are most likely to do things ourselves but are just waiting for Disney to release their excursion just so we have a comparison.

By the way, who have we lost?

Belinda

NC_Tink

10-07-2009, 10:36 AM

Do any of you know when Disney might release their excursion options? Like Belinda, I think we'll do a lot on our own - but I want a comparison before I start contacting tour companies for those places that I want to hire a driver/guide.

shushh

10-09-2009, 12:14 AM

NC_Tink

10-09-2009, 09:41 AM

:bday: Happy Birthday to your baby!!

skoi

10-12-2009, 11:54 AM

Happy belated birthday Baby Aussie!

pixiedust:party::jumping1:

skoi

10-12-2009, 11:55 AM

shushh

10-12-2009, 11:45 PM

Thank you everyone for baby's birthday wishes! The day went well and the rain stayed away :cheer2:

He started childcare yesterday so I'm feeling the guilts at the moment. I didn't think it would still happen with number 3! He's adjusted well thankfully and loves being there. In fact, today when DH picked him up. He cried because he wanted to keep playing...Very relieved.

Haven't really looked into Malta and Tunisia in great detail. So Julie, would love to hear what your Arabic tutor has to say and also the tour companies that you contacted. The european ports seem to be quite well reported on in various places.

Good luck with your flight bookings!

guynwdm

10-13-2009, 09:42 AM

mehaul

10-13-2009, 11:10 AM

So what are people doing after the cruise? I was thinking about going to Paris to hit Disneyland while I am that close. I am getting a bit of sticker shock on that right now. Everything seems really expensive there. Any thoughts on how to make that work?

In 2007 we went to DLP for 4 nights prior to the cruise and 2 nights to London post cruise. I had originally planned to stay in Paris and take the train to DLP for a day, but with 4 people (2 kids) it is cheaper to stay at DLP than in Paris, since you can get 1 room instead of the 2 you will need to house a family in Paris.

This trip we're just going to fly in the night before and then directly home afterwards.

Michelle2

10-13-2009, 06:52 PM

Did we ever reach a conclusion about how early is too early to book flights for the return home?

I actually looked today, sticker shock wasn't too bad, considering lately I've been looking at flights to Morocco for the summer.

Also: we're looking at doing all ports on our own. We have agendas for Villefranche (sort of), but definitely for Rome and Florence. Naples we're still debating whether we want to go to Pompeii.

Tunis we know what we want to do, it's just a matter of deciding whether my Arabic and French is good enough to brave it on our own, or do we want to pay a lot of money for a tour. I got one quote for 400 Tunisian dinars for a day tour of Carthage, Sidi Bou Said and the Medina for three in a jeep. Still waiting to hear from other companies. I read you can just get a cab and they'll take you and help you out. I'm going to ask my Arabic tutor his opinion on that option Tuesday evening.

Malta we have loose plans: we want to go out to Mdina and the other town nearby.

Corsica is all Napoleon for the kids. My opinion doesn't matter there.

Julie

I have no idea what I am doing yet...I think I will use the Disney excursions as a guide in the ports I am unfamiliar of. I cannot WAIT until those come out! Then it will seem more real to me....
Rome, and Pisa definitely on my own since I have done it on my own before...no prob. Th others, I am not so confident of...I may even do a Disney excursion for Tunis, but again, not too sure. Corsica will be all Napoleon for me too.

My DD13 decided not to homeschool this year, so she will not be able to go with me and I am so bummed. I am looking for a travel partner since my husband and DS7 will be ready to go back after the Transatlantic cruise. My older 2 are in high school, and there is no way they will be able to miss that much school at the end of the year. I am hoping to get my mom to meet me there in Barcelona, but I am going with or without someone else.

skoi

10-13-2009, 08:20 PM

So what are people doing after the cruise? I was thinking about going to Paris to hit Disneyland while I am that close. I am getting a bit of sticker shock on that right now. Everything seems really expensive there. Any thoughts on how to make that work?

We considered Paris first, then Granada, but decided we'll just do a few days in Barcelona before, then come right home. We have a trip planned for Egypt (oldest daughter and I) for September, and I'm supposed to be going to Morocco in the summer for three weeks for an Arabic class, so we're definitely cash poor right now.

I'd love to stay on afterwards, but it's not in the cards (especially the credit cards) for us.

Julie

NC_Tink

10-13-2009, 08:35 PM

So what are people doing after the cruise? I was thinking about going to Paris to hit Disneyland while I am that close. I am getting a bit of sticker shock on that right now. Everything seems really expensive there. Any thoughts on how to make that work?

We're actually contemplating DLP on the front end. We have to be back stateside for my in-laws' 50th Anniversary party the week after the cruise - so no dawdling in Europe on the back end. We have hotel ressies in Barcelona for the 3 days leading up to the cruise - but we can easily cancel those and change our plans. I guess it depends on what the cost differential between being in Barcelona for 3 days or being at DLP for those days. Since the package prices aren't available for April yet I have to wait to make that decision. Also, the added airfare/train fare going from the US to Paris to Barcelona and finally back to the US. DH wants me to lay it all out for him - money wise - before we can make a final decision on what we're doing.

Of course, there's always the possibility that he (DH) adds on a quick business trip on the front end, in which case we'll be headed to London for a few days prior to the cruise.

shushh

10-14-2009, 05:10 AM

Oh I would LOVE to go to DLP but we have to head straight home after the cruise as well :sad1:

I am so undecided about what to do in Tunisia. part of me wants to brave it and take the taxis myself but seeing as there are 7 of us, I am a bit worried that we might get separated.

skoi

10-14-2009, 12:32 PM

I didn't get a chance to ask my tutor last night about Tunisia. We got into a huge discussion about religion, and then what city in Morocco would be the best for me to go to.

If I get a chance, I'll ask my instructor (yes, I'm that serious, I have an Arabic class and a tutor on the side) tonight after class.

Julie

shushh

10-16-2009, 05:51 PM

Ok need your thoughts. Here is a quote I got from a local guide for Tunis.

** Meet at La Goulette port. at 8:00/8:30 a.m
** Drive to Carthage, visit of the Byrsa hill,the archeological musem,stop at the Roman water storage& aquaduct,visit of the Romain villas,visit of the Tophet sanctuary and the former Romano-Punic harbour,visit of Antonius Pius public baths.
** Drive to the charming village of Sidi Bou Saïd: Pedestrian visit of the Artist colony village to enjoy the typical architecture with it's nice blue & white colors.
** Drive to Tunis: Sighteseeing of the modern part of the city,then a pedestrian walk in the old city " the Medina " a stroll in the souks to have an idea about the local hand craft.(Possibility for shopping if interested)
** Drive back to the port at 4:00 p.m ( End of the service )
The above programme includes:
¤ The transportation in an a/c mini bus.
¤ The entrance fees to the sites & museum.
¤ The fees of a professional English speaking Guide.
¤ A soft drink in a local coffee shop in the medina.
¤ The parking fees and local taxes.
The cost is 300 u.s.dollars for the family of 7 guests.

Is this too cheap to be true? The other quotes I got was US$475 and US$450. These 2 are from big companies. The itineraries/inclusions were near identical.

skoi

10-16-2009, 09:40 PM

Sounds good. Can you pm me with the name of the company. We got a quote for a similar tour for the three of us for $400 Tunisian dinars, which is about $300 US. We also got on for $110 US a person, and one cheaper.

Julie

skoi

10-16-2009, 09:46 PM

:scared1:

I just saw Belinda's countdown and see it's about six months and one week until we leave! I have nothing planned! Nothing. And it's not like it's just a Caribbean cruise.

Time to get busy.

Julie

guynwdm

10-17-2009, 07:45 AM

When I find something like that I google for a review. I just get paranoid when in a foreign country that I don't know and I am doing something that is not through the ship. I have learned that if I send anything home it is not going through the mail and I am making sure a signature is require to receive it. I got my D23 expo stuff I bought lost by the post office. I am thinking insurance will be a given as well.

Is anyone doing Fish Extenders? Do we know now many Diser's are going to be on the ship?

NC_Tink

10-17-2009, 09:46 AM

Is anyone doing Fish Extenders? Do we know now many Diser's are going to be on the ship?

I had thought about this -- but I think logistically FEs will be difficult for us. With luggage restrictions being what they are and the amount of stuff I'll be packing just for 2 weeks overseas - I don't think I'll have enough room to pack stuff for Fish Extenders.

Hey Julie - don't feel bad - I don't really have anything set in stone yet either. Still waiting to see what the Disney excursions are. I just ordered Rick Steve's Rome 2010 book. Going to rely on this heavily to tour our way through Rome. Decided that we're definitely going our own there.
In Naples - I have a few touring companies that I need to contact. My biggest pet peeve is that most of the tour companies only accept traveler's checks or cash and I just don't tend to carry cash on me - especially not the equivalent of about $700 US. I like to pay by credit card or visa debit card. But, I did manage to find a couple that accept cc - now I just have to find reviews on them, contact them, etc., etc.
In La Spezia - I think we'll just get on the train and head over to Pisa - the boys want to see and climb the Leaning Tower. I think we'll make that a light day - since we'll have just finished Rome and Mt. Vesuvius/Pompeii the two days prior to this. After two heavy days - I don't think we could handle another all day excursion.
Malta - we'll probably walk it. From everything I've learned - the main part of town is about a 1/2 mile from port. Although, it's supposedly a "steep and arduous" walk - but our legs usually work fine so I think we can do it. :thumbsup2 I did find out that it's only about 10 Euro for a cab into town. So, if for some reason the old joints aren't up to it that day - we can always hop in a taxi. :goodvibes
Corsica also seems to be pretty walkable - the heart of Ajaccio is not far from port, so again, I think we'll just head into town on our own and see a few of the sights. I think we'll check out the market here, the Ajaccio Cathedral and a few other sites.
We're still not sure about Tunis. I think we mainly want to go see Carthage. I'm not really sure about going shopping. I've read about their market area and I just get real nervous about how crowded an area like that is. If it's anything like the Straw Market in Nassau, Bahamas - I lasted less than 5 minutes in there. I got in - went up one aisle and couldn't wait to get out. I'm not usually claustrophobic - but I felt way to boxed in. Too many people/sellers trying to get me to look at/buy their stuff. I don't enjoy feeling pressured. I'm more of the "casually stroll" and if I see something I like - I'll stop and peruse. I'm also not real good on the whole bartering thing and would probably pay way too much for something. Then, I would find out someone else purchased the same thing for 1/2 of what I spent and I would kick myself for the rest of the trip :lmao: I know, I have issues! :lmao:

I guess I have more planned than I really thought. I just need to nail down my plans in Naples and in Tunis. Oh, and I guess I still need to figure out if we're going to London, Paris or Barcelona prior to the cruise, get flights, potentially change our accommodations depending on our pre-cruise itinerary. UGH! There's still too much to do!! :scared1: :laughing:

Wow - can you all believe the cruise is just about 6 months away?!! :dance3:

shushh

10-18-2009, 03:46 AM

I was keen on doing FE as well because it sounded like so much fun and I think the kids would love it, but I echo Lubi's concern about luggage. We normally travel light anway, but fitting in extra things on top of other things that we wouldn't normally bring on holidays (eg formal gear, dress up nights etc) it could add up. Maybe see how big our group becomes? If it is small as it is currently, perhaps its doable.

We are doing fairly similar things. We've booked a driver/car for Rome and Naples. I did toy for while about doing it on our own, but in the end decided that becuase of distances its best for my peace of mind to fork out extra. Also it seems as if doing a private tour in Rome for eg could mean that you can see more in the same amount of time.

Doing Malta, Corsica and Villefrance on our own. In La Spezia, we are heading for cinque terre. We have hired a local guide who will catch train/ferry/walk around us.

Was reading my lonely planet Spain book last night and got sidetracked into reading about Spanish history for 4 hours...So tired today!

Oh and just to add to my stresses. I just found out that the departure time of the flight that I was just about to book has been moved forward by 25 min. So there goes my "just in case" buffer.

Hope you all have a great week!

Belinda

skoi

10-18-2009, 07:06 PM

I've been reading a lot about Spain as well. Now I'm ready to do any entire vacation there, especially in the south.

I guess we do have plans, just don't have the logistics pinned down. Maybe we'll use a tour company for Rome, we want to see very specific things: the Vatican and the Vatican Museum, St. Paul Outside the Walls church, and the Forum area. The kids will be happy with a quick go-through at the Forum, but really want to go the Vatican museum. (Yes, our kids are freaks that love museums.)

So if anyone can suggest a Roman tour company, let me know.

I still haven't asked either my instructor or my tutor about Tunis. I'll have to remember this week.

Julie

NC_Tink

10-18-2009, 08:25 PM

If you link here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1977518 and look at post #4, Andrew Derek has a list of recommended tour companies from several of the ports during the 2007 Mediterranean cruises. Several of the companies have web sites with information regarding their tours/excursions and what cost. I have been in touch with limoinrome and the owner was willing to do anything that we wanted in Rome. He was even willing to set up a guide for the Vatican Museum / Sistine Chapel.

shushh

10-20-2009, 05:28 AM

Julie, we booked Romeinlimo (as opposed to limoinrome!) for Rome and the Amalfi coast. They gave us 50 Euros off per tour. They too were very obliging and willing to vary the itinerary to our requirements. As it is, their recommended itinerary is jam-packed! They've had very good reviews on cruise-critic. The guides they've used in the Vatican seem to be very popular on cruise-critic as well, particularly Julia. She keeps getting mentioned!!

We will, as much as it breaks my heart, be giving the Vatican a miss. I think otherwise it'll be too much to the children. We'll be heading to the catacombs instead.

Nothng wrong with museums, I used to love museums even as a kid. Still do!

skoi

10-20-2009, 07:36 PM

Thanks for the links.

Belinda- I understand about the museum. We avoided them with our oldest son from the time he was about two (and fell off a bench, almost cracking open his head on the floor at our city's art museum) until he was about seven. I would take oldest daughter, who was calm and loved that sort of thing. Now, he can't wait to go, because he's developing an interest in Ancient and Medieval history from playing computer games!

This is another reason I'm going solo with the two big kids. Our five year old Tasmanian Devils would rip up Europe. They look sweet in the photo, but really, they're terrors. And after 16 hours on a plane from China with them, :scared1: I won't be on a flight with them that's longer than three hours.

Julie

shushh

10-21-2009, 04:13 AM

I think that its lovely your children enjoy museums. That yearn for learning will serve them well in life!

Please don't me remind about the very long flight that I have to take...We have an 8.5 hour flight, a 2 hour stop, then a 12 hr 45 min flight followed by another hours stop followed by a 1hr and 35 min flight.

AAaghhh!!!! :scared1:

NC_Tink

10-21-2009, 09:14 AM

Please don't me remind about the very long flight that I have to take...We have an 8.5 hour flight, a 2 hour stop, then a 12 hr 45 min flight followed by another hours stop followed by a 1hr and 35 min flight.
AAaghhh!!!! :scared1:

Ouch! :scared1:

Happy Goofy

10-21-2009, 02:05 PM

We just booked our flight back from Barcelona through Disney. If something cheaper comes along before final payment I can cancel. We are going over on the Magic which was almost cheaper than we are paying for the one way return trip. Please add John and Charlotte- room 2584-so far to your list for fish extenders, secret Mickeys, or any get togethers. I am new to this site so I am not sure who handles the list and how to get on it.

I think we will book our excursions through Disney. We have been to Rome years ago on our own and it was a nightmare. I feel safer with a tour company plus if you are on your own you can be going by important places without even knowing it.

Let me know if you are going to do fish extenders.

skoi

10-22-2009, 03:15 PM

:welcome:
Welcome John and Charlotte.

I'm doing the list, so I'll add you.

I don't think we decided on fish extenders. As over packers, this might be difficult for us.

For Palo brunch we need twelve, and have three so far.

Julie

guynwdm

10-22-2009, 04:19 PM

We just booked our flight back from Barcelona through Disney. If something cheaper comes along before final payment I can cancel. We are going over on the Magic which was almost cheaper than we are paying for the one way return trip. Please add John and Charlotte- room 2584-so far to your list for fish extenders, secret Mickeys, or any get togethers. I am new to this site so I am not sure who handles the list and how to get on it.

So what is Disney charging for flights? I guess I could contact DU and find out what it will be for Des Moines.

DISNEY_DEPRIVED

10-23-2009, 05:22 AM

Hello... Im completely booked on the med cruise with my DD-11 and DS-10.. and me.. would love to meet others going on this cruise.. wouldn't want to be the only one who looks lost on the cruise...

This will be our first cruise.. disney or otherwise...so you can imagine how excited I (oh, i mean the kids!) are....

Hopefully i can get some great tips.. I know i'm late to this, but i was wondering has anyone booked there hotel in Barcelona yet.. I've tried the hilton but they seemed to be sold out.. but i only tried on the internet.. i didn't call yet.. if soo, where is a good place to stay??... i'm looking to going to Barcelona early in the week and staying a couple of days...

Sherry...

skoi

10-23-2009, 06:31 AM

skoi

10-23-2009, 06:33 AM

Do people want to do this? Have reached an agreement?

I can add it to the first post if anyone wants. I don't know if I'll have to time organize it. I start a job on Sunday (teaching English to non-English speakers) and between that and homeshooling four kids and my Arabic class, I'm just over extended.

Have a good weekend.
Julie

shushh

10-23-2009, 11:19 PM

Welcome Sherry and family!

HappyGoofy, we have rough plans but we're also eagerly awaiting the release of Disney's shore excursion. It appears that they may be organising some rather exciting things in which case we may go with them.

Julie, thanks for the heads up on the festival. I didn't know that. Good luck with the new job! It sounds like you have your hands very full!

I don't mind being in charge of FE, but seeing as I haven't been on a Disney cruise before... I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM DOING! Also, if the groups gets too big, I don't know if I will have luggage space. What does everyone else think about FE?

As for activities, the cruise appears to be very port intensive. Will we have time to do anything else!??!?!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Belinda

skoi

10-24-2009, 08:11 AM

Every time there's an overnight post, I just know it's Belinda. What's the time difference? A lot of hours. I want to say 18, but that can't be right. I think Beijing is 13, or at least I remember it that way.

I don't know how Fish Extenders work. We never did it, because we have so many people and never enough room in our suitcases, and on some of our cruises the group got to be huge.

I got another quote for Tunisian from an American company who uses in country people to run their tours. Someone my husband works with used them for a three week stay in Tunisia, so if anyone wants their information, let me know. I'm probably going with the least expensive (could be a huge mistake), but if someone would rather have a U.S.based company than a completely in-Tunisia company, these guys might be an option for you. Just pm me if you want the info.

Julie

NC_Tink

10-24-2009, 08:51 AM

Hey all!

:welcome: Welcome to John & Charlotte and to Sherry and family!

If I remember correctly the time difference from the East Coast (US) to Australia is about 14 hours. So, good night Belinda!

And, good morning Julie!

Hey, have any of you see the link to the article about the Mediterranean/Baltic cruises on the main board? http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2314910 It looks like Disney is going to try to do some more "Adventures By Disney" type excursions this time around. So now, of course, don't know what we're doing. I've heard great things about the ABD excursions. But, with our cruise being the first in the Med. this year - we won't have reviews. Ugh - sometimes I hate making decisions!!! I mean, Disney will make the excursions sound great no matter what - but will they really be great? I read some not so stellar reviews of certain excursions from 2007 and they were excursions that I probably would have picked! :scared1: :scared1: So, I'm still not certain about what we're doing. I've been reading Rick Steve's travel book about Rome and I don't know if it's making me feel more comfortable or more nervous about going it alone in Rome. He does have some information about some local guides that do walking tours. So, I may look into that - figure take the train into Rome and then meet the guide there. Would probably save me a bunch of $$ if the guide is not picking me up at port and driving me back.

As for FEs - we've never done them either. My feeling would be, if we could keep the group small - it might be doable. Sometimes groups can get to be 100 people and I think that's just way too big and wouldn't be feasible with packing for overseas. I guess, for me, a lot would depend on which airline I finally book with and what their luggage limitations are. I think I read somewhere that certain European airlines restrict you to one checked bag per person and that would be tough for us. To pack for 2 weeks in Europe and pack FEs into 4 bags - nope, couldn't do it - not possible :lmao: We had 6 bags, plus 4 carry-on for 4 people for 9 days in Florida/Western Caribbean cruise in September:scared1: I'm an expert overpacker :lmao::lmao:

skoi

10-24-2009, 09:35 AM

Lubi-

We're definitely doing the European ports on our own. We've been to Rome years ago when the two oldest were only 4 and 9 months, but we had a few days to get around.

Our only worry is Tunis, and I know I'm totally overstressing on it. I keep forgetting to ask my tutor. I need to write a note in the front of my book. At this point, I'm actually considering an "on our own by public transportation" day in Tunis. It will really give me a chance to use my Arabic, though I'm not learning the right dialect.

I don't know where I got the 18 hours from. I know that didn't sound right, because it would put the entire continent in the middle of the Pacific. Sorry for moving your continent, Belinda. :goodvibes It would make your flight even longer and I know you don't want that.

Julie

skoi

10-24-2009, 09:46 AM

Just checked the link in the thread Lubi provided, and the Tunis tours, even without details, look pretty interesting.

I don't know.

I wish they'd release the excursion details early.

Anyone know if they pushed shopping on the last set of Med excursions? You always hear how the tours from ships and just group tours in general do that, and we're not big shoppers. We usually just pick up some souvenirs. That was the one thing I didn't like about being on with our guides in China- in Beijing we went to a couple places and the main purpose was to get us to spend money on expensive items: jade, pearls, silk, etc.

Julie

NC_Tink

10-24-2009, 08:15 PM

Anyone know if they pushed shopping on the last set of Med excursions? You always hear how the tours from ships and just group tours in general do that, and we're not big shoppers. We usually just pick up some souvenirs. That was the one thing I didn't like about being on with our guides in China- in Beijing we went to a couple places and the main purpose was to get us to spend money on expensive items: jade, pearls, silk, etc.

Julie

From some of the reviews that I read - I think it was the opposite. A lot of people complained that way too much time was spent eating in mediocre restaurants (lunches that were overcrowded and took over an hour and a half to complete) and that left them no time to do any type of shopping on excursions. I'm not huge on shopping - but I like to at least pick up a small souvie in each of the ports (even if just t-shirts and such).

skoi

10-24-2009, 08:31 PM

From some of the reviews that I read - I think it was the opposite. A lot of people complained that way too much time was spent eating in mediocre restaurants (lunches that were overcrowded and took over an hour and a half to complete) and that left them no time to do any type of shopping on excursions. I'm not huge on shopping - but I like to at least pick up a small souvie in each of the ports (even if just t-shirts and such).

Us too, but we've seen horror stories of people going to rug shop after rug shop, or whatever the specialty of the area is. As I mentioned about our trips to China, the touristy part in Beijing was very "factory" based. You get a little talk about how the goods are produced, and then they take you to the store to buy expensive stuff. And we did buy some things- thinking it'd be a long time before we went back to China.

I'm not much into mediocre restaurants either. The Berber village thing sounds interesting, but maybe the kids we're taking are too big for the sort of kid-oriented things they'll be offering. I don't know. Obviously our cruise will be the test case for the new tours.

Julie

mehaul

10-24-2009, 08:52 PM

From some of the reviews that I read - I think it was the opposite. A lot of people complained that way too much time was spent eating in mediocre restaurants (lunches that were overcrowded and took over an hour and a half to complete) and that left them no time to do any type of shopping on excursions. I'm not huge on shopping - but I like to at least pick up a small souvie in each of the ports (even if just t-shirts and such).

We took the med cruise in 2007. There was a "shopping lady" on board who gave a short presentation before each port. She was not overly pushy. She handed out a guide for each port with a few suggested shops.
I posted all the guides at www.worldofmouse.com
We took Disney excursions in Naples/Pompeii, Florence and Palermo. None of the excursions included shopping. On the Florence excursion they gave us about 90 minutes on our own before the bus pickup. We went for gelato and hit a few shops during that time.

shushh

10-24-2009, 11:14 PM

We just came home from a Europe travel show in the city and we're exhausted. The cost of our flights is a killer. For the flight that works, its going to be around US$1800 per adult. :scared1:

So far the prices of the private tours that I've enquired about are cheaper than DCL's 2007 tour prices. We will definitely consider any unique tour by DCL tour. I'm worried though about age limits as Jonah will only be 18 months at time of travel. I too am not a big fan of being "made" to shop somewhere.

As for FE, I read somewhere that some people have only 1 gift per cabin, rather than one per person. Should we just leave this til about 2-3 months out and then see who is interested at that stage?

Oh and we are 15 hours ahead of US eastern time. We just had daylight savings recently. It used to be 14 hours.

skoi

10-26-2009, 01:42 PM

Well 15 is about halfway between 13 and 18, so I'm not that crazy.

If they do the Berber village experience in Tunis, we might do that, if it sounds appropriate for older kids. They do want to go to the souks, because ds is a bargaining fiend. When I took the big kids out alone in China, he did all the bargaining and was really good at it. Just the thought of it makes me nervous. I don't know why, just a hang up I have.

Good to hear there weren't shopping stops. I hate that sort of thing because travel completely stretches our budget, and we don't like to feel obligated to spend money on things we'd never want.

Julie

DISNEY_DEPRIVED

10-26-2009, 03:36 PM

Thank You everyone for the welcomes... i'm soo eager to see the excursion list, i can't even imagine what the prices will be like if they do an ABD type.. and like it was previously stated...this will be the first cruise this year so no nice reviews to read.. i guess that responsiblity falls on us April Criusers...

I've yet to buy my plane ticket either.. but i actually live in Italy so, mines isn't as bad as some...

I'm soo ready for this cruise... i'm ready to do NOTHING for once on a vacation....

Sherry!

skoi

10-26-2009, 06:58 PM

Wow, Italy. Very cool. When dh was considering converting from Reserves to Active Duty, one of the potential postings would have been Naples, and we were very excited about that. He decided to stay Reserves, though, and ended up in Afghanistan a couple years later. Not quite as nice as Italy, but maybe more potential for career advancement.

shushh

10-27-2009, 04:30 AM

How does being in the reserves work in the states? Do you have to do a certain amount of service still? Or only get called upon when needed? I still can't imagine how you do it all alone and home school, and work and study! :worship:

Sherry, Italy is one of my favourtie countries. I fell in love with it when we first when to Rome eons ago. How long have you been living there? I need to resurrect my high-school Italian for our trip!

skoi

10-29-2009, 12:30 PM

They say reserves is one weekend a month, two weeks a year, unless you're deployed. However, dh always had on-line classes to finish, exams to study for, and extra work to do in between weekends, and the higher in rank, the more responsibility you had. When he was the lead petty officer, he had a lot to do in off time. But he's done in May, and not reenlisting.

Can't wait. I spoke with my Arabic teacher, but he's never been in Tunisia, so no help there. Still up in the air about tour versus on our own.

Julie

skoi

10-29-2009, 01:58 PM

Anyone waiting for the Disney Dream announcement? I forgot all about it, because I've been so busy.

I saw one picture on another thread, of the slide, and it looked amazing.

Julie

NC_Tink

10-29-2009, 03:37 PM

Anyone waiting for the Disney Dream announcement? I forgot all about it, because I've been so busy.

I saw one picture on another thread, of the slide, and it looked amazing.

Julie

There are virtual tours of the ship and "photos" on the DCL website! You're right - that slide does look amazing!

shushh

10-29-2009, 05:49 PM

Good morning all!

My son and I went through the virtual tour together and the poor poppet thought that it was "his" ship in April. He didn't seem too fazed when I told him otherwise and just stated "well, we'll go on that one another time then"...Hmmm now to save up some more.

I do like the new ship however, I have to agree with some of the other posters on the general forum that it didn't quite blow me away. The Oasis does look awesome though.

skoi

10-30-2009, 05:45 AM

The big kids thought it looked a little two modern. They like the Art Deco Style of the Magic. They're excited about the Aqua Duck, and the new restaurants. Oldest dd thought there were a lot of bars. And she's sailed on Carnival, where the first thing you see when you board is a bar in the atrium!:lmao:

We won't be on the Dream until 2012 when we celebrate oldest dd's high school graduation, so this cruise is our last for a long time.

Julie

Happy Goofy

11-01-2009, 07:45 AM

When we decided to do the Med Cruise we were getting prices such as $800-$1000 per person -one way. When we saw the price of the Eastbound repositioning cruise we thought that was a better deal. So for just a little more we are getting another two week vacation and we can take as much luggage because we have a home about 5 minutes from Port Canaveral,FL. I have to admit I am a little leary about being at sea for 6 days. Could anyone give me some info on how that is going to be? We booked the flight home through Disney- which so far was the cheapest. We will worry about luggage then.

I too wish they would release the excursions early so we can do some research. We did the Panama Cruise and did the Disney Excursions and were pretty happy with most of them. Keep us informed of any plans for the fish extenders, secret Mickeys or any other type of get together.

skoi

11-01-2009, 07:33 PM

I envy you guys who are doing the TA and the Med.

However, oldest ds and I are going to Morocco in March to volunteer at a children's hospital. We're very excited about it. I was going to go alone, but he asked to come, and they'll take him, so we're off.

We'll still be on the cruise, unless we get arrested or something. I keep thinking of that old movie- Midnight Express? Where the people get arrested with drugs in Turkey or Morocco or some place like that. Not that we'd do anything illegal, but with our bad luck, who knows what could happen? :rolleyes1

Could you share what you're paying with Disney for air? I haven't even looked yet.
Julie

Happy Goofy

11-02-2009, 07:31 PM

skoi

11-04-2009, 11:10 AM

We're coming right home after the cruise. We'll be in Barcelona three days before, but that's it.

I think someone else did mention they were doing the TA, but I'm not sure.

Still haven't purchased airfare. I've put off the planning completely, because as I mentioned, ds and I will be going to Morocco in March, so I have to practice my Arabic and arrange that trip. I think I bit off way more than I can chew, this time.

Julie

Irish9697

11-05-2009, 05:11 PM

I just booked this cruise for us. Still not positive it's 100% going to happen for us, but would love it to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it will be just the 3 of us - me 35, ds 10 and dd 9.

skoi

11-05-2009, 05:26 PM

I just booked this cruise for us. Still not positive it's 100% going to happen for us, but would love it to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it will be just the 3 of us - me 35, ds 10 and dd 9.

:welcome:

Welcome aboard Irish9697! Hope you make it with us.

Julie

NC_Tink

11-05-2009, 05:43 PM

:welcome: Irish 9697!!!

As Julie said -- hope you all get to come with us!!

shushh

11-06-2009, 03:44 AM

Irish9697 Another warm welcolm here!:wave2: The more the merrier!

skoi

11-06-2009, 03:01 PM

Getting ready to pay off the cruise. :scared1:

Watch out credit card.

shushh

11-07-2009, 04:23 AM

Julie, just read your blog. What wonderful stories! It is admirable what you and your son are about to do in Morocco. Is Zhi Jie hte little cutie in blue on the right in your new photo?

And as for credit card, ours is about to feel the same pain...

skoi

11-07-2009, 07:54 AM

Glad you liked it. I'm still moving the adoption blog over from the old server. I got distracted when I got my part time job.

Yes, Zhi Jie now Alex (thank goodness we didn't name him Vlad, I must have been nuts thinking that) is the one in blue. He's come a long way.

Julie

mrosen

11-08-2009, 10:28 AM

:welcome:

Welcome Sherry and family.

I also noticed about a month ago that hotels weren't available online for at least that Friday. We're ended up booked into a Holiday Inn Express in Barcelona, a bit off the main drag, but near the Picasso Museum, etc. I think it's more of a business hotel. But there are three of us, and it was one of the cheapest options we could find.

Also, I read April 23rd is some sort of huge festival/feast day/holiday they celebrate there, St. Jordi's Day, which is the Feast of Saint George in the Arabic church, but there has sort of morphed into a Valentine's Day like thing, so maybe that's why everything's filled up?

We don't have many activities planned but am open to suggestions. We'll definitely have a meet up and we have a lot of veteran cruisers among the group, so any questions, ask away!

I'll also have our 11 year old ds on board. It's nice to see some more kids.

Julie

We didn't book our hotel yet and will be staying a few nights before the cruise (family of 4) Is this a mistake that we haven't booked the hotel yet before the April 24th cruise? This posting implies that we'll struggle to find a hotel. We were going to book later this month but sounds like we need to move faster.

On airfare, was also waiting til Dec just before we have to pay for the rest of the cruise to book that hoping we may find some better fares. Any comments on that would be welcome too.

thanks.

mrosen

11-08-2009, 10:31 AM

Lubi, it seems like the excursion details come out about 150 days before sailing so the platinum/concierge cruisers can review before booking. So we have about 48 days!

Hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. Celebrating our baby's first birthday! Hope you all have a great weekend.

I know I keep checking Disney site for details on shore excursions. We aren't a platinum or concierge cruiser - this will be our first disney cruise. Anyone know if the shore excursions details will be available for everyone to see before final payment is due on Dec 25th? I was hoping within a month the details would be available on what Disney is offering on options.

skoi

11-08-2009, 12:34 PM

mrosen, let me say welcome if I haven't already. I've been very busy and I'm losing track of things.

:welcome:

We booked because we have a budget, and seized that Holiday Inn Express opportunity. I've been looking since the summer, never at the Disney partner hotels because I'd knew they'd be expensive. When I looked, though, all the hotels were expensive, and the cheaper ones tended to be only for two people maximum. The Disney partner hotels listed on their website didn't have availability when I looked for that Friday night. I don't know what the story is now.

With four, it might be better to look into an apartment, because hotels for four in Europe can be difficult to get at a decent price, from my understanding. It can't hurt to start looking now.

We don't have airfare. Honestly, I can't think about the cruise now that we have another trip in between. Big mistake to plan it that way, but when opportunity knocks, you answer.

Also, I have no idea about excursions. We've never done Disney excursions, and prefer to go on our own. But that was the Caribbean and the excursions were all set long before we started cruising. I have to imagine they'll be released in time for the opening of the castaway booking window.

Any other questions: ask away.

Julie

NC_Tink

11-08-2009, 01:33 PM

We didn't book our hotel yet and will be staying a few nights before the cruise (family of 4) Is this a mistake that we haven't booked the hotel yet before the April 24th cruise? This posting implies that we'll struggle to find a hotel. We were going to book later this month but sounds like we need to move faster.

On airfare, was also waiting til Dec just before we have to pay for the rest of the cruise to book that hoping we may find some better fares. Any comments on that would be welcome too.

thanks.

We booked our hotel/apartment for a few days prior to the cruise already. I went through venere.com and found an apartment style hotel that sleeps 4 comfortably and had decent reviews on tripadvisor. Out on the main DCL forum there's a thread going about hotels in Barcelona (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1988958) Someone posted this website (http://www.travelforkids.com/Family-hotels/Spain/barcelona-family-hotels.htm#ramblas) as a source of information to find hotels for families. It looks like a nice resource in that it specifically states how many can sleep in a room. I decided to book a couple of months ago because I, too, had heard that it might be difficult to find accommodations for a family of 4 in one room. We found a place in the Sagrada Familia district, I think it's a little farther from all the action (like Las Ramblas), but that's okay - it's not far from a Metro Stop which I figure we can use to get wherever we need to. And, the best is that it isn't going to cost me a small fortune (okay - maybe it is - but by Barcelona standards, I think we did pretty well for 3 nights). Also, I made sure to book somewhere that allows me to cancel right up until the day or two before arrivial -- this way I keep checking other places, that might be a little closer to the action, that haven't released dates for 2010 yet.

As for air, we haven't booked yet either. I keep checking but it's a little much right now -- about $900 from RDU (Raliegh/Durham) and about $750 from JFK or Newark. I'm willing to drive there because my Brother lives in central NJ and we can leave our car with him -- at a savings of $150 - $200 per ticket -- that's a pretty big chunk of change and I get to visit with my Brother and his family for a couple of days. And, since many of the flights out of Raleigh require a layover in some other stateside airport, I can catch a direct flight out of the NY area. But, I digress. I have been told by a few sources, although these sources are not in the travel industry, they're just speaking from experience, that it's best to wait for airfare until about 4 months out. So, I plan to really start looking in late December/early January. I've been looking from time to time now and I've watched airfares climb about $100 per ticket on some airlines since the summer -- but I'm hoping that they come back down. I would love to be able to find tickets for under $600 and based on other people's information -- there were some very low airfares this past spring. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

Happy Goofy

11-09-2009, 07:52 AM

Has any final decision been made on the Fish Externders and the Secret Mickeys on the April 24 Med cruise? What about the brunch at Palo or any other get together?
My husband and I would like to take part in any activities.

guynwdm

11-09-2009, 08:28 AM

I think my Dad and I are going to either fly or take the train to Paris after the cruise and see Disneyland Paris. Is anyone else doing that? It's hard to believe that the final payment is about a month away. It's getting much closer!! I am also wanting to see what they offer for shore excurisions. At the D23 expo they talked about how adventures by Disney is pairing up with the cruiseline to create more port adventure level tours. Just hoping some of those would come available soon. I downloaded the podcasts the cruiseline put out for the last Med cruise so I could get an idea of the ports and the things to do at them

I have started looking for hotels for the stay and am trying to figure out what size rooms things really are there. I know the hotel rooms are much smaller than what we are used to in the US.

skoi

11-10-2009, 05:06 PM

Hey Rob good to see you back around. We're all looking forward to hearing about these excursions. Someone on the big board linked an article about them, and they sound good enough to tempt me from my go-it-alone Tunisia plan.

We just need to pay off and get airfare, and we're ready.

No decision on Fish Extenders as far as I know.

Julie

shushh

11-11-2009, 03:32 AM

HappyGoofy, we haven't decided on anything yet. Will definitely keep everyone in the loop if something were to be organised. I think we've all been too busy!

Good luck to everyone trying to find hotels and flights. I sure am glad I've booked mine. Now I can concentrate on christmas which I suddenly realise is not too far away. YIKES!

Does anyone know how the 2007 excursions were announced? Was there a big announcement? or did they just appear on the website? and we have to go looking ourselves...

skoi

11-11-2009, 09:21 AM

Good luck to everyone trying to find hotels and flights. I sure am glad I've booked mine. Now I can concentrate on christmas which I suddenly realise is not too far away. YIKES!

Christmas! You're an evil, evil woman to bring that up. I can't imagine what it'll be like this year with all the craziness going on in my house. Of course Christmas decorations have been up in the store since before Halloween here. There's so much to do in the next few months.

Jule

guynwdm

11-11-2009, 10:11 PM

I have not really had much time to think about the trip. I have Dis-a-paloosa and a possible trip the week after Christmas back to the world. I will have a week there in February as well so I have at least 2 maybe 3 trips to the world before the cruise. Then there's the holidays in there as well. I am going to need some vacations from the vacations :rotfl:

I am thinking with the weight limits the FE idea might be tricky. I am willing to keep a running list of who the disers are on the ship with the cabin numbers. We should plan a meet as well just to get to know each other.

Since I think this is the first time a Disney ship is stopping in Africa, that might be a good theme to use for our trip. Maybe something Lion King-ish for it.:simba:

skoi

11-12-2009, 09:09 AM

Wow, all those trips. I thought I was busy with travel.

Lion King could work, but it's one of my least favorite. The kids and I are looking at different themes depending on the upcoming port. So for Tunis, we were thinking Aladdin, since that story is so well-known in the Arabic speaking world.

Italy, well, we have Pinocchio, so maybe we'll skip a Disney theme in those ports.

France has lots of choices.

Spain- who knows. I'm still thinking on that.

Julie

guynwdm

11-12-2009, 04:00 PM

Aladdin is perfect, I had not thought of that. Genie... Magic.... seems like a fit to me.:wizard:

If people want to send me their info I will get a list going.

Board Name, Names of adults and kids in the cabin and their relationship, cabin number and any special occasions that someone might be celebrating. I will work on getting it set up. I must be feeling a bit of energy tonight. It was a long day teaching today but I am still up for more things to do. Not sure where I got this spurt of energy tonight.

guynwdm Rob, Richard (father), cabin 5022, Rob's Birthday is 5/9 so celebrating early

NC_Tink

11-12-2009, 05:05 PM

Thanks Rob! I'll PM you our information tonight. Right now I'm off to do some Christmas shopping...

skoi

11-12-2009, 06:47 PM

Thanks Rob. I'll also Pm you shortly. Also- look on page one. We have some info in the roll call.

Julie

shushh

11-13-2009, 03:09 AM

Hi all! Here's your good morning message from me again! Christmas decorations seem to be going up earlier and earlier everyyear. Funny how hotcross buns are now available all year round and not just at Easter time.

Just saw that the transatlantic excursions are up. HappyGoofy, did any of them take your fancy? I haven't had a chance to take a good look.

Rob, it would be bliss to be in your position. I wouldn't mind needing another vacation for all the vacations that you're having!! Bless you for helping Julie out, I think she's just a tad swamped at present...Will PM you some more info.

I think the Aladdin/genie/magic theme is a great idea. But I am not so creative in making up a catchy board name. Any ideas? How about "Our MAGICal carpet ride through the Mediterranean" Sorry if that is abit lame. Will brainstorm some more.

A meet as a minimum is a good idea. Shall we wait until after christmas to decide about the FE? If the group remains small, it may be doable. But I do share Rob's and Lubi's concern about weight/luggage restrictions.

Dreading the weekend as Mal will be oncall until Tuesday...:sad1: so will be flying solo until then.

shushh

11-13-2009, 03:10 AM

Forgot to ask....What is a "Dis-a-paloosa"?

auntlynne

11-16-2009, 09:06 PM

auntlynne

11-16-2009, 09:32 PM

Although there's an uncertainty about our going, I don't want to be too long out of the mix.

Fish Extenders (FE) - We participated on our last Disney cruise, Halloween of 2008. The group size was about 80 participating in FE, although more were in the whole Disboard group. They divided the FE into groups of 10-12 cabins, based on cabin location so you didn't have to roam all the halls of the ship.

Here's our door (with magnets) and Karen's and my FE:

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp321/auntlynne61/S7300572_2.jpg

My sister's cabin's FE:

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp321/auntlynne61/S7300574_2.jpg

Every group sets its own rules about FE gifts. Bottom line, if you are going to get, you should give. And it doesn't have to be big things (especially if you have to bring them from home). I made personalized door magnets as one of my gifts.

Some groups do one gift per cabin or one per person - and why not mix it up and just say something given. Where we are going, it might be fun to wait until you are in Europe and get small souvenirs there to exchange. 'Cause whatever you get has to come home in the suitcase, too.

I love my FE. It is so fun to walk down the hallway and see your room from afar because of your distinct FE. The gifts inside are just a bonus (but fun, too).

And a FE doesn't have to be fancy; there are a lot of imaginative FEs out there. You could use paper gift bags and connect them with ribbon and hang that from the fish (which is a metal decoration used by DCL to leave notes about meetings, onboard credits, etc - someone on the Disboards created the idea of FE). Usually it's one pocket/space per person (or each kid and one for parents combined) - but it could be one pocket for the entire family.

So, yes, I would vote for FE. And if you wait until final payments are made, I'll volunteer to oversee it if I'm onboard.

shushh

11-17-2009, 03:48 AM

Welcome Lynne :cheer2:

You're another one of the lucky duckies who gets to go on the Transatlantic as well as a med cruise! (well hopefully). Your niece is also one lucky girl!

Some great ideas on FE there. Thank you also for volunteering to oversee it. I, myself, would prefer to wait until after christmas so make a decision. Not sure about the others.

Great photos by the way! I made some magnets the other day and very proud of them. Our local supermarket had magnetic paper at 60% off!

I notice that you have a logo for the Panama Canal cruise. We're on that as well!

Belinda

skoi

11-17-2009, 09:03 AM

Welcome Lynne
:welcome:

Hope you're able to make it.

If you'll be on board, and your daughter wants to exchange emails with my 15 year old, let us know.

Great magnets. We had tons on our last cruise, and forgot to take pictures of our doors.

Julie

Happy Goofy

11-18-2009, 01:33 PM

I am glad to see that there are some people doing the TA and the Med April 24 cruise. For a while we thought we were the only ones. I am trying to keep both separate as far as FE and Secret Mickeys etc. but it gets confusing. Will someone from each cruise give us a list of names for FE, and other special get togethers?

shushh

11-20-2009, 04:07 AM

Elliot is going to play the piano at the Sydney Opera House tomorrow! I am very nervous :scared1: but luckily 6 year olds are completely oblivious to nerves. Wish us luck for tomorrow!

NC_Tink

11-20-2009, 09:50 AM

Hi, everyone

I'm Lynne, traveling with my 16 yo niece, Karen. We're from Alabama and she is yet another home-schooler. We're coming along for the fun unless she doesn't stay caught up with her studies between now and the Dec 11 payment deadline for the EB Transatlantic. Then I'd have to decide whether to go alone or not.

I've been hanging back from posting - and trying not to get too excited about the cruise in case we had to stay home.

We booked the Transatlantic first, being cheaper and having less shore excursions to pay for. Then the April 24 prices dropped and I thought it would be a shame to miss them, especially since I'd already be there and could say the one-way return airfare was covering two cruises. After I asked my sister about Karen's flying home alone, she came back and said that it would make more sense for her to do both cruises, also.

:welcome: Lynn and Karen!! I too am jealous of all you folks on the Transatlantic - would love to do that! But, alas - it is not in the cards for us this time.

As for FEs - I'm too of the mindset that I'd like to wait until after the holidays to determine whether or not I want to try to swing this. But, thanks for offering to be the keeper of the FE list!

Elliot is going to play the piano at the Sydney Opera House tomorrow! I am very nervous :scared1: but luckily 6 year olds are completely oblivious to nerves. Wish us luck for tomorrow!

Belinda, good luck to Elliot!! That's very exciting!! :thumbsup2

guynwdm

11-20-2009, 02:34 PM

We are one of the few staying onboard from the TA to the Med. Cruise. Anyone else?
Our air from Disney was $1470 with transfers for the two of us. IS anyone going to Disneyland in Paris after the cruise? If so what are you paying for hotel and flights. We would love to do it but I think we have reached the limit with the two cruises. We booked oneof these cruises on the Panama Cruise so we got the $200 room credit and the discount.

I am headed to DL Paris after. I am looking to fly at this point. So far it is looking like it is easier to book a ticket to fly to barcelona and back from Paris and buy a separate ticket to fly to Paris. It was looking like less than 100 for the Paris leg on Kayak.

Final payments due on 12/23... too bad it is not after Santa comes.

Still working on the list of information for people. Let me know your information names/cabin/any special events/ kids ages/ etc

guynwdm

11-20-2009, 02:46 PM

auntlynne

11-20-2009, 03:37 PM

As for FEs - I'm too of the mindset that I'd like to wait until after the holidays to determine whether or not I want to try to swing this. ...

I agree; I think the consensus would be to make final payments to see who's in and who's out and to let holiday shopping (and bills) settle before embarking on the FE adventure.

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu234/guynwdm/tigger.jpg

Now that is some imagination. Definitely easier to find the cabin in those long halls. Have you used this yet? Wondering if the string at the top lets it hang down enough so the fish doesn't cover up Tigger's head?

Lynne

guynwdm

11-20-2009, 05:37 PM

Now that is some imagination. Definitely easier to find the cabin in those long halls. Have you used this yet? Wondering if the string at the top lets it hang down enough so the fish doesn't cover up Tigger's head?

Lynne

Yep, I used it on the podcast cruise back in May. It fit perfect, the fish does not extend down as far as it looks. I have it hanging by my door and use it for mail now. It makes me think I am still on the cruise when I come home. :cloud9:

shushh

11-20-2009, 11:40 PM

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu234/guynwdm/tigger.jpg

That is too cute! and very creative.

Elliot went well at his concert today. Thank goodness! Here are a few pics
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_6IGdqOKbHKc/Swd6m9L1pzI/AAAAAAAAAGc/Np2gnE-wD-E/s400/P1020462.JPGSydney Harbour Bridge

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6IGdqOKbHKc/Swd6n6dvXKI/AAAAAAAAAGg/I_Cgzxm2bnE/s400/P1020463.JPGRhapsody of the Seas docked at Circular Quay

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6IGdqOKbHKc/Swd6qaMJPkI/AAAAAAAAAGo/GhYM0aq71zI/s400/P1020476.JPGTime to play!

If you are interested...Here is a link to a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnkSSoFoUfA. Sorry for the excess information but I am a very proud mum at the moment!!!

Belinda

Happy Goofy

11-21-2009, 08:23 AM

Here is my cruise information
John and Charlotte -retired
Cabin 2584
Early dining
Doing the TA and April 24 Med Cruise

NC_Tink

11-21-2009, 09:16 AM

That is too cute! and very creative.

Elliot went well at his concert today. Thank goodness! Here are a few pics
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_6IGdqOKbHKc/Swd6m9L1pzI/AAAAAAAAAGc/Np2gnE-wD-E/s400/P1020462.JPGSydney Harbour Bridge

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6IGdqOKbHKc/Swd6n6dvXKI/AAAAAAAAAGg/I_Cgzxm2bnE/s400/P1020463.JPGRhapsody of the Seas docked at Circular Quay

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6IGdqOKbHKc/Swd6qaMJPkI/AAAAAAAAAGo/GhYM0aq71zI/s400/P1020476.JPGTime to play!

If you are interested...Here is a link to a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnkSSoFoUfA. Sorry for the excess information but I am a very proud mum at the moment!!!

Belinda

Wow Belinda! You have every reason to be a proud mum!! He played wonderfully! Thanks so much for sharing!

auntlynne

11-22-2009, 07:46 AM

... Elliot went well at his concert today. Thank goodness! If you are interested...Here is a link to a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnkSSoFoUfA. Belinda

Belinda, Elliot is doing great with the piano. And your kids are cute, to boot.

Do y'all routinely use the Opera Sydney House as a community venue for recitals or is it a really big deal to perform there?

Lynne

auntlynne

11-22-2009, 08:23 AM

Here's a recent ROLL CALL (alphabetical):

auntlynne Lynne (48), DN Karen (16) Huntsville, AL GTY 11 Late +EB
DISNEY_DEPRIVED Sherry, DD (11), DS (10) Italy
DisneyCruiser83 Tess (26), DH David (33) 8600 (may have switched to WB)
guynwdm Rob, Dad West Des Moines, IA
Happy Goofy John, Charlotte 2584 Main +EB
friend of tinkerbelle Michaela (39), DH (49), DS (8) Overland Park, KS 5020 Main
Irish9697 self (35), DS (10), DD (9) Memphis, TN
KathyFP Pennsylvania 1030
mehaul Chicago, IL
Michelle2 Michelle +EB
mrosen self, other, (11), (10) GTY
NC_Tink Lubi, DH Brian, DS Connor (12) DS Kieran (10) North Carolina
shushh Belinda, DH Malcolm, Elliot (7), Lara (5), Jonah (18 mo) Jenny (Mum), Kian (Dad)
skoi Julie, DD Sadie (15), DD Sigurd (11) Late

shushh

11-23-2009, 05:12 AM

Thank you everyone for your kind words!

Do y'all routinely use the Opera Sydney House as a community venue for recitals or is it a really big deal to perform there?

It is sometimes hired by big organisations for concerts, music competitions, etc but yes, it is still a big deal to perform there! Most recitals, competitions etc use local halls and schools usually.

Still waiting for the shore excursions to be released...What's taking so long?

friend of tinkerbell

11-24-2009, 04:40 PM

Mediterranean shore excursions are now listed on the Disney Cruise website!!

There are some great options! Very hard to choose.
:cool1::yay::cheer2:

shushh

11-25-2009, 05:31 AM

Mal and I went through them. As tempted as we are because so many sound fabulous, they are a little too expensive for us. We've decided to do things on our own/take private tour for the ports. I've just written a pre-trip report (my very first one!), its got a summary of what we're doing.

IrishCowboy

11-25-2009, 10:01 AM

Subscribing

auntlynne

11-25-2009, 04:25 PM

H A P P Y - T H A N K S G I V I N G - E V E R Y O N E

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp321/auntlynne61/disneythanksgiving.jpg

mrosen

11-25-2009, 04:34 PM

Mediterranean shore excursions are now listed on the Disney Cruise website!!

There are some great options! Very hard to choose.
:cool1::yay::cheer2:

How great they are now out there to review. I agree there are some great choices and hard to choose.

I do think these are rather expensive and wondering if these are worth the costs Disney is asking. Anyone have any experience on this as we've never done a cruise before

Also, when will Disney let you book excursions for April 24th cruise as I also see a reference to book early as there is limited availability and they could fill up.

auntlynne

11-25-2009, 09:44 PM

...Also, when will Disney let you book excursions for April 24th cruise as I also see a reference to book early as there is limited availability and they could fill up.

Pre-reservation booking windows open:
First Time Guests 75 days prior to sail date (Feb 8)
Silver Castaway 90 days prior to sail date (Jan 24)
Gold Castaway 105 days prior to sail date (Jan 9)
Platinum Castaway 120 days prior to sail date (Dec 25)

auntlynne

11-26-2009, 12:15 AM

Just checked when my balance was due - and finally remembered I paid in full when I booked in September.

However, the $1998 per person for a Cat 12 GTY is now $999, so I made a new reservation and put it on a 3-day hold (it was after Disney business hours). Half price sale - can't beat that. :cool1: Anyone else in a Cat 12 may want to look into this.

skoi

11-27-2009, 12:03 PM

Howdy everyone and a belated Happy Thanksgiving!

We've been sick, plus I had a crowd of family and my Arabic teacher here for dinner, so it was nuts.

I'm seriously tempted to do the Berber day in Tunis, which was the one port I was dead set on doing on my own. :lmao: Now I'm not sure. It is pricey, but we rebooked into a Cat 10 from our 7 and saved a lot of money.

That $999. deal looks great, but if we ended up in a 12 or an 11, it would be tight with three practically adults, I think, especially without the split bath. Any thoughts?

The time is getting close for the booking window to open on reservations for the platinum members among us, so if anyone's interested in doing the Palo group for brunch, let me know. We'd need I think 11 adults, and I can't request it until 30 days out. Every group I'm with has gotten the room, but there's always a chance we won't. So let me know what you think.

Julie

shushh

11-27-2009, 03:52 PM

skoi

11-27-2009, 04:59 PM

Hello all! Wow, that cat 12 price looks good. Julie, how much would you save by booking a cat 12 rather than a 10. Don't know how much smaller the bathroom is so can't comment. It is for 11 nights though.

Berber Village (and so many others) sound really exciting but we are restricted by age limits. Never mind.

When were you thinking of doing brunch?

Well, we did the 12, and even having to pay for Sig, we saved over $4000.00 easy. That's a lot of tips for crew, covers air fare, and maybe that excursion. But the kids really want to go to Carthage so... :confused:

Julie

shushh

11-27-2009, 05:07 PM

Julie, well done! Yes $4000 covers a lot of other "extras". Maybe you could organise something on your own that will cover similar thing to the DCL excursion AND include the carthage as well. The one that we are doing ourselves in Tunis is $150 cheaper than DCL. Maybe show the tour operators that you had contacted earlier the DCL excursions and ask them to match??!?!

It has been SO hot here. 42 degrees yesterday and 35 today. I am glad we have a air-conditioning!

mrosen

11-27-2009, 07:18 PM

I see these prices on Cat 12. We could save quite a bit of money if we switched from our Cat 10 room to a Cat 12. And I thought we got a pretty good deal already when we booked with kids sail free. But these Cat 12 rooms are quite a bit cheaper on total cost. We have 4 in the room so wondering what thoughts anyone has on this as we have 2 girls (11 and 10 at time of sail) plus my husband and I. Not sure if hanging on to the split bath is important given how many nights on the ship. We also like the location of our room (few doors down from the laundry facilities, and not near alot of noise given the reviews I've read on staterooms online). So weighing the tradeoff of giving this up to get a Cat 12 GTY to save some big money.

Anyone know when Disney would give the room assignment on Cat 12 guarantee? Any comments on the split bath vs none?

I'm also assuming that Disney is having trouble with not having enough bookings and why they have dropped again the Cat 12 pricing. Is there any chance they could cancel this cruise if they are having trouble filling it? I've never sailed on a cruise before any why all these questions. And we were also going to book our airfare before we have to make final payment for cruise which is coming in about 4 weeks.

shushh

11-27-2009, 08:43 PM

mrosen, my understanding is that the cat 12 only fits 3 so if you book a 12GTY with 4, you'll get an automatic upgrade to cat 11. I think room allocations are given around 30 days out? Someone please feel free to correct me.

I hope they don't cancel the cruise!

auntlynne

11-27-2009, 09:18 PM

... Is there any chance they could cancel this cruise if they are having trouble filling it? ...

...I hope they don't cancel the cruise!

The day they cancel a cruise for low numbers is the day they can pull up anchor and float into the sunset. They would lose too many customers. All they can do is sail the dates they've picked and don't offer them again in the future if they don't seem to work.

auntlynne

11-27-2009, 09:22 PM

Trying to come up with a logo. My niece probably won't like the "fairy godmothers;" too much like magic to her.

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp321/auntlynne61/0001iq.jpg

shushh

11-28-2009, 03:25 AM

I like the design of the logo! No princesses, no pirates!

Which reminds me...Was there a pirate night on the 2007 med cruises? Do people really dress up. I don't really want to drag all these extra gear for one night. In other words, will we look out of my place if we don't dress up?

auntlynne

11-28-2009, 11:54 AM

Whoops! (wrong cruise - forgot which this one was - the EB Transatlantic will probably follow course and have a pirate night).

Okay - in 2007, they one night's activity was the showing of the last Pirates movie; however, they did not have a pirate-themed dinner (yeah!)

Perhaps a pirateless Disney cruise, afterall (sorry, pirate people).

auntlynne

11-28-2009, 02:15 PM

2007 Med Dinners: location - attire - menu theme - nighttime entertainment

Day 1 Barcelona Cruise Casual Let the Magic Begin Welcome Aboard! let the Magic Begin
Day 2 Sea Day Formal The Golden Mickeys The Golden Mickeys
Day 3 Palermo Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner Comedy & Ventriloquism
Day 4 Naples Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner On the Nose Game Show
Day 5 Olbia Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner The Art of the Story
Day 6 Civitavecchia Cruise Casual Master Chef Movie Night: Pirates of the Caribbean
Day 7 Sea Day Semi-Formal Prince & Princess Twice Charmed
Day 8 La Spezia Cruise Casual Flavours of the Mediterranean Crew Talent Show
Day 9 Marseilles Pirates/Cruise Casual Pirates IN the Caribbean When Mickey Dreams
Day 10 Villefranche Semi-Formal Captain’s Gala Disney Dreams
Day 11 Sea Day Cruise Casual Till We Meet Again Remember the Magic: A Final Farewell

So, there is a pirate dinner.

For newbies, the Rotation Dinner is the Show Dinner in the Animator's Palate; Island Dinner in Parrot Cay; and a French Dinner in Lumiere's. You will visit each of these restaurants one time for the rotation dinner.

mrosen

11-28-2009, 03:19 PM

We went ahead and switched our reservation to Cat 12 GTY from the Cat 10 room assignment we had. Taking a gamble now on the room assignment but money savings was too much to not take this chance on. Hope I don't regret this choice when we get our room assignment.

We do have a hold on another Cat GTY on the ship give what a great deal this is. I invited my parents to come on the cruise and waiting to see if they decide to join before deposit is due.

mrosen

11-28-2009, 03:20 PM

The day they cancel a cruise for low numbers is the day they can pull up anchor and float into the sunset. They would lose too many customers. All they can do is sail the dates they've picked and don't offer them again in the future if they don't seem to work.

Thanks for reply. I would be very disappointed if something happened to cause this cruise to cancel as I am very much looking forward to this.

shushh

11-28-2009, 07:56 PM

auntlynne, thanks for all the extra info!

mrosen I'm sure things will work out well! I hope your parents can come along as well. The more the merrier!

auntlynne

11-30-2009, 12:26 AM

If the fairy godmothers are too girlish, I worked on these designs:

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp321/auntlynne61/0002WE.jpg http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp321/auntlynne61/0002wQ.jpg

shushh

11-30-2009, 01:59 AM

NC_Tink

11-30-2009, 09:41 AM

If the fairy godmothers are too girlish, I worked on these designs:

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp321/auntlynne61/0002WE.jpg http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp321/auntlynne61/0002wQ.jpg

I really like these Lynne!! Very cute and you're right - a bit less "girlish" than the Fairy Godmothers - although I did like those as well. Nice work!

auntlynne

11-30-2009, 11:02 AM

Wow, I like these too! Do you come up with these from scratch? It's very creative! I like the clean lines of the first and because it's looks unique without any maps like the others I've seen! I like the second because I really like huey dewey and louis (however it is that you spell that!). Earlier we were discussing how perhaps we could Aladdin on our logo along the lines of "Magic in the Mediterranean".

I have found both the fairy godmothers and Huey, Duey & Louie while googling & will looking up images for an Aladdin theme. I was going to say "We don't need a magic carpet, we've got a Magic boat," but I haven't found a good Aladdin image, yet. I'll keep working on that.

So, the picture is not mine, but the circles, etc., are. I don't have any fancy programs, I use Microsoft Word on my Mac.

auntlynne

11-30-2009, 01:39 PM

auntlynne

11-30-2009, 02:14 PM

Julie, can you add this to your first post (just ditch the "Mehaul's planning site (good information on the ports of call):

www.worldofmouse.com/disney-mediterranean-cruise-2010.html

2007 Med Dinners: location - attire - menu theme - nighttime entertainment

Day 1 Barcelona Cruise Casual Let the Magic Begin Welcome Aboard! let the Magic Begin
Day 2 Sea Day Formal The Golden Mickeys The Golden Mickeys
Day 3 Palermo Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner Comedy & Ventriloquism
Day 4 Naples Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner On the Nose Game Show
Day 5 Olbia Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner The Art of the Story
Day 6 Civitavecchia Cruise Casual Master Chef Movie Night: Pirates of the Caribbean
Day 7 Sea Day Semi-Formal Prince & Princess Twice Charmed
Day 8 La Spezia Cruise Casual Flavours of the Mediterranean Crew Talent Show
Day 9 Marseilles Pirates/Cruise Casual Pirates IN the Caribbean When Mickey Dreams
Day 10 Villefranche Semi-Formal Captain’s Gala Disney Dreams
Day 11 Sea Day Cruise Casual Till We Meet Again Remember the Magic: A Final Farewell

Here's a recent ROLL CALL (alphabetical):

auntlynne Lynne (48), DN Karen (16) Huntsville, Alabama GTY Late +EB
DISNEY_DEPRIVED Sherry, DD (11), DS (10) Italy
DisneyCruiser83 Tess (26), DH David (33) 8600 (may have switched to WB)
friend of tinkerbelle Michaela (41), DH Lester (51), DS Noah (10) Overland Park, Kansas 5520 Main
grlzmom Jeanne, DD (15), DD (13), DS (7) Florida GTY Late +EB
guynwdm Rob, DDad Richard, West Des Moines, Iowa Late
Happy Goofy John, Charlotte 2584 Main +EB
Irish9697 self (35), DS (10), DD (9) Memphis, Tennessee
KathyFP Kathy, Pennsylvania 1030
mehaul Chicago, Illinois
Michelle2 Michelle +EB
mrosen self, other, (11), (10) GTY
NC_Tink Lubi, DH Brian, DS Connor (12) DS Kieran (10) North Carolina 8514 Late
shushh Belinda, DH Malcolm, Elliot (7), Lara (5), Jonah (18 mo) Sydney, Australia 7088/7090 Main
shushh (2) Jenny (Mum), Kian (Dad)
skoi Julie, DD Sadie (15), DD Sigurd (11) Late

goofprincess

11-30-2009, 02:39 PM

shushh

11-30-2009, 03:21 PM

Good luck Sandy!

auntlynne

11-30-2009, 05:43 PM

Hi Lynne :wave2: Sandy here aka Goofpincess. We are trying to get this cruise booked and the EB (switching from WB cuz of the terrific rates
) :yay:. Got a call into my TA; so wish us luck. It would be awesome cruising with you all again.

Karen and I were booked on the WB first, also. We switched due to her school, weather, jet lag. Then I wanted to add the Med; thought I'd be alone until my sister said to let Karen do this cruise, too.

It'll be great to have a princess: and her :goofy: prince along. (Can't beat these rates).

friend of tinkerbell

11-30-2009, 07:13 PM

auntlynne,

the Huey, Duey & Louie logos are fantastic!

good work:yay:

auntlynne

11-30-2009, 11:59 PM

I like Huey, Dewey, and Louie, too, but I have to try the Aladdin theme.

My sister gave me the idea to use the "1001 Nights" since that is the source of the character Aladdin. Then I remembered the Genie saying "and no wishing for more wishes."

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp321/auntlynne61/0002lg.jpg

grlzmom

12-01-2009, 07:03 PM

We will be joining you on this sailing.

Me, dd15, dd13 and ds7 are booked for this cruise and the TA sailing before it. Dh will be home with the other kiddos.

Have done lots of DCL cruises but no MED and looking forward to hearing from experts.

Would like the kids to make cruise friends and so excited for all these ports and planning of excursion!

shushh

12-01-2009, 07:09 PM

Welcome Jeanne! :cheer2: Our DS will also be 7 at the time of the cruise.

mrosen

12-01-2009, 07:10 PM

mrosen

12-01-2009, 07:12 PM

I just modified the Huey, Dewey, Louie logo:

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp321/auntlynne61/0002t1-1.jpg
awesome graphic!

NC_Tink

12-01-2009, 07:47 PM

:welcome: Jeanne!! Glad to hear that you and some of your family will be joining us. I've said it before to others in our group - but definitely jealous of those sailing on the TA as well as the Med. How awesome!

AuntLynne - awesome job on the logos. I really like the latest - both the Huey, Dewey and Louis and the Aladin! :thumbsup2

auntlynne

12-02-2009, 01:33 AM

We're missing some vitals:

DISNEY_DEPRIVED: cabin # (or GTY) + main or late dining

DisneyCruiser83: still on this cruise? + main or late dining

friend of tinkerbelle : names

grlzmom: names + main or late dining

guynwdm: Dad's name + main or late dining

Irish9697: names + cabin # (or GTY) + main or late dining

KathyFP: main or late dining

mehaul: name + cabin # (or GTY) + main or late dining

Michelle: cabin # (or GTY) + main or late dining

mrosen: names + cabin # (or GTY) + main or late dining

NC_Tink: cabin # (or GTY) + main or late dining

shushh: cabin # (or GTY) + main or late dining

skoi: cabin # (or GTY)

shushh

12-02-2009, 03:10 AM

We're missing some vitals:

Who should I PM the info to? I think Julie is flat out. Maybe I should just post it here? Oh well, here goes...

Cabin 7088/7090 Main dining.

grlzmom

12-02-2009, 04:30 AM

Thanks for the welcome everybody, very excited to be doing this cruise.

Our info is

late dining and GTY room :)

auntlynne, your graphics are awesome!

friend of tinkerbell

12-02-2009, 09:11 AM

Lester 51
Michaela 41
Noah 10

Stateroom 5520
Main Dining

Can't wait for April 24th!:dance3:

guynwdm

12-02-2009, 11:13 AM

awesome graphic!

LOVE THE GRAPHIC!!!! :thumbsup2

[QUOTE=auntlynne;34532808]We're missing some vitals:

guynwdm: Dad's name + main or late dining

Dad's name is Richard and I think we are late dining.

skoi

12-02-2009, 11:40 AM

:welcome::welcome:

Welcome to everyone who's new.

Yeah, I was flat out whatever that means in American English, but it sounds about right.

I have my last Arabic class tonight, but I have so much studying to do after to catch up as I've done nothing for weeks.

The logos look great. I like the Aladdin, but I'm partial to Aladdin myself.

It looks like we're having some older kids, which is good. Our 15 year old dd will be happy.

We're now in a GTY 12, and with or luck, will stay in the 12, but it saved us tons of money. We also have late dining.

I'll update the first post as soon as I can.

Still undecided about Tunisia. But after spending 2+ weeks in Morocco in March, I should be able to zip around Tunis like nobody's business, of course I'll be speaking the wrong kind of Arabic, but it'll be better than my French.

Julie

NC_Tink

12-02-2009, 11:43 AM

We're missing some vitals:
NC_Tink: cabin # (or GTY) + main or late dining)

We're in 8514 - late dining

Thanks!

Michelle2

12-02-2009, 12:35 PM

LOVE the graphics!! Is there one we can put in our signature? And can you make a B2B one? LOL

I don't have my details yet. I think my cabin I won't know until alot closer to the cruise...

auntlynne

12-02-2009, 04:37 PM

I'll edit the Roll Call and Julie can put it in the first post. Now that she's finished with formal Arabic class, she'll have so much free time on her hands...not like she's got little monsters at home or overseas trips upcoming or anything like that. :rolleyes1

auntlynne

12-02-2009, 04:52 PM

Information for post 1:

Mehaul's planning site (good information on the ports of call):

www.worldofmouse.com/disney-mediterranean-cruise-2010.html

2007 Med Dinners: location - attire - menu theme - nighttime entertainment

Day 1 Barcelona Cruise Casual Let the Magic Begin Welcome Aboard! let the Magic Begin
Day 2 Sea Day Formal The Golden Mickeys The Golden Mickeys
Day 3 Palermo Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner Comedy & Ventriloquism
Day 4 Naples Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner On the Nose Game Show
Day 5 Olbia Cruise Casual Rotation Dinner The Art of the Story
Day 6 Civitavecchia Cruise Casual Master Chef Movie Night: Pirates of the Caribbean
Day 7 Sea Day Semi-Formal Prince & Princess Twice Charmed
Day 8 La Spezia Cruise Casual Flavours of the Mediterranean Crew Talent Show
Day 9 Marseilles Pirates/Cruise Casual Pirates IN the Caribbean When Mickey Dreams
Day 10 Villefranche Semi-Formal Captain’s Gala Disney Dreams
Day 11 Sea Day Cruise Casual Till We Meet Again Remember the Magic: A Final Farewell

Here's a recent ROLL CALL (alphabetical):

auntlynne Lynne (48), DN Karen (16) Huntsville, Alabama GTY Late +EB
DISNEY_DEPRIVED Sherry, DD (11), DS (10) Italy
DisneyCruiser83 Tess (26), DH David (33) 8600 (may have switched to WB)
friend of tinkerbelle Michaela (41), DH Lester (51), DS Noah (10) Overland Park, Kansas 5520 Main
grlzmom Jeanne, DD Kelsey (15), DD Emily (13), DS Nickolas (7) Florida GTY Late +EB
guynwdm Rob, DDad Richard, West Des Moines, Iowa Late
Happy Goofy John, Charlotte 2584 Main +EB
Irish9697 self (35), DS (10), DD (9) Memphis, Tennessee
KathyFP Kathy, Pennsylvania 1030
mehaul Chicago, Illinois
Michelle2 Michelle +EB
mrosen Mary Ellen, DH Jon, DD Allison (11), DD Megan (10) GTY Main
NC_Tink Lubi, DH Brian, DS Connor (12) DS Kieran (10) North Carolina 8514 Late
shushh Belinda, DH Malcolm, Elliot (7), Lara (5), Jonah (18 mo) Sydney, Australia 7088/7090 Main
shushh (2) Jenny (Mum), Kian (Dad) Sydney, Australia 7088/7090 Main
skoi Julie, DD Sadie (15), DD Sigurd (11) Late